Chapter
CLARA
Death Cliff
Infinity reigned over the distance as the flat land stretched for hundreds of miles. Clara slept off the drunken fog. Now in complete control of her faculties, she assessed her situation. If only that was the easy part.
The surrealism of the new, foreign surroundings numbed her into a weightless, dreamlike state. She must have been asleep inside a nightmare and incapable of rousing. This was her hell because heaven would not open the gates for her ilk. This was death, and she earned it.
When they arrived at their destination, Jasper dismounted the horse-like creature before assisting Clara as she did the same. "Here you'll find your destiny," he said in an odd, inauspicious tone.
"I do not understand," Clara said and froze for an instant as she followed Jasper. For the first time, she noticed that although she spoke in her native tongue of Spanish, she understood Jasper's unusual English, and he in return.
Jasper smiled. "You will."
Clara sought to believe him, but the undertone of the circumstances irked her.
Nevertheless, there they stood, in the midst of a barren desert, in front of a doorway at the base of a jagged-edged cliff. Not too far from the entrance was a unique arrangement of animal bones. She peered at Jasper and frowned. "What is inside?"
Jasper stretched his arm out and prompted Clara to walk forward. "All new Lizen Desert arrivals come here first to acclimate to this new life." She did not miss the hint of foreboding in that statement, and a sudden, overwhelming need to stall hit her with a dose of common sense.
"Altyria. That is the name of this place? I have never heard of it." She squinted, searching the landscape and still seeing nothing. The subtle change in his behavior gave substantial reason to worry. He did not think she noticed, but he quickened his stride half a pace. His diction became tight and clipped despite the warmth he tried to convey, and he limited their verbal exchange by avoiding eye contact. "What... year is this? Is it not 1647?"
"Nope. It's 2059."
Her jaw dropped. "What? Are you saying that I traveled... to the future?" She hugged herself despite the searing heat on her skin.
Jasper shrugged. "Not really. There's no way of telling what year it is on Earth. We think it's on the other side of the universe. It's 2059 here, in Altyria."
Clara peeked at the cloudless sky, and once again noted dual suns. "The other side of the universe?" The words tumbled in her mind as it deflected the absurdity, having had enough. However, the anomaly her father's men pushed her through was something she had never seen, Earth had only one sun, the horses in Spain had only two eyes, and she had no memory of them growling. She was unable to quell the quiver in her voice. "You are telling the truth. This is not Earth." She needed a drink.
"No, it's not. Altyria transports Earth people from all different time periods. You'll learn more when we get inside. Come on," Jasper urged her again toward the cliff entrance.
Clara continued stonewalling and receded, inching away. "You called what I came through the 'Lizen Desert portal'. That means there are others, no?"
Jasper twitched and gritted his teeth. Clara recognized that look. The maids and butlers in her Spanish chateau wore it every day, thanks to her. His patience thinned. "You know, you're pretty smart," he said with an empty laugh. "Yeah, two more. One in the land of Fresia to the north, and the other is in Mysteria, out west."
"And the people who enter through those portals, do they travel here as well?" The pitch black beyond the door Jasper kept referring her to rang additional warning bells. Why was she trusting this man? Sure, she would have died in the desert without his help, but why was he there at all? There was no one and nothing for miles.
Clara's airway tightened as her suspicion bottomed out. That was no coincidence; he was waiting at the portal.
"No. There is no place else like this one." Jasper caught her hand. The darkness now coloring his aura made her flinch. She snatched her hand from his grip.
"Do not touch me." Clara looked again through the distorted view of the vast desert. It remained desolate and lacked any hope of salvation. Dehydration created a cotton texture in her mouth and cheated her out of a nervous gulp. "I will not go in there."
This time, Jasper grabbed her arm. He kept smiling, but there was no kindness left in it. "Ain't nothing in that desert for you. You're going inside."
"No, I will not!" She kneed him between the legs and wrenched herself loose. As Jasper bent with a loud grunt, she used the chance to flee. His recovery was rapid, though, and it took him seconds to catch up, lift her from behind and pin her arms to her sides. She kicked her legs in protest. "Let go of me! Do you hear me? Who do you think you are? My father-"
"Is gone, girl. You're never gonna see him again." Stunned by the harsh truth in those words, Clara cried out. Jasper was correct. Her father was gone. The days of wielding her father's clout to punish anyone who offended her vanished the second those guards kidnapped her. He did not want her anymore, and he made that crystal clear when he sent her to this wretched place.
Clara squirmed against the brutal grip as Jasper carried her into the unknown. He knew his way around and descended a set of stairs with ease. Torches on the wall came into view and lit the hallway where he deposited her before two terrifying men. One bent for a closer look, and she cringed at his pockmarked face, scarred right eye and black dentition. He pulled her up by her shoulders. "Welcome to Death Cliff and to the rest of your life, milady!" Once again, she wrestled a boorish male from whom she could not break free. A fresh burst of anger emboldened her. "Get your putrid hands off of me, you disgusting mongrel!"
The guard let out a laugh that bounced around the cave walls and grinned. "No."
Clara unleashed an eardrum piercing shriek that ended with the blow of a rock-solid fist. Pain exploded across her face, and she dropped like a stone. Through stars and stinging tears, she watched as Jasper received monetary compensation. The son of a bitch sold her like property.
"... and her name is Clara," she heard Jasper say as he turned on his heel and exited the way they came in. He winked at her before disappearing, and a chill crept along her spine.
She never told him her name.
The cretin who slugged her scanned her head-to-toe. "You are a real beauty. It would be a crying shame to trade her, wouldn't it, Duane?"
"Yeah, it would," the other man grinned and stepped into the light. "That's why she's mine." Older than the bastard who struck her, Duane was taller and more muscular. Dirty blond hair and rugged features almost made him handsome, but he had a malignant presence, a perverse smile, and cold eyes that revealed no soul. Shaking and fighting tears, Clara averted her stare as she scooted backward.
The male with the black teeth balked. "Hey, you can't do that. That's against the rules!"
Duane strutted over to the man and widened his stance. "I made the fucking rules. If you have a problem with that, then do something about it."
The two men glared at each other, two cocks prepared to fight to the death, until the protester conceded, threw up his hands and stomped away muttering expletives.
With a crude smile, Duane yanked Clara her to her feet. She shrunk as his gaze traveled up and down her body. "Now that's nice. Damn," he lifted her chin with his index finger and admired her with a wickedness that defiled her spirit. "You got some fucking incredible green eyes."
She had to run from this monster, but nowhere in this realm of horror could ever be far enough. He exuded an evil depravity that seemed capable of wilting all life the way a flower died at the end of its lifespan. Across the cave, she spotted an exit, and she aimed to use it. Before she could move, though, he seized her upper arm and pulled a dagger from his belt.
"First things first, honey. You don't know this yet, but you can't die. None of us can." He cackled as she started sobbing, and then he tossed the knife into the air, catching it at the hilt. "Here, I'll demonstrate."
Clara's screech ricocheted through the underground tunnels when he slammed the sharp blade straight into her heart. His words echoed in her ears as she convulsed and lost consciousness.
"Welcome to Altyria, baby."