by Laury Falter
Rufus and Felix, our other two housemates, took their time ending their impassioned embrace, shaking us from side to side in their excitement. When they released us, Ezra, who stood behind them holding a coffee mug and smiling warmly, approached us. Her hug was briefer but just as welcoming.
She evaluated me. “You’ve lost weight.”
“I’ve been…active.”
My slight five foot frame didn’t have much weight to lose but somehow I’d managed it. The black leather pants I wore had started to slip over my hips at times which didn’t help during skirmishes with Fallen Ones. I’d need to have another combat suit made or start eating again.
“Your hair is longer, Mags,” said Felix, taking a strand from my shoulder and holding it up as if that would prove it. He leaned in and whispered, “I can help you with that.”
“Ehh…” Rufus grunted. “She looks fine to me,” he said in his deep Irish brogue, waving off any contention of it with a meaty, tattooed hand.
“Thank you,” I said, proudly. He was always supportive of me, something I would never stop appreciating.
Glancing at Ezra, I noticed that she and Eran were silently communicating. Her expression told me that she disapproved of me leaving but was thankful he’d brought me home. “And you…” she said, looking Eran up and down. She placed her hands on his shoulders, pulling him in for a tight embrace. “You could use a good meal too. Rufus…Felix,” she released Eran and clapped her hands. “Breakfast!”
The kitchen broke in to chaos then. Another pot of coffee was brewed; Rufus dropped more Cajun sausages on an already sizzling pan; and Felix added batter to his succotash and pumpkin beignets.
Breakfast conversation started with me recounting where I’d been and what I’d been doing, but when I saw their disapproving expressions begin to manifest after telling of my encounters with Fallen Ones I quickly changed the topic. The people sitting around me were the closest I had to a family and I didn’t want to disturb them any more than I already had.
“Do you think Mr. Warden will let Eran and me back in to classes?” I asked before biting through a sausage and savoring the taste of it. For the most part, meals on the road had consisted of artificial, pre-packaged food nuked at small, obscure convenience stores.
Ezra was shaking her head, deep in thought. “You’re over halfway through the semester now. It’ll be a tough sell.”
“I’ll make him take ya back,” Rufus declared gruffly.
Eran and I met each other’s glance from the corner of our eyes as both of us attempted to hold back a smile. Eran may be my guardian but Rufus would always be our biggest defender.
“There might be an easier way in…” I proposed, hoping to avoid a direct confrontation with our school principal. “Is Ms. Beedinwigg still teaching there?”
Slowly, Ezra began to smile. “Why yes she is…And she’d love to see you back.”
“Excellent, what day is it?” I asked, hoping it was a school day and I could visit her on campus.
My housemates exchanged looks telling me that they were concerned that I hadn’t kept up with the societal standards of a calendar.
I sighed. “A calendar wasn’t needed for the job I was doing.”
The abrupt reminder of my life over the last few weeks made them each flinch but Eran stepped in and smoothed over the conversation.
“I believe it is Saturday,” he said, his hand sliding beneath the table to find my knee and give it a soft squeeze. It was a wonderful feeling but one that surprised me because he left it there.
Weeks ago, before we’d run off, he would have withdrawn his hand out of respect for Ezra. She had distinct household rules which Eran abided to an extreme level. He had barely touched me before and never in the presence of anyone else. This was a nice change, especially the comforting warmth left by his hand as it penetrated my jeans.
I allowed myself to enjoy the excitement of it while also focusing on the conversation at hand. “I’ll see if I can visit her sometime this weekend…maybe after The Square.”
Felix clapped his hands giddily. “You’ll be coming to The Square? That’s great!”
I smiled at him in thanks for his excitement at having me back. “Well…I figured I might as well deliver messages for as long as I’m here.”
I realized what I’d said only after the words were spoken but by then it was too late.
“You’re leaving again?” Ezra inquired disappointed and concerned. Rufus’s head tilted to an odd, confused angle and Felix’s fork dropped to his plate in distress.
I swallowed, not having wanted to let them in on my plans. It was easier to sneak out than it was to say goodbye.
“I-I…” Trying to find the words was like pulling a piece of glass from the bottom of my foot, slow and painful.
Again, Eran stepped in to comfort them. “Magdalene is here to recuperate. Once she’s recovered from her travels, she’ll be heading out again. But…” he let the word hang in the air, hesitant to make his next announcement. “When she does leave, I’m going with her and it will only be for one night at a time.”
My brow creased as I heard myself say, “What?” I hadn’t agreed to that.
“She’s an intelligent, rational woman,” Eran went on, a clear attempt to butter me up. “She knows that she can’t keep the same level of endurance that is needed to do what she’s intent on doing. So, she will return to hunting but it will be one night at a time and I’ll be accompanying her.”
“Accompanying?” I asked, perturbed.
“Who’s the better fighter here?” he asked.
I didn’t answer, knowing it was him.
Everyone sat in stunned silence with all eyes on Eran. Then Rufus spoke and it seemed to relax the mood.
“Sounds like a bloody good idea to me,” he said with a carefree shrug. “Betta’ than sleepin’ in strange beds…”
“Or eating processed foods…” added Felix with a nod.
“Or wearing yourself down until you can no longer fight,” Eran supplemented with a lift of his eyebrow towards me.
Ezra leaned back in her chair, reserved. “While I can’t share everyone else’s enthusiasm, I suppose if you need to continue this…mission of yours…” she said trying to identify exactly how to characterize what I was doing without acknowledging the insanity of it. “I suppose that is the best approach.”
I was now the only one who had not agreed to this arrangement and my inclination was still to argue against it. Agreeing would mean that Eran would be coming with me and therefore endangering himself.
Knowing what I was thinking, he leaned towards me and explained in a lowered voice, “With the type of Fallen Ones you’ll begin to engage, you will need eyes in the back of your head. Since you don’t have them, I will be yours and yours will be mine. You want to do this alone…I understand. But that is at the risk of failing in your objective. The goal far outweighs the means in achieving it.” He let me ponder this for a moment and then a smile crept up. “Besides, knowing how well you handle yourself in defense, I have a feeling you’d actually be interested in learning a good offense.”
“I’ve been doing well on my own…offensively,” I reminded him.
“You have,” he said, “and that’s how I know you would do well sweeping a room or clearing a house, planning an offensive strategy, divide and distraction techniques-”
“All right,” I cut him off. “All right. We both know you are a better fighter.”
In fact, Eran was a brilliant fighter. Being an expert in warfare of all kinds, having led his army through large-scale battles with Fallen Ones, and having personally hunted our enemies, I couldn’t have asked for anyone better.
He was still waiting for my answer so I gave him the best one I could agree to. “I’ll think about it.”
Immediately, the tension in the room dropped, shoulders relaxed, they began to smile. Ezra took another beignet and joyfully bit in to it, despite the odd taste of succotash embedded in the pastry.
<
br /> I was happy to make them feel better with my acknowledgement but I meant what I said. When the time came again to hunt, I would make the decision at that moment; I would try to invite him. If I decided against it, he would need to abide by my choice. On the flip side, if he were to come with me and his life were in direct risk at any time, I would end the hunt and return to the life of a solo hunter.
Eran knew this, based on his expression and the fact he was still analyzing my feelings. Yet, he’d won a small victory today and decided against pushing anything further.
After breakfast, Felix and Rufus left for The Square, knowing that Eran and I would follow shortly. As Ezra disappeared in to her office and behind a mountain of paperwork, Eran and I went about getting showered and dressed for the day.
Standing just inside my room, I did a cursory overview of the things I had acquired during the months I’d lived here. Prior to my life in New Orleans, I’d traveled with my aunt so often that our lifestyle didn’t allow for anything more than a few pieces of clothing and, only recently, a bed. Since I’d landed here the articles I’d collected that had been so important before now seemed borderline frivolous.
A full-length standing mirror was set just to my left and I realized I hadn’t seen my reflection since I’d last stood in front of it. I’d never been someone to stare at a mirror for too long but weeks had gone by without a single glance at myself. With my focus so entirely on hunting and destroying I couldn’t have cared less about my appearance. I could have hair growing out of my ears and I wouldn’t have realized it. A dresser stood off to the left, just beyond the closet door, cluttered with magazines, knick knacks, lotions, pens and pencils, jewelry – which rarely found its way on to my body. An old wingback chair sat in the corner with a throw blanket draped over one side. Next to my bed were two nightstands each with matching lamps. A clock, a vase, a ceramic sculpture were all items that still sat next to the lamp bases as if I was never gone.
I had left behind a life of normalcy…forgone to find and execute those who made the world unsafe…who endangered my loved ones. And now I was back, a changed person, and nothing seemed to fit right in this surreal, parallel world.
I shook my head just as Eran came up behind me.
“We can live on so much less,” I mused.
“And we have,” he replied. “But since it’s all here now, we might as well use it.”
“It just seems so odd,” I said not bothering to turn from my room and face him. “I really thought I wouldn’t come back here until…”
“Until you’d annihilated the Fallen Ones?” His hands slipped over my shoulders, rubbing gently.
I nodded. “Until I knew you were all safe again.”
“That time will come, Magdalene. Until then, take it from someone with a little experience in this area…” He was understating himself and I knew it so I listened. “You’ll recuperate faster if you fall in to your old routine.”
That sounded like excellent advice. The faster I recuperated, the faster I could get back to hunting. “Then I’ll see you downstairs in twenty,” I replied, heading for my closet.
“Well…all right then…” Eran replied with the same amount of surprise and relief.
His footsteps told me that he was heading back to his room directly across the hall as I pulled jeans and a t-shirt from my closet. Placing the t-shirt on my bed, I stood back.
Having slept on just about every surface over the last few weeks made me exulted in knowing this bed awaited me at the end of today, and it would be far more comfortable than a discarded, sunken mattress or the rocky dirt surface of the Arizona desert or a pile of leaves behind a vacant warehouse. Tomorrow might be the first time in weeks that I wake up without any muscle aches.
Slowly, I felt my face soften. Eran had been right. I did need a little time to revive myself…but just a little.
I showered slowly, enjoying the feeling of cleanliness as the hot water rushed over my body. Bruises still showed along my limbs and torso but they were turning yellow and would soon heal. A few scrapes down my waist told me that Claden had done a good job at defending himself and it only reinforced Eran’s message to me that the Fallen Ones I was beginning to encounter were stronger, faster, and more skilled.
That thought hovered in the back of my mind like a pesky fly as I headed back to my room.
I stopped at the edge of my bed and realized that something was off, not quite right. Then it occurred to me what it was and what I needed to do. I took the scissors from a drawer in my dresser and cut two long holes in the back of my t-shirt, directly between the shoulder blades. After I dressed, I did the same to every other shirt I owned. There was no way I would allow a need for my wings only to have them extend and rip my shirt off.
Feeling more at home with this small modification, I headed downstairs where I found Eran waiting in the kitchen. He gave me a half-smile and said, “You look more rested already.”
“I’m finding ways to mold my current life alongside my old one…”
“Speaking of, are you ready to get back to delivering messages?” His eyes were eager, almost seeming to sparkle.
“Eager for it, actually,” I admitted.
“Good…” Eran breathed, thankful.
I think he had a sense that delivering messages would help me recall what it felt like to be my more innocent, remedial self.
I followed him to my bike already parked outside the shed and just a few minutes later we were weaving our way through tourists to reach Rufus and Felix. They each had customers but they’d gone the extra effort to set up my area for me beforehand.
Two folding chairs and a sign announcing that I could deliver messages to those who had passed on to the afterlife were already waiting for me.
Mardi Gras had just ended so I was surprised to find so many people filling The Square. Typically, tourists returned to their normal life but this time a few appeared to straggle behind. It didn’t take longer than ten minutes before my first customer approached me. By the time I was through taking down her message a small line had formed. By the end of the day, I had memorized almost thirty messages. Tonight I would deliver them and they would keep me busy until morning.
Eran, who had mingled around The Square, keeping an eye on me throughout the day, came through the dissipating crowd as the sun set. He strolled like the confident walk of someone who had seen everything and through innate abilities had survived it. Glancing up at him, his eyes locked on me and my heart skipped a beat. This was the image of Eran - the conceited, calm, alert man that captivated me - I’d intentionally tried to ignore those weeks on the road. This time, I allowed myself the time to enjoy it.
The t-shirt he wore was tight enough to cast shadows across his chest, distinguishing his protruding muscles, and the jeans seemed to be custom made to his body, moving easily in some places and fitting snugly in others. As always, he looked casually stylish. I openly appraised him and when I found him smirking at me I knew he’d seen.
He bent down so that our faces were inches apart before whispering, “You’re nice to look at too.” His gorgeous aqua-blue eyes smoldered with his announcement, taking my breath away.
“Tease,” I whispered softly in return.
“Yes, I am,” he admitted brazenly.
“And you aren’t sorry for it, are you?”
“If it keeps you interested, not in the least.”
Before I could respond, he stood and started collapsing my sign.
“Was it a good day for you too?” he asked Felix and Rufus. While receiving a brief shrug from Rufus, Felix launched in to story after story about his most interesting customers’ futures. As both a tarot card and palm reader, Felix took his work very seriously.
At home, dinner was much easier than breakfast had been because we avoided the topic of me and further hunting. Rufus flatly refused to allow Felix to cook, declaring that my first dinner back should be something familiar. Instead, Rufus grilled steak and vegetables, which was incre
dibly appetizing. Felix, not allowing Rufus to take away his fun, defied him with dessert – good old fashioned bread pudding. It actually smelled perfect…before he poured creamed carrots over it. I didn’t care much, though. It was nice simply to be surrounded by those I love.
As was my duty, I washed and dried the dishes, with Eran’s help. Unfortunately, he kept his distance, skirting me at times when we may have bumped against each other. That, I found, was extremely irritating. Other than innocent rides on my motorcycle in which there was no way for our bodies to avoid touching, he had not made one move to come in contact with me. Typically, I could read his emotions and identify when he was interested or not. Not this time. He had mastered the ability to hide his feelings when needed, a trait required for someone in warfare, and he was using this ability now.
By the time we were upstairs and preparing for bed, I was thoroughly annoyed. Having been away from him for so long – at least while I thought I had been – had caused my emotions to bubble to the surface. I wanted to know he had missed me as much as I had missed him, but I simply did not get that feeling. Opening my balcony doors and taking a seat in one of the plastic chairs along the railing, I tried to calm myself down.
A few minutes passed when the creaking of floorboards told me that Eran was going to sit with me on the balcony. My stomach tightened with nerves at the thought of it. For the first time in a very long time, I was allowing myself to feel some emotion and they seemed to be amplified.
“Nice night,” he muttered.
“Uh huh,” I replied.
He sat in the plastic chair next to me, which was positioned cattycorner so although we faced each other we weren’t looking directly at each other.
“There was a night like this in Texas…clear, fresh air, countless shooting stars. You were headed to El Paso…”
“Johnny Marringer,” I stated, noting the name of the Fallen One I had gone to find.
“That’s right. You had pulled off the highway and there wasn’t a single light…generated by electricity…for miles. There was only the full moon and the stars to brighten the desert floor. When you stopped, you walked out in the brush and looked up at the sky. And you stood there…looking up…for a long time.” His eyes were on me now, waiting for my response. “There was a cool breeze but other than that nothing moved. No snakes, no desert mice, no bats or owls. It felt as if we were completely alone.”