Present...

Every section and division of the Colony had its own individual medical area. The facilities were identical, so to make sure no one woke up disoriented without knowing which medical section they were in, the location was marked on the floor.

Rinn stared at the floor now, well aware that although the medical section was simply a wide open room with curtains segregating each patient, she had been escorted to a room instead.

She felt like she was in a tomb; worse yet, she wished that tomb would simply cave in.

Voices were too loud; footsteps were too heavy. Even the sterile chemicals of the hospital room Rinn sat in washed over her, threatening to drown her. Now that wave ebbed, and she knew why. The power one little blade could exert was amazing. Once she'd brandished the weapon, the medics had backed off.

Being alone with her own thoughts put Rinn at ease, and the hell that had broken loose a half hour earlier had calmed.

In the quiet of the room, cluttered with tray after tray of shiny instruments, Rinn sat on the bed, her body hunched, her gaze cast downward. When that wave of panic and chaos left, it took most of her energy with it. But that didn't matter. She didn't need much energy for this.

"It's useless." She sucked in a deep breath and wheezed out, "It's fucking useless."

Despite the room having been sealed off from the outside by medics who had wisely fled, someone else was there. Rinn ignored her guest.

A young man's tender voice broke through the stillness. "What is useless?"

Rinn didn't look up from where she sat. The straight razor in her hand was the only thing she could focus on.

"You better get out of here, E," Rinn warned.

The calm voice vibrated. "You can tell I'm an E without even looking at me?"

"Of course, I can."

"How?"

Gaze shifting from the blade, Rinn stared straight ahead at the naked man. His orange dreadlocks reached well past his waist but didn't hide much. "You're warm. E's are warm. But it's a weird warmth. Like they're radioactive. Just having them close makes you feel warm in your gut."

"That's true. But it's interesting that you notice."

The long orange hair floated around the man, hiding his green eyes every so often.

"You should get outta here," Rinn warned again. "You don't wanna die, do you?"

"But you do?"

Rinn turned the straight razor over in her hand. "It's the only way. It didn't work last time. Ian said I fell asleep. I should have been straightforward about it. I should have just cut my fucking wrists. Something. Not drink that crap. But there's no escaping this place. Not above ground, anyhow."

"I do not think you wish to harm me."

"It's not you who I'm looking to cut. And when I do die, that emotion will jump to you and carry you along," Rinn answered.

"I know too well what you mean."

The E's body gave off a faint glow but beyond that it, looked flawless.

"Why are you naked? Who are you?"

The somber green eyes softened. "My name's Norman. I'm trying to help you."

"Why?" Rinn sat up, rigid and annoyed. "Why would you help me?"

"I want to help you—"

"And like I said, why? Because nobody does something for nothing."

"That's not true. Your man, your friend, he took care of you for nothing."

Rinn snorted out a laugh. "He's the worst one. He wants to get outta here so badly he'd roll anyone under the bus to do it. And he's never the one who gets hurt—it's just everybody else around him."

Norman watched her, thoughtful. "You say one thing, but that's not the emotion you give off. You love him—"

"I hate him. At this point, it's one and the same. I loved him enough to do everything I did, and it was all meaningless because he's wasted all this time keeping me alive, taking care of me, not even realizing that I don't have any secrets to give. My way out? The only way we're getting out of here is in a grave. And I tried that and ended up asleep instead. So how can I not hate him? I gave myself to keep him safe, but it was for nothing. I gave my life to set him free and he wasted it."

"Then why'd you do it?" Norman challenged. "You say nobody does something for nothing."

"Nah. I'm bad too." Rinn focused on the razor once more. "Because he thinks he's the reason we got taken here, but I am. There are E's in the walls—E's that open all the portals in the Colony and the ones between the Colony and the outside world. Those portals are supposed to open at any uninhabited area. But I'm the reason that portal opened where it did. If I had just walked away, none of this would have happened."

Norman shifted his stance and was slow to respond. "I don't think that's why you did it. And I can see it even from here: you're haunted by something awful, by something I can't quite imagine. But you did it because you care about him."

"So what?" Rinn grumbled. "Everything I love about him is gone. He's not even cute anymore. I used to think it was his personality, and it was. But seeing him in that room, all bulked up like some gladiator...I hated it. I didn't even know it was him. Then I started praying it really wasn't him. It...it was revolting. And that's when I finally realized that I loved him all skinny and sleek. Towards the end, he took on some muscle, but nothing like now." She let out a bitter laugh. "I miss him. I miss the old Ian. The old Ian needed me. This guy is a one-man army. I just wished we'd have done something physical back then, at least. Even once. Just once. Done it so good it'd bring that damn accent back." She tried to laugh but a bitter sob left her instead. "Is that all my love was worth?"

"No," Norman soothed. "Any hate you feel now is for yourself, not for him. And maybe you're right, about it being for a reason. But I still want to help you."

Rinn lifted her head up and looked him straight in the eye. "And what's your reason?"

"There aren't E's in the walls controlling the portals," Norman confessed. "There's just me, and I'm suffocating." Rinn's leaned away, surprised. Norman confessed, "I was the one who opened the portal that brought you in. I'm trying to correct mistakes I've made. Each time so far hasn't turned out well, but this is something I can fix. I'm running out of time." Their eyes met, and Norman smiled. "But I can send you back."

"To what?" Rinn demanded. "Eight years have passed. You want me to just walk back into my family's life and let them clean up what's left?" She exhaled, her voice cracking. "Those Topsiders, th—they took everything they could from me. Topside, they stripped me bare. They took everything, and now Ian's gone, too." The very thought made her hands tremble, and she tightened the grip on the razor.

"Ian's gone. He's gone, and he's not coming back. My Ian's never coming back." Rinn shook her head. "No. I don't want to go back to New York." She brought the razor down without hesitation, the blade tearing her wrist open.

Blood gushed for a moment then stopped. She held her hand up in disbelief when the wound began to mend. Much like a zipper, knitting the skin together inch by inch, the cut closed within seconds. "What. The. Fuck?"

"Hey," Norman soothed. "Don't worry. You've developed heightened rejuvenation somehow. We can look into it."

"No," Rinn moaned. "No. No! Now I can't even fucking die?" Enraged, Rinn brought the razor down again and again as she howled, "This isn't fair."

"Friend," Norman called out, panicked. "You have to stop. At this proximity, you'll inadvertently cut me too, even if you inflict pain on yourself instead. I cannot risk that. Please. You have to stop."

Each wound mended faster than the last. Rinn gritted her teeth and brought the blade along her forearm, slicing so deeply she felt the bone. Her body twitched with rage. Then she lost all feeling. She looked up from her task to see Norman's orange dreadlocks floating around her. The E's somber, green-eyed gaze was a comfort—a calmness easing through Rinn like a rush of cold water. Norman's pouting red lips curved into a contented smile.

"Peace," Norman whispered.

Rinn was rigid. No matter how much she tried to move, she couldn't, and that knowledge brought her to a new conclusion. She brought her gaze upward to confirm her suspicions. Norman's right hand was on Rinn's forehead, the man's thumb pressing against her flesh.

"Peace," he whispered. "Be at peace. You're all right now. You have love, so be at peace. Nothing will harm you here—no one. I won't allow it. Tellman thought you'd forgotten everything, even him, so perhaps that's what you should really do. Forget for a while. Forget. This time, you should forget." The world brightened until it was white. "You're free now." It was a struggle to focus on that voice, the calm tone lulling her as he promised, "No one will harm you. So be at peace. Find safety in yourself. Forget all that brings you pain. And when I come for you again, I'll render to you what I've taken. It'll set this right. You have my word."

Rinn stumbled from the white light, dazed and nauseated. She spilled out into the spacious, open area and landed on the stone floor in a graceless mess. A zipping sound followed so promptly that she concluded that a door had closed behind her somewhere. Like a newborn deer, she wobbled to her feet, her knees shaking beneath the black robe.

Rather than risk falling over, she held out her hands for balance and remained perfectly still. "Whoa. What have I been drinking?"

The stone walls to her right and left confused her at first—their circular shape was nearly flawless with hardly any rough areas. The Colony. She wasn't sure when—why she was in the underground, but the bareness of the tunnel felt good.

Her brain working a mile a minute, she tried to figure out where she was. She was in a tunnel, of that she was sure, but not much else.

Footing surer, she took one step, then another. As still as the tunnel was, a soft whisper drew her focus, so she walked ahead toward the darkness. There were no vents, but she could hear the wind. Beyond the empty, gray stone path, a distant chatter beckoned her forward.

With each step she took, the lights followed her. The path from which she came dimmed. Staring at the bright ceiling was unbearable but she endured it in an effort to find the light source. For fun, she paused and backtracked. The scope of the illumination adjusted accordingly.

When she was satisfied with that experiment, she walked on. She expected to see a door or two since she'd spilled out into the tunnel but after thirty minutes—the lights on the ceiling's new position put her in the mind of thirty minutes—there was still nothing but blank walls.

The illumination ended. It was so sudden that it appeared she'd hit a barrier. The whispering stopped as well. Rinn stared ahead into the darkness and slowed in her stride. Once she reached the very point where the light no longer shone, she narrowed her brow, wondering what the cause might have been.

The darkness was so thick it looked fake. She thought to put her hand into it at first but changed her mind. Instead, she reached for the chain around her neck to fiddle with it, a common habit of hers, but found her throat bare. It might have fallen somewhere, so she backtracked to search. Nothing. The cross was gone. She decided to worry about that later and focus on the darkness now.

Finding a pebble was a difficult task, but she did spot one on her right. She took it, hurried back to the end of the illumination, and threw it at the barrier, expecting it to bounce off. It sunk in, and she frowned.

"Is this thing real?"

Something zipped at her, and she caught it before it struck her between the eyes. Lowering her hand, she opened her fist. The pebble had returned.

This discovery made her swallow hard and she cleared her throat. She reached her hand back and sent it flying into the nothingness once more.

It returned almost instantly, wet with slime.

Rinn scowled. "Ew."

Something rumbled. After a moment, she realized it was a laugh. The chuckle was so hearty that Rinn's feet shook. She dared not step forward into the darkness. Once again, she tried to understand why the light had stopped advancing. Searching for a possible explanation, she looked up and around, her eyes scouring the walls. Then she saw it: a green dot low to the ground.

"Green? What the hell was green for again?"

"For imps."

Rinn snapped her head up, searching around her for the source of the voice. She saw nothing, and the stillness that followed made her all the more wary.

"Who said that?"

No answer came. After a while, Rinn allowed her body to relax. Rather than run, she sat down. Her hand went to the lost chain again and without having it to hold, she propped her chin on her fist, her elbow on her knee. She kept her body rigid as she peered into the black.

"Imps." Rinn considered the word for a moment then cocked her head. "What's an imp, anyhow?"

"Come and ssee..." the baritone voice rumbled, jovial. The whispering started again but in time, it petered out.

"See?" Rinn leaned closer to try and do just that, but she couldn't make out a single thing. She fought back the urge to reach in, her heart racing at the very thought. "Hey."

Silence washed over her, and she dragged herself up to stand.

"Hey," she said again, sterner.

"Yess?"

"Hey."

"Yess, Meeekk?"

"Meek?" Rinn blinked in surprise. "Are you calling me meek?"

"Meeekk is meeekk. I beckon you. Come here. Come insside."

Rinn leaned in close, trying to look into the nothingness again, but it was to no avail. "Meek?"

"Rinnie! Bloody hell! Get the hell away from the border!"

The familiar voice quashed all Rinn's unease. Without looking back, she smiled. "Right on time, Mr. Irish," she chuckled and stood to her full height, then stretched. Ian was never far behind.

Instead of turning to the approaching footsteps, however, Rinn looked up. One yellow eye appeared, then a second, and then a white smile that seemed to radiate on its own. Rinn was confused by the order of their appearance until the creature hanging from the ceiling came into focus. The thing's head rotated until it faced upright, despite its body still hanging upside down.

Ian was closing in, but Rinn stayed focused, fascinated as whatever it was fell like a sack of rocks, twisting and landing on all fours. The thing's frame was long, covered by a dark pair of tattered overalls. Its short red hair caught the light, and so did its olive-green skin. The body was thick and broad, faint scales guarding its taut muscles which flexed and twitched as it crawled forward.

Rinn calmed at the sight of the creature as it stood from its crouching position until it towered over her. Despite her own five-foot-nine frame, she was dwarfed by the beast. The large face leaned in close and its smile grew wider.

"Hallo," it said.

As soon as the word reached Rinn, all her worry faded. "Hi."

"God damn it, Rinnie! God damn it! Damn it!"

Everything in Rinn told her she should be frightened. She'd never seen anything like this. The creature was a horror due to its size, from its thick long arms to its sharp teeth. But that smile—that smile was a comfort. She stared at it, and found herself smiling too, enchanted. She loved seeing the thing.

Something sailed past, but Rinn only caught a glimpse of it once it crashed in the distance, setting the nothingness ablaze. Another ball of fire came, then another. Rinn's gaze stayed locked onto the imp's yellow eyes. She was aware of the panic around her but she could only focus on the soft whispers.

"Is that you making that noise?"

"Ssss'tress. I beckon you," it said. "D'ssstresss."

"Distress? Who? Me? Wh—what are you?" Rinn asked.

The next fireball struck the imp in the left shoulder, and Rinn gasped.

"You're hurt."

"Worry not." As if in slow motion, the creature crouched, and Rinn felt compelled to do the same. "I mmend," it said.

In sick fascination, Rinn leaned in closer to get a better look at the large teeth. The imp grinned in response, and Rinn had to resist the urge to open the thing's jaws just to see how far back they could go.

Silence came and Rinn finally tore her eyes off the imp before her and turned to see a small army at her back. Someone in a gray suit stood breathing heavily in the center of the tunnel. Behind the man were E's—at least twenty of them.

Rinn's stomach dropped. "Ian?" She scanned the crowd for that familiar lanky body and felt panicked when her search came up empty. "Ian!"

"Here," Ian's voice said, huffing and puffing. "I'm right here."

Cautious, Rinn stood. She focused on the only distinguishable figure in the sea of black: the man in gray. The sight of the broad body made her take a step back.

"What the hell?" When the stranger raised his hands up in surrender, Rinn demanded, "Where's Ian?"

"I'm Ian." The man's red lips quivered as he breathed out. "I'm Cillian Broderick. Eight years ago, you saved me from getting my brains bashed in at your uni. And I know it's a lot to take in, and you may think it's shite, and you reckon—"

"Figure." Rinn calmed and nodded. "The word is figure, not reckon."

"Right." The man's frown faded, blossoming into a warm smile. "Right," he repeated.

Rinn took in the gladiator's frame and her pulse quickened. The breath by her neck reminded her of her visitor.

A tall freckled-face E with red hair ran to Ian's side. Fists glowing blue, she called out, "Jerret."

Over Rinn's shoulder, the imp drew in a breath and sounded pleased. "Valllentina."

"Hosh, you have five seconds to back up before I blast your head off," the freckled E warned.

"No." Rinn raised her hands. "Don't. You don't have to shoot."

Ian's eyes widened in shock. "Are you out of your fucking mind? It's a—"

"For the love of the Colony, all this testosterone is making my ovaries hurt."

"Seriously?" Val gagged. She looked back to the group of men, who stepped aside for a dark-skinned woman to walk past. "Was that necessary?"

Red. Rinn knew her on sight. Her name was Red. Met's wife.

"It got everyone's attention." Red came to a stop beside Ian and took in the situation. "Imp, I've got fifteen E's here that guarantee you won't get home. Leave that woman where she is, and back away. Find food elsewhere."

When Red's breath hitched and Ian stepped back, Rinn turned to see what had spooked them so visibly. The ocean of yellow eyes peeking out through the darkness made her blink. The eyes began to close, two by two, until they faded. Jerret, the imp, still remained. He looked from Rinn to Red, then back again.

"Thiss iss mine," he hissed.

Red stepped forward. "Imp—"

"I have a name!" The imp's booming voice left the tunnel humming. "Thiss iss oursss."

Val took a challenging stance, but Rinn extended her arms, shielding the creature. "No. Don't shoot. Please."

The imp turned and crouched down. He looked back up to Rinn and commanded, "Come."

Rinn's body stiffened, and although she felt compelled to step forward after the thing, she simply stared at it, unable to comply.

"Come," Jerret ordered again. Rinn wanted to walk after it, but she couldn't.

With a slight huff that sounded like a snort of derision, the imp turned and was soon swallowed by the darkness.

Its voice carried. "There iss no home for you with them, Meeekk. I won't ssoon forget ssuch dissobedience."

Jerret was gone; that much Rinn knew, and she felt lost. Not having the creature there sent her into a state of worry, and she longed to go after it. Though she didn't follow, all that surrounded her was darkness. She tried to step into it, but her hands trembled, her body shook and her knees buckled. The world went silent, and then there was nothing.

Someone caught her. Two strong arms held her up. The embrace was unfamiliar enough that she broke it. Despite her gentle exertion, the grip fell away. The world rushed back to her with it, grays and blacks mostly. When she turned and stared into a pair of pensive blue eyes, she took the stranger in. Everything about that woeful expression was recognizable despite the body and muscle being so foreign.

Ian.

He was huge. A tingling of panic spread through Rinn, but she forced a weak smile. "Now what have you gotten us into, you nutcase?"