A Grim Love: Can't Fight Time (20 page)

“What?” Nina turned her head and listened closely, hearing the beginnings of a song. A niggle in the back of her mind reminded Nina she’d heard the notes before.

Humming along with the tune, Nina finally figured out the song. It was one of her favorites, one that he mother had played throughout her childhood: Night and Day, sung by Ella Fitzgerald.

Hopping off the metal slab, Nina carefully walked towards the sound, noticing a door on the other side of the room slightly ajar. The music sounded like it was from a record player, the unique chords drawing her through the door and into a long, brightly lit hallway.

Gently flaring light scones lined the walls, spaced every couple of feet. The floor looked to be made out of white marble, with two sides of cork running parallel to each other. It was strange to
see the clash of modern and antediluvian workmanship. The two were part of time and yet timeless.

Behind her, Nina heard the door shut, and turned to catch the lock turning as if someone was on the other side locking it. Goosebumps crawled along her skin as the song grew louder and Fitzgerald began to sing.

Nina knew she couldn’t go back so, straightening her shoulders, she began to walk down the hall. Unable to help herself, she began to hum the song, the lyrics dancing through her head.

… Like the beat beat beat of the tom-tom

When the jungle shadows fall

Like the tick tick tock of the stately clock...

Another door appeared in front of her, and Nina paused and looked back over her shoulder. It had only felt like a few steps but the door to the laboratory was at least fifty feet behind her. If Nina hadn’t known better, she would’ve thought Uri had just flown her over to the door. But it was just her in the hallway, just her.

The door opened with an ominous creak, and Nina caught Fitzgerald's voice loud and clear.

… a voice within me keeps repeating you, you, you

Night and day, you are the one

Only you beneath the moon and under the sun

Whether near to me, or far

It's no matter darling where you are

I think of you…

Drawing in a shuddering breath, Nina pushed the door opened, surprised at how heavy it was. Crossing the threshold, she shielded her eyes as sunlight blinded her. Heat washed over her skin as the scent of magnolias hit her with the subtle impact of a punch in the face.

Stepping out further, Nina heard a creak and felt worn wood under her feet. Blinking back, Nina capped her hand over her eyes and adjusted to the blaring sun.

“Oh my God!” Nina’s jaw dropped as she looked at the stretch of trees and flowers. She only recognized the magnolia trees, but those in themselves were impressive.

Nina blinked again and realized that she stood on a white-painted porch, weathered wood columns protruded from the porch.

“Don’t just stand there. Come over here,” a female voice called to her from one side of the porch.

Nina turned to the voice and saw a woman sitting in a maple rocking chair, with a wide brimmed hat over her head. She wore a tan linen dress that came down to her knees and a pair of brown suede slip-ons.

Stepping with care, Nina moved to the woman, noticing an ancient-looking phonograph sitting on a side table beside her. As Nina drew closer, the woman reached over to the stenograph and picked up a glass of iced tea. Almost imperceptibly, the woman took a sip of her drink, most of her face still hidden by the wide brim of her straw hat.

“Are you Yin?” Nina asked as she drew closer, but stopped a few feet away.

“I am many things, and Yin happens to be one of them,” the woman responded, and waved Nina over to a rocking chair next to her. “Take a seat, Nina.”

Furrowing her brows, Nina went and took a seat, perching on the edge of the chair. The environment might exude calm, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t still danger lurking around. Nina found it hard to believe the mad scientist gods would just bring her here to stick her in a creepy Frankenstein lab and then have a sip of sweet tea. No, there was more in play here.

“Why am I here?” Nina asked her voice a little louder because of the music.

“Shh.” Yin shushed her. “This is the best part.”

Nina watched Yin’s hands move like a maestro as Fitzgerald's voice became louder, the song drawing to a close.

… Night and day

Under the hide of me

There's an oh such a hungry yearning burning inside of me

And its torment won't be through

'Til you let me spend my life making love to you

Day and night, night and day…

The blare of trumpets and the swift beat of the drums herald the ending of the song, until it all faded into nothing.

“Why did you pick this song?” Nina asked her tone a bit frustrated.

She doubted that Yin did anything just for the hell of it. The song had meaning; Nina just needed to figure out what it was.

“I thought it was perfect for the occasion.” Yin reached up and took off her hat. Thick, wavy dark brown hair flowed down around her. “And who doesn’t love Ella?”

Nina stared at Yin’s creamy complexion, a light dusting of freckles on the bridge of her nose and underneath her eyes. Crow’s feet around her soft brown eyes made it look like she smiled a lot, and high cheekbones and full red lips made her look regal and elegant. Yin was beautiful in that sort of ageless way; she reminded Nina of an older Audrey Hepburn.

Nina opened her mouth to ask where the infamous Yang was, when Yin interrupted her. “Magnolias, bay leaves, and edelweiss.” She gestured to the flowers, trees, and the tall bushes on either side of the porch stretching out to the horizon. “Beautiful, aren’t they?”

They were beautiful, but that wasn’t the point. “Why am I here?”

“Sorry I’m late,” a voice behind Nina said, making her jump out of her chair and whirl to face it.

A man in his early forties was smiling at her. His hair was blonde and his skin slightly tanned, like he’d been working out in the sun. Nina looked up into his eyes, a beautiful shade of brown, almost as deep and dark as coffee.

This must be Yang.
Nina thought as she sized up the man. He was lean and had the body of a runner, and Nina was pretty sure she could take him in a fight. In fact she was pretty sure she could take both Yin and Yang in a fight. They two looked like the poster couple for the USA’s nuclear family--all they were missing were the 2.1 kids and white picket fence.

“That’s alright. Have a seat, I was just telling Nina about our wonderful plants.” Yin’s voice said conversationally.

Forcing herself to sit back down, Nina tried to get back on topic. “Back to my question; Yin, I was--” Nina stopped and looked over at where Yin was supposed to be. Only a small, ancient-looking Chinese woman was in her place, wearing the exact same clothes as Yin. Age sagged off the woman as she rocked, her feet not anywhere near the ground.

“Can you repeat the question, Nina?” the old woman said in Yin’s voice.

Nina blinked and pinched herself. That couldn’t be Yin, and yet the voices were the same.
Is this some joke? Am I going crazy? Is any of this real?
The questions pounded against Nina’s head as she blinked again--a little black girl with pigtails now sat in Yin’s seat. The clothes were exactly the same, just fitted to a different form.

“Who the fuck--” Nina began, unable to stop herself.

“Language,” the little black girl said sternly, wagging a finger at Nina.

“We constantly shapeshift if we’re not focusing,” Yang said beside her, and Nina turned and looked at him sitting in a rocking chair like Yin’s. Yang didn’t look any different, same blond hair, tan skin, and all.

Sitting back so she could look at both of them, Nina turned her head and looked at Yin. “Can you focus then? I’d like to start the conversation.”

“Of course,” Yin and Yang said simultaneously before they both began to chuckle. Nina looked between the couple and felt a strange sense of Deja vu.

Nina frowned; unsure of how she felt about the odd couple she was sandwiched between. On the one hand, she really wanted to make Yin and Yang out to be the bad guys, to blame them for everything, because she’d expected to remain in a sort of dark void for the rest of her life. Now that she was thinking and cognizant, she remembered Grim and all that she’d given up. But on the other hand, they’d brought her back and allowed her to keep her memories and her wedding ring.

Biting her lip, Nina knew she couldn’t be angry with them, but she did feel something. Searching her mind, Nina searched for the right word.
Bitter.
The word sprung to her mind, and hurt so badly she knew it was the right word. Death had been her release, it had been her final mark on the world, and Yin and Yang had taken that away. They’d taken her ending.

“Keep frowning and your face is going to permanently stay like that,” Yin said as she changed back to her original form and reached for her ice tea. She paused and shook her head ruefully, a smile playing on her lips. “Oh! How rude of me, would you both like some sweet tea? I made it myself.”

Nina shook her head and watched Yang do the same. “No, thank you.”

“What would you like to know then?” Yang asked.

Nina turned to him and repeated the question. It took all of her self-control not to bite the words off and glare at the two of them. They were polite and nice, but they reminded her more of a retired couple who had all the time in the words and chose to waste it by going in roundabout ways. “Why am I here?”

Yang tilted his head back and closed his eyes as he began to rock. “Because you’re pregnant.”

Nina kept her face carefully devoid of any emotion that could indicate what was going on in her head. She couldn’t be pregnant. Uri had said time was different in the Underworld, and three days equated to three months, which meant that she’ only been there for three days. How could she be pregnant?

“It only takes one time, Nina,” Yin said, and Nina snapped her neck to look at the woman.

Can she read my mind?
Nina wondered.

The woman smiled widely, showing straight pearly-white teeth. “No, I can’t read your mind; I can read your face. You’re like an open book.”

That was a lie. Nina knew that her face didn’t give anything away when she didn’t want it to. Grim hadn’t even been able to penetrate her mask. Nina paused as a glaring realization struck her: Grim hadn’t created humanity. It would make sense that the creators of, well, everything would know everything.

Pausing, Nina decided to take whatever they said as fact. Yin and Yang had no reason to lie to her, so if they said she was pregnant, she was one hundred percent pregnant.

“I’m dead; what does a baby have to do with anything?” Nina asked, trying to understand why she was there.

“You should rephrase that question,” Yang said as he continued to rock back and forth. “It should be: what does a baby have to do with everything?”

Yin picked up the thread of conversation. “The child is the future.”

Nina stared between the two, feeling like a child at the adults’ table. She didn’t get anything they were saying. “What?”

She was dead, of that she was absolutely sure. That meant that the fetus inside of her was dead, if her pregnancy had even progressed that far. The conversation they were having was hinged on her life, but since she didn’t have one, neither did her child.

“You’re not dead, Nina.” Yin said around a sip of tea.

Now she was confused. Nina was so confused, that there needed to be a new word added to the dictionary for what she was. “How is my child the future? How am I not dead?” then a sudden thought struck, and Nina’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. “Am I a Grim Reaper now?”