Through Glass(35)

The monster lifted him as its massive wings moved and flapped in preparation to leave; to take Cohen from me forever. It was then the sound broke free from my chest. The tortured wail seeping into the air as my fear left me; leaving me with nothing other than the pain and the white-hot pulse of anger at what the monster had done.

I scrambled to my feet, the bed rail in my hand as I screamed and ran toward him. I swung the rail wide, the heavy metal making contact with the back of the creature that carried Cohen away from me.

“Let him go!” I screamed as I hit him. The rail hit him hard enough that a spray of black blood sprinkled over my face.

The creature screamed at the impact, it’s free hand moving to slice through me. I jumped away, avoiding the golden sickles only to feel the feathered surface of his arm cutting into me. The impact of the creatures arm pushed me away, sending me stumbling back only to collide with the blunt edge of the stairs that led up to my front porch.

I yelled out at the pain that rattled through my spine. I needed to get up, I need to fight him, I needed to get Cohen. I turned toward the monster, pushing myself up and struggling to find my feet in my desperation. I stumbled through the grass, the rail heavy in my hands as I tried to rush toward where the monster had stood, but it was too late. The monster had already taken flight, his black feet leaving the patch of grass it stood on as it moved into the air, flying into the black, his wings taking him through the ten foot gap and away from me.

“COHEN!” I screamed as I crawled after him, my body still aching too much to get me to my feet.

“COHEN!” The scream broke from my chest as tears fell down my cheeks. My arms gave up as I went crashing to the ground, my body vibrating in pain and earth shaking sobs.

I saw Cohen turn his head toward me as I yelled for him. The sound of my scream drowned by the darkness and the Ulama’s scream that pierced the night.

Cohen’s eyes focused on me as his mouth moved in farewell, as his eyes closed and life left him.

As he left me alone.





I collapsed back to the ground as the black swallowed him up, as the monster took him away from me.

The screams had died in my chest as soon as they had vanished from sight, but I couldn’t stop the tears and I couldn’t move my body.

I lay in the grass, the rough texture of the dead plants rough against my skin. I stared at nothing except the flicker of the emergency light as it tried to ignite itself, as it sucked the last of the life from the batteries. It’s wasn’t enough. It was too late.

He was already gone.

I watched the light—the flicker of life—and wondered why the Ulama hadn’t come back, why they hadn’t come to finish the job. This light was obviously not enough to destroy them. If it was, then I would still have Cohen. I was open game; they should have come by now.

I wasn’t sure I cared.

Perhaps, this punishment was worse anyway. To die alone.

Slowly, my tears dried to nothing. My sadness and pain disappeared to lock itself somewhere deep inside me. They seeped into the place I held everything else that hurt, nestling themselves together until I could pretend they weren’t there.

I pushed them away until I couldn’t feel them, until only the anger was left. It was what I had done when the pain at being alone was too much, when the loss of my family hurt. Except now, there was nothing to replace it. There was no smiling face on the other side of the glass to help me forget. To make me feel something real.

I uncoiled my body slowly as I stood, my arms hanging down limply by my side. I was just aware of the awkward V shaped metal I still held in my hands, the slime of my sweat and Cohen’s blood making my grip weak.

It hung by my side with the metal cold against my bare leg. My fist clenched and unclenched around the bulky shape with each pulse of my heart. It was a dark, cold reminder of the world I had so ruthlessly been thrown into. I didn’t want it to be like this; me, alone, in the dark. I could feel my anger boiling as it attempted to drown my loss. I didn’t know, however, if it was strong enough to do so.

I stared at the darkness in front of me, the black sky lightening with each dim flicker of the light. I focused on the last place I had seen him. My eyes unmoving from the inky black of the sky. I couldn’t let that be the last of him.

I could feel the emptiness of the street around me. I could feel it seeping into my bones and chilling me, changing me. Into what, I wasn’t sure.

A monster? A warrior? I stood on the edge of both; my pain and loss fueling my anger. I couldn’t stay here where everything was gone. Where everything hurt and nothing was good. I couldn’t stay here when the world had been destroyed.

I needed to get out of here.

I ripped my eyes away from the black spot in front of me. My eyes narrowed through the stinging in my eyes as I gathered up the flickering light and ran toward my house. I ran into my house not seeing, not caring; my mind and heart flying away from me. I ran right through the open door, through the destroyed kitchen and into my brother’s bedroom.

I stopped the minute my feet touched the carpet and my eyes scanned the room through the dark.

My heart beat wildly in my chest as I looked at the bedroom, which was as almost perfect and practically untouched as mine was. Two sets of bunk beds, the dinosaur blankets, a Justin Timberlake poster taped above the dresser, and the Scooby Doo slippers which still sat by the bed, waiting for bedtime. It all looked like they had just stood up and walked away, only to forget their way home.