Rise of a Queen

Chapter 9

The Gatekeeper.

    Sounds bad.

    And from the way Lumiere has gone mute since the moment we left that hotel, I'd say my assumptions are correct.

    Ahead of us, Brandon and Corinth rode in haste, as if Brandon couldn't get there soon enough. But Lumiere and I lingered behind them, letting space swarm between the two motorcycles until we were so distanced from them that I had a hard time discerning their figures amongst the lights of the other cars as night turned over the land.

    I have grown accustomed to Lumiere's way of driving but his speed and ferocity lay dormant now. Instead we rode in gentle progression, like snow drifting from a midnight sky; wandering and aimless on currents that gathered around us and guided our path rather than the machine doing so. He was so lost in his thoughts, his head amongst the clouds and his mind even farther.

    One of his hands gripped the handle bar with knuckles brimmed white under tension but the other hand lay pliable in his lap where it rested without resistance. He looked forward with an expression void of any single emotion, almost nervous but mostly nostalgic that caused his demeanor to shift drastically from one sentiment to the other in unpredictable patterns. Though the wind dried out his eye and tossed locks of hair into his face, he never moved to amend either. He didn't blink, he didn't brush away that hair.

    He only stared forward, as if he could see our destination brimming the skyline.

    And he dreaded it.

    Hour after hour we drove this way, stopping only once for gas though not a single word was spoken from our party. When Brandon stood from his bike to stretch and fill his gas tank, Corinth remained seated, still biting at her nails. Lumiere left me only for a moment to pay for gas and when he returned, I waited for his usual sarcastic self to return.

    But it didn't.

    His limbs moved absentmindedly and he inserted the gas nozzle into his tank without conscious vigil of his actions, facing east. The direction of our travel.

    What was he thinking about? Who was this Gatekeeper? And why did it feel like we were on our way to an early grave?

    I didn't dare ask my questions, not yet.

    We were on the road again just as the moon took residence in the sky, rising higher and higher with each hour we rode and each mile we covered. Traffic dwindled as night carried on and soon, only a few cars kept us company along the highway. But soon, even those cars embarked on separate paths, leaving us alone on a narrowing lane of pavement. From several lanes to only one, we followed the transformation from highway to backroad, and then backroad to some poorly assembled lane of broken asphalt.

    Ahead of us, Brandon did what he could to avoid the potholes and cracks in the road but Lumiere vaulted over them, causing us to jolt in rough motions and bounce in our seats. But Lumiere held his course, still preoccupied with memories he hadn't consulted in a very long time.

    Only after the moon peaked in the sky did our speed finally slow. With our destination no doubt close, I expected to find a structure similar to the compound but instead I saw nothing.

    Absolutely nothing; no houses or street signs, not even a single streetlight. The only sign of civilization was a very soft glow in the distance, an accumulation of light signaling where a town or city might be. But here, in the consuming darkness, we were swallowed by the vast space and engulfed in whatever barren wasteland we currently resided in.

    It was terrifying to be nowhere. I couldn't see anything besides the color black, wrapped around us in a thick blanket that only tolerated the smallest amount of light from the full moon above. With the moon so round, it should have offered more light, enough to travel by if nothing else. But oddly enough, it didn't.