Chapter XXIX

Once they had accompanied Alexa back to her apartment, Eric kept close to Damien and Liz as he walked home with them. The entire time, he kept a distortion spell up to prevent themselves from being spotted should Nigreos and Album be lurking anywhere nearby. Now that they knew what he looked like, he couldn’t risk being out on the streets without some form of protection. While the chance that the Ijirians knew their names were high, that didn’t mean they knew what Damien and Liz looked like. Therefore, it was especially dangerous for them to see him in their company. Using magic to protect them from the rain, they first went to Damien’s house and then Eric stayed with Liz until he was certain she was safe inside as well. They didn’t talk much since the distortion did nothing to hide their voices, but he could tell they were uncomfortable. He knew they disagreed with him about telling Alexa, and even he was beginning to feel he had acted too rashly.

Was I mistaken? he wondered as he moved down the street alone, making his way to his own home. Should I not have been so hasty? At the very least, it would have been better to consult Lilly first.

He was annoyed with himself for being unable to decide anything. It felt like every choice he could make was wrong and no matter what he did, he was afraid he would regret his decisions. At the time, telling Alexa for her own safety had seemed smart, but now that he was getting a chance to reflect, he realized that he might have made a mistake.

But…if Nigreos and Album know Lilly’s name, then it’s not unthinkable that they might go after Alexa if they find out who she is. They could easily use her like they used Alice. Just like with Evan, Rina, and Brad, she should know that her life is in danger. This has to be the right choice… Eric grit his teeth. But regardless, it was foolish not to run the idea by Lilly first. I acted in the moment. In the face of Alexa’s anger, I acted impulsively and I can’t afford to do that. I need to be more careful… Far more careful.

Deciding it would be best to give Lilly a call, he reached into his pocket and produced his phone, but to his dismay, the service was still down. He grimaced, considering turning around and going to speak to her in person, but he quickly discarded the idea. He could already see his house so he figured it was smarter to just go home, sleep, and then talk to her the following morning when they all met up to search the forest.

And I don’t even know if that’s a good idea, he thought. Saving Alice is the smarter decision, but if we stumble upon Nigreos and Album then we’ll just be offering ourselves up on a silver platter. I can’t defend everybody. Maybe…it’d be smarter if some of us stayed home.

Yet, he knew that there wasn’t a single person among them who would want to sit out of the investigations. Regardless of how risky it was, there would be no convincing anybody.

Damn… I really don’t think I can do this. I’ve already failed Vinny and Brad. They’re gone because I was unable to fight the Masters. Soon, Alice and Jay will die and then everybody else I’ve ever cared about will join them. I’ll be alone. Unless Nigreos and Album find some way to break past whatever protection Mom put on me, they won’t be able to erase me…and I don’t want to be stuck here alone.

The thought terrified him. Thinking that he could be by himself in a reality that had forgotten his closest friends made him want to cry. He would be the only person to know that the world wasn’t right, but if he tried to tell anybody, they would think he was crazy.

Eric swallowed as he stepped up onto his porch and removed his keys from his bag. When he entered, he slipped his shoes off and glanced inside, realizing that he couldn’t hear the sounds of the television like he normally could. For a moment, he wondered if his father wasn’t home yet, but he could see that the family room light was on. Frowning, Eric headed down the hallway and poked his head into the room.

What the—?!

He froze, unable to tear his eyes away from the girl lying unconscious on the couch. She was unhealthily thin and her right leg was severed below the knee. She looked to be in an awful state, her breathing ragged, but despite all that, he recognized her easily. Even though she was supposed to be in the captivity of the Ijirians, Alice Mendez was on his couch, and sitting in the old leather recliner to her right, was his father. For once, the man didn’t look drunk. His eyes were clear and stern as he stared back at his son, his hands folded on his lap.

“D-dad?” he stuttered. “What’s going on? I don’t—?”

“Why didn’t you tell me Noctis was here?” he growled, his anger barely restrained.

Noctis? He knows about Nigreos?! I don’t understand what’s happening?! How does he know? How did Alice get here?!

His father slowly rose to his feet. “Eric? Tell me right now? What the fuck is going here? Why is Noctis back? What does it have to do with you? And especially this girl? I recognize her, you know? From the news. This is Alice Mendez, the girl who went missing after the diner attack.”

“I…”

He wasn’t sure what to say. He hadn’t wanted to involve his father for the simple fact that he didn’t care to get him involved. After all the years of being ignored, Eric didn’t trust him enough to ask him for help. He knew his dad didn’t have an ounce of magical blood in him and so he wouldn’t be of any help in dealing with Nigreos and Album. It would only endanger him.

But then again, I guess that’s kinda hypocritical. I just told Alexa and she’s in the same situation. Hell, she knows far less than he does. He was married to a pure blood for years.

“Eric!” he roared, taking a threatening step forward. “Stop standing there like an idiot and answer me! Why is the man who took your mother away back in Wilham?! What the fuck does he want with us?!”

The boy flinched back, cringing at his father’s shout. “I… J-just don’t worry about it. I’m dealing with it! It doesn’t concern you!”

“Don’t you dare give me that!” the man hissed. “If Nigreos Noctis is in this realm then it does concern me! Especially when some random girl shows up, covered in blood with Mendez half dead in her arms, telling me you can explain it all!”

Eric exhaled softly. “Girl covered in blood? What do you mean? Who? Who brought Alice here?!”

“I didn’t get her fuckin’ name,” he snapped. “All she said was that Nigreos and Album were at her hideout in the woods and that you could explain. I told her to come inside, but before I knew it, she had run off.”

Hideout in the woods? No… Don’t tell me that was Rina?! She didn’t go after Nigreos and Album alone, did she?! He frantically glanced back at Alice, his heart rate quickly increasing. No, but…if Dad remembers her then she can’t be dead! She has to still be alive! Right?

“I’ll….explain in a moment,” he sputtered, then turned on his heel and sprinted back into the hallway, ignoring the furious protests his father snarled after him.

I have to go find her! I have to talk to Rina and make sure she’s okay! Dad said she was covered in blood so she must have come across Nigreos and Album! But…if she did, then how the hell did she get away alive?! And with Alice, no less!

He swung the door open and sprinted out into the rain, realizing too late that he was no longer wearing shoes. But he didn’t care. He just yanked his phone from his pocket and rushed down the street.

Damn it! Why is the service still down?! What the hell is going on?!

He shoved the phone back in his pocket and continued to run, cursing himself for never getting Rina’s address. He didn’t know where he was going, but he just knew that he needed to find her at all costs. It didn’t matter to him if he spent the entire night scouring the city, he would keep going until he confirmed her safety.

Eric ran from their neighborhood, his socks now soaked in water and his feet hurting as he rushed along the concrete. Once he was on the next road over, he frantically looked around the lamplit roads, searching for anybody he could ask, when he heard a sudden shout from nearby.

“Holy fuckin’ shit, bro!”

Eric came to a stop, his heart nearly dropping as he stared in the direction of the shout, only to hear a commotion beginning to stir up in the neighborhood closest to him. Feeling an overwhelming dread, the boy took off running in that direction and rounded the corner to see a group of what looked like college-age students freaking out and speaking in rushed voices next to a fence.

“What should we do?!” one of them was crying. “Do we call the cops or should we just run and pretend we never saw it?!”

The boy next to him shook his head. “We gotta tell somebody or else we’ll look like we had something to do with it. We can’t just run!”

“Oh my god? Then what do we do?” another hissed.

As he picked up his pace, all three boys looked up at him in surprise and he realized that he probably looked insane as he sprinted toward them in his soaked uniform and his socks.

“What’s going on?” he quickly demanded. “I heard a shout! Is everything alr—!”

As one of the boys stepped back to put distance between them, Eric felt as if the entire world had gone silent. He didn’t want to believe what he was seeing. He couldn’t accept it. Hearing about it happening was one thing, but seeing it with his own eyes only forced himself to face the reality that his life was becoming.

In the pale light of the overhead streetlight, Rina Davens was sitting with her back up against the fence, her head slumped, her eyes closed, and her body still. She wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t moving at all. Her uniform was cut up and her skin was pale from blood loss, though the rain had washed most of it away. Even without checking her pulse, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was dead.

“Rina?” he uttered, stumbling forward. “No… Rina, please…”

Somebody else was dead. He didn’t know the details, but Rina Davens must have attempted a rescue for Alice and, despite succeeding in getting her old friend away, she had lost her life in the process.

He failed to protect someone else.

He had failed again.

The college boys were frantically trying to talk to him, but he ignored them, instead choosing to stare at the corpse and praying that it would turn out to be some magical illusion. But it didn’t. Reality wasn’t that forgiving. No matter how much he hoped, Rina’s body remained right there in front of him.

Damn it! Damn it all to hell! Why?! Why is this happening?!

“Nigreos,” he breathed.

At that moment, it felt like something within him broke. Anger and hatred the likes of which he had never experienced raced through his body as he fell to his knees and screamed out in agony. He didn’t know why he was doing it. He knew he would freak the boys out even more than he already had, but he felt the instinctual need to just scream at the top of his lungs. He was screaming his hatred for Nigreos and he was screaming in mourning for the girl he had allowed to die.

He failed miserably.

Rina Davens was dead.

Nigreos! Album! I swear on my life, I’ll stop you! I’ll do whatever it takes! I won’t let you take anything else from me! I’ll…

He slowly raised his head, his voice hoarse, as he stared once more at Rina’s body.

...I’ll kill you, if that’s what has to be done. I won’t lose anything else!

The sound of his father shouting his name now reached his ears, and soon the man was kneeling next to him, whispering words that were going in one ear and out the other, completely unprocessed by the boy.

I’ll kill you, Nigreos Noctis. I’ll make you suffer…