The Realms [Watty 2017 Shortlist]

Tick Tick Tick - Part 34

I'm grateful to use some of my time on the Second Realm in a useful way. I'm not breaking any running records, but I have run steadily for almost four hours. I keep to main passageways and I can't believe the lack of people around. I knew the huts were isolated, but I didn't really understand the scope of the isolation. Only now, small towns and colonies are starting to emerge on the horizon from the wasteland. Twelve hours don't feel like enough. I have to find a faster way to navigate the realm or all of my planning and deception will be for nothing. Although I'll have Ryan, the Third Realm will be lost and I'll never redeem myself.

I slow down and then stop running; hunger and thirst are threatening to take over my mental faculties. I close my eyes and will myself some food and water but when I open them, nothing appears. Confused, I look around the immediate area for anything that might resemble the food I requested, but there's nothing. I need food and water. I can't keep going; even if I make it in time, I'll be too weak to act. I look around for a house that might provide some help. Three houses down there is a sign for a Vallator and I hope their protective instincts encompass food and water for a stranger. I jog over to the door and knock with some force. I listen closely for any movement within, but I can't hear anything. I'm not sure exactly what time of day it is and I move a few houses down to a house and sign that belong to a Transporter, which isn't ideal, but I'm starting to feel desperate.

I knock loudly and confidently. This time, the door opens almost immediately. He's not dressed in typical transporter clothes, but instead a sweater and pants so soft looking that I itch to touch them. His dark, slicked back hair and hazel eyes are unfamiliar. I don't recognize the man standing before me, although he looks about my age. Curiosity, maybe even surprise tinges the edges of his emotions. My mental block is down and I push it up quickly, hoping I didn't reveal too much yet again. I send a mental probe his way.

"What can I do for you Siren Hannah?"

That can't be good. He knows me. I hesitate. I'm unsure if he read me that quickly or if I'm that notorious. "I tried to will myself some food and water, but I didn't have any luck... I think I'm out of practice."

"It's not practice you need, my dear, it would be divine intervention that this point. The ruler made a rule that food and water needed to be purchased with some form of currency. People have been starving and thirsty for years – although I doubt he's been suffering the same fate."

"Currency? What sort of currency?"

He steps back from the threshold of the door and allows me to enter. "Whatever skills a person can peddle. If you'd still been here I'd hate to think what you'd have done."

I'm uncomfortable at the implication that, as a Siren, I didn't have much more than my sexuality and quick wit to peddle. "Do I know you?"

"Doubtful. You, on the other hand, used to be a little bit famous. I thought you'd been banished, but I've long given up being surprised by anything that happens on this realm. I guess you're in need of food and water since you didn't know about the new rules."

I have no currency and there is no way I'm going to trade on my looks for food and water at this point. "I don't have any way to pay you."

"Did Ryan follow you back?"

"Yes."

"That's payment enough for me. I've been waiting for this day for years. The old man is finally going to get his comeuppance."

I nod, afraid to speak, not wanting to give anything more away to this stranger. He leaves the room and I peer around the foyer, marveling at the height of his ceilings and the grandness of his home. If it's as horrible on this realm as everyone leads me to believe, his wealth makes me suspicious. "I'm on a bit of a tight timeline!" I call out, contemplating whether I should leave and take my chances with another house, maybe one that's a little shabbier.

He comes back and hands me some water and a piece of cake. "Sorry I don't have anything else. It's been a slow transporting month for me."

I look at the cake and wish there was some way I could test it without letting him know I'm suspicious. I send out a mental probe, but his wall is firmly in place. I stand holding the water and cake, my stomach growling, but my brain won't let me touch them. "This is a nice place. I would have thought with times so tough..." My voice trails off, letting the implication sit between us.

"If you're too good for my food and water, I am happy to take it back." He reaches out a hand, not giving anything away. "How much time do you have left?"

I glance at my watch and out of the corner of my eye I see his fist fly towards my face. I duck, the glass shatters as it hit the floor and the cake flies off the plate. My back is to the door as he continues to throw punches and I dodge as many as I can. I was always strong for a Siren and I feel some of my composure emerge from hibernation. Whoever he is, he's sloppy and clearly not an experienced fighter. As I bob and weave around his punches, I land a few of my own and I'm suddenly happy my Third Realm parents were always so hard on me. "Who the hell are you?"

He laughs, panting and tries to land another punch. "No one important."

I land a hard kick to his chest. As he falls, I grab the chair closest to me and quickly flipped it around so the last bar presses into his neck. "I said, who are you?"

"Just a time waster, Hannah. You and I both know I had to earn my keep somehow."

I angle my wrist so I can see the time. Two hours have miraculously disappeared since I entered the house. "How'd you do that?"

His smile is small and dangerous. "One of my parents was a time manipulator. As soon as you entered the house I could control time... It's tick, tick, ticking away even as you stand here."

I drop the chair and I hear it clatter behind me as I dash for the door. Thankfully it opens on the first try and I sprint away from the house, my hunger and thirst almost forgotten.

#

I run for another hour before almost collapsing with exhaustion. Nine hours left. I don't have Grayson, Violet, Ryan or Maizie and I certainly don't have the knife. According to the road signs, it'll take me almost eight hours of steady running to even make it to the house on time. I'm starting to feel like it's a lost cause as I wander towards a small copse that seemed to spring up in the distance. There hasn't been much but sand and houses and I feel a small frisson of hope that there might be a natural spring and something edible in the thicket. I jog towards the trees, feeling the flame of hope reigniting. I just need some food and water and then maybe I'll be able to keep running.

In the middle of the copse, partially hidden by the tree branches are a small well and a cottage. It looks well kept, but unlike the transporter's house, it doesn't seem out of place. I can't believe my luck and briefly consider that it could be a mirage brought on by hunger. I knock tentatively on the door, hoping that Ryan still has at least a few friends left on this realm. When the door creaks open and a woman, old beyond her years, stands before me and my chest collapses in relief. "Violet?" It's Ryan's mom.