by Nicol, Andy
He pressed his forehead against mine, closed his eyes, and sighed. “Underwhelming.”
Nodding, I leaned back on my heels, “Yeah, it kind of is.”
“Of course, it is. I just took your last victory,” Hyde muttered, his eyes going cold again. “And don’t you forget, Viktor. Once I’m through with them, I’ll be coming after you!”
Rage was welling up inside my chest. He ruined our chance to clear our names ourselves, so what more could he possibly have to say?
Hyde held out his arms and addressed the crowd, “You all think we were the bad guys — and maybe we are — but do you have any idea what it’s like, what you feel like when you lose a brother?”
I rolled my eyes. Almost everyone here knew what it was like. No one knew better than Frankie, Soul, and I. Looking past Hyde, I saw that Soul was sitting up and rubbing his head with the arm he wasn’t cluching to his chest. Seeing his frustration and his readiness to fight again wiped away my hesitation. He’d battled more than enough demons to fill his short lifetime. His job was done. Someone else needed to step up.
Hyde continued. “I want you to feel —”
“For your information, I do know what it’s like to lose a brother,” I said. “You should know that since you were the one that killed Henry! He may not have been blood but he was sweet and kind and he deserved better. He was also far more merciful than me.”
Hyde sputtered and gagged, grasping at my knife, which I had just stabbed deep into the tissue of his shoulder, in the crook of his neck. I twisted the blade and he cried out in pain, cursing and growling. He fell to his knee and I ripped my weapon free. I was standing directly behind him, so when I brought my knife down a second time, I prayed I didn’t impale myself as well.
“Far, far, more merciful.”
Hyde screamed and writhed as I plunged my weapon deep into his eye socket. I twisted it again and sawed at the bone. I closed my eyes and prayed my friends would forgive me — should I have any left after this. Then I shoved it in farther, soaking my sleeves and hands with red and scraping the bones of his face with the hilt.
He stopped shrieking. He stopped moving.
I let him fall to the ground. I flicked blood away from my body and dropped the small weapon, anger fading into worry.
“Soul, forgive me.”
I turned to watch Louis wrap a bandage around my friend’s arm. They were staring at me in awe and concern. Soul shoved Louis away while he continued to stare at me, his grin far more twisted than I had ever seen before. It scared me more than just a little bit.
But at least he wasn’t angry.
He pushed himself to his feet in a bumbling haze, accidentally tripping over himself. I stood perfectly still as that grin stayed where it was. I started to take a step away from him as he stumbled forward and grabbed my arm.
“B-blood spills like wine when it comes to bad men and swine.”
He was practically standing overtop of me. I struggled to pull my arm free, but he was digging his nails into my skin. I growled, “S-Soul, let me go!”
He chuckled and silently taunted me, creating much more tension. I could feel frustration, curiousity, and slight fear bubbling up inside me.
As I’d said before, this look … It wasn’t Soul. I didn’t know why, but sometimes he got this look. And at those times he turned into someone very scary. I didn’t know why and I didn’t know what to do. I stared at him silently as he started to grin wider, quietly chuckling as he stared me down. I shook my head nervously but didn’t take my eyes off of his. Suddenly, Soul looked down at his hands, then at Hyde. He slowly gained control over himself, eventually returning to my ordinary, anxious Crow. He quickly released my arm before wiping his hands on his jeans.
“Good riddance. K9 — K9 d-did the right thing.” He grasped my hand and looked even more shaken than I felt.
“You … scared me for a second, Soul.”
He swallowed harshly and nodded, signalling that he was ready to leave the dead Hyde — not only ready to leave him in the arena to rot, but also in the past. I hoped this would be the end of his nightmares.
“B-Benji, wait!” Matt called. He was biting his lip, holding back a small smile as Josh and Frankie threw their arms around him, urging him on.
“Now that Mr. Viktor is out of the picture, we don’t have anyone to run the league. What are we going to do?”
I shrugged my aching shoulders and looked at all of them. “Why are you asking me? I don’t know anything about that stuff. Shouldn’t you take over, Matt?”
“Oh my god, Ben … I can’t do that! I mean, thank you, beyond words! But … I-I don’t know the first thing about running the whole show, and I’m happy doing what I do here. I’m sorry!” He smiled wider but his hands shook. He looked concerned, but Josh winked from behind him and nodded over his right shoulder to someone in the crowd.
“Okay then, if you won’t do it then keep doing what you do here. We wouldn’t be half as great as we are without our little nerd,” I said, laughing. He shook my hand, tearing up. Soul started to chuckle. He patted Matt’s shoulder and waited expectantly for me to continue.
“It’s okay,” I reassured our little blond friend. “Alright … Johnny Keanin, if you are willing…”
I held my hand out in the direction of my older brother, who had been sitting between Jeff and Louis. He stood and did his best to make his way over quickly on his crutches. Then — for the second time this week — he embraced me like he didn’t know his own strength. Which he probably didn’t…
“Will you do it?” I asked.
“Without a doubt,” Johnny said, breaking out into a grin. The crowd started to cheer for him, and the warriors that he had been friendly with applauded him and welcomed him into our ranks. It’s where he’s always belonged.
Casting one last glance upon the body, we wrapped our arms around each other’s shoulders, and Soul grinned. Following me out of the arena, he kissed my cheek lightly, something he’d started doing whenever he got nervous — and something he knew I would never protest.
Thirty-Five
We’d decided that we would fight together from now on, for his sake and mine. I almost couldn’t believe that after what I’d done — after what we’d both done — he still wanted to know me…
Hyde was right. We deserved each other’s personal hells, if only to atone for our own sins. But what was hell to the demons that lived inside it? The hell-hound and her messenger, the crow.
Just as I was thinking about how badly I wanted to put it all behind me, the crow chose to speak up, just as we were walking out of the facility’s gate and into the street, surrounded by locals and warriors cheering us on. Just as we were on our way to his long-abandoned apartment to gather his things. He had left all the books, clothing, papers and ink there because he’d never known a safer place.
“I’m scared of what you can do
Oh voices in my head
And why I’m always sober
Is why I’m not quite dead
With Apollo far behind me
And heaven far above
Every day I’m lying
When people see a dove.”
It was the place he used to call home.
“Useless and faceless
A monster at the core
Careless and nameless
Here forevermore
Every night I burn
My feathers turn to ash
Like that of a young crow
Rooting through the trash
I do my best to please them
And keep the voices down
But sometimes when I hear him
I feel I start to drown.”
We were no heroes, but just a couple of kids who got caught up in the worst side of life too soon. We were just angry warriors trying to fix whatever went wrong. We were in over our heads but somehow … somehow we did it. Somehow we fixed it. I owed so much to my brother. For all I screwed up for him … but we fixed it.
/> “I am no dove
In a world full of gold;
I am a crow
And can’t be bought or sold.”
A good warrior can get revenge. This is how that was possible. Our story is how that was possible; neither of us were meant to be heroes. We were only meant to survive as so many had to do before us, though none have been like us.
“It is not in my nature
To do as they request
For I must fly away
As far from earth to rest
He took away my beauty
And burned my beautiful wings
And now I’m left to hear him
as others start to sing
I am still a being of light
Suffering in darkness
One thousand degrees of anger
Bring me such distress.”
The snow was heavy and hit his face, but he didn’t notice. He just smiled and continued as a beautiful black bird flew overhead.
“Still they sing into my ear
Telling me to flutter
But the crow must not go
And so they start to stutter.”
I clutched his hand and smiled while looking upwards.
“I keep my patience
And trust my luck
That someday I’ll be pretty
For now in ember stuck
The flames that singed my torso
Now burning back again
Not for me this time
But for a former friend
I did all that he had asked
And still it hurt me so
Now he lies in agony
While I’m pacing to and fro.”
I grinned wider and Soul started to laugh in glee, kicking at the snow and grabbing for my other hand. He started twirling me around in the cold, winter air as Lock soared high above us. But he was still so gentle with me…
“Finally he knows
Just how it feels to burn
Dream your last dream
Because now it is my turn,
The voices now have ceased
And the monster now is gone
A black crow flies free
And sings his very own song.”
The man was remarkable.
“‘Caw, caw,’ says the crow
‘Down, down you will fall
Deep, deep in the darkness
Out of hell you will crawl.’”
This town had seen some war — hell, this town had started some wars — and we were strong. We were smart, and we were fast. One thing we were not was scared. We would fight to the death for what we believed and who we loved.
Most of us had to; others wanted to. It’s our story.
“Finally free
These ashes that I’m from
And now you will see
Why they call me Kingdom Come.”
