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We quietly make it to the garage floor of his apartment complex. No one is outside, which gives us the advantage of moving him discreetly. “Help me get the door,” I instruct as I throw Derrick over my shoulder once again and walk up two flights of stairs.
I jut my hip out to her and she quickly grabs the key from my belt loop, shaking as she tries to figure out which key goes to the front door. I look around us, making sure no one is eavesdropping or peeking around the corners. The lock finally clicks and we both quickly take a step over the threshold.
Derrick’s home is meticulously organized without a speck of dirt in sight. I grunt and struggle into his open concept living room, dropping him onto the couch without jostling him too hard. My legs almost give way as I fall back beside him, massaging my quad muscles.
Delizah paces back and forth with nervous energy. “T-there’s one more thing I need to tell you.”
I groan and throw my head back, running a hand down my face. How much worse can it get?
I quietly watch with a scowl as she closes her eyes and her body vibrates. My own body tenses up as my arm covers Derrick protectively when the woman before me glows blue and her body begins to morph into something inhuman. Tentacles emerge from the back of her shirt around fleshy wings that sprout out and stretch to her sides. Her shirt rips further as she flaps them and hovers a foot above the floor.
My scowl deepens because at this point, I shouldn’t be surprised anymore. I gently massage Derrick’s shoulder, trying to reassure him in his unconscious state that I’m still beside him while I stare at Delizah contemplatively.
Delizah lands on her feet and wrings her hands nervously. “N-Now that my father has returned, my own true form has emerged. I felt it the moment we left the cave like an unscratchable itch beneath my skin. I-I can feel my power, but I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want my baby to live a safe life. Please, help me. Help me stop him.”
I lean forward and look at her as if she lost her mind. “You want me to kill my friend? Hell no. I’m saving him. That’s what's going to happen. We’re going to get your father out of his damn body and things will go back to normal. They have to…” I whisper the last sentence with a spark of doubtful fear.
“Okay, what do we need to do?” I ask again. I’m completely lost, scared and just done with it all.
She slowly changes form back into a human woman, giving me eyes full of pity. It pisses me off. I don’t need pity. I need answers!
“My mother used to tell me about a hidden monastery in the mountains that carried a sacred dagger that could kill him, but I thought they were all part of her fairytales of old. It might not even truly exist.”
The room is thick with unsaid things. After everything we saw, nothing was off the table.
“Give me a minute please,” I say as I hang my head in my hands with my elbows on my thighs. “I need time to think about this.”
She quietly leaves her position and makes her way into the connecting kitchen, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
I run my hand through my hair and turn to look at Derrick. He is breathing slowly and I can’t take my eyes off the way his face looks in such a relaxed state. Derrick was always my voice of reason. I clung to him when life threw crap at me and when I was at my wits’ end when it came to my family.
Memories of our past float through my mind and I let myself become consumed by it instead of pushing it away like I always do.
“What are you doing?” Derrick growls.
“Running away. What the fuck does it look like? I can’t take it anymore, Derrick. I can’t watch her do this to herself, to us.” I admit to him, showing him all my vulnerabilities and how raw she left me. Derrick is the only person who has seen me this way. The only person I trusted with my emotions and right now, my emotions were threatening to drown me.
I crouched down and grabbed my head. I didn’t deserve to live. I didn’t see a purpose of why I was in this world and every day was too hard to bear, too hard to survive.
Derrick quickly ran to my side and wrapped his arms around me, holding together the shattered pieces of me. Tears ran down my face as I turned away from him, ashamed he had to see me this way. Wasn’t I the one who was supposed to help him?
“James. Stop. Don’t do that. It’s me. You know I’m here for you. Don’t retreat within yourself and leave me here alone. I can’t do this life without you, man. Sometimes you’re the only thing that keeps me going, that keeps me believing in hope.”
My heart cracked. We were both broken, with a past that could never be mended. Was this why we were thrown together? I slowly turned to look at him and suddenly, Derrick wasn’t just my best friend… he was my everything. My glue.
His eyes shifted to my lips and mine shifted to his. Lost in the moment, we found ourselves entwined in a kiss neither of us could foresee. I hesitantly reached out and touched his face, unsure if it was a figment of my imagination and if it would disappear the moment I began to hope for something more in this life.
James
Derrick jerks awakeand I almost jump out of my skin but quickly compose myself. “Derrick!”
He groans and slowly sits himself up, rubbing the side of his head as if he is nursing the world’s worst hangover.
“Bruh, what happened?” his voice croaks.
I put my hand on his shoulder, needing to touch him, needing the contact. “Something happened at the beach and now there’s a monster inside of you. The girl you decided to save happens to be the monster’s daughter.”
He pulls his head back and looks at me incredulously. “What?”
