Kiriana
My mind woke before my body, first taking in smells and sounds around me. A musk-like smell filled the room, reminding me of when I snuck in the men’s locker room after a football game. Memories of me and…what was his name? Derek? David? Dirk? He was a defensive end. Number fifty-three. Jesus, I can remember his damn jersey number but can’t remember…Ray. How the hell did I get Derek out of Ray? Dirk. Dirk was the point guard on the basketball team. And David was the wrestler. So maybe I wasn’t too far off. But who the hell was Derek?
Ray. He was fun. A little rough, but that was okay. Being held down. Tossed from here to there. But I was not in the locker room now. This was too quiet. My stomach rumbled and I didn’t think it was from hunger.
My leg was tight and sore, but not a gripping, make-me-want-to-scream pain. I turned to my left side and my right leg now felt numb. Now fear made me wake up. What if it was a phantom pain? What if my leg was not there? My hand glided down my right side, but I was afraid to go below my hip.
I sighed in relief as I felt my thigh, then my knee. I curled my leg up to feel my calf. The pain was back to stabbing, but it was wonderful. It meant my leg was still attached.
Finally I opened my eyes to find the room lit by pillar candles of various colors and sizes. They must not have been scented, because the smell was not something anyone would buy.
In the corner of the room, Nye was passed out in a chair, which was way too small for him. His legs were rocking and crossed at the ankles.
I was in a four-poster bed under a canopy of silver gossamer. I pushed myself up and adjusted the pillows. The satin sheets were slick and soft on my skin, something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Cotton and flannel were comforting, but not sensual. Afraid of what I’d find, I slowly pulled back the teal covers. Looking at my leg, I sighed in relief again. This one must have been louder.
“Oh good. You’re awake,” a groggy voice escaped Nye’s full lips.
“Yeah. Can you tell me what happened yet?”
“No. Kiri?”
“Yes?”
“Is there someone that’d be looking for you? I mean like a husband or do you have a pet? That sounded bad…I didn’t mean…I wouldn’t want your cat to die…I can send someone to feed it. You are safe with me. I hope you know that. This situation is precarious at best. I know it’s cliché, but I am in more danger than you.”
“I’ve tortured and killed so many,” I teased. “I understand your fear.”
He smiled. His eyes were too considerate for me not to trust him a little.
“I have a friend. DJ. He comes around a lot. He’ll be looking for me. We always hang out on Monday nights after work.”
“I’ll get you back in time for your engagement.”
“Okay, I’ll get ready to go. What about my leg?”
“It should heal. Can I look at it?” Nye held his hands up. “Just to see if it’s healed.”
“Sure,” I pushed the covers back more.
Nye sat on the side of the bed. His fingers gently touched my right thigh and I felt heat coming off them. My muscles eased with his touch. Looking at him, I smiled.
“You’re warm.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are,” I reached for his hand, wrapping my fingers around his. “Your hands are warm. They feel good.”
Nye looked at me. His eyes were black. Not brown like I thought they’d be. Black, but not empty.
“I told you, I won’t hurt you.”
“I heard you the first two times. I know,” my voice had softened. “I’m not scared anymore. But can you talk to me?”
“Turn over.”
“Excuse me?”
“I need to check the wound.”
“Right.”
Now the heat was in my face. I’m sure it was because it was turning fuchsia.
“Sorry,” I said. “You’re just so militant in your orders. Do this. Do that. So formal. Unfeeling.”
Nye looked at me, his face unchanged. I turned over and felt his fingers heating up more as they glided up the back of my leg. His thumbs met over the wound. Suddenly, his fingers cooled.
“Oh.”
“Did that hurt?”
“No. Your fingers got cold.”
“No, they didn’t.”
“You know what.” I said turning back on my side so I could look at him. “I’m the one feeling them, not you. Your temperature dropped…twenty degrees at least. You went from warm and soothing to frostbite. Okay?”
Nye got up and crossed the room. Then he paced back and forth in front of a fireplace.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Don’t leave this room.”
“How long?”
“How long what?”
“How long do I have to be here?”
“As long as it takes. I’ll be back.”
* * * *
Nye
I stumbled out of the room and fell back against the wall. My hands came to my chin more out of habit then necessity. I breathed deeply and smelled her. The fragrance of magnolias. Why the hell did she have to smell like home?
I had been born outside Pascagoula, Mississippi, around 1835 or 36. Heck, maybe I wasn’t born there, but that was the plantation I was raised on. I loved the spring and summer, when the magnolias were in bloom. Their fragrance wafted through the slave quarters, almost making them feel like the big house. So grand and sweet in their smell, the trees were an equalizer, something that was mine and couldn’t be taken away. No one could say who could or couldn’t smell their sweetness.
At night when the humidity had my clothes stickin’ tight to my body, a breeze would drift in and give me a modicum of relief from the heat and relaxation from the fragrant magnolias.
If a magnolia bloom got knocked down or if I was brave, I’d pick one to have under my pillow, so each night I could flip it and catch the scent again. I remember how Louise looked under the magnolia trees when we’d sneak out. The white blossoms circled her face; a few petals drifted down onto the red and brown dress she had been wearing that day.
“Louise, I’m fixin’ to like to marry ya?” I said, tracing her cheek with my finger. “Poppa says he’d do the ceremony.”
“Oh, Big George, I’ds love to.”
Her smile won me over. I was still so afraid to kiss her. Her lips were a dark pink and her eyes almost hazel they were so light. I was afraid she’d say no. We’d grown up together and I’d been in love with her since I was about ten years old and masser brought her home.
Our wedding was like all the others—unofficial in the eyes of everyone but God. She had snuck a broom from the big house to make it more special when we jumped it.
My first night with a woman and I couldn’t have been more scared. But in the morning masser stole her and brought her to market. He threw a dozen women at me and told me I had to breed cause of my size, but I refused. My heart belonged to Louise and Louise only.
I shook my head from the memory of Louise and wiped my hands on my jeans a dozen times trying to remove the smell of Kiri. Taking off across the foyer, I climbed the stairs two at a time.
The six panel oak door stood before me, closed and foreboding. Raising my hand, which seemed to weigh fifty pounds, I knocked quickly then stood straight up, breathing in, afraid of the answer I’d receive.
Lars opened the door and stared at me. Lars was added sometime in the seventeenth century from a Scandinavian province. He’d kept his name when he was sentenced.
His long, butterscotch-colored hair was always quaffed in the way of a supermodel. His piercing, blue eyes reminded me of when I was stationed by the ocean. The color was like the sea right before a storm.
Lars had made the sacrifice to become an other when he met Zarmina during a term in the Mideast. Zarmina was a beauty and, being twenty, an old maid in those days. She was running away from an arranged marriage to a much older man when he met her. Her eyes were a rich green and her hair was raven black, circling the sweetest face.
Looking at me, Lars straightened his shoulders, flexing the muscles that were necessary for all who want to complete their sentence. Not that Lars could ever hope to complete his. He was standing in a robe that I assumed he hadn’t meant to put on. It was pink silk with roses adorning it and it barely covered the top of his thighs. Obviously Zarmina’s. If a wind blew through the door, Lars would no longer have any secrets from me.
“Yes.”
“Sorry,” I laughed. “I never knew how good you looked in pink.”
“Your knock sounded urgent. It was the closest one to me.”
“I’m sure. I need to ask you a question.”
Zarmina appeared behind him, wearing a long, thick, black velvet robe.
“I’ll give you a minute to swap,” I offered.
Lars looked Zarmina up and down, then shook his head. “Nah, if that robe comes off again I won’t be out till next kill. Let’s go to the library.”
Lars took Zarmina’s face in his hands and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Min kärlek Jag återkommer till er oförändrat i min hängivenhet.”
I walked awkwardly with Lars, trying to avoid looking down and inadvertently seeing something I didn’t want to.
Settling in the library, Lars grabbed a pillow and covered his lap so he could spread out on the leather sofa.
“So what’s doin’?”
I liked Lars. He was the only one besides Dilana that I talked to on a regular basis. Regular for a Frozen was more than twice a year.
“I brought someone home.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t shoot her, but if she died I knew Dilana would be punished.”
“You ever been around when someone with an other faced Gabriel’s wrath?”
“Once; I couldn’t let Dilana suffer that. Hopefully I can get Kiri out of here before Gabriel comes by for his weekly visit.”
“But that’s not why you came in search of me,” Lars said with a raised eyebrow.
I sighed and rested my forearms on my thighs.
“I was…checking her wound.”
“So that’s what they’re calling it these days. ‘Checking her wound’.”
I growled.
“She said my fingers went from hot to cold.”
“Seriously,” Lars said laughing and putting his feet on the floor. “You? Damn. I didn’t think that was possible, but hey, there are worse things.”
“I’ve only got maybe seven years left.”
“I had three months, max.”
“You’re fibbin’.”
“Nope. Three months and I’d be sitting on a cloud in Valhalla, then she showed up. Hit me like a goddamn ton of bricks. Never saw it comin’.”
“Three months?”
“Look, I could have had three minutes and I’d still make the same choice I made that day.” Lars then looked me in the eyes. “When did they turn cold?”
“When I touched her wound. And I mean her wound. It had already started to scar over.”
“Guilt. Every time I touch…never mind. It’s guilt that turns you cold. You want to take the pain away from her. Especially since right now you can’t cut her pain in half. You know, if she was one of us it’da taken maybe one day of recovery.”
“I won’t let that happen. Besides, what the heck do I care if she’s in pain?”
“You tell me?” Lars looked around the library then spied the humidor sitting on a desk in the corner. Pulling himself up, he finally flashed his family jewels at me and I winced. “Sorry man.”
He grabbed two Cohibas and a lighter.
“You want?”
“No. Never took to it.”
“Oh come on, it takes the edge off.”
“My mind is already running a mile a minute. I don’t need your help to jump the track.”
“Your claustranima actin’ up?” Lars asked while he sucked in deep to light his cigar.
“It’s an inanimate object. How could it act up?”
“It couldn’t. But your little buddy…”
Lars knew something.
“With Zarmina…” I started to ask.
“When Mina was visible, it could’ve been high noon with how bright it was.”
“It didn’t act up.”
“Oh, you are in trouble,” he laughed, seeing right through my lie. “I’ve been here…what…fifteen years? You set up this camp right?”
“Yeah, I did with Clark then Stone. Stone got reassigned to Argentina right before you got here. Man, fifteen years we’ve been together? I think that’s a record for me.”
“Never understood the man upstairs. That’s why I prefer livin’ here. And you do realize I’m livin’ now. I wasn’t before I met her…damn, what day is it?”
“July tenth, I think,” I lay back in the recliner and fought the urge to rush back into the spare room and sweep Kiri up in my arms. Why did Dilana have to hit her in the back of her leg? It’d be so much easier if I didn’t have to look at that backside. But then I’d have to see her looking at me. Her eyes liked to follow me around the room and when I looked back at her she wouldn’t flinch. She just stared harder. Unafraid. It was like she actually saw something in me.
“You think Kiyoshi’d run up to Iowa City or CR? I wanna get Mina somethin’ nice for our anniversary.”
“How many years?”
“Two hundred and one. You think you start with paper all over again?”
Lars flipped through a stack of catalogs beside the desk. The smoke from the cigar billowed out of his mouth.
“Like I’d know.”
“I did last time. So what’s your story? You don’t have to tell me, but do you hate this so much? Personally, I love it. In what other job can I kill without remorse? Then come home and lay with a woman who never ages and looks fantastic all the time?”
“What about her? Did she mind?”
“Well, it was between living for maybe twenty more years, poppin’ out babies with some guy who was fat, balding, stank, and was all around nauseating. Or me, forever. Come on?”
“And you love her. Two hundred years later.”
“A thousand times more than the first second I saw her. She gets me. Ya know? No judgments, no fear. There it is,” Lars said triumphantly clutching the ad he had been digging for. “Hey, you seen Frick and Frack lately?”
“No, they’re not assimilating too well.”
“Dwellin’ in the past never solved anything. I got over mine and it was the only way I survived. You over yours yet? Never mind. None of my biz. I know.” Lars walked toward the door.
“Tie up before D catches you running around. She’s liable to cut you off where you live.”
“Wouldn’t that be a tragedy. I don’t know how you stand fightin’ with her.”
“At least she never wears pink.”
“Jealous.”
With that Lars was gone and I was alone and afraid.
Had I really fallen in love with Kiri? Impossible. It wasn’t the dark ages anymore and I wasn’t Lars. Even if I had, my love could only hurt her.
* * * *
Kiriana
“You’re back,” I said with too much of a lilt. God, I sounded like a groupie trying to pretend that I wasn’t.
“Yes. Do you need anything?” Nye asked.
“Besides my freedom?”
Nye just stared at me.
“Right…food, water, bathroom,” I started a list.
“The commode is through that door. What are you hungry for?”
“What do you have?”
“Pretty much everything.”
“Fine, then how about a half dozen chicken flautas with some guacamole and a cerveza, por favor.”
“Tap or bottle?”
“Bottle,” I replied sheepishly.
“Domestic or imported? Though, considering your condition I wouldn’t choose alcohol.”
“You have a pineapple Juarito?” I asked, amazed he’d have my favorite drink.
“Yes.”
“You really have flautas and Juaritos?”
“Yes, and what kind of guac do you want? Lots of peppers and onions? Tomatoes?”
“Yea. Everything.”
“Fine. You need help to the commode?”
“No, I should be fine.”
I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, knowing I’d have to put most of my weight on my left leg. Warily I stood up. Knowledge of my weakness could not prepare me for the reality of it. I crumpled to the floor as if I were a knight who’d just lost his head on the battlefield.
Embarrassed I lay there hoping by some miracle Nye hadn’t seen me. His large boots were right by my eyes and I looked up as he was crouching to help. Our eyes locked and I was just a breath away from his lips. Mine puckered as his pulled in and I inhaled deeply to hold back the urge to explore his mouth with my tongue.
His hands were warm again against my body and I wondered why they weren’t warm like body heat. They were just warm. He lifted me to the bathroom, leaning me against the sink, and then brought me a cane from the bedroom.
“Here, see if this helps.”
I leaned on the cane, bracing myself, shifting my weight back and forth until I felt comfortable.
“It’s good.”
“Look, it may take me a little bit to get your food for you. If you want, take a bath. There’s a robe on the back of the door and I can try to scrounge up some clothes for you. Yours have to be feeling…”
“Nasty, yes, they are, thanks. I’m a size two, if you find anything.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Nye left and I spied the huge Jacuzzi. I looked around for something to wash with and found rose water bath bubbles and three types of soaps in a closet. I ran the water in the Jacuzzi and dripped the rose water bath bubbles under the Koehler farmer’s spigot.
I pulled off the shorts and underwear that appeared to be glued to my body. I slid my lower body into the water, which was just a few degrees below scalding, the way I liked it. My muscles started to loosen as the heat ate into them.
Pulling off my tank top, followed by my bra, I slid the rest of the way into the water and sighed. I was loving every second of the feeling. Sure, I was a hostage, but it wasn’t all that bad. Nye was gorgeous and obviously not interested in me. He can just be a fantasy. What woman doesn’t have the fantasy? Okay, so this was going too far. This was how I got where I was.
The bubbles covered my chest. The smell of roses filled my nose as I fell asleep in the warm water.
“Kiri,” Nye said softly.
My eyes fluttered as I saw the dark figure I was growing accustomed to.
“Yes, Nye.”
“Um…your food?”
“Thank you,” I smiled.
I hoped he wouldn’t turn away, but he did. How can a man be so sure of himself and yet timid? Screw this. I wanted him. I love that he called me Kiri. No one ever did that. I love that his hands changed temperature and he seemed ashamed of it. I love that his eyes were jet black, but still sparkled.
“I’m going to need your help,” I said quickly.
“What?”
“I won’t be able to stand up to dry myself. I don’t mean to make you nervous, but I need your help. Or send that woman in here, but I’d prefer you.”
* * * *
Nye
My heart raced. Kiri’s. Body. Naked! And she wanted me to dry her. Help her dress. What was she up to? Did she think I’d let her go if she was naked in front of me? She did offer for D to help her. But I didn’t want anyone with her. Only me.
It was not like there weren’t windows from the evaporated bubbles showing her soft, sun-kissed skin. I could see the tan line from where her bathing suit had covered her. The light pink skin was even more alluring then the tanned.
But it was her eyes. She wasn’t questioning herself. She wanted me to do this. No. I must be dreaming. Oh well, if it’s a dream, I might as well finish it out.
How long had it been since I had a wet dream? Decades would be an understatement.
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Either that or I drain the tub and freeze while I try to dry myself in the wet tub, then get dressed while maneuvering a cane. Not as appealing as you holding me up and rubbing me down.”
Holy. Crap. Yep. I fell asleep while I was cooking. Makes a heck of a lot more sense than this.
My breath caught as my hand slipped in the water, brushed her leg, then drained the tub. I snatched for the towel on the shelf. Her smile confirmed I was dreaming. I reached for her, feeling the silkiness of wet skin. I started growing the instant I touched her.
I pulled her up with one arm and wrapped a towel around her with the other. Her body fell onto me and I lost my balance, and we fell to the floor.
“Smooth one, slick,” she giggled. “Now what are you gonna do to me?”
The giggles made her body shake on top of me. With her face right above mine, it would only take the slightest movement for me to kiss her. She licked her lips and I couldn’t take it anymore. I rolled over and trapped her underneath me.
Kiri might have been trapped underneath, but I felt more trapped by my feelings. I wanted to taste her lips, then work my way down her body. That towel wasn’t enough to stop the urges building. I could feel my hardness pressing against her. Her leg slipped to the side and I fell between them.
I couldn’t hold back anymore. My lips were on hers and she hungrily tugged the back of my head and held me tight to her. My fingers fumbled at my belt and then my zipper. She released me, a look of desire burning in her eyes.
Kiri’s neck was as soft as I had imagined as I kissed it lightly. She extended it to give me full access. I licked her from the crook of her neck up to her ear.
The towel dropped to the ground and I pulled back to see all the glory of her body. Never in my life had I wanted anyone more. The soft, peach-size mounds on her chest called to me. I felt as if I was diving in a pool of warm water as I went for them. My lips surrounded one, sucked the sweet tender skin. Moans escaped her lips as I eased down my pants.
“Please. Please, Nye.”
“Yes. Yes, I will Kiri. Anything.”
“It’s freezing. You’re freezing me.”
“No, I’m hot. You have me burning.”
“Ahhh no. I’m going to catch pneumonia.”
I jumped up and hit the counter, then slid to the floor. I looked down to see my pants were in place. The erection was still there, but it was locked safely away behind my zipper.
“Why did you get cold?”
“What?”
“You got cold. Freezing. Hypothermia cold. Why?”
“I gotta go.” I jumped up and flew out the door.
Running from the room I slammed the door and collapsed against the wall across the hall. Staring at the six paneled oak door I licked my lips to remember the taste of her. There was very little I knew at this moment except that I had to get away from her. Why did I freeze her? That didn’t make sense. She shouldn’t be having an effect on me. I should return her. Her leg could heal just as well on her couch at home as here. Yes, I could accelerate her healing, but how much of her being here was for her good as opposed to mine?
* * * *
Kiriana
I sat on the bed eating possibly the best flautas I had ever had. Whoever made these was a master chef. The chicken wasn’t dry. The tortilla tasted handmade, not processed, and the guac was amazing. It was even plated like a five-star restaurant.
Getting dressed hadn’t been as big of a chore as I thought it would’ve been. Nye must not have been able to find me any clothes because next to the food he’d laid out was one of his shirts and nylon shorts, which had a tie waist so I could keep them up. The best part was even though I could tell they were clean, I couldn’t help but smell him on the fabric. It was a strong man smell that made me calm and exhilarated all at the same time.
What had I done wrong? Obviously he wants me, even said he’d do anything for me, and his body temperature had dropped so much, but he thought he was on fire. What the fuck? was all I could come up with.
I saw a remote, then finally noticed the plasma on the wall. Nye must be distracting me if I hadn’t even noticed that yet. I flipped on the TV and I settled into watching McClintock. What could be better than John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara?
A knock on the door made me straighten up.
“Yes.”
The door creaked open and Nye’s black eyes found mine.
“I’m sorry about…earlier.”
“It’s okay. Nothin’ like having a guy go screaming from a room in fear to make a girl feel good.”
His smile made me soften more. His lips were dark with small hints of red undertones. My heart skipped because his smile was big enough to actually show me a sliver of white from his teeth. I had made him happy and that made me happy. All those guys that were happy just because I let them do things to me hadn’t made me feel more satisfied than his smile had. It was as if finding small ways to please Nye could gratify me. The whole better-to-give-than-receive had always been lost on me until this moment.
“I found you some more appropriate clothes.”
He was holding women’s clothes that appeared to be closer to my size.
“Thanks. I’m fine in your shirt if I’m just stuck laying around for now.”
“How’s your leg?”
“Stiff, but it was easier to walk on.”
Nye walked over to the chair.
“Stop,” I said. “You can’t fit in that chair. Come sit by me.”
I moved from the center of the bed to the right side so he could sit by me.
“I won’t try to attack you again. I promise. No sexual innuendo either.”
I could feel the knot tying up in my stomach from the thought of another rejection. I couldn’t think why this was so bad. He shot me, kidnapped me, and stabbed me with some sort of syringe, but I couldn’t help feeling like he had been protecting me.
“Thank you, but you shouldn’t be thinking of my comfort right now.”
“What should I be thinking of? I can’t run away or fight you, so what should I be thinking of?”
Nye shifted uncomfortably then sighed.
“Do you think you could walk? You need to try.”
“Sure.”
I reached for the cane beside the bed and pulled myself up. Nye’s arm was around me helping my balance.
“I never knew how much I needed that muscle.”
“The arrow cracked your femur.”
“Cracked? I have a broken leg?”
“No. Not really. It was like a hairline fracture. At least that’s what the X-ray showed.”
“When did I have an X-ray?”
“After you passed out…the first time. I needed to make sure.” Nye breathed deeply and escorted me toward the foyer. “Kiri, may I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Do you…I don’t know how to word this without offending you.”
“I don’t get offended that easy. Tough skin.”
“Where I come from…if a black man were to even look at a white woman…”
“Yes?”
“It would not end well. I’m a little nervous helping you.”
“Then don’t. I don’t want you to feel nervous.”
I stopped walking and looked at him.
“But where I come from, a gentleman would help a lady.”
Wow, did you pull that out of your ass. Frickin’ whispers.
That seemed to set him back a little.
“You don’t mind if I touch you?”
“As opposed to falling down again?” I inhaled in deep and decided to make my move. “I prefer when you touch me. Nye, you’re beautiful and your hands are strong and comforting.”
“I’ve never been called beautiful before,” he said, looking at his feet as they shuffled back and forth.
“Men can be beautiful, but I’m sure you’ve been called handsome.”
“No,” he said, sounding like a little kid.
My hand went to his face. My fingers traced his jaw line.
“Then I guess no one has ever looked at you.”
His face turned cold so I pulled away. I gripped hard to the cane and turned. We continued our walk. The hallway wound around and then down to a greenhouse.
“This is amazing. It’s like Wonka’s chocolate room.”
“I guess so. Without the gummy bears.”
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A roof and walls were made of glass like any other greenhouse, but I couldn’t see any exit. Coming to a point at the center, the roof must have been fifty feet high. The walls seemed a mile away. Looking right, I saw rows of fruits and vegetables. The climbing ones had metal cages and large tall wooden sticks. A stone path split at a set of fruit trees in the center of the greenhouse. To the left was a familiar sight of corn, soybeans, and wheat. Walking by a tree, I reached up and picked a fresh apple.
“Is this okay?” I said, suddenly realizing I was in a Garden of Eden.
“Yes, but don’t ask me to share, just in case.”
“Funny.”
I pointed to a bench by the tree. “Can we?”
“Yes,” Nye obliged.
I bit into the apple. The sweet taste filled my mouth and I moaned. I flushed.
“Sorry,” I said, wiping the juice from my chin. “I love honey crisp.”
“Kiyoshi transplanted it when he came here. He got a hold of one of the first trees from the University of Minnesota.”
“It’s wonderful,” I gushed, taking another bite. “I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of this place. Or that I couldn’t see it when we pulled up.”
“Excuse me,” a beautiful woman with long dark hair the color of midnight said as she approached us. “You must be Kiriana.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Such the pleasure to meet you.” The woman’s accent and phrasing had me thinking she had to be from somewhere in the Middle East. “My name is Zarmina. I had brought you some clothes, but I left them outside your chamber for I did not know you had come to our greenhouse.”
“Thank you, I’m quite comfortable in these.”
“I assumed as much, but Nye insisted.”
“Thank you, Zarmina,” Nye said then stood and escorted her away as if her presence were an issue.
A tinge of jealousy shot through my body as he placed his hand on the small of her back and led her away. They were talking in low tones so I couldn’t hear their conversation and I tried to just enjoy the opulence of the garden. It’s not like he’s my man, but it was getting irritating that he seemed to have a harem of beautiful women around him. Maybe he believed in plural marriage and Zarmina was the soft homebody, with her delicate features and white sundress that accented her deep olive colored skin.
Using my cane I pushed myself up and walked further down the path. Looking over my shoulder I saw Nye sitting on a bench with Zarmina as if I were no longer there. For the first time in my life I felt a pain in my chest and it wasn’t from whatever happened to my leg.
* * * *
Nye
The greenhouse at the edge of the compound was one of my favorite places. Kiyoshi and Zarmina maintained it with elegance. The rows of fruits, vegetables, herbs and a few flowers, those were Zarmina’s. Kiyoshi would never go for flowers. He was too practical in his approach to the world. Only what was necessary. He maintained the fresh fruits and vegetables. That was where I had retrieved the avocado, tomato, onions, peppers and other herbs he needed for Kiri’s guacamole.
This part of the compound was almost an acre in size, I guessed. The whole spatial-dimension-distortion theory was lost on me. When I first came here, I knew I had to buy at least a ten-acre spread of land, and preferably away from the beaten track. Ten acres would house this facility and all it encompassed. The greenhouse, the main house with its twenty-odd bedrooms that were individual suites, the huge library, and the kitchen, thanks to an upgrade, was as modern as you could get. Not to mention the weight room, war room, worship room, healing room…it was enough to make my head spin.
“They’re my favorites,” Zarmina said, pulling me from my trance. I wanted to get her away from Kiri before she learned or saw too much. The more Kiri interacted with members of the household, the higher the chance of punishment from Gabriel. “They take more effort, but they are such a marvel in the world.”
Zarmina stroked a flower with her finger. She was as beautiful as ever. Her raven hair fell down her back. Those green eyes could sparkle with a brilliance reserved for emeralds. Her dark olive skin was smooth, but her cheeks had a pink hue. She was standing in a flowing, white, cotton gown. The simple summer dress had thin straps attached to a bodice that held her large bosoms in place.
“What are they?” I asked as my gaze returned to the flower.
“Canaliculatum x madidum. An orchid that’s common name is ‘little black sambo’.”
A growl came from somewhere deep inside me.
“Don’t take it that way.”
“Sambo means monkey.”
“Yeah, well, get over it. It’s beautiful even though it has an ugly name.”
That only reminded me more of when the masser would want me to do something. Get me that blue black nigga over t’dare.
“It’s not black, it’s dark purple.”
“Whatever. Lars says it reminds him of me.”
I cocked my head to one side and tried not to smile. Its center left little to the imagination concerning female anatomy.
“Not because of that.”
“Can you read minds?”
“Not officially, but I do hear things when a person is basically screaming them. And the laughter is not necessary.”
“You actually can do that?”
“Yes. There is much you do not know about the people in this house. But that’s just the way it is. In every facility, compound, whatever this is.”
A sigh of sadness escaped Zarmina.
“Had you always been able to do that?”
“No. I received the gift following my sealing ceremony. It was something I guess was buried inside of me. I could always read people’s faces before. Maybe I was reading their thoughts.”
“So what about it reminds him of you?”
“It’s difficult to grow, smells beautiful in bloom and taking your eyes off it is almost impossible,” she said, smiling so much her eyes sparkled.
Now a laugh was escaping my lips.
“He loves you.”
“Yes. It’s comforting. To have a love like his. What about yours?”
“Mine?”
“I told you I can hear when you’re screaming. When I walked in, you were screaming.”
“I don’t have one,” I said.
I walked down a path to a cement bench and sat, my arms resting on my knees.
“Screaming!”
“What am I screaming about?”
“Kiriana,” she said as she looked over her shoulder at Kiri who’d gotten up and was exploring slowly.
I nodded.
“She’s beautiful, but could you keep her dressed? Seeing and hearing go hand in hand with me.”
“Sorry. I was helping her…in the tub.”
“Nye, I know little of anyone in this house besides Lars and Kiyoshi. But please know I can be trusted. What is wrong?”
I breathed in deep trying to keep my mind clear so Zarmina couldn’t know everything. I looked at her.
“Is it hard? Having him off fighting.”
“My life is in his hands. But I trust him. And I’ll never know if he dies out there. I just hope if he does, it will be fast.” Zarmina smiled and skipped to the bench and sat by me. She rested her head on my shoulder and looked up to me like a puppy begging for a treat.
“Have there been any negatives to becoming an other?”
“I had a cold for a week following our sealing ceremony,” Zarmina needled me.
“I thought we couldn’t get sick?”
“I was not well before our sealing,” she smiled coyly. “Lars was quite worried about my health…and as we know, worry drops the temperature.”
“I fear for Kiri’s leg,” I lied, which he now knew was stupid around Zarmina.
“We can’t know why people come in and out of our lives. But that’s not why you’re screaming. You know it doesn’t matter anymore. I mean really matter.”
“It’ll always matter. Always.”
“It’s not like when you were young. They don’t hang people like that anymore.”
“A black man is not supposed to touch a white woman. Trust me. I’m not even supposed to look her in the eye, but I keep getting caught by ’em.” Kiri’s eyes were so soft and beautiful. Great, now I was probably screaming at Zarmina again.
“Nye, is that the way she feels?”
“It doesn’t matter what she feels. Do you know how many white girls got us in trouble when I was young? Forget ghost stories to scare the chill’ren. They’d tell what happened to the colored fella that looked at Ms. Lucy.”
“Nye, it hasn’t been that way for decades.”
“I’ve been alive long enough to know the world never changes. Not at its core,” I sighed and took in the silhouette of Kiriana as she smelled the jackmani growing along a trellis.
“You love her.”
I felt my heart lurch. Sure, I’d questioned it myself, but hearing it, out loud, from an outsider. Not my own inner voice. Maybe it was just because she could read my mind that Zarmina came to that conclusion. My mouth filled with cotton while blood rushed into my ears. Stars flashed in my eyes.
“No, I don’t,” I snapped. “And she doesn’t even want me around.”
Zarmina got up and walked back to her orchid. Her finger traced the center, then she bent down to pull the fullness of its perfume.
“Do you know why I grow the flowers?”
“To annoy Kiyoshi.”
“That’s a bonus. I grow them because they make me happy. They bring me joy. How can you look at a flower and not smile? Fighting with Kiyoshi over planting rights was worth it. It was a small battle that brought me great pleasure. Tell me Nye, when you look at her, do you smile?”
I couldn’t answer. Not because I didn’t know the answer, but because I knew it wasn’t the right one. At least not how I was raised. My fantasies alone would’ve gotten me horsewhipped for sure. I should know. Even though Gabriel doesn’t use a whip, he punishes me for stepping out of line. My hundred-year sentence might as well keep getting extended. Well I wasn’t going to let another second get tacked on.
Zarmina continued to walk through her garden. Her voice softened to almost a whisper.
“When I walked in here I heard things not from her lips.”
“What? What did you hear?”
“People do not like their thoughts shared. But I will tell you this.”
Zarmina walked back to me and took my hand in hers.
“Tell her about us. It will not frighten her and it will not bring her harm. If you do not, she will try to find out on her own. You already have to try to explain the garden.”
I hadn’t considered that when I brought her in here. Darn it.
“You know the rules.”
“Damn the rules. It will be safer for her to know of our world. I must go. I can feel Lars is awakening and he will be looking for me.”
Zarmina walked to a bright pink tulip. Drawing small scissors from her pocket, she snipped a bloom.
“Goodbye, Kiriana,” Z called then flitted off like the fairies I imagined roamed the flower gardens in the cities.
* * * *
Kiriana
“If I told you what is going on, could you not tell anyone?” Nye asked as he approached me.
I thought about what he was asking of me. What had he really done to me? Shot, kidnapped, stabbed. D had shot me, he had healed my leg, fed me some great food and rejected my sexual advances. Bastard!
“How much are you willing to share?”
“More than I should.”
“Why shouldn’t you share?”
“It’s punishable.”
“Well that means if you tell me you’ll have to kill me.”
“Not exactly,” he said as he ushered me back to a bench. “I would be the one being punished.”
“That’s good to know, because if the punishment was death then I’d be worried that you’d already written me off.”
“You should recover fully, but you were shot with an arrow with a paralyzing mixture in it. Well, it paralyzes bantlings.”
“Bantlings?”
“Newborn demons, sort of. They’re fully developed in Hell. They just need to be reborn here…”
“Demons. Right. When can I leave?” I stood. “I’m not a virgin. Just so you know. I’d suck as your human sacrifice.”
“What did you see on the road?”
I froze remembering what had happened. A creature was lying on the ground and Nye grabbed its hair or…tentacles? And there was a burst of light. Then nothing. The dirt road surrounded him, but the dirt wasn’t the khaki gray of the dusty road; it was black. Black and almost ashen and floated up to the sky like a bonfire.
I looked down at my leg. The black streaks had subsided and I could touch my leg without it cooling my fingers. My hand glided down my thigh. It was still numb, but the feeling was coming back in it.
“I saw nothing. Nothing at all,” I hissed. The whisper was the only way I could get out the lie.
“The nothing you saw was an emerging demon trying to assimilate to this plane.
They call us the Frozen. We’re a group of demon hunters.”
“Why frozen?”
“Because our bodies are basically frozen in time. We still need rest and food. And we can bulk up so we work out to hone our bodies and skills, but I will always have the appearance and body of a man in his twenties.”
“So, you’re an angel?”
“I’m the furthest thing from an angel,” he said with chagrin. His hands covered his face then ran over the top of his head like he was trying to wipe away shame.
“Then what? A vampire or werewolf?”
I finally turned to look at him, hoping to see some weird abnormality. Fangs. Broken, ragged nails. Pointy ears. Anything. All I saw was the most statuesque man I’d ever seen.
His lips were full, but not large, ones that’d be powerful enough to have strength behind them. They separated for a moment to allow his bright red tongue to catch on his front teeth then retract as if it were sucked in by a powerful force. Shit. All I could think of was being in a tug-of-war over whose mouth it belonged in. I pulled in my lips to hold myself back from tossing him on the ground and taking him by force. Damn. This had to be because it had been so long since I was really with a man.
“It’s not and you know it.” The whispers were back, they always slapped me in the face when I was deluding myself. “He’s gorgeous, strong, his hand could hold your whole ass and those abs…oh why did he have to put on a shirt? You know you want to lick…” I ran my fingers through my hair, tugging it slightly to shut the whispers up.
“I suppose,” Nye’s response shook me back into reality. “Without the great superpowers and weird eating habits.”
“So you have no super strength or magical powers?”
“I can heal fast, but mostly because of the same herbal mixtures that are helping you right now. I’m pretty good at jumping and leaping, but outside of when Gabriel wills it, I cannot do anything special.”
“Gabriel?” I asked as I sat back down on the bench.
“He’s like our master…” A shiver shot through his body and he corrected himself. “Boss. When we need to join with others like us, he makes it so we can materialize there without the travel time, because there is little time to react in those situations.”
“Like what situations?”
“Mount Pleasant is one of twelve Hells Mouths. Do you know what that is?”
“Not really, but it sounds correct.” I thought between the mixture of heat and boredom, I’d been in Hell since I had gotten there.
“A Hells Mouth is a place of evil where demons emerge to spread themselves throughout the world. Mt. P is ideal because of all of the manufacturing that goes on. The demons can just attach to the buses, tires, hoses, envelopes, phones…well, you get the picture. The train depot was the initial draw, I believe. I mean you could ride the rails all the way to either coast, up to Canada or down to the Gulf. The demons are shipped all over.”
“Envelopes?”
“I assume it’s in the semis that transport them. A Hells Mouth can happen anywhere. Smaller towns have the innocence draw, cities have the camouflage factor. Both have their negatives. I don’t know how they are chosen, but when the mouth starts to close, there’s a run. Hundreds or thousands of demons can escape over a few days.”
“And that’s when you can zap yourself places?” I asked as I wiggled my outstretched fingers.
“Yes.”
“But not right now?”
“Nope, and I don’t do the…zapping, Gabriel does.”
“What about the demons you hunt? Do they have powers?”
“The bantlings or newborn demons come into the world as animals, then change. I’m sure the ones that care for them have some powers.” Nye sighed.
“What about this?” I said as my hands spread to highlight the greenhouse. “Can’t the demons see this?”
“No one can see it. All people see is the barn and trailer.”
“Do you have some cloaking device?”
“No, it’s spatial dimension…I don’t get it, Kiyoshi handles all the particulars especially when it comes to expansion, but basically our compound is about ten to fifteen acres. All inside the barn.”
“The barn?” I mocked. “No, really?”
“Our living quarters expand to over five stories. Between that and this don’t you think you would have noticed that when we pulled up?”
“I was dying at the time…”
“You still would have noticed. What did you see?”
“An ugly trailer and the barn that looked as bad as the trailer.”
“There’s a reason for that, it keeps people away. It’s in good enough shape to keep the county away, but not nice enough that people would stop to inquire if it was for sale.”
Turning my head I looked out at the expanse of the greenhouse and realized there was no way I could have missed that. Where was I? Could this be real? Demons? Angels? Was Nye’s Gabriel The Gabriel?
Something buzzed by my face. I screamed and curled into Nye’s chest. His arms wrapped around me in protection.
“What was that?”
I had a firm grip on his shirt and his body had stiffened. My breathing was rapid, but his had completely stopped. He turned his head down and I swore he kissed my hair.
“It’s just a little bee. We have an aviary on the edge of the greenhouse.”
I released my grip on his shirt and sat back.
“I didn’t mean to…”
“You surprised me, that’s all,” he said, relaxing slightly. One of his arms was still cradling my back. My body was mush again and I leaned into him. In that moment, I forgot where I was and why I was there. I imagined we were just taking a walk in the park together. My mind, along with my hand, wandered more than they should have and I started to stroke his leg.
He shifted, coughed, and spoke again.
“What else do you want to know?”
“The knife you had…what’s with that?”
Nye swallowed hard and we sat in silence for a few minutes. He shifted, again, rested his muscular forearms on his knees, while his head hung low. Part of me wanted to tell him to forget about it.
“It’s called a claustranima.”
He pulled it from the sheath, which he had adjusted so the blade was behind his back. Holding it by the hilt, he passed it to me. My hand wrapped around the tang and the little blue light went from dim to brightly glowing.
“The six blades are extremely sharp so please be careful. It’s the only way to kill a demon. Our arrows, knives and guns slow them down, but these turn them to ash.”
“What about the glow worm?”
“That’s not a worm,” Nye grumbled. “It’s my soul.”
“Your soul? But this glass could shatter so easily,” I said, feeling the grooves that had been cut in it.
“That’s a diamond.”
“A diamond? It’s the size of my palm.”
“Actually, it’s the size of my palm,” he explained. He placed his hand around the hilt. His soul dimmed. He removed his hand and I held the knife again.
“I guess working for God has its perks. Why does it glow?”
Nye shifted uncomfortably, so I handed him back the knife. He sheathed it and we sat in silence again.
“What was the poison?” I asked.
“A mixture of paralytics from snakes. Mixed with herbs. It was killing your muscle tissue. That’s why your leg turned black. Like frostbite or gangrene.”
“Then how did my muscle come back to life?”
“It wasn’t in there long enough. It was just the surface layer, really. Think first-degree burn. Those shots I gave you helped a lot.”
“Shots? I only remember one.”
“You were unconscious for about twelve hours.”
“I need to get back. People are going to be worried about me. I always go in on Mondays.”
“It’s just now Sunday? ’Bout six in the morning.”
“What? Oh man. I went for a run on Saturday, didn’t I?”
“Yes. You were shot around one. So you can stay here for another day. Your leg should heal fully,” he said as his palm stroked my thigh, sending a shiver through my body. His hand retracted and he seemed to pull in on himself.
I stretched my leg out in front of me and looked at it. Pointing my toe, I extended my other leg and noticed the right was still placid compared to my tanned left leg.
“Nye.”
“Yes.”
“That’s an interesting name. How did your parents…”
“I chose it. When I was reborn as a Frozen. My name was George. Big George before…Your name means beautiful sunbeam. Did you know that?”
“Yeah. Hippie mom. Sorta. She spelled it wrong. Kirana is sunbeam. But she added the extra i. I don’t know why.”
“Maybe so she could call you ‘Kiri’ as opposed to ‘Kir’.”
“No one’s ever called me Kiri. Until you. I like it.”
We sat on the bench and took in the smells and colors. I had never seen such beautiful flowers. They lined the path and seemed to have their own section at the end of the trees.
The silence was hard for me to take, but Nye seemed more at peace because of it. Our proximity was also making it hard for me.
On the bench I tried to keep my hands on either side of me, but I could feel the heat coming off him. He was mere inches away from me. I tried looking at my feet, but his pull was so intense. I wondered if it was because he was some sort of supernatural being or because he was gorgeous.
“What’s so bad about being a ‘George’?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“I became a Frozen a few years before the Civil War. I wanted as little of my life before to be the same.”
“You were a slave? Is that where the scars come from? On your back?”
“Yes.”
Nye’s answer was short and quick, letting me know not to press.
“Now I understand why you’re nervous about touching me. But it’s not like that anymore. I could never put anyone into a dangerous situation.” I looked at my hands. My fingers intertwined and twisted. “You have no reason to trust me. I understand that, but if I can trust you not to hurt me…”
“Forgetting my past is important for healing, but I also learn from my experiences.”
“I wish I could do that, forget my past. Wipe clean everything I’ve done. But I guess I’ll never lose this,” I said, pointing to my temple.
“Memories never go,” Nye said solemnly.
“No. This.”
Nye looked at me and smiled. My finger traced the scar right above my eyebrow.
“I cut my head on a nail. I was sneaking out of Ryan Bent’s tree house when his mom came home early. Took three stitches. I had to lie to mom about how I got it. What was I supposed to say? I was blowing…Memories suck too.”
“You just can’t let them cripple you.”
That comment threw me off. What did he mean by that? His fingers curled around the cement bench. Nye started to rock a little. I could tell he was getting upset.
“So, I’m going to be here for a day or two,” I said. Our heads both turned and I was caught by his dark eyes. “What ever shall we do?”