Poison

by Dejana Vuletic

  I placed my hand on Alyssa’s shoulder, and the light obeyed instantaneously, bending itself around the bodice of my cousin. Within seconds she was invisible, and I felt stupid talking to no one. “Okay, I’ll open the door,” I said quietly, “You just sneak back up to the bathroom, flush the toilet, then come down the stairs.”

  I could hear a giggle.

  “Go,” I said and began walking toward the front door. Aunt Diane opened the door for me, and I let Alyssa slip past me as I sauntered into the kitchen, where the fresh smell of cut greens and baking ziti permeated the air.

  “Dessa,” she said happily, “It’s wonderful to see you, dear.”

  “Same here,” I said, wondering in the depths of my mind if Alyssa had made it upstairs undetected. I had good reason to worry: everyone else I loved had been taken from me. Who was to say Alyssa wouldn’t go, too?

  I forced the thoughts away from me and inhaled the beautiful scent of Italian cooking.

  “Would you like to stay for dinner?” she asked as she began cutting up the garlic bread.

  I shook my head. “I shouldn’t impose. I just dropped by to say ‘Hello and Goodbye’,” I replied.

  “Well there’s plenty here,” she said cheerfully. “Please stay.”

  I conceded after her husband, my Uncle Gregg, walked into the room and fist-pumped me.

  “What up?” he asked. I laughed and fist-pumped him again.

  “Nothing much,” I said, and he gave me a noogie and laughed.

  “So is she going to stay for dinner?” he asked his wife.

  “Ask her,” Diane replied back as she bent over to put the bread into the oven.

  “Well?” Gregg asked as he turned toward me.

  “Sure, I’ll stay,” I answered with a smile. “Do you know where Alyssa is?”

  As if right on cue, the toilet flushed in the bathroom on the second floor.

  “That was probably her right there,” Gregg answered with a chuckle.

  I smiled and went toward the stairs back by the front door. Alyssa walked down with a smile upon her face as well and hugged me as she reached the bottom of the stairs. I relished the feeling of her warm arms around me—I hadn’t felt something like that in so long—and pushed her away to arm’s length to mouth the words, “Good job.”

  “Hey, mom,” Alyssa called, “What’s for dinner?”

  Diane answered her and Alyssa licked her lips. “Ooh, yummy!” she exclaimed, and then rushed to the dinner table where her younger siblings, Julia and Mark, were patiently waiting for their mother to bring dinner to the table.

  “Dessa!” Julia shouted when she saw me. She sprung up out of her chair and ran over to me, hugging my body against her as Mark ran slightly behind. I hugged my cousins’ slight bodies against mine, wishing with all my heart that I would succeed in finding my friends.

  We needed to fight together to destroy Darkness. Alone I knew I didn’t stand a chance . . .

  “All right, all right, that’s enough,” Diane said, rescuing me from death-grip hugs. “Sit down and let your cousin alone.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” they said in unison and walked back to the table with smiles upon their cute, little faces.

  “Do you need any help?” I asked my aunt as she went to take more garlic bread out of the oven.

  “No, dear, I’ve got it all covered,” she protested, but the look in her eyes silently told me that she could, indeed, use my help. I grabbed the bowl of fresh salad and placed it on the table while Diane cut the second garlic bread and arranged it on a plate. I returned to the oven and grabbed the ziti, placing it deliberately in front of my uncle. He shot me a dirty look but chuckled, and I sat down beside Alyssa and across from Mark. Julia was next to her brother, and Gregg sat at the head of the table to Alyssa’s right. The seat on my left was for Diane, who was just walking over with the garlic bread.

  “All right, everyone, let’s pray,” she said as she sat down beside me across from her husband. Everyone closed their eyes, and Diane led the family in prayer. I offered my own prayers. I prayed that I would find my friends soon, that this strife would end and that Darkness would fall and everything would be okay.

  Dinner passed quickly, filled with my uncle telling us his funny stories. The entire family, including me at select times, would laugh, and that made the meal pass a lot more quickly for me. I really needed to get going. I couldn’t stay here . . .

  What if she knew I was here? Would she hurt them just to get to me? The answer seemed too obvious . . .

  After everyone was done eating, I helped Diane with the dishes and then gave everyone kisses goodbye.

  “Are you sure you can’t stay any later?” Julia begged.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I still have a few things I need to do before the day is out. I’ll see you soon, though. Don’t worry.” I smiled at her and gave her a hug, once again embracing the feeling of warmth that radiated through me as I felt her love.

  “Okay, bye!” she said as she planted a kiss on my cheek. I said farewell to the rest of Alyssa’s family, and then turned to Alyssa last.

  “Would you come outside for a second, Alyssa?” I asked.

  She nodded solemnly and followed me out the door.

  I walked back to her future car and unlocked it. I opened the door and got into the driver’s seat, leaving the door open so she could stand there above me.

  “Alyssa . . .” I said in a shaky voice.

  “I know,” she said with hazel eyes full of sadness. “You don’t know if you’ll be coming back.”

  I nodded. “I’ll come back one way or another,” I decided. “Protect your family. They have no idea what’s at stake here . . . Please . . .”

  “I will,” she said, and in the pocket of her jeans I saw the hilt of a dagger sticking out. “I know a lot more than most people give me credit for. I’ll protect them to the best of my ability. I just wish you’d let me help you—”

  “You’d be in danger,” I argued. “You’d get hurt. And I would never be able to forgive myself if anything ever happened to you.”

  “I’m not afraid of pain,” she said determinedly. “Let me come with you.”

  I shook my head. “Not today, Alyssa.”

  She closed her eyes and backed away from the car. A small tear rolled down her cheek and she opened her eyes to allow a flow of tears to travel down her face. She smiled slightly and said, “Goodbye, Dessa.”

  “I’ll come back, no matter what it takes,” I told her, and drove away into the night, the vision of Alyssa’s tear-streaked face still burned into my memory.

  I was about halfway home when my vision began to blur. My blood pressure began to increase, so I pulled onto the side of the road and parked the car. I locked the doors and leaned the seat back, letting unconsciousness claim me.

  While I was asleep, visions tortured me. Whether or not they were clairvoyant visions, or simply dreams of the desires and thoughts that were circulating through my mind, I didn’t know. Sweat fell in beads down my neck and back, creating chills that radiated through my body at an alarmingly uncomfortable rate. I sat there shivering, but overheated, my head spinning from dizziness.

  I decided to open the window to let in a bit of the cool air to cool the sweat, but the breeze was frigid and cold. I closed the window in irritation and sat up again, closing my eyes.

  “Show them to me,” I said aloud, hoping that my audible wish would stimulate my clairvoyance. “Ricky, Pa, Chris . . .”

  As I said each name, my heart tore a little in opposite directions. Chris’ name hurt the worst. Realizing that I had no idea where any of them were, and knowing that even if I found them we still had an enemy with an unidentifiable face, noticing the fact that she had succeeded in isolating me from my friends.

  I could be attacked at any moment and be completely defenseless. I needed to find them now, before it was too late.

  I tried over and over to succumb to the sensation that had always appeared just before a vision, but f
or some strange reason, I was unable to bridge the gap between my mind and my visions. I couldn’t get access to anything; I couldn’t even see Alyssa. Nothing was visible anymore. My vision was black with the uncertainty of the future, and the dizziness took over me again, sending my body forward. I fell into the steering wheel, and the horn went off, sending adrenaline pulsing through my veins.

  “Oh, God!” I exclaimed, but the honk had woken me up enough to start the car again. I turned the heat all the way up and continued on my way home, surprised that the clock already said it was 9:00 pm.

  I drove back to my house, which looked completely desolate in the darkness, and sat in the car with the lights still on.

  How could all of this be happening? What had I done wrong to have them abandon me? Had I been selfish? Had I been conceited and concerned only about my own safety, not caring what happened to them? Where were they and why couldn’t I see them?

  After several minutes of facing these endless questions with no answers, I suddenly pictured a familiar face from my History class . . . the quiet boy who never spoke to anyone . . . and the piece of paper he’d given me . . .

  I rummaged in my jacket pockets—surely I had it around on my person somewhere—and finally pulled my hand out of the breast pocket. I unfolded the tiny sheet of weathered paper and read the poem at least three times.

  From the light comes the dark

  The five that rise will fall

  The broken and the desolate

  Will once again take all

  Her lovely veil of shadows

  Shall swallow up the light

  The world once filled with happiness

  Shall now be drowned in night.

  Red, Blue, Green, and Brown

  Light and dark shall share

  Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth

  How many will she spare?

  “From the light comes the dark,” I said aloud. So because I exist, Darkness has to exist.

  “The five that rise will fall,” The five . . . as in the five Keepers? If that was true, then four had already fallen.

  “The broken and the desolate will once again take all.” What did that even mean?

  “Her lovely veil of shadows shall swallow up the light.” So I was going to lose?

  “The world once filled with happiness shall now be drowned in night.” Again, reiterating the inevitable fact that I wasn’t going to live through this. I felt strangely numb when I thought of my unavoidable death.

  “Red, Blue, Green, and Brown, Light and Dark shall share.” Skylar, Chris, Pa, and Ricky . . . She and I had to share them?

  “Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth, how many will she spare?” Had she gotten rid of all my friends so she could face me alone?

  I read the poem once more, but understood it no more than I had the first three times I read it. I decided to go into the house for no really well-justified reason. I felt like I needed to go into that house. That someone was waiting for me inside, to dispel any fears about being completely alone . . .

  I stood up firmly and went to open the door. The scent of dust permeated the air, telling any intruder that no one had been in this house for quite some time. Now that I looked back, it hadn’t been that long since I had met Chris in the band room that curious Friday night. My life had changed forever that day . . .

  That was the day when I finally knew who I was. That was the night that I found my other half. That was the evening that had truly begun my life, however short it turned out to be in the end.

  I wanted to see Chris again. At least one more time before I had to fight Darkness . . . at least once more so he could know how I truly felt about him.

  I took a cautious step into the dark house, my adrenaline pumping freely now. My senses were alert, so alert that I saw him before I had even turned the corner.

  “Ricky?” I asked in uncertainty as I turned into the living room. Sure enough, Ricky was there. He was really, truly there, sitting on the couch in the darkness.

  “Dessa,” he replied cuttingly, and I shrunk back at the contempt in his voice.

  “How . . . how are you?” I asked happily, despite the sound of his voice. I continued walking toward him, smiling, and my heart pounded in the ecstasy of seeing him again.

  “Fine,” he said in that same vitriolic tone. I lifted my eyebrows in surprise, but continued—stupidly—to walk toward him. He stood up at my approach, and I breathed a sigh of relief to see that his sclera were still white. She hadn’t gotten to him after all, like I’d seen in that dream.

  “Ricky . . .” I sighed, and ran up to him, clutching his body against mine. For a fraction of a second, he didn’t react. His muscles remained still, not even responding to this affection I gave him. A stab of pain hit my heart, and doubt filled my mind as his hands came in between his abdomen and mine, pushing my body away from him. The shove was gentle, but the look in his eyes suggested otherwise.

  “Don’t touch me,” he cautioned. “I’m warning you.”

  “Of what?” I asked. “Is she here? Does she know where I am?”

  “Yes . . . and yes,” Ricky said with a smile. His lips curved menacingly toward his eyes, and I felt the blood drain from my face as the sclera in his eyes began to change. The veins in his eyes pulsated black blood, filling his sclera with a darkened poison. The pure white was slowly morphing to black right before my eyes . . .

  “No . . . No!” I screamed, but before I could run, Ricky’s fist came in contact with my face, sending a spasm of pain through my jaw and a deafening crack as his fingers crushed my cheekbone. “Ricky . . . why?” I asked, but he wouldn’t answer me.

  His fists were still coming at me, and I did a pretty good job at avoiding them—mostly only because I was running on adrenaline. I didn’t want to fight my brother. I loved him . . . I couldn’t hurt him . . .

  “Please stop this!” I screamed. “Please st-“

  His fist collided with my stomach, and the air was knocked out of me so quickly that my vision temporarily blacked out.

  “She’s here. I’ve got her.”

  “Well done, Rick.”

  The answering voice astounded me. It was . . . Pa.

  I threw my fists blindly in every direction, but all I heard was jeering laughter resonating from Pa’s throat as she grabbed me from behind.

  I screamed like a ninja, and I thrust my leg backwards right into Pa’s stomach. I heard her gag and fly away from me, but I didn’t look back. I ran through the haze out into the street.

  I could see the glowing brown and green irises shining in the darkness as they pursued me, but I had nowhere to go. As I ran, a faint red glow started to become brighter and brighter. I knew who it was, but I didn’t avoid him. I ran straight toward him, my fury backing me up.

  “What the hell have you done to my friends?” I shouted, rushing at him. He was laughing at me, his hand held out in front of him. I approached his hand, but felt myself propelled backwards, almost as if a shield surrounded him.

  “Give them back to me!” I shouted. “What the hell did you do to them?”

  “Me?” he asked maliciously. “I did nothing. This was all you.”

  I stared at him, appalled, and saw the glimmers of green and brown in the distance. Sooner than later, I was going to be caged in . . . I needed to get away.

  “I’ll deal with you later,” I said curtly, but before I ran into the shadows, I heard him whisper, “She’s all yours.”

  I ran and ran, afraid to look back and confirm this wild dream that was happening. It couldn’t be real . . . It just couldn’t be . . .

  My panicking heart remembered Chris, and with a stab of pain I wondered where he was right now . . . Was he still looking for them? Did he know what had happened to them, and was he now looking for me?

  As I ran through the darkness, I continued to see their shining eyes in front of me. Screams erupted from my throat and my body would run in the opposite direction of the frightening eyes, only to jerk back when I saw the e
yes just behind me.

  Panic and fear were corrupting my judgment . . .

  I couldn’t believe this . . .

  Was this my fault? Had Skylar been right? Was this all my fault? How could I possibly destroy Darkness now? Now that she had my brother and best friend . . .

  Now I understood that poem . . . Now I realized everything . . .

  I continued to sprint blindly through the dark night, trying with all my heart to deny the obviousness of the truth. I didn’t want to fight them. I wouldn’t fight them. There was no way in hell that I was going to cause harm to my brother; even if it meant saving the world, I couldn’t harm the ones I loved.

  Did that make me weak?

  I pushed the questions away and ran further away, not quite sure where I was going. My sides were protesting in pain, but my legs and the adrenaline pumping in my veins kept me moving forward. I was afraid of what would happen if I stopped.

  Would I be caught? Would they do to me whatever Darkness did to them?

  A spark hit me, and I was beginning to remember a particular conversation with Chris . . .

  “So . . .” I said awkwardly in efforts to break the silence. “What exactly are we up against?”

  “Isn’t it kind of obvious?” Ricky retorted quietly. I knew he had not meant to say it that way—in a way that stabbed at me and reminded me of the fight I had with Pa earlier—but I felt horrible just the same. “We’re up against Skylar and Darkness, whoever she is.”

  “What’s so bad about her?” I asked. “I don’t understand. Why would she want this?”

  “Dessa,” Chris said, “Darkness is different from the rest of us. All she thinks about is power, greed, lust, anger . . . the vices of human emotion are her only thoughts. She does the things that she does because she’s a victim of herself.

  “Darkness is like a poison, Dessa,” he continued. “She’ll continue to spread through you until she’s completely taken over; and once she does, you’ve got little hope of making it out alive. This woman thrives on the pain and suffering of others, which explains why she went to Skylar before any of us.”