“Yes hubby, I do. I hear you saying that you will think my proposal over. You are a smart boy.”
I glare at her and force myself to remain in control and not to beat the hell out of her.
Since she has not attacked me physically there would be no excuse to battle her. I shake my head, truly pissed and head out the door. She calls out after me.
“I will wait for you to change your mind but I won’t wait too long, Marcus. Sign the papers; save the human.”
A short while later I head back to the house to see if the team has any leads on the clue. I find them conferring in the living room looking just as frustrated as they were the night before. I ask Jay to meet me outside, alone.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“How’s Pretty?”
“A little better, but it’s going to be a while before she feels like herself again. Rio was a part of her, you know?”
“Yeah, I do. Do you think she’s fit enough to go on this mission with us?” I ask.
“I actually think it’s the best thing for her. Keep her busy.”
“Okay but keep an eye on her,” I tell him.
“Miku’s my heart, Marcus; I’m down for what she needs.”
“She’s lucky to have you,” I reply.
“Look man, don’t trip. You and Emmy can still figure things out,” he says studying the sadness on my face.
I don’t reply to his comment. Instead I tell him about my encounter with Bianca.
“You think she would really kill baby girl?” Jay asks.
“I wouldn’t put anything past her. That’s why I need to keep an eye on Emmy.”
“How?”
“She is still wearing the watch that tracks Rage, can you see if you can get it to track her instead?”
“There might be something we can do but she’s gonna be real salty when she finds out you are spying on her,” Jay warns.
“I know she’ll be angry with me but I have to keep an eye on her.”
“Are you sure this is just about keeping her safe? I mean, be real with me.”
“I don’t know okay, just…get her watch and see if you can alter it so that I can see what’s happening with her.”
“I’m on it,” he promises.
We then head back into the room where the team has decided to take a much needed ten minute break from brainstorming about the “nothing” clue. Emmy wanders over to me looking uncertain.
“I just wanted to say…I wanted to see…Are you…” she sighs in frustration.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I don’t how to do the friend thing with you. It’s very…new.”
“Same here,” I assure her.
“Maybe I should start with asking how your day is?” she suggests.
“So far…sucks.”
“Well cheer up, we’ll find the meaning of the clue. We just need a little more time.”
“Emmy, Jackson is dead.”
She looks back at me, shocked. I explain the situation as Tony told it to me. By then the whole group gathers to hear the news. I’m glad I told them before the Splash could.
Again, no one mourns Jackson, still, the thought that Bianca could be so evil is unsettling for everyone.
“She’ll be after you so please be careful,” I tell Emmy.
“’Bitchonica’ can come after me if she wants. I’ve been dying for a chance to kick her ass,” Emmy counters bitterly.
“That girl is really starting to grow on me,” Ameana admits to Rage.
“I don’t know if she will try anything but I want you to be on high alert,” I reply.
“Baby girl, you know we got you,” Jay tells her.
“Bianca aside, we need to find the answer to this clue. We’re running behind,” Miku says.
“We don’t even know where to start. I mean the clue is literally nothing,” Ameana complains.
“We’ve looked at it right, left, and sideways; it’s no use. We’re all drawing a blank,” Jay adds.
“Oh my Omnis! That’s it!” Emmy says to herself.
“Emmy, what are talking about?” I ask.
“I know what the clue is—it’s Blank,” she replies.
“Yeah, we know that. There’s nothing written on the Plate,” Miku says.
“The clue is that there is nothing on the Plate,” Emmy says.
“Baby girl, you are losing us,” Jay admits.
“The Shoma will use things and details from our lives, right?” Emmy asks.
“Yeah so far, it seems to enjoy putting our secrets out there,” Ameana says with dread.
“Well, I think the clue is meant for me. I know what ‘Blank’ means,” Emmy admits.
“Okay, what is it?” Rage asks.
She looks over at me pleadingly. It’s as if she’s apologizing to me with her eyes although I’m not sure why.
“Emmy, what’s Blank?” Rage asks.
“It’s a pill,” she replies never taking her eyes off of me.
“What does it do?” Miku asks.
“Tony gave it to me, Blank is a pill that helps you forget,” she says softly
“Why did Tony give it to you? What were you trying to forget?” I ask.
“You.”
Being a Guardian, there is no shortage of painful moments in my life. But standing there and listening, as Emmy talks about how she wanted to erase me from her mind may be the worst moment of my life. It was all I could do not to take to the air and flee.
“So…you take this magic pill and it would what, rip out all memory of us?” I ask unable to hide my feeling of betrayal.
“No, it’s not like that. It would just make me forget that I loved you.”
“Wow, sounds great. Why didn’t you take it? Wait, I’m assuming you didn’t take it but who knows, maybe you did,” I reply coldly.
“No, I didn’t.” She assures me.
“Of course she didn’t take it. In the end, Emmy values what you two have. Or had.” Miku says carefully trying to defuse the situation.
“So is that it? You didn’t take the Blank pill because you suddenly valued our relationship?” I ask filled with doubt.
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I know what color vial I’m supposed to drink to get to the next clue,” she replies.
“Why didn’t you take the Blank?” I demand.
“Marcus, let’s not do this.”
“Why didn’t you take it?”
“I…I was about to but then I heard something outside my door. I ran out and found you bleeding to death on the floor…”
“So had I not been dying at your door, you would have taken the pill?”
“Marcus, please we need to focus,” Ameana says.
“Would you have taken the pill?” I ask Emmy, ignoring Ameana.
“Look, I don’t—”
“—Yes or no, Emmy. Would you have taken the pill?”
“Yes.”
Damn…
Rage, seeing I am unable to tear myself away from Emmy’s eyes, tries to get us back on target.
“What color was the pill?” he asks her.
Emmy doesn’t say anything, she is too fixated on me. Jay has to nudge her to get her to snap out of it.
“The pill was green,” she replies.
The team takes out the box with the vials. The three glass vials float into the air.
“Are you sure this is the right one, Emmy?” Miku says.
“Yes,” she replies.
“How can you be so certain?” Rage asks.
“Because the Shoma would use information that deeply impacts at least one member of the team; trust me, it’s done that,” I spit bitterly.
“Okay then; Emmy, drink the green mixture,” Rage says.
The vials float over to her, she takes the green one, gives me one last look and then swallows it. Suddenly, Emmy’s eyes are wide open. The team asks if she’s okay but she doesn’t answer them. She seems to be in a trance of sorts.
She just walks c
loser to the wall and touches it as if she is seeing a 3D picture only she can see. And just as suddenly as the trance takes place, it lifts and Emmy seems back to normal. She holds her head in both hands as if it’s heavy. Miku helps her over to the sofa.
Rage gives her some water and we wait for her to take a moment.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she says breathlessly.
“What did you see?” Miku asks.
“It was an image that gathered on the wall, like the Splash but I felt like I was actually inside the image,” she replies.
“What was the image you saw?” Ameana asks.
“There were three of them sprawled against the wall. The first was an insect, the second was a painting of some nude woman, and the third was a clock going backwards,” she tells us.
“An insect, a nude painting, and a clock going backwards,” Jay repeats.
“Yeah, that’s all there was, sorry,” she says.
“No Em, that’s great. We’ll take a look at websites for the insect you saw and go from there,” Miku says excitedly.
“I’ll join you guys, just give me a sec, okay?” Emmy asks.
Miku nods and she heads out along with the rest of the team. She and I are left alone.
“Marcus, about the Blank pill; I wasn’t trying to hurt you. It was just so hard to—”
“--You don’t owe me an explanation,” I reply.
“I know but I just don’t want you to think it was easy for me to do what I was about to do. I agonized over it,” she promises.
“Is that supposed to fix everything?” I ask in disbelief.
“No, I’m just saying—”
“—We have been through a lot but no matter what has happened, I would never want to forget how I felt about you…”
“Marcus, I was just trying to deal. It was the only way I could—”
“—you know what Emmy, you wanted to forget me? Well, I think I can help you with that.”
I turn away from her and head back to the team.
CHAPTER EIGHT:
MINUS ONE
A few hours have passed and the information Emmy has given to Jay helps us to narrow down where the next clue may be located. The insect turns out to be a Golden Web spider that is only found in Costa Rica. However, narrowing down the painting of the nude woman is taking much longer.
As we try to sort out the clues, I can feel the team sneak glances towards Emmy and me.
The tension between us is substantial. There’s nothing I can do about it. I try to let it go but it really pisses me off that she would do that to me—to us. After another hour of the mounting tension, Jay suggests that Emmy and the others get some rest while he continues the online search. Rage then demands to see me privately.
“What is it?” I ask as we step out into the hallway.
“You really are gonna go ape shit on Emmy just because she was about to take some pill?”
“It’s not just—you know, it’s between us. You wouldn’t understand,” I counter.
“I understand plenty. You’re giving her grief for doing the same thing you did.”
“I have never taken Blank. I didn’t even know it existed.”
“You never needed Blank, Marcus, you had CP.”
“Wait, that is not the same thing!”
“That’s crap. It’s exactly the same thing. You took CP to run from the pain and she was about to take Blank to do the same thing. The only difference is when you took CP, she was there for you. And now that you find out she’s not this super strong, unbreakable chick, instead of being there for her, you’re judging her.”
I am about to tell him off when it occurs to me the Akon is right. I go over all the times Emmy has stood by me when she could have washed her hands of me. I think back to her jumping off the side of a building to save me.
“I guess I was acting like…” I admit.
“An ass,” Rage offers.
I smile despite myself and ask him when he got to be so good at relationships.
“I’m an Akon of many talents,” he says as he heads towards the room he shares with Ameana.
Although I have no idea what I’m going to say to her, I knock on Emmy’s door. She opens it, a surprised expression on her face.
“Can I come in?” I ask.
“Yeah, sure.”
She lets me in and I spot two outfits laid out on her bed.
“Alex asked me out, I didn’t say yes but I was trying to figure out what I would wear if I did…ya know, say yes,” she confesses, clearly uncomfortable.
“Oh,” is all I can manage.
“I’m sorry about the pill, I shouldn’t have—”
“—no, you have no reason to be sorry. In fact I’m the one who needs to apologize,” I reply.
She looks back at me in disbelief. I tell her what Rage said to me.
“Do you think Rage is right?” She asks.
“Yeah, he is. The fact is I’ve run away many times from…reality. And I can understand why you would want to do the same.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m trying but I can’t seem to get the hang of this…post breakup thing,” I admit.
“Me too. We should be given a guide on how to proceed after a relationship ends. Chapter one would be titled “The morning after.”
“And what would that chapter cover?” I ask.
“The Do’s and Don’ts. Like don’t allow yourself to gaze into his warm brown eyes. Don’t think about how it felt when he pressed you up against him. And whatever you do, don’t get close enough to be pulled into his embrace because you will never want to leave.”
Neither of us realized it but as she was talking she was coming closer and closer to me.
By the time she finished her list we are only inches apart. That’s when I reply to her in a whisper.
“Don’t tell her you wished you kissed her more often. Don’t tell her she is your only thought when you were headed for a mission, about to Recharge, or just waiting for an elevator. Don’t let her know how empty you feel without her.”
She is about to reach out for me when she stops herself and reminds both of us out loud.
“Do remember the reason why the two of you parted. And do maintain distance,” she says sadly as she steps back.
The disappointment of her backing away sears into my flesh like a thousand bolts of lightning.
She moved away…
I clear my throat and she looks away. We do our best to snap out of the trance we were in. When she speaks again she tries hard to sound casual.
“Were you serious about us trying to be friends?” she asks.
“Yeah, yeah, sure.”
“Then can I ask your opinion about something?”
“Okay.”
“Should I go out with Alex?”
WTF???
I can’t do this. I’m not strong enough. I don’t care what the hell I said before. She is mygirl and I want to be with her. She can’t be with that other guy; she’s mine. I’m done withthis. I’m just gonna tell her that she means more to me than my wings and my soul. She isthe happy ending I have searched for and I am not giving that up.
“Marcus?” she calls out.
“Yeah?”
“I know it’s awkward to ask you of all people but you know me so well. I thought you could help me decide. And friends ask each other those kinds of things, right?”
“Right.”
“Okay, so…should I go out with Alex?”
“When you’re with him, does he make you smile?” I ask, dreading the answer.
“Yes,” she replies bashfully.
“Then, yes. You should go out with him.”
Not long after my truce with Emmy, Jay makes us all come back together and announces he knows where the second clue can be found.
“You were able to figure out who the naked lady was in the painting?” Emmy asks.
“Yeah, she’s a figure in Greek mythology; her name is ‘Echo.’??
?
“And what about the clock?” Ameana wonders.
“It’s going backward which means the location of the clue will be somewhere that had to do with the past in some way,” Miku says.
“This clue was tricky because it was so simple. I did some research, made a few calls and Tony helped me find what we are looking for: The second clue is in the ‘Cave of Echoes,’” Jay tells us.
“I’ve never heard of that,” Ameana admits.
“The ‘Cave of Echoes’ isn’t widely known because it’s in a place no being would be foolish enough to enter: Rukar Forest.”
Damn it…
Judging by the sighs and head shaking from the others, they are thinking the same thing I am: We are so screwed.
“This is the part where I ask why the Rukar Forest is so bad. Then you guys tell me why and I end up regretting that I asked,” Emmy says.
“The Rukar Forest is—”
“—Wait Miku, before you tell me I need to brace myself,” Emmy says as she takes a long deep breath. She then signals for Miku to go on.
“The Rukar Forest is home to the Craygo.”
“Who or what are the Craygo?” Emmy asks.
“They are beasts that feast on fear and multiply when attacked,” Miku informs her.
“Like I said; sorry I asked,” Emmy remarks.
“The Craygo are only one of three issues here,” someone says.
“Tony, what did we say about popping in?” I ask him.
“I was invited. So technically I’m a guest,” the Seller says as he jumps down from the Port.
“I told him to come because we need more info,” Jay says.
“Okay Tony, tell us what you know,” I instruct.
“I’m going to need a little more gratitude. This is a Seller’s busy period and my shop is closed. I am losing a lot of money. And frankly I am tired of being treated like a red headed Pawn.”
“Tony, we’re sorry,” Emmy says.
“No, that’s not good enough. I am…wounded.”
“We’ll pay you,” I offer.
“You guys are family. How can I stay mad at family?” he says with a sly grin.
“Yes, you’re a great guy, now tells us what we need to know,” Rage pushes.