Chapter 11
Evie and the man helped lift Kitty to her feet, dragging her out from the underground holding cell. They carried her onto the bed; Evie helping her remain in the sitting position. Kitty groaned slightly, her leg lolling to the side from lack of support.
“What's wrong with her?” Evie hoped no one tried drugging her. She heard stories about this sort of thing happening on campus lately where girls were taken without anyone knowing about it. Luckily they found her before she ended up in any real harm. The Reachers must be the ones behind the rash of kidnappings. When she got back home, she planned on alerting the authorities about it. They could arrest all of these fish creatures.
He tilted Kitty's head to the side, pointing out a small prick left in her skin. “They put something in here. I'm not entirely sure. If I had to guess, it was probably just a relaxer. They don't want her dead.”
“How can you be sure?”
“You can't sacrifice something dead. It doesn't work that way.” He figured this must be Harry's room. He dropped to the ground, his ear pressed against the wooden floor. Besides the beat of the music, he didn’t hear much else. Another hiding spot, or even the altar, wasn’t in here. There must be another location.
“We need to get out of here.” Evie stood up, helping her friend to her feet. She didn't feel like seeing any of them being sacrificed tonight. By tomorrow, all of this would be over.
“I'm going to agree with you on this one,” he said helping her adjust her friend's hand over his shoulder. It would be hard sneaking her past the guards downstairs but there had to be a way. After all, they made it up here. He could lead them down, pretending to bring them somewhere. He grimaced. They weren’t likely to fall for the same excuse twice. He needed to think of something clever.
As they started down the stairs, he saw the two guys from before hanging around. They must be the ones assigned to guard the host. He’d have to remember telling them they did an excellent job. “Wait right here,” he said leaving the two girls alone.
He headed down the stairs, draping his arms over the two men. “Isn't it a great time to be here?” His face broke out into a goofy smile. He needed them to believe he was one of them – just having fun for the night.
“Are you okay?” The Reacher who asked him gave an incredulous look. They certainly didn’t seem to be enjoying themselves.
“I'm perfect. Tonight, everything’s going to work out and we're going to rule this place. Screw all that water crap. Let's make this,” he said tapping his fingers into their shoulders, “the place to be. They're all going to want to come up.” He knew the Reachers hated being stuck in the watery abyss. More than once other elementals had to intervene in an effort to stop them from taking over a world. It never seemed to end.
The two men exchanged looks with one another. They didn't seem pleased with the way Uriz led the conversation. For a moment, he wondered if he did something wrong. “Did he give you your partition already?”
So that's what the lesser minions were after. They all wanted to make sure everyone got the exact portions of the world they felt entitled to. It was a win game for everyone. “Not yet but I got an extra host. I think that puts me ahead of the game.” He smiled smugly at them. Dashing their hopes would cause them doubt. He could work with it.
“You slarinaak,” one of the men said cursing him jokingly.
“You're welcome. You guys want to take a break right now?”
“We really shouldn't. We're supposed to be guarding the host upstairs.” One of the Reachers made a motion upwards halfheartedly. They must’ve been standing there for hours if they were this lax.
“That's such a shame. The pool's perfect. Some chicks jumped in and now everyone's in there. Can get a little close if you know what I mean.” He elbowed one of the men, giving him a knowing glance.
The two men exchanged a look between themselves. From the way they seemed assimilated into the culture of the university, they must’ve been here long. Far longer than they figured without the touch of anyone remotely coming close to physical with them. The lure was overwhelming. All they needed was one final push.
He nudged his head in the direction of the pool. “Why don't you two take off? I got this. Besides, not like anything can happen. We have two of them.”
The men cast a longing glance in the direction of the water. He saw them imagining the wet women, undoubtedly wanting to swim next to them. The water was the only way to feel at home. His bluff worked. “Fine. Stay here and if anything happens, tell us.”
“Reachers stick together,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. The two men already headed out through the back door before he finished his statement. Their minds had been out there since he brought it up. It was easy when he knew how to manipulate them.
He guffawed to himself as he saw them walking off. “And with that, I stop the apocalypse,” he mused to himself. He raced back upstairs and reached Evie and Kitty. Evie had placed Kitty leaning against the wall, unable to hold her alone. “Okay, we have to go now. Move quick and whatever happens, don't stop.”
They made their way down the stairs, carefully checking to make sure the guards remained preoccupied. The sound of water coming from outside let them know they were in the clear. Stealthily, they moved out of the front door and headed to Kitty's car. Opening the door, they laid her across the back seat and climbed in the two front ones.
Evie started the car, heading down the street back to their residence. The entire time she kept thinking about what happened. It seemed no matter how much she wanted to believe the incident from the library was brought about by stress, she doubted she could discount anything that just happened. She saved it – putting it aside to deal with it later when she had the time. For now, she needed to maintain her concentration. She checked the rear view mirror. No one followed them at the moment but that didn't mean they were alone.
When they reached the girl's apartment, Evie said, “Let's put her on her bed. She should be okay there.” She helped the man bring her friend onto the bedroom. They lifted her onto the made bed, dropping her once she was in place. Walking out, Evie closed the door behind her with a sigh. At least that was over.
“Wow,” she said dropping onto the faded couch, “Can you believe that? I just saw water fiends and rescued my friend from one. I think that makes me awesome.” She looked to the strange man and smiled. “What do you think Zunnu?” She was making up names now.
He laughed. “I actually know someone named that. You were a good help. Good – not excellent. You asked far too many questions,” he teased. Looking around nervously for a moment, he said, “Well then, I guess this is the part where we say good-bye. Again.”
“Are you serious? That's it? You're going to leave me here with those creatures running around, abducting women, and attempting to bring over more creatures like that into this world?”
“Well no. I plan on destroying the altar and sending them all back to where they came from. Maybe grabbing something to eat as well. Then I'll be out of here.”
She tossed her head to the side. “I have no idea what to think about you. How can you possibly, willingly, want to go down there? Do you have some sort of death wish?”
“Just the opposite.”
Standing up from the couch, she walked over to him and said, “I want to help.” Her mind couldn’t keep up with her impulsive behavior.
He figured she might try saying something like this. She seemed to always want to get in the middle of things. This was one excursion she’d have to sit out. “No you don't.”
“Um yes I do.”
This might not be as easy as he planned. “Why would want to help me?” No one ever tried helping before. They left him the moment a chance arose to run.
“Why not? I mean if these creatures aren't stopped, and I'm not saying you can't stop them yourself, then everyone’s basically screwed. I don't feel like obeying some sort of fish man for the rest of my life.”
“I'm pe
rfectly capable of stopping these creatures. Maybe not that many but I can stop them. I do have skills.” He only listened to the first part of her argument.
“I said that. I want to tilt the odds even more in our favor though. There's nothing wrong with that. Let me go with you. I promise I'll be good.” The alternative to helping him was staying in this house and falling back into the same routine as always. She didn't want it. She saw there were other things out there and it excited her. If all she had was one more chance at adventure, she wasn’t passing on it.
“Were you not with me about an hour ago? Didn't you see the creatures living down there? We're not going against a force of two or three. That would be easy. That I might let you come with me. This is at least a dozen if not two. The chances of coming back without being hurt are pretty slim.”
“You'll be fine.”
“I meant you. I know I'll be okay.”
“Are you sure you’re actually here to save us? You talk pretty cocky.” She grinned at him. He was breaking down. She already saw herself leaving with him and having some fun chasing down these creatures. No boring reruns for her tonight.
He could play along if she wanted. “It's something I picked up from humans. You always need to brag about your talents. Me – just pure excellence.”
“Ooo, big talk.”
He liked her. She was interesting to have around. At least he wouldn't be bored tracking them down – that was always the longest part. “Fine. You can come with me. You have to stay close, listen to everything I say, and for the love of everything, call me Uriz.” He stopped playing the name game with her now. Maybe later they might pick up something else.
She looked confused. “Uriz what?”
“That's it. That's actually my name. Well,” he started before backing up a few steps, “That's part of it. The rest isn't important.” The rest would kill her. A fire elemental had a complicated name only used in the most sacred of rituals. He only heard his actual name used twice in his lifetime.
“Alright then,” she said with a little smile, “What are we doing first Uriz?” It was a different name. She doubted she would have guessed it.
“We could - ” he started before being interrupted by a crash coming from Kitty's room. It seemed someone else chose what they were doing next. He hated when that happened.