Shell Game – Chapter 25 – Lillian

The sound of a car engine waking to life outside woke Evan with a start. It took him an instant or two to get his bearings as the lights of his apartment were still on, and he was not in his bed. He was in his armchair, and Claire was draped across the cushions of the sofa. She looked peaceful enough, and Evan thought she could probably use the rest.

He quietly got out of his chair, silently straightening his stiff back and neck. It had been years since he’d slept in such a fashion, and his body was not pleased with him. Evan crept to the window. The fog was thicker than ever, and though he heard the car drive off, all he could see were the yellow-white beams of light bobbing away from the apartment building.

Evan looked at his watch. Five forty-five. He looked back at Claire. Then, silently, careful to avoid the shards of broken vase that proved the events of the previous night were not a dream, he moved over to her coat laying on the back of the chair near the table.

With the dexterity of an expert, Evan found her keys in a pocket and held them tightly in his fist so they wouldn’t make a sound. He grabbed a notepad and scrawled that he was going out to grab some breakfast before stepping into the street. Looking up, Evan tried to get his bearings, which was next to impossible in the haze.

Keeping the map of Athens in his mind, he turned to the west, and, after a five-minute brisk walk, Evan was at The Walnut Grove Apartments. Seconds later, he’d worked his way into Claire’s apartment and flipped on the light. The place looked untouched from the last time he was there. Evan aimed to uncover what, if anything, she hid from him.
He was quite methodical in his approach. Years of training and experience taught him how to search but not disturb. When done correctly, a person would never know that he’d been there, yet leave Evan possessed of critical information with which to aid in his investigation.

Starting in the bedroom, he used his handkerchief not to leave fingerprints as he opened drawers, a suitcase, a closet. With meticulous precision, he worked his way through the bathroom and then to the kitchen. Claire Porter had not ceased to surprise him. In all of Evan’s experiences with women, he’d never seen one with such a taste for the finer things yet live like she was on hard times. In her closet hung several delightful frocks, but she kept nothing in the refrigerator.

The last room he examined was the living room. He saved it for last because it was the largest space and the least likely where Claire would stash anything sensitive.

After his diligent and detailed search, he came up with exactly nothing. Whatever Claire hid from him was not apparent within those walls. Evan stood in the middle of the room, hands on hips, and sighed. He slid his hands in his pockets and fiddled absentmindedly with the pearl in one pocket and Claire’s keys in the other while his mind tried to connect all the loose ends and hoped to come up with his next move.

In a white-hot flash, the pearl scorched Evan’s hand. He yanked his hand out of his pocket, cried out in pain. As he did, Evan saw that he also flung the pearl across the living room. Evan didn’t see where it landed and instead examined his hand for burns. His palm was red for sure, and only time would tell if it would blister. A strange design stretching from the edge of his thumb to the tip of his little finger began to reveal itself. Evan blew on the wound in the vain hope of calming down the discomfort.

Suddenly, the pearl shone brighter than a train’s headlight. So bright, Evan forgot about his hand and shielded his eyes from the intensity. He heard a voice say his name, and then the light dimmed a bit. Evan lowered his hand and squinted his eyes. He was dumbstruck by what he saw.

In the place where the core of the light had glowed a moment earlier, there then stood a beautiful woman. She was tall and slender with high cheekbones and a confident jaw. Her garments were of flowing white that seemed to blow in a breeze Evan could not feel. He was not aware if the light came from her, her clothes, or some other source.

“I’m afraid you don’t have much time,” she said, “but there is much to do. You are in grave danger, and I need you to protect me. My captor is close. I feel him, and I need your help to escape him.”

Her voice was low and regal. It was the same voice Evan heard in his head the day before when he thought he might be losing his mind. The sound of it sent such a thrill through him that when he finally managed to say, “Who are you?” He heard his voice as clumsy and out of joint.

“My name is Lillian,” she said, “princess of the Coelum and fugitive, against her will, from the wicked race of the Merlain. Because of who my father is, Lord of the Seven Worlds, I possess powers and influence that many greedily seek for their own. Evan Gold,” Lillian looked unflinchingly in Evan’s face, “you must protect me from them. It is in your power to save me or lose me. Do not let me fall into their grasp. If you should lose me, my people, and all of the peaceful people my father governs, will be lost forever.”

“Who will be lost?” Evan managed. “What’s happening?”

Lillian smiled. It was the smile a loving mother gives her toddler when taking its first steps. Her face disarmed Evan’s confusion momentarily. “My world is a long distance from here. However, there is a great deal our worlds share. Unfortunately, I have found that binding our worlds together is an evil seeking to mar beauty and purity. It has only one end in mind, to gain corrupting power above all else.

“I know you feel that what I’m saying is true. You have a wife. You love her more than you have words to express. Yet, the evil of this world seeks to divide you, to harden your hearts against one another. And for what? What is gained if your marriage is dissolved? This is not a question the evil asks. All it knows is that together you are strong, and if you are strong, it cannot be.

“The Merlain are a people striving after such corruption. They are singular in their quest for dominance. Our civilizations existed for a long time as neighboring lands, but a long time ago, something changed, the evil was allowed in, and now the Merlain are at unrelenting war with us. I say, ‘are at war,’ though I fear I’ve been gone so long. I assume the war still rages. Otherwise, why would I still be hunted as I am? The folly of it all is this: The Merlain cannot win. The evil they submit to is outmatched in every way, and they know it. Yet they fight on out of vanity and sheer spite.”
Evan started to gain some of his confidence back as she spoke. He no longer shielded his eyes and was able to look on her face. Lillian’s eyes were as blue as the ocean and as peaceful. He wondered how someone who was in such peril, if she was to be believed, could still have such peace in her eyes.

“You said you escaped?” he said.

Lillian nodded, “There was a skirmish near my homelands, and I was forced to hand myself over to capture or sacrifice the many people I love and usher in their slaughterer. It was a miserable choice. Though I agreed to be a prisoner to save many people, I searched for any means of escape.

“I was brought to their seat of power and imprisoned for crimes I did not commit, and they did not try to prove I was guilty. They instead kept me under guard, only to be used as a token to force my father’s hand toward surrender. I am to be used as leverage, and then when I no longer serve their ends, I would likely be executed.

“Eventually, I discovered a weakness in their security and escaped. I changed into the form in which you found me and worked my way past detection to freedom. It did not take long for the hunters to pick up my trail, however. I flew through time and space to avoid capture. In my flight, I spied this world and burned through your atmosphere, coming to rest, finally, in the bottom of a mountain river. Eventually, my hunter found me. By then, I had managed to hide away in a mountain cave. There was a lake, and it was dark, so dark.

“I had not accounted for how advanced the Merlain are at detecting even the faintest light in the darkness. So dark is their vision that even a flicker is like the light of the brightest star. He soon discovered me.

His preparations to send me back to prison were almost complete when I managed another escape. I made myself known to a frightened young man. A boy. Not yet a man. I helped him escape my hunter, too, and helped him and his companions on a grand adventure to an icy place. Eventually, the young man fashioned me into a necklace, which adorned the neck of his bride. There, I hid in plain sight, happily for many years, always looking for my next move. I comforted myself in the knowledge that patience would win the day. And when the woman died, full of years and happiness, I was hidden away with her in the ground.

“Then, years later, a flood unearthed me, and I flowed down one river to the next. I knew this was an opportunity to make my way back to my people. There was no way for me to tell if my hunter had not given up on me.

“Years passed. I ended up near another mountain and was picked out of the river and sold to a man named Plumb. I tested him like I tested you to see if he could be trusted, but he was found wanting. He was blinded by the greed of trading a gem of unusual qualities for money. His plan was so clumsy I was certain he would only make my situation more precarious. But before I could escape, I was stolen. I ended up here, added to a collection of cheap jewelry, and ended up in the market where I found you.”

Evan cocked his head to the side, “Found me?”

“Yes,” she nodded, “I made myself known to you because I hoped you would do the right thing when the time came.” She took a step toward Evan, and he felt it like a force pressing on him, “Please do the right thing, Evan Gold. I will do what I can to heal your broken marriage. In return, I ask that you protect me as best you can from my hunter. Don’t turn me over to him. Help me return to my people so that I may help them defeat once and for all the scourge of the Merlain.”

Without taking even a moment to think about why he should just leave the apartment and admit himself to the nearest asylum, he nodded and said, “Of course I will.”

She held his face in her hands and looked him dead in the eye, “You are a good man, Evan Gold.” Then her eyes opened wide and darted to the front door, “Keep me safe. Now, get back home. Your woman friend is waking up soon.”
Instinctively, Evan looked down at his watch. How long had he been on this errand? The light from Lillian went away in an instant, and Evan looked to where she had been. She was gone. In her place, hanging in mid-air, and glowing a faint blue, was the pearl.

He carefully picked her out of the air, grateful she was cool to the touch and placed her back in his pocket. Though now, Evan felt like he carried the fate of the world on his person.

He darted out the door and made his way out the backstairs in case someone watched for him in the lobby. He exited the building into the alley. After making sure the coast was clear, he made his way out onto Commercial.

He walked briskly for a few blocks trying to get his thoughts organized. Evan felt a burning on his right palm and caressed the wound. It was rough with braille-like bumps. Evan stopped and looked at his hand. The design had darkened into something that looked more like a tattoo than a burn. Evan ran his thumb lightly over it and a wave of blue light coursed through the shape.

“Morning, Evan,” came a voice, snapping him out of his thoughts. “You coming in today, or are you just going to stand outside?” It was Mookie Davis. Evan looked up and realized he was standing in front of Davis’ Bakery.

“You want a donut or something? Maybe a coffee?”

Then, Evan remembered Claire and the need to get back before she ran away. “As a matter of fact. I’m meeting someone for breakfast. Let me see what you got today.”

He left the bakery five minutes later with breakfast for two in a brown paper bag and a couple of hot cups of coffee. On the way back to his apartment, he worked out the story he would have to tell Claire if she asked where he’d been.
He walked in and found Claire standing in the middle of the living room. She was beautiful, but her eyes revealed the state of her fragile nerves.

“I was so scared when I woke up,” she said near tears. “You were gone, and I thought… I don’t know what I thought.”

“Did you see my note?” Evan continued over to the table and set the bag of baked goods and the coffees on the table.

He picked up the note and handed it to her. “I just stepped out to get some grub. There’s not much in the icebox, and I figured you’d want something when you woke up. I didn’t mean to frighten you. Sorry about that.” He noticed that she was once again holding Harold’s snub nose revolver by her side. He laughed nervously, “I see I gave you quite the fright. But I still have the bullets. Why don’t you use my bathroom to get freshened up? I’ll get the food ready. You can leave the gun here if you don’t mind. Once we eat, I’ll escort you back to your place to see no one harms you. Good?”

Claire nodded slightly. She set the gun down, retreated into the bedroom, and shut the door. After a few moments, Evan heard the shower water running, then made his way back to Claire’s coat to slip her keys back in the pocket.
A half-hour later, after a shower and a meal, Claire looked less rattled. Evan walked her to The Walnut Grove’s front door and asked if she wanted him to come up with her to ensure the place was safe.

She looked at him with steely eyes and said, “I wouldn’t want to confuse our business relationship,” she gave him a small, terse smile stabbing him with his rebuff of the night before.

“That’s a wise thought,” Evan rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s better that way. I’ll check in on you later. Till then, keep your head down, and don’t answer the door.”

She gave him a long sideways glance before agreeing and disappearing through the front door.

Evan put his hands in his pockets, rolled the pearl in his fingers, and wondered what sort of day it would turn out to be.