Chapter 30
The broom fell from Soraya’s hands and clattered to the floor as she lunged for Jesmine.
She couldn’t believe she was in their apartment after escaping the hellish nightmare she had found herself in. None of it made sense, but looking at Jesmine, she felt the scattered bits and pieces of herself snap together.
Gripping Jesmine’s shoulders, Soraya examined her friend from head to toe with wild eyes.
Jesmine frowned. “Okay, Soraya, you’re starting to freak me out—and not in a good way. And dude…” She swatted at Soraya’s arms. “Why the hell did I wake up in the hospital? You know I can’t afford that shit. I had to sneak out when they weren’t looking, and everything.”
Soraya wanted to laugh, but her sense of urgency was still riding her hard.
“Jesmine, listen to me—I can explain everything later, but we need to get out of this apartment tonight. It isn’t safe!
” She practically shouted that last part.
The adrenaline was still coursing through her veins, making her hands tremble against Jesmine’s shoulders.
They’d had this conversation earlier that night, but this time, Soraya was determined to get Jesmine out. And she knew she wasn’t going insane. Dark forces were conspiring against them, and she would be damned if it caught them a second time.
With her brows furrowed, Jesmine’s gaze darted around Soraya’s face. Soraya could see she wanted to argue, but after years of knowing one another and having each other’s backs, Jesmine knew when to follow without question. It also helped that Soraya was resolute this time around.
Soraya watched as Jesmine made her decision and nodded in agreement. “Alright, let me get some water, and then I’ll pack a bag. Do you know where we’re headed?” she asked, removing Soraya’s hands from her shoulders.
Walking into their small kitchenette, she pulled out two cups from the cupboard. Ever since they were young, having a cup of water had always helped to calm their nerves.
Soraya swallowed her gratitude and nodded. “Yes, to the motel just on the outskirts of L.A. County. You know, the one we hid in last time when your crazy ex came after you.”
A sardonic smile ghosted Jesmine’s lips as she filled both cups with water. “I don’t suppose we’re running away from one of your crazy one-night stands, are we? By the way, I never did get that second hookup story.”
A hysterical laugh bubbled up Soraya’s throat.
“We’re running from two of yours and all five of mine—no, six because I didn’t hook up with the fifth one, but he’s the one who knows where we live—and technically he’s not a hookup.
” Soraya paused to think. “I’m pretty sure he knows the others, though. ” Soraya shuddered.
All she wanted was to explore her sexuality. How did it end up like this?
Jesmine spat out her water. With droplets dripping from her lips, she zeroed in on her friend. “What the fuck do you mean!?” Without waiting for a response, she threw up a hand and began counting on her fingers, “You mean, one, two, three—”
By the time she counted to her fourth finger, as if she were in grade school, Soraya burst out, “Yes! I know, but now is not the time. Can you please hurry up and pack? I think I already packed your bag—it’s in Ahvi’s room, but double-check I got everything you need.”
Jesmine rounded the corner with the other water glass in hand.
“Did you bang an entire rock band? I turn my back for one second, and you’re out here poppin’ your pussy like there’s no tomorrow—which I’m very proud of, by the way.
” She handed Soraya the drink, which she accepted with shaky hands.
“You have a lot of explaining to do, missy. I am proud of you for putting yourself out there, but we have to have a serious talk about which strangers to fuck, when to bring them around, and when to stay away from psycho killers.”
“Like you have any room to talk, Jes,” Soraya said after taking a sip of water. The water tasted as if it had a film over it, but Soraya had worse things to worry about at the moment. “Your one-night stand with those two men is part of it, don’t forget.”
“Yes, but that’s me, and we both know I’m attracted to shit men. You, on the other hand, have your whole life ahead of you.”
“What does that even mean?” Soraya asked, exasperated, as she glanced back at their front door and shook her head. “You know what—doesn’t matter! Focus. Bags. Packed. Now.”
Whatever had brought her back to the apartment—whether it was magic or some all-knowing being—what was to say it wouldn’t bring those monsters as well? Or worse, what if one of her hookups also showed up?
Her heart was racing a mile a minute.
“Damn. I see Ahvi’s already packed,” Jesmine yelled from inside the room.
Soraya didn’t hear what Jesmine said as her mind whirled. Then she remembered the cut on her arm. She would need to take care of that before they left.
Right, need to dress the wound, she thought.
I can do that. Soraya needed something for her hands to do, so her mind wouldn’t explode with all the unanswered questions she had.
One thing at a time. Moving to push up the ruined sleeve of her hoodie, her mind went quiet as she stared at the smooth, unblemished skin, caked in the unmistakable signs of dried blood.
Holding her breath, she brushed her fingertips over her forearm and didn’t feel the sting of a fresh wound.
Rubbing at her arm—gently at first, then more vigorously—she realized it had completely healed.
Dried flakes of her blood drifted to the floor.
There weren’t even signs of a scar left to indicate that she had nearly had her arm torn off by the creature.
Her arm was completely fine.
How is this possible?
She pulled down the sleeve of her hoodie and examined the three long slashes that ran parallel through the soft material.
If it weren’t for the tears where the creature’s claws had punctured her, she would have thought she’d imagined the whole scenario.
But she knew she wasn’t losing her mind—though it was evident that some outside force was trying its hardest to convince her she was.
Jesmine walked out of Ahvi’s room with the backpack in hand, snapping Soraya out of her revelation. “You got most of it, thanks. But there’s something else I need to grab, and then we can go,” she tossed over her shoulder as she headed for her room.
Soraya remembered her own pack sitting in Ahvi’s empty room and headed inside, trying her hardest to quell the uneasiness swirling inside her. She picked up her bag when a sudden thought occurred to her.
Jesmine remembered Ahvi!
Slinging her pack onto her shoulder, she ran out of the room. “Jesmine!” She rushed to her friend’s open doorway and found Jesmine facing her bed, her bag on the mattress as she stuffed something inside.
“What?”
“You remember Ahvi!”
Jesmine zipped up her pack and turned around to face Soraya, giving her an odd look. “Our roommate since the beginning of the summer? Yeah… why wouldn’t I remember her?” She said it as if it were bizarre to even ask such a question.
“That was part of the reason you were sent to the hospital!” Soraya exclaimed. “Do you remember that?”
Jesmine pursed her lips. “Why would that have sent me…” She trailed off, appearing deep in thought. Her eyes darted back and forth as if she were watching her thought process unfold right before her eyes. “Holy shit… I forgot about Ahvi.”
Soraya nodded enthusiastically, relieved that she wasn’t alone in this madness.
“You forgot about Ahvi, and—and—” Soraya’s memories came rushing back like sand from an hourglass.
She had forgotten far more than she realized, and that thought was terrifying.
“The street. We got attacked by those frog-like monsters, and you hit one with a car. Then I disappeared and—came back to the apartment and found you here, acting as if nothing happened. Remember?”
She decided she wasn’t going to share all the odd things that had happened to her until they were a safe distance away from the apartment.
Most of her memories didn’t feel real to begin with, and it would help to unpack the strange, attractive men and the very odd, yet very real, situations she found herself in with Jesmine.
Jesmine was giving her the same look she had at the beginning of the night—like Soraya had lost all sense of her mind.
The gun flashed through Soraya’s mind, and she stepped closer to Jesmine.
“You didn’t remember Ahvi, and then you didn’t remember the street fight or your flying hookups—but you were there.
And before I disappeared, I’d dropped my gun, and you picked it up.
” Soraya could see Jesmine thinking, and she hoped it was a good sign that her friend hadn’t blown her off yet, considering the last time, Jesmine had thought she was on drugs after Soraya explained.
Soraya continued, “I had asked you about it right before—” The memory of Jesmine collapsing came a little too late as Soraya realized that Jesmine’s eyes were starting to twitch.
Without thinking, Soraya lunged forward and gripped Jesmine’s head between her hands. What felt like an electric current passed through her hands, and Jesmine’s eyes lit up as she flinched away from her touch.
“Ow! That…” Jesmine blinked rapidly. “Wha—Holy shit.”
Soraya’s heart soared with hope.
“Holy shit,” Jesmine repeated, swallowing hard and still blinking rapidly.
“Yes?” Soraya asked, on the edge of her seat.
Jesmine snapped her head up to meet Soraya’s gaze. “HOLY SHIT! THEY HAD WINGS!”
Soraya nodded vigorously as bone-rattling relief flooded her system. She was no longer alone in this. “Yes! Yes! It really happened.”
“Oh my God!” Jesmine said, clawing at her hair. “They were—”
“Yes,” Soraya encouraged.
“And then they—”
“Yes,” Soraya agreed.
Jesmine clutched her shirt. “And the thing with the flowers, damn.”
“Yes—” Soraya cut herself off, confused. “What about flowers?”