Guardians of the Edge: Last of the Portal Keys

Chapter Eight: Lookout

Aiden snacked on a big slice of pizza from his lookout on top of a grungy downtown building. He propped himself between the support struts of a sagging billboard with the remains of his dinner in one hand and a pair of high-powered binoculars in the other. He savored the pepperoni and cheese as he scanned the street. His focus was the small stairwell and doorway below street level, kitty-corner to his position. He had been watching it for almost six hours, breaking briefly to visit the nearby pizza shop when the aroma drove him to distraction.

He set down the binoculars on the ledge and finished off the slice, chewing thoughtfully as he sipped from a can of soda. He easily outran his pursuers the night before, making it to a bus stop six blocks away just in time to catch one. Since then he had been doggedly hiding in the city, doing his best not to draw attention.

He found brief shelter to rest and gather his thoughts in an all-night diner where the cashier cared more about her gum and her celebrity magazines than a young man alone. Twice he dodged into the bathroom to hide from cops, both times checking the prize for glow. But the contrary thing was as dark as ever and the voice, if there really was a voice, didn't return. Whatever happened to light it up was over and left him with more questions than before.

It was easy for him to decide he'd imagined hearing anything at all. Considering the pressure he was under, it was a wonder he hadn't cracked like the stone.

Aiden started scouting his parent's hiding places shortly after midnight for signs of pursuit. The first, a small nondescript apartment on the upper East side, was already occupied by Tremaine and his men. Aiden drifted off before they could spot him. The second was a storage unit on the outskirts of the city. He passed it over not because it was compromised, but because of the large fence. It would be fine for a regular hole-up from common police, but he wouldn't put it past Tremaine and Lawrence to find him and he wanted an easy escape route available that didn't involve twelve feet of chain link.

Aiden spent the remainder of the night and most of the next day checking out places until he settled on this one. Exhausted, near the end of his considerable reserves, he needed rest. He started to second-guess himself and knew being so worn out would lead to mistakes. He was finally satisfied his choice had as yet to be discovered and decided to take the chance.

He changed clothes again, this time liberating a suit and tie. He knew his backpack would be a ringer, but hoped from a distance he would look like a young professional. It was nearing full dark again. The disguise would just have to do.

Aiden climbed down to the alley and discarded his old clothes in a dumpster. He kept his head down, pretending to focus his attention on his hand-held while he scanned the periphery of his vision for pursuit. He made it all the way to the stairwell without incident, ignored by other pedestrians hurrying on their own business. He trotted down the stairs to the doorway and keyed the lock, letting himself inside.

The entire apartment was below street level. Aiden took a few minutes and prowled from room to room, the gloom falling in around him as the last of the exterior light faded away. He closed all the curtains, blocking the feet walking past outside in both small bedrooms before doing the same in the living room. The kitchen curtains were already pulled.

Feeling safe and alone at last, he headed for the bathroom. Interior with no windows, he was able to use the light. He looked longingly at the shower and decided to risk it.

Ten minutes later he was clean and refreshed, teeth brushed. He rifled through the closet in his room, stocked with fresh clothes and chose jeans and a t-shirt. Everything was new, down to his favorite brand of underwear and sneakers.

His mother thought of everything.

Aiden returned to the kitchen and switched on the small light over the stove. The room appeared untouched, a thin film of dust on everything. His parents hired a cleaning service for all of the apartments they kept once a month, and he figured it was close to time, wondering if the ladies they hired believed the travel stories Antoinette told them. They made sure they spent at least one night a month in each place, making as much of a mess as they could so the service wouldn't figure out no one actually lived there.

Aiden checked the fridge, no luck. But the freezer was full of food, and canned goods filled the first shelf of the cupboard next to it. He was still hungry despite the pizza and helped himself to a can of ready-made pasta, dumping the contents into a bowl and throwing it in the microwave for a bit before retiring to the table to eat.

In the tiny, harsh light of the uncovered bulb, Aiden freed the prize from the hidden zippered pouch and set it in front of him for a good inspection.

It appeared unchanged from the last time, a dull yellow square of stone, unremarkable except sometimes, for reasons beyond him, it glowed and made people disappear.

Why didn't it work last night? What did Mom and Dad do that made them vanish? He looked at it closely, remembering Tremaine said something about not touching it. Was that to key to using it? There were markings all over it.

It was easier to remember the voice now, to consider perhaps he hadn't imagined anything. After all, if the stone had made his parents disappear, was it really so crazy to think it could talk?

"Hello?" Aiden's whispered word sounded very loud in the quiet of the apartment. "Are you there?"

Suddenly feeling very silly, he set the stone on the table and pushed away from it. Time to do some real research.

Aiden went to the room his parents used, his shadow long, just enough illumination coming from the kitchen so he could find his way. He reached under the bed. Attached to the box spring was a slim neoprene case. He pulled it free, wincing at the sharp ripping sound of releasing Velcro. He fished further and found the second case, this one bigger. He took both out to the kitchen with him and unzipped the first.

The toolkit had everything he needed, including a small digital camera. He used it to take detailed photos of all six sides of the cube before unzipping the second bag and pulling out the laptop. He slid his chair back and plugged in the power cord before attaching it to the computer, pushing the power button to boot up. While he waited for the chime and welcome screen, Aiden slid a magnifying glass from the toolkit and had a closer look at the mysterious cube.

The markings looked like some sort of writing, almost Arabic but not. He knew Arabic, after all, and Latin, Spanish and quite a number of other languages. There was something familiar about the markings but he couldn't place it.

He plugged the camera into the USB port and downloaded the photos for a closer look. Opening a pre-installed security program, he rerouted his wireless through a series of network hubs to mask his location before opening an Internet window and performing a search.

He spent the next half hour digging into the web and found nothing. Or, at least, nothing he thought was useful. He did stumble on one promising website only to wrinkle his nose and roll his eyes. It was just some conspiracy crackpot raving about dimension travel and gates to other worlds. The writing wasn't even the same, though it was similar enough Aiden assumed the man may have seen the artifact.

Aiden took the five minutes needed to track down the man's IP address, even though he wasn't sure why he bothered. The search led to his street address with a little more digging. Noting the information on his hand-held computer, he was barely able to finish without nodding off. He made sure to stow the prize and his portable in the backpack and zip it tight.

He took enough time to ensure the door was secure and the rear exit clear before curling up on the couch in the living room.

***

The sky is very gray. In fact, everything is gray. The ground seems to be missing, but he isn't falling. There is a light up ahead and warmth calling to him in his mother's voice. Aiden reaches for her, knowing he has to find her. His fingertips brush the edge of the light. It sears him with fire and sends him tumbling, screaming, deeper into the nothing around him!

***

He woke with a start, wide-awake and alert. His eyes fell on the small digital clock on the stove, just visible in the next room. 4 a.m. He had managed a few hours of sleep and wanted a few more but something wasn't right and his well-trained senses knew it.

A muffled sound outside the kitchen door.

He was on his feet and moving faster than he could think. He had his backpack and was turning for the rear exit when he saw light through the pulled curtains in the living room. He eased into the hallway as a shadow passed in front of the shuttered glass at the back.

Surrounded.

How? He retreated to the kitchen, mind churning. His eyes fell on the computer. He hadn't noticed in his exhaustion but the green active light was still on. They hacked him, traced him through the security program and finally found him.

Aiden didn't have time to curse his sloppiness. Someone was picking the lock on the front door. He heard it click just before the knob started to turn.

***