I’ll tell you something; something I’m ashamed of. On the bright side, I’m quite openly and courageously shamed. For am moment, I thought Nagan was done for. He looked so tiny inside the black mouth of the monstrosity. It resembled a deadly mix of a lizard and my neighbor’s evil pomeranian Shelia. But this thing was supersized: its head was only a foot from the top of the wall. I cringed and looked away, but not fast enough to miss Nagan’s tail flick out and the monster wail in pain.
The monster shook its head furiously, and Nagan held fearfully onto one of its teeth. I peeked back, and saw the monster try to close it’s jaws: blocked by Nagan’s hands against the top of it’s mouth. But Nagan was slowly losing ground, being forced to his knees, and then, he fell…
…Right into Cilara’s arms.
“Yeah!” I cheered.
The monster looked at me, and I swear it grinned
“Good Creepy monster” I tried.
The monster leaped toward me, and stood over me after a single bound. It leaned in close enough that I could smell kibble on its breath. I threw up my hands to guard my face, and heard a sickening sound. I was still holding the white dagger, and I had stabbed the creature in the eye.
I’m a little fuzzy on what happened after that-actually I would rather forget. Cilara got the monster under control, I think she tased it six or seven times while it was moaning over its lost eye. I was only paying attention to the way my stomach was heaving. I heard Nagan groan and looked up.
He was standing right next to me, looking down at the puke on his cloak. I just vomited on the really cute warrior dude! I finished heaving and gasped
“I’m so sorry! It’s just-what was that thing?”
He nodded, “its fine. We all had our first time,” Nagan sniffed the air gingerly; “You had a muffin for breakfast?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, “Blueberry.”
“Look, take the unstained parts of the cloak and clean yourself off. I don’t think I’ll need it anyway.”
I noticed his tail was out, “Why are you still, um blooded up?”
Nagan said, “I don’t want to be surprised again.”
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, “But It’s my job to protect you, so I have to deal with pain. Now uh I’m afraid this place doesn’t have any bathrooms so I’m going to go find a tree or someting”
I smiled.
Nagan walked off into the dense, expensive looking, and Cilara fluttered down next to me from a tree above my head.
“Who knew puking on someone was such a conversation starter?”
I laughed, not wondering where this sudden joke from Cilara had come from, “Only with your brother. So were you listening to us whole time?”
“No,” Cilara said, “Tasing a giant fur ball actually takes a while. But you seemed pretty friendly from where I was sitting.”
I replied, “Speaking of friendly, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Do you want to be friends?”
She shook her head, “No, I can’t. I mean-I have to focus.”
“You can still focus while having friends. You should try it.”
Cilara smiled, and her awesome muscles relaxed a little, “Okay.”
Nagan called, “Guys? I think you should see this!”
“Oh boy” I said
I ran toward the sound of his voice, bracing myself for something weird. What I saw was a door. Nagan stood next to it, looking very happy with himself.
Cilara landed near the door and said, “You look more conceited than usual, so Is that door what I think it is?”
“Probably, and I can really pull of conceited, can’t I.”
I answer, “Sure, Fabio. What exactly does she think the door is?”
“The back door,” answered Nagan.
“By this he means the legendary back door to the master’s lair. No scouts or magic mirrors have found it. It should allow us to bypass all the door security.” explained Cilara.
“There are magic mirrors and I’m just hearing now?” I said angrily.
“Let’s go in,” said Nagan.
He twisted the doorknob, “It’s locked.”
Cilara took one of her swords, stuck it through the door, and twisted. The door popped right off the hinges and Cilara used a lightweight axe that I guess was sewn into her cloak to hack it to pieces.
“Try it now,” she suggested.
He scattered the rubble, and walked over the threshold, “Okay, I got it. I know the saying is ladies first, but I think I should still go first.”
“Agreed,” I agreed.
We walked for a while down the hallway revealed by the back door. It was a testament to creepy lighting and bad wallpaper choices (it was a bright bilious green.) Every so often, there was a door. Sure, it was creepy, but I felt safe with Nagan covering my front. That’s why I didn’t notice the thug until he had covered my mouth, pinned my arms behind me, and began to drag me away.
Luckily, Cilara had taken my invitation for friendship to heart and turned to talk to me. When she saw the attacker she took off to get Nagan. I had to stall. I put my foot in between the thug’s legs. He tripped and cursed.
I tried to sprint away, but he caught me around the throat, “Running from your handsome scorpion?”
I shake my head as much as I can, “We actually have a meeting scheduled later-
“And so do you,” Nagan ran towards us, “With your maker.”
The thug smiled, “I think your girlfriend will have to fill in for me.” He tightened his hands and I felt the worse kind of sensation-I couldn’t breathe. Forget fear-I was drowning in terror. And then, his hands released me and I heard his body flop to the ground. I studied his gnarled brown skin, acne scars, and puffy brown hair. I decided I liked Nagan a lot better.
Cilara cleared her throat and I looked up into her smiling face, “You tased him?”
“Killing is against the rules.”
“Figures”
I stepped forward and swayed a little bit. Nagan lunged forward, “I’m fine,” I told him.
He backed off, “Fine.”
We walked together until we reached the end of the hall- the dead end of the hall. Now I was traveling these creepy halls with one of my normal friends, one would have said, “What are we going to do now? I’d even inhaled to say it, but I never got the chance.
“Let’s open one of these doors and see what we find,” Cilara suggested
I choked on my almost said words and Nagan stared concernedly at me before agreeing , “Sounds like a plan.”
Cilara pounced on a handsome mahogany door and found the bathroom. It smelled like Febreeze and soap. The delicate crystal sink shone; reflecting the millions of tiny lights around the mirror. Instead of a solid gold toilet, like you usually see in rich homes( I learned about that phenomenon from late night sitcoms-where else?) the toilet and bath were a beautiful pearl.
“Nice Place,” Nagan declared.
I shrugged, “Now you won’t have to find a bush, huh Cilara?”
Cilara called from across the hall, “Sure, Elaine. Can you come here for a second?”
We walked a little reluctantly after her. Had she found Charlton? Was our fragile but oddly precious peace over? We caught up to Cilara and saw-
“Wow” said Nagan
I add “It’s-
“Beautiful” Nagan smiles
“Marvelous,” I agree.
“Let’s eat!” we cry, because the room held the most wonderful sight that moment could hold for us…food. There was peanut butter, jelly, M+Ms, grape sodas, and an entire transparent pantry of ice cream, although a few frozen burritos, tacos, macaroni and cheese dishes, and something called Mwermgais stew were nestled in with them. And there was much, much more behind the first layer .The brilliant hues of the food’s packaging made an almost garish mural against the wood shelves, plush blue carpet, and silvery chrome microwave. The scents sung to my hungry belly and I sighed blissfully.
“Yes I figured we could use research to figure out where in this house Charlton is hiding, then we could-
Cilara realized we weren’t looking at the den, despite it’s expensive looking art decorating the walls, plush seats, powerful Jacuzzi, and the tall, beautiful mahogany bookshelves. She snatched a book for herself and crashed herself down on a silky loveseat staring daggers at us. Yeah we didn’t notice.
For one thing, the beautiful Nagan was standing me with me in a kitchen with no distractions. He smiled at me, pulled out two fat slices of bread from a shelf, and said, “Let me show you what I learned in culinary school.”
I giggled, “Where did you get a culinary degree?”
“From the fine school of living alone. With Cil of course, but she can’t cook cereal.”
Oh? , “Didn’t you have any parents?”
“Yeah, sure. Cilara and I both have dads. Wonder where they are?”
“But you have the same mother, right? Where does she live?”
Nagan moved his chest piece so I can see the tattoo under it. The silver ink wound around his tan skin, stating ‘Patient 470 Room 379 Designated Nurse: Nora Gately Notes: The patient has shown no sign of improvement or change. Children will be moved to independent barracks’
“I’m sorry,” I said, almost crying.
“Don’t be,” he replies, ruffling my red hair with one hand and expertly pulling ingredients off the shelf and assembling a huge sandwich with the other. When he finishes, he adds, “If mom wasn’t in her delicate condition you wouldn’t be enjoying my fine cuisine.
I pick up the sandwich and take a bite. It’s sweet but not too sweet, and do I taste chocolate chips and orange ice cream?”
“Mmn. What’s in this?”
He gestures to the counter, “M+Ms, chocolate chips, orange flavored Ice cream, bread, peanut butter, and some other unlabeled cans of stuff that smelled good.”
“Give me one of those and I’ll forgive you,” called Cilara
“You’re mad at us?” I asked.
Nagan just shrugged and arranged two more sandwiches, brought one to his sister, then sat down and began to savor the other .We told each other about our lives and I realized just how good we fit together. When we ran out of things to say I screwed my courage to the sticking place and stared into his eyes.
“So,” I said
“So”
I smiled, “I thought we were done with two letter conversations.”
His eyes caught the playful flintiness in mine, and under that, the alluring invitation, and he leaned in just like on the bus.
“Maybe we should get past conversation.”
Nagan’s arms swept me in and we breathed in each other’s scents. My gaze flicked to his eyes and I saw a tiny scratch on his nose. That scratch reminds we why I’m here. It reminds me about distraction, and pain and why I can never allow myself to hurt him. He would fight so much for me, so for him…
….I have to fight myself, and what I want. I pull away, and he looks jilted and angry at the same time, “Was it me?”
I shook my head.
“Was it this place?”
I looked up, “I don’t want you to distract you from our mission.”
Nagan said, “I understand. Just another thing Charlton owes us for.”
He doesn’t understand. He can’t fool me, but I play dumb “Huh?”
He smiled sadly, “This moment. He’s going to pay for it. He’s going to pay for us.”
When he plopped himself angrily onto an expensive leather futon, I realized that Nagan and Cilara-Him with his cheerful exterior hiding his painful secret and Her businesslike approach to life hiding the magnitude of her love for her brother- are actually more alike than a lot of half siblings would be.
Death
Wounds
Kisses
Scars ripping open
Blood
And that’s only the horrors that swam through my mind while I’m slept. I woke up and found myself in a huge waterbed, one that I barely remembered finding and crawling into last night. Nagan stood guard at the foot of the bed, and Cilara was curled up on the floor. For some reason we were all awake even though the clock on the wall showed it was 12:47.
“Did you hear it?,” whispered Cilara.
I shook my head, “ Hear what?”
A sharp humming sound sliced through the wary awareness Nagan, Cilara, and I held between us.
“There it is again,” said Nagan.
I took a deep breath and rolled out of bed, “Let’s go find out what’s making that..”
“Are you sure? It might be dangerous.”
I nodded, “I have a hunch the ‘master’s’ behind it and Like you said, Charlton owes us.”
I’d thought they were going to object, but they just nodded and followed me. (Although Nagan grabbed the rest of the M+Ms as we passed the kitchen.)
The humming led us into the bathroom, and after a couple unashamedly crass jokes, we had to admit we still didn’t know where the music was coming from.”
I realized, “The mirror! It’s coming from the mirror!”
Nagan put his ear to the mirror and nodded.
“It’s coming from the mirror alright.”
Cilara shook her head, “That doesn’t make any-behind the mirror!” It’s not coming from the mirror. It’s coming from there.”
She grabbed the mirror, pulling it forward to reveal a wide passageway and clobber Nagan in the same fluid movement.
“What was that for?” asked Nagan.
Cilara shrugged, “It wasn’t against the rules.”
Nagan grumbled, and climbed into the passageway.
“What do you see?” I asked.
“Nothing really,” he replied, “Just some boring old office.”
I shrugged and climbed into the space behind the mirror. It’s steeper than I imagined, and by the time I managed to climb the steep passageway, I firmly wish I had listened to my P.E. teacher about staying committed to improving my physical strength. (Were those the exact words? Maybe I was listening better than I thought.)
When I hoisted myself up, I found myself agreeing with Nagan. This was only a boring office, the only adornments on the white walls were two electrical sockets and the only furniture was a desk a swivel chair, and about three small T. V. screens .The swivel chair and screens were facing away from us.
I heard Cilara’s footsteps behind me, and then a squeaky, high pitched, thin voice sounded, “Lust, Jealousy, Anger. They don’t make for good people, but they make for good television.”
“Charlton,” I said, somehow knowing his voice.
The swivel chair turned around and I fought the urge to laugh. The master was a weak, bony looking boy; shirtless except for a vest and tie and wearing expensive looking black pants.
“Sing,” ordered Nagan
I nodded and sang.
Friends
Love
Trees and flowers
Your whispers glow
In my dark hours
I can’t pretend
To love the world
Whole
But I can love the things I do
Most true
When I’m with you
Charlton laughed, “And I was worried! Your words are clichés, presentation is boring and your voice-well let’s just say banshees have nothing on you.”
“He’s right,” Cilara cried nervously, “The world is going to end.”
“And be remade more wonderfully,” he gave me a bracey smile, “Maybe in the new world you’ll have a good song. I’d vote for more romance.”
“Me too,” Nagan whispered
“It was good enough to win my school poetry contest,” I answered, “But the world…I’m sorry Nagan.”
He laid a hand on my back, “I’m sorry for getting your hopes up. Failure was always the most likely outcome of this venture.”
“Now Elaine,” Charlton smiled, “Let me show you out.”
“That’s okay, I know the way-
“Of this life,” he growled, Charlton’s tail, which was an iridescent red and almost as long and wide as the rest of his body, flicked out from behind him and pushed me. Not hard. I didn’t even feel it.
But Nagan flung down his M+Ms and rushed at Charlton. I stared at their bright spinning shapes and wished I was back on the bas with Nagan, not knowing what it meant to be a powerful blood scorpion. I didn’t know it then, but a psychologist in my future would have been unemployed If I had turned away…
Instead I saw seven things that would haunt me for life.
1 The bloodlust in Nagan’s eyes as he rushed towards the little brat.
2 The easy confidence Charlton used parrying Nagan’s wild blows
3 The way a boy’s body could be so limp after only a little while ago it was tantalizing me with its spicy smell.
4 Cilara’s broken eyes as she spread her wings and drew her weapons.
5The red, bloody holes, that told me she could never fly again
6 The beauty of the creature that entered next
7 The way the M+Ms spun round and round and round.
Charlton lunged for me next, tossing aside his smoking pistol. Probably because two bullets were all it could hold. And those two bullets were now buried in Cilara’s wings. The boy swung his tail at me, and it shuddered as if there was an invisible wall around me. Charlton fell, and the beautiful creature stepped right up to me.
“Hello child.”