Jacob's Ladder *HF*
By Loki
He’s trapped inside
His small, cold world
Filled with voices
No one else has heard
The higher he climbs
The more he has found
The thicker the sky
The harder the ground
It’s Jacob’s ladder
But where does it lead
It doesn’t matter to him
But it matters to me
The higher he climbs
The more he finds
That these are illusions
Flickering through his mind
It’s Jacob’s ladder
And it’s straight up from here
Past his insecurities
Past his fears
It’s Jacob’s ladder
But why can’t he see
He’s at the top
Looking down on me
The higher he climbs
The more he has found
The bigger the dream
The harder the ground
It’s Jacob’s Ladder
And he climbs it with ease
But sometimes I wish
He were down here with me
JACOB’S LADDER (INTRO FOR LOKI)
Clean: A Tribute to the Darkest Secret
Washing off these hands
Sticky with blood
Wash me clean
Until I get enough
Give me back my dignity
Give me back my fear
I didn’t say what I wanted
But I will say it here
Funny how what freed you
Almost destroyed me
Trapped in the shadows
I will defy fate
You lash at me
In a voice too shrill
You’re willing to fight
I’m willing to kill
In your hidden places
Where the magic glows
You never know the secrets
Until they explode
Lake. Blue. So blue you could see the bottom. Sky. Red. Blood red as the dawn. He sat under the blood red sky and cleaned his blade. Blade. Blood red. Darker than the sky. He cleaned the blade and he tried not to think. He pushed all of his thoughts in the back of his mind and he kept them there. He wanted to smother them and most of the time he could. But sometimes at night they broke free like wild horses and trampled him. And now what he had to do. Oh, God. What he had to do. He looked over at his partner. Eyes so cold. Jaw so firm. He wondered if he even gave a damn. But he wouldn’t ask. Not a word had passed between them since the last assignment. But this one. God. He would burn in hell for this. Of that he was sure. But it didn’t matter anymore. Nothing could stop him. There was a great power in having nothing to lose.
Blackfire walked up to the house with an angry sigh. She had no idea why Josh always insisted that she come to his house. Actually, she knew the exact reason. He hated all hellfire clubs. It didn’t make sense to her and she felt like he hadn’t even given them a chance. Well, if he won’t explain himself then I won’t listen, she decided. Besides, things seemed to be going so well lately. She knocked on the door three times in a row and was considering banging and yelling when it opened. Josh stood there, looking like he hadn’t gotten any sleep. This didn’t surprise Blackfire because she knew that he was an insomniac most of the time anyway.
“Whew, man, when’s the last time you took a shower?” she asked him playfully as she walked inside. Josh just wrinkled his nose as though he was also disgusted by his own odor.
“I was up all night,” he explained. “You know, the usual.”
“Shouldn’t drink caffeine,” Blackfire answered as she looked around his living room. She was surprised to see that Josh had just left things out. That was not like him at all. Usually he was fairly neat about his appearance.
“I didn’t,” Josh answered.
“Shouldn’t watch scary movies,” Blackfire tried again.
“I was looking over a new case,” Josh stated. Blackfire ran her finger across the top of Josh’s tv and was surprised when her finger brought back a thick layer of dust. She looked up at Josh. He was staring at her. A cold, hard look.
“Josh, what the hell?” she asked softly.
“I think you should read this, Sharon,” he said, pulling out a thick file. “These guys are sick. And if they aren’t caught soon. . .” Blackfire took the file from him feeling a little dazed. He never shared stuff like this with her. Ever. The only reason he would do that would be if he seriously needed some help. Her eyes scanned the pages and her eyes grew hard.
“Josh, I don’t see how I can help,” she said.
“Read what the guy said,” Josh answered, walking up beside her and pointing to what he was referring to. A picture of the two guys. A quote underneath. The folder slipped through Blackfire’s hand and hit the floor, scattering papers everywhere. But she hardly noticed for suddenly her heart was in her throat.
“My God, Josh,” she whispered. “We have to stop them!”
FLAT OF THE BLADE
Beautiful red bird
With broken wings
Blood red velvet
Beast in agony
Kindness that shimmers
Like water in the sun
Bare feet smack the pavement
As the little girl runs
Silky pink ribbons
Flat of the blade
Murky black water
In which I wade
Bending my face
The paint is still wet
Covering mistakes
That can’t be shown yet
“Why the fuck did you shoot the bird?”
“Birdy birdy in the sky….why’d you do that in my eye? Don’t be sad. I’m not mad. I’m just glad that cows don’t fly!”
“Christ, Jacob, can’t you be normal for one minute?”
“I would but I’m being followed by a moonshadow.”
Alex sighed and looked at the bird, still alive and squirming on the ground. It chirped pitifully and he almost felt sorry for it.
“Look, just quit shooting that god damn gun or I’ll take it away from you, okay?”
“Moonshadow. . . moonshadow.”
“Damn it, Jacob!”
“Look, that bird…it wasn’t my fault! It tried to crap in my eye!”
“Just stick to the plan, okay?” The bird chirped again and Jacob turned toward it and aimed his gun again.
“JACOB!”
“Dude, this birdy is in pain. This here is a mercy killing.” The shot seemed to echo through the woods.
“You are one weird mother fucker”
“Aww Alex, you say the sweetest things.”
“What?”
“Made ya look!”
“Good God.”
“Monkey’s always looking! Monkey’s always looking!”
“Hey, shut up, I think I heard something.”
“Could it be big foot?”
“Shut up! It sounds like a kid.”
“A kid? Uhm… little red riding hood?”
“Be quiet. . . I can’t hear.”
“Hey there Little Red Riding Hood! You Sure are looking—fuck! That hurt!”
“Then shut the hell up!”
“Damn, you didn’t have to whack me over the head.”
“It is a girl. Fuck, what do we do?”
“She’d make a tasty dinner.”
“I’m really starting to hate you.”
Girl by the lake. Pink ribbons in her hair. Silk ribbons. He looked down at his hands. Still covered with blood. He bent down and wiped them on the grass. Blood trails. His partner was there now. Paint smeared across his face. He smeared it on his too. Black and red. Black and red. The red on the black. Childish laugher from the girl. She would barely suspect a thing. Oh, God. How could he do this? Only monsters. . . you can’t lock away something so horrible. Blade. Now clean. The sun shining on the blade made him think of diamonds. Diamonds like the diamond his mother used to wear. Mother. Blood trails. His partner refused to look at him. Eyes on the girl. Eyes of the hunter. Soon it would be over. It should have been over long ago.
Blackfire sat down, still feeling numb. How could this be happening? It seemed like every time she managed to forget, someone came from the shadows to rub her face in the past. It seemed like it was so long ago to her. Josh sat across from her, his eyes never leaving her face.
“You want to explain this?” he asked softly. The truth was she didn’t. She didn’t want to explain it to anyone. The last thing she wanted to do was to make Josh relive that horrible time. That horrible time when he had shown her more courage than she thought a human could possess. But instead of admitting this, she just cleared her throat. She had to be as professional as she could about this. After all, she was the White Queen. No one could touch her and she could not be touched. Josh could see that she was mentally composing herself and waited patiently. Even though he wanted to scream for an explanation, he was silent. No matter what, Josh Hayes did not lose his temper. He knew the danger of that. He had been warned many times by his teacher and mentor, Kurt Campbell. He had just found out recently that Kurt was good friends with Gomurr. He quit his lessons then. He wanted no connection whatsoever with any of the hellfire clubs. He knew too much to talk.
“I know that man,” Blackfire finally said, her voice too soft to match her frantic eyes.
“How? Which one?” Josh asked, immediately alert.
“Jacob Kendall,” Blackfire answered. “I met him. . . a long time ago.”
“Sharon. . .” Josh began, but he didn’t have to finish.
“I met him at the mental hospital. I remember he used to always say that quote,” she pointed meekly to the quote that was below Jacob’s name.
“‘I still have to bleed for those who are born dying’”
“I never knew what it meant. He always spoke in riddles. He was crazy. But, Josh. . . he was no killer. Something must have happened. Something horrible.”
Chapter 2
Lights. So bright. Blinding white. Bound to the bed. Comatose. Paralyzed with fear. Anger. So angry. Anger burning. All he could see was red. Screaming. High pitched; much too shrill to be sane. Needle in. Needle out. A sharp stab of pain. A pin prick of despair. Blood dripping out of his veins. Then floating. Beautiful colors of blue, green, and yellow. Wonderful colors. He wondered why he was so upset in the first place. How could you be upset with these wonderful colors. Soothing. Everything was going to be fine.
Darkness. Total darkness. A faint sob was all he could manage.
“Josh, I don’t know how you could have known,” Blackfire whispered. She realized then that she was clutching her coffee cup as though it was a life line. She eased her grip on it and looked back at Josh. Josh was staring out the window. The way he was acting was really starting to bother her.
“Sharon, do you remember Kurt?”
“Kurt?”
“Kurt Campbell. . . he’s about 40, lives down the street.”
“Is he black?”
“Yes,” Josh answered.
“Yes, I know who he is. His wife left him, didn’t she?”
“Yes. And she took his 13 year old daughter with her.”
“What about him?” Blackfire asked. “You still haven’t answered my question.”
“What question?”
“How did you know that I knew Jacob?”
“Oh,” Josh said, realizing that he had totally missed the question when she had asked it before. “Well, I didn’t.”
“What? Then why did you ask for my help?”
“Because I can’t do this alone.” He sounded scared. Really scared. Blackfire wondered what could possibly make a grown man like Josh, who wouldn’t even flinch before a vampire’s, voice quiver like that.
“Sharon, look at the picture again,” Josh said in a voice so soft that she could barely make out the words. Each syllable was forced as though it took a great amount of effort to get it out. Slowly she reached for the thick manila folder and opened it to the page with the picture. What she saw didn’t surprise her. At least not at first.
Two men stared defiantly at the camera. Her eyes went to Jacob first. Slightly taller than the other man, he stood grinning from ear to ear at the camera. He was pointing at himself as though he had just told some extremely funny joke. His hair was brown and went just below his ears and he was quite thin. But Blackfire knew from experience that he was quite strong too. And he had cat-like reflexes. Then she saw his eyes. Something was not quite right with them. She thought maybe he was drugged up or something. It wouldn’t surprise her in the least. But they seemed to glitter and sparkle in the picture; yet they looked vacant. In other words, Jacob Kendall was smiling like a man who had completely lost his mind.
Then her eyes went to the other man. His hair was very blonde, so blonde that it almost looked white. He was very handsome. In fact, he was almost shockingly handsome. Slightly shorter than Jacob and more muscular. And she noticed that his eyes were a beautiful icy blue color. Blackfire looked up from the picture and saw that Josh was watching her. His eyes carried a very weary look now, as though she should have figured it out by now.
“I don’t see. . .”
“The name, Sharon. Look at the name.”
Slowly, as though in a dream, Blackfire’s eyes met the name below the picture.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. Suddenly the blonde man was staring back at her, cold and angry.
“Alex,” she whispered. “Alex Hayes.”
“My brother,” Josh replied, “is a ticking time bomb.”
Her hands were tied. She hated that. Not free to move. Not even free to breathe. And the nurse was watching her every move. . . her every sound. She stared ahead with eyes as blank as the eyes of insects. They had a pill for every color of the rainbow. Blue, green, red, white. Almost any color you could imagine. The nurse handed her a handful of pills and she took them. Even though she didn’t want to. There was a type of comfort in them. A type of relief in not knowing what was going on. Ah, ignorance. It was bliss. Her eyes slowly began to close and she could hear the nurse’s footsteps as she walked away. She waited patiently for it to all go black. This was always her favorite part. She smiled up at the ceiling and laughed at the light. Soon you will be gone, she thought. Soon I can rest. But suddenly a hand was shaking her shoulder. She tried to ignore it at first but then it began to shake harder and more urgently. She shut her eyes tight, determined to ignore it.
“Hey,” a voice whispered. “I know your name, Sharon. Open up those eyes.” She didn’t obey. She kept them shut. But she decided that she might as well talk to whoever it was disturbing her sleep.
“Who are you?”
“No one of any importance.”
“Where am I?”
“You, my friend, are at a mental hospital,” answered the voice.
“Why are you here?”
“Well, you look like you need help,” the voice answered. She frowned. The voice was right. She did need help. More than even she could imagine.
“I just want to die.”
“No way, I have big plans for you.”
“What?”
“You’re special. Didn’t your mother ever tell you that?”
“I don’t like it. I killed someone.”
“Pshah! So have I. Now, tell me he didn’t deserve it.”
She opened her eyes then. He was very blurry. She could barely make out his shaggy outline. Long brown hair. Teeth. She could see his teeth quite fine. He seemed to be grinning.
“It’s okay. They all deserve it.”
“He deserved it,” she whispered.
“Of course he did. Now, listen to me and listen carefully,” he said, leaning his head down to get closer to her ear. She squinted and tried hard to soak up any information he was willing to give her.
“First of all, don’t swallow those god damn pills. They will seriously fuck you up.”
She paused. It was only a second but it seemed like an eternity.
“What should I do with them then.” He moved closer and he was almost clear for a second, then he was lost in the blurriness of her mind.
“Ahhhh,” he said softly, opening his mouth and revealing four or five of the pills resting on his tongue. “Spit them out in a toilet,” he added. She giggled because she couldn’t believe how easy it was.
“What else?” she asked, her voice slurring slightly.
“Ever been taught how to open locked doors?” the man asked. Blackfire laughed out loud.
“Who are you?” she asked again.
“You should know who I am,” he answered, “I am Loki, god of mischief.” She smiled again and lay back down on the pillow. As she was falling asleep she could still hear him talking.
“I still have to bleed for those who are born dying”.
Chapter 3
Anger. It was the one thing he couldn’t control. It was like something inside him had snapped long ago. The part of him that gave him control. He had willingly let it go. Sometimes his anger was so powerful that it was like a wall. That was the way he liked it. For, to him, the wall was a means of protection. No one could get past this wall of anger. Or maybe just no one wanted to.
She spit the pills out in the commode. It was disgusting, but necessary. She had found that her head was much more clear now that she had started doing it. They did this to her. Turned her into something less than human. Something that always had to be checked on and watched. She felt so tainted. So disgusting and ugly. She watched the bright pills swirl as they went down the toilet. And she wondered about her new friend. He wasn’t really a god, she had already decided that. There were some things that she refused to believe even in her hazy state of mind. She decided that she needed to confront him with this information as she left the bathroom. It didn't take her long to find him. He was usually off by himself in a corner, usually smoking a cigarette. She watched as the smoke billowed around him, partially hiding his face. She wondered what his story was. How he got in a place like this.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he greeted her, showing all of his teeth with his smile. She smiled back, but it looked more like a frown. He noticed. His smile vanished and he raised one eyebrow.
“You aren’t really a god,” she told him flatly. He paused and took a long drag on his cigarette, as if thinking about what she had just said.
“How do you figure?” he asked.
“Well, why would a god be in a place like this?” she asked, sitting down on the couch.
“Sometimes we don’t choose the place. Sometimes it chooses us.” This confused her and she was silent for a few minutes. Maybe the smoke was getting to her.
“Why would a girl like you be in a place like this?” he asked.
“I told you. I killed someone,” she answered. Her head was beginning to hurt. Loki grinned again.
“No therapy is planned for patient Sharon Stokes as of now. There is immersion in fantasy, progressive withdrawl, and isolation from the patient.” Her headache had gotten worse.
“Have you been reading my files?” she asked, looking up at him.
“Since she has been here, Miss Stokes has had several suicide attempts,” he added. She winced at that.
“You know, suicide is a strange thing. It takes some getting used to. You have to really plan it out. Really think about it a lot. Numb your brain to it. A murder is the same way. If you really plan it out. . . that takes some getting used to.”
“Why are you telling me this?” she asked, her voice choked.
“Because sometimes you choose your gods. And sometimes they choose you.”
“Give it one more try,” Kurt said, as he sat down on an old chair that had been sat out for the occasion.
“Fuck you, man. You just sit there while I am doing all of the work.”
“I don’t have what you have, Alex,” Kurt answered.
“Go to hell,” Alex answered. Alex would never admit it but he really respected Kurt. And that was something that Alex didn’t give to many people. He didn’t feel the need to. Everyone could all rot in hell for all he cared. He concentrated again and watched a small burst of flame shoot from his fingertips. The fire hit the wall with a satisfying thud.
“I have to admit, you are getting much better,” Kurt told him.
“I should be for all of the fucking hours I have been training,” Alex answered.
“You have shown terrific progress,” Kurt admitted. “Even though you can be stubborn at times.” Alex glared at him, but didn’t reply. His icy blue eyes seemed to burn with an inner hatred that even Kurt couldn’t place.
“I need to get home soon,” Alex said, still glaring. Kurt was pretty sure that Alex had lousy parents, though he never told him that. Something about the look in his eyes. It was almost tortured. And there was no end to his anger. Kurt had never seen anyone who could burn with as much hatred as Alex Hayes could. And he knew for a fact that his father was an alcoholic. Damn shame, he thought. Alex was a very good looking young man and was obviously quite smart. But his father was spending more money on booze than he would ever spend for his education.
“Alex,” Kurt suddenly said, “do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Yeah, I have a younger brother named Josh,” Alex answered. “And I have to get home.” He offered no explanation and Kurt asked for none. Josh, he thought. Could Josh possibly be as special as he knew Alex was?
“Fucking faggot!” he yelled, slamming his fist on the ground. Josh cowered down and tried not to look his father in the eye.
“I’m sorry, dad. I can change.”
“Yeah, right. Don’t lie to me, you disgusting queer.”
“Dad, please.”
He raised his fist, like he had so many times before. Even though Josh was so sure that it would never happen again. Josh broke down then and the tears came pouring out.
“Oh, God. Go ahead and cry, you nasty faggot. Cry your fucking eyes out.” This just made Josh cry harder. Josh was 13. The door opened and closed and Mr. Hayes turned towards it, eager to greet his new victim.
“Alex, you’re late,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper. But it was like a bear trap. You never realized what was there until your foot was cut to the bone. Alex knew better.
“Sorry,” was his reply. No excuses. No explanation. Just an apology. Realizing that Alex had outsmarted him, Mr Hayes raised his hand and slammed his fist into Alex’s nose. Alex grunted and fell back against the wall, a faint trickle of blood leaking from his nose. Josh began to cry again. Alex was 16.
The sound of their beatings echoed across the empty parking lot but no one heard it except for a stray dog. And he ran.
His whole body throbbed. A hit. A kick. A hit. A punch. Blood on the wall. He was sure that he had a black eye. And he wanted to die. If his own father couldn’t love him, who could? A knock at the door. He shuddered. He couldn’t cry anymore. No tears would come. The door opened.
“I’m leaving,” Alex said. “I can’t take this shit anymore.” Josh could barely see him out of his one good eye.
“You’re coming with me,” Alex added. Josh was surprised. Normally Alex didn’t seem to care about anyone but himself. And if he hadn’t been so shocked by the words, he might have heard the compassion behind them.
“I can’t,” he whispered, hearing how lame the words sounded even in his own ears.
“Why can’t you? It’s simple. Just get up and we’ll go.”
“No, I can’t,” he said again. “He needs me.”
“Yeah, he needs you alright. He needs you to blame and beat up on for his own mistakes.”
“He’s my father.”
“I don’t give a damn. No one touches me like that. And you shouldn’t let anyone do it to you either.”
Josh wanted to explain to Alex that their father was just angry. He had probably had a bad day. He was sure that tomorrow would be much better. He was determined to make his father proud of him. No matter what it took. Even if it killed him. But no words would come.
“I’m sorry,” he managed weakly. He heard Alex’s disgusted sigh. What could he do? He couldn’t force him.
“Josh, do me a favor. Look up someone for me,” he said. Josh looked up at him and saw him clearly for the first time in years. He saw the anger… the rage.
“Who?” Josh asked.
“Kurt Campbell. I think he can help you some.”
“Okay,” Josh answered. Suddenly Alex reached down and grabbed Josh roughly by the arm.
“One day you will get the balls to leave,” he told him. Josh felt like crying again. He suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his arm. Looking down, he saw that Alex had somehow burnt his flesh. He gave his brother a look full of horror, hurt, and confusion. Alex released his hand.
“Shit,” he whispered. “Shit, I’m sorry. Look, I have to go.” Josh stared down at his arm, which was screaming in pain. If he had looked up, he would have seen the fear and confusion that was also present in Alex’s eyes.
Chapter 4
Hey little girl is your daddy home, did he go away and leave you all alone?
Alex lit a cigarette. They stood watching the girl. Even Jacob was strangely quiet.
I’ve got a bad desire
It was obvious by the girl’s worried expression that she was lost. She seemed close to tears. Alex wondered how long she had been looking for her home. Couldn’t possibly be as long as he had. Jacob was staring at his own hand.
Oooooh, I’m on fire
The girl sat down by the lake, not knowing what else to do. She sobbed quietly.
“Well, we can’t just leave her here,” Alex finally whispered.
“Why not?”
“Look, she’s lost. It’s not right.”
“Why, Alex, how positively kind of you.”
“Look, I may be an asshole but I’m not a heartless bastard”
“Of course. My mistake.”
Alex could tell that Jacob was angry by the way he was acting. He was always quiet when he was mad, which was completely the opposite of Alex. When Alex was angry he wanted to break things. He wanted to scream his anger out in obscenities and make everyone see how he felt. Jacob had a more dangerous kind of anger. A kind that you never knew was there until it was too late. It brimmed right beneath his eyes and seeped out to choke you when you least expected it. But Alex knew this. That’s why they got along so well. He decided to drop the whole conversation.
“I guess I’ll go get her.”
“And what, pray tell, will you do with her when you get her?” Jacob asked. His eyes were black. A deep ebony color with blood red pupils. It was weird how his attire matched his eyes. In the weeks that Alex has known him, he had never known Jacob to wear any other colors besides red and black. Always some combination of red and black.
Sometimes it feels like you took a knife edgy and dull and cut a six inch valley through the middle of my soul.
“I don’t know,” Alex said, flicking his cigarette away and smothering it beneath the heel of his boot.
“Good plan,” Jacob said sarcastically.
“Fuck you,” Alex responded naturally.
“Fuck yourself,” Jacob spat back. Alex’s eyes flashed as he met Jacob’s gaze.
“What is your problem?” he snapped.
“My problem? MY PROBLEM? Well, forgive me for being sensible for once. What the hell are we going to do with a little girl? Take her to the police station? Oh THERE’S a great idea. No, they won’t recognize us right away!”
“Jesus, Jacob!”
“Jesus, crazy Mary, and Moses riding a rabid walrus! You dumbass! Do you realize how many banks we have robbed? How much money we have stolen? Do you realize that our ugly mugs have probably been copied and sent to every police station this side of the Nile River?” Alex wanted to question the Nile River comment but decided against it.
“Fine, we’ll leave her.”
“Fine.”
“Fine!” Jacob snickered and turned away.
“Which way do we go now?”
“I’d say east,” Alex responded. The little girl would eventually be found, he told himself. Besides, it was not his problem. It was never his problem. That’s why he didn’t have kids. He started walking slowly to the east, following Jacob. But he swerved back around when he a shrill scream pierce the air.
“I have to get out of here,” Blackfire said to herself as she stared at the television.
“Talking to an invisible mirror?” Loki asked from across the room. She looked up at him.
“Huh?” she asked, glad to have her attention taken away from her thoughts.
“I’m just saying,” he said.
“What are you saying, Loki?” she asked.
“Let me tell you one of my favorite quotes,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
“Sure,” she responded.
“There was ‘fear flickering in and out of his eyes. When he smiled the fear flew away in little pieces of light, lurked enigmatically in the high cool corners of the room. And what could I say feeling death around me, and the little broken images that come before sleep, there in the mind?’”
Blackfire sat back. Since she had stopped taking the pills, her mind was much more clear.
“I know how that feels,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” Loki agreed.
“I hate it here,” she added.
“You’d rather be outside, eh? Where everything is clear and sharp?”
“What do you mean, Loki?”
“I’m just saying.”
“What are you saying?” She almost liked this game.
“I’m saying you don’t belong here.” Cut to the chase. Very simple.
“Well, neither do you.” You’re honest and I am honest. You lie and I will lie.
“So, let’s get out of here.” His black eyes were shining with intensity. He was serious and she knew it.
“When?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“Okay, what time do you want me to—“
“Shhhh,” he responded. “Vulture wings husk in the dry air.” Her mind reeled trying to figure that one out. An attendant walked in to check up on them, her pale eyes sweeping over the room. Blackfire stared at the television again.
She was gone. He didn’t know what to do. The pain was there. Shutting off his breath as if it were some sort of machine. Stopping his blood. White. So pure and so white that it was blinding. Gagged. Shocks jolting through him. How could she leave him like this? He had taught her so much. The betrayal was thick and heavy. He could barely keep his eyes open. Shock treatment. Shock treatment. Shock me sane again. Broken images exploded in his head. The girl. Red hair. Blue eyes. Almost gentle. Almost brave. Almost sane. She didn’t belong here. He looked at the vulture, sick eyes gone out. The eyes of an animal. Dying inside. Hopeless fear reflecting the face of insanity. Jolts of electricity that swept through his broken mind and body. He would never be the same again.
“We agreed that we would break out that night,” Blackfire told Josh.
“Damn! You are a bad driver!” Josh said, his attention stolen away by a near wreck. Blackfire shrugged.
“I’ve got it under control,” she told him simply.
“But you never broke out with him because Blaze came into the hospital and freed you that morning,” Josh said, getting back to the subject.
“Right. I had a really bad nightmare and ended up taking some really strong sleeping pills. When Blaze came in I was pretty much knocked out. He took me out and by the time I woke up I was surrounded by Hellions.
“And you never went back for him?” Josh asked.
“No,” Blackfire answered. “I was afraid of that place. It’s the only time in my life where I felt truly trapped and animal-like. I was so afraid that it would happen again.”
“But you’re the white queen. You could have gotten someone else to get him out for you.”
“I thought maybe he needed to be in there.”
“Why was he in there?”
“He never told me.”
“Oh.” Josh understood was Blackfire was not saying. If she had admitted to murder and Loki couldn’t admit to what he had done, then it must have been pretty gruesome. Yet, the thought had never crossed her mind that Loki could be a killer until she was out of the hospital. In fact, sometimes he seemed like the only sane being in a horribly insane period of her life.
Chapter 5: The flame meets the mind
He sat in the dark corner of the bar where he always sat. He was stooped over as though he didn’t want anyone to recognize him. As though maybe if they couldn’t recognize him then he wouldn’t recognize himself. There was something very comforting about alcohol. Maybe it was the way it clouded his mind. The way it pushed out all of his bad memories so that he could only remember the good things. Things seemed so much slow, so much more peaceful. If anything was ever peaceful for Alex Hayes. He started drinking when he was 11. A very early age. He never wanted to draw too much attention to himself. The bartender recognized him right away when he walked in. That happened when you went to the same bar almost every night. Or if he wasn't at the bar he would stay in his apartment and drink. As long as he could drink. And smoke.
Smoking was a strange habit for him. It was more than what it seemed. Some people loved it for the buzz and some people loved to inhale the smoke and see it billow around them. Some people liked to pack the cigarettes while others just liked the feel of it in their hand. And all smokers knew what cigarettes did to them. Some may have felt that they were invulnerable. . . that they would never die, but most did not. They just didn’t give a damn. The rush. . . the relaxation they felt after they lit one up was worth ten years of their life. Or maybe they would quit. Just not today. Tomorrow maybe. This would be the last pack. But then they felt the stress again and it was almost unbearable. A nicotine rush was all they could think of. That’s when you knew that they had you hooked. The funny thing about smoking is the more you do it, the more you hate it. Your first cigarette was always wonderful as well as your first pack. He thought this is because you could stop at any time. It’s just for fun. But after that, when your mind started to require a cigarette. . . that’s when you started to hate it. And with every cigarette you hate yourself a little more than you did before. You hate not having control. You hate being dependent on the nicotine. And you hate yourself for being numb to it all.
But there wasn't an addiction that he couldn't handle. Maybe somewhere in the deepest part of his mind he knew that he was an alcoholic. But he would never admit it to anyone, not even to himself. He could quit anytime he wanted to. He just didn't want to. He knew that some of the people who came to Cameron's were alcoholics. They were the ones who satin the dark corners like he did. . . brooding and waiting for the blissful buzz that they knew would eventually come. If he had it his way, he would be permanently drunk. Hazy minds and cloudy rooms went well together. And then there was always the fire. He noticed Jacob Kendall as soon as he walked in the room. He was the type of person who didn't simply walk into the bar and sit down, oh no, he had to make an entrance. Tall and thin, with sharp features and shaggy brown hair, Jacob waltzed into the room with his arms spread out as though he were receiving some sort of special award and a wide grin on his face.
"Your king is here!!" he yelled out to no one and everyone in the room. Alex hated him right away. Almost as though he could sense his cold stare, Jacob looked across the room and his eyes met Alex's. Alex noticed that his eyes were very dark. Almost black. He glared at the intruder. Jacob simply grinned back and strolled over to where Alex was sitting. Alex groaned inwardly but said nothing. If this guy was looking for trouble then he would give him trouble. He was just starting to feel a buzz. The bartender looked up and walked over to the side that Jacob was on. Loud people have a way of getting what they want most of the time. Only Jacob didn't know what he wanted.
"How about. . . hmmm. . . I'll take a. . . no. Oh, it just all looks so good!"
"How about a beer?" Alex finally blurted out, allowing his impatience to show.
"They serve that here?" Jacob asked, pretending to be surprised.
"Go to Hell," Alex replied.
"No thanks, been there, done that and it just wasn't my thing," Jacob responded smoothly. The bartender was eyeing them both cautiously, wary of the fight that could break out.
"Fuck off," Alex answered.
"Well you know what?" Jacob asked, now sounding slightly irritated, "I just might!! That'll show you!" The bartender smiled with relief.
"What will it be?" he asked Jacob.
"A beer. . . make it Budweiser," Jacob answered, plopping himself down beside Alex. Alex felt his irritation grow into anger.
"Can't you go bother someone else?" he demanded, his eyes boring into the side of Jacob's head.
"What??? I'm hurt! I've just made a new friend. I'm not about to leave!" Jacob stared back at Alex and Alex noticed that his eyes were black. . . and his pupils were blood red. He also noticed a light that seemed to flicker in them. God, he thought. The man is insane. Just what I need to kill my buzz.
But before he could think of a suitable cuss word, Jacob cut in.
"You know, I think you are just the person I was looking for!" To Alex's shock, Jacob put his arm around him and pulled himself closer. Alex was about to punch him in the nose when he heard him say: "You're gonna like this, my friend. You're gonna like this a lot." He stopped for a second and felt the alcohol hit him at the same time. Major buzz. . . but it felt great.
"Who the hell are you?" Alex asked.
"No one important," Jacob answered.
"Don't be a dick."
"Okay, fine, I won't. My name is Jake but you can call me Loki. And you are?" Alex decided not to ask about the nickname. It somehow suited him just fine.
"I'm Alex," he said reluctantly.
"Well, Alex," Loki said, still grinning, "would you like to be a millionaire?"
Chapter 6
The scream caused him to shudder. It was filled with total fear. Alex looked at Loki only to see that he was still walking away from the girl.
“Jacob!” he yelled, almost allowing himself to panic.
“What?” Loki asked, turning back around calmly. The girl screamed again. Loki rolled his eyes and sighed.
“Fine,” Loki managed. “It’s your funeral.”
“Whatever,” Alex answered as he ran towards the sound of the screaming, which had grown more shrill and panicked. He knew he was no hero, but he would be damned if he was just going to sit by and watch a child get hurt. He just couldn’t.
He ran back to the lake and halted, causing Jacob to almost run into him.
“Gee, Wally,” Loki said. “What now?” Then he looked up and saw the girl. A man was clutching her tightly and had a gun pressed against her head. The way he was dressed almost resembled a monk of some sort.
“GOD WILL PUNISH YOU!!” the man screamed, his eyes wild. He was so intent on what he was doing that he didn’t even notice Alex and Jacob.
“Uhm. . . excuse me,” Loki said loudly. “But what the bloody hell do you think you are doing?” The man looked up, almost delirious.
“I MUST KILL THE DEMON!!” he screamed at Loki and Alex, almost begging for them to understand. He was sobbing now, yet he kept the gun tightly pressed to the child’s temple.
“Look. . . uhm. . . Mr. Psycho. You don’t mind if I call you that, do you?” Alex hissed for Loki to shut up. Loki just shrugged.
“Who are you? Are you men of God?” The man demanded.
“No, I am Satan and this here is my demon friend, Pablo.” The man’s eyes rolled wildly and he took a moment to shake the gun at them, clutching the girl more tightly to his chest.
“Stay back!” he warned. Alex looked uncertain and Loki rubbed his eyes in annoyance.
“Let the girl go,” Alex said calmly.
“NEVER!! She is a spawn of Satan!”
“Yeah, that worked real well,” Loki told Alex sarcastically.
“Well, what would you suggest then?” Alex hissed. Loki looked at Alex and cocked his eyebrow.
“SHE MUST DIE!!” the man cried again, and he pressed the gun at her head.
“No, you’re gonna die unless you put that nasty looking gun away,” Loki replied. “I mean, really! You are one rude dude!” The man ignored him completely and began to pray. Alex lurched forward but Loki grabbed his arm.
“Lemme handle this,” Loki said. Then he raised his own gun and took careful aim at the man. The man looked up, more panicked than before.
“Be careful,” Alex whispered. “He’s gonna shoot her.”
“Hardly,” Loki answered.
“Who are you?” The man cried out again, this time only looking at Loki.
“I told you, I am the devil. And I’ve come to take you home.” The man’s eyes widened.
“No,” he whispered. Then he started to press his finger on the trigger. Loki shot him square in the chest. The man grunted and fell to his knees, the gun falling harmlessly to his feet.
“What have you done?” he asked softly. “Oh, God, what have you done?”
“Get a life,” Loki told him, “because I am taking this one away.” Then he turned to Alex.
“Damn, that was corny, wasn’t it? I’ve got to come up with some better lines!”
“Did you have to do that?” Alex asked softly, still staring at the dying man.
“Hey, you were the one who wanted to get involved so bad,” Loki answered.
“Yeah, but you just fucking killed him! Don’t you even care?” Alex demanded. Loki shrugged but Alex noticed that he didn’t look him in the eyes.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Alex said.
“I think not!” came a voice directly behind them. They both turned to face the intruder.
Alex’s eyes snapped over to the woman. He had never seen her before in his life, or so he thought. Yet he somehow felt as though he knew her. Long red hair and pale blue eyes. She looked very pale too. . . too pale. He wondered how much sleep she had gotten. He looked over at Loki and saw the obvious recognition in his eyes. And something else too that almost resembled hate.
“Relax,” she calmly stated. “We’re here to help.” Heard that one before, Alex thought. But instead of saying it he turned to his partner.
“Old girlfriend?” he asked.
“Something like that,” Jacob agreed. “Spare me a fag, old chap?”
“Excuse me?” Alex said flatly.
“Cigarette,” Loki explained. Alex handed him one, still eyeing him suspiciously. Then he turned his attention back to the girl. And that’s when he saw Josh.
It was almost like a slap in the face. Or having freezing water poured over your head. He tried not to show his shock but it was hard to hide. Josh, however, was not surprised. He had come looking for Alex, after all.
“What do you think you are doing?” Josh asked. The little girl decided that Blackfire looked the kindest and ran to her, still sobbing. Blackfire talked soothingly to the child and stroked her back, trying to calm her. Loki’s eyes narrowed but he didn’t say anything.
“Old boyfriend?” he asked Alex, referring to Josh.
“You asshole,” Alex snapped, his eyes never leaving Josh’s. “He’s my brother.” And that’s when he recognized the girl. It was Sharon Stokes, Josh’s best friend from school. She certainly had changed though. She looked older and harder. And much more tired.
“Oooooh, sibling fight!” Loki cried.
“We just came here for the girl,” Blackfire said softly. For some reason she was having trouble looking either one of them in the eyes. Probably because what she had just said was not true, and she knew it. They came here to stop them. And that was exactly what she intended to do.
“Well, if you had been paying attention you would have noticed that we saved the kid,” Alex answered.
“Father, I killed a holy man. Should I go to confession for this?” Loki asked.
“Holy? More like insane,” Josh answered.
“Oh, so then it’s okay,” Loki replied.
“I didn’t say that,” Josh answered cautiously.
“You think I’m a heartless warthog, don’t you?” Loki yelled as if he were very hurt by the idea.
“I. . . no!” Josh replied.
“You JERK!!! MONGREL!!” Loki screamed, charging him suddenly. Bewildered, Josh quickly moved out of the way. Blackfire tensed up in case he went for her next. Alex looked at his watch with a bored expression on his face.
“Look, you can have the girl. In fact, we want you to take her,” Alex said.
“Alex, this has to stop and you know it,” Josh answered. He kept his eyes on Loki in case he decided to attack again.
“What has to stop?” Loki asked innocently.
“The robberies,” Blackfire answered, patting the child on the head.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” she asked her softly. The girl kept her head buried in Blackfire’s side, refusing to look up. The poor thing is probably in shock, she thought sympathetically. Then she felt a burning pain in her side.
She cried out and pushed the girl away from her. Then stared down at her in horror.
“She—she bit me!” Blackfire cried.
“Feisty little bugger, ain’t she?” Loki asked. Josh was in silent shock, staring at the large wound the child had given Sharon.
“What the hell?” Alex asked. He was beginning to think that saving that girl was not a good idea at all. Then the girl turned around to face them all. Her eyes were glowing yellow and a strange aura seemed to be around her. Blackfire shrank away from her but the girl seemed fixated on her. When she spoke, it was in a deep, dry voice that resembled rocks being crushed together.
“You are the perfect one,” the girl told Blackfire. “I could feel it when I saw you. You will be perfect.” Blackfire tried to move and found that she couldn't. She was paralyzed to the spot.
“Bow before me,” the girl said. Blackfire suddenly fell to her knees. The girl did not seemed interested at all in the others.
“Do something,” Alex whispered to Jacob. He hated the way his voice sounded. Choked and small. Yet he had to say something. Loki looked at him and for a moment Alex thought that he was scared too. Then Loki pulled out the gun and fired.
The first bullet hit the girl directly in the chest. The second one grazed the side of her head. The third one pounded into her stomach. Alex turned away after that. Josh ran over to Blackfire to make sure she was okay. She sat staring at the dead child before her. Perfect innocence masked pure evil. Blackfire held on to Josh and cried, even though she hated herself for it. She cried harder than she had cried in a long time. Alex shut his eyes and tried not to think.
She took him to the IHFC mansion. She didn't know where else to take him. She just felt so responsible. I should have never left him there, she thought. Even if I thought he was insane. He helped me and I left him. I was a coward and now I want to somehow make it up to him. But she couldn't give him back his life. The mental hospital had robbed him of some of that. She could, however, give him a place to stay until he was back on his feet. It was the least she could do. Then why did she feel this mounting dread inside of her? Her side had healed thanks to her regeneration abilities. But there was still a mark where the child has bit her. This bothered her and she decided that she would get it checked out once she got back home. No one said much on the ride back. Loki asked Alex for a cigarette and, surprisingly, Alex gave him one without any protest. Blackfire could tell that Alex wasn't sure how to handle what had just happened to them. He was probably used to weird things, but demons were way out of his league. She wasn't exactly comfortable with it herself. But Loki was the one who had killed the little girl. She wondered how he felt about it. She wondered if he felt anything at all about it. Maybe he was numb to things like that. After all, he had talked about how many people he had to kill in order to escape from the mental institution with a smile on his face. Part of her also wondered if that little girl was still in there somewhere. Surely there was some way to save her. In the silence that filled the car, Blackfire could almost taste the guilt that also hung in the air. She was suddenly very glad that Josh was driving because she realized that she was shaking. She glanced over at Josh's hands on the wheel and noticed that they trembled slightly also. She glanced over at Loki and was surprised to see that he was studying her. Their eyes met but she quickly looked away. There was something about those black eyes that wanted to draw her in. And she wasn't sure that she would like what she would find. I wonder what Daemon would have done if he had been there, she thought. I wonder if he would have killed the little girl. Somehow she doubted it.
(6 hours later)
Blackfire had never been so happy to see Daemon. She felt totally spent out and he was just the thing she needed. She practically ran up to him and threw her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. She felt him stiffen, so she pulled her head back and looked him in the eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing," he stated. She searched his eyes in case he was concealing any feeling in there. What she found shocked her. He looked cold and hard. Something was defiantly wrong. She put her arms around him and gently kissed him. To her surprise, he jerked away as though she had slapped him.
"Gabe?" she asked weakly.
"I'm sorry," he said, turning his face away. "I'm just sorry."
"What do you mean?" she asked. She felt confused and bewildered. Her mind was refusing to register what was taking place.
"Sharon, there's someone else," he whispered, looking down.
"What?" she asked, suddenly close to tears. This could not be happening.
"But. . . who? How? You love me!" she cried.
"No, I don't," he said, his voice sounding very distant and cold. "I don't love you." That was all she needed. She jerked away from him and ran as fast and as hard as she could. It didn't even matter where she was running too as long as it was away from there.
*******
Khalid sat down comfortably and cracked his knuckles. Now was the perfect time to get some serious practice in. Things had been pretty peaceful lately except for the occasional fight with Darque Feonix. But some things would never change. Playing the piano helped him relieve a lot of the stress that was caused by his lifestyle. It also helped him express the emotions that he couldn't put into words. He placed his hands on the keys, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Then he started to play. He cried out and winced when the horrible sound filled the air. Somehow the piano was terribly and horribly out of tune. Khalid gritted his teeth, the last of his patience spent. This was the last thing he needed!
"Whew! That sounded bad!"
"Loki! Did you do this?" Loki gave him a painfully innocent look.
"Who, me?" he asked. Then he snickered. Khalid jumped up from his seat and glared at him. But there was no need for Loki was already running out of the room, still laughing. Khalid sat back down and started to retune the piano. I'll get him back, he thought. He wasn't sure how but he knew he would.
*******
Chapter 7
Alex had never felt so glad to see nightfall. He walked out on the balcony and embraced the night. He felt as though he was burning and perhaps the night was the only thing that could soothe him. Plus he needed to think. Smoking and thinking came hand in hand to him. He leaned against the rail of the balcony and lit a cigarette. In a way he was grateful to Josh and Sharon. They were giving him a place to stay for the night and they did give him something to eat. And this was a nice place. Looks like Sharon made it out okay, Alex thought to himself. But there was a nagging question pounding in the back of Alex’s mind. Were they going to turn him in? He decided that he probably had five minutes before Josh would come to talk to him. He was wrong. Josh came in three.
He walked up to Alex almost meekly and stood beside him, letting his attention gaze to Alex’s burning cigarette.
“Are you okay?” Josh finally asked. He didn’t know what he expected him to say. Maybe he expected him to demand an explanation. Maybe he expected him to yell and scream. Maybe he expected him to ask if he was sorry for what he did. But asking about his well being was the last thing that Alex Hayes expected. The question threw him off guard and to his bitter shock he found himself fighting tears. Alex never wanted to let himself know how much he hated himself for leaving his little brother that night. And that self-hatred was what was burning a hole through his soul.
“I’m fine,” he finally managed. Josh managed a small smile and was silent for a few more minutes.
“Er. . . how have you been?” Alex finally managed awkwardly. Josh looked up at the dark sky briefly and then turned to his brother.
“I finally got the balls,” he told him.
“You did what?”
“I got away from him,” Josh said. And in his eyes there shone more dignity and strength than Alex thought could ever shine in his.
“Good for you,” Alex said. And what was more. . . he meant it.
“I want to help you,” Josh said.
“No one can help me, Josh,” Alex replied bitterly.
“Not if you won’t let them, they can’t,” Josh answered. “I’m not going to turn you in. I’m going to help you.”
“Please,” Alex said with a disgusted wave of his hand, “how could you help me?”
“Ever heard of Kurt Campbell?” Josh asked with a knowing grin.
“That was a long time ago,” Alex answered.
“Too long,” Josh agreed. “And it’s time to start trying to fix yourself again.”
“Please,” Alex spat, “you’re not my fucking therapist!”
“Fine,” Josh said, raising his hands in defeat. “When you decide to start helping yourself you can give him a call though. Now I’m going to leave you alone. I just have one more question.”
“Fine.”
“How well do you know Loki?” Alex gave Josh a suspicious look.
“Why do you ask that?”
“Just wondering how well you know your partner.” Alex shrugged casually.
“Pretty well, I guess,” he answered.
“Great. Then maybe you can talk to him,” Josh said. “Because for some strange reason he is fucking with everyone around here and no one appreciates it.”
“Did he do something to you?”
“Not yet,” Josh admitted. “But I’ve seen him do it to several other people. Believe me, the white court members won’t tolerate it. I’m just telling you this for his own good.”
“He knows better,” Alex mused to himself.
“What?” Josh asked.
“He knows better than to mess with you.”
“Come on, Alex. He barely knows me.”
“He knows you’re my brother. And that’s enough.” Alex answered. “Believe me, I work with the guy.”
“Then ask him to cut the shit,” Josh pleaded.
“Sorry, bro, but it’s not my problem. Even I won’t try to tell Jake what to do.” Josh sighed and walked in from the balcony. But before he left he dropped a card on Alex’s bed. He was sure that eventually Alex would come around. There was a part of him that desperately wanted to be healed.
“Nebula, there you are!” Blackfire exclaimed as she walked into the study room. Nebula was casually sitting on the couch, reading a book. She looked up when she heard her name and smiled at the white queen.
“Blackfire,” she said. “What can I do for you?” Blackfire walked up to her in obvious relief.
“I was wondering if you could show a friend of mine around,” she admitted. “I have a few. . . things. . . that I need to take care of,” Blackfire told the headmistress. Nebula sat her book down and stood up.
“Sure,” she agreed. Blackfire smiled gratefully. The blue skinned, blue haired woman was so likable and easy-going. She never once regretted having her as part of the team.
“Nebula, this is Loki,” Blackfire said, gesturing towards the door. And to her surprise, Impossible Man came tromping through.
“Excuse me, Miss Queenie-weenie, but we must have words!” he cried, grabbing Blackfire by the arm and dragging her back out the door.
“Er. . . be with you in a minute,” Blackfire promised Nebula. Nebula just nodded and tried not to laugh.
“What is it, Impy?” Blackfire asked. Impossible Man was obviously quite upset about something.
“It’s your new friend, lassie,” Impossible Man answered.
“Jacob?” Blackfire asked. “What has he done?”
“He’s tromping on my turf!!” Impossible Man almost yelled. “He talks to everyone. He somehow called off training today and decided to throw a party. He’s been playing pranks on people. He’s talking people’s ears off and not making sense. He’s making a huge nuisance out of himself. In other words, he’s acting just like ME!!” Impossible Man waved his arms wildly around to display his disgust. Blackfire smiled.
“Sounds like someone might be jealous,” she said playfully.
“Jealous? JEALOUS? He’s stealing my life!! MAKE HIM GO HOME!!!”
“Shhhh!” Blackfire cautioned. “I’ll talk to him, okay?”
“I want him to phone home and be GONE!!” Impossible Man said again.
“Impy, keep your voice down!” Blackfire warned. “I will talk to him, I promise.” She walked with Impossible Man back into the room to get Nebula.
“I’m getting Nebula to show him around but. . . oh, it looks like they have already met!” Impossible Man looked in the study room and to his disgust saw Nebula and Loki talking quite happily together. Nebula had her back to them but Loki sat facing the door. When he saw Impossible Man he gave him a smug smile and even reached over to put his arm around Nebula, who was still talking. Blackfire didn’t seem to notice but the insult was clear to Impossible Man. He turned around and stomped away before Blackfire even realized that he was angry. She gave his retreating figure a puzzled look but went into the room instead of chasing after him. I’ll never understand him, she though with a sigh. Yet she couldn’t remember ever seeing him that upset.
“SUPERGROVER!!!” Darque Feonix yelled as he stormed into his office. SuperGrover jumped up from his deck.
“Feonix, what is wrong?” he asked, feeling slightly irritated that he hadn’t even bothered to knock.
“Would you mind explaining THIS?” Darque Feonix asked. He held up five pair of underwear, all with heart shaped patterns neatly cut out of them. “The same thing happened to my shirts!” he added.
“Uhm. . .,” SuperGrover started, trying not to let Darque Feonix see his amusement.
“This Loki guy is about to get his ass kicked!” Feonix went on, not noticing SuperGrover trying to cover his smile. “He isn’t even part of the white court so why the hell is he here?”
“Now, Kain, calm down,” SuperGrover said. “You know that he is a friend of Blackfire’s. Besides, she said that he wouldn’t be here for very long.
“I will NOT tolerate this!” Darque Feonix fumed.
“Try to loosen up,” SuperGrover urged. “It was just a harmless prank!”
“Yeah well now I have nothing to wear!” Darque Feonix countered.
“Get your secretary to order you something,” SuperGrover offered. “Really, it’s no big deal. Try to learn how to take a joke.” Darque Feonix disgustedly threw the underwear into the garbage can with force.
“This guy better stay out of my way or he is gonna GET it!” he warned as he stomped out of the room. SuperGrover just shook his head as the door slammed. Then he started to laugh to himself. He suddenly stopped dead in the middle of his laughter and stood up. Oh no, he thought to himself. He wouldn’t have. I’m the white KING. He walked to his closet and threw open the door. Neon pink ladies panties and bras greeted him. SuperGrover gritted his teeth. Playing pranks was fine by him as long as he wasn’t the one who it was being played on.
“This guy,” he whispered to himself, “is seriously getting on my nerves!”
“Yo, Slashy!” Loki cried as he walked into the training room. “You about to get pumped up?” SlashR glared at the intruder but decided that he’d better play it cool.
“Yes, I am actually,” he said calmly. “Now would you mind not distracting me?” Loki shrugged.
“Got any gum?” he asked.
“No,” SlashR said coldly. “Now go away.”
“But I want to watch you train! I think you’re gonna win,” Loki said with a gleam in his eye. SlashR shook his head. There were times when he swore the guy seemed totally wicked to him. But Blackfire would hear none of it. He wondered why she even bothered keeping him around. Friend or not, if it were SlashR’s decision, he would have thrown Loki out a long time ago. It was just the bad feeling that he had gotten the first time he had laid eyes on him. The guy was trouble and SlashR was not going to let him interfere with any white court business.
“I want you out,” he told Loki, his voice still calm. It was a reasonable request. He needed to concentrate and Loki was notorious for his mouth.
“I’ll shut up. I just want to watch. C’mon, give the devil his due.” SlashR decided to ignore him. He had better things to do than argue anyway. He had some serious training to do. He set the machine on the next to hardest level and tried to clear his mind so that he could concentrate. True to his word, Loki was silent.
“SlashR training session 9,” the computer called out. SlashR gave one last look at Loki to make sure that he was nowhere near the controls. He wasn’t. He simply sat there watching with a strange expression on his face.
Suddenly SlashR was attacked from behind. Relying on his luck, he swerved and threw two razor sharp knives at his attacker. It should have worked perfectly. But something was horribly wrong. SlashR’s knives bounced off of the machine harmlessly and fell to the ground. SlashR stood for a second in stunned shock. But that was all the time that the program needed. The machine fired three times, each time hitting SlashR with deadly accuracy. The third shot hit him in the temple and he fell to the ground with a thud. Before he blacked out, SlashR scanned the room for Loki. He was gone.
“Computer terminate program!” screamed Cyclops, who had luckily just walked into the room. The program died with an electronic buzzing sound. Casey rushed over to his fallen teammate to check to see if he was still breathing. He was. Cyclops quickly called the infirmary to come and take care of him and make sure that his regeneration abilities helped him recover correctly. That’s weird, Cyclops thought. Why would SlashR have tried a training session that he obviously couldn’t handle? He walked over to the robot that had attacked him and bent down to retrieve SlashR’s knives. They were made of plastic. Cyclops frowned. Someone had switched SlashR’s knives.
Daemon didn’t knock. He didn’t make any sort of announcement. He just walked right in Khalid Hunter’s office with an obvious purpose in his step.
“Alright, what the hell did you tell her?”
“What?” Khalid asked, looking up from his computer. “How dare you come in here without even knocking? Get the hell out!” Everyone knew that Khalid and Daemon did not like each other in the least. Khalid got angry every time he saw Blackfire and Daemon together. And it wasn’t simply jealousy that was the problem. Khalid didn’t trust Daemon. He made that clear to Blackfire the second he found out that they were together. But Blackfire didn’t listen to him. So Khalid tolerated Daemon. But that didn’t mean that he had to like him.
“What the hell did you tell Sharon?” Daemon demanded, slamming his fist down on Khalid’s desk and glaring at him.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Khalid said, trying to keep his voice calm. “But either you get out of my office or I will make you get out!” Daemon’s eyes flashed.
“I know you said something to her! Why else would she refuse to see me? Now tell me what fucking lies you’ve been feeding her!”
“I don’t know why Sharon won’t see you but I’m glad that she won’t!” Khalid yelled back, his eyes glowing in his anger. He had no idea what Daemon was talking about but he did not like being accused for something that he didn’t even do.
“YOU FUCKING LIAR!” Daemon screamed in rage. Before Khalid could scream back Daemon’s fist connected with his nose. He fell back with a grunt, slamming into the wall and scattering papers everywhere. He quickly picked himself up, prepared to defend himself by any means necessary.
“I didn’t tell her a damn thing!” he yelled. “She dumped you on her own!” Probably not the best thing to say and Daemon’s fist made a painful connection with Khalid’s stomach because of it. Khalid winced and fell back against the wall again.
“You are such a pathetic liar!” Daemon sneered. “If you have a problem with me why don’t you say it to my face instead of sneaking behind my back and spreading lies!”
“Okay, I’ll say it to your face. I don’t fucking like you!” Khalid cried back. Daemon kicked him in the chin and Khalid tasted blood. Khalid raised his own fist but before he could deliver a blow SuperGrover was between them both. With brutal force, SuperGrover shoved them apart and tried to make eye contact with both of them at the same time.
“Would someone kindly explain to me what is going on?” SuperGrover asked in a voice that sounded like the calm before a storm.
Iceblade slunk closer to the ground. All was going according to plan. Just one more touch and it would be perfect! He snickered and quickly ducked behind the couch as he saw Cyclops coming. Cyclops walked innocently up to the television and tried to turn it on. Iceblade heard him curse softly when the television would not respond. Then Casey turned to the couch to find the remote. He picked it up and then quickly dropped it.
“Alright, Michael!” Cyclops called. “Unfreeze the remote!” Iceblade jumped from behind the couch and gave Cyclops a sudden forceful push. Cyclops stumbled backwards onto a patch of ice and went sliding across the floor with a wild yell, landing harmlessly on the loveseat in front of the television. Iceblade fell to the floor in a fit of laughter.
“Awww man, Cyke! You should’ve seen your face! Your eyes got as big as saucers!!!”
“Not funny, Michael,” Cyclops said angrily as he tried to compose himself. “Now you can run three extra miles today when you are training!”
“Aww man you are such a poor sport!” Iceblade whined. Cyclops walked out of the room, careful to hide the smile on his face.
Iceblade sulked to himself as he turned around to go to the kitchen. He was greeted by Loki, who was applauding vigorously.
“Now THAT was a good one!” Loki cried with a grin. Iceblade smiled back, his expression smug.
“Wasn’t it though? Did you see his face?”
“Oh, it was classic!” Loki agreed.
“Man, if you liked that you should have seen that time that I froze the floor under Mufasa! He was ice skating for a full five minutes!”
“No kidding? That’s great!” Loki said. “Obviously you are good at pranks.”
“Yeah, I’m alright. What about you?”
“Moi?” Loki asked, pointing to his own chest. “I am a master.”
“Oh yeah?” Iceblade said with a skeptical look. “Who are you anyway?”
“I’m Loki, god of mischief. I’m a friend of Blackfire’s.”
“Oh, Blackfire is my sister.”
“Reaaaaaaally?” Loki asked.
“Yeah, reaaaaaally,” Iceblade answered. “Now I’m bored. I’ve gotta think of something to do.”
“I’ve got something you can do,” Loki answered.
“Oh yeah?” Iceblade asked.
“Oh yeah,” Loki answered. “You, my friend, are about to be part of the prank of your life!”
Chapter 8
Blackfire snapped out of her daze as SuperGrover, Khalid, and Daemon all came into her office at the same time. She didn't know what shocked her more, the fact that Daemon and Khalid were walking side-by-side or the fact that Khalid was sporting a rather nasty looking bloody nose.
"Khalid... uhm... would you like a tissue?" Blackfire asked. Khalid shrugged the question off, but Blackfire insisted.
"That looks pretty nasty. Put pressure on it to stop the bleeding."
"Sharon, something really weird is going on here!" Daemon said. "I don't know what you think I said or did to you, but I SWEAR I've barely said two words to you since you've gotten back!"
"Save it, Daemon," Blackfire hissed. "I have more important things to do than listen to this bullshit. I am not an idiot and I know what I saw!"
"What did you see?" SuperGrover asked. "Because things have been really weird around here and I have a feeling that I know who is starting it."
"Oh, really? Who? Blackfire asked.
"Everything started when you invited that psycho Loki over here. I'm willing to bet my left arm that he was involved in this!" Blackfire tried very hard to keep her temper in check.
"Look, blame Loki all you want but I actually SAW and FELT this! It's not like Loki came and told me. There is no way in hell that he could have been involved. But you sure are quick to point your finger!"
"Sharon, I'm just saying--" SuperGrover started.
"You don't even know him!" Blackfire yelled back. "Why don't you get out of my office so I can get some WORK done?" Khalid took a step closer to Blackfire, still holding the tissue to his nose.
"Sharon. . . listen. I don't like Daemon but I really don't think that he did what you think he did. He loves you too much and that would have came out of nowhere. Before you jump to conclusions let's try to at least see if it could have been something else."
"Hey, I've got an idea," Blackfire said, "Why don't you stay out of my personal life!" SuperGrover sighed.
"We're just trying to help," he said, "I just walked in on Daemon and Khalid kicking the shit out of each other. I don't like seeing that."
"Well I had nothing to do with that," Blackfire said. "Look, if you guys won't leave my office, then I WILL!" She jerked herself up from her desk and stomped out of the office. Better to be angry than broken, she thought.
She knew that she desperately needed someone to talk to. She made her way to Josh's room and knocked on the door. She was surprised at how close to tears she was. I guess I didn't realize how deeply I cared for Daemon, she thought miserably. Josh opened the door as she was knocking and almost ran into her.
"Sharon! I was just going to look for you! Look, Alex is ready to leave and honestly, so am I. You know how I feel about this place." Blackfire tried not to show how disappointed she was.
"Okay," she said softly. "I understand."
"Do you want us to take Loki with us and maybe drop him off somewhere?" Josh asked. "I mean, it would be no problem at all."
"Drop me off where? A cliff?" came Loki's voice from behind them. Blackfire jumped.
“No,” Josh answered. “Alex and I are going to leave and I was wondering if you would like for us to take you somewhere? Or you could stay, whatever you want to do.” Loki looked at Blackfire who shrugged to show that she didn’t care either way.
“Well, if it’s all the same to you, Hayes, I think I’ll stick around for another day or two. Or maybe just an hour or two. I have a few more things that I need to take care of. You know, Loki-business.”
“Okay,” Josh answered. “Then we will see you later.”
“Wait, where is ole ‘Lex?” Loki asked. “I need to tell that ole dirty bastard something!”
“Waiting outside,” Josh answered. “Go right ahead.”
“Are you okay?” Josh asked Blackfire as soon as Jacob had sauntered off.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Blackfire answered with a smile, shaking all of the bad feelings off. “Just a little stressed.”
“Well, call me if you need me,” Josh answered. “Or maybe I will call you.”
Blackfire nodded as Josh hugged her. Oh well, she thought. I might as well go talk to Darque Feonix. I haven’t seen him around lately and that makes me nervous. But before she could give it a second thought, someone grabbed her arm and swerved her around. Suddenly she was looking into black eyes that never seemed to blink.
“L-Loki!” she stammered in surprise.
“B-Blacky!” he answered with a grin. She pulled away quickly and turned away.
“Do you need something, Loki? I have work to do but I can get someone to get it for you if you need anything.”
“All I want, Miss Queen. . . is a piece of your time. Or are you too busy to spare me even that?” Blackfire was shocked by how his mood could so drastically change in a split second.
“Of course,” she said softly. “I apologize. I just have a lot on my mind. I wasn’t trying to ignore you or anything.”
“Bullshit,” Loki answered, pointing an accusing finger in her face. “You have been trying to ignore me ever since you left me back there in the mental hospital!” Blackfire shut her eyes and tried not to think. She almost felt like she couldn’t breathe. She sat down hard, all of her energy spent and sighed softly.
“It wasn’t like that,” she whispered. But her whisper sounded more like a plea.
“Oh, no? Well it sure as hell looked like that to me!”
“Loki. . . please. I am not a bad person. I was drugged up when Blaze busted me out. There was no way I could have even remembered my own name, much less to go get you.”
“And I suppose that you were drugged up for the years that followed too?” Loki asked bitterly through clenched teeth. Blackfire suddenly felt like she was much older than she actually was. Too much pain. . . too much suffering. And she had caused it this time.
“No. . .” she answered, her voice barely audible.
“Yeah,” Loki answered, standing up. “Just wanted to clear that up.” Though his voice had gotten softer, there was still a bitter edge to it.
“Jacob, wait!” Blackfire cried. Loki almost seemed to shiver as he paused. Using his real name had that affect on him. He turned to face her with dull eyes.
“Look, I’m not making up excuses. I know I wasn’t right. I was a stupid kid and I was so scared. I don’t know why you were in there but it really doesn’t matter. You saved my life and I left you. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I do want you to know that I am so sorry. And that I regret it.” Loki stared at her with unfeeling eyes and then slowly walked out of the room. Blackfire put her head in her hands and tried not to hate herself.
Iceblade walked into the training room, trying not to laugh. Man, this was gonna be the greatest prank ever! He could tell just by looking at Loki that he was good at pranks. Pranksters always had this certain look about them. This certain charm and way of talking. It was hard to miss. Iceblade picked up the pliers and looked around for Cyclops. He had to be somewhere in here. This was his normal training time, and, besides, Loki had set it up and he seemed like the kind of person who rarely made mistakes.
Iceblade decided that he would wait in hiding. It seemed like the sneaky thing to do. So he crouched down behind some old boxes and waiting for Cyclops to come into the control room. He was still clutching the pliers. He thought he heard a faint noise but he couldn’t be sure. He checked his watch. Man, Cyke was late! What the hell was up with that? Or so he thought until he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Knock, knock, Icey,” Loki said, with a grim smile. Iceblade grinned.
“Loki, you’re just in time!”
“No fucking joke,” Loki answered, grabbing Iceblade by the collar of his shirt. “Now I want you out of here as in two minutes ago!”
“Huh?” Iceblade asked. “But Cyke hasn’t gotten here yet!”
“No time to explain, kiddo. Get the fuck out!” Iceblade glared.
“No way, man! I’ve been waiting all day to play this prank! You can’t stop me now!” Loki narrowed his eyes.
“Kid, I won’t ask you again.”
“Go to hell, man! What do you know?” Loki punched Iceblade square in the jaw, totally taking him by surprise. Then he roughly grabbed him and slammed him over his shoulder, literally carrying him out of the control room. Iceblade was too shocked to fight back.
The explosion hit the room with brutal force as Loki ran out, hurling Iceblade in front of him as the fire blazed behind. Then and there, perhaps he was truly a hero for the heroless. And as Iceblade felt the burning flames scorching up behind him, he thought that the man with the eyes that never blinked really did resemble the norse god that was his namesake.
A bomb. A bomb. A bomb. Why would someone want to kill him? Then his own question slapped him in the face. Hell, who wouldn’t want to kill him?
Blackfire sat in the corner of the “living room” and tried not to think about where she was. The blinding white lights and the brutal terror were no match.
“Jesus,” she whispered. “I just want out of here.”
“Out of where?” Loki asked from where he was sitting. “Out of this place?” He gestured with his hands around the room. “What, you don’t like the food?”
“No,” Blackfire answered. “Out of this place.” She pointed bleakly to her temple. “I would give anything to get out of my own mind.” For once, Jacob was silent as he looked at her. But she thought she saw a hint of understanding buried somewhere in those slanted eyes.
“I don’t think I can take much more. I don’t know how you can take it.” Loki looked out the window.
“Who said I could?” he asked bitterly.
“You must be stronger than me.”
“Don’t count on it.” Then he stood up and walked up from behind her. She didn’t even bother to turn around until he was practically pressed up against her back. And she didn’t mind. In fact, she liked it. He felt like a wall that would catch her if she needed to lean against it. In that moment, she had never felt so weak. And someone else had never appeared so strong. He wrapped his arms around her neck and hugged her gently. And maybe that was when she broke. She felt raw emotions rake through her body, causing her to shudder. And he whispered. . . softly and soothingly. She thought maybe she could never love someone more in that moment. Yet she barely knew him at all. That’s when she felt the cold metal pressed into her hand. She gasped and looked up at him, trying desperately to understand his purpose. Because at that point she could only see one. And it scared her more than the hospital. But he simply kissed her on the forehead and whispered something into her ear.
“Pick the lock. . . tonight.”
Shark
Silent as a shark
You sneak up behind her
Cold and intense
Blinding white terror
Impersonal and cracked
Mirror for the predatory
Incest laughter
Like a bat’s squeak
Searing memories
In no shape or form
Lips like daggers
Hands like thorns
She must endure this
How much longer
In his eyes burned
A horrible, dry hunger
She tried to sleep. But she was getting nowhere without the pills. She even resorted to pressing the pillow over her head to try and block out their pain-filled screams. But it was no use. Down the hall, someone was crying. Like they were broken. She wondered if there would be a point in her life when she would cry like that. She felt as though the moment was creeping up from behind her and there was nowhere to run. Hell, why should she even try anymore?
“No therapy is planned for patient Sharon Stokes as of now.”
She didn’t think she could stand anymore of their “therapy”. It was all shock and drug related, designed to make them spend a lifetime trying to figure out what was wrong with themselves. Why? Because she wasn’t normal?
“There is immersion in fantasy, progressive withdrawal, and isolation from the patient.” What did they expect? It was the only way she knew how to survive what was happening to her. Her headache was back.
“Since she has been here, Miss Stokes has had several suicide attempts”. And one more wouldn’t hurt. What was that saying? “If at first you don’t succeed. . .?” She felt sick. Really sick. The kind of sick that you think you will never get better from. And all you can do is sit there and pray for some sort of release. Then the release was in her hand. She stared at it, seeing her own distorted reflection in the knife. It looked like it had just been sharpened. For a brief moment she wondered how he had managed to get it. But then it didn’t matter. He was her savior. And she was irreversibly screwed up. She picked up the knife and held it to her throat. Then, uttering a prayer, she dragged the shining knife across her throat.
“So, you’re going with little brother,” Loki told Alex as they sat outside.
“Well, yeah. I kinda want to get my fucking powers under control.”
“Might wanna look into some anger management too while you are at it,” Loki said. Alex glared at him to let him know that he was not amused.
“What the hell do you think you are doing anyway?” Alex suddenly asked.
“What do you mean?” Loki answered innocently.
“C’mon, man. You may be able to fool them but you can’t fool me. I know you too well. And I know that you like her.”
“Who?”
“You know who.”
“Puh-lease, man,” Loki answered, giving Alex a very disgusted look.
“And I think she likes you too,” Alex answered.
“Yeah, well, what woman can resist my charm?” Loki countered.
“Man, you are such a smartass. I’m trying to be serious here.”
“Okay, fine. What are you suggesting?”
“That you are about to make a big mistake.”
“Me? Never!”
“You’re doin’ it again, asshole.”
“Sorry.”
“I’m just saying. . . maybe you should think it through. Maybe she’s not as cold-hearted as she seems.” Loki didn’t answer, but his jaw was set firm.
“Just think about it,” Alex added.
“Believe me,” Loki answered, “I am.” Alex nodded and pat Loki on the back.
“I’ll see you around then.”
“Of course,” Loki answered, “Of course.”
She felt hands. All over her. Shaking her and stroking her. And incredible warmth. For the first time since she had been here she wasn’t afraid. Then she could hear him.
“Open your eyes.” It was more of a plea than a command. She listened because she trusted that voice. Then she was staring into the black and red eyes of a god. A self proclaimed god who was so bitterly human that it was pathetic.
“Hey, maybe you misunderstood me. I said pick the lock, not slit your throat,” he said with a smile. She wondered how he could smile when her life was bleeding out of her and soaking through his shirt.
“I just want to be free,” she managed.
“Yeah, well, there are other ways, you know.”
“I just want to be normal.”
“Normal? Who the hell is normal?” She managed a weak smile and reached up to touch his face. He grabbed her hand and gave her a cynical look.
“I suppose you think you are going to die now. Not bloody likely. Besides, I almost like you. I would even say that you are my favorite person here.” She tried to laugh but found that the blood choked her. Then he kissed her and she felt the pain fade.
“Here, take this,” he said, pressing a pill into her mouth. “It’ll help you sleep. We’re breaking out of here tonight, you know.” She reached up to touch her throat and found that the ragged edges of the wound had mended themselves, leaving behind only ivory white skin. He placed four more of the pills beside her bed and stood up.
“Where are you going?” she asked, grabbing his hand suddenly.
“Are you kidding? The damn nurse will be here at any moment! Damn vultures!” She smiled and released his hand.
“Besides, it’s not like I won’t be back.”
“Jacob,” she whispered, “I want you to know that you are my favorite person here too.” He laughed and was gone before she could blink. She whimpered and looked beside her bed, where the other pills sat. She knew she shouldn’t. But the nightmares. The nightmares. She picked them up and swallowed them quickly, as though that would mean that it didn’t happen. Five minutes later she was out like a light.
“Oh my God!!” Blackfire screamed as she ran to Iceblade and Loki. “Michael, are you okay?” Iceblade winced from the burns on his back.
“I’m fine,” he said, “Thanks to Loki!” He grinned at Loki who managed a small smile back.
“Oh my God!” Blackfire cried again. She hugged her brother, who cried out in pain, then she turned to Loki.
“Jesus, Jacob, are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” Loki answered. “And last time I checked Jesus was too.”
“I don’t understand how this could have happened,” Nebula whispered. It was obvious that she was still in shock. “First SlashR, and now this!”
“SlashR?” Blackfire asked.
“Yeah, someone replaced his knives with plastic ones and he almost got killed!” Nebula answered. “Didn’t anyone tell you?”
“No,” Blackfire whispered. But she knew that the fact was she was just too busy to listen. No one noticed that Loki was avoiding eye contact with everyone.
“I could be wrong, my queen. But I think we may have a traitor in our mists,” Nebula said calmly.
“I think she’s right!” Iceblade agreed. “And now my back is gonna be sore for days!”
“Hey, Sharon,” Loki said suddenly, “can we talk. . . like. . . real quick?” Blackfire looked from Nebula to Iceblade to Loki. Then she shook her head to clear her thoughts.
“Of course,” she told him as she followed him out of the room.
“I think I know who the traitor is,” Loki told her simply, looking her in the eyes. “And if you weren’t so blind by your guilt I’m sure you could see it too.” Blackfire felt confusion set in and she welcomed it. She could not. . . would not. . . believe what he was implying.
“It was me, Sharon. It was all me. I switched the knives, I planted the bomb, I messed with people’s underwear. . . I. . . I was Daemon.”
“How can that be?” she asked dully.
“I’m a shapeshifter. How do you think I always managed to get by the nurses unnoticed?” She shut her eyes. Of course. It made perfect sense. God, she felt stupid.
“I mean. . . God. . . I’m sorry I did that. I suck. I’m sorry.”
“SlashR will be okay,” she managed.
“I almost killed your brother.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because. . . I mean. . . because you were right. You were just a kid. And because I’m tired of hating you.”
“You were Daemon?” she asked in a small voice.
“Yes. Part of that may have been jealousy. I dunno.”
“Why would you be jealous?” she asked.
“Jealous of him,” he answered. She shut her eyes again and took a deep breath.
“Don’t worry, though. I’m gonna leave. Then everything should get back to normal.”
“Where will you go?” she asked.
“Do you care?” he snapped back.
“Maybe more than I should,” she admitted. He suddenly smiled.
“I’ll give you a call,” he promised.
“You’d better,” she answered. Then she reached over and kissed him.
“I’d even say that you are my favorite person here,” she said. He laughed and suddenly kissed her again.
Daemon had just walked up to try to talk to Sharon again. He could clearly hear that she was talking to someone in her office. So he looked in the window so he could make sure that he wasn’t disturbing something important. What he saw nearly took his breath away. Blackfire and Loki were in there. Together. And it looked like they had suddenly gotten very very close. Daemon slammed his fist into a nearby table, breaking it in two. He couldn’t stand the thought that he had been betrayed again by someone he loved. In fact, he couldn’t take it. He stormed into Blackfire’s office, letting his anger take control.
“Gabe!” Blackfire cried out, immediately breaking her embrace with Jacob. “Gabe, it’s. . . it’s not what it looks like!”
“Yes it is!” Loki piped up, grinning at Daemon. That was all he needed. He punched Loki in the nose with brutal force causing him to fall back on Blackfire’s new desk. There was a sound of splintering wood and a groan which came from Loki. Blackfire watched all of the papers fly off of her desk and quickly jumped in between Daemon and Loki.
“Gabe, wait! Please let me explain!”
“Look, Sharon, I know what I saw. I don’t know what you think you are doing, but I’m telling you, I didn’t do anything and that guy over there IS responsible for everything that is happening!”
“I know,” Blackfire agreed. “He told me. And he’s leaving. I’m just sorry that I didn’t believe you when you tried to tell me.”
“If you know,” Daemon said through clenched teeth, “Then why did I just see you kissing him?”
“It wasn’t like that,” Blackfire pleaded. “We used to be good friends and I was just saying bye. That’s all.”
“Yeah, we were lovers,” Jacob said from where he laid sprawled on the floor. Then he picked up a piece of candy that had fallen off of Blackfire’s desk and popped it in his mouth.
“Loki, please shut up!” Blackfire said, feeling almost panicked.
“You were WHAT?” Daemon asked.
“Lovers,” Loki answered. “You know, we had sex…screwed….fucked…bumped uglies….whatever the kids call it these days.” Daemon charged at Loki again but Blackfire managed to get in between them.
“Gabe, please ignore him,” she said. “That was a long time ago.”
“Ignore me?” Loki asked, picking himself up off of the ground and brushing off his pants. “You can’t ignore me. That’s the beauty of it.”
“Jacob, I thought you were trying to fix what you did!” Blackfire yelled at him.
“I was trying to fix my mistakes,” he corrected her. “And while I’m at it I can fix yours too.” He gestured towards Daemon. “Big mistake, kid. I mean, just look at him. He’s mean, he’s got at temper, no charm at all, and not to mention that he is UGLY!” Daemon roughly pushed Blackfire out of the way and grabbed Loki by the collar of his shirt. He tried to punch him but Loki managed to struggle free and duck at the last minute. He quickly ran behind Blackfire for protection. Then he pointed at Daemon and started to laugh.
“Sorry, Daemon, too slow!” he said. Then he grabbed Blackfire and kissed her hard on the mouth.
“I’ll see you later, my dear,” he promised. Daemon immediately ran over to stop him but suddenly he was gone. Daemon stopped in front of Blackfire, feeling drained and confused.
“What the hell just happened?” he asked softly.
“That was Loki,” Blackfire told him. “And, as on occasion, he can be a very colorful character.” Daemon smiled.
“What was he talking about? Were you two together?”
“A long time ago we were for a brief period of time,” Blackfire answered. “But not now. I love you. And I would never do anything to hurt you. I’m so sorry, Gabe.” Daemon sighed and reached over and hugged her, feeling his anger slowly melt away.
On the floor, a rat with black and red eyes that never blinked hid below the desk. Blackfire saw it out of the corner of her eye and smiled. Then she grabbed a book and threw it at it, almost squishing it in the process. The rat moved, but she could swear she high pitched squeaking that strangely resembled laughter. Then it quickly scurried out the door.