Divine_Scream (12 page)

“Shit… So what do we do?”

“We cannot be directed by them, obviously, and need to deactivate the Spike. It can be done, but there’s a catch.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Big, big catch,” she said. “Which makes this more difficult and dangerous.”

“Are you going to tell me?” he asked.

“Since they are directly linked with the Lung Spike, the easiest way to break their connection will be to disturb that bond. Once that occurs, the device will not be able to have residence here and will self-destruct. That will immediately open up the paths again for us, so we can continue on.”

“How do you disturb their bond with the Lung Spike?” he asked.

“I need to physically touch one of the Assembly.”

“Touch one of them?” Jared drew back, appalled. “Like with your fingers?”

“Should I use a kiss?”

“I’m not joking!”

“Neither am I,” she laughed. “It might be fun to see their reaction.”

“Stop it.”

“Well, stop asking dippy questions then.”

“How will you get close enough to touch them…”

Banch held up a hand. “You’re going to help with that. Come on.”

She switched directions and headed down the opposite street.

“Is this the area with that Cajun kitchen? The one where you and Kaitlin sometimes go for lunch?” she asked him.

“Yeah, it’s a couple blocks up the way. Kind of expensive though.”

“Perfect. Do you think there will be a crowd this time of day?”

“People are getting off work. There’s a bar.”

“But is it crowded?”

“Most times, yes. It’s pretty popular.”

“This is wonderful.” She dragged him forward. “What’s this place called again? I never bothered to catch that.”

“The Bayou Cat.”

She grinned. “Cute!”

“Are you hungry or something?”

“Always, but that isn’t why we’re going there. We need help with a few items and a place where I can join with my twin.”

Jared cocked his head. “
Twin
? You never mentioned her before.”

“She doesn’t exist in this reality… yet.”

“You lost me.”

“As it is, just my touching them wouldn’t disturb the bond enough. Well, not to the extent we require. The Assembly would fight to retain their bond. There has to be even more dimensional interference. So that’s why I will perform a Fusing Scream, which will pull a different version of me from an alternate reality completely—a different set of dimensions.”

“I don’t follow.”

“If your universe and mine were all pages in a book that made up the multiverse, the Banch I will summon comes not only from a different book, but from an entirely different bookshelf. This Banch will have lived her life most likely in an extremely different way than I lived mine, because her reality will be drastically dissimilar to ours. Because you see, Jared, that even though I come from another dimensional space, our worlds do share the same reality. We are, in fact, in the same book.”

“Can I just go on record to say that’s very, very weird, Banch?”

“While my twin resides in this world, anything we come in contact with long enough will cause the object to aggressively disassociate from reality, since dimensional logic breaks down, you see. The Assembly will have to struggle to stay resident in this reality and in order to do that, they will be forced to let the Spike go.”

“Then what?”

“This is where you help. I need you to escort my twin back to the
exact
place I Fused. She’ll be nearby somewhere and I’ll show you how to find her. After the Spike’s destruction, dimensional logic will restore itself. My twin and I will both return to where we came from, but only if she shares my same space at that moment.” Banch looked at him with surgical appraisal. “Let me say that again because you looked out to lunch.
She has to share the same space with me at that moment
.”

“I heard you the first time,” Jared grumbled. “But okay, I’m going to pretend I understand all of that. What if I can’t get her back to the place where you Fused?”

Banch pressed her lips together. “We will Self-Destruct along with the Spike, I imagine.”

“Are you kidding? That’s friggin great. How will I even get to your twin with the streets choking the life out of me? And how will you get near the Assembly without them seeing you?”

“I’ll worry about that, and as far as getting through these streets, that’s where this place comes in.”

They stood outside the Bayou Cat. The host, a tall bald man in round spectacles, opened the door with a big grin, “Hi folks, coming in? Table for two?”

Banch slipped her arm through Jared’s. He switched the detergent to the other hand and put it behind his back.

“Yes, for two,” he said, and then followed the host into the black-lit innards of the restaurant. The host sat them at the far back end of the building. Kaitlin would have asked for a different table, since it was so near the kitchen and clattering dishes unnerved her. Banch, on the other hand, was all smiles, almost giddy. It was the best mood he’d seen her in since the Swell.

“Your server will be right with you,” said the host before departing.

Banch nodded and picked up her menu. Jared studied her a moment. Her full lips parted as she took a breath and held his hand.

“Wh—”

A sound came forward and Jared saw everything masked in gold for a flash. It happened so fast he didn’t have a chance to be frightened.

“Don’t worry,” said Banch, cutting off his question.

“I wasn’t ready! Was that a Fusing Scream?”

“No, calm down,” she replied with a wink. “We’re not ready for that one yet.”

The waiter came up and blinked at them as though freshly awakened. “Whatever you need,” he said with an unnatural smile. “Tell me what I can do for you both.
Please
.”

“Why thank you, sir,” Banch said. “We need you to find who has the fastest car in the parking lot. Oh and a Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.”

“At once.” The waiter bowed deeply and hurried off.

“The hell was that?” asked Jared.

“It’s long for SCUBA.”

“I know what that is! Why was that waiter acting like a slave?”

“The Gilded Scream,” Banch replied. “Everyone in the restaurant will do what we wish them to now. They’ll also offer blindly to give us presents—”

A young brunette woman approached their table with a sheepish grin. She opened her purse and fished around for something. She withdrew her cash and credit cards and set them on the table. Then she reached up to her necklace, but Banch stopped her. “No darling, we don’t need any of this. We want privacy right now. Can you please let everyone else know?”

“So sorry, yes,” the woman replied and quickly gathered up her items. She went from there to a table nearby and shared the request. Then moved on to the next table and worked her way through the restaurant.

“How long does this last?” asked Jared.

“Forever,” Banch explained. “But you can send them away for good if they bug you.”

All eyes in the restaurant focused on them, neediness welling in every pair.

Jared’s insides chilled. “They’d fight for us too, wouldn’t they?”

“Yes,” said Banch. She studied him a second. “Would you use them that way?”

“Absolutely not,” he replied.

“Good. Me neither. It might needlessly change the death schedule anyway.”

Jared couldn’t help the smile forming on his lips. “So this entire restaurant—everybody in here is our slave?”

“I think a few people in the kitchen avoided the effect—the Swell has made my range more limited. All of my screams will be less effective for a while. Hopefully those few unaffected people don’t own the fastest car in the parking lot. You’ll need a high performance machine to drive through the choked streets.”

“But—I can’t drive. I don’t drive. I never have.”

“You will today,” Banch said simply.

“I can’t.”

“It’s only for the first leg of your trip. The rules still apply to my twin. She can’t break connection with the ground. Once you find her, both of you will need to return on foot. It won’t be far, but it certainly won’t be easy coming back on foot. The SCUBA gear will provide you enough air to avoid the coma though.”

Jared sunk in his chair.

Banch glanced at the menu. “Oh look, fried okra!”

“Maybe this is too much.”

She dropped the menu on the table. “What?”

“This, all this stuff we have to do.” He threw his hands together. “I’m gonna die anyway, Banch.”

“We’ve covered this. The Assembly is worse.”

“I know, but if more people get hurt—”

“We aren’t going to let anyone get hurt.” Banch grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “We’re going to get you to the ocean, remove the mark of the Gift, and your soul will be spared. You think this is difficult? You don’t want to look back on this moment until the end of time and wish you’d fought harder. Believe me, Jared Kare.”

He rubbed at a small headache forming in the center of his forehead. “Will you go back to the Deeper Unseen after the beach? You’ll still be my banshee, right? You’ll be there for me… when I go.”

She gave him a faint smile. “Certainly.”

“You promise?”

Banch sighed and crossed her heart.

It was difficult holding a conversation with every person at every table staring at them with expectant, hungry gazes.

“You said the Pacific Ocean shares space between our dimensions. Back in the Deeper Unseen, do you ever swim its waters?” he asked.

“The Paled Ocean? I have a few times. I can feel this world in its every drop. I adore this one beach near a free-zone called Mazanyia. It’s a peaceful place that the Silent Kings don’t control. The city is known for its fine parchment and textiles. Quaint yellow and white cottages built into the sapphire moss covered cliffs. You would like it.”

“I bet.” Jared noticed he still had his fingers looped around the detergent’s handle. He moved the box between his feet under the table.

The waiter showed up at his side with two men. “I’ve brought these two gentlemen for you. Jason here has a Mustang Shelby 2014—next was a supped-up Camry, but I think we have a winner.”

“Sounds perfect,” said Banch. Jared swallowed uneasily.

A tall, handsome, nicely dressed Mexican man with a shaved head pressed the keys into Jared’s hand. “It’s at half a tank. Do I need to get it filled up?”

“No, we’ll be fine, thanks,” Banch told him.

“Are you hungry? Want dinner? The prime rib jambalaya is awesome. I’ll pay of course, and how about some hurricanes?”

“Maybe later,” Jared said. “Thank you. I’ll try to be careful with your car.”

“Do what needs to be done, brother. It’s your car now.” He patted Jared’s shoulder and jumped up with childish delight, so happy to have provided for his masters.

“This is Kyle,” the waiter introduced the other man, “and he dives and snorkels all over the world.”

The deeply tanned man’s heavily stoned eyes peered out behind his long shaggy golden hair. “My gear’s at home, but I’m less than a few miles from here. I can hurry.”

Before Jared could answer, Banch said, “Yes, please do.”

Kyle charged down the aisle and sprinted the length of the restaurant. He slammed his shoulder into the front door rather than opening it and took off running outside as though on fire. Everyone at the tables stared on in envy. Jason and the waiter bowed and left Banch and Jared alone once more.

Jared looked down at the keys. “Haven’t driven since I was sixteen.”

“I remember,” said Banch. “But you’ll do fine.”

“How do I know where to find your twin?”

“You’ve been with me long enough now—up in the sky you’ll notice a crease in time-space. Follow that and you should find her.”

“Will she cooperate?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’ve Fused with other Banches from different realities before.”

He absently jiggled Jason’s Mustang keys, a Corona beer bottle opener with a half-naked lady swung from it. “Boy. Different versions of you. That’s crazy.”

“Not really. Not when you’ve gone through time as long as I have.”

“How old are you then?”

“Screw you, Jared.”

“Whoa sorry.”

She faked punching him in the jaw and laughed. “Okay. We’ve wasted enough time. I need to begin Fusing. You’ll notice the choked street will erupt in steam once the Lung Spike is destroyed. If my twin isn’t sitting in this chair very soon after that happens, we will fail. Be careful and be quick.”

Jared knuckled a cold bead of sweat off his brow. “Okay. You be careful too, I mean, with
them
.”

“Don’t worry. They’ll not see me coming.”

“What if they do?”

“My twin will vanish… and you’ll know that you’re on your own. That will be your cue to get into your new muscle car and floor it all the way to the beach. The Assembly will most likely use one of their grants and head you off at the beach. If you can avoid that and get into the water, you’ll be lucky.”

Jared sighed through his nose.

“Okay,” said Banch. “So, again, no more talking. Time for shit to happen.”

Jared wanted to hold on, had a dark feeling this would be the last he saw of her, or at least this version of her. The sound that came from Banch made the insides of his ears itch—maybe even his brain tickle—bizarre, but more bizarre was the feeling of rain coming down inside his skull.

The banshee rested her head down on her slender arms and slowly faded—translucent, transparent, and then gone.

“Bye,” said Jared. He took a breath and looked at the empty chair for a long moment. “I love you. God help me, but I do.”

A hand dropped on his shoulder. Kyle, clearly out of breath but very happy, held out a SCUBA mask. The tank was at his side. “Hey man, it’s yours. Full tank too. Just filled it for Catalina, but whatever. I love that I can give this to you.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Jared told him. “Sorry you’ll miss your trip.”

“Nah! Anything else you need?”

“This will do. Oh, well, you could tell everybody in here to hang tight until I get back. It’s dangerous out there.”

“Absolutely.”