by Amy Richie
“Enough to smash the necklace,” I remembered out loud what Nona had told me.
“What?”
It was the whole reason I was here; the reason I had risked so much and called Tristan and Zac here. To smash the necklace and set Toby free.
I didn't risk looking up at Tristan; I just lifted my foot and brought it down hard on the smoking glass.
A high pitched wail louder than any possible noise rose up and filled the air, forcing me to clap my hands over my ears and stagger backwards. Strong arms were there to catch me and pull me into a familiar chest. Toby hadn't left me.
The smoke rose up from the broken pieces of the pendant to form a massive creature in the air above Tristan. His eyes widened. Both the creature and the ghost screamed in equal agony. Then the creature dove into Tristan, disappearing inside his chest.
Even after the wailing had stopped, I kept my hands over my ears. Tristan stood very still, only his eyes were moving- wildly darting from side to side.
“What have you done to me?” he panted out, letting a thick puff of grey smoke out of his mouth.
I could only hope he wasn't talking to me.
“Why would you smash it?” he cried out, scraping his fingers down the side of his face. “What have you done?”
“I'm sorry,” I screamed. “I'm sorry.”
Our eyes met across the few feet that separated us; his so full of torment that I was sure it would kill me. “You've made me mortal.”
What? Nona said it would kill him. Why was he human now? What did that mean? Maybe I hadn't killed Tristan.
Hope burned to life inside my chest; I lowered my hands and took a step away from Toby. Tristan and I stared at each other, not knowing what would happen now.
Would he be allowed to live a normal life now? Would we be able to stay together after all? It seemed too perfect to be real. Had Nona given me a way to save them both?
Suddenly, Tristan gave a low gasp and his body jerked forward. His hand raised up to clutch at his chest; his mouth twisted grotesquely. “What horror is this?” he screeched and fell face forward- directly into me.
“Tristan!” I screamed, clutching tight to his shoulder. “Tristan, what's wrong?”
His weight was too much for me, I wasn't able to hold us both up. He slid down my body and hit the ground with a loud thump.
“Tristan!” I dropped to my knees beside him, searching for what was wrong with him. Of course, a smoke monster had just burrowed itself into his chest and made him human, so I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for.
A circle of blood was on his chest, widening with every second.
“What is this?” he moaned loudly.
“That,” Nona's voice clicked nastily, “is called pain.”
My eyes snapped up at the sound, finding her right away. She stood where Tristan had just been, a small silver knife clutched tightly in one hand. A dark red substance that looked alarmingly like blood dripped from the tip.
“How does it feel?” she purred, her lips curving into a chilling grin.
“This is what pain feels like?” he panted, clutching at my arm.
“What did you do to him?” I screamed at Nona, my eyes narrowing to glare at her.
“I did exactly as we planned,” she declared with the same self satisfied grin.
“We didn't plan this.” Desperate, I turned back to Tristan. “We didn't.”
“Nona,” Tristan's laugh was hollow. “It's nice to see you again.”
“I told you this day would come,” she hissed, coming to stand over him.
“So you did,” he nodded, laughing weakly.
“And you fell for her.” She took a moment to laugh at my dumbfounded surprise.
“He was human,” I cried out. “Why can't you leave him be?”
“Oh no,” she shook her head until her short strands of hair bounced. “I will never leave him be. Until I hunt down and kill all three monsters, I will never stop.”
My eyes slid closed as her words echoed over me. She was absolutely insane and I had helped her kill Tristan. I knew when I came out here that Tristan would die. The brief surge of hope I had experienced didn't change that.
When I opened my eyes again, Nona was gone. The circle of blood on Tristan's shirt had gotten much bigger in just a few minutes.
“Is this what dying feels like?” he asked quietly.
“I don't know,” my voice came out too strained, my sobs were just seconds away, “I've never died before.”
“Oh, Ren,” he sighed, “why did you do this to me?”
“For Toby,” I choked out.
“Of course,” his head moved the tiniest bit to form a nod. “I only wish,” he coughed weakly and a small line of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, “I wish you could have loved me as much as you love him.”
“I'm sorry,” I cried, “I shouldn't have...”
He stuck his hand in the air. “Do you know what?” He gasped weakly.
“What?”
“I... really loved... you...”
“No one has ever loved me before,” I sobbed, not bothering to wipe away my tears. “How was I supposed to know what it was?”
He smiled and his teeth were pink with his own blood. “Ren...”
“What?”
But he didn't answer. His eyes closed; his smile stayed on his lips. Then, in the blink of an eye, his body disappeared out from under me.
“Tristan!” I screamed, clawing desperately at the ground. “Tristan!”
Two arms pulled me backwards. “He's gone, Ren. He's gone.”
“I killed him,” I sobbed out, hysterical. “I killed him, Toby.”
“You made him mortal.” Toby crushed me to his chest. “Nona killed him.”
We both knew it was my fault, but I let Toby comfort me anyways.
Chapter Seventeen
“We need to get out of here,” Toby's strained voice vibrated against my ear; I heard the words, but was having a hard time processing them.
Everything was done- it was over. Why couldn't we just stay here forever?
“Zac will be back. We need to go find somewhere safe.”
“There's no where safe,” I declared in a small, flat voice. Zac would find me no matter where I went- I had accepted that the second I took the necklace off. “I'm not going anywhere.”
“You're not going to just sit here and let him kill you.” Toby stood up, pulling me along with him.
How was he still with me? Now that Tristan was gone, Toby should be free. I didn't have a chance to voice my concerns; he was pulling me along behind him as he set off in a light run back through the trees.
I understood his need to try, even if it was pointless; so I didn't protest. I had never stopped to consider if I was a fast or slow runner; normally I accepted that I could never run away from the ghost-people. Running and tripping my way behind Toby, I felt ridiculously slow.
“Hurry up,” he called back over his shoulder, worry creating deep lines all across his forehead and down around his eyes.
“I'm trying,” I panted.
“Try harder.”
A dark shadow passed low over my head. I ducked quickly and ended up tripping, falling to my knees against the hard ground. Clenching my teeth tight together, I managed not to scream out loud.
Toby scanned the sky, rotating his head on his shoulders wildly. He had sensed the same darkness I did and we both knew what that meant. He bent low, reaching out to me, but our hands never met.
A powerful blast that I couldn't see or hear flung Toby far away from me. I scrambled up, prepared to make a run for it, and was knocked back down.
“Do yourself a favor,” Zac growled out, abruptly coming into view, “and don't try to run.”
Knowing there was nowhere to go, I still crawled backwards away from Zac.
“There's no one here to save you now,” he sneered. “You destroyed your only help.”
The fear that I had always lived with disappeared suddenly. Just like that. As I watched Zac hoovering angrily above me, something inside shifted. It didn't matter what Zac did to me now; I had always known this day would come and in a way, it came as a relief.
I wouldn't have to live with the terrible guilt I felt every time I closed my eyes and saw Tristan's face. And I wouldn't have to live without Toby. I had never done that before and I was glad I would never have to.
“Have you accepted it, then?” Zac asked quietly.
I nodded.
“You should have done so before you killed my brother.”
I stayed still. I wasn't going to be making any apologies to Zac.
He inclined his head as if to bow to me. “Let's be done with this,” he said heavily.
I squeezed my eyes shut tight; waiting. Nothing happened.
“What are you doing here?” I heard Zac growl out.
My eyes popped back open. Who could he be talking to? Had Nona come back?
It wasn't Nona standing there with us though. The woman with the long white dress stared down at me, her face as pale as ever. “What are you doing here?” I echoed Zac's earlier sentiments.
“You will not die today, Ren,” the woman said.
My mouth fell open. “You can talk?”
“Yes.”
“Wh...”
“Today is her day,” Zac screeched, pushing his way past the woman to get to me.
The woman raised one hand and the entire world around us was washed out by a light whiter than humanly possible. I pressed my face into my knees, sure that when I opened my eyes again, I would be dead. If I ever opened my eyes again at all.
“It's okay now, Ren,” Toby said, wrapping his arms across my hunched shoulders.
“Am I dead?” I squeaked out.
“No.”
Then why did he sound so sad? Hadn't he been the one trying to keep me alive? I peeked out at him. He looked normal enough so I raised my head the rest of the way.
“I said you wouldn't die today,” the woman gently reminded me.
“You're still here?” I struggled to get back on my feet, determined not to let the woman leave now that she was finally ready to talk.
“I am.”
“Who are you?” I blurted out. “I've seen you since I was a little girl. Who are you and what do you want with me?”
“I am Genessa,” the woman smiled for the first time, but the gesture disappeared quickly. “I am one of the guardians.”
Yesterday, I wouldn't have had a clue what she meant.
“A guardian for the creature.”
“Yes,” she confirmed Nona's bizarre story.
“If you knew where they were, why haven't you stopped them before now?” She had let the brothers kill so many innocent people.
Genessa nodded sadly. “The guardians have been hunted down by the brothers. There aren't many of us left. Alone, I don't have the power to kill them.”
“So you just follow behind and watch them destroy people?” I couldn't keep the accusation out of my voice.
“I'm not completely useless,” she shrugged. “We've known about you for a very long time and we've tried to keep you safe.”
“Is Nona a guardian?”
“Nona and her sisters have an uncannily accurate gift of prophesy. Humans call them Fate because they can see the threads of human life.”
“What do you call them?”
“We don't have a name for the sisters. Nona has become obsessed over the years with destroying the three brothers.”
“Because they mess with Fate by making people kill themselves?”
“Perhaps,” Genessa shrugged, “And perhaps Nona has helped create the monsters she loves to hate.”
“How?” Nona would never help them.
“The creature needs power to defeat the sisters.”
“And they get power from the Cursed,” I concluded, things starting to click into place.
Genessa nodded.
“You think I was wrong to help destroy Tristan?” I held my breath.
“No matter what their reasons were, the creature has gotten out of hand and it must be stopped.”
Why didn't her words make me feel any better?
“So now...”
“Now,” she interrupted me, “you need to say goodbye to Toby before it's too late.”
I spun back to Toby; I had almost forgotten about him in my need to get answers from Genessa. “Toby?” I reached out to him, afraid he wouldn't be able to touch me anymore.
He caught my hand and pulled me close to him. “I'm here,” he said sadly.
“I thought you would be free to go after Tristan was destroyed.” I rubbed my hand against his still solid chest.
“I won't be free to stay.” He swallowed thickly. “It won't be long now.”
“I don't want to stay here without you.” That wasn't part of the deal.
“I'll stay with you,” he declared firmly.
“Will you be able to?” I searched the lines on his familiar face.
Sucking his lips inside his mouth, he shook his head. “You won't be able to see me, but I'll stay next to you.”
The selfish part of me wanted to agree, but the part that had just helped kill Tristan so Toby didn't have to stay next to me knew I had to let him go. “You'll be free though,” I sniffed.
“I don't want to be. I'll stay with you. I'll wait here for you and one day, we'll be together.”
Desperation twisted his mouth.
“I'll be okay,” I tried to choke out. Maybe he understood; maybe not.
“Ren.”
“What?” I looked up so our eyes could meet.
“I'll wait for you.”
Toby leaned low and pressed his lips against mine. I barely felt it though; he was gone before I could open my eyes again.
“He's gone,” I said to no one.
“It's what you wanted,” Genessa reminded me.
I nodded through my tears. “What happens to me now?”
Genessa sighed. “You'll do what all other humans do.”
“Which is?”
“Live. Try your best to find something that makes you happy.”
“What about Zac? Won't he try and find me again?”
“I've blinded him to you,” she explained. “He shouldn't be able to find you now.”
“And the ghost-people?”
“They'll still be able to see.”
“Will I be able to see them?”
“I don't know. Maybe sometimes, but I don't believe it will be all the time like before.”
“So I'm just supposed to...” I shrugged, at a loss for words.
“Yes,” Genessa replied. With a small, sad smile and a flash of white light, she was gone.
“Great,” I sniffed, spinning in a slow circle. “They just left me alone in the middle of the woods.” How would I find my way back to the real world?
Gritting my teeth, I began walking, amazed that I was mostly unharmed. If I was lucky, maybe I could reach that small town Toby had brought me to before dark.
Then again, I sighed, I wasn't usually lucky.
Epilogue
I hurried up a short flight of stairs, checked both doors I found there, then rushed back down. Neither one said 102. I rechecked the thin schedule again just to be sure.
Room 102, mysteries of the mind. Professor Gibbons. Mendall Building.
Was this Mendall Building? How was I supposed to know that? I scanned the walls for a sign. Only artwork and quotes written in scrolling letters were on the walls.
“First day here?” a friendly voice called from behind me.
I whirled around and came face to face with a happy looking young woman with extremely short blonde hair. “Umm,” I hesitated, unsure if she was making fun of me. “Yeah.”
“What class are you looking for?” She came up to glance at the sched
ule over my shoulder. “Mendall Building,” she pointed out as if that explained everything. “You just go straight back out and turn right; it'll be the first one you come to.”
“Oh,” I nodded, glancing back out the door, then at my watch. I was going to be really late. “Thanks.”
“You want me to walk you?”
“No, I got it.”
“I'm Lucy, by the way.”
“Ren.” I smiled and bobbed my head.
I had just pushed the glass doors back open and stepped into the chilly wind when the cell phone I had stowed in my pocket beeped loudly, indicating someone had just texted me. Hesitating only slightly, I pulled the thin device out and pressed the circle at the bottom like I had been shown.
A little green bubble flared to life and flashed 'Dad' in bold letters. I touched the icon with one finger and quickly read the message.
“How's your first day going? Meet any friends yet?”
My lips curved up into an easy smile. My father had spent the past four months mending a relationship that never was and teaching me to text. I hit the reply button and carefully spelled out my response.
“It's going great! I met a girl named Lucy.”
I pressed send and then the big button again. It was exciting to get messages on the phone, but I needed to hurry to class. I stashed the phone back in my pocket and turned right.
It had been my father who convinced me to try college out; my psychiatrist didn't think psychology was the best choice for a major. I decided not to listen to her.
The next building wasn't far and, thankfully, room 102 was the first one I passed. The teacher was already talking when I opened the door and crept to an empty seat. He didn't even glance my way.
“The mind is so immensely powerful,” he was saying. “It can create all sorts of different realities.”
I pulled out a purple notebook and matching pen.
*****
The hallway was deserted when I stepped out of my dorm room and pulled the door closed behind me. It wasn't surprising since it was already so late. I needed to finish up some of the homework that had been assigned the very first day before I searched out a shower.
I knew from my roommate that the bathroom was at the end of the hall and everyone shared. A communal bathroom didn't bother me though, not much did these days. I had already been through too much.