The Calling of Time

If Anything Happens

“It used to be nice here.” My voice was small, and Jai reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder.  I was suddenly feeling dizzy and sick, like I might throw up right there in the jeep, and I said as much.

He didn’t say anything, just helped me out of the jeep, but once we were outside he kept one hand pressed against my back. Like he was reassuring me he was still there. I hunched over slightly, curling my upper body over my bound hands, taking deep breaths. Jai kept his hand on my back until I straightened up. He looked anxious. “Alright?”

“I’m okay.” It wasn’t strictly true. I was petrified, but at least I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be sick.

Horace gave us all the once over, and he and Jai inspected one another. “We’ll pass,” Horace said gruffly. “I’ll wager no one will look twice at us.”

“Where do we leave the jeep?” Manda said. “We should park it close, in case we need to make a quick exit.”

“I’ll try to get us as close as possible. Thanatos’ soldiers drive a mishmash of vehicles, some of them are army, but the rest look similar to this one. We should be able to park right next to the building.” Horace cracked his knuckles and gestured towards the vehicle. “Shall we?”

The driveway leading up to the castle was long and winding. The pavement was cracked and jagged in places, and the jeep lurched with each bump, throwing me back in my seat, which was a bit unnerving as I tried to keep my balance with my hands tied. Jai kept one hand on my shoulder, making sure I didn’t tip over.

I found myself pressed up against him when we took an especially steep turn, my thigh crushed against his. Our shoulders touchrf. It was hard not to look up at him, because I could feel him staring at me. What if our eyes locked? I could imagine him flushing again, turning away from me. Every time there was any danger of us getting too close, he backed off. I hated the old me.

I resolved that things would change when this was all over.

Such thoughts were forgotten as soon as we rounded the bend. Here the driveway levelled off into a flat parking lot. There were a number of large, camouflage army vehicles at the side of the lot, parked in a row next to one another. The rest of the spaces were filled by large trucks and all terrain vehicles like ours, all similarly outfitted with grills and cages around the windows.

“We’ll fit right in,” Horace muttered. He found a spot between a jacked up four by four and a squat jeep that was nearly identical to ours, pulling in between them and shutting the engine off. He turned to look at Manda. “Round the back, right?”

“Right.” Manda checked the digital clock on the dashboard. “It’s still just past dawn. With any luck, Thanatos will be asleep for the next several hours.”

Horace turned to me. “Stick close by me. I’ve got the hourglass. If things get really rough, I’ll toss it to you. Okay?”

I nodded to show that I understood, and Jai helped me step out of the jeep once again. The moment my feet hit the cement parking lot I wanted to stop. We were walking towards the building that housed Thanatos. After hearing so much about him I was fairly certain I had no desire to meet him.

But it was too late to back out. Horace was walking in front of us with Manda, one hand on her arm, and Jai and I were following, heading around the side of the huge brick building. I looked up at it as we passed. The windows were mostly dark, and there was no movement. Maybe everyone really was in bed. Maybe this would be easy.

The back door that Manda had been talking about was at the bottom of a set of sunken cement stairs. Horace and Jai led us both to the front and stopped there, and Horace leaned past Manda to rap on the door with his knuckles.

“Now remember,” he said into the silence. “You two don’t even have to say anything.” He glanced down at Manda. “It would be better if you just kept quiet.”

She scowled at him. “Fine, but just try the door, will you? He might have left it unlocked. It’s the kitchen in there, they may not hear you.”

She jerked back as the door was suddenly yanked open, and a small, ferret-like man poked his head out.

“Ah!” he exclaimed.

The man vanished back inside, and Horace stepped forward, pushing his way through. Jai and I followed, and as we entered his grip on my arm tightened.

The kitchen was huge and bustling with activety. There was an enormous oven in the center, set into the brick wall, and a stout man in a dirty apron was loading a tray full of bread onto the rack. Here and there, other people in white aprons, both men and women, darted back and forth. They chopped vegetables and flung pans around. The smell of baking pastries and frying egg filled the kitchen, making my mouth water.

We’d been living on beef jerky and water for the past several weeks, but clearly Thanatos was living it up over in his corner of the kingdom. I felt something flare to life inside me, a small, hot flicker of anger. There were people all over the world starving and dying because of him, and here he was with a kitchen full of slaves putting together a feast for his breakfast. One that he probably wouldn’t eat, since he apparently slept until the afternoon anyways. It was tempting to try to steel a muffin or something as we walked through, but Manda’s friend was beckoning us onward with frantic movements as he wove through the bustling activity.

I couldn’t help eyeing him up and down. He was a strange man for a soldier, small and lean. He was shifty looking, bright blue eyes darting all around the kitchen, his head jerking up at every little noise. I guess when you were in the traitor business you became paranoid after awhile. It made sense.

No one really looked twice at us in the kitchen though. They appeared to be working at top speed, and looking over their shoulder at all times, like they were expecting Thanatos himself to come bursting through the door. The head cook barked orders at the others and they bumped into one another in their hurry.

Manda’s soldier friend lead us down a narrow corridor, darting a look back at Horace every now and again. He looked extremely jumpy. “Ya’ll got to get to the treasure room,” he said, voice low and shaky. “It’s on the second floor. He stores all of his stuff there. The fancy clock yer lookin’ for, it might be there.”

“Thanks, Joe.” Manda nodded at him. “Just let us know where to go and we’ll let you alone. I know you could get in trouble for this.”

“Not trouble,” Joe snapped. “Dead, girl. Dead. Thanatos’d skin me alive.” He shuddered. “Go up the staircase at the end of this hall here. It’ll take you to the second floor. Treasury is the third door on the right. You’ll need to get in and out in the next ten minutes. After that, this place wakes up and starts noticing. You won’t get out if you stay later than that.”

“Right.” Manda jerked her head towards the end of the hallway. “Horace, let’s go.”

I stared after Joe as we made our way down the hall. The skittish soldier was already disappearing around the corner, back into the kitchen.