Book of Life

  “What do you want to do about it?” Avery barked back.

  Max remained closed lip as he paced the room.

  “I didn’t figure they’d find this place so fast. They were already past this point. What made them backtrack?” Avery went on, now pacing as Max was.

  In another life, in another world, I could see how they could be perfect for each other. Then again, maybe too perfect, and perhaps that was the point. Their mannerisms were equal, their drawn expressions—I could see how the balance wasn’t right in that.

  “My brother always knows where I am,” Max murmured. “All he really cares about is that I see what he does. He loves to make me suffer in this way. You should know that by now.”

  I shook my head. “Sick,” I grumbled.

  I watched them pace for another moment before realizing I hadn’t seen Emily yet. Gen and June were still lost in the kitchen. Lacy and Stella were seated on the couch. Stella was lying in my sister’s lap like a pet while Lacy stroked her hair. I figured this was something that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. “Where’s Emily?” I finally asked.

  Neither Avery or Max found it relevant to look at me.

  Lacy looked up and simply shrugged while Stella went on biting her lip and focusing on a piece of hair she was threading through her fingers. Gen and June knowingly avoided my gaze. They seemed oddly relaxed given the situation, but then again they’d been through it before when my parents died. They knew how to escape.

  I gave up and walked to the front door and out onto the porch. I wasn’t exactly prepared to see what I did there. In the driveway, Jake had Emily wrapped in his arms, his lips locked with hers. At first it took me a moment to realize just what was happening. Mind catching up with my body, I quickly ducked behind a marble column. I took a slow deep breath and peeked around just in time to see them pull out of the kiss. I expected to see Emily slap Jake, but she smiled instead.

  What was going on?

  They were too far away for me to hear what they were saying. He was holding her hands, her face more alive than I’d seen in a long time. I felt my chest tighten at the sight, jealously overcoming me but in a strange way. I was confused, my body wanting to burst forth but my feet frozen on the spot. The air teemed with anxiety—the hovering Black Angels, their deceit, and my own apprehensions toward love.

  Then they turned and ran.

  I surged after them, my body reacting separately from my head. I jumped down off the porch, shoes digging through gravel to follow. They dove into the forest. I wanted to slow as the stench of death grew stronger. I approached the tree line and stopped momentarily. Was she worth it?

  My chest rose and fell, rose and fell again. I didn’t have time to wonder if she was worth it or not, the fact was that they were headed straight for danger. My clothes ripped off me as I took on a form I had all but put behind me—the lion.

  What were they thinking running toward them like this? Could they not sense that they were there?

  I ran, paws over paws, jumping logs and trying to follow their scent over that of death. I wanted to stop breathing all together, it was that bad. Branches snapped under my weight, ferns ripping past me. At last I caught up to them, seeing their shadows flash between trees. They were still holding hands, expertly making their way as led by Jake.

  Then they stopped.

  My paws came to a grinding stop as well, buried in cold snow that was mixed with a soft sprinkle of dead pine needles. I ducked behind a log, watching them from a short distance as they stared at something ahead of them. I moved my head from side to side, trying to see around the occasional tree trunk. Hunched low, I was completely silent. As I waited for their next move, my mane began to mat from the melting snow that fell from the overhead trees. Their silhouettes made it easy for me to make out the fact that they were rigid and alert. They were seeing something I didn’t.

  Just then there was movement from behind a tree just in front of them. My gaze narrowed, ears pinned. I heard murmurs then, but again I could not tell what they were saying—their voices weren’t carrying over the damp snow. Carefully, I crept over the log in front of me, staying as close to the ground as I could. One paw before the other I drew toward them, three figures now standing in the woods. Closer and closer I came until their voices began to come clear.

  I froze.

  “Good to see you again, Emily.” Cordial yet creepy, Greg’s presence ignited my anger. “Thought I wouldn’t notice you sneaking away?”

  My animal senses could almost feel Emily’s heart beating in my own chest, the boom of it shaking the air all around us. She did not answer him.

  I watched as Greg stepped forward, hand extended as though to touch Emily’s cheek. Jake was quick to step between them. “Don’t touch her.”

  I saw Greg’s silhouette shift, head tilting. “Are you her newest fling?”

  Jake didn’t answer.

  “She is quite the spirited girl. Lucky you,” Greg went on. He paused for a moment and then tilted his head the other way. “You know, Emily, I may just be willing to let you live through all this if you agree to come back to me. You had so much promise! I was sad to see you resist. Don’t you feel your life would be much better suited on our side?”

  My jaw clenched, remembering the way she had been when Greg took her. Whether she loved me or not, I could never let her fall into that darkness again.

  “And you, dear boy? Exactly what are you?” He circled them. “Feeling up to joining us?”

  “It doesn’t matter what I am,” Jake retorted.

  Greg laughed. “You’re a vampire, aren’t you? Not hard to see that.” Greg grabbed Jake around what appeared to be his neck. He lifted him off the ground with little effort, reeling back as though to throw him.

  Unable to help it, I lunged forward, slinking across the forest floor until I was right beside Greg. I was hunched low, hissing with my claws bared and hungry for flesh. Greg dropped Jake and Jake fell to the ground like a sack of sand.

  Greg’s hands swept the air in flamboyant greeting. “Wes!” he announced. He looked happy to see me, though wary, as he should be.

  I hissed again. From the corner of my eye I could see the look on Emily’s face, one of shame and surprise.

  “Can I assume Max is back there with you?” He looked past me, a hopeful look on his face.

  I kept my teeth bared.

  “No?” His shoulders sank. “That’s disappointing. Well, I’ll see him soon, and that little traitor, Avery, too.” He laughed darkly. “So excited for that.”

  He stepped toward Emily unexpectedly. I dove at him. He fell back, and though he was fast, I was faster as my claws caught on the hem of his pants. In the dim light I saw his wings grow from his back to assist him. They were tattered and ugly, altered by his blackened heart. He was different than I remembered him, far darker and less human. How did life hold interest to him anymore?

  Greg’s face filled with a moment of worry as I drew him in. I readied my other paw to rip him to shreds, but a presence stopped me.

  “Stop this, Greg.” Avery’s voice came from nowhere.

  I was so fixated on Greg that I hadn’t sensed her approach until now. I felt my grip on him slacken.

  Greg shook away from me. “Oh, look! They were with you after all!” he cheered, almost drunk with the fact.

  Max and Avery entered the circle of view, followed by Lacy and a timid looking Stella. I didn’t like seeing Lacy here—or Stella for that matter. I pulled my gaze away from them and stalked backward—allowing Avery to step in my place. Jake had regained his footing, slowly tucking Emily away behind him.

  “You need to stop this, Greg.” Avery had traded her heavy white coat for a trim pair of pants and a sweater. She had a bow in her hand, a pack filled with arrows fastened to her back and across her chest. Her hair was knotted behind her. Despite the fact, she looked well put together. I wondered how she’d done it so fast.

  “You? Telling me to stop? This was your idea. I’
m simply carrying out your wishes.”

  “Stop, Greg.” It was Max that said it this time, his wings hanging behind him.

  Greg turned his attention on Max. “Don’t you get sick of saying that? Wouldn’t you just rather give in?” Greg reached for one of his wings, exposing the fact that it had been clipped rather badly. “Thank you for this, by the way.”

  Max spread his wings enough for me to see the reason for the blood I’d noticed earlier. “It’s your fault. It was your angels that did this to me. You know they don’t care who they kill. They’ll kill me the moment they get a chance. That leaves you rather vulnerable, doesn’t it?”

  Greg looked frustrated, but didn’t respond.

  “But, you can make them stop,” Avery picked up where Max left off. “You know you can.”

  Greg shook his head. “You really think that I can stop them?” He laughed.

  Avery looked confused.

  “They won’t stop. I know this as should you. I may be the leader, but my death ends nothing for them. They’re machines.”

  “They may be machines, but they lack the ability to do much without a leader,” Max reminded.

  “Perhaps, but what do you expect to do, kill me?” Greg challenged this as though it was what he wanted. He stepped toward Avery, his face just inches from hers.

  I was surprised as a dagger of ice formed in her hand. She quickly raised it to his throat. “I’d love to.”

  Greg laughed simply. “Go ahead, sweetheart. Kill me and see what happens to dear Max.”

  Avery had a disgusted look on her face that I could see despite the darkness. Her eyes were bright, looking from Greg to Max as they grew softer.

  Max shook his head slowly. “You don’t want to die, Greg. Either do I.”

  “Oh?” Greg stepped back, a mischievous look on his face. “I figured you would want to die considering Jane’s already dead.” He then looked to Stella.

  Stella cowered a little. I couldn’t blame her. She’d endured dying once already, she wasn’t willing to risk it again.

  Max didn’t react to Greg’s comments. At least not in a way I could notice, but Greg seemed to see something I hadn’t.

  “Or wait, did she go on without you? Did she decide to leave you behind and be reborn? That must have come as quite a blow.” Greg laughed again, this time loud enough to echo across the immediate forest. “You’ll have to find her all over again, won’t you?”

  Greg’s demeanor and focus changed as he lunged toward his brother, grabbing Max by the neck. “It appears I have the upper hand in this, now don’t I? You want to live so you can remember her. You want to wait for her all over again, don’t you?”

  Again, Max said and did nothing. Why wasn’t he fighting back? I found myself stepping toward Greg once more, stalking the ground between us, hind legs loaded to attack if need be. I knew I could take him. I knew I could subdue him enough to save both their lives. If I owed Jane anything in her passing, it was the chance to allow Max to find her.

  Greg released Max, but just enough for me to see the dagger that was hovering just below Max’s ribs, ready to plunge into his heart.

  “You love yourself too much to do that,” Max challenged, but he was right to say it.

  Greg laughed, voice shaking. For the first time, perhaps I wasn’t so sure anymore. Greg seemed determined to live this life, but in the moments that had just passed, something new had emerged.

  “Do I?” Greg asked himself. “Is this how you see me—ruthless? Driven? Unstoppable? Self-indulgent?”

  Max did not reply but it didn’t seem he had to. I saw the driven nature in Greg’s eyes continue to fade. His hand on the dagger under Max’s heart released. My eyes darted to the slow movement of Avery’s hand. She had holstered her ice-dagger, now reaching slowly for an arrow from her back. Greg hadn’t noticed her movement, frozen in staring at Max.

  “You do see me as that person, don’t you? It hurts to think you’ve finally given up on me. You know, I always thrived on your insatiable sense of hope, despite all that had happened to you. But, look at you. You are no better than me, no more lost, or found. Ask yourself, Max, why live at all? You know finding Jane will be another pathetic, painful journey. Why find her, that selfish bitch. She only took herself into consideration by being reborn, you know that? Do you really think she was thinking of your feelings at all?” His hand on the dagger tightened once more. “You’re better off with Avery.”

  Avery had now retrieved the arrow from her quiver, loading it into the bow and pulling back the string. I wasn’t sure exactly what she was planning to shoot at, but I had to assume it was the dagger in Greg’s hand.

  Greg looked at Avery and she froze. “What are you going to do, darling, shoot me? Shoot Max? Finally get your revenge?” He looked past Avery to all of us. “You really think she’d change that fast? Ha! She’s still full of darkness. It doesn’t take an idiot to see that. She wants Max dead.”

  I sensed Avery tensing up. “I’m not full of darkness, Greg. I am proof that you have the option to change,” she reminded.

  Greg just laughed. “Whatever, Avery. Keep pretending.”

  Avery’s anger peaked, and before I knew it, she had the bow leveled with her eye, ready to shoot.

  “Go ahead,” Greg teased. “See if you can beat me—” his eyes suddenly grew wide, his speech halted as though Avery had already shot him.

  I didn’t understand what had happened. Avery was as confused as I, dropping the arrow from her gaze in order to better understand.

  Greg’s gaze reeled back to Max, pulling my attention back to him as well. Max stared blankly at Greg, head slowly shaking before he slid to his knees. Greg’s hand slipped from the dagger in his hand, Max’s hand now wrapped around the handle. Max had finished what Greg had threatened, plunging the dagger into his own heart. Soon after, Greg too slumped to the ground. He grabbed his chest as a shimmery, damp darkness began to pulse from a wound identical to that of his brother’s.

  I sprung forward, grabbing the dagger from Max’s chest with my teeth. I pulled it out as he fell backward into the snow beside Greg, eyes fading. I discarded it and stood over Max. There were so many things I wanted to say to him, so many things I needed answers to.

  Max heard me in my thoughts. “Life is not always what it seems, Wes. Remember that.” He smiled bleakly, looking to where his brother suffered beside him. “You were right, Greg. Neither of us ever belonged here in this way. Jane made the right choice in moving on. She was right in showing me the way back to a human life.”

  I pawed at the wound on Max’s chest, Lacy and Stella now falling to his side as they uncovered the wound, hoping to remedy it. His blood felt cold against my paw, oozing slowly from a heart that was already so close to death.

  “Love will trick you a million times, Wes, but it only takes one time to get it right,” he went on. By now his voice was forced.

  No one tended to Greg, no one cared.

  Avery grabbed Max’s face. “Why, Max?” was all she asked.

  “You know why,” he replied.

  Avery only nodded.

  Max’s hand found hers as she held his face. “You can have your light back now. You’ve shown me so much, proved to me that there is hope. That’s all I ever wanted from this life.”

  A crystal tear fell from Avery’s eye as her gaze brightened with each second of life Max lost. Slowly, her growing light illuminated a dim circle around us.

  The strength in Max died suddenly.

  His eyes were closed, his mind asleep. For a long moment I couldn’t accept it. I looked to Greg, seeing the same death overcome him. In a split second everything had changed. In a split second, I’d found myself lost all over again.

  We stood there for a long while, waiting for something to happen, wondering if this had really been it. Hours passed and the stench of death began to dissipate as the Black Angels retreated around us. Daylight began to trickle through the trees, but still the brothers did not move. Come
daylight, we had accepted the new fate, and here in the woods, we buried them together.

  It was over before it ever really began.

  MAX:

  I opened my eyes to find myself standing in a field.

  “Hello.” A young girl stood before me in the tall grass. A breeze came by and caught her yellow dress, taking it dancing. “My name is Eliza.”

  I nodded. For some reason, I’d known that already.

  “Shall I show you the way?” She urged me forward.

  I took a step, shocked by how light I felt. “Please,” I replied. It was as though a burden had been released, a burden so heavy that I had forgotten what it felt like to be free. I knew where she was leading me. There was no point in lingering when there was so much ahead. I had to chase my love.

  Eliza led me toward the village. I remember letting everything go as we went, sloughing off decades of hate, remorse, and sadness. I was hopeful for the first time in a long while. Jane was out there to be found. She was waiting in a world where I would not know the way, but had to have faith that I’d shown enough grit in my past life to hope for a miracle. This next life was finally it going to be it.

  Reaching the tree, I was ready.

  WES:

  I didn’t know what to say to Emily. I guess I was relieved in some small way. “You guys should get going. This war may be over, but another is about to start for you.” I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of my mouth.

  She searched my eyes, her own filled with a well of tears that were about to spill over. “I’m sorry.”