by Nicol, Andy
“I feel … kind of funny, actually… Did someone pull a taser out?”
The hospital gown I was wearing rubbed against my sore skin, which was more painful than I had an explanation for. She bit her lip and left me confused as Soul tripped over Louis and shoved him away in order to get to my side. I tried to hide my smile by biting my lip as he recklessly put one knee on the bed and tackled me onto the pillow. Instinctively, I leaned myself back and embraced him like my life depended on it. His breathing was shallow and he was shaking slightly. After he picked himself up again, I couldn’t help but notice how red his lips were, like he had been repeatedly biting or running his tongue over them. His pout was still as present as ever though. I tilted my head and smiled.
I could feel him start to relax, resting on his stomach and propping himself up on his elbows. I happily touched his cheek and stroked his hair with my left hand — it felt like forever since I’d done that. His skin was very soft, and I couldn’t help noticing the ink smeared across his thin jaw. A soft giggle escaped from my lips, and he silently shook his head, removing one shaking hand and using it to push faded yellow bangs away from my eyes. I was kind of confused. He’d never done that before, but I wasn’t going to stop him — why should I?
The tournament. I must have lost the tournament. Oh god, what happened? How did it end? What the hell did I do? We could have died out there!
My voice was hoarse and strained, but I remembered that I never told him … that he never knew…
“Soul, I never got to tell you, but I love you, so much more than words can say. No poem could tell you … I-I wish I’d told you sooner. I could have died and you wouldn’t know…”
Snorting, he choked up and shook his head.
“I should have told you before the competition. Who … who won that, by the way? What happened after…?” I thought a moment. What was the last thing I actually remembered? Soul still wouldn’t speak but tears started to form in his eyes. “Soul?”
He continued to purse his lips until he gasped for breath and looked away from me, chuckling sadly. I tried to bring my other hand up to make him look at me, but I still couldn’t move it. Instead, I remembered a trick from a few months ago and tugged his scruffy facial hair with my left hand. He let out a whine and looked at me. He started to breath normally again but took a shaky breath. I tried offering a worried smile, but he shook his head and leaned down, tilting his head and rubbing his nose against mine. He smiled sadly as he closed his miserable-looking eyes. Soul was acting very out of character … I was worried for him. Still, I grinned slightly as he did this, which made him smile wider.
A second later, he pushed my head back to the pillow, pressing his lips to mine with his eyes still closed.
That was really out of character, so much so that my reaction was a quiet squeak and wide eyes. I could feel him chuckle lightly but he didn’t move. I didn’t really want him to. I had grabbed a handful of his hair, which was greasier and more tangled than it was ordinarily — not that it mattered. After the shock wore off, I closed my eyes as well, and smiled against his lips.
After a few quick, soothing seconds of his warmth and letting him move as he wished, I furrowed my brow. Why was he…? Why did he do that? He had never been this lovey-dovey in all the time I’d know him.
How did I feel about this?
I must not mind because when he pulled away and grinned again, I felt disappointed.
“Th-that was … bold,” I said between heavy breaths, keeping my wide eyes trained on him.
His expression changed from amusment to confusion. “D-don’t … remember?”
“Remember what. What happened to us in the competition? Jekyll and Hyde! What happened to them?”
“Dead.”
I shoved myself up with one hand and bumped Soul’s nose against mine. It stung but I hardly noticed.
“Wh-what ha —”
“Jekyll is dead … only one left. K9 — K9 got hurt…”
And just like that, everything came back: the multiple beatings, seeing Soul strung up in the trees … watching him embed his axe in Jekyll’s neck. And kissing him. And I remembered he had to carry me to medical, but after that … nothing.
Truthfully, I was a little bit anxious. Waking up in a bed covered with bandages will do that to a person, but remembering what happened made me happy. Remembering how he forgave me made me very happy.
“What happened after … you know…”
I shrugged and looked around. He sighed and bit his lip, and then Louis jumped in to the conversation.
“You died.” He smirked from where he was leaning against the wall. Soul whipped his head around to glare. “We tried to bring you back three times. I was about to call it.”
I looked back at Soul, who had teared up again. He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Oh my god… Soul…”
He whimpered, just like he did when we first met. His lip was quivering, and I threw my arm around his neck, squeezing him with the little strength I had. We both fell back down when he threw his arms up as well.
“Th-thought I lost my K9 … Sh-she was — s-so much blood … I could not have dreamt up such death, for that is all I am; Not a killer, just a dreamer, and I won’t hold my breath …” He buried his face in my neck as I stroked his back.
“D-died,” he murmured into my shaggy hair.
I felt like I got hit by a ton of bricks when he told me I had died, but I couldn’t even imagine how Soul had felt. I died in his arms!
“Love my K9. Never do it again…”
I nodded and sat back so I could look at him. “Never again.”
I looked back at Louis, hoping for a diagnosis or at least for instruction to stay off my feet or something. He pushed himself to his feet with a grunt and sat in the chair to my left.
“You were pretty scraped up, got a bad wound to your neck. You were losing blood faster than you knew. Every cut down your right side was pretty deep. They destroyed a few nerves. You might not regain full feeling again, and range of motion will be limited temporarily. You’ll still be able to go back to fighting if you want, though.”
I nodded and took a deep breath. “The light-headedness will go away too, right?”
He nodded like that was obvious. He stood to leave, then hesitated. “Glad you’re okay,” he muttered, then made his way to the door.
“J-Johnny’s here,” Soul stated quietly.
He motioned towards the door that Louis was making his way out of. Suddenly, he was shoved aside with a yelp and Johnny — looking dishevelled — stood in his path. Louis shot him profanities as he held his head and walked past. My brother looked like he had been through hell. His eyes were red and he only had one crutch, but the look of sheer relief on his face was enough to tell me he was perfectly fine.
My brother shoved Soul, making him tumble off of the bed, and then fell on top of me. He inhaled deeply as he stroked my hair—just like he used to do when I was little. I had night terrors for a long time, and he would do this to calm me down. I was starting to think he did it to calm himself too.
“God, Benji … y-you died! You were dead!”
I held him tightly and nodded. What am I even supposed to say in this situation?
“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“You’re a fighter.”
“I wasn’t finished with you guys — I mean, do you have any idea of the kind of problems you’d get yourself into without me around?”
He chuckled and kissed my forehead. “I wouldn’t make it through the day.” Smoothing out his red plaid shirt he grinned and stepped to the side. “I brought a friend, too.”
A second later, a massive husky jumped onto the bed and laid down beside me.
“Skipper!”
The huge, fuzzy dog kissed my nose and wagged his tail. Soul carefully and curiously patted the dog’s head and scratched his ears. Skipper panted and wagged his tail and then turned to Tina, almost lik
e he was waiting for her. With a grin and wide eyes, she held out her hand and he smothered her in fur and drool, his fluffy paws patting the blanket. It was gross but Tina didn’t seem to mind, much.
I started to use my left hand to push myself to the side of the bed. I needed to get dressed. I hated hospitals, and being here wasn’t helping anyone.
Soul jumped at the chance to be the knight in shining armour (or in this case, the crow in a ratty jacket) and nudged the dog out of the way. Childish habits kicking in, I swung my legs back and forth before sliding to the ground. The tingling in my leg caused me to stumble a bit, but I still managed to snatch my clothes off the blue plastic chair beside my bed and make it to the washroom.
I looked different. There was a long scratch on the side of my cheek, criss-crossing the faded white stripes and running up past my eye. I lightly touched it and it stung like nobody’s business… It changed my face completely. It pulled my eye to the side, making me look like Frankenstein’s monster. This was the first time I had ever hated the way a scar had changed me. Hopefully, it would heal the same as a small cut. Hopefully.
I guess that was what we got for trying to be showy with our so-called armour, though I had a feeling the brothers would have ripped it all to shreds anyway. I walked out of the washroom and sat back down on the bed, leaning back as I started to get dizzy again.
“My K9,” Soul whispered to himself as his cheeks turned pink.
I touched the side of his face, the way I always did, and ran my bruised knuckles over his cheekbone. He tilted his head down and put his hand over mine … He was so happy. For the first time since I’d met him, he looked genuinly happy, and it made me feel terrible. Soul never deserved any of this. He was just a kid when they hurt him — then again, so was I. It couldn’t happen again, though. That was what mattered. I didn’t care about myself, but from now on Soul was going to get everything he’d ever wanted. I was going to make sure of it.
He pulled me out of my thoughts with a small grunt. I watched him look at the floor, struggling to make himself speak. This always happened whenever he wanted to ask for something but was afraid of my reaction, despite the very obvious fact that I would always agree to give him what he wanted.
“C-can the bird … wants to… Can he s-stay w-with you?”
I laughed lightly as his cheeks burned again. “Soul, you’re always with me—”
“N-no … meant tonight. Alone again for so long … scared to let you go again…”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes. He looked embarrassed for being worried but I simply nodded.
“Of course. There’s no need for me to go anywhere, and I promise this time. I promise…” I wrapped my arm around his neck, and he clung to me like a child would. His hair tickled my cheek, so I started to grin as I pushed him away.
It was one of the rare times he made eye contact with me for an extended period of time. After what seemed like ten minutes, Soul sat back down and Johnny held out a cup of coffee. I was about to take it when he jerked his hand away and hopped back. The next thing I knew, I was pinned down under a mop of blond hair. It was suffocating me as big, wet lips continuously kissed my face, leaving sticky, pink lipstick across my cheeks.
“Pain. Chrissy, I am in pain.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry!”
She sat up and looked at me. Tearing up, she threw her arms around me again.
“That was awful. We were so worried. Almost everything is settled now. Jekyll is dead and his brother has refused all contact with anyone, including the doctors. You two left him in bad shape.”
I patted her back and she wiped her eyes. I noticed Dan had also joined us. I was ready to scowl, but he slowly walked over and shrugged. Soul was blatantly unhappy — borderline growling, actually — but he backed down after I shot him a warning look.
“I’m sorry for everything I did and said,” he whispered as he held out his hand.
I was uncertain but I shook it, then tugged him close. “I take it you’re going to be civil towards each other from now on?”
He curtly nodded, then stood silently by Chrissy. Both of them looked weirdly joyous, given everything that’d happened.
We used to fear stepping into the arena if we’d done something wrong, especially since we would be thrown up against Jekyll and Hyde. But now we didn’t have to. No one did. Ever again.
The both of us had tossed and turned all night, kicking each other and maybe falling out of bed once or twice. Soul kept yelling, and though I don’t know what he meant exactly, I could have guessed quite easily. But this is a new day and our city is starting over, just like us.
We will never forget what happened, but we will be free of it.
The dust was getting kicked up from my boots, and the sun was shining through the arena’s panels. Soul was standing beside me and I had the biggest smile on my face; no one blamed him. Maybe the details were still fuzzy, but no one held him accountable and they finally understood what a gross misunderstanding it all was. Someone even told me that we were heroes for what we did. At this point, I was just happy to be alive. I didn’t want to be a hero.
All the praise was nice for a while, but everyone knew what was about to happen. Locals had gathered in the stands and warriors lined the arena. I lightly squeezed Soul’s hand, watching his hair fly about as he whipped around to look at me. He stayed quiet while Matt joined us and looked up at the stadium.
“Big deal, guys!” he said. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
I gave a small nod and rolled my eyes.
Vince Viktor stepped up to us with his usual glory, but missing his suit jacket. His eyes drilled right through me. It just reminded me of the horrible things he’s done. I couldn’t believe he tricked us all so easily.
“K9, Crow. I understand the trauma you’ve both faced, yet the accusations you’ve made against the good people of Lilithia are unacceptable.” He tucked his hands behind his back and looked down his nose at us. “I’m afraid this will be the end of your career here.”
Soul dropped his gaze to the ground. His body was rigid and he was clearly uncomfortable. Just behind him, standing in the line of shocked warriors, Johnny waved around as though he was ready to stumble over and explain everything himself. Even Josh, who had placed himself on the opposite side of Soul, was ready to jump in.
“Sir, we won’t be following that order.”
“I-I’m sorry, Benjamina?” He had started walking away and when he faced us again, he practically stood over me.
“I said we aren’t going to follow your orders. You were the one that hired Soul all those months ago. You were the one that rigged our system. You manipulated some good people into some dirty tricks. We have the proof.”
“You don’t need it, Vixen.”
My gut wrenched at that voice. The five of us turned but all I saw was Matt hollering as he got tossed to the side. Before I could react, Soul was also off his feet and lying on the ground. On instinct, I grabbed my knife and turned, faced with a large, seething Irishman I hoped to never see again.
“H-Hyde?”
“Oh, Vixen! With all those people shouting and crying the other day, I hadn’t noticed you actually pulled through! Unlike my brother, who had his throat slit …,” he hissed at me.
He looked very … battered and bruised. Bludgeoned. The man took a good beating. He held a knife out at me, his hand shaking, rage and grief flashing in his eyes. While keeping an eye on him, I bent down to Soul and shook his shoulder. “S-Soul… Hey, are you okay?”
He offered a grunt but blood was slowly staining the ground. I could feel myself starting to panic.
“Little Vixen… Do you know what it was like for me? To, for a second time, be unconsious and unable to help my brother? To have him taken from me when I couldn’t even say goodbye?!” His voice was shrill, cracking. There was madness in his eyes like I had never seen before.
“Sorry, big guy, but you were about to do the same to us. But maybe you missed that
over all the shouting and crying,” I spat back.
He shrugged his shoulders and flashed a crazy grin, full of chipped teeth. “You’re a bitch, and he’s an idiot. You deserve each other.”
“Hyde! K9! That is enough! Please just clear out, the lot of you, and go home. I am sick and tired of this,” Viktor interrupted, clicking the heels of his shoes.
“Oh shut up, you old goat!” Hyde roared. His voice rattled the arena. Warriors took steps back, and parents in the stands shielded their children’s eyes, just in case. He hauled Matt up off the ground and then gritted his teeth, letting his grip loosen so my friend could scramble away.
“They’re telling the truth. Yeah, Vinny hired us — he hired a bunch of us — but those other guys were too low on the totem pole to know what they were doing. They were punishment for anyone getting too close to information. He just chose them because he liked their names.”
Josh was standing on my other side, glaring with a red face.
“When people started to look good to the public without his professional expertise, that meant that Mr. Viktor could lose his job to someone younger, someone more impressive. That’s where bird-boy came in.”
He clapped his hands together, then looked at the old man. “Sorry, boss, I’m done taking orders. You don’t have anything for me anymore.”
“The others never knew. They had nothing to do with any of whatever he was planning,” I explained. I don’t know why I defended them after what some of them tried to do to me. But they were just human.
Jeremy, Ronin, Randy, and Louis sat in disgust as they realized the connction between them, and all agreed that they had no clue that Dr. Frankenstein was our very own overlord. Instead, we all watched Josh wave in his security team, which quickly handcuffed Vince Viktor and Robert Harold, carting them away.
I tugged my hair back and growled. At least we won…
“K-K9?”
“Yeah, Soul?”
“I-is this … good?”
I let go of my hair and turned to him, anxiousness written across my face. “I think so. We can focus on training now. It’s over,” I said incredulously.
