The Artful (Shadows of the City) (19 page)

“Why do they want to kill you?” I asked.

She sighed, lying back on her bed, absently playing with a teddy bear. “Didn’t you hear? They don’t like me anymore. They just want me to produce, and I’m not producing.” She looked at me with wide eyes. “Not for lack of trying, the problem isn’t me. But Adam is too proud to admit it.”

“Wait… isn’t he your brother?”

“Ew! No! We lived in the same building; our parents were med heads. Daddy was rough. Adam promised to take me away. One day, daddy was too rough, and we never looked back.”

“And you guys found the cathedral?”

“God pointed us here. At least that’s what we like to tell people. He just likes having people follow him.”

“You don’t seem as… um, flighty as before.”

She sat up smiling, kissed her teddy bear and gently put it down on a pillow. “I just like giving him a hard time. I wish things would go back to the way they were, just me and him, but what can you do? We have sheep to lead.”

“And you think sleeping with me will help?”

“Why not?” She reached for my hand; I feigned an itch on my face.

“I mean, I am flattered, that you want me, I just―”

“Look around. All the guys here are basically bald, mindless drones who follow Adam around like sick puppies. None of them would dare look at me, let alone sleep with me. You’re basically the first man… well, first person close enough to a man I’ve seen in ages. Besides, you’re probably going to die anyway, right?”

“Thanks.”

She jumped up off the bed, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck. Her eyes were so dark and wide it was hard to turn away. She leaned in close; a strong smell of flowers tickled my nose. And then her lips were on mine, not a delicate kiss, a mix of confusion and animal instinct. Her tongue forced its way into my mouth, I thought to fight her off, but the electricity running up and down my body kept me glued to her.

At first my hands were confused and aloof, but with a mind of their own they found their way to her the warmth of her skin sending pins and needles through them. Her fingers went for my inner thighs, up to my belt. She did a masterful job of pulling me toward the bed, as she unbuckled my belt and explored my mouth all at the same time.

I want this, I want it bad
.
I deserve it, this one win!

I was on top of her, pulling at her bra, struggling to get it off, I remembered a trick Dodger taught me… wait, Dodger. Crap, why was I thinking of Dodger… He was sick, maybe dying, I needed to be the hero. Dodge and Red depended on me. I had to be the hero, just this once.

“Wait!” I stood up, not straight, but with a hunch, my pants restricted from all the blood flowing between my legs.

“Wait, what do you mean wait? This is going to be the best three minutes of your life!”

“No, I can’t…”

“Oh, no, a lot of guys have that problem… it’s completely normal.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just I came here for a reason.”

“Yes, I know. To die. Just do this, and then you can go about getting killed. I’ll even slit your throat if you want.” She growled. “Maybe even during if you’d like.”

“I… thanks for the offer, but I would prefer not dying and walking out of here in one piece. And sleeping with you seems like a guaranteed death sentence.”

“Yeah, but wouldn’t it be worth it?” She smiled, squeezing her shoulders together, making her breasts appear more ample than before.

“Let’s make a deal.”

“A deal? I’m letting you sleep with me. You win, I lose. You have nothing to bargain with.”

“Bull, you need me to do this so they won’t kill you, and let’s face it, you’ll have to figure out a way to keep me around long enough, to keep performing, until you are sure you are pregnant. If not, they kill you, right?”

She frowned and sighed in defeat.

“I need to get some meds to my friend; I promise I’ll stay here. Hell, you can even get them out to him by messenger. Then I’ll stay and sleep with you all you want!” I didn’t plan to stay or maybe I did. I wasn’t thinking completely with my brain. “But not before we get the meds to him.”

“What does he need?”

“Antibiotics. It’s for Red. Her daughter needs it. She’s really sick with―”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t listening. What is it you need?”

“Antibiotics!”

“Calm down, no need to yell… jeez….” She thought for a while, it dragged out to a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence.

“…sorry I yelled?”

“See, now was that so hard? Apology accepted. Let’s go.”

She put her robe back on and painstakingly replaced her fallen stuffed animals on the bed, I smiled with great pride. I, Twist, had used sex to my advantage! I had emotionally blackmailed a girl who was way out of my league by withholding sex. I was in charge and making all the decisions. I was the hero!

“Are you going to stand there all day or follow?” she asked, standing next to the secret passage.

“Oh, sorry.” I followed her into the dark passage, which led out onto the balcony. The railing was now gone, and so was the chandelier. We both peeked over the edge to see it shattered on the ground below, Angels scurrying back and forth, trying to clean up the mess. I gave her a questioning look, but knew it was what we heard earlier. She only shrugged and led me to another painting down at the end of the balcony.

Through the darkness, the series of tunnels we walked all looked the same. I couldn’t keep track of all the turns. I tried counting steps at first, but it was pointless. My fate lay in Eve’s hands. It was a monotonous trek; the only changes were the sounds of our feet hitting different textured tiles, carpets, and stone floors. At some point, there was a decline, I leaned back, not wanting to slip, for fear of tumbling down into Eve and sending us into a heap of chaos.

We walked out into the open. The moon shone brightly above, stray stars speckled across the sky. The night breeze was warm over my skin, but, most of all, I noticed the smell of flowers; the same smell that came off of Eve. We were in a massive garden. At its center, the nose of a long abandoned airship poked out of the remains of what looked to once be a stone fountain. Half of the garden was out in the open and the other half was concealed in the shadow of the balloon that draped around the edges of the torn out roof. Around us were endless rows of flower beds. Reds, blues, yellows, and greens surrounded us. Little flickering lights floated around the closest flowers, like lost stars trying to find their way back up to the heavens. One landed on my shoulder, and I realized it was a bug. It flickered off into the distance. Eve watched me with great pride as a butterfly landed in her hair.

“I’ve never seen anything like this.” I wanted to explore every inch of the garden, a whole new world, vibrant with life, colors, and warmth.

“It wasn’t much when we found it, just a couple of flowers here and there. I always liked flowers. Once when I was little and I hid from my parents, Adam found a rose. He gave it to me hoping to cheer me up. It did, it was so beautiful. It gave me hope there was a better place for us. When we found the airship crashed into this garden, I took it as a sign. This was home. That’s when he started calling this place Eden. Everything else kind of snowballed.”

“Why are you so open with me?”

“You’re the first regular person I’ve spoken to since I can remember, and besides… our secrets will die with you.”

“They will. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“No, really. They will most likely die with you.

She led me around to the nose of the airship. A set of stone steps which led to a hatch door had fallen on its side due to the aircraft’s angled position. “We kept all the meds inside,” she said, grabbing onto a hand railing within the door and pulling herself in.

“How come you guys haven’t run out?”

“We tell everyone it’s a holy shrine; no one is allowed inside but us. Blind faith quiets curiosity. We only use what Adam and I need, and only in really bad cases. We’ll suffer the flu before we touch the stash. Other things we use as bargaining pieces. For instance, Red needed antibiotics, so we offered it to her in exchange for a favor, which she refused, so we cut her off. Guess she had something you wanted if you’re her dirty work.”

She helped me climb in after her.

“Don’t you feel bad?” I asked. “I mean you guys are sitting on something that can help so many people.”

“To what end? If we started handing stuff out, it’d be gone in a week. A big part of power is supply and demand.” The inside of the fuselage was at a ninety degree angle. We marched up an aisle like we were climbing uphill. It was an empty space, with shattered windows on either side. Creeper vines which had climbing in created an eerie jungle like feel. A steel door with a rounded lock waited for us toward the back. “Half of our converts are the sick who stumble in here because they heard a rumor; we nurse them back to health with promises. Eventually, everything out there will be gone, and, once it is, everyone will be knocking at our door for an aspirin. And that’s how we get the ones who aren’t willing to believe.”

“So what’s the point in the baby?”

“Hope. Hope is the strongest inspiration.” She turned the lock and opened the door. A rush of air and dust hit us. We walked inside to find shelves and shelves of supplies. Endless rows that went so far back, I was fooled by the outside; it was definitely bigger on the inside.

“How big is this place?”

“You can’t tell from the outside, but I’m sure if you had a bird’s eye view you could appreciate it. It took out the whole back part of the cathedral. We keep everything beyond the garden off limits. The way the balloon is situated, it looks like the ship is only its nose, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

I began searching through the shelves, taking stock of all the different medications they had. It was a habit―take what you could at the time and make a mental note of what’s to be taken in the future. Eve grabbed my arm and dragged me down an aisle, to a shelf with a glass door. She opened it, taking out two small boxes and handing them to me. “This should last her for a while, after that… I don’t really see a point in going through all this trouble.”

“Hope is the strongest inspiration, isn’t it?”

She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, and then smiled in agreement. I put one box each in my deep pockets and followed her out of the room, back down the cargo area and out into the open. I looked around, wondering if there was a way to escape from here, or if I would have to continue following her, to carry out the deal I originally offered. As if reading my mind, she grabbed my arm and pulled me close.

“Remember what was promised. We will find a messenger to deliver the meds. Tomorrow after I… have you…” She bit the tip of her bottom lip, pulling my face in for a kiss. I have to admit, I didn’t fight it. I could save Dodger, Red’s kid, and get the girl. It was all working out for me. I wondered if Robin’s solo missions ever went this well.

“Eve!” Adam’s voice gutted me, I was pretty sure I pissed myself. We both turned to find him and three Angels standing by the only possible exit. His eyes were a blaze of fire, mouth snarled up in a contortion of pure disgust.

“Adam!” She pushed me away from her. “He forced himself on me. Thank God you came.”

“Really?” He stormed toward us. “Do I really look that stupid?” His face was inches from hers. I could see the veins pulsating underneath his neck and crawl across his forehead.

“Um, I don’t know, should I answer that?”

He grabbed her arm and shook her, yelling vile curses. “You brought this outsider into our garden and you let him taint you! How dare you.”

“What can I say? He’s more of a man than you’ll ever be!” This transferred his rage from her to me. I tried backing up, but the stone stairs blocked my retreat.

“You! I should kill you where you stand!”

Before I could start to beg myself, Eve grabbed Adam’s arm. “Adam, it’s all right. He’s here to help. He promised me a baby, and that’s all you wanted, right? Since you can’t give me one, he will.”

I was convinced Eve was trying to kill me. Already the Angels were approaching. I had no choice but to try and fight my way out of the situation. Adam looked at Eve with a look of pure contempt. I took the opportunity to make my break for it, knocking Eve down. I ran only a couple of feet before two of the three Angels tackled me to the ground.

“Hold him!”

One on either side, they pinned my arms down. I tried to fight, but realized I was just wasting my strength; instead I lay still looking up at the approaching Adam, Eve pulling on his arm.

“Do you see this, my children?” he said to the Angels. “Do you see what has slithered into the sacred Garden of Eden? Just like the book spoke of, a serpent shall appear in the garden and tempt Eve with the apple. All metaphors I see. Here you are, serpent, meaning to put your seed into Eve so she can pass off your corruption to me.”

“Listen, it’s nothing like that. I had no intentions of sleeping with her.”

“Lies!” Eve yelled. “How could you say that?”

“Eve, you’re not helping. Just shut up.”

“To think,” Adam continued. “I let you into my house, unaware that you were the one who sought our destruction, to cast us out from Eden like you did so long ago!”

“Calm down, I already know it’s an act!” I said.

“An act?” Adam seemed insulted. “Do you see, my children? The serpent beast seeks to discredit me in my kingdom! And yet, unlike the Adam before me, I will know not temptation, and I will not be cast out because of you!”

Eve stopped struggling with him and stood up straight. She looked at me apologetically and said, “Oh, stop being a drama queen, Adam. If you’re going to kill him, get it over with.”

“Eve!” I yelled.

“The only way to deal with a snake is to chop of its head.” Adam pulled a knife from his belt. “Of course, this knife isn’t meant for chopping off heads. So it might be a long process.” He straddled me, holding the blade before my eyes. I was trapped. No escape. I wondered when my life would flash before my eyes. Would Dodger die from an unknown virus? Would Red just sit there and watch him decay, knowing full well all she had to do was tell him where Smith was? I guess that was just the way of the world, really. People really didn’t care. Except when it suited them.