It was still dark, Azriel helped me up after the banshee incident. Collin ran towards us, “Mia, Mia! Look at me!” he said, tapping my cheeks, “look at me! Hey!” his eyes were searching my face for answers. “Why isn’t she answering?” he asked Azriel. “I –“
Collin cuts him off and shook me, “Mia!”
“Hey!” Merikh pushes Collin off to let go of me, “Mia, hey. Are you okay?” he lifted my chin up and looked me straight in the eyes. I wanted to grab the knife out of my bag and stab myself. I want to go up that building behind her and jump. I wanted to get my knife and just slit my own throat, my thought repeated to him. Merikh lets go of the eye contact and looked at Azriel, “I know. I heard it, too,” he said to his brother. He tossed the keys to Collin, Merikh has his arms around me and led me to the backseat of the truck. Azriel sat on the passenger’s seat, and Collin drove.
My head was down, and I was still staring blankly into space. I felt sad, no, depressed. The feeling I have right now is deeper than anything I could explain. It’s like everything I’ve experienced in the past leading to now is somehow making me miserable. I cannot focus. I can’t hear anything. I know I’m inside my dad’s truck with Collin, Azriel, and Merikh. I slowly looked up, seeing the three of them, their mouths are moving but I cannot hear the words they’re saying. There was a long sharp beeping sound in my ear, and then, I can hear them arguing.
“No! We cannot take her back to her dad’s hideout because the monsters know she was there!”
“You act like you know her, but you don’t! You just met her a few days ago!”
“We know you’ve known her the longest, but can you just please think of her for a second?! She’s in danger!”
“She’s going to be in even more danger if we parade her on an open road! Let’s just take her back home!”
“Oh for the love of – I can’t believe I’m going to say this, and I might not get back to Heaven for this but screw it! Collin! You’re a fucking asshole!”
“Oh! That’s the best you can do? Really, Azriel? That’s your best?”
“Fuck you, Collin! You don’t talk to my brother like that!”
“Guys,” I started whispering, “guys. Guys. Guys!” and they all stopped. “All of you shut up for a minute! I can hear a static and a voice,” I started looking around then I ducked under the backseat, searching for a walkie-talkie. I reached under the passenger seat and found it – small and round.
Kzzz…..there……kzzz….seemed to be an animal attack…..kzzz….corner of Azalea Drive and Gardendale…..Little Richmond. Over….kzzz….
I clicked the small button on the side, “this is Mia Fuller. 10-76. We are en route. ETA is 15 minutes. Over.” I took the phone from the holder on the dashboard and searched for Azalea Drive.
Kzzz….10-4….kzzz….will leave a marker on location….kzzz….orange ribbon….kzzz…..have another….kzzz…case….over…..
“Copy that,” I placed the phone back to the holder and asked Collin to drive there, we’ll look for the orange ribbon that the guy mentioned. We drove for about 15 more minutes until we found the ribbon tied on the broken mailbox. Collin parked the truck and we all got out. I only took my flashlight and gun.
I gave them some extra flashlights just in case. We walked towards the house that was ransacked – broken windows, kicked door, shredded curtains, all furnitures were turned and broken. Collin and Azriel, scanned outside. While Merikh and I went inside the house. He went straight to check the basement first, I went up to the second floor. I checked every room, but nothing’s in there. I was getting a feeling that something’s not right. As I turn around, someone hits me on the head.
***
My head hurts, I thought. Then there was a knock on the door, I didn’t hear it open. Then someone walked past me, opening the curtains as the sun shines bright on my face, “rise and shine, sweetie. Your breakfast will get cold,” it was a woman and she sounded like my mom. I immediately opened my eyes and sat up, there she was. Inside my bathroom, picking up my dirty clothes. Her auburn hair, shining under the sunlight. She was wearing a yellow shirt and a ¾ dark gray lounge pants. She was saying something, but I couldn’t understand what it was, I was just watching and staring at her. “….told you a hundred times to put your clothes inside the hamper. You – sweetie, what’s wrong?” she places the basket down on a chair beside my closet and sat on my bed, facing me. I didn’t realize I was crying until she wiped my tears from my eyes, I smiled and cried at the same time. She hugged me tight, whispering that everything was going to be okay.
I pulled away and placed my hand on her face, feeling the softness of her cheeks, seeing her laugh lines, and the freckles on the bridge of her nose. She’s like a female Archie. “Did you have a nightmare?” she asked, and I nodded, “come on. Your dad’s downstairs. He made waffles for you. Your favorite!”
She squealed and pulled me up. Once we were downstairs, I can hear my dad’s music in the kitchen. He’s listening to Vanilla Ice, like he always does, he motioned for my mom to come closer, and they both danced to the music. Then mom, spun around towards the dish rack and got a plate. Placing it on the table across her. While dad was busy lip syncing, pretending the spatula is a guitar, I walked closer to him then I gave him a tight hug from behind. He turned to face me and hugged me even tighter. Then another song came, it was Buttercup. When the chorus came, he took both my hands and started dancing with me. Mom was laughing by the dining table. “Oh shit!” my dad exclaimed, he forgot about the waffle inside the maker, almost burning it. My mom laughed even harder.
After breakfast, my dad kissed both of us goodbye and we waved at him by the doorway. “Mom,”
“Yeah?”
“What does dad do again?”
“He’s an engineer. Why?”
“Nothing. I, uhm, forgot.”
She nodded and smiled, putting her arms over my shoulders, we went back inside. “So,” she started, “what do you want to do today? You want to go to the mall? Get some mani-pedi? Shopping? Don’t say you’ll just go up to your room and study! It’s almost your graduation, party a little! Have fun!” I smiled at her and agreed to go to the mall with her if that’s what she wanted.
We arrived at the mall, and it felt weird. I can’t even remember the last time I actually went to the mall before. As we were browsing some clothes at H&M, I saw a family of 5 come inside. A mom, a dad, a big brother, a little sister, and a guy that looks exactly like Collin. I stopped browsing and started following them. I pretended to look for clothes, then the little girl called his brother. “Collin!” she yelled, he turned around to see his little sister fitting a tutu and he laughed when his sister started dancing like a crazy person. I couldn’t see his dad’s face. He was just sitting there, fiddling with his phone while his family were shopping.
When I found Collin all by himself, I took the courage to walk up to him. “Hey,” I started and smiled, “so vampires go shopping too, huh?” He stopped browsing on the rack and gave me a weird look, “I’m sorry, what? Do I know you?”
I was shocked. My jaw dropped and I just stood there staring at him. “I’m sorry,” he said, “are you in my class? I can’t really remember names and sometimes, faces.”
I gulped, “uh, yeah. I think we have English together.”
“Yeah, maybe. Did you finish the book report?”
“Oh yeah. It was a bit hard but come on, it’s about, Oth –“
“The Odyssey.”
“What?”
“The book report. It’s about The Odyssey.”
“Oh, right. Right. Yeah. Sorry,” I laughed nervously. He opened his mouth to say something again, but his dad called him, “I gotta go. Uhm, I’ll see you after the break then, yeah?”
I nodded, and he sprinted back to his family. I turned around, watching him leave. He looked back up at me, giving me a weak smile. I went back to my mom afterwards.
When we got back home, I stayed in my room, pretending to sleep. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t sleep. Collin isn’t a vampire. He can’t even remember me. What the hell is going on?! I laid on my back, staring up at the ceiling. Is this an alternate universe or something?
***
“Did you find her?” Azriel asked. Collin was pacing back and forth on the front lawn. “No, I looked everywhere,” Merikh replied, “I wa –“
“You were supposed to look after her!” Collin yelled at Merikh, “what were you even doing?! You planned this, didn’t you? You’ve been circling around her since the first day you saw her! Yeah, I can read your mind!”
“Oh you can now, do you? If you really can read my mind, you would know I didn’t do this! Not on purpose and especially not to her!”
“Will you both please just shut the fuck up?” Azriel said, frustrated, “we lost Mia. The three of us are at fault here. Can we just go back inside and look for her one more time?” then he walked back inside.
Merikh and Collin followed.
***
I woke up the next morning, still in the same room I was yesterday. I was staring at the ceiling then something clicked. I got out of bed and looked outside the window. My view were trees, different kinds, then I looked down. There, I saw a driveway. Is that an underground parking? I thought. I pulled up some pants and a shirt, then I hurriedly went out the front door, grabbing my mom’s car keys. “Mia! Where are you going?!” I turned my head and I saw my mom wearing a peach sun hat, both hands in gloves – weeds on her left hand, and a cutter on her right – she was wearing a cropped pants and a plain blue shirt. “Oh! Uhm, I’m just gonna check out the driveway. I think I dropped something last night,” I lied. “O-okay. Get back as soon as you’re done, okay? We’ll meet your dad at grandma’s.”
I nodded and ran. As I reached the driveway, I slowly walked down, panting. I took the keys out of my pocket and clicked the button on a small remote to open the garage door. It thumped and hummed as it lifted up, then it stopped.
I walked inside and saw that this is the same garage I went in when I found my dad. The same garage Rory met me in. I slowly walked backwards and closed the garage door. I walked up the driveway and looked at exterior of the house. I didn’t notice it before, but it is the house where I fought those aswangs. The outside is just complete and beautiful rather than the one in the apocalyptic world I really lived in, but the road, it’s the same road I got dragged by the werewolf.
I didn’t know how far I’ve been staring blankly when my dad waved his hands in front of my face, “Mia, hey. You okay? You look a tad pale.”
“Uhm,” I gulped, “yeah. I’m fine. Wait. I thought we’re meeting you at grandma’s?”
“Yeah, well, my meeting got cancelled so we’ll just drive together.”
“Oh okay. Yeah.”
“Come on. Let’s go inside.”
My dad puts his arm on my shoulders, telling me about his work, asking me about school. It was all great, but I knew deep down inside, this isn’t real.
***
Collin, Azriel, and Merikh have been looking for Mia for hours. They were all getting frustrated, “we can’t quit,” Collin said. “Who said we’re going to quit?” Merikh asked defensively, “no one here is giving up unless you –“
“Uhm, guys. I think I know where she is,” Azriel with his green eyes glowing, cuts his brother off while looking at a shed in the backyard that camouflaged in the darkness. Collin and Merikh walked closer to Azriel, and they all agreed to do this together, “for Mia?” he asked. “For Mia,” replied Azriel and Merikh in unison.
Collin tried to open the door, but it was locked shut. Azriel lifted his hand, his eyes glowed, and like a gunshot, the door’s lock busted open and so did a third of the door. They all went inside and found a staircase leading underground. When they got there, they found Mia, unconscious. Both hands are tied up to a chain that’s hanging on the ceiling. “Hey, hey. Mia, wake up,” Collin said softly, tapping on her cheeks. He pressed his forehead on hers. “Collin. Collin!” Azriel yelled.
“What?!”
“Look,” he pointed at Mia’s wrist. There was a blue mark that looked like a bruise. Collin untied the rope on Mia’s wrists, and Azriel untied the ones on her ankles and then they heard a loud whak! They both turned their heads to see Merikh fighting off a man with tattoos all over his body and a blue flame covering his entire being, eyes were glowing as blue as his flames. “Go on, take Mia up to safety. We’ll fight him off. Go!” urged Azriel to Collin, he nodded and lifted Mia up.
Azriel’s green eyes glowed as he walk towards the Djinn and Merikh, who was already struggling to fight it off. The Djinn turned to Azriel ang gave him punch on his cheek, “that’s the best you got? I got something better,” his eyes glowed one more time and placed a hand on his head. Merikh, took this distraction as a chance to stab the Djinn at the back to get through its heart. Azriel, with his angelic light, burned the monster to a crisp. While Merikh’s staff bursts its heart.
The two of them got out of the shed and found Collin sitting on the ground beside Mia, who was laying still. “She couldn’t wake up. I tried but she just can’t,” Collin said as he wiped off tears from his eyes. They knelt down beside Mia, trying to feel her pulse, “she’s weak,” Merikh said. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he got up. He walked far away from them until he got to the truck.
He took out his phone and dialed a number. It rang three times before someone answered. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m done,” he said before the receiver could say anything else, “you can have my grace for all I care. I’d rather be a demon with dignity than an angel who conspired with an evil being just to get back my grace. Just…just take it.”
Merikh hangs up the call, he didn’t hear Azriel walking towards him. “You what?” he asked as Merikh immediately puts his phone back in his pocket, “you did this? You did all of this?”
“Azriel, let me explain.”
“Explain what? That Mia is right there laying on the ground and is probably dead, or the fact that my brother lied to me and to everyone else? I came with you because I knew that we’re supposed to protect Sarah’s daughter! Did you even – “
“Yes, alright! Yes! I thought of everything! Of course I did! At first they just wanted me to look for her and tell them her whereabouts so I can get my grace back. That was it! I didn’t plan for those attacks! Except –“
“Except what?”
“Except this one. I manipulated the walkie talkie, and I did lure the Djinn here.”
“What?”
“That part I didn’t think. It got out of hand –“ he was cut off with a hard punch on his face. Collin heard everything, “you son of a bitch! I could kill you right now!” he yelled.
Merikh got up, wiping the blood off his busted lip. “I deserve that,” he whispered. “No, you deserve worse than that! How do you expect us to wake Mia up, huh?!”
“Collin,” he started but Collin was rambling on and on about Mia dying. “Collin! For fuck’s sake, just shut up! Alright?! I have the antidote,” he pulled out a syringe that has a white liquid with a bluish tint from his jacket’s inside pocket.
“Is that?” Azriel asked, looking grossed out.
“No, it’s not. Jesus Christ. Don’t be gross,” he told his brother. Merikh led the way back to Mia, he knelt down beside her while Collin and Azriel stood there watching him closely. He looked at both of them before injecting Mia with the antidote on her arm.
A few minutes later, Mia gasps for air and coughed. She sat up straight when she realized she’s not in her mind’s world anymore, she frantically looked around for her parents. “Whe…where? Where are my….where are they?” she said as her voice breaks. “Mia, they’re not here,” Merikh replied, holding her face steady to look at her straight in the eye. “They’re gone. They’ve been gone a long time ago,” Merikh held her as she cried her eyes out.
***
Collin placed a blanket over Mia, who was asleep on Azriel’s lap before closing the door. Merikh was having second thoughts whether to go with them or not. “You coming?” Collin asked Merikh before getting on the driver’s seat. “Uhm, no. Just look after my brother for me, alright? You take care of him.”
“Are you sure? I mean, you can look after him yourself or –“
“No. He hates me right now. I’ll just give him space.”
Collin nodded, “okay, then, I guess we’ll see you around?”
“Yeah. And Collin?”
“Yeah?”
“Take care of Mia.”
“Always do.”
Collin rode the truck and drove off. Azriel didn’t even look at his brother as they leave him behind, all he wanted to do is focus on Mia’s recovery. Whatever happened during the Djinn attack, it took a toll on her. She wasn’t herself when she got back.
***
Days have passed since that fateful day, and no one has heard from Merikh. I am slowly regaining my old self again, without thinking of the dream like state I was in wherein both my parents were still alive. I couldn’t remember how it ended, but all I know is, I woke up with Collin, Azriel, and Merikh there with me. They felt relieved when they got me back, except for Merikh, who’s face has guilt written all over it. I just don’t know what he was guilty of. We found an abandoned house 3 hours away from that part of town in Ohio. Azriel did something to the wires to make them work, so somehow we have electricity. We took the food Aunt Russo packed for us and placed them inside the fridge that we needed to clean up first.
Thankfully, there were no signs of dead people in this house. There were a few broken windows and doors, loose screws and all, but we can manage this is only temporary anyways. I grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured myself a cup of coffee when the doorbell rang. Collin ran down the stairs, and Azriel walked up from the basement. “Expecting anyone?” I whispered as I walked closer to the door, both of them shook their heads. Collin showed his fangs, Azriel took a knife out of his pocket, and I cocked my gun then pointed it behind the door as I turn the locks and knob to open it.
We were met by a beaten up Merikh standing there. “Hey guys,” he said softly then he gave a weak smile before fainting towards me. The three of us caught him in time. There were blood dripping from his head, his lips were busted, he has a bruise on his left eye. His staff was still on its holder that was strapped on his back, and I found a note tied to it:
Found your pet. See you real soon, Mia!
Lucifer