Misery Saves the Night

by Brittany Allen

  “What’s going on?” Recarie's voice was almost as flat as Tory's.

  They followed a path out of the kitchen's back door and down a red and brown brick alleyway. Out of the alley the came to one of the main streets in their town. It was like an explosion of stars appeared before Recarie. Beautiful sparkling lamps lit up the rustic brick streets. There were no cars and people walked to where ever they were headed to. Many shops were lined up on the left and the right. Their windows glowed a warm and welcoming glow to all who passed.

  “Welcome to our town.” Daouen bounced out in front of her spinning like a top.

  Caleth joined him, pulling Recarie along with her. “You see.” She led her new friend along the sidewalk. “Some nights after work we like to go out and just relax. Food, shopping, the theater, and just stuff like that.”

  “Though we always try to find some new mischief to get into.” Daouen teased the new girl.

  Behind her, Recarie caught a glimpse of the Tory boy. He kept his head down and shuffled his feet all while mumbling underneath his breath.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Recarie asked in her soft voice, but no one heard her. Caleth and Daouen were too excited to show her the sights.

  “And this!” Daouen and Caleth shouted at once as they stepped out onto an opening in the little town. “Is the Town Square.”

  “Even though it is technically circular.” Recarie failed to get Caleth’s joke which left the other girl pouting playfully.

  Tick. Tick. Tong! A bell somewhere off in the distance rang. The sound of bell in the clock tower off in the other part of town was so enchanting that Recarie blocked out all other noises and spun to find its source. She had heard a sound similar the bell’s chime some time ago, but could not place where it was from.

  Tory left the group and sat of the edge of the fountain. He dipped his fingers in the clear water that looked deep midnight blue. What had happened to his friends that made them so into some random girl? There were hundreds of girls just like her that came into the café every day. “What makes this Recarie girl so special?”

  “It’s cold!” A high pitched male voice cut through the darkness.

  “Then come closer to the cauldron, my love.” Another gruff male voice called to his husband.

  “He’d better get here soon…” A young woman squeaked. “Need to be home right now.”

  “He’ll be here any minute, young one.” An island accented woman patted the girl on the back. Even in the pitch black room, she always knew her way around. “Just be paitent.”

  “Alright, quiet, quiet, quiet.” An older male joined the group. “Reflections felt playful today…” He put on a stone violet cloak just like the ones everyone else in the group was robbed in.

  “We’re running out of time!” The first man yelled. “She has taken to that, to that man!”

  “Wouldn’t have been my first choice…” The island accented woman agreed with the man. “Not even in the top ten at that.”

  “But we already made the decision a long time ago to not interfere with her life now.” The first man’s wife hugged him. “You feel warmer now. He, he.”

  “The NSSH is already making plans to go to Farous.” Their leader put a thick finger in cauldron’s now silver liquid.

  “But that is against their very own rules!” The young woman screamed. “That land is off limits to them and it could start a worldwide war if they do!”

  The group huddled closer to the cauldron. Summer was becoming fall and the stone walls did not keep out the chilly, and very occasional, breeze.

  “Looks like they want their army of super soldiers just that badly. Who needs the entire world under their possession anyways? I mean for real, come on now.” Their leader revealed images of the NSSH in the cauldrons liquid. “See. They are even working on a technique to take her powers from her.”

  “Ugh!” The lovey dovey couple screamed like concerned parents.

  “All in favor of ‘that’ man being her guardian for the time being, say ‘I’.” The young girl of the group issued a quick impromptu vote. She would not have what she was watching be done to any more human beings.

  “But he is so old!” The second man twisted the tip of his boot into the moist dirt they stood on.

  “Sure enough.” His husband agreed.

  “We must trust in her decisions and um,” the rarely outspoken island woman stalled. “Um, forgive her for her past power trance induced killing rampage.”

  “We can always forgive her for things done without her consciousness, but I am still wary about this man.” Their leader tapped the cauldron. “Taking a vote. Yes or no? Yea or nay?”

  “Might as well.” The couple pouted.

  “Yes.” The other two women agreed.

  “Then that is a yes.” Their leader went back to the door. “Let us get back to the things we call lives.”

  “Life is just one big stage upon which we all have a role?” The younger girl tilted her head in contemplation. Behind her the two men came and wrapped her up in their arms.

  “See you all soon.” With those last words to each other, they parted ways.

  Time seemed to pass faster than Recarie realized. Fall was ending and winter was right at the door. She floated around the café in her pink and gold waitress uniform. For staying in the café’s spare room and free food, Recarie agreed to working at Acanelle’s. Her old life was slipping away, as short as it had been. Now she was fully involved and happy in Farous.

  “Hey.” Daouen caught Recarie’s absent gaze as they both passed through the kitchen’s doors. He said something else, but it completely escaped her busy mind.

  “Huh?” She stared deep into his ash grey eyes. “Oh!” Recarie finally noticed the boy. Her eyes caught in his gaze again. Something was happening.

  Daouen blushed. “I said you are high spirited today.”

  “Yeah…” Recarie could not speak. What was happening to her? This was not the first time she and Daouen had been intently looking into each other’s eyes while they spoke. But this time she could not stop smiling and with each word, a spark flew through her skin. “Bye.” She waved and headed to the kitchen, leaving Daouen alone and confused.

  Across the room, unknown to either of them, Tory had been watching the whole incident. For some reason, that conversation did not sit well with him. Maybe it was his distrust for that Recarie girl or something was off with Daouen that day. Even after more than a month of working at the café, Tory still had not accepted Recarie. He shook these thoughts from his mind. Soon they would be closing the shop for the day and he would not have to see her for another two nights.

  “Alright.” Recarie called to Caleth across the room. “I am out of here.” Waving to her friends, she left to her room in the other side of the café.

  Once every two weeks, Caleth, Daouen, Recarie, and Tory would get together at the end of the day to go out after work. Tonight was such a night and the weather was just right. Black and gray storm clouds were coming on land from the sea. Thundered roared in with the clouds and the citizens of Farous knew rain would soon follow.

  She took off her waitress outfit and hung it in the closet next to the only other clothing articles she owned; an overskirt, halter top, shorts, a belt, a pair of jeans, a purple hoodie. The last two items Caleth had given to Recarie the first night she stayed there.

  “What was I thinking?” She referred to the overskirt.

  An hour later after getting off work, Recarie was ready to ‘hit the town’ as Caleth had so colorfully put it. Spending the evening with her two friends, and Tory, kept her mind off of other pressing matters. Like the NSSH or her destructive powers she so rarely used. Recarie had pushed all of that to the back of her mind, almost having started a new life.

  Tick tock. The clock on her wall chimed. It was going on eight thirty. Her friends were late. Pulling herself right side up, she leapt from the couch towards the back wall in her room. ‘If they’re not coming to get me,’ Recarie�
�s thoughts buzzed. ‘I will just go find them.’

  After leaving the safety and comfort of her room, she was enveloped in darkness. The café was closed and no one was there. Faint footsteps could be heard coming from behind her, but that was impossible. Only thing behind Recarie was a wall, a solid brick wall.

  Outside thunder roared and shook the windows. Recarie could feel the rain coming upon the Farous. Inside or out, she felt trapped and panicky. It was easy for her to forget that she had such amazing abilities to defend for herself. Maybe life in Farous had made her soft. Too fragile for her own good.

  Gliding on air, keeping her head down, she made a dash for the kitchen. She sprang out the back door, stumbling over three garbage cans in the process. Recarie did not let any of this faze her. The sound of the ever approaching footsteps motivated her to keep going.

  A white full moon cast its light on Recarie, making her skin sparkle like hardly visible stars. Rain began to fall slowly, but only at first. Each drop that hit her body stung like acid ripping through her skin. She needed to find shelter, if only Recarie could recall where she was. By some chance, she had run down several alleys, two backyards, and a shopping plaza. She had successfully gotten herself completely lost.

  It was obvious that she had left the main part of the city. Only trees and the rain surrounded her now. As Recarie tried peering through the thick mass of unruly grass blades to try and spot the city lights, she remembered something.

  “Duh!” After slapping her head, Recarie brought her body off the ground. But this was a poor attempt. “Stupid dense grass.” It closed in on her and prevented her from getting far. Recarie was a rabbit being hunted by her imagination.

  All she had to do was cut the grass down, but Recarie could not bring herself to destroy the flora. Now she would have to figure something else out.

  “CRACK!” Lightning sparkled through the pitch black night sky, lighting it up with its purple electricity.

  Frightened by her first thunderstorm, Recarie took off through the maze. Rain stung her eyes and mascara melted down her flushed cheeks. Running in sandals was made difficult as her feet slipped in and out of them, courtesy of the rain. At this point Recarie did not care where she was headed and coming out of the thicket, she saw a house.

  “…” She was left without words, like a certain man often did to her.

  The mere sight of this two story brick house caused her power to lift her off the ground and to its front door. Standing on the faded pine wood porch, Recarie took a deep and long breath before knocking with all her might. She had succeeded in shaking the house to its foundation with her strength and impulsiveness.

  As with most houses built several decades ago, the door creaked open and Recarie allowed herself to go in. There was no need for Recarie to announce herself, no one had obviously lived there is years. No furniture in the waiting room except an old faded purple runner. A stairway greeted her at the end of the room and divided into a left and right section.

  She started up the stairs and took the path to the right because it had antique oil lamps she could use to light the way. A flicker of Recarie’s pure white energy lit the tip of the lamps wick. Fortunately it still held oil in it and she was now able to see the end of the hall. In the distance, orange flames danced to the right, seeming to go up the wall. This scene brought her to a halted pace.

  With a bit more caution then she had when she entered the house, Recarie had made it to the end of the hall and the source of the dancing flames.

  “What a beautiful mirror…” Running her still dripping wet fingers over the carved wooden frame bits of the decaying paint flittered to the ground. It reflected the oil lamps on the wall, giving them a supernatural appearance.

  To her left a boarded window let in small cracks of the silver moon light. Recarie looked ashy like she was almost drained of energy in the mirror.

  “Oh!” Almost as if she had seen a loved one for the first time in years, Recarie’s little face lit up at the sight of silver sparkles floating around her back. “He, he, he.” Instead of going to touch her back, she leaned in close to the mirror’s surface. It rippled underneath her finger tips like still water being disturbed. Reacting to her touch, the silver liquid bound from its frame and went after Recarie’s arm that had stroked it.

  “Damn!” Up in the air Recarie sprang toward the front door.

  The liquid took on an almost human like form as it chased her down the hall. Every few seconds Recarie looked back to see if the creature was following her and by now it was reaching out to grab her. It was right on her heels and she was almost at the front door. In a swiftness motion she had never done before, Recarie was down the stairs in a burst of blue light.

  “Go, go, and go!” Motivational words slipped from her lips.

  Recarie was more than desperate to rid herself of her pursuer. An energy came from it that had her in such a panic. Wanting to be out of its presence brought a surge of tears down her face. The front door was several yards away. She reached out for the knob in utter vain.

  “Shuuu!” The front door popped off its hinges and following an almighty swell of wind, came Tory along with rain and leaves. Much like the rest of her night, this wind was not normal. It had not come from the storm.

  “No!” The gust sent her tumbling into the grasp of one thing she had been trying to escape. She could feel it latch on her body as though she was its missing half. Freezing, wet slick tentacles wrapped around her even as Recarie tried to resist.

  First it went after her torso and once that was incased in its being, her mouth was gagged. Her sight was being phased out. It was sapping Recarie’s energy. Before blacking out to it, she felt comfort in the fact that she was not alone even if she could not stand the person she was with.

  Chapter 6

  Operation: Get that Witch

  In a small suburb of North Disten, Ian was waking up after a night of little sleep. A month of planning the NSSH’s invasion of Farous had left him weary. Not just the physical aspects of the planning process had caused his sleepless night, but the emotional ones as well. During the day, Ian was putting the finer details into capturing his target, though when the night came so did his other side.

  “Is it right to break our own laws in an attempt to bring a living human back to this land just to dissect her for our own uses?” Was often the only question passing through his mind at night and this was only with minimal contributions to the NSSH.

  Ian was at the end of his month long vacation, if it could have been called that. Each day he and Justine spent around each other caused further and further strains on their engagement. Seeing each other for longer than their usual twelve hours a day was making Justine tense and Ian would withdraw to another room in which she did not occupy. For the most part though, Justine would leave during the day and Ian would be left to himself.

  He had been keeping up with the house chores which also worked as a distraction for the worries that plagued him. “Just where was Justine going every day? It was surely not work.” Ian would mumble to himself. “She only works eight hours a week…”

  With most of these thoughts out of his mind, Ian forced himself out of bed. He could not lie there all morning, although he doubted anyone would miss him if he decided to do so. It was half an hour later when he was dragging his feet out the front door.

  “Bye…” He did not know what else to say to the vixen lying in bed. What could he say?

  Even though Ian knew she was awake, she gave him not the slightest bit of acknowledgement. Her actions made him think whether or not this bothered him. The front door clicked shut with a soft clink. Without his last look at his house, Ian got in his car and made his way to work. As the day started with bright yellow sunshine, happily singing birds, and clear blue skies, how could anyone be down?

  On a morning like all others, somehow this one left him feeling different. This was his second field mission. Both had included the same girl whose name he could not even speak. Ian
took all the same roads and passed all the familiar sights.

  “When did my life become one massive routine?” These thoughts made the drive to work seem short with his mind elsewhere.

  “Now do I need to go over this briefing again, or do you fully understand what I have been up here yelling about these past two hours?” His crew of twenty three sat in their fold up metal chairs in the vehicle hanger mute as silence. “Now we are going after this beast not only for the crimes it has committed, some of which includes countless charges of murder, but as well as bringing it back so we can slice it’s D.N.A. a hundred ways for from Sunday advancing our army.” The three lieutenants, Trey, and nineteen Private rank officers made up his team.

  “If anyone has any questions, now would be the time to say them. Once we reach Farous, you’ll only be able to contact your designated lieutenant once every three days until this mission is complete. You are to blend in and not draw attention to yourselves.” Sean rubbed the bandage he still wore on his glistening forehead.

  “Where is…” One private raised his hand. Asking the question everyone wanted to know.

  “Probably just now getting out of bed.” A woman in the audience teased. Her tan, milky fingers twisted a lock of her blood red, violet tinted hair.

  “Or the pressure of his shower knocked him out.” This came from a man who was hidden by Trey’s rock physique.

  “Ugh!” Sean tossed his chair across the room. “I’ve had it! Get on the damn boats and out of my sight!” Something clearly had ticked him off. “Lieutenant Ian is a damn fine good man and you’ll give your superiors the respect they deserve!”

  Like ghosts, his subordinates rose from their seats and headed for the end of the hanger that led to an underground lake where their boats awaited them. They may not have looked like it at that moment, but these men and women were the best in their company. That may have been the reason Sean put up with them as much as he had been. When the moment came, he knew they would be prepared and ready to act and think accordingly.

  “And if he does not show up?” Trey approached Sean in the most informal of ways. “You of all people know his true thoughts about this mission.”