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She started with the most important things. Hair, makeup, outfit. Getting herself ready, and making sure everything else had been set up and perfect.
Because, if just one thing was off, just one, the whole night would be ruined.
And we can’t have that, can we?
Not a chance.
It was first things first, though. She checked herself in the mirror.
Hair was on point. Of course it was. She had done it herself. Tied in a French braid, not a single strand was loose or out of place.
Makeup. From the foundation to the baking itself, the final result had given her life. It was totally worth putting in the time to touch it up after rushing back here so she could work on everything else. A few seconds to spare made all the difference.
Then, her outfit. There was no way she was going to spend an entire school day sitting around, walking to different classrooms, bumping into other students in the halls, getting her best clothes all frumpy and wrinkled. That was like the last thing she wanted.
No, the last thing she wanted was for the night to go poorly. She had trust in herself, that she would be coming correct, but her responsibilities didn’t stay with just her. She had others to look out for, make sure they were alright. It was important. It was crucial.
But, for now, her outfit.
An olive green baggy field coat, the color going great with her eyes. A black sweater, the brand name stylized and on fire. Her skirt was denim, loose, hanging around her knees, ripped in certain places so the threads would hang. Then her kicks, simple off-white skate shoes, grey striped long socks that she purposefully bunched around the knees. It was a simple look, but it gave her the confidence she needed, that she could actually pull this off.
That confidence was already there, though, but more wouldn’t hurt, especially when it came from coordinating a cute fit. She knew that she wouldn’t be alone, either. She had others to look out for, but they were looking out for her too.
And together, they were going to get this done right.
Fixing her hair one last time, she set it into place before checking her phone. It was blowing up. No way she could respond to all of them.
But she found the ones that absolutely needed a reply. A group chat. She read through the most recent texts then sent a few of her own. Immediately, her replies were sent scrolling past the top of the screen. It was like they didn’t even read them.
But she got another text. Outside of the group chat.
Maria.
Asking if there was anything extra they’d need to bring for tonight. She thought it over.
Nope.
She sent her reply. She had it covered. The only thing she needed from Maria was to scope the place out before they’d get there.
Maria replied. She was on it.
She smiled.
Everything is coming together. The pieces are moving into position.
Checking herself in the mirror one more time, she liked what she saw. The final piece.
No, there was one more.
The queen.
And she was about to go collect her.
Grabbing her bag and keys, she headed out of her room.
But not before catching her mom on the way down the stairs.
“You’re heading out too?”
Already at the door, stepping into a pair of white heels. They weren’t cute, but they were classy.
“I am. I thought I told you this. Rehearsal dinner at the hotel?”
“Oh I know, but it’d be weird if we just passed each other without saying anything.”
“Then come up with something better to say.”
“Wow.”
Her mom stood straight, stamping her foot down. The heel clicked. She was smiling.
“You’re welcome to come with.”
“I’d rather go for spontaneity on the night of. Besides, I have my own-”
“Oh, tonight?”
“Yeah.”
“Well tell her I said-”
“I will.”
“But don’t be out too late. I want you home on this side of midnight.”
She nodded.
“Sure Mom.”
She gave her a look.
“Did you tell Dad that you’d be out?”
She gave her a look. A beat.
“Dad’s not here.”
“If you tell him he’ll hear you.”
Her mom got the door, opening it.
“Shoot, I’ll be late. You stay safe, and keep an eye on your friends.”
“Why do I have to?”
“Because Lord knows someone has to.”
Her mom winked, then reacted as if she was still surprised that she hadn’t left yet.
“Oh! Alright I’m off, you stay-”
“I know Mom, and I’ll do the other thing too!”
They both left the house, both eager to start their nights.
—
Katy sat with one foot flat on the floor, the other crossed over her leg. Deep in thought, so deep that she could drown.
To keep herself afloat, she kept an eye on the things around her.
The window beside her, watching as people passed, walking by, faces down, wholly engrossed in their world and concerns, their troubles and tribulations weighing heavy on their mind, turning their focus narrow and inward. Passing by, passing each other, only being aware enough of their surroundings as to not collide with anyone else. Minding their own business.
The entrance of the place, watching as people entered, coming in, faces up, looking at the menu above them, their attentions directed outward for but a brief moment. They’d speak with the girl at the front, who had to be entering the last hour of her shift, judging from how she kept scratching her neck, tapping her fingers on the register, and by the time she punched in their order, having to wait for it, and collect it once their name was called, those people would have already retreated back into their own worlds again, taking small sips, as if they were satisfied with their limited scope on everything. Their minds back to their business.
That was the problem, Katy figured. People were so easy to be absorbed in only their own concerns, that they would hardly, if ever, peek out of their shells and question just what the hell was going on around them. If everyone kept their eyes closed, then whatever they couldn’t see would be considered as normal.
But this wasn’t normal, it was just easy to pretend. The world was on fire, and nobody seemed to care.
The last thing Katy kept an eye on was her own reflection in her coffee, swirling in the black. Twisting. Spiraling.
Sitting alone, in several respects, it seemed.
Then the front door swung open, loud, and her eyes and the eyes of others darted up.
They had bursted in with little regard for anyone else, skipping light on their feet, skipping right to the front of the line, to the girl who had stopped tapping her fingers on the register, surprised at this person’s sudden entrance and approach.
Some raised their voices to complain, but more looked to see if there was a parent or guardian around to claim them… this kid. There wasn’t.
The kid had her arms propped on the counter, hopping up and down. She was already speaking over any complaints others might have.
“Hot chocolate please!”
The girl working the front punched in the order. The faster she got this kid out of the way, the sooner things would smooth back over. For Katy, just she found the whole thing funny.
Because to them, she really was just a kid.
“And do you like have marshmallows too?”
“Yeah.”
“How many can you put until you can’t see the drink anymore?”
“Enough so you can’t see the drink anymore.”
“Okay, how much-”
“Don’t worry about it.”
The girl started tapping again.
“Oh are you sure?”
The kid asked too loudly.
“I’m sure.”
The kid then smiled, wide enough to notice a gap in her teeth.
“Thank you!”
For courtesy, the kid… Doris, no, D, tossed out some cash anyways, then skipped to the side to wait for her drink. She caught Katy’s eye, smiled wide again, and turned around, hopping in place.
Katy couldn’t let herself get too mad at D, it was as useless as getting worked up over the weather. It was simply out of her control.
That didn’t stop her from giving D a slight glare, even with her back to her, ready for when-
D turned back around, drink in hand, rushing over to the booth. If D had noticed Katy’s expression, she didn’t acknowledge it. She skipped on over, not spilling a single drop from the ceramic saucer and cup.
“Yo!” D said, finally giving Katy a proper greeting. If that could even be considered proper. “Mind if I sit and oppose you?”
“You mean opposite me?”
“Okay,” D said.
Katy took a sip of her own, then said, “The more things change.”
“Hey, that’s not fair, I let the lady keep the change.”
Katy rolled her eyes at that.
D spun her cup so she could better see the logo. She glanced at the people sitting around them. Only now, did she try to take stock at what was around her.
“Cafe Sharktooth, what’s with this place?”
Katy set her cup down, into the saucer. It made a light clanking sound.
“There’s nothing with this place. It’s just convenient. I needed somewhere we can meet, and I thought of here. That’s it.”
D shrugged, still staring at her cup. Her drink.
“Yeah, they should have put more marshmallows.”
Katy pursed her lips together. She drew a breath across the top of her coffee. The image of her rippled.
A lot was on Katy’s mind. Concerns. Troubles. Her own business. But she knew to keep her eyes open to her surroundings. Stay alert. Stay diligent.
“Bitter?”
Katy looked at D again, a slight shake of her head.
“Over what?”
D pointed with her lips.
“I’m asking if your coffee is bitter. You didn’t put anything in it?”
“I didn’t really want to.”
“Whoa,” D said, “Whoa whoa. The world of grown-ups sounds pretty spooky.”
“Don’t put so much thought into it.”
“But there has to be a reason, right? There has to be a reason for everything.”
“That? Coming from you? I thought people who need a reason to do things are trash in your eyes.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that,” D said, smiling with her eyes closed, “It’s just more fun that way. My way. But that’s why I asked.”
“And that’s why I told you not to put so much thought into it.”
“Oof, you sure you don’t need some sugar?”
Katy breathed.
“If you’re not going to take this seriously, we can end this right now,” Katy said, “You don’t have to be here, and neither do I.”
D threw her hands up in an attempt to placate Katy. But it just looked like she was messing around some more.
“Whoa whoa whoa! What happened to you Big Sis? You did get so bitter. And cold. You should like really super lighten up, it’s already summer you know!”
Her only response was to raise her chin by a fraction. Katy was patient. She’d have to be, when dealing with someone like D. No, only when dealing with D, because there wasn’t anyone else like her.
She took the time to look out the window again. People passing. Minding their own business.
It was summer already.
Katy’s thoughts drifted to the time passed. The things lost along the way.
“So, any updates?”
Refocusing, Katy looked back at D.
She had a mouth full of hot chocolate and marshmallows, but made a point to finish it before adding, “I imagine that’s why I’m here.”
“You’re here because I need help, and I’m able to admit that and do something about it.”
“Sounds like a lot of work for me.”
“Depends on the work.”
D propped her elbows on the table. Katy considered saying something but didn’t.
“But before that… I want to hear from you, first.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s been forever. Yeah, come on. It’s summer, the sun’s out, I… we should be out there playing! So… enlighten me.”
Katy sighed. Listless. Drifting to that lost time again. Those things.
“There is… nothing worth mentioning.”
D pouted.
“Come ooooon, that can’t be true! You should tell me something. Anything.”
“And why should I?”
D tilted her chin down, slight, batting her eyes.
“Because we’re family, aren’t we? We’re practically sisters. And sisters basically share everything.”
“You have a severely skewed sense of sisterhood,” Katy said.
D shrugged.
“So it doesn’t have to be everything. That’s fine. Just give me something, anything.”
Then D grinned. Her ‘little sister,’ but they had something that ran deeper than any blood relation.
She was playing with her, Katy knew. To D, everything was a game. But that was fine too. Katy wasn’t unfamiliar with the rules. She played along.
“You tell me what you want to know, then.”
She watched as D put some serious consideration into it. Or, it was more likely that she was just messing around some more. Actually, knowing her, it was absolutely the latter.
“Oh!” D said. She jumped in her seat and snapped her fingers. “Let’s start with school. That’s always a good place to start. Yeah. School! How’s school?”
“You sound like Mom,” Katy said.
“Well, it’s been some time since I’ve last stepped into a classroom. I’ve forgotten what it’s like. Tell me about it.”
Katy answered. Not the actual question, but what D had implied instead. It was part of the game. D wouldn’t act so direct unless she was working at something else.
“What’s to say? It’s not like it changed since the last time you stepped in one. School is… school. The classes, the hallways, the textbooks. The… people. The uncomfortable silences, the uneasy tension, the lack of spirit, the passing whispers and stares. The plastered smiles. Everyone minding their own business. It’s all… normal.”
D tapped a finger on her chin.
“Hm. Sounds boring.”
“Like I said. Nothing worth mentioning. At least I don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“There has to be something,” D said. She wouldn’t let it go. “Give me something juicy. I thirst for whatever is fun and interesting. That’s my vice. I’d ask you yours, but I think I already know it.”
Katy raised an eyebrow.
“And that is?”
D tapped her chin again, then wagged her finger. Back and forth.
“No way, Big Sis, I asked first.”
Katy fought the urge to gesture or react in any way. D was playing with her. Another move.
So Katy made a move of her own.
“Maria. You remember her?”
“For sure. When you brought up asking for help I was wondering where she was. I absolutely adored her mask. Wish I had the chance to talk with her about it.”
“You’ll have to hold your peace on that a little longer. We’re not exactly on speaking terms anymore.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.”
“And by not exactly, you mean not at all?”
“Yeah,” Katy said, hating that she had to tip her hand further.
“And why’s that?”
Katy looked into her coffee cup. About half empty.
“Couldn’t say for sure. You’d have to ask her that. But, what I can say is that Maria doesn’t want to see me either, and that would include you, by extension. So don’t bother her, she won’t entertain you, like how I have the bad habit of doing.”
“I could do with a guess?”
“Don’t forget. If you’re not going to take this seriously-”
“Don’t pull that card! So lame! That’s like saying the only way to win the game is to not play.”
“Am I wrong?”
“Uh, yeah, you are. It’s not fun if it ends up being one-sided. As long as there’s a game to play, each side has a chance to win. So I’m on one side-”
D indicated to her cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows. Half full now.
“-And you’re on the other.”
D indicated to Katy’s coffee.
“So let’s play. And don’t be lame.”
Katy had her fingers around her cup, then she set them flat on the table, then underneath the table itself, resting between her legs.
“I don’t want to guess because I don’t want to do that to her,” Katy said. “I still see her as a friend, even if she literally doesn’t want to see me. I don’t know. Maybe she hated what I was getting her involved in, maybe she hated how it escalated, or that it had to escalate. Maybe she didn’t want it as badly as I did.”
Katy clenched her hands, forming fists. Where D couldn’t see.
“All I can do is guess. She ghosted me, after that night. And she’s never been one to be so open about herself.”
“Is that what you wanted help for? If she might talk?”
Katy shook her head.
“You want me to keep an eye on her now?”
Katy shook her head again.
“Nothing like that, no. If she’s done, then she’s done.”
She tried keep her voice from shaking in saying that. She didn’t try hard enough. She wasn’t even sure if she believed it herself.
D was staring. It made Katy want to look away.
If that was juicy enough for D, she didn’t mention.
Was that enough to win that round?
“You cut your hair.”
Katy looked up. It took a second for her thoughts to catch up, too.
“You only just now noticed?”
D brought the cup back up to her lips, half-drinking the hot chocolate, half-eating the marshmallows.
Katy frowned, but there wasn’t any actual hard feelings. She touched her hair like a habit, fixing it where it needed to be fixed. At its new length, new to D anyways, her hair barely brushed her shoulders.
D copied her, flicking her own hair and fixing her bangs. Playing it up.
“Looks just like mine!”
“As if.”
“You know,” D said, sitting back now, hair twirling around a finger, “She kept her hair around that length, too.”
It was as though D had twisted a knife. The weapon already sticking out of her side.
Katy flinched. She knew that D had caught that, but she kept her cool, or tried to, brushing her hair one more time.
She took another sip from her drink, thinking to herself, wondering just what the hell was she trying to accomplish now.
“I miss her, you know.”
Katy’s attention snapped back to the booth she was in. D sitting across from her, tugging at her choker.
“That’s the third time you said that,” Katy said.
“You don’t feel the same way?”
“Depends on who you’re referring to.”
“You know exactly who I’m referring to.”
“Fourth time,” Katy said, “And no, I don’t.”
D smirked. A slight show of her gap in her teeth.
Katy felt that twist again.
In order to put her mind on something else, Katy started reaching for the bag beside her.
“Don’t.”
Katy looked up.
“Can we do this somewhere else?”
Katy pulled her hand away.
“Did you have somewhere else in mind?”
Katy was trying to avoid that twisted feeling a third time.
“I do. I want to show you something.”
This wasn’t going according to plan. Not that she really had a plan in mind, but…
That was the point. She had business she wanted to tend to. And she needed help.
“Fine. We’ll go your way. For now.”
Lifting the cup, tilting it so the bottom pointed to the ceiling, D finished the rest of her drink. Slamming it down, her mouth was full of chocolate and marshmallows. Katy was afraid that D would speak and spray all over her face… but she didn’t. She actually had the manners to talk without her mouth being full.
“Then let’s go! Finally, we can go outside!”
Katy would have said something, that they weren’t going out to play… but she didn’t. She knew how D worked, or rather how she didn’t want to see things as work. If she wanted D’s help, she’d have to make it interesting, keep her interest. That meant giving her a game to play.
And if she had to see it like that, too… fine.
Maybe that was what this was, the whole time. A game.
Katy finished her drink and joined D when she hopped out of the booth, heading out of the coffee shop, getting ready for round two.
—
She sang along on the drive there. A rap song, and she knew every word.
The bass rumbled through the black BMW. Her father’s car.
She had her hands loose on the wheel, speeding a good ten miles above the limit. But she was taking the back roads, with not a single vehicle around. No one around to impede her. So she hit the gas a little harder, heard the engine growl, and felt the slight curve of the street underneath her tires as she swerved.
At the top of her lungs, she rapped as the song moved into the hook.
“Drank in my cup, I ain’t seeing straight, blood in my mouth, I ain’t seeing straight!”
The engine went harder as ten became fifteen.
“One mo’ shot to the head, I ain’t seeing straight, I might die tonight, but I’m feeling great!”
The higher speeds the car reached, the more she reveled in the mean, couldn’t-give-less-of-a-fuck attitude of the song. She turned the volume up.
The bass boomed, and she could feel it in her chest. Part of the reason why she liked using this car. It had a great audio system, and it paired well with the music she liked. The beat thumped against the speakers, making the sound more rich and full. The lyrics, too, were more clear, and made it more fun to sing along to.
She could drive like this all night, if the road allowed, getting lost in it all, without a single worry.
But, there was somewhere she had to be. Things she had to keep in mind. Important things.
She thought about what her mom said.
As the car went around a bend, she let it slow. She turned the volume down to a more acceptable level, too.
Stay safe and keep an eye on your friends.
She’d do that, in fact she was off to do that at this very moment. After all, what would they do without her?
Probably wander off and get lost, that’s what.
Her thoughts were getting away from her. Right now she had to focus on this. That was her primary concern.
She was going to pull this off, it was all going to come together.
Almost at the end of the road. No one was around. She signaled a turn anyways.
She was almost there. And she couldn’t wait.
—
D had arrived first, pushing the heavy doors open with all her might.
Katy followed her inside.
There was an absence of sound, so oppressive that it stole her voice away. The halls and aisles, they were as hallowed as they were hollowed.
St. Elizabeth had been gutted and ripped apart, and it had been left to rot.
Wooden rows were made into splinters, seat cushions and pages from hymnals torn and turned to shreds. Glass shards littered the floor, most of it swept to the side, but a lot was not. There was just too much of a mess, here.
Bullets and their casings too. Katy and D watched their step.
They walked deeper into the church. Their footsteps carried through the building, echoing out, showing just how empty this place had become. Desolate. Abandoned by God, and even the Devil.
D led Katy to the front row, still intact, somehow. The altar up ahead was crushed to pieces, and Katy saw the crucifix, the arms and legs were removed from the body. As if they had been sliced off.
She noticed deep marks were gouged into the tile and stone, almost like claw marks. When Katy checked behind her, she saw similar damage done to the floor, wall, and ceiling of the church. A spiral of destruction.
Katy took a seat first, setting some stuff beside her. D plopped down onto a cushion on the floor.
When Katy finally spoke, it was a near whisper.
“I remember the last church I visited. St. Francis Xavier. That one got trashed too. But not nearly as bad as this one.”
“This one was pretty bad,” D said. From where she sat, she looked around the church, Katy watching how her eyes traced a path, making a circle. Or a spiral.
“May I ask how bad?”
Katy asked, wary, watching her still.
D’s gaze was elsewhere, and Katy noticed a shine in the corner of them. Just a smidge of water catching what little light was in here. She blinked it away.
Finally, D answered.
“Pretty bad.”
Katy nodded. She wouldn’t pry that much. Even D had her boundaries.
She wondered, then, just why D chose this location to reconvene. What did she have in mind?
Katy wanted to ask, but there were more important things to get to.
But, D herself was important, too. Someone she wanted to keep an eye on.
“We can go somewhere else,” Katy said, “If this isn’t going to work for you.”
D tugged at her choker, blinking.
“No, it’s fine. I’m fine. I come here when I can, clean up here and there, but there’s just so much and… yeah.”
“I can see that.”
D kept looking around, gaze wandering. Katy let her take all the time she needed. She could be patient.
“I miss her.”
“You’ve already told me that.”
“But it’s true. The last time I saw her, it was here. The last time I could see her as a sister. Not as a plaything, but as someone to play with.”
“I told you what you were getting out of helping me that time. You knew the risks involved.”
“Of course I knew, but how could I have known that it’d come to this? I got more than what I asked for, and I had a lot of fun. But I also stood to lose a lot, too, and that scared me. Friends, people I started to see as family. Lawrence… and her. And then it happened, I did lose all those things, and now I’m here, and all I can do now is just… sweep the pieces away.”
“Are you saying you have regrets?”
“I’m too young to have regrets.” D leaned back, arms behind her, propping her up. “But I do wonder… just who the real winner is, in this little game of yours.”
Katy didn’t respond to that. She didn’t like where this was going.
D took in a deep breath, and exhaled hard.
“I’m curious, Big Sis, if I had to play with you again, what do I stand win?”
“Closure,” Katy answered, without missing a beat.
“Closure. Why? What more do you need?”
“I didn’t… She got away from me. That wasn’t supposed to happen. I wanted to see her, face to faceless. I wanted my eye on her.”
“For what? So you two could talk?”
“If it came down to it.”
“What would you have talked about?”
Katy answered without missing a beat. It was something that had been on her mind for a very long time.
“Why she ran away, why she left us all behind. Her friends, her mom. Maria. Me. Why didn’t she tell me. She was my best friend. I was supposed to look out for her, and she was supposed to have my back. And for her to just… fucking throw all of that away. I want to know why.”
D leaned to one side.
“Do you think she’s still alive?”
Katy missed that particular beat.
“She had better fucking be, because I’m not done with her yet. Even if it means dragging her out of Hell myself, even if it means becoming a monster. I will find her. And then, and only then, do I get to put her back there, and I leave her to burn.”
D’s gaze moved to Katy. There was a sadness in them, something that went beyond her age. Pity, too.
That angered her.
“How long has it been… No one’s heard anything since. And besides, who is to say the person you lost has been gone even before all this? You don’t know a thing about who you’re after.”
“You’ve kept me in the loop, you gave me updates.”
“I gave you what she was doing, you never cared about who she was. Did you ever? Or were you just wanting to satisfy your irresponsible sense of egoism?”
“Excuse me?”
“Let’s say you really do get what you want, and she’s sitting right here in front of you, right now. I think you might disappointed with what you end up getting.”
“That will be for me to decide.”
D maintained that look of pity. A slight smirk. It aggravated her.
“Funny, we’ve been talking about the same person, yet two very different people. The one you’re looking for… Alexis Barnett? Sorry to say, but I never met her. I don’t know her. The one I did know, Wendy, she didn’t want to have anything to do with Alexis. She hated her, rejected her. She wouldn’t, or couldn’t, tell you a single thing, she refused to look at that part of herself. And now they’re both gone.”
Katy crossed her arms.
Then, D moved her hand into her jacket again, pulling something out.
D continued.
“The last time I saw her was in here. I said… something, I don’t know, it was the wrong thing at the wrong time. But I saw it in her eyes. The very instant my Vivi winked out of existence. Everything that followed… There was no going back from that.”
D threw her hand out at Katy, something flying in her direction. Katy caught it.
A chess piece. A black queen.
“And there’s no point in trying to continue. The game is over, Big Sis. I suggest you give it up, too.”
Katy squeezed the piece in her hand, feeling it press into her palm. The sharp point of the queen’s crown could stab into her, if she put enough pressure. She was just shy of it.
“A simple no from the beginning would have sufficed.”
D shrugged.
“Bad habit.”
Katy glanced down at the stuff she had brought with her. The bags and files… things she didn’t have a chance to bring up and discuss, and D led her all the way here just to shut her down.
She clenched her jaw, teeth grinding together.
Giving it up… that was impossible. Even if it seemed easy, because everyone else had given up already. Maria was gone, Shiori had moved back to Japan, seemingly abandoning all hope of ever seeing her daughter again. Uncle J let himself deteriorate, close to meeting her father, and her own mother taken the first steps in a backslide… Everyone was giving up, everyone was acting like this was normal.
She couldn’t accept that.
It was all so…
D asked her, sudden, “Do you know what your vice is?”
“And what is that?”
“Frustration.”
Katy almost laughed. She could hardly believe how this was going now.
“Is that so?”
“That’s my assessment.”
Katy leaned back into her seat, arms still crossed.
She looked at the broken cross at the altar, she looked at the confessional past that, busted and collapsed in different places.
Katy thought about what D said.
“The only thing free in life… I bet he told her that, I bet she believed him.”
“And you?”
“It’s hardly free. In fact it cost me everything. But I’m willing to pay that price again.”
D reached for her choker again, tugging at it.
“Then I’m sorry I can’t help you a second time around.”
“I’m sorry too. I guess you have changed.”
“And you stayed the same.”
Katy opened her mouth.
“By imposing too great a responsibility, or rather, all responsibility, on yourself, you crush yourself!”
Katy and D both turned around.
The doors of the church were being thrown wide open, blinding daylight punching through the oppressive dark they were sitting in.
A long figure cut a hole in the light, standing with their arms out. They walked, holding that pose, trying to make their entrance more grand.
As they progressed down the aisle, more joined them, stepping into the church. From the outlines, Katy could see helmets. Biker helmets.
They filed out into the different rows, or where the rows would be, if the church hadn’t been made into temple ruins instead. They stood in position. Every row the first figure passed, was another row the bikers filled up with their numbers.
Katy stared at Styx as he and his gang infiltrated, intruding on her plans. What little plans she had left now.
They marched towards Katy and D, then to Katy herself.
Her heart pounded heavy as he hopped and spun and landed in the seat next to Katy. He crossed one leg over the other, and put one arm around her.
She couldn’t look at him anymore. It was too sudden. She tried to look at D, who as surprised as she was. Or was that another play as well?
Styx spoke close to her ear.
“An important lesson, a hard one to learn. Some manage to be lucky, like you and I…”
With a bony finger, he gestured between them.
“And other’s, well, they do get crushed.”
Styx then pointed ahead, to the ruined crucifix, the altar underneath.
“What the heck are you doing here?”
D asked when Katy could not.
Styx didn’t look at her, but he did answer.
“Just happened to be in your area, so I swung by to thank you all for… thank you, just, thank you.”
Styx was nodding, bobbing his head, eyes closed, whispering to himself. It was like he was crying. Katy was unsure of what to make of anything, anymore.
“Thank you, truly, because I would have never been able to bear witness to such a beautiful punchline if it hadn’t been for your setup. I would have never been able to do it on my own, seems like I still have some things to learn in my old age.”
Katy could feel the warmth from his arm, wrapped around the back of her neck. Like a serpent. She clutched the chess piece, feeling its sharpness dig into her skin.
“Mister and Mrs. Carter would like to express their gratitude as well. Because of you, everything went splendidly. Because of you, we were able to scale down our operations in light of the recent and increased attention on Stephenville. Because of you, we were able to develop an infrastructure that allowed us to continue at a sufficient level to this day. Because of you, I was able to laugh louder than I ever had in years. Because of Victor, because of John Cruz, because of Alma, because of Dong-Yul, because of the Thompson Act, because of you.”
“Don’t me throw me in with them,” Katy said, “You wolves thinned the herd yourselves.”
“No no, you did your part, looking after Blueballs, keeping tabs, with her being your eyes and ears.”
Styx pointed to D, now. D squirmed.
“And all that was left for me to do was nudge things here and there for the desired effect. My most perfect joke. What a lovely fool, I think I’ll miss her too.”
Katy was losing what little patience she had left. And she thought she had enough to spare.
“If you’re just here to sing your praises, then there. You’re welcome. You can leave now.”
The arm around her neck tightened in its grip. Katy shuddered. An instant regret.
“Non, noir comme du jais, non. You see, you don’t have just my thanks, but my services as well. If you are up to the offer.”
Katy traded a look with D. Nothing.
“What services?”
Styx indicated to the bag beside Katy. “Looks like you have a lot to unpack, and D here refused to answer the call. All I’m saying is, you can ring me. Ring ring.”
Katy felt a prickling sensation, creeping up her spine. She wanted to move, but she couldn’t, knowing how dangerous someone like Styx was. This was a game she wanted to get out of.
“How did you even…”
“Open it. Show me.”
She briefly considered any other potential options. She squeeze the chess piece again.
Could she even refuse someone like Styx? She had seen his work before, she had seen how it lost her a father.
She wouldn’t make the same mistake as him. Or her. Styx wasn’t one to be underestimated.
Katy reached for the bag, setting it in her lap. With Styx’s wide stare on her, she pulled at the zipper.
Files, documents, photos. Notebooks. Even hard drives upon hard drives of stored information. Katy sifted through the work.
“This is everything Natalie Beckham and Oliver Morgan left behind. You remember them? Of fucking course, you had her kill them too. Every scribbled note, every recording, every bit of data, every interview, it’s all here.”
“Yes, the thought of that crossed my mind. Those two… ever the revenants, living on through their work.”
Katy considered that. Maybe revenant was the right word for all of this.
She sifted through the notes in front of her When she spoke again, she was thinking aloud.
“We warned them, that they would be targeted. And they’re not fools, or maybe they were in the end, but they had enough experience to know that themselves. They wouldn’t need us to tell them that the invitations to John Cruz’s event was a trap, but they went anyways. And we tried to mitigate things on our end, so they wouldn’t get killed.”
“We did,” D said, “I tried.”
“But they went anyways, and they got killed. And they left me with all of… this.”
Katy flipped through a page, and something caught her eye.
She pulled out that particular piece of paper, and her heart thumped. Almost as hard as the moment she learned that her father had passed away. Almost.
“Everything they had on her.”
Alexis Barnett’s smiling face. Wide, genuine, free. Not a care in the world. It haunted Katy, it taunted her. Made her all the more frustrated.
The queen stabbed at her even harder.
“I don’t know why, but they left me with the burden of the truth, as they knew it. But there’s still… there’s still glaring holes, and I need help filling them in.”
“You need help,” Styx said, “And I’m offering my wide-reaching tentacles.”
“You?” Despite her fear, Katy had to suppress the urge to scoff. “The last thing I need is to be used in another setup, or be made into your next punchline. Thanks, Styx, but no fucking thanks.”
Styx cackled. With him being so close, it startled her.
“You’re good, you really are. Smart. Just like your father.”
That fear turned into something much colder. Sharper.
She was already close, but then she moved even closer, past the leather jacket, past bare skin, and between the ribs.
Katy stabbed into Styx the pointed chess piece.
A shock ran throughout the entire church. Through D, through Katy, through the rows and rows of Ferrymen behind her.
The only one who wasn’t shocked was Styx himself. A low chuckle ran through him instead.
He pulled back, taking his arm off of Katy. He used it to pull back his jacket, looking down. He wasn’t wearing a shirt underneath, so thin lines of blood were free the trickle down from the wound. The base of the queen was barely sticking out. Katy had pressed in, and pressed in hard.
Styx kept chuckling.
Katy couldn’t bear to hear more of it. More of Styx, more of D, more of this sick, fucked up world.
“I am nothing like him. He, who made it his fucking business to try and shape this city, this world, into his own image. Fuck that. I want to burn this shit to the ground. This world, and the other one that’s out there, the one that stole Alexis Barnett from me and turned her into… something else entirely. It’s in the shadows, and I want to take a torch to that fucking world and set it alight.”
And then she added, just to hear herself say it, “And I’m nothing like her either.”
Styx was laughing harder now.
Frustrated, Katy got out of her chair, collecting the files that had spilled over during her sudden outburst.
She thought how useless this was, how pointless. Like she was being mocked for even trying to focus on the most important things.
She hated her old self, she rejected them. She didn’t even want to consider that past person and those past thoughts as herself, anymore. To think she had let herself fall into that trap, once before. To be like everyone else. To have given up and just be normal. It was pitiful. And she wasn’t about to make that mistake twice.
She gathered her things and got prepared, she looked at D. Her little-
No.
Katy spoke to her.
“I’ll find her, and with her the truth. I’ll fill in the blanks, and I’ll get it down the very letter. This is your last chance, D. Grow up.”
As she feared, D shook her head.
“Adieu, Katy.”
Lesson learned. She’d do it herself.
Then she turned, running now, running away.
Leaving them all behind, Katy pushed the doors open, the light momentarily blinding her.
—
She used the moonlight to guide where she’d park. Avoid the lamppost, since they were too direct. The moon was a softer source, she could sit in the shadows and become imperceptible, especially from a good distance. The black paint of the car helped, too, blending in with the dark.
Those were the details she had to think about. Important details. She didn’t want to make it too obvious, just be careful, just to be safe.
See Mom? Just as you asked.
She smiled to herself.
Finding a decent spot, in a corner by some shrubbery, she moved the car into position and set it to park.
Turning the music down all the way, she took out her phone and sent out a text. Not to the group chat, and not to Maria either. Someone else.
Setting her phone down, the only thing left for her to do was wait. And she couldn’t wait.
Ugh, I am so ready to leave.
Tapping her foot, shaking her leg, looking out from across where she had parked.
Such a slowpoke.
She groaned, already impatient. She wanted to turn her music back up, but she felt that might jinx things somehow. That she might attract some unwanted attention, that she might get caught. Better to play it safe.
To pass the time, she went through everything in her head one more time. Just to make sure she had everything in order, so tonight would go perfect.
She put to mind her own business.
Drinks? Got that covered. There’s gonna be more there too. Music? Got that covered too. Everybody’s got their invites… Him? Check. And her? Waiting on this bitch to hurry up and get in here.
She checked herself in the rearview mirror. And again.
Hell yeah. This is gonna be great.
More than great. Perfect.
She really couldn’t wait.
Then, before her patience could wear any thinner, she saw her.
Running across the length of the parking lot, staying close to the shadows, only the faintest of glimmers falling on one side of her body. A fitting sweater, and… was that a new skirt? It looked cute on her.
Her long hair ran free in the light wind. She raised a hand to fix it, then waved in the direction of the car.
The queen herself.
Hurrying over, the passenger side opened, and she hopped in.
“Present,” Alexis said.
“You definitely look like one, birthday girl, should have put a bow on you too.”
“Shut up, we’re still a few hours out from that.”
“Shit, what time is it?”
Alexis raised her hand again, pulling back a sleeve. A black watch adorned the wrist. A simple and sleek design, the face was blank, no numbers or markings, with only thin gold lines used to mark the time.
“Three hours until the big day,” Alexis said.
“I’m liking that watch, early birthday gift?”
“Yeah, my mom couldn’t wait until tomorrow, so she gave it to me before I went to school.”
“That is so sweet. But hey, speaking of…”
“It’s cool. She’s still at work. I think she wanted to have dinner with me tonight, but we should be good.”
“And you’re certain she won’t be mad at you for skipping?”
Alexis paused for a beat.
“Of course she’ll be mad, but with how late it is already, I’m more certain that she’d rather just go straight to bed when she does get home. She probably won’t notice that I’ve been out, and we can just have dinner over the weekend.”
She put the car in drive. “If you say so.”
“We’ll be fine. I’m not missing this party for the world.”
They both smiled.
“Not to hype you up or anything, but I pulled out all the stops so this night would go perfect. Maria’s scoping out Braham Barn as we speak, she’s got the cake already, and a good number of your volleyball friends are on route right now. Not to mention all the college kids that’ll be there just because it’s the weekend. It will be lit.”
“If that was you trying to temper my expectations, then you did a terrible job.”
“I’ll do you one worse then. He is going to be there.”
“He who?”
“You know who.”
Even in the dark, she could see Alexis start to blush.
“Oh fuck, Katy, you didn’t.”
“I so did.”
“No, that’s it. I’m getting out of here. I’m going home.”
She peeled out of the parking spot. Tires squealing.
“No way, Lexi,” she said. “Brandon will be there, you will be there, and you two will hit it off and it is going to be-”
“Perfect, I know,” Alexis said, a nervous smile on her face.
“Then get yourself together, Lexi, this is all for you. So, are you ready to go in there and party your ass off or not?”
The car hit the road, speeding off. She glanced at her best friend.
Alexis took a deep breath, as though she was about to dive head first into something crazy. Because she was, absolutely, but she wouldn’t be alone. There would always be someone watching over her, keeping an eye on her, reading her.
But for now, she was going to have some fucking fun.
“Yeah,” Alexis said, nodding, smiling wider. “I’m ready. Let’s give them hell!”
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