Crimson stood from the couch and Max couldn
’
t help but notice the white leather high heels she was wearing. He couldn
’
t help but notice how the peach dress with
white
Celtic
knots
compl
e
mented her hair, eyes
,
and skin. There he was, bloodied, bruised
,
and dripping with rain, feeling as if he had stood a date up at a fancy restaurant. Even more confusing, they were on their way to Psyker Scream.
“
I was attacked,
”
he muttered out, feeling stupid after his frightened display.
“
I
’
m sure you were. We are already late and I am doing this for you. How quickly can you get changed?
”
“
Five minutes.
”
“
Atta boy! Go make yourself pretty for me. I
’
ll be waiting,
”
she said in a tone Max couldn
’
t decide was seductive or not.
When he returned three minutes and twenty-six seconds later, he was washed, smelling nice, and wearing a paisley
-
patterned silver and black button-down shirt that matched his form nicely and a pair of blue jeans, along with black combat boots. He was hoping that he wouldn
’
t fight any more this evening, but he no longer knew what to expect. His eye was swollen and throbbed. He wanted to sleep, even though he
’
d spent most of his day in a drug
-
induced coma.
“
Well, after seeing you, nothing I can do would compare,
”
he said with sincerity.
“
Don
’
t suck up for our school days, Max,
”
she scoffed.
“
I
’
m not. I mean it. I didn
’
t even expect you to be here when I didn
’
t see you in the hall. Thus, the frantic throwing myself into doorknobs. You know, I don
’
t make it a favorite pastime to do activities that will make me piss out blood in the morning, right?
”
She let out an innocent giggle and smiled with her feline teeth glinting in the light, inviting him toward her.
“
The way you threw yourself into that doorknob, you could have fooled me,
”
she said with a smirk.
“
I was trying to. By the way, not that I am complaining or anything, but how did you know where I lived? And how did you get into my apartment?
”
“
Wouldn
’
t you like to know?
”
“
That
’
s why I asked.
”
“
Too bad. You ready to get a move on or what?
”
Completely perplexed, Max just stared Crimson in her majestic eyes. He thought about saying nothing, but then decided
against it
.
“
I
’
m locking it behind us. Unless you know some reason I shouldn
’
t.
”
“
I don
’
t know anyone dumb enough to not lock their door when they aren
’
t around. Even in this nice neighborhood,
”
she said with a smile.
“
Now come on before it
’
s over. You have to see this.
”
At that, he locked the door, she took him by the hand, and down the hallway they strode.
The Show
“
So, tell me…what do you hear?
”
“
Hear? Are you nuts? I give the Psyker Scream bots at my clinic. I
’
ve never even dreamt of giving them to myself.
”
Crimson and Max had shown up late to the Psyker concert. The fans were in the audience, not behaving the way one would think for a metal techno fusion band that boasted the world
’
s most amazing and bizarre acoustics
known
to man. Instead of the crowd shoving, moshing, hopping
,
and crowd surfing, they were standing there doing nothing but staring at the stage. Some of the fans were staring at each other, but nobody was acting rowdy.
It was surreal
. T
he band members
,
Surge, Zax
,
and Badger
,
were all on stage. They were apparently playing their instruments. The set had started about an hour before Crimson and Max arrived. But nobody seemed to respond to the music; nobody showed any form of excitement.
“
So, you don
’
t hear anything? Nothing at all?
”
Crimson asked, staring intently at Max.
“
No.
”
“
Close your eyes; try harder.
”
Max looked at Crimson as if she had lost her mind completely. How many times did he have to tell her that he didn
’
t have the modifications? There was no way for him to hear the music. He drew a breath in deep. He was in pain from the beating he
’
d
t
a
k
en
earlier; his eye was still swollen
,
and his hand had a stinging pain from the cuts he
’
d inflicted on himself. He held his breath for a count of five and closed his eyes as he released it. He concentrated on trying to hear the guitar.
“
Where. Was. The. Blind. Guard. Tree. Yellow.
”
Max opened his eyes and looked at Crimson; he gave her a befuddled expression.
“
What did you say?
”
he questioned.
“
I didn
’
t say a thing, big boy.
”
Her tone was purposely seductive and condescending at the same time.
“
So tell me, what do you hear?
”
“
Words. They don
’
t make any sense, though. They
’
re just…swimming
, disconnected
. I don
’
t know how to describe it
other than that
. They
’
re in my head; it sounds like switching between broadcast signals very rapidly and all you catch is one word on every station.
”
“
Keep listening, keep trying to hear,
”
she said in a soothing voice, running her hand in a downward stroke from his forehead to his chin, closing his eyelids.
It would be nice if you told me what I was trying to hear.
He kept his eyes closed and tried to clear his thoughts. He could feel that Crimson had moved her hand back to his forehead and was resting it ever so gently on him. He kept hearing words. None of them made any sense; none of them conjugated. Then suddenly, he felt a deep reverberation shaking his bones. It felt as if his bones could hear thunder rolling though his body.
He couldn
’
t hear the tremendous bass that was rattling him, but he sure could feel it. He wasn
’
t even sure if it was real. He wasn
’
t sure if he were to open his eyes that he would still hear it, so he kept them shut. Suddenly, he heard a buzzing as if it was piercing through his head; the noise didn
’
t hurt, but it felt awkward and intense.
“
What does it sound like?
”
“
Droning
,
it sounds like droning, but I can
’
t hear a thing.
”
“
Wait for it.
”
“
Wait for—
”
He let out a scream of agony as he clutched his head and dropped to his knees. A screech more intense than anything he had ever heard before pierced through his head and shattered his nerves. The noises he felt and heard, the voices in his head, all disappeared and it was back to the way it had been the moment he walked in with Crimson. There was nothing he could hear other than her.
“
Want to know what that was?
”
she inquired of him.
“
Kinda, it hurt like hell whatever it was.
”
“
I
’
ll tell you, but not here; it isn
’
t safe. Let
’
s head back to your apartment.
”
Not safe? Great, I
’
ve only been attacked by five men tonight. What else could possibly go wrong? What world does this chick live in? What is
“
unsafe
”
to her?
“
What do you mean not safe here?
”
he asked as he rose to his feet. Max glanced around to see that most of the fans were beginning to open their eyes and look around. The three band members were staring right at Crimson and him, no longer playing their musical instruments. He suddenly felt very, very uneasy. The crowd of thousands was turning, facing the two of them.
“
Uh…Crimson? I feel as if we might be unwelcome
at
this party. They seemed to have been enjoying until we arrived. Perhaps we should go.
”
“
Start walking toward the door. I know the drill by now. We should be fine.
”
“
Should be? Why can
’
t we just be fine? How about that? I like that idea.
”
“
Shut up and start walking.
”
She placed her hand on his back between his shoulder blades and drew his body into hers, spinning him to face the exit. They were walking across a concrete floor and her heels were making what seemed to be an awful racket in the dead silence of the crowd. He could feel the eyes burning their skin as they walked, like prey waiting for an attack.
“
If it isn
’
t our friend Crimson!
”
o
ne of the members shouted from behind them.
“
It
’
s Badger, their vocalist, keep walking,
”
said Crimson under her breath.
Max didn
’
t have anything funny or sarcastic to quip back at her with. He was genuinely afraid, even more so than he had been earlier that day.
“
Stop them!
”
Badger commanded.
At his command, the crowd was rushing up the stairs. In a matter of seconds, they were surrounded by a mob. Every face was glaring at the two of them with an intense anger and hatred. It sent shivers down Max
’
s spine. Crimson could feel it; she
but
kept breathing normal as if she wasn
’
t even phased.
“
They
’
re going to kill us, aren
’
t they?
”
Max questioned.
“
Probably.
”
* * * *
How does he know I
’
m not going to rip him off? Or ravage his place
for the fun of it
? He doesn
’
t know me, and he trusts me like this?
Zarfa
’
s thoughts were hard for even him to imagine. As long as he had drawn breath, he
’
d never known trust. Maybe he had…before his parents had been taken. Maybe before then he
’
d
had trust.
He had trust when he came home his parents would be there. He had trust that his sister would be in the crib as usual; his mom would feed him a snack when he got home from school. Because, in thousands of years of history, some things had never changed. His father would be at work when he got home; his mother would be there to attend to his needs as she had done to Sarah all day when he was at school.
But trust? Trust was gone. Trust had vanished the day his parents were abducted by the raiders; it died the day Sarah had been taken. Trust was something he
n
ever gave out. Protection, yes. But trust? No. He didn
’
t trust anyone, and with his less than amiable demeanor, nobody trusted him. People in Ilyeion had seen him kill over a drunkard trying to get fresh with his sister. And not
only
the drunk… His friends too.