He was nothing.
A burst of wind struck the outside walls with force, causing the wood to squeal. Another storm was coming. Samuel could feel it. He rubbed his eyes and cleaned his new lenses with the tail end of his sweater. Afterward, he curled deeper into the blanket, but a strange rapping on top of the roof caught his attention. He rationalized it to be nothing more than a fallen tree branch, but there were no pines close enough to touch the cabin. It couldn’t have been a squirrel, because the rustling sounded louder than any rodent could muster. What if it was someone?
Samuel sat up and let go of the blanket. He scrambled to his feet and ran to the door, flinging it open. The cold wind struck him hard, the gust nearly taking his breath away. He stepped outside. All he could see were the empty pines and the barely visible moon peaking above.
“Zei?”
He waited for what seemed like ages. But no one came.
“I don’t know if you’re there,” Samuel called out. “But I’m sorry. I was a bad friend to you. I should have helped you more. I didn’t. And I’m sorry. For those things I said. I didn’t mean them. I care about you. I didn’t think I could anymore, but I still do. I never stopped. I don’t think I can ever stop.”
He took a step back.
“I want you to be safe, Zei. Please. Just don’t hurt anyone else … unless they really deserve it? Promise?”
The only response Samuel was given was that of the rustling tree branches. When he could wait no longer, he went back inside and curled up by the fireplace. He should’ve gone up the ladder and slept in his old bed, but being up in the loft would only bring back more memories. He closed his eyes, trying to force himself to sleep.
Minutes or hours passed before the flames inside the fireplace turned to embers, and Samuel awoke to his own shivering. He needed to get closer to the fire, but his muscles felt like mush.
An unexpected gust of cold wind hit the back of Samuel’s legs, but after a squeak, the wind was gone. He kept his eyes closed, curling deeper underneath the blanket. He could’ve sworn he had heard the door open and close. He shoved his hands over his face. His head throbbed, and he couldn’t get himself to think clearly.
Someone was inside the cabin. He could feel it.
He closed his lids tighter. He was terrified, but he fought the urge to turn around. What was the point in trying to run away? He wasn’t strong enough to make it through the northern woods all by himself, especially not with winter approaching. What did he even hope for? He could never have a normal life. How hard would he have to work to keep his right arm covered, knowing its exposure would only raise questions, fears, and, in all probability, lead to his arrest? Could he seek refuge in some northern town closer to the coast, one with no knowledge of what had happened in Haid? Could he find any sort of freedom in the chaotic greenlands? Could he somehow find a way to get down to the redlands? He knew the answer.
There was nowhere safe for him.
Muffled footsteps rapped behind him, but still, Samuel refused to turn around. A gentle weight pressed against him, and his body felt the warmth of another’s body. He cracked his eyelids, his chest rising and falling with every breath. The burn mark on his arm twitched. This wasn’t a dream or a nightmare. Someone was lying beside him. From the smallest crack in his eyelid, he could see red strands of hair falling over his bandaged arm. He couldn’t look. He was terrified to look. He remained motionless as he was warmed from the body heat.
Zei wasn’t going to kill him. She hadn’t before, and she wouldn’t now. What was it that she wanted from him? Did she care for him? Did she notice he was cold? Could a demon be capable of love?
Halyre.
He said the word in his mind, remembering the foreigner’s rushed words. If Zei was some sort of forbidden creature, then who had made her? On her last visit, the doctor closed the guestroom door and came to Samuel. “I want to tell you something,” she said somberly. “Because, I think if anyone needs to know this, it’s you. I took a sample of that child’s blood and mailed it off to a colleague I know. She owns the only microscope in the state.” The doctor paused. “It’s a blood substitute, of course. But it’s more than that. A symbiotic entity dwells inside the liquid that tries to engage and feed off its host. It’s incompatible with human genetics. And yet, it lived inside that child like a thriving virus, only the effects are … different. Strengthening. Regeneration.”
Samuel didn’t understand what the doctor meant. Was Zei sick? What had latched onto her? No. Zei was not a girl. Samuel understood that more than before. They were Halyre.
Could Zei have something to do with the old wars? Would Zei tell him if he asked? Perhaps he needed to find answers elsewhere. The foreigner seemed to know things. As a former officer, he must have had access to the banned books and technologies. The redlands military was responsible for safeguarding the past. If Samuel headed south, how many days would it take him to reach the redlands? With the chaos ensuing between the whitelands and the greenlands, would he even have a chance of crossing two borders? Would Zei come with him?
Questions and anxieties plagued him until his thoughts bled into one.
Samuel scooted his body back, edging himself closer to Zei. He felt the soft drag of their fingers across his hair and the pressing of their knees onto his calves. After a while, when his mind had exhausted itself beyond its limitations, he began to settle. Despite all the blood and death, he could sleep with Zei beside him. The humming of gears in the prosthetic arm lulled him. After several hours, his muscles relaxed, and he drifted off.