Chapter 29: Spirits In The Aftermath

--- Jeremy Graham ---

He rolled his jaw, feeling like it needed to stretch as he worriedly paced in his room.

The last few days stuck at home having been unbearable.

Due to whatever was going on in the rest of the city with the sky cracking, a bunch of smoke coming from the north, and whatever other chaos was going on in the city the mayor had apparently decided to put school on hold until things calmed down a bit.

Now he knew other kids probably loved the idea of getting to spend a few more days at home, but the longer he was stuck at home the more it felt like he was (caged.)

Just a few days of it for holidays or even his vacations were bearable because his parents laid out an entire schedule of extracurriculars for him to keep him busy, but the fact that these days off were unexpected and unplanned meant they hadn’t planned anything for him to do.

Which -having finished all of his school work for this week and next- left him with nothing to do as he continued to pace inside of his room, knowing that his parents wouldn’t like it if he went out and bothered them while they were dealing with the city’s chaos and how it would influence their business.

“Just have to make it through another day or two…” He told himself, his parents having mentioned something during dinner the night before about how if this time off from school went on for too long it would begin to worry the public rather than reassure them. Something that would begin to gnaw away at the mayor’s political capital, leaving the man forced to choose between feigning normality or endangering his career. (And the ones with power never risk losing it.)

He forced himself to take a seat as well as a calming breath. “Just need to last a little longer…” (and then we’ll be free…)

--- Kelly ---

“Come on, Zoey, you can’t take your toy to school.” She pleaded with the little girl who had latched onto her twice as hard since the night of the fire. “The other kids will make fun of you if you do.”

When Zoey shook her head she couldn’t help but sigh, knowing that she was running out of time for this as she glanced at the impatient social worker that was giving them a ride to school from the shelter they -and half their neighborhood- were staying at.

She’d heard something about the adults trying to set up hotel rooms paid for by the city, since the whole city was going to hell in a handbasket with a lot of the adults saying it was another Rift Riot and no one wanted them on the streets.

Unfortunately, the moment the social workers had showed up at the fire station their shelter had been set up at, their foster parents had brought them over and explained that they couldn’t take care of them now that they were homeless.

It wasn’t something that she could blame them for but she found herself getting (angry) whenever she thought about them (abandoning) her and the other kids.

Of course, this just led to all of her foster siblings latching onto her even harder since she was the closest thing to a remaining adult in their lives.

Sadly it was something she’d gotten used to after having to play mother to the younger kids when their foster parents weren’t feeling very parental. Which is why it broke her heart whenever she or they moved on to a different home.

A chill filled her chest and she let out a sigh, pretending not to notice how the air in front of her fogged a bit as it had on and off for the last couple of days. (Because I have way too many problems on my plate to deal with a Deviant awakening.)

She just counted her blessings that as a ‘cold’ Deviant, whatever she may be, it meant that if anyone found out she wouldn’t have to worry about them pinning the fire on her. Something she’d heard about happening to one of the kids at her school after they were expelled for accidentally frying a bunch of computers.

The social worker tapped her watch, telling her to hurry it up.

“Fine…” She sighed. “Outside of the stuffed animal, you’ve got everything you need for school right Zoey?” (Not that we really have anything after the fire.) But the social worker was apparently giving them a couple backpacks with the basic school supplies.

After a moment, Zoey nodded but didn’t say much else.

“Alright, then… I guess you can bring it school, but…” She grimaced. “Just… if anyone bullies you, get a teacher, alright?”

She didn’t actually expect them to do much, but there wasn’t much she could do to help here, (other than freezing her bullies alive…) And that was a little dark for her.

--- Coraline Hawkins ---

“Miles!” She cheered, wrapping her arms around him the moment she saw him. “We were so worried about you.”

“Hey, Cory.” Miles smiled, hugging her back. “Was worried about you guys too. Uh, you seen Micki?”

“Not since me and my dad dropped her off at her house.” She admitted, pulling away. “She was injured in the… everything but my dad patched her up and the doctors said she was okay, but what about you? You’re aunt kind of ran off without us and my dad wouldn’t let us look for you, said she’d find you while he got us somewhere safe.”

“Uh, yeah, no I’m alright.” Miles winced, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “Got a bit of a… concussion when I got knocked down but it’s better now.”

“You sure, because you look like you haven’t slept in a week.” She pointed out, seeing the deep rings under his eyes.

Miles grimaced. “Yeah, uh, just having some trouble… sleeping after everything is all.”

“Hmm…” She frowned.

“Look, it's not a big deal. It’s not even about the… everything.” Miles assured her upon seeing her face. “It’s just… some stuff with my family and… all of this. It’s nothing, really.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“If you’re sure…” She reluctantly told him.

Miles nodded as he started towards the school proper. “I am.” He gave her a once over through the corner of his eye. “How about you, how are you holding up?”

“Um, about as well as I can be.” She shrugged, not thinking about the wreath she still hadn’t talked to her dad about. “My dad’s been a bit overprotective since I got home, but given some of the stories he’s told me about what’s going on out there I can’t really blame him.” (Even if it’s suffocating?)

Miles gave her a concerned look. “What kind of stuff? I mean, my mom’s mentioned more people at the hospital but… she hasn’t really told me what she’s going through there. Aside from you know.”

The other teen pointed up at the sky and she nodded. “Yeah… Uh, he’s said there’s been a massive uptick in Creeps all over the city. He gave me a whole list of neighborhoods he doesn’t want me going to because the police and everyone are spread too thin to really keep them safe. Then there was a whole thing about crime being on the rise too, but that’s more a side effect of… everything.” It was her turn to point up now.

“Right…” Miles grimaced.

An arm slung over her shoulders just as another did the same to Miles’s. “What’s with the long faces you two?” Micki asked them with a grin on her face.

“Just talking about how different things are.” She tried to explain.

“Huh, are they… really that different?” Micki frowned. “I mean, yeah we got a few days off but we’re back at school, people are going back to work, and we’re still friends so… what’s different?”

“Aside from the glowing cracks in the sky?” Miles noted dryly.

“Eh, they’re not that big of a deal.” Micki dismissed with a wave of her hand. “I mean really how often do we look up?”

She couldn’t help but smile at the other girl’s nonchalant attitude.

Miles on the other hand seemed frustrated by it for some reason. “Okay, then what about the monsters now roaming the streets?”

Micki seemed to actually consider that for a moment. “Mm, they’re bigger and scarier looking, but the city streets have always had monsters on them. That’s why you’re not supposed to go down dark alleys at night. If you’re fast and dive through a small enough doorway, they’ll give up interest after a few moments. Then it’s just a matter of finding another exit or waiting until they aren’t waiting to ambush you.”

Both her and Miles were quiet at that, at least until she found herself asking, “What… what exactly have you been up to these last few days?”

“Eh, mostly working at old man Hendrickson’s diner.” Micki shrugged, before adding, “Oh, and giving Leo love advice since he finally got a date but has no clue what he’s doing.”

“And you do?” Miles scoffed. “You’ve never been on a date in your life.”

“Of course, I mean I’ve been on a couple dates with you and with you.” Micki told them, patting Miles’ chest and then Coraline’s cheek.

“Those don’t count.” She chuckled, swatting away her friend’s hand. (Ouch.)

“Uh, yeah… I know that.” Micki winced, before shaking her head and conspiratorially whispering. “But don’t tell Leo, or else he might go with Hendrickson’s advice and that would be ten different kinds of dumpster fire.”

“We’ll keep your secret.” She promised as Micki let them go.

“So, how about you two?” Micki asked, moving a bit ahead of them and then turning around to walk backwards. “What were you up to for our few days off?”

“Mostly… at home. Mom and… everyone have been treating me like glass since my… concussion. Which I can’t blame them for but… it’s still annoying.” Miles admitted.

“Ah, your family just wuvs you Miles.” Micki teased, before glancing at Coraline. “How about you? I mean, you’re the only one of us who wasn’t injured so you had to have done something fun these last few days.‘

“Uh, not really…” Her dad had promised to teach her magic but they hadn’t actually gotten started on that yet (then again the books were just laying there.)

She shook her head. (No, what am I thinking? I can’t just betray his trust like that.)

“Come on, there’s got to be something?” Micki continued to prod.

“Um… Oh, my dad had this after school youth program thing he wanted me to sign up for!” She remembered. “It’s supposed to be like a trainee program or something where we hang out at the station and learn about all the different branches. It’s supposed to start in the next couple of weeks, and he wanted me to ask if you guys wanted to join up too!”

“After school?” Micki grimaced, running a hand through her hair. “Uh, I can try but with me working at the diner I’m not sure if I’ll be able to.”

“Oh, right…” She’d forgotten about how those might conflict. “What about you Miles?”

Her best friend gave her a pained smile. “I’d love to but uh… you know how my grandma would react to me going down to the station. She might love you, but… she hates the police.” Miles grimaced as he said that.

“No, I get it.” And she did, given what she knew about how Asylum treated Deviants, she was pretty sure Miles’ grandparents had it just as bad if not worse from the police in the sixties and seventies. (And just for the color of their skin? So… idiotic. After all, all humans look the same as dust and bone.)

She shook that grim imagery from her head, and instead told Miles. “That’d be like asking my dad to be comfortable around Sanctuary. It’s… even if they can change there’s too much bad blood to fully trust them.”

Miles watched her for a moment before sighing. “Look, if I can get past my family I… might be able to attend once or twice.”

“Whip-sh.” Micki sounded out.

“Oh, like you’re any better.” Miles glared at the blonde. “If Cory gave you the puppy eyes you’d cave in a heartbeat!”

“You are completely right.” Micki nodded before taking a bow. “The difference is I admit she’s my queen.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at their antics, feeling a bit of heat rush through her at that declaration. (Hmm, I kind of like that… being a queen…)

--- Zoey Smith ---

“Look at the little baby, with her dolly!” Another girl teased.

“She’s such a scaredy cat!” A boy laughed.

Just like Kelly had been worried, the kids at school had started making fun of her the moment they saw her walking around with a stuffed animal in her arms. Their teasing slowly growing as the day continued, making her want more and more to just throw the doll to the side and make them leave her alone. (but I can’t let go of it.)

Doing school work through the day while keeping at least one hand on the doll was more difficult than she’d thought it’d be, but she was stubborn enough to make it work,

More than once she’d seen her teachers looking like they were about to scold her or confiscate the stuffed bear but when they saw the way she flinched in fear they’d alway give her a look of pity before backing off.

As her class let out for recess and she made her way to the playground, she hugged her stuffed animal tight, its warmth filling her and almost being enough to take the edge off of her anxiety.

Sadly she knew better than to let it.

As she walked through the halls, one of the other kids tripped her and another shoved her, causing her to fall to the floor and almost lose her grip on the stuffed animal. Her panicked deathgrip the only reason she didn’t.

Several other kids laughed at her even as the teacher began to scold them and check on her, but she didn’t pay them any mind all of her focus instead on the doll in her arm.

(Just let me go…) It whispered. (These children they’re so cruel to you… Just let go, and I’ll burn away all of your problems.)

“No, no, no, no, no.” She began repeating manically as she held the doll as close as possible, the lights seeming to flicker like flames in the corner of her vision.