He always knew the right thing to say.
2
My and Emma’s apartment was close by, so we decided to stop there to give Krystan’s lacerations a proper cleaning.
For being wounded, Krystan was in great spirits. She held a spike-covered leather jacket in her lap and sang the word ‘Ka-ching’ for the duration of the ride to our place. The huge payout from the bookstore owner had her so happy she seemed to forget about the deep cuts in her arms. Emma sat smiling as we watched the pair in the front seats of the van. Travis did his best to scold Krystan for putting their unborn child in danger. Eventually, Krystan admitted she shouldn’t have followed her dumb impulse to go inside on a job. If I had been standing, I would have fallen over. The two of them had changed greatly in our absence.
The afternoon sun highlighted Travis’ sharp cheek bones, and sandy blonde hair. Where he once possessed a soft physique, Travis now had an athletic build. It had been gradual, but it was plain now that Travis had grown up and was ready to be a father.
Where Krystan was once entirely unforgiving and caustic, she was now notably softer. She seemed more at ease with life; a new confidence had replaced her old defensiveness. I wasn’t sure of the root cause—the baby on the way or Travis. I was happy for them
Arriving at our apartment, I held the door open for Emma, Krystan, and Travis. Before I could shut the front door behind me, Emma cried out. “Not again.” Krystan and Travis groaned in unison.
Pushing past, I saw what distressed them. An African grey parrot with a bright red tail was hanging inside his cage. Literally hanging, from a tiny makeshift noose made from a piece of string. The bird’s body morbidly swung back and forth.
Opening the cage, I gently closed my hand around the still-warm feathers and pulled the parrot out.
“Hey, I almost hadss itss,” the bird squawked. I sighed and set him on the kitchen counter.
“Stupid ass demon,” Krystan said, taking a seat at our kitchen bar. Travis rolled his eyes and opened his med kit next to her.
“Snarp, we discussed this,” I said. “You are going to remain in this bird’s body for the indefinite future, so you need to stop these antics.”
The parrot stomped his clawed foot on the counter which only made a light clacking sound. “I wants to be a human, not trapped in these featherss. We made dealss.”
Emma opened the fridge and pulled out a couple cans of sparkling water and passed them to our guests. “Yes, you helped us out of the Stygian, and we agreed to take you with us. But I never said we would let you possess a human.”
“But you saidss parrots live foreversss,” Snarp said, hopelessness tinging his voice. The bird pathetically hid his head under his wing.
Emma cracked open her own water with a hiss. “No, they don’t.” Then under her breath, she said, “But they can live forty to sixty years.”
Snarp could not get out of a body to possess another until the current one gave out. After we emerged from the Stygian, Emma managed to hold onto Snarp’s essence until we could get to the pet store, then she forced him inside a bird. While Snarp claimed he wanted to be good, he only appealed his case on the basis he could receive his all-time favorite treat, which he discovered when he possessed Krystan’s grandmother. Given half a chance, Snarp would likely resort back to evil doings simply because it was in his nature. In bird form, his nefarious nature was manageable.
“You promised me snackssss,” Snarp cried.
I admired Emma's form as she sipped her drink, ignoring his plea. She’d put on some muscle tone and was the healthiest I’d seen her in a long time. The glow in her tanned cheeks offset her warm, expressive brown eyes. Despite her new powers after surviving the Reckoning, she was still Emma.
"Do you have antiseptic?” Travis asked, shaking the empty bottle from his kit. Emma disappeared down the hall to our bathroom.
“I still don’t see why you guys wanted to move out.” Krystan grumbled, casting a critical gaze around our apartment. It was a small, simple one-bedroom apartment, but it was my first real home. Even though I had been raised in the Temple of Luxis, I had been taught that I belonged nowhere—to nothing and no one. My will belonged to the light and my duty was to fight the darkness. But in this apartment, I could control the remote, relax with our friends, and make love to Emma whenever I felt like it. My life had turned out to be so much better than I ever dared hope for myself.
“Let it go, Krystan,” Travis said, brushing the back of her hand with his thumb.
Snarp hopped to the edge of the counter where I was.
Krystan wrinkled her nose. “I mean sure, your place is newer construction and has big bright windows, but we easily all fit in gran’s house.”
Travis looked intently at a corner of the room before turning back to Krystan. “She says it’s your house now.” Krystan’s face turned toward where Travis had looked. Her grandmother passed away, but Travis was able to commune with Mrs. Rits’ spirit. It was a new ability he had. So far, he hadn’t seen any other ghosts other than Mrs. Rits, and she appeared at random with no explanation as to what controlled her appearances.
I was sad to hear she’d died. The old woman was spunky and possessed a kind heart.
Snarp stretched his head out, staring me down. I did my best not to notice.
“Stop trying to trick us into being live in nannies,” Emma yelled from the bathroom.
She did a good job always sidestepping the truth. We agreed to never tell Krystan the real reason we left.
Those beady eyes continued to fixate on me. I opened a child-proofed cabinet and pulled out a Twinkie. Opening it up, I tore off a tiny chunk and fed it to Snarp. He happily choked down the yellow sponge cake, then stared at me again with expectation.
