I think Matt was getting a little flustered with the time, I tell Cali.
“You only need to bring your phone, I’ve got everything else,” he said to me.
He got out and went around to the trunk. I got out also, and as I closed my door, he closed the trunk wearing a backpack. He took my hand and led me to the entrance of Mount Tabor Park.
“Okay, there are a few trails we can do. The soft surface is my personal favorite, but there are other ones.” He looked at me for my input.
“Soft surface sounds good,” I said. “As long as it has a peak to it.”
“Soft surface it is,” he said.
Matt started walking the closest trail very sure-footed. I followed him less sure. It’s been a while since I’ve done any sort of hiking. He asked me about where I grew up if there were trails around there. I deflected as much as possible, but I don’t tell Cali that.
We came down and went around what I thought was a lake, but Matt told me it’s one of the city reservoirs. We loop back through the trees through a clearing passing the reservoir again. Then we started what felt like, and ended up being, a wide sloping loop that was the bulk of the hike.
We ended up at a clearing that was high enough to see a lot of the city. Matt took out two water bottles and granola bars from his backpack. We saw downtown to the west and Mount Hood way in the distance to the northeast. Matt pointed everything out to me, I’m not good with direction.
We stayed at the top long enough to see the sun start to set over the city. It got a bit chilly so I put my thermal on and Matt pulled me close. We took a picture with the city framed behind us and the sky a bunch of colors.
I show it to Cali and she tells me that we “look so good together”.
Before it got too dark, we made our way back down stopping at the famous volcano “crater.” We passed a playground and Matt pointed out Mount St. Helens in the background. I could just see it, but night was coming quick and it was almost too dark to tell.
When we got back to the car, it was almost completely dark. Matt put his backpack into the trunk and took out another bag as well as my own. He pointed out the restrooms, and we split up to changed.
I took my hair out of my ponytail and freshened up before putting on the clothes Cali had laid out for me beforehand: super tight, light wash jeans and a mocha colored sweater (that I again didn’t know I had). She gave me a slouchy off-white scarf to use later if I got chilly. She had put a pair of Mickey’s heels on the bed, but I nixed that so I put on a pair of slip-on Vans.
Matt was waiting for me outside when I finished dressing. He had on a chocolate brown button down, the perfect shade jeans that must have been tailored specifically for him, with a brown leather belt and brown shoes. He whistled as he got a full look at me and I told him he looked amazing.
“Not as good as you,” he responded.
We looked like a couple. That’s all I could think about as we got back into the car. I didn’t pay attention to where he drove, I just couldn’t stop looking at him.
We parked nearby at Wolverine Brewery and went in for dinner. Before our meals came, we did a tasting of all eight beers they make and each picked a favorite. Matt had me laughing so hard that the beer threatened to fly out of my nose. He filled me in on what I had missed the last few days being holed up in the basement.
I told him how sometimes it’s pretty interesting down there, and other times it feels like my brain has gone numb. I left out what I’ve actually been doing down there and immediately felt guilty about it.
After we finished eating, I excused myself to the bathroom as the waiter cleared our plates. When I came back, Matt had three white roses in his hand. I don’t know where he got them or how he knew, but white roses are my favorite flower. He handed them to me as the waiter came back with full mugs of each of our picks from the tasting.
The conversation was easy. It was funny, it was light, it was as if we’d been like this for years. I asked him to tell me more about what it was like growing up with Cali, he asked me my favorite story about my mother. We kept touching each other — light rubs of the arm, his hand at the small of my back guiding me, me holding his hand in the car, he took my hand at the table and brought it to his lips kissing the inside of my wrist.
He picked up the check and we walked back to the car hand in hand. When he was about to open the door for me, I stopped him and pushed him against the car. I had been holding myself back the entire night, but I just couldn’t help it anymore. I kissed him with a salaciousness I didn’t know I had.
When I say this to my roommate, she smacks my shoulder and says, “Damn, Lex!”
He flipped us around and pressed himself into me. I gripped the collar of his shirt in both of my hands pulling him closer to me. I swiped my tongue across his lip and he opened his mouth to me, he tasted like beer and barbecue sauce.
It was as if the dream I had had a week ago was coming true. His touch set my body on fire. I wanted all of him. One of his hands went around my waist, and then the other trailed down to my—
**********
“Whoa! Whoa!” Cali cuts me off before I can give her any more juicy details. “Moose is like my brother, Lex. I don’t really want to hear the naughty details.”
“Okay,” I laugh. “Well, then how about I just sum up the rest of the night?”
“Yes, I think that would be best.”
“Well after an intense make-out that left both of us wanting more,” I look at her with purpose. “I know because I could see and feel it.”
Cali sticks her fingers in her ears and goes, “La-la-la-la-la.”
I take her hands away from her head and say, “He dropped me off and we said goodnight.”
“Sounds like it was a good time.”
My face warms as I replay the entire night again in my head at warp speed. I can’t deny anymore how much I like Matt, and it makes my whole body respond knowing that he likes me that much too.
“It was the best date I’ve ever been on.”
“Oh my god, that’s so cute!” my roommate teases me. She laughs at me a bit as I fan myself.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Oh, right. My light, bubbly mood changes quickly to a more serious, sober one.
“Right,” I take a deep breath. “We’ve known each other a while now, right?”
Cali nods.
“And I’ve told you before I’m slow to trust, and you respected that completely. But now you know that I trust you, right?”
“Right.”
“Okay, so there is something I want to tell you, but I don’t know how you’ll respond to it, but I really want you to know because I trust you and I think you can handle it, and I could definitely use your help with it, but I also hope you won’t hate me—”
“Lex, slow down,” Cali interrupts me. She takes my hands in hers and holds tight. “Just tell me. Whatever it is, I promise I’ll listen.”
I open my mouth, but no sound comes outs. Now that the moment is here, it’s harder than I thought it would be.
“I’mthereasonyougotattacked.” I blurt it out all as one word and then I freeze and stare at my roommate.
Cali’s brow is furrowed as she first tries to understand what I’ve said then what it means. “Wait, what?”
“I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant to say.”
“Okay, then try again. ‘Cause I have no idea what you mean.”
“Can I just talk and you wait until I’m done? I think that might make this easier.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Okay,” I exhale again. “Okay. I don’t know specifically who the men are who attacked you, but I know why they were in Portland. They were here looking for me. The reason Milo reacted so strongly to them is because, in my world, they are what’s called Victus. They are the soldiers of demons, actually of one in particular.
“Milo can sense evil and supernatural beings like a Victus because he has powers of his own, and has been
trained to protect me, and the people I love, from them. He can also understand everything you, or I, or anyone says, on top of his enhanced abilities.
“So, the reason those guys were here for me is because I’m a witch. Well, I’m actually a descendant of multiple magical species, but witch is easiest to explain. Not which, like which one. But witch like pointy hat and broomstick. Not that I wear a pointy hat or fly on a broom.”
Cali squeezes my hands which stops me from spiraling off topic. I take a deep breath before I continue.
“I, umm, I have powers, like magical ones. And I’m being pursued, well, hunted really, by a powerful demon named Darius who wants to kill me and take my powers so he can open the portal to his home world — a place that is literally worse than what we know as hell. And if that happens, it will be the end of the human world as we know it.
“I’ve been on the run for five years searching for the key to defeating Darius, and, I guess for lack of a better term, saving the world. And I have finally found it. It’s a book literally called The Book, and it’s been in the basement of the library for years. I don’t know how it got there, but I guess that’s not really important.
“The Book in Darius’s hands would be very dangerous. It means the end of me, us, of all of this. And I think he somehow knows I found it, which is why those guys were here in Portland.
“Basically, I need your help, Cali. Now that I’ve found The Book, I can use it to stop Darius. But I can’t do it alone.”
Cali won’t look directly at me. Her eyes move from her hands in mine, to Milo who is curled up at my feet, to the TV that is turned off. She slowly pulls her hands away and rests them in her lap. The rejection of her pulling away hurts so much more than I thought it would.
Finally, she looks me in the eye. “I don’t even... I mean, what are...” Cali starts and stops, her words getting caught in her throat. “Lex...”
I wince and clear my throat before I say, “There’s one more thing.
“My name is not Alexa Pearce.”
PART
THREE
● 45 ●
Cali
“Wait, what?”
Alexa starts and stops multiple times but Cali jumps in again before she gets out a full thought.
“It sounded like you just said your name isn’t your name.”
Alexa looks down at her lap and quietly mumbles “It’s not.”
“Okay, then what exactly is your name?”
Her roommate won’t look up. She starts scratching at a seam on her sleeve. “I, uh, I can’t tell you that.”
“You can’t tell me that.”
“No, not just yet.”
Cali stands up from the couch and starts to pace in front of the TV. Milo sits up from his spot under Alexa’s feet. He stays seated, but his head turns to follow Cali’s movements back and forth. She runs her hands through her auburn hair. She looks up at the ceiling and lets out a long sigh.
“Okay, let’s recap,” she says. Alexa still won’t look directly at her.
“Hey,” Cali says waving her hands in front of her. “You trusted me enough to tell me all of this. Could you please look at me?”
Alexa finally looks up and makes eye contact with her roommate. “Okay, can you trust me now to just like, process all of this?”
Alexa nods.
“Alright, so let me see if I’ve got this right, and feel free to jump in if I get something wrong. You are not just a librarian, you are a witch who is on the run from a really old demon who wants to kill you, steal your powers, and use them to open the portal to his home which is very similar to what we know as hell, and that would be the end of the world.”
“As we know it, yes.”
Cali holds both index-fingers up and turns her head away. In a clipped tone she says, “Not done.”
“Sorry.”
Cali resumes her pacing. “So the demon sent his victors out here—”
“Victus.”
“Victus out here to find you. And you’re here because you’ve been searching for the very aptly and originally named, The Book.”
“Which I’ve found.”
“Which you’ve found. And this book will teach you everything you need to know about killing the demon, which will close the portal to his hell-like world that he created and therefore, prevent him and any other demons from destroying the earth.
“And as if that wasn’t hard enough to believe — because trust me, it is — it’s still not the hardest thing to wrap my head around. Not only is your name not Lex, but you can’t even tell me what it really is? I mean, what the fuck dude?!”
Alexa bites her lip and flinches a little. Cali takes a deep, steadying breath.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. But you can tell me all that other stuff, but not your real name? Why?”
Alexa sits quietly for a minute. She sucks in a long breath and explains, “I’ve had to use fake names since I was eighteen, Cali. For the entire time I’ve been searching for The Book and on the run from Darius. In that time I haven’t told anyone my real name because there hasn’t been anyone I could trust. Until now. Until you.
“I’ve tried to be as off the grid as possible. I don’t know what kind of reach or network Darius has, and using fake identities was just another way of protecting me and my family. I didn’t know if he could track debit cards, or job applications, or rent checks, or social media. If I had used my real name or told someone it then maybe he catches me a couple years ago when I was in Phoenix. That happens and you and I are not only not having this conversation right now, but most likely we are both dead.
“It’s safer to keep using a fake name. It’s safer for you not to know my real name, both for me and for you. Until I can tell Mickey and Matt the truth, it’s just easier for you to keep calling me Lex.”
“Well, now that I know it’s not the truth, I don’t know if it is easier.”
“Cal,” Alexa pleads.
“No, stop. Please, just give me a minute.”
Cali turns perpendicular to her friend to stare at the living room windows. She stands still with her hands on her hips quietly thinking. She suddenly walks into the kitchen and opens the fridge to take out the water pitcher. Changing her mind, she closes the door, opens the freezer and grabs the bottle of vodka that is on its side next to the ice cube trays. She takes it out, unscrews the cap, and takes a long swig straight from the bottle.
She makes a face as she swallows then grabs two glasses and goes back to the couch plopping down next to her roommate. She pours two fingers of vodka into each glass and hands one to Alexa. She clinks the glasses together and downs hers in one gulp.
“Alright,” she says holding her empty glass next to her cheek. “I’ve known you for a long enough time to know this isn’t some joke you’re playing on me. And as far as I know, you’re not crazy.”
She pours herself some more vodka and again swallows it all at once. “So I want to believe you, but I’m having a very hard time wrapping my brain around it.”
“What if I could show you something that would help you know a little more? Help you understand.”
Cali takes another sip of vodka. “Like what?”
Alexa gets up and goes into her bedroom. Cali looks at Milo thinking about what Alexa said, that he can sense evil. She thinks back to how protective he became the other day. How he was just waiting for the green light to attack those guys. And how he didn’t calm down until he was told multiple times that everyone was okay. Cali reaches out to the dog to give him a grateful scratch behind his ears.
Alexa comes back holding a wooden box. She sits back down on the couch and hands it to her roommate. Cali runs her fingers over the beautifully carved top.
“Hope will heal the world,” she says out loud, reading the shallow inscription that’s been painted silver.
Alexa nods and removes a chain from around her neck. Hanging off of it is a key. She holds out her hand, silently asks Cali for the box back. She puts
the key in its hole and turns, unlocking it. She opens it and the first thing Cali sees is a thick stack of twenties. Alexa moves them and sifts through until she pulls out a piece of paper.
“I’ll explain everything that’s in here after you read this.”
Alexa hands the paper to Cali. When she unfolds it, she sees how fragile the page is — as if it has been unfolded and read thousands of times. Cali holds the paper carefully, paying extra attention not to rip it. When she’s done, she folds the paper and hands it back to her roommate.
My Name Is Not Alexa Pearce Page 26
