The Partisan Chronicles [Dystopia | Supernatural | Mystery]

Everleigh

Weeks upon weeks we played.

Death was bad for business.

EVERGLOOM: AFTER HOURS

A sad singer, no longer lamenting the loss of life.

A sad singer, lamenting the loss of love, instead.

Each night on the northern stage I bled.

Hundreds upon hundreds gathered to watch.

The other brother accompanied me. Watching me, watching you. The other brother was misunderstood. The other brother ached an ache of anxiety that made my insides atrophy.

Weeks upon weeks we played.

Evergloom, and I was famous again.

A hurt. A hollow.

The inevitability of it all.

Each night the show would close, and each night I'd search for a way back to him,

a tear, a thread, a tether to tug.

Wherever I was,

Whenever I was,

The elements pretended not to know who I was.

Another night on the northern stage.

The mother of the brothers designed me a dress.

"Like you," she said.

A long, lacy version of my own. Beautiful and bound with a bow.

A mask like his.

Like you, like you.

The other brother averted colour when we performed the numbers we wrote together. With Sebastian even our saddest songs were scarcely sad enough. His gift was the light. The other brother's gift was the darkness. His cello cried the tears we wouldn't.

Avis, each night, front and centre.

Every one of us endlessly spinning,

and spinning,

and spinning,

and spinning until he moved through the crowd.

In a hurry and yet still politely.

Matteus Rizik, a true gentleman.

He smiled, and I smiled, too.

My heart a kaleidescope again.

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Say a thing, do a thing…

…do a thing, and my Anima dared me to stop singing.

A tease. A taunt.

Eat shit.

I lifted my skirt and ran from stage left, around the bend, and into his arms. Love was good for business. Minutes upon minutes we kissed. The crowd cheered.

"I'm stuck," I whispered.

"I know," he whispered back, "and I think so am I."

A folly, a fortune.

"But we'll figure it out," he said.

"I know," I replied.

My wagon was black.

His hand in my hair.

My lips against his chest.

His hand up my dress.

The surrender of it all,

the relief of it all.

His thoughts were no longer my thoughts, his feelings were no longer my feelings.

Access denied, but not because he denied me access.

My powers were fading.

I couldn't even feed; TSB let me try.

"It's been almost a month," I said. "I should be hungry by now, but I'm not. I'm—I don't know."

"Out there, it's been an hour. If that. Maybe you're still working on outside time?"

"But why can't I do anything."

"I don't know, either, but—" He snapped his fingers, and there was no spark.

It must be Its fault.

TSB told me about It, that It came to him when he called for It.

It was the reason he was there.

It was the reason we were both stuck.

We weren't sure what to do about it, or about It.

Unsure together, at least.

We walked the grounds. That night, a vow to keep; an unbreakable vow.

Dinner with Sebastian, Zacharias, and Avis.

None were surprised to see Matteus with me after our unveiling.

I'd done everything I could to avoid this moment; what would they say when I wouldn't eat? Whatever would I say? Why, what any starlet would say:

"I'm watching my figure."

"Don't be ridiculous." Sebastian scoffed. "Have a bun for goodness sake."

A bun, but I wondered—

A grind. A grumble.

Slowly, I couldn't do the things I once could.

Could I now do the things I once couldn't?

If I were wrong, the pain would be—

—but if I were right—

Thirty-one years since I'd eaten.

It was soft against my teeth.

Bread but it tasted like life.

TSB's eyes widened while he watched me chew.

And I chewed, and I chewed, and I swallowed all I could.

Bread.

I missed bread.

Stew.

I missed stew.

Wine.

I missed wine.

Cheese.

I missed cheese.

They all watched with bated breath.

The miracle of it all.

"No more starving yourself, Everleigh," Zacharias said. "Look at her, she's ravenous."

"Yeah, that's my girl—ravenous," TSB said.

He smiled, and so did I.

A potato in my cheek.

"And you, Matteus," Avis replied. "What a delight you are. I take it you're a sailor?"

"Well, either way the nautical look is quite fetching on you," Sebastian commented.

TSB laughed easily. "Thanks. But, yeah, I'm a sailor."

"I hope that doesn't mean you'll be leaving us soon," Zacharias remarked.

"No, I'm—between jobs at the moment."

Avis sipped her wine. "We often travel by sea, don't we, boys?"

"What Avis is trying to say," Sebastian added, "is that you're welcome to stay here with us as long as you like. Everleigh is clearly smitten. Look how rosy her cheeks are."

"I think that might be the bottle of wine," TSB said.

Everybody laughed.

Even the other brother.

Even me.