Rimwick

Poisoned People Probably Taste Bad

"Definitely a Day Fly."

"Roman, be nice."

"I am. Felix was a Day Fly too, when he first got here."

"Riley's better than most Day Flies."

"Well, unlike you, Felix, she didn't throw anything at me. So that's a start."

"A giant wolf showed up at my window. What was I supposed to do?"

"Boys, hush. I think she's waking up."

I open my eyes. I'm on some sort of hand-sewn mattress with pieces of hay sticking out the seams. The air is musty and damp. A fire in a stone hearth casts warmth throughout the room, shedding orange light in the small space. Dried herbs hang from a low ceiling made of dirt.

Echo is hovering over me, looking concerned. Two boys stand behind her. One is Bradley, but I don't know the other one. He has skin slightly lighter than Echo's and shortly cropped black hair. He looks fit and muscled, but he's not rod-stick skinny like the other people I've met in the hills.

"Riley." Bradley moves around Echo and stands at the head of my pallet. "Are you okay?"

"Just dizzy." He helps me sit up and hands me a wooden cup half full of water. I hold it in shaky hands without drinking. "When you said you were Dusk Children..."

"It's true," Bradley says. "We are."

I take a deep breath. Freaking out is not going to help me at all. "Where are we?"

Echo answers. "Nocterem. It's our... well, town is a bit liberal. Collection of clans. Our clan is Academia. We took you here after you fainted."

"Felix didn't pass out when he first came here," says the boy I don't know. "He threw a letter opener at my head, though."

"For the last time, dude. Let it go." Bradley sounds irritated.

"Can we focus?" I snap. "I want to know why I'm here." I also want to know why I haven't been eaten yet, but if I mention that, they might get hungry.

"You're a Dusk Child too," Bradley says. He sits on the side of the bed and holds both of my hands in his. "I know it's a lot to take in. I went through the same thing. But having magic makes you one of us."

I shake my head. I can't be a Dusk Child. They're the bad guys, the evil ones, the monsters. I'm a human, not a beast.

"I-" I start to protest, then stop. No glowing words have appeared from my mouth. Proof! Whatever weird magic happened last night was just a fluke.

"I'm not a Dusk Child. I don't have a power."

"We only have magic after dark," Echo says softly. I look at her and notice, for the first time, that her eyes aren't spilling light.

"That's what makes us DUSK CHILDREN?" says the boy I don't know. "Duh."

I twist to face him. "Who are you, anyway?"

He grins. "Don't you remember me? We've already been introduced."

"Don't tease her." Echo spoons broth from a pot over the fire into a wooden bowl and hands it to me. "You didn't drink your water."

"I'm not stupid." I've read enough books to know not to accept gifts from an enemy.

"It's fine." Bradley takes a sip of my water. "See?"

I study him. "Alright." The water tastes okay, and I'm not dead. I guess poisoned people would taste bad, anyway.

Anvil, the red headed boy, saunters through a door set into the dirt wall. A blast of cold air follows him.