by Kim Cormack
He chuckled, “I said... Trust me.”
This time it wasn’t a question, it was an order. She stopped squirming and took a deep dramatic breath.
“What can you feel right now?” Grey questioned. “I want you to take it all in, the water lapping against your legs, the caress of the sand between your toes. There will be a stretch in some places where you will not be able to rely on what you see. You will have to trust in what you know.”
“I know you would never hurt me,” Kayn whispered. She sputtered out a burst of laughter as a crab climbed with tiny sharp tickly legs across one of her submerged feet.
“That’s good,” Grey chuckled as she squirmed in the surf.
Kayn began to giggle again as she blurted out, “I think I have crabs.”
Her eyes were still covered by Grey’s hands. He chuckled and with his slight accent that always made her smile he teased, “Indeed you do.” She felt him brush one off of her thigh as it attempted to scale her leg.
She heard the rich tone of Grey’s accent again, “What do you smell Kayn? What do you taste?”
Kayn stated without hesitation, “I smell the ocean and a fishy scent.” She licked her lips, “I can taste salt.” The salt from the surf was tangy on her tongue and it made her smile. She felt something sticky slapping against her thighs. Feeling a bit squeamish, she stated, “For the record Grey, I frigging hate seaweed, it’s disgustingly slimy and it creeps me right out.”
Grey chuckled, “Suck it up princess. Keep your eyes closed or you’ll wreck the surprise.”
She sighed and didn’t attempt to open her eyes to sneak a peek. She could feel the kelp wrapping around her legs as the water shifted between her thighs. So gross...This is so gross.
“What dangers do you think you could encounter standing in the surf like this?” Grey’s voice questioned.
Kayn crinkled up her expression. Her nerves were practically twitching from the slimy seaweed that now clung to her legs. Come on Guru Grey, get to the bloody point. She answered, “I don’t know, jellyfish, sharks... Or perhaps a giant rogue wave?”
Grey’s voice replied, “Right... What could you do about any of them right now?”
“Get the hell out of the water,” Kayn laughed nervously. She swayed as a random wave almost caused her to lose her footing. The sand rapidly slid away underfoot as the ocean floor continued to shift. Kayn heard Grey chuckle. She was willing to bet he’d almost lost his footing as well.
Grey kept his hands over her eyes as he asked, “Do you remember what direction you have to go to get out of the water?”
This isn’t a relaxing game anymore. Kayn squirmed uncomfortably. Her nerves were jangling. She was all consumed by the disgusting seaweed that entangled her submerged limbs.
Grey’s voice was serious this time as he questioned, “Is the tide coming in or going out? Try to feel the direction of the current as it moves against your legs.”
“I’m not sure, I wasn’t paying attention,” she replied honestly. Grey shifted his hands, keeping her eyes covered with one he gave her wet hair a pet with the other. It felt like a condescending act. It has been a bloody long day. Grey, I’m too exhausted for deep thought.
He spoke again, “The point is ...While you are busy enjoying the beauty of a moment your mind needs to take in the other small details.”
“I will pay attention next time,” Kayn promised. She broke into a smile under his fingers and forced them up a bit with her grin.
Grey took his hands off her eyes. The sun was disappearing in the horizon. It was now almost complete darkness with a small explosion of glowing orange, followed by a pale sliver of color that appeared to sink under the surface of the water. A ripple of light travelled across the span of the ocean towards her. The last reminiscence of where the sun had been only a moment before. It was incredible. This was an experience she surely would have missed, had Grey’s hands not been covering her eyes until that precise second.
“That was amazing... Thank you,” Kayn gasped as she watched the sliver of light ripple across the water almost as though it was trying to reach across the span of the ocean towards the two of them. It disappeared as she blinked her eyes, the surface of the water became an endless, dark, empty looking void.
Grey splashed her in the face. He repeated her personal thought aloud, “Guru Grey. What in the hell Brighton?”
Kayn sputtered as she inhaled a face full of ocean. She kept forgetting to sensor her thoughts. She always had a comical internal dialogue going on. Grey swam away from her, chuckling aloud. He always played the pesky older brother role to a tee. Almost as well as Matty had… Her mind darted into the past but she’d trained herself to shut it off at the first twinge of pain. She chased Grey through the surf with legs weighted by the water in an attempt to get close enough to give him a decent splash back. She mocked, “Feel the water Kayn. Embrace the seaweed Kayn. Be one with the ocean. What do you smell?” She jumped on his back. He dove underwater to get rid of her. She had an older brother; it was going to take a hell of a lot more than that to get rid of her.
Grey came to the surface sputtering, “You have a grip like a bloody koala Brighton!”
She laughed and hung on as Grey started to trudge his way to shore while giving her a piggy back ride.
Grey teased, “Let me go Brighton. You’re going to force me to embarrass you.” The rest of the Ankh stood on the shore waiting for them.
Lily hollered, “Quit messing around you two! We’re all tired. It’s time to go!”
Zach and Melody were standing beside Lily waiting for the stragglers to make their way to shore. Kayn grinned at the trio as she tightened her grip on Grey’s neck. He started to chuckle aloud and she knew he was about to do something.
Grey teased, “You asked for it Brighton.”
He tugged on the string of her bikini top, she had to let Grey out of the choke hold and grab for it before she lost it. Grey dropped her into the water and took off running ahead of her laughing. She landed with a not so elegant splash in the surf. “You douche!” Kayn called after him. He was already running away from her, belly laughing. She had to stop for a second in order to retie her bikini top.
By the time she made it to shore, Grey had already shaken the sand off of a towel for her. He grinned and said, “Peace offering?” He chucked it right at her face.
Zach, obviously in awe of Grey’s bikini top removing skills declared, “That was amazing. You have to teach me how to do that.”
Grey glanced at Melody and innocently enquired, “Want to volunteer for bikini top removal training?” Melody shook her head and walked away without answering. Grey had been mercilessly flirting with her since that first day.
Grey pointed at Melody as she walked away from him and announced, “She wants me.”
Kayn smiled at him as she pulled on her jeans and her wet clinging t-shirt over her still-damp bikini. She took a second to breathe. It was easy to appreciate the solitude of the beach at night. The soothing repetitive sounds of the waves mixed with the faintest amount of light from the slivered moon. Kayn searched her line of sight for Frost. She’d found herself doing that a lot lately. Perhaps, the part of her that was Chloe needed to see him. The sight of him felt like wrapping herself up in a security blanket. He had been doing his best to avoid having any form of conversation with her. There he was; she could see him carrying the cooler from the beach to the back of the truck. He unlocked the door, climbed into the passenger seat up front and shut it. She couldn’t see him anymore.
Kayn took the elastic from her wrist and put her damp hair in a ponytail as she ran to catch up with the others and scooted into the back seat of the truck beside Melody. She was already fast asleep, with her head resting peacefully on Zach’s shoulder.
“Poor girl, she’s tuckered right out,” Grey observed. He started the vehicle and they began their drive back to the campsite. Kayn glanced out the window at the wide open spans of the darkened shoreline as it dissolved into
the endless sea of black.
“What shall we do tomorrow?” Grey asked the group.
The knowledge that death had been taken off of the table made the possibilities endless. Kayn looked at the back of Frost’s head in the front seat. He couldn’t ignore her forever…Could he? Maybe, it hurt him to talk to her because she wasn’t Chloe. He glanced back at her as if he heard her thoughts. Taking a page out of the Frost avoidance maneuver handbook she quickly turned away from him. Kayn could sense that he was still watching her as she continued to watch the sea of blackened night whirl by her window as a hypnotic mobile of sorts until her eyelids began to grow heavy. She succumbed to the mental exhaustion and slipped off to join Melody in restful slumber.
She awoke the next morning in her bunk with the faint recollection of being carried there by Frost. She must have been dreaming. Frost would have never kissed her forehead.
In the days that followed, they ventured down the crazy unbucket list that the newest of the Ankh had complied. She’d managed to add some incredibly cool memories like jumping off a cliff as a group and then swimming out to an empty dock in the middle of a lake where they danced under the stars together to the music that echoed from someone’s house party across the water. One by one as the opportunities presented themselves, they were each given a chance to do what they’d only dared fantasize about as mortals.
Melody and Lexy played the unbucket list games with no fear at all. The Healing ability was obviously the coolest gift to have. Kayn could only manage to move a fork around in the real world. She’d moved larger objects while training in the in-between but if she was frightened even that ability didn’t work. Now, if she was angry that was another story, she could whip objects around like a damn superhero when she was absolutely furious. Power was an addictive feeling and it was the only time that she felt any control over this crazy rollercoaster ride that she’d made the choice to board. The in-between was definitely her favorite immortal destination to date.
The group spent time together learning new skills and solidifying their friendship throughout the summer and into fall until winter descended upon them bringing an end to eating outdoors and it was time for heavy coats versus bare skin. During the daylight hours, she fought her growing fascination with Frost and on most nights, she dreamt of the boy that she’d lost. Kayn Brighton was finally eighteen. She was old enough to go on her first job with the Ankh.
The Simplest of Things
Moments… There are always moments where a decision has to be made. In mortal life there is always a choice. One road or another. The ultimate, choose your own adventure story. In the clans, there is only one option and that is to do whatever your Clan’s Oracle tells you to do.
Kayn’s steps crunched through the icy landscape, she smiled to herself as she watched her breath escape into the crisp evening air. She sat down on the cold wooden bench outside of the clinic as white powdery snowflakes began to float gently from the heavens above. She loved watching Grey’s face as it lit up while experiencing something undeniably glorious for he was the immortal that never forgot to enjoy the simplest of things. His euphoria was contagious and it made everyone want to join in. Grey smiled, keeping his eyes open as the flakes caught in his eyelashes. He cupped his hands in front of his lips and let out a gust of warm air. The heat from his breath was directed by his palms towards the delicate flakes caught in his eyelashes, they melted instantaneously. She’d never thought of doing that. Kayn found herself trying to emulate him. She went one step further and stuck out her tongue, the flakes that landed on it melted. She had now been to places where her bubble gum froze inside of her mouth as she tried to chew it. Places where when her nose ran, it froze solid on her skin in seconds. It was a place like that where Zach learned that peeing in the snow was an incredibly inept idea. She smiled at the memory. Kayn stuck her tongue out as far as it could go while attempting to see the flakes that rested on its tip. Realizing she was cross eyed as she attempted to look at the tip of her tongue. She slipped her tongue back in between her lips. She probably looked hilarious.
An instant of happiness was worth so much more to her now than it ever had been in the eighteen years prior to this new life. Last week it had been her eighteenth birthday and she’d been sealed to the Ankh forever on that day. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. Over the last couple of months, a million scenarios had passed through her imagination. It would always be something big like the sky opening up and shooting her with a brilliant laser beam, instantly changing her into some kind of superhero. In reality she’d been given a chocolate bar from Melody when they stopped at a convenience store. Zach had bought her a Ding Dong, they stuck a candle in it and sang happy birthday while the others stared at them like they were from another planet. She hadn’t even received a happy you are stuck with us forever speech from Markus. Her birthday had passed by rather uneventfully, until today when she had been told she was allowed to come with them on a job for the very first time. She honestly didn’t know what to expect because nobody ever spoke of the job when they came back from one. She stuck out her tongue again and this time the snowflakes remained on it long enough for her to cross her eyes as she attempted to get a good look at them. When her eyes uncrossed, Frost was grinning at her from the other side of the chain link fence. She knew what he was thinking. She was behaving like a child. He was openly amused by her behavior. She had a strange flash of a memory; it was of his face through the rungs of a fence. She shook it off as his gaze was drawn to Grey. If she wasn’t mistaken there appeared to be a genuine smile on his face. Sometimes, she could actually see the longing in Frost’s eyes. He wanted to join them as they re-enacted moments from their childhood. Kayn wondered for a moment if he could remember how it felt to be young and enraptured by every little thing that the world had to offer.
Frost’s expression changed and he scolded, “Enough horsing around you two, it’s time to be serious.”
Tonight would be her first official duty as Ankh. She wondered how many of these jobs she would have to do before she stopped attempting to catch snowflakes on her tongue.
Frost began to speak, “This job is a basic one. They do not actually test the blood here in this clinic. They test in the next town over at the actual hospital’s lab. The transporter of this blood is going to hit a deer and get into an accident. He’ll roll the vehicle down an embankment. We have to intercept the wreck, make sure he is dead and burn the vehicle. I was told some of the details as to why this must happen. All you need to know is that he must not reach his destination. He was supposed to die six months ago and someone intervened. Melody and Zach, I know you have done this kind of disposal job before. Kayn, do what you are told and don’t worry about anything else. Watch and learn.”
Kayn wanted to know more about this stranger whose minutes were numbered. Did he have a family? Was he a nice person? Why did he have to die today? What was it that Frost wasn’t telling them? Why were they expected to go along with the orders with little to no explanation?
Lexy whispered in her ear, “He is a man whose life needs to come to an end to maintain the balance of things.”
Lexy had heard her thoughts. Kayn felt panic surge within her. She didn’t want to do this. She needed to get away from them all for a second to clear her head. This was a human being. He was a normal guy; he wasn’t an immortal, or a demon. Kayn whispered, “I need to go to the bathroom.” She slipped through the sliding doors before anyone could stop her.
Both Melody and Zach knew the drill because they’d been in other clans before becoming Ankh. Melody attempted to follow Kayn. Frost grabbed her arm gently, “Let her go. There’s no easy road to acceptance.”
Kayn walked by the nurses’ station and dove into the bathroom. There were two stalls. She got into one of them and closed the door. A couple nurses came in and started to chat in front of the sink.
“Tell me he’s single,” one voice whispered.
“He is the biggest sweetheart, isn’t he?”
The other one laughed and then continued, “No, his wife is pregnant, due next month. He has the cutest little boy on the planet.”
“Of course he does,” the other one chuckled.
Kayn heard the bathroom stall next to her open and close.
A female voice teased from the stall beside her, “If he were an asshole, he’d still be single.”
“If he were an asshole, I would have already had a perfectly unsatisfying and totally pointless relationship with him,” the other voice sparred.
Kayn suspected they were talking about the man with only a short time to live. She flushed, so it would sound like she was going through the motions, she’d turned on the tap just as the nurse came out of the stall and smiled at her. They washed their hands together in silence. Kayn looked at her reflection. This isn’t a choice… It is not a choice. She left the bathroom and smiled at the man as she passed by. He gave her a warm smile back and her heart tugged in her chest. She returned to the Ankh feeling somewhat defeated.
“Are you okay?” Melody mouthed to Kayn.
Kayn smiled back in response, opting out of a reply. Anything she chose to say would reveal her inability to deal with this situation. Nobody that had an inch of humanity left inside of them could be okay with this. A cloud of guilt hovered around her repeating, if you know someone is in trouble you should warn them. You are supposed to stop terrible things from happening not create them. You are a good person. Kayn kept attempting to make eye contact with Grey but he was avoiding her gaze.
When that failed she attempted to make eye contact with Lily but she walked right past her, opened the truck door and announced, “Come on. We need to go.”
They all got into the truck and sat there for a minute. Kayn searched for Frost’s eyes again and he gave her a glare that clearly warned, Don’t you dare. She knew he’d have no problem muffling her with his hand. The man walked out of the building carrying a box with the hum of the sliding doors and got into a small white van. Everything inside of her was screaming at her to stop him from leaving. As he backed out, the crunching of snow under his tires made her grab the handle of the door. After clenching it for a second, she relaxed her grip, knowing there would be no point in trying to stop the inevitable. This was a Correction. If they didn’t do it one of the other clans would. They followed him for a while in silence and then they pulled over just as they hit the wooded area.