I woke up to the sound of sirens. It was about five thirty in the morning when I first heard them, but my brain didn’t fully register them, and thus I slipped back into sleep until about six thirty when I heard the loud honking of a horn right outside my window, and that got me up for the day. Now registering what I’d been hearing, I rubbed my eyes, wondering what the hell was going on. I was the type of person to normally get up even earlier then this, but today had been a somewhat special case. My classes were hours away, but I’d always been paranoid about missing something if I slept too much, so I contorted my sleep schedule into functioning on a solid six hours. Unhealthy, but it satiated me.
My roommate was still asleep, somehow. He was older then me, by about a year, and slept splayed out like some kind of housecat. On the bigger side, he was the type to sleep in until noon and not have any problem with it, taking mostly night classes and being in different circles then me overall. Not that my circle was particularly inclusive to begin with, but regardless, the space we gave each other was both appreciated and welcome, at least to me. I didn’t talk with him enough to parse how he felt about it. Besides that, though, I had no idea how he’d stayed asleep despite the sound outside. The flashing lights indicated emergency vehicles…I had no idea why they’d be on campus at this hour, or what the heck had happened, but I was curious now.
Getting dressed quickly, I noticed Arthur floating close to me.
“What’s with you?” I asked. The spirit normally liked to keep his distance from me.
“I am paying close attention, attempting to exert my abilities separately of you, as to avoid merging, as you wish.”
“Listen, it feels gross, I don’t know what to tell you.” That much was true. Whenever I merged with Arthur I always felt like I was getting dunked in a cold bath of slime. That, and his power of location wasn’t that useful. He could locate objects, and ping my surroundings enough that I effectively could see without my eyes, and it worked well for dangerous situations as well. Someone throwing a punch from behind can’t match when I’m pinging every object on their person. But I also wasn’t the kind of person to get into fights. So most of the time, I stayed powerless.
“Your aversion is rather annoying, but I will abide.”
“Appreciate it, Arthur” I said with a measure of sarcasm, pulling on my jacket because it was pretty early, sliding on my shoes, and heading for the door. The spirit had no response for me on my way out, as I moved down the hallway, past a few other groggy people who were woken up the same as me, but weren’t quite as efficient in getting ready to act on it. Their loss.
I moved down the hall, around a corner, and down a freakishly cold stairwell, before I headed out the door into the semi frigid morning air.
The lights were a ways off to my right, flashing red and blue, red and blue. There was a fire truck and an ambulance, both parked near the old Jefferson building. It was just a bunch of old offices…why were the vehicles parked in front of it?
A feeling of dread I couldn’t really describe filled my being as I took more steps towards it. Not running, but instead somewhat speed walking. A small crowd had formed around the perimeter set up by the emergency services. I pushed through slightly to get a better view.
A part of the building had collapsed, by the looks of things. Based on how the people coming out looked, they’d been at this for hours, digging through rubble. I saw two bodies strewn out on the lawn already, people covered in tarps…that looked like they’d been crushed to death. One person, a younger woman who I recognized as one of the secretaries, was being loaded onto an ambulance…I hoped that meant she was alive.
A thought crossed my mind. They were still searching…people could be alive down there. I whispered-
“Arthur, merge”
“I thought it was gros-“
“Do it!” I hissed under my breath, an expression of worry crossing my face.
Arthur did it, I felt him pressing through the back of my head. The sensation of cold passing through my body effortlessly, and I visibly shuddered…but I could feel everything around me now. Like every object and body in the area had it’s own signature, an all around sense that was overpowering me with every moment. A headache flared, but I calmed. Moving to be in tune with Arthur.
We honed in the sense. Into the structure. Scanning, searching, seeing if we could find someone, anyone.
I did.
Stepping back in shock, as I felt a familiar looking body, with familiar items, with a familiar shirt…unmoving. One arm twisted beyond recognition. The smallest bit of hope that I’d had left me when I tried to hone my search for breathing…and found none. A cold, unmoving, mangled corpse was all that was left of David.
I took a few more steps back, breathing in and out heavily, a few different people giving me odd looks as I pushed back out of the crowd. I didn’t cry, but-fuck!
I didn’t even like David. He was an annoying bastard who didn’t know when to shut up or sit still. I’d done nothing but mock him for it, and we’d even gotten into a fistfight, once, over an argument that went on for too long.
And now he was dead in a collapsed building. Why the fuck was he even there?
I willed Arthur out, the spirit appearing behind me as I moved.
I needed to talk to the others-but first, I needed to talk to Diane. She’d know what to do, what to say-and more importantly, I needed to tell someone I was close to first. I slinked out of the crowd, and headed for the girls dorm as fast as my legs would carry me.
The girls dorm was normally harder to get into, but I timed myself right and managed to get in without anyone noticing. Diane’s room was thankfully on the first floor, and I knew her roommate had a class which started thirty minutes ago, so at the very least I wouldn’t get discovered that way. The school wasn’t sure on the gender separation, but they cared enough that I didn’t feel like getting caught.
Heading over to Diane’s door, I knocked four times in rapid succession, a bit of loud desperation to it all.
It took a little over a minute, I knew that because I had been looking at my watch trying to be inconspicuous the entire time I was waiting. Thankfully, no one else emerged onto the hallway. The door was then opened by Diane, still in her pajamas and bags under her eyes.
“…Edward? Why’re you here so earl-“
I slipped past her into the room and shut the door before she could finish, starting to pace back and forth.
“Did you see the sirens? The emergency vehicles? The noises this morning?” I said all of this rapid fire, somewhat mantically in tone.
Diane blinked a good bit, rubbing her eyes as to be awake more
“No-I didn’t. What happened?” She said, worry infecting her tone slightly.
It figures that she hadn’t seen them, at least. The girls dorm was on the other side of a few buildings from Jefferson, and I knew Diane to be something of a heavy sleeper. Still, it left me with a fair bit of explanation to do.
“Right-so, I guess, to start off, Jefferson collapsed, partially! Couple people are dead, some injured-“
Her eyes widened.
“What-how? Why?”
“I dunno, haven’t been told anything. But I went over, saw what was going on, and decided, y’know, I’m a nice gu-“
She gave me a raised eyebrow to that
“-I’m an occasionally nice guy, I’m going to help the people who are in mortal danger. So I used Arthur, focus in on the building and guess what the fuck I find!”
She had no idea what I was about to say, and it showed, she looked a bit confused.
“David. Crushed to death under the fucking building.” I said, my words immediately taking effect. Diane put a hand to her mouth, eyes wider as I finished off my telling of events.
We both stood there, in silence, for a minute or two. Neither of us having a real emotional reaction outside of shock.
“…why was he there in the first place? David didn’t have…any classes or anything in Jefferson.” She said in a somberly quiet tone.
“I don’t know. But they probably won’t dig him up for awhile, so it’s up to me to tell the others, and FUCK-” I said, shouting a little bit, unsure of what the hell to do or how the hell to handle it. Diane approached, slowly, wrapping her arms around me.
“Sit down, and calm down. We can…we can get through this.”
Her voice was wavering. Even she wasn’t sure.
I eventually returned the somewhat awkward hug she’d given me, shuddering a little bit visible.
“We’ll figure this out” I said, trying to echo Diane’s semi confident tone, as we just sat there, semi awkwardly, before slowly both shuffling towards the small twin bed, both collectively sort of collapsing their, in each others arms, gazing at each other as we both tried to formulate what to say. One of the people in our circle was dead. Neither of us were particularly close to him, but it still had a toll that we couldn’t shake. It didn’t help that both us were relatively sleep deprived.
We just sort of stared, trying to come up with words, holding each other.
The relationship worked, in that sort of way. We’d started dating a little over a month ago, after meeting up at a social, and seeing we both had spirits. It had been fast racked a bit, mostly by that latter fact, but we bounced off each other, and had relatively well meshing personalities. We’d been on enough dates that we knew we had matching tastes. It was nice to finally have someone almost wholly in my corner, and keep me in check sometimes when I was being an ass to Larry or whoever else. I generally didn’t mean much harm, outside of basic hazing, but she could reel me in if I started actually hurting someone’s feelings. And, vice versa, I could keep a watch on her, making sure she didn’t fall back into some old habits, like smoking (the school didn’t allow it, and she didn’t want to get caught) and generally being there to listen.
Granted, there were a few relationship milestones we hadn’t crossed, and I couldn’t quite say I loved her yet, because it felt a bit weird, but it still worked, and I had confidence we’d get there, on most accounts. There had yet to be a sign of any major conflict.
Out of the pair of us, in the twin bed, Diane was asleep first, which didn’t shock me, considering she’d been up late, and I’d woken her up in the deadest of early morning. That, and emotionally, we had both been thoroughly overwhelmed. I cast one more glance over my shoulder, at the room. Arthur and Iris were floating there, conversing. Talking in hushed tones, I could only barely understand Arthur saying something about a weak link and some form of concern before I felt the exhaustion pressing in, and with the warm asleep person in my arms along with a pair around me, I slipped into sleep, hoping to wake up in a better place then I was right now.
We awoke around the same time, to actual light pouring in through the windows, and the sound of people moving down the hallway. Looking over to the electronic clock on the opposite desk, it was around ten thirty. Damn. We’d slept awhile. I looked over, to see Diane equally stirring along with me, eyes fluttering open.
The memories of this morning clearly reached her first, and then…spread to me.
David. My thoughts immediately ran wild, and my million and one questions came roaring back into my mind. Had they found his body? Had they figured out why the building collapsed? Or had they found out why David was there? It ran rampant. My expression must have reflected that, because Diane released her grasp on me, and nudged me with my foot. I got out of the bed first, running my hands down my shirt to straighten it slightly. Her roommate was still gone, probably off…who knows where, actually, I didn’t have a good enough read on her.
Diane went into her dresser, pulling out some actual cloths.
“Look out the window for a sec” she said, making a ‘shoo’ sort of gesture with her fingers.
I complied, and turned away as she changed as quickly as she could. I turned back around when she finished and gave me the go ahead.
“Right…what now.”
“I have class. I’ll see you at lunch, and we’ll break the news to the others then, if they…haven’t already heard.”
I nodded, somewhat solemnly. That made enough sense to me.
She approached, standing up just a little bit to peck me on the cheek.
“I’ll see you in a few hours”
I nodded, then we went our separate ways at the door, me heading back to my room and her to class. I crossed campus at a speed walk, passing the continued digging through the collapsed building on my way.
I tried to do something productive with the little less then two hours I’d had till lunch, but I couldn’t focus. All I could see was Arthur’s outline of David, over and over again, flashing through my head every time I closed my eyes for longer then a blink. My geometry textbook was open on my desk, but I had barely read a page, and the words all jumbled up when I looked at them for longer then a few seconds. I’d mostly just sat in silence, outside of saying a terse goodbye to my roommate when he got up and left for the day around noon.
It still just didn’t feel real. For someone to get taken away like that. And that was the thought I continued to be stuck on during those two hours.
Eventually, though, the time came, and I left my room, locking the door and heading out of the dormitory hall. Walking towards the dining hall, passing the still going diggers, and feeling my footsteps get…heavier…with each one I took. My heart weighed me down in my chest, but I pressed on. Entering the dining hall and heading for the table, I noticed everyone was already there, Diane included, except for Enzo. The French bastard would have to be late I guess. I got some water, but nothing to eat, because I didn’t feel like I could stomach it, before sitting down. There was some idle small talk going on, which I led go on for a few moments before clearing my throat, feeling my heart pounding.
Everyone looked to me, Mark speaking up
“Something wrong?” He had a look of concern. He had some magic way to tell when you were feeling off. Damn pretty boy.
“Yeah…you guys see what happened at Jefferson?”
Some relatively somber looks across the table. Not enough for me to think that they knew, but enough that they’d recognized people getting hurt and killed.
“Well, it’s about David, he-“
“What’s this about David?”
A voice from my left called. Striding over, shadow behind him, was Enzo. Soft smile on his face as he sat down with his plate.
“…I scanned with Arthur, at Jefferson. And…David was down there…he’s dead.” I finally managed to spit it out
Shocked looks, around the table. Everyone looked horrified in some manner. Except for Enzo.
I must have given him a funny look, because he took the chance to speak again.
“I’m not surprised, I knew that”
A massive amount of dread built in me.
“And how, pray tell, did you know that? Evander isn’t the scouting type.”
Dawn said, from across the table, voice serious and cold, book put away.
Enzo smirked.
“I knew that, because I killed him.”
As if on cue, Evander reached into his coat, and pulled out…
Juno’s mask. Placing it over his face.
Everyone shut up. Staring holes in Enzo, some in disbelief, some in anger…some in sadness.
Until Mark stood up, merging with Orion in a heartbeat, point their finger at Enzo, a small mote of light glowing there. Paul also stood, but didn’t merge, cautiously watching the pair.
Enzo didn’t seem phased, putting another bite of salad in his mouth
“I should blow your head off right here.”
Mark and Orion spoke together in nearly a whisper to avoid being overheard, a harmonious sync of voices.
Enzo shrugged.
“Orion and Evander is a tossup. With Juno alongside me, you’re at the disadvantage. Granted, if Atlas or Artemis hops in, I might be in trou-“
“Shut up.” Paul barked from his standing position “Why shouldn’t we all kill you, right here, right now.”
Enzo swallowed his food, before smiling in a sickly smug way.
“Because, exactly how many people could I kill by crushing the ceiling with Evander? A whole lot, including most of you. So sit your little golden self down, and I shall explain my terms.”
Mark and Paul sat back down. The former pulling back his merge.
“That’s better. I shall make this simple. I am going to kill each and every one of you, and claim your spirits as I have Juno. However, I am a forgiving man. If you all agree to keep our fights out of areas with potential civilian collateral, I will too. If you don’t…well…the Jefferson building had more then one victim. This only lies to your advantage. I do better when I have…environment. This deprives me of a lot of that.”
Everyone sat in stunned silence. He wanted to…explain terms to us. After saying he was going to kill us?
I clenched a fist.
Mark spoke.
“Fine. We agree. The moment we find you alone, you’re dead.” He said, speaking with cold confidence.
“Think what you wish.” Enzo said, before going silent for the remainder of the meal.
No one really felt like talking until the bell rang, either.
Long hours later, I was out of class. Diane was waiting for me right outside the classroom. We’d had a brief huddle, outside of the cafeteria. Buddy system. One offensive shadow per pair. If it was dark, you had a buddy. If it was early, you had a buddy. Larry and Dawn had asked why we were continuing normalcy, and the collective answer had been simple: we didn’t want to have Enzo change his mind. We wanted this to be clean…or as clean as it could be, considering what was at stake. The moment I stepped out of the classroom, I merged with Arthur. Extending our senses, I didn’t want to get ambushed.
Me and Diane walked across campus, with no one really around. Jumping at shadows and being paranoid together. Eventually, we reached the boys dorm, going up the stairs to the second floor, and parting ways at the door to my room, after I used Arthur to make sure Enzo wasn’t laying in wait there. Meanwhile, Cynthia was waiting downstairs to escort Diane back across campus.
About to enter my room, I looked at Diane, hand on the door. I smiled, the best I could, and she smiled back. Getting close to each other, we kissed, for at least ten seconds, before pulling away.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll get this guy. He’ll pay.”
“Yeah. We will.” She echoed, as I shut the door, and locked it. I heard her walking away, and according to Arthur, she met up with Cynthia downstairs, and the two walked out (I’d been using Arthur to track their keys).
Sighing, I sat down at my desk, turning on the lamp, and looking down at the textbook again. The words still blurred.
I tried reading for about twenty minutes. I barely made it a paragraph. Irritated, I closed the book, stood up, slid on my shoes, and headed out of my room, to use the bathroom. Merging with Arthur, out of paranoia, I moved to walk down the hallway…
When we felt a ping at the very edge of Arthur’s radius, but approaching fast-we moved into the nearby indent in the wall used for housing a bulletin board, just as something fast moved by us, and clattered through to the end of the hall. Heart pounding, we peaked around the corner. The window at the end of the hall was open. I could feel the chill. I took this chance to move back to my room, rapidly, shutting the door. Enzo. It had to be Enzo, shooting at me.
We went into my desk drawer. Moving a large book out of the way, We revealed a hidden prize. A pair of hunting knives. My 18th birthday gift from my dad. He’d always been my inspiration, after my mom had called me ugly on my 16th, and got a divorce with my dad soon after. Calm, collected, and patient. Hunting was something we’d shared enjoyment of, and so he’d given me these. We grabbed them, and strapped them to my side, a look of determination on my face. I walked back out into the hallway, seeing the projectile coming again, we dodged easily. He seemed to be shooting clusters of pebbles, probably with Evander’s rifle. People were starting to come out of their rooms now, but I ducked around, moving to the edge of the window. We could ping him now. He was in the other dormitory, right across. Another window, maybe thirty feet away Taking a deep breath, using Arthur to time and empower my blow perfectly, I leaned out, and chucked one of the knives. We felt it hit flesh. And we saw him slump down, and fall out of the window. Direct hit.
“How well can we dodge telekinesis.” I asked Arthur.
“I can detect it, that much I know. It will be up to you to act in time.”
Good enough for me. I’d have to do this. For David to be avenged. For Diane, to live safer.
We ran down the stairs, out the bottom door, second knife drawn. Evander had fused with Enzo, and had their rifle pulled up, firing. I barely dodged the telekinesis, as we ran forward, narrowly dodging a second shot, moving down, sliding, and jabbing the second knife directly into Evander’s rib cage. Sliding to a halt, we breathed heavily, as we watched the golden blood seep from the hybrid form. We’d done it. Standing, we looked down, spitting onto Evander’s fallen body with a sneer.
“That’s for David, bastard”
Me and Arthur said together, even if I knew my shadow didn’t really mean it.
We were nearly ready to walk away, when we got a ping, rapid movement, turning around in half and barely dodging the knife to the chest-only to catch it to the arm instead, blade punching straight through. I howled in pain, staggering back, wind taken out of me just as Evander picked up the other knife, pulling it free of their chest as Juno’s mask glowed on their face, and the wound began to close and grabbed me by the neck with one arm. We just saw the faintest sign of people starting to come to windows, when they overpowered me, dragging me over behind a building a nearby bush extinguishing most light to be seen. My arm burned with pain from the blade, thrashing best I could.
“That was a pretty good trick.”
Evander stabbed me once in the gut. We tried to scream, but their hand covered my mouth.
“I think I’ll use it, once Arthur is mine.”
Another stab. Arthur left, leaving just me, he was floating nearby, looking ashamed that he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Unfortunately, you failed. But, perhaps, you can reflect on your failure, with whatever awaits you”
Another stab, the pain was starting to numb.
“Goodbye, Edward.”
Four more stabs with my knife in rapid succession, before he released his grip, letting my bloody body slide to the ground, dimly trying to see through the bushes to something to help, as I heard the dim sound of Arthur being grabbed by Evander, consciousness fading into nothingness in due time as my blood left my body.
Kindling And Miscellany 