62. Endoparasite
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
ENDOPARASITE
Saya Claymore
“Saya, can you tell me one of your stories?” Cole sits on his bed, eyes heavy with sleep. I sit across from him on mine, pillows fluffed, the radio playing the sweetened music the Bleeders allow us to have, and our stomachs full enough.
Manni is already asleep. Her covers are over her head, and light snoring comes from underneath. With a groan, I cross my legs and face Cole. His smile broadens, hazel eyes crinkling, as if he were remembering a fond memory.
“What’s so funny?”
He scratches the back of his head and laughs nervously. “You might not find it as funny. You know, guy things.”
“Guy things!” I hiss. “Cole, you are eight! Who is teaching you this?”
He shrugs. “I heard it in the shower.”
I will kill everyone who takes away my brother’s innocence.
I raise my hand and gesture to him. “Try me. What was so funny, Cole?”
His eyes widen, surprised by my challenge. Then he scratches his face, struggling to suppress a laugh as he says, “The new guy kept farting in the shower. Said it was from the egg because he’d never had one before. I couldn’t stop laughing.”
“Daniel?” I ask. I was never good at remembering names. After a while, names often blurred in and out of my mind.
“He likes to be called Dan,” Cole answers, his hand over his face now as he tries not to laugh too loudly and wake Manni up.
Resting my hands on my knees, I say, “Why wouldn’t I find it funny?”
Cole tilts his head to the side, as if confused by my question. “Because you are a girl and girls don’t fart.”
I blink to digest his words, but I’m finding it hard. This bubble of laughter tightens in my chest at something so uncanny. Girls don’t fart. I certainly didn’t teach Cole enough.
He goes on his knees and points at me. “Stop laughing!”
“I’m not,” I say in a dry voice.
His cheeks flush a scarlet red, and he says, “You are! Your eyes can’t lie to me, Saya!”
“Truly, this is how I always look.” I swallow another fit of laughter that threatens to erupt. “You just aren’t remembering correctly.”
“Liar!” he spits, grabs the pillow, leans back against the wall, and hugs it. “So, are you going to tell me a story or not?”
“Which one?”
“You know which one.”
I dip my head. “The daywalker. Okay, get settled. I will go until you fall asleep.” Once Cole is lying down, with the pillow that was on his stomach now against the side of his head, I say, “There was once a daywalker who could walk in sunlight—”
“Can you give her a cool weapon this time?”
I click my tongue. “Who is telling the story, me or you?”
“Okay, go on,” he whispers gleefully.
Rolling my eyes, I begin, “There once was a daywalker. She had a sword and could walk in sunlight. She felt alone, as if no one understood…”
I look to Serun. He positions himself in front of the tank where Cole hibernates. Then to the door, as another tremor shudders the very walls of this room. My heart speeds up, galloping, as I witness a man willing to risk his life to bring my brother back to me.
“Come, Lady—” Reyes reaches for me, but I sidestep him and move to Serun. His eyes widen as I come closer.
I grab his arm, saying, “It’s okay. It’s okay. We can get Cole another time. We can come back.”
“This is the only way, kamai.”
I shake my head, my fingers burrowing into his flesh. “It. Is. Okay. We will find another way, but you staying here will not help.”
“I will be fi—”
I squeeze until my arms tremble. “It will not help me if something h-happens to you.” Every word I speak hitches, and the panic of being alone again sends an icy chill down my spine, turning my bones to crystal.
They don’t want to kill Cole, but they will kill Serun and maybe even Cole if he stays.
I’ve already lost so fucking much in weeks.
“I don’t want to lose anyone else,” I breathe.
“So…please,”—I pull him towards me—“stay with me, Serun.”
The door trembles again, a warning that we’ve spent too long here.
Serun cups my cheek, wiping away more tears. “If that is what you want.”
“Brother,” Reyes grumbles, landing on his knees.
Releasing my hold on Serun, I crouch in front of him, wondering what’s happening when he convulses.
My entire body stiffens as black blood sprays across my chest, tiny, wormy maggots coming out in chunks.
Reyes doubles over, and as he rolls onto his back, he screams, “There is something inside me!”
I raise my hands, and they tremble as I stare at the black worms melting into the thick, sludgy blood. What the fuck?
“Reyes,” Serun growls, examining his brother as Reyes digs his claws into his own stomach. He seethes, and my heart panics as it moves. Something alive is inside him, ready to burst open. “I do not know how to help.”
“Get it out! Get it out! Get it out!” He peels at his skin, splitting it open.
“Pir avacen.”
My shaky breath deepens. Ignoring the worms. Ignoring the copious blood. I crawl across the tiles and grab Serun’s arm. “Pin him down. I can save him.”
The door trembles. Serun glances at it, then at Penumbra standing over us. They turn to smoke, and wailing cries come from outside as Penumbra tries to buy us some time.
Serun grabs his brother’s arms, pinning them down as I kneel beside him.
I bite my bottom lip to suppress the tremble as Reyes convulses, blood frothing from his mouth and black worms squirming in the ink.
Okay, okay, okay. My trembling hands rest on his stomach, and I cringe at the ripples as something moves inside him. “This may hurt.”
Serun’s crimson eyes lock onto mine as he keeps Reyes pinned beneath him. “Do it, my kamai.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I ignore the earth-shuddering sounds from outside.
I ignore Reyes screaming from beneath me.
I ignore everything but life. The streams of it, steady.
A heart covered in moss and moonflowers, continuously growing, with no sign of wilting.
A bed of vervain, and the dome of an illusion hiding the valley from the outside world.
Life breathes into me, and when I breathe out, I push it onto Reyes. “Sur bonur,” I whisper.
His back arches, and his eyes bulge, bright light beaming out of him.
His abdomen convulses, shuddering as whatever the fuck is inside him blazes.
I grit my teeth, pushing as much magik as I can out into the fold.
Reyes’ skin burns, flaking away with ash, but I can still sense its presence inside him.
Just a few more seconds. A few more seconds and it will be—
“It burns!” Reyes screams.
Serun grunts, and when I glance at him, his shadows peel back, devoured by the light, and his skin cracks.
Almost there. A few more seconds. My magik cleanses Reyes, and I slump back, my powers reduced to a vibration. Reyes rolls to the side once Serun releases his grip, coughing up red blood. Their flaked skin pinches together, healing almost instantly.
“Fuck me, I could use a damn fuck right now,” Reyes groans.
Serun laughs, patting his back. “Come. We should go home. More are coming, and they’re bringing machines to pry the door open.”
As I rise, my heart stirs when I look to the tank Cole floats in. I rest my hand against the glass and breathe, “Sur bonur.”
Nothing. He floats in the tank, and my magik doesn’t come alive.
“Sur bonur,” I say again. “Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur. Sur bonur.” Tears stream down my cheeks with every desperate word, hoping that my magik would tingle at least once.
“Darling,” Serun says, touching my arm. “We will come back for him. My family has already agreed. We will do this together. The slayers and the white coats must be stopped.”
My hand slips from the tank. “Okay,” I croak.
Serun moves me toward a slumped Reyes. He grabs his brother, lifting him until half his weight leans against him. “Use the orb and take us home, Saya.”
I pluck the orb from my pocket, and the small object seems to weigh heavily in my hand.
Rolling it between my fingers, I turn away from the tank and the memories of Cole, and towards the wall Serun waits.
With the memory of how he did it the first time, I push the orb into the wall.
White light blinds me, and I wince at the harshness.
It illuminates the room further, revealing torn bodies and blood splatters.
And in the corner of my eye, the door creaks open, groaning as the metal bends.
“Kamai, home,” Serun repeats.
Home… The portal opens, and as Serun reaches for my wrist, he crashes to his hands and knees.
Reyes falls forward, hitting me, and I stumble into the light.
As I twist to face Serun, my eyes widen at the man behind him.
Hand lowered, magik pulses from him, and my Blessed’s intense green eyes watch me, a broad grin on his face. “Found you, Saya Claymore.”
Serun lifts his head, and as Reyes rises, launching towards my Blessed, Serun spits, “Het gu.” A rush of intense wind pulses from him, and both Reyes and I are pulled into the portal.
“Serun!” I scream, my lungs torn and desperate, as I reach for him through it, but it slowly closes.
Those red eyes crinkle as my Blessed grabs the shadows and lifts his head.
Serun’s shadows drop, revealing him for the first time.
Then, light sparks, and a blade appears in my Blessed’s hand.
As my Blessed watches me, a cruel glint in his eyes, he slices the blade across Serun’s shoulders, severing his head.
“No!” I screech, a pulse of red erupting from my entire body, sparking in the static air. Serun’s body falls to the side, and as my Blessed looks at me, the portal closes.
I land on my back with a grunt. Black flakes of dust stir in the air from my sudden impact.
Rolling over, my mind dazed and my head spinning, I inhale the smoke.
Pushing up on the black dirt, tears fall, and my breathing turns panicked as my lungs struggle to keep up with the rapid beat of my heart.
Cracks split under my fingertips, and a red aura swirls around me, sparking like thunder. The ground collapses, and heat washes up from below, insect noises chattering in my ears, when a stiff, rough hand touches my cheek and guides my head up to Serun, crouched before me. “I’m here.”
“Wha…” No longer bound by shadows, Serun lowers his hand to mine when I fling myself forward, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. The aura around me fades, and the crack in the ground seals over, a nightmare lying dormant beneath the surface.
“It’s okay,” Serun says, his arms around me. “It’s okay, my Blessed.”
“How?” I tremble, tears of relief and despair streaming as I remember leaving my brother behind.
“I split myself, like the time you stabbed me,” he murmurs, his mouth against my temple. “A little trick, all thanks to you telling me about your dream.”
“Where are we?” Reyes moans.
The wind howls, whistling violence into my pricked ears. Lowering my hands, I open my eyes. A shallow breath escapes as I take in the dead valley where moonflowers used to grow. Beyond that, thin streams of smoke rise from the village, now nothing but ash.
Home. My thoughts brought me here, but as I rise, taking weak steps forward, I follow the path of death and silent ghosts.
It’s gone.
Everything is gone.