Chapter Five
Ted walked into her apartment, her heart light and heavy at the same time.
She ordered food, and while she had forty minutes to kill, she went to carefully take a shower.
It was a funny thing, to never be remembered.
She had let her appearance slip, and that stopped now.
Into the shower, and her braids were getting a going over.
She undressed and got into the warm shower, soaking her scalp and sighing. After she had relaxed a few degrees, she got her clarifying shampoo, watered it down, and applied it to her roots, flicking her braids from left to right to make her scalp happy.
Ted smiled at the little bit of normal that she was reclaiming as the shampoo was rinsed off and the conditioner went on.
Wearing the braids had been self-defense when she was a teenager.
There weren’t a lot of people of colour in the neighbourhood, and she was the only one in the family.
Her hair had been an irresistible draw, and the constant patting was annoying.
Her mother had told her to pick a colour, and the next day the braids went in.
Hours of tugging and chatting in a small room with no bathroom breaks, and she had come out with hot pink hair cascading over her shoulders.
Her mom had told her to go bold, and since she got attention anyway, she could control the narrative.
Shockingly, her mother had been right. The family started keeping their hands to themselves.
She finished the shower with a scrub from top to toe, and when she finally felt clean, she turned off the water and dried off.
Her braids were wrapped in a microfibre towel that would dry them fast. The rest of her was swathed in a thick robe, and she smiled.
She was feeling more and more like herself with every passing minute.
The doorbell rang, and she walked over to collect her food.
This was the first meal of her new life, and it was going to burn all the way through.
Cleansing by fire had always been a family tradition.
Well, in her family. Her father had married her mother, beta to beta.
Because of their designations, the family congratulated them and said it was cute.
When she had arrived, everyone had smiled politely, but her grandmother had gone nuts and spent days cuddling her every time her mother would part with her.
She knew that her grandma loved her, and with her mother’s family overseas, she was the only grandma that Ted knew. She was still alive, and Ted was nervous about seeing her again. She didn’t want to surprise her. Nanna Anya was old, and Ted didn’t want to shock her.
She sat and ate while she answered her friends and ex-jobs. She told friends she would be up to start socializing the following week, and the ex-jobs were usually comprised of folks who had become friends.
Sorting through her family took a while, but she didn’t find anything from Lucia. Frowning, she sent her cousin a text, and she blinked when there was an answer immediately.
You remember me?
Ted’s guts went cold. What do you mean? Of course I do.
You are back to yourself?
Yes. Lucia, what do you mean, ‘do I remember you’?
When did you see me last?
Ted paused, and she thought back. Nanna Anya’s birthday party. You wore a blue dress that Olyna criticized. You and I grabbed some BBQ and hid behind the buffet.
Thirteen years ago.
Ted froze. I was cursed six years ago.
I was cursed ten years ago. There isn’t much of me left, but I am really happy that you are whole again.
Where are you? I know people who can help you.
I don’t think that is likely.
You may be older than me, Lucia, but you are not the boss of me.
I can go anywhere you want to find me. My body faded to nothing, and now, I am just irritation, stubbornness, electricity, and digital signal.
Ted froze. And no one remembers you?
No, but I watch over the babies and the little ones. I can make people notice things even if I can’t be seen.
Ted swallowed. I am going to call some people, and then I am going to text you again. Will you be there?
How creepy can I be right now?
Shoot.
I am sitting on your couch and using your computer for this conversation.
Ted turned and watched her computer bloom into a happy face. “Holy shit. Lucia, we are going to get you.”
Nice.
Ted began a round of talking to everyone she had met that day, and everyone caught her urgency.
“Lucia, can you hold on until tomorrow? They have to come up with a plan of action.”
I can hold on. I am complicated. Always was.
“Can I talk to you all night?”
The dots formed and said, I would like that. If your fingers tingle, I am holding your hand.
“Like when we had sleepovers at Nanna’s.”
A happy face was on the computer.
Ted talked to the others, and to her surprise, a red djinn that wasn’t Nemia showed up in her apartment.
The red woman waved. “I am Nyla. I will be acting as the part of a power source tomorrow. Where is she?”
“Touching my computer.”
Hi! Appeared on the screen.
“Oh. Okay, miss. I am going to put my hand in the spot where your energy field should be so we can gauge your levels.”
Ted watched, and the red skin of Nyla’s hand went pale. “Oh, okay. You have a hard draw on you. I will have the trackers look for a link to one of the mages. If we can sneak up on him, restoring you will go faster.”
No. If he dies before the link is broken, he will take me with him. I have been pulling on him to stay alive for three years. I need to be free, and then he can die.
Nyla paused. “Okay. If that is the way it is, that is the way we will do things. Are you stable overnight?”
Watching cartoons and trying to do Ted’s nails tonight. Will be good to go tomorrow.
Nyla smiled. “We will be ready. How is seven in the morning? We will break the curse, and then some of us have to get to day jobs.”
There was a stream of laughing faces on the screen. A thumbs-up appeared.
Ted saw I look forward to actual work again. Hopefully. I have been out of the loop for a while.
Ted swallowed and fought tears. “We will get you back on your feet, Lucia. We have family, and if they are rising for me, they will pull the moon down for you.”
They love you. The younger they are, the more they love you, Ted. I was one in a hundred. You are special. I was just stuck on dumpling duty every gathering.
“I would have loved to be in there with you and the aunties. I was never invited.”
Lucia’s typing paused. Your mom didn’t want you doing menial tasks. I heard her tell Nanna she didn’t want you to work at family events.
“When did you hear that?”
Seven years ago. I had already been in this situation for three years, so I just hung around family and tried to feel something.
Tried to hear them say they missed me, but no one ever did.
I yelled, I screamed, but no one could hear me.
Nanna was always looking for you, though.
She was looking for the special granddaughter who brought the sun and warmed her soul.
I heard it at every event. She got so excited when you showed up. I watched it all.
Ted paused. “Oh, Lucia.”
Nyla paused. “Damn. The invisible man is making a lot more sense. Where are we going to do this?”
Ted cleared her throat. “The new palace? It has the barriers in place.”
I can’t get through the barriers.
Nyla paused. “I will talk to Arwell and Mik.”
Bring one hundred forty pounds of stone. I need a new body.
Nyla’s eyes widened. “You have looked into this.”
I found a USB drive, and it told me what was possible, but I need power to make it happen. Lekko takes all of my extra energy. I think he shares it.
Ted sniffled. “Can you hold back on this until I can hug you?”
The smiling and crying emoji appeared.
Nyla looked at Ted. “I will be there at dawn, awake and waiting. Possibly giving Mik a wedgie. Who knows?”
Ted extended her hand. “I will see you there.”
Nyla grinned and disappeared.
Ted sat one seat over from her computer and held out her hand. A light prickle of electricity made her shiver. “Wow, Lucia. I can feel you.”
Perv.
Ted chuckled. “Any questions for me?”
Can I touch your hair?
Ted started to swat at the spot where Lucia’s head should be. “Only if I can shave your head.”
Find it, I dare you.
Ted laughed and sighed, leaning back on her couch. “I have missed you.”
I have missed me, too. I know where your braided magnificence is, and I hang out here when I am missing family.
“Here? With me?”
Who do you think does your toenails? You never spring for it at the salon.
“How do you do that?”
I dunno, it came with the lack of physical presence.
Ted looked down at her sparkly silver toes. “How much should I tip?”
I will present you with a bill.
Ted sighed and smiled at the spot where her cousin should be. “Great. I will see you tomorrow.”
Bring me something to wear. I lost my clothes a while ago.
“So, you are sitting naked on my couch.”
Yup.
“You owe me a new couch.”
The laughing emoji spilled out all over the screen. A line of text followed. Not just your couch.
“Oh, ew!” Ted swatted at the spot with a throw pillow and had a one-woman pillow fight while the computer showed giggles.
The rest of the night was a sleepover with Lucia holding her hand. Ted was glad that Lucia was there; she was terrified that if she closed her eyes, she would be back where she started the day before. Lucia’s crackling energy on her hand kept her hoping that tomorrow there would be a hug.
Only a few hours to go.
Ted held Lucia’s hand near the pond behind the new palace. Nyla showed up in a burst of glitter, and Mik was close behind, wearing an outfit worthy of a shrink.
Mik asked, “Where is she?”
Ted lifted her hand up. “On the end of me.”
“How long has she been cursed?”
Mik’s phone pinged, and she read, “Ten years and a bit.”
Mik asked, “Do you have a band around your neck?”
There was a ping. Nyla looked at her phone. “Collarbone, shoulders, and back.”
There was another ping, and Mik nodded. “Six inches taller than Ted, so don’t grope you.”