Kyle, after being left at the street fair, decided to follow Anna to see where she was going, and what the text was about. He followed at a safe distance and saw her disappear into an old, broken down, mansion-like house a few blocks away from the street fair. He watched for a bit, then circled around the house, looking it over. It was huge, but it looked unoccupied, except for two windows, one on the floor level, and one on the second level, both of which were lit by a dim yellow light. He came around to the front again and walked up to the wrought iron gate, about to push it inwards, when it opened, and Anna walked out. She stared, a bit stunned, and he stared back, completely taken by surprise. And then the biggest surprise emerged. Logan stepped out, looking at Anna, wondering what she was staring at, and then looked and saw Kyle. He stopped in his tracks and stared. Anna glanced from Kyle to Logan, and then down at the ground, unable to think of anything to say. Kyle suddenly sprang into action, shoving Logan backwards through the gate. He grabbed Logan’s collar and slammed Logan against the inside of the high stone wall.
“What the heck is she doing here? No, don’t answer. Keep your mouth shut, and I won’t hurt you.”
He dragged Logan up to the bedroom and shoved him inside.
“Now, let’s get a few things straight. You stay here, or get out of town. I never want to see you around school, or anywhere else, and certainly not around my girlfriend, you got that?”
Logan looked pointedly down at the floor, and Kyle turned and walked out of the room.
Outside, Anna frowned at the ground as she walked down the street, hoping to get home before dark.
Boys! she thought huffily. Why can’t they just get over themselves! It’s not like Logan was hurting me or anything.
From behind her, a masked man stepped out of the alley between Logan’s house and the next. He glanced both ways before hurrying off down the street, vanishing from sight just as Kyle came out of the front gate. The man ran away to the old warehouse at which the incident of the other night had occurred. Inside, the men lounged around restlessly, their leader sprawled out on an old moth eaten couch sitting awkwardly in the middle of the room. The masked man ran in and up to the leader swiftly.
“Hey! I’ve got something. The boy showed himself today. I’ve got a photo!”
The leader sat up.
“What good is a photo to me if he’s not out now!”
“Here, this is it. He’s still alive, so he’ll come out soon, I know it. We can catch him then.”
“Who’s this girl next to him?”
“She’s been visiting him recently. I think she’s some sort of friend of his.”
The leader stared at the picture, the wheels turning in his head, and the beginnings of an idea forming on his face.
“I’ve got it! We’ll go after the girl to get to the boy!”
“Really, boss? That didn’t work so well last time-”
“The stupid brat didn’t know how to contact him, and wouldn’t talk anyway. This time it’ll be different.”
He sat back with an evil grin on his face and glared at the picture of Logan and Anna in wicked satisfaction.
Monday morning dawned cloudy and grey, and it looked like it might rain. Julian had been kept an extra night at the hospital, and wasn’t to be released until that afternoon. Anna avoided Kyle all that day, and the others were oddly quiet throughout the day, causing it to pass by uneventfully. The gang was going to see Julian out of the hospital after school, but Anna passed it up, choosing instead to walk home alone from school. She shouldered her bag and trudged along the pavement, thoughts whirling through her head like leaves on the Autumn winds. She was passing underneath a dark bridge and heard footsteps approaching from behind. As she turned to look, her arms were seized and pinned behind her back, and a scrap of cloth was pulled over her mouth. She was hustled along to the same warehouse at which the fight had taken place only a few nights before. The cloth was taken from her mouth, but her arms were held tightly as she came face to face with the leader of the group. He grinned at her as she glared back.
“Well hello there. You’re even prettier in person. I assume you want to know why you’ve been brought here?”
Anna glared hatred at him, without deeming a response necessary.
“I want you to do a little something for me. Take this phone and call the boy Logan. You tell him to come here if he wants you to live.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Like I said. If he wants you to live.”
Anna took the phone and made the call.
Logan was up in his room, looking through his things for a specific shirt, and glanced over at the window. Leaning up against the sill was a red umbrella, folded up and looking very out of place. Logan walked over and picked it up. It wasn’t his or Layra’s. Anna must have left it here while she was over before. He put it down, intending to call her and see if she wanted him to bring it over to the school. At that moment, his phone rang, and he pulled it out, answering immediately. On the other end, he heard Anna’s voice, shaky and frightened.
“Logan? I’m in trouble. Those men have me at the warehouse. They say you have to come down if you want me to live.”
Then the phone was hung up.
“Anna? Anna!”
Logan tossed the phone aside onto the bed and tore out of the house at top speed.
Back at the warehouse, the leader had taken the phone from Anna and hung it up.
“What are you going to do to him?” she asked him warily. He grinned at her as the men sat her down by some crates.
“Kill him. What else?”
“And you’ll let me go once you have him?”
“What, and let you tell everyone who we are? You’ve seen our faces, doll. We can’t let you live now.”
Just then, one of the men glanced down at her and called out in alarm.
“Hey boss! She’s got a phone! She’s got a phone out!”
The leader stood up and yelled at them.
“Get it away from her! Grab it!”
Anna smashed the phone against the concrete floor, safely ending the call and burying all records of it. The leader grabbed her by the throat and lifted her to her feet.
“Who did you call?”
Anna remained silent, and not just because she was choking. The leader threw her to the ground and motioned to the men.
“Take her and put her with the other one.” he said nastily. Anna was dragged away to a dark room that looked like it was once an office, but the windows had been smashed in and boarded up. The door was opened and the dim lights from outside lit the interior of the room, falling across a pale, frightened face and a dirty gray high school uniform. Anna gasped.
“Layra!”
Logan walked into the warehouse and prepared to face all of the hunters by himself. He walked in through the open door and found them all waiting for him, carrying crowbars, aluminum baseball bats, metal piping, and even planks of wood. He readily took on their first few blows, but even he couldn’t stand up to sheer numbers, and soon found himself being overwhelmed. First he took a blow to the arm, then a metal pipe in the ribs, and finally, a baseball bat hit his back, and he fell to his knees. Then someone kicked him in the stomach, and he hit the floor, curled up in a fetal position and groaning with pain. He was going to die here, and he knew it. Who would save Anna? And what would become of Layra?
The gang had gone to the hospital to pick up Julian and celebrate his release. As they were leaving, Kyle’s cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. The caller ID read Anna, so he answered it quickly. But what he heard on the other end was anything but what he expected to hear.
“And you’ll let me go once you have him?”
“What, and let you tell everyone who we are? You’ve seen our faces, doll. We can’t let you live now.”
“She’s got a phone, boss! She’s got a phone out!”
“Get it from her! Grab it!”
There was a horrible crunch, and then a dial tone sounded. Kyle hung up and shoved the phone into his pocket, turning around and rushing out to the others.
“Hey, guys! Anna’s in big trouble! We’ve gotta go help her!”
Julian turned around.
“What kind of trouble?”
“She’s down at the warehouse. Those guys we fought before kidnapped her. We’ve gotta go save her!”
Blake spoke up.
“Last time we fought them, Julian got hurt.”
“But it wasn’t the mobsters’ fault, now was it? We’ll beat them easy.”
Julian nodded, stepping up next to Kyle.
“He’s right. We had no trouble beating them before, and if Anna’s in trouble, we have to go help her. It’s our duty as gentlemen to assist a lady in distress.”
Murmurs of agreement broke out, and they unanimously elected to go save Anna, charging out of the hospital for the old warehouse.
Logan looked up as the men closed in on him, weapons raised, and readied himself to give a good fight, but just at that moment, footsteps sounded on the threshold, and out of the shadows walked ten familiar and welcome figures. Eight of them immediately engaged in combat, while Julian and Kyle hauled Logan up from the ground, setting him upright on his feet.
“Why did you come, and how did you know I was here.”
“Don’t kid yourself, traitor. We’re here for Anna.”
“Right. Of course. For Anna. Well, then let’s get to it, huh?”
Kyle nodded and set in with fists blazing.
“You messed with my girl, losers! Now come and get yours!”
Julian shook Logan’s hand with a grin on his face that belied all expectations of any possible reaction from one who had been in the hospital for three days on the fault of the one on whom he now endowed this kind smile.
“Good to see you, bro. Now let’s get our girl, eh?”
Logan, taken completely aback by this, managed a confused grin before weighing in on the hunters. As soon as the leader saw they were losing, he dragged the two girls out of the back room to use as a human shield, he and his two men cutting a retreat across the concrete floor. Logan turned, knocking down a hunter, and what he saw inflamed his heart and soul. The girl he loved with all his heart, wrists bound, hair tangled, face smudged and white, eyes wide and fearful, clothes rumpled and dirty, and staring straight at him.
“LAYRA!” he roared, charging at the hunters in a raging fury. He grabbed the man who was holding Layra’s arm and pulled back his fist, his vision misting with red.
NO. he thought quickly. I can’t lose myself. Layra wouldn’t want it.
He hesitated, glancing at Layra’s frightened face. He tried to bring himself back, but that hesitation was just the opening that the leader needed. He grabbed a metal pipe and brought it crashing down on the back of Logan’s neck. There was a horrible crunch, and Logan fell on his hands and knees. His ears rang for a split second, and then he saw his friends spinning around him, battling the hunters for Anna’s sake. And for his sake. Then he felt cold concrete, and then… nothing.
Layra stared in shock at the limp, cold body at her feet, then felt someone tugging at her arm. She resisted the pull, unable to move. She couldn’t go. She wouldn’t go. And then it came over her. The one she loved, and had loved since she first laid eyes on him, was finally dead.
So this is what you meant, Great Council. So this is the tragedy that was to befall him. It is as all things should be. But he can’t die! I don’t want him to die!
She felt a horrible ache in her chest that no tears could relieve. It rose up in her throat, and she felt it tear its way from her throat.
“NO!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Every single person in the warehouse froze and stared in shocked and amazement at the girl who had been mute the entire time they had known her. Then a wave of light shot from her chest and engulfed the entire scene in sharp detail. Layra rose slowly in the air, light streaming from her eyes, and swirling around her in a veritable cyclone of brilliance. Her clothes glowed, then morphed into a long robe of pure silver. A shrieking wail resounded through the chamber, and every hunter in the room screamed loudly, and shattered into ash. The cry rose to a crescendo, and a single shimmering tear spilled from the corner of Layra’s eye, running down her cheek and falling through the air to land on Logan’s bare wrist. It shone for a moment, then dripped across the tattoo that had haunted his dreams for years, washing it away as though it had never been. She turned her glowing eyes upon him in sorrowful affection, and her whole body shimmered and glowed, then spun itself up into a miniscule dot of light, and vanished into thin air. The wailing died away, and all that remained were ten petrified boys, a limp body, several piles of ash, and a weeping girl in a school uniform. The gang rushed over to Logan, ready to mourn his passing, but at that moment, something began to happen to him. His hair was darkening from light blond to black. Anna fell to her knees next to him, and the others crowded round, crouching and leaning close. Logan’s chest slowly began to rise and fall, and his eyes flickered open, not a hint of red in them. He saw a girl’s face swimming above him and reached his hand up slowly.
“Layra?” he asked in a whisper. Anna took his hand in hers, tears welling up in her eyes.
“No, I’m afraid not. It’s Anna.”
“I’m… alive?”
Julian reached out a hand.
“You sure are, mate.”
Logan took the outstretched hand and was pulled to his feet.
“How?”
No one answered. Logan posed another question.
“Where’s Layra? She was here, I know it. Where’d she go?”
There was a morbid silence, the stillest silence Logan had ever known.
“Guys? Where’s Layra?”
Then Anna stepped forward. A tear ran down her cheek, followed by two more, and then a fourth.
“I’m sorry, Logan. She’s… she’s gone.”
“Gone? Where? Don’t tell me she’s…”
The only sound was of Anna’s tears. Logan took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“How did it happen?”
Still no answer. Logan opened his eyes.
“Please. I need to know!”
Glances were passed back and forth, and then Seth looked up at Logan.
“She just, sort of, vanished.”
“What?”
“There was a lot of light, and screaming, and then she was just… gone.”
“What happened to the men?”
The boys parted, so Logan could see the whole warehouse, and Trent pointed at one of the piles of ash. Logan looked at him with a skeptical grin. They all stared back at him steadily, completely serious. Logan’s grin melted.
“How…? What…? Who…?”
“It was Layra,” Blake said solemnly. And in turn they shared the story. When it was finally over, Logan was silent. Anna touched his arm.
“Are you okay?” she asked with concern. He nodded mechanically. One by one, the boys slowly left the warehouse, filtering out into the night. Finally, Logan was left alone in the cold, dark, lonely building with only his regrets as company. He sighed deeply and trudged out into the night, a tear slowly dripping from his eye. He did nothing to wipe it away as he walked down the street, his own footsteps echoing in his ears as he saw her face in his mind, smiling and happy, as he remembered her. He felt angry, as though some kind of animal was rising up inside of him, but the insanity of his other self was gone. No longer did his eyes flare red, nor his teeth grow sharp, nor his restraint excuse itself from existence. He wanted to hurt somebody, but there was nobody to hurt. He kicked at the ground viciously, wanting to kill something, to kill himself, but not having the guts to do it. A silvery light shone on the pavement before him, but he didn’t notice it. Then a quiet voice spoke behind him.
“You aren’t happy?”
Logan spun around, and was confronted by an angelic vision hovering in the air above him. Layra hung there, wearing a gown that seemed as though it was woven from starlight. He fell to his knees before her, his jaw slack, and his eyes wet.
“Are you real?”
“Why shouldn’t I be?”
“You’re not just my imagination? Not a dream?”
“A dream conjured by what force?”
“By my sadness.”
“And why are you sad?”
“Because you’re gone. I can’t be happy unless I have you here with me.”
A tear sparkled in the corner of her eye, and she sank down to earth, the starlike dress melting away into her dirty uniform. She fell into Logan’s arms, hugging him tightly. Logan returned the embrace immediately, both weeping tears of joy.
“I thought I’d lost you forever!”
“So did I!”
“You saved my life!”
“I love you!”
Logan pulled back and stared at her.
“You what?”
Layra looked up into his eyes.
“I love you.”
Logan stared, then laughed, then cried, then laughed again.
“I love you, too, Layra! I love you with all my heart!”
It was a happy scene on the side of the road, full of laughter and hugs. Their laughter would have faded had they but seen what was unfolding at Logan’s house. A tall figure stood in the center of the bedroom, glancing around. He picked up the red umbrella from the window sill and looked it over carefully. He dropped it to the ground and turned to the bed, reaching down to pick up the cell phone that rested against the covers. As his hand extended to take the phone, he looked down at his hand and saw that a tattoo on the inside of his wrist had lit with a blue glow, shimmering for a moment, then fading to black once more. He turned to the mantle of the fireplace and looked at the picture that stood there. He lifted the frame to look at the image within more clearly, then, with a roar, he flung it against the ground with smashing force, shattering the glass and ripping the photo inside. He turned to the window and screamed in rage.
“She has taken him from me!” He growled in his fury. Then he turned and stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him.
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