Hunter's Strike

Angie woke from her nap feeling a thousand times better. Her knee didn't even hurt. She tested it out by standing on one foot. Okay it twinged a little. It would be best not to run any marathons for the time being.

Her new bedroom was cozy, but a bit bare. She'd taken all of the former tenant's things out and packed them up for a local veteran's charity. She went to retrieve a fresh shirt from the dresser and found only two in the drawer, looking sad and lonely. The laundry hamper next to it was only a quarter of the way full.

As time went by, she was hating her old house burning down more and more. She had had some very nice things in that house.

She checked the alarm clock by the bed. 6:30. Why was it so dark out, then? She peered out the window. Was that... dawn? Just how long had she been asleep? No wonder she felt so rested.

Her stomach growled at her. She was also starving. Breakfast sounded like an awesome idea.

She combed her hands through her hair quickly and went to go brush her teeth real quick. The apartment was quiet. Was Gabriel out, or just asleep?

The living room and kitchen were dark. She turned on a lamp, but left the overhead lights off. The sun was rising and the view from the living room was going to be spectacular. She had just enough time to go see what Gabriel had bought from the store.

Not much in the fridge except for blood bottles. The freezer had a pleasant surprise though. A quart of 'Blue Bunny' ice cream. 'Double Strawberry' flavored. She got ready to tear the top off, but stopped. The conversation with Donovan from before (yesterday?) came back to her.

“Ugh.” She shoved the carton into the very back of the freezer. Looking through the cabinets was fruitless. There were chips and cookies and candy bars, all of which she loved, but nothing remotely healthy. What did Gabriel think of her eating habits, if this was all he had bought for her?

On the counter she spotted two cans of soup and a package of 'DayQuil'. Her heart lifted a little. That was more like it.

Soon she was curled up on the couch with a hot bowl of soup, watching the skyline slowly turn orange. Gold reflected off the glass buildings.

Yeah, this place was pretty all right. She'd have to thank Callie again.

XXXXXXXXX

There was a knock at the door about an hour later. Angie was immediately curious. Who could it be? No one she knew would knock on a door that didn't have a lock. She got up from the couch and decided to answer it, rather than just shouting a 'Come in' across the room. Gabriel was probably sleeping in his room anyway, though she had never bothered to check if he was even home or not.

The person on the other side of the door was someone Angie didn't know. She couldn't tell if they were a male or female under the baggy dark clothes and copious amounts of black eyeliner. Going by the jaw line she guessed they were a girl. While they were shorter in stature, they appeared to be around the same age.

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah, is Callie around?” The girl lifted up a pale hand and tried to push her long black bangs out of her eyes, but they just fell back again. Her nails were short and painted slick onyx. There were visible scars on the back of her hand as well.

“I haven't seen her today. She's probably asleep by now.”

“Nah, I would have seen her. I'm her roommate.” Her voice was edged, but she also sounded a little congested, like she'd been crying. Her eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles underneath. “She's not answering her cell either. She told me to come up here if I needed something.”

Angie felt awkward standing there with her, but couldn't find it in herself to just dismiss the girl. “Do you want to come in for a bit? I'll give her a call. She's probably not far away.”

The girl hurried into the apartment, head down as she passed. She made a beeline for the living room couch and sat down. She folded her hands between her knees and stared at Angie.

“Are you hungry?” Angie shut the apartment door and headed into the kitchen. The girl nodded emphatically, fidgeting. Angie held up the bag of potato chips. “Salt and vinegar?”

The girl held up both hands, a sudden and fierce need in her eyes. Angie opened the bag and handed it to her. She dug in immediately, stuffing a handful of chips into her mouth.

“Callie remembers to buy food, doesn't she?” Angie asked, sitting in the armchair.

“Sometimes,” the girl said between chomps. “She's been on this juice cleanse for months, though. Fridge is just full of bottles. I'm not supposed to touch them.”

Angie watched the girl eat while she chose her next words carefully. “Callie is... an interesting roommate?”

The girls eyes locked with Angie's over the top of the chip bag. “You could say that.” She lowered the bag. “She's strange, but not bad. She saved my life.”

Angie's eyes moved to the scars on the girl's hand. They went down her wrist and disappeared into her sleeves. “Did she now?”

She put the bag down on the table. “Yeah, Mom kicked me out last winter and I went to a friend's place for a few days. I got high on,” she paused and looked to the side. “a few things. I left the house and got into some trouble.” She clasped one hand with the other and dug her thumb into her palm. “I don't remember much, but I fell on some broken glass. Or I broke some glass when I fell on it. Either way I thought it was great. I remember thinking that. I remember looking at the glass, and I was bleeding and I picked up a big piece of glass and I just cut into my arms, trying to bleed as much as I could. Callie said I was unconscious when she found me.”

Angie stared at the girl, her mouth open a little. She pulled herself together. “Are you okay just telling me all this?”

The girl shrugged and looked down at the floor. “It doesn't matter. Anyway, she took me to the hospital and told them she was my mom. They patched me up and Callie brought me back here.”

“You haven't been back home since?”

The girl shook her head. “No, I don't want to. It's better if they think I'm dead.” She didn't seem concerned or regretful, from what Angie could tell. She picked up the bag of chips again and peered inside. She straightened the plastic and lifted the bag to her mouth, pouring out a pile of crumbs and broken chips.

“My name is Angie.” She tried changing the subject. “Well it's really Evangeline, but Angie is for daytime wear.”

“I'm Sybil.” The girl crumpled up the bag and rubbed her mouth with her sleeve. “Can I have some water?”

“Sure.” Angie got up and went back into the kitchen. “Sybil is an interesting name for a girl your age...”

Sybil rolled her eyes. “I know, my mom was nuts when she named me. You can't even shorten it into anything casual like 'Angie'.”

Angie handed her a glass of water and sat back down. “There's got to be a nickname for Sybil. Like Sibs or Billy.” Sybil's eyebrows furrowed while she drank her water in two gulps. “Yeah, those are terrible.”

“It doesn't matter anyway. It's just a name.” She put the glass on the table. “Thank you.” She said it like an after thought.

“Let me call Callie for you.” Angie picked up her cell phone. “You can stay here with me till she comes back.

“Thank you.” This time, it sounded sincere.

XXXxxxXXX

Callie's phone buzzed in the pocket of her red leather coat. She pulled it out and placed it against her ear. “Hey Angie, what's up?”

“Hey Callie, Sybil's here with me. She's been looking for you.”

Sybil, that's right. She'd almost forgotten... “I'm afraid I'm not going to be back for a while. Can you keep an eye on her for me?”

She stood in a small stone room. The door was closed tightly, preventing the morning sun any entrance. Large rectangles lined the walls, words etched into each one. She was facing two pairs against the back wall.

“She's not going to cause any trouble, is she?” Angie asked jokingly.

“As long as you keep her away from sharp objects. I have to go now. See you tonight.” She placed the phone back into her pocket.

She ran her fingers along the names etched in the stone of the top two pairs of rectangles. Calypso Summers. Callisto Summers. She fingers stopped at her sister's name. “Lissie, I know you always looked out for me. I also know that if I could talk to you now you'd tell me to be strong. The thing is that I've tried my best to do that. I really have. I've done my best to be like you, to take care of others the way you took care of me. I have tried... and I know it's not me. I'm just emulating you.”

She leaned her forehead against the stone slab. “I know that I should be okay on my own, that I can take care of myself, but I also know that something is missing. I wasn't born a whole person, Lissie. I was born as a half, and trying to live with just half is pointless.”

“I know Gabriel was the one that killed you, but I don't blame him for your death. I don't even blame Nora. She just gave us an option when we had none.” She pulled away from the stone. “There's only one person I blame.” She looked down at the bottom two rectangles. Charles Summers. Robin Summers.

“It was his fault. I know that now. He's the reason for everything.” She looked back up at her sister's grave. “I know that you're gone and you're never coming back. The only comfort I get from that is knowing that wherever you are, he's someplace far worse.”

“The reason I'm here isn't to bring up the past, though. It's about the future. There is someone for me, someone who can be my new other half. They just don't exist yet, not completely.”

She placed both hands on the grave stone. “I'm brought myself here, so I can decide if I'm willing to bring that person into the world. I've given myself only two choices. I can take someone's life to suit my own, or I can crawl into that empty box next to you. I've given myself till nightfall to decide that.”

She turned around and leaned her back against the cool stone. She slid down to the floor and stared at the ceiling.