Arcene: The Island (37 page)

"Come on, time to go." Talia kissed Erato. They held hands and stepped over the corpse and caught up with Arcene. And Leel.

A Moralty Question

"Would you have let us die?" Talia wiped at her neck as she spoke to Arcene.

"Um, maybe. Not sure."

"What do you mean you aren't sure?" asked Erato in surprise.

"I mean that I had hoped it would happen as it did, that you would both take the lead and deal with Janean as you felt best. And you did."

"But what if we hadn't? She could have killed Talia." Erato was getting angry, but it wasn't surprising — both of them looked terrible. Losing their friend was hard to accept, and now everything they believed was true was gone, washed away in blood and tears.

Arcene stopped and addressed them both. "Look, this is your fault. Yes, yes, I know you have been misled, and probably even manipulated to some degree, but it's your responsibility, not mine."

"We saved you," said Talia.

"Yeah, and how's that going so far? I would do much better on my own. You may have 'saved' me, but let's face it, you have saved yourselves. I would have killed you all, well, maybe not you, Talia, even though this is more your fault than Erato's, but be in no doubt that I would have done better on my own. I can deal with things, just as I will deal with Vorce."

"Okay, maybe it is as much about us saving ourselves, but we came back, for you."

"No! You came back because you were scared. Maybe you wanted to help me, and that's great, but you came back because you knew what you were doing was wrong, and there are consequences for actions. You decided to face up to them. You want to do the right thing, but you want to clear your consciences. You are doing this for yourselves, not for me. You decided to help me because you knew The Hunt was wrong, terrible. So, as I said, this is for you, not me."

"Maybe you're right. But we do want to help. He killed Cashae, I can't believe it." Talia wiped at her face, trying to stop the tears before they fell too freely.

"Believe it. He will do anything to stop you getting home. If you tell what he has done then your little community is over. It will be anyway."

"What do you mean? We'll tell them what happened, what Vorce did. About The Hunt and how it's all a lie."

"They have seen what he did, I told you that. The cameras are live again. Don't you get it? It's over. You think everyone will be happy to remain on The Island now? Of course not. You don't want to and neither will they."

"Which is why we have to find the way Vorce brings us back and forth, so we can use it," said Talia.

"Exactly."

"But then what?"

Arcene shrugged. "That's up to you. I'm not in charge, but maybe you will be, Talia. Maybe you can convince everyone, tell them what it's like out of the city, in the countryside where there is fresh air and you could live anywhere you choose. Maybe they will want to stay. I don't know. I just want to go home. I have a life, a son. I have friends and I want to be left alone. I want peace."

Arcene was losing it. She felt it all bubbling up inside. The tiredness, the hunger, the sorrow, the loneliness she never knew she had. Most of all, what threatened to overwhelm her, was love. How she loved her little boy, how she wanted him by her side. There was too much death, there was always death. She'd had enough and wanted done with it all.

To go home.

"Okay. Come on," said Erato, "we have to find how we got here so we can get back. But it could be anywhere."

"It's a tunnel and it will be close."

"How do you know?" asked Talia.

"Because when I followed the data cable it went underwater, so my guess is it flows through a tunnel. It makes sense. How else would he get back? The currents won't let you leave so it must go under the water. I can see the cable, the information flowing to your Island. Trust me."

Arcene turned and walked, Leel by her side, manically trying to lick the blood off her muzzle. Leel did like to be clean, sometimes.

They spread out, Leel on the left, Arcene beside her, and Talia and Erato next to her. Arcene followed the trail down the empty street where grass was longer and the asphalt chewed through completely, now nothing but dust.

Ruined buildings creaked and groaned, slowly settling back into the earth, to their constituent parts. It would take many hundreds more years before all signs of the city were gone, but there was no hurry, the planet had plenty of time to heal itself now there were insufficient people to cover it over again.

The line ran straight and true underneath their feet and Arcene remained focused. It wasn't far, and less than a minute later they came to a series of steps leading down.

Metal railings stopped long dead pedestrians accidentally falling, but there was no signpost — Vorce had probably had it constructed as the streets emptied and nobody questioned why someone was building a new Underground Station when people couldn't even be bothered to lift a spoon to their mouths to stop themselves from starving to death.

They descended into darkness.

Feel my Wrath

Vorce stepped over the body of Elder Janean, disgusted and sick at the way she had been treated. What was wrong with them? Did they have no respect? She was an Elder, and they allowed this to happen? It was that damn Arcene and her dog, but his people, Talia and Erato, had allowed this. They had gone to far.

There would be no forgiveness now. They would feel the full weight of his wrath, his anger, his utter disappointment in them.

How had they strayed so far? Others had fought against his will in the past, but none as strongly as the three friends.

Poor Janean. She was a good woman. Strong and an immensely good fighter, if a little slow at times, but that suited him.

He had chosen his people carefully. Over the years, Vorce found himself increasing the subtle manipulation he placed on those on The Island. It began with those chosen as "Elders," people who had Awoken but left a way into their psyche, and he had manipulated them ever so slightly, ensuring their new home was a success.

And once The Hunt was pressed upon him, he decided over time that it was a good thing, and embraced it wholeheartedly. Elders had their misgivings, but he soon brought them around through subtle manipulations.

And now here he was, having to deal with the mess, all because he tried to do right by his people. How ungrateful.

He would not let his life's work unravel. He would simply not allow it.

Vorce stopped and stared into the dead eyes of Janean. "I'm sorry this happened, my friend. You were a good person, you didn't deserve this." Vorce stood, pulled himself together, and calmed his mind and body. Things may have gone awry but that by no means meant The Hunt was over. He smiled. "It's only just begun." Was he enjoying himself? Maybe he was. After all, things had gone rather stale over the last century, especially with no strangers to get involved in their ritual.

Maybe this was what he had been missing for so long? Why he hadn't felt so close to his people as he did now? He was wild and dangerous, back to basics where life and death was all that mattered. He would be triumphant, return to The Island a hero, having saved the day. Saved them from the evil that was Arcene.

Vorce walked through the fence and knew exactly where he was heading. "Stupid child, she doesn't know what on earth she is doing."

At the steps down to the tunnel, Vorce took a moment to compose himself. Was he ready? Did he have a plan? Yes, and no. He could defeat them all, he was sure of it, but the only worry was that Arcene would get through the security doors and onto the train that would take them to The Island.

He realized it didn't matter. Maybe it would be better if they did escape, for now. After all, where could she go once they got there?

Talia and Erato were a concern, and their treachery would have to be punished. But wait, wasn't that perfect?

"Ha, of course, I've been so blind, so foolish. Let them go, let them return home. See what kind of welcome they get when I tell everyone what they have done. How they sided with Prey and tried to save her even though she killed Elder Janean and Elder Boehn. There will be a double Hunt for the first time in history. I can get new cameras while they rot in a cell for a while, and I will make The Hunt bigger and better than ever before. I will pick new teams, reorganize the Elders, maybe appoint new ones, and we shall return here and make it the most spectacular Hunt my people have ever seen."

Vorce suddenly felt dizzy. He reached out and grabbed the ancient railing, almost falling as it gave way and clattered down into the darkness.

He had to get a hold of himself. He was talking out loud, and was he drooling? Was he grimacing like a madman and waving his arms about? This was no good, he had to remain calm, in control. He was a man that was always composed, let nothing fluster him or make him doubt his own actions.

"I am Vorce, and I will save my people."

He took a step down, then another and another until the darkness engulfed him.

Far, far behind him, the last live camera whirred and clicked off. The final image broadcast back to The Island, before the screen went blank and the islanders howled and wailed, shouted and screamed, muttered and moaned. Most of all, they waited.

They waited for arrivals.

For there was to be a Judgment. And so much more.

Into the Tunnels

Arcene kept her mind empty and her actions brisk as they walked through a large, ill-lit space. The area was huge. It must have taken an incredible amount of work to excavate such an area, but she supposed it was nothing compared to the feat of engineering that was The Island. And besides, things like this were created all the time in the past. There was even a tunnel that went right under the sea from England to France, so she supposed this wasn't actually that impressive.

The first lock had been simplicity itself, a digital combination on a touch pad at the bottom of the steps. She hardly even had to look into The Noise at all, just enough to switch to vision that allowed her to pick up on heat signatures. The numbers were highlighted orange for her and all she had to do was try different combinations of the four numbers until she got the right ones. She got it first go.

It was human nature to be lazy, and she knew Vorce would never really have expected anyone to get this far, so she just punched in the first highlighted digits on each line and the door clicked open.

They didn't have far to go. The space led directly to a single door, outside of which were several trolleys. Before making another move, Arcene wanted to check out the area.

Taking a minute to wander the oversized room — like a place you would buy a ticket at a regular station, not that she ever had — she noted that there were other trolleys just to the right of the stairs and what looked like an elevator. Of course! Vorce wasn't about to go dragging people up stairs, now was he?

It didn't matter now.

Arcene turned her attention back to the door.

"Wait." Talia put a hand to Arcene's shoulder. Arcene flinched at the touch and Talia withdrew her hand sharply. "Sorry, I forgot."

"That's okay, I shouldn't be so jumpy anyway. I wasn't going to stick my sword in you or anything, I save that for the men that touch me." Silence. "It was a joke, haha. Um, maybe not a very good one."

"Arcene, do you think we should?" Talia looked worried, Erato too.

"I think you should, but I don't think I should. It's your home and they are your people. I can't be sure how much they saw on that screen of yours, and to be honest I'm not sure I want to risk finding out. And besides, they may not believe I'm the gorgeous, fantastic, innocent girl that I am." Again, silence. "Really, nothing? Fine." Arcene sighed. "What are you thinking?"

"I know what I'm thinking," said Erato. "I'm thinking we should deal with all of this here. I don't want to, but I think we should finish this once and for all before we go home."

"You mean kill Vorce?" asked Talia. Erato nodded.

"How will you do that?" asked Arcene. Leel cocked her head to the side, clearly as interested as Arcene in the answer.

"Well, we fight him, don't we?" Erato answered like a nervous child, not a man with a century plus behind him and ready to fight to the death.

"We couldn't even stop him killing Cashae, and Elder Janean nearly killed me," said Talia.

"Will you stop it! We have to. What other choice do we have?" Erato was losing it, that was clear, and Talia wasn't far behind. The death of her friend, the loss of her way of life, it was all bearing down on her. She would be useless unless she pulled herself together, and quick.

"Fine, go on then." Arcene waited for their response.

"And what about you?" Talia was getting a hold of herself at last. She was strong, and even after all she had been through she was determined not to be beaten.

Arcene could see it inside of her, the strength welling up, taking her out of herself, forcing her to become the person she had always been deep down inside.