Clare stepped out of her
room, and found Max still standing in the hallway. He was leaning against the wall, his head
hung low. For the first time Clare was
seeing the real Max. He was tired. The
look on his face, that look of concern and fear suddenly made the man she had
only seen as a showman before, seem all to real to her.
When he spotted her, he
stood up, quickly sliding back into his TV host role. The change was disappointing.
“So, everything
okay?” Max smiled, brushing his hair out
of his face.
“No. Nothing is okay.” Clare took a deep breath. “I told the rest of my team to head on up
here. They are more equipped to handle
stuff like this.”
“Stuff like this?” Max cocked his head to the side, and for a
second he reminded Clare of a confused dog.
She filled him in on
everything Ashtyn had told her, specifically the mention of Grath, and the
attack at Kurt’s office.
“You think you’re
connected?” He looked even more confused.
“Yes.” Clare glanced down the hall, making sure that
no one else was listening in.
In the brief break in the
conversation, the hallway seemed to fall into a thick, almost eerie quiet. Even the sound of the AC seemed to fade
away. Then, like a clap of thunder, the
hallway was filled with the sound of breaking glass.
“What the fuck was
that?” Max turned, his eyes wide.
There was a scream. The voice was familiar.
“Rita!” Clare rushed towards Rita’s door. She didn’t bother to knock. Instead she aimed a solid kick at the door
jam, sending the door flying opening.
Rita was sprawled on the
floor, shattered glass surrounding her.
She was crawling, trying to reach her and Max, but something was wrapped
around her ankle. It was… it was a hand. The hand was connected to a long, bony arm
that snaked out the window. The thing’s
skin wasn’t normal, though. It was
slick, shiny. It looked like…
A loud cackling filled
the room, as Ujin climbed over the window sill.
Eight arms, one of which was now latched onto Rita, sprung out of his
back, and his small, doll body swung loosely as the free arms grabbed onto the
window frame. His face was contorted
into a wicked grin, and his eyes were a bright, clean white.
“Clare, help me!” Rita was struggling, trying to kick her ankle
free, but Ujin’s hand held fast.
Clare rushed towards the
struggling girl, but one of Ujin’s hands shot out, swatting her away, and
knocking her into a wall.
Clare could feel the wind
being knocked out of her from the impact, and she fell to her knees. She could only watch as Max rushed towards
the odd, spider/elf hybrid. He didn’t
make it far before the same hand that had batted Clare away with such ease
slammed into Max’s chest, sending him flying back into the hallway.
Ujin’s head turned, looking
at her. “Rita here has places to
be. Don’t worry, our plans require that
she be alive and well. We won’t harm
her.” He cocked his head to the side,
his smile stretching wider. “I
promise.”
The hand that had been
wrapped Rita’s leg suddenly snaked up the girl’s body, the arm binding her
limbs, the hand wrapping around Rita’s mouth, muffling her screams.
“Let her go!” Clare got to her feet, but she couldn’t make
a move. One of Ujin’s free hands slammed
into her chest, pinning her against the wall.
“Do not interfere!”
Ujin’s smile quickly turned to a twisted scowl.
“I spare you now because the Nameless require your presence, but do not
test me, girl. You are not essential.”
His face shifted again,
back to that cruel, mocking smile. “Bye
bye!”
Ujin leapt backwards,
falling out of view. Clare was free now,
but she couldn’t move fast enough, and Rita was pulled out the window, away
from Clare, away from safety.
“No!” Clare rushed to the window, looking out,
hoping to see Rita or Ujin.
They were gone.
She turned, rushing into
the hallway, towards a stunned Max who was just now starting to crawl to his
feet.
“Come on.” Clare didn’t turn to look at him, knowing
that he would follow.
“Where are we
going?” She could hear the fear in Max’s
voice.
For a moment she almost
considered leaving him behind. He wasn’t
prepared for something like this. She
wanted to tell him to stay, to wait for her, but she knew that he would argue
with her, and even if he did agree to stay behind, she highly doubted he would
actually stay put. If he was going to be
in the park, it was better that he be at her side, where she could protect him,
instead of sneaking in and wandering around on his own.
“Clare, where the hell
are we going?” He caught up to her, his
face red. He was already winded.
“Back to the park.” Clare looked at him. “He’s taking her to the temple. I know it.”
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