The Wilted Flower District

by Martin Niewood

  Geoff Allen of Fairhaven News appeared on the screen. Our reporter, Elizabeth Page is on the scene of the recent violence. “Good evening, Elizabeth, we reported earlier today that the DNA of Claude Cole was found on the fourth and unexploded bomb at Griff Glass. As the Red Knights are now claiming responsibility for the bombing, is it possible that Claude Cole was a member of that organization?”

  Elizabeth James was an attractive young reporter wearing slightly too much makeup and hairspray. After listening intently through a concealed earpiece to Mr. Allen’s question, she responded, “No, Geoff, that’s doubtful. Sources close to the investigation advise that there is no connection between Claude Cole and the Red Knights. Nor is there any actionable proof that the Red Knights’ claim of bombing Griff Glass in retaliation for the murder of Claude Cole is true. The Red Knight brotherhood may have made these claims to appear more powerful than it is. We do know from investigators that when the bombs were remotely detonated, Claude Cole was already dead. So, anyone could have done this. Back to you, Geoff,” and with that, the reporter’s image faded from the screen.

  Looking straight into the camera, Geoff addressed his unseen audience. “What then was Claude Cole’s role in all of this? We will continue our coverage of this story and bring you updates as we learn more about the bombings. In a related matter, we do know that several members of the public are assisting the police with their inquiries regarding the murder of three preter women tonight. Arrests have been made and the alleged perpetrators are already in police custody. The streets department is preparing to clean up the hate messages that the Red Knights painted on buildings and walls all over the Downtown District. We will have more on this and other breaking stories after this message.”

  The commercial was for Cerpen Pharmaceuticals’ newly approved antidepressant for preter children. Slightly blurred images of seven and eight-year-old kids in a classroom waving their hands wildly trying to get the teacher to call on them appears on the screen. One child sitting in the back of the room is despondent and blankly looking out the window. An announcer’s voiceover, advocating the benefits of Euphor to combat pediatric depression, is heard while the image of a now happy child smiling and laughing with his classmates fills the screen. The commercial ends with an image of the Cerpen logo with the announcer’s rapidly read a statement, “In clinical trials of Euphor study subjects experienced some minor side effects including dizziness, blurred vision, dry mouth, nausea, bloating, cramping, constipation and weight gain. If your child does experience a reaction to the medication, contact your physician immediately.”

  Returning to the newscast, Geoff Allen explains that the news team has opted not to show the bodies or the intolerable language; however, the images were all over social media. Mr. Allen interviewed a panel of mortal and preter guests who argued over who was to blame for the events of the day. He closed the segment by looking into the camera and saying, “The blast that demolished Griff Glass shattered more than the building; it appears to have destroyed the imaginary social construct between preters and mortals as well.”

  Turning off the TV, after mind numbingly watching it for hours I slowly stood and noticed that my clothes were a wrinkled mess as I walked towards my room.

  Finding out about Ophelia filled mom with nervous energy. After showering and changing her clothes, she began a cleaning and cooking marathon, preparing a feast large enough for ten. “Where do you think that you’re going?” she asked.

  Glancing over at her in that ridiculous apron, I responded, “I thought I might shut my eyes for a bit, why?”

  “Why? Look at all the food that I’ve made. You need to eat and besides that, I think we all need to talk at some point.” My mom flashed the fakest smile I had ever seen. There was pain behind that grin that nothing could ease except for holding her daughter in her embrace again.

  Looking at the dining room table set with the good china and linen, I saw that she had prepared a roasted chicken, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, three vegetables and freshly baked dinner rolls. “That’s okay, I’m not really hungry right now,” I answered heading back towards my room.

  Launching one of the plates against the wall, she threw her hands up in rage, “Where is she? I don’t understand why she didn’t come to me instead of you.” She placed her hand against her chest as if trying to slow down her heart rate.

  I had told her that Ophelia wanted to talk to her but she didn’t seem to have processed that information, “But mom...” I started as I reached out to comfort her.

  “Don’t you dare!” she screamed.

  Weylin came sprinting into the room, “What’s the matter? Is everything okay?”

  Mom took a deep breath, trying to compose herself, “Everything is fine. I’m sorry Meadow.” It took her a second before catching her mistake, “I’ve been thrown completely off balance. I mean Violet. I didn’t mean that. It’s frustrating to find out Ophelia is alive after all this time and then to have her disappear again. There is so much I don’t understand or know.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I know it’s been a tough day for you.” I knew it was the right thing to say but her words made me feel even worse.

  Weylin ushered my mom to her room and I heard her getting into bed. I retreated to the living room still shaken by her words. I didn’t understand so many of that night’s events. Why weren’t mom and Weylin here when Ophelia came? Why didn’t mom answer her A2B band? Why did all of this fall on my shoulders? Was it purely by chance that I was just the first to come home that night and she caught me? More than that why was Ophelia in such a rush to leave and why did she choose that location? Bramy Cave was such a strange place to pick for a meeting — so out of the way. Was that why Ophelia picked it or was it for the Elsyn? More importantly, why didn’t she wait for us? Did the killer frighten her off? And how was the murder victim linked to the terroristic bombing of Griff Glass? Questions were coming at me from all sides and although I tried to find answers, every question led to more questions. Things were so bad; I doubted they could get much worse.

  I wrapped up the food that mom had prepared and put it away before turning my attention to cleaning up the kitchen. I was not the neatest person and in truth, the mess didn’t bother me but somehow having physical work to do made me feel a little better. Returning to the living room, I realized that although it made no sense, somehow I felt guilty that I had seen Ophelia and mom had not. When Weylin reentered the room, I noticed that he was wearing a navy blue cashmere sweater and had combed his hair.

  He plopped down beside me on the couch, “She’s asleep. I think that’s the best thing for her.”

  “I agree. It’s just as well she isn’t seeing this.”

  When the news broadcast was interrupted for a commercial for E+, Cerpen’ s nutritional supplement for preters over a hundred years old, Weylin muted the volume and asked, “What do you think is going to happen to us? Do you think that they actually believe that we murdered that poor guy? I can’t escape this feeling that we are so screwed.”

  Although I shared Weylin’s sentiment, I wondered if we would remain a top priority with everything else that was going on because solving Claude Cole’s murder wouldn’t stop the rioting nor would it fix the Griff Glass wreckage. Suddenly a flash of light blinked on the bottom of the news feed catching my attention. “Hey Weylin, turn it up.” I said, pointing at the screen.

  The camera zoomed in on hordes of chanting rioters and focused on painted messages still dripping off the walls promising that ‘The Red Knights would kill all preters’ and demanding that preters, ‘Leave Fairhaven or die.’

  The authorities used tear gas and tried to push the radicals out of the area but the damage was already done. A declaration of war for the streets of Fairhaven had been posted.

  I was concentrating so deeply on the events depicted on the screen that I failed to hear a knock at the front door. A few minutes later, realizing that Weylin had gone to answer it but hadn’t returned, I went to the do
or and stepped outside to make sure that nothing was wrong.

  Shocked, I saw Deena firmly in Weylin’s embrace, engaged in a passionate kiss. An involuntary gasp escaped my lips and Weylin and Deena realized that they were not alone. The three of us just stood there staring at each other.

  For a few seconds the scene made no sense to me and then I remembered Deena’s discussion of her nameless angel, Weylin’s frequent visits to Jenny’s house, and his unexplained presence outside the apartment complex on the edge of Woodburn Forest. For some reason, my best friend and my brother had chosen to engage in a romantic relationship and worse yet, to hide it from me. I had never felt more isolated.

  Deena was the first to speak, “I wanted to tell you, Violet, but I could never find the right time. I hated keeping this a secret from you but Weylin and I are in love. We didn’t mean for it to happen but ….”

  Remembering the light blue shirt with the white stripe across the neckline that Weylin wore yesterday morning infuriated me. It looked familiar because it had belonged to my best friend, Deena, and I had seen it dozens of times. I was a fool not to see it. “Just stop,” I interrupted. “I don’t want to hear the sordid details. It’s weird enough that you two are dating but what really stings is that you felt the need to keep it from me.”

  “Quiet down, you’ll wake mom,” urged Weylin as he took a step away from Deena, gripping the wrought iron railing with his hand.

  “Why do you care? Is this a secret from her too? What’s wrong? You don’t want mom to know that her perfect son, Weylin, is sleeping with a mortal?”

  “Let’s just take this down a notch, Violet, you need to calm down.” Weylin’s voice was angry and low.

  “You shut up. My own brother is screwing around with my alleged best friend. I don’t want to hear the sound of your voice.” I was so angry that I clenched my left hand hard enough that stabbing pains shot up my arm. Looking down it appeared to be discolored but rubbing it seemed to ease the pain.

  Turning back to Deena, I yelled, “I trusted you.”

  “That’s not fair,” Deena continued, “I wanted to tell you earlier this week but it was pretty clear you weren’t interested. Weeks ago, when we were at the nightclub, I started to tell you that my feelings for Weylin had changed. I really wanted your advice but all you wanted to do was to score some Elsyn.”

  As Deena spoke, I heard police sirens in the distance but I was too angry to process the sound. “Weeks ago?” I fired back, “How long has this been going on? Some friend and by the way scoring some occasional Elsyn never hurt anybody!”

  Deena became visibly upset. “How could you say that to me? You know that Elsyn killed my father.”

  I had forgotten about the Transfer Trials that Cerpen Pharma had run. Deena’s father had been a subject in the trial in which mortals were given larger and larger doses of an investigational agent in order to treat life-threatening diseases; however, the pharma failed to disclose to the participants that this investigational drug was a derivative of Elsyn, a substance fatal to mortals. I felt small, petty and mean. “Oh my God, Deena, I’m so sorry.”

  “I think that I need to go now,” Deena mumbled as she turned to walk toward the street.

  Weylin turned to chase after Deena and I noticed the railing he had been gripping was glowing red-hot. As Weylin caught up with Deena, the flashing blue lights from Fairhaven security’s force grew closer as they made their way through the Wilted Flower District.

  Standing in the doorway feeling miserable, I watched Weylin and Deena until they rounded the corner and were out of sight as the sirens and lights from the security force grew louder and brighter.

  My world was falling apart. I had lost Ophelia, mom was headed for a breakdown and now I had driven Weylin and my best friend, Deena, away. From the police activity in the neighborhood, I knew that the Red Knights were close and that we needed to be ready for them. We would need to fight in order to survive and I wasn’t sure that I had that much energy. More alone than ever, I stood there watching the chaos creep closer but all I felt was overwhelmed and beaten.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The drama of the night before should have clued me into the kind of day this was shaping up to be. The news was muted on the screen but the headline of the hour was that an emergency conference of elected officials had been set for later this evening. Slowly lifting my body from the sofa on which I had slept uncomfortably, I cracked my neck trying to ease the pain but it was useless.

  It was dark and raining outside but the glare coming from the kitchen behind me was blinding. Turning my head, I saw my mom dressed for work making her breakfast as usual. Although she wore black dress pants and a green silk blouse, I noticed that she had carelessly pulled her hair into a knot at the back of her head, an unusual hairstyle for mom when she was going to work. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and walked towards the kitchen taking a seat at the island counter.

  “What are you doing? It’s insane outside; you can’t go out there. Are you feeling all right after last night?” I reached for her hand but she continued packing her lunch.

  “Yes, I’m fine. I don’t want to talk about it right now. I received a call half an hour ago and they need me to work an assignment tonight and to get there as soon as possible. They’re sending a car which should be here in a few minutes.” She closed the lid of her pack and glanced at me. “Sweetie, it’s nice that you are worried about me but I’m the adult here. Today, I need the two of you to stay here. Can you promise me that? I mean it. I don’t want anything to happen to you because it’s dangerous out there with everything going on.”

  “Mom, I don’t want you out there either. Call them back and tell them to find someone else to work the event tonight. Besides, I really don’t think you going to work after last night is a good idea. You were really upset,” I added, leaning my head against my hand.

  “Honey, I will be okay. They need me. They wouldn’t have called unless it was an emergency. Take care of your brother. Stay out of trouble and out of sight. If that Penny woman comes for more questions, say absolutely nothing except that you can’t answer any questions without me being present.” She hugged me before grabbing her pack and heading towards the door. She waved as the door closed and I wasn’t sure if I should call Weylin but I really didn’t want to see him right now and I doubted that he would change her mind anyway.

  Suddenly my band sent off a high-pitched beep that made me jump. Looking at it, I saw the flashing S1 security alert that had been issued indicating that Fairhaven was under a state of emergency.

  Seconds later, the front door swung back open and my mom charged in, “Wake up your brother; there has been a change of plans. The two of you are coming with me.” My mom rushed towards Weylin’s door and opened it, “Get dressed; we need to go.”

  “Mom, what the hell are you doing?” Weylin shouted from his room.

  Mom approached me, “You need to get dressed in something nice. Please hurry.”

  “I don’t understand. What’s going on?” I pointed at my band I asked, “Mom, did you see this?”

  “Yeah, the two of you have to come with me. I don’t want you here alone. Now please get dressed.” My mom’s stress ridden face painted a perfect picture of how she felt in that moment. She didn’t want us anywhere near that city but she didn’t want us out of her sight either.

  Walking over I squeezed her hand gently and gave her a warm smile. “It’s going to be okay.” I hurried back towards my room passing a shirtless Weylin exiting his room while still changing.

  “What’s going on?” he asked searching mom’s face for answers. Then pulling down his shirt, he walked toward her.

  After last night, I was not in the mood to talk with Weylin so I avoided eye contact as I continued down the hall. I was simultaneously angry with him and Deena for their deception and ashamed of myself for my reaction and for the cavalier Elsyn remark that caused Deena so much pain. It might not have been logical but Deena and Weylin being together m
ade me feel even more alone.

  Once in my room, I attacked my closet hunting for the most professional dress I could find. I rarely wore dresses so the selection was limited. While considering a navy blue halter swing dress that had slipped off its hanger and landed on the floor, I spotted the black crepe shift with a small white collar still bearing its original tags hanging quietly in the back of my closet. I threw it on feeling like a penguin but I knew it was something that my mom would approve of since she bought it. It had been sitting in my closet for months because it was lame but I figured there would never be a better day to wear it. Removing the tags, I started a search for shoes and was fortunate to find two black flats that matched, thereby successfully completing my transition to upscale restaurant server.

  I could hear mom explaining the situation to Weylin in the other room and his persistent argument that the clothes he was wearing were adequate. Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I thought that I looked washed out against the dark dress but there was no time to change so I zipped up the back as best I could and made my way to the living room. Outside I saw a black sedan pull up and heard my mom’s band buzz.

  “That looks good on you, Violet,” she commented with a small smile before returning her attention to Weylin standing there in tan slacks and a light blue tee shirt. Sighing deeply, she gave in with a final, “If you’re going to wear those clothes, at least put on this jacket.”