Nineteen
Oliver watched his phone buzz across the table with a faint sense of amusement. Each vibration made it scuttle over the wood like a wayward cockroach; though it would still for a moment in between calls, it still returned to its jittery dance before long.
Vrrrrr. Vrrrrr.
Gabriel Gonzalez called forty times in the span of half an hour.
Rei watched the phone rattle, her hand in Oliver's. "I'll give him this," she said. "He's persistent."
"That he is." Oliver tipped his head back and watched the road. With a sigh, he cupped his hand over the phone – momentarily stilled – and flattened his hand against the table. When the phone came back to life, it tickled his palm.
"Isn't it getting a bit annoying?" Rei asked. "That buzzing is all I've heard this morning." With that, she picked up her cup and drank.
A car sped by the coffeeshop, kicking up dirt in its wake. Oliver glanced over to his hand and admired the black swirls of ink that licked his knuckles.
"Annoying?" He stretched his legs out and knocked his toes together. "Certainly. It's bound to drive me insane." After a moment, he closed his hand around the phone. Shockwaves surged up his arm.
"Don't tell me you're going to answer that," Rei said over her cup, eyebrows arched.
"Nah." Oliver bounced his cell up and down in his palm. "Not counting on it." Then, without another thought, Oliver reeled back and lobbed it towards the asphalt. It exploded on impact, the shards spraying the cars around it.
Rei's hands flew to her mouth. "Are you crazy?" She dove for it, only to recoil at the last second as a car whizzed past. Among the crunching of gravel came the shattering of glass and plastic.
Oliver stood, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and cocked his head to the side. "That was... anticlimactic." He looked over. "Don't you think so? I thought it would be more exciting than that."
"What did you expect? It's not that big."
He chuckled. "That's what she said."
"Real mature, Ginger."
He sighed. "But no, I guess, thinking about it, it went just as expected." After a moment, he glanced along the sidewalk before stepping onto the asphalt and gathering the shards in his palm.
"What are you doing?" Rei asked.
"Cleaning." Oliver returned to her side, everything awkwardly cupped in his palm, and held it out to her. "It wouldn't be right to just leave it there."
"...Right." With that, Rei rose and gave him a cool look. "It doesn't matter, anyhow. It's just a cellphone. And..." She waved a hand around. "No one really sees us."
"It's evidence."
"That we were here." Rei pointed at her feet. "But from now on, no one can track us anywhere." Then, "But whatever. Do you know where we're going?"
Oliver pulled at a pocket and slid the remains of his phone into it. "After Lilith, obviously. I'm not the only wanted one."
"But she's..."
"In a safehouse? Exactly. I have to get to her before the Magistrate does. Or the Scourge..."
"At this rate," she said, "you should've just left your phone intact. We've already sealed our fates."
The ground rumbled under their feet and they shared a glance.
"This is what you wanted," he said. "No use complaining now." Then he took her hand and pulled her forward. "Come on."
"Where?"
As a truck came into view, Oliver stepped into the road and took a breath. Rei's hand in his, he lunged and hauled himself into the bed, shoes screaming against the side. He face-planted on a pile of cardboard boxes with a moan.
#
Cardboard pressed into his ribs. The sun, as wane as it was, shone light into his face. All Oliver could see was white when he closed his eyes. Birds chirped from all sides of the road. A light breeze tickled his nose. Rei's fingers traced patterns over his knuckles
The truck came to a stop at a gas station and together, Rei and Oliver jumped out. Bits of gravel scratched Oliver's palms when he hit the ground. Beside him, Rei touched down with a grunt.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Fine." Her hair stuck out at all ends. The usual tawny hue to her skin was gone, leaving her pale and breathless. Clouds of pink dotted her cheeks. "Let's... not do that again."
He chuckled. "You mean you didn't like that?"
Her fingers trembled as she fought to smooth her hair out. "Not particularly, no," she replied. Turning her head and leaning his way, she pulled at where her fingers tangled in her hair and said, "Help me?"
"Ah..." He tilted his head and examined the knots at the back of her head. "Right. Okay."
Rei's hair felt like wire in his hands, but he picked at it anyway. Though the knots didn't untangle, he managed to get her hand free and straighten out some of the mess in her hair.
"Thanks," she said. He dipped his head in reply. A truck barreled past them.
Oliver turned to regard the building before them. "A vampire and a demon walk into a gas station," he said with a slight smile. He cocked his head back and glanced at Rei. "Sounds like a bad joke."
Rei's ankles popped as she stretched. "The setting is usually a bar, though."
"Same difference." He reached into his pocket and thumbed his wallet. A metal charm brushed his fingers. From the number of corners that pricked his thumbs, Oliver guessed it was the small silver star. He pinched it, picturing it dangling from Lilith's wrist.
"But the setting can play a big role in --" She paused to give him a once-over. "You okay?"
He shook himself. "Fine. Just... thinking."
"About Lilith."
"Yeah."
She narrowed her eyes. "I'm sure she's fine... so long as she doesn't leave her friend's house, anyway."
"But there's always that possibility," he replied.
"And, of course, she could be lured out..."
He nodded, stomach sinking. "That, too." Then he released the charm and went for his wallet. "Do we need anything?"
"Not that I can think of." Rei adjusted her glasses. "Unless you need a map."
"No."
"Then that settles that." The tips of her fingers ghosted over his palm. "Should we be on our way?"
"Yeah." His pulse jumped as her fingers threaded through his. Oliver swallowed, heat in his cheeks, and strode forward.
"I remember this street," he said with the wave of his free hand. "I haven't been down this way for a long time – and earlier I just... came here without thinking, I guess."
House after house passed them by. Rei's hand was cold in his, but it was a welcome sort of chill against his skin. Every time she squeezed her fingers, it served to remind him of the real gravity of the situation. His heart grew heavy.
"I uh..." He shook their clasped hands. "I shouldn't have asked you to come with me. I should've left you out of this."
Rei frowned and looked at him over her glasses. "And let you have all the fun? No way!" She let him go and clasped her hands behind her head. "Besides, if I hadn't swooped in, who would've?"
"I--"
"The way I see it, I saved everyone's asses. And that" -- she paused to wink. -- "is way better than having 'fun', don't you think?"
His stomach clenched. "I guess so."
She swatted him away when he reached for her hands. With her nose skyward, she said, "We're almost there, right?"
"Uh..." Oliver stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Yeah. At least..." He looked around, noting the lines of houses on either side of the road. "We should be, anyhow."
Her hands came to her side. "You do know where Lilith is, don't you?"
Heat filled his cheeks – and not just because of the cold air that nipped at him. "Of course I do!" Smooth steel chilled his fingers. "I know my sister..." I hope.
Rei regarded him for a moment before she set to walking again. "I never said you didn't."
The first winds of winter crept under his collar. Even the furred hem did nothing to warm him. Their boots thud against the concrete, the rhythm uneven.
"What if..." Oliver began. Then he stopped and clamped his lips together.
Rei's eyebrows arched. "What?"
"What..." I can't believe I'm asking this. "What if she doesn't want to see me?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Did you not figure out how to die right or something? You should be gone!"
Oliver messed with his hair. Copper strands fell into his eyes. "Oh... nothing in particular," he replied.
Rei huffed. "That's a lie."
"So what am I supposed to say?" Oliver's chest tightened and against his will, tears formed in his eyes. "That she told me I was supposed to be dead? That she slapped me? That I risked my job and my well-being to see her and --"
Rei clapped her hands. "Hold up." Fangs bared, she glared at him with a gaze that could melt stone and said, "You risked nothing to see her except the livelihood of everyone else. You started this of your own volition. She had no say in it."
"But--"
"And yes, your life is essentially over, and yes, I've effectively ruined my life for you as well. But don't even go there, Johnson. You caused this. Not anyone else."
His throat closed. When he tried to speak, the words died on his tongue.
"I know you're hurt that she's mad at you... but did you really expect any less?" Her gaze softened. "For fuck's sake, she found your corpse."
Oliver gazed down at the concrete. "I didn't plan that."
"No, but that's how it turned out." She paused. "I already chewed her out, too. So don't think I'm just railing on you for nothing."
At this, he perked up again. "What for?" he croaked.
"Look it's..." Rei huffed and ran her hands through her hair. "She's stressed. You're stressed. You're both being irrational. I've yelled at both at you and now I'm done. Okay? No more lectures."
"But what--"
"Johnson!" She smacked her hands against her thighs. "Enough."
After a moment to think, Oliver nodded. "Fine. Let's go."
She took his hand in hers and they started walking again.
"For the record, she misses you," she said after a moment. "A lot, actually... I don't think she hates you."
Oliver just nodded again, gaze darting to the houses around them. A brown station wagon caught his eye, parked in the gravel driveway of a house the color of mustard seed. Somehow, it looked familiar to him.
"I think..."
Rei cut him off. "Tell me you're at least happy about that."
Though the posts on the porch obscured his vision, he could see two figures together in front of the front door. Even from this distance, he knew who the one with the brown hair was.
Lilith! He squinted. And...
Oliver's heart dropped. He squeezed Rei's hand, hard.
"Ouch! Johnson! What the fuck?"
"Rei. I see her." Oliver clenched his jaw. "And... my dad is with her."
"Your dad?"
The second figure, with the kind of hair color you could only get from a bottle of dye, turned and glanced their way. Oliver felt as though his heart was being squeezed in someone's fist.
"Yeah..." Oliver squinted again. "But something is wrong."
"Wrong? Ho—" Rei gasped and squeezed his hand. "Johnson..."
"Hmm."
"We need to leave. Right now."
Oliver looked over. "Why?" Rei's eyes were wide. What could...
"Because that's not your father. That's the Scourge."
"How can you--"
She yanked him backwards and took off in a run. The wind left his lungs.
"What... about... Lilith?" he said between gasps.
"There's nothing we can do for her now."
Then there hands at the back of his coat and Oliver was falling backwards.
"The prodigal son returns!" crowed a voice he hadn't heard in months.
Dangling from the air, warm breath tickled Oliver's ear. Rei kicked her legs and screamed. Oliver bucked against whatever held him up, but their grip didn't slacken.
They spun in the air until they were face to face with the one that had caught them. Gnarled brown hands, like wings, stabbed through the back of his tailored jacket. Wrinkles lined his face. Dark circles framed his scarlet eyes.
"Welcome home, son."