Part 21
The crowds cheered when Dylan was marched onto the podium, in front of him Kenan took the applause like a hero, his arms held aloft. There was anger in the air, that Dylan couldn't quite understand but he was aware enough to realise that this crowd wanted nothing more than blood; his blood. He had hardly slept in nearly a day, his face felt like a punch bag and his body was just as sore. Every so often the surroundings swam, making him feel nauseous, but Dylan knew things were not about to improve.
There was a structure ahead of him that taunted him, and its very presence only meant things were going to get worse for him. Sure enough, he was led to the wooden device that rose nearly fifteen feet into the air above him. Dylan couldn't help the gulp, as he looked at the intimidating structure, and wonder what hell it would bring. His answer was soon found as the guards grabbed his arms and pushed him forward. Dylan looked ahead and into the faces of the baying crowd, calling him names and throwing whatever they had to hand in his general direction. He caught mentions of destroying their food, trying to destroy their people, burning Edenia to the ground, and Dylan soon realised that he was being put solely to blame for the destruction that had occurred, that he had had no part in.
Behind him the guards were busy, and Dylan could only wait and wonder what his role in the device would be. It wasn't obvious to the untrained eye, but Dylan was aware enough to know it would not be an easy ride, and he kept glancing up both at the structure and the heavens hoping his ordeal would come to a premature end. The guards then grabbed his wrists and pulled them behind his back, causing Dylan to lean a little forward as he felt rope being tied tightly around each wrist in turn.
Holding his breath, awaiting the inevitable Dylan closed his eyes to the faces of the people wanting his blood. Then he heard a part of the device being turned, it sounded like a lot of work, as the mechanics kicked in and Dylan felt his wrists behind him starting to rise with the shortening rope. Panic instantly filled Dylan as he realised what was happening, and he struggled in vain to try and stop his arms from rising, but the ropes continued to pull his wrists up behind him.
With a cry of anguished pain, Dylan gritted his teeth as his arms began to take his weight, with particular strain on his shoulders. His feet slowly began to leave the ground until the moment he was fully supporting his weight by his wrists, and more painfully by his shoulders. The pressure took a long while to adjust to, with his arms bent back at angles they should never be. So consumed by the pain, Dylan didn't notice that the crowd volume had risen to manic levels as they cheered the guards up to raise Dylan higher, but they had brought him to stop and Dylan soon found out why.
"What were the orders, why are you here?" Kenan demanded of Dylan, his voice projecting out to the square so all his people could hear.
"I came here," Dylan gasped, feeling the strain on his wrists. "To help, I was asked to come," he panted, letting his head drop to his chest.
"You take us for fools?" Kenan exclaimed with grandeur, rallying the crowd on his side. "You came here to destroy us! Admit it!"
"No!" Dylan yelled back, it was all he could manage as he hung hopelessly by his outstretched hands.
"You want to destroy Edenia and you have begun your attack, why else has an otherwise peaceful community suddenly come under fire?" Kenan asked with passion, and anger.
"We want to help!" Dylan insisted. "You don't know what's out there, if you continue with your crazy plans!" he managed to speak with strength, then collapsed under his own weight, adding fresh pain to his already aching arms.
"Lies!" Kenan offered to his people, gesturing to the crowds to make more noise. "He has his people right now working to undermine us, this is Dylan Hunt, and he thinks we are all fools!" Kenan stressed with venom, and the crowd responded in kind. With a simple wave of his hand, Kenan gestured to the guards and in a split second Dylan felt excruciating pain as the ropes suddenly relaxed slightly, before tensing again just as quickly. Dylan's body fell a foot before painfully jarring with the sudden tension in the rope. Feeling one of his shoulder's dislocate, as the momentum of the fall proved too much for his body, Dylan couldn't help but scream out in pain and the crowd cheered.
Harper had his eyes clenched shut, fearing for his safety but being unable to do anything as he sensed the old lady hovering around his prone form. For the past few minutes he had watched as she checked his eyes, mouth and ears, treating him like one would an animal they'd never seen before. With panic he had only been able to watch as she had taken some more blood, far too much than he was happy with, then cut a small piece of his hair and all the while his body had felt like a log, unable to respond to his wishes.
Opening his eyes, Harper feared the worse and saw the lady simply had hold of his hand, examining his fingers with interest. His initial fear wavered slightly when he saw the mixed expression of curiosity and intrigue in her features.
"You have no equipment here, why are you doing this?" Harper asked as calmly as he could this time, knowing that the samples of blood she had taken would be wasted and useless in a few hours, without the right equipment to store it.
"I need to fix you," the woman simply responded and let his hand drop, as she returned to her medical kit.
Harper suddenly felt a tingling sensation in his fingertips, and his hope returned as gradually the sensation grew to include both his hands. Within a few moments he was able to flex his hands, and the feeling rapidly returned to his arms as his body seemed to warm up and come back to life. When the old lady turned her attention back to Harper, he was sitting up and she stepped back startled.
"That should have lasted a lot longer," she remarked.
"Tough, it didn't," Harper smirked, and with care he got to his feet, and retrieved his shirt.
"Please, let me put something on that shoulder, please?" Zillah requested.
"Lady, I'm not convinced the stuff you have here is still effective," Harper argued lightly. "You thought that drug should have kept me inactive for longer, and it didn't, and to be honest, you freak me out a little so I'll be leaving," he tried to be as polite as his mood would let him.
"No please," Zillah moved surprisingly quickly for her age as she blocked his path, keeping in the back room.
"I don't want to push an old lady out of my way," Harper reasoned, knowing he could do so, but his patience was growing thin.
"I just want to help," Zillah pleaded. "I used to do this, I use to always help and then," she paused. "Then, I was banished to this part of town, left to starve, all alone and without anything to keep me going, please, Seamus, you're my first patient in years."
Harper saw the desperation in her eyes, but it did nothing to convince him to stay and play doctors and nurses with the mad woman.
"Sorry, but I seriously can't take the risk," Harper answered sadly. "I have problems, compromised immune system, and I'm betting that knock out juice you had would have been completely ineffective on anyone else," he shrugged, trying to sound reasonable.
Zillah sighed heavily, and then leant against the stone work of the doorway. "I have not had many visitors, let alone patients, in the past couple of years, I forget my manners, my training," she offered. "I am but a silly old lady, trying so hard to be something like I used to be."
Harper was beginning to feel bad for his own actions, but he kept reminding himself that Zillah was not the answer for a quick fix to his injuries. "I should go," Harper simply said, but as he began to move he suddenly felt the floor move and the room swing around sharply and before he could register what was happening he felt himself landing heavily on the stone floor, before hitting his head hard on the ground and the impact knocked him out immediately.
Zal sighed heavily with defeat, before looking up and recognising the green door that he had been looking for. Picking up his pace he hurried forward before calling back towards Beka and Rhade.
"It's here, this is it, definitely!" Zal exclaimed loudly.
"Why should this one by any different to the previous four 'definitely this one' doors you've selected?" Rhade asked evenly, on approaching the young Edenian.
Beka moved beside Rhade, as Zal began to answer. "Definitely this one, I mean look, the door is open, it's the only reason I pulled Harper in here to hide was because it was the only door that was open!"
"Ok, let's get this over with so we can continue looking," Beka frowned, not expecting much.
Zal wasted no time kicking the door the rest of the way open, having no qualms about entering another person's house. Rhade exchanged glances with Beka that suggested it wasn't the first time they'd seen him do during their search.
"Hey, old lady?" Zal casually called out, as he approached the back room. He then stopped suddenly, before rushing into the other room.
Without hesitation, Rhade and Beka followed and stopped on seeing Harper lying awkwardly on the stone floor in a small pool of his own blood. Zal hovered over him, and in the corner an old lady sat stricken with fear, with her legs drawn up to her chest and her eyes streaming tears.
Rhade frowned, taking in the scene before him. "She did this to him?" he spoke, not truly believing the older lady was capable of defeating a young male, even if his name was Harper.
"Is he ok?" Beka ignored Rhade's comment and crouched beside her unconscious friend.
Zal numbly nodded his head. "Life signs strong," he simply responded. "Maybe he just fell awkwardly or it was an accident?" he offered, glancing at the old lady, and thinking along the same lines as Rhade.
Rhade was now examining the room, and he picked up one of many containers containing a red substance. "She's been busy, has quite a collection of red blood here, surprisingly considering there's only four red blooded beings in the whole of the city, so I wonder where she got them from?"
Beka didn't want to leave Harper's side but her fury was reaching maximum as she stared at the old lady now, and she got to her feet. "What exactly were you doing?" Beka demanded, but the old lady remained within her own troubled thoughts.
"There's some hair samples here too," Rhade offered, and then picked up the bloodied scalpel to show Beka.
Immediately Beka returned to Harper's side. "Let's move him onto his back," she suggested but the old lady suddenly became very animated.
"Don't move him!" she yelled out. "At least wait, he could be seriously hurt."
"You did this to him and now you care?" Beka sneered.
"No," the old lady responded. "I was just curious, I wasn't meaning to hurt the young man. He was fine, was about to leave and then he just collapsed, it was as if he had a dizzy fit."
Zal suddenly perked up on the defensive. "Maybe due to loss of blood?" he deflected, gesturing to the containers Rhade had found.
Beka stroked the side of Harper's face, hoping to garner a response but finding none. "Let's move him, and carefully. I need to see what else she has done."
With caution, Beka and Zal took a firm hold of Harper's head and shoulders, and Rhade moved in to support the human's back, as they slowly moved him over so he was lying face up.
Satisfied that they had taken enough care, Beka was quick now to stem the bleeding from the gash to Harper's temple. "Zal, hold this here," she gestured to the cloth she had found to place against Harper's head injury. Without further hesitation she lifted Harper's shirt to check for more damage, finding very little until the stopped at his shoulder. "What the hell," she spoke with shock.
"What is it?" Rhade asked concerned.
"His shoulder, it's completely fixed, the burns have been healed and the skin repaired," Beka said with amazement, and she lifted the shirt higher so they could all see. "Only nanobots could do this, and so quickly."
"She said that she had those, and that's why Harper stayed," Zal spoke up helpfully.
"Nanobots, here?" Beka questioned unsure, she wasn't expecting such technology to be on Edenia by what they had seen here so far since they arrived.
"Medical nanobots," the old lady spoke up. "We were given a batch once, long ago," she added.
"How did you get them?" Rhade asked.
"Inheritance," the old lady simply responded, her shallow eyes staring at Harper's prone body.
"Wait," Beka stated, and then looked at the old lady. "How old were these nanobots you put into him?" The old lady just shrugged and offered no answer. "Something caused him to have that dizzy spell," Beka spoke with confusion. "Maybe the bots are faulty or not working properly?"
"Could be the reason, it's not unheard of for a batch to go a little haywire," Rhade agreed. "But they have fixed his skin. It's almost like new bar the bruising colour, that's the only evidence that he suffered any injury there."
Zal quietly backed away, whilst making sure no one saw him and walked outside to get some air. He felt tense and nervous, with so much going on and he just wanted things to settle. Taking some deep breaths, Zal then knew he wasn't alone but didn't move, as he felt a figure walk up beside him, and then a hand grabbed his arm and marched him out of sight.
Back in the house, Harper began to stir with a groan and then he snapped his eyes open. It took him a moment to register Beka and Rhade, and he immediately appeared to relax, until he felt pain and his face creased up.
"Ow," Harper complained, before he then realised that he was resting against Beka's body, as she sat comforting him. "What happened this time?" he asked with a frown.
"We found you unconscious on the floor, with that old lady in the corner," Beka pointed out.
"Her name is Zillah," Harper remembered, and then took a sharp intake of breath before blinking his eyes. "She gave me some drug, it stopped me moving for a good few minutes," he remembered slowly. "Taking blood, hair, not sure what else," he then panicked, as his breathing quickened. "I really don't want to be here anymore," he then attempted to get up.
"Harper," Beka reasoned as she helped him to his feet. "She's fixed your shoulder, take a look."
Harper moved his shirt aside and saw the job the old lady had done on fixing his skin, and he finally realised that he was no longer in pain from the burns. "But," he tried to offer but finding no explanation. "I know what I saw, Beka, she was doing stuff," he stressed uneasily, his eyes focused on Zillah's face as she numbly stared back at him.
"Nanobots," Beka was already nodding her head. "She kindly gave you some."
"But," Harper once again attempted to speak.
"We get that she's a bit crazy," Rhade offered helpfully.
"Where's Zal?" Harper then asked looking around, to the annoyance of Beka who had hoped Harper wouldn't ask, but before they could answer they saw Harper grimace again and try to touch his back. "Ow, what is that?" he asked, trying to reach the spot but not being able to on his back.
Beka spun Harper around and nearly choked Harper as she pulled his shirt collar down as much as it would go, so she could try to see what he had felt. "I knew it," she sneered.
"What?" Harper demanded.
"The bloodied scalpel," Beka turned to Rhade. "I think we have found where she used it," Beka stated, and showed Rhade when he moved to see. "Harper, she's done something back here, but I don't know what, you have a thin incision mark about three inches long, just left of your backbone, and some temporary stitches."
Harper glared at the old lady, who simply stared back with fear. "I don't remember her touching my back," he stated unsure. "I'm sure I would have noticed, unless she did it when I knocked myself out?"
"Knocked yourself out?" Beka questioned quickly. "So the old lady didn't do that to you?"
"I stumbled, was in such a hurry to leave," Harper quickly explained.
"He lies," Killah spoke up with force.
"You're in no position to speak, ok?" Beka snapped towards Zillah, not willing to listening to the mad rants of an old lady that had hurt her friend.
"Can we just leave, please?" Harper asked, clearly uncomfortable in the house now.
"Seamus," the older lady got to her feet and spoke before they could leave the room, and to Beka's surprise, Harper stopped to listen. "I had to do it, you'll understand, I needed to."
Harper was silent for a moment, and Beka was about to encourage him to leave when he sighed, and softly spoke. "I won't understand why you did what you did, never," Harper's voice was strangely calm, and with an air of disappointment that Beka couldn't ignore. It was a tone she'd never heard from Harper, and she felt that he was clearly shaken and really wanted to get away from the old lady.
With little encouragement now, Beka put an arm around Harper's shoulders and walked with him as they left the building, and walked into the street.
"Are you ok?" Beka finally asked, still keeping Harper close but sensing his unease.
"I hate this place, I hate everything about it," Harper returned with quiet venom, his voice lacking any familiarity and instead he sounded cold and distant. "I really want to just blow the whole place to pieces and get the hell out of here."
"You are certainly finding trouble here," Rhade noted. "What did you find inside that tower?" he added.
"Nothing that can help me destroy this place," Harper stressed, his teeth almost gritted.
"Seamus," Beka partly scolded. "You look tired, so maybe we should have this conversation later, when you're not so angry and upset?"
"She used me like I was just some experiment, Beka, some stupid alien to be tested on," Harper stated with anger. "I really thought she was going to cut and slice me open, I swear, if that drug hadn't worn off I would just be some bloodied carcass now!" he added with emotion. "I really hate being the alien around here!"
Beka took hold of Harper's shoulders and spun him around so he was facing her. "You're tired, and you have a head injury, so just try to stay calm, please?" she offered softly.
Harper nodded his head, fighting his emotions and troubled thoughts. "Where did Zal go?" he then asked again.
"Forget about Zal, Harper, that guy is not worth worrying over," Beka partially snapped, and Harper immediately stopped talking allowing Beka to realise that her tone had been misplaced. "I just don't like Zal, Harper, I don't think he's someone you should be around right now."
Harper didn't respond, and Beka decided to drop the matter as they continued the walk back to their house in silence, with Beka keeping a protective arm around Harper, concerned about his state of mind.
The firm grip tightened against Zal's windpipe, and the young Edenian struggled to breath. Pressed against a stone wall, his eye already swollen and bruised, Zal was struggling to stay awake.
"Did everything go to plan?"
"Yes," Zal managed to gasp. "I told you already, the old lady did what she had to do, now let me go!"
"You got the alien to the house without the others knowing?"
"I made it seem like we were hiding, and he didn't think anything of it," Zal answered, losing air to his lungs. "He doesn't suspect and either does his friends, please, I need to breathe!"
"Are you sure she did what was asked of her?"
"I gave her at least an hour, if she didn't then it's not my problem, she's your staff, so you tell me if that was enough time!" Zal shot back.
"Surely you could tell when you returned?"
"She fricking knocked him out! I couldn't get near enough to see, but he was cut up and she had blood everywhere, in cartons and over her hands, so I'm thinking she did her job," Zal stressed, and the grip around his neck was released, as Pallu turned away, before turning back to Zal.
"What do you mean she knocked him out?" Pallu demanded, stepping closer to Zal and intimidating him by his sheer size. "She's nearly ninety years old!"
"When I got back, having made out I'd forgotten which house he was in," Zal explained, rubbing his sore neck as he did so. "I might add that I took a huge risk, you do know that right?" he stressed, only to have Pallu step closer with more threat, so the Edenian stepped back. "Harper was on the floor out cold in his own blood, I don't know what the mad bat did but she didn't seem pleased by her efforts, and I'm sure as hell he didn't appreciate them."
"You better hope when I switch this on that a signal is present, or you might just die tonight, and your brother with you," Pallu threatened.
Zal looked on nervously, as Pallu switched on a small device connected to his wrist and was relieved beyond compare when he heard the tracking noise.
"Seems she did well," Pallu smiled broadly. "I want you to stay close to the alien."
"Wait, I did what you asked, I didn't want to but I brought Harper to Zillah, as you asked and you said that would be it!" Zal protested.
"Every night I sleep in your brother's bed," Pallu grinned slyly. "You know how easy it would be for me to slice his neck open?"
Zal hesitated, clearly believing the veiled threat. "He'll do the same to you the moment he finds out that you threaten and blackmail me, continuously," he sneered and felt himself being pushed harshly back into the wall, with an arm pressing into his windpipe.
"He won't find out will he? Because you know I will kill him before you ever have the chance to tell him," Pallu grinned.
"Why are you doing this? Why stick around? You don't even like Ethan!" Zal protested as much as he could in the stronger man's hold.
Pallu released his hold and stepped back, simply watching as Zal rubbed his neck. "Since when do Gilads need a reason for anything?"
Zal glared at Pallu being reminded of Pallu's background, and he wanted to rip the man's limbs from his body. "I told you I wasn't interested in joining your band of whackos, so why are you tormenting me like this?" Zal needed to know, now remembering back a few months when he had been caught in the street by the extreme group of people. For days he was a 'special' guest of the Gilads, barely surviving their hospitality until for no reason, Pallu had lifted him from the ground where he lay crumpled and beaten, almost dead, and had taken him home to his brother, and then had never left. A hero in his brother's eyes for returning kid brother Zal to him, with a fake story of a rescue that Zal was forced to confirm.
"I needed some time out from the crazy gang," Pallu answered calmly. "And I wanted to have some fun at your expense, Zal, because you really are so easy to torment, I like you," he grinned, but behind the smile was a determination that showed Zal that Pallu was going nowhere anytime soon.
Zal now shivered, but he didn't know why. His adrenaline and fear were combining and he suddenly felt very afraid. "Why are you making me betray Harper now? Isn't betraying my brother enough?"
"The alien?" Pallu easily dismissed the name with a wave of a hand. "None of your business, but you done well, with that thing inside him we'll be able to better track the alien's movements," he praised. "Now just stay close to him and those other two, don't let them split up again or things might get messy around here."
"Why?"
"You know why, nothing would annoy Kenan more than learning the Gilads have his precious aliens," Pallu smiled with intent. "And don't think that we've forgotten you, you know that we'd happily accept you back."
"Accept me back? I was never a part of you, ever!" Zal protested, but Pallu's glare was enough for him to back off. "And if I don't stick around?" Zal then asked.
"Your brother will be cold tomorrow morning, now get the hell out of here and keep those aliens close," Pallu ordered. "Oh and please make sure they don't set fire to any more of Kenan's strongholds, if Kenan's idiots get to the remaining aliens before we have a chance, well you know I will not stop until you are dead."
Zal took a deep breath and simply nodded his head, as Pallu disappeared into the shadows. Sinking to his knees, bringing his hands to his face, Zal just wanted to release the emotions building up inside of him. Trembling with fear, Zal hated the hold Pallu had on him, and the reactions the larger Edenian could evoke from him. Forcing himself to compose his emotions and fears, Zal slowly rose to his feet to meet up once more with his friends, knowing his very presence in their company was betraying the friendship they had so far offered him, especially Harper.
TBC