Lily ripped another bandage open and placed it over Dick’s eye. He squinted as he looked at her but kept a hand closed around an ice pack. Betty was outside, they could hear her voice over the phone. It had fluctuated between loud and angry to quick and hushed. Samantha was inside with them her back against a wall and arms folded.
“Are you feeling better now?” she asked looking at Dick and he nodded.
“Nothing a little bit of Geist healing won’t fix,” he winced and tried to reach his back. “And maybe a hot shower.” He looked at Samantha and she met his gaze, her frown deepening. “I know. Wait for Betty.”
She made a forced smile and nodded. “She’ll explain it better than me.”
On cue the door slammed open and Betty stomped forward going in front of the television. She paced for a moment, her arms folded and then turned to look at Dick. “You okay?”
He nodded again and groaned. “That guy. Said he wasn’t a wraith. He said he was like us.”
Betty sighed. “Yes that’s correct. You know how a geist manifest. After being attacked by a wraith and having the will to survive. To defend us.”
“Yeah that’s Geist Warrior 101, right?” he asked and glanced at Lily and Samantha who both nodded.
“Well the legion isn’t that big. As much as we try to do a lot we can’t be everywhere. Sometimes.” She looked at the ground and sighed. “Sometimes we’re too late. Sometimes we don’t even know the people we’ve lost until it’s too late. It comes with the job.”
Dick stared at the ground because it wasn’t something that crossed his mind. “Samantha was lucky that we found her when we did. The rest of those kids weren’t so lucky. You were lucky that you survived. The rest of your family wasn’t.” She said plainly and Dick absently reached for his pendent. Samantha scowled glancing at Betty and then at her friend.
“But sometimes the people we don’t save, save themselves. Their geist manifest and they’re able to protect themselves. Some of them go on to live their own lives and try to forget what happened. Some we’re able to find and we’re able to help. Almost like counseling,” She frowned harder. “But others become like the man from today. Spiteful, angry, or just selfish enough that they want to use their powers for personal gain.”
“So what? They go out and steal? Or hurt people?” Dick asked. “Por que?”
“Why does anyone commit a crime?” Samantha asked. “They have power and they abuse it. It’s hard to hunt them down because most people don’t know what they’re seeing. Or how it works. Not to mention they eventually end up fighting with wraiths just as much as we do. Sometimes they live, other times they’re eaten. We call them rogue warriors.
“The past few weeks there had been reports. Our warriors getting attacked by rogues. The attacks are random, usually at night. The reports were the same. They were in the midst of fighting a wraith when another joined them. When they defeated the wraith, the rogue turned on them. Many of our warriors barely managed to escape.”
Betty took over then. “One of our warriors managed to fight back. Gave them a run for their money. During the fighting they learned a piece of info. They’re coming here. To the city. So it falls on us to be ready.”
“So, there’s a group of other geist warriors on their way to the city with a vendetta?” Lily asked and folded her arms. “Do we know their intention?”
“No. The closest guess that I’ve found is they’re searching for something. Or someone.”
Lily frowned, “You guys saw two of them, right? The one who attacked Dick and the one who helped him escape.”
“I didn’t get a good look at the other one,” Betty said. “But I doubt there’s only two of them. From the reports I would say there’s at least four. Which means there’s two more still out there.”
“What do we do?” Lily asked. “It’ll be dangerous for us to patrol but we can’t just let wraiths roam free.”
Samantha shook her head. “No, we can’t but if we hear one of them, then so will they. We can’t go out alone. If we’re going to go on patrol we need to go together. And if something happens be ready to have all four of us come together. Check in with one another every day every few hours after school.”
Everyone nodded and she looked toward Betty sheepishly. “Is that a good idea captain?”
“Don’t ask now after you’ve given the orders captain,” she smiled. “But I do agree. It’s a smart plan.”
“Betty,” Lily said. “I have a few questions to ask. About our geists. Things I’ve been curious about.”
“Like what?”
“Well I’ve been reading a lot of the books you’ve been giving us. Trying to understand them. And the more I read the more it seems like our abilities are just magic. I keep coming back to that. Is it?”
Betty chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t say it’s not magic. The soul manifesting into something real to fight against monsters. Think of the glass on a fire alarm, break in case of emergency. And once it’s awakened it functions like a muscle more than anything else. You need it you call upon it. You use it more and more the stronger it becomes over time.
“We’ve been researching the long term effects of the geist. Their interactions with one another and with people who’ve yet to awaken. The fact that those two were around you so much might have had some influence over your own awakening. Like leaving dry timber out in the drought. Eventually a fire will ignite.”
“What about the wraiths? Where do they come from?” Lily asked continuing on with her thoughts. “The books say they’re ancient. I’ve talked to Samantha about it and she says the same thing. Like some kind of demons plaguing humanity.”
“Calling them demons is apt. We know wraiths grow stronger as they eat. And the stronger wraiths spawn new ones. Like ants or rats. But that means that there’s always a progenitor in their evolution. The legion has been around a long time but we haven’t seen every wraith.
“We’ve actually captured them in the past and tried to interrogate and understand them. The few wraiths that talked, describe their origins as coming from ‘great ones’. Progenitors of their line. There are old stories form ancient warriors that seem to back this up. But it’s hard to parse the hyperbole from fact.”
Pursing her lips she thought for a long moment, “So they’re some sort of ancient evil that we’re holding back. That’s enlightening and also horrifying. So there’s that much.”
“We should get you over to headquarters soon. There’s a bunch of people I’d love you to meet. I’m sure R&D would love to get their hands on you. Anyone would be better than the pain in the rear end that Samantha is.”
“Captain!” Samantha shouted glaring at her.
Lily laughed, “I’d like that a lot. I definitely have a few more questions if you’d answer them.”
“Sure. In fact let me call Samson. He’ll be glad to have a warrior that cares more about
Samantha tapped Dick’s shoulder sighing, “Come on. Let’s get you home. I have a feeling they’ll be at it for a while.”
“I think so too,” Dick stood groaning lightly.
“We’ll see you tomorrow,” Betty said and glanced at Samantha. “Come straight back here.”
“Yes captain.”
The pair of them left going straight toward the train. Dick stopped groaning by the time they got there and his limp had settled down as well. He sat down and Samantha sat beside him. They rolled with the jostling of the train, the majority of the cars empty.
They passed five stops and a few people got on and got off. But they stayed where they were, leaning against one another. Dick grunted slightly as he rubbed his side and cracked his neck but his eyes were at his feet. Samantha stared ahead but kept him in the corner of her eyes.
“You okay? For real?” she asked finally staring at him.
Her gaze was like a laser and he tried to deflect it he couldn’t for long. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t give me that. I’ve known you this long. Something’s been bothering you since we got back from the fight. And it wasn’t just getting a bomb to the face.”
She moved and lowered herself to look up at him. His face looked fragile, like he was holding something back. His eyes flicked toward hers for a second and he leaned back letting out a massive sigh. “I can’t hide anything from you.”
“Well you’ve been quiet this whole trip. Considering you’re always talking, something is definitely up,” she said and he tilted his head to the side.
He made a face, “Fair point.”
“So tell me Dick. What’s got you so deep in your own head.”
He sighed again as he looked at her. “What Betty said just got me thinking again. The whole thing about I was lucky to survive.”
Samantha scowled slightly but nodded. “It was a harsh way for her to put it that way . I wish she’d chosen her words a little better.”
He shook his head and touched his pendent slowly. “No. She was right. I was lucky to survive that night. I was lucky that the wraith broke into our home and decided to save me for last. I was able to run away while my brother and parents were slaughtered.”
She stared at him and sat up. “Dick please. Don’t think that way.”
He took a slow breath and looked at her and something in his eyes made her gasp. “How can I not? I don’t even know why the wraith came to us. Came to our home. It ate my parents. Stole my brother right from beside me and I just watched it happen.”
“No you didn’t.”
“I should have done something.”
“Dick you were a kid. What could you have done?”
The train stopped again and they both finally got off. From the station Samantha grabbed his hand and led him down the stairs. Once they were on the street together Dick huffed and walked toward the corner and looked at her. The fragile mask he had been wearing was starting to crack.
“No se! Something. Anything. Lily was talking about how this stuff was like magic or not magic. Whatever the heck it is. Maybe the Wraith came there because of me. Maybe it came there because my Geist was ready to come out.” He sniffled and stared at the ground and wrapped his arm around the traffic light.
“Dick,” she stepped toward him and lightly touched his cheek. “Don’t do this to yourself.”
He pulled away and turned around as he shook slightly. “I know. It’s just survivor’s guilt. My therapist talked to me about it a lot. My brother’s been dead for almost fifteen years. And here I am still hung up about it.”
She walked toward him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders and waist and held onto him so he couldn’t walk away. “Rey never got to have friends. Or join clubs. Games. Birthdays. A life.” She held onto him tightly and he felt himself shaking. His eyes shut tight as he closed his hands. “Why did he die for me.” And he finally started to cry.
She didn’t let go and she felt her friend shaking in her arms. She didn’t say anything, just pressed her forehead against his back and rubbed his shoulder and chest lightly. When he stopped finally and took a shuddering breath. He wiped both his eyes clean, he gently stepped away and turned to face her.
“Gracias,” he mumbled.
“No problem,” she cupped his face in her hands and stared at him. “I know nothing can ever make this pain go away. I know that the pain just gets manageable. But you did live and for what it’s worth I’m glad you’re here.”
Sniffling he brushed his hands against her own. He glanced at her and then averted his gaze again. When he looked up again her eyes were still on him and he let out a shaky breath. “Gracias, Samantha.”
She gave him a small smile. “Anytime Dick.”
They stared at one another, barely a few inches away. He pressed his forehead against hers but couldn’t take the next step, not yet. They started walking again a weight lifted off of them. Taking a breath, he looked away and toward the sky. “I’ve always wondered what the big dipper really looked like.”
That threw her off guard and she raised her eyebrow, “What?”
“The constellation. It’s always too bright in the city to see it from here. I want to see it one day.”
“Maybe we can get away for a weekend and find them.”
He nodded, “I’d like that. I’m almost home. Are you going to make it back to the hotel safely?”
“I’m more worried about you.”
“I’m fine. Besides. If those guys got the drop on you, you’d be SOL.”
“Really? That’s how you talk to your captain?”
That got a smile out of him. “Si capitan. I’ll make it home safe. You do the same. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Dick.”
“Yeah?”
“Text or call me if you need to talk. I’m there for you. Got that?”
He looked at her and smiled. “I will. Gracias, Samantha. Otra vez”
She watched him from the corner until he disappeared into his building. She watched a little while longer her arms folded before turning around and going back toward the train.
The Harlequin Library 