The Light, the Dark and the Ugly (20 page)

When she and Ted had arrived from above, the military complex looked massive and imposing. From this ground-level view, the city below wasn't much to speak of. It reminded her of the overcrowded international streets and apartments that she'd seen in movies. Looking in a few windows proved that over a dozen kids could fit into a tiny space, if needed. She hoped to find an abandoned building or a tiny shack she could squat in when the day came to an end. Every possible inch of building seemed to be occupied with dark souls or makeshift stores. When Natalie passed by a rundown restaurant, the sight of patrons eating roasted meat made her realize just how hungry and thirsty she was. Her body wasn't happy.

"We're trying to stay alive in a desert city with no food or money," she said to her organs. "I don't want to hear any more complaints. Got it?"

Her stomach gurgled in response as she pressed on. While she wasn't making much progress finding food or shelter, at least she was getting further and further away from the military compound. She estimated she was about two and a half miles away from her lucky landing when she took a break on a rock behind a few dilapidated buildings. She let herself relax when she didn't see any villagers for about 20 minutes.

Natalie didn't know what had kept her emotions at bay so long. It could've been the adrenaline from the explosion and the fall. Perhaps adequate sustenance had kept the mental pain at bay. Whatever it was holding her together, all of it gave way as she sat on that rock.

Natalie clenched her fists and pounded at her leg as tears welled up in her eyes. "You've lost it all." She wiped the moisture on her sleeve. "No scholarship. No basketball." She sniffled. "No Travis. No Dhiraj. No Ted."

She punched her leg several times, not caring if she left a bruise. "And you're gonna die on a rock on the next world over. Good work, Nat. You're a real winner."

She wasn't sure how she fell asleep on the sharp chair, but she awoke a few hours later to a breeze and a darkening sky. She chastised herself for sleeping out in the open like that. She knew she was lucky that nobody with bad intentions happened to walk by. Natalie's throat felt arid and her stomach ached.

She shook her head and looked herself up and down. "No more pity party." She glanced down the street in the direction she hadn't been. "I'm gonna find some damn water."

Natalie did her best to stay in the shadows as much as possible. She didn't need anybody stopping her to ask questions she wouldn't be able to answer. Natalie let her mind go blank as she focused on the solitary purpose of her movement: staying alive.

Her quest was rewarded after another hour of walking when she spied a stream in the distance. Natalie wasn't the only one who had the idea of filling up some water, but nobody seemed to question her when she scooped some into her mouth. While it sure wasn't Brita-filtered, the liquid was enough to keep her going. The anxiety that she might die on her first night alone faded away. Her lips even curled into a smile after scooping 10 to 20 handfuls into her mouth. As she glanced around the stream, she happened upon an empty jug that a previous thirsty villager had left behind. She filled it and retreated to an abandoned alley not far away.

She crouched between two buildings and drank from the jug. As long as the water wasn't contaminated and deadly, she knew she'd gotten through most of day one. Natalie considered how she'd find food on day two, when a low, rumbling growl caught her attention. In the shadows of the alley, something was alive, and it badly needed a decongestant.

The heavy, mucousy breathing stopped and something resembling speech bellowed forth. "Human."

Natalie's fight or flight kicked in. She stood up into a defensive stance, accidentally knocking over the jug as she backed away. Seeing the water spill over onto the stone and sand did not contribute positively to her mood.

The beast stepped forward and Natalie caught the full sight of it. It was at least 10 feet tall with a slimy exterior. She didn't know what the dark souls would call such a beast, but it certainly looked like a troll to her. It was wearing a red shirt.

Is that the shirt I landed on
?
Looks fatter.

The ugly creature sniffed at the air like its life depended on it.

Natalie considered running, figuring the beast was probably pretty slow, but she couldn't take any chances in her weakened state. She needed to give diplomacy a try first.

Natalie relaxed her posture slightly. "How'd you know I was human?"

The troll needed a few seconds to compute the sentence. "Smell strong." The creature lumbered forward. "Taste good?"

Natalie raised her eyebrows. "Are you asking if I taste good?" Her throat closed up. "No. No, I don't. I taste like garbage."

The troll continued ahead. "See for self."

Natalie drew a line in the ground with her mind. She deeply hoped he wouldn't cross it. But with several lumbering steps, the troll came right up to it.

Great. I'm the main frickin' course.

When the troll crossed her imaginary line, she dove underneath the creature's grasp and took off running. Her stomach remained angry, but she ignored it as best she could. She could hear the troll's massive feet slam into the ground behind her. When she checked to see how much distance she had on him, she realized she'd severely underestimated the beast's speed.

"Let's hope you have crap endurance."

Natalie picked up her pace and kept it up for the next couple of minutes. She dashed through a series of narrow alleyways, and the troll continued to fall behind. Even though her heart wanted to kill her, she felt like she was finally safe.

And then both of her calves cramped up hard at once. She didn't anticipate the pain, and her effort to plant when running caused her to fall completely on her face. When she rolled and turned around, she saw the troll had made up the distance and was now only a few feet away. She could smell the stench of his sweat. It was like rancid milk.

The troll let out what had to be its own version of a laugh. "Eat now."

The beast leaned over and opened its mouth.

Natalie growled. "I'm not food!" She sprung up off the ground and punched the troll hard underneath its chin.

The creature stumbled back and clutched at its throat. Its eyes were now laser-focused on Natalie's. If the troll didn't kill her, then her growing fear certainly would.

The troll screamed. "Eat! Now!"

Natalie reared back for another punch when something went whizzing through the air and struck the troll with full force.

As the troll clutched at its temple, three more projectiles zipped through the air and made contact. When the beast turned toward her, Natalie could see arrows lodged deep in the creature's head.

The troll failed to provide any more wise words as it let out a death gurgle and collapsed to the ground. Green, acidic blood oozed out and seemed to sting the stone below. The beast's red shirt remained surprisingly clean.

With the battle seemingly done, Natalie's calves forced her to a kneeling position. Before she could guess who'd shot the arrows, a man with a crossbow stepped forward. She didn't recognize him, but the way he looked at her told her he recognized her. He was average height and build, though the man did walk a little bit like an ape.

When he offered Natalie a hand, she waved it away and stood up on her own. "You saved me. Who are you?"

The man grinned and stowed his weapon. "You wouldn't know me by my name here. But you might from my Earth name."

Natalie gave the man a cockeyed glance. "Elvis?"

The man laughed. "That would explain a few things about the King, now wouldn't it?" He motioned toward him. "Come with me."

Natalie remained motionless. "Who were you on Earth?"

The man sighed and stared into her eyes. "My name was Stucky."

Chapter 32

Travis' stomach still felt like crap. Since he'd arrived in another world, a fast and creepy mouse tried to make his head spin and a roller coaster of an elevator nearly made him puke a second time. And after all of that, it turned out that Natalie wasn't even there. He expected this situation might give him some comfort from the absolute hotness that was the light soul second-in-command, but he could barely hear himself think over the noise of Ted and Erica bickering like a crotchety married couple.

Erica looked torn, like she was trying to choose between slapping Ted and sticking her tongue down his throat. "I thought it'd be confusing."

Ted wasn't having it. "The fact that I'm the exact double of your fiancé?" He stomped around like a kid who'd lost his toy. "Yeah, that is confusing."

Erica didn't seem to enjoy this game. "Ex-fiancé."

"And current dark soul general."

"I'm well aware of that!"

Travis walked over to Reena's side and gave her a nudge with his shoulder. "I'd give 3 to 1 odds on the scrawny guy."

Reena gave a playful huff. "Never bet against a woman."

The olive-skinned goddess reminded Travis of Natalie. He cursed himself for not even being able to flirt without thinking of the rude, hot-headed hoopster who'd completely whipped him.

Travis stepped in between the feuding lovers. "This is all very interesting. I'd love to listen to it for hours." He glared at Ted. "But I'd like to know where the hell my girlfriend is. Okay?"

Ted shrunk from the confrontation and seemed to remember himself. "We had a plan to escape. The two of us were going to meet up." He looked toward the wall. "But the light souls shot up the place before we could find each other."

Travis' blood boiled. "So you left without her?"

Ted threw up his hands. "I was unconscious. They took me against my will."

Reena didn't take too kindly to the boney accuser and got right up in his face. Travis was almost jealous of Ted.

"Against your will? You were powerless. They could've killed you at any moment. Then where would we be?"

Ted didn't back down an inch. "You know, I never exactly signed the permission slip to get turned into what I am." His voice deepened. "And you just left her there. It should've been me."

Travis wanted to punch something, or someone. He knew that wouldn't exactly get him anywhere, so he stepped between Ted and Reena instead. "None of this is helping. It seems like we know where she is. So let's go back and get her."

"I'm afraid that's not possible."

The words came from a hulking defensive lineman of a man who took up nearly the entire doorframe he stood within. The gargantuan man in the uniform acted as if their argument was nothing but a nuisance. The way Erica stood at attention made Travis know this meathead meant business.

Despite a gesture from his traveling partner to salute the man, Travis folded his arms instead. "Says who?"

The man smirked like he could crush Travis between his fingers. "General Gan, the leader of the light soul army." He looked toward the hallway as if he had a more pressing matter elsewhere. "Breaching the defenses of the dark souls couldn't have been done without careful planning. They won't let us through the same way twice, and our soldiers are too important to risk for the life of a human. End of story."

Gan left as nonchalantly as he'd come, and Travis stormed over to Erica. "Who does that dickbag think he is?" He shook his head. "The life of a human? That's Natalie we're talking about."

Erica nodded. "I'll work on him."

Reena stepped forward, absent of the tension the previous confrontation had presented. "You must be tired." She looked between Ted and Erica. "And if you can stop arguing, I imagine you have a lot to catch up on. Can I take you to your quarters?"

The reunited trio nodded in agreement and walked in silence down several hallways. Between the white walls and the constant light, Travis felt like he was in an insane asylum. He practically expected to see padded walls when they entered their room, but it more closely resembled a college dorm room than a holding cell. Ted looked like he was about to launch into another argument when Erica put up her hands before he could speak.

"Obviously we've got some things to hash out here, but we need to get on the same page."

Ted let out the tension in his shoulders. "Okay."

Erica sat down on the edge of a bed, and the other two did the same. "Kable's still alive. He's taken over the DHS and he's primed to win the election. Jen and Dhiraj are trying to come up with a solution."

Ted's face strained as he took it all in. "Can't Redican work some mind control or something? Maybe the sheriff can–"

Travis put his hand on Ted's shoulder. "Redican and the sheriff are dead, man."

The light went out of Ted's eyes. "Oh." He sighed. "Damn."

Erica and Travis explained everything from the covert missions at the DHS and the Treasure Sheriff's Department to the portal they were able to open from Earth. Whatever bad blood existed between Ted and Erica from the previous argument faded away, and before long they were holding hands. When she leaned her head on his shoulder, Travis felt his desire to punch something rise again. Without a word, he stormed off into the hallway.

Once he was out of the room, he screamed. A few light souls looked up at him briefly, but they quickly went back to what they were doing. Travis slammed a fist into the white, metallic wall. The pain cut through his knuckles, but at least it took some of the edge off his emotions. When a tap came on the shoulder, Travis whirled around and prepared to strike.

Ted stood before him, with a sheepish look on his face. "Hey."

Travis lowered his defenses, though he did still kind of want to punch the living soul in the eye. "Hey."

"I just wanted you to know..." Ted put his hands in his pockets. "Natalie wouldn't stop talking about you."

Travis let out a laugh. "Oh yeah? What'd she say?"

Ted grinned. "That you were a heroic idiot."

"She really said that?"

Ted shifted his head from side to side. "Not in that order. But I know that's how she meant it."

Travis leaned his back against the wall and slunk to the floor, where he wrapped his arms around his knees. "I love her, Ted. I feel like a pansy saying it, but I know it's the truth."