by Maya Daniels
“I think the freaking out is over,” I say, matter-of-factly.
“So, when I tell you that you’ll grow two more sets of hands, you’re okay with it?” Remi asks, and she is dead serious.
“What?” I yell, and she starts laughing, bending over and holding her belly. She straightens up and slaps me on the butt, which propels me faster towards the living room.
“I’m joking, jackass, but I did prove my point.” She points a finger in my face.
I shake my head, but I join in with the laughing. I really need to stop freaking out.
6
“This is all useless,” I tell Jezzinta with a resigned sigh.
We’ve been at it for two days now, following the spells and rituals to the T with no results, and in the meantime, the transformations in me are happening by the minute. I have to watch what I say because it manifests. I need to monitor my thoughts because I connect to entities I’ve never heard about. Spirits are excited that I can finally see and hear them, so they pop in and out, scaring the hell out of me and with it, I freak these two out as well. Plus I do believe Inanna is getting a little fed up with me accidentally bringing her into my body.
“Something’s gotta give. I can’t keep up with this. If I don’t start controlling it soon, I’ll end up in a different realm or in a coma. It’s overwhelming!”
“It’s okay, sister, just breathe. We’re close. I feel it.” She’s determined.
She hasn’t left my sight for a second. Remi, on the other hand, seems distant, lost in her own thoughts like she’s only here with her body. At times even her eyes look empty. I keep wondering if I’ve said or done something to make her like that, but I can’t think of anything.
“You want to help, Remi?” I call out to her.
“Hmm?” She looks at me like she just realized we’re here.
“I asked if you’d like to help with finding the proper ritual for controlling these...these ‘gifts’?” I twirl a finger around my head like saying I’m a loony bin.
“Oh, no. You two are doing well. I’m just tired. I think I’ll go have a nap,” she says absentmindedly and walks out.
“Something is going on with her,” I whisper to Jezzinta, who has her nose in the book.
“With who?” she looks up at me with a confused expression. I huff a breath.
“With Remi! Geez, am I the only one in this house paying attention to all three of us?”
“Probably,” she says and laughs at my expression. “Easy, sap. She’ll be okay, I promise. It takes time to get used to this world after spending long periods in other realms. If I’m not mistaken, it’s been a lifetime or two since she’s been here. Plus, last time she was here, she had to watch you die, so go easy on her. You two have been the best of friends since I’ve known about you. You don’t remember it too well, but she does.” She pats my knee and goes back to reading.
I get up to grab a glass of water. The last two days I’ve been drinking it like it’s going out of style. Remi said that it’s normal with everything going on inside me with the DNA activations. I’m like a fish. As I stand up, I get dizzy and grab onto the first thing that is close – the floor lamp. It rattles and I’m about to go down, but abruptly it freezes in the air and it supports my weight. I see Jezzinta has her hand up, holding it there. I straighten it up.
“Thank you. That would’ve been a nasty fall.”
“Deffo, you should drink more water. Maybe that’s why you’re getting dizzy.” She says it like it’s a normal thing for people to catch flying lamps in midair without touching them.
“You’ve got to love the witches,” I mumble as I go to get my glass.
Walking into the kitchen I hear her yell, “You’re one too, sap! Stronger than all of us together, if we can figure out how you can control it.”
I took one step and was about to answer her when a sharp pain like nothing I’ve felt before stabs me in the chest and I can’t even scream. All I can do is gasp for air. Luckily this time, I do fall and Jezzinta comes running, and I can hear Remi running down the stairs too. This is not pain, someone or something is here.
“Someone is trying to breach the perimeter of the house,” says Remi. As it came, the pain is gone.
“I felt it. How do you know? Can you feel the pain too?” I ask her, while, with Jezzinta’s help, I’m getting up.
“I feel it too, but not like pain. With you, it’s different. This house is like part of you, while the rest of us just get a dread-like feeling in the pit of our stomachs.”
“Yup, what she said, but all is good in da hood. Let’s go burn the sucker,” says Jezzinta, and she starts walking towards the front door.
“Oi! We can’t just go out there! Are you nuts? What if there are a lot of them or something? We need a plan,” I say as I’m grabbing a metal baseball bat that Remi has been playing around with while she was ignoring us. Jezzinta starts laughing. She doubles over.
“What do you think you’re doing with that, Alexia?” She has tears now from laughter.
“What? It doesn’t say they’re not human. Humans are scared of big metal sticks, as I’m sure you’re aware. We can’t go walking around, flipping people through thin air from a distance.” I say annoyed as I start walking out.
“Let her be,” I hear Remi whisper to Jezzinta.
My hearing is much, much better lately, but I’m not telling these two that. I want to hear what they’re hiding. I know they’re hiding something. I can almost taste it.
“Let’s split up, I’ll take the front, you two take each side. We’ll meet back up here in 10 minutes if there is nothing.”
I look at them, and they just nod, and then take off. Both of them are pretty fast for short little things. I laugh at myself because they’d make me pay if they heard me say that. I’ve been walking no more than 4-5 minutes and was just about to go back when I heard it. It was on the left, where the road swerves towards the wooded area path that leads towards the house. I was walking through the trees on the side, trying to hide my presence, obviously a good idea. There are two voices arguing quietly. I creep up closer, being very careful not to make a sound, when suddenly a twig cracks under my foot. Damn it, Al! I scream in my head.
“Shhhh, did you hear that?” one says.
“Yeah, but it’s trees, man. I’m sure there are some animals there,” says the other.
The first voice was a little nasal and the words a little dragged, so I decided to call that one Hipster. The other became Smartass with his animals comment. Who knew I’d have a sense of humor at times like this?
“Go check,” says Hipster.
“No way! The guy said if they see us, we’re dead meat. Let’s just pour this foul crap they gave us and get out of here. This might be a gang place, dude. Did you ever stop to think why they’re paying us that much just to pour shit-smelling liquid around someone’s property?” asks Smartass. I must give him credit, he’s not as stupid as Hipster, obviously.
“I don’t care,” snaps Hipster. “I said go check or I’ll cut your share in half!” He makes it obvious that he is in charge, which only proves you need to be a shithead these days so you can be appointed as a leader.
They’re quiet for a second for what I’m guessing is a staring match. Hipster won, because Smartass starts walking towards the tree line—towards me. I congratulate myself on grabbing the baseball bat. I quiet my breathing and lean back on the tree. Something tickles the back of my neck and when I reach to scratch it, my fingers touch something soft and small. I take it between two fingers and bring it up to my face so I can see what it is. Smiling, I place the little caterpillar on the closest branch without moving. I hear Smartass walking around. For someone who was so worried about gangs, he sure is loud. His footsteps are coming closer and my heart speeds up. I don’t want to hurt him, but if it comes to me or him, guess who I’m voting for. He’s near my tree now, and I hold my breath. It’s so quiet here I can even hear him breathing. He walks past me, and I see he’s a yo
ung man, maybe in his twenties, tall and skinny. I relax. This could be easily fixed. I step out from the tree behind him.
“You shouldn’t walk around on someone’s property without permission,” I say quietly. He jumps and twirls around. I can see I scared him and I feel bad. “You should leave before I call the police.” There, that should do it.
He looks at me, squinting, and after a second, lifts his nose and sniffs my way like a dog and I frown. What an odd behavior. “Did you hear what I said?” I ask him, and he sniffs again, making growling noises. I shiver because that’s exactly what Philip was doing in his display of strangeness in my apartment.
“Who are you?” he mumbles.
“I’m the owner. Now get the hell off my property!” I say it as clear as I can.
“Right, I should leave.” He starts walking towards where he came from, which leads him towards me. I step aside so I’m out of reach, but obviously that was expected. He grabs my arm, pulls me towards him and grabs me around my shoulders with both arms.
“Before I go, I’d like a taste of you, sweetheart. You smell like nothing I’ve ever smelled before. It’s driving me nuts. That’s why I walked this way, I was following that.” He squeezes harder but that’s the least of my problems. He starts kissing my neck and I want to vomit.
“Get your hands off me,” I twist and turn, but he holds on tight.
“Or what? You’ll hit me with that bat?” He laughs. I’d try but I’d hit myself faster than I’d hit him because he has my arms pinned to my body.
“What’s going on here?” Great. Hipster’s joined the party. Now I have to hurt them as much as I don’t want to.
“Look what I got, Troy,” says Smartass.
Troy is not like Smartass. He’s as tall, but he’s full of muscles. You know the type. They pick things up and put them down? Yeah, like that. He comes closer and sniffs too. “Give her here,” he says to the one holding me pinned.
“What? No! I found her!” Smartass sounds like a spoiled brat defending his favorite toy.
“Devon, give her here, I said!” Troy is getting louder, and I’m hoping the girls will hear him. I still have no control over my gifts and I don’t want to kill anyone.
“No!”
Smartass, or Devon, as I now know him, grabs the metal bat from my hand and pulls it away. That’s my chance. I push with both legs as hard as I can and slam my back into his torso. He humphs and bends over. I elbow him in the face. He squeals, which would’ve been hilarious if two meaty arms hadn’t grabbed me that instant.
“You’re a feisty bitch, aren’t you?”
Now Troy has my arms pinned. This is getting annoying, and if I’m honest, I’m a little worried about getting him away from me. He’s much stronger than Devon, judging by how my arms are going numb because he’s squeezing too hard.
“Who, me? Nah, I’m as mellow as...”
“A snake,” he cuts me off.
Alright, then. This one is a mean creature. Who knew I’d miss dealing with Devon, who is holding his nose not far from where Troy is holding me and looking at me accusingly, as if I’m doing something wrong here.
“Let me go, Troy. I really don’t want trouble. Let me go and leave. You shouldn’t be here. How about this. If you two go now, I won’t call the police.”
I even try to smile a little to encourage him to do what I ask. Yes, I know it’s stupid. Troy lets my arms go and as I’m about to move, he bends down and picks me up over his shoulder. Caveman much?
“Hey, caveman, let me go, I said!” I punch him in the kidneys, he grunts and we both topple over. I end up pinned under his body. This has gone long enough. I wiggle my hand free from under him and start manipulating the water in the air. Within seconds I have a big enough bubble that I wrap around his head and he starts scratching at it with his fingers, trying to get it off so he could breathe but no luck, his fingers just go through it. It’s only water, after all. He gets up to get away from me, thinking that would change anything, but I hold it longer. And then out of nowhere I feel something cold around my wrist and the bubble around Troy’s head splashes on his neck and shoulders. He is gasping for air and coughing, but I don’t care about that. I’m looking at the thin bracelet on my wrist and the grinning face of Devon.
“They gave us these if we come across some girls that act strange.”
He says it like I’m his teacher and he knows the answer to the question. I feel the strength seeping out of my body and I start pulling on the damn thing. No such luck; it’s not coming off. Devon continues like nothing is happening.
“They said just put it on their wrist and you’re good. I think my friend drowning in a bubble of water around his head is strange. And look at that! It’s working!” he says triumphantly.
I ignore him. I keep trying to pull the thing off as I’m slowly walking backwards. I need to get out of here. I turn and start running towards the house, but not as fast as I would’ve liked. With every second I feel more tired. I hear someone running after me, but I don’t dare look back. Where are Remi and Jezzinta? I hope they don’t end up with bracelets like this, too. I keep running, but it’s not long before a body slams into my back and down we go. Sharp pain in my knees, forearms, and my back make me cry out.
“Where do you think you’re going, bitch?” Troy says, and I feel his spit on my face. My stomach turns inside out.
“You’re going to pay for that shit you pulled. I was going to play with you a little, but now the rules have changed. You’ll beg me to end it!”
He lifts up, and now he’s straddling my hips while he’s pressing me with one hand on the ground and I have no strength to move, to call out or do anything. He moves farther down my legs and starts pulling on my pants. Hot tears prickle my eyes. I rather he killed me now. I pray to whoever is listening that I die before he gets a chance to do anything. The way my strength is leaving me, I just might, so I hold on to that. I repeat it like a mantra. Let me die, please. Let me die. I can hear him unzipping his pants and I start screaming silently, cursing everyone and everything, from humans to gods and beyond and even my stupid existence. Then nothing...his weight lifts off me and no one is pressing me to the ground anymore. I try to move but I’m too weak to do anything, so I somehow manage to just flip from my stomach to my back. I look up at the tree tops swaying gently in the breeze and slowly the buzzing in my ears quiets down. Am I dead? Maybe someone answered my prayers. Then I hear it faintly. Flesh hitting flesh, grunts of pain and swearing, but it sounds far away. A few moments later, in my line of vision, crouching above me, is a man I’ve never seen before. His long brown hair sways in the breeze just like the treetops. He is looking at me with his brown eyes full of concern. His lips are moving but I can’t hear what he is saying, so I just look at him. He’s very handsome with his kind eyes and his unshaven face. Who knew I would find a man with a five o’clock shadow handsome? I try to smile at him, but I don’t think I manage because he looks more concerned now. I wish I could tell him that it’s okay, that I’m grateful he’s the last thing I’ll see before I close my eyes for the last time and that I will remember his kindness for eternity, but I can’t say anything, so I pray that he can read it in my eyes as I stare at him. I feel someone touching my arms and then the bracelet is off, and the sound comes back with a whoosh.
“That fucker had a sealing bracelet on her.” I hear Remi’s angry voice.
“I’ll deal with them. Stay here with her,” Jezzinta is saying from farther away, but I can’t stop looking at the man.
“Are you an angel?” I whisper to him. I think he was shocked at the question, because his eyes widened and he opened and closed his mouth a few times before he finally cleared his throat to answer me.
“No, miss, I’m far from an angel, but I’m very glad I came to see if someone needed help. I saw the car with open doors on the road and followed the voices,” he answered while still looking at me with concern—and something else, something I can’t place.
�
��Thank you. Maybe you’re not an angel, but you’re my angel.” I smile at him and his eyes start glimmering with tears just like mine are.
“I’m just glad I got here on time,” he says and squeezes my hand gently. I don’t think he realizes that no one is more grateful for that than me.
“We need to get her in the house,” Remi says, and I try to lift myself up, with no luck. Then the man drops to his knees and lifts me up to his chest.
“Can you put your arms around my neck?” he asks.
I try, but no luck. He puts me down, takes my arms, and wraps them around his neck. We are close now, face to face, and I still look at him like something unreal. He picks me up again and stands up, turning his face towards mine. “Ready to go?”
I nod like a fool, still staring. Through the trees, the shine of the moon is making his aura visible and it’s the most beautiful blue and green mixing together that it seems to sparkle in the moonlight and I smile at it. He only takes one step before he stops, and I look up to see him watching me with those eyes.
“Let’s go, you two, you can continue staring at each other later. It’s making me sick,” says Remi.
I turn my head, only to see her roll her eyes at me and start walking ahead of us. I feel like an idiot. I totally forgot she was there. The man lifts me up a little higher on his chest and starts walking after Remi.
“You’re as light as a feather.” He gives me a quick glance but mostly keeps looking straight ahead. I say nothing, just leaning my head on his shoulder and breathing in his scent. It’s like a mixture of sandalwood and myrrh which makes me feel safe and calm, and I close my eyes. His steady pace lulls me to sleep.
