• Glass City

    In a shed behind a narrow, insula-style apartment building, Lucia waited. She was sure the statues hadn’t seen her but she couldn’t stay inside the home. If she was found there, every tenant would be sent to the detention facility. Interrogation wasn’t painful in itself; what it did to your mind was terrifying, though.

    They wouldn’t check the shed, no. The Shadows would only look in the last place the statues had seen her. They only existed there. The long arm of the law was shorter than the City thought it was.

    “Oh, God,” she whispered. The waiting was torture in itself. No, she shook her head. She mustn’t think like that -- she knew someone who claimed to have been caught before and they wouldn’t like her throwing that word around.

    Outside, she heard the spotlights shut off all at once. The City had finished its search.

    Lucia removed her jacket and then stepped out of the shed without caution. Once the City had decided there was no problem, it did not turn back. It was incapable of second-guessing itself. Confident in her safety, she walked back through the apartment, smiling at her neighbor who was polishing the glass curios in her taberna on the first floor.

    “Evenin’, Alex,” she said.

    Alex merely grumbled in response and went about her work.

    Lucia walked out into the street and looked around. There was no curfew these days, but people still tended to stay indoors after nine. The streets were virtually empty. She calmly strode down the sidewalk, heels clicking softly on the cement, back to where she had just run from. She gazed up at the tops of the buildings around her, watching the gargoyles. They stared back at her. All of them. Her stride didn’t falter and she didn’t look away; that would mark her as a guilty party. Guilty of what, who knew, but guilty was guilty was guilty, as far as the City was concerned. If it didn’t catch you for what you actually did, did it matter? You were still caught and you had done something.

    So, she stayed calm. She had nothing to hide. As she approached the street she had raced from just an hour before, she stepped on the hanging laces of one of her boots, forcing herself to stumble and undo the knot. She cursed softly to herself for show; the statue across the way might hear. Kneeling at the edge of the roundabout, she tied her shoe and glanced up at the wall.

    There it was, barely visible. Dissidence. The spray paint had been mostly burned away. One more statue that they knew for certain could do such a thing. The gargoyles couldn’t but who would read the message five stories up? Just them.

    Dissidence.

    The City would not stand for dissent. It would put a stop to it wherever it rose. There were so few on her side but it was the principle of the thing, wasn’t it? Maybe they were just all afraid. Yes, that had to be it; no one would stand for the City unless they were coerced. She had to believe that they just needed the hope that they could win if they tried.

    It was a pleasant thought that lasted until something slammed into her head from behind. She didn’t see what it was; everything just went black.

    -

    There was a light. That much was certain. Lucia was also sitting in a chair, guessing from the hard frame pressed against her back. She was disoriented and couldn’t really see anything because of that damn light.

    There was a pinch at her neck. She tried to swat at it but her arms were stuck. Belted, that’s it; they were tied down. She struggled to move her jaw and tongue, focusing all her energy on it.

    “Where,” she croaked out slowly. “Who… is…. You?”

    “‘Who is you?’” A voice laughed. “Very eloquent, my dear. I really wish it hadn’t come to this but you know, you just couldn’t leave well enough alone. The City knows everything.”

    Lucia blinked and when she opened her eyes, there was a light. She was sitting in a chair. No, surely this was déjà vu. It had just happened, she struggled to tell herself. She was disoriented.

    “Don’t talk. Yes, I think you’re starting to flash. Things will be very, very interesting for you over the next couple of hours and I can’t say I won’t be helping.”

    “You? Why… Alex?” Lucia recognized her easily. She had known Alex for a couple of months; Alex had opened a shop below her apartment fairly recently and they’d seen each other every day.

    -

    She blinked. When she opened her eyes, she was sitting in an office. The walls were floor-to-ceiling glass all around her. She looked around but her room was the only one with lights on -- she couldn’t really see into the surrounding rooms. It was cold, and judging by the breeze, it would get colder. Damned air conditioning.

    A door behind her opened.

    “Ah, Lucia. Hello,” a masculine voice said.

    Lucia turned to face him. She had no idea who it was. “And you are?”

    “Dr. Finnegan. So, why did you come see us today?”

    “I honestly don’t remember. I -- I mean, I just forgot.” She knew she was there for a reason. She had wanted something. But what? “I… wanted something.”

    “It says you’re here about the accident you were in two months ago. That’s what you told my assistant. Are you okay, miss?”

    “Accident?” Two months ago? That wasn’t right. No, it had been just three weeks ago. “Th-the motorcyclist, right?”

    “The police report says a motorcycle hit your car, yes. Now, you’re not at fault for it since it was behind you. Are you still worried that you killed him?”

    What?

    “Look, Lucia, I know it’s hard for you to remember this but I am your doctor. And the City sees everything.”

    -

    “What?” Lucia blinked. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a light. That much was certain. Lucia was also sitting in a chair, guessing from the hard frame pressed against her back. She was disoriented and couldn’t really see anything because of that damn light.

    “And you know that, Lucia, dear,” Alex said. “Oh, are you really going this quickly? Hold on.”

    Alex stepped in front of the light and shined a penlight into her eyes. “Keep them open, please. Oh, yes, you do seem to be going already. Well, I had better hurry this up. Now, I don’t really think anyone has been working with you. Hell, you haven’t seen any friends for two weeks now. But I do wonder what’s going on with you. Why must you dissent, hmm?”

    Lucia closed her eyes tightly. Take me away, she wished, get me out of here.

    When she opened her eyes, she was laying in bed at home. She was almost happy for moment before her face started to sting and she snapped back into the room with Alex.

    “Don’t do that, honey. This is for your own good. The City sees everything and no one likes a bad girl. Everything happens on the City’s time and if you’re not happy with how things are, just wait. You’ll be happier soon. You’ll be very, very happy. Now, if you can manage to speak to me, simply say ‘Okay’.”

    “Okay.”

    “Good, you’re cooperative now, yes? Say ‘yes’.”

    “Yes.”

    Lucia saw Alex nod a few times and walk out of her field of view. The light switched off and it was dark.

    “Now,” Alex said, “You’ll come around. I’m sorry for slapping you, and I’m sorry I’ve had to hurt you, but the City just wants you to be happy and you keep fighting it. She shouldn’t have to work for the love of her daughters. The City is your mother and you wouldn’t fight your mother, would you? You don't think we're evil, do you? Say ‘no’.”

    “No.”

    Alex nodded. “Somehow I expected you to be stronger but I suppose I'm not the best judge. Say ‘I’m weak’, Lucia.”

    “I’m weak, Lucia.”

    Alex laughed. “Oh, silly me, I forgot I can’t speak like that. But I suppose it does work. Now, we’re going to let you go back home in a few hours. Why don’t you just lay there and think? The City appreciates your cooperation.”

    Lucia watched Alex disappear behind her. The light switched back on.

    -

    Lucia blinked as she looked up at the clouds. They were nice and fluffy, like giant pillows in the air. They made her happy. A lot of things made her happy, but pleasant clouds most of all.

    She was in her sixth-floor apartment, gazing out the floor-to-ceiling window. Across the way was the most delightful little gargoyle. It stared back at her and the ends of its carved mouth slowly curved upward. The City saw everything and looked out for everyone.

    She saw its mouth move, miming words, incapable of speech. What was it saying? It looked like…

    “I love you, Mother.”