Alisiyad Chapter 24 ~ Love (Part 4)

Russ peeled Liseli’s hand away from his face.  “What?”  He faltered, seeing the unfamiliar terror in her eyes.  “You aren’t, are you?  You never went through the Mill before, but . . . .”

The dogs parted as Alisiya, tall and defiant again, came striding toward them.  “You,” she repeated, “are the Key!  How could I have not seen this, before?  Years of waiting by the Gate, watching her come and go, and then suddenly, the two of you are in my world.  Finally!  But what is the difference?  What?  One thing!  You!  I should have known the instant I saw you!”

She stopped short of Russ, and stood beside her father.  Russ was still trying to process her outburst when Liseli stepped in front of him, crossing her arms as she glared Alisiya down.  “Don’t.  Even.  Think.  It.”

“Wait . . . ” Russ put his hand on Liseli’s shoulders.

“No!”  Alisiya trembled, not with tears, but with excitement.  “No waiting!  I have been waiting for this all my life.  I’ve been delayed by blindness; a delusion, a mistake,” she spat at Liseli, “but I see it now.  A person, a Key, only that.  I never knew what kind of Key, I only assumed it must be her.  But you will do.”  She looked at Russ with new appreciation, her eyes sparking.  “You will do very nicely.  Fate has been wiser than I have; something always stopped me from killing you, or letting you die, even when I thought it best.”

“Alisiya, no.”  Leeton took her arm.  She jerked away.  “You are coming home!” he said sternly.

“You would hide this from me!” she shouted, turning her wild eyes on him.  “It is your blindness, your confusion I’ve inherited, it keeps me from seeing what is before my eyes.  You always only saw what you wanted, I have been this foolish, because I am cursed to be your daughter!”

“Enough!” Leeton held fast, giving her a shake.  “A moment ago you were ready to bleed your life out, you’re not thinking clearly, this is not the time—”

“No!  I am thinking clearly,” she laughed.  “And seeing clearly.  He is my Key.  I will have him.”

Russ felt chilled, but gripped Liseli’s shoulders when it seemed she would lunge forward to tear at Alisiya’s throat.

“Don’t you dare!” she yelled, straining against his hands.  “You will not touch him!”

“I will.  You deceived me.”  Alisiya sneered at her.  “You are nothing but a deception, a stumbling block, a delay.  You have kept me from him all this time.”

“Wait,” Russ repeated, wrapping his arms around Liseli to keep her still.  “No one is ‘getting’ me.  Okay?  If you want my help you’ve got a . . . a damn shitty way of asking for it.”

Alisiya calmed herself, with visible effort, then forced a smile.  “All I need,” she said, “is for you to take me through the Gate, into Adayzjia.  After that, I don’t care.  You may come right back.  Anything you wish.  All I need is a few moments.”

“No.”  Leeton shook his head.  “No.  The Gate is broken.  I broke it.  Any Key who tries to breach it will die.  And you know that, Alisiya.”  He turned to Russ.  “Don’t listen to her.  She is coming home with me.”  To Alisiya again.  “There is nothing for you in Adayzjia, nothing but danger and death.  I won’t let you go there.”

“He won’t die,” she laughed again.  “He’s made it through one of your ‘broken’ Gates already, none the worse for wear.  He can make it through another.”

“You don’t understand.”  Leeton clenched his jaw, darting his gaze between them.  “This one is different.  I broke it completely, as I went through.  The others . . . the others I never passed through, I broke them half way, as best I could from one world.  Otherwise I would not have been able to return to Alisiya.  To here—” he waved his hands urgently.  “Those Gates are, I admit, breechable, whether through great power or luck I don’t know.  But this one is very different.”

“No it isn’t.  You lie, to discourage him,” Alisiya shot back.  “Gates want to open, it’s what they do, this one will open for him.  It will be happy to.”

“Don’t believe it.”

“I . . . ” Russ tried, but was overwhelmed by Alisiya’s response.

“No!  It’s the truth, it has to be!  I will not stay here!  I haven’t come this far, or lasted this long, to fail again!”  She stomped her foot, her voice echoing through the Valley.

“Russ is not going anywhere with you,” Liseli said quietly, gripping his arms across her chest.

“Isn’t he?” Alisiya wheeled around to face her, and Russ felt Liseli’s hands weaken and slip from his arms.  Her legs gave out and he was suddenly the only thing keeping her upright.

“What the hell?  Liseli?  Are you alright?”  He tried to twist her around to see her face, but her neck had gone limp and her head lolled to the side.

“No, she isn’t,” Alisiya answered for her.  “And she will only get worse the longer you refuse me.”

He went cold.  “Stop it,” he ordered, futilely.  “Stop whatever the hell you’re doing.  Liseli?  Liseli . . . .”

“She can’t speak.  In a moment she won’t be able to breathe,” Alisiya said, with grim satisfaction, ignoring her father’s grip on her arm.

“Let her go this instant,” said Leeton, giving her another shake.  “Now!”

“No.”  Her voice was eerily calm.  A smile spread over her face.  Russ forget that he’d ever felt pity or anything else for her, and hated that smile.  Liseli’s eyes were open and frantic, but she felt like deadweight in his arms.

“Fine,” he said desperately, “I’ll do it if you just stop.”

“Put her down, on the ground, and step towards me, and I will stop,” Alisiya directed, in a nearly singsong voice, disgusting joy and smug laughter dancing in her eyes.

Russ eased Liseli onto the grass, even while Leeton protested.  “I can’t let her die,” he snapped, straightening.  A small sound came from Liseli, as if she were fighting with all her being to free herself from the spell.

“Step towards me,” Alisiya insisted.

He walked around Liseli, approaching Alisiya warily.  “Closer,” she said, and repeated it, until her hand was around his arm, clawlike.

“I won’t let you take her through.”  Leeton shook his head, eyes as dark with worry as Alisiya’s were light with excitement.  “You’ll only kill yourself, and her.”

Alisiya lifted the arm he held.  “I will kill her if he refuses.  Let me go.”

“Please,” Russ interjected.  “I can’t let Liseli die.”

“I can’t let my daughter die,” Leeton pulled Alisiya toward him.

“Lie!” Alisiya wrenched herself free of his grip and put Russ between them.  “You regret my every minute, you said.  You want nothing more than to forget that I ever existed.”

“That’s isn’t going to happen, though, is it?” replied Leeton, barely above a whisper.  “Don’t do this.”

“I will, and I am.”  She turned, stalking toward the waterfall.

“Wait!” Russ dug his heels into the ground.  “Liseli is still . . . .”

Alisiya flashed an annoyed look over her shoulder, and Liseli came to with a scream.  “No!”  She struggled to her feet.  “Russell Markson!  Don’t you dare go inside that cave!”

“I have to.  Liseli, I’ll be okay.”  He was being pulled along by Alisiya again.  “I’ll come right back.”

“No you won’t,” insisted Leeton.

“I’ll make it.  I promise,” said Russ, barely aware of the dogs who pressed around him.

Leeton was working his hands open and closed, following them, but seemed incapable of running forward to seize Alisiya.  He faltered slightly, almost tripping over a dog.  “Alisiya!” he said sharply, “do not try your tricks on me!”

“I’m leaving.”  Alisiya seemed almost giddy.  She dragged Russ toward the edge of the cliff, as if she would jump off the edge into oblivion with him.  He let her pull him, afraid for Liseli if he didn’t.

Liseli was trapped on the other side of the dogs.  “You can’t do this.”  Anger pierced through her words.  “I won’t let you.  Come back here.  Now.  Russell!”

“I’m sorry,” he said inanely, feeling rushed and confused.  “I mean, I can’t just let you die . . . .”

“And I can?  You’re going to kill yourself,” she steamed, “I won’t let you.  I love you, Russ, you can’t do this to me!”

“You what?”  He paused.

“I love you, you idiot!  You can’t just go kill yourself over me and expect me to . . . to . . . deal with that!”  She nearly kicked one of the dogs in her frustration to get past it.  Fortunately, it was so intent on getting past the other dogs to Alisiya that it paid her no more mind than it would a fly.

I love you, it echoed in his head.  Despite everything, he felt a wide smile spreading across his face.  The phrase seemed completely new when spoken to him, not just overheard or seen in movies.  It sounded different, came alive.  I love you . . . .

“Listen to her, Markson,” Leeton said.  He’d stopped, and was wavering.  “You’re not doing anyone any favors if you go through with this.”

“I . . . .”

Alisiya was at his shoulder, insistent.  “If she falls now, the dogs will trample her.  I will order them to trample her, and rip her to pieces, if you do not take me through.”

The smile disappeared, the chill returning.  “I will,” he muttered, gritting his teeth.  Then he called out, “Liseli . . . I love you, too.  I love you more.  That’s why I’ve got to . . . I have to . . . I’ll be right back.”

“No!  Russ, please!”  She was crying now; he wanted to shove the dogs aside and crush her to his chest, assure her nothing bad was going to happen ever again.  But he couldn’t, he couldn’t even reach her.  He was leaving her, again.  There must be another way, he thought, then Alisiya dug her fingers into him, reminding him of the dogs’ teeth, sharp and relentless.

“I’m coming.”  He jerked away irritably.  “Let’s get this over with.”

He looked back at Liseli one last time.  “I’ll make it.  You’ll see, okay?  I love you.  I’ll be back before you know it.”

She was silent, too stunned and screamed-out to respond.  Her eyes wide, she stood knee deep in dogs, palms up and out toward him, empty.  He took a photo of her like that, in his mind, though he still insisted to himself that he would be right back.

Then he had to pay attention to where he was going, so that he wouldn’t fall.