Page 48 of Fallen Thorns
“All?” I repeated, awaiting clarification.
Mars shook their head. “She’s not a monster; she didn’t just line them all up and wipe them clean out. But she was ruthless; she had to be.”
The rest of the table waited for justification, even Lawrence who had recently flaunted his lack of care for murder, faced Mars while picking his nails in anticipation.
“She wasn’t going to play the fool any longer. She found out every single one who showed signs of turning andmadethem confess. I don’t know how aware you all are of the sheer strength of that woman’s mind, but if you think you’ve been Manipulated, you don’t know the half of it. She practically burns into your skull: every corner, every crevice, every cell. The average human wouldn’t be able to take it, they would crumble in seconds. But she did what had to be done for the safety of everyone.”
We all stared blankly; it didn’t take a genius to figure out we were each thinking the same thing.
“But don’t worry, she always knows what she’s doing.” Mars’ tone turned almost comical.
“That doesn’t help,” Ben croaked, at the same time Casper’s louder voice asked, “and the training?”
“Well, you can imagine The Thorns were in a bit of a state after that. We had to be rebuilt, create a fresh start. It was less than two years later that I myself was changed. I’ll spare you the details on that one,” they cleared their throat, peering down at the table for a moment, “but things like that obviously leave you with a few trust issues. So she set about training us up for the eventuality that this would happen again. She strengthened our minds and bodies alike so we would never stray. So that we would be able to defend ourselves and humans alike, if another Isiah emerged amongst us.” They leaned back and smiled. “But I know that won’t happen.” Then they looked atme, briefly, but clearly. The sounds of the coffee shop suddenly got louder and louder until I couldn’t take a deep breath. When had it gotten so busy in here?
“Hey, hey, Arlo.” Mars caught me spacing out and extended their hand. “I mean it. It’s not going to happen. The killer isn’t a Thorn. We know that.”
“Do we?” My head felt tense and my brows furrowed.
Mars nodded, as did Casper and Ben.
“This isn’t any different than anything from the past decade. Our kind likes to travel, and we’re not all so nice. Just like humans. There are rotten apples in every orchid. Lucky for you, we’ve got a lot of experience on this turf and you,” they playfully tapped my shoulder and an uncomfortable spark shot down my arm. I ignored it as best I could. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“And the creature?” Ben asked.
“Is nothing but an idea,” Mars concluded.
“Mars, I’m not stupid,” I said, holding out my arms to expose the scars beneath my sleeves.
“Oh, I know. But none of us have any leverage to go on. You were vulnerable. A hunter sought its prey, it’s nature. I’m not ignoring Marianne’s prediction, but I’m also saying we can’t fret over things we don’t know for certain. For all we know, this creature is just like us — a different strain, if you will. We don’t know what it wants, and so all we can do at present is be cautious.”
“How can you be so... calm?” I raised my voice, the tremor distinct.
“Because I’ve spent too much of my life worrying over things that would consume me entirely otherwise. Nothing is going to happen to you; I will die before I let it, and I intend on sticking around until the end of this great place called earth so...”
“They’re right,” Lawrence added, all sarcasm removed. “Even if this creature ends up being something entirely not of this world, The Thorns will not go quietly, andthey,” his head jolted sincerely in Mars’ direction, “always keep their word.”
I always wonderedhow certain things in history went completely unnoticed; all those snippets and details lost in time and forgotten in ignorance. After everything I experienced in that month with The Thorns, my mind wandered to all those other possibilities. Somewhere out there, someone had narrowly escaped the fate I succumbed to. Somewhere else, another Arlo might exist — another person going through exactly the same thing as me. Maybe they had friends to help them, maybe they didn’t. I would think long and hard about what sort of advice I would give them, how to offer comfort while promising things would be alright. But could I say that so confidently? I’d been told on infinite occasions that everything would turn out for the best. There was always someone out there experiencing a lot worse, people would say. It will get better! Don’t worry about it! Move on! Smile!
And I did. I smiled in that coffee shop, with Mars’ promise and Lawrence’s comforting affirmation. For the first time in my life, I had companions. A group of people who would look out for me and protect me. But how many more times could I hear those promises before I no longer believed them to be true?
I felt safer then, safer than I ever had before, and so I blamed myself for my stubbornness. My stubbornness had gotten me into this mess, and once again, I was letting everyone else get me out of it. I could let myself believe that The Thorns were powerful enough to stop the murders, and that maybe, just maybe, the creature who caught me was nothing but another hungry parasite that merely needed to be lured back into its cage. I could believe that. I could believe I was safe with Mars and Marianne and all the others. Yet one question hung over me, no matter what anyone said: were they safe with me?
It called for me.
There was something in me only Carmen claimed to see —something I believed only Carmencouldsee. It made sense now. You don’t witness what she had at her age and live the rest of your life basking in fields of flowers and frills. Carmen witnessed that darkness first-hand, and she knew it could never leave. Marianne knew too, though she would never let on.
I was Arlo then, in that coffee shop, drinking tea with four people who swore to watch my back. And I would hold my promise to Mars: I would be Arlo until my head hit the dirt for the final time.
But no matter what I did, and no matter how hard I tried to fight it, the shadow remained locked around my neck, its talons digging into my flesh, biting deep.
Arlo would never give in, but sometimes we don’t have a choice.
* * *
The next hurdlewas the simplest. We left the band to attend their recording session and Mars walked me back to my room to help me clean up the mess. I knew it was coming, it was unavoidable, and so I uttered no complaints as I crouched on my knees and began to scrub.
There were flashes, intermittent shots of the night before. All my inner turmoil.Had it really only been a day?Less than that, even. I kept it down.
