Thin Hope

by Holly Hook

  “Can you move?” the Emoshi asked.

  “No.” All feeling had vanished in his arms and legs. The thought settled in him like a corpse in a river. He couldn't stand or walk.

  Alexander wiped a pocketknife across his jeans. “Then you will not feel this. Relax. The transformation is fast.” It was a question, not a statement.

  “Yes,” Damon said without hesitation. The engagement ring on Kiki's hand flashed in the sun as Patrick spun around, going purple in the face. If Kiki had to live as an Emoshi, then he would, too.

  Damon lowered his head and stared at the clouds drifting overhead. A second chance. A blur flew overhead, one with long, fiery red hair. A soft thud behind him told Damon that his love had landed on her feet.

  Alexander stared down at Damon's wrist, holding his own bleeding hand against it. The knife he held in his other hand dripped blood, his blood.

  A stinging sensation crept into his arm. Damon could feel the concrete under his body, cold as stone, but it was the best sensation he'd ever felt. A pop sounded through his neck. His body was coming back to him as his spine mended.

  Now he was just like Kiki. He was in this with her until the end. Thank you, Alexander.

  “Why don't you want what I'm offering you?” Patrick asked Kiki somewhere. Footsteps echoed off the concrete not far from them as a hulking figure stormed past. “You can have the world, Kiki. A world without Darren or Gracie or Ivan. You can protect your sister.”

  Alexander helped Damon up. His limbs trembled, but they were working. They were his again. The trembling subsided as strength, a new life, flowed through him.

  * * * * *

  Kiki stood on the other side of the street, near the fallen telephone pole, as Patrick slowly advanced on her. His wings slowly straightened and folded again. “Why, Kiki? Tell me.”

  “Because I don't want to be a tyrant like you.” Kiki moved to the left, circling Patrick. “We have enough of that in this world.”

  Her arm shot down to her guns, seizing one in a fraction of a second and raising it to Patrick’s forehead. But he dodged as soon as she fired, blurring into the background and reappearing near the fence. The bullet splintered the wood of an abandoned house, and Patrick turned his stare to the left.

  Kiki followed it. It wasn’t the bullet that had caught his attention.

  It was Damon.

  He stood, strong as ever, icy blue eyes now violet. Next to him, Alexander tossed his knife down to the pavement, a testament to what he’d done.

  Two more figures stepped into Kiki’s line of vision. Jacob. And General Avens, hands glowing white-blue. Patrick’s gaze shifted to everyone in turn as he took a step back, banging into the fence. He took one final glance at the Lateinian soldiers crowded behind the barely-closed barricade, clamoring to be let through, and muttered something under his breath.

  With another indistinct blur, he leapt into the air and flew off, leaving a loud whoosh in his wake. Gunshots screamed in the air above them as the Keilaran copters finally had a clear target and opened fire, but it wouldn’t do any good. The blur solidified into a winged figure as Patrick slowed, heading back for the downtown area, but it was too late. He was out of range.

  “There he goes again,” Kiki said. Her muscles relaxed as he vanished behind the Keilaran National Bank building.

  “We'll get him,” Jacob said, breathless and panting. His use of magic seemed to have drained most of the life from him. “General Avens, thank you for the help.”

  The general shook his head as if he hadn’t even heard Jacob. “I am so sorry,” he said, facing Kiki. “I did not know my soldier was harboring ill will towards you.” He took a closer look at her, his brown eyes meeting hers. “How…how did you—” he didn’t finish, but instead glanced at Alexander and back at her, taking a step back.

  It felt as if an invisible punch had landed in Kiki’s stomach. It was already starting. The fear. The stigma. She faced the fallen Lateinian soldier, swallowing, hoping that she wouldn’t collapse on the street in front of everyone. “It was not the soldier’s fault, General,” she said, forcing herself to look at him again. “That creature manipulated him, which made him attack me.” She knew she should be aching for that soldier on the ground, but she couldn’t. She could only ache for herself right now.

  Damon’s hands took her arms. He smiled down at her. Even with his violet eyes, he was still Damon: that perfect hair, the mole on the side of his cheek.

  “We’re in this together,” he said, caressing the side of her face. “And that’s how it’s going to be.”

  He kissed her, letting his tongue brush against hers. “I love you.”

  For a moment, he chased away the rest of the world. “I love you, too.”

  * * * * *

  The couple walked off the field in silence, arms around each other, not saying a word to anyone else and leaving Jacob and the General behind to continue the details of their rebellion. A pair of surviving Keilaran soldiers quickly led Riley back to the armored van, stepping over the fallen power line. The planning was done here for today.

  Alexander watched them until they vanished around the corner. He wondered how they would adjust to their new life as Emoshis. The world was still a hateful place, but looking around him, at the Lateinian troops and General Avens standing without the Keilaran helicopters firing on them, he decided that maybe it wasn’t quite as hateful as before. There was no way to reverse the effects of Emoshiism. Kiki and Damon were stuck as the creatures they were transformed into until the day they were dead.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Back in the fallout shelter, the King and Queen were shocked to find out that Kiki was nearly killed by Patrick, but grateful that she was still alive in some form. Upon her return, neither hesitated to hug her. However, concern was still there on her mother’s face, and for good reason: she and Damon were next in line for the throne, and while Keilara and most other countries had made progress in the last few decades, there was still some fear and prejudice of Emoshis lingering in society.

  “We will not inform the public of this change yet,” her father had said, pacing the meeting room. “We have enough turmoil right now. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this, but some will not take that view.” There had even been a bit of strain in his words. Her father was worried, too.

  Her parents were right to be. Much of society would never accept a pair of Emoshis as monarchs, which didn’t bode well for relations with their neighbors, either. The thought hadn’t left her mind since she and Damon had returned to the shelter a few days ago, and it was still with her now as she laid on her cot and stared up at the yellow ceiling. She hadn’t come out of the shelter in days, instead welcoming its imprisonment. Kiki couldn’t face anyone other than her family right now, and fortunately, Jacob was handling most of the arrangements with the rebel Lateinian troops right now.

  The bedroom door clicked open, and Damon stepped in, closing it slowly behind him. He was back in his green uniform, but it looked a little less wrinkled than before. Some of the pressure had come off him in the past few days; the Lateinian soldiers had cancelled their push to take more territory a few days ago. General Avens had managed to convince the Emperor that an attack like that would only weaken their defenses, although it was a lie. With over ten thousand troops behind the barricade now, they could easily push back both the Keilaran and Delainian troops stationed there.

  Damon slowly sat beside her, putting her arm around her waist as she sat up. Even with him there, she still felt empty inside, dead, as if Alexander had killed her instead of given her a new life.

  “How are you doing?” Damon asked.

  “How does it look like I’m doing?” Kiki responded. Her voice sounded flat to her own ears, not like hers at all. She trained her gaze on the opposite cot.

  “Kiki, you’re alive. Patrick did not transform you into whatever he is. You can protect yourself from him much better now. That is the greatest gift you have received, a second chance.
”

  “A second chance?” Something exploded inside of her as she rose and faced her fiancé. “A chance to live as something that’s considered a monster. A manipulator. I have to live as something people hate. We’ll never be accepted when the truth gets out. How the hell do I get over that?”

  Damon stood, face to face with her, placing his hand on her cheek. The gesture helped some of the anger melt away. It always did.

  “Kiki, the difference is that you are a kind hearted person, and if people know that, they have no reason to fear and hate you. Keilara has always loved you, and I see no reason why most of them would stop loving you. Your family loves you no matter what. I love you no matter what. You shouldn’t be afraid of what you are and you shouldn’t care what people think of you. You are still the princess everyone knows. The only thing that has changed is your race.”

  Kiki sighed and looked away from Damon, letting her face fall onto the railing of the bunk. Of course, she knew that, but doubt continued to eat at something inside of her, and she couldn’t make it stop.

  “You can’t stay in this room forever,” Damon said. “You’ll regret the time you waste. I’ll see you at the gun course in a while. I’m going to go try out my new abilities.”

  He walked out of the room, his footsteps slowly fading. A door opened and swung shut somewhere.

  Near silence seemed to fall over the whole shelter. Her parents spoke in low voices down in the meeting room with Darren and Gracie about the timing of a possible invasion of Lateine. Jacob and Riley’s mutterings came through the wall from an adjacent room. The world was still going, and it wasn’t going to stop for her.

  “I am not a horrible being,” Kiki said to the air. I am still the same person, only stronger. “I am not horrible at all.” Damon was right, as much as she hated to admit it. Lying here would accomplish nothing.

  Even the muttering from the other parts of the shelter seemed to die away as she repeated her mantra to herself for seconds, then minutes. I’m still the same person. Damon’s still the same person. Alexander gave us a gift.

  After a long time, maybe minutes, maybe hours, she seized her pistols from the night table and holstered them. If society would have trouble accepting her, there were always colored contact lenses until the time was right. Perhaps she could grit her teeth through this for Damon’s sake, at least until this war was over.

  The shooting range at the University wasn’t as good as the one at the military academy on the other side of town, and was mostly for the hunting club, but it would suffice. Damon and Ryan had been using it in the past couple of days, as security hadn’t needed to be as tight with more of the Lateinian troops turning against Ivan. Fresh air washed over her skin as she stepped out into sunlight, careful to check the skies for any approaching dots. There were none.

  She breathed a sigh of relief and started across the courtyard, where a fountain bubbled away, still powered by the city’s backup generators. If Patrick did appear, she could defend herself far better now, enough to the point where he would have a difficult time turning her. He may even be less likely to try attacking her. Much of the fear that had taken her over had vanished since Alexander had introduced his blood into her veins. Perhaps it was part of her new state of being. She’d have to ask.

  A fence separated the main University grounds from the woods, where a paved trail led back to the shooting range. Rules had dictated that no weapons were allowed on campus, but she didn’t mind the walk. It gave her mind time to clear.

  Kiki braced herself, crouched, and jumped.

  Air rushed around her as she soared over the fence, the world blurring for a second. Everything snapped back into place as she landed on the other side, no painful impact racing up her legs. Adrenaline raced through her as she took off running down the trail, the trees blurring around her in greens and browns. The pavement ahead of her stayed clear as she focused on it, feet pounding against concrete. This was amazing. Damon was right. She was wasting time, lying on her cot most of the day.

  Seconds later, the wire fence of the shooting range came into view, barely more than a gray blur in the green around her, and she stopped.

  Only chirping birds greeted her as she passed through the open gate. Kiki glanced back, but the University buildings were no longer in sight. She might have come half a mile or more in a matter of seconds, and her heart barely raced.

  A humming noise came through the air as she stepped into an open clearing ahead of her. With a series of clicks, cardboard deer popped out of the ground in succession, forming a row of twelve.

  Time to test her new shooting abilities.

  The world blurred again as she drew her weapons and opened fire. Only the deer remained clear and sharp as she fired, taking away all distraction. A hole appeared in the dummy’s heart, the bull’s-eye, and then the next and the next, until the last deer buckled under the gunshot and wobbled back into place.

  Everything came back to clarity again, and the sound of clapping echoed from her right. She turned. Damon stood behind the control panel, nearly hidden underneath an overhang, applauding her.

  She holstered her weapons, which felt hot even through the leather.

  “I watched you the entire time,” he called. “See what you can do?”

  “It’s amazing.” There was no denying that. Despite the distance of the cardboard targets—this was a long range course meant to train hunters—a hole shined light through every bull’s-eye. If she was still at the Academy, she’d be the envy of even the longest-running teachers there. She rushed over and hugged Damon as a peek of sun came through the surrounding trees. “Thank you. I needed that.”

  “More good news,” he said between kisses. “Jacob reports he’s rallied seven thousand Lateinian troops against Ivan now, and he and General Avens are talking about an invasion in three days. There’s still some troops loyal to Ivan, but he’s keeping them contained for now.”

  “Three days?” Kiki asked. “Isn’t that very soon?”

  “It is,” Damon admitted, sliding his hands down her arms. “Ivan has stopped sending troops to Frelladon, so we think he’s beginning to get wind of the rebellion. He also has not communicated with General Avens in the past couple of days. There’s a rumor that he’s cut power to many parts of Lateine, so that the people there can’t hear back from the soldiers on the north end.”

  The air under the overhang seemed to cool. “He knows, then. It was only a matter of time. Shit.”

  “We think Ivan may be building up another force inside of Lateine, to take out the one here. Some new arrivals to the north end told General Avens that the bases on the south side of the country are filling with troops. I wouldn’t put this past the Emperor at all.”

  Kiki didn’t, either. “Does Jacob know a way to kill Ivan? No one has succeeded so far.”

  Damon swallowed, his hands falling away from her arms. “He suspects there’s a way to make him vulnerable, but it’s a matter of—”

  “Getting used to it?”

  Kiki whirled around. Alexander stood against the fence, arms folded. He swallowed. This was the first time he’d met with them since the incident with Patrick.

  “Getting there,” Kiki said. “It’s really weird having your movements speed up, but I’m getting the hang of it relatively fast.”

  He seemed to relax. “What about you, Damon?”

  “I haven’t really tested too much out yet. Patrick flew away too quickly for that. I can tell there’s a difference, though.”

  Kiki slapped him on the arm. “Yet you made me come out here.”

  “I remember my first days of being an Emoshi,” Alexander told them, tracing his hand down the fence. “Back in those days, we were both revered and hated. My siblings wanted to turn to get even on a gang of thugs who tried to make advances on Ariel, and I was with them. None of us were thinking at the time, except for Jesse. We got together with Stephan, an Emoshi who offered to turn us all. He was a very good friend of Ariel’s. He was kil
led in the genocide decades later.”

  “How did you ever survive?” Kiki asked. “Is that why Ariel started killing?”

  “I believe so.” Alexander turned his gaze down to the grass. “She was very close to him until the authorities raided his home when the genocide started. After that, she started to…turn to Marcus and scheme the deaths of human civilians, and I stopped associating with them both. Meanwhile, I had to hide away and live in isolation. That’s when I began to regret turning.”

  “Do you still regret it now?” Kiki asked.

  Alexander smiled. “I think not. Times are changing, Kiki, and I never wanted to hurt others like the rest of my family, with the exception of that gang, of course.”

  “That’s different,” Kiki said. She could understand Alexander wanting to protect his sister all too well. “How long do you think Patrick has had contact with your siblings?”

  “A while, judging by how far gone he is. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s been years.”

  Kiki thought about Patrick locked in his study for hours on end, talking on an Internet forum with Ariel or Marcus. According to Ashley, he had spent a lot of time locked away from his family. Perhaps he’d even started having contact with them since his teenage years, when he was harassing her mother.

  “Come on,” Damon said, leading Kiki back towards the gate. “We have a revolution to plan.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  September 8th, 2017

  Two agonizing weeks had passed since Riley had been taken from him.

  Ivan paced around the throne room, breathing heavily as his shoes sunk into the red carpet. It was revenge. He was certain. Commander Jacob had kidnapped her because of his sister, and was no doubt working to turn her against him. He’d seen them in the same room several times when he tried to watch her, but it was always dark, with sheets draped over everything, so he couldn’t make out any of the horrible things he might be doing to her. Other times, she was lying on a simple cot in a room with no windows and yellow walls, with Jacob nowhere to be seen.