by Lola StVil
“I just want to go back to bed,” she replies.
“Not an option. Let’s go,” I order as we head inside.
We enter the four-story building and find an elderly woman behind the desk, playing Farmville on Facebook.
“Hi, Marcy,” I call out.
“Pryor! How are you?”
“I’m good. I just wanted to stop by and show my friend around. Is Abby awake?”
“Yes, and she’s having a good day today,” Marcy replies.
I explain to Diana that this is one of the places my mom and I volunteer. She asks who Abby is and why we’re going to see her. I don’t reply. I simply signal for her to follow me. We enter the hallway and I make Diana stop in front of one of the rooms. She peers through the glass and sees a little girl in bed wearing a hospital gown.
The girl is pale, underweight, and fragile. She’s about seven years old, has a shaved head, and tubes run along her arms. She doesn’t see us because she’s focused on her latest masterpiece. She’s drawing a dog, a tree, and a big bright yellow sun.
“That’s Abby,” I whisper to Diana.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Brain tumor.”
“They can’t do anything to help her?”
“No. It’s not a matter of if she dies but when.”
“Great, why did you take me here? Why are you showing me this? Is this your idea of a cruel joke? You take me to see a little girl that’s dying?”
“No, I’m taking you here to see a little girl that’s living. I spoke to the nurse; Diana, there are days Abby can’t lift her head up, let alone hold a crayon. But today she’s drawing, today she’s happy.”
“So?”
“So that’s exactly what you need to do. Every day of your life isn’t always going to hurt like it does now. You will get past this, you will feel better, but until then you need to do what Abby is doing—she’s fighting death by living her life as much as she can. That little girl has no powers, no wings, nothing. Yet she is waging a war for her life because she understands that life, no matter what, is worth fighting for.”
“Pryor, you don’t understand. I miss Sparks. I miss her so much. There’s a hole inside me that never closes up. I just want it to stop hurting.”
“It will, in time. But you don’t get to give up. Your daughter wouldn’t want that for you. Stop thinking of reasons to die and start thinking of reasons to stay around. Firebug wasn’t the only kid who needed you. There are lots of kids out there with no one. You don’t just stop being a mom because your child is gone; someone else needs you.
“Find a kid to mentor, not just drop by once a week like you did before. I mean really find someone to let in your life, someone who needs you. Use everything that Sparks taught you about being a mom to help others. Don’t let her death be in vain. And don’t think for a moment that the team and I are okay with losing you, because we’re not.
“You matter. Do you get that? You matter. You matter to Aaden and to us. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and get in this fight. And make no mistake about it, when you lose someone, it’s a fight to remember why you should keep going. You are not allowed to give up. Abby hasn’t and neither should you.”
“How much time does Abby have?” Diana asks.
“Human doctors gave her three months. That was three years ago.”
“What’s keeping her alive?”
“Some girls never go quietly.”
She looks back at Abby through the window. The sun has gotten bigger since we last looked. In fact, the sun takes up most of Abby’s paper sky. The yellow crayon she is using falls out of her hand. Diana opens the door and greets Abby.
“Hi,” Abby says with a smile almost as big as her sun.
“Here,” Diana says as she fetches the crayon from the floor and places it into Abby’s hand.
“Thank you. Do you wanna color? I have another yellow,” Abby offers.
“Um…yeah, sure,” Diana replies as she pulls up a chair and sits alongside Abby’s bed.
“That’s pretty!” Abby says, admiring the prism-shaped necklace Diana wears.
“Thank you. If you hold it up to the light, you can see a rainbow,” Diana says, placing the prism towards the sun.
“Cool!”
“My daughter loved to look at light and colors. We used to play with this necklace.”
“Is she here?”
“No…but I think she would be okay if you held it while we colored together,” Diana offers as she takes the necklace off and places it on Abby.
I was going to enter, but it felt wrong to interrupt them. So I head back to the entrance to wait for Diana. As I’m walking away, I hear something I have not heard in a long time from Diana—laughter.
I can’t say that Diana is a hundred percent better from one conversation with a little girl. However, Abby isn’t just any little girl; there’s something about her that makes it impossible to be sad when she’s near. And as we go into the crowded supermarket to get supplies for the BBQ, I can see a difference in Diana. She doesn’t sound as hopeless as she did before. She even made a crude sex joke, which, according to East, is a sign of true mental health.
“When you were human, did you care which kind of BBQ sauce was on your food? Randy says it matters, but I don’t see how. All of these look the same to me,” I ask Diana.
She informs me that she wasn’t one for BBQs back when she was human but points to a nearby store clerk.
“He might be able to help you,” she says.
I rush over to him and ask for his help. He doesn’t reply, so I ask again, but he still stays silent. The clerk’s lanky body is rendered motionless. It’s as if he’s been paused. His eyes turn to pools of blood that swirl wildly in their sockets. His skin begins to crack like broken porcelain as power surges through him. His nails extend out until they become full-fledged talons.
The store clerk has been infected by a Numbi demon—demons without bodies who inhabit human bodies to create chaos. That’s why Omnis cast them out to the far corners of the Earth. There is no reason they should inhabit a human in New York City. Yet, that is exactly what’s happening to this guy.
“Numbi demon. I’ve heard about them but never seen one in action,” Diana whispers, mostly to herself.
“We can restrain it, but we can’t kill it; that would also kill the human whose body it’s using,” I remind her.
“Thankfully it’s just one,” Diana says.
As soon as the words come out of her mouth, the cashier a few feet over stops moving. Her eyes turn red, like the store clerk in front of us.
“Okay, so there are two Numbi demons. We can handle that,” I assure Diana underneath my breath.
Before she can reply, every single shopper and employee in the store stops moving. We watch as their eyes go red and their skins begin to crack. As their nails turn into talons, I signal for Diana to aim for the door.
“Now!” I shout.
We race across the market, but by then a group of shoppers blocks our way out, forcing us to have to face them. We are far more powerful than the demons, but since we can’t hurt them, the only thing we can really do is try to escape.
“We have to fire back if we want to get out of here,” Diana says.
“Our powers take away life, and the human body is already weak from the demon that’s invading it. Adding our powers to the mix will kill them whether we mean to or not,” I warn as we scour the market for another way out.
One of the shoppers growls at her and sends a bolt of energy coursing through his hands right at Diana. I push her out of the way and we both crash into the nearby display, sending food flying into the air.
A heavyset woman picks up the freezer bin from the wall and hurls it at us. Diana latches on to me and pulls me away just in time. However, we are not so lucky with the second attack; it comes from a young human about fifteen years old. She has wild blonde hair and wields a metal rod. She places all her weight on the weapon as she strikes
it down onto my hand.
I swear and cry out as the rod pierces my palm and separates the bones in my fingers. I pull out the rod and groan as the pain invades my body. Diana pushes the blonde out of the way and we take off for the back of the store. The crowd sends surges of power from every direction as we seek shelter.
“Pryor, look out!” Diana screams as we run past the deli aisle, but it’s too late. A surge hits me in the midsection and sends me catapulting right through the plate-glass door of the nearby freezer. I gasp loudly as I feel the skin peel off my stomach. My exposed flesh oozes out sticky, warm blood. I want to get up, but the pain makes that nearly impossible.
“We gotta go!” Diana shouts as she runs over to me and helps me off the floor.
“Diana, behind you!”
She is quick but not quick enough to stop the excruciating agony about to befall her. One of the humans takes a bat to Diana’s head. I push Diana out of the way but not in time to stop the bat from making contact with Diana’s jaw. Blood-soaked pieces of Diana’s teeth fly into the air.
“AHHHHHH!” she cries as she falls to the ground beside me.
The blood gushes from her face at an alarming rate. Her eyes are glazing over; she’s losing too much blood to stay awake. I manage to drag her into a corner away from the crowd, but it’s only a matter of time until they reach us. I inform Diana, but she’s too weak to reply.
“Diana, stay with me!” I order.
I look around and swear as I spot my cell phone—on the other side of the room. There is no way we can get to it from where we are. I take my sweater off and tear it into strips. I place one against Diana’s face to slow the bleeding and do the same for the wound on my stomach. Diana’s bleeding has slowed, but she is still on the verge of passing out.
The crowd starts to close in on us once again. I have no choice but to hold them off by breaking their knees and hands. I try to fight them off gently, but there’s no way to get out of this without hurting them to some extent, like Diana said.
I finally lay eyes on the back door. I drag Diana through it and the crowd begins to follow. I throw any and everything I can find to block their path. I manage to make it out to the dumpster out back.
Diana is in too much pain to talk, so she signals for me to go into her pocket. I find a pouch containing two vials and she gestures for me to throw the blue one into the building. I do as she instructed and a bubble-like barrier forms around the entire store. All the humans are trapped inside. No one can get in or out.
I administer the other vial per Diana’s orders. In a matter of minutes her jaw is reformed and new teeth form in her mouth. Although she is still weak, she helps me tend to my wounds with the remaining mixture. We stand up slowly and lean on the wall of the alley.
“What the hell was that?” I ask.
“I don’t know. Numbi demons don’t live anywhere near here, and they are bound to the place they were first formed. They shouldn’t be able to travel all the way here,” Diana says.
“That means someone called to them. Someone sought them out and sent them here.”
“You think Malakaro did this?” she asks.
“No, he’s too busy looking for the fifth vial so he can make my dad and me suffer.”
“Maybe he did this to send a message,” Diana suggests.
Suddenly a voice emerges from the darkness a few yards away. “This was a message, but it wasn’t from Malakaro; it was the Raven. She’s coming for you; she’s coming for all of us.”
Worried that we may be in danger, Diana and I stand, ready to attack. The figure comes out of the shadows and reveals himself: Silver.
Chapter Ten:
Her
The moment I lay eyes on him, Diana disappears; in fact, in my mind’s eye, everything vanishes. There are no more trees, cars, or buildings. The endless white noise of New York City has been rendered silent; the sky above me gathers all its stars and walks away. The ground beneath my feet vanishes as well.
There are only three things that exist in the world right now: Me, Aaden, and the past. The words he spoke to me just before we made love for the first time echo in the background, carrying with it a tragic melody, one neither of us knows how to dance to.
“This moment is about you. If you are hesitant in any way, now is the time to tell me. I’ve been making love to you every day in my head my entire life; once we start, I won’t be able to stop. When it comes to you…I’m just not that strong.”
The past doesn’t restrict itself to simple words. It comes with vivid moments I try very hard not to recall. They aren’t grand moments like when Aaden rebuilt the Green Mountains for me or when he saved me from a sea of flames. Instead the past recreates small moments, the kinds that grab hold of you and never let go. The images play out in the background, just like his words. They flow seamlessly; I watch the morbid slideshow of what used to be.
I “see” Aaden tenderly tucking me into bed after my brutal ordeal at the Center. He places the covers over me and kneels down beside my bed. The concern etched on his face is undeniable. He kisses my forehead and stands over me like he is guarding his very soul.
That moment fades and makes way for another—me sitting in a muddy ditch after Sam’s death, crying hysterically as rain beats down mercilessly on us. Aaden takes me into his strong, reassuring embrace.
The next flash is of me lying naked on my stomach. Aaden’s tongue traveling along my spine causes me to gasp in ecstasy as I call out his name. It’s not just where he’s kissing that makes me weak with longing, it’s the way he’s kissing me—he’s attentive, patient, and solely focused on pleasuring me. Each kiss he gives me comes with an unspoken promise.
Damn it, Pryor, bring back the stars, the ground, the cars—everything. Bring it all back because you and Aaden aren’t alone in your own world. There is no world for the two of you. Snap the hell out of it, now!
I come back to my senses and return to the current situation. I didn’t realize until just now that while I had my eyes locked on him, his were fixed on me.
I study him. He has managed to do the impossible: look even more alluring than he did before. He’s wearing a simple black, fitted long-sleeve cotton T-shirt that reveals a pulse-racing truth: whatever he was doing in the past six months has allowed him to go from six-pack abs to a jaw-dropping eight. His once all-black wings are now reverted back to their striking signature grey color.
His broad shoulders, solid chest, and large hands make it difficult not to seek out his embrace. But what makes him truly impossible to look away from is his eyes. His intense and penetrating stare sends a current of yearning rocketing down my body. My knees buckle, my stomach quickens, and my head begins to spin.
“Silver!” Diana says as she wraps her arms around him.
He smiles warmly and hugs her back, never taking his eyes off of me. I want to look away, but I can’t.
“Hi,” he says to me in a voice thick with emotion.
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out of it. The flashes are back, but this time, they aren’t pictures or sound. It’s not my mind remembering him; it’s my body. The nape of my neck recalls the current of desire that came when his lips lightly grazed it. My ears seek out the certainty and warmth that came when he called my name. We held hands while we made love the last time and my fingers remember that. Everything in me remembers him: his scent, his growl, and his taste…
Pryor, for crying out loud, stop it! Open your mouth and say something—anything. Don’t just stand there like a damn statue. He’s looking at you. It’s been several seconds now. Just say hello or say fuck you, say anything at all. Whatever happens, just please don’t stand here in silence like a complete nut. Say something!
I open my mouth again, and again, nothing comes out. This can’t be happening. This has to be some kind of nightmare that I will wake up from.
“Silver, there’s a café around the corner, you can go ahead and we’ll catch up,” Diana says as she places a hand on my shoul
der.
He’s about to object, but Diana stops him and signals for him to go. He looks over at me, concerned, then starts to walk away. I wait until he’s no longer in view before I start talking.
“Oh my Omnis! What the hell was that? Why didn’t I speak? What the hell?” I shout as I start pacing up and down the alley.
“Calm down. It’s not a big deal,” Diana lies.
“Yes, it is! I am a leader and I can’t even bring myself to greet my ex? How lame am I?”
“Pryor—”
“Who does that? Tell me? Who stands in front of their ex and says nothing?”
“You were caught off guard.”
“I AM THE FIRST NORU. I DON’T GET CAUGHT OFF GUARD!” I snap.
“I know how you feel,” she replies.
“No, you don’t.”
“Pryor, believe me, I know how you feel. I’ve loved Silver; I’ve lost him. I’ve gotten him back and lost him again. So there is nothing you’re feeling that’s new to me.”
“What do you mean you lost him? I thought you two—”
“No. After Sparks…we’re just friends now. And it feels right this way,” she replies, mostly to herself.
“Diana, what do I do?” I ask desperately.
“Your job.”
A few moments later, Diana and I enter the café and find Aaden seated in the corner booth with a cup of coffee in front of him. He signals for the waitress to bring us additional drinks as we enter the booth and sit across from him.
“Do we need to assemble the team?” I ask him.
Phew! I opened my mouth and words came out. Beautiful.
“We need to wait on that,” he says.
“What’s going on?” Diana asks.
“Before we get to that, I need to speak to Pry—alone,” he says.
Diana looks up at me and I signal that I’m okay with being alone with him. He tells her not to call the team and to wait for us to come back. I head outside and he follows. We stand under the red awning a few feet from the entrance of the café.
I have no idea what he’s going to say, but I vow to myself that I will not fall apart no matter what words come out of his mouth. I have never been this anxious and on edge about a guy.