17
Aura saw the Space Needle crashing toward her. And dead limbless decapitated bodies interspersed with the falling rubble.
This is not what I meant to happen. Those words rang over and over again in her head. I didn’t want this to happen.
Another voice came back with startling force and speed. It was him. Again.
Sometimes one person’s needs outweigh those of civilization itself.
The bubble at the top of the Needle smashed onto the concrete, knocking her off her feet and rocketing her forward. She scrambled up and hacked her way through the endless sea of mutilated corpses. Some were still alive, though they were dismembered and charred beyond recognition. A dismembered torso crept toward her, pulling itself along with its one remaining hand, its face a half-gone skeleton.
She spotted a girl about her age standing near the street, back turned to her.
Come to me, the teenager said, in an eerily calm voice.
I’m trying. I’m really trying.
The teenager whirled around. Her face was angry. Her head was shaved. She had a tattoo on the side of her face shaped like an ankh.
I can’t help you till you’re ready.
What does that mean? I don’t understand.
She weaved through the cascading corpses, trying to get to the young woman. But by the time she arrived, the woman was gone.
“Aura?” A small girl lurched forward, crying out to her.
“Lara?”
“Aura?” the girl said again, even though she had no mouth.
“Yes? Lara?”
The girl reached toward her. She ran to meet the kid halfway, but she stumbled over a dismembered torso. She lurched forward—
And the girl’s head flipped forward and flew across the distance between them, pounding her in the chest.
She screamed. Then ran. She ran so far she wasn’t sure where she was or where she was going. Somehow she made it to the waterfront. She jumped onto a yacht, even though it didn’t belong to her. She ran inside the captain’s cabin and slammed the door behind her. She opened the hatch and climbed down a small ladder, careful to bolt the hatch behind her.
Then she made the mistake of turning around.
“Merena?”
Perfume’s body was splattered across the cabin, head in one corner, legs in another. The walls were drenched with blood.
Not again!
The legs twitched. The head rose off the floor. The body slowly knitted itself together.
The mouth moved in a weird disjointed fashion that bore no connection to the words.
Why didn’t you help me? I begged you to help me!
Perfume’s mouth opened wider and wider until her entire head was just a mouth, and the mouth was filled with teeth as sharp as razors…
“Noooooooo!”
She sat bolt upright in bed, eyes wide as eggs, sweat dripping from her hair.
Several seconds passed before her head cleared and she stopped breathing like an asthmatic.
Just a dream, she muttered under her rasping breath. Just a dream. She saved that girl. Lara. She knew she did. She was sure of it. That was just a dream.
A nightmare.
She heard Twinge’s voice in the darkness. “Problem sleeping, girl?”
Did she wake Twinge? Maybe Twinge was having trouble sleeping, too. Several more seconds passed before her breathing calmed enough that she could speak. “Just a weird dream. It happens.”
“Yeah. Especially around here. We all get them.”
“You think Shines are more susceptible?”
“I think knowing there are people out there who desperately want to kill you makes you more susceptible.”
“Did I say anything in my sleep?”
“You were muttering. Couldn’t make it out.”
Good. “Guess I’ll try to go back to sleep.”
“Want some dopamine?”
“Uh…what?”
“Dopamine. The hormone that induces sleepiness. It’s why men fall asleep after sex. And they always do, right?”
She ignored the question. “You’ve got some of this stuff?”
Twinge’s voice dropped to a low whisper. “It’s a naturally occurring hormone. I can stimulate increased production in your body.”
“You can’t Shine here. What if someone’s watching? What if someone tells Coutant? I’ll pass.” She saw the first rays of the sun creeping through the window shades. “Maybe I’ll just get up. Get an early start on the day.”
“Want me to stimulate some testosterone? You’ll feel more alert. Energetic.”
“No, thank you.”
“Calm down your stomach enzymes?”
“Still no.”
“Help with your morning bowel movement?”
“Just—don’t help me, okay?” She flung back the covers and jumped out of bed.
She stopped at the door. She shouldn’t be rude. These girls were already mad at her and they were never going to like her if she kept behaving like a psycho. “Look—”
“You don’t have to say anything. I know. My Shine is gross.”
“No, it’s just—”
“Forget about it, okay? Pretend I never woke. In fact, I didn’t. I’m still asleep. See? Talk to the pillow.” Twinge rolled over and made a fake snoring noise.
And it’s another day in rehab. Off to the usual sensational start.