8.

Not wanting to get caught skipping class, Tristan asked Esme if she wanted to go to a place she knew that overlooked the city of Dansel. It was a spot she often went to where she knew no one else would think to go.

On the outskirts of Dansel, there was a rickety old gazebo that had seen better days. It had been condemned from termites years ago, but Tristan never listened to the warning signs. Instead, Tristan guided Esme around the barriers and signs, leading her to the gazebo that looked out beyond the valley of Dansel. The morning haze was still hanging in the air, floating softly over the expanse of the city and around the various tall buildings. The sun was attempting to peek through the clouds, a burst of it's rays pouring down in patches over the city.

Esme gawked in awe at the sights before her, keeping her distance from the bannister as it didn't look entirely secure. Tristan assured her that it was by pushing against it a few times, showing that despite being old, it was still safe. Esme stepped forward, joining Tristan's side so that the two could look out at the city below.

"I've never seen it like this before," Esme stated.

Tristan couldn't help but look over to Esme at her side, noticing that she seemed to glow in the light of the morning. Although it was nothing more than a trick of the light, Tristan felt she was more in awe of Esme in that moment than the scenery laid out before her. Esme looked ethereal and yet, despite how beautiful she appeared to be in the light and the surroundings, not one inch of her was human. This frightened Tristan as she looked away as soon as Esme met her gaze.

"Are you afraid of me?" Esme asked.

"No, you don't scare me," Tristan replied, a little sheepishly as though even she didn't believe what she was saying.

"I promise I can't hurt you. Not even if I wanted to, not even if I could," Esme said, lifting her pinky up to Tristan. "All I can do is what you let me."

Tristan eyed Esme's tiny finger, doubting whether she should be so quick to accept promises from a God.

"I don't think I should be so quick to believe in you, or any of what you say, for that matter," Tristan said. "How can I be so sure that you aren't tricking me?"

Esme smiled and shrugged a little, pressing down on her dress with both palms despite its ragged condition. Tristan had to admit that Esme's story was adding up with her physical condition. Esme had dirt caked under her fingernails and decay on her dress from the years of being underground. Her hair and skin, however, were immaculate like she hadn't been sleeping for fifty years.

"You can only trust me when you believe in me," Esme replied. She was satisfied with that answer. Tristan was not.

"What if I end up believing in you, but you have some hidden agenda? Oh gods, what if you have a hidden agenda?" Tristan contemplated as she began to pace the floor of the gazebo.

Esme watched on. She was slightly entertained by Tristan's sudden behaviour. Tristan was breaking down all the points in order to come to her own conclusions, none of which made much sense to Esme.

"I don't think I have a hidden agenda?" Esme contemplated, shaking her head. "Nope. No hidden agendas. I'm just in a similar boat to you."

"Oh, honey, we are in entirely different oceans," Tristan remarked, laughing at herself.

"We don't have to be. I can swim to you," Esme said, playing into it further. "I'd swim the lengths of every ocean between you and me if that is what it took for you to believe in me. I'd prove it to you."

Tristan was a little taken aback by the extent of Esme's devotion to wanting Tristan's belief. It almost felt a bit like a commodity to Tristan, like something she could give and take -- but with a price attached. What price was Tristan willing to pay?

"The problem is my family," Tristan mumbled. Was she really thinking about believing in Esme after all the lessons Julian taught her about Gods?

"They don't have to know," Esme replied. "I can take it down a notch."

"How about ten notches?"

"Make it twenty," Esme added.

"Funny," Tristan rolled her eyes as she, once again, paced the length of the gazebo while Esme, amusedly, watched her. "But it won't be enough if we aren't careful. Mike may not figure it out. Julian, however, will figure out in an instant if we don't play it smart."

"How do you figure?"

"Julian had a bad experience growing up," Tristan explained. She cleared her throat, continuing on. "His parents were like everyone else. They had good jobs, they loved Julian and spoiled him because he was their only child. They had a nice house, each had a car, and they even socked away an education fund for Julian. It all seemed so perfect. But, I guess his parents felt like something was missing in the picture. When Julian was about fourteen or fifteen, his parents decided, on a whim, to adopt a child from another country. Except, when they went to meet the child they were supposedly adopting, somehow they were tricked into meeting with a different type of child."

"Oh? What kind of child?" Esme pressed.

Tristan stopped as she looked over to Esme, trying to figure out if Esme was being serious or not. She shrugged it off and continued to pace back and forth.

"Julian describes it as some kind of Child God. It appeared one day to his parents in place of the actual adoptee, which they claimed was a sign that they were meant to find each other. Without even thinking once about the other child they came to see, they took the Child God home to Dansel. Flew back without a second thought," Tristan explained. She paused to push her hair back from her face that was tumbling down from the moisture in the air. "Julian was surprised, to say the least. He met the Child God and knew that something wasn't right. When he tried to tell his mother and father about it, they claimed it was jealousy because Julian was no longer the only child. Julian said he would try to work things out to be better for his parents during the transition. Most of all, he promised to try to be there for the Child God as a brother would."

"Again, it seemed like everything was going really well. The Child God was fitting in like he had always been there. Julian was finally accepting his role as a brother to the God, no longer feeling jealous. Then, it happened," Tristan paused for dramatic effect.

"What happened?" Esme asked, attentive to every word Tristan was saying.

"One night the Child God woke up the whole house, screaming at the top of his lungs from his bedroom. The entire family went running to the God's aid to find him covered in sweat with red marks around his neck. He claimed that, in the middle of his sleep, he was woken by a figure that wrapped their hands around his neck. The figure attempted to kill the Child God --- unsuccessfully. Instead, the Child God played dead until the figure left. When the figure left the room, the Child God began screaming for his family," Tristan further explained. "Then, when Julian entered the room behind his mother and father, the Child God pointed out at him and claimed that it was Julian who had tried to strangle him in his sleep."

"In one sentence the Child God completely turned Julian's parents on him. They freaked out really, really bad. To the point that they were sure that Julian was possessed by a demon --- all because the Child God said so. They wanted to get him help, to make him into a better believer, or something like that. But Julian knew he was innocent, that he would never have hurt the Child God. So why then did the God lie?" Tristan pondered. "What would compel the Child God to do such a horrible thing? He had everything laid out for him, but it still wasn't enough. Well, according to Julian, anyway. I don't know what really happened that night, but I know Julian would never hurt someone. Not even a God."

Tristan came to a stop, finally walking over to join Esme once more at the bannister. She sighed as she looked out over the city, eyeing the orange glow on the horizon.

"Luckily, my dad, Mike, and Julian have been best friends almost their entire lives. Julian had nowhere to go, so he went to Mike's house for help. Mike's parents, my grandparents, took Julian in like their other son. It hasn't always been perfect since, but Julian has always been a part of our family. He is now more than ever since he and my dad are finally getting married after fifteen years together," Tristan explained. "Julian has been around my entire life. It isn't wrong for me to want to put him first before some God I barely know, given the history that Julian has told me of."

Esme nodded. "I understand your apprehensions."

"Then why do you insist on wanting me to believe in you when I clearly can't?"

"Because, Tristan, you were the one who made the blood bond with me," Esme replied. "I could have slept away the entire existence of man and have finally been reunited with the heavens. Instead? I've been woken by a non-believer. Just my luck, hey?"

Tristan noted that Esme seemed to deflate a little. She reached out and patted Esme on the shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself. It's bad timing and the wrong person."

"It sounds like you are trying to break up with me," Esme mumbled, laughing a little to herself.

Tristan couldn't help but giggle, shaking her head.

"No. I'm just saying that it probably isn't the best idea for me to believe in you given my family's history."

Esme sighed. She nodded. "I guess that's it? I can't change what is."

"I guess you can't," Tristan added. She felt a bit mean to be so clear cut, but she knew she had to be in order to keep the sanctity of her family dynamic in one piece. "Can I drive you somewhere?"

Esme cleared her throat, taking a deep breath. "To the school is fine."

The two stared at the cityscape for a little while longer before the silence became too much for Tristan, guiding Esme back to Julian's car. They drove for awhile before Esme piped up, breaking the long standing silence between them.

"I hope you can learn to stand up for yourself," Esme remarked. "You are a good person, Tristan. You just have some jagged edges from all the times you have been hurt. One day it won't be like that. It won't feel as bad as it does right now."

Tristan nodded once, keeping her eyes on the road as they weaved around the outer limits of the city where the trees seemed to cluster closer than anywhere else. The glow of the morning had faded and was replaced by a dingy grey that hung heavily in the atmosphere. Tristan noted that the air smelled of rain, the moisture still wicking in her hair.

"Hey, Tristan?" Esme asked.

"Yeah?" Tristan replied, prying her eyes from the road to look over to Esme.

"You need to pay attention."

"To what?" Tristan questioned her.

"Tristan... pay attention!" Esme screamed.

With one quick glance, Tristan saw the oncoming figure on the road ahead but it was too late. She tried to jerk the car away from it, but only managed to get one side away in time before the figure was up and over the hood of the vehicle.

The car hit the gravel on the side of the road before launching into the ditch, speeding into it while Tristan tried to get her foot on the brake. Then, the car sped up the side of the ditch and caught air, spinning the vehicle once before landing on its roof on the road. The metal screeched as the car slowly came to a halt, still on its roof.