Lucky and the Killer ✔

The Gateway

The gateway was beneath the subway. They filed down metal steps, one after another, with Lucky sandwiched in the middle. Shoes clacked against the cement floors above them as they descended into the darker, no-longer-used parts of the station.

King stole a glance towards Lucky, but she wasn't looking at him. She watched her feet as they stepped down—again, and again, and again. She'd never watched her feet before. He could remember the ceremonies when she held her head high like she'd been taught to do. They all had their heads held high when the people beneath them suffered. Her father ruled with an iron fist, and the nobles loved him. There was plenty of food, wine, and land to go around for the upper-class, but it was all at the expense of the ones beneath them in the slums. It didn't stop him from loving her and still hating her all at the same time.

They finally came to the bottom. Empty rail lines ran past them and off into the shadows. The door was ahead on the right. It didn't glow or give off any magical light. If you didn't know it was the portal, you would have mistaken it as a ragged closet on your way past. King knew, though. Energy buzzed in his brain like deranged fireflies. This was the place that would lead them back.

"Alright," he said and put his hand flat against the door. "Here we are."

He swung the door open, but it opened to nothing but blackness. They were alone with the door, roaches, and cobwebs. He couldn't let her go in first. Someone might have been waiting in ambush on the other side. Then again, he couldn't send her last and risk her running off.

"She'll go after me," King said. "Bring up the back, Gray."

Gray's dark eyes took him in with a nod, "Yes, sir."

Lucky's arms trembled in his hands. Gray didn't want to betray King, but it was his job. They watched King step into the door way. His shoes echoed in the pitch black and disappeared.

"Is it safe?" Lucky asked through chattering teeth.

Gray shut the door back in front of her. King was gone. He'd made it over to the other side. Gray could tell when his footsteps left. That's all there was to going through a portal. They had to seem normal. Occasionally, people wandered into them unknowingly. Earth had their share of missing persons reports, he knew.

"No," Gray said as he pinned Lucky between himself and the portal's door. "It isn't safe. I'm sorry."

He pulled the gun he carried on him and put it to her forehead. He couldn't go back with the job halfway done. He wasn't about to do that—not even for his friend. King got him into too much trouble, and besides, it was like he'd forgotten everyone as soon as he found Lucky again. It was the same old story with King.

"You may not remember," Gray whispered and pushed the gun harder against her skull, "and King may have forgotten, but I haven't. I remember that day, princess. I remember how you stood there beside them at the assembly while one-by-one my sisters and brothers blood spilled onto the ground. I want you to remember that. Keep it locked inside your mind as the truth—as what really happened. People that would do that, people like you, they don't deserve to live."

Lucky stared at him with wide eyes. Was he right? Flashes pried into her field of vision. She could see the red. She could hear the screams. It had to be some sort of...mad delusion..., right? She couldn't kill ants let alone other people. It was all hard to believe even with a gun at her face.

"No," she whispered, "I didn't. I couldn't..., please believe me."

Gray's eyes narrowed. His ashy hair fell down over stone eyes and blended into the darkness. There was something definitely other-worldly about him, but his eyes were different than King's. They didn't seem familiar. She definitely didn't know him, so how could she have done any of that?