“We don’t know how to get out.” Clive reiterated. “Can you show us the way?”
Heidi wiped her face with the back of her free hand. “Why would I want to help you?”
“You seem like you care about people.” Clive said, trying to turn on his charm. “We don’t know how to get out of here. If you let us leave unaccompanied, we may not survive.”
Heidi considered this logic and finally nodded in agreement. “Okay, I’ll guide you out. But never come back.”
“Can’t you leave with us?” Arrow asked hopefully.
“No.” She said simply. “I can only last for a short amount of time outside.” She lifted her left foot slightly and Arrow could see that part of the toe on her boot was faded. “I could have disappeared completely.”
“So, is this another world?” Arrow asked.
“I’m assuming.” Heidi said shortly. “There are tears all over Oblivion that seem to lead to the real world but, unfortunately, I cannot exist out there.
Both Clive and Arrow nodded in understanding. For Clive, this was beyond the realm of science he had studied. He was tempted to believe that what he was seeing was a hallucination, but everything within him was signaling that this was real. The musty air in the mansion assaulted his nose while his tongue was parched for water. The dim lighting made it hard to see details, but it all looked real. He also was able to fold his hands together and squeeze them. Things here seemed to be beyond science and instead could be classified as “magic”.
“We should go now. There is a beast that roams this place but he won’t in the rain.”
“A beast?” Clive asked in disbelief.
“Yes. The Queen of Oblivion feeds him with the forgotten. The stronger the forgotten memory the more he craves it. He has been chasing me since I got here.”
“You have a queen here?” Clive asked in disbelief.
Heidi nodded and gestured at them to follow her. Before they exited the house, she reached into a closet in the foyer and pulled out three umbrellas that were gray and dusty. Once on the porch, Clive’s nostrils were filled with the smell of wet dog mixed with mud.
They followed Heidi into the downpour with their umbrellas held over their heads. They walked quickly even though they were mostly protected from the rain. Each step squished into the ground and Clive was disappointed that his nice pair of shoes were getting destroyed in this way. It was hard to see much of anything, but Heidi became their beacon to guide the way.
The trees around them danced in wavy gray patterns behind the rain and the blood from the creek began to spread like a wine stain across the trodden down grass. To Clive’s horror, his foot landed hard on something firm that broke in half. As he glanced down, he realized it was the bone of some unknown creature. In all his years learning anatomy, he had never seen a part of the human skeletal system that looked like the bone before him. He picked up his pace to keep up with Arrow and Heidi.
Despite the umbrella, he still felt soggy. The puddles were so deep his trousers were drenched up to the middle of his calves and a sudden wind began blowing the rain and some drops started pelting towards his face. Arrow was soggy too, and his clothes hung off his tall, broad frame heavily. What was odd was that Heidi seemed to be just the same as she had been in the mansion, except now her hair looked like it was floating underwater. He had the mental image of a siren leading them to their deaths and this thought made him pause.
“What is it, Doc?” Arrow called out through the pelting rain.
“How can we trust her? What if she’s leading us right to the Queen of this place?”
He hadn’t bothered to keep his voice down, so Heidi spun around and glared at him. “The Queen and I are not friends.”
“Yeah, but you and Arrow aren’t either. What if you’re enacting revenge?”
“You just don’t like this idea because it involves people I know.” Arrow argued.
“What does that mean?”
“You don’t think highly of me and my friends. You only wanted to reconnect because I was useful to you. This is also the only reason why you wanted to rescue Mayre; she’s useful to you. She is the key to getting your job back.”
The rain temporarily forgotten, the two stood three feet apart looking at one another. They both were soaked, tired, and hungry. They didn’t know how long it had been since they first invaded the hospital and were captured. Arrow’s skin showed the life he had lived: scars, lines, and tattoos. Clive’s skin showed youth, vitality, and perfection. Both were very different men and Clive knew that what Arrow had said was true.
“You’re wrong.” Clive said, unwilling to admit fault.
Arrow raised his chin slightly. “You know I’m right.”
“We’re wasting time arguing!” Heidi yelled finally. “When the storm ends, we’ll be vulnerable.”
“I am getting my wife back because I love her!” Clive said, clenching his left fist and his right hand tightening on the umbrella handle.
“She’s gone, Clive.” Arrow said.
Anger bubbled in the pit of Clive’s stomach. If he was honest with himself he knew Arrow was right, but he didn’t want somebody to tell him the truth. He wanted somebody to tell him it would be okay.
Mayre had always been the person to tell him that things would be okay. She never judged him for his feelings or dreams. She always just encouraged him, and her encouragement was genuine.
“I’m going to find my own way.” Clive said finally.
Arrow looked surprised, but as Clive turned around and walked back the way he came, Arrow didn’t follow him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
PAT COULD FEEL a throbbing at the base of his skull and was surprised it wasn’t the ringing in his ears that had woken him up. He instinctively reached up to touch the place where his chip had been installed. It still was healing from his last surgery, but it didn’t seem like it had been messed with again.
“Good…you’re up.” Preston said silkily and stood from a chair that had been shrouded in shadow in a far corner.
Pat could tell they were in a different space and he marveled at how much of Sherwood Servers he hadn’t seen. The walls were teal, except for one wall that had a black curtain drawn over its surface that was presumably to cover a window. He ran his fingers across the surface he was on and realized it was a hospital bed.
“What happened?”
“We just installed an upgrade to your chip. If you’re ready, we need to test it.”
