Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

L io roamed around the Carnival. What could Errante possibly want with Bel? Hopefully nothing bad. He returned to the Big Top and watched the Galliers for a while longer. Then he chatted with some roustabouts and watched the strongman work out before returning to the same food vendor, this time getting a meat pie and an ale.

He sat alone at a picnic table, watching the fluffy clouds traverse a blue sky. What a peaceful day. From the way his body almost melted into the sunshine, Lio got the feeling that his host hadn't enjoyed too many peaceful days with nothing to do. He bit into the meat pie and immediately closed his eyes, moaning in ecstasy. It was so good, with ground meat, onions, and some kind of unfamiliar spice. The bite went down well with a bit of ale. Lio ate slowly, savoring every morsel.

He looked up several times, hoping to see Bel, but every time, he caught not a single glimpse of copper hair. After eating, he helped out where he was needed, which involved putting up some game booths and arranging prizes.

Bel finally came for him. "What have you been up to?"

Lio's heart did a leap until he noticed Bel's strained smile. "Been meeting the locals, mostly. When will more people be here?"

Bel rammed his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "Soon. What would you like to do?"

"People watch?" Watching would serve multiple purposes. It would let Lio observe humans and their behavior and allow him to spend time with Bel.

"Sounds good to me. Have you had ice cream yet?"

While Lio and Bel enjoyed their ice cream—served in a ceramic bowl with a silver spoon—the crowd arrived: families, young couples, and older adults of all ages and walks of life. A young man entered the gate alone, his gaze flitting this way and that until landing on Errante. Lio could almost hear the "Welcome Traveler" and talk of a Path—something he'd heard often while talking with the roustabouts.

He and Bel wandered among the throng. So many happy people. Love and joy filled the air. Was it wrong of Lio to absorb the offering? To want to be the one being looked at with so much love?

Bel's smiles were more genuine now as he showed Lio points of interest: the strongman's tent, the carousel, and his favorite cotton candy vendor, where they got some to share.

"Let's find a quiet place to eat this," Bel said, leading Lio behind their wagon and lying on the grass.

Lio joined him. The first bite of cotton candy dissolved on his tongue, filling his mouth with sweetness. He wanted more than anything to take Bel into his arms—pure foolishness. Bel wouldn't want to be held by someone who couldn't even remember who they were.

"Tell me what it's like where you're from." Lio stretched out beside Bel as he stared up at the night sky.

Bel hesitated. "Will you believe me no matter how farfetched it sounds?"

"I sleep in a wagon that used to be an RV," Lio pointed out. "And I'm living in someone else's body."

"That's a good point. Now, if you get uncomfortable, tell me to stop, and I will."

"Why would I be uncomfortable?"

Bel didn't answer, just quietly gazed at Lio, his eyes glittering in the darkness. "First of all, so much there is in shades of purple. More than you can imagine. Stores and houses are built among the trees, and you don't see any high-rise apartments."

"Aren't there too many people to all live in houses?"

"No. The population has been in decline for a long time, with people disappearing without a trace. Finally, entire sectors vanished, enshrouded with impenetrable gray mist." The faraway look in Bel's gaze spoke of hurt and loss.

"Did you lose your family?" Lio asked gently.

Bel snapped his attention back to Lio. "Yes."

The poor guy. Of course, if Lio ever had a family of his own, he didn't remember them. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"I do want to. Domus wasn't all bad. I had so many wonderful times there. It is… was a beautiful place."

On impulse, Lio took Bel's hand in his, reveling in the warmth of the much larger hand and the fact that Bel didn't pull away. "And you can't go home."

Bel squeezed Lio's fingers. "No. I can't go home."

Lio should steer the conversation in a different direction, but he wanted to know more. "How is it different from here?"

"There were two suns and two moons. Sunrises and sunsets lit up the horizons with purples, pink, lavender… Unlike here, we didn't have genders. Social expectations were based on similar tiers in society and goals. We were attracted to whomever we desired, but we were expected only to take a partner from a similar status."

"Here, my host says gender matters when people are attracted to one another." Lio shuddered at a remembered insult, punctuated by pain. "Who attracts you now?" Could it possibly be me?

"It's interesting how much of my host remained behind. He liked coffee, so I do, too. He loved a man, and I find myself attracted to men as well." Bel held up his fingers, still clutching Lio's hand, and pointed to a finger with his free hand. "See that indentation? Kevin, my host, wore a ring there to signify his bond. Someone took it off at the hospital. Sometimes, I touch the spot because I miss the ring."

Lio imagined what it would be like to have someone to love him and want to be with him. Emilio had only experienced love at the end of his life with Dave. "Were there cars?"

"No. The roads are different from where our hosts came from, made only for foot travel—no cars, though there were other forms of conveyance, like pushcarts."

"Then how do people get around without cars?"

"We'd walk or fly."

Oh, to leave the ground, soar into the sky, leaving everything behind. A flash of memory penetrated Lio's brain of sailing on high winds.

"Oh, and we didn't eat food like humans do. We absorbed sustenance from the atmosphere."

Absorbing sustenance? Now that sounded familiar. Hadn't Lio tried that several times since awakening in Emilio's body? "I try so hard to remember, but nothing comes to me. What's one of your favorite memories of Domus?"

"I loved going to the sea. The waves rolled in onto the shore, making a hissing sound. When I looked up…"

Lio's mind spun. Panic gripped him by the throat, choking off his breath. The sea. Waves. Looking up. A forbidding fortress on a cliffside.

His prison. He pushed the thought away, pretending to smile through more of Bel's reminiscences.

Lio woke alone the next morning in the same RV he'd gone to sleep in his first night at the Carnival and found a pile of clothes similar to the ones Emilio was familiar with. The shower was a pleasure unto itself, warmth pouring down.

Lio tried not to think of the horrifying vision he'd had last night of the fortress. No. Not thinking about that. The whole experience wasn't even real for all he knew.

He showered and dressed, and then he sat and waited. What was he supposed to do? Hadn't Madame Persephone mentioned something about work?

He found an old CD player and pressed the start button, hoping against hope not to hear country music. Hearing it on the way to his doom had tainted the genre forever. Instead, a violin played something stately and slow, the perfect backdrop to Lio's morning.

While he waited, he practiced moving small objects he placed on the floor, levitating a pen and pencil—though not simultaneously—and turning the pages of a book, though he failed to lift the book.

Lio needed something larger than a pen but less heavy than a book. He dashed to Bel's bed, retrieved the furry purple dog, and made Albert sail from one end of the trailer to the other. The toy wasn't such a scary sight after all on closer inspection, just really, really purple. Lio even managed to make the song start over once it stopped.

He'd just put the items away when Bel came through the door, bearing two fragrant cups.

"Good morning," Bel said with a smile. It wasn't even light out yet. "I brought you coffee."

Lio took the offered cup and sniffed. It smelled so good. "Thanks." He sipped his drink and moaned in appreciation; he loved the milky, slightly sweet taste.

What was that guilty look on Bel's face, and why did he suddenly turn away and adjust his pants? Humans. Wait. That included Lio, didn't it? How strange for him to think it didn't.

"What are we going to do today?"

Bel gazed at the floor, shifting his weight from one side to the other. "About that."

"What? Just tell me."

"Errante thinks we should get to know where we are."

A strange feeling came over Lio, paralyzing his body and making breathing impossible. Terror. He finally took several deep breaths, but his heart pounded hard. "They don't want us here?"

Bel crouched in front of Lio. "Shhh… It's all right. We're going to be fine. Errante thinks there's something here we need to find, that's all. It's the world our hosts are from, so we should feel a sense of familiarity. We'll come back when we're finished. It's to be an adventure."

Who was Bel trying to convince: himself or Lio? "But what about the men who tried to kill me?" Lio's voice rose with his panic.

"You won't be alone."

The stiffness in Lio's shoulders relaxed. "You'll be with me." Knowing he'd have company by his side made all the difference.

Bel winked. "Just try to stop me. Now finish your coffee. We're supposed to meet Errante at the front gate in about thirty minutes."

His ominous words made drinking or eating impossible, the coffee suddenly too bitter to swallow. Lio had begun getting used to the Carnival, feeling safer there.

They cleaned the trailer and packed a few changes of clothes they'd found at the Carnival into backpacks. Lio added Albert to Bel's bag when he wasn't looking. They left, shutting the door firmly behind them. The ominous click burrowed into Lio's brain, sounding way too permanent.

They said nothing while traversing the Carnival. The sun cast the first pinkish glow in the sky. Lio, for a moment, imagined two purple suns, one slightly higher than the other. The vision lasted a second, and then it vanished.

He expected the trees he'd seen the previous morning outside the Carnival but found a parking lot and buildings. The climate was warm, with moisture hanging thick in the air. Residual memories assured him this wasn't Las Vegas, so hopefully, no armed men were waiting to kill him.

Errante was leaning against the ticket booth at the front gate under the "Welcome Traveler" sign, dressed in his usual black garments. "Good morning. Are the two of you ready?"

"Yes, sir," Lio lied. No use in making this more difficult than necessary.

Bel's smile offered reassurance. "Ready as we'll ever be," he replied.

"Safe travels." Errante straightened and unblocked the exit. He handed Bel a stack of green paper. "This is the currency used in this place. Your host should be able to instruct you on how to use it."

"Thank you, Errante." Bellany shook Errante's hand and shoved the money into his pocket. "Thank you for everything."

Lio took a deep breath and stepped through the arched entryway. Nothing happened. Bel strode out beside him. The Carnival didn't suddenly disappear as Lio feared. In fact, Errante resumed leaning on the ticket booth and waved goodbye.

Lio and Bel ambled away down the packed earth path toward a quiet, tree-lined street. Lio didn't know where they were or where they were going, but then Bel clasped his hand, and the fear of the unknown became a little more manageable.

Bel led the way along a sidewalk toward distant buildings. They met people about ten minutes into their walk. Unlike at the Carnival, most didn't speak, smile, or even acknowledge them at all. Cars drove by, some honking horns, some throbbing with a bass beat, and others emitting softer music and conversation. The onslaught of sound nearly overwhelmed him. He winced when he heard something similar to what Bennie had played. Thoughts of Bennie made him shudder.

"Are you all right?" Bel asked.

"Yeah." Lio wasn't about to ruin this moment by talking about Bennie.

A woman strolled down the sidewalk, so beautiful that men stopped to stare. She had long dark hair and a short red dress that hugged her curves and showed off her long legs. The heels on her shoes looked like six-inch spikes, though they didn't seem to impede her walking unless they were responsible for the extra sway in her hips.

Something about her reminded Lio of feeding from the environment. Then the woman looked up, providing a glimpse of a face superimposed over another, if only for a moment. No, not a face, but an aura.

Similar to what Lio had seen with Bennie and Big Tony, though not nearly as horrifying.

Her eyes widened when she spotted them, but she didn't stop smiling. Instead, she pulled a device out of her bag— a cell phone.

Lio's heart kicked up a beat. "Bel," he side-whispered, surprised to find Bel still clung to his hand. "What do you see when you look at that woman?"

Bel stopped, so Lio did as well. "She seems… different from the others."

"Is she a threat?"

Bel studied the woman for a few moments before shaking his head. "I don't think so."

The woman eventually disappeared into a building with a sign over the door that read "Bill's Diner." Bel and Lio followed, but they stopped outside the door.

"What are we looking for?" Lio asked. The scent of cooking meat caught his attention. Bacon. Sausage.

"I don't know. I guess we'll know it when we find it."

"How can we find it if we don't even know what it is?" Why couldn't Errante have given better instructions?

"I don't know that either, but fate can find us even if we're not looking for it." Bel gazed down at Lio thoughtfully. "We had coffee but not breakfast. Are you hungry?"

Lio patted his rumbling stomach. "The growling beast demands to be fed."

"Then let's eat." Bel escorted Lio into the diner.

Inside, a few people sat at tables, but not the woman. Maybe she'd gone into the back, where Lio heard other voices. Bel motioned toward an empty table and sat across from Lio. The scent of fried meat and grease permeated the air, and the wall nearest the door was papered with announcements from "Help wanted" to "missing pet."

A young man approached with the same face-over-a-face thing as the woman, watching them intently. Lio shook his head to clear the vision.

"What can I get for you?"

"What do you have?" The guy's face settling from the appearance of a face over a face into a single visage kept Lio distracted. He also smelled faintly of the spice from the pizza vendor's booth. Oregano? Basil? Both?

The guy nodded towards two shiny laminated menus sitting in a holder. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Coffee," Lio replied so quickly that it startled a laugh out of Bel.

"I'll have the same." Bel reached for a menu and handed Lio the other. "I like this one." He pointed to a spot on the menu.

"Same for me." How could Lio choose if he didn't know what any of it was?

"Very good. Two specials." The man turned on his heel and marched purposefully into the… kitchen.

Lio read the business's "About us" paragraph on the menu, which informed him that they were in Atlanta, Georgia. A newspaper on the table caught his eye, particularly the date. No! That couldn't be right. They were in the right realm, weren't they?

"Bel? What year did you arrive here?"

"I don't know. Everything happened so fast, and then I was at the Carnival."

Lio pointed to the date on the paper. "The date on this paper is five years after those guys killed my host and took me to the desert."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure. I was only at the Carnival for a few nights. Wasn't I?"

Though Bel spoke calmly, a worry line appeared between his brows. "I was told time works differently at the Carnival. This must be what they meant. But five years? That means Domus died five years ago."

Five years. Five years gone. How had that happened? Maybe the Carnival moved through time as easily as realms.

The man brought coffee much darker than what Bel usually offered. "This doesn't look right," Lio said after the man left.

"That's because I add cream and sugar to yours." Bel tore open a few tiny packages on the table, dumped them into the coffee, and mixed them with a stir stick. He also added creamer from little sealed cups.

Lio took a tentative sip. Not nearly as good as the Carnival's, but it would do. Diner. That's where they were; those glossy things on the walls were advertisements. He searched the room, letting his mind supply names for all he saw. He glanced down at the empty sugar packets. One began to move, and he slapped his hand over it.

"Can I tell you something?" Lio wished he could take the words back the moment they left his mouth. Was he really ready to share what he'd discovered about himself?

"Sure."

Lio leaned over the table and whispered, "I recently discovered I can do this." He sat back and arranged the empty sugar packets in a neat row without touching them.

He watched in fascination as the creamer containers began to line up as well. "Hey! I'm not doing that!"

Bel smirked. "Yeah, I can do that, too. I haven't practiced too much with people around me, though."

"Me either." Lio grinned. Maybe his weird ability wasn't so weird after all. "I can't believe I'm not the only one!"

He immediately hushed when the server brought out two plates and placed them on the table. "Enjoy," he said and then darted toward a table of two who'd just sat down.

Lio scrutinized the couple in the next booth before trying to use a fork to eat a bite of the fried egg. His first bite missed his mouth and fell on the table with a splatting noise. Eating little requiring a fork since arriving at the Carnival didn't prepare him for this moment.

He finally succeeded. Pure bliss! "Oh, this is good."

"We're both in pretty much the same situation," Bel said after swallowing a bite. "This is all new for me, too. If only Errante had given us a guide. But hopefully, you'll start to remember more. Maybe Errante thought being in this world would help."

Two men approached with purposeful steps, and they flanked the table. One was tall and gangly with dark hair and eyes. He was dressed as Lio and Bel were in blue jeans and a T-shirt, though he wore boots instead of tennis shoes, and he looked like he'd just rolled out of bed and hadn't bothered to comb his hair. The other man appeared younger, and he was as beautiful as his companion was plain, with golden curls and blue eyes. He'd dressed in khaki slacks and a green polo shirt with a logo on the pocket and nary a wrinkle in sight. What was FAET?

The taller man spoke low. "We need you two to come with us. Don't make a fuss. Just slowly get up from the table and follow me outside."

"Why?" Lio wasn't going anywhere with anybody until he knew why. His heart pounded a frantic beat.

"We'll tell you in the car." The man's scowl didn't make Lio more willing.

The blond man sighed and rolled his eyes at his partner. To Bel and Lio, he said, "Please. I promise, we mean you no harm, but we need to talk to you, and here is not the place."

"What about paying for our meal?" Bel asked, ever the practical one.

Lio's attempts to read these two felt like hitting a brick wall. How odd. He usually got impressions of the people around him, even if just a brief flash of "happy" or "brooding." Well, except for Errante, Bel, and Madame Persephone.

"Done." The older man stepped back from the table. "Now come with us."

Lio clutched Bel's hand for support as they left the diner and trudged down the street, headed toward an SUV . The woman from earlier stood next to it—or posed, rather. She opened one of the rear doors. "Get in."

Bel side-whispered, "Run!" before he dashed down the street and dragged Lio along. Lio didn't pause to question the command and had no idea why they were running, but he trusted Bel. If Bel said run, they ran. He released Bel's hand and charged after him.

Bel darted down a side street and then into a narrow passageway between two buildings. A fence blocked the end. He dodged a dumpster and debris, scaled the fence, and reached down. "C'mon, Lio." He wriggled his fingers.

The blond man appeared at the mouth of the passageway. "Stop! We won't hurt you. We just want to talk."

Lio jumped and grabbed, missing Bel's hand. He glanced over his shoulder and tried again, this time grasping Bel's hand and digging the toes of his shoes into the fence, finally scrambling over.

Bel looked around, then raced down another street. The dark SUV appeared out of nowhere, cutting them off. Bel and Lio turned as one, only to find themselves face to face with the tall, lanky man who now held something in his hands. A gun.

Lio swallowed hard, his breathing coming in gasps, his legs and side aching. Was he going to be shot again? He couldn't breathe! Why couldn't he breathe?

"Oh, fuck," said Mr. Tall and Lanky, holstering his gun. "We're not gonna hurt you."

Bel took Lio into his arms and whispered against his hair, "It's all right. Everything is going to be all right. Take slow, even breaths."

The blond approached. "Damn it, Morrisey! Why did you have to go all Dirty Harry on them?" To Lio and Bel, he said, "We're not going to hurt you, I promise. We only want to ask a few questions."

"Speak for yourself," Morrisey muttered.

Bel kept his hold on Lio. "What kind of questions?"

Morrisey still looked annoyed as he drawled, "For starters, you can tell us what an unregistered Lux and a Tenebris are doing in Atlanta."