“Well, fuck,” Alexa said, “What the hell do we do now?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Alexa’s question hung in the air for a long moment. I was still trying to arrange the jumble of memories running lose in my mind into something coherent, something that made sense. We had gone into the dream world to capture the devil of Harrowgate. Somewhere along the line, I had been very nearly killed, and the Horseman had dragged me deeper into his own, personal subconscious.
But Alexa had brought me back from the brink, I had tried to continue my mission, but Seline had succeeded in waking me up before we could complete it. Now none of us knew what that meant us, for the prison, or for the Horseman.
Kaimos.
I had to go see him. He was in the building, likely in his quarters. I went to stand, but my head started spinning, the world tilted, and I needed Sanchez to catch me, otherwise I would’ve toppled over.
“Easy, there,” she said, “You’re in no condition to be making those sudden moves.”
“What are you doing here? Why is everyone in my cell?”
“The Warden’s dead. I’m in charge, now. You’re safe.”
“Safe? No, none of us are safe. I need to go and find the Horseman, right now.”
“Are you kidding me?!” Alexa shrieked. “You have no idea what state he’s in right now. For all we know, our antics only made things worse.”
“I fear they might have,” Azlu said as she stood. “I can’t be sure, but in the instant before I pulled out of the dream, I sensed the devil’s power surge, higher than it had gone before.”
“That means he’s in danger,” I said, “I have to get to him!”
Seline watched on, dumbfounded. I doubted if this had been the reunion she had been hoping for. It definitely wasn’t the one I had wanted, or dreamt about for weeks. But life hardly ever panned out the way you wanted it to, or expected it to, and this was the situation we were in.
“We need to get out of the prison, Six,” Seline said, “That’s what we’re here for, remember? To get you and your friends out of here.”
“And I’m taking the offer,” Alexa said, walking toward the cell door. “Don’t be stupid, Six. Let’s just go.”
“I can’t leave him here like this,” I said, “You know that.”
“Wait a second,” Sanchez said, “What are you talking about?”
I realized then, that out of all of us, she probably knew the least about what was going on, but I didn’t have the time to explain it all to her. “Look, we just tried to fix this people dying in their sleep problem, but I think we fucked up, and now I need to get to the Horseman. Can you take me to him, or do I have to start yelling at people?”
Sanchez looked over at Seline, then back at me. “Do you think we’re in danger?”
“Grave fucking danger.”
“Alright. Seline, you should take the others out of here. Guards will be waiting to escort you outside. I’ll take her to the Horseman and see what’s going on.”
“No, Six, you can’t do that,” Seline said, reaching for my hand. “I just got you back… I can’t lose you again.”
“You’re not going to,” I said, “But I need to know what happened to him. For all I know, he’s dead—or worse.”
“Worse?”
“I started this… let me finish it.”
Reluctantly, Seline nodded, and in a moment, we were all filing out of my cell, out of D-Block, and most of us were on their way out of the prison. Izzy, Azlu, Seline, and Alexa were met by a bunch of guards at the door to the block and escorted to the exit. Once they were gone, Sanchez and I started running toward the Horseman’s quarters.
I still couldn’t see straight; I couldn’t think straight. I was off balance, lightheaded, and something inside of me felt… off. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I didn’t feel like I was totally okay. I wished I’d had more time to investigate, to make sure I wasn’t still dying or something, but I was hyper-focused on my goal to find the Horseman.
To find Kaimos.
At the door to his quarters, I spotted a dead body on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. It was the Warden. Both of his eyes were open, though his left eye looked like it was caught mid-twitch. His skin was pale, his lips were blue, and the blood was oozing from a small, vertical slit in his jugular.
“He really is dead…” I said.
“I never liked him,” Sanchez said, moving briskly toward the door to the Horseman’s quarters.
“Who killed him?”
“It doesn’t matter. Stand back.”
Stretching her hands and opening her palms a few feet away from the door caused what had once been an invisible wall to shimmer to life. It was blue, and green, and made of a shifting latticework of light. With barely a gesture and a flick of her wrist, though, Sanchez made the wall shatter like it was made of glass.
I was about to step toward the door, when it opened, and my heart leapt into my throat.
The Horseman emerged from inside, shirtless, haggard, and covered in bruises of all shapes and sizes. Some looked like scratch-marks, others looked like spiderwebs of purple veins, while others were just dark splotches against his skin. His head was low, his hair hung by his shoulders, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days, but he was still standing.
Despite looking like he’d sustained the kind of injuries that would’ve toppled even the toughest of men, he stood strong.
“Six…” he said, his voice low.
“You’re you,” I said.
He turned his eyes up, and I pulled away, horrified. One of them was the light green flecked with gold I had come to know; to love. But the other. The other had turned entirely black. “I’m not sure about that.”
“Your eyes…” I trailed off.
Sanchez reached for her baton, but the Horseman stuck his hand out. “There’s no need for that,” he said, and she relaxed her hand. “I am in control. For now.”
“What happened?”
“I do not know. I cannot hear it, or feel it, but I know it’s there. Watching. Waiting.”
“Do I need to be worried, here?” Sanchez asked.
The Horseman nodded. “Yes. I want you to make immediate preparations to release those wrongly incarcerated, then I want you and the other staff to leave. Once you have left, lock this building down and lay the strongest wards you can around it.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, stepping toward him. “No, we have to leave. You have to leave with me!”
He shook his head. “I can’t, Six.”
“Yes, you can. What are you talking about?”
“I don’t fully understand what’s happening to me, but I know I am a danger to you and everyone else.”
“That’s not true.” I took another step toward him again. “We can fight this. I know we can.”
“I cannot leave the building, Six. If I do, it will escape, and then everyone is in danger. If I stay, then the only people in danger will be those who deserve to be punished for their crimes against my people and yours.”