Silence (41 page)

He nodded at Dorothi and let his wary
eyes settle back on Sheikoh.

“
Chill, I was just making
sure that Camillio made good on his tab,” Sheikoh told him
bracingly. Indigo rolled his eyes.

“
You haven’t turned on a TV
today, have you?” Indigo asked, rubbing the side of his
head.

”
No. Why? Did something
happen?” Sheikoh asked. He glanced over at Dorothi. She was
anxiously eyeing Indigo. Sheikoh suddenly realized that their
conversation about Emili was going to have to wait. He couldn’t
help but feel a little bit relieved. In answer, Indigo pulled out
another monocle that’d presumably replaced the one that he’d
lost.

Sheikoh opened his mouth to
make some comment about how Indigo had obviously gone out to
buy
that
, but he
was interrupted a female newscaster.

“
The Supreme Centaurai,
Cylium Vest, was kidnapped, reportedly by the west side gang that
calls themselves Legacy. Cylium Vest managed to escape their cavern
hideout, before it detonated and collapsed in on itself, also
sparking a wild forest fire that has spread across the Schizma
Canopy; experts suggest it was an inadvertent reaction of
improperly stored high-grade explosives.

“
Arch Centaurai Vest claims
that Legacy has terrorist intentions. The Centaurai has made
dismantling them his top priority and is currently in the process
of demolishing the wall and rounding up so-called West Siders in
punishment of harboring Legacy’s criminal enterprise for so
long.”

“
His
individual kidnappers are still at large. The public is
advised
not
to approach, they are
extremely
dangerous. If you see any
of these people, please,
call
the Century
immediately
; Sheikoh Namar known as
Silence, Drek Colmar alias Indigo and Emili Wray of Interium, led
by Legacy’s Ghost, Malien Grey.” The screen of Indigo’s monocle
flashed with each of their profiles in turn.

A gasp at ‘Emili Wray’.

Sheikoh closed his eyes and cursed
under his breath. His hands curled into tight fists. He glanced
over at Dorothi.

She was studying her sister’s profile
in the monocle’s screen, wearing an expression of horrified
confusion. Then she turned a look of condemnation on him. Sheikoh
turned his attention back at the screen, guilty and anxious. The
scene had changed to one of a group of white-robed, menacing
Century tearing his old house apart, presumably searching for clues
to their whereabouts.

“
Rewards
are offered in exchange for any information regarding the
criminal’s whereabouts. Under no circumstances, should the
individuals be approached. They are volatile as well
as
extremely
dangerous. I repeat; if you have any pertinent information
regarding the criminals, call the Century
immediately
. This-”

Indigo clicked the speaker off.
Dorothi turned and raced down the hallway. Sheikoh caught the glint
of tears on her bronze cheeks. When he made to follow her, Indigo
grabbed his arm and pulled him around. The ganglord held his eyes
with intensity.

“
Silence,
that’s been playing on every channel for the past two
hours
. You’re
seriously
lucky both of you made it back.
Don’t try it again, kid,” Indigo cautioned him.

“
Thanks
for the advice. Now
let go of my
arm!
” Sheikoh responded
harshly.

Indigo held his gaze for a
moment with a strange light in his eyes. Sheikoh’s eyes went into
dangerous slits. He needed to get to Dorothi right
now
, he needed to
explain
.

His muscles tensed, and he
got ready to attack Indi-
Drek
.

Then Indigo let his hand fall. Sheikoh
blurred out of the doorway and glanced around in every direction.
He ran through the colorful castle, opening doors, while his heart
pounded desperately and his left palm drenched itself in sweat.
Sheikoh shot through the rooms of the first floor, then the second
floor, then the third, fourth and the towers like a hurricane,
leaving trashed rooms in his wake. He searched for hours, but
Dorothi was nowhere to be found.

She must’ve gone through the
door.

Sheikoh pounded up the staircase that
lead to Camillio’s study and hammered at its entrance, aiming his
fist at the wood around the pentacle. His knock caused the arranged
runes to cascade in a threatening blue flickering around the
circle. Sheikoh quickly whipped his hand back from the hissing
energy.

“
Camillio! Open up! We need
to talk!” Sheikoh shouted desperately. He hoped that Camillio
wasn’t through the archway and back in that white room, oblivious
to the outside world.

Luckily, that didn’t seem to be the
case. The door swung inwards. Sheikoh flinched back in surprise.
The circle of age darkened wood had passed straight through the
disheveled body of Camillio Tyche like he was a ghost.

Sheikoh held a hand over his racing
heart; he didn’t expect to see the Celestial in the middle of the
door’s pathway. He shook himself and eyed the man in front of him.
He noticed that Camillio’s face was haggard with a jaw shadowed by
prickling, grey stubble. He met the Celestial’s bloodshot
eyes.

“
What?!” Camillio demanded
waspishly.

“
Dorothi disappeared, and I
can’t find her anywhere. I think she might’ve left your house,”
Sheikoh explained worriedly. “Is there anything you can
do?”

Camillio Tyche cursed in exasperation
and rubbed his temples. Sheikoh held his breath, waiting for an
answer.

“
I’ll do what I can,”
Camillio finally said wearily. “You’d better come in.”

Sheikoh followed Camillio through the
circular passageway. Then across the threshold of the archway.
After the shadowy tunnel, they appeared into the stark-white of the
Transcendent Room.

The floor-grown desk was still there,
grown into the floor under the other side of the room. Its surface
had widened to accommodate three heavy, leather open tomes with
overlapping corners. Pieces of paper, covered in complicated
calculations and scribbled out runes, were strewn all around the
cluttered desk.

Camillio bent over the table and
pulled one of the sheets over and begun scrawling something
unintelligible. Then he dashed a line through the thought and
replaced it with another paragraph. Sheikoh waited almost half a
minute before loudly clearing his throat, but Camillio didn’t even
look up.

“
Well?” Sheikoh hinted
sharply. “Dorothi, remember? Finding her? Ring
anything?”

“
Okay… okay… okay,”
Camillio muttered, finishing one more sentence. He looked up at
Sheikoh, irritated. “Hopefully I remember this train of thought or
your interruption might just add a week to the wait for
Emili.”

“
Seriously, whatever.
Dorothi’s more important right now,” Sheikoh answered with
finality.

Muttering darkly under his breath,
Camillio Tyche gingerly lowered himself onto the white floor and
crossed his legs. The Celestial closed his baggy eyes and laid his
palms on his knees. He breathed in and out deeply, impossibly still
while Sheikoh watched on impatiently. Time stretched itself on and
on until he was sure that the dude had fallen asleep sitting there.
Then Camillio Tyche opened his eyes.

“
So where is Dorothi?”
Sheikoh demanded desperately. “Is she alright?”

“
She’s fine. She didn’t
even leave the house. She and I just had a chat. I explained
everything that’d happened around her sister,” Camillio told him
patronizingly. He sighed and climbed to his feet. “She’s a very
smart girl.”

“
Where is she now?” Sheikoh
asked Camillio with a relieved smile.

“
She doesn’t want to talk
to you right now. She wants some time to herself to think about
things. Now that that’s taken care of, it is time for you to leave.
I have a lot of work left,” the Celestial dismissed him, turning
back to sit at his cluttered, white desk.

Sheikoh stood there for a moment in
frozen disbelief. The Celestial looked up from his
papers.

“
Is there anything else
that I can do for you?” Camillio asked him sharply.

Wordlessly, Sheikoh shook his head and
walked out.

Sheikoh walked around, aimless and
despondent, half-heartedly scanning the rooms he passed by. Even
though Dorothi didn’t want to see him. He couldn’t stop himself.
His chest was hollow with guilt. He felt helpless. Looking at this
lapse through Dorothi’s eyes, he felt she would never forgive
him.

Mixed in with the depression however,
were a few sparks of undirected rage. Slowly, they set upon a
target. Sheikoh knew that Indigo hadn’t known Dorothi’s
relationship to Emili, but still. The ganglord was so tactless.
Couldn’t Indigo have kept his mouth shut for two minutes? Couldn’t
he’ve kept the stories for when he and Sheikoh were
alone?

Full of self-righteous indignation,
Sheikoh stormed to Indigo’s room. A rational part of him knew this
was ridiculous, but he refused to give into sadness and self-pity.
He didn’t want to sit back and think things through over and over
and over. He wanted to do something.

His anger was the only
alternative.

When Sheikoh reached
Indigo’s,
Drek’s,
room, he kicked the door out of his way. If it hadn’t been
opened already, he would’ve broken the hinges. Indigo snapped to
his feet, a new assault rifle in hand. The ganglord’s eyes were
cold slits, a look more dangerous than his glare. They widened in
surprise when he saw Sheikoh. He lowered his weapon fractionally.
Sheikoh took a few quick steps until he was in the bigger man’s
face.

“
Why
the
hell
did you say that in front of Dorothi?” Sheikoh demanded
harshly. “What gives you the right to be stupider than anyone
else?”

Indigo shoved Sheikoh back a few
steps, surprising him. Sheikoh had thought he’d physically
outclassed the ganglord. He remembered laughingly recalling back a
few days ago, when he thought a broken trigger finger would keep
him from kicking the ganglord’s ass. He stared up at Indigo’s
haughty face.

“
I would’ve said that in
front of anyone,” Indigo retorted coldly. “And if we’re looking for
world’s stupidest, maybe we should talk about the dude who’s
walking around like he isn’t a wanted fugitive-

Sheikoh opened his mouth
furiously.

-putting a little kid in
danger,”
Drek went on sharply.

Indigo’s words hit home. Sheikoh was
struck dumb. Sheikoh knew that the ganglord was right. What’d he
been thinking? Vest had all but promised this would happen at the
first sign of betrayal. And Sheikoh was at the third sign, at
least. How could he have been so stupid? Sheikoh kicked the door.
It thumped against the wall and bounced back, creaking mournfully.
Sheikoh mumbled something indistinct under his breath and turned to
leave.

“
I know what you need,”
Indigo said behind him. Sheikoh grunted and turned around
impatiently. He immediately noticed Indigo was grinning.

“
Write a poem?” Sheikoh
muttered.

Indigo ignored him.

“
Follow me,” said the
ganglord.

Indigo pushed around Sheikoh and
walked into the hallway. Sheikoh stared after him, bemused. Then he
followed the ganglord down the hall. They passed a couple of doors,
a host of eclectic paintings, and climbed a staircase. Indigo
stopped at a wooden door and swung the door open. Turning to flash
a quick leer at Sheikoh, Indigo ghosted the threshold and
disappeared inside.

Hands in his pockets, Sheikoh strode
after him. Then he gazed around with surprise. The room was a lot
bigger than he’d first guessed. It was all soft, deep blues and
reds, and the ground was cushy like a firm mattress. The walls were
too if they were the same material. They looked like it. Turning,
Sheikoh saw Indigo strapping a couple of boxing gloves onto his
hands. When finished, Indigo reached into a cabinet and tossed a
pair over at him.

Sheikoh caught them deftly.

“
Let’s go a few rounds,”
Indigo invited.

The ganglord put up his fists, falling
into a tight stance, and Sheikoh smiled back without humor. No
human could ever hope to stand against a cyborg. This was some kind
of joke. He waited for the punch line, making no move to put on the
gloves.

“
Come on,” Indigo
challenged. “What is it with you? Scared again?”

“
You should be,” responded
Sheikoh.

The ganglord grinned
maniacally.

“
Why don’t you try and make
me?” Indigo sneered.

“
Fine,” Sheikoh responded,
smiling darkly. “But I’m in a bad mood. So no blame when you don’t
walk away from this.”