Chapter Four
As Jaya continued exploring the island, she encountered another alien insect attack a few blocks away from the first.
She used that encounter to test her theory.
After she destroyed the insect, she took some time to question the people who were present. She was able to figure out that the holo people weren’t completely real. Instead, they were practically empty inside, and their memories were limited. After the attack, they seemed to forget all about the incident, and they went about their business like it had never even happened.
Leaving them behind, she continued walking and found herself entering a different sector of the island. Only a few street lights had turned on to brighten the dark, empty street while the rest of the lamps were broken. She tried to use her magic to fix a few, then frowned when it didn’t work. After a closer look, she realized only a few of the street lights were actually hooked up to the system while the rest were merely decorations.
Whoever designed this particular area obviously wanted it dark and creepy. Respecting that decision, she left everything exactly the way it was. Sensing movement a block away, Jaya turned her attention toward the lone figure shuffling down the street. Her enhanced vision allowed her to see that the male was in pretty bad shape. His skin had a grayish tinge to it, and there was a large cut across his forehead. His right arm dangled uselessly at his side, and he seemed to be dragging his left foot a little.
Had the energy blast done that to him?
“You seem injured. Do you require aid?” she called out.
His head snapped up at the sound of her voice, then he let out an animalistic snarl as he surged forward in a galloping run. He bumped into one of the vehicles that had been left on the street, and it took a moment to right himself again. When his dangling arm fell off and hit the ground with an audible thud , he left it behind without a second thought.
Okay, that was slightly disturbing.
When she scanned him, she found he was also an empty shell. She flung a fireball at him, and he disintegrated into dust particles just like the alien insects and other holo people had.
Well, that took care of that.
Jaya assumed she had stumbled into a game where the objective was to avoid or destroy the gray people. She could play a little while she searched for any injured people who might need her help. Humming to herself, she skipped down the street. As if she’d called them to her, more of those shuffling gray people came at her from every direction. She began flinging magic out at them, popping them like balloons.
It was a little gross, but also kind of fun.
Suddenly, terrified screams and shouts tore through the air a good distance away. Forgetting about the game, she teleported close to where the voices were originating from.
As soon as she reappeared, thunder boomed overhead, and the dark sky lit up with an impressive display of lightning. Glancing around, she saw a large group of those gray people gathering beneath a massive tree. As she moved closer, she noticed there were two young humans trapped inside a net made of thick rope that was hanging from one of the branches.
The gray people all looked like they were in bad shape, and they made the most disturbing animalistic sounds as they tried to reach for the net. She wished her twin was with her since Jecca had an affinity for dealing with wild animals. Then again, the group of attackers didn’t seem like they could be reasoned with.
A deluge of rain began to fall, adding to the chaotic scene. She used her magic to keep from getting wet, but the others weren’t as lucky. As the crowd of gray people grew larger, some of them slipped in the mud and fell. Others began climbing on the fallen, trampling them under their feet as they continued to try to reach the screaming humans. As more gray people tripped and fell, the pile of bodies grew. Crawling on top of one another, they used each other as a human ladder to get closer to the net.
“Help! Somebody, help us!”
Jaya sighed. Since the gray people seemed to be attracted to sound, the trapped males were simply drawing more of them to the area by making so much noise. She didn’t blame them, though. Their fear and panic were obviously making it difficult for them to think straight.
To entertain herself, she created a whip and went to work destroying the gray people. Since they kept coming at her even after they lost body parts, she coated the whip with a magical flame that instantly destroyed them upon contact. As she destroyed decaying bodies, the humans stopped screaming and began shouting encouragement.
When she had taken care of all the gray people on their feet, she got rid of her whip and sent a fireball at the big pile of people on the ground, turning them into dust. Admittedly, she could have gotten rid of the group of attackers a lot faster, but that wouldn’t have been as much fun.
Scanning the area, the only real people she sensed were the two trapped in the net. Strolling forward, she came to a stop under the tree. Bracing her hands on her hips, she frowned when she realized the trapped human males were mere younglings.
“You seem a little young to be here on the island. I thought this place was age restricted,” she said conversationally. “What are you doing here?”
“A Dragon Warrior,” the boy with brown hair said reverently.
“Are you sure, Cosmo?” the blond boy whispered. “She might just be part of the game.”
“I am very real,” Jaya assured them.
“That’s what a holo in the game would say.”
Since she couldn’t fault his logic, she said, “Believe what you wish. Although, if I were a holo, I probably would not have saved you.”
“That’s…a good point. Technically, we shouldn’t be here, but we snuck in. Can you get us out of this net now?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. I have some questions first. What exactly were those things, and why were they attacking you?”
Both boys blinked at her, then the one named Cosmo said, “You mean the zombies? They were attacking us because that’s what they do. They want to eat peoples’ brains and stuff like that.”
“They eat brains?” She had dealt with many species over the years, but even for her, that sounded a little extreme. “Do they require neurons and axons to continue to function in their injured states?”
Eddie groaned. “Fucking hell, is she for real?”
“Don’t make her angry,” Cosmo hissed. Clearing his throat, he spoke louder as he answered her question. “Zombies are technically dead, so I guess the brains do keep them going.”
That made her frown. “If they are dead, why are they still moving?”
“They just do! They’re the undead, okay? They fucking died, and then they come back as zombies,” Eddie blurted out. “Stars, haven’t you ever seen a zombie vid or read any comics?”
She stared hard at the mouthy one. “Why would you reanimate dead people? What is their purpose?”
“It’s just part of the game. In the program, a virus caused people to reanimate once they were dead. The how or why isn’t that important. Killing them and surviving is the purpose of the game. But they’re supposed to be holos,” Eddie said, sounding bewildered. “One of them scratched my arm. They shouldn’t be able to do that, right? I have no idea what the fuck is happening. Am I going to become a zombie now? Or does that only happen when one of them bites you?”
“Calm down, Eddie,” his friend said. “You’re not going to become a zombie.”
“But what if I do?” The young male was now reaching hysterical levels of panic. “What if I don’t even know it until I start craving your brain? Isn’t that part of the zombie lore?”
Taking pity on them both, Jaya healed them, scanning them thoroughly to make sure she didn’t miss any injuries. She didn’t know much about this zombie lore they spoke of, but since the holos had become semi-real, perhaps an actual living, breathing person could get infected.
That wasn’t something she wanted to test at the moment.
“You are not going to become a zombie,” she stated, hoping to ease his panic.
“You don’t know that for sure!”
“I do because I just healed you,” she explained, striving for patience.
“You—what? Holy shit, the scratch marks are gone!” Eddie paused, then said, “Can you let us down now? And why are you dry when we are soaking wet?”
The boy’s manners were appalling, but she would give him a pass considering they had just encountered a horde of brain-eating zombies. Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to release them, she destroyed the net.
The boys let out startled screams as they fell, but she stopped their descent with a cushion of air that dried them as they were slowly lowered to the ground. Once the boys were safely on the ground, they attempted to act like they hadn’t been terrified a few seconds ago.
“Thanks for that. So, what should we do now?” Cosmo asked. “There are other people on the island who could be in danger. Should we go find them?”
She was planning on doing exactly that once she found somewhere she could stash the boys. “I will find them.”
“We can help,” Eddie insisted. “Can I have one of those magic whips?”
She eyed him with speculation. “Have you ever used a whip before?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Nay, you may not. You are more likely to damage yourself using one than it doing you any good defensively.”
Eddie pouted a little. “That’s a good point. We need weapons, though. We have holo-blasters that we used for the game, but I don’t think they will work now that the zombies are real. What if we encounter more of them?”
“I will destroy them.”
Since the boys looked extremely disappointed, she gave in and created bronze-hued metal daggers for them. The weapons had spirals of glittering black minerals in them and were laced with magic so the males wouldn’t cut themselves. Their faces immediately brightened like stars as they gripped the hilts of the daggers in their hands.
“Wow! Thanks!” Eddie exclaimed as he swiped the air with his knife. “I’m Eddie, by the way. And this is my friend, Cosmo.”
“Jaya Tesera.”
Cosmo studied his own blade with wide eyes. “I’ve never seen anything like this. What is it made of?”
“It is a metal found within the heart of the mountains on Tartarus. I believe the black minerals in the metal are used in your jump drives.”
Cosmo grinned. “That’s awesome!”
“Now we can kill some zombies,” Eddie exclaimed.
Shaking her head at their enthusiasm, Jaya glanced around. She didn’t want to go back the way she came since that would lead them back to the section with the alien insects. Deciding to head in the opposite direction, she began walking, confident they would follow her.
The boys began peppering her with questions as they walked. Some were about her race and her travels with her sister, which she gladly answered. Other questions they asked were more personal, but she simply ignored anything she didn’t want to answer.
The boys were slightly annoying, but their inquisitive natures and craving for adventure reminded her a little of her younger brothers, Riko and Nox.
They’d been walking for a while when the sky overhead became supercharged with energy. She raised up a protective shield just in time to block a lightning strike, then she transported the boys directly under a nearby overpass as the wind kicked up and started whirling into a narrow cyclone. She made sure they were safe by preventing them from leaving the safe space until she allowed them out.
When several more tornados formed, she secured her feet to the ground and watched. The weather phenomenon was highly unusual, and she wanted to study it up close. She wasn’t sure what was causing it, but she found the sight of so many tornados spinning in formation strangely beautiful.
“What are you doing?” Eddie called out. “Get away from those things.”
“This is a natural disaster zone,” Cosmo shouted. “Anything and everything in this area can try to kill us out here!”
She frowned at that. If the tornados were part of the program, that meant there was probably some sort of mechanism or machine that was being used to alter the weather. Since she had no idea where to begin looking for that, she could simply disperse the clouds instead.
Before she could do that, she sensed movement coming in fast to the left. Turning, she readied herself for whatever was headed her way. Her breath caught as she saw a magnificent male with a pair of large white wings spread wide flying toward her.
He was like a beacon of light in the darkness.
Her enhanced vision allowed her to see him clearly through the rain. Although he was dressed all in black and had on a pair of glasses that partially hid his face, what she saw of him was enough to know he was handsome and seriously built. Those majestic wings proved he was of the D’Aire race, but his short black hair and wider, muscular body revealed he was most likely of mixed heritage.
Through the transparent lens of his glasses, she could see that he had one black eye and one bright blue. She found the unique combination highly alluring, as was the tiny dimple in his chin that she longed to reach out and touch.
“Are you fucking crazy? What are you doing out here?” he growled.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, he stalked toward her until he was standing right in front of her. Then, he froze. He looked like he had been struck by a lightning bolt, but he shook it off and grabbed her arm with his gloved hand.
“It isn’t safe. We’ve got to get out of here.”
She was so enthralled by him that his words barely registered. She didn’t want safety.
She wanted danger.
Excitement.
She wanted him.
As the wind whipped around them and lightning slashed across the sky, she grabbed him by the back of the neck and pressed her lips to his in a scorching kiss. His arms wound around her waist, and he lifted her against him. Feeling the energy arch between them, she was able to confirm exactly why her intuition had led her to Evo.
Amidst all the craziness and merging of reality and illusion, she had finally found her mate.