“Just some herbs and indigo wine,” Maja said, turning down the volume as she seemed to search for the correct house number.
Lora was about to speak when flashes of red and blue caught her attention. Three police cars were parked outside a suburban house toward the end of the street.
“Fuck.” Maja stepped off the gas as they neared the residence.
Lora looked from the scene before them to her friend’s shocked expression. “Please tell me that’s not the house we were going to.”
“Stay calm. I’ll just drive by.” The masked worry didn’t slip by Lora. She nervously glanced around the car as if she could spot the fae items Maja had undoubtedly hidden in the car. “I said act normal!” Maja’s high-pitched voice made Lora freeze. A wave of panic swept over her and it appeared her friend mirrored her feelings.
Lora turned to stare straight ahead. She instinctively reached for her rose gold necklace. “Right. Normal.”
They drove by in a matter of seconds, but it felt like hours. Lora couldn’t help but turn her head. She caught sight of a young man being escorted outside of his home by two policemen. Another officer was carrying a black box. They were clearly confiscating illegal items. As one of the officers looked up, Lora averted her gaze, looking at her heart-shaped pendant. Her heart threatened to jump out of her chest.
“Goddammit, do the police really have nothing better to do?” Maja said once they were out of sight. “Everything’s so fucked up. Honestly, the government should send the fae a huge gift basket and beg them to reschedule their official treaty meeting instead of this shit. It should happen now. Who knows how many lives will be lost by December?”
“We shouldn’t have to beg. But yes, those infected don’t have three months,” Lora agreed as she tugged a dark blonde strand of hair behind her ear. She wished her heart would stop beating so damn fast. She didn’t think anyone was following them, but it took her heart a few minutes to catch up.
“If he could, my dad would go to Liraen himself, find a healer, and get a cure. But we all know he wouldn’t even take one breath across the border.”
Lora could only agree. There wasn’t anything one single individual could do. Not for the first time that day, she wondered when the government would finally react. If there was ever a time to interact with the fae, it was now. Yet, the thought of fae magic taking a more prominent role in their lives and future history again didn’t sit well with her either.
* * *
The sun was finally setting when Maja dropped Lora off in front of her family’s home. Soft rain poured down on her as she ran up the steps to her front door. The weather wasn’t unusual for the English seaside town she’d lived in her whole life.
Lora was already tired from yet another day with no change, no mention of a miraculous cure that would signal the end of this dark time for humanity. The only hope she had was an update from her father, who often brought home news from the hospital where he worked. Although his reports were rarely good, she appreciated being in the loop.
Lora reached around her Buffalo Diner apron in her bag to find her keys when the front door swung open. Startled, she took a step back and met her brother’s intense gaze.
“God, you scared me,” she screeched.
Oscar merely stared at her, his feet rooted to the ground, blocking the doorway. His dark brown eyes seemed to radiate both concern and anger. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. Before Lora had left for university, she had found it easy to read him. He’d grown up since then. He was no longer the kid who followed Lora everywhere and told her everything, sometimes in painful detail.
“Hey, is Dad back from work yet?” she asked as she moved into the house, forcing Oscar to take a step back.
He closed the door behind her with more momentum than necessary. “He got back ten minutes ago. There’s no news. No cure, no meds that work. Nothing.” Oscar lowered his gaze. “There’s something else you need to know...”
A wave of fear hit Lora immediately. It overshadowed everything else, immobilising her. She was surprised she stayed standing. Part of her wanted to cover her ears and run back outside. The worst-case scenario was already taking root in her mind. But she needed to know. Not knowing for sure would eat at her even more.
“What is it?” Her voice wavered slightly.
“It’s Mum.” Oscar tilted his head up and now Lora could see the intense sadness coming from him as a tear ran down his cheek. She expected his next words. They barely left his lips, as if they were too terrible to utter aloud. “She is sick,” he said.
It was only three words, but they changed everything. Numbness took hold of Lora’s body so quickly that it scared her. She wanted nothing more than to detach herself from this situation and pretend it wasn’t happening. That her worst nightmare was still that—merely a nightmare she would wake up from any moment. Her mum couldn’t be infected. This couldn’t be real.
“Oscar, is your sister home yet?”
Her mother’s voice brought her back into the moment. “Yes, I’m home,” she said. Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. She was feeling lightheaded. How was one supposed to act in a life-altering moment such as this?
“Come on,” Oscar said, leading the way to the living room. He used the end of his sleeve to wipe his eyes.
Lora forced her legs to move, to follow her brother’s direction, a mute command. It felt like she was drifting in a state of frightening uncertainty, similar to when she would wake up from a nightmare and not yet know it wasn’t real. As she rounded the corner to the living room, three different words kept repeating in her head:This isn’t real.
Then she spotted her mum sitting on the end of the sofa in the spacious, colourful room. She almost looked the same as she had earlier that afternoon. Her tan skin had a new paleness to it, but that could easily be explained by lack of sunlight. Maybe they really were wrong. What if they were just paranoid?
This isn’t real,her inner voice continued. Before Lora could convince herself fully, her eyes travelled from her mother’s face to where her sleeve was rolled up, exposing her arm. Lora’s gaze fixated on the prominent dark purple veins and her previous delusions vanished. She felt immense pressure building in her chest, crushing her spirit. She could see how this would end, the inevitable darkness that would soon come over her family. Her head began spinning with possible scenarios and all of them had the same tragic ending.
Her mum noticed Lora staring and pulled her sleeve down, hiding the first warning sign of the virus. “It’s not that bad. I feel okay. Promise.”
