Avoidables

by Rachel Medhurst

  ‘In case you’re wondering, no one else knows. I don’t allow anyone in here,’ Artie said, handing me a cup.

  Sniffing the liquid, I was surprised to smell alcohol. It was a banned substance. It only caused the Avoidables to become even more depressed and desperate. Purple gulped his down, shrugging when I raised my eyebrows at him. I sipped the drink, grimacing when the burn hit the back of my throat. I had never tried it before, but had sometimes smelt it on other Avoidables. The taste didn’t inspire me to want to keep drinking. Why did people like alcohol?

  ‘Why don’t you let anyone in here? Is this why you fight so hard to make us behave? Because you know how good it is over there?’ I sat down on a worn out sofa.

  Purple came over and joined me, taking the cup from my hand and downing that too. I let him. I wanted to keep a clear head.

  ‘I don’t let anyone in here, because I don’t trust many people. I’m not sure how well it would go down with others if they knew my past.’ Artie gestured to the pictures. ‘And to answer your other question…Every Avoidable that has lived here their whole life assumes that it’s wonderful over there. Yes, they have material luxury but they don’t have integrity, love or peace.’

  Artie threw his drink back and poured himself another. Purple shook his head when he offered him more.

  ‘Seriously…? Are you saying that it’s just as bad over there?’ Purple sat forward. The sofa creaked from his heavy muscle.

  ‘Yep, now let’s talk about something else, shall we?’

  Artie looked directly into my eyes and I fought the urge to look away. There was a world of something I didn’t understand in the depths of his eyes. His wrinkled, sun marked skin told the tale of a life lived.

  ‘I know who you are,’ he said, not looking away.

  I kept my face still.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Purple feigned innocence well.

  Artie stood and walked over to the photos. He picked one off the mirror and handed it to me.

  ‘You probably didn’t recognise her,’ he said, sitting back down in his chair.

  My skin crawled as he watched me closely. Pulling my gaze away from him, I looked down at the picture in my hand, swallowing hard as I gazed at my mother. She wore a dress. A white flowy one, unlike anything I had ever seen before. A young Artie had his arm around her waist, kissing her cheek as she grinned at the camera. I blinked a few times, not able to look away from the beautiful pair.

  Purple leaned over me. ‘Who is that?’ he asked Artie.

  I looked up, and for the first time, Artie glanced away from me. Pain had passed through his gaze before he turned. He must have been in love with my mother.

  ‘You look so much like her,’ he whispered, taking another swig of his drink. Purple started to nod slowly as he understood his meaning.

  ‘What happened?’ Purple asked.

  He knew me well enough to know that I wouldn’t be able to speak for a moment. My chest pounded. I hadn’t known anyone who knew my mother for a very long time.

  ‘It was that angel. They made a pact together after the accident. She thought she was doing it for me but instead, it killed her.’

  Chapter Seven

  ‘Okay, I’ve said enough for one night, time to go to sleep.’

  I opened my mouth to speak, but the enforcer stood, gesturing for us to leave.

  ‘Wait, I need to know more about my mother.’ Taking his outstretched arm, I shrunk back when he sneered at me.

  ‘Let’s go, Hope,’ Purple said, taking my arm and guiding me out.

  Looking over my shoulder, I paused on the threshold of the door. Artie released a shaky breath as he ran a hand over his face. I rarely dealt with the enforcer one on one, but even I had never seen him look so emotional.

  Purple led me to the stage, pointing at our makeshift beds on the hard floor. Artie had said we could stay in the theatre for as long as we needed.

  ‘Can you believe that?’

  Thumping my butt down, I took my blanket, wrapped it around me and flopped onto the floor.

  I was desperate to find out what had happened. The memory of my mother was a faint one now and it hurt to flash back to that time.

  Purple laid down nearby. He stayed quiet for a long moment. He was awake. I could tell because he usually snored loudly. He also grunted. I assumed that dragons must have been noisy sleepers in their day too.

  ‘Are you okay?’ he said into the darkness.

  I could feel the faint heat of him. He insisted on sleeping near me, just in case. He was my protector. We couldn’t trust anyone, not even Artie.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I replied, sighing.

  ‘Do you want to talk about it?’

  He shifted closer and I moved away. His familiarity was too much right now.

  ‘No, thanks, I want to…’ My words were cut off as my phone burst into song. It echoed throughout the abandoned theatre. ‘Jason?’

  ‘I’m outside the theatre, come and let me in,’ he whispered.

  My skin flushed at the thought of him being so near. I had texted him an hour ago to let him know that we were staying there. Jumping off the stage, I ran down the aisle and unlocked the door. Throwing it open, I stood back. Jason grinned at me as he came in.

  He was wearing a jumper with a hood pulled low over his head. As I locked the door, he walked towards the stage.

  ‘Where are you going?’ I said, taking his hand and pulling him to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and bent to kiss my forehead.

  ‘Sorry,’ he whispered.

  Pushing his hood back, I kissed him properly. We had spent only a few stolen moments together in the last few weeks. Seeing him alive made me want to get closer to him.

  ‘That’s better,’ I said, releasing him.

  Freezing, I shuddered as my wings decided to push their way out of my back and my arm grew to its full length.

  ‘Can we do it again?’ he asked, pushing me against the door.

  I wiggled away from him as my big feathered wings cramped from the pressure. Kissing him all night was tempting, but the wings were a hindrance.

  ‘Sorry.’ He laughed, stepping back.

  ‘Who’s there?’ Artie called from the stage. It was dark near the entrance so I pushed Jason behind me.

  ‘It’s just me, Artie. I wanted to make sure we were safe before we slept.’

  I walked towards him but stopped when his eyes grew wide.

  ‘I knew it!’ he exclaimed.

  My wings were on full show. I cringed at my carelessness. Why did Jason always make me forget myself?

  Purple stood behind Artie with his arms folded. The snarky grin on his face was going to be knocked off if he wasn’t careful.

  ‘How did you know?’ I carried on walking and stopped in front of the stage.

  ‘She tried to hide her pregnancy from me. She claimed it hadn’t worked. Said that she’d been left alone.’

  ‘My mother…?’ I craved more information about her life before me. I missed her so much.

  ‘Yes, I wondered if she’d kept you. She disappeared before she started to show but she was still my woman. She tried to protect me for as long as she could after the accident, but I pushed her away.’

  He stopped talking. I had to stop myself from begging him to go on.

  ‘What…?’ I was going to ask about the accident but his face grew hard and he spun away. Purple stepped back as Artie walked past him.

  ‘Tomorrow, I will train you,’ he called, leaving us alone.

  My wings shuddered and sunk into my back. I was getting used to it. All I had to do was stand still for a minute.

  Jason came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. ‘Purple.’ He nodded at my scowling friend.

  ‘What are you doing here? Are you crazy?’

  ‘I had to see Hope,’ he replied, nuzzling my ear.

  I spun in his arms and looked up at his perfect face. His blue eyes sparkled as he looked at me. His hair was unkempt and soft as
I ran my hand through it. Purple grunted behind us, but his fading footsteps meant that he had left us alone for now.

  ‘Was it bad?’

  I didn’t want to talk about the bombing, but I had to know.

  Jason shook his head and released me. He walked to the side of the stage and pulled himself up to sit on the edge. I went to stand in between his open legs. Stroking his thighs, I tried to get him to look at me. He took hold of my hands gently and kissed them before meeting my gaze. My chest squeezed. A film of water covered his eyes.

  ‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ he whispered, letting his eyes drop.

  I sometimes had to remind myself that Jason was a Perfect and had only seen a shallow, carefree version of life until he had met me.

  ‘I knew that things were bad over this side. They scare us into staying away, but it’s just…’

  He couldn’t finish his sentence and I knew why. An image of my mother flashed into my mind. I closed my eyes, hoping it would disappear in the darkness.

  ‘I’m not sure I’m cut out for this. I know I’m supposed to be doing this mission with you but today was scary.’

  ‘We need to toughen you up!’ Purple said, coming out of the shadows.

  I knew that he wouldn’t be able to stay away for long. His curiosity about what had happened would have overtaken any desire to give us privacy.

  ‘And, how do you propose we do that?’

  A look flashed over Purple’s face. I knew him too well. He didn’t trust, or like, Jason much.

  ‘I’ve got an idea…’ Purple laid back down on his sleeping bag, ‘…but first we all need some sleep.’

  We agreed and curled up together across the stage from Purple. I drifted off to sleep wondering what Purple was going to do to my soulmate.

  Chapter Eight

  ‘You used to live here?’ Jason whispered.

  We crept along the road towards our building. The morning sun peeked over the top of roofs, reflecting off broken shop windows. Jason kicked the dirt on ground, trying to get it off his shoe.

  ‘Why is there no pavements?’

  Ignoring Jason, Purple strode on ahead, keeping a watch as we neared the alley beside our home. There were two guards’ cars in front of the building. Sneaking into the alley, I turned to face Jason.

  Lower Side was made up of blocks of buildings. Each family had to cram into three or four rooms. The blocks were close together, forming small alleys and roads.

  ‘We don’t have most things here. No pavements, nowhere to socialise, no parks. It’s not like Upper Side. We just have…’ I gestured around us. ‘…Buildings with angry people living in them.’

  ‘I’m still learning as much as I can, but…why don’t Avoidables make it better?’

  Purple snorted, his nostrils flaring. ‘Are you sure you’re an angel?’

  Putting my hand on my friends arm, I squeezed the raised ridge. ‘Leave him. Research is completely different from experience.’

  My best friend shrugged me off, turning his back on us to survey our window above.

  ‘We don’t earn money over here, it’s too dangerous. If we work, we earn our keep. You lot…I mean, the Perfects, send food and water supplies over. We don’t have luxuries here.’

  ‘Welcome to Lower Side, Perfect,’ Purple growled, sticking his head around the corner to see if the coast was clear. He looked at me, shaking his head.

  ‘Hope, you’re lighter than me, can you fly up and look in the window?’

  I nodded, willing my wings to come out. They stayed folded away. Gritting my teeth, I pushed my shoulder blades together, squeezing the muscles. My breath rushed out of my lungs when I failed. Purple raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Useless as ever,’ he chuckled.

  ‘Don’t say that. Although you do look constipated.’ Jason laughed along with my supposed friend.

  I hit them both on the arm and laughed myself when Jason rubbed at the spot I had hit.

  ‘We really do need to toughen you up,’ I said, nudging him in the ribs.

  Purple shook his head and allowed his wings to unfold from his back. He wore special Velcro tops that automatically split when his wings pushed through the material. His were even bigger than mine. The purple shimmer on them glittered in the sunlight.

  ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this. It’s pretty risky.’

  ‘I know, but you love me…and you promised you would help me get my stuff back before they destroyed it.’ I crossed my arms, pouting effectively.

  My friend’s jaw popped as he crouched, pushing himself off the ground in one swift flap of his wings.

  ‘Woah, that’s impressive.’ Jason gasped, staring up at Purple as he hovered outside his bedroom window.

  ‘Yes, but they’re quite noisy.’

  I was interrupted by a blast of wind from above and a loud flapping sound as Purple tried to stay still. A shout came from inside just before Purple shot into the air, calling down to us.

  ‘I didn’t hear what he said, but it didn’t sound good.’

  Grabbing hold of Jason’s arm with my hand, I prayed the contact would work. My wings shot out of my back, almost toppling me over. The window above opened. A gun was aimed and fired towards Purple, but he managed to get away.

  I pulled Jason to the front of the building. A bullet lodged into the dirt just behind us. I was just about to flap my wings when a guard ran out of the front door and took a shot at us. A squeal left my lips as it whizzed past my ear. A grunt sounded behind me. The bullet had hit Jason.

  Spinning, I grabbed him by the waist. He had started to fall but my motion allowed him to land over my shoulder. His weight trapped one of my wings against my back. I growled as the air near my head moved with the pressure of another bullet running through it. Sucking oxygen into my lungs, I started to run away from the building. The guard’s footsteps echoed behind me.

  ‘Hope!’

  The shout came from above. Big arms wrapped around Jason, releasing the pressure on my wing. I let him go, trusting Purple to take care of him. A wet patch stuck my top to my shoulder. I gritted my teeth to stop myself from panicking. Flapping my wings, I almost stumbled when my feet took off from the ground. Managing to get a good lift off, I yelped when a hand folded around my foot.

  ‘Got you!’ the guard shouted.

  Kicking backwards, I flapped my wings, catching the man in the face. He let me go, which jolted me higher in the air. Gunshots and footsteps sounded behind me, but I didn’t dare look back. I managed to get high enough to be out of reach of the guards but the bullets still whistled past.

  Heading back to the theatre, I left the noise behind me. My heart was in my throat as I tried to stay focused on where I was going. I was just about to fly straight past the theatre when I caught a glimpse of Purple below. He was in the side alley of the theatre.

  ‘What’re you doing?’ I panted, landing next to him.

  ‘Trying to save your boyfriend.’ He leant over Jason, who was on the floor.

  ‘Why are you out here?’

  I rushed over to them and looked down at my soul mate. His face was drained of colour and his eyes were closed. Touching him, I pulled back when my fingers slipped against something wet. Lifting my hand, I gulped as I stared at the blood.

  ‘Because I’m not sure Artie would be pleased to have a random Perfect in his theatre.’ Purple growled, taking his shirt off.

  His muscles were highlighted by the sun as he ripped his t-shirt. I crouched next to Jason, moving his hair back from his face. I couldn’t see where the wound was. My hands were shaking so much, I didn’t even attempt to stop Purple when he pushed me away.

  ‘Bring him inside,’ came a voice from behind us.

  We spun, trying to block Jason with our bodies. Artie stood at the end of the alley.

  ‘Quick before someone sees you,’ he called, gesturing.

  Purple picked up Jason and we followed our new saviour into the theatre. Rushing across the main floor, I led behind Ar
tie as he pointed at the stage. Purple laid Jason down, moving when Artie waved us away.

  ‘I can’t let this one die,’ the enforcer muttered as he bound the wound on Jason’s thigh.

  ‘Why not…?’ Purple asked.

  I punched him on the arm before turning back to Artie. The older man’s face was drained of colour as he stared down at Jason. Glancing up, he swallowed a lump in his throat before he replied. ‘Because he’s my nephew.’

  Chapter Nine

  His lips were pale and his skin was white. He had been unconscious for a few hours. I just wanted him to wake up.

  ‘Come on, Jason,’ Artie murmured.

  I watched the movement of his eyeballs under their lids. He was trying. Really trying. Slowly they parted and his blue gaze landed on mine. A small smile tugged the corners of his lips before they scrunched up in a grimace.

  ‘Don’t move,’ Artie said, holding his arm down.

  The bullet had gone into his leg and just missed the artery vein. Artie had done some quick work, digging it out. There had been blood everywhere. Purple had been sent out for supplies and a doctor. The most intelligent Avoidables went to a private school. We still needed professionals.

  ‘I’m worried about the Doctor,’ I whispered to Artie as Jason took my hand.

  ‘It’s okay, Hope.’ Jason squeezed my fingers.

  I leant down and kissed his forehead.

  ‘We don’t have a choice. I need him to do the stitches,’ Artie said.

  The secret knock sounded on the theatre door and Artie went to let them in.

  ‘Hope, I’m sorry…’ Jason started.

  Putting a finger over his lips, I looked into his eyes. I smiled slowly and he did the same. We didn’t need words. The life that reflected back at me was all I needed.

  ‘I’m not sure I can be an angel,’ I blurted.

  Jason frowned. ‘It’s okay, I know it’s challenging, but we can do this.’