Radiant Oddities (Anomaly Saga #4)

16

"The Host is a woman?!" exclaimed Greyhorn in disbelief.

Lockley fixed her piercing blue eyes on him. "So? Anyway." She turned her attention back to Chandler. "You're quite the detective, Mr. Chandler. And you're not easy to kill, even when you run blindly into danger. But as I was saying, it's over now." White light enveloped the room, and then it faded away to reveal a golden-tiled floor and walls covered in jewels.

"What?" said LaVarre. "I feel like I did when I ate too much orange soap that one time."

"Where are we?" asked Alice. "Where did everyone else go?"

Chandler looked around and saw only Mr. Diamond, William, Katrina, Alice, and LaVarre. Everyone else was gone.

Dark smoke rose up from the ground, and when it faded away, there stood Lockley. "Do you like it?" she asked. "This is my own personal dimensional plane."

"You're using them to do this, aren't you?" said Alice, her voice uncharacteristically scornful. "You're using the people you killed."

Lockley raised an eyebrow. "I don't know how you knew that, but yes. So what? They're dead. I used their energy to create my own dimension. I've unlocked power that most only dream of." She paused. "And it is here that you will all meet your end." She summoned a flaming sword to her hand.

The group took a step back.

"Ready to take down your old boss?" asked Chandler, taking Alice's hand.

"Always," Alice said, and then they ran forward.

They both took out their tranquilizer guns with their free hands and shot at Lockley. She burned them away with a single swipe of her sword.

"Bold," Lockley said. "Bold and stupid." She lunged at Alice.

But before her sword could reach Alice's stomach, LaVarre barreled out of nowhere and knocked Lockley to the ground. "You never accepted my requests for new soap!" he exclaimed.

"Go, soap boy, go!" Mr. Diamond exclaimed, running up to LaVarre's side.

Lockley murmured something to herself and hovered up into the air. "Let's get your annoying friends out of the picture, shall we?"

She snapped her fingers, and LaVarre, Mr. Diamond, William, and Katrina disappeared.

Lockley smirked. "The others can deal with them. I want to fight you two myself." She lowered herself down to the ground again. "Now, let's try this again."

Chandler stepped in front of Alice. "If you want to hurt her, you'll have to kill me first," he said, unholstering his gun.

Lockley nodded. "Perfect. That's what I've been trying to do this whole time."

"But why?!" Alice exclaimed from behind Chandler. "Why do you need him in particular?" She stepped in front of Chandler. "Before you kill him, you'll actually have to kill me."

"No, don't do this," said Chandler, stepping in front of her again. "I can't lose someone else. Not again."

Lockley held her flaming sword low towards the ground and slowly walked forward. "Mr. Chandler here is special," she said. "I've been trying to lure him back here for years now. His blood is powerful. So much more powerful than anyone else's."

Chandler and Alice both took a few steps back on the golden tile. "Wait," said Chandler. "Not that I want you to or anything, but why couldn't you just get my brother, instead? If it's about my blood."

Lockley smiled. "He's not your real brother. You are not who you think you are."

Chandler's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You are more than just a mere human man, Mr. Chandler. You are directly related to the Guardians of this universe. The immortal beings that deal with things so much bigger than us. I've heard they live in magical towers, traveling coffee shops, and so much more. They are the eyes that oversee us all. And with your death, I can become one of them."

Chandler shook his head. "You are absolutely insane," he said. "You're drunk with power. Goodbye." He fired his gun.

The bullet hit Lockley's stomach and bounced off onto the ground. She laughed. "Guns don't hurt me," she said. "Not here. Accept your fate, Chandler. You are the last stepping stone to greatness. The last barrier in my way." She waved her arm to the side, and Alice flew off to Chandler's left.

"Alice!" Chandler exclaimed, and as he turned to look, Lockley lunged.

To Alice, everything seemed to slow down at once. She saw Lockley charging, and she knew what she had to do. She slipped off one of her shoes and threw it with all the strength she had.

The shoe hit Lockley in the head and made her stop in her tracks for just a moment.

"What?" Lockley said, confusion evident in her voice. And then Alice was running. She ran, and she grabbed the hilt of Lockley's sword, and then she rammed the blade back at Lockley. "The only way to set us free," the spirits of the dead had said to her before, "is to kill the Host."

Lockley didn't have time to make a sound. As soon as the blade of her sword touched her, she disintegrated into nothing.

Chandler stared at Alice in shock. "Thank you," he finally said, and then the golden walls and floor around them disappeared, and they were on the long table in the meeting room again.

Voices crowded around Alice. LaVarre, William, Mr. Diamond, Greyhorn, Victoria. She couldn't tell what any of them were saying, though. Slowly, she was falling, and then everything went dark.