by A. P. Moraez
Ash was already pacing, despaired. He shook his head. He’d lost his hat at some point after getting to O’Farrell’s and wasn’t finding it now. It wasn’t in his coat’s pockets or his pants. Damn. The cold was biting at his shaved scalp like a bitch.
“No. He just said he was living with his boyfriend. I’ve never been to his place.”
“Fuck.” Henry started to pace too, seeming lost. He took his phone in hand and pressed a few times against the screen.
“The trackers are indicating they’re all right there, at the post office. Look.”
Diana and Ash leaned forward to see. There were three red dots pulsing fading rings, unmoving right where Henry said.
“He’s got them. I know he has.”
“You don’t know that,” Diana rebuked. “This could all just be a misunderstanding.”
Ash snorted. “There’s no misunderstanding when it comes to Leonardo fucking Lazarus, Diana. He’s probably been planning this for days, and what he plans, he executes. Normally without failures.” He couldn’t control the sob that escaped him. “For all I know they could all be dead already.”
Diana cursed under her breath and buried her face in her heavily-jeweled hands.
Ash closed his eyes and prayed. His hands were clenched so tight it hurt, and he just begged for help. That whatever that force was that had marked him would come forth now and help him in this most critical time.
Nothing.
No warm-freezing itchy sensation down his forearms. Just… nothing.
Leonardo couldn’t win just like this. This was wrong. He should be there. Him. Not Logan. Him.
“Ahh” Ash cried, hands lifting instinctively to his left temple that had felt like it was gonna burst just a second ago.
Henry wrapped an arm around him, and Ash silently thanked him, since it was probably the only thing keeping him from falling to his knees onto the snow. “Ash,” the man cried. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. I— Ahh!” The splitting headache came back with a vengeance and Ash squeezed his eyes shut. As soon as he closed his eyes, images of that old bridge — his bridge — the one he’d always loved the most filled his mind. It was just at the end of the next street. In that moment, Ash knew what he had to do.
In a few moments, the pain had subsided. Ash opened his eyes and, without warning, took off.
“Ash!” Henry cried behind him. He didn’t have time to explain. Every second was critical for Logan’s survival. And Ian’s. And Duke’s.
“Ash, wait!” Diana yelled from what sounded like a certain distance behind him. She was probably regretting the high-heeled boots now.
In just a few seconds he reached the covered-bridge, with all its majestic arches and detailed carvings. It’d lost some of its charm to him since he’d seen Morgan hanging from it, but it still held a soft spot in his heart. He’d just been there, breathing heavy from the strain of running through snow, when his arms warmed all over and a shiver ran down his spine. It was here, in the air. All the answers.
He blinked a few times, nodding to himself.
“The hell are you doing?” Henry barked from a few feet behind him. Ash turned to see him helping Diana through the deep snow, both glaring daggers at him. He shot a look at the bridge over his shoulders, then looked back at the two of them.
“Look,” he said, “I don’t have time to explain what you’re about to see.” He let out an exasperated laugh. “Damn, I don’t even fully understand it myself yet. But please,” he seared both of them with a firm look, “don’t tell anyone. I don’t know what it means, but it’s the only way to maybe save them.”
Henry and Diana shared a look, then looked at him as if he were crazy. Hell, maybe he was, but something inside of him told him it was the only way.
“Here, hold my coat.” He quickly got rid of it and handed it over to Henry. Poor Diana was clutching her Louis Vuitton to her side, probably afraid the unrelenting gusts of freezing wind would take it away from her.
With a nod of thanks to Henry, balls freezing off with the loss of warmth, Ash turned and faced the bridge. He closed his eyes, praying to whatever it was that dwelled inside of him now that it’d answer. Ash brought his necklace up to his mouth and pressed it firmly against his lips, hands shaky, then opened his eyes and took the first step ahead.
In just a few seconds he reached the middle point, and there he knelt. Ash rolled both sleeves of his sweater and thermal up until both his forearms were fully exposed.
Ash took a calming breath and closed his eyes, letting himself be filled by his love for Logan and his friends. You did this to me, now help me. Show me. Lead me. Don’t let him win. Please, don’t let him win.
For a few seconds, nothing happened, and Ash could remember very few situations where he’d been more scared.
But then warmth coated both his arms, which immediately froze all over. Ash braced himself and bit his bottom lip against what felt like a thousand needles puncturing his skin repeatedly. There was a buzz in the air, an inexplicable force that started to shake the very planks beneath him. Startled, Ash opened his eyes and the scene all around him made him gasp.
“What the fuck?” came Henry’s voice, faint, from the mouth of the bridge.
All those carvings, those interminable rings of either angular or rounded symbols mixed with the age-old runes, were pulsing with iridescent blue light. And as they pulsed, his arms pulsed in synchrony. Boiling. Freezing. Boiling. Freezing. Boiling. Freezing. Night had fallen and the contrast of all that light was stark against the darkness. It took Ash’s breath away.
Nothing prepared him to the moment when two full circles, one of rounded symbols and the other made of angular ones, drifted off two different planks, one from up above and another one close to Ash’s right side, and met in the middle, just a few feet ahead, above his head. Two or three symbols, mixed with a few runes, detached themselves from their respective circles and… and formed a new one. Ash was paralyzed; he’d never seen them doing that before.
Slowly, like scintillating smoke, the new circle, always pulsing, always turning, drifted closer and closer. Ash expected pain similar to what he’d felt when the five circles had embedded themselves into him, back at the hospital, but when the circle, just a couple inches from his face, split into two identical and smaller ones, and each one of them pierced into him through his eyes, all he felt was a slight dizziness and a weird sensation in his eyes, like someone had dropped freezing water into them.
Fragments, pictures; his mind was filled by them. And Ash immediately recognized them. That one bridge was just a few streets away. It was the last bridge before one exited Hoofslope proper. Then the road to Hardcliff. How many times he’d followed along that road, through the years, coming and going to and from work?
That was it. He’d asked for help, and it, whatever it was, had answered.
Thank you, Ash conceded before he rolled his sleeves down and ran to where Henry and Diana were waiting, petrified, jaws slackened and eyes popping out of their heads.
“Let’s go.”
“No, wait,” Henry said, hand up in the air. “You can’t just… just do that and expect us to just roll with it.”
“I don’t know what it is, okay? It’s something recent.” He paused. Diana was pale as a sheet. “Our friends are in danger. Logan is in danger. We have to go. I promise I’ll try to explain later.” When Henry, also ghost-like, didn’t make any sign that he was about to move. Ash clutched the man’s shoulder and squeezed, making sure to look him right in the eyes. “I promise I won’t ever hurt you. Alright? I promise. But we really have to go now.”
It took a moment, but Henry finally nodded. “Alright,” he said as he gave Ash his coat back.
Still wrapping the coat around himself, Ash turned to Diana as they marched back to Henry’s Mercedes, which he’d left parked across the street to O’Farrell’s. “Maybe you should stay here. It’s gonna be dangerous. We don’t know what we’re gonna find when we get
there.”
She studied him, all serious, for a moment, then her mouth morphed into the bitchiest smirk. They watched as she zipped her Louis open and Ash’s mouth dropped open when she pulled a golden hand-gun from its depths. Were those freaking diamonds encrusted in the metal?
“Nobody touches Logan without going through me first.” She let the gun drop back inside, zipped it closed and whirled around, platinum hair waving in the wind. She marched to the car without a care in the world as Ash and Henry stood there, astonished.
A few yards ahead, she shot them a look over her shoulder, and shot, “You guys coming or not?”
supernova
BEIGE BALCONIES OF the suburban house he’d just seen in his head blurred past the car window.
“Take the left on the next one,” Ash instructed, fighting not to claw off his fingers, such was his anxiety.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. And then turn right on the third exit.”
Henry nodded. He was stiff as a board, and Ash got it. It was easy to put himself on the man’s shoes. They were risking their friends’ safeties trusting an unnatural thing Ash hadn’t even started to understand himself. But he trusted it, whatever it was. So far, it hadn’t failed him, and all he could do was to believe that it wouldn’t choose now as the moment to start.
For a few more minutes, Ash guided Henry, and on they went, thunder through Hardcliff’s snows that all were starting to turn white. Diana was quiet on the backseat. On the few instances Ash had checked on her, to see if she was okay, she’d regarded him with those intelligent brown eyes, then stared back out the window. There was something about her posture and the way her jaw was set that weirdly reassured him. Maybe she truly was okay with this; unafraid. Maybe she knew what she was doing. Well, if she didn’t, tough luck; there was no going back from here.
“There!” Ash broke the silence inside the vehicle.
“Where?”
“The house at the end of the lane.”
“That one?” Henry asked, pointing to the house Ash had seen in his head a few moments ago, before the slide show of instructions had finally ceased. “Two-story, all gray with lots of glass?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure?”
Ash scowled at him, then turned his gaze back ahead. “Well, whatever it is inside my head seems to be sure.”
Henry threw him a concerned look, but didn’t comment. They stopped across the street, a few houses down from there.
It was a nice place. Probably had cost a ton. Big front yard; front all glass; modern. Dark curtains obstructed the view from the outside, but it was clear that there were people at home. There were lights turned on inside, and some of its orange and yellow beams filtered in through the dark cloths.
Diana leaned forward on the backseat to see better. “Doesn’t look like a hideout of a psychopath to me.”
“Maybe that’s what makes it the perfect one,” said Henry. “We don’t have any proof, though. That Leo is there, or that Logan and the others are being kept captive there. We got nothing.”
“They are there,” Ash said, voice low. “I can feel it.” And he really could — or at least he thought the way his forearms were tingling and warming a little meant something. A message. A sign that he’d come to the right place. That maybe there was still hope.
Diana and Henry just stared at him, and he made sure to maintain eye contact to let them know he was being serious. After a few seconds, both of them just gave him brief nods and shifted their gazes back to target.
“What now?” Diana asked.
“We go in.”
“No,” Henry barked. “Absolutely not.”
“Henry, I—”
Henry cut Ash off, “I’ve just shot a message to all teams stationed in both Frozenbone and Hardcliff. We’re gonna wait here, surround the place, and act according to our training.”
Ash swallowed dry and took a big breath, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment to try and calm himself. It wasn’t his fault. None of this was. It was no good lashing out at your friends when about to face your worst enemy.
“Look,” Ash said, “I get that it’s dangerous, but we don’t have time. Leo is volatile and unpredictable. They say the wrong thing in there…” he pointed to the house at the end of the street with his thumb “…and it’s the last thing they’ll do, you get it?”
Henry cursed under his breath and rubbed his face. “What if we get in there by ourselves and find out we’re too heavily outnumbered? What if it triggers Leo and he shoots them because we’re there? It’s too risky.”
“It’s riskier to just not do anything; staying out here and watching,” Ash pleaded, reaching out to squeeze Henry’s shoulder. The man was clearly having an internal battle — his training against his sense of duty. Ash could appreciate that, even if something inside of him was screaming to get out of this car and get in that house. “You gotta trust me on this, please. I know him, Henry. I know him.”
Henry’s jaw ticked as he stared at the house, hands white, wrapped tight around the steering wheel. Ash was on the verge of just throwing caution to the wind and flying out of that car with or without him when the man finally nodded and let out a heavy exhale.
“Fuck,” Henry said. “Alright. What you suggest we do?”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Diana butted in. Them both looked at her. Ash’d forgotten she was there for a minute. She regarded him, face neutral, before she rolled her eyes at their lack of response. “We have to create some sort of diversion so that Ash can go in.”
“It should be me going in, not Ash,” Henry rebuked.
Diana barked out a laugh. “God, where have you had your training? Kindergarten?” Diana unzipped her Louis and retrieved her fancy hand-gun; diamonds shone under the car lights. She checked the safety as she explained. “However many people are in there are gonna flock to wherever the distraction is. It’s better that you and I are there to contain them, while Ash tries to sneak in.”
“Hey,” Ash interrupted, offended. “Don’t forget I used to work for that man.”
There was a peculiar glint in Diana’s eyes when she replied, “I know, and that’s exactly why it should be you going in. If you get busted, he might still feel enough for you that he won’t just kill you where you stand. He wouldn’t be so kind to us.” She flipped her hair and rested one hand on the door handle. “Plus, you’ve got the fuck that weird alien-lights thing is; we don’t. Maybe that’ll come in handy if you have to face him.” She opened the door and got a leg out before throwing Henry a look. “Besides, look at the size of that one. He couldn’t sneak into anywhere even if world peace depended on it.”
Henry opened his mouth as if to reply, but Diana silenced him with a finger in the air. “You know I’m right.” She got out of the car and banged the door behind her. “Come on, boys. We’re wasting time.”
ASH LOST SIGHT of Diana and Henry as they rounded the far corner of the house on their way to the back. It was snowing heavily, the promised blizzard finally the full-force. He was cursing himself for having lost his hat, now having to endure the cold wind and snow itself torturing his unprotected head, when the message pinged on his phone.
HENRY: On the count of five.
Ash started counting in his head and, when he reached zero, there came the faint sound of glass breaking. It’d probably sounded way louder back there when, as agreed, they’d broken into the house doing as much noise as possible.
And then Ash was moving. It took a few moments — moments in which his stomach cramped with nerves — but he finally found a side door next to two huge metal trash bins. He took the few concrete steps that led to it, breath fogging in front of his eyes, rose his hand to the door handle, and turned.
It was unlocked.
Ash’s knees threatened to give, such was his relief, but he made himself keep his cool, clutched the gun Henry had given him firmly in his hand, and shoved it open one inch at a time. Thankfully, no creaking. He closed the
door behind him, careful not to make any noise.
It was a laundry room, and Ash immediately recognized some of Billy’s clothes thrown over the washing machine. He tightened the grip he had on the gun as a new wave of disgust rocked through him. With a little luck, before the night was over, he’d be able to confront the boy and ask him why. Ask him how he could look them in the eye every day knowing what he was doing.
He left the room, taking care as he rounded the corner and came to stand in a small corridor that clearly led to the kitchen. From where he was standing, through the doorway ahead, he could see a beige fridge, a counter filled with appliances, cabinets and one corner of a dining table. The rest was covered by the wall separating the kitchen and the corridor he was in.
Ash shuffled closer, praying to all that was sacred that the wooden floor wouldn’t creak and announce his presence. He froze when Leo’s voice reached his ears, just when he was getting to the doorway to the kitchen. Body tense all over, he planted himself flat against the wall.
“You know, I’m tempted to call him right now, just to see his reaction,” Leo said. “I’m dying to see what it’s gonna be like when he knows I’ve got my hands on you.” A low chuckle reached Ash’s ears before Leo said, “It’s been so long since I’ve been trying to get my hands on you, though. I think it’s only fair we get some alone time first.”
Ash clenched his fists so tight, his knuckles cracked. Just the thought of Leo’s vile hands touching Logan had his stomach rolling. He leaned to the side and took a peek into the room.
Logan, Duke, and Ian were all tied to the sturdy-looking kitchen chairs. All unconscious; all but Logan. Blood ran from Ian’s head, a little above his right temple, and from Duke’s nose. Duke’s left eye was swollen shut. He’d probably been clocked a few times. They’d probably resisted when Leo surprised them at the post office. Fools. They could’ve been killed.
A giant of a man stood by Leo, back against the doorway to the kitchen. He had to be Logan’s size, if not bigger. Probably one of Leo’s minions. He was holding a gun, but otherwise was relaxed, seeming to be enjoying the show.
