by Lola StVil
“If I have to, yes,” she says stubbornly.
“Bird,” I call out to her.
Swoop turns to face me. I haven’t called her “Bird” in years. I used to call her that back when she was learning to fly. Her wings were weak and fragile. She was learning basic flight patterns but she insisted on trying to outfly every bird in the sky. She marveled at their speed and once asked her parents if Omnis would ever let her fly as fast as the birds. They reassured her that she would someday be even faster.
“Silver, Key’s not like family to me, she is family. How can I let Bex tell her something that will crush her?” she asks.
“Bird, she can’t go on this way. She either faces the truth or it will wreck her whole life. The next time she gets high and loses her powers, there may not be anyone around to cover for her. You want to protect her, then arm her with the truth. We should have done this when it first happened,” I explain.
“Maybe Ruin and Bex are right. Maybe knowing just how bad things got with her drug use will help her fight her urges,” Randy says.
“In the end, Bird, you are her sister and if you don’t want us to tell her we won’t. But just so you know, she may turn to harder drugs. She could someday be a full-on Tic,” I add.
“What’s a Tic?” Randy asks.
“It’s an angel drug addict that is so far gone, their wings and soul start to…” Swoop is too emotional at the thought to finish her statement.
“Bird, what do you want to do?” I ask.
“Okay, Bex can tell her,” she replies in a small voice.
We call for Julian and Key to come downstairs and join us.
The two of them enter the living room. Key looks suspicious and worried. She then looks at our faces and it confirms that something bad is coming her way.
“Okay, so what’s going on?” Key asks.
“We want you to take the Soak,” Swoop says as she takes her sister’s hand.
“That’s great!” she replies.
“But before you do, there’s something you need to know,” Bex says.
“What is it?” Key says.
“Let’s go into the other room,” Bex suggests.
He walks over to her and lovingly places his arm around her. She looks into his face and sees the pain reflected in his eyes. She grows fearful and looks back at him anxiously. The two of them head for the dining room.
The doorway that separates that room from ours is made of glass. Once they enter and close the door, we don’t hear them but we can see everything. Bex has his back turned to us, but we have a clear view of Key.
Bex begins to gesture as he recounts the worst night of Key’s life to her. With every passing moment Key grows more and more apprehensive. Swoop takes my hand and squeezes it tightly.
From what I can gather, Bex is at the end of the story. He tells her exactly what happened to her in the alley. She shakes her head “no” and violently pounds against his chest. The more he tries to calm her down the more she rages against him. She strikes blow after blow as if fighting him off will rescind the horrible news.
Swoop, unable to take in the sight of her older sister’s agony, buries her head in my chest. East gently strokes her back and Randy places his hand on East’s shoulder. Julian looks on, concerned. As much as we want to intervene, all of us know that this is overdue.
Bex holds on to Key and no matter how much she tries to fight him, he refuses to let her go. Finally exhausted, her rage subsides and gives way to heartbreak. She sobs repeatedly as she crumbles to the ground.
Bex, unfazed by her attempts to push him away, kneels down to the ground and takes her in his embrace. This time she doesn’t push him away. She clings to him as if her life depends on it. I fear, that in many ways, it does.
* * *
Some time passes, more time than we have to spare, but there is no way to rush what Key is facing. I know Pry wouldn’t want me to go in there and force Key to come to terms with such a horrific event. So we stay where we are until Key is ready to face us.
When she emerges from the dining room, Bex is right behind her. He takes her hand protectively as she stands before us. Swoop leaps out and holds her tightly; she apologizes to her sister for allowing Bex to tell her the truth.
“No, I needed to know.” She replies in a weak voice that barely escapes her throat.
“I took your memory and I’m sorry. I didn’t think…we just wanted to help,” East tells her.
“I know,” she replies.
She turns to face me. It’s hard to read her expression. All I know is that for the first time since I’ve known her, Key seems…small. It’s as if she’s been reduced to a mere shadow of who she once was.
“You went to The Center because of me. I don’t know how to…what do I do to thank you?” she asks.
“There’s a good chance I would have killed the humans myself,” I admit.
“Why didn’t you tell them it was me?” she asks.
“We don’t betray the ones we love,” I remind her.
“I will make it up to you. I don’t know how but I will,” she vows.
“Don’t worry about Silver, he enjoyed the downtime while locked away. Taking the rap for you gave him a chance to work on his knitting patterns,” East replies.
“He’s right, there’s a scarf in your future,” I reply, smiling.
She embraces me. I feel her body tremble slightly against me. She’s scared. I embrace her and whisper in her ear that everything will be okay. When she pulls away and looks at me, I can see she’s not sure if anything will ever be okay again.
“Okay, I’m ready for the Soak, what do I have to do?” Key asks.
“I don’t know everything but I can guess something really messed up has happened to you. Is that right?” Julian asks.
“Yes,” she replies simply.
“I didn’t know you had endured a trauma. I thought it was just regular heartbreak. This changes things,” Julian adds.
“How so?” East asks.
“We need to be sure that the Soak is the right treatment for you,” he replies.
“It’s the fastest way to get me better. I need to rejoin my team,” she says.
“I get that, but remember you aren’t just an angel. You’re a Noru. That means you are stronger than other angels but so are your inner demons,” Julian warns.
“You think she could lock herself in?” Diana asks.
“It’s very possible. In that case taking a Soak would do more harm than good. In fact, it could be the worst thing for her.”
“Wait, I don’t get it,” Randy says.
“This time you are not alone, Randy. I have no idea what’s happening,” East replies.
“A Soak is often referred to as ‘The room with no doors,’” Julian explains.
“Why?” Randy asks.
“Going inside a memory is dangerous. You can get stuck there. Key being Noru I know she can face whatever normal demons haunt her subconscious. But as I said before, since she’s about to face major trauma, those inner demons might not be so easily slain.”
“What exactly does she have to do once she’s taken the Soak?” Bex asks.
“Her body will stay but her mind will go back to that night. Once there, she has to literally stop running from the memory and let it play out. But her subconscious will try and fight it.”
“He’s right. The event you are facing is utterly terrifying and your mind will do anything to run away. Ironically, the more you try to escape, the less likely you will be to make it out in time,” Diana says.
“The Soak has a timer?” I ask.
“She has three minutes to confront what is crippling her or she won’t be able to come back. She’ll be locked in that night forever. It’s called Enderma. It’s the Angel world’s version of a coma,” Julian says.
“Then forget it. She’s not doing it,” Bex says.
“I agree,” Swoop replies protectively.
“Then we won’t do it,” I reason.
“Wait, I want to do this,” Key protests.
“You could get stuck. You would be locked into your nightmare,” I remind her.
“Is there any other way for me to beat my addiction?” she asks Diana.
“Yes, there are lots of other vials you could take,” she replies.
“You see, we don’t have to do this,” Bex says, relieved.
“But the other vials will take longer to work, right?” Key persists.
“Soak can help you get better in a few hours. But other mixtures take longer,” Julian adds.
“How much longer?” I ask.
“Three to six weeks.”
“No! We can’t wait that long. Pry needs us. If we do the Soak then I can get better quickly and get back on the team. Silver, I want to do this, please.”
“Pryor wouldn’t want you to risk getting stuck,” I reply.
“I have placed this team in danger numerous times. We would already be on our way to save Pry if it wasn’t for me. Don’t you get it? I need to do this,” she pleads.
“Okay,” I reply reluctantly.
“Silver, you can’t agree to this. Did you hear what Julian said? She could get stuck there,” Bex shouts.
I signal for him to step away from the team so we can talk.
“This is a bad idea,” Bex says as soon as we’re out of earshot.
“It’s not my favorite option but look at her, Bex.”
He looks across the room at his girlfriend. She has her arms folded against her chest and her head is down.
“She’s feeling powerless and I think taking the Soak will give her a chance to get some of that power back. I don’t think she wants to do this; I think she needs to,” I inform him.
“So, what have you guys decided?” Julian asks.
“Key will take the Soak,” Bex says with great trepidation.
As we start setting up to administer the Soak, I have only one thought.
If Key isn’t strong enough to face what happened in the alley, we will lose her forever…
* * *
Julian brings out a glass basin and places it on the table at the center of the room. Diana helps him add various mixtures and pours them into the bowl.
“Hold out your hand,” Diana says to Key.
Nervously, Key does as requested. Diana uses a blade from her pouch and cuts into Key’s palm. She winces slightly as the silver blood drips from her hand and down into the pool of mixtures. Julian plucks a feather from her wings and drops it into the bowl as well. The mixture turns from light grey to black, then it begins to swirl around on its own.
“As it starts to build up speed, the Soak will seek out the angel whose blood and feathers were placed in the bowl. It will reach out for you. Do not fight it. Let it enter you. Once it does, you will lose consciousness and be taken to the night of your worst fear. We will watch it play out in the basin,” Diana says.
“We’ll be able to see what’s going on in her head?” Bex asks.
“Exactly,” Julian replies.
“What do I do once I get there?” Key asks.
“Endure,” Diana replies.
“You need to face whatever the fear is. Your instincts are going to be to run, but that would be a mistake. Stay, face it, and you’ll be back here before you know it,” Julian says.
“Like we said before, you only have three minutes. So the faster you confront the humans who did it, the better,” Diana reminds her.
“Will everything look exactly as it did that night?” I ask.
“No, it will look like whatever Key interprets it to be. We don’t know what it’ll look like until she’s inside the moment,” Diana explains.
“When I face my fear, then I’ll immediately be pulled out of the Soak?” Key asks.
“Yes,” Julian says.
“How will she know how much time she has left?” Swoop wonders anxiously.
“We told her she has three minutes, her subconscious is aware of that. It may reflect in the time limitation in many different ways. There may be the sound of a clock ticking or a watch somewhere in the alley. Whatever it is, pay attention to it. Once your time is up, if you have not faced your fear, you will be left in the alley—permanently,” Diana cautions again.
“Okay, I got it,” Key says bravely.
Bex takes her face in his hands and kisses her gently.
“I know we have a lot to work out but I love you. I love you so much,” he says.
“I know,” she replies softly.
Suddenly Swoop bursts into tears and covers her mouth with her hand. Key reaches out for her twin, the two embrace, and Key promises she will return.
“What if you don’t? What if you stay in that awful moment forever?” Swoop sobs.
“Hermes is about to unveil its new lineup of crocodile handbags, you know I’m not missing that,” she teases her twin.
“We have one more mixture to add, then the Soak will enter you,” Julian says.
The contents of the bowl move in a circular pattern and furiously pick up speed. The black mixture is now a miniature twister. It brings with it a gust of wind that threatens to throw us to the floor and shakes the foundation of the house. We are all forced to hold on to whatever is near us.
“The Soak is fully formed. We need to add the final ingredient now.” Julian shouts above the roar of the growing tornado.
Key braces herself and signals that she’s ready. Julian drops a red liquid into the growing twister. Right before our eyes, the twister leaps out of the bowl and inserts itself into Key’s eyes, nose, and mouth. The Soak picks her up off the ground, spins her in the air, and slams her faceup onto the floor.
“Key!” Bex shouts in a complete panic.
“She’s okay, she’s inside the Soak, look,” Diana says.
We look inside the basin on the table and watch an image start to form on the surface of the remaining mixture. The worst moment of Key’s life plays out before us.
Key is back in the alley of the bar where I found her that night. Above her, dark rolling clouds invade an angry crimson sky. A black bird with red eyes descends from the sky and perches itself along the roof of the building. Soon it’s joined by another and then another. The three birds look down at her.
The sky opens its gaping mouth and spits at Key in the form of an icy rain. It pours down on her with brute force. She gathers her jacket in an attempt to stay warm. Then she hears an ominous chanting coming from all directions. She looks around frantically but can’t find its origin.
Without warning one of the birds cries out and red blood seeps from its eyes. It falls to the ground, dead. Key looks over to where the bird fell and finds the animal’s blood has formed the shape of an hourglass. Key’s mind has given her three birds, one for each minute. She’s down to two birds, meaning she has two minutes to confront her fear.
Suddenly, shadowy figures spring up from the cold wet concrete and surround her. Key’s eyes widen with terror as the shadows get closer. She tries to take to the air only to find that her wings are gone. But the shadows go past her and head for a small tunnel a few yards away. Fearful that the second bird could die at any moment, Key bravely follows the shadows into the tunnel.
In the distance, she watches as the shadows come to life in the form of ravenous beasts with decaying flesh, fiery eyes, and fangs. They gather and converge on their prey.
She hears sobbing coming from the center of the vicious circle. She recognizes the voice; it’s hers.
Key dares to look even closer. She sees the “past” version of herself looking back at her from the floor. In the entryway of the dark tunnel, rain water rushes in and carries the corpse of the second bird with it. Key now has only one minute left to confront her fear.
She rushes to defend her “past” self from the creatures. In the midst of the battle, her former self manages to grab hold of Key and whisper something in he
r ear. We don’t hear what Key’s “past” says to her. Whatever it was, it shocked and disturbed Key. So much so that she curls up into a ball and sobs.
In the entryway of the tunnel, the third bird makes its way towards her, its feathers falling with every step and its movements unsteady. Key sees the last bird. She knows she now has less than a minute before the bird dies. Less than a minute until she is locked in her nightmare forever. The problem is, Key no longer cares…
Chapter Twelve:
Kill Her!
The panic in the living room is unlike anything I’ve seen before. Bex and Swoop are beside themselves, demanding that Diana and Julian wake Key up.
“We can’t wake her. She has to confront her fear or stay there, you know that,” Julian replies.
“Fine, if she can’t come out, I’ll go in and get her,” Bex vows.
“You can’t enter. It’s not your subconscious, Bex; it’s hers,” Diana reminds him.
“Well we need to do something, she’s just sitting there too traumatized to move,” East says.
“How much time does she have left?” I ask.
“The last bird is falling apart. It’s shedding and its eyes are glazing over,” Randy says.
“I need an actual number,” I demand.
“She has thirty seconds left,” Julian says.
“Key and I are from the same bloodline. Maybe if I drink the Soak, I can enter her memory,” Swoop says.
“It doesn’t work like that. You drink that Soak and we have no idea what it will do to you,” Diana counters.
“I don’t care. I’m willing to take that chance,” Swoop replies.
“I’m not. Bird, you can’t drink the Soak. Key wouldn’t want you to,” I remind her.
“I don’t care. I can’t lose her,” Swoop says as she heads for the basin.
“Wait, we can’t get her out but can we talk to her? Can she hear us?” Randy asks.
“It’s worth a try. Swoop, talk to her,” I tell her, desperate for her to get away from the basin.
Swoop runs over to Key and kneels beside her. We all kneel down and beg Key to get up.
“She’s still curled up in a ball, but she’s shaking her head ‘no’ inside the Soak. That means she can hear you,” Julian says as he looks into the basin.
