Bay City

Chapter .5

The ship in which she sailed only drifted farther from him.

"She's dangerous."

"She needs help." Day retorted back at Ponya, "Lynn won't do anything, I promise. If she does, I'll make sure to remove any trace of her ever existing. Personally."

The room went so quiet, you could hear the crickets in the field outside chirping. Ponya continued to lock eyes with Day, and finally broke the silence.

"Just tell them I had no part in this when it comes back to you." Ponya whispered.

"It's a deal," he said, lifting himself from where he sat and sticking out his hand for her to shake. She seemed surprised, and slowly reached her palm out to seal the deal.

"Give me at least two weeks. I'll figure something out by then," she said, wary almost.

Day reached his hand down to help me off the couch. "Let's go back," he told me, the sound of his voice seemed calmer, and less violent now. He helped me up and we exited Ponya's home, going into the seemingly endless field. I looked back at the quaint house, looking ten times smaller than it was on the inside. I wasn't phased by this, knowing it was the job of a God to confuse and evoke the wonder of everything they come across.

"Hey, where did Moon go? Wasn't he with us before?" I asked looking around.

"Moon doesn't like Pon. Says she gives him the creeps. He probably just went home."

I nodded in response and waded through the tall grass trying to keep up with Day's quick pace. Once we were back on the cherry blossom streets, he began to speak.

"Gods live in different areas, you know? The Sectors as they call them. Each and every one of us is classified into one of four groups. Air, Fire, Earth, and Water." He sighed, and continued to talk just above a whisper like he was embarrassed. "They nicknamed me the God of bad luck, for a reason I wish would just disappear. But that's beside the point. Me being in the Air sector of the Gods, I get to live in this beautiful town. Right smack in the middle of everything. It all seems so perfect, right?" Day paused, like he decided to stop himself from continuing. "What I was trying to finally say to you was... Welcome to Bay City." He smiled at me with the most genuine look I had ever seen from him. Something seemed pained and I found him apologizing with his eyes as if this was all his fault.

Next thing I knew, my body was being thrown through the air. I sucked in my breath as my body hit the hard pavement of the street. I heard the crack of my skull smashing against the ground, but the pain was absent. Unable to stand, I watched as a shadow fell across the area.

As if it was materializing from thin air, something was standing above Day. It was the size of a bus and looked like a tiger. It was shedding black smoke with every breath it took and was faded as if it was made of mist, just like a ghost. The thing was completely black and its eyes were empty and soulless. I could feel my body shaking from the shock as it's growling quaked the earth.

Day was facing the beast, his arms outstretched towards the thing. I thought about screaming to him, but I felt too weak to even try. It lunged towards him and he just barely dodged, getting thrown aside by the sheer force. I closed my eyes to block it all out, but I was quickly brought back when I heard Day scream in pain. He was facing away from me, as if he was defending the thing away with as a crimson red began to bleed from his right forearm. He took a glance back at me, his eyes wild with the blue illuminating his face. Day was smiling. A smile like the sun with eyes as cold as ice.

~

The world had resumed as quickly as it had stopped, as I found myself back in Day's apartment. I was in the dull spare room with the only defining feature being a large window covering the majority of wall. I somehow felt completely normal, despite what I remembered. It all seemed like a faraway dream now. I had none of the injuries that I had felt before, and my head didn't feel any different. I glanced out the window to admire the bright blue skies and let my eyes unfocus. A wave of adrenaline rushed through my body as all my thoughts added up. Was Day okay? How did I get back here? I clambered out of bed and threw myself out the door and into the hallway. In the kitchen I gasped in relief as I saw the familiar faces of Day and Moon drinking coffee.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," Day said, cheerfully. "You look great." He pointed towards the large t-shirt I was wearing. I gasped, blood rushing to my cheeks.

"I just changed you into one of my shirts 'cause your clothes were all dirty and I couldn't have you ruining the sheets." Day explained, his face beginning to turn the same red as mine, "I didn't see anything, don't worry..."

I shoved his words into the back of my mind and tried my hardest to change the subject.

"What about you? Are you okay?" I blurted.

"I'm fine," he said, pulling back his sleeve to reveal a white bandage covering his forearm. "How's your head? You were completely knocked out when I killed off the demon."

"I seem to be alright, I don't exactly have any injuries that I know of," I told him, realizing how strange this really was.

"There is no possible way that you could have gotten away from a rogue demon of that size without harm. Do you have some sort of regeneration ability?" Moon asked, taking a sip from his coffee like it was no big deal.

"I don't know," I stated simply, "but how did we get back here? I was passed out the whole..."

"I brought you back." Day interrupted.

"But your arm..."

"I carried you on my back, it wasn't a problem." He said, face beet red. It was strange to see Day so flustered and I could help myself but to stare at him while he avoided my gaze from across the room.

"Ponya dropped off some clothes for you earlier today while you were sleeping," Moon told me, handing over a plastic bag filled with fabric. "You should probably get changed," he said looking down at Day's shirt.

I thanked Moon and went back to the room, rolling in my sheer embarrassment.

I closed the door and slumped against it, staring down at Day's baggy shirt. I was dizzy with the burning in my face and I could feel tears welling in my eyes but sucked them back. All my emotions collided at one moment; embarrassment, worry, sadness. For the first time since I had been here I truly felt scared.