A blast of cold air rushed underneath the blankets, grabbing hold of my feet and turning my skin into ice. What was it they taught us in school? That humans were like seventy-five percent water? In my sleepy daze, I started to fear all of it would turn into a flurry of snow. I’d drift and fall, only to land on the floor and melt into a puddle.
The cycle of life. The cycle of water. The cycle of succumbing to what wasn’t real, though my brain couldn’t tell the difference anymore.
Deciding to face what was ahead of me, I slowly peeled my eyelids open. The shadow in front of me was glowing. Like an angel I’d never met before, the bright TV’s light illuminated it, flooding my eyes almost painfully.
It was harsher than the sun, but more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen before. For a moment, I wondered if I was supposed to be on my knees, begging for mercy. I’d heard about God; the stories Christians told, relaying the information from their Bible they held so dearly. I’d never read it or paid much attention to it. A mistake I’d made early on in life, I supposed. Now, whatever judgment was passed upon me would be true, and I had nothing to show for it.
“Cres?” It spoke. The glowing, otherworldly figure spoke to me as if it knew me. How did it know my name? The shadows had never done that before. “Crescent.”
A hand, beautiful and shiny, reached out for me, connecting with the skin on my face. I jolted, leaning into the warmth of it before realizing—“Elio.”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
I closed my eyes, sighing in relief. When they opened again, the TV had changed screens, a much darkerbackground dimly glowing around him. Elio had been the angel all along. “What’s wrong?”
The warmth left me, his hand falling away from my face. “I, um.” He took a deep breath, and I could see his shadow shifting from side to side. “I’m scared.”
“Scared? Of what?”
“Being alone, I guess.”
Fuck. Of course he was. I felt around for my phone, turning the music down when I found it. “I’m sorry. Do you want me to stay with you?”
“You’d do that?”
I threw the blanket off me, grabbing my things once more. “Of course I would. Let’s go.”
Using the glow of my phone as my light, I reached for his hand, attempting to grasp it with mine. When my hand encircled his, I realized I couldn’t feel anything. No warmth. No heartbeat. No skin-to-skin. I frowned where I stood, trying to figure out what was wrong.
The floorboard creaked as Elio stepped closer to me. “Cres? I’m right here.”
To the right, he held his hand out for me. It wasn’t the one I’d been trying to grab. Black, sticky tendrils began to wrap around my wrist, connecting with the shadow I’d unknowingly touched. My lungs stuttered in my chest, constricting with unease and an odd sense of desperation. “Right. Sorry. Can’t see.” I laughed the words, trying to disguise the fear in them. The fear in me.
I took his hand in mine, grateful for the warmth I felt this time, and led him back down to my bedroom. Neither of us bothered to turn the TV off, letting it brighten the too open, too suspiciously empty living room.
When we reached my room, I guided Elio back under the blankets before crawling under myself. I tucked them against his side, taking care to push some beneath his chin.
My phone went back on the charger, but I didn’t raise the volume again. Instead, I turned to my side, facing Elio, who lay on his back. “Better?”
I couldn’t see at all this time; only the rustle of the pillow was evidence of his movement. “Yeah. Thanks.”
“No problem, Sunshine.”
I closed my eyes again, seeking the sleep I’d fought earlier. As I drifted, I thought about the angel beside me. I wondered where he’d been hiding his wings. And I tried to ignore the shadow in the corner who was repeating my words back to me.
“No problem, Sunshine.”
“No problem, Sunshine.”
“No problem, Sunshine.”
Chapter Seventeen
I wasn’t trusted alone anymore. Notby Crescent, and not by me, either, honestly. After what he came home to yesterday, I understood. It hurt all the same, though. It wasn’t because it felt like a betrayal, but because it reminded me of what had haunted me not too long ago.
When I woke up in the mornings, it was always a gamble. Would I remember where I was, or would I cower and panic because the man who was usually sleeping next to me was suddenly gone? If he was up already, that meant I’d slept in. I wasn’t allowed to sleep in. That was in the house rules. The rules I’d lived by every fucking day of my fucking life for so fucking long.
Was it normal to be angry this early in? I wasn’t sure, and it scared me. Terrified me, really.
