Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CLEM.
I stare up at the huge bear in front of me and my eyes saucer. I think I may even have let out a surprised exclamation.
The bear reaches a furry paw toward me, and I have to stop myself taking a step backward.
Suddenly he shifts into human form and now the paw is a large hand, ready to shake mine. He grins sheepishly. “If I’d known you were coming, ma’am, I’d have shifted before you arrived.”
“It’s okay.” I pin on a smile and register my pulse slowing.
“This is Brody,” Otis growls, “the troublemaker.” But nevertheless, he claps the guy round the shoulders with a grin.
Brody is goofily handsome, looks like he works out a lot, and has a full head of shaggy dark hair. The only thing that remains bear-like are his ears, covered in soft brown fur. They twitch in his wavy hair.
I’m beginning to realize that, like Tippy, some of these monsters retain features of their species even in their human form. Like a proud reminder of their heritage.
Otis holds out the cape to Brody. “Jax brought Clem down here in the portal cape. Guess I can hold you responsible—yet again.”
Brody’s grin gets even more sheepish. “Sorry, Sheriff, Jax said it was urgent.”
Otis grunts, “Put it back in its fucking case. And if it gets out again without my permission, the lock box code will be changed—and you won’t know it.”
As Brody grabs the cape, the material stiffens for a moment and lets out a couple of sparks, almost like a protest, before it drapes limply over his arm. “Did you bring Clem to show her around?” Brody asks.
“Yes, she’s curious about our history. Is Silas here?”
“Sure, out back in his office.”
“We’ll wait for you,” Otis says. “Just lock that thing up and I’ll breathe easy.”
“Sure, boss.” Brody heads into a small room behind reception with the cape over one arm.
In the meantime, I look around the grand interior. It’s almost palatial, with the rock buttressed by stone edifices, the columns adorned with carved monsters, and an ornamentally painted ceiling that covers the rock roof.
“Wow, this is amazing. Did monsters do all this?”
“Yes, we have master crafts folk. And architects. It was us that designed the domes above ground.”
“Wha— really!”
Otis nods. “In the early days, when we were still on good terms with humans. Silas will explain.”
Brody, having locked away the cape, joins us. “What a fascinating place to work,” I say to him.
“Yeah, you kind of take it for granted when you’re here every day.
I guess building something this grand was our way of thumbing our noses at the humans.
You confine us below ground, we’ll show you bastards by keeping all your artifacts from centuries ago.
” Despite his words, there’s no malice in Brody’s voice as he bounds alongside us.
I feel very small between him and Otis, but it’s a good feeling.
We come to an ornately carved door, with numerous species displayed on the wood panels.
I could never have imagined what skilled artisans these monsters are. All I ever knew was that they clawed and bit my brother and covered him in nasty scars. I feel ashamed for viewing them like this. But I didn’t know any better, I remind myself.
You also didn’t know how sexy they could be.
I glance sideways at Otis, who is already knocking at the door with a big green fist.
After a moment, a voice says, “Come in.”
We enter and there’s a tall man with the most amazing raven black hair, wearing glasses and bent over a table, brushing at a pot with a little implement. He’s lean and fit looking, dressed all in black with an aquiline nose and pale blue eyes.
He stands, and strolls over, then reaches out… oh—a claw…
“This is Silas.” Otis glances at me, sees me staring at the claw.
“He’s a raven shifter, Clem,” he says quietly.
“Ah—hi,” I say, blushing with embarrassment, feeling like I’ve made an unwitting faux pas.
Silas takes my hand in his claw. It feels… interesting, but not at all unpleasant.
As we shake hands, his gaze peruses me shrewdly over his glasses, like he’s evaluating me.
“Good to meet you, Clem, we’ve all been looking forward to your arrival.”
My eyes widen. “You knew, too?”
“Jax plays poker with us on Friday nights,” Brody explains. “He told us he was planning to bring you here.”
“Guess I was the last person to know.” I try to sound casual, but I’m still a tad pissed with Jax for giving me zero notice. Nothing unusual there.
“You settling in okay so far?” Silas asks politely.
I shrug airily. “Tiny little wobble yesterday, one of your creepy crawlies took me by surprise in the bathroom.” I can’t help thinking of the way Otis “comforted” me and how much I enjoyed it.
“Octomopede,” Otis murmurs.
“Ah, yes.” Silas smiles. He flicks back his thick, iridescent hair and I realize it is reminiscent of feathers. I wonder what he looks like in full raven mode.
Monster species are totally fascinating, but Otis is undoubtedly the one that has my full attention.
Especially as he speaks in his throaty rumble, which manages to thrum delightfully between my legs. “It’s good that you’re here, Silas, because you’ll be better at giving Clem a rundown of the Vault.”
“Sure.” Silas inclines his head, pushes his glasses up his nose. “Why don’t I show you around and explain as we go.”
A few minutes later my mouth drops open as Silas unlocks a door that opens onto a vast room hewn out of the rocks.
Gentle light falls on glass showcases.
All manner of objects are on display. Beautiful pots that look very ancient, a painting of a smiling human woman with her hands crossed across her lap. Bits of canvas are falling off it in places. The painting looks really, really old.
“Who is she?” I ask, rapt by her enigmatic smile.
Silas gives a little shrug. “Nobody knows for sure. But we found a book about human artworks from before the apocalypse, and this painting is called The Mona Lisa.”
I move from case to case, gawking. There is jewelry and articles of clothing, there’s a statue with no head and only one arm. One cabinet contains all kinds of bent and twisted signs made from metal. I read the wording out. “Fifth Avenue.” Another says, “Broadway.”
“What was Broadway? Does anyone know?”
“We’re not sure, but we think it was a place where the humans went to be entertained. We’ve found old papers with pictures and information about events, called plays.”
“Oh, yeah, well, we’re still really good at the entertainment stuff. In fact, that’s all we do up in Sparkle. Work and get entertained,” I huff. “It’s totally boring, to be honest.”
In another cabinet are metal devices, I recognise as being similar to Otis’s computer things, all different sizes. Some are so small they would fit into your hand. “What are these?” I ask.
Silas takes one out and gives it to me. It fits into my palm, a spider’s web of cracks across the glass screen.
“They called these cell phones,” Silas says.
“Why cell?”
“From what we can gather, they divided the communication into different geographical areas, which they called cells, and shared information through towers,” Otis chips in. “They didn’t have proper telephones, just these things in their hands the whole time.”
“Why are there so many of them?” I ask.
“Before the apocalypse, we believe nearly everyone had one. As well as computers like I have at home.”
“Everyone?! Wow, they must have been very connected.”
“They were. So much so that when it all fell apart, they were completely fucked.”
I look up at Otis, full of admiration that he’s been able to work this out.
“Heck, that’s scary. Where were the monsters in those days?”
“We were hidden deep in mountain caves and wild remote places that no humans even knew existed. The apocalypse left us free to move around Earth. It also freed the warlocks and witches that had also been hiding for fear of discrimination.”
“So there really was magic, even then?”
“Yes,” Silas says.
I hand him back the cell phone. “But humans didn’t believe in it?”
“Humans were full of hubris, believing they were the all-powerful species. But magic had existed on Earth for thousands of years before the apocalypse. It used to be accepted as normal, but as time went on, humans chose to pretend it wasn’t there, that these forces weren’t around.
When they destroyed their habitat, we monsters, along with many mages and witches, managed to survive the pollution, with the help of ancient purifying spells and runes. ”
“After we were free, we helped the few humans that were left to survive. Some could breathe just enough to keep living on Earth, but not enough to prosper, so we taught them basic survival skills. We helped them to build the domes. Our mages and witches generously shared their magic to make the air inside the domes healthy, and we mined under the ground to provide raw materials for them. We even taught them how to grow food.”
“So why would they turn on you, when you helped them so much?”
“They didn’t like that we were adaptable to the conditions on Earth.
That some of us could fly. That we could make fire and hunt and dig out precious metals from the ground.
That we could procreate and have younglings with ease.
Above all the hated that we could breathe the Earth’s air.
I think they were deeply ashamed that they’d destroyed their habitat, but were just too arrogant to admit it. ”
“We humans had tickets on ourselves, right,” I say, my lip curling. “Nothing’s changed there.”
“Not all of you,” Otis adds quietly. I glance up to see his red eyes on me, soft and warm.
My heart does a little hiccup in my chest.
“A few of us were okay, you reckon.” I pinch my finger and thumb together. “Like this many?”
He laughs, mellow and deep. “Yeah, about that.”
For some reason, I add flirtatiously, “Do I qualify?”
“Yeah, you qualify,” he rumbles, then quickly drops his gaze.
“Right, well that’s a relief.” I swing back to Silas with a ninny grin on my face. “What’s this?” I look at a big book, laid open in a cabinet.
“These are the lines of the Covenant we are forced to adhere to.”
I read the script out loud.
“BLESSED FREEDOM BELOW
IS GIFTED FROM ABOVE”
“That’s what the humans made us recite after our rebellion was crushed,” Silas explains.
“Gross.” I pull a face. “This is making me really, really dislike my own species.”
“Sammy felt the same,” Otis says softly. “It’s a lot to take in.”
I shake my head. “You must hate all of us.”
“We don’t hold on to hate. We simply want to mix freely and peacefully with humans,” Silas says.
“Which would make all of our lives so much better, so much richer.” I move on to the next cabinet, where another book lays open. “And this, what’s this about?”
“This is a copy of our constitution. We leave it open on the page where we made this promise to all species:
Monsters will roam freely through the Labyrinth until the light finds us.”
I cock my head at Otis. “It’s our guiding prophecy,” he says softly.
“The light?” I ask.
“Earth light,” Silas adds.
“The process has already started,” Otis says, “with Sammy and Arlo. With them expecting a youngling together, we believe we are being led toward Earth’s light.”
Silas and Otis gaze at the open page, heads bowed. I sense the solemnity of the moment, and also bow my head.
When, finally, everyone looks up, I say, “You have all been through so much horror. And none of us ordinary humans knew a thing about it. I’m so sorry my species has done this to you.”
“Don’t be,” Silas says firmly. “We understand that most humans have been in total ignorance of these events. Clem, you’ve been as much prisoners as we have.”
I frown. “But—but then, who is perpetrating this? Who is maintaining it? I mean, how can the authorities have this power over you—and over us Sparkle humans as well?”
“Maybe that’s a discussion for another day,” Otis says.
I almost stamp my foot with frustration. “Just tell me—please, I really want to know the truth.”
Silas clears his throat. “We believe that the humans in power have access to individuals who practice dark magic.”
“As in, non-humans?”
Silas nods. “We call them malefics. Evil sorcerers, witches and warlocks, who crossed over to work for humans many, many years ago.”
“And you think they’re walking around Sparkle City, feigning humanity?”
“Yes.” Silas nods. “They will look human and be in positions of power and authority.”
I inhale sharply. “How have they managed to do this?”
“Spells, most likely. A glamor cast over the population to keep you all in thrall and fixated on entertainment, to deaden your curiosity about the past. We’re pretty sure they’ve used supernatural means to hide what they’ve been doing for centuries.”
“Is that why no-one asks any questions? Why we’re addicted to having fun? Because they’ve put a spell on us? Like, we’re hypnotized all the time?” The questions tumble out of me.
“That’s the most likely explanation, yes,” Silas agrees.
“Oh… th-that’s awful. We have to stop these malefics.”
“We are working on it,” Otis says, his mouth a grim line.
I look from Otis, to Brody and then Silas, my eyes blazing. “We all need to fight this, together, above and below ground.”
“If we had more humans who were free of the glamor, that would help our cause,” Silas says. “But until then we have to work on infiltrating from below ground.”
I start wringing my hands together. “How?”
“That’s where the computers come in,” Otis explains. “Once they send us down information from Sparkle, we’ll know what we’re up against. Soon, we’ll be ready to trial the system I’ve devised.”
I clasp my cheeks, my head spinning. It’s hard to focus, like a cloud of cotton wool is taking over my brain.
I sense all three monsters exchanging glances.
Then Otis says firmly, “That’s enough for now. You’ve had a lot to take in over the past twenty-four hours.”
I want to know more, but Otis is right, I do feel like my head is about to explode.
“Now I get why the authorities don’t want us to find out about the Labyrinth,” I say, my voice cracking. “Because they’re worried we’ll like monsters better than humans.”
“Exactly,” says Silas, and he looks from me to Otis as if he’s already read the room.