The War for Mare (The Fall of Man Book 3) (4 page)

“Fanning. Okay, what else?”

“Well, I miss the days when the smell of hay
in the morning would flow through my drapes. Fresh bundled hay,
moist and…”

“Stop.”

“Did I pass?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“So, you’re convinced?”

“More than ever. Yes. I am convinced.” Davis
nodded. “If you want to be a part of Angeles City, for sure you go
in the Bunker.”

I was surprised to
find out how long the celebration would last. Even if I were happy
about the marriage, there was no way I would want to celebrate into
the deep evening hours. I stayed back, of out the spotlight, rarely
communicating with others. I watch the gala. I especially watched
my sister Sophie.

Susan had arrived in the late afternoon
celebration. She had been at the ceremony but left for a short
spell.

“Don’t look so glum,” she said, approaching
me.

“I’m not,” I said, “I’m just observing.”

“Are you concerned about tonight?” Susan
asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I know that you are not mentally prepared
for your wedding night.”

“What is so special about the wedding
night?”

“Come now, you are not that naïve,” Susan
said with a bashful smile. “Are you?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Okay, you were a big fan of
I Love
Lucy
. Ricky and Lucy were married,” Susan said. “They celebrate
the wedding night, they spend the night as husband-and-wife.”

“Ah,” I said. “Yes, that will be
uncomfortable if I’m asleep in the same room as Iry. But at least,
like Ricky and Lucy, we will have separate beds.”

“But the Tanners did not,” Susan said,
referencing
ALF
.

I knew the show
ALF
very well. And I
knew the Tanners. I gasped and my eyes widened. “I cannot sleep in
the same bed as Iry.”

“That’s not all. I believe you know where
babies come from. That is something that is expected on the wedding
night. To try to create a baby,” she said, watching me
carefully.

I did not know. I mean, nobody really
explained all that to me, except for Marie. She explained the
painful facts of life. I must have looked horrified.

“No worries,” Susan said gently. “Your
husband is not that way. He will not push you into anything. I see
by the look on your face, that you were not prepared for that yet.
I kind of knew that.”

“What if he asks?”

“If he asks,” Susan said, “then you explain
to him. He will…”

Susan’s eyes moved across the room and the
words just trailed to a murmur.

I looked up to see what had caught her
attention and saw who entered the room.

Both Tanner and Snake entered together,
escorted by Iry, who brought them over to me. Tanner looked
nervous, and like he had been crying. His eyes were glossy and he
swayed a little.

Snake looked at me. “Looks like a feast is
laid out. Mind if I help myself?”

“Please, do,” I replied, transfixed on
Tanner.

“Thanks.” Snake smiled, stepped away, and
returned. “By the way, Vala, you look beautiful.”

Bashfulness swept over me and I mumbled
thanks to Snake. Then I shifted my eyes to Tanner.

Iry said, “I’ll leave you be.” He leaned
forward and kissed me on the cheek.

Tanner groaned.

“What?” I asked.

“Your husband is not a bad guy,” Tanner said
sarcastically.

“Why are you so angry?”

Tanner forced a laugh. “Seriously?”

“Yes, why would I not be serious if I asked
you if you were angry?”

“I am mad,” Tanner said with an edge to his
voice, “because you married the guy.”

“I had my reasons.”

“There are no reasons good enough.” He
lowered his voice. “You came here to spy, Vala. You didn’t come
here to sell your soul.”

“I said I had my reasons.”

“Well let me give you my reasoning,” Tanner
said. “I came here now to look around. I
will
find a way to
destroy every single one of the Ancients.”

“You can’t do that.”

“You don’t think? Why are you even here? I
wonder,” Tanner said. “I
will
finish what you started. I
will bring them all down.”

“If you do that,” I whispered, “you will
destroy my sister. That is why I got married. That is why I am
here. Thanks to Nito, my sister is now one of them.”

I was certain
that they were listening to our conversation. Even though no one
was near us, the Sybaris had that weird ability. At least I thought
so. I really didn’t know much about them, and Vala was the closest
source of information I had.

Finding out about her sister threw me
through a loop. It was not what I expected. I thought her sister
was dead, since Vala had told me she was carried off.

I didn’t know how to react. It now made
total sense why she had decided to remain there.

“Promise me,” I said to her softly, “while
you are here, you will not give yourself to him.”

“I will not give myself to him.”

“Good.”

“Tanner, there are expectations of me. In
exchange for taking care of my sister, and ensuring that she will
be all mine, I must eventually produce an heir.”

“No,” Tanner said. “Listen, I will figure a
way out of this. I promise you. Vala, I like you. I really like
you. I wouldn’t have come all this way for you if I didn’t. Please,
believe me.”

“Tanner, I don’t know what to do.”

I grabbed her hand and lowered my lips to
it. I held my kiss there with my eyes closed for a long time. When
I lifted my head she too had her eyes closed. “Believe me.”

I looked around for Snake and spotted him
enjoying the food at the table. As I passed the table, I noticed
that the food did look really good and I grabbed what looked like a
huge leg of lamb. I walked up to Snake and we headed to the door.
Once more I glanced back at Vala, trying to convey my reassurance
to her. I would do what I had to do. I wanted her in my life. I
found her, and I wasn’t going to lose her. I would get her out of
there.

She may have left to save the human race and
defeat the Sybaris. However, now, in a sense, she was trapped, and
it was up to me to continue and be successful in that task.

It was decided I
was to be placed in a bunker for reconditioning. Davis told me it
was in order for me to reconnect with my human self. I wondered how
well that would go, and the thought of it made me laugh. However, I
was curious as to what this reconditioning process entailed.

I was taken into a building, and waited for
what seemed like an eternity in an uncomfortable wooden chair set
in the center of a hollow galley. I did not know what Davis was up
to; perhaps he was watching me from afar. He had that look in his
eye. Eventually he led me down these hallways filled with human
history. Dramatic music flowed through in an attempt to draw
emotions. I conveyed my interest and pretended that I remembered
events that I had no idea about.

We descended into the basement. As soon as
we entered the dingy place, I was sure I was going to be tortured
as part of my reconditioning process. The more I took in the room,
the more I realized that they had made a vain attempt to make it
pleasant enough. Across the room was a large fluffy chair in front
of a black box. I recognized that large black box, Burt had told me
they had them in Hopeland and used them to watch movies once a
week. I was not familiar with what a movie was, but I pretended
well. If anything I was a wonderful theatrical performer.

Davis left me alone in that dismal chamber
and then returned shortly.

“Well,” Davis said, lifting his hands and
dropping them. “You’re stuck with me down here. People think you’re
just too weird to deal with.”

“I don’t know what that means.” I said.
“What is weird?”

“Exactly.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You will. After you finish the process,”
Davis said. “Have a seat in the big chair.”

“Are you going to torture me?” I asked.

“It depends what your definition of torture
is. If television reruns are your definition of torture, then yes.”
Again, another term I wasn’t familiar with, and I was certain I
wasn’t going to like it. I didn’t like the idea of being at the
mercy of Davis, despite how attractive a man he was.

“Explain?” I asked. “Being stuck down here
with you?”

“Well, the entire process sometimes takes
days, or weeks.” Davis explained. “Depends how fast you return to
normal.”

“I am normal.”

“I doubt that. I doubt you were this way
before.”

“Before what?”

“Before, well, you know, everything went to
shit.”

“I will assume I know what you’re talking
about.”

Davis whistled. “Man, you’re really bad.
Tell you what, it’s afternoon. I bet you’re hungry.”

“I am famished.”

“Good.” Davis clapped his hands together
once. “Have a seat, relax, just do nothing, touch nothing, and I’ll
be back.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to get us lunch,” Davis said. He
walked to the main door. It was a big rusty, metal thing that took
a lot of strength to open. When he slid it closed after leaving, I
could hear that he secured it.

“Dastardly.”

So I was a prisoner. I wonder what vile
things he was going to do to me. I reconciled in my mind all the
horrible things I have done to humans, and a part of me thought
maybe it was my turn to receive. Payback of sorts.

I wandered around the chambers. It was
simple enough. I didn’t see anything that would harm me. After
several long moments, Davis returned.

“I brought us lunch,” he said, carrying a
tray in. He closed the door with one hand and then walked over.
“You can eat this at the table, or -while you watch TV.”

“TV?”

“Oh my God. The big black box. You are not
that far gone, are you?”

“No. Not at all. I thought you said… eat and
watch me pee.”

“You thought I told you to eat while you
watch me pee?”

“Yes. That’s why I was so stunned.”

“Well whatever you prefer to do. Other than
watch me pee.”

“That would be obscene.”

“There are worse things,” he said. “I’m
gonna eat mine over at the desk.”

“Why are you seated at a desk?”

“I’m your bunker monitor. I get a desk.”

I took my seat in the big fluffy chair and
Davis placed my lunch in front of me on the table. It included an
apple, some sort of meat substance, and a beverage in a glass. I
examined it. “What is this white substance in the glass?”

“Milk.”

“Milk?” I asked. “Mother’s milk?”

“Geez, lady. Why in the world would I give
you mother’s milk? You’re worse than I thought. No wonder no one
wants to be down here with you. This is tedious.” Davis walked over
to the black box, the television set. “We start at the
beginning.”

“The beginning of what?”

“Television.” He turned on the power, then
pushed a button in the box above the television, then walked over
towards his desk. “Enjoy the show.”

Images appeared on the television box, and I
gasped, enthralled at the technology. It would be interesting. At
the very least, I would get to know the culture of the human race.
Admittedly it was something I needed to know. And I was looking
forward to having my lunch, although I was not convinced the white
substance called milk was not mother’s milk. Why Davis found that
so offensive, I don’t know. It had the most nutrients. I dived into
my lunch, and into the human culture. Why it this process would be
considered torturous as Davis had said, I wasn’t sure, but I was
ready. I was strong. I could take anything they threw at me.

“Will we live here
always?” Sophie asked as she helped me undress that evening.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you think Mother will like it here? Why
did she not come to the wedding?”

“What is with all the questions,
Sophie?”

“I don’t know. It seems strange. Mother
should be here. Was that not the plan? Were we not all supposed to
be here if one of us were chosen?”

“Yes, that was the plan,” I sighed.

“Why don’t I remember being chosen or you
being chosen?”

“Because …” Iry’s voice entered my bedroom,
“you were asleep, Little One. It was a rare nighttime choosing.”
Iry smiled.

Sophie acted delighted to see him, as if she
hadn’t seen him all day. She raced over to Iry and embraced
him.

“Now, you know you must rest,” Iry told
her.

“I don’t feel tired,” Sophie said. “Not at
all.”

“You’re just excited. Go on. Susan is
waiting for you.” He leaned down to accept a kiss to his cheek, the
Sophie ran up and kissed me as well.

“Goodnight,” she called as she ran out.

Iry waited until she was gone and closed the
door.

“Seeing how Ancients do not sleep,” I said,
“how is it she is going to rest?”

“If she is still long enough, she will fall
into a trance of sorts, time will pass. Can you imagine the boredom
if we were unable to do that?”

“Do you?” I asked.

Iry walked to the table by the door and
poured a glass of wine. “No, I find other things to keep me busy.
When I sleep you will know.”

“Oh, that’s right you sleep for long periods
of time.” I turned toward the window.

“My wife …”

I spun to face him.

“Is that not what you are?”

“I am not a prize.”

“Ah, but you are. Will you please be nice to
me?”

“In which way do you mean?”

“I mean talk. Smile. Have fun. Would you
like to walk the street and see the lights?”

While our home was quite a distance on the
road from everything, I could still see the lights, how they lined
the streets, blinking in full colors.