Page 31 of A Monster’s Future

I was too terrified to meet whatever crawled in the darkened recesses of this station. And so, every time the light turned off, I’d wave my arms around like an idiot, flailing until the sensors picked up my movement and flooded the room with harsh, artificial light again.

The buzz of my device startled me, and I yelped before I could stop myself. My heart hammered in my chest as I fumbled to pull it out of my pocket. It was Sergio with a message, his words flashing across the screen in urgent, blocky text: TURN OFF YOUR DEVICE. THEY MIGHT BE USING THE SIGNAL TO TRACK US.

I frowned, my thumb hovering over the screen. What if Grtirr tried to contact me? What if something went wrong and I missed it? The thought of being cut off, even for a little while, made my stomach twist. And how were they tracking us with our phones anyway? It didn’t really make sense to me. But before I could decide, another message popped up, this one from Grtirr himself: Julie. Turn this device off. Now.

So off the device went. I suddenly felt very much alone. I didn’t think I’d purposefully turned off my device in all the time I’d been alive.

The lights were off again when I heard the door open. I ducked instinctively, hiding behind one of the overstuffed shelves as the lights flickered back on. I stared at the door, holding my breath. But there was no one there. The doorway was empty, the park beyond it green and lush and nothing like the rest of the station. I frowned, confused, even as the door closed on its own.

What in the—

Grtirr suddenly appeared in front of me.

The space, which had felt cramped before, now felt ridiculously small. He filled it with his presence, his broad shoulders nearly brushing the shelves on either side of him. His golden eyes locked onto mine, and for a second, I forgot how to breathe.

“How did—” I started, but the words died in my throat.

He lifted up a thin, shimmering piece of fabric. “Cloaking technology.”

The fabric looked almost weightless, like liquid silver woven into threads. It shimmered faintly, catching the light in a way that made it seem like it wasn’t entirely there.

Oh! Penelope had told me about that. She and Vostak had used something similar to sneak into an Exotech facility, back when they were trying to expose the corporation’s illegal experiments.

“We cannot head back yet. They are still looking for us. There are still hostiles outside in the park. And the cloaking can only do so much.

“What are we going to do?"

“We go somewhere they will not look for us.” Grtirr reached into his pocket and produced a keycard. The edges were worn, like it had been used often.

I stared at the card. “Where did you get that?”

“It doesn’t matter. It has access to the workers’ tunnels. We will use it to travel.”

I crossed my arms. “You stole someone’s keycard?”

“We need it.” He didn’t even flinch. Then, before I could protest further, he pulled me close, his arms wrapping around me as he draped the shimmering “cloak” over us both. The fabric settled around my shoulders, cool and weightless.

I frowned. “Why can’t we just hide with the cloak?”

“Because it only hides us visually.” His breath was warm against my ear, and I let out a little shudder from our closeness. “They can still see us with infrared and heat sensors. The tunnels are our best chance.”

He pressed his ear to the door for a moment, listening intently before he opened the door and we stepped outside.

I was still shocked at how realistic the park was, how much it felt like I was outside on a planet. I could swear there was a breeze carrying the scent of green and flowers to my nose. My Kadrixan warrior moved quickly and deliberately, his arms still around me, as he led me toward a maze of hedges.

Once we stepped out from behind the bush, I saw dozens of station visitors enjoying the calm of the park, staying mostly on the path that went around the pond and to the pretty gazebo. None of them noticed us, despite Grtirr’s red skin, horns, and wings. At least we knew the cloak was working. We continued toward the hedge maze, which had a CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE sign put up in front of the entrance.

“The door to the tunnels is at the back of the maze. There’s a shortcut behind a gate,” Grtirr whispered into my ear.

There, trimming the hedges, was a young man wearing a bandana. He did not have his key card hanging from his hip, and I had a sinking feeling I knew exactly who Grtirr had taken it from. I hoped he wouldn’t get in the trouble for losing it.

“They have to still be here. That fucking demon can’t fool us. Spread out!”

I stiffened at the voice, but didn’t dare look toward it.

Grtirr’s grip tightened on my arm, and his hormones did their best to calm me. “Just keep walking.”

Squeezing past the sign at the entrance, we entered the maze undetected.