Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux (20 page)

It was giving some kind of orders to these poor people and they
were following them. Jack knew instinctively that it was not a
benefactor, but a master of these people. Anger boiled inside of Jack;
that he had lost Tyree that nothing had gone his way since he stepped
into the portal, and that these creatures were manipulating all of mankind to do their bidding.

When the creature stood up, Jack drew his gun and emptied the
clip of nine rounds into the thing. He reloaded the clip but saw that nine
rounds may have been over-kill. The thing was dead. It let off an odd
smell like that of a stink bug and then another showed up floating in the
air behind the shack. Jack shot one round into its head and it died.
Wish
I would have known that before. They just look like they could take so
much more.

Jack stepped out of the shack to look around and he saw Tyree
getting up off of the ground. He ran to Tyree and shouted with joy,
“You’re alive!” But as Jack approached Tyree he noticed that he had
that same lifeless look in his eyes. “Tyree!” he yelled but Tyree only
looked at him and then looked away as he walked to the shack where
the demonic alien creature had been. Jack grabbed him by the arm and
ran down the stairs to the elevator. Tyree didn’t fight him, he followed
silently.
Ugh, he is still dead but maybe I can save him somehow.

As Jack ran out the door he let go of Tyree. He looked and saw
five more demons coming around the corner of the building. They
started floating back and forth, barking orders at the zombie-like people
in the streets... As a unit, all of the zombies turned their attention to
Jack, walking towards him while moaning and grunting. Jack hesitated
before putting several rounds in one of them but they just kept coming.
He shot a man in the head and on each side of the chest but he seemed
to be unaffected by the bullets except for the staggering from the force.
Force… that’s it!
Jack grabbed a collapsible metal stick that Omar had
given him from under his vest and expanded it.
This thing will send them
reeling.
Jack struck the end of it on the ground and it sent out a kinetic
force all around Jack which knocked all of the undead back.
Now I need
to find a place to hide and make a game plan
. He ran back to the
subway as fast as possible.

9
To be King

Myles’ first night as a King, thankfully, had come to an end. The
entire evening had been ceremony. Catalina had made sure to
communicate how impressed she was that he had been able to pass
himself as one of them. She showed him to the King’s quarters. And
made herself at home sitting on one of his the ornately designed sofas
by the fireside on a rug made of the skin of an arctic animal that Myles
was not familiar with. Myles found that the maid had thrown out his old
cloths. He had someone clean them and bring them to his room where
he fished through the many pockets taking all of the items out. Catalina
looked surprised at how many things he had hidden in his outfit.

Myles threw his hands up in frustration, “See why I was upset
that they threw it away. And now they want me to wear this buffoon’s
getup? Well I need a tailor in here tomorrow cause I will not wear an
outfit without hidden pockets. Myles reached to the back of his neck.
Hair used to be there.
“And it was too far! Way too far, letting them cut
all of my hair off. I feel naked!”

Catalina approached him. It was obvious that she was fighting a
smile but as long as she was fighting it Myles would not say anything.
“Dear Myles, my King,” she said gently placing her arms around his neck
and looking deep into his eyes.
Her eyes get me every time.
Then she
said, “I promise I will make this up to you after our wedding tomorrow.”

Fear struck Myles.
Tomorrow? This is too fast. I have got to run.
Myles looked in either direction for a quick escape forgetting that he
could teleport away at any moment. And then he remembered.
Yes, I
can be out of here and never have to deal with this again.
But before he
could think of where to go she slapped him, not hard like one of Kasey’s
slaps. No, Catalina was gentle and more feminine than Kasey. But it still
stung. She turned away from him and then walked away.

“Leave me then you fool. You forget that I can read your every
thought. Go and never come back. Be the irresponsible gambler, the
fool, the joker, the liar, and the cheat. But do not stay here one more
moment pretending that you will accept responsibility. You have the
choice to be a child or a man and I see what your heart truly desires,”
she said with much pain in her voice. She did not turn around or look at
him.

Myles looked at her.
How can I leave her like this? She is very
beautiful. And she is right. I always run from responsibility. I always take
the easy road. But this woman… She would love me for who I am… the
good and the bad. And she needs me. If I leave, I abandon her and her
Kingdom to ruin. It would not be obligation to love her, it would be…
right.

Myles knew she heard every word he thought but she still did
not turn around. He cleared his mind like a white noise drowning every
thought out. Then he approached her and put his arms around her. He
felt her body slump beneath his arms as she sighed. “You would love
me. Even knowing my most horrible thoughts. You would love me still
and you would marry me and accept me as your King. I don’t pretend to
understand why you would do these things. I don’t know what it is that
you see in me but I hope it really is there. I am not a good person, and
you know that. But if you would marry me, I would spend the rest of my
life… trying to be a good man and a man you can respect.”

She turned to him with tears in her eyes. Myles kissed her on
the forehead and said, “Catalina, it has been a long day and we have an
even longer day tomorrow. Let me have some rest. Tomorrow we have
a wedding and a honeymoon to begin. I have a special trip planned for
us but I will need my rest. “

She closed her eyes and hugged him tight. “I know the man you
will be. I see it in you. I’m glad you haven’t left and I hope you will be
here in the morning.”

She kissed him and then shut the door behind her. After he
heard her walk down the hall he turned and walked back to his things.

Myles grabbed his pipe and his tobacco. Then he sat by the fire
and puffed away.
Can I be this man she sees in me? Every time I have
tried I have failed and because it wasn’t what I really wanted. So the
question is, what do I want?

IGNACIO WALKED THROUGH ANOTHER PORTAL he had found in
the maze and it led him to a land with a winter climate. Of all of the
weapons that he could have chosen he picked a sniper rifle. If Myles
Callaghan was here then Ignacio would not fail in killing him. He would
insure it by putting distance between him and Myles. None of his tricks
would work against a sniper rifle. Ignacio had failed to teach Myles a
lesson back in Venice. If Ignacio failed at this mission the Don would kill
his brother and each time he failed a family member would suffer the
consequences. Ignacio would not fail. He would kill Myles Callaghan and
save his reputation.

He traveled through the dark snowy mountains for several days.
There seemed to be no civilization on this world until he came across a
community of small cabins in the middle of the woods.

Ignacio watched from a distance through the scope on his
sniper rifle. He observed the people of the small village and the
surrounding area. None of them had a blemish on them and for a small
village in the middle of the woods on a mountain the houses were nice.
The people wore nice clothing. As Ignacio watched he observed that
they were readying their horses and preparing wagons for a long
journey. It seemed that all of them were leaving the village.

He waited until later in the day, if you could call it "day". It was
always cloudy. Finally they had left and Ignacio began to sneak into the
village to look for food and weapons but there was none. He thought
that was odd as he did not see any packed into the wagons either.

But as he investigated the village he found in the nicest home
there was a scroll with a broken seal with red wax on it.

The message of the scroll was:
"As your new King, I summon you to the palace at Pathos.
Come, join the royal family in the wedding of a millennium as King
Myles Callaghan marries Princess Catalina Salazar." It was signed with a
sloppy signature but Ignacio could make out most of the letters spelling
'Myles Callaghan'.

He smiled.
Lady Luck seems to be smiling on me tonight, Myles
Callaghan
.

Ignacio took one of the horses remaining in the stables and
followed the tracks of the villagers in the snow. Ignacio was not a great
tracker but the villagers were taking no pains to cover the horse shoe
prints in the snow. He followed the tracks to a valley surrounded by
mountains with one path between them. From each of the mountains
he could see caravans traveling for the same opening. He followed the
caravans at a distance. If they saw him they would likely be frightened
by his appearance.

After two more days travel east he had followed the caravans to
the palace and surrounding city of Pathos. Far from the palace and city,
Ignacio set up the sniper rifle and he decided that he would camp there
in the snow and wait for the perfect moment to strike.

MYLES COULDN’T SLEEP THE WHOLE NIGHT. He wanted to
figure himself out. What drove him, why he acted the way he did, and
what he would actually do verses what he said. His conclusion was that
Catalina had seen things about him he had never noticed. She had
figured him out in moments when in the past he had prided himself at
being a mystery to women. At the age of 18 he ran away with the circus.
He never stopped to think of why. The excuse for him had always been
that there was more to get out of life than his family could ever offer.
But really he saw the responsibility that his father had taken as town
sheriff and had seen his older siblings take over the farm when they
became “of age” to do so. Farm work was a lot of responsibility and he
felt the weight of it pushing on him as he was becoming old enough to
run the farm as his oldest brother had just gotten married and his older
brother was going to college. Myles knew he was next in line. It was
time to go. He thought about things long ago all the way to his
responsibility as one of the founding members of the Magi. He had left
the Magi to “recruit” but the truth was he couldn’t wait to get away
from the tower. He had never planned to come back. With his track
record could he really be a married man? Could he hold the heart of
another and not break it as it seemed had been his nature in his past
relationships with women? He thought back to Gabryil’s words, “In
order to get Mrs. Right you have to be Mr. Right.” Myles was in no way
Mr. Right. But he had some skin in the game. She was beautiful and did
indeed bring out a good side of him. She made him want to be a better
man. Weather he was capable of it was an entirely different issue.

There was a knock on his do. “Come in,” he said. It was as he
had guessed. A maid had come in to fit him for his wedding garments.
But trailing behind her was Carn.

Myles smiled.
What does this viper want with me now?
“Welcome, brother,” he said.

“Not yet, there is yet a little more time before that. But I came
to congratulate you on winning my father’s approval and my sister’s
affections. I also came to warn you that I am a King’s man and I will
serve you without trying to depose you as long as you always do one
thing.”

Myles raised an eyebrow, “And what is that?”

Carn was practically glaring at Myles, “Make my sister happy. If
you hurt her, I will become your worst enemy in the whole Kingdom.
And to be honest, despite your power to teleport yourself I could likely
have you dead within the hour if I so wanted it.”

Myles reverted to jokes as he always did when nervous, “Dead
within the hour. Now what kind of wedding would that make for? I’m
hardly dressed for a funeral.”

“Indeed,” said Carn and then he turned and walked out.

Myles was all prepped for the wedding. He was ushered out by
a crowd of servants. He walked in the snow. Icicles hung from the castle
some as large as he was. The blue sun cast a reflection upon the snow
as the red one hung just above them. Myles looked around and there
were thousands of vampires who had come from all across the land to
witness this union. Who had they gotten word so fast?

There was no priest or holy figure there waiting to marry them.
In this culture one stood with his mate and simply declared his/her love.
Myles reached her and his breath was taken away with how radiant she
was. She wore all white which even amongst the snow made her look
heavenly. She grabbed his hand and began making her promise turning
to those surrounding them.

“My King, I promise to give you my life and my heart. I will seek
out your enemies and have them destroyed. I will bring you alliances
and I will be an inspiration to your people. I love you and our love will
last for an eternity. Our love will be written of in the history books and it
shall be an inspiration to the world.”

Myles smiled, “You are the love of my life and you will be an
inspiration to me to be a good man. I will strive to give you everything
your heart desires and I will always be there for you. I will give you my
heart as none before has had it. I promise to protect you and be a stable
force in your life.”

They kissed and there was much cheering. Flowers and confetti
and something similar to rice were thrown. Myles and Catalina were
transfixed in that moment, kissing and soaking it all up. Then Myles felt
a pain in his back shooting through his chest.

He looked down and there was a bullet hole through his chest.
He had been shot in the back and it had gone straight through him and
into Catalina. He looked at her in shock and with concern but she was
naturally ok. She had told him that there were only two ways to kill a
vampire… beheading or direct sunlight. She didn’t even look in pain. But
there was a look of terror in her eyes.