Fallen (editing)

Chapter 26

Dim and I are practically skipping home.
"It worked! The plan worked!"
Dimitrio soars over my head, cawing proudly.
The power we got from Mr. Johnson thrums in my chest.
Earlier this morning, Dimitrio had come up with a plan.
He gave me a rune that would stun Mr. Johnson. All I had to do is get him to concentrate on it.
The rest was loosely planned and I got the power.
I try to push down my thoughts about Ash. Focus on the victory.
I grin wildly as I walk up the steps up to the apartment.
"Sylt!"
I look down. Ash looks back at me.
She shifts on her feet uncomfortably.
"You, uh, wanna see something cool?"
I shrug, setting my bag onto the floor.
Dim glances at me and flies away.
"Ok, sure."
She exhales and rings her fingers through her hair.
"C'mon."
I jump down the stairs and walk up to her.
She smiles. A genuine smile. Not faint or dull. But bright and sparkling.
Ash spins on her heel and walks toward an alleyway.
I follow her, jumping over puddles.
Finally, she leads me towards the alleyway where I fought Luca.
She stops in front of a wall and looks up.
I follow to where she's looking.
A giant phoenix is rising out of the ashes. Huge, fiery wings scrape the sides of the wall, setting them aflame.
The phoenix's regal beak points straight at me, piercing me with its orange eyes. Flames erupt from its head, painting the top of the wall with orange and red. The ash its flying out of is set on fire, forming the phoenix's tail feathers.
"It's amazing." I gape at the graffiti. "Wow."
Ash rubs the back of her neck. "Think so?"
I look at her, incredulously. "Think so? Look at it!"
She smiles mildly. "Yeah, it's one of my favorites."
I squint at the edges of the piece where something is scrawled.
I lean in and read aloud. "Ashe and Dust."
I look at Ash. "You made this?"
She shifts on her feet, scuffing her combat boots on the ground.
"Yeah."
I look at her. "This is awesome!"
She grins. "Really?"
I roll my eyes. "Do you see this?"
She smiles again, bright and beautiful.
"Seriously Ashley, this is amazing."
And I'm not just talking about the piece.
She rolls her eyes. "I told you, pretty boy, my name is Ash."
I smirk. "Ok, Ash...... Ley."
She sticks her tongue out at me and frowns.
I shrug and look up at the setting sun. "I should be getting home."
Ash walks forward, placing her hand on her graffiti piece. "Yeah..... Yeah."
I start to walk back to the apartment.
I stop and look at back at Ash, still standing there with her hand on the piece.
What Halley told me drifts through my head.
"Shouldn't you be going home, too?"
She looks at me, eyebrows drawn together. She looks down at her feet. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna go."
I lean back against the wall. "You ok?"
She frowns. "I'm fine."
"Are your parents home?"
She mutters something under her breath.
"What?"
Her voice is barely a whisper, low and angry. "My parents haven't been home in a long time."
I feel my brow furrow. "You're by your self?"
That doesn't make sense. Halley said she lived with abusive parents.
She shakes her head. "Foster parents."
"Foster parents?"
"They replace the parents that were taken away."
Taken away.
I word my next few words carefully. "Your parents were......."
"My parents drank a lot."
Her voice is tight and angry, like she's trying hard not to scream.
"So you live with other people?"
"Yeah."
"Are they ok?"
She smiles coldly. "They're disgusting. It's like I'm not even human."
How she was standing earlier makes my fists curl.
I stay silent, staring at the wall across from me.
A twinge of guilt plucks at my chest.
Sylt. What are you doing? Stop. Stop. Right. Now.
"If...you, if you, uh, can't go back, you could stay with us."
She looks up, surprised. "Seriously?"
I nod, my face pink. "Yeah."
She smiles faintly. "Thank for the offer. But I got a sister back there, I need to be there."
I nod. "I get it."
She turns and starts to walk away.
Ash pauses, but doesn't turn back. "You know, you're not that bad, pretty boy."
I smile and turn back towards the apartment.
"Back at you."