Bina caught Caleb stealing glances at her again. After the filming, the activity in the warehouse gradually subsided, and soon they were almost alone except for the two guards standing near Danae’s cage. Hearing their plans hardened Bina’s resolve to make a move. She approached Caleb.

“Hey, I need to pee. Can we go to the bathroom?” The boy turned to her and blushed. Bina gave him a smile. “Not together, silly. I just mean can you take me? I really have to go.”

Caleb checked the corridor and said, “I’m really supposed to wait for…my back up. Can you wait a little longer?” 

“No, I really have to go bad. Can we go now, please?” Bina pouted, crossing her legs and bouncing with feigned urgency. Caleb tried to signal the guards by the cage but they ignored him. He looked back and forth between them and Bina, then decided.

“Okay, let’s go. We’ll have to be quick.” Bina took his arm like they were friends, eliciting a nervous smile from Caleb, which she reciprocated with a warm grin.

As they walked to the bathroom in the back corridor, Bina took in as much detail of the layout as she could while distracting him with flirty banter. She went through the motions of using the bathroom, flushed the toilet, ran the water and activated the hand dryer. Before the dryer stopped, she opened the door and brushed past the boy, catching him off guard.

“Thank you so much,” she said over her shoulder, trotting to the warehouse.  Once inside, she headed straight for the door where the crying came from. The boy hurried after her. She stopped in front of the door and knocked firmly.

“Hey, are you okay in there? Hello?” There was a movement inside toward the door and more moaning. “Are you okay?” Bina repeated.  Caleb rushed up and grabbed Bina’s arm, whispering urgently.

“We have to get back to your room. We shouldn’t be here. I’ll get… we’ll get in trouble. This isn’t allowed.”  Bina shook him off.

“Hey, in there. Are you okay?” There was another moan.

“Help. Dark. Help,” came a hoarse, muffled voice. “Help.”

Bina turned to Caleb and struck her most commanding pose. “What is this? Why do you have someone locked in there? Let me see.” Caleb looked at her, over to the guards, then back to Bina.

“We really shouldn’t. We…”

Bina held up her hand and glared. “Open the door. You have keys. Open this door right now.” She held her breath, glaring to conceal her fear, watching the still oblivious guards in her peripheral vision. The boy fumbled for keys, unlocked the door, and Bina pushed in.

She stifled a gag from the stench in the room. A heavy-set man came toward her, mumbling. “Thirsty. Help. Dark.” He wore thick lensed glasses and a sports jacket of some kind. She turned to Caleb watching from the doorway.

“What kind of monsters are you people? How long has he been like this?” She turned to the man. “Are you okay?”  The man reached up and took her hand. Bina’s eyes went wide.

As soon as his fingers touched her, she felt the familiar patterns of touch talk. The messages were jumbled and chaotic, so she fought her revulsion and reached over and took his other hand then slid her palms up his forearms in the meshing pose. The man instantly reciprocated. Bina looked at the boy and saw he was still looking out the door. She commenced the touch talk.

Quickly, who are you?

Archie Campbell.

You are yunk?

Don’t know that. Take me home. To Adam and Serena.

Adam? Adam Shank?

Adam and Serena. Take me home. I’m scared.

Hungry. Thirsty. Messed. Smelly.

Trust me. Follow me.

Bina withdrew her hands just as Caleb turned back to them. She made a quick decision.

“I’m taking this man to the bathroom to get cleaned up. This is disgraceful.” She pulled Archie by the hand and pushed past Caleb.

“Wait…” he called after her ineffectually.

Bina watched the preoccupied guards in her peripheral vision as she hurried to the bathroom. She pulled Archie in and locked the door. She heard Caleb try the knob and push on the door, then the jingling of keys as he tried inserting ones on the ring he held. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Bina said loudly.

“Yeth,” the man replied. In the light of the bathroom, Bina could see from his face he was one of them, a person others mistook for disabled, possessing hidden skills. Bina helped him take off the Seahawks jacket and she held it up and sniffed it. It was relatively unsoiled. She laid it on the floor in the corner away from the toilet and turned back to him. 

A large wet stain covered the front of his baggy jeans. Judging from the smell, that wasn’t all.

“Can you undress and clean yourself up? I’ll wash your things here in the sink as best I can and dry them on the blower. Can you do that?”

“Yeth.”  He looked over his glasses, pointed at her, and twirled his finger. Bina frowned, uncomprehending. He twirled his finger again. “That’th private.”

“Oh. Of course.” Bina turned around while she heard the man undress. His jeans flopped to the floor behind her, and she reached back and picked them up. They were mercifully just damp, so she rinsed them in the sink with a little hand soap and washed them as best as she could.

“My coat,” the man said.

“What…” Bina said, turning, then she stopped quickly at the sight of the naked man standing by the toilet. “Oh.” She grabbed the coat and handed it backwards to him. She finished rinsing the jeans and started drying them on the blower. Behind her she heard the toilet flush and the man appeared next to her holding his soiled underwear, holding the jacket around his waist primly. The underwear was too much to clean in the sink.

“Oh, uh, why don’t you put that down over there?” she said, nodding to the opposite corner. He complied and waited patiently for her to finish. The dryer did a good job, and soon the pants were only damp. She handed him the jeans and he inspected them, then shrugged. He looked at her over his thick glasses and twirled his finger again. Bina smiled and turned away while he dressed. There was urgent knocking at the door.

“Hurry up. They’re going to see he’s gone,” came Caleb’s muffled voice.

“Almost done,” Bina called out.

“Okay,” Archie said.

She turned back and he stood there, jacket on. Bina washed her hands at the sink, then assisted him also. 

“Let’s dry off,” she said loudly. They used the hand dryer, then Bina turned to him and she pushed up his sleeves and they clasped forearms.

Thank you.

You’re welcome. You belong to a node of the groupmind?

I live with Adam and Serena. My family is gone.

Just with Adam and Serena? Do you mesh with others?

Not anymore. Sometimes Adam sends me to other groups. I don’t know why.

Why are you here?

Adam sent me. Brad and some mean men were upset. Adam sends me to be with Brad to learn things.

About what?

About you, Bina Shank. Adam’s niece.

You know me? How?

Adam’s plan. To keep us all safe.       

“Hey, hurry up in there,” came through the door.

“Coming!” Bina rushed to finish the connection.

Relax. Let me mesh.

Yes.

Bina escalated the call and response using the practiced sequences to move beyond exchanging messages to fully synchronizing her senses with Archie’s. Archie’s feedback was instantaneous and skilled, catching Bina off guard. Her lack of practice with people other than her mother or Adam slowed her down, but she adapted quickly.

In the torrent of sensations from Archie, she recognized Adam’s teaching and patterns and she adjusted. Archie immediately responded, and the meshing began.

Bina submitted to the shift in awareness into the dreamstate of synesthesia, touch becoming sound, sound becoming sight, new sensations from the microtouches of every tiny muscle in Archie’s hands twitching and vibrating on the surfaces of her forearms, hers doing the same on Archie’s, serving as the interfaces between their nervous systems. The fidelity of Archie’s impressions and his ability to communicate them was overwhelming.

Quickly, Bina identified a mismatch between Archie’s skill and the quality and quantity of sensory patterns she had access to. It was as if something was throttling him back, a virtuoso being made to play their instrument wearing mittens. She probed and searched, Archie’s consciousness mute but radiating frustration and eagerness. She wordlessly requested permission to look deeper and he assented.

Following her intuition that Uncle Adam had something to do with it, she tried some of the commands placing mental blocks he used on her early in her training to protect her from excessive exposure. On her third try she found it, an unconscious obstruction he placed on Archie, keeping him from sharing while he was still able to absorb using his prodigious eidetic memory, a perfect one-way messenger.

She deftly removed the impediment and the result was immediate and overwhelming.

A stream of ideas, images, memories came at her, Archie’s life with Adam and the woman Serena, his friendship with Brad, Brad’s conversations relayed back to Adam, the plans to abduct a grendel, asking the grendels to come to her. But no sense of the emergent voice, the synthesis of the groupmind, as if Archie, and by extension Adam and Serena, were cut off from the rest. Yet, there were detailed memories of Archie meshing with other nodes, memories of such fidelity that reviewing them was an almost immersive experience, something she’d never experienced before. It was a puzzle and thrilling challenge Bina wanted to explore further. Relief and gratitude from Archie flooded her, accompanied by an even deeper view into the vast stores of memory he held. It felt like interacting with the yunk but through only the memories of a single person.

They were interrupted by pounding on the bathroom door.

In a rush, Bina started making connections. She saw herself in Archie’s memories of interactions with Adam, Adam’s memories of her, her mother. She could hear her own voice, see her own thoughts and conversations mirrored in a dizzying reproduction of herself through Archie’s eyes and those of her prior interactions. Why Uncle Adam wanted her to come. Danae’s arrival. The sense of urgency. But why? What did she have to do with finding a way to stop these evil people?  The labyrinth of the people, images, experiences, sensations Archie shared beckoned her with it’s wild complexity and richness. Who was this guy, Archie?

“Hey, let’s go! Hurry up!” came through the door accompanied by staccato knocking.

“Okay, okay!” Bina withdrew her hands, straightened Archie’s jacket.

“Thank you,” Archie said in a hoarse whisper.

Bina smiled at him then put on a stern face and opened the door. “He was filthy,” she yelled at Caleb, jabbing a finger in his face. “He’s coming with us. He probably hasn’t eaten either.”

Caleb didn’t have a chance to respond. As Bina and Archie exited the bathroom, the door from the warehouse banged open and two men rushed through, weapons up.

“There they are! Caleb, what’s going on?”

“Uh, they needed to go…”

Bina stepped forward, furious. “What kind of sick animals are you? This poor man was locked in a dark room by himself! He needed to go to the bathroom! He’s hungry and thirsty! We need to take care of him right now!”

The two men lowered their weapons, taken aback by the young girl’s fury. One of them turned to Caleb.

“Things are heating up. Walter wants the demon moved down into the tunnels. We’ll put them in there too. Take them down to the big storage room.”

“The cage isn’t set up yet,” the other interjected.

“It’s still knocked out. We have to get all this locked down before they start staging equipment in the loading area.”

They were herded to a stairway, then down two flights and through a heavy metal door. They hurried through a tunnel then down a long dimly lit hallway. The men pushed them unceremoniously into a large room piled with pallets and boxes. Caleb followed sheepishly.

The man with the rifle grabbed Caleb by the arm and shook him. “Stand here, no one goes in or out. I don’t care if they are dying. No one in or out. Got it?”

Caleb nodded meekly and took his position out in the hall, closing the door behind him.

The room was filled with stacked boxes of supplies, canned goods, camping equipment, and uniforms. A clear in the corner held the metal frame of another cage, partially constructed.

A few minutes later there was a muffled clatter in the hallway outside. The door opened and two men entered struggling with a litter carrying Danae’s limp form. They laid her down next to the partially assembled cage.

“Go tell Henry to get his ass down here and finish this thing,” one of the men commanded Caleb. “I’ll stay here until he’s finished.” He held his weapon pointed at the floor, but Bina could clearly see his willingness to use it.  Caleb left with the other man.

The door closed. Bina saw Danae’s eyes open, dart around the room, then close again. On a hunch, she walked to the door, drawing the soldier’s attention.

“Hey, get away from the door!” he yelled, bringing the weapon up. Bina’s belly clenched with fear.

“Why are you keeping us here? I thought you were going to help me! You aren’t going to send me back to the foster home are you?” She channeled her fear into a tone of hysteria that had its intended effect, unnerving the man with the gun.

“Get back! I don’t know anything about that.” The man took a step toward Bina with the weapon up, his back to Danae on the floor. “You’ll just be waiting here until we figure out what to do with you and this guy. You can’t be wandering around…” His voice cut off as Danae rose behind him, wrapped an arm around his chest and plunged a taloned hand into the side of the soldier’s neck. He struggled briefly as she clenched and pulled, sending blood spraying. His body went limp, the gun clattered to the floor, and with a snarl she finished his neck, then dropped him. She staggered briefly, then bent over, hands on her knees, gasping.

Archie held his face in his hands and turned away, moaning. Bina averted her eyes from the gore and stepped around the expanding pool of blood and put a hand on Danae’s shoulder. “Oh my god, are you okay? How did you…?” 

Danae pushed her away, attempted to stand, took a faltering step, then sat down.

“I am … still … the medicine…” Bina looked over at the broken bindings, wondering at her friend’s strength and craftiness, despite the anesthetic medicines they’d given her. In the corner, Archie’s moaning increased. Danae looked over at him.

“What is this?”

“He’s a prisoner, like us. They were mistreating him.”

“That noise will draw attention.” Bina looked at the bloody body on the floor then at the door. It was only a matter of time before the others returned. She pulled on Danae’s thickly muscled arm.

“Quick, come stand over here. They can’t see you when they open the door.” Danae looked at where Bina indicated, hesitated, then nodded. She heaved herself up and walked unsteadily to the spot. Bina noticed her skin coloration shifting and blending into the wall.  She went to Archie and clasped his forearms.

She is a friend, her name is Danae.

Monster!

No, she’s a friend. She will help us get home.

Can you be calm and quiet? It’s important.

Yes. I will be brave.

Bina ran to the door as it started to open and met Caleb before he could enter.

“Caleb! Thank god you’re back! There was an accident or something…” She grabbed Caleb’s hand and steered him clear of the doorway. 

“What do you…” he stuttered, then he saw the lifeless form and went pale. A second man entered, carrying a tool bag. He was distracted by a communications device in his left hand, tool bag in his right.  Three steps into the room he saw the blood and stopped.

“What the …”

Danae stepped out from behind the door and swung a taloned hand at his neck, impacting with a sharp crack. The device and tool bag dropped. She lifted him and gave two sharp shakes then released his limp form. Caleb bent over and vomited.

“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me…” he whimpered, head bowed, dribbling saliva.

Danae pointed a bloody talon at Caleb. “You must lead us out of here.” She stepped to the rifle on the floor and nudged it with her foot. “Are you trained to use this?” she asked Bina.

“No, I’ve never…not that kind.”

“I can,” Archie said, stepping forward. Danae kicked the rifle toward Archie with her foot. 

“Do not point that at us. We must use speed and stealth. We must go now.”

Bina grabbed Caleb’s hand again. “Find us a way out of here. We won’t hurt you. Can you do that?” He nodded dumbly.

Danae stepped toward him and leaned forward, whispering. “Make no sound. Lead us quietly. I will be next to you.”

Bina went over to Archie and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go. We’re getting out of here.”

“Yeth,” he replied softly. He bent down and picked up the rifle, holding it in both hands with unexpected familiarity, right index finger away from the trigger.

They retraced their steps and emerged into the loading bay. An old pickup truck was parked in the middle of the loading area, the doors open, engine still running. A body lay sprawled on the ground next to it. Archie pointed with the rifle.

“That’th Brad’th truck,” Archie whispered.

 “Who’s Brad?” Bina asked. 

“My friend.” 

Danae gestured for silence and crept forward to investigate.

They moved around the side of the truck and examined the crumpled figure in a large pool of blood on the cement floor. Archie stopped and pointed to the body next to the truck. “That’th Brad.”

Caleb leaned over to Bina, pointing around the warehouse, terrified.

“Look. Something happened.”

Bina saw other scattered bodies, men in military gear. The dead people and the silence were unnerving.

“What…” Bina started to ask Danae, but Danae looked toward the far end of the warehouse and started forward.

A huge form approached, rippling and shimmering, and another grendel appeared, striding toward Danae.

“Sister. You are well?”

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