First World - A Walker Saga Book 1

They were already standing with their packs on. Lallielle turned at my entrance, and a dazzling smile lit her face.

  “My goodness, Aribella, you look stunning.” She took Josian’s hand. “Your hair is amazing. It’s as if you took both of our coloring.”

  Considering I hadn’t checked the mirror before leaving, I wasn’t sure what I looked like. But my hair felt silky and smooth. It was working for me today. With curls you never knew what you were going to wake up to.

  Josian disengaged from Lallielle and moved forward. Before I could react, he engulfed me in a hug. There was nothing tight or overpowering about it, despite his size. It was comforting, gentle and warm. The world disappeared for a moment. I could have used this hug millions of times over the years. Shaking my head, I pulled away.

  His eyes were narrowed and his brow creased as he stepped back. “Sorry, Aribella, I couldn’t help myself. Walkers are demonstrative people, and right now you look so grown up. Just the perfect mix of Lallielle and myself.”

  Lallielle stayed back, her expression neutral. Remembering the pain she encased in her mind, I felt a strange need to offer her a token. Taking a deep breath, I stepped around Josian and walked toward her.

  “Josian had his chance; it’s only fair that you have one too.” I held my arms open. I was going for sainthood or something.

  Without hesitation, she threw her arms around me. Unlike Josian, she held me tightly. I might have heard one or two soft sobs. Another set of arms encased both of us. Josian again.

  “You had your chance. Don’t be a hug-hog,” I mumbled into my mother’s shoulder.

  He laughed, the comforting rumble surrounding me. Eventually I managed to extract myself.

  Brace stood near the back door, watching me. As our eyes met, I blushed, warmth rushing to my cheeks as I was reminded of the naked incident from upstairs.

  His returning smile was full of heat, but the slight nod spoke volumes of his approval, like I needed it.

  Josian moved next to me. “Okay, time to go to Earth. Picture a safe place for us to go. I’ll find a doorway close by.”

  Right. Somewhere safe in New York. Not an easy task. The alley was at least a small area that we could try and defend ourselves in. I dropped the energy encasing my mind and let images of the alley linger.

  “There aren’t many places in New York one would consider safe, but this alley is generally deserted. And we might find Quarn there.”

  Josian closed his eyes. As a little experiment I threw some energy at his mind, trying to read his thoughts. I really wanted to know how they traveled between the worlds. I slammed up against a hardness the consistency of diamond. No way was I tunneling through that. Josian opened one eye to grin at me, before he spoke to everyone.

  “Okay, link hands.”

  I waited for the shimmer, but as Josian stepped back there was something very different there.

  It was freaking scary.

  A swirling vortex, a deep purple. It reminded me of the night sky with no stars to break the endless depth of the black. Like a dark tunnel and at the end I could see the New York alley. But it was contorted, as if there were millions of miles to traverse between where I was standing and where we would end up.

  “What the hell is that?” I took a step back. No way was I walking into that death trap. I prefer shimmer and sparkles, thanks.

  Josian looked up in surprise.

  He gestured. “It’s a doorway between the worlds, part of the energy wormholes that connect all seven worlds. This is what the doorways look like. How did you get here, Aribella, if it wasn’t through one of these?”

  I clenched my hands into tight fists to stop the shaking. “It was nothing like this, just a shimmery wall I stepped through from Earth into First World.”

  Josian locked gazes with Lallielle. I’d guess they were communicating. Noticing my interest, Josian smiled.

  “This is part of what makes Walkers so dangerous. We have the innate ability to open doorways to any part of any star system that we want. As long as we can picture where we want to end up, a doorway will open. We then traverse that distance at the speed of light, and we can take others with us.”

  While I was interested in learning about Walkers, it hadn’t escaped my attention how deftly he’d changed the subject from Quarn’s unusual doorway. I let it slide for now.

  Brace stepped up then and grasped my left hand. Lallielle linked hands with Josian, and offered me her other. Taking it cautiously, I waited with apprehension.

  Josian stepped into the doorway, pulling us along.

  The force sucked me through fast.

  Whilst Quarn’s style was a simple and gentle transition, the trip back was a little different.

  I was being drawn through a black slide. There was no pain; I didn’t bump into anything, but every particle in my body was traveling too fast.

  I wanted to climb off. My claustrophobia was starting to rear its head as the darkness encased me. I couldn’t breathe.

  Ripping my hands free, I wrapped them around myself and tried to slow my racing heart.

  I felt arms encase me as Brace held me against him. I heard words. I’m not sure if they were out loud or in my head.

  “Breathe for me, Red ... breathe.”

  His closeness and soothing accent were the perfect distractions. I buried my head into his rather enjoyably muscular chest, and waited for the sensation to be over. Walkers everywhere would be hanging their heads in shame. I was a disgrace.

  There was no other noise in the tunnel. It was a vacuum. I didn’t even know if noise could exist there, like in space there was nothing. But I knew instantly when we were about to arrive. My cells stopped jumping around, I could breathe freely again. The sensation was unmistakable and I wouldn’t be forgetting it any time soon.

  Without a jolt, we exited. I’d expected the worm hole to spit us out in a great jumble. Instead we were all standing, unscathed, in the alley. Brace was across from me, my hands encased in his. He let go abruptly, before rubbing his head a few times and walking away. I hugged my arms close again, before zipping up my coat. Small ice particles floated past my face.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it. Walking the worlds is in your blood.” Josian placed a comforting hand on my back. His breath came out in puffs of condensed air.

  I looked around. There was trash everywhere, and despite the cold the dumpsters were in fine stinking form. It felt like I was home.

  Smiling, I glanced along the empty alley. It was early morning. Light filtered throughout the dimly lit area. Lallielle looked around as well, her elegant nose wrinkled.

  Josian paced. “I hate the sensation of being on Earth. I feel like I’m functioning with half my senses. Blind, deaf, and dumb.” He growled.

  I laughed. “Well, personally, I love that no one can rummage through my head. Plus everything has rules, and works the way it’s supposed to. Buildings don’t have energy I can manipulate.”

  Three set of wide-eyes and slack jaws alighted on me. Yep, they thought I was insane.

  Josian took Lallielle’s hand and pulled her close. For some reason I found it reassuring to see their constant contact, like watching a fairy tale, all the way to its happy ending.

  Brace continued to rub his temples. “You’re just not used to the convenience of things on First World. Once you figure it out you’ll wonder how you ever did without them.” He shook his head in a jerky manner.

  Josian cleared his throat. “That won’t help, Brace. The more energy you have on First World, the harder it is to adjust to Earth. You’ll get used to the sensation soon.”

  Brace didn’t seem convinced.

  Josian looked at me. “Once your powers are enlightened, Aribella, you will hate being without them. They will be comforting, your favorite warm blanket to keep you safe.” He shrugged. “And with the combination of your mother’s and my powers, we have no idea of your capabilities.”

  Lallielle’s derisive laughter trickle
d through the alley. “When I fell pregnant with you, some First Worlders and apparently a few Walkers thought we should destroy the unknown power. You’re unique, one of a kind.”

  Josian stroked Lallielle’s face. “Your mother didn’t even realize at the time the extent of your enemies. She almost definitely saved your life.”

  “Come on ... why would anyone even care?” I couldn’t comprehend the fact I had ‘enemies’. Important people, and bad people, had enemies. I was neither.

  Lallielle shrugged. “I guess to them you should not have existed: Walkers cannot breed with any but Walkers.”

  Josian placed a hand on Lallielle’s elbow. “Can we walk and talk. I don’t like our lack of movement.” He ushered us to the entrance of the alley.

  I stepped out onto the sidewalk and indicated that they should follow me. We needed to check out the compound first. If we ended up in a battle, weapons were important.

  Josian’s voice wasn’t even breathless as we hurried along. “We were always warned against having relationships with any beside Walkers, but I thought that was simply a Walker superiority.”

  “How many Walkers are there exactly?” At first I’d had the impression there weren’t many, but I was starting to think I was wrong.

  A calculated look crossed Josian’s face. “Why do you ask, Aribella?”

  I shrugged, watching the puffs of condensed air exit my mouth.

  Josian kept pace beside me. “I can’t be too sure. I know our clan numbers in the tens of thousands. And there are seven clans.”

  He let me do the general maths. They were far less in numbers than the population on either of our planets. But with their power, that probably didn’t matter.

  As I led them through the streets, I thought of how helpless First Worlders, and Josian probably, would feel here. People so reliant on their magic and energy. On Earth, technology was the only ‘magic’.

  I spoke my thoughts aloud. “You know, if you’re trying to take down First World, and in turn all the younglings, hiding out on Earth seems like the perfect solution.”

  Josian nodded. “I have a feeling some entity is taking advantage of the anomaly that is the dead zone of Earth.”

  Brace jogged up to be next to me, and for the first time I noticed the form-fitted dark clothes he was wearing. And just like that I was very distracted.

  I hadn’t been paying attention before, but everyone looked to be in new clothes, close-fitted, dark and perfect for running.

  The streets appeared a little more derelict than when I had left. I couldn’t believe it was only three days before. It felt like lifetimes had passed. There were new burnt-out vehicles, more buildings reduced to ruins.

  As I approached the compound, I slowed and then came to a stop to one side of the gate. Moving the vines, I stepped closer to the security panel. I reached out a hand, fingers hovering just above the pad.

  Something was wrong. The light to indicate activation was no longer lit. I turned toward the gate. It was already slightly ajar. I gave it a shove. It swung open.

  Peering around the edge, I couldn’t see anything untoward in the outer gardens. Stepping through, I ran to the front door with everyone following. There was a real feeling of neglect surrounding the compound now. I tried the front door – it was unlocked. Josian stopped me from entering first. I rolled my eyes as he pushed me behind him and stepped through the doorway.

  As we moved into the front hallway, a familiar voice echoed throughout.

  “Well, it is about time you got back here, Aribella. I’ve been waiting for a week.”

  Josian spun around defensively as a familiar figure stepped out from the small side classroom.

  Pushing my protective giant aside, I ran forward and threw my arms around Quarn in a tight hug. He looked exactly the same and I was so relieved. He stepped back, holding me at arm’s length. It was hard to tell through his usual stoic expression, but I think he was happy to see me.

  “What happened, Quarn? Where is everyone?”

  Before answering, he stepped over to Lallielle and took her hand. He gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. Josian was at Lallielle’s side so fast he blurred.

  “I’ve missed you, old friend,” Lallielle said as she shooed the deliberately towering over them Josian.

  But Quarn stepped back quickly enough. At no point did he acknowledge Brace or Josian’s presence.

  I cleared my throat. He smiled. “I see you have not learned patience in your time on First World.” He stepped closer. “When you and Lucy left me in the alley, I was ambushed moments later. The same men, but with fifteen of their closest friends. I was all for having a shot, but I realized even for me that wasn’t the best odds. I managed to get out of the alley and they gave chase.”

  He had enjoyed that, which in my brief experience of his behavior, seemed to be typical.

  “I made it as far as this compound. When I noticed the gate was open, I ducked inside. Being so far ahead, no one noticed or followed me. I moved closer to check out the house, and it was a warzone. Girls were everywhere. Your compound leader was in the middle of a girl-rebellion. But then something unusual happened.”

  He looked troubled.

  “Somehow she subdued the girls. They turned into ... zombies before, quite literally, disappearing from the compound.”

  “How could she have subdued all of the girls? Even if she used some type of drug, she couldn’t get them all at once.” I looked around the messy hallway. “Where did she take them?”

  “I don’t know how she got there, but I followed one of the men she left behind.” He looked directly at me. “Are you missing something, Aribella?”

  I was confused for a minute, before understanding kicked in. “She has Lucy?”

  He nodded. “I staked out her hideout for a few days, and in that time Lucy was one of the many herded inside. That’s why I returned here to wait. I knew it wouldn’t be long before you came looking for her.”

  “They only took Lucy like six hours ago, Quarn. It couldn’t have been a week.”

  Lallielle interrupted us. “I’m so sorry, Aribella. Josian and I should have mentioned: it takes time to move through the wormholes. I’m not sure of the exact ratio, but a week could definitely pass on Earth. Even though we move at the speed of light, our planets are very far away, inhabiting their own star systems.”

  Josian gave a succinct nod. He was proud of Lallielle’s Walker knowledge.

  I blinked a few times. “I guess that explains my exhaustion. I’m jetlagged, apparently. One day to one week is quite a time-zone jump.”

  Quarn spoke again. “Since that day, no one has come back to the compound.”

  Josian stepped forward again, but this time, instead of ignoring him, Quarn’s expressive features narrowed in hostility.

  “What are you doing here, Josian? I trusted you with Lallielle and you left her alone and pregnant. My Hallow was killed coming to Earth and there’s no one to blame but you.”

  Lallielle gasped then. Moving forward, she stopped in front of Quarn. “No ... Qua... tell me it isn’t true. Hallow can’t be gone.” Her pain was palpable as she gulped back tears, although a few overflowed. “My choices cost so many people.”

  Quarn shook his head. “No, Lalli, it was not your choices, and it wasn’t Josian’s either. I just have seventeen years of anger, and since he’s an arrogant piece of ... well, let’s just say I was content to focus my ire on him.”

  Josian’s face twitched and he ran his hands through his red mane. Generally he didn’t seem to possess the same nervous twitches as the rest of us. Mostly he seemed upset by how close Lallielle and Quarn were standing.

  “Hallow was killed as we arrived on Earth. We landed in the midst of a gang shootout. I did the best I could with Aribella, but without Hallow I couldn’t look after her. I left her in a rebel’s compound and stayed around to protect her.” He glared at me. “Which wasn’t always easy. The girl has a slight problem with stay
ing put.”

  I shrugged. “It’s not my fault. I obviously have some crazy-ass genetics. I was looking for home and freedom.”

  I wondered if all those ‘lucky’ close calls I had on the streets were mainly due to Quarn’s vigilance in keeping me alive.

  I smiled at him. “Thanks for being an awesome protector.”

  His return expression told me two things: he loved me and he loved my mother. I just hoped Josian wouldn’t notice and decide to kill him.

  I focused again on our mission, starting to pace back and forth.

  “I thought Lucy was missing for only six hours. Now I find out it’s been a week.” My voice rose a little as the potential images flooded my mind. “We have to hurry.”

  “The only reason for them to take Lucy from First World is as a trap for you, Red. Someone knew about your relationship, because Lucy has no significance to either world.”

  My head flew up; we locked eyes.

  “Olden knew. She’s our compound leader. But how would she know about First World?” I started pacing again, musing as I went. “Olden had an awful lot of cash in her room. Maybe it was bigger than just working for the gangs.”

  “If it’s a trap, Aribella can’t just stroll up there and hand herself over. I won’t let her.” Lallielle’s black hair was practically bristling around her, hands firmly planted on her hips.

  I shrugged. “I’ll be going no matter what. Lucy would do the same for me and I’ve left her long enough.”

  Josian was also exuding annoying levels of concern. “They’ll expect you to have that very attitude.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off.

  “All Walkers have a slight problem with impatience, so I understand. I’m not saying don’t go, I’m saying be smart about it. Running in there blind, without a plan, is just stupid.”

  I sighed, conceding to them for the moment. “Okay, we need some type of plan. But first let’s see what weapons we can be packing on our way.” I turned to Quarn. “Give me a quick rundown on where they’re being held.”

  A blind moron could tell Quarn was military trained. His reply was quick and succinct.

  “Large warehouse in the Upper East Side. Surrounded by deserted industrial zones. Isolated but close enough to the compounds to get any supplies they could need. I observed two entrances: one in front and the other on the left side. The rest of the building is locked down very tightly. Each entrance is guarded by two men. They’re armed, dangerous, and highly trained.

  “An armored hummer arrived each day at fourteen hundred hours. A cloaked person would exit with four armed guards. They entered the building, and stayed around forty-five minutes each time. The guard shift changes at seven hundred and nineteen hundred. The rotation of guards is the same each day.”

  This was good information, but we needed weapons. There was no doubt the guards would have them.

  “The building is huge, with two stories, but I couldn’t get inside to check out the layout.”

  I took a deep breath. “They’re going to vastly outnumber us. And, despite the shortage on the streets, I’m sure they’ll have guns in that type of setup.”

  Lallielle shook her head. “What’s a gun?”

  I closed my eyes briefly. This lack of knowledge was going to get someone killed.

  Opening them again, I quickly explained. “It’s a weapon that ejects a piece of metal at a rapid trajectory, faster than the eye can track. They are deadly, easily able to blow a large hole in a person.”

  Quarn’s face was grim. “A gun was what ... took Hallow when we first arrived. I’d never seen a weapon like it and we weren’t prepared. Depending where the projectile hits, the damage can be too great for our cells to repair.” He looked around, throwing his hands to emphasize his words. “But even in the deadzone, with our abilities limited, we’re still fast enough to track the bullets. Don’t lose focus. If they start shooting, expand your senses.”

  I shuddered at the thought. “Okay, let’s leave that as a last resort. Ideally, we should get in and out without anyone really noticing. We don’t want a shoot-out. Innocent people will get killed.”

  Lucy didn’t have any super speed and a stray bullet would end her life.

  “So, I’m going to the training room now, to see if anything useful has been left.”

  “We’ll all go with you. Now’s not the time to split up,” Brace said, his tone serious.

  I tried to get a read on him, but right now he was locked down tight. Was his lack of power making him nervous?

  The group were waiting on me. I stepped away from my biggest distraction, Brace, to gather my focus. It was battle time. Lucy was depending on me to save her.

  Well, she probably wasn’t. She’d be trying to save herself and irritating everyone to death in the process. I just hoped she wouldn’t get hurt through sheer bloody-minded stubbornness.

  The solar power was still working, so the stairs were lit enough for us to traverse them. They were narrow and rickety, and in the low light I almost lost it down the last three steps.

  Nothing looked disturbed on the lower level, but there was a strange feeling in the damp air. I stepped across the cement floor.

  “Aribella – stop!” I froze at Josian’s order.

  He was looking around, his face frozen in confused worry. “A doorway has been opened here ... recently. The rift is still open.”

  That must be the heaviness I could feel in the air. “Why does it seem so … angry?”

  His eyes were still darting around. “It is unusually strong, the resonating energy left behind. But as long as we don’t step too close, we should be fine.”

  I could feel his unease spreading through our group.

  “I don’t feel anything.” Quarn looked around. “Where is it?”

  Josian pointed to the far corner. “It’s in the space over there, although there seems to be a trailing of power I don’t like.”

  I was feeling a little nauseated. Like a cloak of heaviness was pressing down on my stomach, threatening to expel all the delicious food I’d eaten earlier.

  Lallielle moved closer to Josian. He draped one of his massive long arms around her protectively.

  I stepped around them, staying as far from that corner as possible. Moving across the cold room, I made my way to the built-in shelves lining the back wall. Nauseating shivers continued to rack my body.

  Shoving a few of the blue workout mats to the side, I wrinkled my nose as the smell of old sweat assaulted me, bringing back a few memories. I sighed, reminded of how much I loved fight class. Skills I was sure to be utilizing in the very near future.

  I had to crouch down to check the bottom lockers first. After some rummaging through old clothes and ratty bits of screwed-up paper, I did manage to find a familiar small blue box – compound-issued lock-picking kit.

  Bending from his lofty heights, Brace peered over my shoulder. “I doubt that is much of a weapon, Red.”

  Quarn laughed derisively. “I’m constantly amazed at the weapons they utilize on Earth. Sometimes they’re much smaller than you’d expect.”

  Brace looked more interested now.

  I shook my head. “Sorry to disappoint. This is just a lock-pick kit.”

  I stood quickly, forgetting Brace was right above me. I smacked hard into his chest, and I’m pretty sure I saw stars as I fell to the floor again.

  Reaching down, he helped me back to my feet. His hand lingered just longer than necessary on my own, the sparks between us alive and well, even in the dead zone.

  I shook my head and stepped around the group. The tall locker was the storage vessel for this compound’s training weapons. And also the reason I needed the pick kit.

  Josian reached out to grab my arm. “That’s where the rift is.”

  I shrugged off my over-protective father. “I know, but I need to get into that cabinet. I’ll be careful,” I assured him.

  Josian turned back to the group. “You all
stay here.”

  Quarn and Brace’s expressions were a mirror of annoyance, but they didn’t comment.

  I took the four steps across the room. Josian was on my butt the entire way. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Go from having no parents to hovering worried ones in a matter of hours.

  Okay, I kind of liked it.

  When I reached the cabinet, the energy was so strong I almost gagged. Swallowing loudly around the lump in my throat, I flipped open the blue box and withdrew the two-piece tool. This locking mechanism was slightly more technical than the ones we generally practiced on, so it took a few minutes of twisting. The quiet in the room made the job easier. Finally, as the last of the grooves clicked into place, the bolt released.

  Yanking the door open, I peered inside.

  “Anything we can use?” Josian peered over my head, riffling through the higher shelves.

  Damn these giants.

  Focusing on the contents, I smiled, one of my first true ones since Lucy’s disappearance. We were going in armed.

  Reaching forward, I grabbed a handful of palm-sized grenades. Dark gray in color, they had small red tags attached to their detonator pins. Smoke and gas grenades, we used them in simulation practices, but they were real. Apparently that was the only way to really understand their debilitating nature. More like the only way Olden could torture us and receive payment for it.

  They weren’t lethal, but you’d damn well find yourself dizzy and disoriented.

  Josian opened his pack.

  I placed them inside with care. “These grenades will be perfect for our initial infiltration,” I said as I went back to the cabinet. “And the goggles help with night vision.” I threw a pair to everyone. “Keep them on you until we get there.”

  I went back to the hidden gold mine in the cabinet.

  “Pepper spray.” I held it up for all to see. “Spray straight into their eyes.” I moved on to the next gem. “Tasers – hold and press.” They were high voltage, knock an elephant down.

  I pressed the button. Brace looked impressed as the visible electricity arced across the prongs.

  Near the back, I found the gun lock-box. Dragging the heavy container toward me, I dropped it to the floor. It rattled loudly. I crossed my fingers that it still contained the training weapons.

  I picked the bolt-lock. Within thirty seconds I was inside staring at three revolvers.

  I pulled out the first gun.

  “This is a Colt 911, a semi-automatic weapon.” I checked the clip. “It has seven rounds, so you need to make the shots count.”

  I turned to Quarn. “Do you have any experience handling guns?”

  He was my best chance. Despite guns’ rarity on the streets, they weren’t non-existent.

  Quarn nodded. “Besides chasing you around York, my other aim in life was to remove every gun from the gangers. Which was hard to achieve without handling them on more than one occasion.”

  The second gun was the same. I handed that to Josian, after pointing out the basics. “That’s the safety. Click it off before you shoot.”

  He dropped the gun into his deep side pocket.

  The third gun was useless, just a prop for beginners.

  “So the guns are just as useful as a threaten-scare tactic. They will fear the weapons. With some luck we won’t need to use them,” I explained to the men.

  At some point everyone had moved nearer and we were pushing uncomfortably close to the corner of the room.

  Most of the gear went into Josian’s bag, although the tasers and pepper spray were shared around.

  Josian reached up to the top shelves. He pulled out a sheaf of rolled material, which he handed to me. I recognized it immediately.

  A wicked smile crossed my face. This was my weapon.

  I untied the leather string that held it together. I felt a slow motion flood of anticipation as the roll unraveled.

  Quarn, smiling broadly, let out an exclamation. “A throwing-knife set. Are you going to use that?”

  He leaned forward eagerly, his blue eyes alight. He wanted his sword, a gun and the throwing knives. Someone had a problem sharing ... weapons hog.

  I nodded. “Oh, yes. This was one of my specialized advanced classes. I’ve been waiting to get my hands on this set for a long time.”

  I lovingly stroked the shiny pearl handle of one of the eight knives. Lifting it free, I laid it flat on my hand, inspecting the high quality and perfect balance.

  Reluctantly, I re-sheathed the weapon and tucked the leather into the deep pockets of my coat.

  “Let’s go kick some ass.”

  “Aribella,” Lallielle protested half-heartedly.

  My swearing had eventually breached her maximum mother capacity.

  Josian laughed. “You’re definitely my daughter. Your mother is going to have her work cut out.”

  He ducked down to kiss her cheek. She chuckled, accepting his attempt to appease her.

  Looking away, I found myself caught in Brace’s stare. Something was up with him. His aloof coldness was growing the longer we were on Earth.

  I didn’t have time – but something was there and I would figure it out. I shook my head. Well, I probably wouldn’t. Brace was awfully good with the secrets.

  I moved aside then as Quarn took the lead.

  As I was moving forward to follow them, I felt a strong shove from the right that sent me reeling. I had no chance to recover my balance, so I simply closed my eyes, prepared to hit the ground.

  But I never did.

  I was back in the vacuum. I’d fallen straight into the rift.

  Chapter 12