I'm Always Here

I tried to put the incident behind me as I walked quickly to the library, keeping my head down and letting my hair fall in front of my face.

I crossed the street, running to keep from getting run over by crazy NYC drivers. It didn’t work too well. “Hey lady! Watch it!” screamed a rough voice, followed by blaring horns. I waved weakly as an apology, leaping onto the concrete sidewalk in front of our public library. Even in the suburbs, people milled around in front of it, drinking coffee and texting like mad.

“Alia? Alia, right?” Someone called my name. I glanced up and saw Xander waving at me from the stone steps. He held up a cup of something in my direction. I walked up towards him, and gingerly picked it up out of his hand.

“What is this?” I asked, holding it up to the sun so I could read the writing on it.

“It’s a secret.” Xander smiled, eyes shining. I raised my eyebrow questioningly, but took a sip. It was saccharine, incredibly sweet, and almost made me gag.

“Too much sugar?” Xander’s forehead wrinkled.

I smacked my lips. “Just a little.”

“Oh well.” Xander sighed. “One more sip and then you can just throw it away.”

“Ummm...no thanks.” I wrinkled my nose and tossed the drink towards the trash. I missed by only a few inches, and it split open on the lid of the can. Dark black goo oozed out of the white syrofoam cup, staining the sidewalk.

I gasped. “What IS that?”

“I’m sorry.” Xander mumbled, standing up suddenly.

“What?” I looked back at him, and a stabbing pain shot up my arm where he grabbed me a split second later. “XANDER!”

“I have to.” He gritted his teeth, and my vision went all swirly before sharpening again.

“What did you do?!” I screeched.

“I’m sorry.” He said for the third time before backing away from me.

I couldn’t move. I grit my teeth, desperately trying to get my feet to obey me, but I stood there like a statue, watching Xander’s lanky figure disappear into the crowds. Once I could not longer see him, my legs went limp and I collapsed with a thud on the hard marble steps.

“OW!” I shouted, both out of frustration and pain.

“You okay?” Another boy asked, looking at me with some concern in his...what color were his eyes anyways?

“Yeah.” I muttered, looking down and letting my hair fall in my face like a curtain as usual. I went to take a step and fell on my face, cracking my mouth on the marble.

“Are you sure?” The boy sounded amused.

“Leave me alone.” I picked myself up and stumbled down the rest of the stairs only to find myself face to face with a semi-truck bumper. I froze when I saw the shadowman (I nicknamed the stalker. Yippee. He’s on a personal level now.) standing right behind me.

“Crap...” I whispered, backing away slowly and stepping onto the sidewalk to try and blend into the crowd. I had only made it about twenty feet before the weird eyed boy fell into step next to me.

“Go away.” I slunk into a random store full of greeting cards and keychains and pretended to look busy.

He didn’t get my hints too well. “You know, the fact that you can see me is my first hint that you’re not normal.”

“Why wouldn’t I be able to see you?” I browsed through pocket knives, trying to find one with an A on it.

He opened his mouth, but before he could respond, the store owner came up to me and put a hand on my arm. “Are you...okay?”

“I’m FINE!” I almost shouted.

“See?” The boy’s eyes flicked to the owner.

“See what?”

“Who have you been talking to this whole time, miss?” The owner sounded concerned, but mostly scared. I looked from him to the boy back to him, yanked my arm away and promptly walked away.

It hadn’t even been five minutes before that annoying boy fell back into step with me along the sidewalk.

“Can’t you take a hint?” I growled, walking faster.

“I think you already know that you’re not normal, and I think I can help you.” He stopped walking. “Only if you let me.”

I ignored him and rounded a corner, only to turn on my heel and go back. “Fine. You have five minutes to prove I should listen to you.”

He took a deep breath. “Okay. My name is Ash, and I’m half human, half god. Son of Apollo. I-“

I held up a hand. “Bullshit.”

Ash half-smiled at me. “I still have 4 minutes and 27 seconds.”

I rolled my eyes. “Then CONVINCE ME.”

“I can see into the past and future. For instance,” He took a step to the left to avoid a bicyclist who swerved to avoid a pile of litter and would have hit him if Ash hadn’t moved. “I knew that was coming. I also know that you’re terrified of something that’s been following you around for the past few days. You’re an introvert, you don’t usually let many people into your life, you love historical literature, your best friend is a shape-shifter-“

“OKAY I get it. You have my attention. Stalker.”

“Good. Why don’t you say I get us to a safer place?”

“Are you a sociopath who will kill me once you drag me into a dark alley?”

Ash laughed. “No. You look more intimidating than I do with all of...that...” He waved at my ragged black clothing, “And the ‘I’ll kill you if you look at me wrong’ expression.”

“Good to know.” I managed a tiny smile. “I have nothing better to do anyways. Lead on.”

Ash and I walked past more than one old building before he finally lead me into a small, abandoned building filled with broken glass.

“This isn’t much better than the alley.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Yes, but this is protected with a magical barrier that won’t allow anything to come in that is unwanted.”

“Oh, great!” I stopped, throwing my hip to the side. “Why am I here and not in a ‘safer place’?”

Ash smirked. “You are everything he said you would be.”

“That’s wonderful.” I kicked a broken bottle to the side. I opened my mouth to ask him another question when my ears were filled with a piercing noise and I fell to the ground.

“Vos autem genus electum ab eo qui unum regit me...” Something hissed through the ringing. I opened my eyes, ignoring Ash who was shaking my shoulders and stood up in a daze, the screeching getting ever louder.

“What do you want?” I asked slowly, in a voice I did not recognize. It echoed around the room in shockwaves, sending chills through my body.

“Vos autem genus electum ab eo qui unum regit me...” It repeated. Darkness filled the empty building, swirling over my feet. The shadowman’s figure shifted in the broken pieces of glass around me, his sharp teeth glinting in the light catching the shards.

“Who do you serve?” The power in my voice flowed out, still an unfamiliar feeling. What is going on?

The ringing in my ears grew louder and louder until I felt a trickle of warm liquid flow from them. I reached up and placed a fingertip on it, bringing my bloodstained finger into my field of vision. Something snapped inside of me, and suddenly my world went quiet.

“Get out.” I hissed, and the shadows screamed, tearing themselves from the glass and forming one body. They leapt at me in the form of a hideous creature, claws outstretched, when a shockwave exploded from my body and ripped the creature to shreds.

“Alia!” My hearing returned as I collapsed on the ground again, blood flowing freely from my nose and ears. Electricity crackled down my spine as Ash grabbed my jaw gently and tipped it up towards his face. “You look very different.” He observed calmly.

I felt my forehead crinkle. “What?” I groaned. He handed me a piece of broken mirror, and I held it up to my face. “Whoa.”

My once marred face had glossed over. I had sharper cheekbones, a smooth complexion, and my black eyes were glowing silver. I lifted a shaking hand to my face and ran a hand over my cheek, wiping the blood draining from my nose away with my finger. “What happened?” I asked quietly, threading my delicate fingers through my hair, soft instead of scraggly.

Ash shook his head. “I don’t know.” He stood up, holding out a hand. “I need to get you cleaned up and behind more powerful barriers.

I stared at his hand before taking it and standing up. I looked down, wondering why I was so tall, when I noticed the brand new clothing and heeled booties I was wearing. I looked back up. “Help me.” I whispered, voices screaming inside of my head. “I’m losing my mind.”

Notes