Chapter 8 #2
“He had to stop,” Selene lies smoothly, her expression giving nothing away. “Got some food poisoning. Said he’d be back, or someone could come for him later. Might be a few days before someone comes for the horses. That’s why he had us ride and make sure we got them in.”
The woman nods, suspicious but, like everyone else out here, knows better than to ask any more questions.
Can’t be punished for not reinforcing something you didn’t know existed.
“Alright. There’s a bus heading toward the Mirage in about an hour, when it’ll be close by.
You can wait here for it. If you miss it, you gotta ride the other bus to the next town. I recommend just not missing it.”
An hour.
It feels like sweet victory and yet not enough time.
What if Judge catches up? What if that beast comes back with that fucking cowboy?
I still don’t even know why it backed off…
It doesn’t matter. This is what we have before us.
We grab our bags from the horses and get Rebecca stabilized as we sit on a bench, working on getting her wrist re-splinted.
Either way, I can almost guarantee these three will go.
It’s more a question of if I’ll be caught beforehand.
There’s a lot of pacing from the three of us, and ignoring a lot of strangers, as we wait.
I stare off into the distance, trying my best to gauge the tether in case I can sense Judge before he arrives.
None of us ask about what just happened, or what we do next. As soon as someone looks like they might say something, our words disappear.
Then, our attention moves to the right as we watch a bus that approaching…
It’s an old-school one, painted a deep, dark purple, and completely refitted. It comes in hot on the road, the fading sun giving it an appearance of a rescue mission. We hardly wait for it to get into park before we’re at the door. The driver opens it up.
“Need to hear your proof.”
We all just stand there, re-shouldering our bags like it might help fill in the silence. “What?” I ask.
The driver rolls her eyes, her head mimicking the sentiment as it dips lower. “Ya’ll new?”
“Oh,” Jess stammers out, stepping forward. She looks around the area and then points. “It’s over there. The uh… Let’s see, what’s the flag… a smiling skull?”
The driver nods. “Sure deal. These ladies with you?”
“Yeah, yeah, they are.”
She nods and waves us on board. I try to peek out and see what Jess was referring to, and completely miss whatever it was, only seeing a nature reclaimed pre-bloom world.
We all get on, though, and for a moment I wonder if I’m being led astray.
Why should I trust Jess at all, really? Out of desperation?
Then again, what else am I going to do?
Rebecca is shaking as we sit her on one of the black seats, her face pale, but there’s a determination in her eyes that tells me she’s not giving up.
Not yet.
The bus lurches forward, and I watch the town disappear behind us, my chest tight with the constant awareness of Judge somewhere in the distance.
How did we outrun a bounty hunter that easily?
It’s not as if it’s a secret where we’re going at this point.
Judge is smart enough to piece things together.
“Hey,” Selene says, who sits next to me, and she leans over as we sit across from the sisters. “What do you mean by a smiling skull?”
I nod, almost a little too enthusiastically, happy someone said something. “Yeah, what is that?”
“If you want to get on the Mirage, you have to have a formal invitation. It’s like a postcard, and you put your blood on the circle.
It’s like a passport.” She pulls out something from her bag—a cream colored rectangle with some words on the front, and on the back is a circle.
“You put your blood in here if you want on.”
“I didn’t know anything about this,” I reply, looking it over. Selene leans over to get a good look.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize,” she says, motioning to her sister as if to show that’s where he head was at.
“Well, um,” she positions Rebecca so she can lean on her shoulder, “you have to just fill that circle with your blood. It will disappear into the paper, but it’s bound to me, so you’re my official guest. You’ll be able to see the Mirage until you enter.
Then, when you get off, unless you’re given an invitation, it will disappear again once it starts to walk away, disappearing like a mirage. That’s where it gets it’s name from.”
Selene sticks her head out. “That’s real? I thought that was just like some rumor.”
Jess shakes her head. “Nope, it’s real.”
I tap the card in my hand. “How’d you get this in the first place?”
“You can apply for one. I did about a year ago when I learned Rebecca had been dark bonded. I figured we could use any chance we could get. I was surprised I got it. I heard the Witch Doctor doesn’t give them out much.”
“So,” I begin, finally getting excited that this is actually happening. “Does she run the thing? I don’t get it. Is it, okay, I know this sounds like a kid, but is it magic?”
Rebecca smirks a little, her eyes still closed.
Jess shrugs her unused shoulder. “I don’t know, honestly. They send these people out, I think they’re called the Veilman. They’re the ones that give these out and decide if you’re worthy.”
“Woah, really?” I ask, looking at Selene. “You ever heard of this?”
She shakes her head.
Jess smiles like she’s learning something interesting. “Oh, okay, wow, that’s interesting. I’ve heard you can only see them if your aura is lined up right. Which means they could be walking among you and you don’t even know.”
I raise a hand. “That sounds like magic. I swear this is magic.” It almost gives me hope, like if there’s magic, then there’s definitely a chance I’ll survive this.
Jess nods to the invitation. “Go ahead, put your blood in that circle. You’ll then see it.”
I give a glance at Selene, who has dirt slightly smeared on her face, making the whites of her eyes stand out more than normal. This is definitely risky, but what else are we going to do? It fits the mystique of the place… plus, what are Rebecca and Jess going to lie to us about?
Then I think of Judge, and how I’m still pissed that he used me.
He knew my fears and concerns, yet he shrouded me in lies and deception.
I don’t give a shit if it was ‘for my best interest.’ In that, I get out a knife, grab some alcohol from my bag, and dig into my finger and smear the circle with my blood.
My eyes widen when the blood slowly dissolves as if it’s clear water, and then it’s suddenly dry. I lift my head to look out the front window, rising to my feet as the postcard falls to the floor when I realize there’s a huge fucking object right in front of us.
I near the front of the bus, squatting down to peer out from the windshield. The driver laughs, side-glancing me. “First time?”
“Uh-huh,” I barely get out. I hardly blink as we’re somehow in a shadow. This whole thing was bright before, and there’s a haze that slowly clears… like a mirage.
Massive legs lift slowly, stepping deep into the earth, each step creating a small shake within the bus. “Have you always felt that?”
The driver nods. “Oh, yeah. I can see it at all times, too. Can get confusing sometimes when I get virgins like you.”
I don’t even look at her when she calls me that, continuing to take it all in.
There’s a trail of Mirage footprints, the monstrosity on a path that’s mostly clear of the trees.
It looms so tall above us I can’t believe I can’t see the top.
It’s all metal, sort of circular, and yet it has over two dozen parts jutting out like buildings.
Windows line it, and so do many hanging things I can’t quite make out.
Then I see the flag hanging on the back, a painting of a massive skull grinning wide.
For the first time since I ran from Judge, I feel like I might actually have a chance. The Mirage will give me answers. It has to. This is the coolest shit I’ve ever seen in my entire life, and it means there’s an entire world that exists outside of my own.
After this, I’m done running.
One way or another.