The Magnificent Death of Mira Meadows Page 2

  Evander reached out a hand and brushed the torn cloth aside, exposing the glowing lightning bolt on the left side of the man’s chest. It had nearly completely faded, only a faint whisper of the brilliance it once had. There was no time to waste.

  “Go.” Evander pulled him up by the shirt and pushed him out, toward the next sand dune. “Walk with your head high and meet your fate. Be brave.”

  The man stumbled forward, dragging his feet and leaving long trails behind him in the sand.

  Evander looked at his men and rolled his eyes. If he were ever to die, he would do it with more dignity. Not because he believed in fate, but because ugly or not, there was nothing more important than appearances, no matter which universe you found yourself in.

  Evander knew it well enough. When he had been on earth, it was his job to say things like, “The universe is everything,” and to try to teach eighteen-year-old simpletons about the billions of galaxies in existence.

  His life as a physicist had yielded no true answers, as he had asked no questions and pursued no leads. He got by whispering phrases like “the universe is less compact today than it was yesterday” and “Earth is a fragile blip in the history of time.”

  The last statement, at least, had made an impact on him. That fragility was not cause for awe, but for exploitation.

  He looked at the foaming grey sky above them. Thunder rumbled around, flashes of light pulsing in the clouds.

  The man had turned around to face him. “Please,” he yelled. “I’ll do anything.”

  Evander smiled and waved his hand. “Keep going. This could be your destiny.”

  Another phrase he used to use. It seemed to motivate people. Why, he didn’t know.

  The man walked on, growing smaller in the sea of white.

  Evander decided that next time they needed to bring brighter clothes so he could watch without having to squint. He always thought of it when they were there, but the idea went out of his head as soon as he left the island.

  The sky morphed from a smoky overhang to a blanket of soot and coal. Evander’s shadow grew longer, and the rumbling grew closer.

  His heart raced. This was it. The moment he loved most. He could feel the hair standing up on his arms, but alas, since his own lightning bolt had faded years ago, he was at no risk for a strike.

  He took a pair of copper and silver goggles out of his pocket, the round lenses shaded dark, and pulled them over his eyes just as a shock of light illuminated the sky.

  The bolt was jagged and elegant, striking the man and holding for just a moment before dropping him to the ground.

  Amazing.

  It had worked, and the spoils would come later. That was what Evander cared about most. He was untroubled by magic or mechanics, and had never understood his scientist colleagues who toiled for decades, investigating seemingly meaningless minutiae. While their findings could be revolutionary, they could also be entirely useless.

  Evander didn’t waste time on useless things, and the richness of his life was all he needed to assure himself he was living the right way.

  Yet in this one peculiar instance, with its statistically improbable outcome, Evander’s faith in himself would prevent the discovery of what – or whom – was at the other end of that particular lightning bolt until it was far too late.

  3

  The other side

  A crack of thunder loud enough to wake the dead echoed through the trees.

  Mira opened her eyes and stared at the sea of branches above her. The air smelled evergreen and fresh, like the time she and Sara had discovered tequila when they were seventeen and woke up sprawled under the Christmas tree.

  She took a deep breath and savored the memory before raising herself up and looking around. Everything around her was Christmas trees!

  How lovely. The one nearest to her had a strip of bark missing down the center of the trunk. She ran her fingers along it, her mind pleasantly drifting. If only she didn’t have heartburn…

  One hand went to rub her chest, and the other to absentmindedly pick dry pine needles out of her hair. Something stuck to her hand and she pulled it away to study it.

  Sap. Amber, freckled with pebbles and dirt.

  How odd.

  Mira pressed her hand into the cool, soft ground in an attempt to wipe the sap away. She succeeded only in coating her hand in dirt.

  The soil was so pleasantly cold to the touch, though, that it seemed like a good idea to lay her cheek against it again for a few more minutes, just a little longer before she had to get up for work…

  She’d dozed off when the sound of a distant scream jolted her eyes open and sharpened her senses. Mira sat up and strained to listen.

  Was it a bird? A child?

  Mira heard it again, and this time she forced herself to stand, steadying herself on a tree branch.

  There was nothing but the chirps of birds for a moment, but then she heard something – something human. It was more of a groan than a cry this time, and it made Mira’s heart rate take off. Someone was in trouble, and without exploring the idea of who it might be or where she was, Mira set off to find them.

  The trees were easy enough to walk between until she hit a thick patch of undergrowth and shrubs. Mira pressed through, pausing only to break branches caught in her sappy hair.

  It was no more than twenty feet of distance, but it took her a frustrating five minutes to free herself from the thorny branches and stumble knee-first onto a dirt road at the edge of the forest.

  On the other side of the road was a rolling, green field. A lopsided barn stood straight ahead, the wood slats faded in some parts and entirely missing in others.

  The sound was coming from inside, she was sure of it now. It had evolved into hysterical crying. Mira strode forward, so focused on her task that she walked directly into an overturned car.

  Or at least she thought it was a car. She took a step back and looked at the thing. It had tires, though they were thin, like bicycle tires, and set askew at an unnatural angle. One had snapped off entirely and laid uselessly at the side of the car’s body. The paint was flat black, chipped around the mangled parts, and she could recognize a door and at least one headlight. The canvas canopy had crushed inwards, and Mira was able to easily lift it and toss it out of the way.

  No one was inside the antique-looking thing. She would have thought it was a decoration or an abandoned project, but steam was hissing from the front, giving it an altogether too alive appearance.

  An idea tugged at the back of her mind, quietly, non-urgently, like the wisp of a memory. She stared at the car, trying to grasp what her mind was trying to connect, but it was like trying to catch smoke with her hands.

  She looked up from the mess of metal and again her thoughts were overtaken by the sound of intense suffering within the barn.

  Mira walked around the hissing car and tugged at the barn door. It was heavy and awkward to move, but she was feeling more alert and managed to heave it open with two pulls.

  “Hello?” she called out.

  The crying abruptly stopped. She squinted, unable to make out any human or animal form in the darkness. The only light streamed in through the missing boards on the walls, with dust dancing in the beams.

  She walked clumsily, catching her feet on mounds of hay and overturned buckets until her eyes adjusted to the darkness. From what she could see, the barn wasn’t large, with a passthrough hallway connecting doors in the front and back, and three gated stalls on either side. It wouldn’t be too hard to find whatever was making the noise.

  Mira started her search by peering into the stalls on the right side of the barn. After finding only bits of broken pitchforks and wheelbarrows, she moved to the left side.

  The first stall was the only one with its door pulled shut. Mira stood on her tip toes to peer inside, finding a dark, huddled mass in the corner.

  “I’m here to help,” Mira said, pulling on the door to the stall.

  With the door open, there was enough light for Mira to see a woman on the ground. She was sitting on a mound of blood-soaked hay, clutching her knees.

  The woman looked up and a quiet sob escaped the hand she’d put over her mouth. Her eyes were small and puffy, and her long, chestnut hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat and blood.

  “Are you hurt?” Mira asked, kneeling a few feet away. “I’m a nurse, my name is Mira. Can you tell me what happened?”

  “Please leave me alone.” The woman’s lavender dress was hiked up to her knees, and now Mira could clearly see the blood was fresh. She inched closer and the woman flinched, both bloodstained hands darting to her abdomen.

  Oh. She was pregnant, and quite obviously so.

  Mira retreated and softened her voice. “What’s your name?”

  A few sniffles, then “Arianna.”

  “Okay Arianna, I’m going to find help. You’re doing great, and you’re going to be okay.”

  She opened her mouth, hyperventilating as tears spilled from her eyes.

  Had she been in that mangled car? Surely it had no air bags, because it looked like it’d been driven out of the 1930’s.

  Arianna had lost a lot of blood. If she had to guess, Mira would bet she had a placental abruption from the trauma. She’d seen at least a dozen when she’d worked in the ER. If she didn’t act quickly, she risked losing both mom and baby.

  Mira reached into her back pocket for her phone, only to find it empty. She tried her other pockets. Nothing.

  “Have you called for help?” Mira asked. “Do you have a phone?”

  She shook her head.

  “How far along are you?”

  Arianna wiped a tear away with her shoulder. “Sixteen moons.”

  Okay, maybe she’d had one blow to the bel
ly and one to the head.

  “Hang tight. We’re going to get an ambulance and get you to the hospital.”

  “No!” Arianna reached forward and grabbed Mira by the wrist. “I can’t go to the hospital. My brother went to get help.”

  No hospital. Sure. She could just bleed to death in this barn. “I’m going to find help – ”

  “No.” Arianna cut her off. “Mick should be here soon.” Her grip weakened and her eyelids fluttered, once, twice, then a last time before closing shut.

  “Crap.” Mira leaned forward and tapped Arianna on both sides of her face. “Hey, hey. Wake up!”

  Arianna didn’t respond, and Mira rubbed on her sternum, trying to rouse her.

  Arianna’s eyes opened for a moment before closing again.

  Not good. Mira stood up and screamed. “We need help! Someone call 911!”

  She ran out of the stall, through the barn and onto the road. “Help!”

  There was not a soul nearby, and nothing but silence in response.

  She could run down the road, but which way? Where was the nearest house, or car, or anything?

  It didn’t matter. She started to sprint, kicking up dust behind her, and she made it twenty feet past the barn when her lungs filled with fire. It felt like her chest was being squished and she doubled over, coughing and gagged for air.

  Ridiculous. She wasn’t in great shape, but she could move when she needed to. Was this panic?

  No, Mira didn’t panic. Not because of a little blood. She forced herself to keep going, still wheezing when she tripped, fell, and slammed her forearms into the dirt.

  What was going on with her today? She struggled to stand, but it seemed like the world was spinning around her. She stumbled to the ground again, and with her face in the dirt this time, she took a few deep breaths before commanding herself to focus.

  Breathe – one, two three.

  Voices. Mira looked up, still dizzy but at least oriented, and realized they were coming from behind the barn.

  Maybe that brother wasn’t so useless after all. Mira got up slowly and half ran, half shuffled to the back of the barn. A man came into view first, his black suit jacket hanging open, exposing the blood-splattered shirt beneath.

  Their eyes met and she stopped.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  It wasn’t the bloody clothing Mira found chilling. It was his eyes, ice blue and zeroed in on her. “I need help.” She motioned to the barn. “There’s an injured woman inside. We need to get her to the hospital. Can you call 911?”

  He said nothing and walked off, opening the back door of the barn with one swift pull before disappearing inside. A woman followed him closely, her face obscured by the thick, purple hood of her coat.

  They’d ignored her. Great.

  Mira took a few steps, reaching the threshold of the doorway. The woman’s coat swished around the corner and into Arianna’s stall.

  Was that a coat? Or was it a robe? It was too hot to wear a coat, and too bizarre to wear a robe. Who were these people?

  Mira felt a nudge on her shoulder and she turned, letting out a little gasp. A horse had snuck up behind her somehow, thrusting his velvety black snout into her shoulder before proceeding to rub his neck on her.

  “Not now, buddy,” she muttered, patting him on the nose and walking into the barn.

  Mira finally felt like she could breathe again, and the world had stopped being out of balance. It didn’t matter what Arianna said, or what these people were wearing, or that a horse wanted to use her as a scratching post. She knew what needed to be done. This was what she was trained to do.

  “We need to call an ambulance,” she said firmly. “She’s lost consciousness and she doesn’t have much time.”

  Neither the man nor the robed woman acknowledged her, instead focusing on Arianna.

  The woman had lowered her hood and knelt down, placing her hands on Arianna’s stomach.

  “We have to get her out of here now!” Mira grabbed at the man’s shoulder, but he flicked his arm and sent her toppling to the ground.

  The air went out of her lungs, and she struggled to raise herself up. Once on her knees, Mira turned to face Arianna and a light caught her eye. It looked as though the robed woman’s hands were emitting a faint yellow glow.

  Mira crawled forward, mesmerized.

  At first, she thought it was an illusion – perhaps a lantern, or a cell phone trick – but no, the woman’s skin illuminated the small space, casting shadows and brightening Arianna’s ghostly white cheeks.

  Her hands started to shake ever so slightly and the vibration rippled, sending hay dancing and Mira’s ears buzzing.

  Arianna’s eyes fluttered open and she smiled. “Mickey. You made it.”

  “I did.” His voice was deep, like before, but much softer than when he’d addressed Mira. He knelt down and took her hand. “Just relax now.”

  The glow grew brighter and the buzzing intensified.

  Clearly, Mira was hallucinating. She must have hit her head. Perhaps she’d been in that car, too, with many-mooned Arianna.

  The vaguest memory of lights filled her mind, and she closed her eyes, trying to make sense of it.

  Headlights, headlights. When had she seen headlights? Not like the one on the car out front. Bigger, rectangular, with bug wings on them…

  A tiny cry ripped her from her thoughts and Mira opened her eyes. The color had returned to Arianna’s cheeks, and she was smiling down at an infant in her arms, his red tomato face pinched, his mouth open as it emitted a steady stream of complaints.

  The woman rose from Arianna’s side, the glow from her hands gone. She turned, casting her gaze upon Mira, and even in the darkness Mira could see the woman’s eyes shone brilliantly, a deep violet color, like an amethyst under a jeweler’s light.

  She had felt odd before – weak, or sick, perhaps a little crazy – but for the first time, the thought occurred to her that she must be dreaming.

  4

  Captain Crunch

  The violet-eyed woman flashed a smile as she walked by. Mick, stooped next to Arianna, murmured in low tones before standing. He walked out of the stall, motioning for Mira to follow.

  She was too stunned to resist so she stood, dusting her knees off and walking behind him.

  When they reached the barn’s back door, he stopped and turned toward her. He was close enough now that she could see the details of his face. There was a smooth, white scar at the top of his cheekbone, thin and straight as though sliced by a blade. There were other scars, smaller and hollow looking, that broke his smooth, stubble-free skin. She would have guessed he was younger than she was, if not for the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes and the shining, purple skin beneath them.

  “Do you always sleep in trees?”

  Mira tilted her head. “What?”

  He pointed to her hair and Mira reached up, finding flakes of leaves and a pine needle.

  She ran her fingers through, trying to comb out the mess. “I don’t remember how that got there.” A bug with dash of white on its back dropped to the ground. She stared at the white marking. It reminded her of something, a memory still dancing just outside of her consciousness.

  “Good.” He nodded. “How about you forget what you saw, then?”

  She was still stuck on the bug. “Was I in the car with Arianna?”

  He stared at her, his expression unchanged and unreadable. “I expect you’ll be asleep again soon.” He turned his back to her and walked outside.

  Mira was at the cusp of a smoky memory, as if she could only take a deep breath, she’d catch it.

  She ran after him. “I need to know – ”

  She stopped. The violet-eyed woman was sitting on the back of the pushy horse. Mira had failed to notice how enormous the animal was before, his shoulder clear above her head. His coat shimmered in the sunlight, his body entirely black except for the silver-tipped wings he had tucked at his sides.

  She’d failed to notice those, too.

  He extended the wings outwards, stretching, before cantering past the barn, into the grassy field, and taking off into the sky.

  A weakness filled her chest and spread to her limbs. Her legs were too heavy to stand any longer. She staggered backward, leaning against the wall of the barn before sliding down and plopping into a pile of hay.