Spliced

“Another trap room?” Wolf asked.

He’d transformed back into human form when they’d reached another obvious doorway marking the entrance to a long narrow room.

“Looks like it.” Amanda nodded.

“Do you think it’s safe to go in?”

Amanda shrugged. “See those holes along the walls?”

“Yeah.”

“Stay behind me, both of you, single file.”

Wolf nodded.

Zephyr pulled himself off the wall where he’d been briefly resting and fell in line behind the others.

Amanda gave a firm nod and walked forward into the room.

Once they were all inside the rock wall ground shut behind them, slamming into the other wall side with a mighty crash. Even though he knew it was coming Zephyr still jumped. He glanced back towards it with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Amanda kept walking forward undeterred. She held up her hands.

Small darts shot out of one of the holes which lined the walls either side of them. Flames erupted up along the walls, burning up the darts before they could reach them.

They remained untouched in the centre of the room. Zephyr could feel the heat, but the way it burned and the rate at which the darts got eaten by the fire the second they touched it, made Zephyr think that the flames should have felt much much hotter.

Eventually they made it to the other side of the room. The doorway there was open. They passed though it without anymore trouble.

“We’re done mucking around,” Amanda said firmly.

“Is that what we were doing before?” Wolf asked slyly, eyebrow cocked. “Mucking around?”

Amanda pushed her lips together. “Let’s just find the others.”

Wolf nodded and changed back into his wolf form.

Cat habitually wrung out her hair as they walked. She hated when it was wet. If it wasn’t for social standards regarding cleanliness she would never wash it at all. Well, that and all the damn car grease that always ended up in it at the end of a regular work day, although lately she’d found this great shampoo that didn’t need water at all. Unfortunately it didn’t always work on every substance that somehow managed to find its way into her hair but she’d managed to cut down on needing to get her hair wet considerably.

Sirius led the way. Kass followed behind with quick short steps. Cat took up the back. Kass glanced back every now and again, just quick short, but curious glances. ‘Shit,’ Cat thought, Kass was worrying almost as much as Indi usually did.

They reached a 3-way intersection. Sirius stopped. “Which way?”

“Up?” Kass suggested with a hint of delirium and a soft laugh.

“Oh now you want to go up” Cat snarked from the back and was surprised when Kass actually gave her a gentle smile.

“Well up’s not really an option,” Sirius replied, giving a half tired smile.

“There’s not really any difference between these options,” Cat added more serious this time.

“Split up?” Kass suggested. Another smile.

That was a second joke from Kass. It was so unusual that both Cat and Sirius turned to stare at her for a moment. Kass blushed, but Sirius just burst into laughter and Cat smiled. Not that half smirk she often did but a whole genuine smile. Kass’s blush just got deeper.

“Let’s go right,” Cat said deciding just to pick one.

Sirius shook his head. ”Straight.”

Cat frowned. “Are you just being difficult?”

Sirius shook his head. “I got a good feeling.”

“Right’s back towards the start.”

“Are you sure?”

Cat hesitated.

“How about left?” Kass suggested, daring to make another deadpan quip.

Cat snorted.

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Sirius suggested.

Cat held out a fist. So did Kass. Sirius won. They went straight.

A circular room awaited them. In the middle, a grand piano. It was old, and covered in dust and cobwebs.

As usual the second they were all in the room the entrance slid closed trapping them inside. They waited but nothing else happened. Sirius walked over to the piano and inspected it closely being careful not to touch it.

Cat did the same, even checking under the thing.

Kass stood still in front of the piano. “There’s a sheet of music.”

Cat and Sirius stopped their investigating and returned to the front of the piano.

“Do you think we have to play it?” Cat asked.

“I don’t know.” Kass took a seat in front of the piano. She looked back up at Sirius. Sirius nodded encouragingly.

She placed her hands softly above the keys. She took a deep breath and skimmed over the notes with her eyes. When she was ready she pressed the first key and immediately pulled her hand back as if snake bit.

“What’s wrong?” Sirius asked.

“The note’s wrong.” Kass replied unsure.

A click sounded somewhere up above them, and the ceiling dropped. It was only a few inches and it stopped after doing so, but it was a visible movement. Nobody moved for at least several seconds.

“Wait” Cat said noticing something. She walked over to the wall. Lines were cut into the stone. “Press another note.”

“Press another one?” Kass repeated. She looked at Sirius for confirmation.

Sirius shrugged and nodded.

Kass paused, staring at the keys, giving it some thought. Finally she picked a note.

“Nothing happened.” Cat observed.

“Because that was the right note.” Kass replied. She paused a second and then pressed a different one.

A click sounded, and the ceiling fell.

“It falls exactly one mark each time.” Cat observed sounding pleased.

Sirius frowned. “One mark for every incorrect note. Do you know which are the right ones?” he asked Kass.

Kass nodded. “I think the notes are all just shifted.”

“Can you play the whole thing?” Cat asked.

Kass nodded but she didn’t immediately start playing.

“What are you waiting for?” Cat asked.

“Quiet. I’m thinking” Kass ordered, in that naturally soft voice of hers.

And so they were quiet, much to Cat’s impatience.

Eventually Kass hovered her hand over the keys and started playing.

She made one mistake about two thirds of the way through and cursed under her breath in response but continued playing. The ceiling dropped in response but Kass kept on, finishing the rest of the piece flawlessly.

Nothing happened.

“It didn’t work? Because of the mistake?” Sirius asked.

Kass shook her head. “It would have dropped more. I wasn’t sure... I wasn’t sure if I should have started over but it seems like it still worked. It just...”

“What’s on the next page?” Cat asked, eyes narrowed.

Kass turned the page. Another piece, this one looked more complex.

“Can you play it?” Cat asked.

Kass nodded. “I don’t know if I should redo the last one?”

Cat eyed the ceiling then looked at Kass studying the music. “Just play the next one.”

This time she played she made two mistakes, and the ceiling dropped two more clicks, and nothing else happened. Sirius reached a hesitant hand up where he could now touch the ceiling.

“There’s one more page,” Kass said, reaching to turn it.

Her face fell. “This one takes two people.”

“Does it matter how fast we play it?” Cat asked already guessing the answer, with a nervous glance up at the ceiling that was now in reach if she outstretched her hand.

Kass nodded. “That last click, it wasn’t a wrong note, I was rushing. But, maybe if we play it slow... I don’t know. It didn’t drop before for the very second note we played, but maybe that was just for the easier song.”

“How hard is it?” Sirius asked. Neither he nor Cat could play much beyond ‘Mary had a little lamb.’

Amanda had shown Sirius how to play once, just once though, drums and guitar were more her usual instruments of choice.

Cat’s curiosity had gotten the better of her one day while she was waiting at Coal’s place for him to return and she’d touched a few notes on is piano. It was conveniently at that moment that he’d walked in the door. She had thought he would be mad but instead he’d offered her a lesson.

Kass gave a sad smile. “If you two sit on the seat and take the left hand side. I’ll stand and play the right hand side. You can each play one hand.”

Cat groaned. Sirius nodded. Kass shifted the stool so they could sit down. She studied the notes, then showed them what to play. They practised with their fingers hovering above the keyboard.

“I thought that note was G?” Cat asked as they were half way through.

“I told you, they’ve shifted everything on this one,” Kass replied.

“I’m not sure we can do this,” Sirius said.

“Speak for yourself,” Cat quipped but she looked equally discouraged.

“Sure you can. You’ll do fine. Either way I can’t play it by myself.” Kass replied.

“Well you could.” Cat remarked wiggling her fingers in the air in reference to Kass’s telekinesis.

Kass looked mortified at the idea. She shook her head and replied firmly, “No I couldn’t.”

Sirius frowned then stood up. He walked over to where the exit should be, thought for a moment then punched the wall. Bits of stone flew everywhere. He stepped through the hole and out into the hallway. He turned around to smile at the shocked faces of Cat and Kass, and then the ceiling fell in.

Amanda, Zephyr, and Wolf burned through yet another trap room. Zephyr was almost starting to feel slightly invincible. Wolf led them by his nose, and for awhile Zephyr just assumed it was more for show and Wolf didn’t really know where he was going.

Then the air started to change. Even Zephyr could smell it. It reminded him of the pond near the school where he’d grown up, all mossy and damp, and cold. The air had been almost warm in the tunnels. Not a comfortable warm but more tepid. As they moved further down the tunnel it changed and took on a fresher feel, almost breezy. Zephyr shivered and hoped the change in temperature was a good sign.

Amanda seemed to notice it as well, as her face softened from an angry determined look to almost hopeful.

Eventually they also noticed a change in light. It wasn’t obvious at first, given Amanda’s flame filled the corridor. Amanda noticed it first because in the middle of the corridor she suddenly stopped and cut her flame out. A faint white light cut into the darkness, coming from up ahead, just enough that they could tell it was there, enough that Zephyr could see the faint outline of a smile on Amanda’s face.

“See that?” she whispered.

Zephyr nodded. Wolf gave an almost pleasant growl.

She didn’t celebrate yet though. She summoned her flame again and continued on. “Let’s keep moving.”

Kass found herself lying on her back, hands raised, nose only inches from the roof. Cat lay unconscious with her arm draped across Kass’s stomach.

“Sirius!”

“Kass! You’re alright?” Sirius yelled back.

“Come get Cat. I don’t know how long I can hold this thing.” She heard Sirius moving under the ceiling and he must have grabbed Cat by her feet because a few moments later Cat was being dragged off Kass and towards the exit.

“Can you get out?” Sirius yelled back into Kass once he’d gotten Cat out and presumably checked her for injury.

“Um.” Kass wasn’t sure. She was afraid if she moved she might lose control of her magic and the ceiling would crush her but she had another idea which might work. “I’m gonna try something, just keep some distance.”

“Okay,” Sirius called back.

“Okay,” Kass whispered to herself. “Here goes nothing.”

She pushed with her mind. The ceiling didn’t budge at first and then it flew upwards at great speed lodging itself several metres above its’ original starting point. Worried that it was about to come crashing back down again, Kass immediately aimed her palms at the air between the wall opposite the exit and herself. With another burst of focus, she pushed herself in the other direction. She half flew, half skidded towards the exit. She felt Sirius’s hands grab at her and pull her out and upright.

“I got you,” he reassured her.

“You were supposed to stand back,” Kass replied breathless and still waiting for the ceiling to crash down. But the ceiling was stuck. Once she realised that, Kass relaxed and attempted to untangle herself from Sirius’s arms.

“I’m fine. I’m good,” she said as she made a useless attempt to brush the dirt from the front of her clothes and at the same time realised for the first time how see through her shirt had become after the earlier swim. She wrapped her arms around herself self-consciously.

Sirius stepped away and dropped down close to where Cat lay unconscious, to recheck on her.

“Is she alright?” Kass asked.

“She’s breathing.”

Kass nodded and sat down next to the other wall. She pulled her knees up to her chest. “Listen, . . . I wanted to apologise for . . .”

But she was interrupted by a murmur from Cat who seemed to be regaining consciousness.

Sirius placed one hand on Cat’s shoulder to comfort her. He glanced up at Kass. “I know,” he replied before returning his attention to Cat.

Cat groggily pushed herself up to a sitting position. “How long was I out?” she mumbled so incomprehensibly that Sirius asked her to repeat what she’d said. It took her another moment before she managed to speak properly although she still sounded very tired.

“About a minute or two,” Kass replied.

“Just sit for a bit,” Sirius commanded softly.

They rested for long enough that their clothes became almost completely dry. Whether it had been an hour or several or somewhere in between they couldn’t be sure.

Even when they stood up to get moving again Cat wobbled on her feet. It was just for a moment but it was enough that Sirius decided he should carry her, much to her dismay. She struggled briefly, enough to argue her point but really she was very tired.

They walked for what must have been at least another hour.

“I think we’re going in circles,” Kass remarked.

“We’re not going in circles,” Sirius replied.

“Nah I’m sure I recognised that bit of moss below that last torch.” Kass replied in a voice that was altogether far too light-hearted.

“I think she’s lost it,” Cat commented to Sirius.

Sirius stopped and put Cat down. She was much sturdier on her feet now. She still looked tired but at least this was some improvement.

Sirius turned back to face Kass. “You alright?” he asked.

She nodded, a more solemn expression on her face now. “I was just . . .” she shrugged.

Sirius looked at her sympathetically.

“Trying to be the ever-happy Indi?” Cat asked, her voice laden with sarcasm, a good sign that she'd recovered from her knock at least.

“Do you think they’re okay?” Kass asked.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Sirius replied, half to reassure himself.

“Well it’s not like any of them can bust through walls,” Cat added with more sarcasm, “so they should be fine.”

Sirius's face formed an expression of guilt. “I . . .”

“Hey!” a voice interrupted them from down the hallway.

They all turned to see a young man in his 20s approaching. Cat reached for her knife, just in case. He didn’t appear to be threatening though. He was dressed in casual shorts and a t-shirt.

“Oh man, I’ve been lost for hours. Do you know where we are?” he asked. He was draped in caving equipment, including a harness, and a well used bag with a rope hanging out of the top.

They just stared at him.

“Are you cavers?” he asked. He frowned and looked more hesitant as he noticed their clothing and lack of caving equipment.

“Where are you from?” Kass asked.

“Err, York, England,” he replied “we’re on holiday up here. But I seem to have lost my caving partner and my way...”

“Where?” Sirius asked.

“Old world place,” Kass whispered. The more loudly she asked the newcomer, “how’d you get here?”

“I was caving with a buddy and we got separated. I thought he was with me then I turned around and he was gone, and well the caves seemed kind of different here so I think I’ve gotten turned around. Do you know the way out?”

“Well, we’re . . .” Cat started to reply but just as she did the man vanished. One moment he was there, the next he was gone. “You guys saw that right?” Cat asked, unsure if she’d just hallucinated the whole thing.

“Saw what?” Sirius replied but he couldn’t keep a straight face and a moment later a large grin spread across his face.

Kass rolled her eyes. Cat narrowed hers, now wondering if the whole thing was a joke but with no idea how it had been done.

Seeing she wasn’t finding it funny Sirius decided to be serious again. “Yeah I saw it. Where’d he go?”

“I think he was a teleporter.” Kass replied.

“Dammit!” Cat remarked “Should have grabbed him while he was still here.”

“He wasn’t from this world by the sounds of it. Seems like Wolf was right about the Splice hole. If he really was a porter he might not have known it, in which case it’s probably best you didn’t grab a hold of him. You know over half of porters die before they reach adulthood. Most from jumping into walls and things like that. If he’s a newbie, he’s probably already dead.” Kass explained.

“Pleasant” Cat remarked. “What’s the stats on dreamwalkers?”

“Dunno, lower I’d expect, but still non zero.”

Cat thought about it and then nodded. “What’s the stats on people who get their power in their 20s?”

Kass shook her head. “I expect he accidentally stumbled into the Splice and that triggered it. I dunno, ask Wolf when we find him.” She paused. “You think Wolf could smell us out?”

Sirius shrugged. “Depends how big this place is.”

“That and we jumped though that pool.” Cat added, giving an involuntary shiver at the memory.

“You know that’s a myth, that dogs lose your scent if you cross the water. They just smell it on the top.” Kass corrected.

Cat narrowed her eyes then rolled them. “More random facts? You really are trying to be like Indi. Well at least that makes me feel better about never using water to outrun dogs.”

Kass smiled softly. “Given how fond of Indi you are that hardly seems like much of an insult.”

Cat shrugged.

“Technically you’d still have a better chance in the water.” Sirius said thoughtfully.

Cat and Kass looked at him puzzled.

“Well it’s easier to hold a dog underwater,” Sirius explained then added “probably not a werewolf though. I mean, if you had to fight one off.”

“They’d probably be hunting in packs anyway.” Cat argued.

“Let’s keep moving,” Kass suggested.

Cat nodded in agreement.

Amanda, Zephyr, and Wolf found the source of the light almost suddenly. They came around a bend and the whole left wall fall away.

Wolf turned back into his human form and stuck his head out the wall. It was a large hole.

“This looks familiar,” Amanda commented.

“What is it?” Zephyr asked.

Before anyone could reply a piercing scream filled the whole corridor.

“I’m so tired. Do you think it’s night time?” Indi asked. “We’ve been walking for ages. I’m almost wishing for another one of those trap rooms, just to mix it up. Or some more bugs would be cool. Or . . .”

“Indi!” Falco warned, then he frowned. “Don’t you have a watch?” He glanced at his own.

She held up her wrist, showing a smashed dial. “Smashed it on the floor when I passed out the first time Cat and I ran into the mimics, although I’m pretty sure it stopped working before that when Cat and I were in the water trap room.” She sighed sadly.

“I’m amazed you haven’t managed to destroy those glasses.” Falco observed.

“They’re good glasses,” Indi replied simply. “What time does your watch say?”

“8,” Falco replied.

“AM or PM?”

“It’s an analog,” Falco gave a cheeky smirk then added more seriously “but probably AM, we’ve been here awhile.”

Indi nodded. “No wonder I’m sleepy, it’s morning. And hungry.”

Falco gave a laugh.

“Man I’d kill for some coffee,” Indi added, “a delicious cappuccino with cream on top and those little rainbow sprinkles, and some pancakes, with blueberries, and bacon.”

“Oh stop,” Tanya complained, “You’re making me hungry.”

“I’m already hungry,” Indi replied. “I see how those guys became cannibals.”

Falco gave her a concerned look.

“Oh I’m just joking, I could never eat you, not in that way anyway.” Indi poked her tongue out.

“What cannibals?” he asked.

“Just some guys that tried to attack us. We took care of them. You don’t want to know the details,” Tanya told him.

That did nothing to alleviate Falco’s concerns. His eyebrows knotted even closer together. “You were attacked?!”

“Yeah but Cat kicked their arses, and Kass too. They were both amazing...” Indi’s face fell as she remembered more of the encounter with the three men, but it was important to remain positive so she tried to think of something else. “Did you guys ever hear the story about those guys who crashed their plane in the Alishorn mountains?”

“No but I can remember a much nicer plane crash,” Falco replied. He seemed to notice that Indi didn’t want to talk about their earlier encounter.

“A nice plane crash?” Tanya asked.

“It’s how Indi and I met,” Falco replied. “Sort of.”

“In a plane crash?”

“Yeah, it’s a bit of a long story” Indi added. “We got stuck in the bush but Falco knows all about bush survival so we were fine.”

“No cannibalising necessary,“ Falco added.

“Good to hear,” Tanya replied with a smile. “What about . . . blood supply though? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“Falco’s a great trapper. I don’t actually drink human blood, haven’t since I was a kid, and I’m half human so it doesn’t make me as tired not to. My brother does. He gets it from the blood banks. He always makes sure it’s the certified stuff, you know, voluntarily given. I just, I couldn’t do it, but I do love a good steak. I’m not sure there’s really much of a difference if you eat enough meat and animal blood anyway. It’s just a taste thing for a lot of vampires, although some people do seem to get more tired than others, so I don’t know. I guess everyone’s different.”

Tanya nodded. “Interesting, thanks for answering.”

“Hey! Is that a light up ahead?” Indi suddenly asked.

“Might be,” Falco replied.

Tanya nodded and sped up her pace. “It’s one of those torches,” she said as they approached. “And hey you got your wish for another trap room, possibly.”

In front of them lay a circular stone room. An open door way just on the other side seemed so very close.

“I only said I almost wanted one.” But Indi did seem slightly curious.

“Should we go another way?” Falco asked.

“The last junction was ages back,” Tanya complained.

“We’ve solved the other ones so far,” Indi added optimistically, as she poked her head around the edge of the door.

“Sirius and I didn’t really solve any of them, we’ve just kinda brute forced them so far.” Falco replied.

“Well now you have me.” Indi gave an optimistic smile. “We can take a more delicate approach.”

“Mmm,” Falco smiled but he didn’t seem completely convinced.

“We could study it from here,” Tanya suggested. “I can see some holes in the walls.”

“Well that’s great but we don’t know what comes out of them.” Falco replied.

“The one I did with Cat was pretty easy.” Indi said.

“There’s no reason to assume this one has an escape.” Falco warned.

“The other one did.” Indi moved forward so her toes were over the edge of the threshold. She was almost in the room.

“That doesn’t mean this one will. Someone is definitely trying to kill us and . . .”

“But they haven’t yet.”

“Yeah, and we don’t know why that is. Doesn’t that worry you?”

“That someone’s not trying to kill us?”

“No, that . . .” Falco trailed off, thinking how to word it. “Someone is obviously toying with us. What kind of person does that?”

“Maybe it’s a test and they’re not trying to kill us?”

“Who would want to test us?”

Indi shrugged. “Maybe Coal . . .”

“Indi, I love you babe, but I don’t think so.”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter does it, as long as they’re giving us a chance we might as well take it? Plus maybe they’re not controlling the traps, remember what Wolf said about the Splice?”

“Are you always this optimistic?” Tanya asked Indi.

“Yup.” Falco answered for her.

Indi smiled. “Well, shall we do this?”

“What if there’s no way out?” Falco asked “I don’t want you getting hurt, and I don’t have Sirius to punch through walls anymore.”

“My power’s the best chance we got. Well I mean, Tanya’s is probably pretty good too. But I can shield us if we need.”

“For how long?”

“As long as we need...” Indi hesitated, sounding less convinced this time. “I have to believe that.”

Falco sighed. “Against crushing walls?”

“Maybe,” Indi swallowed.

Tanya peered into the room, her mind wandering, thinking of all the things they might find.

“Let’s do this!” Indi said deciding if she didn’t go now she might never, and she stepped forward over the threshold.

Tanya and Falco, not wanting to be trapped outside of the room, quickly followed behind her. As usual the entrances became closed off once they were in the room. A small circular hole opened in the middle of the floor just big enough for one person. Above them something groaned. The ceiling was covered with long metal spikes and it was slowly lowering itself towards them.

“Crap.” Falco groaned.

“Quick, check the walls!” Indi said as she ran to one of the holes in the wall and peered inside.

As soon as she put her face in front of the hole there was a click and something was fired into her face. Luckily for her, her first reaction was to summon her shield so the spray hit that first.

“Whoa!” she exclaimed as she stepped back quickly and lowered her shield.

“What was that? Falco asked

“It looked like dry ice.” Tanya replied incredulously.

“We have to check the other holes.” Indi said as she ran to the next one. She was met with nothing but a repeat of her first experience. She’d been ready for it this time though so had brought her shield up in advance. “Maybe the next one.” She ran form hole to hole but found nothing but more dry ice.

“Indi.” Falco called to her. But she was too focused on the puzzle. He glanced up and the ceiling. It was now half way down the room. He nodded to the hole in the floor. “That fits one person.”

Tanya shook her head. “No way, you should take it, I’m a healer, Indi can shield.”

Falco shook his own head in reply. “I’m not leaving Indi up here. She can shield us both and if she can’t well then she probably couldn’t shield herself and I’m not letting her do that alone so you get in.”

Tanya started to object but Falco picked her up and placed her in the hole. “Get down!” he ordered.

Tanya did as she was told.

“Indi!” Falco called to his wife.

She stepped back from the last hole, slightly crouched to avoid the spikes now. “I can’t find any way out and it keeps speeding up.”

“Come here.” he held out his arms. He was forced to his knees. The ceiling was too low.

Indi ran, bent low, across the room to him and dropped to her knees in his arms. She looked up at him with worry.

“You’re going to need to shield us both. Hopefully for long enough that the mechanism jams up. Wait until it gets a little closer then you can keep the shield smaller. You can do it.” Falco encouraged.

Indi glanced up nervously. Then down at the hole where Tanya was now lying. “Is there anything in the hole?” she asked.

Tanya looked around but shook her head.

The ceiling kept coming.

“Maybe if we lie down? Then we’re facing it.” Falco suggested.

Indi nodded. She lay down next to him and stared up at the ceiling. She gripped his hand tightly.

Indi wanted to close her eyes but she needed to be ready to shield. The ceiling was so low now it was almost blocking out all the light from the torches which had been set back in crevasses in the walls. Of course! The torches! Maybe she’d missed something there? Well it was too late now. She’d underestimated the speed of the trap.

The spikes were inches from Falco’s chest. Close enough.

Indi tried to shield but suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head. The mimics, they were outside. She had to focus.

She tried again but the pain in her head was unbearable.

Falco sucked his chest in. “Indi?”

He felt the tips of the spikes touch his skin.

A slicing sound and scream filled the room.

The ceiling lifted, returning to its starting position.