Jen Air: Springheel Read online

  “It’s all right,” Kaya gasped, her body propped against the door as the automatons began to push from the other side. “You don’t have to thank me for the rescue yet.”

  Chance frowned and shook his head, more and more mannequins piling up and it getting harder to stop them getting in. “What the hell were you thinking?”

  “Wasn’t a whole lot of time for thinking. I just knew I couldn’t leave my old friends in the lurch. I mean, we’re cool, right? We’ve always been cool,” he frowned more, while something started vibrating inside her jacket. “Cool. Just hang on a minute,” she said, answering the phone. “Hey Ten… I… I don’t know. I’ll ask. Hey, Jen! Where is the cereal?”

  “In the cupboard above the microwave,” the blonde called back.

  “You get that? Okay… um, while you’re there, there is something you could do for me…”

  But, before she could ask anything, there was a sudden surge from the other side of the door and the automatons burst through. They all ran back, Kaya dropping her phone. At the same time, more mannequins were shuffling through the other cafeteria entrance, leaving the only way for them to go through the kitchen. As they went there, the punk looked back, and finally she saw Jack. He was kneeling, his robotic minions shambling around him as he cocked his head. And then he reached down and picked up the phone, staring at the screen. Kaya realized that she hadn’t hung up, and a picture of the last caller was still being displayed on the little screen… Tenley. Jack grinned.

  “Want…” he rasped, gently tapping the image with his cold metal claw.

  “Shit!” Kaya spat angrily. But Jack took off, leaping away and out of the hall, and she couldn’t go after him. Jen must have seen what happened as well, as she stood gritting her teeth, her whole body tense.

  “Come on!” Chance demanded as the mannequins were already almost at the kitchen door.

  They hurried through the kitchen, only to find the exit locked and the automaton’s not far behind.

  “Any ideas?” The sergeant asked.

  Jen looked around at her feet, at the mat they were all standing on… rubber and a bit worn. Securing her goggles, she tilted her head toward the ceiling before turning her back to Chance, showing him her backpack. “I have a flare gun inside…”

  “All right,” the officer shrugged, not asking and just unclipping and removing it. “What are we supposed to do with this?”

  “The sprinklers,” she explained. Chance obviously didn’t really understand, but with few other options he complied and fired at the nearest one. There was a flash and a crackle, and to everyone’s surprise, it worked - in so far as the sprinkler activated and it started to rain on the heads of some of the automatons advancing toward them. But it didn’t slow them at all. Even so, Jen gestured for him to continue, while she readied her Taser.

  Chance activated more of the fire sprinklers, while Jen waited, waiting for as many of the machines as possible to be covered. The nearest one was reaching out, about to grab her, before she turned the rifle up to eleven and fired. The creature fell back, sparking and crackling, and then others did the same, smoke literally coming out of their ears before they collapsed.

  There were a few unaffected, but with the majority of the horde down the remainder were quite easily taken care of. Kaya and the police officers just grabbing anything heavy and using it to turn the automatons into trash. There was little time for them to enjoy the euphoria of having survived however, as Jack had gone after Tenley.

  “We have to get back,” Jen said. “Before he hurts her…”

  “Yeah,” Kaya agreed. The only thing she was unsure about was which one they were going to have to rescue.

  *****

  Tenley’s face wrinkled, strange noises piercing her ears from the phone. Kaya must have dragged Jen to some weird club or something. In any case, the reign of dinosaurs had just come to a sudden impactful end, so she put the phone away and turned the TV off before she made her way into the kitchen, yawning as she climbed up to find the cereal.

  It was nice, she supposed, or at least convenient, being able to just call people and ask them questions. Mother would have just told her to find the cereal herself, and then she probably would have cursed and apologized to her great grandparents for raising such a mewling, pathetic little twit. Tenley tried not to think about her mother too much, although it was hard not to. Until very recently, mother had been all that there was in her life.

  She sighed, and just scooped up a handful of the first cereal she found into her mouth. There was still a hole in the kitchen wall and a chill, but although Kaya complained constantly about how cold it got at night, Tenley didn’t really feel it that much. But her ears did pick up the sound of something fluttering through the opening, and she turned to come face to beak with her nemesis as of that morning.

  He was bold, she had to give him that, the way he sauntered in on his little stick legs and started chattering away at her. She hopped down from the cupboard and glared at the magpie wondering what on earth could possess it to come near her. She was still holding the box of cereal, so perhaps he was after that. Perhaps he was just hungry. Exhaling and relaxing, Tenley held out her arm and with her other hand reached into the box and scooped out a few more flakes. The magpie hopped on and she held her hand under his beak, feeding him and then gently stroked his black and white feathers.

  “You’re unlucky,” she cooed softly, “you’re greedy, a thief, and you’re a disgrace to your ancestors. But, I guess we can get along.” The bird chattered something, and having eaten his full took off, presumably returning to wherever it was he nested.

  Tenley put the cereal away and also went out of the cottage through the hole. She made her way to the lighthouse, pulling the large lever to illuminate the inside. “Hull?” She said, swinging her arms before she sat and started spinning in one of the chairs.

  The green circles pulsed, “good evening, Tenley. What can I do for you?”

  “Do you have any games?”

  “I have over thirty thousand titles in my database. Was there any in particular you were searching for?”

  She thought a moment. “Do you have any games where you play as a T Rex and have to hunt other dinosaurs and then human hunters arrive and you have to eat them as well?”

  Apparently, he did, and it came up on the nearest monitor so she played that for a little while. It turned out to not be as much fun as she thought. But she didn’t get to finish the hunters, as that deafening klaxon suddenly sounded. The proximity alarm, she remembered. The girl got up and told Hull to shut it off and, believing it was most likely just the others returning, she went outside.

  But immediately something felt wrong. It was all too quiet… she couldn’t see or hear any sign of the van. Her heart jumped as something screeched… but it was just the magpie being noisy as usual. She relaxed and started walking toward the gate. Maybe the van had broken down and they were approaching on foot.

  There was only a small change in the light surrounding her, an almost imperceptible dimming, but it was enough to cause Tenley to jump to the side just as a dark shape struck the ground where she’d been.

  “What the hell?!” She gasped. Before her wide eyes, a man in a long black coat and red glasses unwound from the ground so that he stood over her with the blackest and most crooked grin she had ever seen.

  He chuckled and spoke, “w-want… want… you!” He suddenly leapt at the girl, slashing at her with some clawed glove. She jumped back again, but was caught by the backhand and sent flying into the garage, the breath knocked out of her small body. She turned back, and saw the man jump high into the air, his arm outstretched to swipe again, so she instinctively raised her arms to cover her face and just in time, as he landed right in front of the girl and his fist came flying down.

  He laughed manically, for a few seconds; he must have realized after that something was very wrong. Tenley was being pushed right ba
ck against the garage, but her arms giving way to his. He pushed harder, but she was solid as a rock. And then, Tenley opened and narrowed her dark eyes angrily, and began to push back. Her attacker looked confused as he saw his arm shaking, then slowly be forced away from the girl’s face. With a final scream and shove she pushed him off altogether, then jumped and bounced off the garage to deliver a sharp and powerful kick to his chest, sending him rolling back through the gravel to where he’d landed the first time.

  Ten pawed at her chin, which was still sore from his backhand. She hadn’t been struck like that since her mother died… but, she was not going to let this creep get away with it. Now it just made her mad, so she faced her attacker side on and raised her fists.

  “You want me, jerk?” The girl growled. “You got me.”

  His jaw, which had been hanging open, snapped shut and he launched himself at her. Tenley did the same at him, ducking under his swing and rolling forward into a handstand. She then tucked in her legs and springing back up, smashing both her feet into his face. He staggered back, laughing and spinning and following her with more swipes which she narrowly avoided. She bounced away, pulled a post for a clothesline out of the ground and swung it like a bat, with his head as the ball.

  This time he dodged and jumped back, and for a moment he stared at her while baring his teeth. He’d probably never encountered anyone who could challenge him before, and now he thought better of fighting her. With a snarl he turned and leapt onto the roof of the garage, and then again into the trees. But Tenley wasn’t about to let him go… he’d not only attacked her, but he’d been stupid enough to do it in her new home. For that, she was going to make him pay.

  He sprung from branch to branch, tree to tree, before finally pausing to catch some breath, looking back toward the lighthouse to see that he had put quite some distance between himself and it. But when he turned around, he saw a now familiar face hanging upside down in front of him.

  “Boo,” Tenley said. He gasped and fell down. She jumped after, leaves scattering around her feet as she landed. He jumped at her again, stripping bark from the trees as he swung with his claws… that seemed to be about all he knew how to do. Tenley however was not only the strongest girl in the world, but she had been trained by her mother in combat since the moment she could crawl. She easily dodged his strikes, and flexed and released energy from her muscles in order to deliver fast and powerful blows to his side and ribs. Even so, this madman, whoever he was, seemed to have far greater endurance and tolerance to pain than most people.

  As they fought, dancing round each other, Jen’s van stopped a short distance away. Ten didn’t know how she had found them, but was really focused on other things right now. The blonde jumped out, the stripy haired punk just behind her, each of them holding a kind of rifle. Tenley didn’t allow herself to be distracted by them, leaping and clocking the fool on the side of the head. His suit and helmet were obviously the only reason he wasn’t knocked out as he just spun after the blow, all the way round. But when he faced her again, his hand was under his face as if a small animal were seated on it, and he puffed. A cloud of blue flame burst in front of him, ballooning through the air. Tenley instant leapt away, not quite fat enough to avoid getting it, but at the periphery of the cloud it didn’t do much than singe her clothes a little.

  “Ten!” Kaya called out, taking aim. The man jumped forward and thrust at the girl, Tenley sidestepping catching his arm and swinging him around and through the air at her two guardians. They both fired at once, electrodes piercing his coat and hooking onto his suit. He screamed and convulsed, sparks flying from his body in various places before he finally fell, landing on his side and slowly exhaling. Tenley picked up the post from where she had dropped it, raising it above her head.

  “Wait!” Jennifer suddenly skidded and knelt in front of the girl, holding up her palm as she panted. “Don’t kill him!”

  The girl furrowed her brow, piercing the blonde with her gaze as her nostrils flared with each breath that she took. “He would kill all of us if he could,” she snarled.

  “But he hasn’t,” Jen said, meeting her gaze and crawling slightly forward. “You see? We’re all okay. And he… he isn’t a threat anymore. You can let the police officers handle him now.”

  Tenley rolled her eyes away, her frown disappearing as she inhaled, righting and steadying herself. Jen made it through, Tenley throwing the post away over her shoulder as she huffed, “fine. Death’s too good for this idiot anyway,” she said, walking away and muttering to herself.

  Jen allowed her shoulders to relax. She looked back, Chance already putting cuffs on the villain who then rasped as he was being dragged away, “ex… e-extraordinary…”

  *****

  The trio returned to the lighthouse in the van, Tenley yawning as she unlocked the door and stepped out, still muttering to herself that they should have let her kill him.

  “Hey Ten,” Kaya called after her. The girl turned around and tilted her head curiously at the punk’s strangely smiling face.

  “What?” She asked.

  “You did good tonight, kid.”

  The girl gasped and blushed, always seeming a little embarrassed whenever she was praised. It just wasn’t something she knew how to handle very well. “I… I-I’m going to bed,” she said, and hurried off.

  Kaya sighed, left sat next to Jennifer, who also had a small smile on her face. “You did all right too,” the punk said.

  “Thank you. You were… okay,” Jen said, only able to handle it a little better than Tenley.

  “What are you talking about? I was awesome!”

  “I wouldn’t go that far…”

  “Did you see the way I saved Daramy?”

  “You were a little bit lucky.”

  “And you weren’t? How’d you even know there was still water in those old pipes?”

  “Well… I-I didn’t, but I worked out the probability and… decided to risk it anyway…”

  Kaya snorted. But then, after a moment, she put on her serious face. “Still… you only need to be unlucky once.”

  Jen nodded solemnly. “I suppose… if this sort of thing is likely to become a regular occurrence for us, we need to be better prepared for it,” she said. But then, she yawned as well. “We can think about it more tomorrow. For now, I think I need some sleep too.”

  “All right.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Kaya wasn’t quite so tired as the others, so she went and watched some more TV for a little while, before going to the kitchen to find some hot chocolate. As she searched for it, and she was sure it was there as she had seen Jen drinking some, she heard a strange scraping sound. She looked over to where the hole was, and saw that one of the robots had finally worked out what the trowel was for and was spreading cement, while another laid bricks on top of it. It seemed, like Jen said, they were finally doing the right thing.

  A third bot seemed to be looking at her, almost expectantly it seemed. “What?” She asked it as she shrugged her shoulders. “You are not getting a tip for that.”

  ###

  Notes: Spring-Heeled Jack

  Spring-Heeled Jack was a Victorian urban legend. A bogeyman who would attack women, punch men, and then leap away and vanish before he could be caught. He is not to be confused with other famous Jack’s, like Jack the Ripper, although some story tellers have conflated the two. In his heyday in the 1840’s, Spring Heeled Jack was only associated with one actual murder… but I’m jumping ahead.

  The first sightings of Jack occurred right at the start of Queen Victoria’s reign, in 1837. Polly Adams, a farmer’s daughter who worked as a barmaid, was on her way home in London, when they were attacked. Polly said that her devil-like assailant had launched himself over a high wall, tore off her blouse with iron tipped fingers, scratching her stomach. It was only the shouts of nearby witnesses that ended the assaulted, as the figure turned and leapt again over
another impossibly high wall to make his escape. Another woman, Mary Stevens, was also attacked in a similar manner. It was shortly after Mary was attacked that the figure was seen again, jumping in front of a coach and shrieking with laughter as the coachman lost control.

  Soon word and tales of a new scourge prowling the streets of London, a creature with fiery eyes and icy claws who bounded from rooftop to rooftop, began to spread. And as fear began to grip the city it was given a name - Spring-Heeled Jack. The Lord Mayor, Sir John Cowan, issued a statement imploring other witnesses to come forward. But while he was confident that the one responsible for this ‘pantomime display’ would be caught, and vigilante groups were formed to that end. Even the 70-year-old veteran of the Battle of Waterloo, The Duke of Wellington, rode out on horseback to hunt the creature. But Jack eluded them all.

  In 1838, Jane Alsop was at home when she heard a knock on her door. She answered, and a voice said:

  “I'm a police officer-for God's sake, bring me a light, for we have caught Spring Heeled Jack in the lane!”

  The young woman was eager to assist, and to see this ‘demon’ she had heard so much about with her own eyes. She ran out, handing a candle to a tall cloaked figure wearing a helmet. But as she did so, she saw that he wore white shining suit, like oilskin, and had glowing red eyes. He spat blue flames at her, and began to tear at her face and neck. Her sister heard the screams and ran out, managing to drag Jane back inside and seal the door. Jack waited for some time, still knocking, before help finally arrived and once again he leapt away over the rooftops.