Page 84 of Stitches
Then, when Levi got to the portion of the road that would either continue toward the tower or curve into the wood, he went into the trees.
Ashmedai slipped back out of the shadows and stared. Why would Levi not mention he planned to enter the wood? That gnawing, unsettled feeling might have prompted Ashmedai to continue following Levi, but there was also something about the tower being “cleaned up” that gave him pause, and in one swift pivot, he turned for that destination instead.
Before anything was changed, Ashmedai wanted to see it again for himself.
Levi
Levi was already starting to forget things. He couldn’t remember his brother’s name anymore, and he had only just recalled it the day before. His old life seemed to be fading first, but Levi didn’t want to lose any of it again. He’d already been robbed of himself once.
Not knowing the passage of time was worse. There were no windows in the workshop. He knew it had only been hours, but how many? And how many more did he have before he would forget everything?
Footsteps drew his attention to his surroundings. Braxton’s presence wouldn’t be welcome, because it meant he’d be working toward giving Levi a new body, a new life, and Levi didn’t want to give up this one.
The sight of Ashmedai walking through the workshop door made him lose all other thought.
“Ash!” Levi shouted. “I’m here! Ash, I’m here!”
Ashmedai didn’t appear to hear Levi, for his pace was slow, moving around the workshop with a scrutinizing eye, as though looking for something.
“I’m here….” Levi said, weak and defeated, because Ashmedai wasn’t looking forhim. He had no reason to believe he didn’t already have Levi with him.
It was good to see Ashmedai though, beautiful as ever, walking with his fluid grace as if the shadows themselves carried him forward. Maybe he simply sought a book or some token to remember Braxton by. His expression was pensive, however, as he trailed his claws along the shelving and pored over notes scrawled on scraps of parchment on various tables. None of it seemed to satisfy what he was searching for.
“You must know something’s wrong,” Levi said. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You must be able to tell he’s not me. He’s not me, Ash.I’mme!” he finished with another shout.
Ashmedai’s head whipped toward the Onyx.
“Can you hear me? Ash!”
Ashmedai didn’t answer, but his brow scrunched as he began to approach.
“Yes! I’m here! I’m here! Please hear me!”
Ashmedai’s frown deepened, and he eyed the Onyx gemstone from its base to the ceiling. He couldn’t hear Levi, but he must be able to sense something.
“I don’t care if you can’t hear me. I’m still going to speak. I don’t want to forget you. I don’t want to be someone else. I think I’ve forgottenmy old name again, but that’s not the name I need. I’m Levi. I’myours. Please sense that I’m here, Ash. Please….”
If Levi still had his body, he would have gasped when Ashmedai’s eyes stopped their searching inspection and landed square on the center of the Onyx, as if looking right at him. Levi couldn’t see himself, but he must be nothing but a spark inside a void of blackness. Still, he willed with all the conviction in him that Ashmedai somehow know that spark was him.
Ashmedai reached forward—
“What are you doing?”
Braxton stood in the doorway when Ashmedai spun around.
“No!” Levi screamed, as loud as he could. “That’s not me! That’s not me!”
Braxton cringed as he came forward, since hecouldhear Levi, though he tried to hide it.
“Your hands,” Ashmedai said, noticing smudges on Braxton’s hands and dirt beneath his fingernails.
Braxton stared at them, cringing again, but allowed the expression to transform into something sorrowful. “I… started thinking about the mounds, all those… parts.” He shuddered, as believably as if the real Levi had done so. “I wanted to be sure the first one I saw was covered in case anyone ventured to the barrier. I know everyone agreed not to, but I didn’t want anyone to have to see that.”
“So that’s what you were doing,” Ashmedai said, sighing in audible relief. “I thought….”
“What?”
“I don’t know what I thought. It’s been a trying few days. I’m sorry. I’ll leave you be.”
