by K. H. Kate
Suddenly she jumped from her chair making me fall to the ground. She was screaming so loud that the windows rattled and the door started to shake. Red painted my vision right when she started puking ants from her lips. Those tiny insects looked dead.
And so would be my sister if I didn't do anything about it.
***
ONE WEEK AGO
Fredah was missing.
Like completely puffed out of existence.
One of her sisters was still in the tunnel while another just kept about her day like nothing happened. And if I wasn't dosed up on more drugs, I'd care more about that. But lately, I hardly cared about anything. Not about myself, not about my past or my future.
I was just existing.
"He sent you flowers again." I heard 5133 murmur, her eyes on me to notice how I reacted. I didn't move a muscle. "He thinks you're avoiding him."
"I'm avoiding a lot of people." It wasn't a complete lie. I was avoiding Byron and Zach at the same time. In a way, I guess I was avoiding Mikhail too even if he was hell-bent on knowing how I was doing.
I heard a sigh. "It hurts him, you know? Not knowing what you want. Not that I'm pressuring you to think about that now but in the future, would you?"
"Can he accept me as I am?" I dished out, watching her wince. I might not have good coordination or the ability to think anymore but I didn't forget what he said to me that day. He didn't want a beloved who was like me. Well, I didn't want a moral police as a beloved either.
"H-He didn't have the best life growing up. He’s a Seeker, different than any of us. He likes to calculate, psychoanalyze anything and anyone. He just can’t figure you out and it’s driving him mad. In a way he didn't expect you, I guess. But he wants you. Trust me, he does. Or he wouldn't still be waiting for you, sending you flowers. Byron is already starting to suspect something."
Of course, he did.
Now that he knew those sisters were cooking up something big, he became even more unpredictable and volatile. There were random searches at random times. The dining room was closed so not many people could socialize and our drugs were at a stage where we could only function but not think clearly.
It was starting to fuck with my mind even more.
"Stop talking about him, 5133. You're boring me." I pretended to yawn, making myself comfortable in my bed. Ever since that hellhound scenario happened, we lost the privilege to have a door. So, I winked at the girl standing outside of our room and turned to look at 5133. They were listening, they always were. "Tell me something that makes me eager to live the next day."
"Fine, I heard they found another Reaper." The one-eighty change in her topic made me jump but in a good way. Sandy's told me a few bits of being a Reaper but it wasn't enough. I wanted to know everything. Wanted to know where I could find my family. Wanted to know why my mother gave me up.
If she even loved me.
No. Love was for normal Lana. I showed affection in bloody pacts and lies.
"What about it?"
5133 lowered her voice, revealing what I already knew. "Reapers are hard to find nowadays, like a needle in the hay."
"Yeah." I squeezed my eyes shut, remembering how Byron used to brag about that. "My kind is almost extinct."
I heard a teasing laugh. "You're not dying anytime soon. You already have too many friends who won't let you."
Friends or foes. Some days it was hard to distinguish. "Yeah, yeah."
"That's not even it. There are actually two types of clans you have to worry about, one who wants more Reapers on this earth and the one who wants to get rid of them. The Reaper they found...he found himself in the wrong clan and didn't survive. He wanted to settle in, trying to expand his bloodline but now he's gone. If they know about you, they are going to take you out too."
I forced myself to not care even if I could feel the shock of knowing another like me. "How did you exactly know about that?"
"He just doesn't send flowers. He tells me things too."
I had no right to be jealous but I couldn't help but quip up with a nasty grin. "Really? What else does he tell you that he doesn't tell me?"
"5132, don't be like that. I also wanted to tell you something I heard from Byron. I don't know if it's true or not. I heard that your mother killed your dad. In cold blood, might I add. You know how Byron just buys coffins from cemeteries? He might accidentally just bought your dad's."
There went my curiosity about my sperm donor and my shitty mother.
"Please tell me that jackass put my dad to rest like a decent being."
I wasn't expecting much from him but to my relief, she nodded quickly. "Yes, of course. His name's Jonathan Bazin if you want to visit sometimes. He's in the French Quarter cemetery."
"If I ever get out-"
"Visitor for 5132!" I was interrupted by the girl outside. To my surprise, Zach was also standing beside her with an anxious look. I wasn't due to any social visit from my current or ex but seemed like it was something important by the way he didn't even wait for her to clear me before he was grabbing my wrist, tugging me somewhere near the reception.
"Look, if it's about me avoiding you-"
"Oh, trust me, I'm pissed about that but that's not it. Byron's planning something today and I don't think you're going to like it."
Ok, I didn't expect that. If I was right in my mind, I'd take a minute to answer but what was the fun in that? "So, killing him then. What's the plan?"
He frowned, shaking his head. "We're not killing him but we can keep an eye on him. There are some rumors down below that he's making some kind of deal with Fredah. He wants the shield broken."
Fuck.
"Why now?" It didn't make any sense. Breaking the shield meant freedom from this place. He could go as he pleased already so why did he need to make a deal for it? Hell, the master gave him everything he needed to run this place.
"I don't know. But I thought you should know." He wanted to say more but wanting to know them meant feeling and I had enough of that. So, with a nod, I turned to leave when he once again stopped me with a literal arrow.
"So, he gives you flowers now. Anything else?"
"I am not talking about that with you-"
“He comes every night, staring at like you like you are some kind of wonder.” What? I tried to find any kind of lie in his eyes but found none. “He threatens me, dangling that stupid beloved bond over me like he knows you better than I do. Like he knows what makes you tick. He doesn’t yet, does he?”
So, he was jealous. Funny. “Doesn’t matter to me.”
"You think I don't see it? Oh, come on, Lana! It's like even fate knows you have a type. Blond hair, bad attitude, terrible at communication? That fucker is the exact copy of me. Admit it, you're attracted to him."
Just to fuck with him, I smiled. "Yes, Zach. I'm attracted to assholes who have a fetish to kill me. There. I admitted it."
I heard something between a choke and cough, making me turn around with a surprise in my eyes. I wasn't someone who could be surprised that easily but I really didn't expect to find Mikhail of all people.
"Oh, great. Just what I needed." Zach scoffed behind me.
"Needed to see you."
"Hi," I murmured, raising my eyebrows when he looked behind me, no wonder at Zach. They weren't going to say something so I did. "We have to stop meeting like this."
Something like color flashed over his cheeks and his mouth straightened into a hard line. "I agree. I just wanted to know how you are doing. She said it's getting worse. Didn’t know the stray was still here."
One of these days I was going to kill 5133.
"Can you two please stop doing this alpha-" I paused, noticing someone outside waving her hands like she was having an argument with someone. Squinting my eyes, I saw the white hair and the clothes that looked like from 80's grandma, and instantly I was smiling. I didn't realize how much I missed Sandy until I finally saw her again.
"Sandy!" I called out but it looked like she
didn't hear me. "Who is she talking to-No!"
I wanted to scream louder than that, show the shock I was truly feeling. But I wasn't fast enough to run to her who was getting over her own shock to find her throat wide open. I didn't cry. I didn't feel any tears. I didn't even wince when she fell on the floor and at the same time a calm Fredah appeared in front of her, a dagger in her hands.
"Shield’s finally down." I could feel the change in the atmosphere. The air felt easier to breathe but I couldn't take in enough. Fuck, fuckkk. I was losing it.
"Lana. Step back." I heard Mikhail grunt where Zach's yell broke out. "Now!"
I didn't want to step back, I wanted to move forward. I wanted her head in a spike. "Sorry. Can't help it."
I wasn't sorry when I went for that knife, plunging it in her own stomach. She let out a howl but it wasn't enough. It didn't make her hurt much, not like mine when she started chanting. "Hies ek keisamvo la kes holak!"
Zach and Mikhail both raised their hands to stop the whispers from getting into their ears but I knew it wasn't working. Dammit. Sandy was dead. My head felt like ripping itself apart. She was winning. It was like that night all over again.
"I met your mother once." Fredah sounded smug. "She couldn't keep her end of the deal either. Like mother, like daughter."
Annoyed at her tone, I gritted out. "I take insult in that. I'm nothing like her. She had my father killed, I didn't kill..." I trailed off, noticing two pairs of eyes on me at once. There was hope in them that I didn't want to crush. "Anyone."
"Whatever. Come, sisters." I heard the eagerness in her voice and I really should have been expecting this when Sigyn and Era both started walking toward us, chanting something under their breath. They must have taken Era out of the tunnel when no one was here, a fact that didn't escape my mind. I kept my attention on her most, watching, waiting for some kind of a breakdown but it didn't happen. When the three of them were standing in a triangle, Fredah finally let out a sigh. "Byron. Come forward now. It's done."
Bloody Byron.
I watched with a glare in my eyes as he crawled his ass out of a room, little lines of blood dripping from his mouth. For a second my gaze met Mikhail's, finding his breath rasp with the way he was trying to fight Fredah's hold.
"We brought the shield down and we have the Reaper. Our deal here is done."
"Indeed it is." Byron smiled and before I could even blink, he sank his teeth into Era's neck, making the three of them scream.
Several things happened at once.
Byron snapped Era's neck. Zach pulled a knife on Sigyn and Mikhail pulled something out from his pocket, throwing it around in an urgency. I had half the mind to ask if it was glitter but it would have broken his concentration and I didn't want to be responsible for whatever was going to happen. Not when Byron let out an uncontrollable laugher at Sandy who was sprawled over the floor, unmoving.
"That old hag is finally dead. I still don't understand why Valentine wanted her to be the one to shield this place." His gaze met mine and his grin went wider. "She wanted to make a deal with him to release you. Can you believe it?"
Sandy wasn't the type to make stupid deals for a girl like me. She couldn't be...
"Yes." Maybe he could see the fear in my eyes. Or maybe Fredah was holding me too tightly. Fuck, who knew? "It's totally your fault, you know? If she didn't, I didn't have to make Fredah kill her. Now sit on your guilt while I let Valentine know that these sisters killed a witch from the coven."
Sigyn's eyes widened when he ran toward his room, vanishing right before our eyes. He was right, it was totally my fault. I was pissed at myself at how I didn't page Byron to be a problem anymore and he took that as a chance to throw me off.
"Let her go." Fredah's voice felt like a harsh blow on my back.
"Let Lana go first," Zach spoke calmly, the knife hovering a little too close for anyone's benefit. I could hear his pulse quicken along with Mikhail's. I wanted to cry, fuck, I wanted that ugly cry people have at their grandma's funeral when no one's watching but my body was stone against Fredah.
"Stray-Zachery-" Mikhail took a step but Zach shook his head, forcing him to stop.
"No. We both know if I slit Sigyn's throat here, Fredah would die. You connected them both, didn't you?" So that's what the pouring things over them meant. "I'm not letting her go until she gives us Lana."
"Do it then." My mind was terrified at what would happen but I was nonchalant. "Kill her."
"Don't you dare!" Fredah spat, almost crushing my windpipe.
Mikhail cursed, looking at both of us. If I wasn't literally hanging between life and death, I'd felt sorry for him. The guy looked lost, his hands were still full of the stuff he had. As if he knew what I was thinking of, he looked down and then at me.
I didn't like that look.
"You want to save her? Kill that witch then." He ordered, his voice rising over Fredah's gasps. "If you don't...I'll do something she'll hate me for."
I didn't know why Zach was hesitating so much until Mikhail laughed, pointing one finger at Zach. "She's controlling you, isn't it? I still smell her on you, Stray. You can’t kill her."
All the look of fear and anguish disappeared from Sigyn's face. I tilted my head, staring at Fredah to see the same look of joy in her eyes. These bitches were playing us and we all fell for it. Dammit.
"Zach-"
"I can't!" He looked ashamed of the fact. "I'm trying but I can't."
"I'm sorry then but she comes first." Mikhail took one look at me and then poised himself in a way I've only seen Sandy once or twice. He was preparing himself for something but what? I didn't get to wonder for too long because I heard a long screech came out of nowhere. Now if it sounded any lower, I might have chalked it up as the banshee down the hall but the sound was too high to be hers. In fact, everything sounded like a horror-filled movie when I saw the literal sky open up and the screech of a raven nearby.
What in heaven, hell and purgatory was that?
"Hilam del uknes wek finam." Mikhail's voice raised higher, the whispers not even sounding human anymore. "Erculu hell diya kire ekium."
"No..." The scene in front of me caught me so off guard that I forgot to take a breath, only watching as Zach and Sigyn screamed together before the thick fog ripped them both out of existence.
Just like that.
Fucking gone.
PRESENT
I didn't run.
I walked slowly, enjoying the rain outside. It made it easier to tiptoe between alleys, easier to hide the fact that I might be crying. When I came here, my sole goal was to bring Keisha out in the open. Vent all the things I wanted to say.
Then kill her.
That's what kept me going after the last few days of hell.
And now it wasn't even an option.
"Lana had a family and now she has no one," I whispered, feeling them sound louder than normal.
My hands were started to feel twitchy again. Maybe because I was getting hungry or maybe I was off my meds for too long. Who knew? Just to keep them busy, I pulled the phone out of my jacket, punching a number I thought I'd never use.
It rang twice.
"Mr. Hernandez." I finally murmured, hearing a sharp breath. "I'm in the French quarter now and I'm finally done. Catch me if you can."
I didn't wait for a question or an answer. Instead, I put the phone away, too busy trying not to cry harder. I didn't even realize when I stopped at the cemetery my dad was supposed to be buried in. I didn't deal with death like everybody did. When Samara died, I skipped the whole funeral, too busy fucking Zach to get my mind off of it. I didn't feel a single thing then, not like he did. I was too angry at myself and the whole fucking world, I didn't want to see her dead body, memorizing her short life like every kid at the school did.
I just needed my best friend back.
And, when Zach died? His aunt didn't let me go to his funeral. In her words, I was the bitch that drove her nephew to an early grave. I didn't have the
right to see him one last time or say any words. Both times, I couldn't cry. I just went by my day, waiting for the other shoe to drop at any time.
It didn't.
So why was I now crying?
"Hello, dad. Heard that bitch totally did you wrong." I laughed, the sound scaring a few crows nearby. "I-I don't know what else to say."
I imagined him looking at me with a grimace. It's been too long that I even stopped caring about what people thought about me. I was always running, always after something. Be it a dead mother or a beloved who I could never truly love.
"Wish you were here to give me some advice. I really could use some. Mom will only hate me if I go to her. And, I'm not talking about Keisha if you're disturbed. I've never met her and still, she makes me want to erase her name from my memory."
"D-Did you ever want me? Us?" I braced myself for the disappointment to flow when I finally admitted what hurt most. "I don't even know if it was you who decided to put me up for adoption or Keisha. It's not like I had a bad life. Mom was strict but she loves me. So much that she was willing to make Zach out to be the bad guy. Said he lit some pretty candles and forgot to blow them out when he overdosed. I couldn't bear to look at her after she said that in court. Enough about that. How's afterlife treating you?"
I didn't hear any answer. It was better that way.
"I hope it's better than mine. At least you didn't come back to life and choose violence." The memory of that knife and its hard edge on my skin still made me shudder. "I am going back to that hell, dad. I promised so many things but...there's nothing left for me here anymore. So, I guess this is the last time I'll ever see you. Goodbye, love you."
I turned, fully intended to wait for my demise when I noticed Chiara waiting for me with a frown on her face. Seeing her again made me feel uneasy but I sucked it up with a groan. "Following people around usually gets them a restriction order, not a pat on the back."
She was quick to apologize. "I'm sorry. Look. I'm not here to fight. You looked so upset when you left, I couldn't just let you go like that. I didn't hear what you just said if that's helpful. I just need you to know that you have someone who can help you."
