The Sacrificial Love of an Immortal

by Kurtis Eckstein

  Given the usual frigid wind we had experienced all week, I might have asked her to turn up the temperature on purpose, but it was still fairly warm in the immediate vicinity since Mrs. Knight and her shield hadn’t actually left yet.

  Freya took a moment to run over to her orange convertible parked down the street, sending it home on autopilot, before making her way back to us. It was actually illegal to let a car drive without a passenger in the driver’s seat, never mind no one in the car at all, but I supposed she must have modified her vehicle’s system. Either that, or she paid someone else to do it – making that kind of modification wasn’t a simple feat.

  Apparently, my green Mustang was parked on the side of the street where Lily had been ‘picked up,’ but I wasn’t going to worry about getting it right now. I just wanted to get everyone home safe and sound.

  Thus, we all piled into my silver work car once Freya returned, with her tugging Lily into the backseat as I got behind the wheel. Lily barely got her seatbelt on before Freya was wrapping herself around her, holding Lily’s head tightly against her shoulder with her eyes closed. Freya was sitting on one of her legs bent underneath her butt, while the other was draped over Lily’s knee, giving her a slightly elevated position.

  The vampiric beauty sucked in a few deep breaths, prompting Lily to gently pat her arm as she spoke up.

  “I’m okay, Freya,” she reassured her. “It was a little scary when they boxed me in and made me stop, but they were polite otherwise.”

  As I pulled onto the road, I could finally see clearly in my second-sight again. The change caused me to suddenly find myself breathing easier, not having realized how restrictive it felt previously, only for me to notice Freya’s muscles tightening in response to Lily’s words.

  “I don’t give a damn if they were polite,” she hissed. “They shouldn’t have done that. A lot of people could have died today. They were too reckless.”

  “They certainly didn’t seem to think so,” I retorted. “On the contrary, they thought they were being super clever.” I paused, meeting her annoyed gaze in the rearview mirror. “Granted, I suppose it was effective when they only had me to be concerned about. You definitely would have saved the day had this been a different situation.”

  She sighed, and looked away, still holding Lily’s head tight against her.

  I spoke up again.

  “How did you know to come anyway?” I asked seriously. I then looked at her apologetically, continuing before she had a chance to answer. “Sorry by the way. For not telling you. I wanted to, but–”

  “I know,” she cut me off, her tone sounding sympathetic despite the interruption, as she ran her fingers through Lily’s blonde hair. She then took a deep breath. “You might be angry if I tell you,” she admitted.

  “Freya, we aren’t going to be angry with you. Had this been the shadow organization, then you showing up would have been vital to making sure Lily got away safe.”

  Freya nodded somberly, but didn’t respond, instead her gaze focusing down on Lily, who was only positioned lower because of how she was sitting.

  I knew it wasn’t enough to hear it from me. She needed Lily to say it too.

  After a moment of silence, the busty blonde finally spoke up too. “I won’t be angry either,” she replied reassuringly. “I really was fine, but I’m glad you showed up.”

  Freya took another deep breath. “I had both of your phones cloned,” she admitted. “But I wasn’t trying to spy on either of you!” she added quickly in response to our surprised expressions. “I was just curious to see where you were going for your date, so I checked the GPS on my phone, only to discover neither of you were where I expected.” She sighed. “That’s when I checked both of your messages on the cloned phones, and saw Sam’s last message about them having Lily. That, and the fact that Lily had received messages that you hadn’t sent.”

  “I’m sorry about that too,” I added, looking back at Lily. Her orange irises were still completely motionless. “I wish I really had asked you out on a date. Sorry to get your hopes up.”

  She shook her head. “It’s fine. It’s not your fault. And we can still go out sometime soon.”

  I grinned at her relaxed composure, though my tone was more serious. “Did they slip you something?” I finally asked. “You’re just so calm right now.”

  She shrugged slightly, though only one shoulder moved because of how Freya was holding her. “Maybe,” she admitted.

  “You do smell funny,” Freya commented.

  “I do?” Lily asked with a little more concern, her blonde eyebrows knitting together.

  “A little,” she replied. “But it’s fine. I’m sure it will wear off soon if they did drug you.” She paused. “You didn’t lose consciousness or anything…did you?”

  Lily pursed her lips. “No, I remember everything that happened. I just feel calm is all.”

  Freya nodded her head once, causing us all to fall silent for a few minutes. She then spoke up again. “I think I might take you out on a date too,” Freya suggested. “Just you and me. I’d like to spend some alone time with you.”

  “O-Oh,” Lily replied in surprise. “O-Okay.”

  Freya held her more tightly as we all fell silent again.

  I certainly didn’t have a problem with them going on a date by themselves, feeling like they already did that a lot, like when they went to the mall together, but I knew Freya wanted an evening where it was more focused on each other, rather than an activity. Thus, my thoughts began drifting as we made our way through town, back to my place, thinking about everything that had happened since I left work.

  I was glad we were able to leave without getting in trouble with the law, but I still didn’t understand how that was possible considering Freya had beat up a handful of agents pretty bad.

  Could it be like how Blaze’s situation used to be? Where they would rather let ‘smaller’ issues slide than poke the bear?

  I wasn’t sure, although I hoped to ask Freya what she thought later on.

  The two of them had begun talking quietly while I was thinking, so I wasn’t paying attention. However, as we drew closer to home, I finally decided to voice what was on my mind. I had already mentioned the job offer in passing to them, since the moment we were out of earshot, it was the first thing Freya asked about – the reason for this whole ordeal.

  I took a deep breath. “I think I’m going to quit my job, whether I accept this superhero position or not,” I admitted, while glancing back at Lily. “Really, after everything that’s happened, I don’t want to let you out of my sight ever again. Not unless you’re with Freya.”

  Freya nodded in agreement, only for Lily to look at us both in surprise. “Umm, Sam, that seems a little extreme.”

  I gawked at her, using my second-sight to focus on the road. “Extreme?” I asked in disbelief. “How so?”

  She grimaced. “I mean, don’t you think you’re being just a little too paranoid?” she asked quietly.

  I scoffed, unable to comprehend what she was saying. I focused on the road again with my eyes. I was about to blurt out, ‘Maybe they gave you a little too much of that anti-anxiety medicine,’ but then decided to hold my tongue. After all, while it might really be whatever drug they gave her doing the talking, it was also true that saying such a thing was basically calling her stupid.

  And maybe it was stupid to not agree to have one of us with her at all times, including when she was driving to meet up with one of us, but I wasn’t about to belittle her about it. Rather, I just needed to get to the bottom of why she was saying that, though I wasn’t sure now was the right time, given the possible influence of a foreign substance.

  It would be like arguing with someone who was drunk – kind of a pointless endeavor.

  Thankfully, Freya spoke up instead. “I don’t think any of us are being paranoid enough,” she retorted. “It was just so easy for them to kidnap you, Lily. Too easy. I should have driven you to meet up with Sam myself.�
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  “Freya,” Lily whined. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

  Freya looked at her in confusion. “On your side?” she repeated. “Lily, I am on your side – the side that keeps you alive the longest. How could you even suggest such a thing after everything that’s happened?” She paused. “And after everything that’s happened between us,” she added meaningfully.

  I assumed Freya must be referring to their long friendship, considering they had known each other since Lily was fourteen, making it almost sixteen years now, with Lily about to turn thirty.

  Damn. Thirty years old.

  Time was going too fast. That was so young in my perception, and yet it just meant it was one year closer to us losing Lily forever to old age.

  The thought was unbearable.

  Lily said something quietly to Freya in response to her comment, but I was distracted by my phone vibrating in my pocket. I saw it was Nick calling even before I pulled it out. Honestly, he hadn’t contacted me much outside of work hours, so I would have answered it either way, but I also recalled that he was supposed to be flying out of the country for a mission.

  Was he calling from the plane? Maybe about a work-related thing he forgot to mention?

  I held the phone up to my ear, so I didn’t interrupt Freya and Lily’s conversation.

  “Hey Nick, what’s up?”

  “Err, hey Sam,” he answered in his nasally voice, sounding especially somber for some reason. “I…” He paused. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but I just found out…” His voice trailed off.

  I groaned in annoyance at his delaying. “Found out what? Just spit it out, Nick.”

  “Well…” He paused again, seeming to change subjects slightly, as indicated by him speaking more freely. “I’m not sure if you’ve seen the news or not, but the airport was attacked by terrorists.”

  “Shit! Are you serious?!” I asked in shock, seeing Freya pull out her phone in the backseat with a serious expression to check the news. Since my cell wasn’t on speakerphone, Lily was left with a confused look, while Freya’s sensitive ears had easily picked up Nick’s end of the conversation.

  “Yeah, man. It was pretty bad,” he continued.

  “Shit,” I repeated in disbelief. “Well, I mean, are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

  “N-No, I’m fine, but…”

  Suddenly something clicked.

  “Nick,” I hissed under my breath. “Is Lexi okay?”

  “She’s in the hospital,” he finally blurted out. “On Life-Support right now. She was dead when they found her, but now she’s barely hanging on. They tried contacting her family, but haven’t been able to get ahold of anyone.” He sucked in a sharp breath. “Man, she doesn’t even look like a person anymore – all her skin is burned off.”

  My foot stomped on the gas even before my thoughts had a chance to catch up to me. In a matter of seconds my work car was going double the speed limit, quickly approaching triple.

  I wasn’t heading to the hospital though, especially since I didn’t know which one it was yet.

  Quite the opposite.

  I was heading home.

  I was speeding back to my place, where Lexi’s only hope of survival awaited, completely unaware that her older sister was literally on the verge of death.

  “Freya, call Heidi,” I snapped urgently, seeing that she was already lifting the phone up to her ear, likely having had the same train of thought as me. She didn’t respond, her thoughts probably on Heidi and the horrible news she was about to deliver.

  “Nick,” I continued. “Lexi’s sister might be able to heal her. Don’t share that information with anyone other than the doctors, but we need to get her to Lexi as soon as possible.”

  “Heal her?” he repeated. “H-How? I’ve never heard of a super who could heal other people.”

  “Exactly,” I retorted, thinking back to our recent sledding trip when I proposed to Freya.

  On our way back home, we had come across a car accident that looked somewhat minor, but there was one person who was bleeding from a cut on their forehead. Without really thinking about it, I had casually asked Heidi if she wanted to stop to see if she could help.

  Her response was immediate.

  ‘Absolutely not.’

  Her expression had been a mixture of bewilderment and almost anger. It was the first, and only, time I had done or said something to make her upset at me. And she didn’t offer to explain her reaction either.

  It was Lexi who elaborated on her younger sister’s behalf, to explain the issue – Heidi’s superpower was extremely taxing on her body, as well as the person she was healing. I hadn’t fully realized the implications of what that meant at the time, but now I had a better idea after learning that Heidi used both her own energy and the other person’s during the process.

  Not to mention, if it was discovered she could do something so extraordinary, then she’d never have peace. People would be constantly requesting her services nonstop, even despite what it put her through physically, and she would find herself in a situation that was a thousand times worse than what she had to endure while she was Blaze’s prisoner.

  Over a hundred people were dying in the world every minute – over six thousand per hour – with half of those deaths not being related to old age. Even if a hundred-thousandth of those people tried to seek out healing, all of them with equal situations, she’d be overburdened.

  Doing more than two people in the same day would be hell for her, and yet how would she choose which two to do when she had several hundred people on their deathbeds every single day?

  Forget about the adults. How could she choose between a hundred children, all of them about to take their last breath? All of them with desperate parents, willing to do anything to save them?

  It just wasn’t a burden she could even begin to handle. It wasn’t a task she would be up for, even if she could heal people as fast as I could heal. Especially not if it required for her to consume weeks’ worth of calories in a single day to fix such life-threatening conditions.

  Even if Blaze hadn’t personally hurt her but a couple of times, it had still been miserable for her healing people on a regular basis.

  Her own living hell – different from Lexi’s, but still horrible in its own way.

  But to do it even more frequently?

  After realizing all that from her perspective, her response made perfect sense. If Rose hadn’t been in the vehicle, she probably would have been even more harsh about it, instead saying, ‘Hell no,’ or something even worse.

  “No one knows for a reason,” I continued saying to Nick. “Imagine what would happen if people knew?” I added.

  Nick was silent for a moment. “I don’t know, man. That superpower would be pretty useful, even if she just used it for–”

  “Nick!” I snapped. “I’m not having this discussion with you! Do. Not. Tell. Anyone! Understood?! Only the doctors!”

  “Okay, okay, man. Chill out.”

  I was far from chill.

  I slammed on the brakes to make a turn without flipping the car, my tires squealing against the pavement, before slamming on the gas again. Freya was already speaking to Heidi in a rush. I couldn’t hear Heidi’s responses, but I could imagine how she was reacting.

  Heidi didn’t handle stress well, unlike her older sister who had been exposed to escalated situations repeatedly over the course of her career as a superhero.

  Whereas Lexi could act under pressure, Heidi either freaked out or shut down completely.

  And sure enough, my suspicion was confirmed when Freya told Heidi to give the phone to Rose, only to lay out specific instructions for our daughter to follow. Other than making sure they were both ready, Freya had Rose pack a bag full of food, being well aware from Heidi’s thoughts that the younger sister would need a ridiculous amount of calories to try to save Lexi’s life.

  Granted…that was assuming we could get to the hospital in time…

  8: Sa
ving Loved Ones

  Heidi Stockton

  January 16, 2735 – 5 Hours Later – Midnight

  Heidi’s bony arms visibly shook as she grasped her sister’s raw skin tightly, feeling one of Sam’s astral limbs gently pressing around her hands to hold them in place, even though he wasn’t in the room at the moment. After the first three hours, she had been terrified she wasn’t going to be able to hold on anymore, her entire body shaking from the effort of using her power to its full extent.

  Now it had been a little over five hours of continuous concentration.

  Her entire body was borderline emaciated, despite the almost nonstop consumption of sugary junk food. But the problem was, she could only digest food a little faster than the average person, which left her feeling bloated despite the fact that she was beginning to look like she was starving.

  When their group had first arrived, the doctors freaked out when she began tearing off the gauze to get at her sister’s skin. But skin-to-skin contact was required for her ability to work. Or in her sister’s case, skin to tissue contact, since there was basically no skin left on the front of her body. And the damage would have been a lot worse if Lexi didn’t have some resistance to heat.

  A normal person definitely would be dead already.

  Heidi wasn’t even sure how they had managed to bring her back to life as it was, because the skin was only a minor problem compared to all the internal damage being healed. The only organ that seemed to be semi-functioning on its own was Lexi’s heart – even her brain wasn’t working properly. She had been borderline brain dead, with the doctors ready to call it when their group showed up, the medical staff already trying to discuss signing release forms to donate Lexi’s organs.

  The only reason they hadn’t already called it yet was because her brainstem was still barely functioning – that, and they needed someone in her family to approve the organ donations. She wasn’t even breathing on her own – they had a machine doing that for her, primarily to preserve her body, not because they had any hope of her recovering.