by Mazhar, S
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Aaron asked. “About...about what Armana told you?”
Rose shook her head, fighting to still her quivering lips.
“You didn’t even tell me,” Sam said. “Why?”
Rose gave a weak, one-shouldered shrug.
Sam shook his head at her. “So was this why you planned the whole bait idea? Why you chose our street as the location?”
Rose nodded. “I just...I wanted to see–” She paused, squeezing her eyes shut, shaking her head. “I just wanted to...check, you know? See if...if Armana was right.”
“You believed she was,” Sam corrected. “You told me mum and dad...that they were...there,” Sam said with great discomfort.
“I’m sorry,” Rose said. “I wanted to tell you, Sammy. I tried so many times this past week, but every time I opened my mouth, I couldn’t find the words. I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
“I don’t believe in ghosts,” Sam said. “But two months back, I didn’t believe in magic either.”
“Powers,” Aaron corrected.
“Fine, magical powers,” Sam said. “Point is,” he turned back to Rose, “you should have told me beforehand instead of springing it on me in the middle of a battle.”
“I know,” Rose said. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“That’s pretty standard.” Sam smiled.
Rose looked up at him, wet eyes narrowed slightly. “Shut up,” she sniffed half-heartedly.
“You shut up,” Sam said, still with a smile.
“Sod off, Sam,” Rose said as a half-laugh, half-sob escaped her.
Ella stepped away, her fingers heavily coated in the thick paste. A heartbeat later they were clean, albeit dripping water. “There,” she said. “You’ll have to reapply it at least four times a day.”
Sam nodded and Rose quickly stood up, wiping her cheeks dry, and took a small bag of yellow granules and the glass jar containing a white cream from Ella.
“Only mix as much as you need,” Ella instructed. “Apply it liberally on the cuts and they should heal in a few days. Until then,” she turned to Sam, “try to keep yourself together.”
“Oh, okay,” Sam said, face screwed up to show his sarcasm. “I’ll try not to trip up and injure my poor self.”
“It would be appreciated,” Ella returned.
“Other than Sam getting injured,” Aaron said, “and me almost getting lost in an oblivion, was the hunt a success?”
Ella raised an eyebrow but a tired smile came to her nonetheless. “Yes, other than two – no three – possible fatal casualties, the hunt was a success.”
“Three?” Aaron asked.
“You, Sammy-boy here,” she turned to stare Sam down before looking back at Aaron, “and Kyran.”
Aaron’s insides tightened at the reminder of Kyran. The mere memory of how angry the other boy had been sent shivers down his spine.
***
It was past nightfall. Dinner had been served and finished. Drinks had been toasted in Sam and Rose’s names for helping execute a successful vamage hunt, and still Kyran hadn’t made an appearance.
Most of the Hunters were in their beds, fatigued from exerting their powers, but Kyran wasn’t one of them. He had been missing ever since returning to Salvador. Aaron had an inkling where he might be. Using the soft, glowing light of the lanterns above him, Aaron made his way down the path. Sure enough, he saw Kyran in the garage attending to Lexi, trying to repair her. Aaron came to stand as close as he dared. Kyran still looked pretty angry.
“You missed dinner,” Aaron called.
Kyran straightened up, but didn’t look over at him.
“Sam’s fine, by the way,” Aaron said. “The cuts weren’t that deep. Ella gave him some herbal paste thing. Smells awful, but at least it’ll heal him.”
Kyran continued working, not even looking in Aaron’s direction.
“Rose is still shaken up. She hardly ate anything.”
Again, Kyran didn’t say anything but he tensed, the wrench in his hand stilled for a moment.
“I’m sorry about Lexi,” Aaron said. “Hope she’s not too–”
“What do you want?” Kyran asked, cutting Aaron off and finally looking at him. His green eyes seemed fiercer against the paleness of his skin.
“To thank you,” Aaron said, “for saving my life–”
“Don’t even!” Kyran held up a hand, fury radiating off him in waves. He slammed the wrench down and stood up. “What were you thinking?” he asked. “You almost got yourself killed!”
“I had to get to Sam,” Aaron said. “I knew none of you would go in to get him. Seeing as it’s one of your rules not to go back into a Q-Zone–”
“Yeah, there’s a reason for that,” Kyran spat. “It’s to stop idiots like you risking your life just to save someone else. That’s why the rule is there. You never go back into a Q-Zone. Never. For no one.”
Aaron nodded slowly. Keeping his eyes on Kyran, he asked, “Then why did you come for me?”
Kyran fell silent.
“If the rule’s there to stop Hunters risking their lives,” Aaron said, braving a few steps closer, “then why did you risk yours? Why’d you come to help me?”
Kyran didn’t say anything but his eyes blazed with anger. Aaron could see the muscle twitch in his jawline. Without a word, Kyran swiped up his hooded top from the back of the single chair and walked out. He paused briefly next to Aaron.
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay out of my way,” he warned before walking away.
***
The next day tested Rose’s patience, as she and Aaron attended to Sam. He was a rotten patient; he always had been.
“I can do it myself!” he snapped, when Rose tried to apply the salve to the marginally healed wounds.
“Fine!” Rose snapped back. “It’s not like I enjoy having a smelly paste all over my fingers.”
She handed him the prepared salve but, as Rose already knew, Sam couldn’t do it himself. It was too painful. Rose snatched the bowl back, warned him to keep quiet and applied the dose. When finished, she went into the bathroom and washed her hands. Instead of returning to the room, she let Aaron keep Sam company while she headed downstairs to the living room.
Rose took a moment to be by herself, sitting on the sofa. The jar of cream and packet of granules were still lying open where she had left them on the coffee table. She capped the lid on the jar and closed the packet, tidying up. The door opened and Kyran walked in. Rose paused. This was the first time she had seen him since returning from the Q-Zone. Kyran had been dividing his time between resting in his room, recovering from the Q-Zone hunt, and spending time in the garage trying to fix his bike.
“Hey,” he greeted her quietly.
“Hi,” she replied.
Kyran came further into the room. His gaze flitted to the items on his coffee table. “That for Sam?”
“Yeah,” Rose replied.
“How is he?”
Rose nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
Kyran hesitated, the look of concern deepened as he tilted his head to the side, looking at Rose. “And you?” he asked. “How are you?”
Rose nodded, avoiding looking at him. “Yeah,” she repeated. “I’m okay.”
Kyran stared at her for a moment longer before nodding slightly. He walked over to the small cabinet tucked away in a corner of the room. He slid open the panel and took out a bottle with a strange green liquid. When he turned around, his gaze immediately found Rose again. He took a step towards her.
“About yesterday,” he said. “I hope you didn’t mind.” He shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. “I sort of yelled at you.”
Rose’s brow creased. “You did?” she asked. “I didn’t really take it in.”
Kyran looked somewhat relieved. “I panicked,” he admitted. “I saw you running back to that house and there were vamages still around. They could have ...” He trailed off and fell silent.
“I know
I was being stupid,” Rose said. “I shouldn’t have run off like that, not with those vamages there.” She shook her head, closing her eyes in self-recrimination. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry,” Kyran said. “You wanted to see your parents. It’s understandable.”
Rose squeezed her eyes shut, her brow creased as if in pain. With a slow breath, she opened her eyes again.
“Armana spoke to me,” she said. “She came to check on Sam.”
Kyran walked over and sat down on the single chair next to the sofa. He settled the bottle on the table.
“What did she say?” he asked.
“She apologised,” Rose replied. “Except, she has nothing to apologise for. When she told me about echoes, she explained that they were just glimpses and that I wouldn’t be able to talk to them. She told me all that.” Rose slowly shook her head. “But I twisted it. I made myself believe that echoes were more than that. That I could see my mum and dad and I would be able to talk to them, touch them.” She paused, swallowing back the growing lump at the back of her throat before closing her eyes. “God, I’m so stupid,” she whispered.
“You’re not stupid,” Kyran said. “You were holding out, hoping for more.” He shrugged. “It’s what any of us would do.”
“I just...” She took in a breath. “I just wanted to see them. Just once more.”
Kyran didn’t say anything, but his gaze dropped to the floor and he nodded in understanding.
“You have family, Kyran?” Rose asked.
Kyran looked up at her with surprise. He slowly shook his head. “I lost my parents when I was very young.”
“I’m sorry,” Rose said and her sincerity showed in her eyes. “How did you...?”
“Lycans,” Kyran replied, a slight growl underlined the word. He looked up at Rose and forced a smile. “It was a long time ago. I’ve learnt to live with it. Besides, I have some family, sort of.” He shrugged. “It keeps me going.”
“Does it get easier?” Rose asked. “Over time?”
Kyran looked like he didn’t know how to answer that. “Truthfully, no,” he replied. “Losing the ones you love, it doesn’t ever get easier. Over time it becomes...bearable.”
Rose nodded. At least that was something. “What do you miss the most?” she asked. “About your parents?”
Kyran shifted in his seat. His eyes were a dark forest green, full of shadows and a long-buried pain. “No one’s ever asked me that.”
“Sorry,” Rose said, shaking her head and moving back. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand.”
“It’s alright,” he said. “Truth is, I miss everything about them.” His lips lifted in an almost smile, his eyes bright now with the light of his memories. “My dad’s strong arms lifting me to sit on his shoulders.” His voice dipped. “My mum’s laugh,” he said quietly. “She had the most…” he searched for the right word, “…infectious laugh.” A small chuckle left him and he shook his head in amusement. “It still gets me, every time I think about it.”
Rose smiled too. “Do you remember the last thing you said to your parents?” she asked quietly.
Kyran looked around at her with a frown. “What do you mean?”
“The last words you spoke to your parents,” Rose said. “Do you remember what they were?”
“Why?” Kyran asked.
Rose paused for a moment, before saying in a quiet voice, “I don’t remember what I said to them.” She shifted in her seat, staring ahead. “I remember most of that day. I remember going to school, coming back and getting ready for the Halloween dress-up at the Blaze. I remember returning late, getting changed, having dinner. I remember all of that, but I don’t remember what I said to them.” Her eyes fast filled with tears. “I...I was annoyed at them, at my mum for such a stupid reason.” She squeezed her eyes shut and two drops fell down her cheeks. “I went over my minutes, so my mum took away my phone. I was so angry I stopped talking to her.”
She looked over at Kyran. “I don’t remember the last time I spoke to my mum. I can’t remember telling her that I loved her, or telling my dad I thought his jokes were funny, or thanking my mum for putting up with my tantrums. I...I didn’t even say goodbye to them.” She shook her head slowly as tears continued to fall. “When I walked out of the house that day, when I went to school, when I went to the Blaze, I didn’t stop once to say bye.” She held Kyran’s gaze. “I need to see them again, Kyran. I need to say bye. I...I need to say...so many things.” She struggled to hold back the pain that was fighting its way out. “I...I thought...I thought that maybe if I saw their echoes, I could get my goodbye.” Her lips quivered, but she held back, refusing to give in. “I thought, maybe I wouldn’t...I wouldn’t feel so guilty if I get to tell my mum how much I love her and...and tell my dad how sorry I am...and…and…that...I…I…” She gave in, finally succumbing to her grief. Holding her head in her hands, she quietly sobbed.
Kyran’s warm hand rested on her shoulder and she looked up to see him standing by her side. “Come on,” he said. “Get Sam too.”
Rose wiped at her cheeks. “Why?” she asked.
The green of his eyes darkened. “Everyone should get to say goodbye,” he replied.
***
The bike came to stop next to a set of black iron gates. Rose stared past them but she couldn’t make out anything other than grass and trees. She pulled her hands away from Kyran’s shoulders.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“It’s the resting grounds,” Kyran replied. “It’s where we bring the humans who can’t be laid to rest in their own realm.”
Rose looked back at the graveyard, her mouth dry all of a sudden. “Is this...Are my parents in there?” she asked.
Kyran turned to look at her. “You said Aaron’s uncle was left to clear things up?” he asked.
Rose nodded.
“Then your parents are definitely here,” Kyran said. “This is the only place he could have brought them.”
Rose slid off Kyran’s borrowed bike just as Ella’s came to rest alongside theirs. Sam, seated behind Ella, looked around in confusion. He got off the bike and came to stand next to Rose.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“Graveyard,” Rose replied quietly.
Sam’s expression morphed to one of understanding. The four of them walked past the gates and into the resting grounds. They walked past grave after grave, searching for the ones that held the Masons. Sam and Rose hurried from one tombstone to the next, reading names and, in some cases, just dates and places.
“What’s this?” Sam asked, gesturing to a gravestone that read, 18/05/1996. Liverpool, England, United Kingdom.
“It’s not always possible to know the identities of the humans that are killed by demons,” Ella explained. “When we don’t know who the victims are, we can’t put names on their graves. We put the date of their death and the place they were found.”
“That’s horrible,” Sam said with disgust. “They don’t even get names on their graves?”
“What option do we have?” Ella asked tersely. “Sometimes we get to an attack in time and we save the humans. Sometimes we’re too late.” It was clear how much this admission was costing Ella, as her whole being tensed and her face flushed. “We can either leave the humans to be found by their relatives, or we can take the bodies away and lay them to rest here.”
“And the families are left wondering what happened to their loved ones?” Sam asked. “Isn’t that worse than just letting them find their dead?”
“Trust me, if you ever saw what state a demon leaves its victim in, you wouldn’t say that.”
The moment the words passed her lips, Ella regretted them. Sam paled, his eyes widening with pain so intense it caused Ella to suck in a breath. Rose didn’t look any better. Without saying a word, Sam turned and hurried forward, taking Rose’s hand and walking ahead. Ella and Kyran followed behind them in silence.
They had to go deep into t
he graveyard, walking for at least twenty minutes before they found the two graves. Sam and Rose came to a stop, staring at the pair of grey stones that had Philip Mason and Pamela Mason carved into it. There was no date of birth, only the date of their untimely death. Slowly, Sam and Rose slid to the ground, sitting before the graves.
Ella lowered herself to the ground too and held out her hand. Beautiful cream and yellow lilies grew under her command, surrounding both graves.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “It’s the only flower I can grow.”
Neither Sam or Rose said anything. Ella got up and walked over to join Kyran, giving the twins privacy to mourn. Standing under one of the tall oak trees that surrounded the graveyard, Kyran and Ella scanned the long line of gravestones, both silently asking themselves the same question: why had so many humans lost their lives at the hands of demons, when they – mages – were supposed to protect them?
“We all prepare for this,” Ella said “From the moment we’re old enough to understand, a part of us readies ourselves for the loss that comes with war.” Her eyes found Sam who was sitting with his arm around his sister, pulling her into an embrace as both wept for their parents. Their shoulders shook as they sobbed, and even their bowed heads couldn’t hide their sorrowful tears. Ella looked away. “But humans shouldn’t have to lose anyone. This isn’t their fight, their war.” She scanned the graveyard again. “A whole cemetery full of graves of the unknown, buried here because demons got to them.” She paused before forcing out, “Because we failed.”
“We can’t save them all, Ella,” Kyran said quietly.
“Quite obviously,” Ella said, nodding at the graves. “All we can to do is stand back and watch,” she said bitterly. Her eyes watered at Sam’s broken form. “After all, it’s only another family torn apart,” she whispered, as a tear rolled down her cheek.
***
Kyran closed the front door behind him. He stood and watched as Sam and Rose tiredly made their way upstairs. Both of them were exhausted, emotionally drained from visiting their parents’ graves. Sam trudged up the stairs, his face still blotched red with tear tracks down his face. Rose was behind him, looking just as worn out.