The Spark_What does death feel like?

by R. Mason

  “You’ve known me for a day,” Amethyst crossed her arms, suddenly feeling the cold, “You don’t know me at all. God, why did I even follow you out here?”

  “Because you knew you needed a kick up the ass, and Dylan sure as hell wasn’t going to give it to you.”

  “Please,” Amethyst scoffed, turning away, “I’m going to go get a good night’s sleep in my bed for the last time. Nice talking to you, asshole.”

  “Amethyst,” Harper said, gentler this time, “I won’t let you go with them. With her.”

  “Listen, you seem like a nice guy,” Amethyst looked over her shoulder, where Harper was draped in the moonlight, his anger having faded and left only softness behind, “But unless you have some miracle plan, I’m leaving tomorrow. I won’t let them hurt Faye.”

  “You might not have a choice.”

  Amethyst had to look away then, and swallow down her doubts. They had to keep their word. If Leon, Kamini, and the rest of their weird pack didn’t let Faye go, then Amethyst would be giving everything up for nothing.

  Her shoulders slumped.

  “Do you really think they’ll hurt her anyway?” The word kill couldn’t pass her lips. There was a difference between accepting her own fate and thinking about Faye’s.

  “I don’t know.”

  Even though his words didn’t say it, Amethyst knew what he really thought. He didn’t trust Kamini. To be honest, Amethyst didn’t know why she did. The woman had done nothing but torment her and make her life a living hell. They had only met once, and she had managed to ruin everything Amethyst had built up over the years.

  “No.” She put her head in her hands and blindly sat down on the bench swing by the door. It swung slightly when Harper sat down beside her, but Amethyst didn’t raise her head.

  “We’ll figure something out.”

  “We only have tonight,” Amethyst laughed, but there was no humour in it, “That’s not exactly long to come up with a genius plan.”

  “Dylan probably has a million ideas jumping around that head of his,” Harper was leant forward with his forearms on his knees, speaking into the garden, “We could wake him up?”

  “No,” Amethyst said, “He talks a mile a minute. I need quiet.”

  “Want me to go?”

  “No. You’re quiet.”

  Harper didn’t reply, and they fell into silence. Leaning back, Amethyst pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around them, wanting to feel small. With the billions of stars above her it was easy. It was easy to imagine that none of this had happened, and that Faye was asleep in her own bed, with her dad downstairs, back from his business trip. He probably had no idea what was going on. If Amethyst didn’t go tomorrow, he would come home to find his daughter being the next victim of the wolf attacks. It was easy to close her eyes, and think of nothing. Clearing her head was never a hard task when she was outside, feeling the breeze against her face and the loud silence of the nature around her.

  She felt herself nodding off, and rested her head on Harper’s shoulder. He snaked a hand around her shoulders and Amethyst was too tired to push him off. With the cold air distracting Amethyst from her own mind, she relaxed further into Harper and fell asleep.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The first thing Amethyst noticed when she woke up was the smell of bacon.

  “Mph,” She raised her head, and looked around, realising she was outside. Then the whole night came rushing back to her and she deflated again. The smell of bacon was coming out of the open window above them. Them. Amethyst looked down and saw that she and Harper had ended up laid down on the bench swing, and there was a dark mark on Harper’s chest from Amethyst’s drool. Her cheeks heating up, she wiped the side of her mouth and cringed at the wetness there. Hopefully Harper wouldn’t notice.

  “Hey, sleepy heads,” Dylan leaned out of the back door, his hair mussed from his sleep and a grey T Shirt hanging loosely from his shoulders. Amethyst tilted her head, considering it.

  “Is that mine?”

  “You buy men’s clothes and expect men not to wear them?” Dylan grinned, “Amateur.”

  “Shut up,” Amethyst looked down at Harper again and bit her lip, before climbing off the bench and straightening her clothes, “Is my mum awake?”

  “Who did you think told me where the bacon is?” Dylan disappeared again, and for the first time since the forest, Amethyst’s smile came easy.

  “Morning,” Rida said, leant against the breakfast bar with a mug of coffee cupped between her hands, “Your boy here makes good bacon and eggs.”

  “He’s not my boy,” Amethyst scoffed, “He wishes.”

  “Sure,” Dylan nodded sarcastically, “If I could be with anyone, you would not be them.”

  “Should I be offended?”

  “You should be thankful,” Dylan smiled, “I’m a handful.”

  “Okay, that’s enough,” Amethyst waved a hand, glancing nervously at her mum. Instead of looking scolding though, Rida was simply watching them interact with fondness. The fact that it was probably the last time she would ever see Amethyst interact with friends made her want to go back outside and hide, “So, bacon?”

  ◆◆◆

  Harper stumbled into the kitchen around half an hour later, his hands buried deep in his jacket pockets.

  “Bacon?” Amethyst gestured to the cold portion on the hob, but Harper just frowned, pulling something out of his pocket.

  “What is it?” Dylan asked with a concerned frown.

  “This-” Harper turned a small scrap of paper over between his fingers- “wasn’t here last night.” He met Amethyst’s eyes, and she shook her head, hoping he didn’t notice her sudden blush.

  “Let’s see,” She said, just so that she could look at something other than Harper’s face. Biting her lip, Amethyst unfolded the paper and read the message.

  14 Bold Avenue

  “An address,” Dylan stated the obvious, and Amethyst would have smacked him upside the head if her heart hadn’t just stopped.

  This was where she needed to go, and never come back. For Faye.

  “Dylan?” Harper crossed his arms, “Anything to say?”

  “This is her choice, Harper.”

  “Really?” Harper laughed bitterly, “That’s what you’re going to say?”

  “Yes,” Dylan snatched the paper from Amethyst’s hands, “This is about 20 minutes away.”

  Amethyst watched as Dylan stared at the paper resolutely, his lip turning red from how hard he was biting it. Confused, Amethyst raised her eyebrows at Harper.

  “He has a plan.”

  “No, I don’t,” Dylan said through gritted teeth, “Leave it Harper.”

  “I want to hear it.”

  Dylan’s head flipped to Amethyst so quickly that he must’ve gotten whip lash. As much as it killed Amethyst to admit, she had grown fond of the guy over their limited time together. Her skin was easy to crawl under, apparently.

  “Really?”

  “If you don’t start right now, I will change my mind.”

  “Okay,” Dylan grinned, “I totally didn’t agree with you doing this right from the start but I thought maybe if you had a night to think on it you’d change your mind, and-”

  “Dyl-dork,” Amethyst rolled her eyes, “Get on with it.”

  As Dylan started to talk, the kitchen felt more like home than it had when Amethyst first walked in. The feeling of it being the last time she would ever be here faded, and instead she began to fill to the brim with hope.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The street was dark by the time Amethyst got there. The note didn’t have a time on it, and it took forever to completely sort out the plan. Dylan was almost jumping with excitement when he shoved Amethyst out of the car, but she was just nervous. No, not nervous, terrified. Her hands were shaking so she clenched them into fists.

  It was a stupid plan, really. Considering it only took a few hours to complete and execute, it was bound to go wrong.

/>   Turning the corner, Amethyst spotted the street sign. Speeding up, she didn’t give herself enough time to think about it. Before she knew it, there was a warehouse looming in front of her. There were some little houses between there and the top of the street, but it was obvious where she was meant to be.

  There was a sign on the side of it for some nappy brand from the 90s. Amethyst narrowed her eyes at it, uncomfortable with the fact that the cartoon baby was making creepy eye contact with her. Shaking her head, she moved towards the door, where the sign wouldn’t be visible anymore.

  The doors looked like they should be rusted shut, but they slid open when Amethyst pushed against them. Unsurprisingly, the entire room was empty. It wasn’t like they expected the entire pack to just be sitting around waiting for her arrival. The doors swung shut behind her and Amethyst jumped, expecting someone to have closed them. She let out a breath when she saw there was no one there.

  Instead, there was a piece of paper in the middle of the room. Amethyst almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous all of this was.

  “What is this?” Amethyst muttered to herself, “A goddamn batman comic?”

  Take this.

  Underneath the note was a pill. Still crouched, Amethyst held the pill between her fingers, inspecting the liquid inside. It looked like cod liver oil. The handwriting on the note was the same as the one from yesterday, and it made Amethyst’s stomach crawl. But did she have any other choice?

  She pulled out her phone.

  There’s a pill. Should I take it?

  The reply was immediate.

  DYL-DORK

  You don’t really have a choice, right?

  Do it

  It wasn’t the answer Amethyst was hoping for, but it meant she wouldn’t be only one to blame if she died horribly.

  She took the pill, and the door on the other side of the warehouse swung open.

  “Ammie!” Leon shouted in fake delight, and laughed at Amethyst’s growl.

  “You don’t get to call me that,” Amethyst felt her anger grow, but the feeling that usually settled in her chest wasn’t there. She couldn’t hide her confused expression.

  “Oh, that,” Leon looked incredibly smug, “That’d be the pill taking affect. Cute, isn’t it?”

  “What does it do?”

  Leon smiled, then whispered something. Usually Amethyst would be able to hear it. In the last year, anyway. Now, though, she heard nothing but the hushed tones of words she couldn’t make out.

  “That answer your question?”

  “What-”

  “Enough!” The voice came from behind her and Amethyst jumped, turning around to face them.

  Everything stopped moving. It was worse than she could have ever imagined, seeing Kamini again. She was wearing the same clothes, her hair still hung in the same way, and her golden eyes still sharp in the darkness, seeing through Amethyst in a way that sent a shiver down her spine.

  “You talk too much,” Her voice was filled with more venom than last time, and Amethyst has to close her eyes, “Why are you so smug? You’ve achieved nothing.”

  “Sorry, Kamini,” Leon submitted, “I just-”

  “Shut up,” Kamini snarled, and more people came into the warehouse.

  There were two little girls in matching dresses, looking innocent and swiped straight out of a horror film. Beside them was an old man with round glasses, his hands clasped behind his back and his shirt buttoned to the top. The woman just behind him watched Amethyst with narrowed eyes, her pink blouse ripped at the hem. Another boy around Leon’s age was stood at Kamini’s side, his dark hair swooping over his forehead like your stereotypical 2005 emo.

  They all looked homeless, which, Amethyst guessed, they all were.

  Silently, Kamini nodded at the old man, Terry. He nodded back, and left without acknowledging any of the others. Amethyst watched the doors slam closed, and hoped to God the plan went the way it was meant to.

  “She looks kind of-” The emo kid looked her up and down- “pathetic.”

  “She is stronger than she looks, Oliver.” Kamini complimented.

  “What happens now?” Amethyst started with what Dylan told her, “I abandon my family like all of you have?”

  “Little one-” Kamini started, but Amethyst interrupted her.

  “What about your kids, Anthea?” Amethyst addressed the woman in the pink blouse, “Jacob, Harry, and Taylor?”

  “It was easy,” Anthea spat, “They were little assholes. Those kids never appreciated anything I did.”

  “They never do,” Amethyst shrugged, “What about your brother, Oliver?”

  “What?” The emo boy shifted his feet, closing off his stance.

  “Michael probably misses you.”

  “Someone shut her up,” One of the twins, either Charlie or Kate, took a step towards her, but Kamini held her back.

  “No,” Kamini smiled, “I know what she is doing. You cannot convince them to turn back now. We are family.”

  “You’re not,” Amethyst said, hoping she sounded braver than she was, “They left their family behind for you, and look at them. Are you homeless? When was the last time you had a shower?”

  “Lion-”

  “Leon,” He corrected.

  “I do not care,” Kamini hissed, “Just hold her back and put something in her mouth to shut her up. We’re leaving.”

  “Wait,” Amethyst panicked, struggling when Leon gripped her arms, “Leon, your sisters. Amy and Claire. They’re turning sixteen this year, do you really want to miss that?”

  “If you don’t stop talking,” Leon put a hand over her mouth, “She’s going to make me hurt you, and neither of us want that.”

  The sincerity in his voice surprised her, but she still struggled, even if she didn’t speak.

  ◆◆◆

  “Stall,” Dylan said, his hands spread on the table as if there were blueprints there, “We need all the time we can get to find Faye.”

  “How are you even going to do it? We don’t have any idea where she is, never mind a way to get her out.”

  “She’s in town, she has to be” Dylan looked cautious, “We just need something of hers to track.”

  “Like what?”

  “I feel like you might have something.”

  ◆◆◆

  Dylan and Harper had Faye’s T Shirt, one that she left the last time she stayed, or maybe the time before. It was hard to keep track of how much she stayed.

  Her shoes scuffed loudly on the floor as Amethyst struggled to keep Leon slowed down. Kamini was waiting by the door, watching with a tilted head.

  “Stop struggling,” She said, “You are going to hurt yourself.”

  In reply to that, Amethyst kicked Leon in the shin.

  “Dammit!” Leon shoved her to the floor rubbed at his shin. He looked down at her as if he was preparing for something, but blinked and the malice was gone.

  “Lion!”

  “It’s Leon!” He yelled, and there was a loud slap. Amethyst looked up to see Leon cupping his face and Kamini heaving breaths.

  “No one hurts her,” Kamini said slowly, “Except for me.”

  “You have a warped sense of a loving relationship,” Leon took his hand away from his cheek and gaped at the blood there. There were four clean cuts across his cheek, but Kamini looked proud instead of regretful.

  “Come along,” Kamini looked down at Amethyst and raised an eyebrow, “She is looking tired.”

  “Yes, Kamini.”

  Amethyst got to her feet and looked at Leon out the corner of her eye.

  “I won’t struggle anymore,” Amethyst said, “You okay?”

  “Why do you care?” Leon snapped.

  “I don’t,” Amethyst pursed her lips, “Should you like, hold my arm?”

  “I hate you,” Leon grumbled, but grabbed her bicep and led her to the door.

  “The feeling’s mutual.”

  ◆◆◆

  “Wait, so if I get in the car-”
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br />   “If they even have a car,” Harper added.

  “Exactly!” Amethyst shouted, “How are you planning on getting me out? If she has all the people from those articles, then that’s six werewolves you’d have to fight off.”

  “Don’t worry,” Dylan smiled, “I have a plan for that.”

  “Another plan?!”

  ◆◆◆

  The van was parked out front, with crappy graffiti sprayed onto the side. It looked as if they had found it on the side of a road and stolen it. Considering Kamini’s moral compass, or lack thereof, Amethyst wouldn’t put it past her.

  “Get in,” Leon shoved her forward, towards the open doors at the back of the van. Everyone except Kamini were sat on the floor, staring as Amethyst climbed in. Leon shoved her again, and she turned around, raising her eyebrows at him.

  “I thought we were friends, Lion,” She drawled sarcastically, “What happened to us?”

  “Shut up,” Leon snapped before slamming the doors shut.

  “So,” Amethyst stood awkwardly, “Want to exchange funny anecdotes?”

  No one replied.

  She sat down.

  ◆◆◆

  Panic started to unsettle Amethyst’s stomach the longer they drove without any difficulty. It was completely silent, but the pounding of Amethyst’s heart was probably filling all their ears. At one point, Amethyst tried to pull out her phone at one point, but a van full of growls stopped her. The pill had hindered her powers, and even if she did have them, Amethyst was insanely outnumbered.

  Just when her breathing got heavy enough to draw attention, the van stopped.

  Kamini shoved Leon’s shoulder and whispered angry words to him, clearly so only Amethyst couldn’t hear them. He whispered back, then groaned and got out of the van.

  The van shook, and everyone in the back looked wary. This wasn’t part of their plan.

  Finally, Kamini growled and climbed out too.

  “What have you done?” Oliver lunged, but Amethyst was already falling through the open van doors.

  “Hey,” Dylan’s face appeared above her, and she could feel grit in her T Shirt, “Ready to go home?”