Blacken

  The redhead found the length of just one of his wings was 1… 2… 2 ½ times that of her own arms span! She had measured by stretching out, palms touching the long feathers, before turning in toward his body, counting how many times her arms could fit. For how he came to Earth, he was here because he wanted to be. Technology of his planet integrated with the cosmos in a way that probably made sense to him, but left her with some confusion—boiling down to a gateway of sorts and how he arrived here.

  She didn’t want to ramble off too many questions all at once, after all, she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable or overwhelmed by her intrusive nature. Avie did ask about the similarities and differences between how the truxi and humans danced, seeing as it became a new passion of his.

  Rhulle demonstrated in the cleared-up space, hands placed differently, palms together between them rather than on their dance partner. Stepping differently yet, still in a swinging and simple motion. It was fun to dance with him and hear his laugh while he spun her around and around—learning new dances that were similar along the way. He enjoyed movie nights; she had shown him so many other movies that kept his attention more than he would admit to her.

  In the quietness of the late hour, he gave painting an enthusiastic try, enjoying creating little details on a canvas, a skill he seemed versed in. Avie watched him in fascination, every stroke with his brush calculating and planned, bathing in the light of the fire. Eventually he turned and caught her staring.

  “No moving,” he said, a light-hearted affronted tone matched his side smile.

  She laughed once, returning to her original pose and holding the position for a while. In the light of the fireplace, Rhulle handed her the completed work, leaving her mouth to hang open while she studied the incredible canvas.

  A portrait of herself sat in profile, the fire that crinkled in the background blazed around her in the paint; blossoming into flowers that bore striking semblance to her fiery hair. They weaved into the strands, adorning a crown of intense chrysanthemums, roses, and lilies, adding to the serene expression and distinctive red lips. It felt so… alive.

  “Oh my gosh... You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

  He shrugged where he stood, “I picked up a few skills awhile back.”

  It was the most beautiful thing she ever received. Even her own family could never put in this much effort… Her fingertips squeezed tighter around the border involuntarily, a question burned in her mind that she had been wanting to ask but danced around because of the heavier, more personal theme.

  “You have another question?” The smirk stayed as he moved to sit beside her on the ground.

  “Did… did you have a family that you had to leave on Celisc?”

  Rhulle stiffened, his smile dropping, “I have n—I have not thought about them in a long time… What brings this all of a sudden?”

  Avie looked down at the painting once more, “This is so beautiful, so much thought and talent went into making it, my own parents never took the time to think about me like this. I left them as soon as I could and moved far away, even farther now since I’m in Blacken,” she laughed nervously, “I guess I thought of how far I am from them and I wondered about how yours must be in comparison.”

  He drew in a loud breath, having it essentially roll in his lungs before he responded.

  “I see… I had a mother; I lost my father while very young; I do not remember much about him. I also had a younger sister, born of our mother but her father was unaware.” Avie’s head picked back up at hearing him explain,

  “My mother could not defend me; I was betrayed by her in every sense of the word. It is… difficult to explain, but I needed her good word, pleaded for it, yet my words fell on deaf ears. She would not protect me, her own son. My sister, however, was only a child, she could not help. I cannot forgive my mother, but I miss my sibling dearly… I suppose we are similar in escaping them.”

  Her hand placed on his, “I’m sorry, that sounds terrible.”

  A lock of her hair fell from its place, Rhulle reached with his other hand and gently placed it behind her ear, “Sentiments are the same for you, how could those who should raise you not treasure the sunshine you bring?”

  Avie felt her eyes water, a swell in her throat as her breath hitched. She didn’t even tell Owen about her parents, trying not to think about them as Rhulle had with his. Rhulle made her feel special, they shared parallel events in their life and for the first time, she had someone tell her that her parents were not right.

  His hand lingered there at the side of her face for a pause longer than normal while they sat, the truxen finally breaking the silence.

  “I want to give you a gift.”

  “But I,” she looked down at the portrait, then back up at him, “I just got one?”

  “Then it is not a gift.” He moved upstairs in a flash to retrieve it, coming back with her violet coat draped over an arm.

  “My jacket! You kept it safe this whole time? I owe you a huge thank you, you really helped me,” she laughed in a staccato, previous emotions threatening to break through with her elation.

  “I did?”

  “I could have been in trouble when those policemen were lurking around here. If they found my jacket so close to Garret, it could have tied me to the circumstances… Thank you, Rhulle.”

  He would not admit aloud that he didn’t think he could befriend another human ever in his lifetime.

  Avie was special, the first of her kind. No one else in the town would dare do what she did. Rhulle found himself enjoying her company immensely, she was the incandescent rays beaming through catastrophic clouds—brought with her each and every interaction.

  He found a bond with her that was completely unexpected, them sharing much of the same wavelengths, even calamity through parental figures were understood. Rhulle could see that she had not talked about her own to anyone else, he had been the only one.

  Even now as she smiled holding the purple coat, thanking him over a simple decision that caused him so much strife earlier, it led to an opposite reaction upon seeing the gratitude.

  Something stirred in him that he couldn’t place. His eyes washed over her and felt… different, unlike the usual feelings of inquisitiveness and joy, it had felt almost—sad? He mentally shook his head, that couldn’t have been right.

  How could he feel sadness when he sat across her, enjoying her company?

  Rhulle could be reading it wrong, she did after all, bring out a plethora of new questions and emotions since the first time they unofficially met.

  It would just take some time to sort out officially.

  CHAPTER 11

  The prick of the needle nestled itself in Avie’s arm, drawing vial after vial of blood.

  She wanted a little more than a simple blood test if her type didn’t match up on a standard placard, if she had rare blood, Avie wanted to donate just in case. It was peculiar that she didn’t fall into the standard blood groups, and while she understood that it was far more complicated than antigens measured and reacting with substances, there shouldn’t be anything alarming just because it didn’t show up with a main blood group, right?

  The nurse placed a cotton ball on the puncture mark, taking only four containers of her blood, fixating labels on all the tubes.

  “You’re all done, Miss. Conrad. Now, these can go out asap, but the results may take a few weeks.”

  “That sounds fine, do I need to do anything?”

  The nurse wrote down a quick script on a clipboard, not looking up, “No, we will call you. You’re all done.”

  The woman excused herself, deciding on grabbing something sweet to eat from J&K’s. Even if she didn’t have that much blood drawn, having something with sugar couldn’t hurt.

  Sandra was working again, Avie caught her eyes as soon as she entered, giving a little wave to the waitress in the quieter transition between bustling times. Her cleaning rag stopped mid swipe, coming up to the young woman with a grin.
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br />   “Avie! You’re never gonna guess what, sugar!”

  “What? What’s going on?” she laughed, joining in on Sandra’s excitement with a hug from the taller of the two.

  “They approved me for a promotion! I’m going to be making way more and working less!”

  The pair split apart, Avie’s jaw dropping in awe over the waitress’ good news, “That’s incredible, congratulations, Sandy! You’re the only one that deserved it, I’m so happy for you!”

  They hugged again, caught in the moment, “C’mon, I’ve got the best seat in the house for you.” She was led towards the back, sitting in the baby blue seat, taking in that herself and only one other patron occupied the diner. “Sugar, you want the usual?”

  She reached for the dessert menu instead, “No thank you, I’m trying to stay away from poultry. How did you get the job, anyway?”

  Sandra sat on the other side of the booth with her, leaning forward, “Elaine left. I think she was one of those that come in, stay awhile and leave again folk. I don’t know why she left, but I sure am glad she moved on,” she drawled in a whisper.

  Avie got a flash of an older woman covered in her own lifeblood in the middle of the woods. “… This was just recently?”

  “Couple days ago, just under a week. Which means no more cleaning tables for this gal as soon as Monday!”

  Sandra deserved the big break more than anyone Avie had met. She was so elated and relieved with getting the new job with an increased pay grade, no longer having to worry about her financial struggles. The only thing that peeved in the back of the redhead’s mind was Elaine had to disappear for the promotion to happen.

  She had a funny feeling that Elaine was the anonymous woman she stumbled upon just days ago.

  “You’re going to have it so easy then, would I get to still see you if I loiter in every week?”

  Sandra wiped small tears of joy with the back of her hand, “Probably not as much. Gonna miss all your visits though, sugar. You’ll have to stop in early in the mornin’s if ya can manage. Wanna try the new cinnamon roll?”

  Looking down to see her hand resting above the picture of said confectionary, she nodded, “Yeah, it looks amazing.” The waitress nodded back, getting up from the booth, “Wait, Sandy,” she turned back to look at Avie, who paused with an admission on her tongue, “… I’m really happy for you.”

  She couldn’t do it.

  “Thank you, sugar. Let me get you that ‘roll. S’on the house.”

  Conflicting emotions run through her as she watched Sandy leave; could she truly feel happy for one if misfortune had to befall another?

  The mystery Dewey Decimal team finally hit a wall.

  Avie saw Owen become visibly frustrated, throwing down items as he slouched back in his seat, “It’s like one step forward, then two steps back,” he said with a grunt.

  They were up late, running over anything they could that came close to what the woman experienced with the blood samples in the comfort of his home.

  “We will just have to wait for the blood test to come back, then it may reveal more?”

  “I don’t know, Aves. I’m starting to think this is another false lead. You’re the only one that has this, it might not important to the overall mystery.”

  Her grip tightened, upset to hear those words coming from Owen.

  “It’s damn important to me, I wish I could shut this off. It’s still intense, I need to find out what’s causing it.”

  “Maybe it’s psychosomatic?”

  Looking at him, a frown plastered in discontent for his suggestion, “You’re kidding, right?”

  Avie knew that he was frustrated, but so was she. She was the one that had to deal with the afflictions every odd week, if anything, the redhead wanted to find the answers more than he did.

  She rationalized that he was just speaking out of exasperation while he shrugged off her question.

  It was only a matter of silent hours later, while invested in a microscope, that the feeling started back up again. Owen looked up to see what was going on as her fingers tensed in the back of her skull, a soft whine coming from her stooped figure.

  Clutching at her head, a muffled ringing blurred out all of Owen’s worried words. She wanted to vomit, it washed in, taking up all her attention. His words came in gradually, he was asking something, but not about the sensation.

  “Give me your hand!”

  Avie’s face scrunched in pain, “What? What for?”

  “I’m going to look at your blood.” He took her palm, flipping her hand face up.

  “Again? Owen, we couldn’t find anything about it since last time!”

  “You weren’t vibrating last time, c’mon we may not get a chance like this again,” he said, voice teetering on the edge of rushed desperation.

  Her vision swam, but she focused enough to see the blond pricking at the end of her finger, observing the scarlet drops float out of the puncture. They hovered and bobbed in the air, rapidly dashing a second later across the room and splattering against his window.

  It really had been trying to lead her all this time.

  “Whuh—what? What the fuck? What was that? What did you do? What the fuck does that mean?”

  Owen only watched with a smile on his face as the droplets bled through the muntins to the outside air. “It’s a lead!”

  He stood, hurriedly throwing on winter clothing, tripping over clunky boots and throwing open his hall closet door, “Get your coat, we have answers to find,” he continued, grabbing a small box at the top of the shelve, opening it to reveal a small gleaming handgun.

  “… Owen, c’mon, why do you need that?”

  It was shocking to see him own such a thing. Avie never agreed with the concept, it was scary to think that he had ownership and was dangling the thing around wildly in front of her.

  “For protection, whatever is at the end of your blood trail, it could be dangerous.” He haphazardly pointed the extension of it towards her general direction while gesturing at her hand, making her flinch.

  “Please, put that away. S-shouldn’t we call someone? An exorcist maybe? This is freaking me out. It’s not normal. And it sure as shit isn’t normal to chase blood around town!”

  He looked out longingly past the street, the door opened only a crack, before closing it with a grunt, coming back and kneeling in front of her.

  “Avie, this has been our mystery since day one of you coming to the library. We have been met with blocks and dead ends, even after throwing everything at the wall. And now you may have an answer… We might have an answer to this something, and you don’t want that now?”

  She thought of Rhulle, her vibrations led her out to his manor before, it’s where the blood would inevitably lead them if they went. Avie was desperate to not have him revealed to Owen. Owen could talk, he could get the media and a mob involved. While she did trust him and had high hopes that he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize a secret, she didn’t know how he would handle the situation, if he could handle it. She warily eyed the silver revolver.

  Would it mean his life? Either of theirs?

  “I do, I’m just scared.”

  “Don’t be, I’ve got us covered! Who knows how long we can follow the trail for though...? I’m asking you, please? I can’t do this without you.”

  Shaking, a war raged in her mind. Her mouth opened to say something, but couldn’t find words, only a defeated breath escaped. What could she do?

  Her head hung, eyes darting in thought. Avie nodded her head in an almost imperceptible movement of affirmation, but that was all it took for Owen to jump for joy, throwing the pink coat over her body.

  Outside, the wind blew a flood of snowflakes, disrupting the ones already fallen onto the ground. The woman shivered at the negative temperature; her hand was held in Owen’s as he pricked the tip of her finger once again. They watched the blood rise and take off, showing them the way to follow. She felt sick, a combination of trepidation and the vibrating
emanating from her blood. Yet, they had to move, they had to move fast to keep up with it.

  For past treks under the circumstances, Avie could hardly muster the strength to walk normally. Here Owen was, yanking her by the hand to keep a fast pace through the town and towards the trees. Her legs gave out a few times, without rest, the blond raised her back up, hauling her onto her feet via their connected hand.

  The pair kept going, reaching the woods.

  Avie had been trying to think of a way she could change his mind. Make them turn around and return home, yet she also wanted with every fiber of her being to continue and find out where the blood led. It terrified her of what would happen should they run into Rhulle. Would he think she betrayed him?

  “Owen, please! I can’t go any further, we should head back and try again next time!”

  He was silent for a moment, still moving forward, “Do you know where we are going? We’re coming up to that abandoned manor! I knew there was something about that place!”

  “No! Anybody could be inside of there, we can’t! Let’s turn back!” desperation rang through her voice.

  The librarian was now practically dragging her along, his hand held to hers tight, causing the blood to constantly drip to see where it led, and keep her beside him. She was weak from the stress it put on her body, unable to break away or get him to stop. Even planting her feet in place was fruitless, she would just stumble and fall, being yanked up by him again.

  “We can do this, Avie... Just a little further!’

  The manor came into their sightlines, her eyes wide as she panicked.

  “I can’t. I can’t, Owen, take me back right now!” He didn’t respond, continuing to lead the way to the manor, “Hey! Owen, let me go. Owen!”

  The blood stopped mid-flight, and it fell to the ground in front of them as her mind cleared, relief flushed over her body, senses returning to normal. She was so thankful.