Tower of Babel Ch.12

Ch.12

 

I think I found another Ascending member.

Ben stood in front of two large, white double doors, the only set in the hall across the entire floor.

I definitely feel stronger after Nebuchadnezzar gave me his powers, but I should be more careful. Since I'm up a few more floors this Ascending member must be stronger than Neb. Maybe the guy who owns this room is like a giant or something. I wonder how far up Lilly's room is.

Ben opened the doors slowly and crept inside.

No one in this tower keeps their doors locked. I guess it makes sense since they have super powers.

Past the entrance were two hallways, one to his left and the other straight ahead. The walls were a mild red and the floor was black carpet. In this intersection, a cushioned stool stood in front of a full body mirror to the doors left. Past the stool and mirror combination was a dresser that had bottles of perfume neatly lined on its top.

Looking down the passageways, Ben could find little difference between the two. Different doorframes nudged from the walls of each hall at varying intervals. Deciding which hallway to travel first appeared inconsequential until, “Is that music?”

At the end of the hall to his left, Benjamin heard the rhythm of a song. The music had a pop feel to it, an upbeat pace of whimsical nonsense. He cautiously walked towards the sound, passing by a few open doors. Ben could see small glimpses of the rooms he passed, each room of different colors and design. He might have seen a picture of Africa in one of the rooms, but the music called for him. 

The end of this passage opened to another room and the dotted line continued onwards to another hallway to the right. Ben had found where the music originated, coming from a small box, resting on a chair, next to a door left ajar. Through the music, Ben heard water splashing from inside the room the box was playing for. He took a few steps forward, but immediately stopped.

The door opened.

A fog of steam came from the room followed by a silhouette. The music stopped, replaced by a gentle tone of humming. The steam thinned and the figure took shape as the person walked to the middle of the room. The silhouette became a woman, a few inches taller than Ben, with short golden hair.

She was also naked, save the medallion necklace around her neck.

He could see her skin was still damp with water, her hair slowly drying out. She had an hourglass figure, and long legs. Her backside, sculptured to perfection, and her bust plentiful. The girl put her hands on her hips. “I want to know something,” she said.

Ben turned pale.

“Is it hard being so beautiful?” She said.

It was not the usual question to give an intruder.

“Yeah I’m talking to you.” She pointed to her left at the far wall of the room, and a full body mirror came from its corner and slid in front of her. Arched eyebrows lingered above a set of green deep-set eyes. “So how’s your day been?” The girl held a hand out, and a towel came from the bathroom and landed in her palm. “That sounds nice. I’m doing fine. What was the name of the song that was just playing?”

A strange warmth pulsed in his head, but Ben was still, both in body and thought.

“That band is pretty nice, but I prefer a slower rhythm with the beats in the background, ya know? I think I want to go to London today. What about you?”

Ben backed away from the girl and thought, She’s crazy. When the thought crossed his mind, the girl stopped talking. She lowered the towel from her hair and turned around.

Damn I think she saw me.

Ben dove into a random room and snuck behind the door. The carpet silenced his steps, as he put his back against the wall next to the door’s hinges. A few moments passed and everything was quiet. He remained behind the door, hoping for the best. As more time passed, the sound of silence had never been so uncomfortable.

The door slowly opened.

If there were some way to turn invisible with my telekinesis, now would be the time.

The door stopped moving at a ninety-degree angle and again silence filled his ears. He imagined her standing inches away, her hand sill on the doorknob, looking into the room. A head came from the other side connected to a long neck that curved around the door to look at him.

What the f**k is that thing?

The head belonged to something that never existed, or as far as Ben was concerned, never had before. It had two small nostrils at the tip of its snout. Long sharp teeth intertwined bellow the nostrils. Behind the snout were two reptilian eyes staring at him. At the back of the head were horns pointing away from the face, and behind that was the creature’s neck disappearing behind the door. Everything except the eyes and teeth were red. The irises were an abysmal black, and the teeth a perfect white.

Ben did not want to accept what he saw, his mind functioning improperly at this point. Unsure, he stood there, as his heart tried to escape his chest. The dragon looked back at him. If it had not moved seconds earlier he would have took it as a very believable hallucination.

The dragon roared, making Ben jump against the wall he pressed against already. It stood straight and ripped the door off its hinges without effort, exposing the rest of its body. A human like chest, arms, and legs all covered in scales. Light brown colored scales covered its throat down to its stomach and underneath the tail to its tip. The sharp claws at the end of its hands and feet matched its white fangs. The most haunting feature were the dragon’s wings, only slightly spread, reaching from one end of the room to the other. 

The dragon stood there with its fists balled, snarling at Ben.

“Intruder,” Ben heard. The dragon’s mouth did not move. “What are you doing here?”

“You can talk?” His voice came out small.

“I am Ishtar. You have invaded my territory. What have you come here for?”

“Are you speaking with your mind? What the hell are you?” Ben inched towards the doorframe. “I’m looking for someone. She’s not going to live here anymore.”

“She’s not going to live here anymore?” Ishtar grabbed Ben by the neck and lifted him up. Its hand fit easily around his throat. “Are you going to harm someone that lives in this tower? I am the dragon protecting this keep and I will not let you get to her.”

“Her? You mean the naked gir-” Its grip tightened. “Wait,” Ben squeaked.

 Ishtar opened its mouth. Small strings of saliva stretched across the chasm of teeth and revealed the dark pit of Ben’s unintended destination.

I can’t be eaten. I have to do something.

Ben saw the door at Ishtar’s feet. He reached down and brought his hand up quickly. The door shot up and hit Ishtar’s jaw, making it drop Ben as it reeled back. When the dragon looked down, Ben was already out the door and running back towards the entrance.

“Come back here,” Ishtar said.

Ben could hear Ishtar’s claws ripping up the carpet as it gained on him. I’m not going to make it. So he jumped into a room at random and closed the door. He fumbled backwards into the room and found himself standing in the middle of a miniature round a bout. Near the back wall of the room was a chair with a white square and a red leaf sewn into its headrest. A flat television set covered most of the room’s right wall and below that a small pile of DVD’s. The far wall of this room had wallpaper of houses and beyond the rows of homes stood the famous Big Ben.

Who designs these rooms?

Ishtar exploded through the door and rushed him. It picked Ben up by both wrists and pinned him against the wall. Any more effort and Ishtar could have ripped him in half. Without his arms free, Ben wasn’t sure how well he could efficiently use his powers, let alone the monster trying to eat him made for a great distraction. Ishtar’s mouth opened again and went for Ben’s throat.

A strange final thought scurried across Ben’s mind. The flag on that chair is wrong.

Ishtar stopped moving. It pulled its head back and asked, “What did you think?”

Ben slowly opened his eyes. “The flag on that chair, it represents Canada, and you have wallpaper with Big Ben on it. They’re two different locations on the map.”

“Are you serious?” Ishtar’s tone became feminine.

The dragon dropped Ben and walked over to the chair. It stood observing the flag mistakenly sewn into the fabric.

He got to his feet and made towards the exit. I could care less about that damn chair, Ben thought. Before he could escape, a sobbing noise tugged at his ear. Ben turned to see the girl from before sitting naked where Ishtar had stood, holding back tears.

“Go ahead. Leave,” the girl said. “I don’t want any company anyways.” Before she shed a tear, the girl stood and grabbed her necklace. A green light flashed over her and she became Ishtar again. She struck the chair with a flick of her wrist turning it into fragments. As chunks hit the wall, the last recognizable pieces shattered into splinters. Ishtar then whipped her tail and cobwebbed the TV screen. Big ben was ripped off the wall by her claws digging into the concrete.

Little Ben wanted to run away again.

Dropping to her scaly knees, she clenched her fists and roared. The ringing in Ben’s ear would be there for a while.

She took a deep breath, getting ready to let loose another bellow. “Stop. Wait, hold on.” He ran up to her and waved his arms. “It’s okay. I would have just got a new chair, but I kind of see where you were going with all the thrashing.”

Ishtar looked down at Ben, a snarl in her throat.

“What are you so upset about?” he asked.

“This was supposed to be authentic. What else was wrong? How long have I been fooling myself that I actually knew about London?” Ishtar’s dark voice was back. “Please tell me that at least Stonehenge is in London.”

“Well the, like its close, but uhm…” Ben mumbled.

She roared again, but this was more of a whine.

“Hold on. Don’t cry. I’m sure you’ll go to London one day.”

Ishtar sniffled and said, “What?”

“Look at you. You’ve got wings. Do you know how cool that is? You could fly there if you wanted to.”

“But I don’t know how to get there, and I can’t even fly good.”

Fly well. “That’s okay. You’re a good looking girl, I’m sure you can manage out there finding your way to London. Pretty girls like you do just fine in the real world.”

She leaned forward with her hands on Ben’s shoulders. He fall on his back and noticed Ishtar turned back into human form.

“Call me pretty again,” her voice breathy.

Ben felt her breast pressing against him. His hands hovered above her waist, his attempt at resisting. Ishtar brought her knees up and straddled Ben’s waist. She could see the lust in his eyes. Blood fluctuated in his body to where it was going to be needed. His pants became uncomfortable and she knew exactly how to solve that problem.

She smiled and said, “Call me Trisha, and for the next thirty minutes I’ll call you daddy.”

She brought one of Ben’s hands to her face then placed his index and middle finger in her mouth. She swallowed knuckle deep and licked his palm, sucking on his fingers. She took them out and brought them down between her breasts. As his guided fingers inched downwards, he felt her tight body across her belly button. Something in the back of his mind tugged at his subconscious. He felt stubbles of hair at his fingertips, getting closer to the promise land.

Her eyes, he thought.

Ben had never felt anything so soft, and then he sneezed. Spit went into her eyes and a large drop of saliva smeared across her cheeks and in her hair. Her pupils contracted and her mouth gaped.

“You faked it. Ewe it’s in my hair. That’s so rude.”

Ben shrugged and said, “I got excited. Besides, I came here for someone else.”

She made a noise and put her arms around Ben. Is she going to cry again? At least she’s not turning into a dragon and eating me.

Trisha laughed and sat up. “Don’t you see what this means?”

He didn’t.

“This means we were meant to meet each other. Don't you think? I mean, you come into my room and stood up to me when I was Ishtar, then you had the chance to leave but you came back because you were kind enough to try and help me. To top it off, you resisted my seductive charms and said, ‘I came here for something else.’ That was so romantic.”

I didn’t say that. Oh god what have I done?

Trisha brought Ben to his feet and said, “Tell me more about yourself. We need to get to know each other. What’s your favorite color? Where are you from? What’s your name?”

 “I kind of don't have time to stick around. I'd like to talk, thanks for not killing me, but could you tell me how to get to the next level from here?”

“Where are you going? Take me with you,” she said, still holding his hands.

“What?”

“Take me with you. I can't stay here anymore, and you need a navigator. You're lost, I can tell, and I've lived here my whole life.”

Skeptical was an understatement. “So you would just up and leave with a complete stranger? I'm going to the top of the Tower to find a girl. I'm an outsider, and you've only just met me.”

“You’re not a bad person, I can see it in your eyes,” she insisted.

“How can I trust you?” Ben asked.

Trisha scratched her head and said, “I could turn into Ishtar and rip you to pieces this very moment, but I stopped doing that.”

“And who's to say you won't do that when my back is turned?”

“I-” Trisha stopped her protest and folded her arms. She let her head drop a little. “I understand.”

Ben gave her a few seconds to say something else, but she didn't. Trisha turned and began to gather pieces of chair on the floor.

As Ben walked away he heard, “I'm going to die alone.” He looked back and saw her still picking up the pieces. Her lips remained still as he heard, Please just leave me here. I must look so pathetic.

“Having trouble finding the door?” she asked.

Ben wanted to move on, and perhaps could have, but he was raised to bring a smile to people’s faces. If someone needed cheering up it wasn't going to kill him.

“Silver.”

“What?”

“It's my favorite color. I'm from Texas, and my name is Ben.” He gave her a small smile.

Trisha just looked back at her broken chair.

“That's some power you have there. So if I get good enough at controlling my abilities could I turn into like a werewolf or something?”

Trisha laughed a little and said, “No. Just watch.” She stood up and placed her hands over her medallion necklace. The medallion was an emerald heart wrapped in two red vines. Red scales formed over her breast and around her back in a tube top fashion. At the middle of her hips, scales began to sprout and covered her lower body down to her ankles, and then on the souls of her feet.

“Cool, huh?”

“Wow.” Ben’s surprise had gone to the necklace, and a little towards how attractive she was.

“It was given to me by one of the scientists that work here. He's some creepy old guy that brought it back from an expedition in Asia. He didn't even know it would do this to me, but whenever I channel my telekinesis through it I can turn into Ishtar. I had to go through so many tests when the word got out. Like, half the staff here was shipped overseas to go digging in some forgotten city.”

“That's amazing. You must be the envy of all the people who live in this Tower.”

“I guess you could say that.” Trisha put her right hand over her left elbow, and smiled.

“And you never have to worry about a costume for Halloween.”

“Ha. That's just awful.”

Ben saw her smile and felt like he did good. “I'm sorry but I really do have to go.”

Trisha quickly walked up to Ben and kissed him on the cheek. He tried not to blush. “I wish you the best of luck. I just wish you could just give me a chance.” She looked away after she said chance. Please, Ben heard inside his mind.

He wanted to trust her, so he did. “Trisha.” She looked back at him and blinked a few times. “I might need a little help getting to the higher levels. Could you point me in the right direction and give me some information about this place?”

“Yes!” She put her arms around Ben and screamed in joy. The ringing in his right ear came back.