The Shadows

Going down to the steps, she approached the machine, taking one hand out of her pocket and running her fingertips down its flank. Smooth, shiny, ice-cold.

“But it has a roof, no?” she said.

“It does tricks.”

Opening the door, he settled her in the passenger seat. “It’s Manny’s new baby. He got it a week ago—it’s the same make and model of his last one, but the interior is different? That’s what he says, at any rate.”

Inside, she smelled leather and the human’s cologne and Payne’s scent.

Trez got in behind the wheel and shut his door. When he turned a key, a great growl started up, a subtle vibration emanating through the interior.

“Check this out.” He hit another button. “Look up.”

Like magic, everything that was overhead unlatched and lifted away, retracting in an orderly series of folds into a rear compartment.

“I figured you’d like to see the stars.” He smiled and got the heater going. “It’s got a screen, so we don’t have to worry about backdraft.”

Leaning back, she saw . . . the velvet heavens with its twinkling lights.

Letting out a shout of joy, she threw her arms around him and pulled him in for a kiss. “This is incredible!”

He laughed. “I can’t believe you’ve never seen a convertible before.”

“I never travel by car. Unless I’m with you.”

“Well, get your belt on. This bitch is going to fly.”

As he hit the gas, the car leaped forward like a horse out of the gate, and she couldn’t help but look up to the night sky and smile so hard her cheeks hurt.

Even with the mhis, he went so fast, firing down the mountain until they got to the road at the bottom. He took a left.

“Where are we going?” she said as he punched the accelerator again, and she was sucked into the contours of her seat as the engine roared.

“You’ll see.” He glanced over. “Warm enough?”

“Perfectly so!”

It was loud and exhilarating, cold air whirling around her head, hot air blasting on her feet, the car growling and leaning into the curves of the road. Before she knew it, her heart was beating fast and her stomach doing flip-flops and she felt octane in her veins.

“I hope it’s a long trip!” she shouted.

“What?”

“Never mind!”

She lost track of the minutes and the miles, but gradually she became aware that the forest landscape had grown dotted with human settlements. Soon, stores, neighborhoods of houses, a park, and stacks of apartment buildings appeared.

“Where are we?” she asked as he slowed to a stop at a red light.

“On the outskirts of Caldie.”

“Are we going downtown again?”

“Nope.” He smiled at her. “But we’re almost at our destination.”

A small car that was low to the ground and the color of a banana pulled up next to them, and she felt the driver glance over. Music was thumping inside of the other vehicle, and its engine revved up.

“Is he having some kind of spasm?” she asked. “Of the foot?”

“No, it’s happening in another location,” Trez muttered.

When the light overhead turned green, the little car exploded forward, its tires squealing, an unpleasant burning smell left in its wake.

“What was that all about?” she wondered.

“Wait for it.”

Sure enough, a car with blue and white lights popped out of a parking lot and fell into pursuit. But not of Trez and herself.

Trez shook his head. “The little shit should know you never drag on this street. Besides, he’s crazy to take this car on.” He reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. “You ready?”

“Oh, yes.” She looked around and saw nothing but a stretch of single-story businesses linked together by a common roof and a parking lot. “Are we here?”

“Almost.”

Actually, they went quite a bit farther on, past another bunch of stores with the word outlet tacked onto every name. And then there was a shallow stretch of woods and a little hill, followed by . . .

Parking lots. Vacant parking lots big as the lawns of the Sanctuary.

Except then she looked out the other side of the car. “What . . . is that?”

“Welcome to Storytown.”

Selena sat forward. On the far end of the biggest of the parking lots was a set of lit entrance signs so high and wide they defied comprehension. But what came after them? Was even more astounding. Vast mechanisms reaching high into the sky were lit up like rainbows, all flashing lights and spinning tops as if they were toys made for giants.

Trez turned Manny’s car onto all the asphalt and roared across the acreage, heading for a gate in the fencing over to the left of what looked like the check-in area. As he stopped before the side entry, they had to wait for but a moment before a human in a navy-blue uniform triggered something and waved them through.

“Hey, Mr. Latimer.”

Trez reached out and offered his hand. “Call me Trez.”

“I’m Ted.” They shook and the man nodded at Selena. “We’re going to take great care of you guys tonight. Head through there.”

“Roger that. Thanks, man.”

“No problem.”

As he hit the gas, Selena was overwhelmed by all of the neon lights. “What is this place. This is . . . magical.”

“And it’s all ours. No one else is here, just you and me.”

“How is that . . . possible?”