by Abra Ebner
I reached a finger into the bottle and retrieved one red pill. I rolled it onto my palm, observing the plain oval shape. The bottle contained the pills I’d originally gotten from Greg when all this started—the blood pills. A craving was triggered from somewhere deep inside me, someplace evil, someplace wanting. I’d forgotten about these pills as Greg had then kidnapped me, feeding me his blood straight from the vein instead.
I shuddered at the thought. That shudder alone reminded me of how horrible that whole experience was. I never wanted to be that person again—and I wouldn’t. That part of me had been healed, but, then again, the pills had been a much milder way to ingest such a rare drug as Angel Blood. This I could handle. I only had a few left anyway. Besides, giving them to Max was a waste.
Without a second thought, I popped the pill in my mouth, swallowing it dry before my mind got a chance to stop myself. As it went down my throat, however, the guilt kicked in. Quickly, I leaned over the sink, trying to gag the pill back up, but it was no use. I turned on the water, heat rushing to my cheeks and tears filling my eyes. Why had I done that? I was stupid. The dark reality of the world returned to me as I waited for the dreadful effects of the blood to kick in.
Hoping that ignoring what I’d done would make it go away, I began to apply my makeup, albeit shakily. Slowly, however, the effects of the pill began to cloak me in a veil of fuzziness. As I leaned away from the mirror, I instantly knew that ignoring it was not working as I felt the whole room sway, padded in a pillow of quiet.
I felt calm.
I took a deep breath, the first real breath I’d taken in some time. Hands on the counter, I summoned the strength to act as normal as possible, but all around me things began to speak to my subconscious. The whispers started as though someone where miles behind me, speaking through a tube and straight into my ear. At first I hardly noticed them as I exited the room and began to get dressed. I didn’t care what I wore as I pulled on the first pair of jeans I saw and a black and pink striped sweater. Bracing myself against the closet door, I shut my eyes, urging the feelings inside me back, still hoping I had the mental strength to suppress what I’d done, along with the guilt.
Opening my eyes, I slipped my feet into a pair of loosely tied boots at the bottom of my closet. Running a lazy hand through my hair, I kicked my backpack, which had been tossed beside my boots, into the middle of the room before lazily picking it up.
Standing and hooking one strap over my left shoulder, I turned and came face to face with Wes. I nearly doubled back, suddenly sobering as his smiling face observed me.
“Tired?” he asked.
I swallowed, avoiding his gaze, hoping he couldn’t see the glossy look in my eyes that I knew was there. My heart was heavy with shame, heavier than it had been a moment ago. Why hadn’t I heard his thoughts as he entered the room? Then I remembered the blissful side effect of what I had done, the side effect that numbed my ability to hear other’s thoughts. I smiled to myself. I had forgotten how great it felt, how silent and simple it was when left alone in my own head. Hearing every thought from every passing individual was admittedly daunting, but something I’d always dealt with.
I shook my head. “No. I’m not too tired,” I finally answered him.
His smile faded, but I couldn’t tell exactly what that meant. Did he suspect that I had done something, or was he simply thinking that this was to be expected given it was my first day back at school? Never did I anticipate finding myself wishing I could hear his thoughts. Maybe I didn’t like feeling this way, not anymore. I was better than this.
“Well, better get it over with,” he went on, talking as though I could hear what he was thinking.
I pretended I had, trying to roll my eyes and look as much like myself as I could. Wes turned and I followed him out of the room and down the stairs. At his car I quickly got inside and buckled in. “Get it together, Emily,” I whispered to myself as Wes rounded the hood of the car and got in on his side. I smiled at him, feigning exhaustion.
“Just relax,” he squeezed my knee before putting his hand on the shifter and starting the car. “I promise to take you to Winter Wood after all this. Just keep your mind on that.”
I wished I could keep my mind on that, but the whispers that felt like they had been miles away were now right beside me. I wished I could ignore the voice, pretend I didn’t recognize the voice, but as it came clear, I began to panic.
“What are your plans, then?” Greg echoed in my head.
I wondered if he were talking to me, but then another voice joined in.
“We’ve accomplished step one, and step two is underway. We’ve toppled most of the eastern priories, and now we must focus on a plan for Winter Wood,” A female voice answered.
I looked sideways at Wes as we drove slowly out of our cul-de-sac. I knew he couldn’t hear any of this, but I began to hope he could.
“Taking care of Jane was the easy part, my dear Greg. Now we need to get rid of your brother.”
Suddenly I recognized the female voice. It was Avery.
“Get rid of him? Like kill him? If you kill him you’ll kill me!” Greg whined frantically. I was surprised to hear him act so weak.
Avery laughed. “No, Greg dear. I’m not going to kill him. I’m going to bring him to our side. He loves me, and what choice does he have now but to love me?”
“He keeps Jane’s body. Until all hope to bring her back is lost, he will never think to love another.” Greg paused. “Let alone you,” he added bravely.
I brought my hand to my forehead, leaning against the car window as the voices made my head ache. What was I hearing? Where these things to come, or things that were happening? I felt Wes’s hand on my back, giving me a loving rub. The last thing I wanted right now was to be touched. The Angel Blood had begun to make my skin crawl, or perhaps it was simply the sound of Greg’s voice.
Avery hissed. “Then I’ll destroy her body when I destroy that wretched Winter Wood.”
A cold sweat broke out across my skin as I sank further and further into the passenger seat.
“My brother will find us,” Greg’s sudden resistance and doubt did not match the earlier fear he’d shown toward Avery.
There was a shuffling noise, like a chair being pulled out. “Then why are you wasting time? Get the Black Angel’s together and head to Winter Wood, now!”
“But what if Max is there?”
I heard her draw in a long, annoyed breath. Their voices were already beginning to fade. “Trust me, he’s not. He’ll be looking for me.”
The cold chill that had covered my body suddenly broke. My ears began to ring, and slowly, I heard Wes’s thoughts inside my head once more. They came in spirts at first, but very soon they were as clear as they always were. Wes was wondering if he should make me go to school at all.
I sat myself up, clearing my throat and blinking my eyes. I felt as though I had just woken from a bad dream, as though someone had dunked me into a bath of water. “Wes,” I began. “I don’t think we should go to school today. I think we need to find Max.”
JANE:
Eliza and I walked until the field turned into a gravel path, and the gravel path into a stone road. Before long the stone road led to a gate where a man dressed in a plain grey robe and sandals ushered us through with a smile on his face. This was not an elaborate gate, but a gate no different than the iron and wood gate I’d seen leading to Winter Wood. Inside, a bazaar surrounded us, the air filled with flutes and flags waving on the wind. Here, old mixed with new, elephants were ridden by beautiful women dressed in jewels and gold fabric alongside a group of cowboys on horseback. Everyone glimmered just as Eliza and I did, each seemingly holding onto the life they once lived and loved, or loathed.
“Precisely. Life here goes on for these people, and for people like you and I.”
I analyzed each face, finding them surprisingly content. “Don’t they ever get tired of it?”
Eliza looked up at me as she walked besid
e me. “Would you ever stop waiting for Max? Would you ever grow tired of that?”
She was right. I would wait for Max forever if I could—at least that’s how I felt right now.
Up ahead, buildings began to crop up here and there. They were old buildings, though had been fixed up over what seemed years. It was like what I imagined Europe to be like, though I’d never been there. Things were surprisingly natural, more natural than I would expect from a place that everyone pictured to be perfect. This was a place that had been depicted time and time again in many images of the Ever After or Heaven, depending on your belief. What I found interesting was the mix of this idea, and the various religions I was able to pick out in the crowd. So far I’d identified Christian crosses, Buddhist icons, and many more, all co-mingling in this one place. How silly to think we were all working toward one future, one Ever After.
After another few minutes of walking it felt like we were deep inside a bustling city, the memory of the solemn river bank a far off image on my mind. We stopped at what looked like a café. A contented waitress sat us at a round outside table. The table was covered in a square white cloth, the corners catching in the breeze. These small details seemed magnified to me, and I didn’t understand why. There was an umbrella over our heads, blue and white striped with flaps that blew on the same sweet, gentle wind. Before me a silver setting was placed with a crystal goblet. The water in the goblet perspired on the outside of the glass, seemingly so tangible, but to what degree? I reached for it and took a sip, feeling the water slide down my throat and quell my thirst. A bird could be heard singing as it flew overhead—it felt like spring.
“It’s always spring here. I guess it’s the most uplifting season, one of rebirth and renewal. In my opinion, it’s designed to be that way in order to encourage us to go back to life and start over.” She smiled in an almost proud manner.
I found it strange but I had to agree. “Back to life and start over? But I thought you descended further into the Ever After?”
“You do, if you find true love. It’s all about love. If you find it, you descend together down the road to the true Ever After of your dreams. This only happens when you’ve completed your task of making your souls whole again.”
I had forgotten that that was the key—true love. “What’s the road like?”
Eliza was already pointing down the road that went past the café before I even finished talking. I looked in the direction she suggested, seeing as the road went on and on until it simply disappeared. “Honestly, I can’t tell you what it’s like. No one like me is willing to walk that far. Those that do are never seen again. I figure if I were to do it alone, I’d end up reborn on Earth. That’s a risk I’m not really willing to take—not yet.”
I was discouraged by her inability to answer my question. “And as a prophet you can’t see what’s out there?”
Eliza shook her head as a lady arrived and placed two cups of tea before us before her glimmer washed back into the depths of the café. “Even the best prophets have limits.”
“And what if you were to take that road to the Ever After with a man you thought you loved, but ended up not being your true match?”
Eliza smiled as she took a sip of her tea, looking somehow amused by my smart question. “That’s a good question to ask,” she began, setting her cup back onto the saucer. “This is why we speculate that you’d just be reborn. You’d have no memory of where you’d been, your life before, or the failed love you’d dragged into the Ever After with you. That’s the only logical thing I can come up with, and trust me, I’ve had a lot of time to think about it and discuss it with others.”
“So, if I chose to be reborn, I could simply walk down that road?”
Eliza nodded. “That’s one way. Another is to visit the temple. It’s a much more spiritual way to go about it. The girl there will grant you wings to fly home and be reborn.”
“Have you ever been to the temple?” I asked, envisioning these wings to be just like Max’s.
Eliza took another sip of tea, avoiding my gaze. “I have.”
“What’s it like there?”
Eliza tilted her head and crossed her ankles before her blue eyes looked at me again. “It’s a wonderful escape from everything. Makes you want to go back. Many go there hoping it will help them forget the lives they lived before, but it doesn’t really work that way. You can’t overcome that fear without being reborn, but in order to be reborn you have to find peace.”
“Can we go there?” My voice was perhaps a little too excited. “I mean, not that I want to go back. I know that would be a rash choice given the fact that Max is doing all he can to bring me back. I just want to see it.”
Eliza dropped a lump of sugar in her already half drunken tea. “I’d love to take you there.”
MAX:
I arrived at the Eastern priory near dawn. It had taken me longer to get here due to the veils of secrecy placed on this particular priory, sending me in circles around Tibet. What I had seen on my journey here more than concerned me. Many of the fellowship priories had already been destroyed or were now occupied by other Black Angels. I had no idea that Greg had grown so strong, but then again it was Avery who was driving this, all because I couldn’t love her.
There was a large ginkgo tree that arched above the gate to the Eastern priory. Of what I could see, the Black Angels had not managed to find this place as I have, though others in the area were already reduced to rubble. The gate itself was made of planks of bamboo, set in a circular iron cage that held it steady to the Earth. Beyond the gate, the temple itself was blurred under a spell to hide it, almost like a mirage that came and went, tickling at your mind and leaving you wondering if what you saw was real or not.
Approaching the gate, I was surprised when it opened freely. A gentle breeze tickled the dewy, frosted leaves of the ginkgo tree. In the distance, a pink and blue sunrise began to crest the far away hills. It smelled fresh, crisp and renewed. Though the pixie here was rumored to have been revived into the world of light, just the essence of this place made me want to believe it was true—even for a skeptic like me. If there was any place that could bring me back to a state of enlightenment, this was certainly it.
Once inside the gate, the temple before me grew out of its foggy mirage, now looking crisp and solid against the rocky earth of the mountainside. All around, blossoming trees dropped their petals as though it were spring, despite the dusting of feathery frost. The juxtaposition was beautiful and far reaching. The cold did not seem to bother the spring-like qualities of life here. Just the sight of it proved to me that magick was real, but I’d never really doubted that to begin with.
All around, the grounds were silent. Small lanterns hung above long corridors that stretched a great distance on either side of a temple that sat in the middle. The temple itself was constructed of straight wooden planks, locked in place like a puzzle and void of conventions like nails and steel. The wood was dark ochre, knotted here and there with eyelets of lightened wood.
Between me and the temple was a pond, cut in half by a simple plank bridge about thirty feet in length. The water sparkled in shades of blue and violet, reflecting the world above in perfect detail. The blossoming trees stopped as I reached the pond. I stepped onto the bridge as the heels of my boots echoed against the silent water below.
Looking over the side, coy swam in gentle figure eights. Their tails were long like silk, backs spotted a shimmery orange and brown. They were like opals under the morning light, bright despite the scant amount of growing sunlight. Here and there green plants scraped the surface of the water, some topped with a white lotus, some pink. Their stems disappeared slowly into the ebony depths.
At the end of the bridge I was met by a door with a circular iron latch. Grasping the latch, I pushed the door open. It swung freely on well greased hinges, opening to a temple far more breathtaking than the one I’d grown used to in Winter Wood. On either wall, arched, clear glass windows invited the color
of the morning sky into the space, ever-changing as the seconds passed. The room itself was long like a chapel, the nave lined with benches on either side. At the front was a spectacle of gold lotus flowers, twisting and arching over a circular stone pedestal a foot off the ground and at least ten feet across. The room was empty except for me.
I walked to the pedestal, stepping onto it and standing in the middle, spinning as I looked up and observed each element of this place. Direct morning sunlight had now crested the mountains around us, inching their way through the windows like knives of gold. Still the room was silent, but I suddenly felt the presence of another soul—a warm soul.
I turned around, seeing a figure enter from a side door, her head and body cloaked in a drape of white and gold silk. The figure looked up. A woman’s face was elegantly glowing below the hood. She drew the hood from her head with delicate hands, her skin porcelain-white and flawless, just like Avery’s. Her face was long and lean, blushed with a light spring pink. Her eyes were rimmed with a shimmery white like the frost of the blooming trees outside, lashes like icicles. Her lips graduated in color from nude to pink, lush and glistening. She was a splice of winter and spring, a perfect mix of an impossible season.
This had to be the pixie I was looking for.
She bowed gently. “Hello.”
When she spoke there was no hint of shadow to her voice. In fact, it was as though shadow could not touch her at all as I’d seen illuminated under her hood and cloak. She was as full of light as any pixie I had ever had the pleasure of meeting before.
“Hello,” I replied gruffly, sounding a bit taken aback, as I was.
“What a pleasure to have such a guest as you.”