by Thea Chin
“I’m sor—! Oh my moon…” Jaiden gasps, seeing the glow on her skin. He recognizes the shape and weak intensity almost immediately. “You’re Darren’s soulmate!”
Tsukiko quickly denies it. “I’m not— I mean, I am, but— I don’t know what I am anymore. Just… just… You didn’t see anything, okay?”
“What do you mean? You should go meet him!”
“I… I need to figure some things out first. Just let me do that, okay?” she panics. None of this should have happened. The Council will have her head if they find out.
“How do I know you’re not just running away?”
Tsukiko pauses, knowing he will not just give up. “Leiah Takeda.”
“What? How did you—”
“Would you trust her if she told you to?”
“Of course, but—”
“Then by her name, trust me.”
She turns around, looking confidently into his eyes. Jaiden gulps and retracts with a nod.
“Thank you, Jaiden,” she smiles before disappearing.
Jaiden stands, dumbfounded in that restroom by himself for a good while after as a headache creeps up the sides of his head. She looks familiar, he realizes. Not just as Leiah, but as someone else. Why can’t he put a finger on it?
* * *
“Ms. Tsujii! Did you try the pill?”
“No. I mean, yes. Maybe. I don’t know. Why don’t I know anything?” she wails, sinking onto the floor.
John stands there, unsure of what to do. He has never seen his lab head like this before. Tsukiko wishes she could just be wrapped up in Jaiden’s comforting silver pelt again. Or is this just her soulmark talking? She looks at her left wrist. Is the mark still somewhere there? No, it can’t be; it definitely disappeared when she died. Or when Leiah died. She doesn’t know what to think anymore.
“Come on, Ms. Tsujii,” the boy says with a frown while tugging on her arm. “You know what to do when you don’t know something.”
“Figure it out?” she answers with a sigh.
He nods and hands her her coat. “So what are we solving tonight?”
Tsukiko grabs the article of clothing from him and throws it over her shoulder. She isn’t sure how to answer his question. In fact, she’s already discovered more than she thought she could handle after taking the antidote. Wait, did she take it? It’s the only explanation for the flashbacks, but she never swallowed them on her own.
Then it hits her. The orange juice! She thought it tasted funny, but didn’t pay it much mind before. Did someone spike it? But with her own drugs? Who would do that? Besides the bartender, Mark was the only one she was with. She takes out the note he left her. “Dear Miss Tsujii,” it reads. Tsukiko doesn’t remember telling him her name either. It’s irrefutable now; he definitely knows something. Mark has always been sharp and letting off less than what he actually knows. Just how much of her and John’s conversation did he hear? There is one thing she knows he hasn’t figured out yet though. One thing that she is rather interested in herself. Maybe this will distract her sufficiently enough until the Council comes to kill her for leaking classified information to Mark.
Tsukiko looks at the boy who looks back with a curious gaze.
“We are going to be Cupid.”
* * *
“Ms. Tsujii, this information could bring down the Council itself! Can you imagine the wolves finding out that the Council has been arranging who they loved this whole time?”
“Only if we can find out how they are doing it first.” She looks at her wrist. And they don’t have much time.
Finding out how to make a soulmark was the easy part. Now they have to figure out how two people fall in love. The presence of the soulmark is a strong placebo itself, but is it enough to tie the knot? Tsukiko figures that the Council must also do some research on each individual to find compatible personalities; it must be how she ended up the soulmate of her previous one’s childhood friend. Still, the pull she felt towards Darren makes her think there is something else; something that can really take down the manipulative Council just as the boy said. What can it be though?
Come on, brain, think! Jacque Taylor didn’t appoint you head of this lab for nothing!
“And Miss Tsujii?”
John’s voice snaps her out of her thoughts.
“If the Council falls before you die, who will revive you? Shouldn’t we research in the re-biosuscitation lab too?”
Tsukiko looks at the files on that research. Something is missing from it, she’s sure. From what the Council told her, that experiment is still ongoing, so the incomplete information might be in the hands of another lab. She doesn’t have enough funds to run the experiments herself from scratch, not to mention that the moon in the sky constantly reminds her how limited her time is. There isn’t enough time for two types of research, especially when most of her lab is busy with neuro repositioning experiments to appease the Council. She’ll have to either find the notes from the re-biosuscitation lab or accept the woe of the 42nd moon.
“No,” she tells him. “Just focus on this.”
John nods with a shrug and turns back to his work. Tsukiko can’t help but notice the tired way his feet drag across the floor from working late hours into the night with her on these illegal experiments. Moments like these make her wonder how Angela is doing. Poor, sweet, little Angela. She will be enrolling in preschool soon. Tsukiko curses herself for not being able to be there for her on that day.
“Hey,” she calls.
The boy looks up at her.
“Those cuts of meat we got yesterday, we can spare some, right?”
He nods. “There should be some extras. Why?”
“Let’s see if my cooking skills rusted over these few months,” she mumbles to herself.
The boy bounces up to her like a child. “Home cooking? I can’t remember the last time I had that!”
Tsukiko feels a smile growing on her lips from how wide and sparkly the boy’s eyes have become, but she quickly scolds herself. “Just make sure you keep working hard.”
“Yes, Miss Tsujii!” he promises enthusiastically, glad to be free of hospital food even for just one meal.
T-11 Moons
Tsukiko stretches her arms up into the night sky. Above her, a full moon illuminates her features. She wonders how the boys are doing; she knows that losing control of one’s body can be draining. At least Darren fixed his window. It would be even more dangerous these days if it broke since Angela is in the same room.
Now is not the time for reminiscing though. John is right about one thing: if the Council collapses, she is going to die. That is, unless she figures out how to save herself first.
Determinedly, she stretches a surgical mask securely over her face and enters into a locked hallway connected to the side of the hospital. A few weeks ago, she saw a folder with the bio resuscitation project’s logo printed on the cover being delivered to that hall, and yesterday, she finally cracked the code to the lock.
Tsukiko holds a piece of tape with a fingerprint she’d picked up with eyeshadow to a sensor then punches in the code for the lock all the while holding her breath. She lets out a quiet exhale when she hears the door unlock and pushes it in. This is it, she thinks as she walks past the disguise storage room front and down a descending flight of stairs. Tsukiko throws on her lab coat to try to fit in in case she bumps into someone.
It takes a bit to find the file room. In fact, she has to tiptoe her way through five turns and two lab technicians to find her destination at the very end of the entire facility.
No matter now, though; she has found the records room. At least, that’s what she thought from the sign before she picked the lock and opened the door. Rather than being greeted by shelves of dusty books and papers however, she finds herself in yet another lab. From its layout and preferred supply brands, Tsukiko knows exactly where she is.
“Destiny?”
Her attention is pulled away from the realization when she hear
s an all too familiar growl in the dark corners of the room. Before she knows it, she spots two yellow eyes racing towards her and pinning her to the wall with a slam.
For some reason, Tsukiko does not even flinch. She raises her hand and scratches right where she knows wolves love it even as the beast leans down to bare its long, deadly fangs at her.
The wolf is a brown one, not unlike Darren’s except with more grey furs mixed between. She is at Destiny, and there is only one other wolf she knows of here, so she tries her luck.
“President Dust?”
She reaches in her pocket for a neuro repositioning shot designed to erase the past thirty minutes of memories. She’ll need it if he is going to report her to the Council.
The wolf seems to back off at the sound of his name, so Tsukiko slowly walks away backwards too. Her feet bump into something which sends her arms flailing to grab something, anything, to keep her from falling. That something turns out to be the eye-wash lever. Rather than an eyewash though, as soon as she tugged the lever, the entire wall is pulled down, revealing a secret room behind it.
“Oh my…”
In the next room are rows and rows of refrigerators all filled with clear vials much like Mark’s necklace. Immediately, she spots a blue-capped one labeled LT1204176. Beside that is black-capped vial labeled with the initials JH and a series of numbers. It must be Jaiden’s, she decides.
“You shouldn’t be here, Miss Tsujii. This is supposed to only be accessible to me and the Grand Councilman.”
Tsukiko whips around at the sound of that voice and finds that she had forgotten about the wolf completely in her shock of her new finding. Now, he is human dressed in a fine suit and tie. A glance down at her watch and she realizes it is 5:19. Sunrise.
She panics; she can’t be caught right after making such a huge discovery. She grabs the two vials from the wall and charges at President Dust with her syringe. The man must have been informed of her research, for he is prepared for her advances and easily tosses her aside. Tsukiko glares at the old man. He pulls out a phone, prepared to dial someone on the Council, no doubt, so she again attempts to attack him. This goes on for a while until a noise can be heard from the hallway outside. They freeze as the door opens with Tsukiko on the ground and the president standing threateningly above her.
“Father?” the newcomer gasps as soon as he enters. “I heard something— What is this?” he gasps as his wide eyes try to take in the revealed hidden room.
President Dust snatches Tsukiko’s syringe from her hands and walks over to his son, re-concealing the room as he goes by. He doesn’t even speak as he impales the unsuspecting boy. Tsukiko takes this moment though to sneak behind the older man with another dose of her invention. Soon, both men are collapsed in a pile on the laboratory floor.
Tsukiko hyperventilates once she realizes that she is finally safe. She looks at her friend and his tired features. He must have been working late last night at the company and forgot what night it was. Wait, if he’s here, then—
“Mama?”
“Angela…” she breathes at the sight of the little angel.
Unable to control herself, Tsukiko reaches down to scoop up the child.
“Mama!” she exclaims, hugging her tightly. Angela was too young to safely receive an injection back then.
Tsukiko can feel tears slipping down her face because of the reunion. Oh, how she missed her little sweetheart.
“How have you been, Angela? Has Daddy been treating you well?” she sobs quietly.
“How do you know her name?” a strangled voice sounds from her feet.
Tsukiko lets out a small yelp and unconsciously adjusts her soulmark-repressing bracelet. “N-no reason,” she chooses to mutter despite it being the least convincing explanation she could have given.
Darren struggles to crawl out from under his father. Once freed, he takes a moment to rub his head before groaning, “Ugh, what happened last night?”
“A-anyways, I have to go now since you’re awake and can take care of her.” Tsukiko shoves the baby into his arms and tries to head towards where she came from. Problem is, that place is through the emergency doors. How is she supposed to explain that to Darren? At the same time, going through the front of Destiny requires badge access at one point.
“Actually, there’s an issue with my access card. Do you think you can open the door for me?” she asks with a bat of her eyelashes. She hates herself for taking advantage of her soulmate bond for this, but since Darren is awake, it’s only a matter of time his father is too.
She sees Darren looking at his father with concern, unwilling to let the unconscious old man be alone even for a second.
“He’s alright,” she assures him, straightening her white coat to boost her credibility.
“Okay, let’s go,” Darren nods as he rushes her out. Since she’s somehow gotten in, he doesn’t question her card malfunction.
Perfect, the quicker the better. Before long, the locked door opens with a beep. Tsukiko bids her goodbyes and thanks and turns to walk away.
“Wait!” he calls after her.
“Yes?” she replies calmly, trying to hide the panic rising in her chest. Does he recognize her?
“What’s your name?”
Oh, thank the moon, it’s just that.
“Ki,” she tells him. “Just Ki.” Then she finally walks off free.
Darren stares at her blue-tipped hair as it sways in a ponytail, entranced and temporarily forgetting his father.
Just then, his daughter turns around in his arms and reaches for the retreating form.
“Mama!” she cries.
Darren chuckles and presses a kiss into her hair. “You like her too, don’t you, my angel? Let’s make sure we see her again sometime soon.”
* * *
“No way,” the fifteen year old boy breathes, inspecting the two vials. “I must admit, Ms. Tsujii, I had some doubts when you brought up your memories since something could have been wrong with the antidote, but this is irrefutable now.”
Tsukiko nods. “Go run an electron spectroscopy on these and compare it to what we made ourselves.”
“But why?”
“To find the difference between the two. That difference must be how they make soulmates so irresistible to one another.”
“I mean, but why do we have to do that anymore? Isn’t this enough to take down the whole soulmate system?”
Tsukiko shakes her head. “Werewolves love the whole soulmate thing; it enhances their powers and connects them to the person they love most. No, what we need to do is prove that their feelings aren’t real.” She feels like she is realizing this as she speaks it herself. This must be why Mark was so invested in discovering the emotional aspects of soulmarks himself. He would be a valuable resource in the lab, but would he trust her if she brought him on board on this research? She could be a spy for all he knows. She pulls out his number from her pocket. If anything, he’d have to remember her first.
Tsukiko looks between her notes on where the bio-resuscitation files and the four remaining antidotes. Will he help her? And if not, how much is she able to do on her own? She pushes down her doubts and snaps on some gloves. She wonders how much longer she has before she needs to give up on all these side projects. It seems President Dust knows about her work already. What will he think once he realizes a gap in his memory? She can only cross her fingers.
T-7 Moons
It’s another couple of months of sleepless nights and passing out on heat-resistant lab counters before they come close to pinpointing what causes a surge of oxytocin and norepinephrine release. It is a miracle, Tsukiko thinks, that she is even allowed the time to get this far. Surely, President Dust or someone must have noticed two missing vials by now even if he doesn’t realize he is missing memories.
When she sees an elegant envelope resting on her pillow one early morning, she knows her luck has run out. She lets out an accepting sigh and eyes the floorboard where she hid the antido
te. Mark and John will have to take it from here now. At least she prepared for this.
With a pop of the wax seal, she pulls out its contents and immediately takes back her words. She was not prepared for this. Not by a long shot was she prepared for this.
‘Mrs. Silva requests the pleasure of your company to witness the union of her daughter Irene to Chan.’
Tsukiko tremors with the card in her hand. Not of fear though, but of joy. How long has it been since she felt like this? The answer never crosses her mind. Instead, she bubbles with excitement for two of the most wonderful people she has ever met.
Behind the invite is a copy of a reservation card already filled out but the Council, she supposes. It doesn’t look like she is allowed a plus one, but she’ll try to sneak a cookie out for John, she decides, feeling like she is on laughing gas again.
* * *
The wedding venue is beautiful. Tsukiko herself received a blue dress from the Council, so she leaves her hair half down with the rest braided around her crown. She finds a seat in the back and awaits the processional while surrounded by flowers and next to a clear pond inhabited by two tamed swans.
The first to enter after the pastor are the groomsmen and bridesmaids, most of whom she recognizes from the fraternity. Mark rounds up the crowd as best man with a girl Tsukiko’s never seen before. Despite his best smile, Tsukiko can see the concealer under his eyes. His responsibilities for this wedding must not have been easy.
Next enters Chan, looking sharp but nervous. A goofy smile is plastered on his face as the audience drowns him in applause. He tries walking with leaderlike authority, but even the blind can see the child-like bounces in his step.
After him comes the ring bearer and the flower girl. She is not surprised to see that Angela is chosen for the position. The young girl looks behind her, most likely for her father, before being urged down the aisle by her older partner. Tsukiko can just imagine how Darren is panicking behind some flower bush in anxieties as his two year old sprinkles petals and cuteness down the walkway.
