The Other Side of Life (Book #1, Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy) (30 page)

Former heir to the Xenith
empire,
Anya said to herself, as she read
the text that ran at the bottom of the screen.

“—
into believing we were
searching for a cure for all the cancers in the world. On returning
to the lab, we discovered some secret documents Julius saved on his
computer. He believed he had found an elixir to everlasting
youth.”

“
An elixir?” the
interviewer interrupted, before handing the slim microphone back to
the scientist.

The chief scientist nodded, scoffing a
little at the notion. “We believe he was a little…misguided, in his
zeal to prove himself to his father. Having witnessed what had
taken place at the excavation site, and the events going on since
then, the Xenith team has decided to look elsewhere for a cure for
cancer.”

“
Samuel Lycata,” concluded
the TV announcer, “the CEO of Xenith, could not be reached for
comment.”

Leticia turned off the television. She
didn’t want to hear anymore, now that the whole ordeal was
over.

“
Who figured out what to do
at the Tree?” she asked. Despite not wanting to dwell on the
subject, she couldn’t cease her thoughts from drifting back to
Julius’s last moments.

“
Nin figured it out,” Anya
replied.

“
How?”

Anya could recall every single detail, from
the first step onto the Amazonian floor, to the first time that the
golden symbol appeared, and to the most poignant moment in her
life, as Nin lay in her arms.

“
I think he said
orn, ilfirin, lir,
which
revealed the symbol…and he just knew what to do.”

Leticia nodded slowly. “He was right,” she
said. “He was right about the Tree of Life.”

“
Yeah,” Anya breathed.
Having his life on earth taken away, was what he got for being
correct, with his interpretation of the poem. In the extreme,
confusing mix of her emotions, Anya considered it an honor that she
and Leticia had ever met the Elven trio.

“
You know,” Anya said to
Leticia, who was half-asleep on the sofa. “When I said I stole his
heart…I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“
Maybe you did…” Leticia
murmured.

* * *

That night, Anya and Leticia rode over to
Julius’s home, to get back Leticia’s bike that was parked there.
There was no sign of anyone, or the Lexus and bikes the elves had
hijacked the day before.

Leticia turned back for a last look at the
home, as she got onto her bike. They decided to get away as soon as
they could. Anya secretly hoped the earth had literally consumed
the underground lab.

The girls made their way through the night
traffic in the streets, before heading out to the stone church.
Anya watched the lights of the receding city, from several glances
in the mirrors by the handlebars. Anya’s memories felt like they
were in decay. She edged further and further away from the world
she thought she knew, with each breath she took.

The two girls enjoyed the peace and serenity
of the abandoned building, the same way Nin did. Still, Anya felt
an unusual kind of emptiness, as she ambled in, along the cold
floor of the walkway in between the pews.

ASK and it will be given.
SEEK and you will find.
Anya read the
scripture text, on a cracked black acrylic poster at the back of
the church.

Leticia knelt before the battered wooden
cross, quiet in prayer. She’d grown up in a Catholic family, and
still believed in the power of the Almighty. She prayed for the
souls of Nin and Julius, and wished them well in their respective
resting places.

Anya didn’t feel like praying. Kneeling
before the cross felt like a hypocrisy. A merciful god would have
spared Nin. Her hatred boiled to a level that almost made her head
spin. Even lowlifes still got a second chance at life.

She bit on her lip,
thinking of what she wanted. She didn’t want Nin all to herself.
She simply wanted him
back:
his company, his words of wisdom, his friendship,
his promising touch…

Anya almost wished he had never kissed her.
Maybe then she would feel less ‘connected’ to him. Then again, it
wasn’t the thrill of a wild romance Anya was pining for. What she
wanted was Nin. She was only aware of it, now that he was really
gone.

Anya left Leticia alone after a minute or
so, and took a walk outside. The whole earth seemed to breathe
easier, and the air seemed to be alive with magic. Anya thought she
saw little glitters in the dark, like the shadows she’d seen at
Helli’sandur, dancing under the light of the moon.

It was impossible, not to think of Nin, and
the first time she had encountered him, at the stone church. She
turned her head to the side, hiding a tear, even though there was
no one to see her. She held his pendant.

“
Where are you?” the words
escaped from her lips.

A gentle breeze blew. Anya felt the light
touch of a hand on the side of her face, before hearing a faint
shiver of silver bells. She gazed around.

“
I’m here,” the wind seemed
to whisper back.

Anya thought she saw the gossamer wing of a
butterfly, when her light pendant took on a glow. Nin appeared, in
his soul form, standing before her. He startled her, with his
unobtrusiveness.

“
Hello,” she said, a thrill
running through her.

Nin lifted one of her hands—a feeling light
as the air itself—and gallantly kissed it. “How have you been?”

A shade of anguish went over Anya’s eyes.
“Missing you,” she said softly. He was one person she felt
completely at ease with, even if it was during a moment where she
didn’t feel particularly strong, or like she had it all
together.

Nin held her hands in his. Tears started to
well up in Anya’s eyes.

“
Why’d you do it?” Anya
implored, unable to hold it in any longer. “Why didn’t you…just let
me die instead…let me take the arrowhead? Why’d you have to give
your life away?”

“
I’m not dead…just living
in a different realm…one I have to wander alone,” Nin began. “And
I’d still have protected you, even if I knew it would have killed
me. I didn’t do it for anyone—I did it for you.”

“
What’s the point if you’re
not here?” Anya let her emotions go.

Nin was silent for a moment. He felt Anya’s
distress as much as she did. “It’s strange…” he uttered, gently
wiping away one of her tears. He didn’t mean to make her feel
worse.

“
What is?” Anya whispered
back, wondering what could possibly be any stranger.

“
You would have done the
same,” Nin said, “if you’d been in my place. You don’t think of it
that way when death is staring at…someone you care about. You’d
have done the same. Even a psychopath like Julius found it in
himself to die for someone he cared about.”

Anya knew that was true. How did he know?
She wanted to say so much, without knowing where to begin.

“
I watched you go,” Anya
said quietly, wishing with all her being that they could trade
places. It felt more just to her, that way.

Nin gave her a hug, giving her a kiss on the
side of her neck. “I tasted the lips of an angel, in my final
moments,” Nin whispered back. “Yours, I believe?” He echoed the
first words he ever said to Anya, when they had first met.

“
Why,” Anya wanted to ask
one more time, but let the silence and Nin’s company soothe her
instead.

Anya lost herself in his violet eyes for a
moment, grateful he had come to see her, and was looking over her,
in a way, just as he said he would. Nin seemed to want to say
something, before he reached for the cord—his pendant—around Anya’s
neck.

“
Did you ever think
you’d…”
Reach Na’urtha?
Anya didn’t finish.

She wondered about
Na’urtha
—what it looked
like, who was there, if there was any chance…

“
No,” Nin replied simply.
“It’s a privilege to be among the chosen few.”

They spoke to each other like they’d known
each other forever. Anya could count the number of hours that had
passed, since the first time she had seen Nin. It could have
something to do, with what he said about the Elven sense of time,
being a little bit different from that of humans.

“
Can I ever join you,” Anya
asked tentatively, “on…the other side?” It felt a little bit
blasphemous, to even consider the possibility. But she had to ask.
“Will I ever be worthy enough?”

Nin looked away for a moment, averting her
pleading gaze. “You’ve got to be an elf first…”

She was weighed down by the predicament she
found herself in. The realization of him being in another place
continued to rain down on her heart and soul.

Anya had barely heard his answer. Maybe she
didn’t want to. For now, she remained comforted by his
presence.

Nin slid a hand around her waist, and pulled
her in close.

“
I’d say you’re the best
thief I’ve ever known…” he said, with a smoldering
intensity.

“
How so?” Anya whispered,
enjoying the familiar comfort and feel of his body.

“
Because you…stole
something no one ever could…my heart,” Nin replied with a kiss,
under the moonlight.

They held each other, close, each yearning
for the other. Their hearts had met at one moment—at the same
point, and the same instance—somewhere along the way, in the short
time they had spent together.

“
But remember…” Anya said
slowly, once what Nin said had sunk in. “I return what isn’t
mine…”

There has to be a way, to
get you back,
Anya’s heart called out to
Nin.

There just has to be.

~~~~~

Author Q&A

The following interview was
originally published in late 2010 @
The Internet Crashed
..

1. Share your vital data with us: Who are
you? What have you done? Why should we adore you?

Jess:
I’m an author/artist/non-conformist (and English/Business
senior at Adams State College). I’ve been tweaking
The Other Side of Life
,
the first book in an urban fantasy/cyberpunk series for some time,
because I wanted the concept of “cyberpunk elves” to be more than a
marketing label. My debut book was a blog/IM novel; my second book
was a multiple-genre-crossing erotic short story collection. My
resistance to crass commercialism (at the expense of authenticity
and originality) is probably due to the fact that I’m an uber
ambitious INFJ (with a “vision” and “purpose”)!

2. What got you into cyberpunk?

Bladerunner
concept art! I first had the idea for “cyberpunk
elves” in late 2008. Some meanderings eventually led me to
understand the soul/attitude of cyberpunk (kinda roundabout; just
the way I do things / I like chaotic order).

3. What element of cyberpunk really appeals
to you now?

a) The negative impact of technology on
humanity
b) The rigidly divided social order + corporate control
c) The blurred divisions between man and machine

These are relevant in the present day, and are the
cyberpunk concepts which have guided me throughout the evolution of
the book’s plot.

4. What is your favorite cyberpunk work
(other than your own)? How has this work influenced you?

William Gibson’s
Neuromancer
, George
Orwell’s
1984
(the
novel kind of is the genesis of cyberpunk literature), and the
works of Alvin Toffler.

I liked the first for its visual power and imagery,
and setting the tone for the genre. I found the second very stylish
also–I love George Orwell’s keen intelligence, wit, profound
awareness of social injustice, intensity, and passion for clarity
in language. The third, well, he’s a brilliant genius (along with
his wife, Heidi Toffler).

5. What are your biggest influences besides
cyberpunk or urban fantasy works?

Anything/everything by Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar
Wilde, John Ruskin, Vladimir Nabokov, Roald Dahl, D. H. Lawrence,
and many other “old school classics.”

6. What elements of urban fantasy resonate
with cyberpunk?

Relevance (urban fantasy is set in
contemporary times; cyberpunk is the near-future), and style.

Ethereal fantasy elements + Rebelliousness of
cyberpunk = Edgy Chic (if I had to use a fashion term…).

7. How are your magical elves
“cyberpunk”?

They’re counterculture hackers, and are
self-identified outcasts within the Elven establishment. I have a
bit of a parallel universe going on in the first book (as a
subplot), and some bionic elements. They’re underground
(metaphorically, and literally). I’ll have some “variant hominid
species” concept going on in the second book. I let the details
evolve along the way, for the characters to capture the soul of
cyberpunk.

P.S. They’re Tolkienesque elves, in terms of stature
(not the Santa type elves, which I personally prefer to call gnomes
or pixies). Not all of them have long hair.

8. What do you think is the most important issue
facing the today that was predicted by cyberpunk?