"Remi, where is she?" A tall man with golden hair bellowed."You could at least knock," Remi muttered. "She's fine." He stood, brushing at his pants. I tried not to stare at his bulging zipper. I was failing at that."There she is. We need to get her back. She shouldn't be out of the world." He barely glanced at me and spoke to Remi as if I was some sort of object."Angandriel, she is exactly where she wants to be." He looked down at me sitting on the floor. "You don't want to go back, do you?"I looked over to Angandriel. There was something familiar about him, too. I followed the thread of thought. Wait. He had been Anton that first night he'd come to rescue me. It hadn't been the real Anton. It was like my mind had been over written and now that I could see his face clearly, he didn't look anything like him. "Anton?"The man glared at me.Remi laughed. "Man, she saw right through you.""But you look nothing like Mila's brother. How did you...?""The Veil rewrote him in you
I held my head in my hands between my knees. My head was killing me. What had I been doing? I didn't feel like puking and my stomach was warm and full, but god did my body hurt. I turned my head and looked out the sliding glass door as the rising sun sent beams of glowing light reflecting through the windows. Something about it reminded me of golden hair. I blinked hard. It didn't matter. I had a job to do. It was Saturday, my day for the early shift. I slowly sat up and then attempted to stand. My knees gave way. I barely caught myself on the edge of the day-bed. Anton grumbled and rolled over. He let out a ripping fart. I stumbled across the room to get away from it, coughing and choking on the air. How long was that freeloader going to be stinking up our apartment? I would have to talk to Mila about it. Mila... Mila... That was... no. Everything was fine. Just too much to drink was all. I must have been pre-partying for my upcoming birthday again. Why did I keep blacking out from
I sat in the passenger side of the hornet staring out the window. We were loaded up with snacks for the twelve hour long road trip to my hometown. It didn't take long to pack or to leave the city, not like it was a big city for that matter, but way more sizable than where I came from.Rolling green fields passed by our car and with it came the stench of cow manure. If you stayed in it long enough, you didn't notice the smell, but after being gone so long it was so overpowering I wanted to gag. As I stared, I watched the shadows. That is where I always saw him with his glowing red ember. I wondered what it was. It looked like just a glowing ball of light. Maybe it was an enchanted firefly. Since I was dealing with the unknown here, maybe it was a fairy.Mila sat in the driver's seat singing along to the tune on the radio. It's not like the hornet had an aux port or anything, just a broken tape player. She seemed her happy self, but her eyes were too big, her face too stretched, and he
By early morning, I was driving the hornet down the familiar gravel driveway to my old house. The cows were already milked and travelled in a herd as they headed out to a green place to graze in the summer sun. The days would get shorter soon, almost unnoticeable until fall. It would happen just after solstice, my birthday. That was only a few days away. The memory of the darkness taking Mila made me shudder again. I stole a glance at her. She was still humming merrily as she looked out the window."Are we there yet?" Anton grumbled."Just about a mile," I said."My back is killing me from sleeping in the car at that rest stop," he complained as he stretched."Oh quit whining," Mila said. "You've been sleeping since we got in the car last night.""Yeah, but it was daylight until almost ten. Do you think your folks will have breakfast ready?""Again, I don't have folks. I have a brother and a father.""Yeah, whatever. Will they have food ready?""How am I supposed to know?" I ea
We pulled into the parking lot of the Randon Medical Clinic. It was a nicer name than Randon Insane Asylum even though that's exactly what it was."So.... What are we doing here?" Anton asked."Don't ask so many questions," Mila answered for me.I nodded my thanks to her. "I just need to visit my mom. It has been a long time since I have seen here. I won't be long.""You're leaving us in here?" He asked.I stepped out of the car. "Why don't you guys go get lunch and pick me up on the way back. Just grab me a burger or something.""Will do," Mila answered.I watched the orange car drive away. Why was it that the car worked so perfectly for her? I turned towards the entrance. I could do this. All I needed was some blood, that shouldn't be so hard. I had no idea how I was going to get it. I was going to need help. I went straight to the bathroom after I entered.I waited for the one woman in the bathroom to leave. I leaned on my hands while I looked into the mirror. "Remi," I wh
I walked back to the bathroom, careful to hide my sleeve. My mind spun. Was this all I needed? Was I finished? Had it really been that easy? Once I reached the bathroom, I checked all the stall doors then hid in the one at the end."Remi," I said.Immediately the room darkened and the shadow man appeared. He stood in front of me in the wheelchair assessable stall.The bright ember buzzed around his head."You rang?" He said."I got it. Mother's blood." I held out my sleeve. "And father's blood." I produced the vial from my pocket and presented them to him. "Now what?"He grimaced. "So, I hate to say this, but that's not your father's blood."I looked down at the vial. "Did he give me cow's blood?""Oh, no. It's his blood. He's just not your father."I narrowed my eyes at him. "Excuse me?""Yeah, he's not your father. I've been there since you were conceived."I blinked. A little mortified and more than a little annoyed. "And you couldn't share this fact before that really awkw
The drive back was as boring as the drive down. I was feeling rather disheartened and was doing my best to ignore Mila's strange behavior. We unpacked the car. Anton and Mila bantered back and forth like normal siblings as I sank deeper into depression. I couldn't help it. I just need to accept the new Mila. There was nothing I could do. Not by myself.I drew the curtains closed on the morning sun then flopped in my bed. I had closed off the rest of the apartment behind my bedroom door. I couldn't stand the banter. The more I listened, the sadder I got. It wasn't her. And even if it was, I missed a chance to grow up with her because my mother lied to me. My heart ached. My brain didn't know what to think, so instead my emotions took over and filled me with a great sinking depth of pain at my center. Eventually, Anton and Mila left. The apartment rang with an eerie echo of silence. At first I found it peaceful, but that gave way to an incredibly loneliness. I wondered at the deep hol
As I followed Remi, the pyramid grew taller in front of us. The weird leaves seemed to part before us as we jogged towards the blocky entrance. Remi's dark figure slipped into the blackness of the rectangular opening. I slipped as my foot hit the first solid surface of brick and down I went on my hands and knees. My tote bag slapped my shoulder and slid down to the floor.Remi turned around and hauled me to my feet, righting me. My vertigo swam for a moment before my eyes adjusted to the new light.Remi laced my fingers with his and started us down the main hallways. There was no light source, but the surfaces seemed to reflect light just like the leaves and the bark in the forest outside. It was the oddest sensation. The walls were covered in pictographs, but they were outlined in multiple colors of light. It was beautiful. They weren't Egyptian style, but they were similar in how they told a story. It was almost as if it was a time line as we walked down the hall.I saw a sword. M