Chai

Chapter 4

My heart slammed as I sat in the hospital wing. I hoped so hard that weird boy was ok. His eyes, while unsynchronized in color, were synchronized in horror. I cracked my knuckles and focused on the smell of doughnuts from the Fin Hortons downstairs. Interesting story about that place, it was inspired by a brand in the Old World started by a hockey player. However, the name was hard to translate because the newspaper they found was smudged with dirt. Those have to be my favorite doughnuts, hands down.

They were lucky they didn't die of chemical poisoning from touching that thing.

A nurse with starched, bloody clothes and a militant bun in her hair marched in. Her face was like a brick. How someone could be so cold had evaded me in the moment.

She snarled, long fangs dripping with venom, "Watccccchhh your sssstare, young lady. It'ssss not becoming for a young woman. We musssttt be poised and strong, that is how we survive war." She slammed down a cup of water. Medicine floated in the cup. I squinted at her hand as it snapped around my arm. Instead of normal skin, the scales of a snake gleamed in the fluorescent lights. She was cold like a corpse, and slimy like old chicken fat. Chills ran down my spine. I instinctively pulled away, but she hissed at me. It was going to be a long day.

*

The entire process of getting my wings put back into place took longer than it should've. Everyone kept chirping, "At least they weren't broken! My aunt's, uncle's, brother's shark dog broke a bone, and it took XYZ amount of time and oooooohhh the PAIN! It broke me little Karen heart." I would've said bite me, but that's a dangerous proposition when you're out on your own, but I imagine you know all about that. Who doesn't these days? It isn't exactly a secret.

I lay splayed across my bed, the smell of hazelnut coffee drifting from Alice's room. I stood up and knocked on the door. She opened the door, knife in her hand. A bandage was over her shoulder. She looked me up and down. She set down the knife. Her eyes got glassy. Her ears were ruffled, and her beautiful hair was tangled and greasy. Her tail dragged along the messy floor. I glanced up to her doll-like, deadened eyes.

She whispered, head tilted to the left just a bit, "Be careful, the world is dangerous when you're all alone." She slammed the door. The hall shook. Those eyes have been burned into my head ever since this whole mess started.

I should've been there for her.

I should've stopped this before it started.

But I didn't.

I only tried to talk to her a few more times before I gave up, like the coward I am.

That's why I'm at this hospital. I want to fix this. I want to save Gizmo and the others..."

*

The old woman grabs me into a harsh embrace. My tears flow down my face like a river. The smell of Fin Horton doughnuts nearly makes me gag. I hate that smell. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. She rubs my back. "It got my dear husband too... I do not blame you, Schatz. You didn't start this war. You are an innocent dove born among rabid, mangy wolves." I whimpered into her shoulder for a few more minutes. She had to go, but she gave me her number so I could finish the story tomorrow. The sun has set. The furnace roars like a mighty lion.

I am alone.

All alone, with no one to blame but myself.

Tears begin anew.

I snatch up my phone.

The elderly woman picked up on the first ring. She chirped, "Hello? Is this the young lady from the hospital?" I nod, then slap myself. She can't see me. I sip my coffee to regain my composure.

I sigh, brain swimming, "Yes, this is Chai. How did you know?

She chirps again, and I imagine a shaky smile on her face, "When you get to be my age, you learn these things. Now deary, please tell me the rest of the story..."

I wring my hands, lean back into the cheap couch, and fixate on the single photo on the mantle, "Nothing else out of the ordinary happened until a few weeks later...

*

The school had a reading week. Or, in student terms, a break from torture and schedules for fun and getting ahead with homework. It also meant a week of open dorms from 6pm to 12am. Considering my best friend had ghosted me, I did what any logical loner did back then. I locked my dorm door, huddled under a million blankets, and read romance manga. Or at least, that was my PLAN...

I glanced down at my phone to see a text from an unknown number. I asked, "Who is this?" I set my phone down and resumed reading. Ding. Who... I glance down.

"An idiot who wants to apologize." I roll my eyes. Great, a comedian.

I text, rolling onto my stomach and spreading my wings across the mattress, "No, seriously, who is this?" I stare at the ominous number for a few seconds. The three dots dance on the screen.

"Gizmo, I'm the idiot who tackled you... I wanted to apologize. I could've gotten us killed." I softened my death grip on my phone.

"Ok, I accept your apology. Why were you on the roof?"

"Algebra?" Why did he word it like a question? I flap my wings in frustration, causing my mattress to squeak. The thoughts of mice twirled through my head before I swatted it away. I just had supper. I don't need more food.

Gizmo and I continued to talk through the night, and then the next week.

*

Halfway through reading week, a loud slam woke me from power saving mode.

It repeated three times on my door.

The doorknob rattles.

It's three in the morning.

A horror manga quivers in my hands.

My heart races.

"Chai?" It sounded like my best friend, Alice.

I raced to the door. I threw it open.

It wasn't Alice.

I slammed it shut and muffled a scream.

Ever looked into deaths' eyes?

That day I did, if only I'd known it.

Gizmo's laugh echoed through the hall. "Chai, it's only a costume. See? I'm rabid, rawr!!!" I gently pulled open the door. White shaving cream was sprayed all over his mouth, and his eyes had bloodshot contacts that looked as if he did a joint prior to arriving at my door. He raised his hands, each one much larger than my face, into a claw shape and chuckled. A small smirk played across his face.

Why do people think Halloween is an excuse to startle people who wish to have no part in said holiday?

I croaked, staring at the creature before me, "How..." His eyes lit up. I knew I wasn't getting out of this the moment I said "How."

*

So, we never left my dorm. He planned on us going out and "making sure everyone was having a fun time out there" (scaring people). Instead, we spent five hours discussing everything we knew about special effects for stage and on-camera performances. After that, we watched about an hour of a special effects show before Lexi walked back into her dorm.

Gizmo, who was sprawled across my bed and half-asleep, groaned, "Ugh, does that mean I have to go?" I turned around to stare at him for what I intended to be a brief second. Instead, a staring contest broke out from where we had moved to the doorway.

How can death and wonder be in the same pair of eyes?