Chlorine Halos

Gifts

Sheets of rain continued to fall from the darkened storm clouds, blanketing the cracked asphalt I lied upon with wet, cold covers. The tears streamed down the sides of my face and flowed into the heavy beads of water. The unwavering high pitch drilled its singular note further into my head, hushing any other sound. I pushed my palms against my drenched eyelids, as I let out the pained scream I couldn't hear. I felt everything.

Beams of light shined over me. As I lied on the ground, I moved my head, scratching against the pavement, and looked up to see a world upside-down. Two sets of headlights came closer and stopped short of me. A pair of dainty silhouettes and a large, burly shadow blocked the beams. The sharp tone began to subside and a voice pierced through the noise.

"Avian!"

Still disoriented, my arms were pulled to help me sit upright. The sudden movement forced my eyes to close and my head to wobble. I blinked until the person in front of me came into focus.

"Riley?" I asked weakly, swallowing against a raw throat.

The pink streak in her blonde hair was darkening as it saturated the driving rain. Her sapphire eye she kept uncovered somehow sparkled under the veil of the storm. She breathed heavily with an open-mouthed smile and flung her arms around me. I felt her hold me. She was here. With one hand at the center of her back, I moved the other underneath her soaked locks to the nape of her neck and tightly embraced a miracle.

"Help me get him to his feet," Ruth instructed, kneeling down next to me. From behind, hefty arms hoisted me to my feet. Ruth and Riley each took one of my wrists and swung themselves underneath my arms, bracing me from the sides.

"We need to leave," David said, flexing his authority.

As I was turned to face the vehicles, another shadowy figure approached. Slow moving strides quickly became frantic sprinting steps. The black mask peeled away.

"Oz?"

He didn't stop. He raced around me.

"Riley, to your car," Ruth insisted. "Your dad will take care of Oz."

As I tried to turn my head around, they dragged me to the passenger side of the yellow Bug. After climbing into the back, Riley slid the seat backward and Ruth cradled me into the car. While the rain played a tinny cadence on the hood, the windshield framed Oz, falling to his knees in front of the scorched remnants of his family's diner.

"Two people," I said stoically. "Two people were with him."

"Who was with them?" Riley asked, pulling herself to the edge of the seat. "I mean, I know they were here closing up the diner because of the storm."

I looked at her face through the rearview mirror. "Who was here?"

"His parents."

Oz flailed his arms and legs as David held him tightly from behind. My jaw trembled uncontrollably while I watched him suffer the stripping of his family. Over and over, Mike's words played in my mind, echoing until I caved from the weight of their truth—I was cursed. I brought my broken life upon the Oswalds and shattered something beautiful.

"What have I done?" I whispered.

The door made a hollow, dampened sound after it was pulled shut by Ruth, who sorted through her jingling keys. Once she started the engine, she turned to me and placed her hand on my seat's headrest.

"Avian, you cannot blame yourself for this," she said smoothly. "This was not your fault." She grabbed my chin and pulled me into her widened stare. "Do you understand me?"

I quietly nodded, then looked back through the window as David lifted an unwilling Oz and carried him to the truck which idled next to us. After both were in the cab, the truck pulled onto Tenth Avenue and traveled south while we closely followed. Ruth squeezed and twisted her firm grip on the leather steering wheel as she deeply sighed.