Blacken

  Once more she ventured in her state, pain ringing throughout her body and centralizing in her head. Holding her cranium to stabilize herself, she traversed the streets in a stumble, clinging onto the bark of a birch once she reached the tree line. She did this once before, she could do it again.

  Damp snow fell off the trees above her, landing in her hair and down the back of her coral coat. It caused her to squeak, as if she didn’t need more discomfort. Finally, after taking multiple breaks to gather herself, Avie held her sight on the manor in the woods, a small relief, all things considered, washing through her.

  The woman tripped over her own feet, them refusing to cooperate while she explored the rooms she had been shown, calling out for the feathered cryptid, unable to find him—becoming more and more frustrated as every room she cleared, he was nowhere to be found. Her body reacted to something that was here, Rhulle would see that and help find the source of the mysterious power. He knew this place better than anyone, he’s sure to have seen something that could explain the sensation now that it reverberated in its strongest form.

  The clenched fists left small crescents from her nails into the skin, they shook uncontrollably as Avie opened them back up to inspect. Hands were turning pink from the frigid temperature, the frosty snow unforgiving to her exposed skin while she walked back outside.

  If he wasn’t in the manor, was he in the shed seen beforehand?

  With all her might, she commanded her body to walk there in great strain.

  “Rhulle! The vibrations, they’re back… Where are—?”

  The woman turned the corner of the building and was cut short by the air in her own lungs. Her eyes fixated on Rhulle, hunched over not far off from when she first saw him. His scarlet eyes were back, matching the blood dripping from his sharp teeth and down his face and body. Said teeth were just previously ripping open an older woman’s neck; her laying on the cold ground under him, eyes lifeless.

  Avie focused back on Rhulle, seeing him simply wiping away the copious blood around his mouth with the inside of his forearm, looking at her like a child with his hand in the cookie jar.

  Fight or flight didn’t kick in this time around. Instead, she backed away in shock, her mind wanted to look back at the person on the ground, confirm it was real. She fought against the instinct, it made her light and fuzzy, eyes blurring as she kept her stare with Rhulle.

  Was he saying something? She couldn’t tell, stumbling back in a daze. It wasn’t processing properly, her thoughts in a limbo while they jumbled over each other, auto pilot taking over.

  The pain eventually stopped.

  Her mind came back to reality, realizing she now sat in the living room on a covered couch, staring ahead at the grand fireplace. Avie didn’t know how to react, she knew this was what he did, but seeing the act was something else entirely—solidifying the experience as something real. Real death.

  With her racing thoughts starting to subside, the shock tapered off, leaving her shaking cold. She wondered how long she had been sitting there, when Rhulle had entered, a timidity about him.

  He took in her appearance, gazing over her form up and down, cautiously moving across her to begin a roaring fire, striking flint rocks together in the pit. In the new light, she could see that he was no longer covered in blood, his chestnut plumage as pristine as she’s always seen it. The redhead didn’t want to know what happened in the interim—but it did help set her mind at ease seeing the norm.

  Avie watched him sit across her in a plush chair by the fireplace, assessing her.

  “I didn’t think I’d ever see you do it. I’m not really sure why, it was rational in my mind that I just wouldn’t.”

  “It feels more real now, does it not?”

  The woman nodded, “I know it’s so normal for you. I really only saw someone… I mean someone that was…” Avie still couldn’t say the words. She tried again, “I came here again because of the vibrating that messes with me. It came back and I thought that if you could see it or knew what I was talking about firsthand I… I don’t know what I thought. It made sense at the time.”

  She watched him look away, “I am sorry you had to see it in this way. Do you view me differently now? Will you no longer want to see me?” he asked, voice low.

  “No, Rhulle, I still want to see you, that hasn’t changed. It’s just that, I have to process this; I wasn’t sure exactly how it was that you… Uhhmm…”

  “Fed?”

  She confirmed, face pale, “Yeah, how you fed on humans.” Exhaling, she let her head hang. A silence filled in the conversation, her hearing the whisper of his feathers as he readjusted.

  “Tell me about your feeling, when did it start? When did it end?”

  Hiking her head back up, a different topic to discuss was a welcome one, “I was sleeping when it started, I’m not sure how long it was going for or when it really stopped. I feel like I keep missing the answer, like it’s here somewhere but I always stop short of it.”

  Rhulle held sympathy on his features while she explained the sensation, how the world stopped while she was amidst the throes of pain caused by this unknown force. It got to the point where she was worried about going mad from the distress.

  He changed the subject, steering the conversation to talk about her favourite book; asking her to explain the characters, what her favourite part was, how she came to discover the novel in the first place. It was a much lighter conversation, Avie pleased to participate in this discussion more than the previous heavier ones. If he was trying to distract her, Rhulle did a great job.

  “I want to help figure what is affecting you. This affliction causes you so much pain. My friend should not be in pain like that.”

  Jade eyes lifted, searching out his. She paused, gauging his facial features, feeling warm by his words. “You really mean that? We can be friends?” she asked, voice hardly over a whisper.

  “Yes, Avie. I have been thinking it all over, and I found consistently that I would consider you a friend. So long as this… will not affect too negatively, I hope.” A gentle hand placed itself over hers, solidifying the endearment.

  Avie felt light at the words, it was exciting to hear a reciprocation of comradery from Rhulle. She could see the shift in him as soon as it happened—the initial harsh rejection due to pride, sliding into the realization of loneliness. It was incredible to earn his friendship; it was all she could think about. Wanting to get to know him and learn more, she wasn’t concerned with finding answers to only help her, it was always deeper than that. The woman was drawn to him, sharing a passion of reading and similar viewpoints in stories and characters. Rhulle was the impossible orphic being that only she knew of.

  The redhead’s face broke out in a giant grin, overjoyed at his words.

  “I would love to be friends,” she said, nodding passionately back, “you would really help figure this out too? I can’t thank you enough! Could I—can I hug you?”

  He raised a curious eyebrow at her, possibly expressing the how or why written on his face, instead Avie took the initiative to stand and step over the short distance to be in front of him. She smiled briefly down at him, collecting his hands in hers to get him to rise as well—embracing him in a split second. Feeling the umber feathers against her face as they caressed her skin, they were cool and slightly damp, but they were so soft, as soft as she imagined as she sighed and closed her eyes.

  This human… she kept surprising him. It was as if she did not think half of the time. Avie had just bore witness to one of his feedings, and yet here she was smiling and holding him only moments later. She didn’t regard him as something out of this world, instead as a friend and wanted his kinship—ecstatic when he returned the gesture.

  Yes, he would help find out what strange condition had its grasp on Avie, his new friend, his only friend. Rhulle felt her nuzzle slightly in the plumage as he was encompassed in her sign of affection. How long had it been since he was held?

  How bloody long had i
t been since he had any warmth like this human offered?

  Rhulle wrapped his long arms around her torso, completing the hug, a small smile tugging on his lips.

  CHAPTER 10

  Blacken’s police department sent out an official statement October 8th about the death of Garret Kipper.

  Due to overwhelming evidence left on the body and lack of any outside motive, the coroner and deputies ruled his death a suicide—much to his widow’s dismay. Mrs. Kipper fought against the statement, begging everyone involved to go over everything once again. She would have seen the signs if suicide was the case, insisting it was not. Imploring them to check again but was met with recommendations for counselling for her tragedy of sudden loss, many people meeting her queries with claims that it’s never the ones they expect.

  Avie wondered what could have happened that night that made him take his own life, talking over the scenario with Owen. She went over everything with him, tucked into the corner of his sofa. Everything that happened that night when she saw him, running over every detail once again, trying to express the lingering guilt she harboured.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, Aves. But don’t beat yourself up over this. It was a suicide, we may never know why or what happened, but it wasn’t like you killed the guy.”

  “Please, Owen… His name was Garret. If he was out there to do that… I wish I could have done more, called the police or something as soon as I got here, would that have even been enough time?”

  Conflicting emotions ran through her as soon as the topic was brought up, any of the missing people, any of the deceased; that’s when the reality struck her. The weight of a human life occupied her mind, having wanted to do so much more to stop what was occurring out in the woods.

  Yet, that shouldn’t mean that the creature, whose only crime was eating to survive, should be killed. Avie knew there had to be an alternative—something to keep people alive and have Rhulle sustaining.

  “You were in shock Avie, as most people would be. It’s terrible what happened to Garret, but he had his own reasoning to do what he did. If it didn’t happen then, it may have another time. He was sick, Aves.”

  “I know, I just… I wondered, what if he was out there trying to follow the call too? And I—shit, I did nothing while he probably laid there in the dirt.”

  Rhulle wasn’t the one to kill him, she had to remember that. But he did have to seek someone else out in order to feed, a victim that could have been anyone unsuspecting, anyone who potentially did not even go into those woods that night. She didn’t even know who that woman was the last time she traversed out there.

  Had she been overlooking the importance because of special treatment?

  Owen hugged her, “You don’t know that for sure, it was probably only coincidence that you even saw him out there. Would it help if you talked about it to a professional? There’s a group therapy session that the town is putting together.”

  Avie closed her eyes, sighing at the gentle strokes on her back, “Maybe I can check something out, it may help put the pieces together. I don’t know about group therapy though.”

  “Of course, I’m still here if you need to talk it out. What are friends for?”

  Friends…

  Her eyes opened. She thought of Rhulle and the friendship they started. He was alone, for who knew how long, feeding on people only when necessary, never going out of his way to harm someone. If he did, the woman wouldn’t be here today.

  No, she still did not view him as inherently wrong in his actions. He even admitted to trying alternatives to humans, unfortunately, farm and wild animals couldn’t be tolerated. Rhulle drew every inch of her captivation, she only needed to think of him, and the disposition fell away. If she could know more about him, it was a long shot, but perhaps there really was a way to keep everyone alive.

  “Thank you. That means the world.”

  He broke away slightly, “Do you need a distraction? Or do you need to keep venting?”

  “Distraction, definitely.”

  Owen’s eyes lit up under the mop of blond bangs, “Want to get your blood tested?”

  “… Excuse me, what?” She blinked, taken aback at the question.

  “They didn’t take your blood at the hospital, right? Maybe it’s not your body as a whole reacting, maybe it’s something in your blood that can help lead us in the right direction.”

  Holy. Shit.

  “Yeah, I mean—hell yeah! Let’s check it out,” she said, enthralled in the new topic.

  Owen grabbed a small box of supplies, sitting back down beside her—pulling out tuning forks, magnets, hertz meter, a small radio, and a blood type kit.

  “Wow,” she snorted, “you pulled out all the stops for this.”

  “It hit me like a ton of bricks the other night, we needed to find the effect too, eh?”

  Sanitizing her index first, with a prick of her finger, they started the home blood type kit, smearing the samples onto the card, then pooling extra droplets onto a petri dish. Over the course of an hour, Owen tested different frequencies, pitches, magnets, and radio waves with her blood, seeing if anything would react dramatically, with no success.

  “Another dead end,” Avie sounded a little defeated.

  “Well, not quite. There is something off about your blood, it’s not matching with any of the blood types.”

  She spun her head, “What do you mean,” taking the card from him, she examined the results, “did we do it wrong?”

  “No, it’s right, the test is just inconclusive. You may have some sort of mutant blood there, Aves!”

  Her interests peaked, explaining that she would book an appointment to get it properly tested. Another puzzle piece added, yet no picture in sight…

  Owen pitched the idea to watch a movie, that it would be a better distraction, and they were spending a lot of time on research. Avie agreed wholeheartedly, helping herself in the kitchen to bring out wine and snacks.

  Turning to look at her, Owen heard her laugh translate into the most dazzling string of melodies. Taking a sip of his wine, the blond returned his gaze to the television, watching Avie from the corner of his periphery, taking in her better mood.

  Everything about her was beautiful to him, the dark freckles, the curly hair that frizzed even on a good day, the hook of her nose… She had been the only person in town to try to get to know him when he was the social outcast. Whether it was from asking too many questions or his overbearing nature, he still wasn’t sure. One thing that he was sure of, was that she came to him and matched his passions, not bothered by his energy or obsession.

  And now, here they were, best buddies with a mystery that tied them together.

  What would she think if he said he harbored other feelings for her?

  Owen never had much luck with dating, let alone girls in general. But the way Avie made him feel, so accepted as a person… He could only think about the ‘what ifs’ if she also felt something for him. He was the only person that she spent time with, and a lot of their free time was spent together.

  How would he go about seeing if she felt the same pining burn as he did?

  The redhead laughed again, himself joining even as he was caught up in his thoughts. He dared an arm around her and was met with no resistance—a blush hinted at his cheeks that could have been passed off as the alcohol.

  Elongated fingers drew indents and small scratches into the trunk’s wood.

  Rhulle watched from a perch, hidden in the dark and away from the streetlights. He observed the pair inside laugh and have fun, Avie giving out smiles he only seen given to him.

  His feathered self attempted to seek her out at her dwelling, proudly wanting to show off improvements and cleaning done to his own, only to find her residence empty. After waiting to see if she would return after a while, he became bored and decided to look elsewhere. Seeing her take up space at the annoyance’s home.

  He travelled there, finding Avie no problem, but also finding the ma
le human in close contact. Rhulle felt weird at seeing that. It irked him. Crawled under his skin akin to a parasite and itched there as he watched, growing further evident as the seconds ticked by.

  Rhulle already didn’t like that Owen character for poking around his home so many times in the past, but now, seeing him together with his human?

  … His...?

  He shook off the thought, she took the time and patience to be his friend, to extend a hand in alliance and new opportunities. He simply just didn’t like that it came so easy to the annoying creature as well. That was all.

  Flying off in a huff, he tried to forget the sight of her so close, paying attention to that human instead of himself.

  He nearly threw a hissy fit when he got home, pacing around his room. He thought, well, he couldn’t place his thoughts about the female in that situation. She worked so hard to earn his friendship, doing the impossible, he wanted them to have that bond now that she ended up intricately placing herself into his life. Yet Avie was so close to that irritation of a human. It was unfair that she gave her friendship bond to another male. He should be the only one!

  Rhulle knocked over a stack of books, looking at the mess of a pile he created and seeing the copy of his new favorite book right away.

  “But she was still scared of him because he wanted to control her,” her voice echoed in his mind.

  He sobered, bending down to take the novel, catching his thoughts. It wasn’t right of him to control who she could and couldn’t see. If she expressed friendship with… him, then he would have to learn how to deal with it. But he could still not like Owen, he figured.

  Avie asked so many questions in the span of a few days, getting many of them answered in return. It was exciting figuring Rhulle out, his kind, and how he all sort of… worked.

  She learned that he didn’t need to eat the flesh of humans, only the blood—which was interesting, if not a little stomach churning. The young woman had been able to learn much more interesting factors, such as his species were called; Truxen or Truxi pluralized. Rhulle spoke an entirely different dialect, learning English from various reading techniques and books that were for learning said language littered around the collective. Stars glimmered in her eyes when he demonstrated a simple sentence in his native tongue.