The Betwixt Book One (21 page)

Jason, hand still on my arm, tried to shift me behind him,
training his gun at the mouth of the tunnel.

He couldn't see the Twixt standing right there – the black
shadow I had just released. But I could. I could make out the
widest look in its amorphous eyes – the manic hint about its mouth.
It knew, it could feel the creature. It stretched up its neck and
let out a howl, unheard to all but me.

It sent a wave over me, every hair on my body standing up as
if scorpions had just been poured down the back of my space
suit.

The cry of the creature changed. It faltered, pitched up and
down, and then leveled into a croaky scream. It was primal, so
primal it spoke directly to the human part of my brain, trying to
freeze her in place with the most suffocating fear that had ever
been felt.

But I wasn't completely human, was I?

I reached for the gun on my back, twisting loose of Jason's
grip as it faltered at the sound of the creature.

I could hear it powering towards us, it would reach the lip of
the tunnel . . . now.

It came into view just as I raised my gun and shot at the
small device holding the real Twixt in place. A blast scorched
right into it – popping and blistering the metal till it lay in a
charred heap. I sunk two more round into it, till the thing erupted
in a cloud of sparks – the same faint green symbols that had been
on the ring holding the creature in place, appearing then
disappearing along the device's broken remains.

The Twixt before me was no longer trapped. It was free. I had
just let it free.

The creature, with its distended, disgusting, gray form stood
for one hellish moment at the beginning of the tunnel. It was
facing us, head twisting to and fro as it looked at the GAMs. It
was playing with them, waiting-

Jason shot first, raising his gun faster than even I could
have, and letting round after round sink itself into the creature,
with perfect aim. Every volley struck true in the center of the
creature's chest, knocking it backwards, but not sending it to the
ground in a heap of charred flesh.

Jason didn't stop though, and began to walk forward, body
crouched, gun still firing.

But I wasn't about to let him cross the path of the real
Twixt. I ran in front of him, pushing him to the side with my
shoulder just as the Twixt leaped towards him.

‘
Trust me!’ I shouted as I rolled again, just falling free of
the Twixt's lunge.

The other GAMs held their fire, their Commander in
line-of-sight between them and the monster.

I . . . think I knew what to do. It probably
wouldn't work . . . but it was the only thing I
could try.

I brought my run around in an arc, slamming the butt into the
side of the real Twixt, an explosion of light meeting the
blow.

‘
What the hell?’ Jason breathed from beside me, as he managed
to push himself to his feet. His face twisted from the creature to
the sudden powerful spark of light that had seemingly come from
nowhere.

But I wasn't waiting for his reaction. Sure enough, the
creature, the gray monster waiting to kill us all, screamed. But
this wasn't an ominous cry heralding an attack, it was the tone of
pain, the wavering pitch of confusion.

It was the light, the light was hurting it.

I had to get them closer.

I launched myself at the Twixt, twisting around in a kick,
till my foot collected it right in the center of the chest. I
shoved into it with all my momentum and might.

A spark erupted, just as the Twixt fell backwards, right into
the body of the creature. This time I could see the spark rip into
the flesh of the creature. It was as if the damage were
transferring across right into it.

It must have been quite a sight for the GAMs. They couldn't
see my Twixt – just the creature and the sparks appearing from
nowhere. What would it look like to see me kick at something,
connect to an invisible form, and send it crashing back into the
giant monster at the end of the tunnel? The stuff of
nightmares?

‘
Mini!’ Jason was moving towards me, no doubt reaching out a
hand to get me away from the creature.

‘
Shoot it! Shoot it – shoot it!!’ I screamed back, bringing up
my own gun and letting volley after volley slam into the
Twixt.

Jason couldn't see the Twixt, but if he kept shooting where I
was, he would get it anyway. And with each blast, more light leaked
from it – eating into the creature behind it
like . . . light destroying a shadow.

And he did. He brought up his gun and fired, strafing forward
till he stood by my side.

The creature was almost done – the sparks having sunk so far
into its skin, I could see the reddish-gray flesh visible
underneath.

It was the light that came from a Twixt that was destructive.
Nothing else. The weapons didn't harm them exactly, they just
caused them to let out the light. As if it were trapped within
them . . . as if the form of a Twixt was just a
container, a wall between us and the
light . . . .

The light would do the trick.

We fired at the same time, Jason and I, and that was it. The
creature let out a terrible moan and crashed forward.

I waited for it to puff out of existence like an ordinary
Twixt, but it didn't. It just wavered for a second, the veins over
its skin becoming extra visible and fat like-

Jason put a hand on my shoulder and twisted me out of its way
just as the thing exploded in an enormous ball of light. The flash
of light was blinding, searing – like opening your eyes and staring
at a thousand suns at once.

Jason covered me from the bulk of the explosion with his
suit.

Nothing came off the creature – no chunks of rotting flesh, no
splashes of brown-red blood. Just the light.

But in another moment, it was gone, leaving the dark to return
where it could.

I stumbled forward, hands clutched at my face. Even though
Jason had acted quickly, the flash of light had been too powerful.
All the GAMs would have had blast protection built into their
helmets – light filters that would keep them safe from such
blinding explosions.

My eyes felt . . . on fire. They were just full
of the light, brimming with it, bursting with it. I clutched at my
face, trying to paw away the . . . it wasn't
pain . . . it was . . . just
there . . . .
just . . . .

I felt an arm move around my middle, straighten me to my
feet.

‘
I'm getting you out of here,’ Jason said.

His voice was there, but so far away – behind the light
somewhere.

He snapped commands to the rest of his men, and he moved me
forward. I couldn't see anything, couldn't even open my eyes. I had
to trust in his arm around me not to let me fall to the
ground.

I was confused and overwhelmed by the bright, hot white that
just filled my head. It was everywhere-

‘
What happened? Jason! Jason!’ Doctor Cole called. ‘Is it gone,
is it – what happened?!’

I could make out her voice only if I concentrated hard, as if
it were several rooms away in a huge, huge house.

Someone tried to put a hand to my face, to pull away my hands.
I twisted away, shuffling backwards until I came up hard against
someone's armor.

‘
What the hell was that thing?’ I heard Jason's voice behind
me, rumbling up though the armor I leaned against. ‘What the hell
were you doing here?’

‘
Is she hurt?’ Doctor Cole was close by, her voice the faintest
bit louder through the fog of my mind.

Someone kept trying to pry my hands from my face, but I fought
them off, twisting backward, trying to get away.

I couldn't bear to face it – to face opening them. To let in
more light from out there. There was already too much light in here
– in my eyes, trapped in my mind, held within me. I couldn't let it
out.

‘
We have to get her to the ship – that
thing . . . ‘ Jason's voice. ‘There was some kind of
light. She copped a full-face of it. She'll need retina
transplants—’

No. No, no, no. They weren't going to make me open my
eyes.

I struggled harder, trying desperately to break free while
still clutching my hands to my face with all my might.

‘
Hey,’ Jason wrapped his arms around me, trying to fix me in
place. ‘Don't struggle. We'll get you to a doctor, even if you
don't like them.’

No!

I pushed against him, planting my feet into the
ground.

‘
Mini! Don't struggle!’

This was my light now, and I wasn't going to give it
up!

‘
Don't let her go,’ Od spoke. Of all the voices in the room, I
could hear his perfectly. It was almost like it was right here in
my head with me. I wanted to swat at him to go away and leave me in
peace with my light.

‘
What the hell is she doing?’ Jason cried, still holding onto
me tight. ‘And what's going on here, anyway? That thing – the
light, and Mini fought like a freaking Crag warrior back there –
what's going on?’

‘
I will tell you everything. GAM Commander,’ Od spoke again,
sounding as if he stood right in the center of my mind. ‘But do not
let her go. She's taken too much of it in – she faced the light
full on and now doesn't want to give it back. She can't turn
away . . . ‘

‘
What are you talking about?’ Jason's grip around me was like
steel, but was weakening the more I fought.

‘
Just don't, don't let her go. We have to get her eyes open –
before it is too late.’ Od spoke from inside my mind again, clarion
voice disturbing my peace like a scream by your ear on a silent
night.

I thrashed about, had to escape, had to get away, had to stop
them from taking it back.

‘
What—’ Jason began once more.

‘
Just get them open!’ Od's voice was so loud, such a sharp,
harsh cry, it made me want to pry him out with a knife.

Jason stopped asking questions.

‘
Trust him,’ Doctor Cole said, ‘trust me if you can. Do what
the Kroplin says.’

Jason leaned into me, driving me down, stopping my threshing
from having much of an effect. He brought one arm up and laced it
through my arms – pulling them down from my face with the force of
his armor-assisted strength.

I fought against it with all my might, but my strength wasn't
there – nothing was, just the light, twisting and spiraling around
me . . . 

My hands broke free from my face, but my eyes were still
screwed tightly closed – like the bearings of a great space ship,
holding the hull in place against the cold, airless vacuum of space
beyond. I couldn't open them to the outside; I would die, I knew
that. No, worse than death, it would be worse than
death . . . 

I could feel Jason bring his hand up to my face.

No, no, no, no.

‘
Just open them, child,’ Od said. It was so loud, his voice was
so loud. ‘Just open them, human.’

Human. No, I wasn't a
human . . . .

Jason touched his gloved fingers to my eyes, pressure light,
but still pressing into them. He was trying not to hurt
me . . . 

But no, I didn't want to open my eyes.

He was trying not to hurt me, trying so
hard . . . 

I didn't . . .
want . . . .

His fingers tried to pry apart my eyelids, gloves gripping
onto the skin, hand anchored against my cheek.

‘
Mini,’ he said, ‘just let go – don't fight it.’

Let go. Just let go . . . .

I lost the battle. He opened my eyes.

There wasn't an explosion, no great spark of light, no pure
flow of illumination erupting from my eyes. I didn't feel it
trickle down my face like some lost precious fluid.

I just . . . 

Jason was staring down at me, his helmet so dark above
me.

 
. . . .

I felt dazed, like I'd just woken up from the longest,
strangest dream. My head hurt – bursting with a pain that seemed to
eat through my temples.

I moaned, at least I think it was me. I was having trouble
tracking things, understanding my environment – everything was just
such a blur.

‘
You can let her go,’ Od said from somewhere. ‘It is
done.’

‘
What's done?’ Jason released his hands from my face, standing
back from me while still propping me up with his other arm, ‘what
the hell was that?’

‘
Something very ancient to this universe, something very
primal, something very fundamental—’

‘
You aren't answering my question,’ Jason's voice was so quick,
so damning. ‘What was in her eyes?’

‘
A question for later—’ Od began.

But I'd found my voice, somewhere between the ache and
confusion in my mind. And I needed to know what had just happened
to me. ‘What was that?’ I could feel myself swaying on my feet, as
if I was little more than a wisp of fog that was slowly, slowly
solidifying back into some form. But Jason held me in
check.