Killing Chivalry

Chapter 1 - Portal in the Park

Airyn huddled in the back room of the music store, avoiding the flashing red and blue lights and the squawky voices on police radios. She should have left at midnight, when her shift ended, but she'd decided to sprawl out in the middle of an aisle and listen to demo tracks in the dark. Then some jackwagon had thrown a rock through the big front window and the alarms had ruined everything. Before she could gather her shit and get out, there was a black and white on the street outside.

That had been around one in the morning, now her phone screen told her it was 2:13. Her boss had been called in to answer questions, and someone had nailed something over the broken window, but she didn't dare leave while anyone was around. If the cops saw her, they'd question her. Then they'd find out she was alone and send her into foster care or something.

She wrapped her arms around her backpack and leaned against boxes of CDs they hadn't unpacked yet, watching the shifting light at the crack under the door. Even over the police noise, and through the concrete wall of the storeroom, she heard a rumble of thunder. She groaned and hoped it wouldn't rain.

As if the day hadn't already been a nightmare. She'd worked all three jobs today. When she stopped at the bakery that morning to give Mrs. Kang the McDonalds coffee she loved so much, she'd been guilted into dusting the top shelves in the pantry. She wanted to say no, but the old lady offered her fresh red bean buns, and paid her in cash.

Then she washed dishes at the diner from noon to eight. She wished she'd never lied about getting out of school early on Wednesdays. They scheduled her for a long shift every single Wednesday now.

Then she had worked from nine to midnight cleaning and stocking the music store after hours. At least she was alone then and could turn on the music and sing all she wanted. The music store didn't ask a lot of questions, but they thought she was eighteen. Running into the cops would give her away. Sixteen-year-olds weren't supposed to work past ten on school nights.

But then... sixteen-year-olds were supposed to go to school. And have a responsible guardian at home.

At 2:35 it got very quiet. She waited exactly ten minutes more, ears straining to pick up any sound of her boss or the police still being in the store. When she heard nothing but thunder, she crept from the pile of boxes and eased the door open to peek out.

The store was dark. One big windowpane was now covered in plywood. She darted through the aisles and to the door, her hands shaking as she keyed in the code. She slipped onto the sidewalk and let the door lock itself behind her as she ran across the street and into Fuller's Park.

A sudden gust of wind made the topmost branches of the trees bend and rustle. It blew her short black hair across her eyes and she tried without success to tuck the strands behind her ear. Her T-shirt did little against the wind, and she rubbed at the goosebumps on her arms and regretted not taking a jacket that morning.

Lightning made harsh shadows under the trees and she heard a faint whooshing noise as the sky opened up and rain poured down. She was instantly drenched and hugged her arms closer to her chest, breaking into an awkward jog that made her backpack bounce against her ribs. The heavy rain blurred the treeline ahead and she shook her head to fling water away from her face as she hurried for the shadows. She flinched at a deafening crack of thunder, which vibrated the bottoms of her feet, sure she was about to be fried.

Light flared up in her path and she stumbled to a stop, her backpack slipping off her shoulder down to her elbow. It didn't fade away like lightning should have. She squinted at an oval-shaped white glow hanging in front of her, icy sheens of blue at the edges. It was bright as a spotlight, but the width of a set of double doors and twice as tall. Her eyes watered as she blinked to make out the dark shape in front of the light.