Face of Death

Chapter 12

I cried out in pain, and Matt carefully lowered me to the grass so I wouldn’t hurt myself. I saw glimpses of Victoria looming over me, smiling as she continued to deliver my torture. “Service with a smile,” she’d called it. She was talking to me, but I couldn’t hear her over my own screams. I felt the hellfire burning me from the inside out. This wasn’t the normal torture. I wasn’t reliving a death I’d caused. Victoria was burning me the same way Hades had after I’d raised the entire cemetery in my sleep.

“You ready to torture your father’s soul yet?” Victoria asked, easing up only enough for me to answer.

My dad? “No!” What had I missed? Hades was torturing me by trying to make me torture my own father?

“Then I guess I get the pleasure of torturing you both.” Victoria smiled, and I turned to see my seventeen-year-old father on the ground next to me in Tartarus. His eyes said he was more concerned for me than himself.

“Jodi!” My name echoed in my ears. Matt’s hand was on my face. “Look at me. Focus on me.” His voice was firm, demanding my attention.

I choked back the fire in my throat. My eyes watered, and I clenched my teeth against the searing pain shooting through me. Dad’s cries tore through me worse than the hellfire.

“Jodi!” Matt was screaming now. “Damn it, listen to me!” Matt had never yelled at me. Never cursed at me.

I opened my eyes, seeing double. Victoria’s image hovered over Matt’s with a faint ghostly glow.

“Good,” Matt said. “Tune it out. It’s just me, okay. You’re not there. You’re here with me.” He took my face in his hands. Please, don’t kiss me. Alex—he was near me, near my body in Tartarus. Matt leaned toward me as I shoved the image of the underworld out of my mind. I turned my head away from Matt, and he paused inches from my face.

“I’m okay now.” But my dad wasn’t. I never thought I’d see him again, but of course Hades would make me watch Dad suffer.

Matt hung his head in relief. “I was trying to shock you out of it. I wasn’t really going to kiss you again. I know you’re with… I guess it worked.”

“I’m going to have to learn to keep those thoughts out. Hopefully, my Ophi half is doing a better job tuning out what’s going on here.”

“It’s almost like you’re two people now.”

“I know. Even with all the crazy things I’ve been going through, this tops them all.”

“You okay to get up?”

I nodded. “I think so.”

He gave me his hand and pulled me up, going slowly to make sure I was really all right. “What do we do now?”

“I have to get back to the school. Medusa’s spirit is trapped in a statue we have there. Normally, I can call her and she’ll appear in my mind, but I don’t have any of my Ophi powers now. I’m hoping, if I connect to the statue, I’ll be able to talk to her.”

Matt rubbed the back of his neck. “Medusa’s spirit? Really?”

“I know how it sounds, but it’s true. Listen, you don’t have to come along. You can start over. Go somewhere no one knows Brian.”

“I don’t have anyone anymore.” He looked down at his feet. “Except you.”

“Do you want to come with me?”

“Do you mind?”

“No. Actually, I was kind of hoping you’d come along. We didn’t really get to say goodbye to each other. I’ve been carrying the memory of you and the last time we were together for months now. I’d like a better memory for when I—”

“Go back to being Ophi and can’t be around me anymore?” His big brown eyes spoke volumes.

“You know, all Ophi have green eyes. It’s really nice to see your brown eyes again, even if these aren’t really yours.”

He smiled. “I always loved your eyes.”

Things were getting weird again. These feelings just wouldn’t go away, especially when we stared into each other’s eyes like this.

“We should go. We can’t exactly stay in this town. Someone will recognize Liz and Brian.” We started walking again. Our only chance of not drawing attention to ourselves was to find one of those donation bins and get some normal clothes.

We came to a fork in the road. “Which way?” Matt asked.

Neither of us had a clue where we were. “Let’s go right,” I said. “It’s the right side of Medusa’s body—and mine—that has the power to restore life. Seems like a good way to go.”

“Whatever you say.” Matt smiled at me, a smile that said he’d follow me anywhere. This was not going to be easy. Matt was a gentleman, and I knew he wouldn’t try anything as long as I was adamant about Alex. But what if my human soul couldn’t hold on to my Ophi feelings for Alex?

We walked along the road in silence. No cars drove by, and the streetlights were few and far between. I tripped over a dead animal, and Matt grabbed my arm to keep me from faceplanting in the dirt on the shoulder of the road.

“You know, a few months ago, I would’ve been afraid I’d raise the poor thing.”

“I still can’t believe you can do that.”

“It takes some getting used to.”

We came to a traffic light, and we both smiled. This was a good sign. It meant we were getting closer to civilization. Maybe we’d find somewhere to get clean clothes. At this point, I wasn’t opposed to stealing from a clothing store. I’d find a way to pay for it later.

“Right again?” Matt asked at the intersection.

I nodded. It was only our second right so we wouldn’t be heading in a circle or square that would lead back to the hospital or cemetery.

We walked about another half mile before we started to see lights. Neon lights.

“Stores!” I never thought I’d be so happy to see a store, especially a drugstore.

“Look.” Matt sounded equally as happy. He pointed to the sign across the street from the drugstore. It was a secondhand shop, and outside was a donation bin.

“Yes!” I whirled around and hugged Matt. He lifted me off the ground and squeezed me. Our faces were inches apart, and we stared at each other. My smile slowly faded, and I lowered my eyes. “Sorry.”

Matt didn’t say a word as he lowered me to the ground. “Ladies first.” He motioned for me to lead the way.

Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex. Alex was counting on me. He was probably worried sick about me. I couldn’t do anything to jeopardize what I had with him. Matt was only temporary. I wouldn’t be human forever. I tried so hard to convince myself of all these things. To be rational. Only … the human heart isn’t rational. A huge part of me wanted to finish what Matt and I had started.

The metal container creaked as Matt held open the lid. “So, do I dive in and start digging for something appropriate?”

“How about you reach in? I don’t want to have to pry you out of there if you get stuck.”

He laughed. “Okay.” He reached his arms in and pulled out a yellow tube top. I shook my head, and he tried again. This time he got a pair of neon-green pants.

“Oh, they’re so you,” I said.

“Remember you have to be seen with me.”

“Touché.”

Matt reached in again. “Oh, I’ve got the perfect outfit for you. So perfect that I’ll agree to wear the green pants if you put this on.” This was going to be bad. Matt held up the most hideous floral and paisley-print dress that only a senile old great-great-grandma would wear. “What do you think?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think it goes with my eyes. Darn.” I faked an upset tone.

“All right, your turn. I can’t reach anything else.”

“My arms are shorter than yours. How do you expect me to reach in there?”

“I’ll hold you up. I bet you’d fit in there just fine.”

“You won’t let me fall in?” I knew he wouldn’t. I trusted Matt with my life. The only reason I’d asked was because…well, I was flirting. I cursed myself for it.

“I’d never let anything happen to you.” He was dead serious.

I nodded, and he waved me closer. As I put my hands on the metal container, Matt placed his hands on my waist. He counted to three and lifted me up. Leaning forward, I reached both my arms into the container. I was dangling upside-down, held up by Matt’s arms. I tried to push the warm feel of his touch from my mind as I sifted through the clothes. Most were nowhere near my size or Matt’s. I was about to give up hope when I found what felt like a t-shirt and a pair of jeans near the bottom of the bin. They felt big, so I guessed they were men’s. I also grabbed another smaller pair of jeans and a lightweight zip-up hoodie.

“Okay. Pull me out of here.”

Matt carefully brought me back out of the container. His body pressed up against mine. He cleared his throat and backed away, running his fingers through his hair and avoiding my eyes. Yup. We both felt the pull between us.

I forced myself to look at the clothes in my hands under the light of the thrift store sign. “Hopefully these will work.” I handed Matt the jeans and shirt.

“We should find a bathroom.” He pointed to the gas station two stores down. “That’ll work.”

We walked in silence again. I wished Matt and I could go back to the way we used to be, when we were just friends. I missed him, and this tension between us was unbearable. We decided it wasn’t safe for both of us to go inside the gas station to get the bathroom keys, so Matt went alone, while I stayed outside and worried that someone would recognize him.

A few minutes later, he came back holding two keys. “No problem. The kid working the register didn’t even look up from his phone when he gave me the keys.” Speaking of not looking up, Matt was having trouble looking at me now. Just great. This was going to be extremely awkward.

I took the key and opened the bathroom door, going straight for the sink. Seeing Liz’s face stare back at me in the mirror was the weirdest feeling. I shook it off and turned on the cold water. I needed something to shock myself out of whatever it was I was going through. I splashed water on my face, but it didn’t help at all.

I stared at the tag on the jeans. Squeezing myself into them wasn’t going to be easy. I held my breath and tugged them on. It felt like someone was strangling my waist, but I managed to button them. They actually reminded me of the jeans Melodie had made me buy. The ones I’d worn on my date with Matt. Being human again was making me tap into all those memories I’d tried to put in the back of my mind when I became the leader of the Ophi. I wondered if my Ophi memories would fade while I was here. I couldn’t imagine Alex becoming nothing but a memory.

A knock on the door made me jump. I took one last look at Liz’s reflection—now my reflection—and stepped outside.

Matt held his hands out at his sides. “Well, what do you think?” He had on a deep orange shirt. I used to love him in that color. Something about his dark hair and eyes against the rich orange was really … sexy. But Matt wasn’t a brunette anymore. He was a blond. The color didn’t have the same effect on his features.

“Looks a little snug.” I stuck to safe comments, ones that didn’t comment on how hot I’d thought he was—the real Matt, at least.

“Yours, too. Though I remember the jeans you wore on our date to that nightclub, Serpentarius, were killer on you. This girl doesn’t…well, she’s not you.”

Yeah, I knew what he meant. Not that I was complaining about Liz. She was pretty fit, but too teeny tiny—though not as tiny as these size-zero jeans. I wasn’t exactly big, but I had a few inches on her—not to mention a few curves.

I fidgeted, feeling uncomfortable, which was ridiculous considering I wasn’t even in my own body. “Um, I guess we should figure out where we are.”

“Already found out. When I was in the convenience store, I checked out the paper. We’re in some town called Springfield.”

“That doesn’t exactly narrow it down. There are a ton of Springfields across the country.”

“Not a problem. Did you really think I’d leave it at that? I checked out a few brochures they had for activities in the area. I’m pretty sure I know where we are.” Of course he did, because Matt was perfect. He thought of everything.

“How far from home?”

“I’m guessing about four hours by bus.”

“Bus?”

“Yup. Next one leaves at six. We’ve got two hours.”

Alone with Matt for two hours waiting for a bus. I would’ve killed for this opportunity a few months ago. Now, it terrified me. Even when I wasn’t a threat to him, I was still afraid to be around him. “We don’t have any money.”

Matt looked away as if ashamed. “I sort of stole some money from the register.”

“What? How?” Matt wasn’t the type to steal. I couldn’t imagine how he’d pulled this off.

“I told the kid the coffee maker was empty, so when he went to refill it…” He shrugged.

I couldn’t complain. We needed money, and Matt had done what he had to in order to get us out of this town. He was protecting me, even if it meant doing something completely out of character.

“We should go to the bus station and try to get some sleep.” Matt cocked his head at me. “What is it? Why do you look like you lost your puppy?”

How did I explain this to him? Well, Matt, after splitting my soul, I feel like a complete psycho with a split personality. I still love Alex, but looking at you, I just want to throw myself in your arms and kiss you.

“Just tired, I guess.” Yeah, that was a better answer.

“The cashier said the bus station was two blocks down on the left.”

A car pulled into the parking lot, so we decided to leave the bathroom keys in the door locks instead of risking going back inside the store again. The fewer people who saw us, the better. While we walked, I kept my hands shoved in my pockets. I wasn’t afraid of Matt trying to hold my hand. I was afraid of me wanting to hold his. I loved Alex, and if I was fully in the underworld with him, it would be his arms I’d want around me. His hand I’d be holding. But this part of me—my completely human soul—had never been with Alex. Matt and I had a history together, one based on me being normal, not Ophi.

We stepped into the bus station and found the bus we needed. Matt pointed the way, gently placing his hand on the small of my back. He used to do that all the time when we walked down the halls at school, but now…

He looked down at his hand. “Sorry. Old habits and all that.”

I shook my head. “It’s okay.” No, it wasn’t.

I looked at the empty wooden bench. It wasn’t exactly sanitary.

“Here.” Matt sat down and motioned for me to join him. “You can put your head in my lap so your hair doesn’t stick to whatever this substance is coating the bench. My guess is year-old chewing gum and…well, I don’t want to know what else.”

Put my head in his lap and sleep? That was way too intimate.

“Jodi.” He frowned at me. “You know you can trust me. I’m not going to do anything to you while you sleep.”

He wasn’t the one I was worried about. “I know that.” It was four in the morning, and I was exhausted, so I curled up on the bench next to him and rested my head on the edge of his lap, not daring to touch any more of him than necessary.

I closed my eyes and wondered what Alex was doing.