Authors: Alexandra Hope
“You don't have to pretend that it doesn't hurt,” she said. “No one's judging you.”
His father was standing at the altar, golden burnished leaves winding up the wooden podium. He said a few words about Alexa and reflected on fond memories of her. With sweat dripping down his face, he tripped over his words a few times as he spoke of the times they had spent together. Troy could see the gray color washing over David as the last words left his mouth and he stepped away from the podium. It had concluded with a hymn and a prayer and then they were outside.
Troy suffered through another round of apologies from people as if it had been their fault Alexa died. He had drove his father's car to the seaside, gravel crumbling underneath the tires and had an urn of ashes in his hands when he got out of the car. With a trail of mourners behind him, he opened it. It had been a last minute arrangement which Jack agreed to begrudgingly. He also inquired as to where Troy had gotten the means to cremate Alexa's body to which Troy replied “a crematorium” matter-of-factly. He couldn't admit to his father that the ashes weren't Alexa's without sounding very crazy but he just thought back on Erika's words: “I'll give you something special which may or may not include your girlfriend, if you do a few things for me.”
The ashes were spread over the ocean beautifully, the remains swirling in the wind and gray-white flecks gleaming in the sunlight. The wind carried them over the ocean, drifting in the air as if suspended by his gaze. The moment he turned away, the mist of cinders fell gracefully into the ocean, and as if unhinging him from what bound him to the seaside, he walked away.
****
Most of the colony members had converged in the back of Noah and Natalie's home which Olivia had a perfect view of as she watched from her window. Noah's arm was curved around Allison's back, their black attire blending together as one. Everyone else had been dressed in black as well, solemn expressions drawn across their face as they looked down at the hole before them. Downstairs, Mar and Randy's father, Don the bladesmith, were conversing amongst each other, neither of their heartbeats unsteady as they spoke. Despite being in a dress, she disregarded her heels and slipped into her sneakers and listened in.
“So there's nothing that can be done?” asked Don. His words were strained and she could tell that he was pained but hid it well from Mar.
“The blood we procured was stolen from us. I am sure it was the fox spirit's blood.”
Olivia heard his heart change pace, a slow and sinking murmur as if it were threatening to stop beating. He swallowed hard. “So we must bury him?”
“That is law,” said Mar, her voice unwavering and almost apathetic.
“I request that he be buried next to my wife.”
“That arrangement has already been made. Natalie has dug a plot next to her and is ready. Shall we go?”
Olivia had already left her room and was at the front door by the time Mar and Don had made their way to the foyer. She turned to Don, her eyes hanging low and avoiding his grief stricken gaze. Murmurs escaped her mouth but she wasn't quite sure of what she said, though she hoped it was a coherent apology before she walked out the door. They followed her outside and finally everyone was at the burial to allow it to proceed. As if subconsciously, the students drifted away from Olivia leaving her exiled on the other side of the grave except for a warm hand that was bold enough to stay. It slipped into hers, fingers intertwined and spreading warmth to her finger tips as they danced against hers. She looked up at Noah, his inky black curls slicked down and glimmering in the moonlight, speckles of silver woven through. He didn't look at her, but tightened his grip as he watched the burial.
The plot dug before them was now filled with dried leaves and two men hauled Randy's body over it and placed him in the hole. More dried leaves and sticks were placed on top of his body and a match was struck, the flame dancing in the wind before diving into the hole. The fire spread across the leaves and sticks, incinerating them and growing fiercely. A beast of flames flickered and roared before them as if it had grown arms and was spreading out. Olivia took a few steps back, unhooking her fingers from Noah's but he followed her and took her hand in his again. Her eyes had traveled from the fire to the children across from her, half of their expressions stoic and the other half on the verge of tears. Allison met Olivia's stare then buried herself deeper into Sam's side, her face turned away. Noah took notice and whispered to her. “They don't hate you.”
It was uncanny how he knew exactly what to say to ease how she felt but at this moment his words hadn't been quite what they used to be. He leaned in, his words a whistle echoing in her ears as he spoke, “They don't hate you,” said Noah. “They're just afraid of you.”
****
It took many protests from Troy to convince his father that he was going to be fine wallowing in self pity alone. He undid his tie and shucked off his blazer, throwing them over the chair in the dining room. In the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator but closed it as soon as he heard pawing at the door. Erika stood at the door with a bright and warm smile, opposite his icy stare. He tried to slam the door but she held her fist against it, stopping him. She put her hand down and he once again tried to close it but she put it back up. They did it several times before Troy grew tired and let the door swing open, annoyed, and walked away. “Why won't you just leave me alone?” he shouted.
“Cause bothering you is more fun.”
Troy knew that wasn't want he wanted to say but he couldn't help the words that had already left his mouth. Erika did say she would give him Alexa back if he was willing to do a few things for her so it would have been better to be less hostile but he just couldn't help it.
“Are you going to poof Alexa back?”
“I wouldn't exactly call my magic
poofing
and honestly, what have you done for me lately?”
Erika smiled and Troy rolled his eyes.
“It wouldn't even be like this if you would've just protected her!”
She leaned against railing of steps and tossed her dark hair back. “Boo hoo.”
He turned back to the door, enraged as he ominously stalked toward her. She took a few steps back and stopped as her heel teetered on the edge of the top step. As the distance between them grew smaller, she leaped back agilely, her bare feet skidding against grass.
“Now you wanna tuck your tail and run?” he barked at her, fury in his voice.
“On the contrary,” said Erika, multiple tails jutting out behind her. They were pure white with streaks of silver and thrashed about causing sparks to fly from them. “I don't ever tuck my tails, or run.”
He shook his head at her.
“I don't care,” he shouted, “if you have a thousand tails. You didn't do anything to protect Alexa!”
The anger grew within him and veins bulged in his neck when he shouted at her but she just looked at him unfazed.
“I said I would protect Olivia. There is no family plan.”
Her words had pinned him back, stinging his chest as he let them sink in. Troy's fingers slowly gathered into a fist as he looked down at her. She thought she heard the faintest sound of sparks flicking in his balled up hands but ignored them. He put one hand on the wooden railing as if steadying himself, fearful that he would lunge at her if not held back. Erika rolled her eyes at his internal struggle.
“I said if you'd join me, I'd give you something cool that may or may
not
include Alexa.”
“That's not good enough!”
“That's like fifty percent,” she shouted. “How much more do you want?”
“A one hundred percent guarantee.”
Erika whistled, “Wow, sorry. No can do on that. But think about this: Humans die. It's natural order and she was going to die whether or not her sister slaughtered—”
Unable to control the anger within him, he jumped off the steps and lunged at her. Erika sidestepped gracefully making Troy stumble into the single small tree in his vast lawn. He turned around, pools of blue fire blazing in his eyes as he looked at her. She shrugged her shoulders in boredom then sidestepped once more, avoiding his swing.
“OK. If it's a fight you're looking for,” said Erika, untying the belt of her black satin trench coat. “It's a fight you'll get.”
She tossed the coat to the ground, revealing a black body suit. It was tight against her skin, but in true fox form she was limber as she ran into the woods and slunk through the trees, sinuously avoiding him. He followed her as she zipped in and out of the woods and back onto the gravel of the street that led to his garage. When she came in close he threw out his arm to strike her.
“So quick to hit a woman,” she said as she jumped back, dodging him.
“Not my usual form, but I make exceptions for those who let my girlfriend die.”
He really didn't want to fight her and it was against his moral character to hit a female but it was something about her smirk that showed how little she cared for humans and their plight that pissed him off. He balled up his fists at his side and shook his head then undid the fists. “I'm not going to fight you.”
She drew her tails in and pressed her index and middle finger together, pointing them to the wooded area just behind Troy, ignoring his surrender. A burst of golden red sparks splayed from them flaring with fiery intensity as they grazed his arms and ignited a large tree behind him. He ran away from the flames, a trail following him as she shot more out of her fingers. Troy had dove deeper into the woods, his body suffering under the sweltering heat as he was trapped in the blaze. He heard the crackle of wood burning and just barely escaped the tree that had tipped over. He was back in the empty street, walking into his lawn with soot caught in his hair and his arm charred. He bent over to cough the smog out.
“Is that all you can manage? To run?” said Erika in a satirical tone. She spun around slowly, her hands conjuring up flames that encircled her body.
Troy dodged the lasso of fire that lashed out at him.
“Come on! You're half
kitsune
,” she yelled. “That means you have half the strength to do something. Start a fire!”
He thought back to the fire he created in defense against Olivia but didn't have enough time to ponder it as he avoided her fire whip. Troy balled his fists together, trying to will some sparks or even a flicker of light but he was left with nothing. Taking notice of his inability to create a fire, she reeled in the whip, ashes falling at her side, and thought,
where is that boy's fox fire?
Distracted by her thoughts, she didn't notice Troy until he had finally managed to grab onto her arm. As soon as he had his arm hooked around hers she flung him over her and into the part of the woods that was not in flames, as if he weighed nothing at all. He hit branches as he flew through the air and was poised to crash into a tree but Erika was already hanging onto the branch of a tree, her arm extended out. She caught him and dropped him to the ground and stood over his body with her usual smirk. With the sleeves of his dress shirt torn, his arms were brown and long bright red lacerations swelled on top of them, blood seeping out.
“I could've let you die,” she said. “Take this as a symbol of my compassion.”
She extended an arm out and he held onto it, pulling himself up and cringing at the pain. With his hand still held onto hers, Troy spun Erika around, her back slamming into a tree. She rolled her eyes and said, “I thought we were over the whole fighting thing.”
He turned away from her and began limping. “Now,” he said with a heavy breath. “We are.”
“Well....”
He heard the crack of wood from behind him and turned to see Erika had disappeared but in front of him was a tree teetering precariously. It was massive in height and width and for a minute he doubted its existence, unable to believe she had the strength to unhinge a tree with her bare hands. It leaned in closer to him and then, without warning, came crashing down. Troy felt the force against his body as he rolled onto the ground and slammed into the base of a small tree. It was a blur before his eyes, an icy sting on his arm and then the warmth filling his body as his heart pumped blood through his veins, faster. He gritted his teeth, holding onto his ribcage as he struggled upright and saw through his dizzy haze who had knocked him out of the way. Olivia was pinned underneath the tree.
Twelve
Olivia's eyes had fluttered open but saw nothing. Even with her perfect sight, she couldn't make out a single shape in the darkness and when she stretched out her arm she noticed she was flanked by a smooth velvet surface. When she lifted her head upward and tried to flip onto her back, she felt a sharp jolt of pain course jaggedly down her spine and then she screamed out in agony. They were terrifying screams, over and over again, burning her throat as they came out. She tried to rock back and forth to escape the small space she was locked in, but it didn't help her and it hadn't helped alleviate the pain she was in. She felt splintered bones beneath her skin folding down as if they were falling into their proper place, each snap making her yell out louder.
Artificial light streamed in through the opening and then large amounts poured in as the top was thrown back. A woman blocked out some of the light, her features shadowed by it. Before she could utter a word to the woman she had once again felt the bite of discomfort at the base of her spine.