Hear the Crickets

by BJ Sheldon

  “Is that why you keep trying to kill yourself?”

  “You just can’t stay out of my head, can you? Fine. You want to know? That’s only part of the reason. And to be honest, I haven’t had a whole-hearted attempt in a few decades now. I’ve realized that it’s pointless trying to die when it just isn’t possible.”

  Dorian shifted in his seat and faced me, anticipation on his face, forcing me to continue.

  “I used to try a lot. There just didn’t seem to be any reason for me to stick around. Their world didn’t seem to need me, and in turn, I didn’t think there was anything I could contribute. I was a pointless girl with wings who had to live in private, away from the whole of society. As time went by, I watched people fall in love, have a life, and then die. Their lives were full of purpose. Whether it was providing for their families, having children, or fighting for a cause, they had purpose. It didn’t seem fair that I just kept existing without knowing why I was here. Instead, I moved around from place to place and lived.” I paused and contemplated my own words. “If you could call it that.”

  Dorian’s head fell to the side, looking as though he was concentrating.

  “Fair enough. And while we’re being honest, I know you don’t sleep,” he said. He pointed at his head. “You were thinking about it earlier. I heard.”

  “Jerk.”

  “I can’t help myself. Your thoughts are intriguing.” He smiled, and stood up out of his chair. “As are you.” He moved his chair back a few feet and made his way back to my side. “I, on the other hand, do require sleep. Another thing we don’t have in common.”

  Dorian leaned over and kissed me gently on my cheek. He pulled back a bit, and I found myself just inches from his face.

  “Good-night, Skyy.”

  My heart fluttered. “Sweet dreams.”

  Chapter 8

  The next morning, Sean crawled out of his tent looking as if he’d wrestled with the wildlife all night—clothes disheveled, hair all messed up, bags under his eyes. He was hunched over and straightened with a great deal of noise. Stretching his arms over his head, he groaned loudly and then grunted. A few side bends later, he limped over and sat down next to me.

  “Rough night?” I asked.

  “You could say that,” he said. “Your boyfriend talks in his sleep.”

  “Oh, shut up,” I said, shoving his arm with more force than I’d intended. But my curiosity got the better of me. “What was he saying?”

  “I couldn’t tell. He was either babbling complete nonsense or it was in some language I didn’t understand.” Sean began to scan the area as if desperately on the lookout for something. “Please tell me someone brought coffee.”

  I raised my eyebrow and smirked.

  “I take that as a no. Dammit, this is going to be a very long day,” he moaned.

  “You drink way too much of that crap to begin with. It’ll be good to get it out of your system for a few days.”

  “Speak for yourself. It’s the fuel for this engine, babe,” he said rubbing his chest. “Without it, I’m likely to stall out.”

  “Dork.”

  “Geek.”

  “Nerd.”

  “Freak.”

  “Hey. Watch it, jackass,” I snapped. I shoved him in the arm hard enough for him to topple over sideways in his chair and onto the ground.

  He landed with a thud, the dust beneath him drifting out in all directions. I began to laugh and watched him try to stand, but I laughed even harder; he looked like a turtle stuck on his back.

  I’m not sure why I had shoved him that hard. We joked all the time. And I’d been known to address myself as a freak on quite a few occasions. I guess hearing it from someone else’s mouth set me off a bit.

  Lillith and Dorian emerged from their respective tents at the exact same time. Dorian looked over in my direction and caught my eye. He smiled. I suddenly felt very conspicuous and had the urge to look anywhere but directly at him.

  Sean had finally managed to stand and dust himself off.

  “Would it kill you to be nice once in a while?” he asked, squinting at me hard.

  “I don’t do nice,” I said.

  “Sure you do. It’s just in the form of thinly veiled sarcasm.”

  “Cute.”

  He pointed at me excitedly, shaking his finger in my face. “See?”

  His own sarcasm wasn’t lost on me.

  Dorian was suddenly standing behind Sean. He placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

  “Hey, Sean, would you mind going into town and grabbing us something to eat? We’re starving.”

  Sean looked at Dorian and then over at me. Sean’s expression told me he was caught off guard by the request.

  “Don’t look at me,” I said, throwing my hands up. “I’m not in charge of this circus.”

  “Why do I have to do it?” Sean asked, his voice squeaking a bit in disbelief.

  “Because you’re the one with the car,” Lillith chimed in.

  “My car is a mile away by foot.”

  “So?” Lillith’s tone of voice clearly showed that she had no sympathy for Sean’s predicament whatsoever.

  “So, why can’t you do your little hand-wiggle portal thing? You’d seriously be gone like ten minutes. If I have to run out, it’ll take me a couple of hours at least. Maybe more!”

  “Then you better get moving,” said Dorian, slapping him on the back a bit harder than was necessary. He flashed Sean a large, fake smile.

  Sean knew what Dorian and Lillith were doing.

  Even I knew what they were doing.

  They were trying to get him out of the way for a while.

  My best friend stood for a moment, desperately looking to me for help. When he was met with a blank look, he turned abruptly and began trudging in the direction of his car, grumbling continuously under his breath.

  We waited until he was out of view before we began our trek southeast of our campsite, the three of us side-by-side.

  “So exactly where are we going?” I asked.

  “I had a vision last night,” said Dorian.

  “Ah, that must have been why you were talking in your sleep,” I said.

  “I don’t talk in my sleep,” he replied, tossing me a shocked look.

  “Yeah. You kinda do,” Lillith interjected, and then turned to me. “But how would you know that?”

  “Sean told me,” I replied.

  Dorian rolled his eyes and strolled over to the other side of me, away from his sister.

  “Anyway, like I was saying, I had a vision about a specific rock formation that should be straight ahead a ways. Just below it, there seemed to be a large patch of dirt that had been dug up, like someone was searching for something. If we keep walking in that direction, we should run right into it.”

  The terrain was rough, but for the three of us, it was manageable. I doubted Sean would have been able to keep up with our pace. We crawled through a barbed wire fence and passed across someone’s property, cattle roaming all around us. We walked in silence for about half a mile. I was glad for the peace and quiet, giving me time to think.

  “So, exactly why are we walking? Why didn’t you two take the portal?” I asked.

  “You never know what we’ll find along the way. Not to mention, it doesn’t hurt to know the exact path in case we have to take your mortal with us next time,” said Dorian.

  “I really wish you’d stop calling him that,” I said with a sigh.

  Dorian smirked and gave me a sideways glance. I got the feeling he almost enjoyed getting under my skin.

  A river lay between us and our destination. The siblings waded across the water, muddying up their shoes and pants. My feathers took me over in one beat of my wings. Lillith grunted the rest of the way, complaining that her boots were never going to dry.

  We finally reached an area that was extremely secluded, well hidden from any prying eyes. The base of one rock formation looked as though it had been chipped away, revealing various layers of
colored rock-like material. A few feet from there was a large square patch of earth that looked like it had been disturbed.

  We carefully made our way to the area, studying our surroundings. It appeared as though someone had left there in a hurry. Excavation tools were scattered around, folding stools were knocked over, and a canopy lay on its side with one of the metal legs bent at a ninety-degree angle. I spied a laptop lying open and face down at the edge of the site and some other rather expensive-looking equipment strewn about throughout. We wandered around the area, trying to make sense of it all. It looked as though someone had been digging, looking for something, and then bailed.

  It didn’t make me feel at ease.

  I stepped over a cracked, white bucket, side-stepped a couple of shovels lying near the excavated site, and made my way to the foot of the rock. There, I found brushes, ice picks, and dental tools strewn everywhere. It didn’t take a genius to figure out there had been some kind of scientific dig happening there.

  “There’s no one here.” Dorian grabbed the bucket, flipped it, and sat down, using it as a stool.

  “So, is this where they’re buried? The two hundred Watchers?” I asked. I trudged atop the rocky ground and found myself standing over him, shielding him from the sun in my shadow.

  “I’m not sure. But this is definitely the place in my vision. This location is important for some reason.”

  I scanned the area, taking in every piece of garbage, every shovel, every rock and clump of dirt. Nothing of significance stood out.

  “I wonder where everyone went,” I said. “Some of this stuff looks pretty expensive. They wouldn’t just leave it here.”

  “Agreed. Something scared them off.” Dorian rubbed the back of his neck and gazed up at the threatening skies. “Or worse.”

  I watched Lillith circle the perimeter like a vulture. Her brow creased with intensity, she seemed oblivious to the two of us.

  “What is she doing?”

  “Not sure,” he said. He stood suddenly, the bucket tipping over behind him. “But I think she senses something.”

  I felt it, too. My intuition told me we weren’t alone.

  I suddenly heard a faint noise, like gentle footsteps nearby.

  “I think someone’s coming,” I whispered.

  But it was too late.

  The three of us suddenly found ourselves at the barrel end of an old shotgun. It was being held by a young Native American boy. I could see the brave determination on his face, but I also noticed his hands shaking. He couldn’t have been any older than fifteen. And he looked scared. I’m sure the sight of my wings didn’t help.

  “You three just stop right there,” he said, his finger quivering nervously near the trigger.

  “What happened with you keeping mortals from noticing us?” Dorian turned his attention to his sister, jerking his hands to his hips. He glared at her, confusion set in his brow.

  “How should I know?” Lillith looked just as surprised as her brother.

  “Well, you’re the one with the ability. You obviously missed someone.”

  “I didn’t miss anyone. This isn’t my fault.” Lillith appeared genuinely confused.

  “This is totally your fault. It can’t be anybody’s fault but yours. It’s not my fault. It’s not Skyy’s fault. So, it has to be your fault.”

  “Now you’re just being snarky. I swear to you. This isn’t my fault.”

  “Guys. Can we argue about whose fault it is later? This kid has his finger on the trigger and he’s shaking. That’s not a good combination. Now, as for me, if he shoots, I’ll be fine. Immortal metabolism,” I said waving my hands all around my body. “You two, on the other hand, would be screwed.”

  Dorian and Lillith turned their attention back toward the young man holding the shotgun.

  His hair was long, with strands hanging indiscriminately in his face. His eyes were far older than his years.

  “Who are you? What are you?” he asked, staring me square in the eye, my wings clearly upsetting him.

  “Steady there,” I said. I put my hands up to show I meant no harm, and took a step forward.

  “Don’t come any closer,” he said as bravely as he could, his voice breaking.

  “It’s okay. We don’t mean any harm. These are my friends. That’s Dorian. That’s Lillith. Actually, I’m not really sure if I should call her a friend. To be honest, I don’t think she likes me very much. She’s been kind of a jerk since we met,” I declared, resting my hands on my hips.

  “Really? We’re doing this now?” Lillith barked.

  “Sorry. Focus. Right. My name is Skyy. And, as you can see, I’m not a human.”

  “Are you an angel?” he asked.

  I found myself surprised at his facial expression. Considering the large wings on my back, I would have expected fear. Instead, I saw something closer to curiosity.

  I smiled. Those were the exact words Sean spoke when he first saw me.

  “No. No, I’m not. I’m a Gibborim, a Hybrid, but the angels are my ancestors. So, I guess that does make me part angel.” We stared each other down for a few moments. “What’s your name?”

  He seemed to pause. His eyes scanned the ground as if searching for his name somewhere in the dirt. After a few moments, he looked up, meeting my gaze.

  “Sam.”

  “Hi, Sam. It’s nice to meet you. Now how about you point that gun somewhere else before someone here gets hurt?”

  Sam hesitated, uncertainty clearly showing in his face, before cautiously loosening his grip on the barrel, lowering it a bit. But he suddenly raised it again and held it firm, strengthening his resolve.

  “What are you doing here? You’re trespassing.”

  “We’re sorry,” said Dorian. “We didn’t know we were trespassing. We were just looking for something, and we came across this place. Do you know what happened here?”

  Sam didn’t move but continued to eye Dorian suspiciously.

  “I can’t get inside his head,” whispered Lillith with a sideways glance.

  “What?” Dorian asked.

  “He can’t possibly be mortal. I can’t read his thoughts,” she replied.

  We studied the boy standing in front of us with interest.

  “What did she say?” Sam asked, his finger still trembling on the trigger of the shotgun.

  “I need to ask,” I said, shifting my weight, hands again settling on my hips. “Are you human?”

  “Of course I am!” he shouted. “What kind of stupid question is that?”

  “It’s just that Lillith over here can usually read the minds of mortals, and she can’t read yours.”

  “Well, I’m human.”

  “That’s impossible,” I heard Lillith mutter.

  “It’s possible,” said Sam, defiantly. “I think if I was some kind of freak, I’d know.” His gaze nervously shifted in my direction.

  He thought I was a freak.

  At least I wasn’t alone in that thought.

  The standoff continued, none of us making a move to disarm the boy.

  Finally, I could no longer take the silence and placed myself between Sam and the siblings. I took a step toward him slowly.

  And then another.

  “Stop it. Don’t come any closer,” he said.

  I didn’t listen. I continued slowly.

  “I said stop. Don’t move!” Sam’s voice shook with fear.

  I reached him and quickly wrapped my fingers around the barrel of the shotgun. I jerked it up in an effort to disarm him, but his finger was still on the trigger.

  The pellets shot straight into the air.

  I tore the gun from his hands and tossed it aside.

  “Now that that’s been taken care of, let’s start over. I’m Skyy, that’s Dorian, and that’s Lillith. We just wanted to know if you had any idea what happened at this site recently, if you’ve seen anything.”

  Sam seemed poised to run.

  “And just to let you know, if you take off, thes
e wings do work. You can’t outrun me. So you might as well answer the question.” I spread out my wings, giving him a close look at their immense size. On the one hand, I didn’t want him to be frightened. On the other, I needed him scared enough to want to spill what he knew.

  I watched the young man swallow hard, his Adam’s apple briefly bulging from his throat while he contemplated my request.

  “Uh, yeah. There was a professor here from the School of Mines. His name was Per...Perry...Perrin. Professor Perrin. He and some of his students were here conducting some kind of research,” he said, anxiously kicking at a rock with the toe of his boot.

  “Do you know where they are? We need to talk to them. About what they may have found.” I stared him down, refusing to let up on him. I felt bad trying to intimidate him, but we needed answers.

  He nodded briefly but didn’t speak.

  My eyes widened as I waited for his answer.

  “Well?”

  Sam pointed off to our left.

  “They went that way?” Dorian asked.

  “No,” Sam replied. “That’s where they are. If you walk in that direction, about a quarter of a mile, their body parts are scattered out there.”

  “Their...what?” I wasn’t sure what I’d just heard him say.

  Sam wrung his hands and stared at his feet. Eventually, he looked up and our eyes locked.

  “The professor was here. He had three students with him. They were working here when five guys wearing leather outfits all appeared, as if they’d walked through a hole in the air.”

  “Azazel’s cronies,” Lillith muttered.

  “I got to know the professor. He let me watch sometimes. Anyway, these guys appeared – but they didn’t come alone. And they all pulled out swords and started attacking. Didn’t leave anyone alive. I watched them scatter their body parts over there”—he pointed—“and then I ran. I didn’t stop until I got home.”