Ayumi (c)
Chapter Thirteen
By Fiction Writer #13
(rom, paranormal, magic, teen, pt, sci-fi)

Travelling through Ben's portal thing left me feeling disoriented.  
Apparently, skipping all the stuff between point A and point B leaves 
you with a sensation of being lost.  It's kind of like waking up in a 
different bed; your eyes open, but nothing is as it should be, and 
your brain isn't functioning enough to process why.

We wandered through a twisting alley full of garbage and old wooden 
shipping pallets.  I'd discovered the latter after skinning my knee on a 
poorly arranged stack of them, damn corner ripped through my jeans 
and stung like a mother fucker.  Ayumi offered to heal it, but I said to 
leave it be.  The pain seemed to help me focus, help me get my 
mind out of the trailer park and into the city with the rest of me.  It 
also distracted me from the guilt that had been steadily building up 
inside over what Ayumi and I had done in that tent.

That guilt gnawed at me, scratched at the inside of my brain like a 
dog scratching at a door, desperate to get out and relieve itself.  
Despite the guilt, I couldn't quite get rid of this stupid grin which had 
attached itself to my face.  I could feel myself smiling, feel it right at 
the hinge of my jaw, every time I thought about what we'd done 
together.  I wasn't a virgin anymore, and it was like a weight had been 
lifted from my shoulders to have lost it.  I'd never realized just how 
much being a virgin had affected me.  I guess all the built up tension 
of wondering if I'd ever lose it took more of a toll than I guessed.  I 
just wished I had lost it with someone a little bit closer to my own 
age.  At least then I wouldn't feel so crappy.

Ayumi didn't seem quite as troubled as I was, the exact opposite in 
fact.  She walked beside me with a giddy bounce in her step, her 
hand constantly finding its way into my own no matter how many 
times I tried to find ways to let it go.  It's not that I didn't want to hold 
her hand, just... just not right then.  I had too much going on inside 
my head, and every time I felt her little fingers intertwine with mine it 
was a reminder of just how much younger she was than me.  Sure I 
lov... er... cared about her, sure I wanted nothing more than to lay 
her down and do everything we could to each other again, but... 
well... damn it, it was wrong.  Wasn't it?

"My feet are tired."

We'd been walking for what seemed like forever, long enough for 
me not to notice that Ayumi had lost the bounce in her step.  My feet 
were tired too, but I wasn't going to admit it.  We'd only just passed 
through a hole in a chain link fence and found an actual street to walk 
down.  I didn't want to stop.  Not yet.  Not when we'd come this far.

"Justin."

She whined and it felt like nails on a chalk board inside my head.

"Please, can we stop walkin' for a minute?"

My eyes had finally adjusted.  The street we were on was dark, but 
the aurora above provided just enough light to see some of the 
disarray caused by the solar flare.  Parked cars lined the street next 
to the sidewalks on either side, more choked the road, left behind as 
their engines stalled and refused to restart.  The brick-face row 
homes appeared to be deserted at first glance, but further inspection 
revealed the soft amber flicker of candles burning inside.  People 
were still here, they were just staying inside as they were told.

"Come on, Justin.  Jus' for a minute."

"Fine," I grumbled, sounding a bit angrier than I actually was. "Sit on 
the curb while I try to figure out where we go next."

"Kay, thank you."

I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she delicately sat down 
on the hot concrete.  She winced as it touched the bare skin behind 
her legs, then pulled the T-shirt down to offer what little protection it 
could offer.  I moved up the street to an intersection, but the names 
of the two streets didn't sound familiar.  Why would they?  I'd lived in 
Highland Heights all my life; I'd barely been to the city, and never to 
this area, wherever it was.  One good thing though, from the 
intersection I could see enough sky to locate the hazy red glow 
coming from the ADS building again.  I couldn't actually see the 
building, but at least now I knew which direction to go.

I'd never actually thought out a plan to go to the ADS building, it just 
kind of worked out that way.  It seemed logical to head for the only 
source of light left in the city, but there was something more to it than 
that.  It was like a big porch light, and I was a moth drawn to it.  It was 
like a beacon of hope.  I can't explain it any better than that, but I sure 
hoped I was right about it being a porch light and not a bug zapper.

I rushed back to where I left Ayumi and motioned for her to come.  
She rubbed her legs one last time before grudgingly standing up.

"Where are we going?"

"This way."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I said so, now come on."

"I'm tired," she whined again.

"Me too, but we've got to keep moving."

"Why?"

"We just do, okay?  Enough with the questions."

"It's hot."

"I said enough with the questions."

"That wasn' a question."

"You're right, that wasn't a question.  It is hot, I am tired, and I am 
getting annoyed.  Now, do you think we can get a move on, with 
some silence?"

"What crawled up you're butt?" she mumbled under her breath, but at 
least she kept moving.

The closer we got to the ADS building, the more signs of life we 
came upon.  At first it was only sounds, the suddenness of them 
scaring the shit out of both of us: A cough echoing out of the 
darkness, someone shouting, a baby crying, a barking dog, a whistle 
like someone was hailing a cab, and the most frightening... a 
gunshot.  All of these sounds seemed to come from out of nowhere, 
born out of the darkness itself.  We didn't actually come across any 
people until much later on in the night, and they were just as 
frightening as the disembodied sounds from earlier.

Some residents either didn't agree with the order to stay at home, or 
didn't have homes to stay in.  They shuffled aimlessly through the 
streets, emerging out of the shadows and wandering away like 
zombies in a horror movie.  None of them spoke to us, but we did 
get a few stares and one or two nods in our direction.  Ayumi 
squeaked and jumped every time one of them seemingly popped 
out of nowhere, and let out a relaxed sigh once they vanished back 
into the darkness.

At one point we made our way through a neighborhood that I 
normally wouldn't have walked through even in broad daylight with a 
police escort.  City trashcans had been moved into the center of the 
street and their contents set ablaze.  Groups of people huddled 
nearby, close enough for the light, far enough to avoid the additional 
heat.  They talked loudly with each other, and after all the silence, it 
seemed almost too loud to be friendly.  Ayumi and I stuck to the 
shadows, avoiding them as much as possible, but a few called out to 
us.  When we didn't respond, the shouts got louder, and more 
hostile.

"Hey Whiteboy!  Takin' your bitch for a walk?  You don' look like yer 
from aroun' here.  Hey Whiteboy, I'm talkin' to you!"

We kept moving, and thankfully they didn't follow.  I guess the 
firelight offered confidence the shadows couldn't.

After a number of twists and turns the streets we traveled down grew 
wider, though they were even more congested with stalled cars and 
trucks, and the buildings rose up higher, stretching into the alien sky 
like black fingers.  The number of people on the streets increased 
steadily as we moved deeper into the heart of the city, but for the 
most part, their dispositions seemed a bit more positive.  Some of 
them even asked us if we were okay and offered us water.  We 
politely refused.  Well, I did.  Ayumi had grown increasing sullen 
since my outburst, and all the people seemed to bring out her 
shyness once again.  She'd taken to shuffling her feet in a slow 
trudge, her head down, eyes cast to the concrete immediately ahead 
of her next footstep.  When soft little whimpers began to issue from 
her lips I finally gave in.

"Okay, we can take another break."

Her head snapped up immediately. "Really?"

"Really," I sighed. "Let's sit down on those steps and catch our 
breath."

"Oh, thank you!" She leapt into the air and landed a kiss on my 
cheek. "Thank you!"

"Alright, alright..." I wiped the kiss off with the back of my hand and 
quickly scanned the street to see if anyone was watching.  Her kiss 
was a simple peck on the cheek, but I couldn't shake the feeling that 
everyone would know that something more had occurred between 
us. "Keep it down, we don't want anyone to get too curious about us, 
remember?"

"Mmm hmm." She smiled up at me and nodded.

I have to admit, sitting down felt great.  My legs burned and tingled 
as muscles relaxed for the first time in what felt like days.  We'd 
walked so much today, if I hadn't spent the summer pushing that old 
lawnmower around I don't think I would have been able to do it.  If 
James were still alive, I'd have to thank him for that shitty ass job.

The steps we were on were wide and rounded.  Three of them led 
up from the sidewalk into what appeared to be a used bookstore.  
The awning of the store extended out past the steps, effectively 
blocking the night sky from our view.  Ayumi sat on the bottom step, 
her back against the iron railing, and her legs straight out in front of 
her.  I took a position on the top step, with my bare back against the 
heavy wooden door.  The only negative to stopping to rest (aside 
from not getting any closer to the ADS building) was that now I could 
feel every damned mosquito bite I'd suffered, and they all 
demanded to be itched.

We sat in relative silence, save for the occasional shout from out of 
nowhere, and watched the people as they continued to wander about 
the city.  Strike that last bit.  They weren't wandering.  They knew 
exactly where they were heading; they just took different paths to get 
there.  I was surprised I hadn't figured it out beforehand, since they 
were heading to the same place as we were.  More and more moths, 
fluttering out of the darkness, drawn toward the only source of 
unnatural light available for miles and miles.

I scratched fiercely at the back of my neck where one of those little 
buzzing bastards had feasted on my blood.  Though I wanted to get 
moving again my legs vetoed my brain, so I delayed our departure 
by striking up a conversation.

"You never did tell me about Jin."

Ayumi started at my voice.  Her face fell with disappointment thinking 
I was ordering us to get moving again.  When her mind processed 
my words she leaned back with a contented sigh.

"What d'ya want to know?"

"I dunno.  Was she nice?"

"Oh yes.  She was one of the nicest peoples I've met.  She was kind 
and sweet, and taught me all I know.  I loved her very much, and she 
loved me too..." 

Her sentence trailed off and I could clearly see a deep sadness 
building up inside of her.  There was more to this part of her life, but I 
didn't want to risk her breaking into sobs and drawing attention, so I 
switched subjects.

"Where did she find you?"

She closed her eyes and for a moment.  I thought she was going to 
doze off, but apparently she was just reliving the day in her mind.

"It was on top of a mountain, very high up.  The dirt was all black, the 
sky all blue, and the clouds..." She grinned. "We were higher than 
the clouds.  It was so pretty.  She was waiting for me when I came 
out of the Ether.  She told me that I was special, that I was created 
by a master of dream magic, and one day I would go on a journey, a 
journey to reunite with him."

"So wait, you remember all of that?  From the day you were born?"

"Uh-huh."

"But, that's impossible.  No one remembers things from when they 
were born.  I mean, I don't remember being born.  Not the doctor, the 
hospital, none of it.  I don't think a baby's brain is even capable of..." 

"I wasn't a baby."

"You weren't?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"Then, then what were you then?  An egg?" I chuckled and she half-
heartedly aimed a kick at my leg.

"No.  I was, I was me."

I scratched at another bite behind my knee. "You were you?  Do you 
mean, you looked exactly as you do right now?"

"Uh-huh."

"So... eight years ago, you looked like you do right now?  You didn't 
grow?  Get older looking?"

She scrunched up her face. "Eight years ago?"

"Yeah, eight years ago, when you were born."

"I wasn't born eight years ago."

Now I was really confused. "But you said you were eight years old?"

"Yeah."

"So that means you were born eight years ago."

"Well I wasn'."

"Then you're not eight years old!"

"Yes I am.  I'm eight years old."

"Okay, then when will you be nine?"

"Nine?"

"Yeah, if you're eight years old now, when will you turn nine?"

"I..." She looked deep in thought, trying to puzzle out a solution. "I... 
I'm always eight, I don't turn nine."

"Don't be silly, everyone gets older.  I'll turn fourteen in October, are 
you telling me that you'll never get any older than eight?"

"Nope, I don't get older."

"So, when I turn eighteen, you'll still be?"

"Eight."

"Twenty-one?"

"Eight."

"Eighty?"

"Eight."

"Well, this just got a whole hell of a lot more complicated." I threw my 
head back in frustration and banged it on the door a little too hard. 
"Damn it."

"Why?  What's wrong?"

"You, that's what's wrong.  The older I get the worse this," I pointed 
to her and me, "becomes."

"Why?"

"It's illegal.  People aren't supposed to sleep with kids; they lock you 
up for that sort of thing.  We might be able to get away with it for a 
while, but sooner or later, someone is going to find out, and then it's 
off to jail for me."

She filled with concern. "But what if I tell them, tell them that it's 
okay?"

"It won't matter.  I'll be branded a pedophile and then it's off to prison 
to be ass raped for the rest of my life."

"No!  I won't let that happen!"

I chuckled. "Sorry, but wings, claws and teeth aren't going to stop the 
police from slapping cuffs on my wrists."

"That's not right.  They shouldn't punish people for falling in love jus' 
because one of them is older."

"It's not that one of them is older, it's that one of them is younger, 
too young.  Too young to know what is right and wrong, too young to 
make decisions on their own."

"I can make deshison's on my own jus' fine!  What do they know?"

Hearing her mispronounce words didn't help her case, at least not in 
my mind.  What a fine mess I'd gotten myself into.  What was I 
thinking?  This couldn't have worked between us, never had a 
chance.  Why'd I even try to convince myself otherwise?  Stupid, 
stupid, stupid.  Damn, the more I thought about it the more it felt like 
the cuffs had already been clamped shut around my wrist... wait a 
second...

"Ayumi?"

Between sobs she answered sharply, "What?"

I held up my right hand and the silver chain attached to the collar 
around her neck clinked and jangled. "I thought you made this go 
away."

She shook her head, rattling the chain even more. "Nope, it was 
always there."

"Well, you better make it go away again, or else..."

Movement against the flow of people caught my eye.  It was already 
too late, we'd been spotted.  Two police officers were steadily 
picking their way towards us.

"Shit." I turned back to her, "Make it go away, now."

"I can't," she sniffled. "It won't go."

The officers were getting closer, their eyes never leaving us.

"Yumi, stop screwing around; Make it go away."

"I said I can't!"

"Keep your voice down." I growled, "There are two cops coming this 
way."

"Two what?"

"Police officers."

A confused looked crossed her face for a moment, then she caught 
sight of who I was referring to.

"Oh no," she squeaked, "red Lights!"

"Make the damn thing disappear!"

"I can't." That time she was the one who growled.

"Then we've got to go.  Can you run?"

She nodded curtly.

"Okay, follow me, on three..."

"Hey!  You two!" one of the cops shouted once they were within a 
dozen or so yards.

"One..."

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

"Two..."

"What are you kids doing out at a time like this?"

"Three... GO!"

It was a mad scramble.  I nearly lost my footing on the steps and 
took us both down to the ground in a heap, but somehow I caught my 
balance and we were off.  Behind us I could hear the clop-clop-clop 
of the cops giving chase, but I didn't dare turn back to see if they 
were gaining any ground.

"STOP!" One of them shouted, but neither of us had any intentions 
of doing so. "FREEZE OR WE'LL SHOOT!"

Bullshit.  They'd never fire on two kids with all these people around.

BANG!

"JESUS CHRIST!"

"Aieee!"

The bullet panged off the corner of a building just a foot or two away 
from my head, close enough for bits of masonry to painfully spatter 
the side of my face.  Already I could feel the warm wetness of my 
blood as it seeped out of my wounds.  We kept running.

"Yumi you kay?"

"Yeah, you?" she panted beside me.

"Don't stop, don't stop for anything!"

"THAT WAS A WARNING!  STOP NOW!"

"Fuck you!"

BANG!  BANG!

Note to self: Don't antagonize people with guns.

"Shit!  Shit!  Shit!"

The bullets bounced off the sidewalk right next to my feet, their 
impacts sending up sparks that lit up the night.  People on the street 
ran in all directions, desperate to avoid being caught in the crossfire 
but not really able to process exactly where the danger was coming 
from.  Some of them ran right towards us, offering at least a little 
cover from the prick doing the shooting.  A narrow alley caught my 
eye, ahead and to our right.  I waited until we shoved through a 
dense crowd of confused people and jerked Ayumi sideways with 
me.

The alley was dark, very dark, and only just wide enough to fit a 
dumpster.  It was into this dumpster that we ran head first at top 
speed.  The sound produced as my skull impacted the steel would 
have sounded comical had it not happened to me, but it did, and it 
hurt like hell.  Poor Yumi hit it so hard that she bounced backwards 
and landed on her ass.

"OW!  Fuck!" I used one hand to rub my forehead where a lump was 
sure to sprout up, the other to lift Yumi back to her feet.

At first I thought we were trapped, totally fucked, but Yumi recovered 
a lot quicker than me and discovered that there was just enough 
room between the wall and the heavy dumpster for us to squeeze 
through to the other side.  It wasn't an easy squeeze, at least not for 
me with my bare torso scraping against rusted steel on one side and 
a brick wall on the other, but we managed, and not a moment too 
soon.

"They turned into here," cop one huffed and puffed.

Yumi and I crouched low and moved away from the gap.  The only 
thing separating us from them was the dumpster.

"Shit, should I go around, you climb over?" Cop two sounded hyped 
up, ready for action.  I bet he was the son of a bitch who shot at me.

"Fuck that, it's not worth it."

"But they fit the description, we should pursue."

"And then what?  Say they are the two from the list, and we catch 
'em, do you want to explain to him why you shot at them?  We had 
orders, man, and you have to follow them to the letter.  If what you 
just did gets back to the big man then its game over for both of us.  
Got it?"

"Relax, I didn't hit them."

"Yeah, well you're damned lucky you didn't.  That was really fucking 
stupid.  Alive and unharmed means alive and unharmed; there is no 
in between, no grey area when you're dealing with these guys."

"Right, got it." Cop two's feet shuffled on the sidewalk. "So what do 
we do now?  If we say they got away we'll be in just as much shit."

"We forget about it, let it go, never say another word about them.  
Got it?"

"What about the gunshots?  They'll want to know why I discharged 
my weapon."

"I'll take care of that." A digital chirp echoed down the alley. "Unit 
thirty-six to base."

"Base here, go ahead unit thirty-six."

This was really wrong.  How come they had working radios?

"Be advised that all units should be on the lookout for a Hispanic 
male, approximately eighteen years of age, blue jeans and red shirt, 
black baseball cap.  Suspect is armed and fired on us unprovoked.  
Officer Campbell returned fire during a foot pursuit, but the suspect 
evaded us; Last seen heading east on West Churchill Avenue near 
the seven-hundred block of Ambler."

"Roger that unit thirty-six, east on West Churchill.  I'll pass along 
the warning, but be advised that strict radio silence is still in effect, 
keep the communications to emergencies only."

"Understood base; Unit thirty-six, out." Another loud chirp. "That 
takes care of that, just keep your mouth shut and we'll be off the 
hook."

"No problem."

"Let's get back to our post before we miss someone else from that 
list."

Yumi and I listened as their footfalls disappeared back down the 
street before feeling like we could breathe again.

"Shit.  That was close." I stood up and stretched my legs which had 
begun to cramp up from squatting for so long. "Well, we can't go that 
way, that's for damn sure, and it sounds like every cop in the city is 
keeping an eye out for us.  Shit.  What are we going to do now?"

"Can we go back the way we came?"

I laughed, "Yeah sure, you want to go back through that part of town 
again?"

Yumi shook her head. "No."

"I didn't think so."

"So what do we do now?"

"I don't know." I started walking further into the alley. "Let's see 
where this takes us."

I made it about six or seven steps when the chain tugged the leash 
on my wrist.  I looked back and found Ayumi still standing in the 
same place.

"Come on, let's get going."

"Why?"

"Do you want to stay here?"

She shook her head.

"Then what?  If you don't want to stay then we've got to keep 
moving."

"But... where?"

"I don't know.  Let's just go, okay?"

She didn't answer, but she did start walking.  I didn't have a clue 
where we were or where we were heading, I just knew we couldn't 
stay.  My plan was falling apart, and it was apparent that my choices 
had all been wrong.  Coming to the city was a huge mistake.  There 
was no safety here, no help to be found, no one waiting to take us in 
and give us sanctuary.  I'd fucked up, big time, but I still felt the ADS 
building was our best shot.

This alley stunk worse than the ones we'd passed through when we 
first arrived in the city.  It reeked of cat urine and pigeon shit, a 
combination that made my nostrils burn.  Poor Yumi, I'd forgotten 
that she was barefoot and walking through this mess.  If I'd 
remembered, I probably would have offered to carry her, or at least 
been more sympathetic every time she made her 'yuck' comments, 
which was often.  Instead I concentrated on my own problems, 
namely the stinging wounds on the side of my face and my banged 
up knee which was causing me to limp.

The walk felt more like a death march as we shuffled through the inky 
black corridor of concrete and brick.  The alley seemed to stretch on 
and on and on, far longer than a normal city block should.  Closed 
and locked steel security doors lined the walls on either side, tied 
bags of garbage sitting just outside each one.  Many of those bags 
had spilled their contents onto the street after being chewed through 
by rats.

We came to a four-way intersection where another alley just as 
narrow as the one we came down crossed our path.  Ahead was 
more darkness, to our left a faint flicker of a distant trash can fire, to 
our right I could make out the red glow of the ADS building once 
more, and behind us... well, we already knew what kind of hot 
stinking hell lay back there.

"I think we should go right."

Ayumi looked at me funny. "I thought that was too dangerous."

"Yeah, well, we've come this far, too far to just give up on getting 
there."

"But... don' ya think all the Red Lights will be there?"

"Maybe, but there'll also be a lot of other people too.  We might be 
able to get lost in the crowd."

"I don' know," She looked over her shoulder toward the flickering 
firelight. "I think we should go that way."

"Why do you want to go that way?"

"I dunno." She shuffled her feet. "It... it just looks friendlier."

"Oh, like the last time we passed by people burning trashcans?  
Yeah, they seemed real friendly."

"They might be different, nicer."

"I don't know, Yumi.  I think we should keep going toward the ADS 
building."

"Thought you'd say that," she mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothin'."

"No, you said something."

"Well, it's just..." She rolled her eyes. "Why do you want to go there 
so bad?"

"I don't know, I just... I just do, alright?"

"But... but we've been walkin' and walkin' and every time we get 
close, someone tries ta' stop us."

"So.  That just means we have to try harder, that's all."

"That's stupid."

"Did... did you just call me, stupid?"

"No, I said going to this ADS place is stupid."

"So it's not me that's stupid, it's just my plan that is stupid?  The 
same plan that we've been following all this time, the only plan that 
we have?"

"Yeah, your plan is stupid.  It's always been stupid."

"If it's so stupid, then why have you been following me?  Huh?  Why 
didn't you say something earlier?"

"Cause you don't listen!  I've tried to say, but you're... you're... 
you're just so... so..." her hands went to her hips, "so STUBBORN!"

"Me?  Me?  I'm stubborn?"

"Yeah.  If you weren't such a bonehead we could've gone with that 
Wizard, he'd of protected us."

And there it was.  I was right all along.  She really did want to go with 
that dude.

"Ah, I see.  I'm not good enough, is that it?  You'd rather have gone 
off with that stinkin' homeless dude instead of plain old me.  Me who 
doesn't know shit about magic.  Me who can't wave a magic wand 
and make demons and monsters disappear.  Well I'm sorry, Yumi, 
sorry I don't measure up to your standards.  Believe me, if I had to 
do it all again..." I should have stopped, I should have kept my 
mouth shut, but I was angry. "If I had to do it all again, I wouldn't have 
come out of my house, I wouldn't have gotten involved, risked my life 
to save... to save such a little whiney brat."

"BRAT?"

"Yeah, brat!  Ever since I've met you it's been one thing after the 
next.  I can't catch a break!  And to make matters worse, you don't 
even appreciate what I've given up to help you.  I'd still be sitting in 
my house right now, safe and sound.  Shit, I'd still have a house right 
now if it weren't for you.  But no, I had to run outside and try to be a 
hero.  Well guess what, I'm no hero, I'm no Wizard, and apparently 
everything I've done has been wrong.  God!  No wonder Otho 
thought you were nothing but trouble.  He was right!"

Yumi fumed. "Grrr..."

"Don't fuckin' growl at me, you know I'm right."

Shut up Justin.  Just shut up.  Don't say it; don't say what you're 
going to say...

"Looks like Jin felt the same way, since she sold you to Otho.  Yeah, 
sounds like she sure loved you, loved you enough to give you to that 
psycho.  How much, Yumi?  How much did she have to pay to get rid 
of you?"

"Stop it." Her lip quivered.

I was too angry, too frustrated, and too cruel to stop. "No, tell me.  
How much?  I want to know."

She shook her head slowly. "No."

"I'm you're Master, remember?  You have to tell me."

Despite the snarl on her lips, a tear rolled out of the corner of her 
eye. "Otho... Otho said he bought me for a case of beer."

"Really?  He paid that much?"

"Fuck you." She spat at me, but the venom in her voice had failed her 
and it came out more like a sob. "I hate you."

"Good.  The feeling's mutual."

Now the tears really broke free; they rolled down her cheeks in a 
torrent even as her venom returned. "You're a chicken!"

I laughed. "I'm a chicken?"

"Yeah!  You couldn't even say it!  Not even when it was filling you all 
up so much that it was the only thing in your mind!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I don't know why Jin sold me to Otho, I never got a chance to ask 
her, but she wasn't mean like... like you are.  And she used to tell it 
to me all the time, but not you, you couldn't even say it once to me, 
because you're too afraid!  You're a chicken!"

"And you're a crazy little bitch.  I don't know what in the fuck you're 
talking about, but I do know that a chicken sure as hell wouldn't have 
risked their life trying to save your nutty ass, so fuck off!"

"CHICKEN!"

"BITCH!"

"BABY!"

"LOONY!"

"LITTLE BOY!"

"MONSTER!"

I shouldn't have said that, I really shouldn't have.  It just... just 
popped out.

"What..." She took a step back from me, her face turning white even 
in the darkness. "What did you just call me?"

"You heard me." I held up my wrist, the chain clinked on the 
pavement between us. "I'm done with this.  I'm done with all the 
running around and being chased, I'm done with demons and 
Zyrogoth, I'm done with cops shooting at me, and alleys and walking 
endlessly in the dark.  But most of all, I'm done with you.  Now, how 
do I get this fucking thing off?"

She pursed her lips and eyed me warily, as if she'd never seen me 
before.

"How do I get it off?"

She remained silent.

"God damn it!  Get this fucking thing off of me!"

I yanked my arm back, pulling the chain taut, and causing her to lurch 
forward.

"I don't want to be you're Master anymore!  You're free!  I release 
you!  Now get out of my fucking sight!"

The sound of breaking glass filled the air as white sparks spouted 
from the chain, briefly illuminating the alley.  The weight of the chain 
vanished; One moment I was pulling on it, the next it was simply 
gone.  As the glittering light returned to darkness I discovered that 
though I still wore the black leather wrist leash, it only had three links 
of chain attached.  Ayumi's collar was still there, but she too only had 
a few remaining links of the chain.  The good news was that we were 
once again separated; the chain no longer bound us together.  We 
were free to go our own way, and I didn't want to waste another 
second.

"Bye, Yumi." I turned my back on her and headed towards the red 
glow of the ADS building. "It's been real."

"Wait!" Her voice sounded shaky. "Where am I 'spose to go?"

"Why don't you go find that Wizard, or that guy who dreamed you 
up?" I chuckled weakly. "I'm sure you'd be happier with one of them."

I could hear her sniffling behind me, but I wasn't going to turn around, 
I wasn't going to stop.  Why should I?  She didn't want to be with me, 
that was obvious.  If she did, then she'd come to me.  It was simple 
as that.  I was going this way, if she wanted to come, I wouldn't have 
stopped her, but I'd be damned if I turned around and came back to 
get her.  Chicken.  She called me a fucking chicken.  What the fuck 
does she know?  Stupid little bitch.  I'd risked everything, ev-ry-thing 
for her, and this is how I get treated?  Fuck her.  Fuck her and all this 
shit.  Who needs it?  Not me, that's for sure.

Without her I'd be able to get to the ADS building, with her they'd 
spot us no problem.  Once I got there I'd be able to... to... To what?  
Fuck.  Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck...  Fuck it.  I'll figure it out once I get 
there.  I'm sure I'll come up with something, I'd gotten this far hadn't 
I?  But why?  Why am I so hell bent on getting there?  Is it only 
because of that light?  Or is there something else to it?  It sure feels 
like there's something more, but... but what?  Damn it.  What the hell 
is going on with me?

I... I shouldn't have called her a monster.  That was, that was just 
wrong.  She isn't a monster, at least not from what I'd seen.  A bit of 
a pain in the ass, but certainly not a monster.

Grrr... fuck!  What the hell am I doing?  This is so fucking stupid.  I'm 
acting like all those dickheads from school.  Just one more bully in a 
world full of arrogant fucks.  I should go back.  I should turn around 
and go back to her.  Tell her I'm sorry for calling her a monster.  
That's what I should do... so then why am I still walking away?  
Because then she would win, that's why.  She'd probably sit there, 
with that sly little grin, knowing that I'd given in, caved in.  Fuck it.

So fucking what.  So she's all alone, in a city that she's never been in 
before.  She's got fucking magic powers for fuck's sake; I think she'll 
be able to take care of herself.

Fuck.

Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-FUCK!

Why does this have to be so damned complicated?  It shouldn't be.  
It should be simple.  Damn it, what am I doing?  Turn around, Justin.  
Just stop walking and turn around.

Jin.  Why does she still like her?  She talks about her like she was 
this wonderful person, someone who really cared for her, but in the 
end she sold her out for a case of beer.

Wait... that... that doesn't sound right at all.  Oh shit.  Oh, god damn 
it... how could I have been so gullible?  Just like her... just like 
Ayumi... I listened but didn't hear.  So stupid.  I'm so fucking stupid.  
Jin didn't sell Ayumi, that's just what Otho told her to fuck with her 
head, only... only Ayumi didn't know any better, and she took him at 
his word.  All this time, all that time she spent with Otho, she thought 
Jin had given her away, thrown her away... stopped caring about 
her...

Turn around Justin, turn around right now and tell her, let her know 
that Jin didn't give her away, tell her that Jin didn't stop... didn't 
stop... oh shit...  Jin didn't stop loving her.  That was the word she 
was babbling on about.  That was the word Jin told her all the time, 
the one I was too chicken shit to say out loud.  Damn, she was right 
about me.  I am a chicken.  Such a simple thing to say, and I would 
have meant it, but I couldn't bring myself to say it to her even though 
I felt it.

"I love you, Yumi."

The words spilled from my lips in a soft whisper, one that no one 
should have been able to hear, but someone did... just not the one 
who should have.  As I stepped out of the alley, Ayumi left far behind 
in the shadows, hands reached out and dragged me away.  One 
gloved hand covered my mouth; others made quick work binding my 
wrists behind my back.  I was caught.

"Keep your mouth shut kid, and don't try anything stupid," the man 
holding his palm over my face ordered.

There were six of them, all dressed in black military gear.  They held 
weapons that looked like rifles from a sci-fi movie; one even wore a 
helmet which made him look like some sort of alien robot bug.

"We should gas him to keep him quiet."

"Let's find out if he knows anything about our target first." The man 
holding me looked hard into my eyes. "I'm going to take my hand 
away.  If you make any sound other than to answer my questions, 
we'll consider you a hostile target and leave your smoking corpse in 
this alley for the rats to feed on.  Do you understand?"

My heart was pounding so fast I didn't even consider arguing.  
Something told me these guys meant what they were saying, so I 
nodded my agreement.

"Good."

His hand peeled away from my lips.  I hadn't realized until then that I 
wasn't breathing, couldn't breathe until he released me.

"Now, tell me what we're going to find down this alley."

"I..." I took a deep breath and tried to control my shaking, "I don't 
know what you're..."

With great ease the man picked me up and slammed my back into 
the wall. "There's no use in lying, we already know that it's a 
parabiological, and we can detect that you were in close proximity 
with it for an extended amount of time.  So what's it going to be?  
Nice and easy... or do we have to drop you here and now?"

"Jesus, take it easy Taylor." One of the other men stepped up and 
pulled me free from his grip. "He's just a fuckin' kid."

"Gas him and let's get a move on," one of the others complained. 
"I'd like to get some downtime before the sun comes up."

The man who'd saved me leaned down and spoke with a friendly 
voice. "Look kid, I promise you that we'll let you go, unharmed.  
We're not in the habit of roughing up civvies.  I just want to know what 
we're getting ourselves into when we go down this alley, whether or 
not we need to be worried about what we're going to find.  Now tell 
me, what's down there?"

I didn't want to tell them, but I also didn't want them to hurt her.  I 
figured if they found out that she wasn't a threat, that they might even 
let her go.

"She's... she's an Etherlithe."

They all groaned and visibly relaxed their posture.

"That's it?  An Etherlithe?"

"Yeah.  She's just an eight year old girl.  Please, please don't hurt 
her."

"Don't worry kid." He ruffled my hair. "I think we can skip this one."

I let out a big sigh of relief and felt as if a ton of weight had been 
lifted from my shoulders. "Thank you."

"No problem.  Cut him free."

The bindings on my wrists were removed and I rubbed them until the 
circulation returned.

"Alright boys, let's move on to the next..."

"Wait up." The soldier with the helmet broke in with a voice that 
sounded digitally distorted. "New orders coming in from MC2, they 
want us to round up every PB in the city."

"Isn't that what we have been doing?"

"Every PB.  They've revoked the free pass given to non-threats.  
Level zeros are now included in the active targets list."

"Are you effing kidding me?"

"No Sir, orders are direct from the top.  All PBs are to be removed 
from the city, processed, packaged and delivered immediately to 
the PBRC."

"It's bad enough they've got us out here working on a quota, but this 
is going too far." He shook his head. "I miss Jon already.  This new 
guy, Donovan, I think he takes this all too seriously.  He's pushing his 
anti Para-Bio doctrine too hard.  We should be concentrating on the 
situation at hand, not chasing after Etherlithes."

"Better stow that kind of talk.  The new regime doesn't take kindly to 
dissent."

"Um... Speaking of that quota," the man who'd threatened me, 
Taylor, spoke up. "We're only one capture away from kicking back 
and drinking a few tall ones.  So I say we bag us an Etherlithe and be 
done with this shit for the night, unless of course you'd all like to 
spend the next six hours trying to beat out four other teams for a 
different PB?"

I didn't like the sound of that one bit.  The other soldiers all seemed 
to agree with Taylor's plan, and that wasn't good for Ayumi.  I had to 
do something.  I had to stop this from happening.  They were talking 
amongst themselves, must have forgotten I was even still there.  It 
was my chance, my only chance.  I had to react... I had to... had to... 
run.

They reacted fast, but somehow I was faster.  The walls of the alley 
were a blur as I ran, nothing but a black tunnel of nothingness.  
Behind me I could hear them coming, ahead of me the soft amber 
flickering of that distant burning fire.  I ran faster than I've ever run in 
my entire life, so fast I couldn't feel anything, not even the air.

I wasn't running to save myself... I was running to save her.  They'd 
catch up to me, I had no doubt about that, but if I could warn Yumi, if 
I could just get within earshot of her, then maybe, just maybe...

I crossed the point where I'd left her behind, the intersection of the 
two alleys, and she wasn't there.  I kept on running, didn't even pause 
to see if she'd changed her mind about what direction she was going 
to go.  Ahead the light of the trashcan fire grew brighter, and in that 
light, a dark silhouette.  It was her, it had to be her.  The closer I got 
the more sure of it I became.  It was definitely her.

"YUMI!"

Everything moved in slow motion.  She stopped and turned to find 
who had called her name out of the dark.  I could see her face so 
clearly.  Her eyes were puffy from crying, her cheeks shiny from 
fresh tears.  So much pain... so much hurt.  When her eyes found 
me her face lit up with one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen.  She 
started toward me.

"RUN!"

She stopped again, confusion slowly replacing her smile.

"RUN!"

She remained frozen in place, her head cocked to one side, her 
eyebrows furrowed.

"RU-AHHHHNNN!"

Blue-white light enveloped me, bringing with it pain on a scale I'd 
never felt before.  Every muscle in my body seized and spasmed, 
every inch of skin felt as if it were on fire.  The ground rushed up and 
collided with my face, my chin grinding on the asphalt until my 
momentum ran out.

Somehow I kept my eyes focused on her the entire time, even as my 
body refused to move.  Her eyes were filled with panic.  She started 
to run towards me, but then she caught sight of my attackers.  She 
crouched in a defensive posture, her teeth and nails extended and 
ready to attack as her tail flicked rapidly from side to side.  The back 
of the T-shirt she wore, my shirt, bulged outward before tearing 
open.  Her wings rose up behind her menacingly and scraped both 
walls of the alley.  It was too tight; there wasn't enough room for her 
to get airborne.

Two soldiers leapt over my prone body and moved to attack.  Yumi 
waited for them to get close before springing into the air, her feet 
landing on their shoulders briefly before landing behind them.  Her 
hands slashed at them furiously, her nails tearing at their backs but 
having little effect on the armor they wore.

"GET DOWN!"

The two soldiers dropped to the ground just as a second blast of 
blue-white light roared over my head.  Ayumi barely had a chance to 
realize what was happing before the wave of light hit her.  The blast 
flung her backwards, her arms and legs limp and flailing like a rag 
doll thrown across a room.  When she landed she didn't make a 
move to get back up.

"Target down!  Repeat, target down!"

"Okay, move into positions.  Let's get 'er tagged, bagged, and 
delivered."

Three more of the soldiers stepped over me as if I were nothing 
more than a heap of garbage.  A fourth stopped and knelt down by 
my head, but I couldn't turn to see which one it was.

"That was really stupid, kid.  You could have gotten yourself killed.  
My men and I have been up for four days straight, we're all stimmed 
up and on hair triggers.  You're lucky that I was the point man; if it had 
been someone like Taylor, I doubt we would even be having this 
conversation right now."

I only half listened to the man as he spoke.  My attention was still 
locked onto the spot where I'd seen Ayumi fall.  The soldiers were 
busy over there, but I couldn't see what they were doing.  I tried to 
move, I tried to get up, but nothing was working.

"I wouldn't advise trying to move, it'll just make the effects last 
longer.  Now, I could gas you, like they wanted me to earlier, but I 
think you've been through enough for tonight, and besides... this isn't 
a very friendly part of town, especially on a night like tonight.  Not the 
kind of place for a kid your age to be taking a nap in anyway.  So 
here's the deal.  In a few minutes control of your muscles will begin 
to return, when that happens I advise that you get yourself back 
home ASAP and don't come out until this mess has a chance to sort 
itself out.  Don't try to come after us, you won't be able to find us 
anyway, and don't think about going to the police, they'll just think 
you're pranking them.  Got me?"

The men down the alley stood up and moved towards us.  Between 
them they carried a metal box about the size and shape of a coffin.  
It was white and covered in strange designs that glowed with an 
eerie purple light.  When they got closer one of them spoke to the 
man kneeling beside me.

"Marcus sent the box ahead with Travis; he's bringing the transport 
around to our original position, said there were too many civvies 
lurking about."

"Good.  Carry on, I'll catch up in a minute."

The men nodded, and that's when I noticed that they weren't actually 
carrying the box, but were simply pushing it as it floated in midair.  As 
they passed by I could see a small window build into the box.  Its 
interior was illuminated with a pale blue light, just bright enough for 
me to see inside.

"yumi..."

The sound of my voice startled the man beside me, despite the 
weakness of it.

"Shit, kid.  I've stunned bigger beasts than the likes of you, and none 
of them ever made a peep."

"please..." The effort it took to speak made my lungs burn and my 
brain explode with needles. "please... let... her... go..."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that.  Once we put them into a box, we can't 
get 'em out again.  It's a safety feature."

"don't... take... her... away..."

"Listen, kid, it's beyond my control.  What's done is done.  Why do 
you care so much anyway?  I mean, it's just an Etherlithe."

"i... love... her..."

"Ah shit... you... you don't know then, do you?" The man's voice 
softened as he rolled me over onto my back so that I could see his 
face. "She's an Etherlithe, a being created out of the Ether that 
surrounds us all.  She's not real.  She's like... like a daydream.  One 
day she pops into your head, the next she's nothing more than a 
memory.  Etherlithes only last for a little while, a few days, maybe a 
month or two tops, then they return from where they came, back into 
the Ether."

"no... no, she's... she's real..."

"Maybe for now she is, but not for much longer.  Hell, I just hope we 
can get her processed before she evaporates, at least then she'll 
count towards our quota."

"no..." It came out as a whisper, but in my head it was a scream.  I 
looked into his eyes and could tell he wasn't lying.

"I'm sorry, that's just the way it is.  Try not to get too broken up over 
it.  It seems like you two shared something special during the time 
you spent together, hold on to that, not the time you won't have."

"Harris!  Get a move on, transport's waiting!"

"I'm coming, keep your panties on!" The man ruffled my hair and 
smiled a weary smile. "Take care, kid."

He stood up and disappeared from my sight.  I listened as his 
footsteps moved away, my heart breaking with every diminishing 
step.  They were taking her, stealing her away, and there was nothing 
I could do to stop them.

I stared at the narrow stretch of sky above, the aurora moving like a 
sheet blowing in the wind, and I wished I were blowing away with it.  I 
wished I was returning to the Ether as Yumi would.  I wondered if I 
would be able to see her, to speak to her before we both became a 
memory.  I would say it.  I wouldn't hesitate.  I wouldn't over think it.  I 
wouldn't be afraid.  I would just say it.  And I would mean it.  Mean it 
more than anything that I've ever said in my entire life.  I would say it.  
It would be the most honest thing ever to pass through my lips.  I 
would say it.  I would... I would say...

"I love you... Yumi."

A shock went through me at the sound of my own voice.  It was as if 
the words ripped the invisible straightjacket off of me.  I was free.  
Free to move.  Free to run.  Free to... free to get her back!

I was on my feet in an instant.  My legs were still a bit wobbly, but 
they held, and the faster I ran the more feeling returned.  Down the 
alley I could see the soldiers.  They were busy loading Ayumi into 
the back of a black van.  Faster... faster... faster I ran, but I was still 
too slow.  They had her loaded up and the van moved away.  By the 
time I exited the alley they were completely out of sight.

"No!"

I charged out into the middle of the street and took off in the 
direction I'd seen them going.  I had to find them.  I had to follow 
them.  I had to get her back.

I ran and ran and ran, but I never caught sight of them again.  It was 
as if they'd vanished into thin air.  Vanished just like the soldier had 
told me Ayumi would.  Tears rolled down my cheeks as my legs 
finally gave out.  I wanted to keep looking, but my body couldn't take 
anymore.  I collapsed in the middle of an intersection, my chest 
heaving, my legs burning, my voice filled with rage and sorrow.

"Noooo!  Please, no!  Bring her back!  Bring her back to me!  Yumi!  
Come back!  I'm so sorry!  I'm sorry I left you behind!  Come back!  
Please... please... please... come... back..."

I was in a world of my own, my mind a million miles away from where 
I knelt in the streets, crying.  I heard the sound of the car's engine as 
it got closer and closer, a great rumbling like a beast on the attack, 
but I didn't process what it signified until I knew it would be too late 
for me to get out of the way.

You'd expect that you would just react in a situation like that, that 
instinct would kick in and your body would somehow throw itself out 
of the way, but for me it didn't.  I wanted to die.  If I couldn't be with 
her, then what was the point?  She was my everything, my perfect 
dream girl, and she'd been taken away because I became everything 
I've ever hated.  It was all my fault, and I just wanted it to be over.  I 
closed my eyes and waited, with her name the last thing to ever 
touch my lips again...

"Ayumi."



Concluded in the Epilogue....


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Ayumi 13