The events that followed were a blur. I couldn’t hold onto a single complete thought. My sentences were formed premature.
“Silva!” I yell. “Get inside!”
The first thing I registered was a flash of light, like the sun itself had fallen on Manhatten. The force came next, slamming me hard against the window frame. I took my aunt in my arms and led her back into the apartment, like the ancient wall of bricks could possibly protect us from the end of the world.
“What’s going on? What-” I murmur aloud, trying to suppress the building panic in my voice. I slam the window shut and lead her by the arm away from the fire escape. Two buildings across from us have just burst into flames. The third has been instantly reduced to rubble. I can feel the heat from the window, despite the distance we have put between us. I am still struggling to comprehend what just happened when Silva clutches my hand in both of hers. I’m still holding the object she had pressed into my palm. I look down. It’s a ring, her ring. The one she always wore. I thought it was a wedding band. But, up close, I can see that it looks to be more of a promise ring, with symbols embedded in the silver.
“I can’t take this, Silva. What-”
“There’s no time!” she shouted over the chaos, over the roaring in my ears. It takes me a second to realize the sound is my heartbeat in my throat. She clasps my hands tighter.
“Aiden. None of this is going to make sense to you right now but you have to trust me. Do you trust me?”
I nod dully, a motion that feels more robotic than genuine, an action that doesn’t quite feel like my own.
“Take whatever you can carry and get out of here. There’s a safehouse four blocks away from here, on Eighth avenue and Broadway. Do you remember the candy shop? The place I used to take you and Lucy?”
“A safehouse? What do you m-”
“Knock three times and then once more. Tell them I sent you. Your sister is already on her way over there. We have less time than I thought. I’ll meet you there but there is something I have to do, ok?”
“Silva what is happening?” I beg, grasping the ring tight enough to leave marks in my palm. Her gaze is incessant. I feel like a child again, impossible small.
“I’ll tell you everything when I see you again. But you have to promise me, Aiden. You have to promise that, no matter what, you keep moving forward, even if it means leaving me behind, ok? Promise me. And take care of your sister too. She needs you now more than ever.”
“Silva-”
“Promise me!” She pleads and I can hear her voice break. And I know that I have to. I have to promise her. Even if I don’t want to. Even though I don’t know what’s happening.
“I promise.”
“Good. That’s my boy. I’m so proud.”
And before I can get another word in, Aunt Silva leaves me, moving swiftly out the front door. I remain in a daze, one I fail to shake myself out of.
It isn’t until the aftershock shakes the building that I come back to life. I lunge for my room, stuffing a backpack with anything I can see, anything I think might be important. I have a hunch I might not return to this building anytime soon. Maybe not ever.
I tie the ring around my neck with a spare chain before throwing on a sweatshirt and my sneakers. On my way out I peek inside my sister's room. Hers, unlike my own, is decorated with posters and lights and proof of life. I see the locket she used to carry around with her everywhere sitting on her desk. I decide to bring that with me too, unable to shake the feeling that it’s something she would want to keep.
Outside is pure chaos, as I soon discovered.
I could feel the heat of the fire even before I left the building. Now it presses against me, against every inch of me. I should feel like I can’t breathe. I should be suffocated by smoke. I should be just as afraid as the mob of people on the streets before me. But I’m not. The fear in me takes a backseat as a strange confidence surges through my body. The adrenaline wakes me up.
I skirt through the crowd and break off into a sprint. Toward Eighth and Broadway, just like Silva said. I’m there in a matter of minutes.
I do as I’m told and knock three times, wait, and then knock once more. The metal door of the ancient candy shop creaks open.
“Name?”
I hesitate for a moment, then answer.
“Aiden Brooks. Silva O'Connor sent me here.”
The door opens the rest of the way in and an older man near Silva’s age greets me with an amicable smile. I recognize him as the owner of the shop.
“Mister Thompson?”
“Oh, Little Aiden. Well, not so little anymore, are you?” He says warmly. “Come in, come in.”
“My sister, Lucy-”
“-Is here and safe. Come downstairs, we’ve been waiting for you.”
He looks out at the world behind us, the flames tinting his skin in an orangey glow, before shutting and locking the door.
I follow him beyond a second set of doors in the back of the shop, down a case of old wooden stairs. The basement is humming with dim light and smells stale, like rain-rot and musk. There are familiar and unfamiliar faces alike, all gathered together in refuge. I don’t stop looking until I find her, sitting by an open flame, trying to warm herself by the stove heater. She looks frazzled, stuck in the same daze I'm in.
“Pardon my asking,” Mr. Thompson starts. “But Silva? Is she coming?”
“She told me she’ll be here soon. Said there is something she has to do beforehand.” The man nods solemnly. Lucy catches my eyes and jumps up, running through the room to throw herself at me. I catch her with open arms.
“Aiden! Oh my god, you’re ok!” She sighs in relief. I hold her tight, wondering when the last time we hugged like this was. It had to have been years now. Decades. Centuries.
“I’m fine, just–well–” I don’t finish but I don’t have to. I feel her nod against my shoulder. Twin telepathy, my mother used to say. It feels like so long ago I last heard her say it that I cannot recall if it was ever even said at all. I feel a twinge of sadness in my chest, threatening to slip out. I swallow it. I cannot afford to break down again, not now. Not with so much unknown.
“Quiet down everyone!” A voice calls. I follow the sound to a woman standing on a wooden crate. She has an unusual haircut, her length of hair tied into a ponytail with loose strands falling to her shoulders, the sides of her head shaved. She wears an intense glare that almost succeeds in distracting me from the scar running down the side of her lower lip down to her chin. The room hushes instantly. I imagine what it would be like to have the power to quiet a room like that without even raising your voice. Lucy steps away from me but grabs hold of the hem of my shirt, not quite letting me go.
“For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Mizuki. Zu for short. We’d like to extend a warm welcome to the unfamiliar faces in the crowd.” In a sea of people, I can feel her eyes find mine and remain there. I feel uncomfortable, like I don’t belong. Like she knows I don’t belong.
“Obviously things are happening much sooner than we expected. And while our hearts go out to all our brothers and sisters out there fighting, there is only so much we can do right now.” Her voice is steady, unusually calm, as though buildings aren’t being blown to bits just above our heads. As though people aren’t dying in their sleep. As though some horrid act of terrorism isn’t happening right now. I'm unable to fight off a scowl as she speaks. What the hell is she talking about?
“We have strict orders to deliver as many as we can to the base compound. We ask for your patience. Panic will get us nowhere. I will read the names I’ve been given off this list. If your name is called, I ask that you follow me. If your name is not called, then you know the drill by now. We will assign any remaining spots through a lottery system. Space is limited, as you all know.”
Follow her where? My eyebrows furrow in thought. We’re in a basement. The only exit is the same way we all got here. I swallow my confusion. Whatever’s happening, we have to pray our names are on that list. Getting left behind can’t be good. Right now anywhere is better than here. She begins calling names.
As people begin filing toward her I notice something behind Mizuki. A hidden door. I didn’t notice it before because of how easy it blended into the concrete. She pulls open the door for each person that approaches but I’m too far away to see what’s beyond. It just looks dark from here.
“Ryan Lee. Haneen Ahmed, Kiani Aberra, Lucy Brooks-” Lucy clenches my shirt tighter and finds my eyes. My name has not been called yet.
“Aiden-” She starts, a waver in her voice.
“Go,” I tell her, trying to keep my voice calm and confident, two things I have always struggled to be. “I’ll be right behind you, alright?”
She frowns, unconvinced. I remember her locket and pull it out quickly, extending it out to her before she can move. Her eyes widen at the sight of it.
“I just figured… I thought you might want to hold onto it… for good luck. Like old times,” I quickly explain. She blinks moisture from her eyes and tenderly takes the locket from me.
“Like old times,” she repeats softly and gives me a quick squeeze.
“I’ll see you soon, ok?” I tell her, not knowing if that really is the truth at all. But she seems more confident this time, trusting in the lie more than I can.
“I’ll be waiting.”
I watch as Lucy approaches the line. I stare until she approaches the door, giving her a thumbs up when she looks back for reassurance. And then she’s gone, behind whatever that door holds. And soon a new determination presses in my chest. I don’t care where that door leads, but I have to go. I have to be there for Lucy.
The room empties out over the next fifteen minutes, until only a quarter of the people we started with remain. I can tell people are beginning to lose hope. But not me. I will see what’s behind that door. I have to.
“James O’Brien, Marcus Stott, Jamal Burke.”
I look around. Silva still isn’t here. What’s taking her so long?
I fiddle with the ring around my neck, tracing the symbols with my fingers. Another boom shakes the earth. Specks of dust rain around us like snow.
“Valerie Davis, Aiden Brooks, Nicholas Moore.” I almost crumble in relief. I stride toward Mizuki, with false confidence as she stares me down.
When I reach the door, Mizuki bends to open it for me. I catch the tail of a tattoo snaking around her ear, another symbol, one I swear I’ve seen before. Before I step through the door, she grips my shoulder tightly. Mizuki bites her lip, opens her mouth as if to tell me something, but decides against it. Her mouth presses in a thin line as though she’s biting back words. Without saying anything more, she lets me go and continues reading names.
What was that? I ponder as I step through. But I don’t have time to dwell on it. I am soon enveloped in darkness. And then, suddenly another door opens. And all the darkness is washed away with light.
<<<>>>
Comments (1)
See all