14 | Reunion, So Bittersweet

2032

Ally woke to a pounding headache and an immediate nauseous feeling that pinned her to the bed. The world kept spinning as she gripped the covers tight. Please just let it end. Please just let today start out better than this. She brought the back of her hand up to her forehead and felt relieved she wasn't blazing, but suddenly a single, poisonous thought entered her mind and she shot up like a bullet.

No no no no no. That…

"It's possible, right?"

The thought came from next to her, Felix looked like he was asleep, but it seemed more like he had been not wanting to wake her.

"I mean...you know."

She knew full well. She had no right to be surprised...and yet here she was. The poison that entered her mind was a possibility, and with how her luck has been she could almost guarantee the worst possible outcome was true.

A terrible fear gripped her. How could she have been so stupid? She knew that she wouldn't be able to…

"Hey," he placed a hand on her back and started rubbing. "Listen, I know it's a lot. I've been thinking a lot about it."

"I...can't…" she was thinking of every inconceivable failure—every wrong thing that's happened since she could begin remembering. "I…"

"You're not going to do anything alone. I know you've always feared about being alone. I know you were alone for the longest time."

Her eyes closed as he said it.

"I know you have done a lot of things you didn't think you could. You had to grow up earlier than you ever should have had to—we all did, I think. But you know what? You're not alone anymore. Not even just me—but Rickshaw—Em—everyone here. You know Yvi and Isaac had Tonio a few years back."

Ally remains quiet, thinking. Her head is in her hands.

"I don't know if I'm ready."

"I'll be honest, I don't know either," Felix said. "But I think I'm ready. More than think, really."

Ally breathes in deep and lets it go, almost deflating as she lies back across his abdomen. "I just didn't really think it was real, you know?"

"Think what?"

She motions in the air. "This. I mean...the last seven years have felt almost like an extended nightmare for many, many years, and even though the terror has ended it still felt...dreamlike. Like I'm experiencing it through someone else. I guess this is the first moment I feel here for."

"I know what you mean. You're not alone in feeling that way. Look, there's still plenty of time for things to fully clear themselves up, but if you are pregnant, and if this is the road you want to go down, I want you to know that I'm here."

She smiled softly, "Thank you. I don't know what I want quite yet. I know that's awful to think, but I just need some time."

"Thankfully, that's the one thing we have more than enough of."

Two weeks later Ally found herself sneaking out of Rickshaw's in the dead of night. Whispers had been plentiful and the possible child hadn't been the only thing on her mind. Whispers of the unholy communion of Father Grimsby and the devil still hung on the air. Years ago she stopped looking into them, believing they were a false trail only meant to get her hopes up.

That was, until she started noticing how sickly Father Grimsby had gotten the past year. It was a dramatic turn—so quick he seemed to age almost two decades. Everyone began talking about deals with the devil and its after effects. Ally didn't think so much it was a deal with Satan himself, but some particular forces could be reasoned to be demonic

Fireflies hung low on the ground. They, too, reappeared within the last few years. The difference was the multiple different colors they glowed. Some thought it was the different particles in the air—others guessed it had to do with how the sky was always different from the old world. They illuminated her path almost by her will, alone.

"Figured you could use a bit of light, madame." Jace offers a smile by her side, floating as she snuck among the lights.

"Welcome, and thanks," she said, quiet.

"Wouldn't want you to trip. Especially now."

"I don't think I've fully gotten your opinions on things yet."

"Why would you need my opinion?"

She looked ahead and took in a deep breath. "I trust you."

"I don't think you should follow through if you're still hung up on the Creatures of the Night and Lilly."

"I'm not hung up on her."

"What part of you lying to me do you think is going to work out?"

She bit her lip, stopped among the fireflies. "Is it so bad to not know what I'm looking for?"

"I think before you commit to anything you should figure that out. If you go too far in either direction you will force yourself out of the other, forever. And the both of us know you don't handle regret well...at all."

"What do you think I should do?"

"In a perfect world, I would say you should treasure the time you have with the one you love. I would be saying you should put your focus on making sure your child was able to grow up in a peaceful and stable environment."

"We don't live in a perfect world," she said aloud, startling some of the nearby fireflies away.

"Right. I'm...worried. We seem to be dropped in the middle of a situation that could upend everything you know. What good would a world be for a child if these creatures destroy it before they can grow up to experience it?"

Deep down, she knew that this was the heart of the issue—the origin of the discord in her heart. She felt so removed from her life because from the day she left Nasseu she knew it was going to lead to this. She was young, then and nowhere near prepared enough to do anything but survive.

"I'll be honest, I don't know either, But I think I'm ready. More than think, really."

She thought she finally was ready. She continued off toward the church on the north end of Home. There was a feeling deep in her gut that was confirmed by the amber lights spilling out from the stained glass windows onto the ground outside the rotund building. There should have been no need for those lights to be on at this time of night.

"Thinking what I'm thinking?" She thought to Jace.

"I'm feeling something big in there. It's sort of...electrifying the air."

"I'm feeling the same. It's familiar."

He nodded beside her, they both felt the spark in the air. He didn't even need to point out that the ends of her hair were standing on end.

At the edge of the church the low light offered shadows for Ally to sidle up next to. She saw distorted figures through the windows she couldn't make out.

"If you want, I can lift you to the top. We can go all spy style through the rafters."

Ally nodded. She extends herself out to him and he grabbed hold tight of her hand. She got flashes of Peter Pan, but it's gone in an instant as she lands on top. There was a vent that made for an easy in. She reached for the knife from her back pocket and pries it between the wood and the metal. Jace grabbed hold as well and the plate breaks away.

"All right. Should be all I need. You can follow normally, now."

"Got it. I'm here if you need me."

"Thank you."

She slid in and began crawling until she reached a drop. She can hear some shuffling underneath her, but it's too far away to hear clearly.

"Jace, gonna need some help here."

"On it."

He appears at the bottom of the drop.

"Come to me here, I'll catch you."

"Even if I go headfirst?"

"What else would I be for?" He grinned.

She pulled herself over the edge and closes her eyes as she drops. True to his word, he catches her and lets her down softly on the top of the vent. They were much closer, now. She finds the endpoint of the vent. If she was where she thought she was she should be near the organ on the top balcony. She got out the knife and held it out, forgetting that the bolts were held in from inside the church.

"Damn it. Hey Jace, can you help again?"

"So needy. What would you do without me?"

She caught his sly look as he floated past her.

"Hey, the shelf life on that not being funny has long since passed. You can't enforce these limits on my creativity."

"I don't know if that's what I'd call it necessarily."

"Funny, I seem to think so ever since you started talking with Felix."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You've started imagining me with some of his quirks. You haven't noticed?"

"You've always been snarky and sassy."

"Yeah, but it's a different flavor. I'm sure it's a comfort thing."

"Just open the gate, please."

"Not the only sassy one here," he laughed.

And sure enough, in his laugh she felt a pang for Felix—sitting back in bed sound asleep. She for a second regretted being out here—knowing it was a stand against everything that could be. She took in a deep breath and reminded herself of what Jace told her. She gave him energy and slowly the bolts came loose. She slid the panel off and emerged to see Father Grimsby down below, centerfold with a glittering dagger in one hand and a long streak of blood coursing down his arm.

"From this blood to your call. From the blood of one to all. Heed my tones, heed my summons. Come to this land, and reveal thyself."

He was standing in front of the front-most table that held an urn. He held the dagger to the tip of the wound and let blood course onto the tip of the blade. Holding it over the tip of the urn, and tapped it in. Drops flicked in and he waited, silent as the air around seemed to hang still. She was frozen at the top waiting for something...anything to happen.

They waited there for several minutes. The energy in the air was undeniable, but nothing seemed to be breaching that barrier. Finally, Father Grimsby slammed his fist into the urn and knocked it off the table. Bloodied ash spilled onto the ground and he let out a roar of frustration. Turning, he saw Ally standing still, and the rage on his face mixed with the confusion into one nasty look.

"What are you…." he tried to get out, but his astonishment is too much. "You're here because of the rumors, right? Ol Mr. Grimsby is too busy talking with the devil he can't hold communion anymore, is that it?" He voice echoes up to her. "Well that's total horseshit. Because no matter what I do I can't summon out the demon resting here! Nobody ever assumes anything but wickedness from me. Nobody ever thinks I'm trying to draw the beastie out to quell it! Go on, tell me all the stories you've heard, child."

Ally was paralyzed, but not in fear of him. The energy of the room was pulsing. It held tight on her throat.

"Silence?! You, too, treat this old fool as a mute? Damn you! Damn the spirit and damn this town! Into hellfire with all of it!" He screams, turning around, and suddenly he's face to face with the golden wolf.

"Issachar." Ally's voice echoes back down to the wolf. In a second she's down on the same level as both of them. To Father Grimsby it almost looked as if she had glided down like some fairy tale. He was caught between looking at her and the wolf, his head spinning back and forth.

"You...you're not holy. You're not right," he sputters out.

Issachar shifts on its weight and vanishes for a moment within itself, but she knew this act. Father Grimsby didn't, so his surprise when he felt the lifted feeling of being a mouthpiece for the Creatures of the Night gave was immense.

"Allison Fae…" Issachar began.

"I'm no longer thirteen, if you're confused," she said.

"Of good humor. That I am glad. I have to say you have been the human I've most wanted to see for a long time, however now my needs to see you outweigh my desire."

"You wanted to see me?" Ally asked. "Funny how life finds ways for two...I guess I can't say people, right?"

"It is a difficult answer. But I understand the sentiment." Issachar bows Father Grimsby's head. "I've been intending to find you since...well, I guess it will have been just after we parted ways. Since The Collapse, pretty much."

"The Collapse? I assume you mean the start of the new world."

"Yes. The beginning of the singular. Long story I'm sure you don't have time for."

"Depending. What's happened? And what are you and your siblings up to?"

"I guess this is a bit of an involved answer...I do feel you are owed that."

"You've been...such an enigma since you came into my life. Are you my enemy? I guess that is first and foremost."

"Life is hardly black and white, Allison Fae. I desire to be as little of an enemy to as many people as I possibly can."

"I guess that's enough of an answer for now," Ally said. "But it is pretty evasive."

"I apologize for my vagueries. Things go way higher above than me...I wish to see you as well off as I can...and I need your—"

The door burst open behind them both. Ally turned to see Felix standing in the door half-dressed.

"Who is this?" Issachar asked.

"There you are!" Felix calls. "Jesus Christ you scared me half to—what are you doing here with Father Grimsby?" As he approaches he took note Issachar's influence over his eyes and stopped dead in his tracks. "Woah...that's just like...." He freezes and pulled his hands over his head. Screams escape and echo all around them. Ally looked back to find Issachar almost mimicking his motion perfectly. Both men on the end screaming from the pounding pain in their heads. Issachar retreated from Father Grimsby's body—he peeled away and landed on the floor of the church as the wolf.

"What kind of monster are you?" Felix looked up and yelled at the wolf. "Who's Ormus? What the hell…"

The wolf roars. Ally hears a screaming sound of anger bellow out as a vicious wind bellows from the outside. Father Grimsby's eyes return to their normal shade and he turned to the wolf behind him and screams.

"YOU STAY OUT OF THOSE THOUGHTS. THOSE ARE PRIVATE." Ally hears in her head, but realizes they weren't for her. She turned back to Felix who screams again as the wincing pain crosses his face. The wind blows harder and a scream louder than any other pierces all of their minds.

Ally cannot handle hearing it. The last thing she remembers is reaching out for Issachar. "No wait...sto…"

She blacks out.