Dying Wish

[35] Backlash

Enough energy returned to me. I was able to leave the bathroom now.

I crossed an abandoned arcade. After a short escalator ride, I would end up in a spacious lobby. Smells of butter and fat soaking into the nylon sickened me more than ever. I took a deep breath, to aid my recovery. Nobody needed to know about my condition. Or how I came into this sorry state. That would take me back to Halloween, a night I was uneager to revisit.

Several surefooted steps toward everyone made Peter say, "There he is. Forget the search party!" The size of our group doubled since I last saw them. Seeing the volleyball girls here suggested they were too energized from their party to wait in the car. Their numbers included teammates Sarah and Maggie, Hannah (of course) and my girlfriend. The guys kept them busy in my absence.

"YOU!"

That was Hannah. Well, Drunk Hannah. Her finger pointed at me. Best to ignore her for now.

"Hey, is everything ok?" Alice said coherently.

"Everything's fine," I said in my most convincing voice.

Not everyone thought so.

"Evrythings not finnnneeee," Hannah whined. "Me. Home. Now!"

"All right, already." I walked ahead. "I'm waiting on you now." Hannah tried to pounce on my back, but Sarah and Maggie intercepted. They dragged her, kicking and flailing to the car. At least Drunk Hannah could make my friends laugh. They walked to the car behind them. It was me and Alice for a moment. Her voice was light.

"You've been coughing again. More blood?"

"Yeah. But less."

The gun I used on Conquest was behind this. There was no other explanation. Using a weapon like that, from God, with this body and soul, came with a price. A toll to be paid. But I couldn't focus on that right now. I had to stay strong for her and myself.

"Hey— what's that face?" I said to comfort her. "We talked about this, remember?"

"Make it through the month," Alice recited the plan. "Get God to heal you."

"Exactly."

"And if He doesn't? What then?"

With Conquest imprisoned, God had no reason to do anymore favors for me or Alice. Didn't that make us somewhat expendable? He owed Alice a wish. But me? What right did I have to ask for anything?

That's when Alice said something. Something I'll never forget.

"I'll make Him heal you."

"What?" I said.

"You have it with you, right?"

I took the cold Death Coin out of my pocket. "Right here." This was a growing occurrence. Alice lent me the Death Coin whenever she wanted to avoid leakage. Taking this burden let her be present, if only for a few hours every so often. She was free to focus on practice. To have a night out. Without worrying about the Death Coin.

Of course, this meant deactivating the Death Coin. Where was the harm in that? Neither here nor AfterLife would suffer if a few hundred people died after dinner instead of before. Especially in comparison to her joy.

I asked her, though, why give it to me? Sure, I was flattered and well over my disdain for Death. Still, why not stash it somewhere? Why trust me with this massive responsibility? She answered me by saying, "We're safe now. Besides, it belonged to you first." Her trust was a treasure. And I knew I was unworthy of it. But I wanted to be. That's why I told her about my coughing from the beginning. I wanted to be more truthful. Lies kill everything.

The coin sat in my open palm tonight. Alice took it. "I don't care what I have to do. Or what it takes. We're going to be together. If that means fighting God, so be it."

Intense.

I laughed.

"What? What is it? Don't you laugh at me! Graaaayyyy," she whined.

My laughter continued, "Alice, you're amazing!"

"Glad you think so," she pouted.

"That would be fun to see," I said. "But it won't come to that."

"Yeah, and what makes you so sure?"

"Because I'll think of something more clever. Just leave it to me. I outsmarted God once already, right? What's twice?" A teal station wagon screeched outside. The wail of the horn made me say, "Come on, let's get Hannah home." Five legitimate seats and a trunk meant Alice had to sit on my lap. The wheels sped off. Less than a blink later, we were there.

The windows were dark. My feet swung out the backseat when I found out Hannah's plan: she was going to climb the tree next to her window. The last thing I needed was for her to kill herself. I needed her to get Alice onto the court. That gave me an idea.

Being the athlete she was, Hannah was more likely to perform well with a crowd. That's what I told everyone. Really, I was going to make my request. No, Hannah wasn't at her best right now. That was fine. I could reconfirm everything tomorrow. If anything, tonight was about testing her mood. Her general receptiveness to the idea. In case I needed to handle this matter another way, I needed to know now. I was already pressed for time. I tried to convince Alice to stay by the car. I failed.

We three crept to the house. Every crunching blade of grass felt like a landmine ready to give us away. Hannah peeked around the gutters, where the tree branches reached for her bedroom window.

"I'm good from here," Hannah whispered. "I do this all the time."

"I can get closer with you," I insisted. "Alice, you wait here, ok? Be our lookout." To my great relief, Alice nodded. Me and Hannah went on. I grabbed her wrist under the tree. My voice was still low. "Hannah, I need to talk to you."

"Can't it wait 'til tomorrow?" Hannah begged.

"I'll be quick." I shared my plan with her. "What do you think?"

"What do I think? I don't know."

"Hannah, you can say no. It's a big ask."

"You're not kidding," she said. "But it'll be worth it. Yeah, it'll be a total score. I'm in."

Alice rounded the house. "What are you two doing?"

"Nothing," we said together.

"Why does that scare me?" she said.

"Oh, there's nothing to fear, my love." Hannah smiled. Then placed a pair of reassuring palms on Alice's shoulders. My eyes were about to pop. Alice's, too. Hannah yanked Alice. At the same time, she leaned forward and closed her eyes. Their lips crashed together. They blushed. The tiniest string of saliva broke from Hannah's retreating tongue.

"Goodnight," she said. Hannah then scaled the branches and leapt inside. The window shut.

Alice was still reeling. She touched her lips.

"What... What was that?"

I shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Oh, my God. Is that cheating? Did I cheat? Don't be mad. She kissed me, I—"

"It's fine," I interrupted. "How could I be mad? I should've taken a picture." On my way to the car, I wore an earnest smile. Three words were on my mind. They were: Very smooth, Hannah. For the rest of the night, Alice never asked once about what Hannah and I discussed. No, she'd spend the entire time apologizing. And making it up to me. I had to sleep in the next morning. I was dating a fiend.

THAT WAS, UH, KIND OF CRAZY... DEFINITELY DIDNT SEE THAT COMING LOOOL

UH, SO, MORE TOMORROW!