Instead of going into the barn where the other workers would be, Liza turned us toward a shed on the same property. The rain lightened to a mere drizzle when we got inside amid hoes, shovels, and weed whackers. After the horrors of the night, I appreciated the therapeutic plopping of raindrops on the wood roof.
Liza turned to me in the dark and pulled me into a hug.
She let out a long, deep breath, her chest easing against mine. I could feel her heartbeat in rhythm with mine.
"I'm sorry about your friends, Kev," she said, "but I need you to know what I know. The Apex will keep coming. The evil man said so."
I wish we had a better name for him. It. The gender didn't matter. I could scarcely give the thing a pronoun, let alone a name I didn't base on his vibe.
"Where are the Apex coming from?" I asked, wanting to understand why Leanna was dead now and how Liza and I had something to do with it.
"Honestly, I don't know." She took a step back from me. I couldn't quite make out her expression in the shed's darkness. If either of us were smarter, one of us would have stolen a flashlight from a corpse.
"The evil man didn't say?"
"No. But there are more coming. More to take over the world ... or something." A loud huff escaped her lips. "He didn't tell me nearly enough about the Apex, but there's something else I wanted to discuss with you. It's the reason why we oughtta not stay apart anymore."
Rubbing my hands over my arms for warmth, I sighed. "Tell me whatever it is you're thinking."
Liza's fingertips met my shoulder, gently rolling before her hand settled flat beside my neck. Although I may have been reading into it, my heart fluttered at the touch, which struck me as intimate.
"A week ago," she explained quietly, her voice blending in with the drizzling outside, "my little brother Marcus got into trouble with the law. He vandalized an old couple's home, and they pulled a citizen's arrest on him and took him to the police station near my home. I had to go and pick him up."
I frowned. "Last time I saw Marcus, he was eight years old and followed the rules."
"Well, last time, he didn't have much to worry about. Now he's a bit older, and reality seems to be setting in. Maybe if I paid more attention to him and not my sisters ...?"
I could sense her guilt; nervous energy transferred from her fidgeting fingers into my shoulder.
Reaching for that twitchy hand, I pressed mine on top of it and stabilized it. Liza inched closer to me after that. I felt her warm breath against my damp naked chest.
"I know how this world works, Liza. He's a good kid. You don't have to defend him to me." I squeezed her hand, hoping to make her feel better. I wish she could have seen my reassuring smile. "And you're a fantastic sister to all your siblings. Don't blame yourself for that."
A second passed in which neither of us spoke. Then, she said in an understanding voice, "You don't have to say that, but I appreciate it." With a frustrated grunt, she continued, "Back to what I was saying. I walked him home from the station, and it happened again—I felt that mysterious force and passed out. I was transported somewhere new."
She took my other hand too, and we lowered ourselves onto the floor, sitting cross-legged with our knees touching.
"Where did you go?"
"I swear, Kev, I went into the Cloud."
I stared at her black form, listening for her emotions, smelling the rain and mud on her, feeling her against me. As tense and ill-at-ease as I felt, her existence here with me gave me a little hope that I may not die alone.
"How could you tell?" I asked.
"Because I was upstairs this time. It was the same place we're usually at in our dreams. The walls are alike; the floor is that same wood with ugly rugs." Her voice lilted in humor at that last description, then her sober state returned. "And there's the same evil man. Only I saw him immediately, in front of the steps. We were at the top together."
She paused, seeming to consider her following words. I don't know why that was necessary for her to do, but I didn't press her to speak before she was ready.
"I turned around, thinking I could run from him. But there was a balcony overlooking a starry sky." She raised her left arm. I saw the faint red-gold glow of the eyeballs. "Then my arm began to glow like that sky ... The evil man said something like, 'use it how you may,' and I woke up on the roadside." Though I couldn't see her voice, the waver in her voice conveyed a frown. "Marcus was freaking the fuck out. I guess my body did disappear for a few seconds. But up in the Cloud, time seemed slower."
"Interesting ..." I murmured. For a moment, I wondered about the implications a physical disappearance might have: were we not merely astral projecting in our sleep? Had we been traveling back and forth from the Cloud for the last two years?
"What?"
Realizing the questions floating around in my head had little relevance to our immediate safety, I steered her away from asking further. "Was Marcus okay afterward? I imagine you calmed him down."
She paused, then said, "I tried to. I explained how what happened to me tied in with the markings on my arm, and he's an open-minded kid. He at least pretended to believe me." Her grip on my hands tightened. "But when we started to walk home again, we came across a naked woman baring teeth like those that just attacked us. At that point, I didn't know what it was. I hadn't had that conversation with the evil man yet."
I shuddered when I pictured Liza unarmed and with her little brother walking alone along a dark road, only for a monster to come out of nowhere and attack them. My heart raced, and I thought, I hope that never happens again—I don't want Liza ever to get hurt.
Liza must have sensed my distress because she loosened her hold on me and gave a short laugh. The kind you let out to release stress, not because you heard a funny joke.
"I fought it off with my arm," she explained. "I raised it, and the bitch caught fire. Must be magic."
We discussed it for a while longer, and by the end of that conversation, we had agreed to stay in touch and meet up frequently. Then, without telling the workers about the night's events, I walked her home, and alone I went to my own house.
When I stepped inside, my dogs greeted me with exciting barks and toys in their mouths. I played with them for some time and let them out, only to let them back in a minute later when the rain started up again and spooked all three of them.
Afterward, I entered my dad's bedroom, where he lay on a queen-size bed with a small oil lamp lit on the bedside table. He had set his wristwatch, wallet, and keys to the truck there.
"Hey, Kev," he rasped out, squinting his eyes at me as I stood coldly in the doorway. "Where have you been?"
"Work," I said. I tried to pull my eyes away from his emaciated self, but I couldn't. A lump formed in my throat, making it hard for me to swallow. My right leg began to ache and burn. I wish it would be numb instead. "How are you doing?"
A bitter chuckle escaped him. "Oh, you know, dying as usual."
"Funny you should say that," I snapped. Although my anger was misplaced—I knew that much—I couldn't stop the harsh words that shot from my mouth. Life didn't feel real at that instant, and I couldn't reach far enough into reality to stop myself from saying what I said. "A friend of mine brutally died today. You should be thankful you won't meet the end she met."
"Kev?"
Turning to look at my dogs, I reached down and patted them. When I faced Dad again, I had to blink away tears to see him. He looked concerned, but that wasn't enough to help me.
"I don't want to lose my family, Dad," I whispered sharply. "But I'm going to lose you. That leaves one person left."
"No, no," he shook his head in disbelief. "You don't plan to find her after all these years ...?"
"I haven't decided yet." I squeezed my eyes shut and faced the dusty floor. "Still, I need to know everything I possibly can about where she is and ... who she is. Help me while you can, Dad."
Although talk of me wanting to see my mother always made him agitated, this time, Dad brushed his hurt aside to help me put off mine. "I'll tell you everything I remember," he promised. "Gosh, Kev. Maybe I'm stupid for hoping this, but I seriously hope you'll never have to see her, even after I'm gone."