by Brea Essex
Serafina looked at me skeptically. I needed to distract her. “Are you worried, Serafina?” I reached out and caressed her cheek. “You know you’re always my number one.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” she asked breathlessly.
I had to make a fast decision. I knew she liked me, but I still loved Rae. Serafina didn’t need to know that though. “Yes, of course.” I pulled my hand away from her. “You’ll always be my number one lieutenant. I know I can always count on you.” With that, I spun on my heel, and headed down the corridor, leaving her crushed.
****
Logan
My back began to feel hot. A searing pain ripped through my muscles. I screamed and fell to my knees. What was happening to me?
I collapsed further to the floor, curling up in a ball on my side. Something felt as though it was trying to force its way out of my body. I don’t know how long I lay there — time had no meaning with the intensity of the white-hot agony I was experiencing. Finally, as suddenly as it began, it ended.
I stood slowly. Something was pulling me off balance. My back felt heavy, the muscles tensing strangely. Something grey on the edge of my vision caught my attention. I turned carefully, but the odd dark grey object eluded my sight. What was it? I stayed completely still, only turning my head this time.
Dark grey feathers hung in the air behind me. Where did those come from? I reached up and brushed my hand against them. Yep, they were definitely there — not a hallucination as I had hoped. I followed along the shape of the feathers, until I reached my back. They were coming out of me! Did I have wings?
Something was definitely strange here. Was I not human? The possibility that I might not be what I had thought stunned me. What sort of creatures had wings? I mused about that for a moment, trying to concentrate on that rather than my growing panic. I couldn’t come up with anything. I needed answers, but where would I find them? What people dealt with the supernatural?
The wings had completely torn through my shirt. It hung off me in tatters. I ripped it off the rest of the way. There was no use trying to put on a different one. Until I figured out how to get rid of these wings, or retract them back into my body, no shirt would fit.
I started cautiously down the stairs. No sign of my parents. I breathed a sigh of relief. No way could I explain this to them. Good thing Sera wasn’t there. She would have a heart attack if she saw.
My anger began to rise as I crept down the stairs and headed for the front door. Who had done this to me? Was this some sort of trick? I bet Raena had something to do with this. She had been weird lately — following me around, showing up at my house, insisting that there was something going on between us. I bet she had found some sort of witch and had a spell cast on me! Or maybe she was the witch.
I dashed for my car, determined to drive to Raena’s house and confront her. Where did she live? Maybe the spell attached me to her in some way. Spells had a way of forming some sort of bond between the caster and the victim, didn’t they?
I threw open the door to my car and jumped in, slamming the door behind me and simultaneously jamming the key into the ignition. I turned it on and shifted into reverse. Sitting in the driver’s seat with the wings tucked against my back was extremely uncomfortable, but there was no way around it.
When I reached Capitola, I drove around and around. I knew she must live somewhere near the Village. I had often seen her there. There was no sign of her. I felt no pull. Maybe she hadn’t cast a spell on me after all, or the rumors of spell casters and victims were false.
Where else could I find answers? If I couldn’t find the witch, then who else would know? I stopped in the middle of the street and spied a church sitting on the side of the road. That was it! Maybe I could find my answers there.
I pulled into the parking lot and shut off my car. The church seemed familiar somehow. Maybe I had passed it before. Jumping out of my car, I headed for the entrance. I threw the doors open. They banged against the walls with a resounding crack. I could tell the wood had fractured, but I didn’t care. I would find my answers here, even if I had to destroy the entire building to get them.
The priest was standing at the altar. He turned at the sound of my entrance. His eyes grew wide when they lit upon me. “L-L-Loga-an,” he stuttered.
I heard his heart skitter as it skipped a beat. The catch of his breath in his lungs was audible from the opposite side of the room. “Priest! How do you know me?”
His heart recovered, though it had sped up. His breathing regulated as he slowly approached me. “We’ve met before,” he said quietly.
“You’re insane.”
“It’s true, my son.”
My hands clenched. I started toward him, then stopped myself in my own tracks. I wanted to strangle the priest until he begged for each sweet taste of life-giving air. I wanted to watch his eyes roll back in his head as he lost consciousness. If I did that, I would never get the answers I so craved. I needed to take a different tactic.
Walking more slowly now, I sauntered toward him, stopping when I was approximately five feet from him. I couldn’t help but smirk when I noted how I towered over the diminutive man. “Tell me your name, priest.”
“Father Matthias. We’ve met before.” He frowned as he stared at the wings flaring out behind me. “Your wings. They’ve changed.”
This was not something I had been expecting to hear. “Tell me what you mean,” I ordered.
“They used to be a light grey. Now they’re as dark as steel. If you’re not careful, they will be fully black before long.”
“You’re speaking nonsense. These… things…” I gestured over my shoulder. “Appeared out of nowhere. They were already this color.”
He stepped closer to me and reached one hand out toward a wing. “What sort of spell does the witch have you under?” he murmured.
I drove my palm against his cheek. The resulting crack when my hand made contact with his skin was even louder than the crashing of the door. I watched uncaring as the force propelled him off his feet. He flew into some of the wooden seats that lined the church interior. Man and benches fell to the floor. I strode over to where he lay. “I ask the questions here. Consider this your only warning.”
He simply glared up at me, not speaking. “Good choice, listening to me.” I chuckled. There was something satisfying about seeing the man brought low by a simple blow. I leaned over him. “Now tell me, priest. What exactly am I?”
He shook his head. I grabbed the front of his robes and pulled him close to me. “Tell me!” I ordered, shaking him so violently that his head flopped back and forth.
I released him, pushing him back to the ground. There was a satisfying crack as the priest’s head hit the wooden benches. I turned and began pacing down the aisle. “What is it going to take for you to be honest with me, priest? Do I have to hurt you more?”
Movement sounded behind me. I whirled back around. The priest crawled away from where I had left him on the floor. He knelt on hands and knees before the altar. “Father, forgive him,” he whispered. “He knows not what he does.”
“Do you really think that’s going to help you, priest?” I roared, storming toward the altar where he knelt praying.
He was still whispering when I reached him. I grabbed him by his robes again, lifting him up to dangle helplessly in midair. His feet kicked uselessly at the empty air as I held him out at arm’s length.
“Look at you!” I laughed. “You’re as bad as a fish out of water. Does the little fishy need some air?” I sucked in a deep breath, blowing it in his face. It sent him swinging back and forth, surprising me at my own lung strength. Hmm, that might come in handy.
The priest still muttered to himself. “Say it louder so I can hear it, man!” I pulled him closer to me, wondering what he was babbling about.
His arm swung up, and a round metal object cracked against my head. I flinched, but didn’t drop him. Smoke flooded my eyes. I began coughing, gasping
for air. I released my hold on him and I heard a thud as he collapsed to the floor.
I couldn’t see anything. The smoke blinded me, burning my eyes and making them water. Tears streamed down my face. A strong scent hung in the air. “Is that… incense?” I choked out.
“Yes,” the priest’s voice came. I swung my fist in the direction of his voice, but nothing connected. “I’m sorry, Logan,” he continued. “It was the only thing I could think of. Now if you’ll calm down, I can try to help you.”
“I don’t need help! I need answers!” I threw my fist out again and this time I felt it hit. A muffled grunt came from the priest.
“Very well,” he said. The metal ball that apparently held the smoke smacked against my head again, this time hard enough to drop me to my knees.
“Just let me help you, Logan. We can break the spell.”
“There’s no spell!” I leapt to my feet and headed toward the doors, away from the smoke. “I’ll be back, priest. Don’t think you’ve seen the last of me.”
“I certainly hope not, son,” he called as I made my escape. “Remember I’m here to help.”
When I managed to get out of the church, I fell to the ground, gasping for air. I still didn’t have any answers. I felt the heaviness of the wings slowly alleviate. I looked behind me. Nothing there. I felt all along my back. They were gone. Well, I hadn’t gotten answers, but at least I had gotten rid of the wings. Hopefully they wouldn’t come back. I sprinted for my car and headed home.
Chapter Twenty
Raena
It had now been six months since my mother died. Not significant enough to begin to heal, to begin to forget. I needed to be alone.
I left my house, taking my keys, but not my car. There was no use in trying to drive it into the Village. It was September, but the tourists were still out in full force.
It was still early. I would go get some of my mother’s favorite flowers and put them in the water for her. Hopefully, the pier wouldn’t be too crowded yet.
As I approached the school behind my house, I noticed a figure exiting the church across the street. Logan! I hid behind the school’s sign. Hopefully he wouldn’t see me. Then he would really think I was stalking him. I stared hard at him. His wings were out. From where I stood, they looked darker. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. Why was he at the church? Maybe the spell was beginning to break? I couldn’t help but wonder how his wings had come out… it had originally happened when he fought Andrei. Had Andrei come after him yet again? He had sworn he was on my side now. Had he said that just so I would drop my guard and begin to trust him again?
Well, whatever happened, I hoped Logan’s wings were a good sign. Hopefully, the priest would help him. If he couldn’t, I didn’t know what else to do.
As I watched, crouched behind the sign, Logan’s wings suddenly retracted. He looked around at his back, then jumped in his car and sped off.
I crept out from behind the sign and watched him head down the road away from the Village. Maybe he was heading home. When I figured he was out of sight, I started walking again, this time heading in the opposite direction.
Tears streamed down my face as I approached the church. I had to speak with the priest. I needed to know what had happened. Cautiously, I pulled one of the heavy, carved, wooden doors open. The priest was nowhere to be seen.
I walked up to the altar. Incense smoke hung in the air. “Father Matthias?” I called softly.
No answer. I noticed tall white candles off to the side, some lit, some not. I wandered over to them.
“Prayer candles,” a voice said behind me.
I whirled. Father Matthias stood behind me. “People have to stop doing that to me!”
“What do you mean?”
“Sneaking up on me.”
He laughed. “I did not mean to. You did call for me, after all.”
That was true. “Yeah, I suppose I did.”
“Who else has been sneaking up on you?”
“You, my foster mom, Ismene…”
Frowning, he said, “I have heard of the psychic. You would do well to not trust her.”
“Funny, she said the same about you.”
“Then why are you here, my child?”
Good question. “I, umm… I thought I saw Logan leaving.”
“Yes,” he said simply.
Prying information out of this priest was like pulling teeth. “What happened?”
He gestured behind us. “See for yourself.”
I turned and saw the rubble of several broken wooden benches. Why didn’t I notice those when I first came in? I guess I had been too preoccupied. “Oh wow.”
“Yes, Logan is not the same. He is being pulled further and further under the witch’s spell.”
“What can we do?”
“I’m trying to come up with a solution.”
I hesitated. “Ismene said she would help.”
He did not look happy. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. “I wouldn’t trust the psychic any more than I would the witch.”
“But she’s helped me before.”
“What exactly has she done to help?”
“She… well, she warned me.”
“And what has she done beyond that?”
What had she done? She had promised me that she would come up with a solution to save Logan, but I hadn’t heard from her. Maybe I should stop and talk to her.
Father Matthias’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “Just be cautious of what she has to say.”
“Okay. These days, I’m being cautious of what everyone has to say.”
That elicited a small smile from him. “That is a wise choice.”
“I should go.” I wasn’t getting anywhere here.
“Feel free to stop by anytime. I hope to have some answers for you soon.”
“Thanks.” I probably wouldn’t be coming back. He hadn’t been any help. I headed toward the doors.
“Raena?”
I paused. “Yes?”
“I want to help him just as much as you do. Remember that.”
“No offense, Father, but I doubt that.”
“Believe what you will. But know this. The world needs him, and it needs him to be his old self, his true self.”
I nodded, not sure what to say. I walked out, still trying to puzzle out his meaning.
I checked the time on my phone as I stepped outside. Later than I had hoped, but maybe I would still miss the tourists. I headed down the street, pausing on the sidewalk in front of the park, the park where Logan and I had looked for Nuada when she had gone missing. He had snuck up behind me that night, scaring me half to death, but after I had yelled at him, he had been really sweet. He helped me look for her. It was the first time I saw his true personality that he buried underneath the sarcasm and self-assurance. I missed him so much.
A single tear trailed down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away. Crying wasn’t going to help anything. I needed to come up with a solution. First, I needed to take flowers to my mom.
I started walking again. Finally I reached the small store across the street from my work that sold flowers. I bought a bouquet of pink carnations — my mother’s favorite — and headed toward the Village.
I hesitated when I reached the beginning of the pier. So many bad memories centered around that pier, but there was no need to fear anymore, right?
Shrugging off my uncertainty, I stepped onto the wide wooden boards. I clutched the flowers so tightly I thought I might snap the stems. A board creaked under my foot and I froze. I laughed at myself. I was acting silly. Andrei was on our side now. Nothing else would come through the portal… hopefully.
I wandered out to my favorite spot at the end of the pier. It was clear and sunny for once. I could see all the way to Monterey on the other side of the peninsula. I closed my eyes to absorb the feeling of the sun beating against my face.
“Well, well… if it isn’t my stalker.”
Logan! I whirled to face him. He wore h
is leather jacket despite the growing warmth of the day. His brow was pulled together in a scowl. I looked around. He was alone for once.
“You’re here,” I whispered.
“Don’t think anything of it, Crazy. I’m not here for you.”
I took a step closer to him. “Then why are you here?”
For a brief instance, he looked confused. His expression softened. “I don’t know. I felt like I needed to come here, like something was drawing me here.” Then the scowl came back. “But if you think it had anything to do with you, then you really are crazy.”
“I never said…”
“So you’re actually here without your entourage?”
“My…? You mean Nuada?”
“Yeah, and that idiot Tristan. And who is that creepy old guy?”
He must mean Andrei. I would have laughed if it hadn’t been so sad that Logan didn’t remember. To me, Andrei looked like the eighteen year old he claimed to be. Maybe since Logan was basically immortal too, Andrei looked like the several thousand-year-old being he actually was. “Umm… Andrei?”
“Yeah. Who the heck is that guy?”
“You really don’t remember, do you?”
“For the last time, Raena, I don’t remember all of these conversations, events — whatever you claim I should. Now leave me alone about it!”
I cringed a little at the anger in his tone, but there was hope in that one word: my name. “You called me Raena.”
“Well, don’t get used to it, Crazy. I still think you need therapy.”
Great. We were back to that. I wondered what he would say if he found out that Genevra had sent me to therapy. He’d probably laugh and make even more fun of me than he already was. “I still think you’ll remember someday.”
His eyes narrowed. “What are you doing out here anyway?” He snatched the flowers out of my hands. “These aren’t supposed to be for me, are they?”
“No! How would I have known you were going to be out here anyway?”
“Because you stalk me. It’s not going to work, Crazy.” In one swift motion he snapped all of the stems in half, then tossed the flowers at his feet.
