8. Isaac
ISAAC
By the time evening settled over the set, the sky had turned the color of old steel. I looked up from the edge of the perimeter and frowned.
Clouds rolled overhead in thick, heavy layers, swallowing what little remained of the sunset. Rain was coming soon, which was to be expected.
This morning, during breakfast, Nico had spent an alarming amount of time studying the weather forecast while simultaneously eating waffles and explaining the meteorological accuracy of various storm systems in Shadowfall lore.
Apparently one of the game's major battles took place during something called the Ashfall Tempest. I hadn't followed most of it. What I had retained was the important part.
A storm was moving through Pecan Pines this evening, bringing heavy rain and possible lightning. What bad timing. The film crew had spent all day racing to finish exterior scenes before the weather hit.
Equipment covered the set like a small city, which included cameras, lightning rigs, generators, and temporary structures. No doubt everything was expensive, and all of it was vulnerable to the kind of storm currently gathering overhead.
My radio crackled softly.
"Perimeter check complete. East side clear."
I pressed the button clipped to my jacket. "Copy."
A few seconds later, another voice checked in from the southern gate. Every thing was normal and secure, at least for now. Movement near the western access road suddenly caught my attention.
A production assistant was guiding a small group of fans through the set. I remembered hearing about that. Some kind of promotional contest run through Shadowfall's official channels.
The winners received signed merchandise, meet-and-greets, and a guided tour of the filming location. There were maybe ten of them altogether. Umbrellas tucked beneath arms, phones already in hand.
Excited voices carried through the evening air. Under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about them. Unfortunately, normal circumstances no longer existed.
My gaze moved automatically from face to face. There was a young woman in a red jacket, and a teenage boy carrying enough merchandise to open his own store.
There was also a middle-aged couple, two university students, and another man in a bright acid green Shadowfall shirt that could probably be seen from orbit.
Nothing immediately stood out, but that didn't mean anything. The stalker had managed to remain anonymous for years. If one of them was our problem, they certainly weren't going to announce it.
I forced myself to keep moving. Paranoia only helped if it stayed useful.
Within seconds the storm arrived in earnest. The sky opened. Rain hammered against trailers, equipment, and asphalt hard enough to blur the distant treeline into a wall of gray.
Wonderful, I thought in irritation. My radio erupted with updates as crew members scrambled to secure equipment.
I adjusted my jacket and continued my patrol. Lightning flashed somewhere overhead. Several seconds later thunder rolled across the valley hard enough that I felt it in my chest.
The storm wasn't playing around. By the time I circled back toward the western side of the set, rainwater had already begun collecting in shallow pools along the road. The fans were still there.
I stopped. They huddled beneath temporary awnings while the production assistant continued talking enthusiastically over the storm.
I frowned, as that didn't seem right. I waved over one of the nearby crew members.
"Why are they still here?" I asked.
The staff member followed my gaze. "Oh, the contest winners?"
"It's pouring,” I pointed out.
He shrugged. "You know how die-hard fans are."
Fair enough. He checked his watch, then added, “they'll be out of our hair soon anyway."
Another flash of lightning split the sky, and this one much closer. The thunder followed almost immediately. Then everything went dark. The entire set vanished into blackness.
For a fraction of a second, silence settled over the storm, then came shouting. My hand flew to my radio.
"Power outage across the set," someone reported.
"Backup generators activating."
My first immediate thought was Logan and Nico, who were both in Logan’s trailer. They were probably safe, but I wanted to be certain.
My feet had already started moving in that direction when a scream tore through the rain. It wasn’t the startled shout of someone caught in a storm, but a real scream, filled with fear and pain.
I spun toward the sound. The world flashed white as lightning illuminated the set. I spotted a camera crane and silently swore. The massive boom arm swayed violently in the wind.
Without power, whatever stabilization system had been holding it in place had apparently failed. One of the support locks snapped with an audible crack.
The arm lurched sideways, and metal collided with overhead power cables. Sparks exploded into the rain. For one surreal second, the entire set lit up blue-white.
People screamed, someone yelled to get back. The crane groaned as thousands of pounds of equipment shifted dangerously close to the fans. I silently cursed.
Most of them had already started running, which was really the smart thing to do. Then I spotted the guy in the acid green Shadowfall shirt.
He was standing completely still, shock had probably locked him in place The crane tilted further, and time seemed to slow.
“Hey! Move it!” I yelled. He didn't move an inch, so I tried again, “Hey, did you hear me? I said run!"
Nothing. His eyes remained fixed on the collapsing equipment bearing down on him. My body moved before I could think. Rain hammered my face as I sprinted.
The ground slipped beneath my boots. The crane gave another violent lurch. I was close now, and I hit him hard. My shoulder slammed into his chest as I wrapped both arms around him.
Momentum carried us forward. The world became rain and mud and impact. Pain exploded across my shoulder as we hit the ground. Something scraped hard along my forearm.
Another bolt of lightning illuminated the world. Behind us came the deafening crash of metal hitting asphalt. The crane slammed into the ground exactly where he'd been standing moments earlier.
For a second neither of us moved. Rain poured over us. The fan stared at the wreckage, then slowly turned toward me. His face had gone completely white.
"You okay?" I asked immediately. My voice sounded rough in my own ears. "Hurt anywhere?"
He blinked, then shook his head. "I..." His voice cracked. "You..."
"Can you move everything?" I demanded, exasperated.
He nodded, still looking pale. Finally, I pushed myself upright. Pain flared across my forearm, and my shoulder. Well, it was probably nothing serious.
I held out a hand, and the fan stared at it longer than necessary. Then his eyes lifted to my face. For a strange moment, he simply looked at me.
Rainwater dripped from his hair, and his expression was unreadable. He was probably still in shock. Adrenaline did strange things to people. Finally, he took my hand, and I pulled him to his feet.
"You sure you're okay?" I had to ask again.
"I..." He swallowed. "Yeah, I think I am.”
His gaze lingered on me again, a little too long that it fell a little awkward. Then voices approached through the storm. Security was here finally.
Two guards hurried over while crew members began securing the damaged crane. One of the guards looked between us. "Everyone okay here?"
"He's fine," I said.
The guard nodded toward the fan. "Let's get you over to medical and have someone check you out."
The fan looked like he wanted to protest. Instead he glanced at me one final time before allowing himself to be led away.
The second guard turned toward me. "You should probably stop by too."
I frowned. "I'm fine."
He pointed toward my arm. I looked down, and saw blood mixed with rainwater as it ran down my forearm. Huh, I didn’t even notice that. My jacket sleeve had torn near the elbow.
There were probably matching scrapes beneath it. My shoulder throbbed too, but again, nothing was broken. The ache was merely an inconvenient annoyance.
"I'll survive,” I said. “You should probably look over the other fans and crew members.”
"Humor me,” the security guard said tonelessly.
I sighed. “Fine.”
The guard nodded approvingly before hurrying off to help with the chaos unfolding around the crane. For a moment I stood alone in the rain. Adrenaline slowly drained from my system.
My heart still hammered against my ribs.
The image of the fan standing frozen replayed in my head, then the crane falling, and finally, the empty space where he'd been moments before impact. That was really far too close.
A familiar scent hit me moments before a familiar voice. "Isaac!"
I turned, and saw Nico was running toward me through the rain. Behind him came Logan, and thankfully both looked unharmed. Relief hit me so hard it almost hurt.
Nico skidded to a stop in front of me. "What happened?" Nico asked.
"Equipment failure,” I said.
His eyes immediately landed on my arm. "You're bleeding."
"I'm fine,” I told him. Nico looked upset for some reason.
Logan stepped closer. “How did you get hurt?” Logan asked.
I shrugged, and told him about the frozen fan. My brother let out a sigh.
“That’s so like you,” Logan grumbled. “You know, normal people wait for emergency responders."
"Normal people don't have my reflexes,” I told him.
"Normal people also don't launch themselves at industrial equipment,” Nico muttered, still looking unhappy.
"Worked, didn't it?"
Neither of them looked amused. Nico's expression softened slightly as he looked at my arm again.
"You should get that cleaned up,” Nico said.
Before I could respond, Logan's face lit up with an expression I knew far too well. It was the expression that usually preceded bad ideas, or teasing, or both.
"I think Nico should take you,” Logan pointed out.
I frowned. "Take me where?"