by JJ Krzemien
“Oscar Marmor? What a mouthful. But if Oscar Meyer is already taken—” I clapped a hand over my mouth. “I’m so sorry. That was so rude.”
“Not the first time I’ve heard that one.” He smiled, but cast his eyes down.
“Do you, ah, live here all alone?” I asked, motioning to the surrounding campsite.
He nodded, leaning back in the chair.
“I thought…people usually camped with a group in the city.” Not only was he alone, no other homeless camps were nearby.
“I camp alone. Been that way for a long time now.”
“Why?”
“Generally, I don’t get along with other people too well.”
“Oh.” Maybe that’s why he didn’t live with family.
If he didn’t like people, then what was I doing here? A long pause drew out between us as I got up the nerve to ask what was on my mind. “So, um, can you tell me what happened last night? I’m kind of confused.”
“Sure. Which part are ya confused about?”
“I…I remember getting mugged by three guys. But then something happened. Something killed all three of them?” I felt like I was losing my mind again, or maybe just losing it a little more. But I had to get it all out there. “Then this big…creature picked me up.”
“Big creature?” Oscar raised a bushy eyebrow at me. “All I know is I found ya curled up against a wall. Those three were dead, yes, thought you were at first too. But nope. I brought you back here and put ya in my tent.”
“Okay.” I frowned. “Who killed them? And how did you get me here?”
“I had a friend help get you here,” he said.
I narrowed my eyes. “I thought you said you didn’t have any friends.”
“I didn’t say that.” He shook his head. “I don’t camp with other people, is what I said. As to who killed those guys, no idea. Like I said, they were dead when I found ya.”
“And no sign of a big winged monster?” I grinned to make it sound more like a joke.
“Uh, nope.”
Was there any reason for him to lie? I couldn’t think of one. He was obviously not a mass murdering, winged creature. That left me with…I was definitely losing some marbles. It had felt so real, especially that sensation of flying. I wasn’t going to push that point though. No need for Oscar Marmor to think I was crazy.
“You a runaway?”
The question took me by surprise. Was I? Technically, I guessed so, but not from home like normal runaways. Did running from Child and Family Services count? How about running far from Sarah and her parents in order to keep them safe? I sighed. How could I possibly explain my situation? Lying was easier.
“Yes, I am.”
Oscar nodded once. He had a thoughtful expression on his weathered face. Was he judging me?
A car horn blared and I jumped. Even in the dim light under the bridge, I felt exposed. In forty-eight hours the world had become an unsafe place—unpredictable, full of danger, with no refuge. I wanted to crawl back into that tent and never come out.
Right next to me a masculine voice said, “Oscar, since when do you have company?”
I yelped as I fell off the side of the crate, the empty water bottle skidding across the gravel.
“I didn’t mean to startle you, miss.” The newcomer stood in front of me, his pale hand extended.
I frowned up at him, annoyed. “What did you mean to do? Where did you even come from?” Maybe I was too focused on the conversation I’d been having with Oscar, but I never even heard a crunch of boots on gravel.
“Please, let me help you up.” He held out both hands.
Finally, I put my hands in his and hoisted myself up. Face to face, I realized he wasn’t much older than me. And he was cute. Wavy black hair fell forward into green eyes as he gave me a close-lipped grin. He squeezed my hands. Blushing, I quickly slipped my hands from his.
“Edgar,” Oscar said, “get out of my camp.” His tone was more exasperated than threatening.
Edgar took a step back and faced Oscar. “I only wanted to meet your lovely visitor.”
Where had this guy come from? I looked around to see if anyone else was watching us. Not a soul in sight.
“I bet,” was Oscar’s response. He gestured between us. “Edgar, Lili. Lili, Edgar.”
“Most pleased to meet you,” Edgar said, then he bowed.
Was that charming or weird? He looked normal. Pretty hot actually in fitted black jeans, T-shirt, and a leather jacket. How could I be thinking of him like that, at a time like this?
I stepped closer to Oscar. “How do you two know each other?”
Oscar stared at Edgar, not taking his gaze off the younger man. Without looking at me, he answered, “We’re almost neighbors. Been in the same neighborhood for a long time now.”
“Oh, do you live in a camp, too?” I asked Edgar.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “No, no I live in an apartment nearby. Oscar and I go way back though.”
Had Oscar been homeless for so long that Edgar grew up with him around?
I thought Oscar shook his head at Edgar, but the movement was so subtle I couldn’t be sure. Was I missing something? Maybe an inside joke?
“Well, I’d better go.” Edgar’s eyes searched mine. I didn’t know what he wanted, but his penetrating gaze made my chest flutter. He spun around. The gravel crunched under his boots with each step. He called over his shoulder: “Don’t let the cathedral hound bite!”
I glanced down at Oscar. “What’s a cathedral hound?”
He shrugged. “No idea.” After a moment he said, “Edgar is not all there in the head, if ya take my meaning.” He tapped his temple with two fingers.
That was too bad. Although I got the feeling that there was something more going on. But if he was what Oscar said, Edgar sure put the hot back in psychotic.
I felt Oscar’s eyes studying my face. “You look tired, Lili. Why don’t you go rest. The tent’s yours.”
Was it that obvious? I took my backpack to the tent. The inside wasn’t much warmer than outside, so I reluctantly slipped back into the mummy bag. Sleep claimed me within seconds.
∞ ∞ ∞
The cabin was engulfed in flames and I burned with it. The fire clung to my skin, crawling its way up my calves, thighs, spine. It spread across my back then up through my hair. I waited for it to consume me. Waited for the pain to be gone, but it kept intensifying. Why wasn’t I dead already?
My eyes popped open. The daylight had gone, replaced by a yellow-blue of distant street lights. The traffic had died down. I sat up and took off my coat. Sweat ran down my neck, probably from that awful nightmare. A faint tingling sensation prickled my skin—another remnant from the dream.
The spot between my shoulder blades began to itch again. I reached under my T-shirt to scratch it. Searing pain shot across my back. I cried out, squeezing my eyes shut. A vision of flames appeared behind my eyelids. My back was on fire.
I scrambled to the tent flap and darted out, stripping down to my bra. The colder air hit me. My bared flesh prickled in protest to the cold, but the fire in my back persisted.
“Oscar! My back is on fire. Help me.” I rushed over to where he was parked next to a small brazier. “Water. Get water.”
He grabbed a bottle as I turned away from him. I hugged my midsection, bracing for the shock of ice water.
“What are you waiting for?” I shouted at him.
“Lili-girl, there’s no fire on ya.”
I turned and looked at him as if he were insane. Taking the water bottle I poured it over one shoulder, flinching from the cold. The ice water woke me up the rest of the way. Of course I was not actually on fire. It felt like it though. My shoulder blades burned and itched. I drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Calm down, I needed to calm down.
My shirt lay discarded at my feet. I picked it up and held it to my chest. What had I been thinking? My face blazed with a fire of its own. This guy was still a stranger and her
e I was stripping down to my bra. So embarrassing.
The movement to slip my T-shirt back on caused pain to shoot down my spine. My shoulder blades felt like they were ripping apart. I held the shirt tight to my chest and glanced at Oscar’s concerned face.
I swallowed hard. “Look at my skin, please. It burns. What’s on it?” I faced away from Oscar again and knelt down. He took a moment to observe and pressed a hand to my back. His palm felt cool.
“I can’t tell too much in this light. Looks like some irritation. Red areas. You want some ice?”
“You have ice?”
“In that cooler over there.”
I picked up my hoodie on the way to the cooler. Digging some ice out of it, I used my shirt to wrap the chunks. I hurried to the tent, called an embarrassed yet grateful thank you to Oscar, and lay down on the ice pack. As the cold settled into my skin, the pain subsided.
Maybe this was some kind of side effect to the miracle pill that helped me heal so quickly. Nothing else really explained it.
The rumbling of semi trucks overhead eventually lulled me back to sleep.
I rose late the next morning. Most of the pain had gone but the itching continued with a vengeance. I skipped the wet T-shirt and pulled on the hoodie.
Oscar sat reading a book by the small fire. It crackled in one of those above ground fire pits. The metal was rusted from the constant winter moisture.
Did he ever sleep?
I sheepishly approached him. “Good morning. Can you look at my back again? It still feels warm and…weird. Itches so bad.”
He looked up from the book and furrowed his brow. “Of course. Been waitin’ a while for ya to wake. Let’s have a look.”
I pulled the hoodie over my head, really wishing I had a mirror. Showing my bra to a stranger felt uncomfortably intimate, even though it covered as much as my bikini top. I closed my eyes and repeated that in my head. Like wearing a bikini top.
Oscar took his time examining my back, while I fidgeted. Impatience and growing anxiety twisted together in my gut.
“Well. What is it?” I couldn’t wait any longer. “Oscar?”
“We need to talk, Lili.” He sounded hesitant.
I stilled, my muscles tensing. “What? Why? What do you see?”
He cleared his throat. “You have two long stretches of irritated skin. One on either side of your spine, followin’ the curve of each shoulder blade.”
“Um, okay.” Maybe I scratched myself on something when those guys attacked me. I pulled my hoodie down and turned toward him. The expression on his face gave me pause. He seemed to blanch and wouldn’t make eye contact. I didn’t want to ask but I had to. “What else?”
He shifted in his chair. Finally he looked up. His eyes held pity and sympathy. “They seem to be openin’ a little.”
“Opening?” My voice rose in pitch and I backed away. My skin was opening? Had I been cut by something? Wouldn’t I remember that at least? I sunk down to sit on the gravel, drew my knees to my chest, and wrapped my arms around them. The movement tightened the sweatshirt to my back and I loosened my hold.
Oscar wheeled his chair closer. “Thing is… I know what they are.”
CHAPTER SIX
I stared up at Oscar for a long moment. Part of me didn’t want to hear what he had to say, and the other part had to know. Oscar avoided my stare, eyes fixed on the gravel between the wheels of his chair.
“What do you mean? What are they? Is it bleeding?” Swiping a hand over my back it came away clean—no blood. “Oscar?”
He shifted in the chair, using his muscular arms to lift and settle further into the seat. His forehead bunched, and he still avoided my gaze, instead looking up at the graffitied overpass.
Leaning toward him, the knot in my stomach grew harder with each second of delay. “Oscar.” His name came out harsher than intended.
He pinned me with those blue eyes. “You know anything about angels or demons?”
“Um.” That was a strange question. “Angels are good and demons are bad? What does this—”
“That’s the basic idea. How about vampires and werewolves?”
“They don’t exist.”
He frowned. “Ah. But they do.” He waved his hand. “You see this world around you, Lili, and you think that’s all there is. You and most of everyone else. Sometimes though, people aren’t who or what they seem to be. There’s a whole other world mingled with this one if you know where and how to look for it.”
What was he talking about? Maybe his cheese and cracker weren’t properly aligned. I shook my head. “What does this have to do with—”
“In your case your mother, most likely, should have prepared you for this…coming of age.” He sighed. “But I guess that privilege now falls to me.” His features seemed to wither on his ancient face.
“Will you just tell me what—”
“I’m trying—”
“And stop interrupting me! What are you trying to tell me? Please, spit it out already.” I hugged myself, bracing for his explanation.
“Many mythical beings still walk among us and, every once in a while, one will…get cozy…with a human. The result is a half-human, half-mythic child. Most of these children are fully human until they get to a coming of age at fifteen or sixteen years old. Then their mythic half begins to form. From what I can tell, Lili-girl, you’re sprouting angel wings right now.”
My mouth dropped open. I waited for him to start laughing and confess to the most ludicrous joke ever. Instead Oscar stared back at me, a pained expression on his face.
“Do you actually expect me to believe that?” Standing, I turned to walk back to the tent. “What kind of idiot do you think I am?”
“You asked. I told you. Can’t help ya if you don’t believe me.”
His handicap wasn’t the reason he was homeless—the reason was insanity. I wasn’t crazy. He was. The cuts on my back could have been from the explosion or more experiments from the doctors. Either of those explanations were more likely than turning into a half angel. I mean, come on.
In the tent, I gathered my backpack and coat. It was time to find that women’s shelter. Stepping out, I zipped the flap shut. “Thank you for taking me in and letting me get some sleep. I need to go now.”
It was so disappointing. Oscar had seemed like a really nice man. But he was probably as crazy as that Edgar guy.
“If you were anyone else, I’d let you go.”
I turned to face him. “You can’t stop me. I’m leaving.”
His sighed. “You don’t understand. You need to get somewhere safe, somewhere they can’t hunt you.”
Hunt me. Did he know about the gunman? Impossible.
The crunch of gravel under his wheels followed me as I walked away. He stopped and a thud sounded as he threw himself on the ground.
“What are you doing?” I turned to watch him. Should I leave him like that or help him back into the chair?
“You need to believe me. You are being hunted, aren’t you.” It wasn’t really a question.
The memory of being shot at the hospital released a rush of adrenaline through me. Had he seen me on TV? “How do you know that?”
He dragged himself to a seated position. “There’s an entire organization dedicated to killing people like you.”
“No there’s not. It’s just one man. He killed my parents and now he’s trying to kill me.”
Oscar shook his head. “If you leave, I can’t protect you.”
“You? Protect me?” I cocked my head to one side. “Don’t be ridiculous. I need to go. Good-bye.”
“You need to believe me.” His voice broke with desperation.
Done. So done. I kept walking.
From the other side of a column, Edgar stepped out in front of me. “Are you really going to leave poor Oscar on the ground like that?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Was he judging me? How much of our conversation had he overheard?
I sighed, glancing over my sh
oulder at the old man on the ground. “No. I’ll help him up. But, I’m still leaving.”
Edgar followed me as I walked back toward Oscar. I reached for Oscar’s arm and Edgar took the other one. “Here, let me help.”
“Lili, please listen to me.” Oscar begged.
We lifted and set the old man back in his wheelchair.
Edgar leaned down to him. “You filling this girl’s head with crazy ideas?”
At first it sounded like wood splitting and leather ripping. Then a low growl escaped from Oscar’s lips. His entire head morphed in seconds. His skin turned dark grey and shiny and a short snout emerged with canine teeth. Beside his bald head, his ears elongated and ended in points.
The monster snapped and snarled at Edgar from its wheelchair.
“Whoa now, hound.” Edgar drew back. “No need to lose your temper.”
I screamed, tripping over my feet as I tried to back away and turn at the same time. Gaining my balance, I sprinted blindly away from that monster.
Oscar called after me. “Do you believe me now, Lili?” His voice was raspier, but it was unmistakably his. “We are the same.”
∞ ∞ ∞
When dusk began to bring the temperature down, I found myself walking past another industrial building toward Forest Park. The city lights glowed in the distance. Ahead was the fresh smell of wet pines and ferns.
After Oscar’s transformation, going to the women’s shelter didn’t seem like a good idea anymore. Away from it all, walking all day, I could think. Away from the city, away from people—and monsters—I felt safer.
We are the same. I shook my head, clearing Oscar’s words from my mind. What he’d seen on my back was no proof that I was turning into something supernatural. The slashes were wounds, that’s all. Wounds that hadn’t healed yet. Maybe because the miracle drug had worn off. Clenching my fists, I walked faster.
But what about Edgar? He hadn’t seemed surprised at all. He had known all along what Oscar was. Cathedral hound. That’s what he’d called him. Gargoyle.
Gargoyles didn’t exist. There had to be some logical explanation for Oscar’s facial transformation. Maybe I’d hallucinated the entire experience.