Page 195 of Gates of Tartarus

Wake Up, Kailani

Saturday, December 15 – Kailani

Jonah leads me to the garden, where we sit in silence until I’m feeling better and indicate to him that I can probably go back in for a little while.

“I think this might be my last sweep, J. Everything is feeling funny up here…” I motion vaguely towards my head. “It’s like a strobe light. Things are pulsing in and out. Something feels… it just feels wrong.” He frowns deeply; I can see it even behind his mask.

“Then let's just call it, Kai. Enough is enough.”

“I only have the one area left, I think. I’ve hit all of the other rooms and the VIP extensions. It’s just the last one, and I’ll be done.” Gritting my teeth, I squeeze his hand tightly. “I don’t want to, Jonah. But I can get through this one thing, I think, and then we’ll shut it down. Okay?”

Sighing, he looks torn, but walks with me towards the very back room, sectioned off with a heavy rope and large, fairly intimidating security. There must only be one way in and one way out, because the walls to either side of the door are lined with tense-looking personal security guards, evidently left there by their employers, who are currently inside the area cordoned off for dignitaries and high rollers.

I meet Madds’ and Walker’s eyes as Jonah and I approach the ropes, both watching me carefully, noting, I’m sure, my unsteady gait and Jonah’s strong arm propping me up. Walker moves toward us, drifting by, barely stopping, but I can tell how much he wants to check on me, can feel the worry floating off him like smoke. It curls around me, filling my lungs, and I shake my head slightly, making a funny little face at him briefly to try to alleviate his concern. I can almost taste it, even with my shields up, which sends tendrils of panic through me.I shouldn’t be able to feel him that strongly while shielded!I think.What’s wrong with me?I’m distractedly checking my walls when we get to the door, barely noticing the guard waving me through, and only stopping when I see him blocking Jonah.

“No security inside,” he says in a deep voice.

Jonah smiles, a forced smile, but tries to maintain his easy, charming nature. There are only a few feet separating us. It’s fine.

“Hey, man! Thanks for the compliment, but I’m not security. I’m her date.” He shoots a grin at me, but the granite man remains unmoved.

“You’re on the list?”

Jonah nods. “Jonah Shotridge.”

The man glances down and shakes his head. “No. You wait there,” pointing again to the wall.

“It’s fine, J,” I say, stepping back toward him. “I’ll just come out. We’ll find Elizabeth, then come back in together…” but as I try to reach him, only a stone’s throw away, a crowd of drunk revelers, spinning and rippling, pushes past him and into me, swallowing me in their chaos. Hands grab at my arms, yanking me forward through a dark door into a darker room, fingers bruising my skin and cutting tiny half-moons into my arms. I make desperate attempts to pull away but am spun around from person to person, cold laughter bright in my ears, until I’m left on my own, dizzy and wavering in place. Frantically, I reach to steady myself, fingers brushing whispers of fabric, unable to find solid purchase.

Once the group has moved on, I’m left alone and try to take in my environment. There are masked figures surrounding me, the air thick and heavy with a strange, incensed smoke, the flickering of the candlelight and the dark, fluttering curtains making the room feel surreal and strange. Their pale, porcelain faces flash in front of me like nightmares realized, then dart away, disappearing into the surrounding blackness. It’s an intricate, planned dance, inky gowns flaring suddenly near me, the soft swish of fabric muted, no footsteps pairing with the sound, no matter how hard I strain my ears. It’s as though I’m caught in a world of ghosts, the only flesh and blood creature in some fey festival, and I suddenly feel very much the human sacrifice.

Backing up slowly, so as not to draw attention to myself, I move subtly towards the general area of the door. I bump into someone, turning in automatic apology. A grotesque skull masque with large, twisting horns, bone white, no eyes visible in the deep-set sockets, stares at me, then tilts its head in concern.

“Wake up, Kailani!” a deep voice says mockingly from behind the pale visage, and then the body twists away. Giving up on subtlety, I turn to push through the crowd and am elbowed sharply.

“Wake UP, Kailani!” a woman’s laughing, shrill voice says from behind an alabaster death masque, lips curled into a permanent smirk, black cracks running the length of her face, long claws on her hands pulling at my dress.

A third person pushes past me, twirling into what little light exists in the room, flashing Drama’s distorted grimace, as its partner, Comedy, leers at me from his or her arms.

“Wakeup, Kailani!” and they cackle in unison. When they do, it’s like a waterfall has been unleashed, the masked dancers pressing toward me, pushing against me, their voices soft, sibilant whispers now, hisses of threatening sound. “Wake up, Kailani! Wake UP, Kailani!”

I’m knocked to the floor, hands grabbing at me, pulling at my hair, tearing at my clothes, and I cover my head to protect it, curled up, trying desperately to find a way to escape. All of a sudden, the sounds stop completely, as though a switch has been flipped, and a single, pale figure walks toward me like a specter, feet making no sound. Everyone else has disappeared, leaving no one but the woman in front of me, sinking to her knees, face heavy with concern and lined in worry.

“Wake up, Kailani,” Elizabeth says softly, holding her hand out to me. “Come on now, it’s time to wake up!”

Trembling, I scoot backwards, until I bump into the door, eyes wide and panicked.Where are the guys? Where’s Maela? What is happening?She moves towards me slowly, hands held up in a non-threatening gesture. “Come on, Kai…” she croons. “Wake up now.”

Shaking my head, I mutter, “What the fuck?What the fuck?”

Elizabeth moves to stand in front of me. Looking down, she drops a mischievous wink, and then, her face suddenly set and angry, she snaps, “Kailani! WAKE UP!”

There is a sharp pain at the base of my neck, the sting of a scorpion’s tail, and I wince, confused and panicked. Then, the world goes black.

Epilogue

“Kailani, wake up!” An insistent, but soothing, voice forces my eyes open. The phrase echoes in my head over and over.Wake up, Kailani. Blinking blearily, my eyelids feel heavy, as though I’ve been asleep for a long time, and my tongue is thick and dry in my mouth. It’s taking me too long to focus; my head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton and is wobbly on my neck.

I hear the phrase again from in front of me, and I compel my eyes to center on the face that is attached to the anxious voice. In a sudden woosh of sight and sound returning, Elizabeth’s face comes into crisp, sharp focus, her eyes troubled.

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