The Metropolis Series #3: Quinn and Cassandra
36. The Key

“QUINN, WAKE UP. Please wake up…”

Slowly, the seaside disappeared, and I found myself squinting at a bright white light above me. The smell of medicines lingered around me, making me feel nauseous. I didn’t need any more hints as to where I was. When I opened my eyes, I saw just what I expected.

I lay on the cold white sheets of an infirmary bed, surrounded by cupboards of medicines with complicated names. Without a doubt, I was in St. John’s nurse’s office, but how had I gotten there?

Then, I remembered Julio and the thrill of having him back. Where was he? We still needed to defeat Cassandra. Together.

As all of those thoughts clouded my brain, I heard a faint sound of weeping next to me. I turned my head, ignoring the pain that gathered in my temples. I was surprised to find Rachael by the side of my bed, crying softly into the sheets.

“Wake up,” I heard her say. “Wake up…”

Around her were Philip, Bree, and Harumi, whose faces looked plagued with worry. Philip was the first to notice me; his eyes widened as he patted Rachael gently on the shoulder.

“Rachael, it worked,” he gasped. “Quinn’s awake…”

Rachael lifted her head. Her hair was a mess, and her nose and cheeks were red. When she looked at me, however, her bloodshot eyes filled with shock, and she let out a sigh of relief amidst the tears.

“Quinn,” she said. “Oh my God…”

“Vasquez, you scared us,” Bree added. “When Philip brought you in here, you were shaking and saying all these weird things.”

Harumi nodded. “You were having a nightmare, and we were afraid that it was Cass—the monster trying to take over you.”

I wanted to protest. I wasn’t having a nightmare; I was spending time with Julio. But then, I began to get the feeling that I was back to a timeline I didn’t want to be in.

The one where Cassandra was winning.

As fear clouded my thoughts, I turned to Philip.

“What happened?” I croaked. So little remained of my voice that it scared me. “Where am I?”

Philip let out a sigh. “So, you were about to—” He cleared his throat. “You passed out while we were at the Archives.”

I get that he didn’t want to tell the others what my plan was. I had resolved to destroy my records, my existence. The idea would scare everyone, for sure.

“Then, as Bree has said, you were shaking and talking to yourself,” Philip continued. “My boss and I tried to wake you up, but it was no use. Your skin was getting so pale that we considered calling an ambulance, but we knew that wouldn’t do anything. Then, we noticed that your records were getting blurry, and the words were getting jumbled up. That told us that the monster, the Girl Beyond Bounds, was getting a hold of you. We were afraid of what would happen if you didn’t wake up.”

I looked down and nodded, but I refused to accept Philip’s words. However, constant denial couldn’t change the fact that the time I’d spent with Julio wasn’t real. It was just a dream. I had let myself believe in something too good to be true.

I shuddered. If that were the case, then Cassandra’s powers had grown. She had created a world that felt so real, and I was the fool who experienced it all. Julio’s voice never sounded clearer, and the touch of his hand on my face felt so soft, so gentle.

And now, as I sat on clean white sheets, all of those sensations began to fade. My heart not only ached because Cassandra had tricked me, but she also made me remember how much I missed Julio, and how unfair and sudden his death had been.

Amidst my sadness, Bree turned to Philip with a confused look on her face. “I still don’t get it,” she said. “How come only Rachael can wake Vasquez up?”

“It’s not entirely proven,” Philip began, “but according to my boss, since Rachael technically created the monster, she should have some power over it. So we took the chance and drove Quinn back to St. John’s, and from the looks of it, it worked. Quinn’s now awake because Rachael had shattered the monster’s dream.”

“Whoa,” Harumi said. “Who would have thought?”

“It was all a smart guess, which my boss decided to call the Creator Rule. Similar to how the Author has power over her characters, so do the unknowing parents of the monster. However, the extent of this power may be limited.”

“So, Julio would have helped Quinn, too, wouldn’t he?” Rachael added, her voice cracking.

Philip’s expression saddened. “Yeah. He most likely would.”

“He already has,” I said wistfully. “The monster has tried to trap me in her sick dream world before, and it was Julio who got me out.”

At Mackenzie’s control room, Cassandra had introduced me to the world she was building, and it had been nothing but an empty field at that time. (She also had multiple Curtises after me. Yeah, I don’t want to talk about it.)

“Back then,” I continued. “I didn’t know what the monster’s intentions were. I was simply lucky to have Julio around when it happened. Now that the monster’s done it again, I could only imagine what would have happened if Philip and his boss didn’t think of bringing me here. So, thank you, Philip. And thank you, Rachael, for saving me.”

Rachael looked down. “You shouldn’t be thanking me. I’m one of the reasons why you’re in this situation in the first place.”

“But with Julio gone, you’re the only one who can help Quinn now,” Philip told Rachael. “Who knows when the monster will try to take her again? So until we can figure out a way to beat her, you and Quinn should stay together.”

“I see.” Rachael turned to me. “I’ll get things fixed at my dorm so you can move in tonight.”

“Okay,” I said. “Thanks, Rachael.”

I found it kind of funny. Rachael was the girl I used to hate for the longest time. If someone were to tell me that she would be one of the keys to defeating Cassandra, I wouldn’t have believed them.

Bree raised a hand. “Wait, so crossing out the monster’s records didn’t work?”

“Yeah,” Harumi added. “I had a feeling it would.”

Philip shook his head. “Unfortunately, it didn’t. The monster figured out what our plans were, and it only made things worse…”

“What do you mean by that, Philip?” I asked him. “Did something else happen?”

Everyone around me exchanged wary looks.

Philip swallowed. “Let’s go outside. You should see for yourself…”

Philip brought me to the school grounds while the others followed. Late into the night, I expected it to be mostly empty. However, I was surprised to pass by a teenager holding a halberd as he ran across the halls. I was pretty sure St. John’s had its rules against dangerous weapons on campus. Then, I looked past the grounds, and the halberd teen suddenly made sense.

A horde of corrupted Metropolitans surrounded St. John’s walls. They pounded on the gates as their eyes glowed red in the darkness.

“What the?” I gasped. “When did this happen?”

“They started chasing us on our way to St. John’s,” Philip said. “The monster might have known what our plan was. She didn’t want Quinn to reach Rachael.”

“So the monster can make… more monsters?” Bree asked.

“Well, she’s part Author now,” Rachael muttered. “She can do whatever she wants.”

“Over here,” a voice then called. “Don’t let them through!”

A group of teens with even more pointy weapons ran past us.

“The Spanish House people,” Harumi said. “They’re here.”

Bree raised a brow. “Who?”

“Those sworn to protect the Metropolis from danger,” Rachael explained. “They live in the Spanish House, a mansion located in the forests beyond the Metropolis’ bounds.”

“Well, in this case, they’re protecting St. John’s,” Harumi added. “However, the monsters have blocked all exits to the campus.”

“Yikes,” Bree exclaimed. “How am I going to explain this to the entire school?”

“Monsters are blocking the exits…?” I said to myself.

I began to worry. With all of those monsters in the way, how was I going to reach the Archives to destroy mine and Cassandra’s records? And even if I do get past them, I was pretty sure that monsters would come after me on the way. With that, it was almost impossible to reach the Archives safely.

“Hey guys,” I then said. “Can I talk to Philip for a second?”

Rachael, Bree, and Harumi nodded as I motioned Philip to follow me to a secluded corner.

“What are we going to do?” I asked him. “How am I supposed to destroy my records now?”

“I don’t know,” Philip whispered. “Well, think about it. Maybe you weren’t meant to destroy your records after all.”

“But why else would those monsters be crowding the exits? They obviously don’t want me to leave this place.”

“So that’s it? You’ll just wipe out your entire existence?”

I swallowed. “If it will stop Cassandra, yes. Yes, I will.”

“Well, you can’t do that without your records.”

“Unless… Did you happen to bring my records with you?”

Philip’s eyes widened. “Oh no. Mr. Simon and I left them at the Archives…”

I let out an exasperated sigh.

“Look,” Philip urged. “I will find another way, okay? You don’t have to wipe out your entire existence.”

“It might be too late by then,” I reasoned.

“Please, Quinn, let me do this. Besides, it’s dangerous to retrieve your records right now. There were monsters everywhere on the streets. I still couldn’t believe that Mr. Simon and I made it here in one piece.”

I winced, not liking the words I was about to say.

“All right,” I told him. “But please hurry. I don’t want to give my existence away to some monster…”

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