Human Spines

Hating Lochlan

Dumaine

        I don't know what Emmeline was thinking. She brought me outside to some stranger, talked to him, then ambushed me.

        "There's nothing wrong, I'm fine, you're just seeing things," I explain. She's holding onto me while this guy's trying to poke my head. Where'd he even come from?

        "You need help. Lochlan can help." She grips tighter.

        "Please move, Emmeline." I keep my voice calm though I feel like I'm about to bite this guy's finger off. I don't like strangers touching me.

        "Please stay still," the man orders, pulling something from his pocket. He clicks it on. I hate him. I feel something touch my scalp. It burns. I flinch, jerking away from the man but as I move, Emmeline squeezes tighter. I lean away from her, knocking into the man. Everything flashes red. The hot tool grazes me again but this time I duck, escaping its heat before Emmeline's hands jerk me back up and I feel a searing pain melt my skull. I can smell my hair burning. I can't get any words out. My fists tighten, my back straightens. I'm infuriated. Not at Emmeline, who's too concerned to think clearly, but at whoever this man behind me is. Lochlan. He knows exactly what's going on. I can tell.

        "I apologize if this hurts." Worry engulfs Emmeline's face. "But you could've died if..." She's still talking but I hear none of it. Her voice has actually gone silent, I'm not just spacing out from the pain of the heat. Her lips are moving and she's making eye contact, but there's no sound. "Not cool," I manage to whisper before a different kind of pain, something sharp, stings the back of my head. I've had enough from this guy.

        I slip away from conscious thinking and watch as I let my instincts take over. Everything my body does is suddenly a thoughtless blur. But violently precise.

        This is why I can't get any worse. This is why I'm not completely sure I'm human.

        I feel an elbow connect with Lochlan's stomach just as Emmeline disappears. My body spins and a fist lands on his jaw. I have no say in what my body does. My eyes see his hand clench, his arm ready to swing. I feel myself dropping down to the floor, my leg out, ready to knock him onto his back. But he jumps and I miss and he's coming back down with his boot ready to pound me faster than I can get out of the way. I feel my back hit the floor before I taste blood in my mouth. The inside of my lip's split open and my jaw feels like it's been jammed in too far. My body rolls back to my feet and I— Where'd he go? He's disappeared. Blinked out of sight. Not cool.

        I watch to see if he'll reappear. "Where are you?" I whisper. I can feel myself going back to normal, like blood rushing into a limb. My anger at Lochlan is slowly fading, transforming into a slight annoyance with Emmeline. I don't have a clue who Lochlan is. I didn't even pay any attention to what he looked like, only that he burned my head without explaining anything. Does Emmeline know who he is? Where'd she go?

        "It's Dindolcon. She's filtered you from each other to stop your fighting." Emmeline's suddenly a few feet away, glancing between me and an empty space that must be Lochlan. And she doesn't sound happy. "Lochlan, is Dumaine healed?"

        "There was nothing wrong with me in the first place!" I rage. I'm not actually angry with her, but I know I have reason to be. I want her to understand she can't do something like this again.

        She turns to where I'm fairly sure Lochlan is and whispers a thank you, though I'm not sure why. She strides up to me, a smile snaking onto her face.

        "If the correct thing to do right now is apologize, then I apologi—" She freezes. Her eyes unfocus for a second as a gust of wind whips her around. Her eyes dart to the now visible Lochlan, frantically searching his pockets and repeating that she doesn't know his name. This must be another demon.

        It screeches, contorting Emmeline's face into a monstrous expression. It stomps the ground like a child throwing a fit, but its demonic strength causes cracks to form in the earth around her.

        "LOCHLAN MCCORD!" It abuses Emmeline's vocal chords, creating such a piercing shriek that Lochlan and I drop to the ground, covering our ears. "IT'S ALL RIGHT HERE IN HER HEAD! YOU'RE LOCHLAN MCCORD, SON OF EVELYN AND RODRIC MCCORD! BORN IN MISSOURI, RAISED IN SCOTLAND, HERE PRESENTLY TO ASSIST EMMELINE CHURCH!" It laughs, tossing Emmeline's head back and raising her arms.

        "That's not my name and you know it, Orpaforebus." Lochlan calmly states, picking himself off the ground. "Think back and really look at me. She doesn't know, but you do. You can't kill me without my name. But I have yours and I know how to use it." He glances at me before holding up whatever he was digging in his pockets for. Something small and dark, but he tucks it away before I can fully see it. The Demon seems both angered and frightened. It backs away from Lochlan, slowly shuffling toward his car, its fists clenched. It stops and Emmeline's mouth flourishes into a smile once her foot hits the back tire. It attacks so quickly its motions are almost a blur.

        It shoves Emmeline's fist through the car's window, grabs a handful of the shattered glass, and launches it at Lochlan. He drops down to the ground to barely avoid getting peppered with glass but rolls back to his feet just in time to see Emmeline blink, smile, swallow, and resume where she had left off in apologizing to me.

        "—ze. I didn't purposefully mean to upset you and I'm sorry if..." She looks at the scene around her, me stumbling to my feet, Lochlan still breathing heavily from dodging shards of glass. "Did a Demon break your window, Lochlan? I was only gone for three minutes. Hey! You two can see each other again!" She claps her hands. "So, what's the fastest way to New York?"

        I stare at her. I'll never get used to how suddenly she changes.

        "Train," Lochlan answers, brushing off his pants.

        And I remember. "There was someone! It was... there was someone here. They were really depressed or religious or something, but I can't quite... it's like trying to remember an old dream..." I watch Emmeline float toward me.

        "Please sit," She requests and I drop down. "Do you remember what they looked like?" She pulls out a curved needle, standing over me. Did Lochlan give that to her?

        I refocus on my missing memory. I recall leaving the Waffle House to look for Emmeline, but nothing besides vague feelings after that until I found myself covered in blood. Blood I know isn't mine because there's no crack in my skull or slice in my forehead. The blood was on me, because whoever was outside must've put it on me. It would make more sense for it to be their blood.

        "Lochlan, can you find out where the nearest train station is with one of your devices?" Emmeline asks. I close my eyes and find that I'm actually tired. I feel Emmeline lean in to stitch up my nonexistent cut. She thinks she's helping. I feel the first poke of the needle and relax my body. This doesn't need to hurt if I don't want it to. I can control the pain if I try.

        Oh! I remember now! It was a lady! Or a very feminine male. I remember a pale dress and blonde hair about the same length as mine. But it's such a fuzzy memory. It almost hurts to think about but it's also addictive. I don't want to look away from the women I've resurrected from my thoughts.

        "The nearest station is about six miles from here," Lochlan says behind me. "It should take us about two hours to walk there since Orpaforebus shattered glass all over my car. I just bought tickets for you two. I can't come with, but I'll meet you in New York. I know someone there you two should meet. But can I ask, why New York first?"

        "No, you may not ask," I immediately respond. Is he Scottish? I wasn't paying attention before.

        "Alrighty, then." Yep, he's definitely Scottish.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote and comment! I may just release the next chapter early as a little holiday gift!