by Allison Rios
He looked up to read her eyes. She held an album in her hand, her eyes glossing over as she lifted it gently onto the table. She pulled out a picture and placed it on the crocheted tablecloth. It was her, a man, and a little boy. The picture itself was creased with one edge torn off, blurry yet not enough to ruin the image. In black and white, Helen was clearly recognizable by the same bright smile she wore nearly every moment of every day since he’d met her.
He didn’t ask; he knew better than to ask his elders painful questions about their past. He merely listened.
“Matthew wasn’t the first man I loved,” she said, tracing the edges of the picture with her finger. She stared at it for a moment, catching her breath. “I met James at a barn dance and he was entrancing. His eyes lit up like firecrackers when he’d tell a story. The way he kissed me made me forget that in that moment, anything else existed.”
A slight smile crept up on her and her eyes looked distant, recalling memories she’d tucked far away, a very long time ago.
“I came home from that dance, telling my mother all about him. We sat on the bed for hours talking about how he made me feel. It was like new life breathed into my soul; like I had found a new purpose in living. It gave me knots in my stomach, made my heart race. I felt alive.”
She turned the picture towards him so that he could see it more clearly. It was clear this photograph was one of her most prized possessions and AJ handled it with delicacy.
“That was our son, James Junior. Or JJ as everyone else called him. Isn’t he handsome?”
JJ and AJ. He saw one of the first reasons Helen had taken to him.
“He is,” AJ replied softly.
“He was such a fun boy, smart as anything. I planned on having a whole bunch of those. Having JJ almost killed me, though. Times were different back then and surgery less intricate. The surgery to save my life sealed my fate of not having any more children. It was devastating at first and, while I wanted to be mad at JJ for what happened, his sweet face was just one I couldn’t have an angry thought towards.”
She smiled, reflecting on the memory of the baby she’d held in her arms once upon a time.
“I thought we’d be okay, we’d make it through. JJ died of polio when he was 14. It crumbled our world. He had been our pride and joy and I hadn’t realized how focused on him I’d become because I knew I would never have another child. It came at a cost - losing sight of my own husband. Marriage is hard enough as it is without losing each other somehow. The love is still there. The romance can fade without work. Pretty soon, you’re alone even though you’re surrounded by people.”
She paused, her face changing to one of sadness. He’d never seen her look like that since he’d come to town – not once.
“When JJ died, our world fell apart, as did our marriage. Polio ravaged his little body, and he just couldn’t take anymore. He went to heaven as I was holding him in my arms, singing him a lullaby. The worst moment of my entire life, that’s for sure. You never forget something like that.”
AJ listened intently. After all she’d been through, he couldn’t imagine how she’d come out so upbeat on the other side.
“James remarried I heard, a couple years later. Had a bunch of babies, which only served to make me angrier, to feel more alone. I secluded myself. I fought everyone trying to be kind to me. I pushed away everyone who cared about me. A few years later when I looked at my life up close and personal, I realized that the only person hurt by me being the way I was, was me.”
She looked at him, hoping he comprehended all of this. She smiled, the next part of her story something that made her feel much better.
“Matthew found me and said he fell in love right away. I didn’t understand how. I was a mess; a woman with a shattered heart and a broken soul, without a friend in the world. Until him. He waited patiently and I fell in love with him. And it was the best fight I ever had in my life. We all get dealt hands we don’t want. It is how we handle them that set us apart.”
She placed her hands on AJ’s shoulders.
“So I tell you this: open up your walls and let them down. We’ve all had bad things happen. We’ve all had heartaches that will forever be etched into our hearts. Those won’t go away. They’re not etched there to keep us sad, but to remind us of why we need to be strong. Our hearts are stronger than we think and can take a beating, coming out more powerful on the other end because it shows us what love feels like. Whether it is love for a friend or a significant other. The new friends we make and the new love we find will serve as the stitches that repair our souls and allow us to carry on. And more often than not, those stitches are stronger than our original hearts to begin with.”
She touched his shoulder and smiled as a mother would towards her son. AJ smiled back. She was always right. He’d never realized how hard her world had been and yet here she was, living life and truly enjoying it. There was something to be said of that. Helen stood up, placing the picture in the album again carefully. He knew why it wasn’t out – it meant far too much to her to risk being lost.
The door closed quietly and AJ was left to think about his life, or what was left of it, and how he was going to change course. Maybe he could still salvage something to make it worth living.
He hadn’t heard a frustrated and tired Max come in. The water from the shower poured down on him. As he stepped through the bathroom door with a towel around his waist, he saw Max in the chair flipping through a magazine.
“I’ve got to lead him away,” AJ said, cutting Max off from starting in on any yelling. “I’ve got to find a way to get him out of here, away from these people. He’s back to hurt me and he’ll do it through them.”
This was different than the city. The people here had started to become friends. He had a bond with them and to see them hurt because of something he brought on the town was not something he was prepared to let happen.
“He’s not just going to follow you out of town AJ, like you’re a pied piper or something.”
“I know that. So help me. Tell me what to do.”
It was no longer just about Addie. The situation concerned Helen and Matthew. Rose. Bob. Everyone in Lee.
“What you’re asking is bigger than you realize, kid. This isn’t the end of all Grims coming through Lee. There will be others, many others throughout the years.”
“But they’re not all pure evil like Devin,” AJ countered. He knew that much. “I know people can’t live forever, and some people have to suffer for the greater good. Hell, I watched it with Isabelle. That doesn’t mean I’m going to let a rogue, vengeful Grim devastate the town to get back at me.”
Silence. Max fumbled with the magazine, placing it back on the table. He knew what AJ wanted to do. However, it wasn’t as simple as him and Devin.
“If you challenge him, it’s a matter of Healers against Grims and that is a much bigger battle than you’re ready for. That’s a much bigger battle than any of us are ready for. Do you understand this AJ? It would bring war between our two groups again and the majority of the casualties would be human. Are you ready to have that on your shoulders? I’m not a fan of Devin either and that’s why we’re here – to counteract as much of his evil as we can. He’s broken the rules once – even if he’s found a loophole around explaining it - and has opened himself up to a battle. However, we also have to weigh the actions of one against the damage it would cause. Is it worth it to you?”
“You mean, is Addie worth it to me.”
“That’s part of it.”
“I’m not just thinking about Addie. This is about the town. Helen and Matthew. All our friends here. If we don’t stand up, he’ll keep plugging along to try and make us. How many people have to hurt for us to stop him?”
“A lot more will hurt if we do try to stop him and fail. Or if we do stop him, even. His clan will seek revenge. You know it as well as I do. Are you going to stop all of them?”
“I’ll try.”
“You’ll try,” Max s
aid with a groan. “Trying isn’t good enough AJ. You need to succeed. You can’t succeed without other Healers on board. And they won’t be on board if he’s only hurt one person in revenge.”
“What if he hurts a Healer?”
Max knew where he was going with this.
“AJ, are you nuts? He’s strong. He could kill you.”
“Not if you’re there. He can’t kill a Healer if I don’t touch him first. That’s a law there’s no loophole around. You in?”
Max didn’t say anything. He already knew he was in. He was always in. He preferred good over evil and he knew no matter what he said, AJ wouldn’t back down.
“You know I am.”
**************************************************
So a shift in the balance of the clans began. AJ had to provoke Devin into harming him. He needed Devin not to kill him, only to hurt him enough to leave a mark. When a Grim touched a Healer an indelible mark etched onto the Healer’s skin, unseen to the mortal eye while visible to the eyes of other Healers. It was eternal proof, a mark of having experienced a Grim’s anger. This was part of the punishment the Grims suffered after the initial uprising; a way to let other Healers know there was a Grim with less than the best of intentions.
With his obvious disdain for Devin, AJ was sure he’d be able to provoke the Grim enough to have a mark on his skin. Devin had gotten fairly close the day before at the funeral. Just a little more chatter might do the trick, AJ thought.
It seemed Devin wanted to be found, as he wasn’t shielding himself. AJ and Max picked up on his presence and followed it as it got stronger, right into the center of town. AJ saw Addie, eating lunch with the Grim on the outside tables at the café. It was a quiet day, as most folks were home cherishing a little time with their loved ones after the sadness of the day before.
They pulled up to the café. AJ smiled over at Devin, giving a little laugh and heading inside. Devin was instantly intrigued; it wasn’t AJ’s normal response to him.
Addie grimaced, scorned by AJ’s ignoring her. She would ignore him right back, she convinced herself.
The guys headed back out of the café, to-go bag in hand. AJ seemed cool and collected, although his heart raced. He needed to play it perfectly, to get the response he wanted.
“Nice day, huh?” Devin asked, drawing their attention. The downfall of the Grims, at least Devin’s line of ancestry, was their impatience and need to be in control. It played into the plan, just as AJ knew it would.
“Beautiful,” AJ responded. “Makes me feel like, I don’t know, visiting people. Maybe handing out hugs and handshakes.”
He knew it would irk Devin. Devin could only touch one person a day without breaking rules. He’d broken a small one with Bob. AJ was always willing to bet that wasn’t enough for the Healers to retaliate. If they started healing everyone, not paying attention to him, the fun and games would be over.
Addie was growing angrier with every smile AJ shot towards them. He should be miserable, like she was. Was she really worth so little to him? Had he really not cared about her at all?
Devin shot up, walking towards the men who were now sitting on the hood of the car, eating their sandwiches.
“Hugs and handshakes? Really? I’m surprised people in this town like you all that much with that temper of yours.”
“People like me enough. They won’t like you for long, though.”
“Why’s that?” Devin asked with his devilish grin, his hands in his pockets as if he hadn’t a care in the world. He was really chomping at the bit, wanting to know what these two were thinking.
“People tend to not like someone new, you know, when pain or disease start to bring trouble in a new town. They usually associate it with the new guy. A bit like the Native Americans did when the white brought diseases over to the new world,” Max said, ending with a giant smile.
Max watched as Devin’s smile began to fade. Addie was still watching the entire interaction from the table, enough of a distance where she couldn’t hear what was going on. Max knew from his time spent with the Native Americans that one of the men on Columbus’ ship had been a Grim; one of the members of the clan Devin was most likely from. A man who simply took pleasure in the pain and suffering he inflicted on the men, women, and children of the tribes. It was a perverse sense of humor and AJ wanted to prevent the same fate of those Native Americans from happening to the town of Lee.
Devin leaned in, as he had a habit of doing to make a point.
“I hope this isn’t one of those little towns where bad things start happening. You know, because of the water supply or a nuclear plant. Those types of things. Painful, long-term, terminal things.”
He laughed, leaning back into a standing position, still a foot shorter than AJ.
“If they don’t kill the new guy who brought the plague on them first,” AJ laughed back at him. “These folks are pretty protective of their own.”
Devin reached forward and grabbed AJ’s arm, without thinking. It was what he did to the mortals when one frustrated him beyond belief – he’d reach out, grab their arm, and make them suffer. He had done it out of instinct, before he realized he’d just touched a Healer.
The exchange was intense, and AJ’s eyebrows grew into a scowl. He was unable to move, feeling the power being sucked out of him. While Devin felt the same, he was so much stronger than AJ that his own power drained slowly. He couldn’t let go though, and Max watched for a moment – long enough for the mark to be left on AJ, although not long enough for the kid to be seriously hurt – before he put his own hand on his friend. The combined power was enough to jolt Devin and AJ apart. Both stood feet apart, locked in a dead stare.
AJ wanted to end it right then. He knew he couldn’t do it in front of mortals, and especially not to someone they’d notice was missing, as they would Devin.
It was then he realized he’d cornered the Grim, backed him into a place where he either ran or faced the wrath due to him because of his blatant disobedience for the law.
As Devin scowled, AJ turned his face into a smile followed quickly by a laugh, loosening up. Max had pumped some energy back into him and made it seem to Devin as if AJ was stronger than he actually was.
Devin, knowing he had already crossed the line and started a fight he had to finish or walk away from, decided to hold nothing back. He wasn’t about to walk away, his tail between his legs, leaving AJ there in all the glory. He lunged forward, landing a right hook to AJ’s face, splitting it open. Addie came running over, seeing the altercation turn physical. Devin knew AJ wouldn’t fight back and risk exposing his kind to the world.
AJ immediately laughed, keeping his eyes locked with Devin’s. Devin retreated, angry, slamming his car door and flooring it on the gravel road. Gravel sprayed everywhere, and AJ stepped in front of Addie to shield her from the rocks. They hit his skin like tiny bullets, their sharp edges nicking his amped up body here and there. He wasn’t a scared kid anymore, new to what his body could do. He was a Healer, a warrior for the good of the earth. Nothing made him more sure of how he wanted to handle his gift than the last twenty minutes had.
The commotion caused the people in town that morning to come rushing out through the doors of the stores. By the time they did, Devin was gone. They looked at AJ and Max. Having built up a friendship with Max – and seeing him smiling there, playing the role he needed to play at the moment – they went back about their days, suspecting nothing more than a show off making his way through town in his hotrod.
AJ turned around.
“You okay?”
“You care?” she retorted. She immediately felt bad. He had drops of blood all over from where the gravel hit with force, and she didn’t have one. He had taken it all to keep her safe. “I’m sorry. I’m okay. But look at you.”
She reached out to touch his cheek under the gash Devin had left. He let her.
“Why did he hit you?” She was confused. She knew he and Devin didn’t like each other, thoug
h she didn’t know why.
“He’s just a bad guy, Addie. That’s the feeling I get from him.” It wasn’t a lie.
She moved her hand down, seeing all the specks of blood where gravel had hit. The electricity she felt running up and down her spine while touching him no longer fazed her. It became a new normal.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.”
All the anger she had felt towards him a few nights ago was gone. It vanished when he looked past all of the horrible things she had said and shielded her without flinching.
He looked at Max and their eyes locked. Both men nodded. Phase one was complete.
**************************************************
Back at Addie’s, the shaken woman whose body he had just protected led him to the couch. Max went to the B&B to keep an eye on Helen and Matthew, saying he had some phone calls to make in case Devin came back raging. She brought a wet washcloth out in a bowl of warm water.
AJ took off the white tank he’d been wearing, blood stains adorning it. She took the washcloth from the bowl, wringing it out a little, and touched his cheek with it. The gash hurt, that much he couldn’t hide. He figured it was nothing compared to what was about to reign down on him in the next few days.
He knew Devin wouldn’t retaliate immediately. He’d think and stew about every decision he’d made. The Grim had left town and come back again to be malicious. With the exception of today, Devin had shown great restraint. AJ had time. Not much, but some.
She cleaned up the cut, and then moved slowly to the rest of his body. She wiped down his shoulders as he tried his best to be still. The water stung all of the tiny cuts, especially from the sweat that covered his body.
As she went to put everything away, AJ gave in to the tiredness that had crept up on him. Devin had drained so much energy. He was exhausted, even with the help from Max. In a minute’s time, he was asleep on the couch.
