Guardians of the Dark

Kasen crawled to the knife by the wall. He grabbed it, scrambled to his feet, and pointed it at Samael. He was still on the ground, propping himself up on his elbows, a blank sort of expression on his face. The redness of the room darkened his pupils even more. He craned his neck to Kasen, who slowly approached, wielding the knife.

“That won’t be necessary,” he said-half-sighed, and sat up. He raised his hands in the air. “I won’t kill your father.”

Kasen just stood there, looking Samael over. His hair pointed in all directions, and his cheeks were a white-almost-blue. His jacket had a tear at the shoulder, loosely patched up with some thread, but his skin, his wound, still showed through. It was from that day at the Eastern Collection Point. Kasen recalled seeing blood.

Samael drew his legs into his chest. He placed his elbows on his knees, lowered his head between his legs, and emptied his lungs. There was a type of vulnerability to him that wasn’t there before. Kasen almost felt …

Sorry for him.

“What is it?” asked Samael when Kasen didn’t say anything, but kept staring.

Kasen blinked rapidly, and lowered the knife. He walked up to Samael, extending his arm. “I’m … well … sorry about your parents.”

Samael hesitated, but took his hand. His grip was strong, his palm coarse, and his fingers long, very long indeed. His entire hand wrapped around Kasen’s. “I’m sorry too, about” – he swallowed – “your friend.”

Kasen hauled Samael to his feet, then promptly let go. He popped the knife in his belt and turned to the door. If only he could say that things were okay, that everything between them was fixed. But he couldn’t. Every time Samael’s face crossed his mind, he thought of that day, of him … standing over Clay.

“Kasen,” said Samael, “say something.”

“What do you want me to say?” Kasen spoke under his breath, as he didn’t want to lose control again. Samael was not only bigger than him, but stronger too. He had no chance against him – as he’d seen moments ago.

Samael let out another sigh. “If I had known …” A pause. “I never meant for him to die, Kasen. I was only there to –”

“Kill my father?”

No answer.

Kasen smirked. “I thought so.” He looked over his shoulder. Samael stood right behind him, his arms by his sides and his lips slightly parted. He opened them more, but Kasen interjected, “I need to warn my friends.”

“Oh, yea,” said Samael, combing back his hair, “of course.”

“So, are you coming along?”

For a moment – and a brief one at that – Samael’s face lit up. He half-nodded, but then shook his head. “No. No, I’m not.” He rounded the hospital bed to the window. “None of this is my problem anymore.”

“What?” Kasen blurted out. He spun, heat bubbling up his throat again. The way in which Samael had declined his offer annoyed him too much to think, to breathe. “The Dark just betrayed you … you can’t help them!”

“I’m not.” Samael shrugged. “But I’m not helping the Light either. I don’t belong anywhere, it seems.”

Kasen snorted. “Oh, save me the pity party! Yea, you were left in the Dark as a child, but you weren’t the only one hurt by this, Samael.” He grimaced at Samael’s lack of reaction. “Fine. Stay here and wallow …”

Samael sat down on the armchair in the corner. He looped his arms over the armrests, and crossed his legs. Something about him reminded Kasen of Malcolm – perhaps the way he grinned at the most inopportune times, and how the mere sight of him made Kasen want to growl from his throat and punch him in the face.

“I’m warning you, Samael, if my father dies while I’m gone,” he threatened as he turned around a final time, “I’m coming after you.” He left the room before Samael could reply. He had to get to Craedor Fortress before the Raiders did, and couldn’t waste any more time. Especially not on something as petty as a grudge.

The front lobby proved empty, so Kasen made straight for the doors. He burst out onto the sidewalk, immediately bombarded by civilians. They surged past him to the hospital’s emergency entrance, on route to the bunker. Kasen worked his way upstream, then slipped onto the railway tracks the moment he caught an opening. Railway pods lined up for miles in every direction, and with little space in between.

Kasen wove through them to the opposite sidewalk. Much less crowded now, he sped up into a jog. Craedor Fortress lay just across the intersection, although he had no idea how to reach the control room without travelling underwater. Surely the elevator ought to take him there? How else did the Emperor and Felicity get around?

The city centre lay abandoned beyond the intersection. Every living soul east of Craedor Fortress had fled west. Hopefully, his mother did too, and wasn’t still sitting at home, staring at the destruction as though it was nothing. The possibility that she might’ve, frightened Kasen. But she was unpredictable, unstable, like that these days. Alas, there was just no time to check on her. There was no time to even –

“Hey, you!” shouted a couple of Monitors, heading straight for him. “All civilians must evacuate to the west!”

Kasen ignored them, and kept going. They ought to recognise his uniform sooner or later. Later seemed the more plausible outcome, however, as they surrounded him, each grabbing an elbow. They wrestled him around, nearly tackling him to the ground in the process. Every part of Kasen still hurt from his fight at the hospital.

“Let me go!” he shouted.

“No can do,” said one of the Monitors. “All civilians –”

“I’m not a civilian, you buffoons!”

The Monitors let go of him. They seemed little impressed by what he called them, and even less when they saw the emblem on his uniform. The Monitors shared a look, then pushed Kasen back by his chest.

Kasen stumbled over a stone.

“Watch your mouth, Guardian!” warned the one Monitor.

“Just leave him, Marshall,” said the other, nudging his head down the street, “he’s not worth the trouble.”

The first Monitor – Marshall – pursed his lips, sneered at Kasen a final time, then set off down the sidewalk after his comrade. Kasen had half a mind to curse at them, but decided not to. He had to get going, and it wouldn’t do him much good to anger them. His father was no longer present to bail him out if need be.

Kasen turned on his heel and continued down the sidewalk. It lay deserted, save for the entrance to Craedor Fortress, which was guarded by at least ten Guardians. They immediately recognised Kasen – after his outburst in the Dark room, everyone did – and let him through. He reached to swipe his palm across the panel next to the revolving doors, but it didn’t activate. The doors were already open – very strange.

“Hey,” said Kasen, running up to another Guardian by the elevator. He carried a gun in his hands, but turned around as though it was a toy. Kasen flinched. He had little experience with guns throughout his life, but at least knew to be heedful. “Do you know how I can get to the control room? I’m supposed to be there by seven.”

The Guardian checked his transmission band. “You’ve got two minutes, dude.” He flashed his palm across the panel next to the elevator. Not one quick swipe as usual, but three. The elevator doors slid open with a chime, although something about it seemed different. The Guardian stepped aside for Kasen to enter.

“No need to press a button. It’ll take you all the way down,” he said. “Hey, aren’t you that kid from the Dark room?”

Kasen entered the elevator. He sighed, grinning with one side of his mouth. “That’s me. Thanks for the help.”

“No problem!” The Guardian wielded his gun as he imitated a salute. “You rookies have it good, you know. Just sitting up there in the control room, doing nothing, while I have to stand here all night for no reason.”

But there was a reason.

Kasen wanted to say something – warn him about the Corrupted – but the doors closed before he could. The floor fell out from under him, and he sped down, down, down, barely stomaching his lunch. He braced himself when the elevator didn’t decelerate. It skidded to a stop, hitting the bottom with impossible grace, but still tossed him off his feet. He put his one hand on the floor to support himself, and held his stomach with the other,

The elevator opened into the plain-white corridor with the lockers and glass doors at the end. He passed through them with as little negativity as possible, and resumed his run to the control room. An eeriness cloaked the corridor. He half expected the lights to flicker and the floors to creak, but he padded to the control room in absolute silence. His trousers chafed against his inner-thighs, which lightened the air a little.

“H – Hello?” he inquired. “Anyone here?”

Kasen rounded the corner to the control room. His heart swelled with relief when Eliza’s voice echoed from inside, followed by one of Malcolm’s signature grumbles. He entered the room to the three of them suiting up. Malcolm already wore his helmet, and Eliza was just about to put hers on, when he entered and she lowered it.

“Kasen, you’re late! Where were –” Her words trailed off as she took in his appearance. From the limp in his walk, to the scar on his cheek, to the bloody knife in his belt. Her face contorted into the deepest frown.

“It’s a long story …” Kasen said before she asked.

“It must be,” noted Malcolm, his voice unrecognisable from under the helmet, “because you look like garbage.”

Kasen disregarded his comment. “What are you guys doing? I mean, it’s not like we’re going anywhere.”

“What do you mean?” asked Eliza, putting her helmet under her arm. “We’re going to the Eastern Collection Point. Didn’t you receive the orders? They actually need the Guardians as backup, can you believe it?”

“I spoke to Felix,” said Kasen, approaching them, “and he said we’re supposed to stay here.”

“Well, according to Malcolm, we’re supposed to go.”

Eliza and Kasen both turned to Malcolm, who pressed a button on the side of his helmet to reveal his face. He rolled his eyes at them and shrugged. “I spoke to Felicity, and she insisted we’re of more use out there.”

“Well, she’s wrong,” declared Kasen. “I just came from the hospital. The Corrupted are already in the city.”

Eliza nearly dropped her helmet. Her knees wobbled, and she almost collapsed in fright. She stuttered as she said, “W – What? The Corrupted?” She licked her lips. “But how? Why? Who else knows about this?”

“Only me, and maybe a couple of Monitors, but I’m not sure. I had hoped to catch Felix before he went up to the meeting, but the railway pods are jammed all around the city. I had to make my way here on foot.”

“Well, we can’t just stand here!” Eliza erupted. She dropped her helmet on the ground and combed her hands through her hair, which frizzed the ends. “We must barge into that meeting and tell the Emperor everything!”

“Are you crazy? We can’t do that,” insisted Malcolm.

Kasen ignored him again and headed for the door, but he ran in front of him and blocked it. The insolation suit widened his body to fit the doorway, which made it impossible to get past. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“We have orders,” he said through his teeth. “We’re going to the Eastern Collection Point, and that’s final.”

“There are actual Corrupted in the city, Malcolm!” Eliza rushed past Kasen to shove Malcolm in the chest. He didn’t budge an inch, but she didn’t give up. “We’re not prepared enough to protect the beam’s switch!”

“No one can deactivate it, dumbass!” Malcolm snapped back. “Remember, the Emperor said you require an official’s Chip.”

Eliza relaxed a little, but still paced up and down. She popped her fingers in her mouth, nibbling on her nails.

“You can either stay here or go to the Eastern Collection Point, Malcolm, but I’m going to the meeting. The Emperor needs to know what’s going on. The attacks on the Collection Points are only a distraction, which is why they’re so easy to defuse.” Kasen moved to slide past Malcolm, but he pushed him back.

“You’re not doing that, Traynor,” he said.

“Why are you fighting this? What’s your deal?”

“My deal?” Malcolm smirked. “I’ve trained my butt off for nearly fourteen years to become a Gatherer on the AOL, only to be selected as a Guardian with you losers. And now that we’ve finally got the chance to leave this forsaken city and actually fight, you want us to hide away in here and cry to the big guys?”

Kasen narrowed his eyes. “Did Felicity really give you those orders, Malcolm?”

Silence.

“Kasen, what are you saying?” asked Eliza.

“Answer me, damnit!”

Malcolm looked from Kasen, to Eliza, to Buff. “I won’t let losers like you destroy my chances at moving up in the ranks.”

“Malcolm,” Kasen repeated, stepping in toward him. His fingers grazed his knife. “Are you working with the Dark?”

Malcolm’s face reddened, and he opened his mouth to speak – to yell – but was interrupted by a familiar, unmistakable sound: the sound of heels against tile. Click. Click. Click. They slowed when approaching the door, and silenced when a woman in a pantsuit rounded the corner. Felicity seemed shocked to see them.

“Oh, you’re all still here?” she said.

“Felix told us to stay.”

Felicity visibly gnawed on her teeth. She pushed back her hair, swallowed, and plastered a smile across her face. “Good. He’s smart, that one. We can’t have the switch unguarded, even if the threat’s under control.”

“But it’s not.” Kasen rounded Malcolm to face Felicity. When she saw him – the state of him – she blinked twice. It was mostly the bloody knife that caught her attention. “The Corrupted have infiltrated the city already.”

“What?” she blurted out, perhaps too enthusiastically.

“Yes, and I think they had help from the inside. Felix told us that Matt and Mary suspected this quite some time ago, and both of them are dead now. I’m convinced they’ve been murdered.” Kasen spat that last part.

Felicity swallowed. “M – Murdered?”

“I know how it sounds, but it’s the only explanation.” Kasen set his jaw. “And I think I know who the traitor is.”

“What? You do?” asked Eliza.

Felicity widened her eyes.

“Yes, it’s Malcolm!” Kasen turned sideways and pointed at Malcolm, who had found himself a seat on the platform by the control board. He looked bored to death, but leapt to his feet the moment Kasen said his name.

“What? Are you raving mad?” he shouted.

“Kasen, hold on a minute,” Eliza began, but Kasen surged past her at Malcolm, who prepared himself for impact.

But Kasen didn’t run up to him to shove him. He wasn’t even sure Malcolm was the traitor, but he certainly fit the description of one. “You never have anything positive to say, you’re mean to everyone you meet, and you just conveniently bruised your shoulder the very day we found Matt’s battered body in the Dark ...”

“That doesn’t prove anything,” said Malcolm. He looked Kasen over. “How about you, eh? You’re not exactly the most composed person here. You’re easily angered, and you’re constantly in the mood to punch someone.”

Eliza gasped. “Malcolm! Are you seriously accusing the son of the AOL’s General of betraying the city?”

“Yep, my money’s on Kasen. He’s the traitor, not me!”

Kasen and Malcolm leapt at each other, but before they interlocked, Felicity shouted, “Fellas, that’s enough!”

Kasen wiped his mouth with his wrist. A mix of spit and blood covered it. He didn’t take his eyes off Malcolm until he’d fully turned around to face Felicity by the door. She tapped her shoe to the floor, her hands on her hips.

“As valid as both of your arguments are, I doubt either of you have enough authority to be of any use to the Dark.” She adjusted her glasses and craned her neck to Kasen. “Kasen, do you know where Samael is now?”

“Yea, he’s –” Kasen swallowed his words.

“Kasen?” Felicity demanded.

“H – How did you know I saw Samael?”

Felicity adjusted her glasses again, even though she just did so a couple seconds ago. “You just told us that.”

“No, I didn’t,” said Kasen, sharing a look with Eliza. “I just said the Corrupted have infiltrated the city.”

“Didn’t you?”

Eliza tilted her head. “He’s right.” She narrowed her eyes. “By the way, Felicity, why aren’t you in the meeting?”

Felicity renewed her smile, but the corners of her mouth began to twitch, and it at once vanished from her face. “Screw this,” she said, growling of sorts. “You’re smart, Kasen. And smart people often get killed.” She snapped her fingers and four men – including the one who had fought against Samael – entered the control room.

“Wait, she’s the traitor?” Malcolm blurted out.

“Traitor is such a crass word, don’t you think?” Felicity tutted. “I think I like the term, opportunity seeker, much better.”

Kasen made to pounce, but the beast that had fought Samael showed his teeth at him, and he retreated next to Malcolm by the control board. Of course. Why didn’t he see it before? Opportunity. Authority. Power.

Felicity fit the description perfectly.

It was her all along …

“My dearest recruits,” she announced, now more thrilled than ever, “tonight might just be your most exciting night yet!”