by J.T. Stoll
“Then I said, ‘Usually, a gun’s better for a holdup than a sword,’” Carlos said in Spanish. He laughed. Vero didn’t remember him spouting that line, but she kept quiet.
The five Mendoza women surrounded Carlos in his living room. Emilia coddled baby Maria. The TV played, and Vero sat in a recliner on the outer edge, texting her friend Kristin.
Carlos’s laugh changed to a frown. “Then he busted in the glass. Wish I’d been standing farther back, might not have these.” He held up arms covered in white bandages.
“He get the money?” Vero’s mom asked.
“Yeah. Julie opened the register. Four hundred dollars! I told the girls to drop cash to the safe more often. We gotta have a talk about that.”
Vero was responsible for this, somehow. If she hadn’t been there that night… no, Jed would have come through either way. But if she hadn’t taken the weapons from James… no, that didn’t make a difference either. Regardless, she didn’t want to be part of this conversation.
Vero’s mom poked her daughter in the arm. “And you just ran away?”
Vero mumbled some kind of affirmative and slouched lower in the chair.
“Quiet, it’s almost on,” Emilia said.
A large, three-dimensional eight rotated on the screen then transitioned to a man standing in front of Carlos’s shop, the front window shattered. A voiceover spoke in English. “A quiet Sunday afternoon in downtown SLO turned dangerous when two robbers with swords held up five separate downtown businesses then vanished.”
Grainy security footage showed Dek throwing a young woman to the ground in a souvenir store.
“I’m here with Carlos Fontana, owner of Santa Maria Steakhouse,” said the reporter.
Carlos showed up on screen identified by the text local restaurant owner.
“Come on, it’s Santa Maria Steaks,” Carlos said to Vero and the others. “They got it wrong.”
“Quiet,” his wife said.
The Carlos on screen said in English, “Yeah, I was barbequing some tri-tip when they showed up. I was pretty nervous.”
The screen cut to another restaurant owner, who claimed that the robbers somehow got onto the rooftops and ran away. Someone also reported them stealing a backpack, the one Vero had spotted them with.
“The two culprits are still on the loose,” the reporter said. “Due to their weapons, police suspect they may also be responsible for the murder of an unidentified homeless man off Orcutt Street last night.” The TV displayed sketches that looked a little like Jed and Dek. “Suspects are armed and highly dangerous. Back to you in the studio.”
Carlos snatched the remote off his table and muted the TV.
“That’s it? They interview me for fifteen minutes, and that’s all? I had some good jokes in there.”
“Honey, your jokes never work in English,” Emilia said.
“Or Spanish,” Bella added. The other sisters laughed.
“Five stores in one afternoon,” Carlos said. “I don’t get how they outran the cops. The tall guy even looked hurt.”
“And why swords?” Vero’s mom asked.
As her family jabbered back and forth, Vero slipped out onto the second-floor apartment balcony with her purse and sweater. She looked out over a quiet street.
Better that her family didn’t know about the field. Carlos might like all that attention from Vero’s family; he hadn’t lived with it his whole life. Right now, she needed privacy and quiet, not loud sisters.
Okay, so Jed was out there, somewhere, beating people up and stealing money. He probably just needed a place to stay and food to eat until more people from Ruach arrived. The only other thing he had on his mind was… well, to do what he’d promised: kill Vero and the others—if he could even recognize them after seeing them in the dark. If today were any indication, he might never find them.
She pulled out her well-worn phone and flipped it open. She texted Pieter. Can I wake up now?
Amazing that the night after getting hit with an axe, Jed was out committing armed robbery. That was the power of the soul armors. Was there a limit, or could he just use it all day like that?
Vero looked at the armband at the bottom of her purse as she waited for Pieter’s response. It looked like a simple piece of jewelry, but it could do amazing things. The night before, aside from the fight, using the soul armor had felt incredible. She looked around, confirmed the balcony was empty, then slid the band under her sweater.
Her phone bleeped with Pieter’s response. Nope, nightmare continues. You okay?
Family kidnapped me to come watch Carlos recover at his place.
He hurt bad?
Santa Maria Steaks got it worse. What do we do?
Hide.
A cool fall breeze blew by. We’re armed, you know.
As she waited for Pieter’s reply, she focused on the band. The thing felt warm, despite the cool air. Warmer than it should. Like a bolt of lightning, something inside her ignited. Diotein roared to life.
From inside, her mom called, “Vero, what you doing out there?”
She watched a car drive past. The speed of it felt… funny. Time slowed. No, that wasn’t quite right. Time moved the same, but she could take in and process more details. At the same time, she felt empty, hollow. Somewhere out there—a couple miles away under a blanket in her room—waited this thing’s other half. The armor felt almost… mournful, and the blaze inside her seemed weaker than the night before. She could feel the rough direction and distance to her axe.
Her phone vibrated. So, planning to fight a war?
No, but I don’t think we can ignore Jed. He promised to kill us.
Her fingers flew across the keypad. The autocomplete on her awful phone hadn’t kept up. Well, at least there was something good about this whole mess. Super texting powers.
Speak for yourself.
Mom called for her again. Vero walked to where another building’s wall provided some concealment. She leaned on the railing, hopped, and balanced on her hands, legs stuck in the air, nearly to the ceiling. Even with her armor weak without the axe, she barely felt her own weight.
Something shifted in her pocket. Out of the corner of her eye, her phone tumbled over the balcony. She darted like a frog’s tongue to catch it, but the motion threw off her balance. She fell face-first onto the cement walkway.
It didn’t hurt at all. She stood up, perfectly fine.
Jed might be lurking out there, nursing his wounds, but Vero and the others weren’t powerless.
Wearing a little more jewelry could be good for her.
5. Neil’s Designs