Lily harper complete s.., p.76
lily harper - complete series, page 76
“The City of Dis,” Bill repeated while playing his fingers against his chin like a piano. “I wonder what the hell that stands for?” He was quiet for a few seconds as he ostensibly pondered the question. “The City of Dis … cord? Dis … gust? Dis … grace?” He beamed a broad grin as if his vocabulary were impressive.
“Disembowelment,” Tallis responded with a hearty chuckle.
“The City of Disembowelment?” Bill asked as he frowned at the bladesmith. “Really? Are you shittin’ me? That’s what it really stands for?”
“Nae,” Tallis answered, shaking his head with a rare smile. “Ah’m joost playin’ yer game with ye.”
“Oh, cool story, bro,” Bill replied with a genuine grin. Nodding enthusiastically, he glanced up and to the right like he did whenever he was “deep in thought.” A few seconds later, another wide smile illuminated his round face. “Dis … grace,” he said to Tallis, holding his palm out as Tallis high-fived him. Then Bill pretended like his hand exploded and even added a “Boom!”
“Aye, guid one,” Tallis answered with a nod. “Dis … embodied.”
“On point, Bladesmith, on point,” Bill said with a wink and another encouraging nod. “Dis … turb!”
“Och aye!” Tallis replied heartily. He seemed as caught up in this idiotic game as Bill was. “Dis … locate!”
“Dude, yours all describe fuckin’ people up,” Bill noted as Tallis faced him blankly.
“Aye?”
Bill’s smiled broadened. “Right on, man, it’s like dis … turbing!” Then he whispered to himself, “Fuck, yeah! Billy-my-man, you’re like en fuego with this shit!”
“Dis … membered!” Tallis chimed with a rumbling chuckle.
“Okay, guys,” I started, holding my hands up in mock surrender. “I can’t deal with this idiocy anymore.” But neither one of them even spared me a glance. Instead, they faced each other like they were long lost lovers, or something worse.
“Dude, Tido, you’re like super good at this shit!” Bill continued, giving Tallis another high five, not an easy task, given the huge disparity in Bill’s height compared to Tallis’s. “If me an’ you are ever on a dick date, playin’ Scrabble, you’re totally on my team!”
“Aye, Stookie Angel, aye …” Tallis answered with a brief nod before growing quiet for a couple of seconds. When he spoke again, his voice was louder and his smile was wider. “Dis … figured!”
“Enough!” I railed with an angry expression as I threw my hands on my hips. “I have one word for you both: dis … engage!”
Bill glanced at me with a frown before facing Tallis again and pointing at me indifferently with his thumb. “Dude … such dis … respect.”
“I can’t deal with anymore of this crap!” I continued, my tone of voice rising. “We are wasting time! We still have a mission to complete. That means we need to get in and out of the Underground City ASAP! In order to do that, I need you both to pay full attention!”
Bill faced Tallis with another smile. “Dis … couraging!”
“You’re lucky you’re an angel and I can’t kill you,” I muttered, shaking my head. I pushed the skeleton key into the lock on one of the enormous gates and cranked it to the right. When I didn’t hear a click, I cranked it all the way to the left. Then I pushed on it before the ancient gate creaked a horrible, tinny, grating sound as I heaved it open.
Tallis was the first to walk inside the Underground City. He grasped the iron bars of the gate and continued to push it open, holding it wider for Bill, who was right behind him. I, on the other hand, couldn’t afford to be as swift. Owing to my “innocence and purity,” I couldn’t just set foot into the Underground like Tallis and Bill. Instead, I had to pollute myself. Otherwise, I would be doomed to die a most painful death upon entering the city’s walls.
There were various ways to pollute myself, but I was only concerned with one at the moment—the vial of liquid given to me by Alaire. Per his instructions, the vial’s liquid would allow me to continue living while traveling in the Underground City. The one stipulation? The liquid inside the vial would only work when in very close proximity to The Underground City. That meant I had to be within a few feet of the Underground when I swallowed it. So there went any planning ahead on my part.
“Hurry it up!” Bill called to me from the other side of the gates. “Don’t make us wait too long, or we might get dis … tracted!” he finished. With a loud chuckle, Bill started to elbow the bladesmith in the ribs, but Tallis merely sidestepped him, thwarting his feeble attempt.
Breathing in anxiously, I slowly breathed out, and my expression should have conveyed that I wasn’t amused. I started fishing the vial out from my backpack, and upon retrieving it, I popped off the cork and downed the contents in two gulps. The liquid tasted an awful lot like grape-flavored Dimetapp. Not great, but there were plenty of flavors that would have been way worse. I glanced down at the vial and noticed it already refilling itself, just as Alaire promised it would. With a deep breath, I threw the vial back into my pack and started my journey into the Underground City.
“Stop,” Tallis commanded me before I could step through the gates. “Give yerself ample time fer the liquid tae hit yer stoomach!” A smirk appeared on his lips. “Ootherwise, ye may be in some dis … comfort.”
“Yes!” Bill laughed as he slapped his thigh. “Is this the greatest game ever, or what?!”
“Why am I suddenly wishing I’d come here on my own?” I grumbled, shaking my head with annoyance. “How long do I have to stand here?” I asked Tallis as I started to wonder whether or not the Dimetapp stuff would actually work in time. What if I’d have to stand here for an hour or more?
“The tincture is charmed, so it works at ah mooch faster rate than any other medicine ye are accoostemed tae takin’,” Tallis explained.
“Okay, that’s great to know, but what does it mean in terms of time?” I demanded testily.
“Give it another minute, lass, an’ ye should be fine tae cross over,” Tallis replied. Seeing no trace of a smile on his face, I became hopeful that he would take things more seriously now.
I stood at the gates for another minute before Tallis reached for my hand. That was my signal that he believed I would be safe. I stepped over the threshold of the gates with my heart lodged tightly in my throat, hoping and praying that the same intensity of pain I’d experienced when I’d first stepped foot in the Underground City many months ago would not return.
It felt like slow motion as I watched my foot touching down on the asphalt. After another second or two, I happily realized I didn’t feel even a pinch of pain. So far, so good.
“Are ye well?” Tallis asked as he eyed me inquisitively.
I nodded, taking a deep breath. “Never better.”
“Then we’re off to see the wizard!” Bill sang in a high voice. He faced Tallis. “Yo, dude, and afterwards we can stop at Sears an’ see if they have any … dish … washers on sale!”
“Boo!” I said to Bill while shaking my head.
“What?” Bill protested with a shrug, throwing his hands in the air with frustration. “Dishwasher starts with dis!”
“Negative!” I said to Bill, failing to hide a smile as I finally saw the fun in their moronic game. “Bill Angel, minus one!”
“Screw you guys!” Bill yelled while waving us both away with an uninterested hand as he took a few steps ahead of us.
“Oh, Bill, don’t get dis … gruntled!” I called after him with a laugh, turning to face Tallis who was smiling at me.
***
The only way to access the City of Dis was by traveling to the opposite end of the Underground City and from there, taking a train, which terminated at the sixth level, or the graveyard. But reaching the opposite side of the Underground City was no easy task. First, we had to walk three miles to reach the subway, which took us to the train station. The three-mile walk lasted over an hour, although we did try to do it quickly. However, each of us were on high alert, our swords and eyes at the ready in preparation for whatever might prefer to see us dead.
Luckily for us, the only creatures we saw were the watchers. As I mentioned earlier, they were the eyes and ears of the Underground City. Their only responsibility was reporting what they saw to Alaire. The watchers didn’t pose much of a threat, unless you considered Alaire’s knowledge that we were within his city walls a threat. When I considered that angle, however, the watchers could very well have been the most threatening of all Alaire’s creatures.
After our three-mile trek, we reached the subway, and awaited a mode of transportation that wasn’t new to me. Bill and I had to take the subway during our fourth trip to the Underground City. That was when we were en route to the prison. The only incident we encountered on the subway came in the form of a ghostly woman who managed to scare the hell out of us, but she hadn’t been dangerous, just ectoplasm.
This time around, the only creatures who got on and off the subway were the watchers, and each of them paid special attention to us. I also noticed that they only got on and off our car, and none entered any of the other four cars behind or in front of us. I wondered if they were following us? Their behavior seemed odd since the watchers had never taken any interest in us before. Now it seemed we couldn’t move two steps without being instantly surrounded by them. And while they were a menacing sight to behold with their business suits and their mummy-like faces, they never once engaged us, either as friend or foe.
I wasn’t overly concerned with the watchers, though. I just lumped them in with Alaire’s need to err on the side of caution. He, no doubt, wanted to keep an eye on exactly what we were doing. Recently, Alaire seemed more and more paranoid regarding the protection of his city. I wasn’t sure of the reason for his paranoia, but it did make me wonder about it all the same … and worry.
“We will git off here,” Tallis announced from where he stood next to me. He’d been standing so close to me the entire time, I could smell his clean, earthy scent.
“Dude, you’re invading my personal space,” Bill grumbled to one of the watchers beside him. “You wanna back your shit up a little?” he continued when the watcher ignored him. “If you’re thinkin’ of pullin’ a fast one, or, tryin’ to mug me, then I gotta warn ya, dude. I got like ninja-quick reflexes, asshole.”
“Bill, I doubt he’s going to mug you,” I whispered.
“All’s I’m sayin’ is it ain’t gonna be his lucky day if he dares to try,” Bill replied, glaring at the watcher harshly.
The subway began to slow down, and I watched Tallis turning his head as he studied the watchers with what appeared to be keen interest. I didn’t miss it when the watchers who had previously been seated were now standing. After a few seconds, they all began migrating closer toward us.
“You notice them too?” I asked Tallis in a semi-whisper. I grasped the handle of my sword, just to be ready, should I need it.
“Aye,” he answered, his jaw tightening as his eyes narrowed on the subway doors. The car came to a halt and the doors slid open.
We were the first ones to step out of the car. I glanced behind to see every single watcher stepping out of the subway car and onto the platform right behind us. “Why are they following us?” I asked, carefully clinging to Tallis’s side as he started forward.
“Ah dinnae know,” he replied as he walked up the concrete walkway with the horde of watchers right behind us. “Dinnae concern yerself with them, lass,” he continued. “They willnae harm ye. Instead, ye need ta worry aboot whit will.”
His ominous words caused my heartbeat to race, but I heeded his warning all the same, tightening my grip on my sword. I glanced around, taking stock of my surroundings. The subway station looked exactly the same here as it had from where we’d departed.
Dimly lit, what little light was offered by the fluorescent bulbs overhead bathed us in a bluish hue. It imbued the whole place with a weird, ghostly sapphire. Even stranger still was that aside from the watchers, there weren’t any other creatures waiting for the subway.
“Do many of the creatures in the Underground City travel on the subway?” I asked Tallis, thinking it was a valid question.
“Nae,” he answered, his lips still tightened in a line. “They arenae allowed tae leave their respective levels.”
“Then why have a subway, or a train station, at all?” I inquired.
“Fer the watchers, Alaire an’ oos,” he answered, and his body language told me he wasn’t interested in any further discussion. I figured by “oos,” he meant visitors to the Underground City, aka Soul Retrievers.
“It stinks in here,” Bill said from where he was walking beside me.
“Well, we should be out in a second,” I answered as I glanced over at him, giving him an expression that said I couldn’t deal with nagging or whining at the moment.
“It’s kind of dis … gusting,” he finished with a wide, annoying grin.
“If through this blind prison though goest…”
—Dante’s Inferno
THIRTEEN
After we wended our way through the maze of the subway, we found ourselves outside again, in the dark, never ending night of the Underground City. It was just a short jaunt to the train station before we boarded the train, headed toward the City of Dis, and more specifically, the graveyard.
The Watchers continued to follow us, keeping a distance of maybe five feet, but I didn’t concern myself with them. Instead, with my hand wrapped tightly around my sword, I tried to convince my heart to stop beating so fast. Fear and panic couldn’t help me. The only thing that could was a clear and level head.
“Angel, ye stay right behind Besom an’ Ah will take the lead,” Tallis ordered Bill as the smaller man fell behind me. We started to walk in single file, like schoolkids on a field trip. None of us said anything. We were all too busy scanning the perimeter, trying to perceive any potential threats. I didn’t notice any.
We started up a ramp that led into a structure with an oval roof, which, I supposed, was the train station. There were no signs, lights, or anything else to hint at the nature of the building, but I didn’t ask any questions. I figured Tallis knew where he was going. Thank God for that because without him, I wasn’t sure what we might have done.
You would have found the train station alone, Lily, I chastised myself as I immediately heard the truth in my own words. It’s great that you have Tallis with you, but never forget that you’re very capable, and if you didn’t have him, you’d still get along just fine.
Right, I answered my better self. But it would take me a whole hell of a lot longer.
There was no arguing that point, as demonstrated when the argumentative side of me remained silent. That was just as well. I needed all my senses tuned in to my current situation.
When we reached the top of the ramp, I managed to see through the somewhat narrow entryway that led into the train station. We continued forward, still marching in single file, which was just as well. I doubted we could have fit through the doorway walking side-by-side. It was that narrow.
Inside, the station was lit by a few tall streetlamps that looked ancient, as if they were constructed right around the same time that Edison invented the lightbulb. Other than the waning, blinking, jaundiced light emitted from the streetlamps, the place was desolately dark. The walls were constructed of brick and featured a row of windows at eye level, but I wasn’t sure what the point of having the windows was, considering the surroundings were perpetually dark in the Underground City. Windows were sort of useless.
Once we entered the station, Tallis started walking up the wooden plank floor, which creaked with every step he took. He didn’t falter once, though, which I figured was a good sign. I hoped it meant he knew where he was going … I just continued to follow him, with Bill right behind me and a good twenty or so very silent and ominous-looking Watchers trailing behind him.
Tallis strode up to one of the ten or more columns that appeared to be supporting the ceiling of the station. I didn’t notice the red button that was mounted on the center of the column until he pushed it. Then he turned around and faced me.
“Now we wait,” he announced flatly.
Neither Bill nor I said anything. Well beyond our comfort zones, we were both perfectly content to take orders. I just nodded as I wondered how long we might be waiting; not to mention whether or not we were actually safe. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I had to scoff at my stupidity. No one was ever safe in the Underground City.
A cold wind blew through the two large openings on either end of the train station and sounded like a wailing ghost. I glanced behind me and noticed the Watchers were all standing side-by-side, at the edge of the platform, silently awaiting the train. A few minutes later, I heard the sound of metal scraping on metal and turned to my right to see the train pulling into the station.
Judging from the decrepit station, I figured the train would look like something right out of a nineteenth century Hollywood western, but that was definitely not the case. Instead, the train was as sleek as a bullet and took the same shape. It was painted white, with two red stripes running horizontally down its sides. There were headlights mounted on its rounded nose; and when the thirty or so automatic doors suddenly slid open, I noticed it had no driver.
Tallis didn’t hesitate, but immediately boarded the train. I didn’t miss, however, that his hand was on the handle of his sword, which was tucked into the scabbard he wore across his chest. Not wanting to delay, I immediately followed Tallis onto the train. I could hear Bill shuffling right behind me, and I saw the Watchers entering the train through the various other doors.
“Sit,” Tallis commanded as he motioned to a row of empty seats that were opposite us. They were directly underneath the windows on the other side of the train. It made sense that Tallis wanted to sit there because the other seats faced forward, making them more susceptible to any threats from the rear.
I immediately sat down in the middle of the row and Bill sat on my right. I noticed that Tallis remained standing, holding onto the metal post, presumably to maintain his balance once the train started moving. Seconds later, the doors slid shut and we were off.
