Family Story - 016

"Well said, Chosen Child."

That voice. I'm not sure who's it is, but it certainly doesn't belong to Ray. And it isn't AJ's voice either. Whilst I'm still searching my memories for the owner of that voice, that strange accent, and tone, I feel the weight pressing down on me, disappear.

Huh? But that's impossible. What happened to Ray?

Next to me, with a large thud right before my eyes, I see Ray slam into the ground with such force that I feel shockwaves ripple underneath me.

Someone's arm, a woman's arm, locks Ray into a head hold.

"You bitch," Ray chokes out, "how long have you been there?"

"Long enough, Ray. The Mother knows everything, after all."

I stagger and pull myself up off the ground. Looking at my saviour, I realise who it is. It should've been obvious. After all, there's only one person who's ever called me 'Chosen Child' before.

Kiss Duskdancer. A member of the Mother's Order. Although, unlike Ray, she isn't from around here. Or at least, Tayla never met anyone during her time with the Order's Christchurch chapter. Come to think of it, when we first met, she asked for directions, so yeah, she must not be from around here.

Ray struggles, but Kiss doesn't loosen her grip. If anything, she tightens it.

I remember now that when I first ran into her, I got the impression that she was strong. Ominously superhumanly strong. I thought that about Ray too, but now just like it was then, it's clear that Kiss is on another level. Ray may simply just have trained to be good at fighting, but for Kiss it seems effortlessly natural to her.

The way she threw him off me, and down onto the ground with such force… that kind of strength makes her seem superhuman.

She continues to keep Ray in her stranglehold. He kicks out, and tries to pull at her arm, but it's too no avail. Eventually Ray's struggles subside, and he passes out, his face visibly purple from the exertion and lack of blood.

Kiss drops Ray without a care in the world, and leaves him lying at her feet.

"Hey, Chosen Child."

"Hey…"

I don't know what else to say in this situation. I have a ton of questions, but my head is spinning, and I can't think properly. The one thing I am sure of however, is that I should remain on guard. Something about Kiss Duskdancer keeps me on edge. There's something ominous about her. She gives me a bad feeling.

"Hmm, you seem like you've gotten a little more mature since the last time I saw you. I suppose that's only natural, given what you just went through."

I still don't say anything. I'd rather not get involved with her if I can.

She sighs, "your no fun, Chosen Child. I don't want to just be speaking to myself here. Well whatever, you should take the girl over there home, don't you think?"

She gestured over at AJ, who was still lying sprawled on the ground where the two of us and Ray had been talking. It felt like that'd been at least an hour ago, but it can't have been more than five minutes.

"I know you've already got your own princess," Kiss continued, "but I think you really should take Cinderella there back home. It's almost midnight, after all."

Despite my reluctance to listen to Kiss Duskdancer of all people, this scary ominous woman, it is the right thing to do. I can't just leave AJ here. Despite not wanting to get involved with Kiss, there is one thing I have to ask before we leave.

"What's going to happen to Ray?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Kiss sounded haunt, and even scarier than usual, "you or anyone else won't have to worry about him ever again. Just go be happy ever after. Until next time, Chosen Child."

Damn, she's heavier than I thought. I wobble from side to side along the footpath, as I give the unconscious AJ a piggyback ride home.

It was all over, I guess. I didn't want to ask what Kiss meant when she said we wouldn't have to worry about Ray ever again, so I left, with AJ onboard, immediately after that. Well, not immediately. Kiss offered to relocate my shoulder, which I had no choice but to accept, because I wouldn't be able to carry AJ otherwise. It hurt like hell though.

There was nothing more I wanted to say to either of them.

Kiss, or Ray, when he woke up.

Maybe he's never going to wake up again.

I try to keep that thought out of my head, though I know it is a very real possibility. Kiss Duskdancer certainly seems… capable. I think that she would be able to do something like that. To kill Ray. Maybe she's already decided to do just that.

Well, there's no use worrying about it. I don't think anyone will miss Ray if he's gone. Surely, there isn't anyone, who would miss that scum.

He has a son.

That's right, he has a son. Probably a wife too. Maybe more children that I don't know about. I feel sick, just thinking about it. Of course, there are people who are going to miss him.

Well, I'm sure Kiss will take that into account. Her and Ray certainly know each other. I'm sure that she'll factor all that into deciding what Ray's fate will be.

I hear murmuring behind me.

"Is that you AJ?"

"What… happened?"

"You passed out."

"Where's Ray?"

"It's all dealt with. Ray won't be able to sell drugs to your brother anymore. Or you."

"Sorry. I should've told you."

"It's fine," I reply, "I get why you wouldn't tell me. If your awake now, can I let you down? I think I'm too tired to carry you the whole way home."

"Sorry," AJ repeated, digging her nails into my shoulders, "can you just let me stay here a little longer?"

"Sure, you okay?"

"I think so. I just feel a little lightheaded."

Well, no wonder. She fell and hit her head on the concrete. I bet her body got quite a shock from that. What had even happened there? To me, it had just looked like AJ collapsed on the spot, but I'm sure Ray had something to do with it. If only I'd been looking at him and not her.

Didn't he try to do something to me as well? When he took of his sunglasses, I got a strange feeling when I looked into his eyes. Like it was putting me into a trance. Because he did that, I got the first punch in. He seemed surprised by something then, too.

Maybe he'd done something like that to AJ. Perhaps it's some kind of hypnosis.

I wonder. In the first place, is something like that even possible? Maybe for a member of that cult. I think back to when I first met Tayla. When I got beaten up by those thugs, I got much worse injuries than this, or at least I thought I did, but they were gone by the next day. No, I'm thinking something stupid, aren't I? Like that the Mother's Order can perform magic or something. Of course, that can't be it. That's impossible.

"So, what exactly happened?" AJ speaks up, breaking my train of thought.

"Hmm… it's kind of a long story. I'll tell you later. Just know that it's all over. Ray won't be able to hurt anyone anymore."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I have it on good authority."

Whether she's a 'good authority' is debatable, but I'm sure that Kiss Duskdancer will see her promise through. Whatever ends up happening to him, we'll never see Ray Starcrawler again.

AJ laughs softly, "you really are like a hero or something."

"I'm nothing of the sort. Just a naïve kid, like you said."

"Maybe so, but," AJ whispered in my ear, "if I was attracted to guys, I think I'd fall in love with you."

"Huh? Don't joke like that… wait. Your… your attracted to girls?"

"Hmm? You didn't realise already?"

"How could I know?!"

"Well, I always get told that it's really obvious. That I'm a lesbian."

"I guess I'm not that observant then."

"No, you're really not. You're like Stevie Wonder."

…

…

"You know, I'm pretty sure blind people are probably quite observant. After all, they have to rely more keenly on their other senses."

"You have a point."

…

"Thank you, Alexander."

"You're welcome, Angharad."

…

She laughed, "your pronunciation is even worse than I thought it would be."