by Sarah Reeves
“How do I know you’re, you know, you?”
“When I was little, I would sneak into Dad’s old things and put on a pair of his boots and walk around the house in them. That’s how you would tell if I was around, you’d listen for the shuffling noises. That’s also how I cracked open my head that one time. Dad freaked out when he saw that.”
“I remember that, he locked all of his shoes in the closet. We’re in Florida, near Jacksonville. Oliver is here too, but he’s out getting groceries. He insisted. Teagan’s with me, though.” There was a faint cry over the line and Alex began to cry openly at the sound of her little sister’s exclamation. This time Kieran did put his arm around her, and she leaned into him. “Teagan, come say hi!”
“Alex!” Teagan’s cry was closer to the phone.
“Hey, little one.” Alex sniffled. “I missed you.”
“Are you coming to see us?”
“Yeah, I’m coming to see you. I’ll be there very soon, okay?” Kieran’s hand smoothed up and down Alex’s arm. “Just take care of Momma til I get there.”
“Okie dokie! I will!”
Jennifer’s voice came back down the line. “What time do you think you’ll be here? Teagan’s not going to stop asking until you show up, but it would help her if we knew.”
“We’re going to be there in about an hour,” replied Alex. “It won’t take long for us to fly there. The only thing is, it’ll be hard to pinpoint where you are without a GPS or something.”
“There’s an old cell phone in the drawer next to my bed,” said Jennifer. “Who’s we?”
“Oh. Um… I have a friend with me. I met him while we were training. He’s what’s called my Companion.”
“Is he cute?”
“Mom.”
“Just asking,” Jennifer said with a laugh. “If you trust him, then I guess I can, too. Let me give you the address.” Alex quickly found a pen and a piece of paper, wrote down the address, and hung up the phone with effort. Then she turned to Kieran, who was watching her carefully.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Promise. I’m just… I’m really happy to hear their voices, and to know they’re alive.” She swiped at her face. “Let’s go find them.”
Armed with a cell phone, Alex and her Companion took off from the front yard of the house. They flew in silence, but Alex was sure that Kieran could sense her mounting excitement. She was so anxious to see them again, it felt like their flight took an eternity. The one thing she was unsure of was how Oliver would react to meeting Kieran. After their attempt and abandonment of a relationship, she wasn’t sure how a visit from her and someone she now shared a bond with would go over. She knew Oliver better than most, but she didn’t know if he was the jealous type at all. Guess I’ll find out, she thought.
The sun was nearly set by the time the two teens reached the address. The last rays turned the sparse clouds in Florida scarlet as the rest of the sky darkened to a deep indigo. It was warmer there, and the updrafts buffeted Alex’s wings enough to where she was able to coast more than she was able to in the mountains. Kieran, beside her, took in the flat terrain around them in amazement. Less than a day, and they had been to three completely different regions. It was harder to stay hidden here, so Alex was grateful for the gathering darkness. Cars streamed by below them in a never ending river, while the buildings in the city of Jacksonville reached for the duo as they passed. Alex caught herself marvelling at the difference in this realm and the one they’d come from. It seemed so much more… populated. Alex raised her head and focused on the way ahead of them as claustrophobia creeped in.
They chose a secluded area to land safely in a little ways away from the address that Jennifer had given them. It wasn’t as secret as Alex would have liked, but the abandoned parking lot would have to do. It looked like the building had been a Blockbuster store or something.
“How close are we?” Kieran asked. He had been remarkably adaptable with all of the new things he was seeing, including the technology Alex now held up to take stock of where they had to go.
“It looks like we have to go that way.” Alex pointed in the direction of a stretch of woods behind the lot. “It looks creepy as hell, though.”
“We can take whatever comes at us, if anything does. Besides, nobody that’s trying to kill us knows that we’re here, so I’m not too worried.”
“Clearly you’ve never seen a crackhead.”
“A what now?”
“Nothing. Let’s go, before anyone sees us.” Alex strode towards the woods, with Kieran following behind. They passed the treeline, and suddenly the only light was from the little phone in Alex’s hand. She followed the directions the phone gave her, and they walked for about another ten minutes before the trees ended. Alex came to a stop, staring at the house that was in front of them now.
It wasn’t a big house, but it wasn’t tiny either. It had to be a rental of some sort, or something like that. Lights were on inside, and Alex ducked instinctively as she saw a shadow pass in front of the window facing her and her Companion. She straightened again, however, recognizing the face through the glass as the person looked back at her. Oliver. They locked eyes, and Alex saw alarm in his, quickly replaced by incredulity. He disappeared, and Alex began to walk toward the house, feeling like everything around her could shatter at the smallest provocation.
Oliver burst out of the house, followed by Jennifer, who had Teagan in her arms. Alex’s breath began to hitch in her throat, and her eyes burned. Oliver’s face was intense, focused; all he could see was Alex, and when he got to her, he stopped, staring down at her. In silence, they watched each other, until Oliver grinned his usual hundred watt smile. “Told you you would come back,” he said. Alex half laughed, half sobbed, and launched herself into his arms. He swung her in a wide circle, burying his face in her hair. He was muttering something over and over, and Alex realized after he put her down that he had been saying her name. He stepped aside, still grinning, to let Jennifer tackle her daughter in a hug, still holding Teagan. Teagan was sobbing, yelling about how Alex was home. Jennifer just tightened her hold on Alex, and the younger woman could feel tears running down her neck. Who they belonged to, she didn’t know, nor did she care. After a couple of minutes, they separated, but they stayed in a close group. Alex took in the faces of her family, or what she could see of them through the darkness and the tears.
“I’m so glad to see you guys,” Alex said, wiping her eyes. “You have no idea.”
“You’ve changed a bit since we saw you,” remarked Oliver. His eyes were rimmed red, and he gave a sniff.
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
“It is, sweetie. We’re so proud of you.” Jennifer, seemingly unable to take her hand off of ALex, ran one down her arm to clutch her hand. Teagan, during the greetings, had transferred herself into her big sister’s arms, where she was settled on her hip, her head on Alex’s shoulder. There was now a large wet patch on Alex’s shirt.
“I’m not,” said Oliver with a smirk, then dodged the kick Alex aimed at him. “Kidding. We should go inside. I’m sure we have a lot to catch up on.”
“Yeah, we do.” Alex turned to look for Kieran, who hadn’t moved from his spot next to the trees. “Kieran, you wanna come inside? I promise that Teagan only bites if she’s hungry.” The girl in question giggled from her position in Alex’s arms.
Kieran walked forward, into the light from the kitchen window. For the first time since ALex had known him, she could see nervousness in his eyes. The rest of him was confident though as he came up to the group. He extended his hand to Jennifer. “I’m Kieran, Alex’s Companion.” he said. “Alex had told me a lot about you guys.” He smiled. “You did a good job raising her.” After shaking her hand, he turned to Oliver. “You’re Oliver, right? It’s good to meet you.” Oliver hesitated, then stuck his hand out and shook. Alex let go of a small breath.
“Okay, inside we go.” Alex followed her family up the steps and in through the back door. T
he interior of the house was modest, but functional. The back door led them into the kitchen, where there was a stove, a sink, and a fridge. Vinyl countertops that were cracked in places stretched along the wall, and there was a random hollowed out gourd hanging next to an old vent in the wall above the stove. The light had a wide, circular glass cover with colorful panels on the edge. There were spots here and there on the inside that indicated that not all the moths that entered the house had left. It smelled as though they’d just had dinner. Alex turned to her mother, who was beaming. “Nice place,” she said.
“It’s not too bad,” Jennifer said. “It’s what was available to rent on such short notice. That, and it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere, which is ideal.” She led them into the living room, which had low ceilings, reminded Alex faintly of a cave. The couches were comfy though, when she sat on one. Oliver took the seat next to her, leaving Kieran to choose the flowery armchair on Alex’s other side. Teagan climbed in Alex’s lap and started playing with her hair, and Jennifer sat on the other side of Oliver. “I think that you should explain what’s going on, before we get to anything else. How and why are you even here? Where’s Adrien?”
Alex winced, then took a deep breath. “So, this is what happened.” She took them through the story, telling them how she’d met Kieran, what being his Companion meant, then what had happened with Vera turning in Adrien to the Courts. She explained Adrien’s exile, the explosion at the Courts, and her investigation. When she reached this part, she raised her wrist to show her family Hannah’s bracelet. Oliver jerked suddenly, then reached out, gently taking Alex’s wrist and examining the bracelet. He looked up at her.
“You found her bracelet. Does that mean..?”
“I found her, too.”
“She’s not dead?” Jennifer asked, leaning forward.
“She’s dead, alright.” Alex met Oliver’s gaze. “Remember that nightmare that I had? When I told you that Hannah’s body was all distorted?”
Oliver paled. “You mean-”
“Yeah. It was like that, but worse. The Unseen took her body and made it his. She’s not in there anymore. He didn’t attack me though, he just… taunted me.” Alex looked down at her hands, which were clenched tightly into fists. “It was worse than when we found out she died. I, uh, I didn’t handle it very well. Anyway, after that, I knew that I needed to find a way to get information to you. I needed to know that you were okay. That’s when Kieran suggested that we come here.” Oliver’s fingers tightened briefly around Alex’s wrist. “I’m glad that we came, too. I missed you guys so much.”
“We missed you too.” Teagan turned her head and laid it against Alex’s shoulder. “Can you stay with us?”
“‘Fraid not, little one.” Alex ran her free hand down Teagan’s hair. “I have to go back, I’m not done training yet, and the bad guy is still out there.”
“Speaking of,” Oliver said, letting go of Alex and sitting back. “How much progress have you made in your training? Have you developed any other powers?”
“Yeah, I have. Hold on, I’ll show you.” Alex gently lifted Teagan off her lap then held her hands out. As she had done in the past, she manifested each power individually, then made them rotate around each other, giving her family a full view of each one. Teagan exclaimed, and made like she was going to touch one, but Jennifer caught her hand before she could get to it. Oliver gazed intently at the power, specifically the darkness.
“What processes did you have to go through to access these other powers? And how do you access the other three?” Oliver didn’t take his eyes off of the floating spheres as he asked the question.
“When I look at the seats of power inside me- well, it’s like looking at them, I guess, I’m still not sure how that works- they’re inside my primary one, fire. But once I was able to access the other two, their respective hearts moved until they were outside and independent of the fire. The other three are still in there, and it seems that so far, it takes the focus of certain specific emotions to access each one. Calm for water, frustration for darkness. I don’t know what it’ll take to get to the others, but it’s happened mostly by accident so far.” Alex glanced at Kieran as she spoke, but he wasn’t looking at her. Instead, his eyes were on Oliver, and he had a peculiar expression on his face. Alex frowned faintly. “I wish I knew how to do all this. I haven’t been able to Shift into another creature besides a dragon yet. That’s what I want to work on next, when we go back.”
“Okay, enough of this.” Jennifer stood up. “We aren’t going to spend your entire visit contemplating your power and all the bad things that are happening right now. Instead, we’re going to have fun.” Her eyes gleamed. “Do you remember how to play Spit?”
“Excuse me?” Asked Kieran.
“Yeah, I do.” Alex laughed at her Companion’s expression. “It’s a card game, it’s a cross between Solitaire and Speed. It’s fun, I promise.”
Kieran stood with Alex, and followed her to sit on the floor. “You know, anytime someone promises that something is fun, it usually isn’t fun at all.”
“Shut it.” But Alex was laughing. “Just watch, okay?” Jennifer brought out a deck of cards, and handed them to Alex, who shuffled them. Kieran watched with interest as his Companion deftly divided the deck in half, then set to making her side of the game with her own stack. In typical Solitaire fashion, she laid out cards, stacking them in increasing numbers from left to right. She didn’t go all the way to seven, though, instead stopping at five. When she was done, she laid one card face down at the top of her row, then laid the rest of her cards in a stack to the right of it (also face down). Her mother mirrored her, then they both placed a hand on the two cards that lay between their rows.
“Ready?” Asked Jennifer. There was a competitive grin on her face as she stared down her daughter. Alex, not to be intimidated, bared her teeth back at her.
“Oh, yeah.” Simultaneously, they flipped their card, and there was an explosion of movement. Hands flipped and placed cards almost too fast for Kieran to keep track of, numbers climbing and descending as cards were laid on the two middle stacks in numerical order. Alex and her mother were entirely focused on their cards, flipping the facedown cards and moving them so quickly that they nearly blurred. Both stacks were dwindling, until Alex laid down her last card and slapped the side with the least amount of cards with a triumphant cry. Jennifer sat back, laughing. “And that’s how it’s done,” Alex said, turning to meet Kieran’s astonished gaze. “It’s really easy, you just have to be fast, and you can’t repeat numbers.”
“Seems easy enough,” smirked Kieran. He nudged Alex’s side, and noticed Oliver’s gaze narrowed as he did so. “Scootch. I’m fixing to embarrass myself, and I need all the room I can get.”
Jennifer laughed as she reset the cards. “At least he knows his place.”
“Don’t take it for granted, ma’am. I’m only going to lose once.”
“He’s all talk,” said Alex, laughing too. “He knows he can’t beat you.”
“Shush.” Kieran tried to put his hand over Alex’s mouth, but jerked it back quickly when she tried to bite him. “Don’t tell her all my secrets, you heathen.”
Oliver stood and left the room, muttering about getting some fresh air. Alex watched him go, then sighed. She knew she would have to go after him, and see why he was upset. She followed after him, murmuring to the rest of her family that she’d be back.
Her best friend had gone into the kitchen, and was washing dishes with barely concealed violence. Alex stood for a moment, then grabbed a dish towel and joined him. He didn’t say a word, and they worked in silence together for a few minutes. The only noise was the muffled talking coming from the living room. Finally, Oliver spoke.
“You and Kieran are awful close,” he said. He didn’t look at Alex as he handed her a plate.
“You’re right,” replied Alex, drying it. “He’s my Companion. Of course we’re close. Why does that upset you?”
; “It doesn’t upset me.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Fine.” Oliver set down the cup he’d picked up with a snap. “It upsets me. It’s not rational, it doesn’t make any sense, but seeing you laughing with him and seeing you so… so comfortable around him makes me upset. It pisses me off, actually. Are you guys a thing? Is there more than friendship between you two?”
“Why does that matter?” Alex dropped the dish towel on the counter and turned to face Oliver fully.
“Just answer the question, Alex.”
“No, there’s nothing happening between us. There was almost something, and I won’t deny that I have feelings for him, but there’s no relationship there besides friendship, and trust. Now, why does the nature of my relationship with Kieran matter so much to you? There’s nothing between you and I besides friendship, either!”
“You have feelings for him.” Oliver shook his head and turned back to the dishes, only to whirl again when Alex took his arm.
“We’re not finished,” she said, glaring at him. “We resolved what there could have been between us, if I remember correctly. We had that conversation. So I don’t understand why you’re all of a sudden angry that Kieran and I are close, or that I have feelings for him. If you had feelings for me, if you wanted anything other than friendship, you should have said something about it. Just because we’ve known each other longer doesn’t mean that you have any claim to me. You said that you didn’t want a relationship because of everything that happened. I accepted it, and I moved on. Deal with it, or don’t. That’s on you.”
Oliver stood glaring down at her for another few seconds. Then his expression went blank in that unnerving way he had. All emotions wiped, he turned back to the dishes. “I can finish here,” he said. “You should go and be with your mom.”
Alex shook her head and walked out of the kitchen, simmering. What right did he have to get mad at her for not pining over him? She wasn’t going to stick around and wait for the time that he decided he wanted to give a relationship a try. And besides, there was no relationship (no official one, anyway), between her and Kieran. His anger was completely irrational.