Bryxx

by Tarisa Marie

  “You’re scaring her!” Daniel hisses and points to the door. “Out!”

  Kai rolls eyes at Daniel this time and then tosses the knife to him who catches it easily. Kai steps nearer to me and uses his shirt to wipe away the gushing blood.

  By all hell, he’s going to bleed out right here in front of me if it keeps bleeding like that. I’m in such shock that I can’t even get a word out. I just stare at his arm, gaping. Thank god I’m not a paramedic or a nurse or something.

  By the time his shirt is drenched in blood, which is only a matter of mere seconds, the bleeding has a nearly stopped completely. Wounds like that one do not just stop bleeding like that unless the heartbeat stops and causing it to discontinue spurting. It still bleeds lightly and Daniel hands him a pillow case from the dresser across from the bed. Kai wipes at his forearm and then presents it to me. The cut doesn’t appear nearly as deep as I thought. I watched the knife sink to the hilt in his flesh and then cut across it. I feel like vomiting.

  Before my eyes, the cut, surrounded in dried blood, becomes fainter and then fainter yet as I gather my voice and rational thought. Then, nothing is left but a pale pink line of scar tissue. Before I know it, even that has disappeared. His unmarred forearm presents itself to me. I know what I saw. There’s still bloody evidence of the cut. Before I can stop myself, I clutch his wrist and pull him towards me to closer examine his arm. I grit my teeth when this only confirms what I suspected. It’s completely healed. I release his arm and begin shaking my head back and forth, speechless.

  Daniel stops his pacing and points to the door. “Kai, now you’re just going to give her a heart attack.”

  “I was giving her proof, so she doesn’t think we’re crazy. Humans always say, ‘seeing is believing’ or however it goes.”

  Daniel glowers at Kai who reluctantly leaves the room, shirtless.

  “I’m sorry about that...he’s not used to being around humans,” Daniel mutters and then starts his pacing again.

  “Could you stop? You’re making my head spin even more than it should be right now.”

  He stops in his tracks and then nods. “Right, yeah, okay.”

  “So, you’re like him? You’re immortal?” I ask, not sure if I’m beginning to believe this all or I’m just playing along.

  He nods. “Yes.”

  “Okay. What else can you do besides heal impossibly quickly?”

  Daniel seems to relax a bit. “Uh, we stop aging at adulthood, so we don’t have to worry about dying from old age. We also don’t get sick or contract disease or anything like that. We’re basically just a more durable human being I guess. We’re stronger, faster, our hearing is far better.”

  “So, you’re not about to tell me you suck blood and sleep in a coffin, are you?” I ask for reassurance.

  “No, I don’t do either of those things,” he confirms slowly.

  “Oh, thank god.” I clearly watch way too much TV. This all has a scientific explanation. It must. Maybe it’s some deformity. But just how did this come to be exactly?

  “You’re not one of those people who watch all that crap on TV, are you?” he asks, squinting at me through slitted eyes.

  I decide to ignore his question. “You said Kai made you immortal. How exactly did he do that?” I try to keep my expression blank.

  “Long story short, he mixed our blood. From what I understand, this type of immortality or whatever you want to call it, transfers through blood.” He then looks to the blood-soaked shirt on the floor. “A lot of blood. Not just a few drops. I mean a lot of blood, preferably directly into the heart or near it, a main artery.”

  Okay, I can still make sense of this from a scientific stand point. It proposes some sort of rationality, at least to me and that’s all I need to be able to believe this all at least a little. It’s feasible. It’s some sort of virus or disease or something that transfers through large amounts of blood. That’s possible...isn’t it?

  I have to push this all aside for at least a while because right now, all this isn’t what matters most. What matters most is that my brother stands before me for the first time in years. That is what matters right now. The rest can wait. Can’t it?

  “I’m so glad you’re alright,” I breathe. “Everyone assumed you died. You just disappeared out of nowhere.”

  Daniel doesn’t respond for a moment and we sit in complete silence.

  Finally, he looks up at me and meets my eyes. “I know. I’m sorry, May. I would’ve come back if I could’ve, but I was so young, and I had no idea how to cope with who I suddenly was or what I was I guess. I would open a door and rip it off its hinges or put on clothes and rip them. I could’ve hurt you or someone else. There was no body for me to leave to give you closure. I did all I thought I could do at that time, I was just a kid and the woman who raised me after that was only just barely an adult.”

  “Did you hear about mom and dad?” I ask him quietly and run a hand through my tousled hair, a tear slipping down my cheek. Part of me hopes that he has just so that I don’t have to tell him.

  “Yeah, I did, I didn’t know about dad until I turned sixteen though. Meredith—Kai’s sister and our guardian growing up—thought it’d be best that way. I needed to cut all ties to my human family and that was hard enough as a kid.”

  “Do you know what Mom did to me?” I ask sternly. Just how much does he know?

  He nods. “Yeah, I do.”

  “Why didn’t you come back then? You would’ve been sixteen at that time. You could’ve come back!” I say this almost angrily, and I have to take a deep breath to calm down.

  “I couldn’t come back just to leave again in a few years, May. I will never grow old. I will look like this forever. How would you have felt if I’d come back just to vanish again? I couldn’t do that to you or anyone. I’m not part of that world anymore. I can never go back to it. That’s why I wish you’d never have woken up to see me. I want you to be able to live a normal life.” Daniel struggles to get each word out. “You can’t do that knowing about all this.” He throws his hands up in the air, motioning to our surroundings. “I want better for you.”

  “What does Kade have to do with all this?”

  “He’s an...acquaintance of ours.” Daniel’s face scrunches up. He looks unsure of his answer. I can tell in his tone that he’s not a huge fan of Kade, but I don’t comment.

  “And Clarissa?” I wonder.

  “A friend of ours. Meredith’s roommate.” He sounds more sure about this answer.

  “They’re both...like you?” I ask, feeling strange asking it.

  He nods. “Yes. They’re not human.” He picks up a snow globe from the dresser and fiddles with it. Maybe he’s feeling as awkward and nervous as I am about all of this.

  I look at him questioningly, awaiting a further explanation. “I am what is referred to as Bryxx.”

  We’re interrupted by Kade appearing in the doorway with Clarissa who knocks lightly and then approaches me carefully. “I’m sorry to interrupt but I’ve made a casserole downstairs if you’re hungry. Also, the only flight I could get leaves in just a few hours from Billings.”

  It’s not until that very moment that I realize how hungry I am. When was the last time I even ate?

  Clarissa notices my interest peak and smiles warmly. “Would you like me to bring you some up or would you rather stretch your legs a bit and come down?”

  “Don’t go out of your way. I’ll come down. You’ve helped me enough,” I reassure her and then can’t help but wonder how it is that I’ve healed so fast. I watched Kai heal before my eyes, but I’m not immortal.

  Daniel looks over at me and appraised me slowly. “You’re frightened,” he decides finally.

  “Yeah, amongst a lot of other things. How exactly have I managed to heal so quickly? How long have I even been here?” I groan as I push myself out of the bed.

  Clarissa glances to the digital alarm clock on the nightstand. “Almost three hours.”

  Three ho
urs? That must be a joke.

  “I didn’t have time to take you to a hospital,” Kade explains. “You barely had a pulse.”

  Daniel then seems to snap out of his funk and directs his attention to someone other than me. “Kade, you saved my sister’s life in more than one way the past few days and I owe you an unpayable debt because of it. Thank you.”

  Kade’s eyes widen slightly, his forehead wrinkling, but then he gathers himself and musters a soft smile. “For the record, I did it for her benefit, not yours, and as for the debt you owe me...you may repay me by making sure she gets home safe. That’s all I want from you. You know the rules, though, Daniel. You have broken the law by telling her what you have already, get her out of here before matters escalate. For her benefit, not yours. I’d hate from my father to catch wind of this.”

  “Your father? He’s a cop or something?” I wonder.

  Kade grins, his eyes twinkling. “No. My father is many things, but he is no cop. He is one of the six men who make up the council that keeps our society in line and undiscovered by humans.”

  “Your society of Bryxx?” I ask for reassurance.

  Kade tosses me a half smile. “Yes, May.”

  I want to know more, but my stomach rumbles and the smell of the casserole Clarissa made wafts up the stairs towards me, causing me to salivate.

  “You guys never answered my question about how I healed so fast,” I recall and head for the bedroom door.

  “Clarissa is a doctor of sorts in our society for people like us who are very critically injured. She also aides in delivering babies, injuries, sickness and things in the humans who live with our community,” Kade explains and side steps from the doorway so I can exit the room. He looks on edge, his body stiff and his movements choppy.

  Clarissa walks in front of me and leads me to the kitchen. “May, I have materials unlike what human doctors possess. It was some of these materials that caused your rapid healing.”

  As we descend the stairs, a large entryway opens up. A living room appears to be on the left and the kitchen on the right. I turn towards the kitchen, still following Clarissa. In the kitchen, at the huge mahogany table sits Kai reading a sports magazine, a blonde woman around my age dressed in slacks and a pink blouse, and muscular man in a tight-fitting navy-blue t-shirt and matching shorts. The man catches my eye because his arms are covered in multiple unique tattoos and his hair is tousled like he didn’t bother to comb it. To say the least, he looks rough.

  Clarissa motions to Kai. “May, this is Malakai. He lives down the road with your brother but always seems to end up here for meals.” She smirks at him.

  Kai nods politely to me without moving his eyes from his magazine before sipping from his yellow coffee mug. “What can I say, Clarissa, you’re the cook around.”

  Clarissa then points to the blonde woman. “This is Meredith. Kai’s older sister and my roommate.”

  Meredith looks up from her cell phone and eyes me carefully, her eyes running over me slowly as if she’s inspecting me. “Hello, darling.”

  Clarissa then moves towards the rough-looking man seated at the table. “This is my son Garrett.”

  As I shift my gaze from Clarissa to Garrett, I realize that he’s staring at me with an odd smile on his lips. He looks amused and also curious, I decide.

  “I’m glad to see you feeling better,” Garrett says sincerely.

  After a moment of staring at him like an idiot, I recognize him. “Garrett Meyer?” I ask incredulously. It’s been years since I’ve seen him, but I know it’s him. He has longer hair and a beard but it’s him.

  “You remember me?” he asks, his lips twitching.

  “I took swimming lessons with you in Sunnybrooke for like three years in a row,” I muse, not sure why I’m so excited about this fact.

  “It was about the only human thing my mom let me do growing up.” He cuts a glance at Clarissa who sends him a scolding look, I swear her eyes go ten shades darker. “Well, it was.”

  “I wanted you to know how to swim, and I couldn’t very well help you with that. It’s something I’ve always wished I was taught young. It’s a good skill to have.” Clarissa wipes a spot off the counter and tosses a pan into the sink.

  “So would’ve a human education,” Garrett grumbles and rests against the back of his chair with his arms crossed. I can tell this isn’t the first time this argument has ensued.

  Clarissa sighs. “It was far too dangerous. Look at you. You turned out fine, son.”

  “I turned out human raised in a world of immortals that I don’t even belong in,” Garrett continues gruffly.

  Clarissa’s eyes begin to fill with water but before anyone notices but me, she turns her back to everyone and sighs loudly. “Let’s eat shall we. Garrett, you’re being rude. We have guests. If you’re so interested in humanity, well, there’s a human standing merely feet away from you.” Clarissa ends the discussion and takes to cleaning the kitchen.

  Garrett’s eyes meet mine again.

  “So, you’re human?” I ask him, already knowing the answer, but hoping to break the awkward silence.

  He nods once. “Yup.”

  Kade leans against the open yellow wall beside the table. “Clarissa is Bryxx, but Garrett’s father was human. It’s rare and against the law for this pairing to occur but it does happen and when it does, the offspring have a fifty-fifty chance of turning out human or turning out Bryxx,” Kade elaborates, answering my unspoken question. “Of course, there’s no way to know which they will be until either they die and do or do not return from the dead or they reach maturity and become Bryxx or they do not and they remain human. A Bryxx doesn’t gain full power until either they die or they reach maturity. Kai, for example, died and triggered his Bryxx genes early, before maturity whereas Meredith’s Bryxx genes began working after she reached adulthood.”

  In a small town like the one near where I was raised most of my life, everyone knows everyone. I recall meeting Garrett in one of our swim classes because he stood out, the reason being that he wasn’t from our school, no one had ever seen him before. He was a shiny new toy.

  Clarissa dishes me up a plate of casserole and sets it across the table from Garrett who looks up at me welcomingly, so I take the seat. I hate eating in front of people, especially people who I barely know, but I’m starving so I take a quick bite and chew self-consciously while everyone at the table watches me curiously. I feel like a three-headed elephant in a zoo enclosure.

  “What’s the plan?” Kai asks, directing his question at my brother who still stands in the doorway, looking a little bit like a statue.

  Daniel heaves a deep breath before taking a step into the kitchen. “She knows now. She can’t be compelled. She’s in the same boat as Garrett.”

  Garrett lifts his head. “Except I was born into this shit and spent my whole life dealing with it. This is normal to me. To her, it’s like you just threw her into the land of Oz. Also, she still gets to leave here. I don’t.”

  Daniel grimaces and scowls at Garrett who doesn’t cower away and instead raises his brows in challenge.

  Kai shrugs. “Well, I don’t want to be involved with any of this. You should’ve lied to her. You know the risk.”

  Daniel’s head snaps up and he turns to face Kai with a tense glare. “No? You don’t want to be involved? If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be here to begin with!”

  “No, Daniel, you wouldn’t be here if I’d never have saved you, because you’d be dead in a hole, but she still would be here you realize. You’d be dead in an old well and she’d be here, the exact same way that she is right now. Actually, no, because Clarissa would’ve made sure she stayed asleep and didn’t wake up to a waterfall of confidential information. She’d be nearly on her way back to Seattle, back home, back to safety.”

  I flinch away from Kai’s bitterness. He tosses his magazine down on the table harshly.

  Daniel’s jaw clenches and then he relaxes slightly before turning to face
Kai again. “She’s my sister. Either you’re in or I’m out.” The way he says this is erupt and final, like he’s about to lunge at Kai and do god knows what to him. Daniel is not happy with Kai, that much is very, very clear.

  Kai and Daniel make eye contact for a long, awkward moment before Kai nods once. “Alright. I’m in.”

  The tension in the room is palpable, making things feel stranger than they already were. I dig into my food, straying from any eye contact. My stomach growls even as I shovel food into my mouth.

  “Kade, you shouldn’t stay here much longer. Henry will be looking for you soon I’m sure, and we can’t risk him tracking you here and finding that we have an undocumented human in the house. You broke a major law bringing her here and you know what it could lead to,” Clarissa voices her concern. “Stop by tomorrow and I will update you on things. I wish you could stay. I’m sorry.” She finishes drying a glass and puts it in the cupboard.

  Kade glances down to me and makes eye contact before nodding. “I’ll be back tomorrow then.” He turns and heads for the door. “Take care, May.”

  “Kade?” Daniel chases after him and Kade turns to face him as he rests his hand on the doorknob. “You saved her life. I owe you. Thank you. I know you didn’t have to do that.”

  Kade’s lips turn up lightly. “You don’t owe me anything for doing the right thing. I will see you tomorrow.”

  With that, Kade leaves the house. Garrett isn’t far behind him.

  “I’m going to be late for work with all this action,” Garrett remarks playfully with a vibrant grin and throws on a pair of torn up work boots.

  “What do you do?” I ask him, making conversation.

  “I’m a farm hand down the road,” he answers, a smile still on his lips, but not in his eyes.

  Once he leaves the house I angle myself towards Daniel. “He hates his job,” I state. “Why doesn’t he do something different?”

  Kai, Clarissa, Meredith, and Daniel all stare at me looking baffled.

  Kai lifts his chin slightly. “How do you know he doesn’t like his job?”