[10] Macy

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside. The sun was beaming through the spaces between translucent sheer materials covering the glass doors to the balcony. I sat up, rubbing my eyes into focus, and I looked around the room. I was still in the same strange apartment I was brought to yesterday after all the events with Ethan's storm. I wondered where he was. I looked to my left, and beside the bed I saw a plain black suitcase with a note sitting on top, addressed “Faye”. It was Ethan's handwriting.

I lifted the note and opened it.

“You'll probably get this while I'm not there. I brought some stuff from your apartment. I hope it's enough. I'm just out doing errands, I’ll be back soon. Make yourself at home.

–Ethan”

I smirked. Jumping off the bed, I stooped next to the suitcase and unzipped it. Ethan, I'd realised, had known me all too well. He'd shoved five of my favourite hoodies, sweaters and T-shirts into the bag, a few shorts, two pairs of jeans and my pair of pencil pants. Then again, it was hard not to pick out the right clothes to bring for me, because since I'd been living on my own, I'd bought everything I wore for myself, and I valued my style. He also managed to throw my half empty bottle of ocean-scented shampoo and conditioner and my toothbrush into a side compartment of the suitcase... smart guy. I checked the time on my phone... it was twelve-twenty-one.

Ouch.

I'd slept in for half the day. It occurred to me that my shift at the tattoo parlour would have begun twenty one minutes ago. Then I remembered that everyone knew a storm had hit the area. Then, I remembered that Macy, my best friend at work, had died in that storm. I figured no one was going to make it to work today. I expected a call from my boss to confirm this, but there were no missed calls. I called her myself.

Calling Jude...

“Faye! You're alright!” Jude answered, upon seeing my number.

“Yea, I am. I know this is awfully untimely of me, because I'm already late on my shift. Is there a confirmation for cancellation of work today, though?”

“Ugh, Faye. You should see the place. It's a mess. I heard about Macy. What a tragedy! She was both our friend, I'm so sorry.”

“Yea... When I heard about Macy I think shock got the better of me,” I said, honestly.

“It would have gotten the better of anyone, dearest. It's strange to me how a storm hit this side of the country just... out of the blue.”

I thought about it for a moment, because of course there was no way she'd understand all this.

“I know, right? Weird.”

“Anyway, darling. I have to go make plans to fix the parlour up. In the meantime however, you take the time off. When the shop is back up I'll let you know when you can come back if you decide to. As for the pay, I'm not sure what I can do about it just yet either. Maybe you can get a temporary job?”

I wondered if this was my divine intervention. “I'm sure I can work something out,” I said, “But that's my problem. You've got so many things to handle; don't you go worrying about me, okay?”

“Yea I know,” she said, “but you know all of you are like family to me. I need to worry.”

I thought of Macy.

“Hey, Jude?” I began, uncertain, “Do you happen to know any details... about Macy's funeral... or anything?”

“Umm... no. As far as I know, her body was taken to a morgue by her aunt. Her parents weren't around in her life... we both know that.”

“Yea...” I whispered, because I did know.

That was one of the topics Macy would come to me about. She'd been trying to get off on her own two feet all by herself. Her parents had pretty much left her for dead when she wrote her final school exams and decided against higher education because she didn't want them to turn her into something they wanted her to be. She wanted to follow her own path, and I admired her for that.

“If you get any more information, please tell me,” I told her, “I want to be there.”

“I will, dearest. I'll call you back as soon as possible to see how you're coping, okay? I've got something to do right now... contraction workers are driving me insane,” Jude laughed nervously, “Talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay,” I say.

“And Faye?” She said, “I'm so glad you're okay... you’re meant for greater things you know.”

The thought of Jude possibly being a wielder crossed my mind.

Meant for greater things?

She hung up before I could reply.

I was going to miss Macy terribly. She'd been the only other person –beside Ethan- in my life who stuck with me through a ton of downhill times. She was always there for me, giving me advice, being a comedian. She wasn't Ethan, but she came pretty close.

I took a moment to remember her life; how she fought at the very end of it all to say she wasn't going to become something so her parents could be happy and so she would be devastated for the rest of her life. She moved out... or rather, she was forced to move out. She did it with her head held high. She'd gone to get a tattoo done on her wrist of the day she saved herself from becoming a hopeless case of another pair of demanding parents. I was already working there. In fact, I was the one who gave her that tattoo; her first tattoo. When I'd heard the story behind it, I asked Jude if she could possibly lend her a hand in finances, and it turned out Macy was quite an artist. She got the job there almost immediately after showing us some rough sketches of her work.

I remembered everything good about her. I remembered all the laughs and the jokes and the tears. Grief hung over me while I sat there on the floor, looking down at some pictures of the two of us on my phone. I wondered if I was cut out for a job like this; if I could stand by and watch people I love die before my very eyes... if I could hurt people like that, even if they weren't human – especially if they weren't human. I realised then, just how badly Ethan felt about putting a hand in her death. He didn't mean it. He was only trying to stop Liam and Ursula from hurting us, but in the end, he's still a human. Part of him dies every time he bends his morals for the sake of this lifestyle.

For a brief moment I was upset that he let it happen. I was angry because human or not, she was a good person. She was my friend. Then I realised there was no reason to be mad about it now. There was no coming back for her. She was gone forever.