Epoch Read online

  “Yeah, and I can kick you,” Vincent said, and he did. The creature bounced away, then rolled under a car.

  “Good riddance,” said Vincent, who was starting to think that fantasy creatures were nothing but trouble. He checked his leg to make sure he wasn’t getting a rash, then he turned to see if the guards had heard anything. To his relief, they remained at their posts, oblivious.

  “Hey! You!” the creature said, crawling out from under the car. “You’ll pay for that, you will. Just because I can’t bite you now doesn’t mean I can’t munch you later.”

  “What,” Vincent asked, “are you talking about?”

  “It means I’ll remember you, boy,” the creature said. “And I will, never fear. We demons have very long memories.”

  “Well, remember this,” Vincent said, raising his boot to kick him again. Then the creature’s words got through to him, and he stopped. “You’re a demon?”

  “Darn tootin’,” the demon said. “My name’s Rennik. Remember it. I like my prey to know who’s eating them.”

  Vincent remembered all the pixies had told him about demons. They would destroy the world at the end of each epoch to make way for the next species. Vincent put his foot down and backed away. He was so scared he almost didn’t hear the faint buzz of the fire alarm, or the sound of hundreds of feet.

  “Wha…?” he said. He glanced quickly around the van and saw the Alphega employees evacuating the building. It was time, and he had to move. He looked back at Rennik, but the demon was gone.

  “Weird,” Vincent said, and he hurried off to meet Nod.

  When he got to the side of the building, he found that Nod had not broken a window yet. He also noticed the pixie hadn’t deactivated a single camera. Vincent hid behind another car, hoping he hadn’t already been seen.

  What’s keeping him? Vincent wondered as he hid. The plan was so simple, he couldn’t have messed it up. Vincent looked back at the entrance, where employees were still filing out. If Nod didn’t hurry, they would start to go back in and their opportunity would be lost.

  A loud smash made him look up. Nod sped by overhead, moving faster than Vincent had ever seen him go. Vincent wondered for half a moment what the pixie was up to, and then he saw the demon. It flew after Nod on dragonlike wings, and it was gaining.

  Vincent got up and ran, not caring if the cameras saw him as he chased the flying creatures. He kept his eyes focused on the two fliers, desperate not to lose them.

  Up above, the demon had almost caught up with Nod. A second before its teeth could clamp down on his legs, Nod turned himself ninety degrees and went straight down. The demon hovered a moment, as if trying to figure out what had happened. Then it looked down, saw the fleeing pixie, and sped after him.

  Nod made another last-second ninety-degree turn and flew along the ground under the parked cars. The demon flew above the cars, keeping time with the pixie. Nod made a hard right while under a pickup truck, losing the demon for another second before it picked up the trail again.

  “I can taste you now,” the demon said, waggling its tongue in the air. “You can’t hide from me.”

  Nod made another turn and sped right between Vincent’s feet. Vincent looked up and saw the demon cannonballing toward him. Without thinking he leapt into the air, directly into the demon’s path.

  The demon slammed into Vincent’s chest, and that was the last thing he remembered for a while.

  Vincent awoke in a haze of pain. His chest hurt mightily, and his whole body felt weird. He felt light, almost as if he were flying. He opened his eyes to see if he was.

  He was.

  “Aagh!” he said, staring down at the highway below him. He was at least a hundred meters up, and traveling at a fair lick of speed.

  “Quit your whining,” Nod said from behind him. “I won’t let you go.”

  “You’re carrying me?” Vincent said. He looked behind and could just see the pixie holding him up by his pants. “I forgot how strong you guys are.”

  “Yeah, we’re pretty tough,” Nod said.

  “You’d better put me down before someone sees us,” Vincent said. “We’re over Highway 400. There could be accidents.”

  “Nobody’ll see us,” Nod said. “People see what they want to see, and they don’t want to see a kid flying above them.”

  “Oh,” Vincent said. It seemed to make sense, even though it didn’t really. Chanteuse had told him not many people could see fantasy creatures. A kid being carried by a pixie obviously fit into that category.

  Vincent rubbed his chest. It hurt a lot, and he couldn’t quite remember why.

  “What happened to me?” he asked. “I jumped up to stop that demon … ”

  “And you did,” Nod told him. “Thank you, by the way. You saved my life.”

  “I did?” Vincent said. It hurt to talk, even to breathe, but he couldn’t help himself. “I met a demon in the parking lot earlier. He didn’t seem that tough.”

  “That’s because it’s still your epoch,” Nod said. “Demons can’t attack you until your portals drop. They get a magical blast of pain if they try. But when your epoch ends, they become your worst nightmare.”

  “I thought you said they didn’t come until the portals close,” Vincent said.

  “Most come then,” Nod explained, “then they go back where they came from. But some choose to stay on Earth to hunt down those who escaped their wrath. We can’t fight them, they’re too powerful even for us. All we can do is run, and hope they don’t get us. Or taste us.”

  “Taste you?”

  “Yeah, taste us,” Nod said. “A demon’s tongue is a better tracker than a dog’s nose. All he’s gotta do is taste a spot where you’ve been and he can track you for miles.”

  “Is that what happened in the building?”

  “Yeah,” Nod said. “That place, it’s crawling with them. I stayed hidden behind people and under desks until I thought the coast was clear, then I went for the fire alarm.”

  “And the coast wasn’t clear?”

  “Almost. I saw the demon just after I pulled the alarm. It had its tongue out, and it sensed something was up. I hid, but then it licked the alarm handle and got my taste. I had no choice but to make a run for it. And when that thing comes to, it’ll come for me.”

  “Oh, no,” Vincent said.

  “Don’t worry, he’ll be out for a while,” Nod said. “We’ve got time. I’ll take you home, then I’ll have to split.”

  “Can’t the other pixies help you?” Vincent asked.

  “Not against a demon,” Nod replied. “He’d get their taste, then he’d hunt them all down one at a time. Best if I run alone.”

  “There’s got to be someone who can help you,” Vincent said, looking down at the world below. They’d reached the intersection of Dufferin and Steeles, and a large superstore.

  An Alphega Corp. superstore.

  “That’s it!” Vincent said. “Take us down, Nod. The one person who can help you is in there.”

  • • •

  The supermarket was one of the largest Vincent had ever seen. Aisles of foodstuffs stretched as far as the eye could see, in both directions, and fronted with a line of cashiers. Hundreds of customers bustled about this way and that with bags, baskets, and carts, and employees in tacky orange uniforms rushed all around them trying to get their jobs done.

  “Does ‘needle in a haystack’ mean anything to you?” Nod asked as he surveyed the store from his vantage point on Vincent’s shoulder.

  Vincent didn’t answer; he just stood there clutching his chest. The pain had hit him a lot harder when they’d landed in the parking lot, and the walk over had been sheer torture. Nod had said it was a good thing—the more pain Vincent was in, the more pain the demon would be in—but Vincent hadn’t found that bit of news
comforting.

  “This way,” he croaked, and staggered forward. “We’ll ask, see if she’s here, then go find her.”

  They approached the first cashier. He looked about twenty, worn out, and stressed. He scanned items quickly with exhausted arms, all but throwing them into bags for the customer who stood beside his till. Two large monitors stood above his register; one displayed the scanned items and their prices, and the other remained blank.

  “Excuse me?” Vincent said. The cashier ignored him and continued his work.

  “Sir?” Vincent tried again, tapping the man’s shoulder.

  “What?” the cashier spun around quickly, his irritation obvious.

  “I need to know if Chanteuse Sloam is working today,” Vincent said.

  “Yeah, I think so,” the cashier said, then he quickly returned to his duty.

  “Can you tell me where she is?” Vincent asked.

  “I don’t know,” the cashier said, turning back to Vincent. “She works cash. Just walk up and down here, you’re bound to ... ”

  Suddenly, the blank monitor sprang to life. A digitized mock-up of Barnaby Wilkins’s dad appeared on the screen, wearing a reproachful frown.

  “Robert Landers,” said the pixilated Mr. Wilkins, “you are neglecting your customer. A one-hour pay cut will be applied to your account.”

  “Oh, great,” the cashier said as the screen went blank. “Thanks a lot, kid.”

  Vincent hurried on, feeling guilty. That guy got a pay cut just for talking to him? What kind of insane monsters ran this place? Oh yeah, Alphega Corp.

  He approached another cashier, determined to be faster.

  “Where is Chanteuse’s cash?” he asked a teenage girl who worked just as furiously at her till.

  “What?” the girl asked, not taking her eyes off the items in front of her.

  “Chanteuse Sloam,” Vincent said. “Where is she?”

  “Over there somewhere, I think,” the girl said hurriedly, waving with her left hand.

  “Can we get on with this, please?” the customer asked.

  “Sorry, sir,” the girl said, not fast enough.

  “Bridget Auer,” said Mr. Wilkins on the second screen, “your customer has expressed displeasure in your service. This is your third violation today. You are hereby docked a full day’s pay.”

  The girl groaned and began bagging her customer’s items. Vincent set off again, following her vague directions.

  “Um, kid,” said Nod, “I don’t suppose you could walk faster? That demon has probably recovered by now, and it’ll only take it a few seconds to reacquire my taste.”

  Vincent groaned and clutched at his chest, but did manage to walk faster. After all, there was far more at stake than just Nod’s life. The world was ending, and the pixie was his best chance to find the Portal, and safety.

  To take his mind off the approaching apocalypse, Vincent reviewed the events that had happened at Alphega Corp. and came to a conclusion.

  He was pretty sure the demon that had licked him, Rennik, wasn’t the same one that had chased Nod. That demon had come from inside the building, whereas Rennik had been in the parking lot. Nod had said the building was crawling with demons, which suggested they were there for a reason.

  Most likely, they were guards. And why would a company like Alphega have demons as guards? To keep creatures like pixies and elves far, far away.

  Before Vincent could voice that thought, he saw Chanteuse at the cash register in front of him. She was ringing in groceries as fast as the other cashiers, and Vincent had to call her name three times before she heard him and looked around.

  “Vincent, hello!” she said. “How lovely to see you. And you have a little friend.”

  “Yeah, this is Nod,” Vincent said, pointing to the pixie on his shoulder. “Nod, meet Chanteuse.”

  “A pleasure,” Nod said.

  “Chanteuse Sloam,” said Mr. Wilkins on her second screen, “you are neglecting your customer. A one-hour pay cut will be applied to your account.”

  “Sorry,” Vincent said.

  “Never mind him,” Chanteuse said. “I can tell by your aura something is wrong.”

  “We need your help,” Vincent said. “Can you get away? It’s really important.”

  “Let me finish with this customer,” Chanteuse said, “then I will take my break.”

  Chanteuse scanned the rest of the customer’s items, then put up her “cash closed” sign. This did not sit at all well with the line of customers waiting at her cash, especially not the plump woman who’d already put out most of her groceries on the conveyor belt.

  “I’m very sorry to inconvenience you,” Chanteuse said sweetly. “One of our other cashiers will be more than happy to help you.”

  “Chanteuse Sloam,” said Wilkins, “your customer has expressed displeasure in your service. This is your second violation today. A three-hour pay cut will be applied to your account.”

  “I don’t want to get you in trouble,” Vincent said.

  “If it is so important that you came here to find me,” Chanteuse replied, “then I will make the time for you.”

  Vincent momentarily forgot his chest pains when he heard that. Very few people would afford him that level of respect. Especially if they were as pretty as Chanteuse.

  “Chanteuse Sloam,” said the digitized Wilkins, “due to your continuing dereliction of your duty, your manager has been notified. You will ... ”

  “Oh, shush,” Chanteuse said, and she switched the screen off.

  The superstore had its own café, complete with fast food, fountain drinks, and a large sitting and dining area. After buying two root beers for Vincent and Nod (“You bet I like the stuff! Who doesn’t?” Nod had said) and an orange juice for herself, Chanteuse led them over to a table at the back.

  “It’s a long story … ” Vincent began.

  “And we don’t have time to tell it,” Nod interrupted. “I have a demon chasing me, and I need help to shake him. Can you do it?”

  “A demon?” Chanteuse said. “Don’t be silly. Demons are make-believe.”

  Just then there was a loud crash, and the ceiling over the cereal aisle caved in. Customers screamed in alarm, but they didn’t see the three demons that flew in through the hole. Vincent and Nod did, and from the look on her face they could tell that Chanteuse saw them, too.

  The lead demon twirled its tongue in the air, then turned in their direction.

  “Those aren’t make-believe,” Vincent said as the demons came toward them.

  As the demons drifted slowly toward the supermarket café, tongues waggling before them like an insect’s antennae, Vincent had time enough to be disappointed. He’d thought Chanteuse knew everything there was to know about fantasy creatures, but she hadn’t known about demons. It shook up his world, and he wondered if she really knew anything. After all, she’d thought that elves were friendly folk before they’d stuck a magical bug up his nose.

  He was disappointed, all right, but he was smart enough to know that now was not the time to dwell on such things. They had to do something, and fast.

  “We’ve got to do something,” Vincent said. “And fast.”

  “Vincent … ” Chanteuse said, and he could see she was very frightened.

  “They can’t hurt us,” he told her. “Not without hurting themselves. But they can hurt Nod. That’s why they’re here.”

  The demons drifted closer, their tongues waving over the crowd that had formed beneath them. The people stared at the hole in the ceiling, oblivious of the creatures that slowly moved in Vincent’s direction.

  What’s taking them so long? Vincent wondered. He’d thought the demons would zoom straight in, when instead they were taking their time. It looked almost like they were searching a dark ro
om, not seeing their target but knowing its rough location.

  Vincent looked down at the table, and saw Nod cowering in his cup of root beer. He was in up to his eyes in the fizzy liquid, and Vincent’s first thought was that his wings would be all sticky. He looked up and saw the demons, who had stopped three tables away, and he realized something.

  The root beer was masking the pixie’s taste. Not completely—the demons still knew Nod’s general location—but they couldn’t get a lock on him. Vincent lowered his head to the cup and whispered urgently.

  “Don’t move,” he said. “Stay in there. I’ll get you out of here.”

  Vincent put the lid back on Nod’s cup, sealing him inside. Then he stood up, and motioned for Chanteuse to follow him. They slowly made their way toward the exit, keeping an eye on the hovering demons.

  “I might be able to do a cloaking spell,” Chanteuse said as they walked. “If it works, it would mask your friend’s presence.”

  “Let’s just get out of here,” Vincent said. The exit was only a few meters away, but what then? The demons could still track Nod, and they were faster than he was. The pixie would have to spend the rest of his life in the cup, and even that wouldn’t be enough. Things looked bad for Nod, all right, but if they made it to the exit he might have a chance.

  “Hey! Chanteuse! Where d’you think you’re going?”

  Vincent turned and saw a tall, thin man with a beard and a frown coming toward them. He didn’t need to be told this was Chanteuse’s manager. Some things you can just tell.

  “Mr. Lunts, I … ” Chanteuse began.

  “First ya blow off a customer to go talk to your buddy,” Mr. L unts said, “then yer not around to help us keep order during a crisis. Didn’t ya see that?” He pointed at the caved-in ceiling without taking his eyes—or his frown—off her.

  “I did see … ” Chanteuse began.

  “Ya saw that, but ya didn’t come over to help customers,” Mr. Lunts said. “Just too busy talkin’ on an unscheduled break with your buddy. Gonna cost ya, little girl.”

  Vincent looked past Mr. Lunts and saw the demons. They had turned in his direction, and were slowly moving forward.