WnW 6.22

The gut wrenching cry shook the building, vibrating through the soles of my feet. It came from a man who found himself in a crowd of mirror images, like a bad dream, competing for the favor of their lost partner.

Helen’s trump card.

I cursed my lack of foresight as I leapt up the stairs to the next floor. Of course she would do this. To pit each Alek against the others in just another scheme of manipulation. The fact that I was their sole target made my skin crawl.

Reaching the next floor, I looked over the railing. Bodies had begun to pour out of the main floor entrance and their voices kicked up to a deafening volume. Very few of them actually looked like Alek to me. The majority wore Helen’s face, some wore Nell’s, and a scattering were faces like Mac, Kay, and my parents. Everyone I care about is here to kill me. They moved alarmingly fast towards the stairs.

Even though their feats of superhuman ability betrayed what was really going on, I couldn’t deny how awful I felt, my brain fighting against this awful urge to give up and submit myself to whatever my loved ones wanted to do to me.

A few pursuers leaped high, grasping the bottom of the balcony edge and hauling themselves up. They laughed and pointed as they spotted me looking down.

I dashed back to the stairs, racing to higher floors against an inevitable flood. What do I do? Did I reveal our own trump card against Alek? That risked Organ’s Witch finding out too early and being more on guard about letting me near the Tree. 

Nell… please show yourself soon. I could use the help.

A group of H.E.S.P. operatives awaited me as I reached the next floor. One of them touched my shoulder as I passed before the group moved to form a defensive line.

“We’ll do our best,” one said solemnly.

Heavy footsteps thundered up from below. I could already hear the desperate screams of either H.E.S.P. soldiers or Ring members being caught and torn to pieces.

I gritted my teeth and sprinted up the stairs. Glancing down through the gap in the middle, I saw them. Helen’s cackling face adorned these Wolves as they bounded up the stairs. Some of them leapt onto the staircase railings, dodging as the soldiers opened fire on them. Many were shot, but only a few dropped to the ground. They pushed forward with uncanny speed and strength. One reached the top of the stairs at the same time as another climbed over the railing behind the soldiers. 

They picked the soldiers apart like children. All the close quarters combat expertise was useless against a man who could break body armour and bone with his strikes.

I turned away from the grisly scene and kept running, breathing heavily. I could hear more shouts of glee as Aleks found targets for their violence.

I reached the next floor and abandoned climbing any higher. An Alek was just pulling himself over the railing. I leapt over his clutching hands. If I was grabbed in that vice-like grip, it was all over. They would tear me to pieces before I could fight off just one.

As the footsteps beared down on me, I threw myself through an apartment window, rolling and spinning to face the entrance. Antlers erupted from my skin, covering the window and door. My foot found a couch which I kicked up and used to reinforce the barricade.

It didn’t matter. The door blew open, dashing my work to pieces. Heart sinking, I made a break for the window.

A hand wrapped around my ankle and I felt a crunch as I was yanked off my feet. The Alek stood over me, grinning madly with the face of Mom. Pain seared through my ankle as she gripped it even harder. The pale light from the outer window painted her as a ghost.

She opened her mouth to say something. No. Anyone but her. My heart can’t take it.

A sharp crack rang out and her head snapped back. Then the Alek crumpled lifelessly on top of me, no longer wearing her face.

The window had lines spiderwebbing outwards from a small hole. A H.E.S.P. sniper providing backup.

I immediately began absorbing the body. “C’mon,” I muttered. “Heal… Heal!” The pain began to lessen. Helen’s face arose in my mind, distracting me.

More Aleks found me, pouring in through the doorway. A limb punched through the window by the entrance, scattering my barricade.

I rose and threw myself backwards. The exterior window gave way as I tumbled out of it. Bricks rushed past as I dropped down a floor before hands snapped out like crocodile jaws, seizing me and hauling me through the window below.

I projected spikes out in every direction, stabbing into the Aleks around me. They were ignored. What felt like a sledgehammer struck me across the face, breaking my helmet open. I tried to fight back against a mass of grasping hands and faces of people I knew. It was a losing battle.

My elbow was torn out of its place and I screamed. I could hear the sniper fire but it wasn’t doing enough.

Then there was a crunch of metal and the canister at my waist exploded. Smoke rushed to fill the room. I slipped free of the one who held my mangled elbow and threw myself to the ground. The brawl unfolded above me as Aleks attacked each other blindly. One seized me and I pulled as hard as I could. He reacted weakly, being assaulted by another Alek at the same time and I pulled away a sizable portion of his flesh. Helen’s face once again flashed in my mind. I need to find her.

I shook off the dazed thoughts and focused on healing. There was no respite, another Alek found me in the haze and tore away a chunk of my armour. I fought him off. Every breath was a struggle to pull in, the air burned my lungs. I let the fire out to play, no holds barred. Anything that brushed against me was taken. Helen’s face contorted in distress and my heart lurched.

What? That wasn’t right. I fought off another Alek and took his flesh to heal my wounds. I needed to find Helen. Why? I stabbed a body in the smoke, taking what I needed and more. 

What were my feelings for Helen? My head pounded as I wondered why I even cared about that. Another Alek bumped into me and this time I flinched, stumbling backwards.

The realization settled on me. I was taking too much. Alek’s memories and feelings for Helen were overriding my own. I couldn’t stay here. Dropping low, I crawled. When an Alek stepped on me, I lay still until he stepped off. I absorbed my armour entirely in order to avoid attention.

All I could hear were the dull thuds of heavy punches being landed and each Alek yelling over the others, trying to be the one most heard.

A strip of light through the smoke. The door had been closed. I rose and flung it open, gasping. Someone grabbed the back of my torn shirt. I smothered the fire, making it retreat into the center of my being. No more. I am me. I leaned away and the shirt tore off.

“He’s getting away!” Helen crowed in a sing-song voice.

I jumped onto the balcony half-wall. Pain jolted up my calf, but I ignored it. Locust Legs formed and I shot upwards. Aleks leapt after me only to miss and plummet down to the courtyard below. I alighted on a railing two floors up and danced away from reaching arms. Shaping again, I soared up and landed on the top floor of the building.

The Aleks were disorganized and caught up in fighting each other. That gave me a brief window to rest…

A pair of legs swung down from the roof, kicking me off the railing. I sprawled into the open doorway of an apartment. An Alek dropped down from where he was hanging and this one was wearing his own face.

“Nick.”

A faint voice spoke to me. It wasn’t the Alek. I couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from, but it caught my attention. Helen hadn’t been using the face of the one that voice belonged to.

This Alek seemed a bit more sane than the others. He watched me as I coughed and struggled to get up. He looked almost sad.

“I don’t suppose you could just give up?” he asked. “When I first met you, I never wanted it to come to this. I just wanted closure.”

“She’s never going to give it to you,” I said, panting.

“What choice do I have? Try to think how it feels to have your likeness stolen.”

“You’re repeating yourself. Every Alek I’ve spoken to is the same.”

“Shut up!” he roared, suddenly furious. He pounded his chest. “I know I have a soul! That’s all I know. I’m different…” His words were choked up with emotion.

 “No you’re not. Not unless you do something different. Although it is surprising that she’s letting you use your face. We must be getting outside of her range.”

That got his attention for a moment and he glanced down over the balcony. I scrambled to my feet and turned-

Only for him to grab me by the hair. My scalp seared with pain as he swung me bodily into the wall. Drywall cracked, dusting me with powder. I couldn’t draw in a breath.

“I’ll show you something different.”

He didn’t let go. Another swing. Hair tore and I went through the wall, breaking through a pipe before tumbling into the next apartment. I crumpled into a heap. A distant rumble echoed through my skull.

My whole body hurt. I couldn’t see straight. Water sprayed a fine mist over me, turning the dust into sludge. I took tiny breaths, like hiccups, trying to stay conscious. How many bones had I just broken? It hurt so bad.

“Nick.”

That ghostly voice was the only thing soothing me. Get up. My arms shook as I pushed myself off the sodden carpet. I raised myself enough to see Alek through the ragged edges of torn wallpaper and the broken pipe. 

He wasn’t looking at me.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked, immediately followed by a gunshot. His arm jerked from the bullet and he growled, leaping towards his attacker out of my sight. Five more gunshots rang out, one of them punching through the wall, a clear miss.

My vision darkened and I collapsed back to the ground. Get up. My body wouldn’t listen to me. My eyes teared up. You were given this miracle of an opening and you can’t even use it? Pathetic. 

I clung to consciousness as I heard the sound of footsteps exiting the apartment across from mine and then entering my own. I waited for a painful end.

Warm arms wrapped around my back, squeezing me tightly. Shocked into stillness by the act, I felt warmth spread through my bones like a crackling fire on a cold winter’s day. My pain faded and my mind slowly cleared away the fog.

I tried to turn and see who it was, but they clamped down, their helmeted head knocking against my back. My throat grew tight. 

“Why?” I asked.

Then they released me. I turned to view the person, dressed in a H.E.S.P. uniform that didn’t quite fit them. They picked up their gun, holding it unlike the other soldiers, like they had never held one before. Then they nodded and left.

“What the fuck, Nell?” I whispered.

Even with my renewed mind, I couldn’t come up with an explanation. But my body felt light again. I could keep fighting.

“Nick.”

That voice made me straighten up. I couldn’t look bad in front of AJ. His voice came from the open window and I could hear him more clearly now. I moved to the open window and looked out at the spent fires in Old Town, glowing like embers on a dying fire. Distant thunder rumbled and I found my voice.

“Ajna, you’re here?”

“Nick! I’m reaching as far as I can. What can I do to help?”

“I’m not sure,” I murmured, enjoying the cool air that played across my face. “I didn’t know a thunderstorm was coming.”

“That isn’t thunder,” said AJ in a tremoring voice.

I paused, trying to figure out what that meant. Not thunder. A deep rumbling rattled the window frame. Only the lowest notes of a lion’s roar. It dawned on me what it was.

“AJ. Listen closely. Find him. Tell him that Nick promises him the battle of his life.”

AJ hesitated. “I… You’re sure?”

“This is something only you can do. I believe you can do it,” I said to the night. For a moment, I thought I saw AJ’s Shape, a shimmer in the dark.

“I’ll do it,” was his determined response.

Then I was alone again. A hand went to my scalp where there was only a residual ache. I didn’t feel any missing hair. Somehow that was a relief to me despite everything else.

I left the apartment and peered into the neighbouring one. Alek’s body lay on the floor, a single flower growing out from a bullet wound.

How was I supposed to interpret this? What was Nell trying to say and why hadn’t she just talked to me?

I stepped over the body and headed to the window. One more drop, I thought.

On the outer wall was a cluster of thick vines. They led all the way to the second floor, to one specific window.

I found my answer as I slid down the vines. Nothing needs to be said until we have the chance to truly have a conversation. For now, just lean on that trust. 

I heard the Aleks searching for me as I descended. It sounded like most were climbing to the top floor where I’d been seen last. 

Entering the window, I was met by the sight of Helen crouched near the door, peering out through a crack. I crept up slowly, deadly silent. Then I snatched her hand and covered her mouth. She jerked back, slamming the door shut. Holding her hand close, I examined the nails. Stark white, with a strange lustre, nearly chromatic even in the dark.

“Zola,” I breathed out, releasing him.

Helen’s face vanished as he pulled a rag over his lower face. Zola clutched a hand to his chest, making small cuts in his shirt. “Holy fuck. I thought I was dead.”

“Zola, I think we have to do this now.” I dug into my pocket and withdrew Alek’s phone.

He eyed me seriously. “Reach the Tree? Impossible. I have been watching. There are still a bunch of people near the Tree and based on how the soldiers are getting Shaped every time they get close, I think Witches are among them.”

“Right now, there are maybe a hundred Aleks hunting for me in this building. I know they just reached the top, so they’re the furthest away they’re ever going to be.”

His brow furrowed with worry. “We have not even found Nell. How will we broadcast the signal?”

“She doesn’t want to be found,” I said.

Zola dropped his hands to his sides. “What?”

“She doesn’t want to be found. Wherever she is, she’s got a plan. I trust her. But she hasn’t acted yet. And the only reason I can think of is that she needs a distraction. So… I’ll try to broadcast the signal myself. At the very least I can get the phone close to the Tree and keep the Aleks away while I fight the Witches.”

“Okay.”

I embraced him. “Thank you. I know it’s dangerous and it doesn’t make sense.”

Zola shook his head. “No. It does make sense. And whatever the outcome, I will be there.”

A short discussion later, we split. I slipped out the window and moved around the side of the building. Sure enough, the entrance was still open. The last place they would expect me. Taking a deep breath, I started forward. Deep strides, building up speed down the hallway. I ran so that I couldn’t have doubts. The only way through was forward.

At the courtyard, I skidded and made a sharp turn towards the Tree. The people around it started to notice me. My armour crackled into place, complete with every bit of flair I could muster: a crown of antlers, fake limbs, a large serrated weapon weighing down my arm, and the constant sound of snapping branches like a strong storm ripping up trees.

A Witch attempted to seize me and I let their influence settle on a false limb, allowing it to snap off as I kept going. The closest of the people saw me coming and backed out of the way. Another stepped forward to meet me. I swung the saw-like implement at them. Bone shattered across them, making a sound as if I had struck a metal door. Helen’s illusion vanished as fluid metal engulfed their face, matching the rest of their body. The arm I had struck was now a rigid blade. The Wolf of Organ’s Witch.

The Wolf stabbed at me and I spun, letting the blade catch a bit of my armour and breaking free. The Tree was ten paces away.

Then seven.

Five.

I fell as if my strings had been cut, slamming into the grassy dirt.

I tried to rise and found that I couldn’t. The ground seemed to lurch to and fro beneath my limbs. My eyesight was blurry and unfocused. It felt like I was underwater. Drowning. Doomed.

The Witch Nell Hated spoke, “Stop, Damascus!”

I tried again to stand, this time making it to one foot before I toppled. My vision was darkening around the edges. I focused on breathing and managed to pull in a deep breath, scattering the cobwebs for a moment.

Helen spoke, still from everywhere, “Why not kill Nick?”

“No need,” she responded in clipped tones. “We are still in control and the potential opportunity that was posited is great enough to at least consider for the time being.”

“Wait. The opportunity that guy told you about? How can you trust that? He showed up out of nowhere.”

“Trust is irrelevant. Organ has been keeping tabs on him for quite some time. He has insight into nuances of human emotions and patterns that I lack.”

I sucked in air a few times then tried to raise my head. Organ’s Witch stood a mere six feet away. Her metal Wolf standing just behind her. She returned my glare with an apathetic look.

She addressed me, “Hard to breathe, isn’t it? Hard to stand, hard to coordinate, hard to think. I’ve taken away your body’s capacity to automate these things. Does it feel familiar from our last encounter?”

“F-uh…” I tried to speak but there was no air in my lungs.

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes. ‘Fuck you’. I would blame the lack of creativity on the lack of oxygen being delivered to your brain, but unfortunately I know you, Nick. Just another of Nell’s mindless slaves.”

My heart fluttered.

Her eyes glinted with a hint of amusement as she saw my reaction. “No, that was not a slip of the tongue. You think you know Nell? I wasn’t lying before when I said that Nell hates those that know her true self.”

“Don’t…”

“Don’t tell you? Nick, you insist on acting as an antagonist towards me. I’ll admit, you are tenacious like no other Phage I’ve encountered.”

I heard a soft thud in the grass. She glanced over to where Zola had snuck up close to the Tree. He flailed, trying to pull himself the last couple of steps to the Beacon. The metal Wolf stalked towards him, moving as fluidly as if he were wearing regular clothing.

“Don’t care,” I wheezed out.

She arched an eyebrow. “She’s new to your world, Nick. You gave her a taste of freedom, so she’s playing along, indulging herself of a life she never got to have. But I know you’ve seen glimpses of it, I can see it in your expression. You’ve seen her drop the facade. When she can’t help but twist the world to suit her.”

I shook my head, trying to focus on breathing. Don’t drown. Don’t drown. Trust.

“You were not her first Phage.”

My vision flickered. Lies?

“I found her when she was very young. It was still the early days of Organ and I was traveling the world, searching for and examining Shapers as I found them. I’d followed rumours of a couple running into the woods to hide their strange child from the village, never to return. That forest is where I found Nell. And with her were two Phages. She had them utterly in her grasp. She had taken their eyes, growing pretty flowers in their place. The intent was clear. You should see nothing but me. They were Shaped to placate every emotion she shoved down their throats. So I destroyed them. I was unaware until later that they were her parents, unrecognizable as they were. And she threw a dangerous fit. Not because someone precious to her was lost. No. Because she had lost her toys.”

I forced the last bit of air out of my lungs to say, “She’s changed.”

“Then where is she, Wolf?” she asked, gesturing to our surroundings. “I’ll admit that she slipped away from us. Yet she remains to temper the Beacon’s power. Will she show herself to save you?”

My muscles were screaming as I tried to push past the feeling of nausea to stand.

Her expression was certain. “No. She won’t come to your rescue. She isn’t brave or selfless in the slightest. Can you blame her? Her power has elevated her to the point where she does not see humanity as anything but tools.”

My heart sank and my legs betrayed me once more. My mouth tasted bitter earth. I felt through the ground a strange rumbling, one that had been growing louder with every passing moment.

The metal Wolf leaned over Zola. He was panicking, floundering like I was. The phone in his hand began to play a song.

I shut my eyes.

“Oh?” The Witch sounded surprised. “Now why would you-”

The tinny quality of the phone’s speakers made the song sound like it was being played underwater.

“What?!” Helen exclaimed. “That’s Alek’s music.”

“Ah. I see. A Shaping trigger?”

“Yeah.”

“A fruitless attempt. Damascus, take-”

The thunderous roar reached its apex and the building shuddered, an impact rippling across the whole frame. I began to see cracks in the walls.

Damascus moved in front of their Witch, shielding her. Several Aleks dropped down to the main floor, no longer masked by Helen.

The wall shattered with a thunderclap. Bricks tumbled across the grass and dust plumed into the air. The building swayed, although that might have been from my nausea.

A hulking shadow moved in the dust cloud.

Then he emerged. As muscular as some Greek mythical figure, completely naked save for a tattered speedo. His reddish skin gleamed with sweat.

The Goblin spoke and the rumble that he carried with him spilled out, like a combustion engine. “Ah… Quite the crowd we have here.”

Organ’s Witch spoke in annoyance, “Why are you here?”

The Goblin’s smile grew wider. “A little birdy told me that this place may offer me resolution.” His eyes slid over to me. “Nick, surely they did not mean you… Not in that sorry state.” 

He took in the rest of the scene, staring down each person in turn.

“Hmm. Tell you what. All of you attack me at once. It may be an even battle.”

The Witch frowned. The Goblin grinned further. “What is it, Witch? Can’t grasp me? What can I do to motivate you?” His fingers twitched towards the Tree. “Perhaps if I destroyed that bothersome instrument over there?”

“Damascus,” she uttered.

The Wolf stepped forward from where they had been poised to strike Zola. The metal slid forward, extending their limbs into blades, their head hardening into a triangular point.

“Come!” The Goblin roared, black horns erupting from his shoulders.

Damascus rushed him. The Goblin caught their limbs, blades slicing through his sides as he clamped his arms down. He flexed, bending the metal, then with effort he flung Damascus. The blades ripped free, spraying gouts of blood that ignited in a whoosh, becoming a flaming oil that spattered over the walls and ground, spreading the fire.

Damascus crashed into the second floor balcony just as Aleks began to descend upon the Goblin.

The Goblin seized one and slammed him against the ground. Three others grabbed his legs. He roared as they began to draw away his flesh, assimilating him. Fire splashed around him, but the Aleks were crazed, broken, doggedly persistent. Burns meant nothing. More Aleks piled onto him. The Goblin used his horns to bash them against the walls, spreading more fire.

Then I heard Zola cry out in pain.

The Witch was standing over him. He contorted and I saw something moving under his skin.

“Tell me where the phone is.”

“I- Ah! I do not know!”

“You bastard!” I yelled, hopelessly digging my fingers into the dirt. I could move, but only inches at a time.

“Tell me.”

Zola screamed ragged. “Lost! Gone! See? Nothing.” 

He tore out his pockets with spasming fingers. He was right, the phone had disappeared.

My heart shriveled up, the last hope gone. Organ was in total control. And if the Tree burnt down there would be no way of stopping Alek from painting the city with blood. The Goblin…

Damascus now had the upper hand. They were plunging their knife-like hands deep into the Goblin’s back, ignoring the blood-fire that spattered them. The Aleks held the Goblin’s limbs down, stealing his strength in pieces.

I changed course without really knowing why, dragging myself towards the Tree. I could hear its whine loudly in my ears, the pulses threatening to drown all of my senses in red.

My fingers reached out and touched the soft side of the Tree. In that moment, my hearing went fuzzy, like static. Then all other sounds faded into the distance. The Goblin’s roars, Zola’s screams.

It was as if a screen had been erected around reality, isolating me away from it. My own little world of lost hope.

Then the Tree whispered to me.

“Ah. You’ve arrived. The key.”