Relay: Episode 3

If you've missed any past episodes find them all right here! Also, I've been trying to come up with some art for Relay. Something simple that has the name and possibly a Relay Ring to use for the header to these posts. Problem is I'm super bad at that kind of crap. If you have any talent in that department and are interested, send me a demo. If I use it you'll get credited, which means nothing more than me stating your name and saying thank you on here. But that's something right? Please enjoy.

Episode 3

Julia landed face down in a hay field. She hit the ground reasonably hard. The hay must have been recently cut; the sharp sawed off straws sliced through her skin. When she rolled over and opened her eyes, she was blinded by the intense brightness of the sky. A short moment of disorientation subsided and she realized she was completely naked. Julia looked around frantically and found a bail of hay to tuck close to. She held her legs tight to her chest. That’s when she heard Byron’s scream of pain.

“Oh! Oh my god! Ahh, I cut myself. I cut my... my junk! What’s going on?” Byron laid face down about ten feet from Julia, also naked. He squirmed in pain and held his crotch. Julia did not immediately go to him. In the distance she saw what seemed to be a full clothes line. Her vision slightly blurred, she stood and walked to Byron. Her legs were shaky. “Julia! Ohhh, is it bad look for me?”

“Byron, I’m not going to look at it. Shut up, get up and follow me!” She started towards the clothes line. Byron got it together just long enough to realize they were both naked.

“Why are we naked?” Byron stood and followed. “Jesus,” He examined the wound. “I’m split like a banana!” Julia looked around quickly and gave him a look of death. Byron dropped the drama and followed her to the line. Julia reached it first and started pulling down some shirts. They were very odd garments. Made from cotton and wool, Julia thought they looked like something out of Little House on the Prairie. Byron carefully pulled on some pants. “What is this Amish world?” He sat by the line.

“I don’t know,” Julia buttoned up a shirt that was far too big for her. “But let’s keep quiet. We are stealing someone’s clothes and I doubt they will be happy about it.” She sat beside Byron and took her first good look at their destination. Before her the hay field ran out into the horizon; strewn with bails. At their left a few hundred yards away stood a large barn. Behind the barn was some sort of homestead. The sky was shockingly blue and without a single cloud. Julia felt as though she’d traveled back through time. “Any idea why we came through naked?”

“No,” Byron cracked his knuckles. “Maybe that bald guy said something about it. I donno, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Great. So this could happen every time?”

“I don’t know! You weren’t listening either. You seemed pretty happy staring at Mr. Dreamy-eyes.” Byron grabbed a shirt and pulled it on. “What’s up with that?”

“I’ve never seen him before. I don’t know. But the way he looked at me, was like he knew me.” Julia lay back and let the sun hit her face. “Like he really knew me.” For a moment Julia forgot everything. The warm sun felt so good; the air so fresh. This seemed like a good place. Then they heard chatter coming from behind them. Byron looked toward its source; the barn. A small group of men walked toward them. The closer they got, the louder the speaking became. The louder it got, the more Julia realized it was not English. Not English or any other language she’d ever heard. “This could be a problem.” Julia stood. Byron followed just as the men stopped in front of them.

“AHY! Yatham farly snoot?” Said one of the men. “Ahy?”

“Oh man,” Byron looked at Julia. “Not good.” Julia stepped forward and hesitantly spoke.

“Hello. We are looking for a man…” Before she could finish one of the men yelled.

“AHY! Forg shoal ponash!” He stepped forward and struck Julia, putting her on the ground. Byron reacted by rushing at the man. He stopped when another of them came forward and presented a pitch fork. The lead man approached Byron and began to speak. Byron understood none of it, but it seemed the man was scolding him in some way. Julia felt it best to remain on the ground during the tongue lashing. When it ended the man spoke to his compatriots and they grabbed Byron and Julia and dragged them toward the barn. Soon one of them noticed the blood dripping from Byron’s pants and notified the others. One following left the group and headed for the homestead. Julia and Byron were ushered into the barn and put into a holding cell. Another man sat in the corner of the cell. He did not seem to notice their arrival. Byron sat beside Julia and looked at her face.

“You okay?”

“Yes,” she noticed the blood coming from Byron’s pants. “Are you okay?” Before he could answer, the man in the cell with them spoke up.

“You gits speak English?” The man had dark, dirty hair and a scraggly beard. His cloths were tattered, but fit better than Byron and Julia’s.

“Yes.” Julia said cautiously. “So do you.”

“Obviously,” The man sat up and forced a smile. “Names Avery. Honored, ahy?”

“Sure. Any chance you know what in the hell is going on here?” Byron said as he held his wound tightly to prevent blood loss.

“Absolutely not. I’ve been held up in here for two weeks. I’d venture a guess though!” Avery removed a can from his pocket. He opened it and got a large finger full of tobacco. He shoved that in his lip and put the can down. “I’d say this was your first relay jump. You had no idea what you were getting into? I think you landed in ye ole field out there naked and scared. I bet that shiner my lady has is because she tried to speak to them. The men around here don’t take kindly to women speaking up.” He spat on the floor. “Then they talked a bunch of their gibberish to you Sir about not keeping your bitch in line. No offense my lady. So they decided to bring you in here for storage until such time as they can ship us all off to Rowenhair for a good old fashion sacrifice.”

“I followed you all the way to where you started talking about sacrificing.” Byron looked worried.

“Yes, these happy folks worship the relay rings. On occasion they make offerings to them. A simple beheading usually does the trick.” Avery spit again and wiped his lips on his sleeve. Byron and Julia looked very worried. Soon a man walked into the barn, followed by a young woman. The man walked over to the door and spoke to Avery.

“Ahy?” Avery replied. “Ah, I see. Our good doctor wonders if you’d remove your pants… um…”

“Byron.”

“Yes, Byron. He would like to see your injury.” Byron groaned as he slowly pulled off the wool pants, exposing the area of interest.

“Good lord man!” Avery seemed disgusted. The doctor spoke some more to Avery. “Yes. Alright Mr. Byron, the good doctor here is going to send in his lovely assistant to fix you right up.” Avery winked at the young woman with the doctor. The doctor unlocked the cell door and the woman walked in. She bent down to Byron and opened a small container. Byron looked into her eyes and instantly felt better. Then she applied a salve to the injury.

“Oh, that’s better. Wow… um, oh, whoa! No, that stings! Holy Shi…” Byron passed out from the pain. The woman stood and turned toward the door. Avery winked at her again as she left. The doctor gave Avery a few more instructions and they both strolled away.

“Doctor said he’ll be fine.” Avery removed the wad of tobacco and threw it to the side.” Probably will sleep through the night. Be a doll and put his pants back on. I don’t wanna look at that mess all evening.” Julia did her best not to vomit at the sight of her brother’s bloody private parts as she slid his pants back up. When she sat back down she looked across the room at Avery. “I didn’t catch your name love.”

“Julia.”

“Julia, so formal. Can I call you Julie? Or Jules?” Julia did not answer. “So you’ve chosen a life in the relay. Got off to a good start if I do say so myself.”

“You’re so clever,” Julia said sarcastically, her eyes never leaving the form of her unconscious brother.

“Course I am,” he said slightly offended at her remark. “You’re off to a good start because you’ve met me and I have a plan to get out of this little mess.” Avery winked at her and presented a genuine smile.

“Why would you help us?” Julia thought even further. “And why should we even trust you?”

“I don’t see you have much of a choice really.”