Chapter Forty-Five What fools these mortals be
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
What fools these mortals be
THE SCREAM THAT TORE THROUGH me was pain and heartache, all mangled into one terrible cry.
It was the loss I’d felt in the auditorium that day: me, seated behind a piano, as I witnessed an inferno rip my parents from me.
Grief awakens so much in us. It reminds us that time is precious and rare; here, and then… gone.
Kasem and I were no different. That brief encounter at Gus’s shop.
The alleyway where I’d watched Kasem nearly die.
And then here, at Westfield. The sound of his laughter stirred something in me.
His smile, that gentle, teasing curve of his lips, how his dark brown eyes gleamed with mischief—how was I supposed to imagine a world without him here, smiling at me?
Losing my parents so early in my life, I’d always thought that people were temporary.
People I loved, like Jojo, abandoned me.
And except for my erratic powers and his curse, Kasem and I had even less tethering us.
Yet, I wanted to be with him, for him to tease me and for me to discover the different parts of him that, inexplicably, I found myself curious about.
Because somehow, I’d become attached to him. Me, an orphan, a stray.
Kasem wasn’t just a stranger in an alley or some elitest legacy. He was Kasem. My Kasem. I wanted more time for us. And I loved him.
Water and mire engulfed me as I followed Kasem into the depths of Westfield’s swamp. The rush of all of it solidified this realization in me.
But always, fate was cruel. And my fear of losing Kasem in that moment was heightened by the whispers of doubt it cast in me. What if he didn’t make it this time? What if I did? What if we lived, but neither he nor I could transcend fate’s tragic hold on our lives?
Vivian screamed for me to stop, but I was already diving far beneath the surface of the swamp as Kasem sank into its depths.
I swam against the current, my arms cutting through its expanses, my legs pushing me forward as I kicked in swift, sharp movements. In the waters, dirt and foliage drifted around us. But I was just focused on Kasem, on reaching him before it was too late.
My lungs burned in my chest. My body screamed at me to retreat. But I was so close, so close.
And then there he was, just inches away from me, his eyes closed as a light emanated from him.
His wraith form. It was luminescent. In the water, he appeared as a spectrum of silver and gold flames that wove together into another version of him.
There was real Kasem, sinking into the depths of the swamp, and wraith Kasem, a ghostly being shimmering with light.
I screamed with my mouth closed, pointing and kicking for his wraith to save his body. But he was unmoved, his eyes glassy, empty. He observed himself slowly drown, as though he was witnessing someone else’s death.
And then, in the murky depths of the swamp, yellow eyes gleamed at us, dark scales shimmering closer and closer.
With the final strength I could manage, I kicked forward, grabbing the true Kasem’s wrist before his body submerged into the unknown.
Still holding the blade, I cut through the ropes that bound his hands and feet.
But his weight dragged me down, and my breath was waning, my body weak. The alligators in the swamp neared.
Just as the world began to dim and my thoughts drifted from reach, suddenly there was that glow of silver and gold again, embracing me, drawing a fiery barrier that sent the alligators scurrying away. It was like the fire was inside Kasem, like his wraith was a manifestation of sorrow.
The wraith wrapped his arm around my waist, and together we swam upward, against the current, carrying his unconscious body. But something knocked us apart.
Pete.
The knife flung from my hand and Pete was there to grab it. I fought back a scream as he lunged toward Kasem’s body, the knife raised in a killing blow. But the blade cut through Kasem’s shoulder, his wraith pulling him to safety just in time.
An explosion of light poured through the swamp. Kasem’s wraith was drawn back into his body in an icy coldness. Kasem woke, letting out a cry of bubbles and oxygen.
I grabbed Pete by the neck, tried to pull him away from Kasem.
Pain tore through me as he elbowed me in the face.
And then, up above, there was another burst of light—crimson red, melded with silver—and the ghostly forms of Nathan and Vivian emerged in the swamp.
Nathan was different from how he’d looked in the tunnel.
The whites of his eyes had settled, his pupils now visible.
He was no longer a wraith, but simply a ghost.
Vivian grabbed Kasem and me, helping us swim away, yet all I could do was watch in horror as my vision of the future became reality.
Nathan lunged at Pete, grabbing him by the neck, wrangling him as waterweeds and roots latched on to Pete’s arms and feet and dragged him deep into the swamp.
His body grew limp. He tore and fought, but it wasn’t enough.
When we finally reached the dock, part of me expected Pete to follow in pursuit. But he didn’t, and I knew then.
He was dead.