Decay (24 page)

She didn't wait to let Chihuahua go first. Without any hesitation, Nia climbed into the ship. There was plenty of room for her to stand. The closer she walked to the front, the stronger the presence of the spirits became. Like they were sitting on her, or embracing her. Warm, like a thick blanket, and that was new for her. Usually she was cold and queasy, but she was the one who was seeking the spirits out and not the other way around.
Perhaps it's only those who want to be found who feel good inside.

Then out of nowhere, it was like she walked into a wall of cold air. The sensation took the breath from her lungs, and she stumbled backward into the wall behind her. Chihuahua was there to help support her.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I...there's something...” She searched around her and noticed a door to her right that was slightly rusted. Nia pointed. “In there.”

He glanced between her and the door, then went to open it. A lot of pushing was involved, but eventually he got it to move and stepped inside. “Oh man,” he gasped.

“What?” she asked, slowly standing so she could see too. Potion walked into the door first and squeaked out a soft cry. Grunting, she pressed her way forward and entered the room as well and stopped in the doorway.

It was a bedroom, and quite possibly the most depressing display was before her. In the full-sized bed lay two skeletons curled towards one another like lovers in one last embrace. Her stomach churned when she saw there was a third, smaller, skeleton between the two – a child.
I don't want to bring them back.

Chihuahua walked back to the door to leave the room, gently putting a hand on Potion's shoulder on his way out. “We need to find this artifact. Any idea what it looks like? Or what it is even?”

“It rests inside of a golden box,” Nia said. “Try the cockpit. It's a technology. I would think they'd keep it with the rest of the computer stuff. There's something else I've got to do, so you go ahead and find it. We'll catch up.”

“O...kay...” His eyes narrowed for a moment before he left, disappearing from her sight.

Once he was gone, Nia faced Potion. “Do you have the enhancement ready for me?”

The girl nodded and produced a small golden pill. Nia wasn't sure how she did it, but Potion was able to produce pills and liquids that when ingested caused the taker to do things beyond their normal capabilities. The pills never created new powers, but they could help someone see better in the dark, have more stamina, or in Nia's case, have a higher level of spiritual energy to work with.

Nia looked down at the pill before popping it into her mouth. She gagged on it slightly as she tried to get it down her throat. The effects took place shortly after. She could tell because her body began to tingle like her limbs had fallen asleep, and the wall of cold air returned, enveloping her. Barely able to control her shivering, Nia somehow managed to reach her hand out to the skeletons. Touching them was not something she wanted to do, but her powers worked better through physical contact than simply using her will power. It took up a lot less energy.
If I could hold Dallas's hand when he was a decaying mess, I can touch a bone. Hopefully it doesn't crumble apart on me.
She had no idea what kind of condition these bodies were in.

Before her hands made contact with the bone of one of the skeletons, it moved. Potion whimpered behind her. She herself wanted to leave and freak out, but she was also determined to keep a level head. She had to. If not, then she'd lose all control over her powers, and she didn't even want to think about what might happen then.

The skeleton wrapped its boney fingers around her hand. Nia felt her body involuntarily cringe at the contact, but she dutifully maintained her composure.

“Thank you,”
the spirit voice said. She managed a nod.

“Okay so I found the box. It's−” Chihuahua reentered the room and stopped behind Nia. “It's moving.”

“Yeah,” she said flatly. “Remember, I raise dead things?”

“Right, but why−”

“I don't know why I was given the orders, but we got what we came for, so let's go.”

Potion, who had mainly been silent, spoke in a firm voice. “How?”

Chihuahua reached up to his communicator and turned it on. “Alan, dude, we need your help. We're not sure if the way we entered the compound is still safe. Help?” He let go of the device, and then added, “My superior is supposed to be monitoring our every move. He'll know the best way out.”

It didn't take long for a reply to come. “Your position has indeed been compromised. Surveillance cameras of the facility show members of the enemy tribe searching close to where you are. I believe they are in the next room over.”

“Compromised? What do you mean compromised? Is everything okay? Did the others get hurt?” Chihuahua asked.

“I will collect you in a moment and fill you in on what has happened once we are safe at our base. Do not move, I need as exact of a location as possible for my abilities to work, do you understand?”

“Got it, not moving!”

Nia wasn't quite sure what information to react to first. The fact that somehow, something had gone wrong with the mission, or that she had to put her trust in a guy who was named after a yapping dog. She still had no clue what his powers were. With a scowl, she folded her arms in front of her as anger set in.
This is ridiculous.

“The Gelandrosimbol has found a way in. They will be upon us shortly.”

“Your superior better have a plan because the bad guys are going to bust in.” Nia passed along the message.

Then a new voice spoke, this one audible and not in her head. “I am here. Hold on to one another, the less trips I have to make the better.”

Nia spun her head around, and saw a tall blond man. He must have been an Alturan because he didn't wear a mask.
How did he get here? It's like he popped in from nowhere!
Before she could ask a question, Chihuahua grabbed hold of her arm. Her hand was still gripping the skeleton's. The next thing she knew, they were all back inside of the warehouse base.

“What just happened?” she demanded.

“Teleportation. It weirds me out too,” Chihuahua said. “The important thing is we're back and safe. So you can relax.”

“Not quite,” she muttered. All three of the skeletons had teleported with them, and Nia had a feeling that she'd be using more of her powers soon to reconstruct their bodies. After all, a corpse couldn't talk if it didn't have a tongue.

 

 

While the others were on their mission to help Alan, Cadence stayed at The Apartment. She'd just gotten off of the phone with her mother to let her know she wouldn't be coming home again for the night. The lies were getting easier to tell. Cadence had stopped home in the afternoon and said something about a night out with the girls. She didn't have any female friends, not really. Angela sort of counted, but she was the sister of her now ex-boyfriend, and possibly ex-best friend, but what Cadence's mother didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

Even though Jaes was there most of the time, it was a lot like working on her own. Her first project was to figure out Orlando's cell phone. She'd assumed it wouldn't take much time and the case would be solved by the end of the first night. Not only did she have to figure out Orlando's password to get into the phone, but she also had to find a way into his cellphone provider's database so she could get access to his history. She'd glanced over his previous calls and text messages and found very little. The last phone call he had made was to Angela, and the last text he had sent was to someone named Nia. He'd apparently been on his way over to hang out, but that didn't give Cadence much to work with.

Genius or not, computers were still new to Cadence. She learned things at a rapid rate, and she was picking up on a lot of hacking skills. However, she was still new to it, and the cellphone provider had much more sophisticated programming than anything she'd broken into before. Every time she tried to get into the system, she messed something up and got locked out – sometimes for hours at a time. She'd even tried calling Orlando's cellphone provider to see if they'd tell her what she needed themselves, they refused. Without all of his account information, or a court order, they couldn't help her.

“Maybe I should give it to the police after all. I thought I could do this, you know?” she whispered.

Jaes looked up at her from his project – deciphering The Doctor's notes in hopes of finding out how the drug worked. He gave her a soft smile. “Would you like to switch? Perhaps a fresh set of eyes would be useful. Plus, there are things I know which might make for a breakthrough.”

“But I'm supposed to know everything.” She couldn't help but feel defeated. There wasn't much she could provide for the team. This task was quite possibly the most important one she'd ever had, and she was completely stumped.

Still smiling, Jaes moved away from the table he was working at and came up behind her at the computer. “You have the capacity to learn and know many things, yes. But you are still learning. It's near impossible to know everything. These skills you desire to improve will take time and practice, studying, just like you would normally learn. May I touch you?”

She gazed up at him. “Excuse me?”

“May I touch you? I ask because my main ability is to give others a boost. This is a fairly common power on Altura. How it manifests is different for many people. Mine is through touch. I can enhance and then absorb the gifts of another. If I touch you, I can increase your capacity for learning, and connect our knowledge together. Then we might be able to gain access to the database,” he explained.

“Oh, I didn't mean to take you away from your project.”

“What's more important? Why are you so uncertain and insecure around me? I know we haven't gotten to spend much time with one another, but I do remember you having a bit more confidence than this.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “You have amazing talents. Don't second guess yourself. Please, let me help you, teach you.”

Cadence's gaze met his, and she nodded, taking in the sight of his hazel eyes. JD had hazel eyes as well, but Jaes' were much gentler and warmer, which said a lot, since JD was the most kind and caring person she'd ever met. She could barely feel it when Jaes shifted his hand to make contact with the bare skin on her shoulder. There was a slight warmth to him, but it was almost as if he were afraid to touch her as well. She was about to ask him what next, when a shock jolted her body.

Gasping, her hands moved to the keyboard on their own, like someone else was controlling her. Flashes of places she'd never seen before appeared in her mind.
Is this Altura?
She wondered. Because the landscapes were not quite like any pictures she'd seen of Earth. Tall amethyst colored cliffs along a blue-green ocean, and trees adorned with fruits that reminded her of oranges only they were fuchsia.

“Yes,” Jaes said. “That's my home. Please try to keep your mind clear, or we'll be distracted from the connection. I have almost figured out the errors in your previous attempts.”

She did as she was told, emptying her mind of all thought, planning to save all of her questions for later. Once again, her fingers moved, flying across the keyboard with grace as she typed. It didn't take her long to break into the system of Orlando's cellphone provider, or rather, it didn't take Jaes long. The entire database was up and at her disposal.

“We need the locations of where he was before his phone was turned off,” she said. “All of that should be recorded here. He's got a data plan, so the cell towers would be constantly transferring data to and from his phone. There's bound to be something we can use.”

Jaes nodded. “I will write down the coordinates of the locations. We shouldn't linger long in the system. I'm not sure what kind of security they have and if it tracks where any invaders come from. It won't take long.”

She nodded, glad he had a better understanding of what to look for. If she'd been given the time, she would have known as well. Everything was a blur, so she couldn't focus. Instead she trusted Jaes to do what was needed, and absorbed all of the information he was giving her in the process. Like her brain was downloading everything he knew at a rapid rate.

Quickly, she logged out and shut down the computer. Cadence pushed the chair away from the computer, bumping into Jaes who was still behind her.

“I'm not sure I liked that,” she admitted.

“I am positive I did not, but it was necessary. I needed the knowledge you already had,” he said. “It will not happen again, if I can help it.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“You don't need to thank me. It will take me about five minutes to get these locations, and then we can go and find your friend.” He stepped away from her and crossed the room to go back to his table, where he pulled out a small device that reminded her of a miniature electronic tablet.

Cadence shook her head as she watched him work. “That's not what I was thanking you for. I meant for not wanting to do it again, but also for saying you needed what I already knew. Both of those things mean a lot to me.” She almost continued, wanting to explain why she felt that way, but decided to hold back. It wouldn't be professional of her to talk about her emotions so bluntly. If she had been with Alan, then maybe she would have elaborated, but Jaes was different. She barely knew him, even if he seemed safe enough.

Briefly, he lifted his gaze from his tablet to meet hers. “I respect you.”

“And that means a lot.”

“All right, we are ready. There are only two other places he went to the day he last used his phone. Do you by chance recognize either of these addresses?” Jaes walked over to her and showed her two different addresses placed on a map that had the bare minimum of details. It showed major roads, where there were houses and businesses, and the occasional park. One address was close to Lunar Falls high school, and that was an area she was only vaguely familiar with. The map showed a neighborhood. Cadence shook her head, but then pointed to the second location on the map. She was pretty sure it belonged to a cemetery. The way it appeared on Jaes's tablet suggested as much – a large green area between the highway and a smaller road.