7- A Change of Plan

“Fine. It’s getting late- we should get to The Keep before Enforcers begin their night patrols,” Oscar mutters, walking away briskly. Aster breaks into a jog to keep up with him, relieved that he is going along with her plan, though it may seem hopeless. She is desperate to do more than wonder what had become of Luca. Now was the time to act. “We have to be smart about this,” Oscar growls.”

“We?” Aster says, confused. “There is no ‘we’ in this. If you tried to get into The Keep the Scanners would sense your powers immediately.”

“But-”

“Just hide outside of The Keep, alright? I’ll get Luca, and when we come out you can use the flash grenades you have left to cover us when the Scanners sense his power.” Oscar does not reply, but he knows Aster is right. As they push their way into the heart of Frey an overwhelming sense of dread falls over the streets. They draw to a stop outside of the fence surrounding The Keep, glancing at the warehouse beyond.

The last time Aster had been this close to the building she was eight. She had tried to run away from home when her father turned his belt against her. He had brought her to the fence, extending a single finger towards the complex on the other side.

“Try that again and you’ll end up there,” he snarled. Aster still remembers his grating whisper in her ear. Now, as she looks beyond the fence towards the warehouse beyond, it’s as if she’s eight again, fear pulsing through her veins.

The Keep is an ominous thing, black metal sticking out haphazardly from odd angles. Construction on the warehouse never seemed to stop. As Myriad captured more citizens of Frey he put them to work expanding his empire, working them until they were just another set of bones crushed beneath his heel.

Aster could barely see the Scanners, posted like sentries along the roof of The Keep, though they are unaware of Oscar and her. The Scanners wear blindfolds across their eyes and mufflers over their ears to increase their ability to detect the powers of any who attempt to enter The Keep. They were not nearly as powerful as Tracker, though, and could not sense anything beyond the fence surrounding The Keep. For all they knew Aster and Oscar were nowhere near Myriad’s empire.

Aster stalks around the fence, looking desperately for a place to enter. It is impossible to scale this monstrosity. It is twenty feet tall, topped with coils of razor wire powered by electricity from Enforcers who hadn’t pleased Myriad. He chained them to the system powering the coils until they seized from exposure their own electricity. The dictator had an odd sense of humor.

Try as she might, Aster could muster no sympathy for the Enforcers. Weak willed beasts. They had taken too many helpless citizens from the streets, and she could never forgive them for that. For now, though, she could only focus upon saving one of the many they had taken.

“How do we get in?” Oscar whimpers, eying the wall stretching far above their heads. Aster keeps her eyes towards the ground, grinning in satisfaction as she spots an aging dumpster pressed against the barrier.

“Here. Nobody with powers makes it to the wall alive- it’s more of a testament to Myriad’s ego than a functional barricade. They don’t even bother with repairs anymore,” Aster says, slipping behind the dumpster.

There is a gaping hole in the chain link behind the dumpster, and Aster easily pushes the debris surrounding it aside. A wide field strewn with rubble separates them from The Keep.

Oscar glances up, and sees an unfamiliar worker look away from his task in the field. They make eye contact for a moment, and the man imperceptibly shakes his head. A warning to stay far away. Then, the collar across his neck pulses as an Enforcer approaches the man, and he falls to the ground writhing. The Enforcer kicks him in the side and pulls him to his feet. The man continues working, as if nothing had happened. He does not look up again. Oscar feels a stab of pain in his chest, imagining Luca standing in this man’s place. He bends to follow Aster as she pulls herself through the hole in the fence by her stomach.

“What are you doing?” she growls, pushing him back. “The Scanners will sense you if you get any closer.”

“Aster, what if you get caught?”

“I won’t.”

“I can’t let you do this.”

“Everything will be fine,” she whispers, though her words sound hollow. It is dusk now, and Enforcers begin to call the workers back from the field. Oscar hears one of the Enforcer’s bikes scream by behind him, and is thankful for the dumpster separating the two of them from the street. Soon it is dark. The moon’s fragile light barely illuminates the rubble below. Aster braces herself against the fence, ready to sprint across the field. The Scanners couldn’t detect her, but if any Enforcers spotted her she would be dead meat. It was crucial that she crossed quickly.

“How will you find Luca?” Oscar stutters, looking towards the enormous complex. Aster is silent. She knows how hopeless their situation is. Finding Luca would be like finding a needle in a haystack. A very big, very deadly, haystack.

Without saying a word Aster begins edging away from the fence. She braces herself to sprint, leans forwards, and…

Floodlights illuminate the field. She races back to the shadow of the fence, eyes going wide. She moves to escape through the gap in the fence, but stills. There are no shouts behind her. No bullets screaming through the air.

It dawns on her that she has not been spotted. She turns towards the lights, watching as two Enforcers march an unfamiliar figure towards a metal pole on the outside of the compound. They tie the man’s hands above his head and take a step back. The whip moves so quickly that Aster doesn’t see it until it slices through the man’s shirt, cutting deeply into the skin below. He screams.

The scream is muffled from across the field, but is still unmistakable. Aster claps a hand over her mouth, letting out a choked sob. How many times had she heard that scream growing up, echoing from Luca’s house when Fallon raised a belt against him?

She starts towards Luca, but Oscar hisses loudly. She ignores him, but he hisses louder, and she is forced to turn back.

“What are you doing,” she snaps. “The Enforcers will hear you if you keep making that noise.”

“And the Enforcers will kill you if you charge after Luca. Think, Ace,” Oscar whispers.

“You can’t take on two Enforcers and who knows how many Scanners by yourself.

Luca lets out another scream, and Oscar flinches.

“We have to get him out of here,” Aster insists.

“I know, Ace, but he’s not going anywhere tonight. Look at him.” The Enforcers untie Luca’s hands and he crumples to the ground.

His blood is visible from across the field, and when the Enforcers pull him to his feet he only falls again. Eventually, they are forced to carry him inside.

“Once we get him out we’ll have every Enforcer in Frey looking for us, and he can’t even stand, let alone run,” Oscar insists.

“We’ll carry him, then.”

“Aster. That’s impossible and you know it.”

“But it will be weeks before he heals,” Aster pleads. “In that time they’ll just whip him again… or worse.”

“I know. That’s why I have to get close enough to heal him.”

“What?”

“We don’t have much time, Aster. I need to see where they take him or we may never see him again.”

Oscar eases his way under the fence as Aster’s eyes go wide. “Come back tomorrow night. We will be ready for you,” Oscar pleads. He starts walking towards The Keep, flinching as Aster grabs his wrist. “Please don’t make me stay. I can’t watch him die. Not like this,” he chokes, voice trembling.

“I know. I’ll be here tomorrow. Just… don’t get yourself killed, alright?” Aster whispers. Oscar nods, and begins to walk forwards.

* * *

Oscar is dimly aware of Aster slipping out through the fence behind him, but doesn’t trust himself to look back. He gets about ten feet closer to The Keep before the Scanners spot him, and crosses another two feet before their rifles are trained on his skull. Their voices are calculated. Mechanical.

“Intruder located. West wall. State your business.” Kneeling, Oscar extends his hands over his head, pebbles biting into his knees as he kneels on the ground, admitting to surrender. He takes a shallow breath, forcing those despicable words he only utters in nightmares from his lungs.

“I have come to pledge my loyalty to Myriad. I am here to serve him.” The guards shift from foot to foot, seemingly confused. Eventually an Enforcer makes his way towards Oscar.

Stars dance across Oscar’s vision as he is thrown to the ground, but he does not raise a fist against the Enforcer. The Enforcer pats down Oscar’s clothing, tearing off his jacket and checking his empty pockets for weapons three times before the Enforcer is satisfied.

The man forces Oscar to his feet, pushing him towards The Keep, and seems surprised when Oscar goes without a fight.

“You’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life, kid,” the guard whispers before they enter the building. Oscar can’t help but feel like the man is right.

The interior of The Keep is a labyrinth. Narrow corridors paneled with scrap metal and rusting nails make up musty corridors. There are rumors that Myriad’s palace is hidden at the center of this fortress, but Oscar has a hard time believing that anything could be hidden behind these walls aside from corpses and corruption. As they round a corner a sickening odor hits Oscar, and he gags. The guard chuckles.

“Welcome to your new home, kid. As soon as you prove to Myriad that you’re loyal you get out of here and sent to service. Enjoy prison the best you can. It only gets harder from here.”

Narrow cells line the walls, and terrified faces shrink away from the Enforcer as he leads Oscar to a cage in the back corner. Oscar scans the faces of those around him, and a bolt of fear courses through his spine when he does not see Luca. Anxious he turns to look towards the cells they have already passed but the Enforcer growls and all but throws him into the cell. His head comes down upon the concrete below hard, and he sees stars for a moment before everything goes black.

Thirty minutes pass before Oscar stirs. Aster brought him to the gate at dusk, but now it must be midnight. He pulls himself to a seated position, letting out a soft groan as his fingers trace the bump on the back of his head. He rests his finger upon the swelling, and it goes down instantly.

Oscar isn’t quite sure how to explain his ability. It is as if he is tugging the skin back to where it should be from invisible tendrils that extend from his fingertips. He can’t bring the nerve endings back to their original positions, though, and huffs in frustration when his head continues to throb after the injury itself is gone.

His eyes grow accustomed to the darkness quickly, though he can only make out the outlines of the sleeping prisoners from where he sits. His heart pounds against his ribcage, seeking freedom, as a thousand what-if’s dance through his mind.

“Luca?” he whispers, his voice sounding fragile. Someone curses at him from across the room, but within moments all is silent. He whispers again, louder, but a rock is heaved towards the bars of his cage and narrowly misses his face.

Fighting back tears Oscar wraps his arms around his knees, rocking quietly. He wonders what he had been thinking, succumbing to Myriad on the off chance he would end up imprisoned with Luca. He had always chided Aster for being impulsive, but now he had all but put himself in prison. He was supposed to be the one who thought things through. Who made the smart choice. He was a fool.

With a breath Oscar pushes the thoughts from his mind. Exhaustion leaves little time for self-pity. Leaning back against the wall behind him he listens to those around him. He hears a child call out for her mother in her sleep, and the trembling breath of someone who is elderly. Someone is snoring a few cells away from him. He listens to the different rhythms, grief filling him. How could Myriad enslave so many? His eyes become heavy as the noises begin to lull him to sleep,

Then, they snap open.

There. The whimper is nearly inaudible, but as Oscar eases himself to the ground he can barely hear it. He lets out a choked sob as he claws his way across the cell, pressing himself to the bars separating them.

He knew that whimper all too well, from the nights Luca would find his way into the attic of the armory where Oscar was sleeping after dark, a thin blanket clutched between his hands, fleeing Fallon as the man cursed his son’s name from across the street. Luca never said a word to Oscar, but would curl up on the floor next to his bed and fall asleep within moments. He was always gone by the next morning, but Oscar knew the sound of Luca’s breath like he knew his own. Though he would never tell Luca, some nights that breathing was the only thing that kept him from going to dark places. The places of death he had spent too much of his life in.

Oscar reaches his arm through the bars, straining, but it falls short of Luca’s sleeping form. For a moment he considers letting the injured boy sleep, but he knows time is fleeting. He reaches again, suppressing a yelp of pain as the bars cut into his shoulder, and is finally able to brush the boy’s shoulder. Once. Twice… on the third brush Luca shoots up, terrified eyes glinting in the darkness. He grabs Oscar’s arm viciously, and makes as if to snap his wrist. Oscar squeaks in fear, ripping his arm away as he scuttles backwards into his cell.

“Oz?” Luca’s voice is hoarse, as if he has aged years in the two days since the Enforcers captured him. Cautiously Oscar moves towards the bars, letting a beam of moonlight from a gap in the roof strike his face. He hears a muffled sob as Luca draws himself towards the bars, breath hissing from between his teeth as he eases his injuries across the concrete. “I’m sorry, Oz. I didn’t know- I thought you were-” he stutters.

“Hey. It’s alright,” Oscar whispers, tenitavely reaching his hand through the bars again. Luca takes it, impossibly gently, and holds it to his chest.

“Why are you here,” Luca croaks. “Did they capture you, too?”

Oscar shakes his head. “I came here myself.”

“What?”

“For you.” Oscar blushes, and hopes the darkness is enough to hide his crimson cheeks.

“Er, well, I mean… Aster and I are going to get you out,” he stumbles.

“I know what you meant,” Luca whispers, smiling for a moment before flinching, raising a hand to a bruise across his face. His left eye is swollen shut and a deep cut mars his cheek

“Here. Let me,” Oscar whispers, his voice pained. Luca slides closer to the bars and Oscar rests a tentative hand across his cheek, pressing gently as the skin knits itself together. Oscar gazes at Luca, wondering how someone who has seen so much pain could still try to smile. Even now, behind bars, there is a spark of defiance in Luca’s eyes. A spark of hope that one day things will be different.

“Are.. are you done?” Luca whispers, glancing at Oscar’s hand that is still lying across his cheek. Snapped from his thoughts Oscar snatches it back hurriedly.

“Hey. It’s alright, there’s no need to be embarrassed.” Luca says.

“I’m not embarrassed,” Oscar mutters.

“I’m an Enthopahth, Oz. I’m pretty sure I know what embarrassment looks like.”

Oscar laughs awkwardly. “Turn around. I need to do your back.” In silence he heals the whip marks and bruises dotting Luca’s body. “How did you get so many?” He asks tenitavely.

“I tried to escape last night. And the night before,” Luca mutters. “And, um, this afternoon,” Luca adds hesitantly.

“How could you do that,” Oscar whispers, his voice brimming with concern.

“I wanted to see you again.” Luca pauses for a moment, and Oscar holds his breath.“ And Ace and Charlie, of course,” he continues.

“Of course,” Oscar replies, quietly. “No more failed escape attempts, alright? Tomorrow night we get out of here.” Luca nods, and eases himself to the floor.

Oscar looks towards the moon peeking through the crudely constructed roof, trying desperately to sleep, but lies awake. An hour passes and he wraps his arms around himself, mind darting to places of death and darkness. What if Luca didn’t make it out? What if they killed him, too?

Quietly, Luca’s hand reaches between the bars, finding Oscar’s in the darkness.

“It will be alright,” Luca whispers. And somehow, impossibly, Oscar finds himself believing those simple words as he finally drifts to sleep.