Project LOSS

Chapter 18

Not a day had passed since Milo’s memorial, and everybody was going about their usual business in the last free city. Kai had busied himself by taking on multiple jobs that did not require Vrethie’s input, leaving Vrethie to drown his sorrows alone. He sat outside the Pip & Berry public house, enjoying the fleeting bout of mild weather with a pint in his hand, thinking back to happier times when his whole makeshift family had been present.

Only one other patron was outside enjoying the last few hours of sunlight; an attractive girl in a red and white spotty rockabilly dress. From a quick scan of her mind, Vrethie discovered that her choice to sit outside was less to do with the pleasant weather and more to do with the handsome young man sitting atop the table against the wooden fence panel. She sat in the vain hope he would notice her and engage her in a conversation that would ultimately lead to some fairy-tale love story romance. Vrethie could have granted her wish and made her the happiest girl in the world, fulfilling her hearts every desire, but he knew from experience how quickly it would become a bore. She was much better off with her daydreamed version of Vrethie than the heart-breaking reality.

Stu, an elderly neighbour with a profound drinking problem, entered the garden. He patted Vrethie tentatively on the shoulder with a rough hand encased in a tattered fingerless glove.

“I feel terrible about what happened to your little friend,” Stu said, with genuine sorrow. Vrethie placed a hand over Stu’s and gently told him that it was okay.

“I saw a young woman acting suspicious outside your apartment that night, I should have done something, but I’m just an old man…”

“What woman?” Vrethie asked, interest piqued.

“Pretty little blonde girl,” recalled Stu, “it was the strangest thing.”

“What?” Vrethie grew impatient but did his best not to show it.

“Well, her face was blank and lifeless, like a doll. But her eyes… it’s as if she was screaming with her eyes, and she had streams of tears down her face.”

Delving into someone’s memories was not as simple as listening to their thoughts. Mind reading was akin to picking up a distant radio signal and could be involuntary. Searching memories, on the other hand, felt like standing above a vast body of dark water, peering at the fragmented images mingling just below the surface. Vrethie’s ability was like throwing a pebble into that water and examining the flurry of droplets that rose up, each one reflecting a unique recording of earlier events. Drunken memories often appeared distorted, upside down or blurry, but Vrethie had become an expert at deciphering them. He only had to take a brief look into Stu’s memories to recognise the girl who had been stalking him. The same girl with whom he had discussed learning Milo’s power.

 “It’s all my fault,” Vrethie whispered before wandering off, leaving behind a confused looking Stu, a disappointed rock-chick and a half-drunk pint. He was weightless – a leaf in the wind, drifting with no particular direction in mind, yet his feet took him home.

Hearing footsteps approaching fast, Vrethie glanced over his shoulder to find Meredith racing toward him. She stopped in front of him, paused to catch her breath and was about to speak when Vrethie put up a hand and gestured for her to be silent.

“I know what you want, but I’m not the one who can convince Kai.”

“Vrethie you can talk to him. The First and his generals are meeting to share blood. If it works—” Meredith began to argue before Vrethie silenced her again.

“No.”

“But he will listen to you,” Meredith continued.

“No. He will do whatever he wants like he always does.” Vrethie sighed. “Why do you think I warned you not to get on his bad side? Because I like the sound of my own voice? Or because I was just making conversation?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Meredith said, hope deflated. “Where is Kai?”

“Not sure. On a job somewhere,” Vrethie replied curtly.

“That’s helpful Vuh-Rethie” Meredith seethed, pronouncing the silent V because she knew how much it annoyed him. He made a mental note to punish her for this at some point in the future. He have hurt her now, but he just wasn’t in the mood.

“If you can hear me, please help!” a disembodied voice erupted into Vrethie’s mind from across a vast distance. Closing his eyes to aid concentration, he zeroed in on the source of the cry to find the woman who had not long ago killed his friend. He sensed such desperation and pain that he could not let the cry for help go unheard. There was something special about the girl. Something he didn’t fully understand but wanted to. He teleported to her location without saying so much as a goodbye to Meredith. Meredith definitely was not special and did not warrant the use of manners.

He heard Meredith think, ‘Was it something I said?’

There was hardly a need to wonder, for it usually was. This just happened to be one of the rare occasions where it wasn’t something she had said.