by Holly Hook
In short, we were stuck in that closet for a long time.
I was squashed against my battle partner.
And never once did Xavier reach out and hold my hand. Instead he recoiled from me, pressing against the wall. I was hungry. He knew. This was dangerous. I had been focusing on the events outside, trying not to think about it, but I knew my hunger might eventually win. The whole closet smelled like glorious chocolate.
I had cured Xavier of Shadow Sickness only to see him ripped away from me again. It wasn't fair. It was some kind of sick joke. I saved his life only to have him turn his back on me because I had saved his life. I knew it was practical. The closer I got to Xavier, the greater the chance I would eventually bite him and make both of us more powerful—which was what Thoreau wanted. I was already close to becoming the Dark Pentagram, the creature he needed to merge the worlds. Three pieces inside of me had fully woken. There were only two more strikes.
He spoke before I could. “I think Liliana and I should hide in another closet until things clear out.”
We still had some kind of mental link. That thought didn't comfort me. His words were a knife that stabbed into my heart. “You should,” I agreed, trying to sound like I wasn't wounded. “Until things clear out.” Just then, my stomach rumbled, punctuating his point.
I hated it for betraying me.
Xavier and Liliana peeked out of the closet door. Flashing blue and red illuminated their faces. This office building was completely closed except for the janitor shuffling around three floors above. They hadn't showed any signs of coming downstairs. The mops in this closet were already used, reeking of fresh detergent. They had already done this floor and wouldn't be coming back.
I listened as Xavier and his sister crawled through the building and found another closet that must house a computer server since there was a lot of humming coming out. Liliana muttered something about it being hot but she refrained from calling her brother an idiot. Was that relief in her voice? She hadn't wanted to hide in a closet with me, that was for sure.
It took another two hours for things to calm down outside according to my hearing. It was the loneliest two hours ever, being in that closet by myself, knowing that people were too scared to be near me. A few police still milled around, talking in low voices, and I had the feeling they'd be staying around the perimeter for a while, especially after what looked like a full-on Abnormal attack. The ATC vans with their deep motors took off with their prisoners in tow. I estimated that the ATC had taken maybe a half dozen of Beatrix's people. More were out there, but without their leader would they know I was the enemy?
Would they know I was somebody who now betrayed other Abnormals?
I knew what Xavier would tell me: that I had to do what I did to save our lives. That I had to bite the bus driver back in Turkey and the librarian and that I had to kill the other roper. That I had to bite Leon in front of my mother and ruin the final chance we had to have any kind of relationship again. So I wouldn't mention it. He was saying that it was okay to be what I was but showing me that it wasn't.
Once happy that things around the ATC building weren't going to get any quieter, I crept out of the closet to see a couple of police officers hanging around the front entrance of the tower. They were probably there for extra security. Neither was facing me but a faint coffee smell came through the door. I walked through the dark and opened the door on Xavier and Liliana. The server room was hot and full of humming computer towers.
I regretted it.
Their combined scent hit me and I backed off, trying not to breathe it in. My stomach cramped with hunger pains and I wanted to collapse. I couldn't hold out much longer. "We have to go," I said. The only thing that would make this worse would be for Xavier to start bleeding.
I wouldn't be able to resist that.
Xavier looked outside. "I agree. Wait. Is that--"
I held up a hand to shush him, half-glad I had something else to focus on.
Something new was happening. A limo pulled up to the front of the ATC building. The back door opened and Thoreau climbed out, fully back in non-Leon form. I shrunk back behind a cubicle and watched as he greeted the police officers. He was wearing his sunglasses again, even in the wee hours of the morning. He had changed into his suit despite the fact that Leon had been wearing a purple robe in the Underground. There were no signs of Leon here. Thoreau was in his own element and on top right now.
Thoreau waited on the sidewalk. I gripped my sword tight. He was so close to us. Xavier and Liliana stayed pressed against the wall next to the server room and the janitor started playing the radio several floors above. It was some song about a fiddling match with the devil. Fitting.
I blinked and the Infernal Dimension spread out with its fiery lakes, stone castles and red-black rock behind my eyelids. I shook my head and the image cleared. The dread feeling returned to my gut. I wondered when my system would get rid of this.
The other door opened and Beatrix herself got out of the limo. She circled around and joined Thoreau on the sidewalk.
My jaw about dropped. Xavier and Liliana couldn't see from there they were at, but I could. Xavier mouthed what's going on? to me and I held up a finger.
Beatrix and Thoreau smiled at each other and headed inside.
Chapter Five
"Now they're working together?" Xavier asked as we walked quickly through another alley, getting closer to George's place.
"They must be," I said. "I didn't think Beatrix would work with the mayor. Thoreau must have heard about her capture and went to make a deal with her. Maybe he even went as Leon. That could be why she went to his side."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Xavier said. "I guess if I were her and I knew my crime buddy was merged with the mayor, I'd see dollar signs. That's how a crime boss would think, in my opinion."
I scraped my hand on the wall of a building. My legs threatened to go out from under me. I was trying to look like I was just messing around, but in reality I needed that wall to stay upright. The first rays of dawn were coming and if the sun rose before we got inside, I'd really be in a world of hurt. On my best days, I could resist it for a few seconds before a massive migraine hit and I was blinded. Staying in shadows helped but didn't eliminate the symptoms during the day.
At my present state I might not even last a few seconds in the sun before a seizure hit. That was supposed to happen--and after that a coma that I might not recover from until the sun sank below the horizon again. I had never let that happen to me, not even when I was trying to blend in with Normals, but I didn't want to start.
"I feel like I screwed up again," I said.
"Beatrix was going to destroy us. You got us away from her in the only way we could."
"I knew you'd say that. Now we just made her more powerful."
"All the reason to destroy Thoreau and get our parents out of the Infernal Dimension," Xavier said. "We might want to get to Beatrix's portal before she gets back to The Pit. I'm sure Thoreau will let her have her nightclub back."
I looked back in the direction of the ATC building. "But it might not take us to the right part of the Infernal Dimension," I said, staggering. "Only Thoreau's portal is set to go to the right spot."
"I know," Xavier said. "But we have to try something, and soon. If Thoreau still has our parents and they're still alive, it won't be long before he gets desperate enough to threaten their lives. It's strange he's kept them this long."
"How do we know he has?" I asked.
"It's just a feeling I have," Xavier said. We crossed a street after waiting for a car. Liliana remained silent but I could see tears forming around the rims of her eyes. We were all in the same boat here.
I had to tell him this. "Thoreau wanted me to go to the Infernal Dimension when I paid him a visit."
Xavier snapped his gaze to me and his mouth fell open. "He did?" I swore that he paled a bit.
"He stood there and dared me to spill his blood so I could go through. I wanted to, b
ut I thought it was a trap, so I didn't. I knew I could be trapped in there."
The look on Xavier's face was making me uneasy. He had changed. "In that case, don't ever go there, Alyssa," he said. "It sounds like he's definitely got some kind of trap set up for you."
"It was probably lying just inside his portal," I said. "He made it obvious. I do like your idea of using Beatrix's portal again but we need another demon to spill some blood from."
"We really shouldn't go," Xavier said.
"But our parents are in there! We can get to Beatrix's portal if we find some demon blood. Why are you changing your mind?"
"If Thoreau wants you to visit his homeland, it can't be good," Xavier said.
"Are you thinking it might be part of his plan?" I asked.
Xavier leaned down by a sewer cover and worked at it. We were going under again. I was getting so, so sick of sewers. He got really absorbed in his work as he spoke. "You'd never know. He's sneaky. If he wanted you to go in, it can't be good."
"But he won't know about us trying Beatrix's portal, at least not at first."
"He will soon if he doesn't already."
"But it will take him some time to set up a trap."
"You really shouldn't go, Alyssa," he said, sliding off the cover. "We need to get under."
"I know I've gone on enough scary trips lately," I said. The idea was crazy but I had to try something. We had waited long enough to rescue our parents. Thoreau was getting impatient with me, right? He would try something to hurt them soon.
The dread feeling in my gut wasn't helping.
If anything, it was making me more desperate to do something.
Xavier walked quickly ahead of me as we made our way to George's street. Instead of relying on my vision, he held his palm out in front of him and summoned a magenta ball of light, which lit the tunnel ahead. The sewer got familiar again. I was learning the layout.
But Xavier was very, very quiet as the three of us walked.
Something was wrong and I was scared to ask what.
* * * * *
I could tell George was annoyed when we showed up at his house again, me ducking under trees to avoid the toxic rays of dawn, but he smiled and let us in when I explained that it was yet another emergency. Janine begging him helped our case.
First, I apologized to George for not returning his Halloween robe but he didn't seem to mind that. George had bags under his eyes as he rushed to the kitchen to cook, but Xavier and Liliana offered to do that for him.
"We're sorry we're invading again," Xavier said as I lay down on the living room floor while Janine closed the curtains. I was desperately hungry by then. All I could do was lie down. I needed blood soon. I'd have to send Xavier on a mission to steal a blood bag. Janine's mother was getting ready in another room to go out apartment hunting. Apparently, she'd been doing that and calling insurance companies ever since Thoreau burned down her last building. George had been trying to convince her to lay low for now.
Xavier and Liliana made bacon and eggs which seemed to cheer George up. I closed my eyes on the floor. Everyone was forgetting about me. Janine asked if I was okay as she sat on the couch. I shook my head and then she offered me the couch, which I took.
"I'm drained," I said, flopping down. "I just wish I could sit down and eat like normal people!"
"Xavier and his sister aren't Normal," Janine said, sitting on the coffee table.
Another painful cramp plumed in my stomach. I had never been this hungry, not even when Xavier's shoulder was bleeding on me. Janine's mother swept out of the house, probably uneasy that I was there. This time, she didn't protest that Janine was hanging out with me. We weren't alone, after all. George was here. She didn't have to worry as much.
"But they're human," I said. "Even your cousin gets to sit down and eat regular meals."
"They're usually meat based and he says it's expensive."
"You get the point." My frustration was building. My hunger was making me crazy. I had a thought that I should get out of there but the sun was up. It wouldn't be easy. I might not even make it.
"Xavier," Janine called.
"Yeah?"
"We need to get Alyssa some food." There was a ferocity in her voice. "You said that lady you know, Trish, keeps some blood bags?"
"I'll have to go and grab some," Xavier said, more to me than Janine. "I will as soon as I finish cooking Liliana's and George's breakfast." A pancake sizzled as he turned it over. Food smells filled the whole house, masking George's wolfy scent.
He was planning on skipping another meal. Maybe right now that was a good thing.
Liliana settled down in the kitchen and ate. I sat up and set my sword aside as Xavier entered the living room, nodding at me. "I'll go and grab a couple of bags right now. We should have done that before we fled and I'm sorry," he said. "They'll be warm by time I get back if you don't mind."
"I don't mind." I could go for anything right now.
Xavier had given in and eaten a few pieces of bacon. The candy smell had faded but now he smelled like breakfast. My stomach roared and cramped so painfully that I cried out. My limbs trembled but I stood. Xavier reached for the doorknob, a look of terror coming over his face. "Alyssa--no!"
I lunged for him.
Janine grabbed my arm.
It was enough to stop me. I was weak. She managed to pull me back as Xavier yanked open the door and stepped outside.
I had no control. I whirled around on Janine instead. She smelled faintly of milk and graham crackers--a late night snack. Her eyes widened as Xavier yelled my name and ran back into the house.
I pulled her close and bit her on the top of the shoulder.
Chapter Six
It took Xavier and George both to pull me off Janine, who screamed with pain as I did the worst. She backed away, hand to the top of her now-bloody shoulder. Already strength coursed through my limbs, but I wanted more. I was still hungry. I thrashed against Xavier and George, but George was strong, almost as strong as I, and the two of them combined kept me in place.
That was good.
Horror exploded the second my stomach calmed and I realized what I'd done.
The image was locked in my mind forever: Janine standing there, holding the space between her shoulder and her neck where blood was seeping out between her fingers. She seethed in pain and turned away as if she couldn't bear to look at me. The last cramps in my stomach died, only to be replaced by that horrible dread that refused to go away.
I had done it again.
I had bitten my best friend.
"Ohmigod," I said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that! Janine, I didn't know what I was doing..."
She seethed again and leaned against the wall. I hoped I hadn't taken too much. We were all silent. Xavier breathed against my ear and George stayed silent. He tightened his grip on my arm as if trying to protect his younger cousin. He was right to do so. I wasn't nearly as hungry now but my stomach still growled.
She pulled herself from the wall without wavering. I hadn't taken that much, then. Janine didn't appear to be too dizzy. "I think I'm okay," she managed and seethed again. "It just hurts right now."
"I'm sorry," I said.
Janine managed a smile though it was pained. "Hey, I got in the way."
"But I hurt you!"
Xavier shook his head. "I should have gone and gotten some blood bags earlier," he said. "I knew you were hungry, Alyssa. I just didn't know how to help you."
"I'm not hurt that bad," Janine said. "I think if I put some antiseptic on this, I'll be fine." She seethed again. Her blood still seeped out and I couldn't stop looking at it. I wanted to melt into the floor.
This was Hannah all over again, just without the teachers calling home and contacting the authorities. The only reason I was still in the house was the fact that Janine's mother wasn't here to hate on me. Janine was tougher than Hannah. She was putting on a strong front. I knew that bites hurt. I knew how much they hurt--I had been on t
he receiving end of one at two years old and the searing pain was still burned into my memory.
Janine sucked in breath after breath, no doubt trying to quell the pain. The look on her face didn't start to relax for a few minutes. "Better me than Xavier," she said. "I told you, Alyssa, that you could do this if you needed to."
I knew she had. "I shouldn't have," I said. "You're my friend!" I couldn't live with this.
Xavier hung his head. "This is partly my fault," he said.
George dared to loosen his grip on my arm, which was no longer shaking. I let my arm slap to my side.
I had ruined my life this way once.
There would be fallout.
I turned away and walked down the hall. I would have ran outside and kept running, but that was a no-go with the sun out, so I settled for the last room at the end of George's hallway, which turned out to be the guest room Janine and her mother were staying in. That made things worse. I flopped down on an air mattress on the floor and buried my head in the same pillow Janine had been using. It even smelled like graham crackers and milk.
Xavier ran in after me. "I should have found you some food," he said. "I knew you were hungry. I was trying to help by not eating as much but I didn't know what else I could do. I couldn't find anyone who deserved to get bitten."
Part of me was angry at him for that but what could he have done?
"Maybe the ATC is right that I shouldn't be out in society," I said, not lifting my head from the pillow. "Look at what I just did!"
"You helped avoid the end of the world," Xavier said. "Janine offered herself up by grabbing your arm. Didn't you see that?"
"But I hurt her."
"George has her lying on the couch," Xavier said. "Liliana's getting her some antiseptic. As long as she doesn't get an infection, she'll be fine."
The dread in my gut wouldn't go away. It was dragging me down, almost as if I had Shadow Sickness. Down the hall, Liliana rummaged through a bathroom cabinet for medication. Janine said something to George in a low whisper about not thinking a bite would hurt so much. George told her that all supernatural bites were painful. He had once gotten one, too.