Break The Ice (4 page)

“This is ridiculous. Hold on tight,” she says.

I grip the leather strap above the window until my knuckles turn white. My body lunges to the side as she pulls onto the curb and passes the stalled cars. Every bump jolts through me, shaking me to the core. “This is a bad idea,” I say.

“Hey, you want to see your mom or what?”

I don’t say another word.

The hospital lobby is absolute chaos. Nurses wheel people on stretchers down the hallway, back and forth. “Out of the way,” one calls out. “Make a hole, people.”

I hug the inside wall.

Melanie pats me on the back. “It was fun, but work calls. Go find your mom,” she says.

“Thanks for the ride,” I yell after her, hoping to see her again sometime before the end of the day. It’s easy being calm around her, not something I can say about many girls. About many people, actually.

My phone vibrates. I reach for it when a nurse pushes past me. “If you’re not a patient, please go into a waiting room. We need the space.”

I let the phone settle back into my pocket and hurry into the nearest hallway. I’ll be able to find mom’s room from where I’m at if I try hard enough. Except every room I pass looks exactly the same. The maze of branching hallways confuses me within minutes. At one point, I find the exact bathroom from last night, but I’m on the wrong floor.

Once I find an elevator and make it to the second floor, I get a little more confident in my surroundings. I remember some of the nurses that pass by. A few even smile at me. I work my way through a waiting room, into an adjacent hall, and across the hospital.

“Ah-hah,” I say. This is definitely the bathroom. I open the door and slip into the nearest stall. Even though the bathroom is empty, I still find urinals creepy. Exposing myself to anybody standing twelve inches away never seemed like a good idea to me.

The quietness inside the bathroom is unsettling. No nurses yelling or patients screaming. Nobody arguing about charts and, so far, nobody has cried out in pain. Two days in a hospital and people crying out has become normal.

I wash my hands, splashing a little water on my face. The droplets fall back into the sink, and I stare at the mirror. Squeezing my cheeks back, I scrutinize every detail. Not terrible. I mean, I’m not going to win homecoming king, but I should give myself a little more credit.

I leave the bathroom with an extra spring in my stride. It’s not every day that somebody goes through a life changing revelation. I’m not hideous. Very tall and a bit too thin, but not a troll. I pass the crying room from last night. No tears this afternoon, that’s good. The laughing room still has a bit of noise. I peek inside as I walk by. An older man sits in his bed, propped up and reading comics.

Goosebumps crawl up my arm as I approach the next room. I haven’t even walked past the doorway yet and the cold prickles my hair. I rub my arms. The cold, it isn’t from the memory of last night. It’s actually cold. Way too cold for ac running on backup generators.

I get closer to the door and stop dead. Every inch of exposed skin hurts. It burns. I shiver, uncontrollable after a few seconds. I’ll never feel warmth again. Memories of boiling days and hot, sticky nights are withdrawing from my memory.

“He came back.”

“Are you sure?”

“Get the boss.”

The voices are high pitched and speak quickly. Nothing from where I stand suggests that anybody is inside the room. For how bright it is outside, no light shines through the curtains. It’s as dark as the night before, only colder.

“Sam. Help us.”

And he’s back. I’m not sure who he is, but that’s definitely the voice from last night. And Gunsler’s office.

“Help us and we will help you,” the mystery voice says.

“I-I-I can’t even m-move,” I say.

A dense fog swirls behind the open doorway, mixing blacks and blues and grays. A misty hand forms from within, spreading its fingers for the first time. The hand turns, beckoning me to it. I obey.

One long finger reaches out. It’s only three feet away. Two. One. The finger taps my chest, dissolving the hand and leaving nothing but a trace of smoke behind. The sliver dances in the empty room, ebbing and flowing in the stale air. It expands right before me, growing, swelling to match my size.

Two distinct lines form within the smoke, a shadow of a being. The shadow doesn’t last long. What started as a dark edge hardens until it’s no longer flaccid. An actual leg stands in front of me, no body attached.

The second leg comes moments later. Details lock into place from the knees up. The sculpting continues up the body, hips, torso, neck. Two arms stretch out, hands bigger than any I’ve ever seen.

From the last remnants of smoke left, a head forms. Round and humanoid, but alien. Eyes, nose, mouth, but nothing about this body in front of me is human, and not because it appeared inside a smoke cloud.

A smirk stretches across the blue lips, two shades darker than the skin. “You have my thanks,” it says.

The accent boggles me. I recognize it, but I don’t. It sounds like a dozen different cultures blended into a single voice with a pinch of metallic undertones.

I’ve been so busy marveling at the thing in front of me that, for the first time since stepping up to the door, I’m no longer cold. I trace a finger down my arm. Every hair remains at peace.

“A gift to you,” it says, “for bringing us into your world. It has been many millennia since we were granted such access.”

“Who are you?” I say.

“I am Tinjo, leader of the Dinmani.”

I stare back at him, not sure what to believe. Anything he says might be true. He did appear through a veil of smoke.

“I don’t know what that means,” I say, not wanting to offend him.

“I will show you.” Tinjo reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder. A chill eats through to my bones, but only for a second.

A cloud of smoke surrounds me. When it dissolves, I’m standing in a field, for lack of a better name. It’s wide open, but there’s no grass. Shards of ice point skyward. The ice field cascades down a hill in front of me until it meets the horizon.

Tinjo’s voice echoes in my head. “This is my homeland,” he says. “It is sanctuary to all Dinmani.”

“It’s empty,” I say.

“For now. My people had to leave their homes. Our enemies invaded, pillaging our homes and stealing our women and children. They search out places weaker than them and plague their lives.”

Another veil of smoke swallows the world around me. When it blows away, the ice has melted and the ground trembles. Dirt and stones cave in beneath my feet until I stand at the mouth of a volcano. Beneath me, through the wide opening, red hot molten rock bubbles. The heat rises and blasts me in the face. A sheet of sweat trickles down my body.

I turn around, watching my feet so I don’t fall backwards. Spreading out in front of me is a barren desert. Dozens of smaller volcanoes pop up along the horizon, each shaking and spewing steam. One of the closest erupts, blasting ash and bits of rock straight into the air. I squint, trying hard to see if my eyes deceive me. Is there something running alongside of the flowing lava?

“Sunjin. They are born from within the magma and expelled onto their world. They lay a path of destruction wherever they travel. The Sunjin have targeted my people for hundreds of thousands of years, trying to drive us to extinction.”

I close my eyes and picture the hospital room. When I open them, I’m standing back in the entranceway. I’d rather be in the hospital than standing in that world another second. “What does this have to do with me? Why can’t I go back to my life and let you fight your war?”

“Our war has driven us to the edge of our galaxy. We outmaneuvered the Sunjin, but they fled, trying to escape. They are on the verge of entering your world. I needed your help to cross over, to bring the Dinmani with me and stop the Sunjin from destroying your world as well.”

“Is it as easy for them to cross as it is for you?”

“I needed somebody strong to anchor onto. A human who wanted nothing but peace in his world. One who longed for love and only had pain.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“It is a persona that best matches my people. The Sunjin need the opposite. Someone who craves power and fear. When they find their anchor, they will stop at nothing to destroy the world as they have done before.”

“I still don’t understand. What does this have to do with me?” I say.

Before he answers, a violent tremor throws me into a nearby wall. The building shudders, walls and floor shaking so hard that a crack splits the drywall in front of me. I regain my balance, searching the empty room for Tinjo, but he disappeared.

A nurse runs around the corner, passing me.

“What was that?” I say.

“Earthquake,” she says without stopping.

An earthquake in western Pennsylvania? No way. I run down the hall until I approach mom’s room. Bolting through the door, I check to make sure nothing fell. From what I can tell, a few books dropped off a shelf, but nothing more. All of the equipment beeps and blinks the same way it did last night. I grab her hand and squeeze.

“I’m here,” I say.

“We can help her,” a metal voice says behind me.

“What can you do?” I say. “The doctor’s think it’s useless to even try.”

“Much. I oversaw the eradication of all Dinmani sickness. I see no reason why I cannot cure whatever pestilence afflicts her.”

I stare down at mom. The skin around her eyes is darker than usual. Her breaths are still shallow, her skin still cold. All signs point to the obvious fate.

And I’d do anything to stop that. “What do you need me to do?”

“You will need help,” Tinjo says.

“Isn’t that what you’re here for? Don’t you have an army or something?”

“I have a few men who might join you, but many will not fight alongside anybody but the Dinmani. I cannot force their pride to falter. It is sacred.

“But I did not mean help from us. Your character drew me to you. I sought someone with deep connections to other people. If that were not true, my voice never would have made it to you.”

“What connections?” I say. “I spend all day by myself.”

“And how do you spend your nights?”

I laugh. “You mean the computer? Sure, I spend a lot of time with certain people but none of them are even close to me. How am I supposed to get someone’s help when they live two thousand miles away? I don’t have any money.”

“Money will not be an issue when the Sunjin cross over.”

“But until then, it always is.”

Tinjo nods. “Find the first one to help. By then, I will have your means to travel.”

I stare at the blank screen on my phone, waiting for it to vibrate. This is crazy. Not only does the plan not make any sense, but she’s going to call me crazy. I glance at mom. Her breathing seems stronger already.

The Facebook message is open before the phone stops buzzing.

Kaitlyn
: yeah, i’m at home. what’s up?

Me:
Uhh, weird question for you.

Kaitlyn:
shoot :)

Me:
...

Kaitlyn:
go ahead and ask. you won’t offend me!

Me:
It’s just kind of...personal.

Kaitlyn:
we’ve known each other for years. go ahead

Me:
I was kind of wondering where you lived.

Kaitlyn:
haha. you don’t know already?

Me:
We never talk about it.

Kaitlyn:
i guess we don’t

Me:
You don’t have to tell me.

Kaitlyn:
if i do, you going to come visit? ;)

I stare at the message for a second. It’s a joke. It has to be. But what if she’s serious? Maybe she does want to meet in person. We’ve talked every night since day one. Even on holidays. That doesn’t mean she’ll believe me if I tell her about an alien.

Then again, maybe I’m going insane. Traumatic event mixed with the heat? It’s understandable, at least. I want to meet Kaitlyn in person, so my subconscious created the entire interaction.

The phone buzzes again.

Kaitlyn:
i know you saw the message. it was a joke

Me:
What if it didn’t have to be?

Kaitlyn:
what’s gotten into you? you’re never so cryptic

Me:
Kind of hard to explain over Facebook chat.

I wait for her response. Facebook so creepily informs me that she read the message a minute ago. Five minutes ago. Ten. My stomach hurts. I can’t tell if I’m hungry or embarrassed or maybe a little nervous that she might actually give me her address. What would I even have to say to her in person? You remember that time we raided the seventh tower in Pensolve? Although that was a pretty memorable night. We stayed up until three a.m. talking about her ex-boyfriend who wouldn’t leave her alone.

Kaitlyn:
sigh.

My stomach hurts even more.

Kaitlyn:
my dad doesn’t think it’s a good idea

Kaitlyn:
but i convinced him with some ground rules

Me:
I’m listening.

Kaitlyn:
we have to meet at a public place