Chapter 28: New Beginnings

I race atop the buildings in town, my heart banging louder in my chest than every step I take. I parkour absent-mindedly but make no misstep. The cold nighttime air beats my face violently, “Boy! Disguise yourself, There are still humans wandering about. It may be after sundown but it is not late yet,” Abhartach rattles irritably. I stride faster, a fog of shadows tailing me. I launch myself off a double story office building and latch on to a skyscraper decently distanced away, about two kilometres away. My right-hand forms a claw that latches onto a window three stories high and I propel myself up. My other hand turns and I scale the scrapper. I climb up so fast that I do not notice when I have reached the top and move to stand by the edge like Batman in one of those comics. I stand there and let the wind be my only physical companion in this very moment until the ran forces its way into my company as raindrops begin to stain my forehead. My body shivers in pain, what the fuck happened?! Abhartach’s outfit spreads itself and covers me.

Abhartach lets out a breath and starts in a low tone, “Calm down, boy. Surely you foresaw this outcome?” I stare into the precipitating sky with rain clouds randomly jumbled up together, a cloud here and a cloud there with enough open patches for me to see the stars, strange. “What are y-you talking about?” I barely manage to let out as my voice breaks. “Well, I did always see her as someone that was with you out of pity and responsibility and never out of actual love. They can be hard to differentiate but you can distinguish them given experience and insight. She never truly saw you and only you, Lest I am mistaken, she still hung out with the boys that bullied you and I am sure she knew they tormented you for a long time now, correct?”

“Yes, she did,” I answer as realisation begins to seep into me. “She never introduced you as her boyfriend to people that were not Max or your Aunt, she just recently said she was ‘now’ ready to give you her full effort yet you have been pinning for her for years now… Wake up from this childish naivety, Sam.” Abhartach said coolly. I am not naïve, maybe I am. Maybe I should change and be more distant, maybe I should keep my feelings out of it? But that would make me as bad as they are and that is the last thing I want, I need a healthy middle. I need to find a way to deal with the situation. I applaud myself at how rational I am being in the situation but the tears caressing my cheeks and the soft sobbing my mouth lets out show me that I do not what I am doing and this is one of the most painful feelings I have felt. Why? That is all I manage to ask my brain and for once, Abhartach does not chime in, he even called me Sam and that was new.

I stare down below at the city as the night paints a soft grey colour of the rain and I feel the scruffiness of the moisture soaked into me though, the Abhartach suit I have on now kept the water out. I leap off headfirst with my legs slightly parted above me. My cloak fidgeted about as it collided with the wind. My eyes once shut burst open and my hands turn into claws that scrape and try to latch on to the windows by the scrapper. I find a grip and propel myself forward in a swing motion like a superhero in a comic book. I Hate this world, I leap from window to window to window across the large buildings and scrappers in the city. I want to escape everything. I think about her smile, her soft and wavy hair, her gorgeous smile, her curvy body and it all makes my chest tighten in pain. I wish I could be with her, I even spoke about her with Kelly, fuck.

My eyes squint as a shadowy figure captures my gaze. I gently float down with my cloak as a parachute and drop atop an unfamiliar building. The figure manifests and I see him. Shadow. My body prepares to flee, I can’t take him alone as I am now. “Wait, I just want to talk,” I hear a feminine voice escape from the dark cloud. “Let’s make a deal.” I hesitantly stop and consider my options, I could leap off and into traffic, maybe she or he would not follow down there or I could run atop the buildings, I doubt he could chase after me with my parkour skills. “Why would I make a deal with you? You tried to kill me not so long ago?” I can properly see the figure up close now, a slightly taller woman with a top hat and cane. High heel shoes and a mask without any distinction aside from a wavy shadow dancing all over it. Baggy trousers and a black jacket as well as a coat that reaches the thighs. A very secretive person. “Because I am not who you think I am, the name’s Elana,” she says stepping closer and I flinch, my dagger unsheathed and clutched tightly in my hand.

I stand there and say nothing. This could be some sort of trick. “Ok, Elana, why would you tell me your name?” A moment passes and I see the dark stained mask come off with a sharp yank. A beautiful face, green eyes, red hair and dark painted lips with blue lashes. Am I not supposed to be fighting this person? I am a simp. “Because I need you. I need your help,” she says with sadness plastered on her visage. She has been crying, I can tell even in this rain because I was crying too. “But you tried to kill me earlier.”

“That was not me, It was my Danann, Brigit, she has a passionate distaste for Danann. Yours in particular. The last thing she remembers is your form by her death. I know it was not you but, I am sorry. We need to go to Otherworld before it is too late.”

Abhartach winces at her words and I hear him groan in pain and disbelief at that name, Brigit.