I couldn't believe my eyes. My mouth opened and closed repeatedly, but there were no words that formed in my lips. All the while, the girl just stared intently right back at me, unmoving.
"A-apple?" I stuttered when I finally recovered, taking a step closer to her just to make sure I wasn't imagining things. But there was no denying it. "How... W-why?"
She moved for the first time, her head tilting slightly to the side with her round dark eyes still fixed on me. I couldn't say how many times it touched my mind how she made it alive after being ripped to pieces by angry Ethereals back in the Halo. It made me nauseous too, how I couldn't help but think why it had to be her who survived and not Rosario.
It was a sick, sick idea. And I knew I shouldn't let false hopes linger in my head. Rosario was dead. I had seen her, held hr in my own arms as she turned into a million fireflies. She wouldn't do a Gandalf comeback no matter what I did.
"Apple," she repeated the name pensively, her shrill girlish voice strangely flat. Her dark eyes went blank for several moments then she suddenly blinked, her eyes focusing on me again. "Codename APPLE. Autonomous Prototype Purge Liaison Equipment. Status: non-functional, damaged beyond repair," she recited mechanically.
I shook my head. It felt like I was listening to an automatic recording. "W-what are you talking about?"
She was acting totally strange. Well, the Apple I knew was strange too, but in a different way. She was emotional-perhaps too much at times-like a little girl and I could barely understand anything she was saying most of the time during the short period we had spent together in the Halo. Yet, the girl in front of me seemed like a completely different person. The poker face, the weird movements, the almost mechanical manner of speaking unnerved me.
Warily, I took two steps back, lowering my stance. "Show me your mark!" I demanded.
Almost automatically, she stepped toward me with an innocent facade. My instincts kicked in and I leaped backward to maintain the distance between us. The Reapers couldn't have found me. They shouldn't. The Helcium should've prevented them.
My legs tensed to run but my fierce longing for any information about the rest of the cabal prevented me from making my escape. I had to know. I had to hear that they were still alive, at least. Or else, I was afraid I would lose what little sanity remained in my thick skull.
"Your mark!" I insisted, not taking my eyes off her as I began to harness my Bind. With some effort, I felt the weak force leisurely pulsing, flowing down to my right arm. "Slowly!"
Carefully, she took a small step to where the light of the moon wasn't blocked by the branches of the trees. She didn't even look intimidated by my suspicion when she gathered the thick red mane off the left side of her neck and pushed it back. Even without the moonlight, I could see it clearly on her neck-the Eleventh's mark-glowing faintly red in the dark.
"Tell me," I started, just to buy me more time to accumulate enough life-force to summon my scythe. "Had Hector switched alliance? How did you find me? Why are you here, Apple? Tell me."
A flicker of life momentarily lit her dark-brown eyes at the mention of her master's name. But other than that, her face was still unreadable.
"Sorting inquiries according to importance. Sorting done," she droned on. After a short pause, she began enumerating the answers to my questions. "Master Hector's affairs are... confidential. Target-Aramis Rayne was found through the Infallible Detecting Program (IDP) installed in this body at specific date-eleventh of May, Tuesday- and specific time-five fifty-eight in the morning.
"Only such program is capable of locating you within two point zero thirty-seven seconds duration of visibility," she assured me.
I placed a hand to my chest, feeling the weak chill given off by the Helcium's crystal. Then I remembered how it had fallen off of my hands when Alessandra took over my body yesterday. It wasn't even that long-two seconds according to Apple-and Hector already knew where I was. Supposedly, I was untouchable. All the same, Vincent's confidence in the stupid old necklace had just been proven wrong today.
My heart pounded in my head as I calculated. How long would it take until the rest of Death's minions found me? Perhaps, not a lot.
A weak throbbing green light flashed from the small cube Apple had produced from the pocket of her midnight blue fleece jacket. The light swept the whole area to and fro. Intently, she did a three hundred and sixty degree turn. Only when the red-haired girl seemed satisfied did she turn to face me. She secured what seemed to be the scanner back inside her pocket, not making any effort to be wary of my presence. Not that I was a big threat to her right now.
"Latest soul scan reveals no immortal within a five-hundred mile radius except... you," she said to me, her expression anything but comforting.
"Who are you, really?" To my relief, my voice sounded calm enough.
As if oblivious of my struggle, the weird girl placed a small hand on her chest. "This unit is called Model One-Seven-Seven-One-Three, also known as MILLIE. APPLE is an obsolete, defective model. Master Hector had not foreseen the errors in APPLE's system."
If I understood it right, her name was Millie. Not Apple. Other than that, I had no clue what she was talking about.
"O-okay, Millie. That's your name, right?" I cautiously said to her. "What do you want?"
Submissively, she nodded. "Stating directives. Escort object of mission-Aramis Rayne. Destination-Halo. Mission-Rescue Master Vincent Soren Patrius Sinclair."
Obviously, it wasn't time to mock my master in his absence. Nor was it appropriate to have such useless petty thoughts in my head but I thought my mouth just gaped a bit at that. Ugh. And he thought my name was funny.
I cleared my throat, focusing on the matter at hand. There was a ton of questions in my mind at the moment but the most important shoved its way to the front, making my heart skip a few beats.
"Y-you know how to get there? To hi-I mean to them?" Despair leaked in my voice. My knees shook as with my hands.
At long last! A way to get to him... to them.
Wrong move. Showing any sign of weakness would tell Millie exactly how much I was willing to do everything to see the cabal. I would be like a puppy, willing to do any trick for a treat and I hated to give her that notion.
"Affirmative," Millie replied. "On the account that you will agree to my master's conditions."
There it is. I knew there's a catch, I moaned inwardly.
I swallowed the swelling in my throat, narrowing my eyes to give off a sceptical air. "What condition?"
She blinked thoughtfully as though recalling some deeply buried memory. "On the condition that Aramis Rayne, will place herself under the custody of Master Hector with freewill."
Suddenly, my scalp prickled, my blank mask slowly melting away. Pilgrim Reaper's ball last winter flashed back into my mind like a dysfunctional movie reel. I remembered how Hector's wide blatant eyes burned as he told me how I and Alessandra might be alike. Remembered the wild look about him as he openly admitted his interest on me and my abilities.
So, you see, I'd be delighted to have a chance to examine you.
In the brink of summer, I shivered. If Death wanted me as his lapdog, Hector was more concerned in treating me as his guinea pig. Seriously. Didn't anyone teach them a damn thing about human rights?
"I..." My mind seemed dysfunctional with all the conflicts jamming altogether inside my head.
There it was. The help I had wished for. Five long months, I had waited for some miracle and when it came I suddenly had doubts and fears. There was no room for that. I thought I had become so tough there wasn't anything that could scare me anymore. As it turned out, I was still the coward I used to be.
"I'll need to think about it," I finally sighed, letting my hands fall limply to my side.
Millie, showing no sign of disappointment or any emotion for that matter, nodded to me. "My master promises the safety of both you and your master. I shall meet you here tomorrow at exactly the same time."
'Safety' seemed like too vague a word for someone like Hector. Ironic, even. And I was sure safety didn't include summer picnics, health benefits and holiday pays.
I was told Hector had been sort of the family nerd. He and Alexis, to be exact. Though the latter was more fascinated with human technology. But Hector, he delved into the more messy stuff-wraith experiments, soul fusions, the occult.
Something in me was fretting as I thought of The Eleventh. Behind that slight and delicate appearance, that kind face, there was a kind of viciousness that radiated from him. Once I decide to go by his terms, I knew there was no escape.
Still, I couldn't resist. My friends were just a grasp away. All I had to do was choose.
As I deliberated about it, a gust of wind disturbed the stillness of the trees. I shielded my eyes from the leaves and debris that circled me. My hair whipped against my face, I could barely make out what was happening. When the wind subsided, the spot where Millie stood was already empty. Talk about dramatic exits.
Dad was waiting for me in his favorite skull-embellished grandfather chair when I got home. Did I mention he had an obsession on creepy things? Which explained the miniature bronze statues of winged girl and guy demons making out on top of the fireplace. Or the skull heads keeping his books organized. And don't get me started about the dusty old mummy sarcophagus that served as the table for his mini bar. Freaky, I know.
Dad didn't say anything. He just removed his eyeglasses, pushed his laptop close then let out a deep breath. Dad wasn't always the worrying type. In the past, what he didn't know didn't bother him. Of course, he didn't try to know anything about me. That made life so much easier for him. We used to be like two strangers who were, by some sick twist of fate, got stuck together in the same house. And we both couldn't do anything about it.
Everything changed last year. Too much had happened. At this point, even if he couldn't remember a thing-about that night he tried to kill me when he got possessed by wraiths-it felt like he really changed on the inside.
"Sorry, Dad." I took the seat nearest to him-the ordinary looking sofa with no skulls. "I had to... do homework with Lindsay." Ironically, my throat was burning with every word. Liar, liar. Pants on fire.
"Hungry?" he asked, setting his laptop on the coffee table. "I made potato salad."
"Uh... sure." The least I could do was join him for late supper even though I wasn't hungry. Guilt trip.
There wasn't much distraction as we ate apart from the clinking of forks against our plates. My head was starting to hurt with all this thinking. But the more I tried to clear my mind, the more thoughts rushed in.
Finally, a ticket back to the Halo, served to me in a silver platter. All I had to do was grab it. Could Millie really help me get Vincent back? Would Hector keep his word? Even if the answer was yes, it didn't make me feel better at all.
I sighed heavily, forking on my food.
"Not doing so well with that homework?" Dad asked, glancing up at me.
Nodding, I took a small bite, barely tasting the food before forcing it down my gullet. So this was how it must feel for people in the death row when they were having a final feast.
"Yeah... I guess you could say that," I answered through the mouthful of what-ever-it-was. In a better day, it might've been the best Dad had ever made. Tonight, it tasted like gluey paper to me.
"I've been a teenager once, you know," he smiled thoughtfully. His smile was almost like an endangered species to me. I only saw it in pictures. "Although, those years are all a blur to me now... But if you ever need to talk-"
I managed to meet his clear brown eyes. "I know... Dad. Thanks."
It occurred to me if Dad would do fine living all alone. Maybe he would. Not worrying about me would give him more time to write his new novel. Still, it was difficult and in some level, painful to leave him again. All this lying was making everything worse. To think that he was so trusting of me.
The food got stuck in my throat. I bit my lip and steeled my resolve before I could do so much as cry or any other equally embarrassing act in front of Marcel Rayne.
"Dad?" I gazed up at him, waiting until he looked back at me. "I... I-did you put pepper on this?"
That night, I meant to tell him that I love him to his face but I couldn't. I wasn't brought up that way so I didn't really know how. Saying that kind of stuff would be a lot more difficult than munching on a broken light bulb. How I wished Mom was here. She always made everything better.
After cleaning up the dishes, I unearthed my canvas sling bag-the one Vincent gave me-from my drawer and packed everything I thought I might need in case we got out of the Halo alive. I quickly shoved a change of clothes, two bottles of water, an old carving knife I found in the cupboard, bandages and lots and lots of Tylenol. I made a mental note to grab some energy bars from the convenience store the next day.
The minute I was done, I collapsed in my bed, curling under the sheets as I watched the lights flicker on the ceiling. There was no decision. I knew from the start that I would grab any opportunity to come for my cabal no matter what the cost. Even if it meant being locked up in a steel cage or poked on for Hector's own amusement.
I still wished there was some way to outwit Hector. But now, dread was weighed down by hope. My heart went ballistic at the thought of seeing the others again. My stomach was twisting into knots and I wanted to scream to the world that I was coming for them. Time was a drag, I couldn't wait.
Just when I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep, my eyes drooped heavily. Under my lids, Rosario's tormented face flashed over and over again. We were back in the Halo's labyrinth. Blood was everywhere. Several lifeless bodies were scattered on the forest floor, disintegrating with blinding lights as they transformed into countless swirling fireflies.
Against the midnight blue skies, a million floating lights rose like fire lanterns. Instead of hope, all I could muster was sadness. Rosario was there, among the little fireflies now but still, her words echoed throughout the labyrinth.
Vincent... Save him.
Her dying wish was my mission. It was the reason why I was still alive and I wasn't going to waste her sacrifice.
I didn't bother going to school the next day. But like all the other school days, I left home exactly at the time Dad expected me to. I spent the whole morning getting ready and buying supplies. After that, I killed time at the school's rooftop, staring nonsensically at the dreary view before me.
Ashland wasn't much-just a vast flat of green and gray, dotted by lightly colored rooftops-but it was the closest thing to home I ever had. All my life, I tried to not get attached to anything. To anyone. It was the easiest way to avoid being hurt. My mother's death had taught me that. But now, I was ready to risk my life to save people I had only known for a very short time. I was ready to get hurt and fight with everything I got just to be with them. Of course, it had to be me. How ironic.
It was only when the final school bell rang that I realized that I lost track of time. Taking a deep breath, I slung the bag on my shoulder and headed for the exit door. I almost leapt back when I saw someone standing there.
"Lindsay," I breathed out, looking down. "Y-you scared me."
Lindsay didn't answer, her blue eyes scrutinizing me from head to toe as she folded her gangly arms across her chest. The questions on her face were almost readable beneath the wispy curls of gold gently being blown by the wind.
"How long have you been there?" I asked, making an effort to smile and look relieved.
Her forehead creased. "Someone broke in Jim Lowry's house last night," she said, ignoring my efforts to lighten the tension in the air. "Is that you, Aramis?"
"Ah, that..." I chuckled wryly.
Her eyes widened with anger, with disappointment. "So you did it? You really did it?!" she screamed at me before biting the tips of her fingernails. "I have no idea what you're up to, but are you out of your mind? And the worst part is, I helped you do it! Ugh!"
I just shut my mouth and tried to appear as little as possible. I felt like shrinking. Yeah. It was true. I used her. She had done nothing but try to understand me and put up with all my crazy ideas. It was selfish to drag her into all this trouble. It wasn't fair and I hated myself for that. I was such a crappy friend. No surprise there. It was what I do and I was good at it.
"And... and what would you do if you got caught?" She looked like she was going to cry with the way her mouth trembled as she spoke. "Don't you ever think that maybe... just maybe, people will worry?"
It touched me, pained me even how much she really cared for me. However, she chose the worst person to care about because I wasn't capable of being the best friend that she deserved. I would just hurt her in the end.
"You don't have to," I answered, voice low and even. The blank mask was on my face again. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. "From now on, I wouldn't be a burden to you. I'm leaving." Don't worry yourself over me. Don't try to find me.
"I can see that," she whispered, staring blankly at my feet. "The draughting shoes kind of gave it away. Where are you going, Aramis?" she asked, although I could sense that she already knew my answer. "W-when are you coming back?"
If I'm coming back at all.
It was a struggle to put up a smirk, rolling my eyes up. "For who? For you?"
"Yes!" Her voice went up a notch higher, mist forming around the edges of her eyes. "And for Carter too."
Time was running out. I had to make this quick and painful. Like a stab in the back. It would be better if she learned to hate me and not waste the rest of her life mourning and wondering what had become of her long lost friend.
"Tell me, Lindsay. Wouldn't you be happier if I just disappear?" I managed to make my voice sound cruel, unlike the guilt and misery that made my chest hurt. "That way, you will have Carter all to yourself. No Aramis to get in your way."
Lindsay shook her head hard, a tear making its way down her cheek. "I... That's not true."
"Admit it," I hissed so she wouldn't hear the tear in my voice. I didn't know it would be the hard, this devastating to try to break a friend's heart. "You like Carter. But you don't have the guts to tell him. I know you'll thank me for this someday."
"Aramis, please..." Tears kept falling from her electric blue eyes, fogging the glass of her spectacles but I could see the truth of what I just said from the stunned look on her pale face. With her hands reaching out, she took a few staggering steps toward me.
From the corner of my eye, I made sure that the parking lot on the side of the school was already empty. It wasn't much of a fall from the second floor rooftop. Not for me, at least. There was a narrow walkway where seniors usually hole up when they wanted to smoke or make out during class hours, so no one really dared to park there if they didn't want the bullies egging or vandalizing their cars.
The sun was still hanging in there, midway down the sky, not too tired to hide beneath the horizon. But it was dim enough that no one would notice me draughting as long as I hid in the shadows.
Lindsay was making it harder than I thought it would be. I looked down on my shoes, not letting any of the hurt show on my face as I backed away from her until I felt the safety railing touch my shoulders.
My plan for goodbye was an epic fail, as usual. Acting wasn't really my thing. Lying too. But I had decided to stick with my script.
"Well then," I shrugged, forcing the corners of my lips to pull up into a twitchy grin.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
Indifferently, I grabbed onto the ledge of the railing. "Thanks, I guess... for everything."
You're the best friend there is. My best friend.
Just that and I vaulted over the fence, ignoring her calls. The wind felt good on my face. It dried out what tears I could've shed for Lindsay. Not a second later, my feet touched the ground with a silent thud. Lindsay's voice lingered in my head as I broke into a jog without so much as a second look.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey there. Is anyone still there? Yeah? Well, hi! And thanks for making Reapers number 1 in the paranormal category of Watty Awards. Will upload and answer your PMs ASAP or when I get home from another trip. LOVE, ~shim