by Ash Night
I smiled and sat down. The food, if you could call it that, looked like it was a big pile of rock solid blackened ash cut crudely into three pieces. "Interesting,"
"I'll understand if you don't want to eat it. It's the thought that counts, right?" Eli smiled weakly.
I nodded and picked up a piece. "What was it supposed to be?"
Eli visibly cringed. "Bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast."
"Lovely," I said, taking a bite of what faintly tasted like toast. "Yum, it's great, Eli."
"Do you want me to get you a barf bag?"
I shook my head. "No, it's really not that bad."
He groaned. "I think what I really need to protect you from is my cooking."
"Oh stop it, Eli. It was really sweet making breakfast for me. The least I can do is eat it."
I got it all down without puking. Then drank a whole gallon of orange juice. This morning was going great.
"I didn't kill you, did I?"
I shook my head. "Nope, I'm fine. How are you?"
"Great, never better." Eli replied. I hugged him. His fever was blazing.
I wanted to cry, to scream at him to go lay down. He wasn't strong enough to beat this. He needed help. He wouldn't make it on his own. But I kept quiet. It wouldn't do any good. He would never let me stay. My safety always came before his own. He was relentless about that.
"I'm glad, Eli. I'm glad you're okay." I said, hugging him tightly and blinking back tears. He grinned happily.
"Ready to go?"
"Sure," I said numbly.
"I love you." He pressed the key necklace to his heart and lightly touched his lips to my forehead. And then he was gone. I was home.
"Honey, are you feeling better?" Mom came into my bedroom where I was lying in bed and felt my forehead. "You look so much better than you had three days ago. That cold really wore you out. You slept for three days."
Cold? Asleep for three days? Eli must have put that explanation into the minds of my parents to explain my absence. I smiled faintly. "Oh yeah, Mom! I feel great!" I should be shot for lying this much to my parents. Eli had that effect on people. He made me turn into a bad girl.
"Great! It's time for school then, baby." Mom got up and left. I got up and got ready in record time. Taking the stairs two at a time, I saw a plate of food on the counter. It was scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. I could almost hear Eli chuckle and say, See? This is what it was supposed to look like.
With that thought in mind, my appetite flew out the window. I excused myself, saying my stomach still felt queasy, which wasn't a complete lie, and hurried out the door.
When I got to school, a lot had changed. More than should be possible in three days.
Chapter 35
The hall was completely empty even though school didn’t start for another ten minutes. Usually most students were in the halls until thirty seconds before the bell rang. I felt awkward just standing there so I walked to class and took my seat at the back of the room. As I walked past the desks, I noticed each student had a zombie-like demeanor. They all looked pale and their eyes were shadowed as if none of them had slept in weeks.
“Miss Lockhart, would you please sit down and open your textbook to page eighty-two?” I jumped and turned to see Mr. Jonesley standing right behind me, looking just as sick as the rest of the class. His tone was impatient and looking around as I slid into my seat I saw why.
Every desk had a History book on it opened to the page Mr. Jonesley had said. That was impossible though. Just a moment ago the books had been under our desks and I hadn’t seen a single person bend down to retrieve them or even heard the sound of pages flipping.
Trying to ignore the chilling feeling shooting up and down my spine, I hoisted up the heavy textbook and turned to the correct page. Every sound was like a gunshot in the dead silence.
Mr. Jonesley’s lecture was even more like a zombie than his appearance. He was usually so vibrant and cheerful. This was the opposite. I was about to become a zombie myself.
It was a wonder I didn’t. When it was time for lunch, I sat at my usual spot with a sandwich. Alex sat beside me, a small salad on his tray. I’d never seen him eat anything green since he was five and that had been Play-dough.
“Are you okay, Al? Did something happen? You look ready to cry.” I asked.
He nodded numbly. My heart jumped. Alex was never one to admit to a problem. “It’s Gwen,”
I smiled reassuringly. “If it was a fight, I’m sure-“
“She’s dead, Zoe.”
“Um, what?” My head spun and my vision blurred. “W-why?”
Alex hugged me and cried into my shoulder. I stared at him in a daze. “I went over this morning and she was there…or at least her body was. There was blood everywhere…”
“Why are you at school, Alex? You should be at home or in a guidance counselor’s office.” I replied, trying to gain some control and push the mental image of poor Gwen surrounded by blood out of my mind.
“I missed enough school. Gwen didn’t want me to get expelled. She always kept my head in the books.” He said.
I got up. “This more than qualifies as a good reason to miss school. What if you go into shock?”
“I’m fine, Zoey. I’ll be okay.”
I had to resist the urge to slap him. “You are not fine, Alex. Come on, I’ll drive you home.” I stood up and hauled him to his feet. It was surprisingly easy. He followed without a word as I explained to the office lady that Alex wasn’t feeling well and I was going to drive him home. She was as zombified as the rest of everyone else so I just left.
The ride to Alex’s house was quiet. I was surprised I could even remember how to drive. My mind was racing with memories of Gwen, thankfully staying far away from the mental image of her being dead.
Why was she dead? Who killed her? Did she- No, she wouldn’t do that. She wasn’t depressed. Was she? I’d been so wrapped up in my problems with Eli that I doubt I’d really noticed. I hadn’t been such a good friend and I felt horrible, my heart sinking into my stomach.
“Zoey, can you stay with me, please?” Alex asked, making the first sound I’d heard him make since I’d drove him away from school.
“Sure,” Skipping school? Man, Eli was rubbing off on me. Alex took me inside and we sat on the couch in his living room. He looked even more miserable than before.
“Think anyone has found her yet?”
I shook my head. “She lives on her own and her parents don’t talk to her since the whole abortion thing so my guess is no.” When Gwen was thirteen, a boy had gotten her pregnant and she’d decided not to keep it. Her parents kicked her out when she turned eighteen. She’d always regretted that decision. It dawned on me she’d never have another chance.
Leaning into Alex, I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. It was so unfair. Not just losing Gwen but fighting to keep Eli just to have him push me away in the end for my own protection. Why did everything have to be so hard in life? Couldn’t anyone have one single moment of happiness without it being taken away?
“I suppose you’re wondering what happened.” Alex said after I’d finally pulled myself together. I nodded and he continued. “I found her in her garage, leaning against the wall, her wrists cut down to her elbow. Her eyes were closed with a smile on her face. Why would she smile, Zoe? Why would she smile after doing that to herself? Was she having problems at home? Was she on drugs?” He paused and then added softly, “Did I not love her enough?”
I hugged him tightly. “This wasn’t your fault, Alex. You were the greatest boyfriend in the world. You carried Gwen’s stuff to class even if you were late to your own. You drove her to school in the snow. And I’ve never seen you let her touch a door. She was so lucky to have you. I don’t know why she did this, but it was not because of you.”
Alex hugged me back and cried some more. I held him, hoping he wouldn’t beat himself up over this. I meant what I said. It wasn’t Alex’s fault, but why would she do that? Gwen showe
d no signs of being a self-harmer. Eli was one and he would always absently itch his wrist or glance at a pair of scissors or a knife longingly. But he was trapped inside his own head. Gwen had friends to talk to. She should have never felt alone.
Or maybe just no one noticed.
Chapter 36
The cops came after I could compose myself enough to make the call and an ambulance took Gwen's body away. Her death was ruled a suicide, but I still couldn't believe it. I wanted to scream that she would never do that. Sure, she was vain, focusing more on her looks than her grades, but she would never take her own life. Her grades weren't bad, mostly B's. Her social life wasn’t suffering. It often took her an hour to get ready for a date or even a girl's night out. And even more often than not, she would ditch us in favor of a pretty boy. But Abby and I could see past that and forgave her. The ditching us had stopped completely after Alex came into the picture. Gwen was a devoted girlfriend and only ever flirted to get a boy to buy us all soda at JD's.
Alex was staring off into space. I hugged him. "Do you want me to stay?"
He shook his head. "I'd like to be alone please, Zoe."
"Okay, if you're sure..." He nodded again. "All right, text or call me if you need anything, Alex." I gave his shoulder a squeeze and left to go back to school.
"Oh...hey Zoey. How are you?" Jake asked, immediately dropping Kayla's hand as they walked over to my table where I sat for study hall. His eyes darted to everything, but my face. He looked uncomfortable. I noticed they were the two most healthy-looking students I'd seen all day, though the strange sickness seemed to be disappearing.
I smiled. "It's all right, Jake. You have a new girlfriend. I'm happy for you. You don't have to try and hide it from me."
Jake relaxed. Kayla smiled and offered her hand. "I'm glad we can still be friends."
Friends? We were never friends. We know each other, but we don't ever talk to each other. You made Abby cry once. I thought with a fake smile plastered on my face as I shook her hand. "Me too," Jake smiled wide and he and Kayla made their way to the Jock table.
Kayla suddenly let out a hideous scream. I rushed over and what I saw was something out of a horror movie. Kayla's hand was peeling away as if her hand had a bad sunburn. It was the hand she'd offered me moments ago. I felt sick to my stomach. One jock, our star linebacker, had found a trash can to literally be sick in.
How had that happened? Had I done that? How had I done that? Guilt ate away at me as I watched Jake take off his shirt, wrap it gently around Kayla's hand, pick her up, and run to the nurse's office.
Everyone tried to go back to work. I found myself having difficulty focusing on physics. This was all too creepy. First the mysterious sickness that just disappeared and now Kayla's hand. My mind was swirling with thoughts. Was Eli doing this? Was AngelRose itself attacking my world? I mean, Eli and I had been traveling back and forth. Had AngelRose somehow leaked out into my world?
I felt so alone. Eli was gone and he was never coming back. Crinkling my paper into a ball, I threw it into the trash.
"Hole in one, nice," Abby stood beside the wall. I smiled. "When did you get back, Zoe?"
"This morning," I replied. "Eli kicked me out."
Abby's mouth twisted into an angry snarling beast. "He's a jerk."
"It was for my own good, Ab. AngelRose is getting dangerous."
She crossed her arms. "Why?"
"While Eli was here, the demons tried overtaking the castle. They want to take AngelRose back, but Eli won't let them. But he's so sick, I'm afraid..." My eyes filled with tears. Abby hugged me and it all came out. I felt like I was never going to stop crying.
"I knew about Gwen. I had a dream about her." Abby replied, rubbing my back. Her eyes glossy, but no tears came. Though she was usually so fragile and care-free, Abby was the strongest of my friends.
"Why? Why did she do that?" I looked her straight in the eye.
She took a shaky breath. "In my dream, before she...did what she did, a black aura surrounded her. But the black aura had stripes in it, like muddy orange, kind of like a tiger."
"Muddy orange? That's the color for..." I gasped. I once had an English teacher who taught us all about auras. Abby had taken the same class.
"Vanity,"
Chapter 37
I hadn’t heard from Alex in two days, save for the text he sent me telling me he was fine and that he needed time before he would be coming back to school. I told him I sent my love and would help him with his homework when he came back. He didn’t text back.
School wasn’t much different. The strange illness was gone as it was a bad dream. Everything else had been real. News of Kayla’s hand and Gwen death traveled fast. The story I heard was Kayla had some sort of flesh-eating disease from a new experimental hand-lotion her ex had gotten her from some small, remote place in Africa. Her friends were talking about it in English. While I was absentmindedly listening, I was doodling, not really paying attention to the direction my pencil chose to take. Chuckling at the absurd story, I stopped and stared at the drawing in my notebook.
Eli’s haunting eyes stared back.
The stories about Gwen weren’t as kind. Abby and I had been fortunate enough to know Gwen’s nice side. Most weren’t so lucky. She had made a lot of enemies.
The most I heard were whispered bit of “I heard she threw herself off a cliff after…” or “She was sick of making out with guys for money so she…” It all made me sick to my stomach. I trudged forward across the cafeteria, my head down, my energy drained from the events of the past few days. I stopped when I heard a certain voice.
“Gwen’s boyfriend wanted to break up with her so she killed herself.” A girl at a corner lunch table said. She was Sabina Morotti, the only girl that I knew to challenge Gwen’s beauty. I slammed my palms down on the table, scaring all the girls around her. Sabina smiled coyly, twisting a finger around her long black hair. “What do you want, Zoey Methhart?” She called me that ever since she found out I’d been on pills and for as long as I could remember I had had to stop Gwen from punching her whenever she said that. I now understood why Gwen was so tempted.
“Alex was a good boyfriend. He would never hurt Gwen. He was a prince to her!” It was all I could do to not slam her pretty face into the floor until it was as ugly as her insides. I didn’t want her to hurt Alex with her rumor either. He was beating himself up enough. He didn’t deserve any of it.
“It’s what I heard. You too drugged out to listen?” Sabina’s crew laughed at that.
I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. I would not give her the satisfaction of seeing me cry. Uncontrollable rage boiled inside me like lava. I had never felt anything like it before. The window to my right shattered. Sabina and her friends screamed and covered their faces from the falling glass. I stared incredulously at the window like a monster had appeared on the other side. What was going on? Suddenly a spark ran up my arm. Abby was pulling me back as teachers and staff were gathering around to see what happened.
“What was that?” Abby asked once we were safely outside, away from anyone who might overhear.
“I have no idea,” I said. My mind was racing. I was in shock.
Abby swallowed hard. “Do you think it was Eli?”
"Eli? Here?" I asked. "I don't think so. He hasn't shown up in my room at all."
"Why would he show up in your room?" Abby asked, clearly confused.
I blushed. "It's kind of a symbolic thing when we cross over. We love each other but never...you know."
"Oooh, I get it. You never did the deed. So, like, is AngelRose pushing for it?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. The first time I went to AngelRose, I ended up on the beach. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever ended up in his room. But he has always ended up in my room when he crossed over."
"He wants you!" Abby giggled and grinned at me. My face reached volcanic levels.
Did Eli want me? My fingers were dialing before I could think. Prince Ari, please
pick up!
The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. On the fourth ring, it went to voicemail. I knew it was stupid. Cell phones were powerless in AngelRose. They made sense.
“Eli! I need your help. Please come here as soon as you can. I think AngelRose is leaking into my world.” I highly doubted he’d get this message, but it was worth a shot.
Abby put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay,”
I didn’t think it was ever going to be okay again. Gwen was dead. My boyfriend was a demon who would rather kill himself than let me ever see his evil side again. Not to mention he lived in a dimension that could easily overtake my world in the blink of an eye. Things were not okay.
I shut my phone, feeling defeated. Slumping against the building, I sighed, my hand over my eyes. I needed to get away. I needed a notebook. I needed my writing. I still needed Eli.
But this Eli I could control. This Eli submitted to my will. As if sensing my thoughts, Abby ran and got a notebook and pencil. “Thanks, Ab.”
“Writing is very therapeutic.” She smiled. I grinned and began to write.
“Zoey! It’s time to go!” Abby was shaking me. She sounded as if she had been saying my name several times.
Snapping out of my trance, I looked at her. “What?”
She giggled. “It’s time to go home. You were writing for over an hour.”
I grinned sheepishly. “I had a lot to say.”
She grinned back. “That’s okay. Your writing is beautiful.”
“Thanks, Abby. It’s like breathing to me.” I helped her up and we hugged each other goodbye.
“It’ll be okay, Zoe. We’ll get through this.” Abby and I both had tears in our eyes and we hugged each other again. I watched her white sundress sway as she walked to her car. I shivered. The light breeze was turning into a biting cold wind. The sky was an angry shade of gray, the clouds swirling menacingly. Rubbing my arms up and down, I jumped in my car and turned the heater on full blast. I was glad I’d thought to drive to school today.