Barcode: Cavern of Youth (19 page)

“Not Tartarus.”

“Why not? He’s an Ape with no codes. How’d he get all that information? Breaking out?”

“I know he wouldn’t want me to tell you if he were alive, but since he’s dead...”

A confused expression covers Monte’s face. “You know for a fact now?” Angie nods her head and Monte slides down the gate. “Fuck.”

She walks over and sits directly next to him. The gladiator princess lovingly wraps her arm around his shoulders and mutters, “He wasn’t an Ape either.”

“If he had tattoos on his face, my dad would’ve known.”

“They were in his eyes.”

“Okay. Then tell me what god he hosted. Before we moved here, every known god and goddess was accounted for. It wasn’t until last year that several began disappearing.”

“That’s what I always wondered. Maybe he’s the first to not have a god. Maybe he’s something more powerful.”

Monte scoots away and playfully punches Angie in the legs. “Stop jerking me around. Is he really dead or is this another prank? I loved my brother, so quit playing with me.”

“I loved him too Monte,” she declares with a hollow and weak sound echoing from her lungs. “I really loved him and they were in his eyes.” Her tears tap her legs with an nonrhythmic pat. “He could hear everything for miles.”

Monte wraps her in his arms and kisses Angie’s forehead. She leans into his chest and he kisses the crown of her head. “I believe you. But how’d you know?”

It takes Angie several seconds to stop her frantic tears, but when she sits back up, Monte looks amazed. He’s never seen her cry. Her ability to control her emotions can be a bit shocking. “I saw them.”

“You saw under the mask?”

“In Tartarus.”

“How’d you get there?”

“It’s what happens after you speak to the mask for some time. You get drawn in. Tartarus is the general name for the darkest area of Hades, but it was also the demon trapped inside of Kode’s mask. There are two ways to travel through Hades to Tartarus. Your physical body can be delivered by a Charon after you die or your spirit can enter through Kode’s old mask. The demon within it could trap your data and torment your soul. It’s not bad as long as your connection is weak, and it takes a long time to happen. But it gets worse when your barcodes align with the owner of the mask. Really bad.”

“When were you in Tartarus?”

“Whenever I was in darkness for longer than sixty seconds.”

“Is that why you sleep with the lights on?”

“Now, it’s just a habit. When Tartarus was killed, we all were freed.”

“There were more of you?”

“Yeah. Generations of us suffered from living in Tartarus in our sleep. I was the newest prisoner, but others were there because of family members that passed down the curse. It’s how Tartarus drew in his power. Though he stole my strength from Artemis, I had enough from...well, I was lucky I didn’t rely solely on her.”

“I assume Kode went there when he was sleep too.”

“We saw him, but he never remembered us. I guess it was difficult for him to live in two worlds at the same time. When he dreams, he sees the world in this awesome color. But he also entered this realm where we were tortured. He’d always take beatings for us or start riots to get lots of attention. I think his mind repressed the memories so he wouldn’t be afraid to sleep.”

“Who else was there?”

“We don’t talk about it. It’s not a pleasant thing. Some people were trapped there for a few days and others stayed in the nightmare for years because they were knocked unconscious during a fight or in an accident. Our area was restricted to barcode users, but there were places where the gods were trapped. I don’t know what happened to them, but when the mask was destroyed, our data was set free. A Charon we were all familiar with provided an escape route for those physically trapped.”

“If you knew talking to him caused this problem, why’d you keep doing it?”

Angie stands up and offers Monte her hand. “Time to go back to the dorms, sweetheart.”

Monte grins as she pulls him up. “You’re getting better at sounding less country, but your
sweetheart
is a dead giveaway.”

As they walk down the hallways, bumping each other and play fighting, the pain in my shoulder increases. I release a burst of energy that loosens one of the bands and rumbles the entire floor. I’m sure everyone in the arena noticed, but no one will be able to determine where it stemmed from.

Dennis finally makes it to Talib’s cage. Instead of allowing all the prisoners to reenter their cells on their own, he beats and drags them back in. The warden knows how to get his point across.

Talib is still sitting on his bed in his dark tiny box. Light never shines on liminal beings the way it does humans. There’s always this distortion. Maybe they’re accessing a different dimension through the darkness.

Dennis takes on Jay Jay lastly. Talib’s second hand man is taken down with a flick of Dennis’ middle finger to the center of his chest. The brute holds his hands over his heart as he is thrown into the cell next to Talib.

While locking the cages with his phone, Dennis releases air from his nose and grimaces, “I’m listening.”

Talib isn’t quick to respond. He doesn’t lean away from his bed or stand up. The prophet simply demands, “Kill the boy.” Dennis grips the bars on Jay Jay’s cell and accidentally snaps a chunk of the steel in his hand. “You see the shadows surrounding him.” Talib sounds as though he were two people. It’s like Dennis’ voice when he’s possessed by his black arm. “It’s there for a reason. He will destroy this world. That is his purpose.”

“I think I had this conversation with you before. It was about Spencer. You remember him, right? You murdered his mother, causing darkness to surround him.” Talib doesn’t respond. Dennis crushes the steel in his hand and pushes away from the cell. “People change their fate. Spencer was supposed to stop Kode. It’s already been proven that your prophesies are shit. Why do you even listen to yourself?”

Talib roars, “I’m not wrong about this. Do not judge me by my brother’s deception.”

Dennis matches Talib’s intensity as he blares, “When your predictions kill the people I love the most, I will!”

“You do not know the power in this boy.” Talib squints and calms down. “Or do you? What are you planning?” Dennis walks away. “Your family always has some ulterior motive and it’s only a matter of time until the demon notices. Will you survive then? Will this be worth it?”

Blowing the door off of the wall that leads to the entrance, Dennis yells, “You’re almost free and there’s nothing I can do about that. Rules are rules. But if I see you within reach of my son, I will enjoy every second of sawing your head off.” His arm is possessed and his eye is gold once more.

As Dennis cleans up the mess and fires his guard, I grit my teeth in my hospital pool. I believe I’m dying.

I should probably do something about that.

Colors and shapes switch in my mind as the walls close in. I know nothing is changing, but the pain causes me to hallucinate. Pain and I are best buds that converse regularly, but I don’t know this new sensation. This agony makes me border the line of insanity.

Occasionally, my teeth clench together as my back spasms. The flesh on my arms split for no reason. Though Dennis warned that my muscles could potentially tear inside of these bandages, I didn’t think he meant my arm would rip open.

All the blood is trapped inside of the wraps. I’m suffering without the ability to bleed to death.

For a minute straight, I flop uncontrollably. Once I stop, I laugh for just as long. Even from my perspective, it looked pretty funny.

“Nevaeh,” I shout when I hear her shivering in the walls. “Nevaeh!”

She runs away. Three minutes pass with me marinating in sweat and honey. Finally, she rushes through the door and jumps onto my body.

“Loosen the straps. Please.”

“Brother,” she cries. “They’re helping you.”

“I have to get to the cave. Loosen them,” I plead while fighting back tears.

She works frantically. Her small hands are more than capable of taking apart the straps. Within a matter of seconds, all eight are released and I’m free to move around.

“Jump off so I can get up.”

She follows the instructions while saying, “I’m sorry if I did anything wrong, brother.”

“Nevaeh.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t mind your self-pity. Actually, I do. But I just can’t put up with it right now. I need you to help me get to the elevator.”

“Brother, I can’t pick you up. You’re kind of heavy.”

My body throbs more painfully with every heartbeat. Pushing off with one arm, I roll from the bed in the center of the pool, and lie face down in the honey for ten seconds. The little one screams, “Brother!” repeatedly.

Though I eventually sum up enough strength to stand, I still can’t breathe. The honey glues my eyes shut. It’s covering my nose and blocking air from entering my mouth, no matter how wide I open it. Pharmaceutical honey is not like the sweet stuff in my cabinet at home. This shit stings.

I slam against the floor and Nevaeh runs over with a wet towel. She cleans it from my nose and eyes. I suck in as much air as possible, which causes me to choke.

“Nevaeh, I love you,” I stammer while struggling to pry my head from the floor.

She gasps, “Thank you, brother.”

Once I’m at the door, I crash to the floor again. That’s much further than I thought I’d get. My legs split open as though a sword were dragged down my hamstring. I fight the urge to scream because I don’t want anyone to notice me. The other doctors and nurses are already back in their rooms.

“Brother. This is bad.”

“Shiva. Give me a knife.” She doesn’t respond, “Now!”

She shocks me lightly. It’s her gentle form of
no
.

“Listen,” I sputter, “I’ve done this a million times when I was on the verge of death and this pain is going to kill me. I promise, I won’t cut deep. Just give me a small blade.”

She quickly converts into a dagger no longer than two millimeters. “Whatever. I’ll take it.”

I stab my shoulder and drag the knife an inch or two. Before I can do anymore damage, Shiva reverts to wristbands.

I open my eyes to get a better idea of what’s happening inside my body. That’s when I notice the blood is a very bright gray, nearly white. Once the air enters the cut, it becomes black.

Laughing, I stand and grunt a few times. It’s almost as though I can actually breathe again. The tear in my leg is closing, so I’m able to move more rapidly.

I lean my weight against the arm rails on the beige hospital walls, but I slip and fall on the floor. Determined to make it to my destination, I crawl towards the elevator. Honey stretches behind me the entire way.

Once I make it to the elevator door, I point up to the button. The monkey-rabbit runs up the wall, strikes it with just enough force, performs a back flip, and elegantly lands on her feet.

As I clap lightly for the performance, she pleads, “Don’t move unnecessarily. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“You’re so boring with all the apologies.”

The elevator opens and I roll inside. Once it closes, Navaeh hits the first floor button and I lean against the door.

When we make it to the bottom and the barriers separate, I fall backwards on the ground and Navaeh dashes up the walls, hiding in the upper left corner.

Angie’s strangely roaming the halls. As my luck may have it, she just so happens to cross the elevator at the same time as the doors opens.

With a curious expression, she bends over a bit and gets a closer look at my odd situation. Her long, dark hair dangles only inches away from my face.

I cringe in pain and laugh wildly. Once my sanity returns, I whisper Shiva’s name. This time, she converts to a much longer combat knife. “Now you give me something to work with and it’s overkill.”

The princess speaks with her eyes and they say she’s willing to crush me under her feet if I even think about attacking her. As the elevator doors close on my waists, I stab myself in the leg. They reopen and Angie watches my black blood spill onto the floor.

With my newfound energy, I bolt out of the elevator and down the hallway. I want to get as far as possible before losing the strength to carry on. As an added bonus, my manic run and honey trail provides the distraction Nevaeh needs to sneak out of the elevator. She hides behind the stairwell ten feet in the opposite direction.

The knife in my legs provides me with enough steam to stumble past seven classroom doors. Once the bandages seal, I skid across the ground. I’m only four rooms away from the class. Not too shabby.

I twist Shiva in my leg, sprint down the hallway, and bash into the door of Casey’s classroom. Breaking through took everything I had. Nevaeh’s running through the walls and underground. She’s working diligently to make it to me, but she can’t find an exit. I’d use Shiva to blow a hole in the floor, but we feed off each other’s energy and we’re both spent.

Something smashes into the partially cracked door and tiny feet scatter to me. I’m losing my sight again? Damn.

Nevaeh crashes into my face while crying, “Tell me what to do brother. Please tell me.”

Meditating for a minute, I take large breaths and hum with each exhale.

“First, we have to relax. I’ll crawl over to that center floor and give you instructions to use the tablet on Casey’s desk. I need to get into the cave.” My breaths are deep and long.

While the little one shakes her head and whimpers, I begin dragging myself the cave’s entrance, which is hidden underneath a tile.

“Brother. I can’t use computers. That’s what Leah is for. My hands cannot use electronics.”

I press on anyway. I count thirty squares before I finally make it to the proper one. That took over five minutes. I can no longer hear the world surrounding me. Nevaeh is only a few feet away, whimpering, but she’s a faint sound as well.

Tapping on the square, I mouth the words, “Open sesame.”

I continue tapping until I feel myself being rolled over with someone’s foot. Angie squats down, scrutinizing my face. She doesn’t say a word for what feels like forever. Shiva senses the threat and sparks lightly, but she can’t do anything either. We’re both powerless.