Elegy

FORTY-NINE Demonic

After Alex had left, Marcy ripped off the sleeve of a sweater she’d left in the backseat of her car. She tied it around the gash in her shin and tied it tight. Now she couldn’t see the bone, and that was kind of a bummer, but at least she could walk better.

Thea had taken the rest of the sweater and tied it around her chest, covering up the gaping hole in her chest where a small, beating, pink blob was apparently growing into a new heart.

While she did that, Marcy had gone over and laid a few of the smaller broken branches over Kirby. He was hidden under a blanket, but she wanted to add an extra layer of protection.

“I’m sorry, Kirby.” Marcy wiped at the tears in her eyes, smearing dirt and dried blood across her cheeks. “I didn’t know you for that long, but you were supernice, and this never should’ve happened to you.”

She took a deep breath and went on, “I’m also sorry that I can’t cry about you a lot right now, and I want you to know that it’s not because I don’t care. It’s because I want to go help kill the bitches that did this to you.”

“What are you doing?” Thea asked. She came up behind her and kept rolling her shoulder, making her broken wing crack.

“Saying a few words. I mean, I know he’ll have a funeral later, but it never hurts to say something like that when they’re freshly dead,” Marcy said. “His spirit’s probably close by, and I just wanted him to know that I’m sorry.”

“Why’d you cover him with branches?” Thea asked.

“So the animals don’t get him.” Marcy turned around. “All right. Let’s go.”

“Where?” Thea shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“What? You don’t need to just sit here and lick your wounds. My friends are in trouble, and I’m not just gonna wait around back here to see if they need help.”

“Who died and made you king?” Thea asked.

“You did, when I saved your life like two minutes ago.” Marcy limped over to her and held out her arm. “Now help me get up to the top of the hill. You owe me one.”

Thea stared at her and didn’t move to help. “And this is how you’re using the one?”

“Yep. This is it.”

“But you’re hurt.” Thea pointed to her leg. “You can barely walk. How are you gonna help them?”

Marcy shrugged. “Maybe I can be bait or a distraction, or maybe Penn will just eat me instead, and she’ll be too full to eat anyone else. I don’t know what I can do, but I know for damn sure that if I stay down here, I can’t help anybody. And I won’t do that. I’m not you.”

Thea ignored the dig and eyed her. “You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

“You should like that. Then I’d be out of your hair. Now let’s go. Once we get up there, you can go back to not-helping Gemma or Penn.”

A crashing and squawking sound interrupted the relative quiet that had fallen over the hill. Once Thea and Liv had started tearing through the trees, all the birds and other animals had scattered, making it almost eerily quiet.

But now Marcy looked up to the sky. The moon was clear and bright, and she easily saw the forms of two giant birds clawing at each other over the tops of the trees.

Thea sighed. “That can’t be good.”

She put her arm around Marcy’s waist, so Marcy could lean on her, and the two of them started making the steep trek up the road. It was a nice gesture, but every time they took a step, Thea’s broken wing would swing forward and hit Marcy in the back.

“This would be easier if you put that wing away,” Marcy said as she brushed a bloody feather out of her face.

“I can’t. It’s broken. It’s healing, and it won’t go back until it’s done.”

“Well, hurry up then,” Marcy said, and picked up her pace. Gemma was clearly in trouble, and she probably needed all the help she could get. “Maybe a car will drive by and stop for us.”

“Penn chased away the neighbors because she likes privacy, so we’re the only ones who live up here now,” Thea explained. “And I’m also pretty sure that nobody would stop for the two of us.”

“What? You have wings. You could be an angel,” Marcy said. “Who wouldn’t stop to help an angel?”

“You realize I’m actually more of a demon, right?”

“Yeah, I do, but a car driving by wouldn’t.”