Eclipse

Chapter Twelve: Roxy

          "YOU'RE ALL VERMIN."

          Roxy stared daggers at the boys, feeling hot flares of hatred jump up within her. She tightened her hands into fists—barely resisting the urge to lash out at them. "Leave. Now."

"Or what?" one of them sneered at her. His eye twitched. "You gonna make us?"

In one fluid motion, she pulled the knife out of her pocket and gave it a twirl. "Spot on." The boy spit but hastened a few steps back away from her.

          "You seem real proud of your scars," Roxy hissed. "I can give you another one right now."

          Like prowling cats, they eyed her once more. When she held her ground, they paused before disappearing back down the road and into darkness.

          Roxy exhaled. Her knees were shaking.

          "How did you do that?"

          Rowan was looking at her with wide eyes—come to think of it, she'd gotten rather used to his enlarged and frightened eyes.

          "All bluff," she told him.

          But she wasn't so sure.

          Roxy shook her head, trying to clear it, and bent down to check on the girl.

          She was trembling on the ground, covered in grime, her arms held in front of her face as if bracing for a hit.

          "You alright?" Rowan had bent down, too, and offered his hand to her. The girl still shook, but she quietly took Rowan's hand. Together, they helped her to her feet.

          "Thanks," she said, barely a murmur.

          "Anytime." Rowan smiled kindly. "Though the credit goes to scary Roxy here." When neither girl laughed, he rushed on. "Those creeps have serious issues. Be careful next time." The girl nodded mutely and managed a small smile. Roxy and Rowan smiled back and accompanied her back to her tent before they headed back to their own.

          Opening the tent flap a little, Roxy peeked inside. Griffin was asleep, like he usually was these days, escaping his demons. She put a finger to her lips. Rowan nodded, and they stepped inside.

          She settled into her cot and stared upward, tired. Even at such a time of need, people refused to unite and help each other. She shook the depressing thought out of her head. The sun was low in the sky now, casting a soft golden glow over the tent; it was visible through the thin material.

          They had arrived in Columbus as a collective mess of sweat and tears, not quite broken but not quite whole. And they'd only gotten worse from there. The widening hole in the world was getting to them, she thought, and drifted into sleep.

          She was woken up the next morning by the sun shining straight into her eyelids. The next, there was no sun to be seen. And after that, the weather pattern went completely nuts. At that point, Roxy gave up on trying to adjust, because she knew she would never be able to.

          On the fifth day, there was a mandatory meeting for all refugees. Roxy stood in the rain with Rowan beside her, who was straining to see the speaker on stage through the growing darkness.

          "Rumor says it's a government official," he told her excitedly.

          She gave him a side-glance. "Is that really a good thing? The government lies, Rowan."

          He frowned at her, his standard reaction. "Still." Roxy opened her mouth to respond, but he hushed her: "It's starting!"

          Good evening, residents of RC-Ohio," a broadcasted voice proclaimed. "I'm Adrian Floquet, creator of the ECLIPSE." He paused for the slightest second as murmurs rose from the crowd. Roxy watched him dubiously, resisting the urge to cross her arms. "I hope you are all holding up well in the event of this disastrous malfunction. My team is working diligently to track down the root of this error and correct it." Thunder rumbled in the distance, as if voicing Roxy's displeasure. "Meanwhile—"

          Lightning struck then, intensely close and bright.

          The crowd as a whole took a few staggering steps backward, almost pushing Roxy over. A steady shaking spread through the ground before stopping as quick as it started. Roxy was blinded. When she could see again, it looked like the lightning had struck the stage.

          Wait. She squinted.

          "Oh my god," Roxy whispered.

          The lightning hadn't hit the stage.

          It hit Adrian Floquet.

          Through the now parted crowd, Roxy could see that he had fallen over, limp, onto the stage. The wooden boards around him were charred. Wisps of smoke rose into the sky. Several people gasped. Roxy's heart was racing in her chest as she watched medics run onto the stage.

          Without warning, Adrian Floquet rose up into the air, as if he were a mannequin pulled by a string, scattering the medics. His eyes were glowing with unexplainable light.

          "I am Raziel," Raziel, Adrian Floquet—whoever he was—said. "Archangel, Messenger of Heaven. At this very moment, two saviors of the world are present."

          Saviors?

          "They were born of the duty and honor of Heaven with their fates decided: united, they will save the world from peril."

          Roxy saw a growing glow in the corner of her eye. Rowan was alight, with a warm glow edging around his whole body. Then, looking down, she realized she had been enveloped in light too, as if she was an angel.

          They stared at each other in shock.

           "There are many more out there," Raziel boomed, "but it all starts with them, and it shall end with them."

          "What's going on?" Rowan's voice was weak. He was in as much disbelief as she was.

           Roxy had no answer for him. She lifted her fingers up to her face, examining them. It was as if she had a second outline, made of light. She had to be hallucinating.

           Raziel looked at them with fiery eyes and spoke three final words:

           "Know your duty."