'This really sucks,' I said softly.
'I know. Ready?'
I wanted to look at the kids one last time, but I knew I couldn't bear it. So I closed my eyes and said, 'Ready.'
I felt Devona's mind reaching for mine and I reached back. Vertigo took hold of me then and when the world stopped spinning I opened my eyes and found myself standing amidst dozens of bizarre displays – and I remembered.
I was no longer physically capable of crying, but if I had been I'd have broken down and sobbed right then.
It's all right, love, Devona thought. It's over. We're back.
I tried to move, but I still couldn't. Orlock's stasis field was still in effect and I knew that it had remained so the entire time.
What he said about time passing pleasantly… He created an illusory life for us to live while we were trapped here. Like filling an aquarium full of plastic plants and ceramic undersea ruins for the fish to swim around.
Yes, Devona thought. But he didn't count on your neck lace and our telepathic link. They reinforced what was real and fought against what wasn't. Because of that, the illusion couldn't sustain itself.
I thought of all the other beings trapped within Orlock's stasis domes, all of them living virtual lives deep within their minds while their bodies remained frozen as the long years passed. It was like being trapped in a kind of hell, only one that you weren't aware of. Somehow that made it all the worse.
Then again, maybe it was worse to come out of the dream. I missed my children and grieved for their deaths, even though I knew they'd never been real. And now Devona and I faced the prospect of spending our time in stasis without the comfort of Orlock's illusion to distract us. I wished my necklace had nullified the stasis field too, but either it was completely technological or its magic was too powerful for the necklace to handle on its own without the added help of Devona's and my telepathic link. For whatever reasons we'd broken the illusion but the stasis field remained intact.
Are you all right? I asked her.
Devona didn't answer right away. Finally she said, Honestly, no. You?
Working on it, I said, tying to sound braver than I felt at that moment. I'll tell you one thing, though. When we get out of this damned bubble, I'm going to find Orlock and… My thoughts trailed off as I realized something. The lights are on. They were off when the illusion took hold of our minds.
You're right, Devona thought. Maybe Orlock's coming back. Maybe he wants to ask us more questions about Osseal, since he'd love to get his talons on it.
Since Orlock's a vampire, he can see in the dark, I reminded her. He said he uses the lights only for his guests.
We heard footsteps coming toward us then and I could tell right away that they didn't belong to Orlock. The pace was too measured, the rhythm too steady for the crablike way he walked. My surmise turned out to be correct when a few moments later a woman approached our dome and stood regarding us, hands planted on her hips, head cocked at an angle, grin plastered on her face.
'Hello, Matt,' Overkill said. 'You're a damned hard man to find, you know that?'
My first impulse was to tell Overkill that she was a sight for sore eyes, but since I wasn't able to speak, I couldn't. Besides, I wasn't entirely sure her arrival was a good thing.
She was dressed the same way she was when I saw her last, only now she was better armed, with a P-90 submachine gun slung over her shoulder by a strap, and a weapons belt around her waist with a holster for a 9mm, sheaths for several lengths and types of knives – including, I was disturbed to see, a dire blade – and storage pouches that presumably held whatever the well-accessorized mercenary was carrying these days. Considering how often I have to root around in my pockets for my own toys, I wondered if I should invest in a belt like that, but I decided against it. I don't like my adversaries to know how well armed I am. I prefer to let them underestimate me. Besides, a belt like that would just look silly on me.
'First things first,' Overkill said. 'Let's get you two out of there.'
She reached into one of her belt pouches and removed a small glass vial. She took a deep breath and held it before prying out the stopper and splashing the liquid contents onto the area of the dome directly in front of where Devona and I stood immobile. As we watched, the place where the liquid – which was a foul yellow color – had struck began to sizzle and steam. Within moments the liquid had eaten a lopsided hold through the dome and once the structure's integrity had been compromised it shuddered violently and then popped out of existence as if it were nothing more than a giant soap bubble. Once the dome had vanished the stasis field ceased functioning and Devona and I were able to move and talk again.
'Whatever that stuff was, it's pretty handy,' I said. 'I may need to pick up a few gallons myself.'
'It's demon piss,' Overkill said as she replaced the stopper and put the empty vial back into its pouch. 'Once it's exposed to air, it'll eat through anything – and you don't want to know what I had to do to get it.'
'You got that right,' I said.
From her belt pouch she next removed an amulet stamped with the image of a winding serpent. 'This is a charm I picked up from an Obeah woman I know. It allows me to command any zombie to do my bidding.' She grinned. 'Including you, Matt. You're going to accompany me to the Nightspire so I can collect the bounty Quillion is offering for you.'
I looked at her charm. It appeared genuine enough, but I felt no compulsion to do as she ordered.
'Sorry, but I don't think so,' I said.
Overkill frowned at the charm and gave it a couple shakes, as if she might be able to force it to work. Little did she know that Papa Chatha's necklace was protecting me from the charm.
'Cheap piece of crap,' she muttered. 'Guess we'll do this the old-fashioned way.' She dropped the charm to the ground, took hold of her P-90, racked the slide, and aimed it at me. 'Don't try anything,' she warned, gaze cold and expression deadly serious. 'You don't need legs for me to take you to the Nightspire and it'll only take a few well aimed rounds from my weapon to cut them off.'
She looked to Devona. 'And my ammo has silver blended into it, so it's effective against both your human and Bloodborn halves.'
'Let me guess what happened,' I said. 'Orlock called to tell you we were out of action and to urge you to go after Scream Queen's voice again. But you figured you'd rather collect the reward on me, and in the bargain get back at me for stopping you at Sinsation.'
'That is, unless you organized all this in the first place,' Devona said.
Overkill frowned. 'What are you talking about?'
'After you left Sinsation, someone cut off my head, stole my body, and somehow used it to steal a magic object called Osseal from Lord Edrigu,' I explained. 'I managed to get my body back, and Victor Baron made me whole, but then I was arrested and sentenced to Tenebrus for the theft – which I didn't commit.'
'Orlock told me as much,' Overkill said. 'But you don't really think I had anything to do with it, do you? I mean, I'm not big on elaborate planning. I'm more of a shoot first and never ask questions kind of gal. And if I had an object of power like Osseal, I could sell it for a whole lot more than five hundred thousand darkgems. And then I'd just let you stay frozen down here for eternity. I almost did anyway, but since I don't have Osseal and you did piss me off at Sinsation, I figured, what the hell?'
She could have been lying, but my instincts told me she was telling the truth. But I didn't have to rely on my instincts alone.
Devona?
I don't sense any subterfuge on her part, but she could be shielding her mind from me. She's certainly strong-willed enough on her own, and she could also be using some kind of magic object to help conceal her thoughts.
So Overkill might've moved to the bottom of my suspects lists, but she wasn't officially off it yet.
'How did you manage to get past Orlock?' I asked. 'He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who willingly give up something once he's collected it.'
'He's not, but I have my ways.' Overkill smiled grimly. 'I'm carrying a magic object that temporarily traps Bloodborn in their travel forms. Right now Orlock is stuck as a dozen or so shadow rats scurrying around his bookstore, unable to put themselves back together.'
