by Lola StVil
“I like that one.” Grace laughs. She gets serious. “Look, guys are assholes. Even the good ones screw up.”
“You sound like you’re speaking from experience,” I say.
I take a long drink of my beer.
“Oh believe me, I am. A long time ago, I was dating a warlock. I was absolutely smitten with him, and for a time, he felt the same way about me. Then he got into a war with another warlock. The next thing I knew, I was discarded like trash.”
“What? Why?” I ask.
She shrugs and gives me a sad smile.
“Because like I said, guys are assholes. He decided it would be safer for me to not be associated with him anymore, and that was that.”
“Wait. You’re a goddess. Surely you could have held your own in a fight,” I say.
“Sails, I was more powerful than the two of them put together. But you know what guys are like. Women are there to be protected, not to be strong and all that jazz.”
I shake my head.
“I guess I thought this world would be different.”
“It’s not.” Grace laughs.
“So what happened?”
“When the war was over and he came back for me, I told him to just keep walking.”
I reach out and high-five her. I hope I’m strong enough to do the same with Rye if he comes crawling back, but I already know I won’t be. He would only have to say the word and I’d be all over that.
Nice phrase, Sailor. Classy.
I’m starting to feel tipsy. I glance at my beer. I feel like I’ve drank a load of it, yet it’s barely gone down. Grace sees me peering at the bottle and she laughs.
“It’s never-ending,” she says.
“Huh?”
“It won’t run out. While you keep drinking, it’ll keep filling up.”
“Oh that’s dangerous. Good but dangerous.” I laugh.
“I’ll drink to that,” Grace says with a twinkle in her eye.
We clink our bottles and grin.
***
Today has been the kind of day I just want to write off. It started with a banging headache and a mouth like sawdust this morning. Bottomless beer is not a good idea. Well it is at the time, but it really isn’t the day after.
I spent half an hour before school Facebook stalking Felicity Lake and I learned two things. One, her dad is my dad’s boss, which can’t be good. And two, she’s even more gorgeous than I thought.
I’ve seen her around a few times today, and every time I’ve seen her, she’s been fawning over Rye, watching him with drool practically running down her face. On the plus side, Rye has acted like she barely exists, so it’s not all bad, I guess. He hasn’t exactly been warm and welcoming with me either, but at least he’s not making out with Felicity in front of me and rubbing my face in it.
I’ve reaffirmed my vow. I’m done with guys and I’m going to focus solely on the mission. Saving humanity is more important than Rye. No matter how cute he’s looking.
A sharp elbow in my ribs pulls me out of my head.
“Ow,” I say, rubbing the sore spot and giving Aziza, who dug me in the ribs, a dirty look.
“I’m sorry,” she says, her apology clearly fake, “did us talking about how to keep you alive interrupt your day dreaming?”
Okay, from now I’ll focus on the mission. Definitely this time.
“I wasn’t day dreaming. I was thinking,” I say.
“Oh, please do enlighten us with your wisdom, Paradox,” Aziza says mockingly.
Right. You asked for it, bitch. I stand up and look around at the team.
“We can sit here all night debating scenarios and coming up with plan A’s, plan B’s, plan Z’s. But none of it matters, because if we’re being honest, no one has any idea what we’re facing. I say we stop wasting time and just get on with it.”
Aziza’s face falls and I know she wasn’t expecting that. Rye gets to his feet.
“Sailor is right. Let’s go. Grace?”
Grace gives me a subtle thumbs-up and gets to her feet. She makes a portal and one at a time, we step through it. Rye holds back until there is only me and him left.
“Don’t put yourself in any unnecessary danger and do exactly as I tell you to do,” he says.
I roll my eyes and step through the portal without replying. He doesn’t get to blow off my training and ignore me all day and then still get to play hero when it suits him.
“Freeze,” Jinx hisses as I step out of the portal.
I’m not in the mood for taking orders from him any more than I am from Rye, but the urgency in his voice registers and I follow his order. I find myself between Jinx and Sunday. A low growl in front of me pulls my attention that way. I move only my eyeballs.
I can see at least four…somethings…slinking low in the shadows of the bus station. The things are dog like, but much bigger than the average dog. Bigger even than I imagine a wolf to be. They’re pitch black, their fur blending in with the darkness around them, but their eyes glow yellow and their drool-covered teeth stand out as they snarl. They don’t come any closer to us, but I can see the door behind them, and I know we have to get past them somehow.
“What the hell are those things?” I hiss, my lips not moving.
“Krop,” Sunday says. “Hellhounds crossed with Speed Demons. They move faster than the speed of light. If we try to run, we’re dead. If we so much as move, we’re dead.”
Well that’s reassuring. We’re going to die before we even get the dagger. I knew this day was only going to get worse.
“It’s not all doom and gloom,” Jinx hisses from my other side.
I never expected Jinx to be the voice of reason, but if he has a way to get past these things in one piece, then I’m all ears.
“We can kill them,” he adds.
“How?” I say.
“Watch and learn, little girl,” he replies.
I don’t have long to be offended by his comment. Rye hisses at him from behind me, commanding him not to do anything stupid, but he’s Jinx and it seems stupid is his middle name.
“Hey, uglies, over here,” he shouts loudly, waving his hands at the Krops.
Every head turns in his direction and the Krops leap for him. He springs forward, standing in front of me, and brings his hands up. I’m not entirely sure what he does or how he does it, but the four Krops all slam into an invisible wall he’s created.
“Force field.” He winks at me. “And now here comes the pain.”
The Krops begin to writhe on the ground, whimpering. Is it really going to be that easy? Of course it’s not. They don’t stay down for long. As I watch, openmouthed, Mel steps up and moves her hands. A row of plastic seats attached to the wall to my left spring free and fly through the air. They break into sharp jagged pieces and rain down on the Krops. A yelp tells me the wounds they’re making are painful but not life threatening. They’re just another distraction.
The Krops gather in a circle, facing us. The team begin to spread out, facing them. I grab Sunday’s hand.
“Wait. You said if we moved, we were dead.”
“I should have been more specific. If we moved without showing the Krops we’re a force to be reckoned with we’d have been dead. They’re fast, they’re mean, but they’re not stupid. They have a sense of self-preservation. They’re looking for an opening, a weakness.”
“Yes,” Rye interjects. “So, you stay back, Sailor.”
Oh, here we go again, the whole I’m weak thing. It’s a running observation that I am getting awfully tired of.
Grace pulls away from the circle, moving so fast she’s merely a blur. She moves so quickly I don’t see her hands moving. I just see a flash of silver and then a streak of red appears on the chest of one of the Krops. It growls, a low, angry sound that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. As I watch, the cut heals itself, gone as though it was never there.
“I don’t get it. How do we kill something that can heal itself so quickly?”
/> “We don’t do anything, Sailor. You stay there and let us take care of it.” Rye glowers.
He moves so he’s blocking my path. I roll my eyes.
“Sunday? A sensible answer?”
He shakes his head.
“I have no idea. Krops are a relatively new creature, and while we’ve heard of them and what they’re capable of, we don’t actually know how to kill them. My guess is it has to be a brain shot to actually kill them, but that’s all it is. A guess.”
A buzzing sound distracts me from the magnitude of his words. Blue lightning streaks from Ya-Ya’s hands, lighting up the bus station for a moment. Piles of rubble cling to the edges of the room and masses of graffiti cover the walls.
The lightning connects with the Krops, wrapping itself around their bodies. Loud yelps fill the air once more and the smell of singeing fur assaults my nostrils. The lightning dances through their bodies, and for a moment, their skin becomes transparent. I can see their skeletons, their ugly, knobbly, twisted bones. And then the lightning peters out and the Krops are still standing.
They have burnt patches on their skin where clumps of fur are missing, but they’re all still standing.
“Aziza, no,” Sunday shouts as Aziza raises her palms.
Aziza glances at him, frowning.
“You burn them up and we all burn with them,” Sunday says.
I wait for Aziza’s cutting comeback, but none comes and she lowers her hands. Jinx shoots out another force field, pinning the Krops to the ground in pain once more. I see my chance. It’s clear for all of their powers, the team aren’t getting anywhere with the creatures. They are built to withstand magic, but surely, they can’t withstand a blade. If Sunday is right, then a blade to the brain will kill them.
I reach into the waistband of my jeans and pull out a knife. I dodge around Rye and before he can react, I reach the Krop. I raise the knife above my head and with a screech, I plunge my knife down into its open eye, pushing it in right up to the handle, being sure to pierce its brain.
Dark green sludge bursts from its eye, splattering my T-shirt, and I retch at the smell of rot it brings with it. The Krop makes a howling sound that makes me want to cover my ears, and then it is silenced. Its body twitches a few times and then it goes still.
The room is dead silent around me as the three remaining Krops get to their feet and run down a narrow hallway, their tails between their legs.
Rye comes toward me, his face full of thunder. The enormity of what I’ve just done, the realization that the other three Krops could have torn me to pieces within seconds hits me and I feel my body start to shake. I set my jaw, ignoring the tremors that pass through me.
“What the fuck, Sailor?” Rye says. “I told you to stay behind me.”
His voice is shaking with anger. His fists are balled at his sides. I can’t even look at his face. To avoid having to look at him, I put one foot against the dead Krop and pull my knife out of its eye. I wipe the thick green slime from it down my jeans leg, forcing myself to appear casual, like the very sight of it doesn’t make me want to run away and never look back.
“And I told you. I don’t necessarily follow the rules.”
I look around at the rest of the team.
“Should we see what’s behind door number one?” I ask.
Rye isn’t going to let me off that easily. He grabs me by my upper arms and holds me in place until I am forced to look up at him. His face is like thunder and my breath catches in my throat when I see the fire burning in his eyes.
“How did you know Jinx’s force field wouldn’t hurt you?” he demands.
Good point.
I really didn’t think any of it through. I saw a chance and I took it. I can’t admit that though. Instead, I shrug, which isn’t easy considering Rye’s death grip on my arms.
“Jinx is on the team. You’re the one who said to trust the team. You wouldn’t want to hurt me, would you Jinxy?” I say, looking at him.
“No ma’am.” He winks.
“And the Krops? What if the blade didn’t kill it? And what if the other three didn’t run away?”
“Then I’d be dead,” I say, much more casual than I feel. “But it worked, didn’t it?”
Rye drops his hands from me. His eyes look frantic for a moment as they look into mine. I hold his gaze, almost daring him to berate me further. He looks away and the team bursts into noise.
“Holy shit, Sailor, that was awesome,” Mel says.
“I don’t know about that.” I laugh.
“Seriously. It was. How did you know it would work?” Grace asks.
“I’m from New York. Blades work,” I say.
She laughs and pats me on the shoulder. Sunday high-fives me and Ya-Ya gives me a thumbs-up. Even Aziza doesn’t give me her usual death glare.
“Great job, Sails.” Aziza says, and everyone turns all their attention to us.
“I guess I was wrong about you,” she says with a half smile. I return her smile and for a moment I think things finally get better between me and Aziza.
“Thanks, Z-Z.”
“When you’re all finished acting like the high school football team, we have work to do,” Rye says.
“Aww, Rye doesn’t like it when a girl does something he can’t do. Right, Rye?” Jinx taunts him.
“Just shut up, Jinx,” he snaps. “Sailor. Come here.”
I don’t move and Rye rolls his eyes and sighs.
“If we’re right about what’s behind that door, only the blood of the Paradox will open it,” he says.
“So all that fuss about my safety and now you’re just going to cut my throat anyway,” I say, nodding toward the huge sword he’s holding.
It’s a lame attempt at a joke and Rye doesn’t even bother responding. Instead, he holds his hand out and I find myself offering him my own hand. He turns it over gently so it’s palm up. His touch sends shocks through my body and I look up at his face. He keeps his eyes firmly on my palm.
“This might sting a little,” he says.
He pokes my palm with the tip of his sword. I suck in a breath as I feel the stinging sensation.
“You alright?” he asks.
I look at the tiny bead of blood on my palm and smile.
“I’ve had worse,” I say.
He returns my smile. I know I’ll still be in for one hell of a lecture when we get back to the cabin, but for now, he’s stopped glowering at me, which is something, I guess.
“Place your palm flat on the door,” he says. “Then step back. I mean it, Sailor. Anything could come bursting out of there.”
I nod. I will take necessary risks, but I’m not about to become completely reckless. I kind of like my head on my shoulders.
I press my palm flat to the door and move it from side to side slightly, smearing my blood on it. I hear a click as the door unlocks and I duck to the side as the door swings open. I cleared the doorway just in time. A wickedly sharp looking metal spike flies out of the door and embeds itself in the wall at the back of the room.
“Shit,” Grace says from behind me.
“Everyone stay on high alert. Don’t let your guard down for even a second,” Rye says as he moves cautiously toward the door.
I peer over his shoulder. A set of metal steps lead downwards to who knows what.
“We have no idea what’s down here, but we’re on the right track. This place isn’t on any of the blueprints of the bus station,” Rye says.
He leads the way with me behind him, then Grace and the others, with Aziza bringing up the rear. I keep my knife in my hand. The team has swords and I wonder absently when I’ll get given a sword. Probably when Rye decides I’m at least competent enough to not accidentally decapitate one of the team.
In a decade or two then.
Our footsteps clang out noisily against the metal steps. If there’s something down there, there’s no chance of us sneaking up on it. The staircase goes on for what seems like forever. Finally, Rye steps off the
bottom stair and stops dead. I walk into his back and I feel Grace walk into me.
“Damn, Rye,” Jinx shouts.
“Shush,” Rye commands. “Stay here. I’ll check it out.”
He moves away from me and I step off the stairs and move to one side so the others can get off the stairs. We’re in a small, empty room. A single door is our only way out. Rye pulls the door open and jumps to the side, but nothing jumps out. An orange glow emanates from the room. Rye steps cautiously in front of the door. His eyes widen. Not a good sign. He beckons us closer.
I look through the door. A short, wide passageway opens out to a large room with wooden floorboards. In the center of the room is a wooden podium with a brown box on it. The box is rectangular, the size of three books stacked one on top of the other. It’s big enough to hold a dagger and I feel a rush of excitement go through me. The podium is the only thing in the room. The orange glow is coming from the actual doorframe.
“It can’t be as easy as it looks, can it?” I whisper.
Rye shakes his head.
“The orange glow you can see is a seal,” Sunday says. “It keeps whatever is in that room in place and it prevents anyone on this side of the seal from seeing or hearing it. Once we step through it, we have no idea what we’ll be facing.”
“We don’t all need to risk it,” Rye says. “You guys stay here. I’ll go.”
“Are you mad?” Aziza demands. “There could be anything in there.”
The others all begin to join their protests in with Aziza’s. I listen to them bicker for a while and then I speak up.
“I know you’re all going to say I’m just a weak human and all, but it has to be me. I’m the Paradox. I have to get the weapon,” I say.
The arguments trail off and the team all turn to look at me.
“I wouldn’t say you’re completely useless. You just killed a Krop none of us could kill,” Ya-Ya says.
“But we have no idea what’s in there. One lucky shot doesn’t mean she’s ready to face demons or hellfire, or who knows what,” Sunday says.
He gives me an apologetic look and I shrug. He’s right. I have to trust the team.
“So how about this? You guys draw straws or whatever, and whoever is unlucky gets to come with me. I’ll grab the box, you fight the hell creature,” I say.
