Chapter 9
Simone
The sun is just at the edge of the horizon, sending the town into a deep purple haze of light.
A few people are still milling about Main Street, talking about the power surges and the fire, checking on one another as well as their businesses.
Dravik is keeping a low profile by my side.
He managed to shift back into his human form just as we crossed into the main part of town, but there’s no telling how long it will last.
“Okay, kids, I think the safest device for us to tap into is the one behind the bookstore. Once we get in there, we'll have to move fast. I think another surge might be coming soon.” Merna says, hitching her backpack higher on her back.
We all nod and start walking to the bookstore. We're almost to our destination when four people spot us and rush over, Kate being one of them.
“Merna! We've been looking everywhere for you!” Kate says, panting since she sprinted over to us. Lowering her voice as they approach, we huddle in the street, just at the edge of the building.
“What is going on? The veil masking has been glitching all day.” The man talking is tall, with short, cropped brown hair and a nondescript face.
He suddenly spots me and flashes me a brilliant smile.
“Hi, I'm Zerachiel, I'm the one who makes the pie”.
Then he leans over, glancing surreptitiously at Dravik, “I'm also a former fallen angel.” He straightens back up with a smirk. “Definitely reformed now.”
“Riiight.” Says Kate, rolling her eyes at him. She gestures to us, “You all going to go fix the issue, I’m guessing?”
Tamsin replies quickly, as though she is not excited about the interruption. “Yep, we’re on our way to get it fixed now. Just stay inside, and try to relax.”
“Easier said than done, if I’m revealed, I fear the entire town will chase me down with stones and pitchforks.” Says yet another tall man that I’ve never met before, who has a red-haired woman tucked into his side. She looks up at him with a mixture of adoration and alarm at what he just said.
“No one is chasing after you!” She playfully slaps him in the chest. “Come on, Asterion, let’s go hang out in The Hungry Stag and get a drink. If things go sideways, Sylvain will hide you.” She tugs on his meaty arm. “Let’s go, monster of mine.”
Tamsin rolls her eyes. “Alright, for real, we gotta go!”
“Agree.” Dravik says, a hint of impatience in his voice now. “I can feel the magic pressing into me. We need to move before I shift right here and now in the street.”
We round the corner of the building, walking swiftly to the back of the bookstore, near the line of trees.
Hidden in a copse of prickly bushes is the same device Tamsin brought us earlier, just not as scorched.
Dravik kneels down in the dirt, prying the top of the device off as though it were tissue paper.
I lean down by him, ready to install the patch we created using the microSD chip. Merna and Tamsin stand nearby, their hands tightly grasped, murmuring under their breath in unison, swaying slightly.
All at once, Merna gasps, Dravik clutches his head, and the sky lights up as another attack on the veil rips through the heavens, sending streaks of purple light that shower down around us.
Horns burst from Dravik’s head, while at the same time, screaming fills my ears as people run out of the bookstore, chasing Zerachiel up the street.
Instinctively, I pull Dravik to his feet, who by this point is almost completed with his transformation. “You have to go, you have to run!” I push him into the woods, not even aware that tears are streaming down my face, blurring my vision. “I’ll come find you! Just go and hide, please!”
The screaming intensifies, and he is hesitating at the edge of the forest, torn between helping me and his own safety. “I can’t leave you!”
Grasping his face in my hands, I press a swift kiss to his lips.
“You’re not leaving me, you’re getting somewhere safe.
I will come and find you. I promise. Now go!
” Once last look between us, says it all, before our hands pull apart, and all I hear are his footsteps on the forest floor, becoming softer and softer until he’s gone.
An unexpected sob rips through my throat, and I’m pressing my hands to my heart so forcefully it hurts. I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“Simone, we need you. He’ll be okay. I promise.” Merna says, her voice full of resolve.
I swing toward her, anger spiking in my soul. “How can you promise that? You don’t know that for sure. I…” My words fail, because what I’m about to say, what I feel, is impossible.
“You love him?” She says gently, with a soft smile. “Of course you do, you’re made for each other. Which is why you’re here now, to help us with this.”
My mind reeling, confused thoughts chasing each other as I robotically bend down to the device, searching for the chip to upload the patch and send it to all the devices before that ominous purple light destroys them all.
But, I can't stop thinking about Merna’s words as I work, impatiently swiping my face of tears.
Did they do something to bring me here? I try to think back to the moment when I decided on Coldwater Springs, and the memory of me sitting at my tiny table in my apartment in San Francisco, floats to the surface.
I was looking at a map of Montana, and I kept looking at this area of the state.
The name of the town jumped out at me each time my eyes looked at the map.
I look at Merna, understanding what she is saying as the patch loads. Her eyes blaze with defiance.
“He needed you. And you needed him.” She states it so simply, and I honestly can’t be mad at her. The seconds tick by, the deep purple light receding to lavender, until finally the sky clears, and the device emits three beeps, its lights turning green.
The breath I didn’t know I was holding releases, and I immediately stand, looking toward the forest.
“Go get him!” Says Tamsin, her eyes shiny with happiness. “We’ll take care of the town, help them to forget anything they saw today.”
I'm already running as fast as my legs can carry me, crashing through the forest to find my monster.