Alex had told me the truth. He had told me exactly what he was, and I had pushed him to lie again. Taking back what he had said, he had brushed it off as if he’d meant to humiliate me again, tease me.
“So you do know?” He asked, grinning as if my world hadn’t just turned upside down.
I nodded, at a loss for words. “But I don’t know what happened after Chris went to pick up Kate. I really don’t.”
“I believe you’ve seen it before,” He assured me through pale, thin lips. “But if you need a reminder…” Reaching forward, he touched a frozen finger to my forehead, and the world fell away from me.
Droplets of water cooled on my skin, the cold burrowed deep into my bones. Groggily, I forced my eyes open. To my surprise, a dark sky, devoid of stars hung above me. It was totally dark. It was the type of murky, inky black darkness that sent chills up my spine, as my brain played with me and created images that weren’t there. There was no moon.
I had seen this before, but I didn’t need to replay the horror. What had happened before this was what I needed, and I willed my mind to open that part of it and allow me to really see.
Images, emotions, and sensations… they all crowded for my attention as they flashed past my eyes, a blur of a life in only a couple of seconds.
I had stayed behind after school to get extra help with physics. All of the concepts in the science were difficult to wrap my head around. As a general rule, I didn’t take anything in without knowing the reasoning behind it. I couldn’t go with ‘just because that’s the way it is’. Perhaps that was my problem.
After even my physics teacher had to leave, I stayed in the courtyard to finish the rest of my homework. As much as I loved my family, it was difficult to concentrate with all of them around.
It had been a good idea at the time, to stay here and finish up, but it was getting dark; I’d let time get away from me. Diana would start to worry soon. My mother wouldn’t be happy when Diana told her how long I’d been without telling them that I’d be out later than usual. I slipped my books back into my bag and slung it over my shoulder, glancing at the darkening skyline and pushing my pace as I hurried out of the schoolyard.
It was a long walk back to my house, and I criticized myself once again for leaving at such a ridiculous time. With this type of thing, I’d be lucky if I wasn’t grounded. My mom didn’t like me to be out at this time. She worried for all of us, like any mother should.
The temperature didn’t fall, but I wish it would. The humidity clung to my skin, making it uncomfortable to walk home, even in the cooler hours of the evening. When it came to a turn off, where I could either go straight and take the long way round, or turn left and cut down a street for the short cut, I lingered at the crossroads a little longer than usual.
Normally, I wouldn’t even give it a second thought; I always took the long way. My mom would kill me if she found out that I took the short cut, but I figured I couldn’t get in much more trouble than I was already. I had killer instincts, and nothing was telling me that this was the wrong choice, so I turned and headed down the ever-darkening street.
Only five minutes in, and night had descended on the outskirts of Detroit. I kept close to the houses, knowing that I wasn’t supposed to be here. Only a few more minutes and I’d be on the home stretch.
Movement shifted on the poorly lit street ahead of me, and my step slowed. My senses shot into adrenaline induced overdrive, and I could sense movement behind me. I struggled to keep my composure when I noticed the darkly clothed figures, brimming with pride and hatred toward the opposing group.
I’d have been stupid to not realize what this was.
Hoping to have been partially hidden by the gloom of the night, I swept out of the street and into the small gap between two houses. A fence closed it off out back, to my dismay.
The groups had grown closer, and were yelling, their words were harsh and wrong in my ears. I hoped that they would move on, with all of my heart, so that I could get away and live exactly by schedule for the rest of my life, but somehow, I knew it wasn’t going to happen.
I pressed my back against the shadowy damp of the house behind me, squeezing my eyes shut and biting my lip.
The terror was real, in both of our lives. My heart was pounding for the both of us, even though I finally understood that we were one person. Lucy Tegen, Blaise Anthony. The thought of having been someone else before I woke up was disconcerting, and terrifying in a whole other way. In some bizarre turn of events, I became conscious of the fact that Lucy was dead and gone. I was Blaise Anthony, and I could never turn back; a new person for the new life that an anonymous person had created for me.
It was difficult to focus myself back into the horrible seconds of Lucy’s last moments, and I found that my memories had gone ahead without me.
They had spotted me, even as engulfed as they were in their own turf war. I wasn’t going to be cornered here. So I ran. My shoes slipped against the dewy pavement as I sprinted, my body numbed and only aware of survival. I could hear them saying things, but I didn’t let myself register the words.
I either got away, or I didn’t, and I wasn’t going to stop to listen.
Then, their footsteps echoed along the pavement in the wake of my escape. Sheer terror tore at my lungs and muscles, moving them faster than I could have ever hoped for. I didn’t spare a glance behind me, it would slow me down.
An impact threw me to the ground. My vision blinked out.
I knew what was coming next, but I let myself watch the end of Lucy Tegen. Needing to know the full picture was a curse, but there was nothing I could do besides watch.
Droplets of water cooled on my skin, the cold burrowed deep into my bones. Groggily, I forced my eyes open. To my surprise, a dark sky, devoid of stars hung above me. It was totally dark. It was the type of murky, inky black darkness that sent chills up your spine, as your brain played with you and created images that weren’t there. There was no moon.
I took in a ragged breath, fought against the weight on my torso. The tarmac was rough against my skin as I compelled my limbs to move. My bones were made of lead, unyielding. Nonetheless, I managed to get to my feet.
My head spun, unable to find which way was up or down.
A group of panicked footsteps and coarse yells retreated down the street, leaving only shadows to tell me where I was. I felt like I should know.
A searing, sharp, stabbing pain pierced my chest, close to my heart. I coughed, my hands flying to the place where the pain originated. Warmth flowed through my fingers, coating them in something thick and sticky.
My stomach roiled, knowing the truth before my brain caught up with current events. I stared at my hands, dripping with a black liquid. It was like a black and white movie, everything devoid of color. My mind ran head first into the realization.
This was my blood.
My vision flooded with black, erasing the rest of the world. I felt the road beneath me once again, felt my head connect with the ground. It didn’t even compare to the tingling in my hands, the white noise in my ears, the weakness in my legs; the blazing fire where my heart should be.
I blinked, not quite understanding what was going on. I wasn’t able to get my head around anything. My thoughts were fuzzy, if existent. The low light in the street faded, leaving me with shadows. With each passing moment, I began to surrender.
Take me away from here.
The pain left me, but that was more worrying than its presence. I managed a last look at the sky, without the moon, without the stars.
Lucy was gone, but it wasn’t the end of the story. I was yanked out of her- my consciousness and instead, was floating, omnipresent in a reality where I wasn’t.
On the dark, abandoned street, where a shot had been fired, no one came out to help, or look. No one had the courage to see what had just gone down in his or her own neighborhood. Lucy’s blood pooled around her, and amazingly, her chest still rose and fell. It did so falteringly, but I admired her for holding out.
It was when a car crept round the corner that my breath caught in my throat. I knew how this ended, but I wish I didn’t have to see the end.
The car jerked to a stop, the door swung open.
A familiar, younger version of Chris jumped out. My heart wrenched with the unfairness of it.
His face was tight, but it was obvious that he didn’t know that it was his sister dying on the ground. Chris’s pace quickened when it dawned on him, until he was running.
It was like he’d been punched in the stomach when he saw what had truly happened. I could imagine the lump in his throat, the sickness souring in his stomach. He cried out, and I could feel tears pooling in my own eyes.
Chris fell to his knees by his sister, his hands shaking as he pulled her near-lifeless body into his lap.
“Lucy?” He asked, his voice strangled with unshed tears.
She didn’t answer, though I could feel that she wanted to, she wanted to so badly. Her body had begun to give up the fight, and she no longer had any control over her own mouth.
Chris pulled her into a hug, ignoring the blood all over his hands and clothes.
Sirens blared in the distance. I realized that Chris had told someone to call 911, even before he knew who was hurt. Bad things shouldn’t happen to someone with such a brave and good heart like him. I felt Lucy’s regret, my regret for causing him this misery, for hurting him.
Ultimately, we were mad at ourselves because of our stupid decision. However, we hadn’t had any chance, because the person that was supposed to look after us and watch over us hadn’t been there when we needed him.
Alex had done this, because he’d tired of his job, because he couldn’t be bothered anymore.
That realization hurt me more than anything.
I came back to myself, in my Audi with a demon whose name I didn’t even know, tears dried on my cheeks.
“Why would you help me?” I asked once again, unable to hide the accusation from my voice. “And don’t tell me what you’ve said all the other times.”
He shrugged, his eyes softer than I remembered. “I told you, Demon doesn’t necessarily mean evil, just as Angel doesn’t always equate to good. I wasn’t always what I am now; I was human once. If someone had been there to give me a chance, I’d want them to.”
I was sorely overwhelmed. My head ached along with my heart. Before I knew what was happening, I had reached over and pulled the demon into my arms, silently thanking him for allowing me to see. He was the only one who had helped me, and hadn’t masked his intent or his nature.
Alex had played me. He had known that he had killed me, or Lucy as it had been. I’d fallen for his charm, though I told myself that I hadn’t repeatedly. What was I going to do? How could I ever go back to living my life after seeing all of this, knowing what I knew?
As always, my answers led to more questions, but for now, I could settle with the thought that I knew my story before I had woken up. Now I just had to figure out the life that I could remember, the life of Blaise Anthony.
I released him and sat back. He looked slightly confused but his eyes were wistful. Without more than an inclination of the head, he disintegrated into dust and faded away.