Clear Skies

Chapter 6: Five Months

Today marked the one hundred and thirtieth day I had tried to die. Counting was all I could bother to do any more, and sometimes I wondered why even keep that up. It was as pointless and monotonous as counting the stars, and the utter futility was equivalent.

The thought inspired me to watch the sky. Endless stars looked down on me, and I wondered what they saw. My focus fell from the night sky to the sand at my feet as I trudged onward. I sat on the lip of a ridge. The sands stretched on forever. Silver desert met cobalt night at the edge of the world.

"Hey! Kaaaliiin!"

The kid ran to the hill and sat far too close to me as though he had an open invitation. Maybe I'd be frustrated if I had the energy to. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt anything. "What is it this time?"

"You did awesome today, like always!" I had nothing to say... like always. "Um, but I came here to ask you for help. A friend of mine needs a hand at the crossroads! The only people nearby are... um..."

Raging drunk or passed out. I said, "I'm not very good at helping."

"C'mon, please! I can't just leave my friend there! If I do, something bad'll happen. I just know it!"

I sighed through my nostrils. "If I do, will you leave me alone?"

"Yeah, sure! That's a yes, right? Yes! Okay, this way!" He sprinted in the direction of Crash Town. I rose slowly, turned my back on the horizon, and followed him. I sauntered through the shadows opposite the lights and music from the saloon. The town grew quieter and darker the closer I drew to its heart: the crossroads. West's voice called, "I got him, Nico!"

The kid's sister was crouched over a person fallen on the ground. She fanned the individual with a black cowboy hat. The red scarf tied around it said it belonged to one of Malcolm's, so I guessed the unconscious person was on his side. Nico backed away and said, "Oh hi, Kalin."

"...What do you want from me?"

West pointed at the fallen person. "Carry her to her house. I'll show you where it is!"

"Let me get this straight," I said. "You brought me here to carry some unconscious woman around? That strikes me as a huge invasion of privacy."

"You said you would!" West shouted.

"...You didn't tell me what I'd be doing."

"We can't do it ourselves," Nico said, "and she'll be in big trouble if anyone finds her here."

"Why?"

Nico fiddled with her hair. "She doesn't have the best reputation. We really don't have any other way to help her. Please?"

They both gave the begging puppy-eyes look. I sighed and dropped to a knee next to the girl. Spare moonlight illuminated her blue-dyed leathers. A shine caught her criminal mark, and tied into her white locks was...

I breathed in. My headband. Starlight glinted on the bobby pin I'd latched onto it. That was over a year ago, but she was wearing it. I asked, "What happened to Rain?"

The kids stared at me with wide eyes. "You know her?"

"We met once. A long time ago, in the Satellite." Then there was the matter of the hospital room...

"No way!" The kid turned to the girl. "That must have been on that shopping trip she took with Klaus. That was before she went poof!"

"Yeah, but we still don't know where she went."