Catalyst (25 page)

             
"You want me to climb in there?" she squeaked. I looked at her. Kay wasn't scared of anything and right then, she sounded the most human I'd ever heard.

             
"Yeah. You climb through and make sure it's clear. If it is, you can call to us and we'll come through too. Or you can look for another way out."

             
"Ok," she said and smoothed her hair. "Of course, yeah."

             
"Wait," Miguel
said and you could tell he was ab
out to blast the whole thing. "W
hat can Kay do once she gets up there? No offense, but you're not exactly built for fighting, if you get my drift."

             
She turned to look at him and I knew. Crap, Miguel.

             
"I am a Keeper," she said, her voice shrill and demanding and I stood back to enjoy the show. "I am a guardian and have been so for thousands of years. I was
the
Keeper for
soldiers and blacksmiths and good men and women of worth. I was Keeper to Joan of Arcadia for goodness sakes!"
Miguel's eyes got wide and he leaned back and she came forward.
She poked his arm with her finger.
"So don't you dare think for one second that I can't handle some human
endeavor just because I'm in this body
. Climbing through a vent is nothing compared to what I've been through."

             
"Ok, ok. Jeez
,
"
he groaned and rubbed his arm. "Is everybody smoking the wiffy when I'm not looking or what?"

             
Danny and Celeste laughed, then Josh, then me and even Kay. We were wound tight, it was true. Kay gave him an apologetic smile and then accepted Josh's hand to lift her to the vent. Kay was the slimmest and slightest person of the bunch and he lifted her easily. He had to put his hands on her rear to hold her up. He grinned and winked at Miguel as he said, "Been working out, Kay?"

             
"Watch it," I growled and he laughed, not a bit scared. I rubbed my neck and
tried
to
think. If this didn't work, we'd have to find another way out.

             
"I think I've got the latch," Kay groaned as she strained. "Just a little…more."

             
Josh hoisted her higher, she flipped the switch and the door swung open easily. She grabbed the inside ledge and wiggled her way inside with Josh's help. She leaned back in to say, "Celeste, stay with Danny."

             
"Duh,"
Celeste muttered.

             
"So I'll see if I can get out. And then we'll figure a way to get out the rest of you."

             
"We're fine her
e," I told her. "Guard your way
, sister."

             
"And you
, brother."

             
And the
n
s
he scampered through the tunnel. We could hear
her and then we couldn’t. I knew she was fine though. Kay was just as fierce as the rest of us.

             
"What does that mean?" Josh asked. "Guard
your way
?"

             
"Guard you in all your ways," I answered. "It's what Keepers say to one another. It means be safe and do your job, basically."

             
"And you're all related?"

             
"No, why?"
             

             
"You called her sister, she called you brother."

             
"W
e are
sisters and brothers in our kind. We are not related in the sense that you are referring to though."

             
"So, how do you procreate?" he asked and I saw Miguel and Danny's ears turn our way.

             
"We don't," I answered and gave him a look that said not to touch that subject.

             
"Are you aliens or angels?"
he asked some more as he looked into big bins and tubs that were in the middle of the room.

             
"I am neither of those human words."

             
"Dude, you are way cryptic right now."

             
"I am what I am. I'm not a word that your human mind can come up with or comprehend. Just call me guardian or Keeper
or better yet, Merrick,
and that'll be fine."

             
He thought about that for a minute, his jaw working back and forth. Then he finally said, "Racine's gonna be seriously pissed that I left when she comes out of her flu coma."

             
"Yep," I
agreed. "She probably
will be.
If you were my Special, I'd be seriously pissed,
"
I said and gave Danny a pre-emptive look. He laughed and shook his head.

             
"
So, Keepers can die like everybody else can? Like she could die from the flu?"

             
"Yes," I answered. "We are human for all intents and purposes."

             
"Huh," he muttered. "That sucks."

             
"Are you worried about her?"

             
"Kinda." He stuck his hands in his pockets. "She's a nice lady."

             
"Hmm. Well, she'll probably be fine. Ok," I looked around, "let's help Kay out and try to see if maybe there's a trap door or something somewhere."

             
"
Yeah," Miguel said and immediately started to rummage, eager for something to do.

             
"So," Josh asked as he tossed some debris aside and felt along the walls, "if you can't get your freak on to make little Keepers, then how are there so many of you?"

             
"Freak on?" Miguel asked. "That's all you
've
got?"

             
"Hey,
I found
-"

             
I turned to Josh when his voice cut off and he was nowhere to be seen. I blurred to where he'd been and he was gone. When I felt along the wall, it gave under my hand in a large square right at my waist level. I pushed it and leaned in to see
that
it was chute. A laundry chute. Dang.
That's what those bins and tubs had been. This was
some kind of
dyeing plant.
I called down to him
,
but heard nothing.

             
"He slid down," I told them.

             
"I'm going after him then," Miguel said and attempted to move me.

             
"We don't know where that leads," I told him.

             
"
To the laundry room," he said sarcastically.

             
"Ha ha. We have no idea how far it goes or to where-"

             
"Hey!" Josh yelled and the echo in the chute hurt my ears it was so loud. "Hey!"

             
"Josh!"

             
"Yeah. I found a way out. There's stairs down here, come on down!"

             
"Bugger," Miguel said. "That kid's getting on my last nerve
,
but at le
ast he found a way out. Let's roll
."

             
"But what about Kay?"

             
"Here." He took a piece of paper and pen from his pocket and wrote "We're down here" on it. "See, we'll stick this is door of the chute. Problem solved, mate."

             
"You just happen to have a pen and paper in your pocket?" He shrugged. "Alright,
I guess that'll do. Danny and Celeste, come on."

             
Miguel climbed down the chute with no qualms at all and even squealed on the w
ay down…like it was fun. Humans.

             
"I can't leave Kay," Celeste complained and then I sho
wed her the note. "Ok, b
ut if something happens we're coming back for her."

             
"Of course. I'm not one to leave someone behind."

             
"Let me go first, babe," Danny told her. "Then I can catch you."

             
"Aw, you're so sweet, baby," she said through a sigh and I took a breath
to keep from grumbling
.

             
"Ok, let's a move on. Go, Danny,
"
I urged.

             
He went through and then Celeste go
t
up in the chute mouth. She looked back at me and smiled.

             
"Don't be scared, Keeper."

             
"Thanks, Celeste," I said dryly, her laughter carrying up to me as she let go and shot down the chute. I settled myself in the hole and let the edge of the door catch the note so it would stay. Then I let go and hoped that Kay would find us and
that
this was a way out.

             
When I reached the bottom
, they were all standing around gawking at something behind them. I looked around Josh to see crates. Crates and crates marked as guns and explosives…and
can goods
. I felt my heart pitter-patter in response. In was like a beacon or light was
shining on them with angels
singing in the background.

             
But where did they come from? Who did they belong to? Was this someone's hideout after all and we'd destroyed it, albeit unintentionally? It had to belong to someone and the Lighters wouldn't keep things like that here.

             
I suddenly had a very bad feeling about it all and a desire to get out that place.

             
"Guys, this isn't good. Let's go."

             
"What?" Josh said. "We can't just leave this stuff. We can use it!"

             
"And how would we get it back to the store? Jeep's full and this stuff belongs to someone. We'd be taking their stuff that they've saved
a
nd who kn
ows who they fought for it and it wouldn't be right."

             
"Are you taking the piss?
" Miguel reasoned
, in his strange roundabout way of saying 'Are you for real?'
. "Where are they? Maybe they left in a dash and couldn't carry it all or something."

             
"
It wouldn't be right. We're leaving it," I said harder to make sure they understood I was
n't
looking for a discussion. "Now, come on. Let's put these stairs to use that Josh was bragging about."

             
"What
luck," Josh mused as he began to take the steps two at a time. "
I was feeling alo
ng
, saw the chute behind the wall,
pushed a little too hard I guess and wham!" he yelled and slapped his hands together. "Straight down the chute." He opened t
he door at the top and it welcomed us
in
to
a hallway that went up a few stories. He grinned back at us. "You can all thank me later for saving your backsides."

             
"Oh, we’ll get right on that," Celeste said and giggled as Danny lifted her onto his back to take the stairs. I took up the rear of the group and once again found myself hoping this led to somewhere safe and no more trouble was to be had.

             
When I got through the door I listened to Celeste and Danny gabbing about nothing as we scaled the steps.

             
The stairs were made of rickety wood that groaned and pressed under our weight. A split second before I told Danny to put Celeste down
, that I didn't think the wood
could hold them both like that, he fell. They both did.
They went straight through a step that gave way under their weight. I blurred up to them and grabbed Danny's hand as it passed the last inch of wood. He somehow managed to snag her hand out of the air as she fell too. They dangled three stories up above the concrete floor we'd just been on at the bottom of the laundry chute.

             
"Hold on," I told him though I knew it was stupid to say that to people in these situations. What else could they do
but hang on
?