Silence // Danger Days (Book 1)

Epilogue: Vendetta's Departure

Ven awakes.

He is in Battery City, next to the remains of BLI's prison building. He remembers being there, a couple of times, actually.

Both of them with Alien.

He doesn't want to say her real name. He isn't exactly sure why yet, but he doesn't anyway, just to make sure.

"Hello there," a voice says from behind Ven. He turns, only to see the one thing he never thought he'd see.

"Y-you're the Phoenix Witch," he stutters. His voice sounded smooth and calm despite his situation of not knowing what was going on.

"Some call me that, yes," the feathered creature replies. "Now, you were known as Violent Vendetta in life, correct?"

"Yeah," he responds. "Am I dreaming?"

"No," she says casually. "You're dead."

He isn't surprised, which confuses him. Then he realizes that he remembers dying, right there on the white concrete of this alley.

Al held his hands. He never wanted to leave her, but he was forced out of life by his own body.

He reaches up to his cheek to find a tear rolling down it. He doesn't want to imagine what she might be going through. He wants to run to her, to envelop her in his arms, to hold her and never let go. But he can't.

And it's starting to tear him apart.

"Hey," the Witch calls, pushing her shopping cart. "What're you waiting for? Let's go!"

He jogs to her and walks beside her. "Where are we going?"

She looks at him, her white mask staring into him. "To the afterlife, of course. It's my job."

"So everything they say is true? You go to the mailboxes and pick up people's souls to take to the afterlife?"

"Exactly."

"Can you see the future too?" Ven continues. "People say you come to them in dreams and give them warnings."

"You ask too many questions," she brushes his statement off. "What was your real name?"

He hesitates. He hasn't spoken his birth name in years. "Taylor Alvarez." There is only one person alive who knows that name.

"And to answer your question," she continues, "not entirely."

Suddenly, the scenery changes. They are now floating over the Pit. Al is standing on the stage, speaking. She puts her fist in the air, and the thousands of people in the crowd yell their agreement. She is crying.

He is crying too. She always had this power to command, to get people's attention.

"I can see a lot of things," the Witch begins. "I can see the present," she gestured to the scene below them.

The environment changes again. They are now flying over the edges of Battery City, following a minivan's path out of the city. It is being chased by a group of motorcycles-

"That's us," Ven points at the van. "Me and Al. That's when we escaped."

The Witch nods. "I can see the past as well. However, the future is not always clear."

They are now on the sand in the Zones, next to a mailbox. The Witch begins pulling masks and other various items from the box and putting them into her shopping cart.

He begins to think. One more question comes to his mind. "Can you change the future?"

She chuckles. "Of course not. No one can do that. But I can watch over people, protect them, if they need it."

He knows what he has to do. "Can you protect her?" he asks. "Alien. She needs it more than anyone right now."

The Witch pauses for a moment. "She has an entire army behind her. She has the support of thousands of people. She doesn't need protection."

Ven hesitates before his next statement. "But she doesn't have anyone to hold on to. Everyone that supports her does that, but none of them really know her. She feels completely and utterly alone right now."

The Witch considers this. "Well, I suppose that makes sense. And I can see that this isn't just an empty blessing. You want her to be happy, more than anything else. That makes a difference."

"I love her," he said. He felt more sure about it than every other thing he'd ever said.

"Yes, yes you do," she said calmly. "I suppose I could keep an eye on her."

He hadn't realized that he was crying again until that moment. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

And finally, Taylor Alvarez was at peace.