by Thomas Grave
“Nice,” he whispered, closing his palms.
That was one problem solved, now to get out of here and fast. Only how had he done it earlier? There was no doubt about it—he had teleported when he grabbed Jared by the neck. But how to access it. It was time to experiment. He thought of the destination he wanted and then . . . blinked.
Monday, 9:19 pm
Hope stared through the windshield of her car, gritting her teeth. If she had not been so worried about her brother, she would’ve been fuming. Furious. Livid. What was he thinking being out this late, especially in a neighborhood like this?
The only reason they knew about it was because, as kids, Sebastian’s mother used to bring them to the coffee shop for its pastries. But that was over a decade ago. Since then, the neighborhood had become dangerous, particularly at night.
When she found him, she was going to kill him. There was no doubt in her mind of that. If Jared thought he was the better twin at MMA, he had another thing coming.
She pursed her lips, then shook her head. “I’m going to kill him.”
A drop of rain hit her windshield. Then another.
“Great,” she muttered.
As soon as she parked her car and swung open the door, she heard some sort of explosion.
“What was that?”
A feeling of dread instantly struck her. Somehow she knew Jared was involved. Maybe it was a twin’s intuition. She leapt out of the car and slammed the door shut, her heart racing in her chest. She dashed toward an alley where she thought the source of the sound came from. Just as she was about to round the corner into the alley, she heard a familiar voice call her name from the opposite direction. She turned back toward her car and stopped in her tracks.
“Sebastian?” she said. “What are you doing here?”
Sebastian greeted her with a hearty smile and cruised over to her. “Heeeeeeey, Hope. I was . . . just having dinner with Mom. She has a case or something around here and told me to meet her.” He extended his arms to give her a hug.
She didn’t fall for it. She shook her head. “But how did you even get out here?”
There was a short silence.
“B—bus,” replied Sebastian. He gave her what he hoped was a convincing smile.
“Bus? It takes half an hour to get downtown on the bus. Didn’t you say you were asleep like, ten minutes ago?”
Scratching the back of his head, he giggled for a second and shook his head. “N—no. I never said I was at home when you called me,” he said. “I was here with Mom. Yeah. That’s it. She had to take a call and she was outside on the phone for a while. Maybe a case or something? I guess I got bored because it was so late and fell asleep in the booth, ya know?” He offered a shrug, trying to be casual.
Hope smiled, cocking her head ever so slightly. “You don’t think it’s quite a coincidence that in all of Baltimore you happen to be having dinner with your mom right where Jared’s location was pointing to?”
Awkward silence. He stared at her.
“Crap.” Sebastian exhaled loudly, looking anywhere but at her.
Hope blinked, flabbergasted. “Sebastian, what the hell?”
“Um. Well . . .”
“Explain,” she warned, pushing him hard in the chest. “I want the truth.”
“Okay,” he whispered, defeat in his voice. He took a deep breath, “But you’re not going to like it.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“I need to tell you something . . .”
Digging in his pocket, Sebastian pulled out Jared’s phone and held it out to her, motioning for her to take it. “I didn’t want to have to be the one to tell you this. But you should hear it from me.”
“Sebastian,” she began, her tone unsettled, “why do you have Jared’s phone?”
“He gave it to me as a down payment for some cash. Said something about clearing his head for a few days.”
The irritation drained from her face.
Sebastian continued. “I didn’t want to take it, but he was insistent.”
She closed her eyes and let her head fall forward onto her chest. She sighed. “Dammit, Jared.”
“You know how Jared can be.”
Her face flushed. “Yeah, I do.”
Taking the phone from his hand, tears welling in her eyes, she asked, “How much do I owe you?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Cash,” she said, fumbling in her jacket pocket with shaky hands. “How much do I owe you?”
“What? No. Hope.” He grabbed her, hugging her tight. He whispered, “He’s my best friend, okay? I got this.”
She nodded.
“It’s late. Go home. He said to give him a day or two.”
She slid her arms beneath his jacket and he felt her hands on the contours of his back. They hugged for a few seconds before she finally pulled away.
“Remember,” Hope said, rubbing the heel of her palm across her cheek. “Call me if you hear anything.”
He nodded. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Gently, she placed her hand on his chest, directly over his heart, and whispered, “You’re going to be fine, okay?”
He nodded again, not knowing what else to do.
Moving her hand up to his face, she gazed into his eyes and gave him a sad smile. Then she turned and climbed into her car. He waved while he watched her drive away until her car disappeared from view.
His shoulders slumped and his face fell as he thought about what had just happened. With that whole exchange, he felt terrible. He never lied, and now this? Talk about one of the worst nights of his life.
Now that Hope was safe, Sebastian had to check on Jared. He’d lost control of his power and Jared had suffered for it. Though he didn’t exactly know the complete rules of how deaths should occur, he was positive that what had happened to Jared was not usual. He needed to do something.
He blinked back to the alley. He snapped his fingers, commanding the Purgatorium ripples to come. They immediately responded to his call, flowing in from every direction, putting him back into the world of the dead.
Monday, 9:23 pm (Purgatorium)
“Jared!” he called out. Somehow he had to fix this.
No response.
“JARED,” he shouted louder.
He blinked himself back out of the alley into the center of the street. Blinking was something he was going to have to get used to. So far, every time he teleported he became completely disoriented. How, exactly, did Nightcrawler do this? One thing was for sure: Focusing on one thing, blinking, and then appearing in a different location was a sure fire way to get a massive headache. The human brain was clearly not designed for blinking. He would probably get used to it over time, but for now, it was a colossal goblet of suck. He took a moment and cleared his head.
This street was even more dilapidated and depressing than the alleyway. Besides the typical burnt-out buildings, broken windows, and cracked pavement, shadows moved about unnaturally. Jared must have taken off to get somewhere safe. He had to be hiding out somewhere. And judging by some of the screams and howls echoing through the air, Jared would need to stay hidden.
Tuesday, 6:15 am
The morning alarm went off. Sebastian rolled over, clicked the off button and laid his head back down on the pillow. He stared at the ceiling, thinking. He wanted to go back to sleep but his mind wouldn’t let him. He hadn’t gotten back to his bed in the world of the living until two in the morning. He’d wandered the dark, strange streets of Purgatorium for hours, calling out for his friend, but no luck. It was the Elder who’d finally told him he had to give up, that his power level was too low, that if a danger confronted him, as it surely would, he’d be powerless to fight back. Reluctantly, he returned to his bed. Somehow though, he’d find Jared. He had to.
His phone vibrated on his nightstand, bringing with it that annoying buzz he’d come to hate. He picked it up, swiped his finger and was going to say “hello” when Hope’s voice cut him off.
/> “Did you hear from him?” she asked, the concern in her voice evident.
“No,” answered Sebastian, a tightness in his chest.
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, not your fault. Are you going to Sara’s funeral?”
“Sara’s funeral?”
“It’s today.”
Sebastian nearly jumped out of bed. “Today?”
“Oh. You didn’t know . . . I thought your mom would have told you. I forgot to mention it last night because I was so concerned about Jared but sometime after you left school, they announced it over the loud speaker. If anyone wanted details about her funeral, they could be picked up at the front desk.”
“Oh.”
“You need to go.”
“No. I don’t,” he replied, voice hardened.
“You’re hurting right now, anyone can see that. Going will offer you that sense of closure you need. It’ll be good for you.”
He knew she was right, of course. But it was just so hard.
She continued. “Do it for Sara. Do it for yourself. Who knows, maybe Jared will show up.”
The mention of his name again rang deep inside of Sebastian. He shuddered at the idea of where Jared was. Soon he was going to have to tell her something.
“Okay,” he told her.
“Good. Starts at eleven. I’ll meet you there.”
Tuesday, 10:04 am
Beeep . . . beep . . .
Sebastian eyes peeled open and he reached out to whack his alarm clock. As soon as he’d gotten off the phone with Hope, he’d rolled over and fallen back asleep. He dreamt of Jared. In his dream, his friend was standing in a decrepit alley, all alone. The Jared in his dream would try to walk somewhere, try to find a way out of the alley way, but something invisible was stopping him, some kind of glass wall, surrounding him completely. Every way he turned, the invisible force was there. Sebastian was trying to call out to him, to help him, but he was paralyzed, his voice silent.
Now, he looked at his alarm clock. It was time to shower and get dressed. He rose from his bed, the memory of the dream of Jared trapped still lingering in his brain, and made his way to the bathroom. He got dressed in his black church suit. His mom came into his room a few minutes later dressed in slacks, a dark blue silk blouse, and a form-fitting black suit jacket that left no room for her gun. It had to be in her small, black purse she carried.
She looked like she’d hadn’t gotten any sleep either, but at least her fatigue was covered with makeup. Sebastian didn’t think he could pull that off.
Tuesday, 11:09 am
The sky above them was a perfect blue without a streak or a cloud. Sebastian heard a cold front was coming in tonight and it would probably snow, but for now, everything was perfect.
The Baltimore Cemetery appeared well taken care of as Sebastian stood in front of the white, wooden folding chairs. The smell of flowers and freshly-mown grass filled his senses. The sun was bright, reflecting off the tombstones, which displayed their weather-worn inscriptions. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a few people standing before some of the gravestones.
Mounds of flowers lay neatly arranged on the ground surrounding Sara’s casket, and several bouquets were piled on top as well. There were more flowers here than Sebastian had ever seen. Most of the people standing around were students. Sara had only been at the school for a couple of months, so it was amazing she had made this kind of impression.
Hope stood a few feet away, dressed in a short, black dress. In her hand, she held a couple of white roses, letting them hang down by her legs. He liked the cute little black barrette that held back a small portion of her platinum blonde hair. He’d never seen her like this before. Normally, it was t-shirts and jeans with holes in the knees.
“You look like death,” she told him.
His lip curled at that statement.
As they made their way over to their seats, a light breeze passed over him. Leaves rustled from the tree branches above. Something about the sound reminded him that Sara was here, listening, watching. It was somewhat comforting, yet made him sad at the same time.
He opened his suit jacket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his inside pocket. He put them on and waited for the funeral to start. Crying was not an option. He had not cried in the past seventeen years of his life. But if he had learned anything in the past few days, it was that he couldn’t control everything. So he wore the sunglasses just in case.
The pastor stepped up to the front podium to speak. He was a bald elderly man, dressed in a black jacket that fell to his knees. Under the jacket, he wore a white dress shirt with a black tie. In his hand was a black, leather bound bible. He opened his bible to a bookmarked page and began to speak.
He talked about her hobbies, her beauty, her potential—most likely all referenced from things her parents had told him. Sebastian’s name was mentioned at some point in the pastor’s sermon. Apparently, she was the happiest when they were together. Sebastian had always wondered what her parents thought about him. He had never met them, only seen pictures. Every time he asked Sara about them, she always found a way to change the subject.
The pastor’s voice droned on and Sebastian let his mind drift away, drift back in time to an image of her standing at his door.
She held up three movies. “I got Twilight Samurai, Hidden Assassins, and Seven Samurai. Which one would you like to watch?”
He blinked in surprise. It was so early. He’d stumbled out of bed to get the door, her knocking unceasing, and he was still groggy.
She waved the movies in his face, taunting him with a slight smile. He took in her appearance and became more awake. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail that brought out her eyes. She wore no makeup but was as beautiful as ever. Maybe more.
She wore pajama bottoms and a tight, white, tank top; her black bra was visible beneath it. Some girls at school would call the look trashy, but what did they know? To Sebastian, she was sexy as hell.
She paused at the entrance and eyed the door frame, pursing her lips in a sweet smile. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“Of course,” he said. Sebastian motioned her toward the living room. “Come on in.”
She eyed the door frame one last time before hesitantly crossing the threshold. Once inside her smile widened and she said jokingly, “And I’m okay with Call of Duty too, if you wish.”
She pushed past him, landing her shoulder into his chest playfully.
He was speechless. Thank goodness his mom was already at work. On Saturday mornings, she was usually at work by 6:00am, which was insane.
Her gaze wandered from one side of the living room to the other. “Cute house.”
“What is your fascination with those movies?” he said, closing the door behind her.
She turned to face him, her face serious. “Why? Don’t you like them?”
“Well, yeah. But I’m a guy. What about you? Why do you like them?”
“Hmm. I honestly have no idea. I guess I could say that I really respect the honor and all that. But the truth is, I really enjoy the gore of somebody getting ripped apart!”
Sebastian chuckled.
“Actually, I just wanted to spend the day with you, the whole day. Sun up to sun down. You’re my boyfriend and I’m giving you the attention you deserve,” she told him, poking him in the chest.
“Really?” he asked, unable to hide his grin.
“Really. Now I’m going upstairs to your room to put one of the movies on. I like my eggs scrambled, two pancakes and some orange juice,” she said with a wink.
It was at that moment when he realized he loved her. Her casual manner, her confidence.
He kept his eyes on her as she made her way up the stairs. He admired her body, the way she moved with grace and finesse. Her balance was always centered, like a dancer, but with more curves in all the right places.
With a smile on his face, he went to the kitchen and starte
d making her breakfast. They spent the rest of their day watching Samurai movies, YouTube videos of Samurai, ninjas, and kittens fighting. Relaxing with her. Being with her. It was one of the best days he’d ever had.
Sebastian’s grin stretched from ear to ear. When the memory faded, it left him back into the present. The pastor asked if anybody wanted to come up and say something about her. There were a few murmurs from the crowd, yet nobody stood.
He felt guilty. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t. Sara was a light in the world, now there was only a void in his heart. He stared at the ground, wishing the words would come. Yet, they didn’t. Only a lump in his throat.
“I’d like to say something,” he heard from the row behind them. He turned and his eyes fell on Grayson.
Grayson? First he had bailed him out in Mr. Thompson’s class, and now he was going to say something at her funeral? This was interesting. He couldn’t help but wonder what Grayson was going to say.
Grayson didn’t wait for any sort of approval. He simply stood up and made his way to the front. The pastor nodded with a thankful smile and stepped to his left, allowing Grayson to take the podium. He took a few seconds to gather his thoughts while the crowd grew silent.
Finally, Grayson took a deep breath, cleared his throat and began to speak. “When I first met Sara, I flirted with her, and she shot me down. Like a hunter with a twelve gauge taking down a manly buck like me.”
Giggles came from the crowd. Sebastian only managed a lopsided smile.
Grayson continued. “It was okay, no big deal. But after thinking about it, I decided I wasn’t done. No manly buck is. My father always taught me not to give up so easily. So the next day I went by her house with one of my old guitars. Hoping her father wouldn’t come out and shoot me, I played some Bruno Mars love songs and sang at her window.”
This time, small laughs were heard among the crowd.
