Gravity (26 page)

“You’re okay.” Dash
says under his breathe.

“
This isn’t a
good idea. There are too many people.”

“You could’ve said no
for your sake, but you said yes for hers. Have faith in yourself.
Remember who you’re doing this for.” Dash motions to Violet.

I stare
at
the back of her head which
seems to be moving about like a child visiting an amusement park.
Alex is walking next to her with a huge grin on his face. I hate
that he be in her head. The corner of his eye checks me.

“
The city looks
like a bright and colorful carnival at night. I always thought so
with all the lit signs and glowing store fronts. It reminds me of…"
Violet stops walking. Her eyes look beyond the street corner to
where a large fountain is centered in a small park.

“
Vi, are you
okay?” Alex's lowers his mouth too closely to her ear, it makes my
chest hurt.

“
Yeah,” she
gives him a fake smile, but Alex’s frown doesn’t budge. I wait to
hear Alex reveal what’s wrong, but the bastard says
nothing.

“Can we stop there
for a moment?” She points to the fountain.

“
Of
course."
Dash leaves my side
for Violet’s and now I see the back of all three heads.

We
make their way to the fountain. Dash
digs into his pocket for a coin to throw in. Alex follows Violet
like a puppy as she walks around the massive concrete structure. I
stand on the ledge looking into the water.

“Here, make a wish?”
Dash holds out a penny.

I
hold out my hand and Dash smirks as
he drops it into my palm. He knows. It's like a thing with
us.

“You have any idea
what she’s thinking?”

Dash can see
things ju
st as Alex can hear
them. They're also ahead of the game since they read Red's
journals.

“
Yeah.” The
fountain lights put a glare on his glasses so I can’t see his eyes.
“She’s been here with Red and Grey. It was the first time she’d
been out of the Sanctuary.”

“
So this place
is,” I rubs the penny, “… is special?”

Dash nods. I
want something like that with her. Something special for her to
think of me with but how could I compare?

“
Don’t worry.
You’ll get your chance.”

“
How do you
know?” I
jump down from the
ledge and Dash’s eyes are visible.

“
You haven’t
made your wish yet.” He discards a penny into the fountain like it
meant nothing to him. I look at my shiny penny. I'm supposed to
make a wish.

Dash joins Alex
and Violet while I throw my coin in and wish for the only thing
I've been thinking about since meeting Violet.

***

Gabriel

We stand in
line waiting to get into the theatre. The stickers and fliers
plastered to the billboards beside us advertise the music Josh
often raved about. The smell of cigarettes triggers memories I want
to forget. The world outside of the Sanctuary hasn't changed, but I
have. I fear it. I haven't kept up my survival routine so my
awareness is not as sharp.

“
Vi,
w
e're celebrating remember?”
Alex is still trying to comfort her. After seeing the fountain, her
smiling face hasn't reappeared.

She
hugs herself. “It’s hard to celebrate
when we should be hard at work trying to find him.”

“A little fun can't
hurt. Plus, being cooped up in the Sanctuary wouldn't do any good
to Red or you for that matter.”

"Yeah but going
to a conc
ert would?” Violet
folds her arms. “Not sure I get the logic in that,
Alex."

"It's what I
know. Clears my head." Alex says. “Sometimes you need a
break.”

Dash snickers.
"With the music blasting in your ears how could you
think?"

"Are sure he
even thinks at all?" I laugh. The comment brings a slight smile to
Violet’s face. I did that.

“You’d do the same if
all you heard were voices. The music drowns it out. It centers me.”
Alex stands with his shoulders back.

“
Well,
it was proven that music does calm
the insane,” Dash smirks. “Especially people who hear voices in
their head.”

Violet tries to
hide her chuckle behind her fingers. Alex's mouth twitches. Seems
he isn't used to being the butt end of a joke.

If
it makes Violet feel better I can take it.
"Assholes." Alex shoves his hands in his
pockets.

Now,
if your hands can just stay there...
I cock my head up.

My hand will do as
they please. At least I can touch her.

You can't touch
her.

Well I have.

Fuck you!

Fuck you!

“
Hey!
Is there something I should know?”
Violet folds her arms. “I’ve seen this before. Please, no secret
conversations. Whatever it is, spill it.”

I
avert my eyes. The line starts to
move. I hate to hear Violet sigh. The sound of a zipper brings me
back to her. She's opens her purse taking out a wallet, flipping
through wads of cash. "We can eat inside, can't we? I have enough
for everyone."

"I'll pay Violet."
Alex says.

"That wallet.
It's not Red's but his signatures all over it. May I see
it?"
Dash nearly knocks me
over as he approaches Violet.

“
No Dash. It’s
not exactly mine.” None of
us
can ignore the sudden cloud of sadness that made it back over her
face. She doesn’t want to give up the wallet but not because of the
endless cash inside of it, but because it’s Grey’s. Dash quickly
places his hands in his pocket and looks at Alex who
nods.

I
hate the secrecy between the two. I'm
the only one left out of the soundless conversations.

“
Here, take
this for food and drinks, not alcohol. Got it?"

"I told you,
Vi, I'll pay for it."

"You kinda need
ID
for that anyway," Dash
reminds her.

"Maybe you
could get some for us?" Alex unveils his charming smile and hooded
eyes.

I roll
mine
.

"I'm not old
enough either.
” Violet doesn’t
fall for his charms and looks straight into his eyes. “I wouldn't
if I was. Come on. Alcohol makes you do stupid things.” Alex and
Dash look at each other again.

Fuck, what does that mean?

Dash
, as if to some
ability knew what I was thinking, says in my ear
,
"She was drunk when she kissed Red."

"What?" I say
it too loud. It feels like someone punched my gut just thinking of
her kissing Red.

"I'll tell you
about it later." Dash says under his breath. No I want to know now.
Violet looks a little paranoid. Dash leans and tells me. “I noticed
her looking around a little too often. She's afraid this was a
mistake. She's afraid of the entity.”

Entity? “What does that mean?”

“I’ll tell you
later.”

Why does everyone know shit except me?

She's anxious,
fiddling with her jacket and looking around impatiently. Kissing
Red, entities, old memories;
I
don't know anything about her. If she's so scared and this is
uncomfortable for her, I wouldn't have said yes to going
out.

“
Vi,
chill
. You’re freaking out for
no reason.”

“
I have every
reason to freak out, Alex.”
Her eyes scan around them but I don’t know what she’s looking
for anyway. The line starts to move again when Alex invades her
space. I clench the inside of his pocket.

"You'll feel
better inside I promise."
Alex
says while lightly stroking her arm.

“Alex!” She says
squirming away from him. “Don’t.”

But Alex
just stares at the back of her pretty
head. He smiles when she’s not looking. I bet he doesn’t regret
touching her lovely skin even for a second.

You’re an asshole.
You can’t touch her.

No
harm done, although, my body is on fire after that hot
touch.

I
want to punch the satisfaction off
his face.

Dash
g
ives Alex a look which
removes his grin I'm grateful for that but I still out of the loop
as to what he could have thought to make Alex's grin
disappear.

***

Violet

Inside the rock
music i
s booming loud enough
that it reverberate through my stomach. Alex is right. The music is
just what I need. The constant stream of music triggers memories of
Grey. Somehow I smile. We made memories of listening to music for
hours in his room. It’s something we shared, a love for music. Alex
loves music just as much as Grey. He's been telling me all along
how therapeutic it can be. I'm so glad I said yes to come
out.

I make
my
way through the crowd. My
energy responds to the sound as my heart pulses with the bass. The
excitement fills me as I dance among the people. She'll give energy
rubbing shoulders and bumping into bodies, but it doesn’t
matter—everyone here is feeding off one another anyway. Moving my
body with the ocean of people, I don’t feel like a hybrid; I'm no
different than anyone else. My mind is at peace and carefree. My
thoughts fall away as I meet Alex who gives me nod and an even
wider smile that read
'I told you so'
.

***

Gabriel

"You want a
beer?" Dash
shouts over the
music.

Alex
peels his eyes away from Violet in
the crowd to Dash flashing Grey’s wallet.

“
Did you steal
that? How did you—?”

Dash pushes up his glasses and grins. He
proceeds to whip out three valid I.D. cards.

"How?"
I'm astonished. Everything is
correct: the address to the abandon building; my picture and my
birthday with the year altered. I'm apparently twenty-one. How does
he know my birthday? I'm impressed. I look to Dash whose cheeks
flare up.

"I made them. I
read in journals that I am an architect type like Red," Dash
smiles.

"There's types?
What does that mean?" I look to Alex.

"It means he
just became my best friend," Alex says, taking his new ID and
wrapping his arm around his shoulders.

“
D
rinks are on me,” Dash
smiles.

"I've never had
a beer before."

Dash and Alex
chuckle, but I don't think it's funny. There's a reason I don't
drink. I hand back the card.

"Just have
one." Dash pushes it back.

"One is like
water," Alex examines his card. "Have two. Live a little. It won't
get you drunk."

We head to the
bar in the back of the theatre. Hand our IDs and drink our beers.
As I drink my beer I notice it's always full. It must be Dash's
ability that made it possible that our beers, no matter how much we
drink, our bottle are always filled. I try to measure but I loose
count and I have a good handle on myself. I'm proud. Alex starts
placing his arm around Dash telling him he’s the best. Dash wobbles
and I'm slightly lightheaded but my aura is in check.

The band plays
a million and one songs and each one is my favorite. Clanging our
beers and constantly spilling them, we laugh and enjoy what music
has offered us—a good time with new friends and time with a happy
Violet.

Moved by the
flood of sounds,
we surrender
to the music and after too many beers we lose each
other.

I
can easily enjoy the band where I
stand. There’s no one to worry about because just about everyone is
in the crowd, but me. My ability to hold my aura in is not the
problem, but having people bump into me constantly is. I wander
away from the perimeters and decide to join the party. I think I
can take it. I think people are too into the band to find me anyway
if I touch them.

I enter the
crowd like a warm bath. It feels incredible. No one is paying any
mind to me, but they feel me. They don't know I'm the source of the
sudden pleasure.
Jumping and
moving with everyone, I feel normal; I'm anybody but Gabriel
Black.

Before long, I
spot Violet enjoying herself. Into the tight rhythmic crowd of
people, I watch her. Her closed eyes are just as beautiful as when
they're open. Her shiny wavy hair captures the flashing lights like
fireworks over water. Everyone around me is in their own trance,
pushing into each other, rubbing against each other, sweating all
over each other like one big organism swaying. The crowd takes
her
away like a message in a
bottle
, floating in the ocean
of people.
I surrender my body
as the crowd around me compresses and take me too. Hands are raised
in the air but I'm still, I'm wedged between singing voices and
jumping rebellious bodies.

I
squeeze my way, my personal space
rule is already broken and now my aura flexes like wings. Buzzed
and centered only on her, I push recklessly towards her, setting
off auras around me. I ignore them. I want only her.
My
Violet.