I was going through the motions, pretending I could go back to when Michael and I had just opened the shop.
But I couldn’t.
It was far too late for that.
I winced every time the phone rang or someone came through the door...
and every time someone tried to touch me.
I’d pulled a knife on Echo, eyes changing and fangs bared, but there was no feeling behind it.
I was too focused on the pounding of her heart, the hum of blood pumping through her veins…
What it felt like to punch my hand into her chest and tear it out…
The taste of blood and flesh in my mouth—
“Reyna?” I blinked and pulled the knife back, knotting my fingers in my hair as I realized what I’d been about to do.
I was hallucinating.
Whether I liked it or not, I was going to see them die one by one.
And at my hands.
And part of me, a very feral part of me, couldn’t forget the taste of her blood.
A part of me had enjoyed it.
“Reyna, are you alright?” I shook my head and stood up suddenly, knocking into the shelf just hard enough to knock a jar off.
I caught it.
I’d never knocked anything off the shelf before.
I flinched as the bell over the door rang quietly, looking up. Jack stopped in the doorway, ducking to the side as the jar smashed against the wall beside his head.
I didn’t remember whipping it at him, but there it was.
Funny, I felt exactly the same as I had a moment ago.
“What the Hell?” Jack looked at me with something like wounded disbelief as Rosemary piled in behind him.
“Get out,” The words came cold and even—detached.
“But—”
“Get the fuck out!” I shouted over him and he took an unconscious step back before resetting his mask of nonchalance and turning to Rosemary.
“Come on, let’s go,” Rosemary looked severely confused as Jack moved her back out the door.
“She seems nice,” Echo broke the silence as I slipped back into the cold, “Still though,” she began, looking back at me. I shrugged.
“I don’t care. They can do whatever they want as long as they stay out of my shop.” I left before Echo could reply. I walked past Michael and up the stairs to my studio.
I had planned to read…
Or draw…
Do anything really.
But I found myself utterly without motivation.
Without passion…
It felt as though I were dead inside.
-----
~Third~
Reyna dropped off the map within the hour. Jack returned to the shop after, looking for Jesse. He and Rosemary found her wearing through the carpet in the back room. She was worried enough, she’d even managed to set Michael on edge. He sat on the sofa, wringing the shaft of his scythe that had gone untouched since the shop’s opening, his empty eyes staring straight ahead and every muscle in his body ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. Echo sat on the other end of the sofa, twisting one of her woven bracelets between her fingers as she watched Jesse pace.
“Jesse, there you are—” Jack began, but Jesse stopped pacing and shot him a glare straight from Hell.
“What did you do?” Her voice was enough to almost scare him, but he didn’t let it show.
“What’re you talking about?” Jesse threw her hands in the air and marched off in a huff.
“Reyna’s missing,” Echo spoke quietly, her gaze flicking to Jack for a second before it returned to the wicked curve in the blade of Michael’s scythe. Jack rolled his eyes in disbelief.
“Oh come off it, she disappears without a word all the time, just—”
“Not like this, she doesn’t.” Michael cut him off, his gaze never moving as he spoke evenly, “She hasn’t been well lately—she’s been slipping. Do you realize what that means?” Michael finally looked up at Jack. “It means there’s no way for us to find her without a lot of luck, and she’s not walking around fully in control anymore. Someone might be killed.” Jack and Michael stared at each other for a long time, a sudden silent understanding finally passing between them.
“Someone’s missing?” Rosemary shattered the silence with a lilting voice, “Oh my, that’s terrible.” She seemed utterly unfazed by Michael and his scythe, “Have you tried the police?” Jesse’s gaze snapped to the girl, but before she could say something she might later regret, the landline began to ring. After a moment’s hesitation, Jesse plucked up the phone in delicate fingers.
“Hello?” She was quiet for a long time, listening with a straight face until she hung up the phone again with a silent click.
“What’s wrong?” Echo watched Jesse with worry filling her eyes.
“That was Captain Horník” she spoke slowly, “They have Reyna in custody.”
“What?” Jack stared in shock, Reyna didn’t spend time in jail unless she called something in and chose to spend the night like she was checking into a hotel.
“You know where she is now, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Rosemary’s voice was too sweet for any of them to be too annoyed with her, she meant well, after all. Jack put an arm around her and pulled her against his chest, pressing his lips to the top of her head in a silent kiss. He seemed forced, but it was nearly imperceptible to those watching except maybe Jesse, who knew him too well.
“Go home, Rosemary. I’ll meet you there once everything is settled.” He spoke softly, but she just shook her head
“No, that’s alright. You all seem awful worried about her, I’d like to see that she’s safe.” Jack frowned slightly and looked back at Jesse.
“We’ll have to go now, and someone’ll have to stay and watch the pups.” She was all business, leaving no room for argument.
“I can stay,” Echo spoke quietly, raising her hand to volunteer, “I don’t know her that well, anyway.” Jesse started to respond, but Michael didn’t give her the chance.
“I’ll help,” he spoke evenly, standing to return his scythe to its hook over the little bookcase behind the desk now they knew they wouldn’t have to go out hunting Reyna.
“Alright, I’ll call with what we find out.” Jesse spoke after a moment’s consideration. “Let’s go,” she turned Jack around and led them to her car.
-----
Captain Horník met them at the station’s front desk. He gestured for them to follow him once they’d piled inside.
“So what happened?” Jesse was the first to break the silence and Honík breathed a heavy sigh.
“Reyna called us from the phone at a local bar, all she said over the phone was that there was a fight and to send a couple of ambulances.” He paused to sign in with the officer in charge of the little batch of holding cells. “We got there with the ambulances and found her sitting against the bar with seven unconscious and badly injured men on the ground around her.”
“Do you know how it happened?”
“The bartender said this guy rolled in with his posse and started trying to chat her up, one of them got a little handsy and she cracked his head open on the bar top. According to him, the whole thing just spiralled from there.” Jack muttered a swear under his breath because Michael had been right; Reyna didn’t like being touched on the best of days unless it was her idea or she was comfortable with the person, on the worst days it was lucky if she didn’t kill someone if they did. The group rounded a corner and found Reyna in a cell by herself, laying on the metal cot with an arm thrown over her eyes to block out sensory stimuli.
“Reyna!” Jesse didn’t seem to care that shouting would further aggravate Reyna’s current state. Reyna flinched visibly at the sound before lifting her arm partially to glance over, her emerald eyes dull. “Get your ass over here so I know you’re listening.” Jack blinked in surprise; Jesse never swore unless it was for a role. Reyna made a noise half growl and half groan, like some impetuous teenager; she did as she was told though, moving painfully slow to lean against the bars of her cage.
“What.” It wasn’t a question the way she said it, but rather a challenge.
“This is one stunt I won’t allow you to shrug off, Reyna! You could’ve killed someone!” Reyna didn’t blink at Jesse’s shouting.
“I wasn’t planning to shrug it off; I can’t shrug anything off. I dislocated my shoulder,” she spoke so simply it shocked everyone within earshot into silence.
“My God, you poor thing!” Rosemary’s exclamation jolted them out of their shock as she rushed the bars of the cell. Reyna recoiled, baring her teeth in a low growl.
“Other than that, are you okay?” Jack finally spoke to her and her mask fractured for a second, but it was gone before anyone could see it.
It was gone so fast she didn’t realize it herself.
“The Hell do you care? Why are you even here?” He flinched, but before he could get a word in edgewise, Jesse pounced.
“Reyna, just answer the question!” She stared at Jesse for a long time, her gaze narrowed as if debating how to respond. Then she breathed an exasperated sigh, put her arms behind her head and turned away from the bars.
“I’m fine, I mean I’m really not,” she stopped, letting her arms drop back down to her sides, “but I’m fine.” Jesse stared in disbelief.
“It was self-defence right, so you should be able to get off,” Rosemary, ever the optimist, spoke up and Reyna scoffed.
“Yeah, self-defence meets temporary insanity.” She spoke the words with sarcasm, but it didn’t find her eyes; it was as if she said the words with no feeling at all.
“‘Temporary’, right…” Jesse jabbed her elbow into Jack’s ribs. Reyna had ignored him though, moving back to lay down on her cot again.
“We’ll take you home, alright?” She didn’t respond, only rolled over to face the wall.
-----
Captain Horník took little convincing to let Reyna walk, she wasn’t someone he wanted to get on the bad side and the fight really had started as self defense. Regardless, she vanished again almost as soon as she had her things back. Jesse made a quick call back to the shop, but Michael and Echo hadn’t heard from her. They loaded the pups into the back of Michael’s truck and started making rounds, hoping to find some sign.
Stolen story; please report.
They didn’t.
Reyna watched from a shadow as they climbed into the truck, waiting for them to leave before she slipped through the back door.
Jesse, Jack, and Rosemary pulled up about a half an hour later, stopping long enough to drop off Rosemary and split up to join the search. Rosemary stood for a long time in the dark of the shop before she made her way into the back room. Reyna slipped in between the shelves packed with books and herbs and waited while Rosemary turned on one of the old lights.
The light cast the room in long shadows and danced like a fire in Reyna’s cold gaze.
“You know something, Rosemary?” Rosemary jumped at Reyna’s sudden appearance.
“Oh, Reyna! Everyone’s so worried about you, they’re out—”
“I don’t like you.” She continued as if the girl hadn’t said a word, “I know everyone else seems to like you, but I don’t. Maybe it’s that you work so hard to make people like you. Maybe I’m just a contrary bastard. But I don’t like you, and I don’t like the way you’re taking my family from me.” Reyna’s voice was cold and even, despite the emotion those words should have carried, and that thought made Rosemary’s blood turn to ice.
“H—How dare you—”
“You know, the only thing keeping me from killing you, is Jack.” She said it as if it was nothing, but it was more honest than anything she’d said before.
-----
~Reyna~
Blood…
The scent…
The taste…
The sound of it
drip…
drip…
dripping…
I opened my eyes to find myself lying just beneath the surface of a creek in the woods. I sat up suddenly, gasping for air as droplets of icy water rained back down on me. I scrambled to my feet and climbed up the bank in a rush before finally stopping to check my clothes for blood. Having found none, I breathed a sigh of relief and started, shivering, the long walk back home.
-----
I stumbled through the shop door and froze as my blood ran cold. The door fell shut behind me and nine eyes stared my way. I stared back. Jack’s eyes returned in solemn silence to the countertop. Michael and Jesse returned to their quiet discussion of what the scene entailed. Echo had chewed her nails to the quick, still shaking from the initial shock of another body.
Or part of one.
If I’d cared about anything right then, I’d have felt sorry for her.
Or guilty.
“Echo,” The poor girl nearly jumped out of her skin when I rested a hand on her shoulder. I forced a smile, “Would you please go make sure Loki and Zevi are alright?” Echo nodded slightly, a look of relief filling her gaze at the excuse to leave.
“Alright,” I watched as she stepped back before turning to go. I let my false smile fade and looked down at the counter; really looked.
It was simple enough: a single eyeball, the nerves still attached, an arm, and a leg.
The rest of the body was God knows where, but we all knew who it was.
“This has Reaper written all over it,” Jesse broke the silence and Michael shook his head.
“None of us were that twisted. This is something else,” he paused for a moment, “a message.” A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth; this was all a game to me.
A challenge.
“‘I see you’,” I spoke softly, struggling not to laugh, of course I knew what it said, “the Reapers are here.” All of them turned their gazes to me, but I kept my eyes fixed on the one on the counter.
Somehow, it seemed more alight with life now that it had when she’d been alive.
A flood.
A sea of scarlet.
The thick, sticky scent.
The taste of the coppery drug.
My thoughts were far from here and memories were fragmented shards.
Like broken glass.
The window shattered into the shop behind us and we spun toward the sound, every one of us on edge.
It was just a rock.
I lifted it, staring at the message painted onto the smooth surface in Greek. I smirked briefly, I was right. “They’re coming for me, first,” I looked back over my shoulder at the rest of the room, “guess that answers that question.” I flashed a wicked smile at Michael before climbing through the broken window to check the street outside. On an opposing roof sat a silhouette, a girl, watching. I lifted the rock as a nod in acknowledgment and waved. She stepped back off the far side of the roof and vanished. “‘I see you, too’,” I whispered the translation as I turned away.
“It’s another message?” I nodded slightly, handing the rock to Michael as I passed him to slip into the back room. It only took me a second to change into my hunting gear and pack my duffel bag. Jack followed me into the back room.
“Reyna?” I checked the clip of my .45 and fastened the holster to my thigh.
“No.” Jack locked the door behind him.
“Reyna,” he began again.
“Mr. Matlock, I need to lead them away from here before my house becomes a war zone, so if you don’t mind—” I stopped when I saw the look on his face.
“About what happened at the hospital,” he spoke slowly and my gaze narrowed slightly, “I shouldn’t have done that,” I raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing, “It’s just, I needed to do something to distract me from you, and…” he trailed off, running his fingers through his hair, “Well, the point is, I screwed up and,” Jack finally met my gaze for more than a few seconds, “I don’t know what to do.” I turned back to my duffel, slinging it over my shoulder. “Reyna, please. How can I fix this? What—What should I do?” I stopped, turning slightly so that I could really see him.
“I don’t know,” I paused in a moment’s thought, “and you’re right about what happened,” I turned back to the door, “It was a mistake.” I slipped out the door before he could reply.
The door opened out and I stumbled through into the cool night air.
I stopped.
I couldn’t ask for a better view of Portland and the ocean at night.
But my view was blurred by rain.
Just like the river.
I pulled out of it, breaking the Reaper’s grip on me as I slammed an elbow into his ribs hard enough to break something. Within the next second I had slit his throat and shot the next Reaper in the head with a silver bullet before I bolted. Deeper into the woods and I’d lose them in an instant, but I didn’t want to lose them.
So into the city I ran.
I moved with the wind.
Swaying on the edge of the wall.
I stared down in the rain, too lost for vertigo.
Or fear.
It made me feel sick.
Like a blow to the gut.
It winded me.
And dropped me to my knees.
The reapers laughed as my knees sent the dirt and the dust into the air, but still I only grinned up at them, despite the blood that dripped from my mouth.
“They must’ve really wanted me dead if they sent this many of you for one girl.” The group parted slightly as the girl from the roof approached me with a silver knife.
“Don’t sell yourself so short, Owhi, we sent our best and you put him out of commission, you have a reputation for turning New England into a virtual dead zone for us,” she leaned closer, “and that was when you were still making human mistakes.” The girl smiled wickedly and her soul hummed inside her.
It was an act, this enjoyment; she hated her work.
“So tell me, what’s a Siren doing so far from home?” She blinked in surprise for the briefest moment.
“What—?” I shrugged.
“Call it curiosity.” I smirked, “I just ask because your kind always struck me more as the flying rats people are so insistent on calling seagulls.” The girl began to fume, her grip on the knife tightening.
“They used to say that though a lucky few might escape our song, none shall escape our silence—” She cut off when I twisted free of someone’s grip to land a kick into the side of her knee, dropping her to the ground in front of me.
“Sorry, I know I interrupted you, but you really shouldn’t let your guard down around me; I just can’t help but take advantage of it.”
“No matter, we—”
“Jesus, is that how they want to execute me? To have you talk me to death?”
She moved, patience lost.
I slipped away.
Someone bled, I’m not entirely sure who.
The blade was in my hand.
The silver flashed.
Like lightning over the city.
I watched it, shaking, but not from the cold.
Blood dripped from the corners of my mouth,
from my fingers,
and from my eyes.
Alcaimynder aren’t meant to succumb to the madness in human form.
It didn’t hurt like I thought it would; it wasn’t just pain.
It was a sweet sort of pain.
Like the taste of that coppery drug.
The thick, sticky scent.
The sea of scarlet.
The aftermath of the flood.
I’d loved it too much to not know what had to be done.
All it took was one step forward,
and everything would be alright.
I closed my eyes and started to move.
“Reyna,” I stopped.
The door onto the roof closed behind me and I glanced back.
“Stay away, Jack,” my voice cracked and I could feel the tears welling in my eyes, “I don’t—” I swallowed, “I don’t want to hurt anyone else.” He took a hesitant step forward and I shook my head slightly, shifting my weight back. “No,” my voice was soft, “I don’t want to hurt you.” Jack took another small step forward.
“I don’t think you will,” he was at the outer edge of my reach now, but he made no move to grab me.
He was letting me come to him, just like he would a wounded animal.
“Come on down,” He smiled falsely, “we can work through it together.” I wanted to deck him, but I didn’t want to leave my perch so I settled for a sharp look.
“A long time ago, you said you loved me,” my laugh was broken and manic, just like the crooked smile the split her lips to reveal sharp canines extended there, “I remember that like it was yesterday.” Another laugh as she raked shaking bloody hands through her wild hair and the birds took flight in a frenzy in her head, “You said I was a monster, too.” Tears that weren't hers welled in her eyes and tracked down her cheeks over the drying blood as Jack watched. “I think you got it right with that one.”
“Please, Reyna,” he took another small step forward, looking up at me again, and I faltered in my resolve.
“Don’t be an idiot,” I spoke with a laugh of disbelief and he flashed a small, honest smile.
“If it’s a choice between being an idiot with you and a genius without you,” he offered me a hand, “I think I’ll take being an idiot.” I hesitated before reaching out slowly to take the hand he offered.
I took a tentative step forward.
He smiled in relief and wrapped an arm around me, using his free hand to wipe the blood and tears from my face.
“You’ll be alright,” he spoke softly before pressing his lips to the top of my head in a silent kiss. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, quiet as I decided this was home.