Her Dark Sins

by T R Tells

  Nikki scoffed and still proceeded to walk toward the porch. The cloud above her head enlarged, and as if AJ could sense the Apathy, he started hollering.

  As soon as Nikki was in front of me, the back of my neck started to tingle.

  “Hira, bring AJ inside the house,” my mother called out to me.

  Nikki and I stood a foot apart, watching each other. I gripped AJ closer to my chest and wrapped my arms tightly around him.

  “...Look, Hira,” Nikki started to say, “we never really saw eye to eye, but from woman to woman, you have to understand I need my son.”

  I licked my lips and rubbed the back of AJ’s braided hair, his cheek pressed into my neck. “And I get that, Nikki. I do. But AJ needed his mom after he was born, and where was she? You’ve tossed him to the side and acted like he was a burden.”

  From the corner of my eye, I could see my mother and brother standing behind Nikki, ready to intervene if they needed to.

  “...I don’t know where this desire to be a better mom came from, but I do know that right now—the way that you’re acting—you’re scaring AJ, and it’s not healthy for either of you. If you really want change, you need to take a step back. You need to think about your emotions before you manifest something that you will regret, because that’s nothing anyone wants.”

  Nikki stared at me for the longest time, and I thought that she was going to snap at me or snatch AJ out of my hands, but she did neither, and the cloud began to fade.

  Fat tears that sprung from her eyes as she looked down at AJ. My heart clenched in my chest, seeing a side of Nikki I never expected to see .

  “... Nikki,” my brother whispered beside her. She turned to look at Omari’s serious expression. “I think it’s time for you to leave. If you really want to change and be there for him, you’ll give me full custody from now on until you’re better.”

  Nikki pursed her lips together, and she looked at me with sorrow in her eyes. I nodded, hoping that she would agree, knowing we were only doing this to better her and AJ’s life in the end.

  I went back to the house with AJ. I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation as my mom consoled her, and Omari offered to drive her home.

  I kissed AJ’s cheeks. He was quiet, sucking on his thumb as his head rested on my chest. I didn’t know how much of Nikki’s story was true, but from the look in her eyes, she seemed wholly determined. I just hoped that she could contain her emotions and not awaken her Apathy.

  I rubbed the back of my neck with my other hand, remembering the sensation that triggered during the yelling.

  I opened the door to my room and stepped inside. There was a figure there, waiting for me—I screamed at the top of my lungs. My scream jerked AJ up, and he looked around frantic. It was Alessander at my bedside.

  “Oh, my, gosh Alessander, you scared the crap out of me!” I yelled at him and closed my door.

  He put down the book he had in his hands on the bed and jogged over to me, taking AJ from my arms and sitting him on the bed to take off his coat.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Your mom wanted me to surprise you for when you came home.”

  I leaned in to kiss him on the lips. Alessander helped me get AJ undressed, so he was only in a T-shirt and pants. I folded his clothes and put them on my nightstand.

  “... So, I heard Nikki outside.”

  I sighed and nodded, removing a few toys underneath my nightstand so AJ could play with them. I picked him up and placed him and the toys down on the carpet floor.

  “Yeah, and she had a cloud,” I said, circling my finger over my head. I took a seat in my computer chair. “...She wants to be better, but until Omari sees that she means it, he’s going to plan get full custody.”

  Alessander hummed and nodded.

  “That’s got to be good news; at least, she might turn over a new leaf. What are you doing?”

  I’d turned on my laptop, and the screen blared to life. I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I used it.

  I swiveled my chair to look at him and to check on AJ.

  “I made a deal with Amelia that if she started writing the truth, then I would start writing again.”

  The grin on Alessander’s lips stretched like a Cheshire cat.

  “Hey! What’s with that look?”

  He shook his head and chuckled. “Nothing, it’s about time you got back writing. You can’t let your doubts get to you. But before you get your mojo back... Did you see Trey?”

  I pressed my lips together and turned away from him so he couldn’t see my face. Unfortunately, I must not have been quick enough because, from my peripheral, I saw him getting up from the bed and walking over to me.

  “Hira, what happened?”

  I raised my brow and looked up at him, towering over me. His jaw twitched, and the vein on his throat throbbed.

  “...So, did you hear back from Soul Records?” I asked, changing the subject. I didn’t want to give Alessander any reason to be angry with Trey.

  “Hira.”

  I sighed. Turning around to face him, I told Alessander what occurred during the hospital.

  Alessander’s eyes widened, and he gritted his teeth, running his hands through his hair. He paced back and forth along the carpet, AJ watching him with curious eyes.

  “Really, Hira? And you’re just now telling me this?”

  “I know,” I said, pursing my lips. “He didn’t do anything, though… It didn’t seem like him, but if he wanted to hurt me, don’t you think he would?”

  Alessander sighed and let his arms drop. He went over to me and bent down to my level. He took my hands in his and kissed them.

  “...I don’t know. I’m angry because he could have put his hands on you, but I do understand. I would act the same way if the same happened to you...I wish things could have been different for Mahogany, too.”

  I nodded.

  We were both silent except for AJ banging his toys together on the floor. Alessander surprised me, however, when he sprang up to his feet.

  “Well, let’s step away from all this negativity, yeah? Are you up for a Halloween party that’s coming up? Someone from school is throwing it, and I was invited.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. It would be good to do something fun and stress-free. Now that my best friend was angry with me, a mad scientist woman was blackmailing me, and with the threat of a virus looming over my head, I could use some kind of vacation.

  “Yeah, why not, and speaking of school, how’s it been going?”

  “Well, for the most part, there have been more ‘therapy’ counselors for students to talk to after the incident—everyone is required to go once a week. Aside from that, my guidance counselor thinks that I might be able to graduate next year, and if everything with Soul Record goes as planned, things will be looking in my favor.”

  He was grinning from ear to ear. I was glad that things were going right for Alessander, and he didn’t look like he was ready to sink. I figured with Veronica’s pregnancy scare and finding out about my abilities, he would be overwhelmed with strife.

  I stood on my feet and circled his neck with my arms, standing on my tippy toes to give him a kiss. “Hopefully the same will be said for me, but I’m so proud of you.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to his chest.

  We deepened our kiss as our lips interlocked, and our tongues wrapped around one another. But my mother’s voice called my name, pulling us apart, before anything could get too serious.

  I went to pick up AJ so I could bring him down with my mom and Omari, but not before giving Alessander a look that we would ‘continue this’ later. He grinned, obviously thinking the same thing.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Helene’s grandparents lived in a stone house on the edge of a cul-de-sac. There were other marble homes next door to one another with finely cut lawns and a curved dead-end street where children were playing on their bikes.

  I walked up the porch and rung the doorbell. I
could hear footsteps approaching, and Helene opened the door wearing an apron that read: ‘Don’t kiss the cook or you’ll get burned.’

  I snorted.

  I closed the door behind me and stepped onto the hardwood floor, once she led me inside.

  There were several shoes on a rug beside the door, so I proceeded to take my laced boots off.

  I followed the smell of whatever Helene was cooking into the kitchen. The floor was marbled, black and white, checkered style. There was a wooden table on one side and three chairs to match. There was another doorway that had a sliding door beside it.

  The kitchen interior had a stainless steel refrigerator and stove, with a white granite counter that had Helene’s assortments of pots, pans, and seasonings.

  Helene was by the oven and removed a large pan holding something that looked like chicken using her cat-shaped oven mitts.

  “Whatever you’re making smells amazing,” I said, closing my eyes and sniffing the air.

  “It’s oven-roasted duck,” Helene told me with a confident smile on her face and sat the pan down on the stove-top. “Want to try some?”

  My eyes widened, and a trail of drool dribbled out of my mouth. I wiped my mouth with my hand, then on my pants and nodded. “Yes, please!”

  Helene laughed and went to grab a carving knife, a fork, and a plate from the cabinets. She cut off a thick meaty slice and handed the plate to me.

  Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she looked at me with lidded eyes, grinning.

  “Go on, try it.”

  I smirked. “You seem confident in your skills.”

  “Skills being the operative word.”

  I picked up a piece of the meat with the fork and popped the deep brown, burnished poultry into my mouth. The moment the duck touched my tongue, an explosion of flavors filled my mouth. My eyes widened at the crispiness.. It had the taste of honey and rosemary, the defining factors that gave the duck the sweet flavoring.

  I sighed in utter defeat and savored the delicious meat before polishing the plate and eating the remaining piece.

  Helene sniffed, and I noticed the smirk on her face. “I’ll put some in a to-go box.”

  “Oh, be quiet… But thank you. What’s this for?”

  She took the plate from my hands and washed it, then proceeded to wrap the duck in plastic wrap.

  “Sharpening my cooking skills, I already sent out my application to the Culinary Arts of America. I’ve loved cooking ever since I could reach the kitchen sink.”

  “Wow, that’s amazing, and here I am, stagnant, trying to get back into writing. I haven’t even thought about my college applications yet.”

  “What about the bet you had with Amelia?”

  I pursed my lips together. “I, uh, kind of got distracted with Alessander.”

  Helene wiggled her brows. “Mmhm, naughty girl. Anyway, while this cools, do you want to meet my grandparents? And then we can head to my room, and you can tell me whatever it is that’s so important.”

  I nodded. Helene went to the sliding doors and opened it to the living room. There were two people already there. An elderly woman with strawberry blonde hair in loose curls. She was sitting on the couch doing a 10,000 puzzle piece. An elderly gentleman sat on the far right-hand corner in a suede armchair reading a book by James Patterson.

  He was the first to notice our presence and removed his reading glasses.

  “Papa, Grandmama, I would like to introduce you to my friend, Hira Night.”

  I walked from behind the couch so her grandmother wouldn’t have to crane her neck and stood by the flat-screen television mounted on the stone wall.

  I raised my hand and smiled. “Hello. It’s good to meet you both, Mrs. and Mr. Roe.” My cheeks burned, and I clasped my hands in front of me.

  “My word, she is too cute, and polite,” her grandmother said from the couch. “It’s good to finally meet you, dear. My name is Saoirse, and my husband, Ruairi.”

  I shook her hand and then went over to her grandfather. He stood up and placed his hand in mine, firmly shaking it.

  “We’ve been wondering if Helene had made any friends since she transferred here a while back, but we caught her texting someone with a huge smile on her face, and she told us about you.”

  I grinned and looked over at Helene, who was leaning on the back of the couch rolling her eyes. Her cheeks were stained red as she let her hair hide her face.

  “Oh, really?” I grinned.

  “Yeah, yeah, even though I could be on social media or looking at funny memes,” she said and stuck her tongue out at me.

  I laughed, though I didn’t understand why Helene didn’t want to invite me over. I guess it could’ve been several reasons, but I was glad that she did now.

  “And I hear you like books?” her grandfather asked me. “I’ve got a collection you could look at, if you’re interested.”

  At the mention of books, my heart skipped a beat. I would never pass up being around any kind of book.

  “Except,” Helene said, diluting my fantasy. “We have a project to work on since you got out of the hospital, remember?”

  I pouted and nodded, forgetting myself for a moment.

  “And I hope you’re doing better, Hira?” her grandmother asked.

  “I am, thank you for asking, and thank you for allowing me in your home.”

  Helene walked over to my side and hooked her arm through mine, dragging me to an adjacent doorway that led back out to the front of the house.

  “My duck is cooling on the stove; we can have that once it’s done!” she shouted, and we climbed the stairwell until we reached the next floor.

  Her bedroom was the second door on the right.

  “You were really quiet and shy in there,” Helene teased, looking back at me.

  “Hey, I can’t help that when I meet new people. I get into my ‘sweet’ mode.”

  Helene laughed and wagged her finger at me. “Sweet, okay. I’ve heard you curse like a sailor.”

  I rolled my eyes. Helene opened the door to let us in and turned on the lights.

  “Oh crap, and I thought I loved purple,” I said, surveying her room. Her walls were dark violet with speckled pink lines, and she had a white carpet with purple spots that covered the majority of the room.

  She had a canopy bed against the right side of the wall and a mounted television hanging across from it. There was a bay window that had an assortment of stuffed animals and a bookcase with several books, many I recognized as manga. However, the one thing that really caught my eye were the several posters of the band, S.T.A.R.

  “You really do love S.T.A.R—do you happen to have their debut album?”

  Helene scoffed and plopped down on her periwinkle sheets. “Of course, it sold over 25 million copies worldwide. I played their debut single over thirty times when it first came out.”

  She patted the spot next to her. I went over and laid out across the bed.

  “And you know Soul Records that signed them? Prodi-Jay is signing Alessander too.”

  Her eyes widened. “Seriously? Get out of here. The real Prodi-Jay signed him?”

  I nodded.

  “Apparently, that Instagram post of him rapping at the Paper Doll caught his attention, and they contacted him.”

  “To think Veronica did something right, almost. Speaking of her, though—”

  I shook my head. “Nope, silent for now.”

  Helene shrugged. “Well, one crisis averted. What did you have to tell me that was so important?”

  I leaned up from my position and sat cross-legged on the bed and told Helene everything that had been happening. I told her about the kidnapping, then the beam of light that replicated the prions, how the cult was involved in creating the disease, and how I was being blackmailed to find other Awakeners so Alina Mulgrave could further study them.

  “Are you serious? And now you have to be a part of her science project?”

  I nodded.

  “Yeah, it
’s called the ‘Alexandria Genesis Project’ after a girl named Alexandria, who they called ‘Patient Zero’.”

  Helene furrowed her brow and shook her head. “And from what you told me, it sounds like this Alexandria could be her daughter.”

  “That’s what I was thinking too, but she’s nowhere to be found, and now she expects me to do her dirty work. She doesn’t even believe in the Umbra Shades, or that people get powers from their darkest trauma. She’s basing this all on her work with Alexandria. I wouldn’t be surprised if her ex-husband thinks she’s crazy.”

  Helene sucked her teeth and shook her head. “The fact that they’re kidnapping and hoarding people’s bodies is insane enough. There’s no way we can call the police and send them an anonymous tip, or else she’ll be a coward and harm your family.”

  I bit my lip and twirled a strand of my hair around my finger.

  “That isn’t all...” I said. Helene furrowed her brows and tilted her head to the side. “She had given me a file with information regarding your parents and... their accident.”

  Helene’s face went even paler than before, and she looked down at her hands in her lap. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, and I reached out my arm to touch her shoulder.

  “Helene?”

  “There are some things about me, Hira, that I haven’t told you… ” She said in a low whisper. I inched closer to let her know I was there for her.

  “If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to, Helene.”

  Helene looked up at me with glassy eyes and smiled. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed and said, “My parents worked at the Omega Institute for the Center of Disease Control. I received my powers because my parents experimented on me.”

  My jaw dropped, but I let her continue.

  “...I know what you’re thinking, but they weren’t bad parents. I don’t blame them for that. I always remember their disdain when working with the Omega Institute. They even removed me from the project, but a few weeks later, they died in an accident after picking me up from a party I snuck out to with my girlfriend.”