“You got something…”—breathe—“better to do?” I kept trying, unsuccessfully, to breathe through the pain. “Don't think we're…”—breathe—“going anywhere.” BREATHE!
I screamed in frustration. He immediately sat me down in the tub, and I screamed as he turned the cold water on full blast, shocking me into focus.
“Asshole,” I whispered as Ash climbed into the tub behind me. He sat down, pulling me against him, simultaneously supporting me, warming me and keeping my face out of the ice-cold water pelting my body. I was momentarily frozen in horror at the sight of the literal bloodbath, but reality broke through my paralysis when Ash snagged the hem of the T-shirt I was wearing and started to tug it over my head.
“What are you doing?!” I screeched. Yes, screeched. It’s the only word for the shrill caterwaul that escaped my mouth.
“The water can’t wash anything off if there’s a shirt between it and your skin,” he said, tugging again like nothing else needed to be said.
“Ash, stop trying to take my shirt off!” I grabbed the shredded fabric. I might be losing blood, but I was determined to retain my dignity.
“Princess, if we don’t neutralize the venom, and quick, you’ll die. It will eat your skin away. Then your muscles, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels… bones. Layer by layer until there’s nothing left. Get it.”
I just stared at him, stubbornly, from the corner of my eye.
“Alex.”
“Ash.”
“Oh, come on! Would you seriously rather die than let me take your shirt off?”
“Yes,” I ground out through gritted teeth. The cool water was helping, but I was still in a lot of pain. I was also not wearing a bra or underwear, just the t-shirt and someone’s boxers. I would have to be significantly more certain I was actually dying before stripping in a cold shower with Ash.
Ash huffed impatiently, then narrowed his eyes, “Afraid you might like it, Princess?”
“No.” Maybe... no. Definitely no.
He tilted his head to one side to look at my face and leaned forward into my ear to whisper, “I don’t believe you.”
“What happened to Jade?”
He tsked. “Changing the subject,” he quipped through his smug, douchey expression. I mean, I couldn’t see his face, but he sounded like he had a douchey expression.
“No, that’s what you did. I’m steering it home. Now, answer the question.” I hadn’t noticed before that moment, but my voice sounded stronger and didn’t seem to be shaking anymore. “What just happened to Jade?”
“She teleported,” he answered without hesitation.
“Be serious,” I admonished. “She did not teleport.”
His head dropped back against the stone tile wall. “We’re all gonna die.”
“Excuse me?”
Ash snorted out a laugh. “There’s a lot riding on your ability to acclimate to your new life. You just saw her disappear in front of your eyes, and you can’t believe she teleported. What exactly would you call it?”
He had me there. Luckily, the lady in question saved me from having to actually answer.
“Instantaneous spatial and temporal relocation,” Jade said with a quick grin in my direction as she magically appeared next to the tub. “I have everything I could find here and at the closest grocery store Google maps could find. We need to stock your house, Ash. Who knows when or what we might be dealing with in coming weeks?”
“You’re not staying here, so… no we don’t,” Ash argued.
Jade just laughed at him and continued like he hadn’t spoken. “Now, I couldn’t find any sulfur, so I got all the sulfur containing foods I could find. If we soak her in a hot bath with the food and the broth I made, it should slow it down long enough for one of us to go find a supply of pure sulfur.”
I felt so lost at this turn in conversation that I wasn’t even sure what questions to ask, so I just said, “Sulfur?”
“Yeah, sweetie. Sulfur will neutralize the demon venom.”
“Demon venom?” I echoed as Ash’s voice echoed through my head, ‘acclimate to your new life,’ and I shook my head to dispel the thought. Something about her words made me sit up and take notice, regardless how crazy this all sounded.
“I thought sulfur was, like, a demons and Hell thing… Also, are we seriously talking about demons right now? Like they exist? I mean, surely this can be attributed to some sort of psychosomatic manifestation. Like when people get hurt in their dreams and their brain is so convinced it was real their body responds. Doesn’t that happen all the time?”
I was rambling. Hysterically. I couldn’t stop myself. Everything was wrong, and I couldn’t find a single thread of indisputable reality to grab ahold of. Luckily, Jade rescued me, again.
“Sulfur reacts with the hydrogen clinging to the demons. That’s why people always smell rotten eggs when demons are near. Hydrogen sulfide.” As she continued her twisted Sunday school lesson, she began filling the tub with hot water. “Same with oxygen and demons leaving mysterious wet footprints behind. The condensed form of hydrogen is also highly magnetic, which can make people nearby feel nauseated.”
My body began to warm, and the hot water gave my tense muscles some much needed relief.
“The Dark realm is fiery because it’s a hydrogen heavy environment and hydrogen is extremely flammable, but Hell is cold and dark otherwise. The shadowed plane is a definite improvement, so a lot of demons escape there in lieu of hanging out in Hell. That’s where I think your admirer found you. I’m just not sure how you got there. Now, we need to get you out of that shirt so your wounds can soak in the broth.”
“Told ya.”
Asshole. I thought it but held my tongue because while Who’s the Snarkiest Bitch In the Tub was a fun game to play and all, I was starting to really become aware of how wrong everything was. Some tiny piece of info was tickling my brain, and I wasn’t getting anywhere playing with Ash. Fighting. Fighting with Ash.
“Wow,” he continued, “Something finally got you to stop talking. I thought I was going to have to get creative with that mouth of yours.”
I tried. I really, really did.
I failed.
“What the fuck is your problem?”
“My problem? My problem is there’s a conceited, mouthy, know-it-all princess basically living in my house and won’t listen to a damned thing I say. What’s your problem?”
“My problem is you’re an Asshole!” As eloquent and well thought out as my retort was, something he said managed to excavate its way into my rage fog. “What do you mean basically living in your house? Is that where we are?”
No one moved. There wasn’t a sound to be heard in that room. “Why are we at Ash’s house? Are we still in Germany?”
Nothing.
Then Jade broke the spell. “Babe, we’ll explain everything, I promise. First, I’d like to make sure you don’t die, though.”
I didn’t trust myself to do more, so I nodded and let her continue.
“Ash, out,” she commanded.
He looked stricken. I couldn’t help but smirk at him. He scowled in response, which just made me smirk harder. Wow… The eight-year-old brat inside me was in rare form today. I was a second away from sticking my tongue out when Ash started to get up, trying to maneuver me gently off his body. I sat up and scooted forward out of his way and everyone froze, again.
“What?” I asked, but it dawned on me even as the words were leaving my mouth. I couldn’t hold myself up a few minutes ago. I looked back up at Jade and shrugged. “Maybe it wasn’t as bad as you thought?”
“It was,” Jade responded, reaching for the shredded shoulder of my shirt and examining the wound beneath. She eyed me with a guarded expression and moved her hands to my ribcage, examining my second wound, then stood up and put her hands on her hips.
“Well, the good news is, the water washed all the blood away. The better news is, we don’t need any sulfur today.” The news was good, and she was smiling
, but it was a hollow smile that didn’t reach her eyes, and she shot a look at Ash that didn’t bode well.
“What’s the bad news,” I queried, but she just shook her head.
“There is no bad news. Just good and better. You’re healed.”
“What?” Ash roared behind me, grabbing my shirt and yanking the side up to see my ribs. “It’s not possible,” he whispered as he drew his fingers along the smooth, unmarred skin there, sending tiny, electric shivers through my body and down each limb.
“So, what does this mean? I was right, right? It was, like, psychosomatic or something, so it disappeared,” I questioned Jade as Ash opened up the ripped fabric on my shoulder and commenced his examination of my wounds. Or… not wounds.
“No, it was definitely there, and it was definitely a demon,” she qualified.
I heard Ash whisper behind me, “Perfect,” as his fingers brushed along the skin of my shoulder and neck. A shiver ran down my spine. I must be cold or something. He must have noticed, though because he stood then, stepping out of the tub.
“Maybe we should move out of the bathroom, now that no one’s dying?”
Jade reached out and grabbed each of us, and I was suddenly sitting on the bed, again. I pulled my legs up under me, into a crouch, ready to run or fight as necessary.
“What the fuck?” I screeched, again. I’m not proud of it, but that’s what happened. I screeched like sleeping beauty when she woke to a husband and a bunch of kids after falling asleep a carefree, young, single girl.
Jade just laughed and Ash snickered, “Teleported.”
Ass-face.
“Girl, you’ve just been thrust into a world of fairytales and nightmares. You need to acclimate, and quick. I thought that would be the fastest way to skip the convincing-you-its-all-real bullshit and jump to the ‘I’m a believer’ portion of tonight’s program. Now, can you tell me what happened? How much do you remember? Please start at the beginning, because I don’t remember anything you said earlier.”
I stared at her for a moment longer, trying to gather my wits about me. Unsuccessfully. “Um… like I said earlier, I thought I was dreaming, but then something was chasing me. I kept running faster, but I couldn't run fast enough.” I was barely whispering, and my voice had started shaking. “Fuck. It wasn’t a dream, was it? Not psychosomatic…”
A tear slid down my cheek as Jade enveloped me in her arms and whispered, “You're safe. It's okay. I wouldn’t push you, but this is really important. Can you tell us what happened next?”
“I tried to fly away, you know, like I always can when I know I'm dreaming, but it jumped and caught me in mid-air.” Just the memory was terrifying me all over again, but I was diverted from my impending panic attack by Ash who was pulling his shirt over his head. “What are you doing?” I asked, once I managed to put my eyes back in my head.
He tossed his soaked T-shirt into the bathroom and began rummaging through a dresser drawer. “What does it look like I’m doing? My clothes are soaked from our little shower adventure. I’m changing.” He closed the dresser drawer, dry clothes in hand and walked into the bathroom. I heard the slap of wet jeans as they hit the floor, remembering what he’d said at the wedding about not wearing underwear.
I swallowed, my throat suddenly feeling dry. “Guys, how did we get here?”
Jade’s eyes widened and she glanced to the bathroom door where Ash was suddenly standing in fresh sweats, his shirt still in hand. Jade responded first. Ash looked like he might be sick.
“Sweetie, I promise I'll explain everything. I'll answer every question you have, but this is really important. I need to know more about your dream. And what, or who, was chasing you that caused all this. Can you start at the beginning? Everything you remember, please?”
“Yeah, but can I get some dry clothes, first?” Ash was already handing me a towel and a pair of sweats. “Thanks.” He nodded once and turned away, pulling his t-shirt over his head.
I stepped into the bathroom to change and started telling them what I could remember of my dream. “It started like the first time I ever met Andrew. First grade. It was a perfect memory at first, but then things were wrong. I was there, watching. Like, grown up me was in the memory but nobody could see me. At least at first. Then I saw Ash at the doorway, young, close to our age. He shouldn't have been there, and he could see me…” I trailed off as I pulled the shirt over my head.
“You saw me? You remember?” Ash asked as I slipped the pants on. Jade cleared her throat, but I could hear Ash continue in a hushed tone. “I remember her, Jade. This her. Adult Alexis was in that room.” Ash sounded a little shaky as I pushed the door open quietly, looking at me with a strange combination of fear and hope.
Even Jade looked a little unbalanced by this development. I was still confused, but Jade took one look at me and decided for all of us, “It’s possible. Super weird, but possible. Either way, we’ll unpack this newest B.S. later. Right now, let’s try to stay focused. Go ahead, sweetie. What happened next?”
I looked between the two of them. Ash looked like he’d seen a ghost but turned back to the chair in the corner and took a seat. Jade nodded at me, encouragingly, so I shrugged and sat back on the bed to continue.
“Well, he could see me, then Younger Me was suddenly looking at me too. She asked me to help Andrew. And he was… It was horrible.” I shuddered at the memory. “He was bleeding from… everywhere, and then he was dead. This tiny, six-year-old Andrew. Dead in my arms.” I reached up to wipe the cold sweat from my forehead and became suddenly aware how still the room had just become. Jade and Ash… I shook my head.
“Wait, where is Andrew, anyway?” I looked up to find Ash avoiding my gaze. He looked stricken.
“He’s not here,” Jade responded tentatively.
Honeymoon? I swallowed. I wasn’t prepared to deal with that particular pain just yet. Jade nodded at me to continue, so I did. “Just as I started to lose it, I heard his voice. Andrew’s. Everything else just disappeared. Everything was just… Darkness. Nothing. But there was Andrew. Grown up Andrew, and he kept saying… something.” I closed my eyes, revisiting that moment. “Something important... He wanted me to remember…”
Just like that, the fog clouding my memory cleared. “He said it wasn't my fault, and that he loved me. Then he kissed me.” I blushed, realizing too late how my tone sounded and the fact that Ash was right there. I felt so safe with Jade that I kept dropping my guard around Ash.
“What happened then? Every detail. This is important.”
“Oh… Um, there was this scream in the distance. He said he had to go, then he kissed me again and just disappeared. I thought the dream was over, but I wasn’t waking up.” Another tremor wracked my body. “Then I heard another scream, but it was closer. I could hear it coming, could hear footfalls, so I just… ran. I kept running, impossibly fast, but it just kept gaining.”
I was shaking and crying again, but no one interrupted me this time. They both seemed enthralled by my not-quite-a-dream, hanging on my every word like it was the most important story ever told. I squeezed my eyes shut and continued.
“When I saw it, I almost stopped, altogether. It was… monstrous, hideous. And too close. Way too close. I flew, like I always do in my dreams, but the pain must've slowed me down, because it got close enough to jump in the air and latch on.” I shuddered at the memory.
“What pain? Had you already been hurt?” she asked.
I opened my eyes, again, taking in her somber expression. “No. I meant the pain when my wings came out.”
“You had wings?” Ash chimed in.
“I always have wings when I fly in my dreams.”
“And it hurts when they come out? In your dreams?” he clarified.
“Yeah. I know it's super weird, I just always figured it was my analytical mind trying to make sense of what my subconscious mind was creating.”
“That would not surprise me in the least. I guess those three Psych classes in coll
ege paid off after all,” Jade smirked at me. “Now, I know this isn’t easy for you, but can you tell us what it looked like?”
“Yeah, I just… I don't really have words. It didn't look like anything I've ever seen before. Its scream…” I shuddered, again. “It sounded like a cross between a chimpanzee, a boar, and a mountain lion, but it looked a little like a combination between a gorilla and a cheetah. It had the basic long limbs and thin body of a cheetah, with a massively thick chest. It was fast and took long strides, but they were sort of disjointed and awkward, like when a gorilla tries to move really fast. It was mostly black mottled with gray and brown markings all over it. It was sort of shiny like it was slimy, but it looked like it had a little sparse fur, coarse like a gorilla, and six legs… or arms and legs. It was hard to tell. It had a mouth sort of like a shark. Split ear to ear and there were several rows of teeth inside. And claws… long ones.”
My body was quaking at the memory, but Jade's expression when I looked up was far more terrifying. All the blood had drained from her face and she was staring at Ash.
“What? What is it?” They both stared into space for a few moments, then looked at each other.
Jade spoke up, first. “It sounds like a hell hound.”
I just stared at her expressionlessly. Was this a joke?
“No. No one on this world has ever seen one. They can’t get through the Veil,” Ash responded.
“Looks like they can now.”
“No! It’s not possible!” Ash was yelling at Jade, now.
“Keep it together, Ash. Obviously, things have changed,” Jade admonished in an unforgiving tone.
“If they’ve been sent for her… They’ll never stop hunting her,” Ash whispered. “Who could’ve…”
I was staring open-mouthed at my companions at the point when I decided I'd had enough.
“Okay”—I waved my hands in front of my face—“It's my turn. I've been very cooperative and clearly there's something going on we need to discuss, but somebody needs to catch me up. What the hell is going on? How did we get here?”
Jade glanced uncertainly at Ash, and he surprised me with a gentle tone. “Do you want me to tell her?”
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