And we all know how well she listens, the kid says dryly.
Ryodan gives him a look that would make grown, armed, psychopathic men shut up. There was no reason for her to touch anything.
Obviously she thought otherwise, the kid says, completely unperturbed.
I was right there with her. I figured I could get her out.
You figured wrong, dickhead, I say.
I didnt think it would affect her so quickly if she did. It didnt do that to me when I tried it.
Shes not like you. And shut up, both of you, the kid says, and puts his face on hers again, breathing, cupping his hands around their faces to keep the warm air in.
Why are you doing that? I say.
Warm air. Hypothalamus. Regulates internal temperature and will help raise her consciousness. I need her conscious so she can piss.
I would have rubbed her down to warm her. Restored her circulation.
Brilliant. You would have killed her. Her blood is too cold. It would have stopped her heart.
I dont understand why she stripped, Ryodan says. I look at him. Hes doing the same thing I am. Learning what to do if it happens again. Both of us would have sped off with her, trying to get her somewhere warm. And according to this kid, we both would have killed her.
Blood vessels widen. She thought she was hot. Hikers get found all the time dead in the mountains, naked with their clothes folded nearby. They get confused. Brain tries to make order out of chaos.
How do you know all this? I despise that he knows it and I dont. Makes him the better man for her in this situation. I want to be the better man for her in every situation.
Mom was a doctor. I nearly died of hypothermia in the Andes once.
I almost killed you, Ryodan says.
She cant hear you, the kid tells him.
I wasnt talking to her.
Give me more hot packs, the kid says. Bugger, shes cold!
A few weeks back. I almost killed you.
The kid gives him a look. I think, what the fuck gives a kid this young the balls it takes to snarl at me and give dickhead a look like that?
Ryodan says, I stood in the shadows of an alley you were walking down. You wouldnt have seen me coming. She would have died tonight if Id killed you.
Is that, like, an apology? I mock.
Does she gasp in horror every time she sees you, Highlander?
I unfurl wings that arent there yet and hiss.
You both talk too much, the kid says. Shut up. Dont make me tell you again.
We shut up, which I find hysterically funny.
Isuddenly see us from above. I do that all the time now. I think its because Im losing my humanity and its my way of marking my descent into hell. I observe that theres only one human male at this scene and its not me.
I see a radiant woman-child who has more curves under her clothes than I guessed, and from the way Ryodan is looking at her, he didnt guess it either. Shes bloodless, blue-tinged, rolled up tight in the arms of a half-naked teenager that could have been, should have been, me. Keeping vigil over her are two monsters of very different breeds but monsters just the same.
Death on her left.
Devil on her right.
The kid looks like I did at his age, except for the glasses and a few inches of height he has on me. Dark hair, great smile, wide shoulders, the kids going to be good-looking.
If he survives past next week.
At the moment Id wager strongly against it.
Hes in a sleeping bag with her, holding her. She has skulls and crossbones on her underwear. It charms me beyond reason.
The way I see it, if its not Ryodan in that next dark alley, its going to be me.
SIXTEEN
I fight authority and authority always wins probably always will
I make a new discovery that totally blows.
Dying is the easy part.
Its coming back to life that sucks.
One second Im gone. I dont even exist.
The next second, Im on fire with pain.
I hear voices talking but I feel like somebody stacked weights on my eyes and dont even try to open them. I hurt so bad I want to lose consciousness again. I groan, miserable.
You said we could move her, so lets do it. Now. Well take her to my place.
Its Christian. I wonder what hes doing here.
Shes not going anywhere with you. Shes coming with me. If youre wrong and its not safe now, kid, youre dead.
Thats Ryodan. But whod he call kid? The only person I know that he calls kid is me.
I dont take chances with her. Its safe.
D-D-D-Dancer? I chatter.
Easy, Mega. You almost died. He closes his hand around mine and I hold on. I like his hand. Its big and holds easy but sure. Its the kind of hold that says, I got you if you want me, but Ill let go if you feel like running for a while. Shes not going anywhere with either of you. Shes coming with me, he says.
The fuck she is! Christian explodes, and I see flashing lights behind my eyelids from the hugeness of his voice and the pain Im in.
Ryodan says, Shes weak, and you dont have what it takes to protect her.
Ryodan gives him a look that would make grown, armed, psychopathic men shut up. There was no reason for her to touch anything.
Obviously she thought otherwise, the kid says, completely unperturbed.
I was right there with her. I figured I could get her out.
You figured wrong, dickhead, I say.
I didnt think it would affect her so quickly if she did. It didnt do that to me when I tried it.
Shes not like you. And shut up, both of you, the kid says, and puts his face on hers again, breathing, cupping his hands around their faces to keep the warm air in.
Why are you doing that? I say.
Warm air. Hypothalamus. Regulates internal temperature and will help raise her consciousness. I need her conscious so she can piss.
I would have rubbed her down to warm her. Restored her circulation.
Brilliant. You would have killed her. Her blood is too cold. It would have stopped her heart.
I dont understand why she stripped, Ryodan says. I look at him. Hes doing the same thing I am. Learning what to do if it happens again. Both of us would have sped off with her, trying to get her somewhere warm. And according to this kid, we both would have killed her.
Blood vessels widen. She thought she was hot. Hikers get found all the time dead in the mountains, naked with their clothes folded nearby. They get confused. Brain tries to make order out of chaos.
How do you know all this? I despise that he knows it and I dont. Makes him the better man for her in this situation. I want to be the better man for her in every situation.
Mom was a doctor. I nearly died of hypothermia in the Andes once.
I almost killed you, Ryodan says.
She cant hear you, the kid tells him.
I wasnt talking to her.
Give me more hot packs, the kid says. Bugger, shes cold!
A few weeks back. I almost killed you.
The kid gives him a look. I think, what the fuck gives a kid this young the balls it takes to snarl at me and give dickhead a look like that?
Ryodan says, I stood in the shadows of an alley you were walking down. You wouldnt have seen me coming. She would have died tonight if Id killed you.
Is that, like, an apology? I mock.
Does she gasp in horror every time she sees you, Highlander?
I unfurl wings that arent there yet and hiss.
You both talk too much, the kid says. Shut up. Dont make me tell you again.
We shut up, which I find hysterically funny.
Isuddenly see us from above. I do that all the time now. I think its because Im losing my humanity and its my way of marking my descent into hell. I observe that theres only one human male at this scene and its not me.
I see a radiant woman-child who has more curves under her clothes than I guessed, and from the way Ryodan is looking at her, he didnt guess it either. Shes bloodless, blue-tinged, rolled up tight in the arms of a half-naked teenager that could have been, should have been, me. Keeping vigil over her are two monsters of very different breeds but monsters just the same.
Death on her left.
Devil on her right.
The kid looks like I did at his age, except for the glasses and a few inches of height he has on me. Dark hair, great smile, wide shoulders, the kids going to be good-looking.
If he survives past next week.
At the moment Id wager strongly against it.
Hes in a sleeping bag with her, holding her. She has skulls and crossbones on her underwear. It charms me beyond reason.
The way I see it, if its not Ryodan in that next dark alley, its going to be me.
SIXTEEN
I fight authority and authority always wins probably always will
I make a new discovery that totally blows.
Dying is the easy part.
Its coming back to life that sucks.
One second Im gone. I dont even exist.
The next second, Im on fire with pain.
I hear voices talking but I feel like somebody stacked weights on my eyes and dont even try to open them. I hurt so bad I want to lose consciousness again. I groan, miserable.
You said we could move her, so lets do it. Now. Well take her to my place.
Its Christian. I wonder what hes doing here.
Shes not going anywhere with you. Shes coming with me. If youre wrong and its not safe now, kid, youre dead.
Thats Ryodan. But whod he call kid? The only person I know that he calls kid is me.
I dont take chances with her. Its safe.
D-D-D-Dancer? I chatter.
Easy, Mega. You almost died. He closes his hand around mine and I hold on. I like his hand. Its big and holds easy but sure. Its the kind of hold that says, I got you if you want me, but Ill let go if you feel like running for a while. Shes not going anywhere with either of you. Shes coming with me, he says.
The fuck she is! Christian explodes, and I see flashing lights behind my eyelids from the hugeness of his voice and the pain Im in.
Ryodan says, Shes weak, and you dont have what it takes to protect her.
