Epoch Page 11

  “Yes, I’m aware it violates international law,” the man said to a Chinese man whose face was displayed in a video monitor. “That’s never stopped us before, has it? I don’t care if UN inspectors are coming by. Just keep the workers in the factory. I tell you what, in two days time you can let them have a day off, all right? Good.”

  He punched a button, and the Chinese man vanished from the screen.

  Beside the desk, Vincent saw something rather strange. It looked like a metal box on two long metal legs, with lots of electronic connectors within it. Vincent would have given it a closer look, but he was distracted by the hay.

  The desk had three drawers, and the middle one was open and full of hay. Vincent thought that was kind of strange, but not nearly as strange as what he saw next. The man lazily reached a hand into the drawer, grabbed a fistful of hay, and started snacking.

  “He … eats hay,” Vincent said, watching with puzzled fascination. “O-kay.”

  Just then there was a knock at the door. The man slammed his drawer shut, wiped the hay crumbs from the front of his suit, and said, “Enter.”

  Vincent turned to see who was coming in. For a moment he feared it would be Rennik, but it was not. Instead, it was Mr. Wilkins.

  “Ah, Francis,” the man said. “I was just dealing with our friends in China, a task I believe I’d assigned to you.”

  “Indeed you did, Mr. Edwards,” Wilkins said. “However, in this instance … ”

  “Have you forgotten our arrangement?” Mr. Edwards went on. “I would hate to have to take back my part of it.”

  “I have not forgotten, Mr. Edwards,” Wilkins said.

  Take that, Vincent thought with an astral smirk.

  “See that you do not,” Mr. Edwards said. “Have they identified the cause of the fire alarm?”

  “Yes, Mr. Edwards,” Wilkins replied. “It seems an astral traveler has infiltrated the building.”

  “Post-epochal?” Mr. Edwards asked.

  “No, sir,” said Wilkins. “The demons say it is a human.”

  Woah, Vincent thought. Barnaby’s dad knows about demons.

  “Nay,” Mr. Edwards said. “This complicates matters. Who is it?”

  “They don’t know yet, sir,” Wilkins said. “It may just be a random traveler, a human who has no idea what he is ... ”

  “Even if that is the case,” Mr. Edwards snapped, “he will still see things that he must not. We are close, Francis, very close. And I will nay have a human, especially not one capable of astral travel, spreading the word. I must speak with the others. Bring me to my legs.”

  Wilkins walked around Mr. Edwards and lifted him out of his chair. Vincent let off an astral gasp; the man had no legs. Wilkins carried Mr. Edwards over to the metal box beside the desk, and set him down into it. Vincent understood then; the box was a metal waist, atop robotic legs.

  “Come, Francis,” Mr. Edwards said, walking to the door. His legs made a slight electrical shifting sound, and the footfalls were loud.

  “Sir,” Wilkins said before they got to the door, “with the end of the epoch so close at hand, and given what is coming, is it not time to have my son brought here?”

  Edwards stopped, turned to him.

  “Nay, Francis,” Edwards said. “There are appearances to consider.”

  “I hardly think the disappearance of one boy will be noticed,” Wilkins said.

  “Then you are a fool,” Edwards replied. “He is being watched, Francis. Possibly by the same being making his astral intrusion into this building now. If Barnaby were to be plucked from his normal routine, it would send a clear message to his watchers that something is going on. Nay, Barnaby stays where he is. For now.”

  “Yes, sir,” Wilkins said, clearly unhappy but just as clearly beaten.

  Just then, Rennik flew in with his tongue fully extended.

  “Rennik!” said Mr. Edwards, stepping back to avoid a tongue-lashing. “What is the meaning of this intrusion?”

  “He’s here,” Rennik explained. “The invading entity is here, I can taste him!”

  Vincent was already moving. He sped out of the office, straight through the picture window …

  It was beautiful. Tall, arch-shaped and radiating light, Vincent had no doubt at all that this was the portal site. It dazzled; the portal itself looked like it was made up of millions of glowing crystals. It called to him, inviting him to enter.

  The guards on either side of the portal were not so inviting. Several demons patrolled around it, and a couple of men as big as Barnaby Wilkins’s bodyguards stood in front, holding machine guns. There was no way anyone would be sneaking past them. Not that they’ll even know the portal is here, Vincent thought. The building covered the portal completely, hiding it from view.

  Vincent heard a smash from behind him. He turned and saw Rennik hovering in the broken picture window, staring right at him.

  “You can’t escape me,” the demon said. “I can taste you. I’ll find you, no matter where you hide.”

  “Stand down, Rennik,” Mr. Edwards said, arriving at the broken window beside him. “I cannot see you, whoever you are, but I know you are there.”

  He’s talking to me, Vincent thought, feeling another knot of fear inside him. The guy who’s hiding the Portal Sites is talking to me!

  “Listen well,” Edwards went on, staring straight through Vincent. “You have seen too much. I will find you, and I shall silence you.”

  Vincent’s silver cord tightened, and this time he did not resist. His cord pulled taut, and propelled Vincent’s astral form back to his body.

  Vincent awoke with a start. It was that fast. He had no memory at all of traveling across the city and back to the hospital; it had just happened.

  Already Vincent missed the many advantages of his spirit form. For one, his astral body didn’t feel pain. His chest and jaw still hurt, but not nearly as much as before. He would probably be going home today.

  Vincent forced himself upward into a sitting position and looked around. He was bursting to tell someone what he’d found out, but there was no one. Max was sound asleep in his bed, and Grimbowl simply wasn’t there. Why had the elf left? What could’ve been more important to him than the information Vincent now possessed?

  Vincent lay back down again. There was nothing he could do until the elves contacted him. He could wake his brother and tell him, but Max had been through a lot and deserved his sleep. After all, it was the second-to-last sleep he would ever have ...

  Vincent sat back up again, faster this time. The world had less than two days, maybe only one day left now. The demon Bix had told Vincent the news yesterday in the grocery store, at around four in the afternoon. Was yesterday one of the two days? Or was it two days plus yesterday? When had the two-day countdown actually started?

  Vincent got out of bed. He was too restless to sleep, and there was so little time left. He walked over to Max’s bed and shook his brother by the shoulders. As he did so, he heard the door open.

  “Wha …?” Max asked, waking up.

  “Someone’s here,” Vincent said, turning faster than his body wanted him to. If it was a demon...

  It was a pixie. For a brief moment Vincent thought it was Nod. It wasn’t, but Vincent still recognized her.

  “Clara,” he said as she flew into the room and landed on his bed.

  “Who?” Max asked as he sat up.

  “One of the pixies,” Vincent told his brother as he walked over to her.

  “Vincent, what’s happened?” she asked, landing on his bed. “Where is Nod?”

  Vincent returned to his bed and sat down beside her. He wasn’t ready to tell her this, and he doubted he ever would be. He had to, though. She deserved to know.

  “He’s dead,” Vincent said.

 
“What?” said Clara. “When? How? W … why?”

  “He died saving my life,” Vincent said, and he told her about the previous day. Clara listened silently, and remained silent for a few moments after he’d finished.

  “I knew he was brave,” Clara said, wiping the tiny tears from her face, “I just didn’t realize how brave.”

  “Yes, he was.”

  Vincent and Clara turned and saw Grimbowl standing in the doorway. Vincent worried the two would start fighting, but they made no move toward each other.

  “I was going to tell you this earlier, Vincent,” Grimbowl said. “I think you deserve to hear it too, pixie. I ran from that house at the first sign of the demons, and met up with my tribe—remember how I told you I’d called for them, Vincent? Well, when I met them in the field, I told them what was up and suggested we run for it. Then I turned and saw your friend speeding toward us, with those three demons close behind. I knew what would happen. As soon as he saw us he’d lead the demons right to us, then escape while the demons destroyed my tribe.

  “Only, he didn’t. He changed direction when he saw us and led the demons away. He could have gotten away. The demons would’ve forgotten all about him if they’d seen us. Instead he saved my tribe. A pixie gave his life so that elves would survive. I … I never thought I’d see the day.”

  Vincent looked from pixie to elf, and realized he might’ve been witnessing the start of a beautiful friendship. Perhaps the two races could finally get along with each other, and be united by their common goal.

  “You jerk!” Clara said, leaping off the bed and lunging herself at Grimbowl. The elf was surprised, but not so surprised that he didn’t duck out of the way. Clara flew out the open door, and Grimbowl kicked it shut behind him.

  “Damn pixies!” he said. “I’m spilling my guts here, and she ... ”

  The door flew back open and smacked Grimbowl in the face. He flew onto Vincent’s bed, right into his lap, and Clara was right behind him.

  “Clara, wa … ” Vincent cried before the pixie slammed Grimbowl into his chest with enough force to knock them both to the floor.

  “Oww … ” Vincent moaned, clutching his poor hurt chest.

  “Beast!” Clara shouted, ignoring Vincent as she pounded on Grimbowl’s face. His head struck Vincent’s chest again and again with every blow, and Vincent howled in pain.

  “Stop it!” Max yelled, springing off his bed and yanking Grimbowl off his brother just as Clara went into a body slam.

  “Ooooph!” Vincent gasped as she rammed his ribs.

  “Leggo!” Grimbowl said, kicking Max in the stomach. He doubled over and fell backward, and landed bum-first on top of Clara, right into Vincent’s ribs.

  “Aaagh!” Vincent cried, wishing for a swift death, or at least unconsciousness.

  “Get off me!” Clara shouted. She launched upward, carrying Max into the air.

  And then she dropped him. Right onto Vincent’s chest.

  “Goooppp!” Vincent gasped, and then blissful oblivion claimed him.

  • • •

  He awoke an hour later to find Doctor Ritchet examining him. Vincent hurt like anything, but his pain eased when he saw Clara and Grimbowl standing on his bedside table. Both looked sheepish, and their eyes seemed to say, sorry.

  “You’ll be fine,” the doctor told Vincent. “Just stay off your feet for the next few days, and no more rough and tumble with your brother until you are well, understand?”

  Vincent nodded and turned to his brother, who sat on the edge of his own bed. Max offered him a half-smile, which did wonders for Vincent’s well-being. He couldn’t remember if he’d ever seen his brother smile before today.

  Doctor Ritchet left the room, and Vincent turned and smiled at his friends.

  “I’m okay,” he told them. “But if you two start fighting again, I’ll … ”

  He stopped, and listened. Doom, doom, doom, came a noise from the corridor, soft at first but growing steadily louder. Vincent knew he’d heard that noise before, but before he could place it, Rennik entered the room.

  “That’s him!” the demon said. “He’s the one who infiltrated the building.”

  Vincent heard another couple loud and metallic dooms, and then Mr. Edwards appeared in the doorway, flanked by two bodyguards.

  “Oh boy,” Vincent said.

  This wasn’t good. Not at all.

  “He’s just a boy,” Mr. Edwards said, his robot legs walking him into the room. “That’s nay what I expected. How interesting.”

  Vincent pulled his bedsheets up farther, for all the good that would do him. Edwards himself looked harmless enough, and Vincent knew the demon Rennik couldn’t hurt him. The two black-clad bodyguards, on the other hand, looked like they’d enjoy cracking him open. Both were big, though not as big as Barnaby Wilkins’s minders, and they wore robotic-looking masks and gauntlets. They didn’t appear to have guns, but Vincent suspected they had other weapons.

  “Stay away from my brother!” Max said, leaping off his bed and blocking Mr. Edwards’s path. “I don’t know who you are, but … ”

  One of the bodyguards’ hands snapped up, and electric bolts leapt from his gauntlet. They struck Max in the chest and threw him across the room.

  “Max!” Vincent called.

  “You like that?” the metal-legged man said. “We developed those gauntlets for the military, but the rest of these boys,” he patted one on the back, “were built for me alone.”

  Oh, thought Vincent, looking closer at them. They weren’t wearing robotic-looking masks at all; those were their actual faces.

  “Who are you?” Vincent asked.

  “My name,” the metal-legged man said, “is Pharley Seamore Edwards, Chief Executive Officer of Alphega Corporation and patron of this hospital. You broke into my office tower … twice, if I understand correctly. I would like to know why.”

  “Actually, it was only once,” Vincent replied, his eyes shifting from Edwards to Max’s still form. “That first time I never got farther than the parking lot.”

  “That is still private property,” Mr. Edwards said.

  “Yeah!” added Rennik.

  “Stay … away … from my brother,” Max said, managing to raise his head. “And remove … the demon … from my sight.”

  Mr. Edwards raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You can see him? How very interesting. Most of you can nay see demons.”

  Something Mr. Edwards had just said nagged at Vincent’s mind. Before he could think about it any further, however, the door opened and Doctor Ritchet rushed in.

  “What is going on here?” the doctor asked, a split-second before one of the bodyguards grabbed him and suspended him in the air. “Wha … put me down! Put me down! Security!”

  “There’s no need for that,” Mr. Edwards said, motioning for his minder to put the doctor down. “We are having a private discussion, and would appreciate no interruption. Is that clear?”

  “But … the boy,” Doctor Ritchet said, pointing at Max.

  “Is that clear?” Mr. Edwards repeated.

  The doctor nodded, then turned and left the room quickly.

  “Is everyone afraid of you?” Vincent asked.

  “They should be,” Mr. Edwards said. “Just as you should not attempt to infiltrate my building ever again. I’d hate to think I might have to press charges against you … ” he paused, and looked at the chart on the end of Vincent’s bed, “Vincent Drear.”

  Vincent pushed back the covers and sat up. It hurt to do it, but Vincent wanted to address his enemy with as much dignity as he could manage. The bodyguards pointed their hands at him, but Mr. Edwards waved them down. Clearly, he saw Vincent as no immediate threat.

  “Mr. Edwards,” Vincent said, “if anyone here is guilty of a crime, it’s you. You
r demons have attacked and hurt my friends, my brother, and myself.” He paused, remembering Nod. “But worse, you and your corporation are putting the whole world in danger by hiding the Portal Sites. You should be … ”

  “Portal Sites?” Mr. Edwards said. “My, my, don’t we know a lot. Nay doubt your pixie friend told you about them before he was devoured.”

  Vincent’s face darkened, and his hands became fists.

  “That’s what happens to all who oppose me,” Mr. Edwards said, clearly enjoying Vincent’s anger. “If you want to avoid a similar fate, I suggest you stay away. At least,” his smile widened, “for the next twenty-six hours.”

  “You monster!” Vincent shouted, advancing a step closer. The bodyguards raised their gauntlets again, and he took that step back.

  “To make sure you do keep your distance,” Mr. Edwards went on, “I shall leave Rennik with you. He will keep you in line.”

  “He can’t hurt me,” Vincent pointed out.

  “Not yet,” Mr. Edwards replied, “but he can hurt your friends. Approach my building, and he will.”

  “Better believe it,” Rennik said.

  “He won’t touch them,” Vincent said. “I’ll kill him first.”

  Mr. Edwards and Rennik laughed at that.

  “Vincent Drear,” Mr. Edwards said, “you can’t kill Rennik, he’s a demon. It is simply not possible. Demons are the most powerful, most perfect killing machines in existence. They can withstand the pressures at the bottom of the ocean, they can swim through molten lava, and they can even take the frigid emptiness of outer space. Human weapons cannot kill them; at best, they can only slow them down. There is nothing in the natural world that they cannot withstand or destroy. They are, in a word, invincible.”

  “So take your best shot,” Rennik said, smiling wide from all the flattery.

  Oh I will, Vincent thought. I will.

  “So what’s your evil plan, anyway?” Vincent wanted to know. “Wait until the last minute and then charge people a million bucks to use the portals?”