She didn't even seem out of breath after climbing all those steps in the building.
The pain in my stomach started to worsen. It was hard to hear what she was saying, as if I was going deaf. Everything was muffled.
The spiders probably came for both of us. No doubt she'd had one coming for her while on her way here.
I realized now that I'd screwed up; her eyes were probably wide open in the dark when I passed by her room.
And how did she even get here? The whole time on the road I even made sure that I wasn't being tailed. There were parts of the ride where I was the only one on the road for hours.
The moisture and the heat in the building never went away.
I definitely wasn't imagining this when—besides me being drenched from top to bottom—I noticed sweat dripping down Liz's face. Josh was saying something to Liz.
She probably told him the spider was dead. Josh then reached to check the wounds on my back and stomach.
My eyes widened in shock.
The wounds had disappeared, as if the spider had never touched me in the first place.
How is it possible? Am I dreaming?
Then he said something.
As the pain faded, voices started to become intelligible again.
"You can leave him here," Josh said. "We'll take care of him."
"He can't stay," Liz responded, standing next to me. "We agreed to not get anyone else involved."
"What are you talking about? We just did."
"You didn't do anything," Liz said.
"We'd managed just fine before you showed up," he said.
"He almost got killed." Liz almost gnashed her teeth to stress each word.
Josh started laughing. "I know it looked that way. But trust me, we were doing fine."
For a brief second, I thought I saw a red neon dot flicker on the back of Liz's head. My suspicion was only confirmed; she must have felt it too because turned around to glance at the office building opposite the tower we were in. All the lights in that building were off, as if it had been abandoned. I couldn't see anything over there myself.
"Can they hear us?" Liz asked him.
"You're sharp like she said," Josh said flippantly. He was probably referring to Margaret. "Not all the times, but sometimes they might."
"You think they'll be able to keep you safe?"
"They're not here for me," he smirked.
He was different now, with powerful friends and people on his side, working with and for him. The whole area being filled with steam was probably his idea as well, though I'd no idea how he did it, or why.
Thermoimaging? Cold-blooded species shared the same temperature of their surroundings no matter how hot or cold it was. I seriously doubted you would see anything on the device.
No point in asking him anything at this point since he'd just shut me down.
"I heard he came here because you said you cracked the messages from the book," Liz said. "Did you solve anything?"
My heart was beating fast as I looked at her, my jaws completely locked up.
What do I say?
Eat it now? Was that it?
What would happen if I told her?
What if she alrea—
Josh suddenly spoke, "Not really. I'm not smart enough for this deciphering business. Who told you I knew about cipher and languages?" He was asking me with a straight face. Then he looked at her and shook his head. "Nope, I got nothing."
"Really?" Liz said. "I was hoping you could save him." I couldn't fully see her face from this angle.
"There's no saving this guy," Josh said. "Though it should be pretty obvious as to how this'll turn out."
"Is it?" she said flatly.
"As long as you knew about the legend, that is," he added.
Then he gave no further explanations.
After a moment of silence Liz said, "Listen, I'll put this thing in the dumps and we'll be on our way." The girl raised a thumb over her shoulder and pointed to the back.
"The monster?" Josh tentatively felt around in the air for the carcass. His hands finally landed on the spider's stomach. Even though he couldn't see the giant spider, he wasn't afraid to touch it. "Good, we'll get the authorities on it, see what they have to say."
Liz forced a smile, "You do that. It's been months and we haven't heard a thing from them ourselves. Maybe you'd have better luck."
"I wonder how many of these are lurking in the city," Josh said almost as if to himself.
Weirdly enough, all this time I actually had not found a single spider outside of all our encounters up to this point, alive or dead.
"You seem to know a lot about us," Liz said.
"I know a thing or two. But I still think the idea of you letting him stay here with us is perfectly valid. You can stay, too, if you want. For one thing, just look at him. Battered from top to bottom. His brain is fried. He hasn't said a word since you got here. Like he didn't even ask how you found him in the first place."
Liz didn't say anything in response.
"We'll do the cleanup," he said. "Emma, get the bag."
The receptionist girl went behind a wall and came back with a giant bag, the kind you'd use for three-legged race, although at least four people could fit inside this one.
"We just have one lying around. Don't think too much about it." Josh waved dismissively.
Emma shook the giant bag, then she and Josh began to put the spider inside. They had a hard time finding the legs that stuck out, but eventually the whole thing got inside the bag. From here, it seemed like a body bag for giants.
"It was nice knowing you," Liz said as she let me hang by her shoulder and helped me walk to the stairs.
"Just one more thing before you leave," Josh called out to us.
Liz turned around to look at him.
"I've nothing against you killing him," he said. "If anything I'm all for it."
"You think I'll kill him?" Liz said. She didn't sound like she was offended by the suggestion.
"If you haven't considered the idea, I'm just tossing it out there, you know?" Josh then walked barefoot across the floor full of jagged, sharp rocks to the corner to look at the body bag with both hands on his hips. "But if you're really going to kill him, make it quick." He was turning his back on us. "Don't drag it out too long."
"I can't make that promise."
"Hahahaha, what's that?" Josh laughed as he turned his head to the side.
"I'm not going to kill Robert. I'm stuck with him. You have the wrong idea."
"You know, I'm beginning to have second thoughts." His back was still facing us. He was looking at the bag now. "I've been wondering whether I should leave him in your hands or kill him myself. It's fine. We both want him dead so that makes the two of us. I just can't see why you need to keep on lying."
"You're wrong."
"Am I? What are you supposed to be in all this, his guardian? He won't make it in a month! There's nothing you can do for him. I mean I know nothing about the supernatural, but common sense dictates that if someone is responsible for starting a curse, they should be punished for it. Just leave him here to rot and die. A young helpless girl such as yourself should stay as far away from the likes of him as possible." Josh kicked the body bag with his bare foot. "Unless there's something you want from him. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. You're not as hopeless as you appear to be."
He kicked the bag again, "In fact, you're pretty special, I'll give you that." A heavy stomp on where the human face was jutting through the vinyl fabric. "You came all the way here by yourself, sniffed him out and hunted him down like some kind of Terrier."
A bright red dot appeared on Liz's head again, where the temple should be. This time, the dot stayed there.
I shouted, my voice strained, "What are you doing??" Were they really going to shoot her?
And was he being literal with what he'd said? It couldn't be. Could Liz really do that? I was a full day's ride from home. An elephant might have been a better comparison—they could smell water on a lake from 19 kilometers away—but even that was nothing compared to this. If what he said was true, just how far would I have to go if I wanted to get away from her?
"You're not letting us leave, are you?" Liz said flatly.
"I was going to, until a few seconds ago."
"You think that's going to stop me?"
"Shouldn't it? They're pretty good at what they do. What, think you can dodge bullets?"
"I can't really say. I've never tried it myself."
"You won't hear them coming, you know?"
She didn't respond.
So you can see them, he said almost as if to himself.
Another red dot appeared on her head beside the first one, the two overlapping and quivering ever so slightly like atoms trapped and imaged under a special microscope.
After all this time and Josh was still not turning to look at us. Emma had been standing and watching from the corner of the room.
"From what I hear," Josh said, "the fastest neurons in a human brain, the Myelinated Motor Neurons, I believe, can travel at 120 meters per second. The average bullet on a rifle has the velocity of 1200 meters per second, four times the speed of sound. This means by the time the sound of the gun shot reaches your ear the bullet has already passed long ago. At point-blank range, it takes about, what was it—0.8 milliseconds for the bullet to reach its target. It takes 8 to 14 milliseconds for the fastest neuron to travel from the brain to the limbs." He finally turned around. "I know, I know. Those guys are 15 meters away, so it should take some time until the bullets get to you. Twelve milliseconds, plenty of time for you to move out of the way."
More red dots started to show up on her head. The third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth.
"Josh, stop it!" I cut in again.
The dots kept pouring in, overlapping one another. The seventh, the eighth, the ninth, the tenth, the fourteenth, the nineteenth, the twenty third, the thirty eighth, the forty seventh.
I'd lost count. The red lines materialized faster and faster, their numbers rapidly climbing into the hundreds.
The beams stretched in all directions from the opposite building across the street, weaving into an elaborate structure, like a hallow harp borrowed from the Heavens, the enchanted strings bathing everything in red, all converging on her face.
So that was his plan?
No bullets could touch those spiders. They would simply phase right through. Josh probably learned that from Margaret. He'd bet on the chance that Liz would come to get me. This army of gunmen wasn't here for those spiders—they were here for her.
Liz just stood there, seeming unfazed.
"Where's the catch?" Liz said as the laser dots merged before a few fluttered out again.
"Glad you asked. They're not using bullets from a regular AR15. The ones they're using travel at 17000 meters per second. The shape design and the material all serve to be 'extra aerodynamic'—I don't know how else to describe them. So even from 15 meters away, it takes less than a millisecond for the bullets to get inside your skull. Putting two and two together, I think you already know how this is going to turn out. However, the model is not without its flaws. If that building was any further away, like 25 or 30 meters, the bullet would vaporize half-way due to air resistance. But at close quarters, it gets the job done."
"What will happen if I walk now?" Liz said.
He gave a smile. "Take another step and find out for yourself."
She turned to look at the opposite building, the swarm of neon lines concentrating on her face. "I think you're forgetting something."
"And what would that be?"
"Those guns are still operated by people."
"You're right. It might take a while for them to shoot. But you're seriously willing to bet on that?"
"Let's make a bet." Liz said as she crouched slightly to re-tie her sneakers with one hand, the other still leaning on my shoulder. Without missing a beat, the lines tracked the movement of her head as if the crowd of beams were one cohesive entity. "I bet none of them will have pulled the trigger by the time I get to you."
"That's quite the distance," Josh murmured with a smirk.
I had to do something.
"Josh."
Whatever the consequences, this was my doing. I would be the one to take up responsibility.
He turned his gaze toward me.
"I'm leaving," I told him. "This is my choice."
Upon hearing those words, Josh looked at me as he stood there with hands on his hips. He was giving me this warning look, as if he was asking me if I was absolutely certain about my decision, that I knew what I was getting into.
Once I took a step outside this building, it would be all over.
I didn't want him to risk his life for me. That was not why I'd come here in the first place.
"This is my choice," I said again.
Hearing that, he lowered his head and raised a hand in the air.
Then, all the laser dots disappeared one by one.
"What a shame," Josh said. "All of that for nothing. Like you said, this is your choice. No one can save you."
There was no arguing against that. "I know."
Emma came over to hold onto his arm. She was gently tugging at it while looking at him, but he ignored her.
I turned around and Liz supported me as we made for the stairs. "Take care, you two," I said.
The two of them watched as we left.
As she helped me climb down the stairs and we got to the third floor, I noticed my bandaged leg had gotten soggy. It was bleeding again.
Although my vision was starting to blur, I took deep breaths and forced myself to limp down the staircase.
The ride home in the cab was long, and quiet. We didn't exchange a single word.
The mountains stood out against the dark background.
They looked so different at night. Despite their enormous size, their desolation made them seem vulnerable. When looking at scenery like this, it was hard to imagine that the sun would rise again the next day.
Maybe the peaks of those mountains had what I was looking for.
They were so close, too. If I could get to the summit of one of those mountains—the answer was right there, hiding behind them.
They were so close.
I pulled the door handle while the car was still speeding down the road. She didn't call after me. My body fell and tumbled along the grass hill. My neck was aching from carrying the weight of my body.
Then I got up, and ran for the gray mountains, the only things visible in the darkness that stood in sharp contrast against the black sky.
I never looked back. I never turned around. I didn't care if she was right behind my heels.
I just ran.
I ran until I was out of breath.
I ran until my heart stopped.
I quietly laughed to myself.
The interior of the car continued to emit the low hum of the engine. The lonely gray mountains stood in the distance behind the glass.
By the time I became conscious again, I was lying on the sofa. We'd finally made it home.
Liz hung my jacket on the armrest. "Would you hate me if I'd killed him?"
Don't worry about it, I tried to tell her, although it was difficult to hear my own voice. It was difficult to think, stay awake.
"I could hear the cortisol pumping in his brain." She leaned against the door and watched the breaking dawn behind us. "It was when I asked him for the bet—it was quiet, very hard to pick out. It wasn't as loud as his heart. But he didn't show any of what he was feeling."
The sun in the distance only became even more red.
"I think your brother was really brave."
You do? I thought to myself.
She dropped on the sofa next to me right over my head. "I think you are brave," she said.
She just sat there, staring down at me.
Very softly, she said, "This is your choice."
After that, I didn't know when exactly I lapsed into unconsciousness.