by Dima Zales
Jay went home ahead of me. I sat there for another hour or so. By the time I got back to the house, I was somewhat calmer. I wasn’t resolved, but at least I wasn’t throwing things. I told Jay to have everyone meet back at the house so we could have a meeting. The Akons wouldn’t attack any of the Emersons until they were certain which one had the Triplex. To do that they have to get a Trimeter and measure which of the three Emersons had been tagged.
Whoever read the highest on the meter was the one that the council had chosen. The Akons wouldn’t get a reading before sunrise. Most Sellers hide from them. So it would take time for them to hunt one down. Sellers were more apt to sell to Angels because we’re less likely to kill them. Even though Sellers always come back, they hate having to start all over again. It means a new scam, new clients and going through adolescence all over again. So, for tonight, this Emerson person is safe.
As for me and Meana, I’d have to figure something out. We needed to talk, but I didn’t want to do it tonight. If I had walked into the house, I knew I would be having round two with Ameana. So to avoid that, I flew and landed on the roof. That way, we could get straight to the meeting. I found Rio waiting there.
“Hey, thanks for sending Jay.”
“Did it work?”
“I haven’t destroyed anything in an hour so, yeah.”
“Glad I could help.”
He went downstairs and called everyone to come up and join us. Once everyone had gathered, Reese and Jay gave us the run down. They said the house that Julian had lived in was empty but, by the looks of it, he had been there recently.
The twins found the three Emersons. One lived in Brooklyn, one in the Bronx and one right here in Manhattan. “I think the Manhattan guy is the one we’re looking for,” Rio said.
“Why?” I asked.
“He radiates the normal waves for his age: insecurity, uncertainty, and innocence. But he also has a color that I rarely find in humans his age: olive.”
“What does that mean?” Reese asked.
“It means a hidden courage. If this guy were under attack, I think he could handle it. I don’t think the council would leave a clue to someone who didn’t have at least a show of inner strength.”
“Good point. You and Miku cover him. Jay, Reese, you guys cover the other two Emersons just in case. Ameana and I will go find a Seller. We need to find one that has a history of working with Akons.”
“There’s a guy in the Muse, Tony-Tone. I think he’s supplied them. According to past Guardians, he’s the go-to-guy for anything,” Ameana informed us.
“We’ll head out in a sec. The rest of you get going.” Before I had even finished talking, they were airborne. Ameana and I remained on the roof.
“You’re not going to tell them what the Sage said, are you?” she asked.
“Why should I? It’s not true. Why would I even worry them about it?”
“They need to know.”
“There’s nothing to know.”
“You can’t leave them in the dark like this.”
“They wouldn’t believe what he had to say. They have faith in me and aren’t so easily convinced of my betrayal.”
“You’re making this personal, and it’s not.”
“Is it ever personal with you?”
“This is not about us. I’m the second-in – command, and I think your holding out information from the team is in poor judgment.”
“I’m sorry you don’t like the way I’m handling things. But it’s my decision, and I am not saying anything until I feel it is absolutely necessary.”
“So, you’re gonna wait to Turn and then tell them?”
“I AM NOT TURNING!” My wings spread across the night sky and moved wildly.
“Don’t you flare your wings at me! I am not here to agree with you. I’m here to get a job done and you’re getting in the way.”
“You aren’t the only one who has to make this mission happen. We all have to play our parts.”
“Good. Why don’t you try playing the role of a First Guardian and take care of his team?”
“I am done having this conversation.”
“You have to tell them.”
“Because you think it’s true?”
“Because it’s your duty.”
“I will. But only when I feel they need to know, and not one second before.”
“You’re just afraid that they will lose faith in you.”
“Well, if they’re anything like my girlfriend, they never had any faith in me to begin with.”
“Marcus—”
“Enough.”
Without another word, Ameana took off into the night sky. I followed her. She was taking me to see a Seller that she thought the Akons might have gone to. She took us to a pawn shop on the Lower East Side. It was still dark out and had we not had the strength of angels, it would have been a bad idea for us to be out.
The dark alleys and suspect-looking humans make for a scene in some kind of street-crime drama. We landed in an empty alleyway. The wind whipped and battered the garbage on the street. It smelled. The rats had long taken ownership of the area.
We entered the pawn shop and found random items on display. They had everything from guitars to baby monitors. They were held in place by Samson string. Samson is the guy who had had all his hair cut off by a woman he loved and trusted, Delilah.
But what they don’t tell you is that Delilah then sold his hair to a Seller after finding out that it was as strong as that of an angel’s. Samson string could hold a car in place on the wall. But the most impressive thing about Samson string is that it could not be untied by any hands other than the ones that had tied it. You also never needed more than a few inches, so it was something Sellers often kept it in stock and made good money off of.
The guy behind the counter was heavyset, with a hairy chest, a half-open button-down Acapulco shirt and a gold chain. The chain is a holder, just like the one Jay wears. Except Jay’s is platinum. I’m guessing the pawn shop gets robbed so often, he keeps the Holder around as protection. A Holder is a bubble-like prison. Once it is thrown onto the floor, it traps the person it’s been thrown at by encasing them in a film that can not be pulled apart.
I’m sure many robbers have been held in place at this shop until the cops came. Then, when the cops show up, the Holder is removed and it seems as if the robber just stayed behind to get caught. The truth is they were held prisoner by the holder chain around the Seller’s neck. No robber ever got the best of a Seller. These are men and women who have lived not one but many lives. And each time Sellers come back to Earth, they get better at stealing and cheating.
Many argue that Sellers should be sent to the darkness, but every once in a blue moon, a Seller sees the error of his or her ways and gets entrance into the light. Also, the act that the Seller committed on Earth to be granted eternal life is always an act of courage. I guess it’s hard to send a guy to burn to ashes after he has saved a baby’s life or done something equally heroic. The Seller looked at us and gave us his best car-salesman smile.
“Well, I’ll be a Runner’s last meal. The Guardian couple right here in my little old shop! Can you shed some light on some of the rumors that have been circulating? Is it true that you had something going with another Guardian before Marcus? I hear you and the mood ring guy had a thing way back when.”
She walked up to him slowly. She whispered something in his ear. I don’t know what she said, but Tony-Tone’s face went bright red.
“You will never ask me anything like that again. Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes, I’m sorry. I was just curious.”
“We didn’t come here to be questioned. We came to question you. And if you tell us what we want to know maybe we won’t have to end your cycle right here,” I say.
“I thought you guys would be nicer.”
“Tony, I’m low on patience. So if I were you, I’d play it real carefully,” I warned him.
“Look, I can’t t
ell you anything. I’m a Seller and we Sellers have a code.”
“To rip off as many people as you can?” Ameana asked.
“Well, yeah. But more than that, we have to keep our clients happy. That means whatever they purchase is kept confidential.”
“You will tell us what we need to know,” I threatened.
“Okay, but you should know that I hold my profession in higher regard. It hurts me to break my code.”
“We’ll pay you.”
“What do you need to know?”
“Did the Akons come to see you?” I asked
“Yeah, half hour ago.”
“What did the Akons get when they came here?” Ameana said.
“They brought two things; a vile of weeping oil and—”
“Weeping oil? What’s that?” Ameana asked.
“It holds memories like a collector, but only of the times in your life you’ve cried. You put it into someone’s drink, and after they drink it, you take the cup and fill it up with water. The remains of the oil will reveal the last tearful memory of the person who drank it. On us it wouldn’t do anything, but on a human, it’s like ingesting bleach. The body rejects it. Three or four rounds of weeping oil can kill a human,” I informed her.
“It would only take three rounds. I sold them the good stuff. It comes from the best hospice in North America. I only provide the best. I am not just a Seller—I’m a Seller who cares.”
“You care so much, you sneak into rooms of terminally ill people, wait for them to cry themselves to sleep and gather all their tears,” I point out.
“Hey, I didn’t give them an illness. You can take that up with the council. All I do is gather up a few of their tears. And, by the way, the process doesn’t stop there. I have to pay a guy to mix it, pay a guy to strip the salt from it—a lot of work is done to make it what it ends up being.”
“You poor man,” Ameana said without any sympathy.
“Poor is right. You wouldn’t believe the overhead.”
“What did they need the weeping oil for?” I asked.
“Yeah, like they would tell me.”
“Make a guess, Tony. Guess as if your life depended on it,” Ameana suggested to him.
“I’m guessing they just need information about a human’s past. And once they’ve found the memory that they are looking for, they’ll dispose of the human. That is, if the weeping oil hasn’t already done that.”
I had a lot I wanted to discuss with Ameana. What in this Emerson person’s past did the Akons want to know? Which of the three Emersons would they give the oil to? What could we do to get the same information without hurting a human? Now wasn’t the time to talk. Tony should not know more than necessary. He could not be trusted. No Seller could, really.
“What is the other thing they brought?” I asked.
“You mean stole. That’s why we need a union. It makes no sense to get the gift of eternal life if any Akon, Runner or Pawn can take anything from us! How are we supposed to make a living? It’s always the same thing. We live here in peace, and every six-six-six, you and Akons come and take whatever you want. It’s injustice, is what it is.”
“You can save your speech for the union meeting, Tony. We just need to know what the other thing was they bought,” I told him.
“You guys are supposed to be the good guys. Don’t you care about the injustice and unfairness of life as a Seller?”
“No,” Ameana said.
He looked her over. He admired her beauty and her body. That irked me. I wonder if it would have had I not been her boyfriend.
“Tony, you try really hard not to stare at her like she’s a candy apple. And I’ll try really hard not to split you open like one, deal?”
“Ah, yeah. Sorry about that. What was it you wanted to know again?”
“What was the other object they brought?” I said impatiently.
“They got a Trimeter. The only one I had.”
“So, they can gauge who has and has not been tagged by the council?” Ameana asked.
“Yeah, it takes a few hours, but the council’s mark should show around the area of the clue.”
“Good. We’ll let them take us to the right one and take it from there,” I said.
Tony joined in the conversation.
“It’s been so long since I’ve been a part of saving the world. It’s been like ten or eleven cycles at least.”
“You’re not a part of anything. If you had not given them the oil and the meter they wouldn’t have an idea of what they are looking for,” I pointed out.
“Hey, they threatened to kill me. You have no idea what it’s like in that damn womb. Nine months is a long time to wait. Not to mention living off mashed peas and banana.”
“You don’t care that the world could end?” I asked.
“Only the humans would worry about that. The rest of us know it’s pretty much live and let die, you know?”
I rolled my eyes. Ameana and I headed for the door. Tony called out to us.
“Can I ask you guys just one question?”
“What?” I said curtly.
“You guys are the first Guardian couple. I’m thinking that’s gotta be kinda cool, right? Like Bonnie and Clyde?”
“They fought for the other team,” Ameana pointed out.
“Yeah, but they were a team. You know, one for all, all for one type stuff. Are you guys anything like that?”
“No, we’re nothing like that,” I said, looking pointedly at her. And for the first time today, she didn’t argue with me.
7
It was the day after New Year’s and we were certain that the Akons had singled out which Emerson they needed. Rio was right: it was the one with the olive wave. Emerson had hidden inner strength. The twins went to Emerson’s school to keep a lookout in case the Akons sent Runners to get him. The other two Emerson’s were being followed by Reese and Jay.
Ameana and I went looking for Julian. The last place he had lived in was Roswell, New Mexico. We flew there in hopes of finding him. I’m sure Julian is paranoid. No matter how many cycles he spends on Earth, he always remembers that three large, powerful beings are very unhappy with him.
We arrived at a small café with ugly green paint and scary-looking creatures on the wall. Everything had an alien theme to it, from the alien-head coffee mugs to the flying-saucer pancakes. We asked around and the girl behind the counter pointed to a small room in the back. We walked in and found a small group of people milling around a few booths.
Julian was the first vendor we ran into. “The next show starts in ten minutes,” he said as he motioned to a row of black T-shirts that read, “We won’t go peacefully.” I rolled my eyes. Yeah, this guy is all kinds of nuts. I wonder if he’ll be any use to use at all.
“Are you Julian?” Ameana asked.
“The one and only, honey.”
“Don’t call me honey.”
Julian turns to me and says, “She a real firecracker, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
She glares at me. Yeah, we’re definitely gonna have another fight later. That’s the thing about her; she puts everything on the backburner until the business at hand is taken care of.
“Tell us about your abduction, Julian,” Ameana said.
Suddenly he ran out of the room knocking down everything in his path. We went after him. He was headed down the street. There was no way to fly and get him. Too many people were around. We ran and caught him, but not before he started throwing things in our path to stop us.
“I know who you are,” he said, terrified.
“Julian, we are not here to hurt you,” Ameana said.
“I think they—” Before Julian had a chance to finish, a ball of fire hit the wall next to him and set everything around it ablaze. Ameana yanked Julian down to the ground. I used my body to cover them both. Rage was on the rooftop above us; he threw another fireball that nearly roasted us all.
“Keep moving,” I instructed her. She pu
lled Julian along with her effortlessly. I picked up a metal rod that lay on the ground and hurled it at Rage. I nearly hit him, but he dodged to the side in a fraction of a second and the rod flew past him.
I blocked Ameana and Julian so that Rage could not get a clear shot. He sent another fireball at me, and I flew around it. The blaze was so intense my wings felt like they were on fire, although I was a few feet away.
I picked up the same rod and launched it at him again. He was so focused on throwing fireballs at Ameana and Julian that he didn’t clear out of the way in time. He howled as the rod ripped through his shoulder. Just then, Julian slipped out of Ameana’s grip. She had put all of her effort into protecting him and didn’t think that he would flee when she wasn’t looking.
Now, out of Ameana’s hands, Julian was an easy target for Rage. Ameana called out for him to duck, but he didn’t do it in time. The ball of fire went right past his head. I flew over to where they were. I tackled Rage, and we both hit the ground. Just then I saw Ameana take out her cell.
“Julian, run,” I said. As soon as I said that, he took off. Ameana came over to Rage and I. She lifted him up into the air and backed him into a plate-glass window.
“The twins just called. The Runners are coming for Emerson,” Ameana said.
“Go.”
“What about you?”
“I can take care of Rage. Go!”
The ball of fire landed right where Ameana stood. Had Reese not called and Blinked her over to him in that very moment, she would have been gone. I breathed a sigh of relief as I headed after Rage.
Julian had not gone far. Rage swooped down and snatched him seconds before I got to them. I was hot on their tail. We were moving so quickly, we looked like a quick white flash. Most people dismissed ever having seen it.
Rage had never been able to out-fly me. He knew I would catch up to the two of them in a matter of time. I wondered why he didn’t just drop Julian. Then I realized that they didn’t want him dead: they knew he would only come back. They just wanted him to prevent him from telling us anything that might be helpful. That meant he definitely knew something.