Everwood

Rune Wraithwood wasn’t much for conversation… at least not with her.

Even for what she’d come to know as Everian “standards”, and Rune would only use that term loosely, the office was pristine. Spotless. Decked out with five phd’s, four potted-ferns, an annoyingly ticking clock, a large plush leather sofa and three cushy chairs. While Dr. Meadows (just the name alone was reason enough for Rune to gag), sat before them with her ankles elegantly crossed. The therapist was tall but curvaceous, long auburn locks cascading down her heart-shaped face and wearing a nice top paired with a very form-fitting pencil skirt. The woman wasn’t much for subtly, Rune sighed.

“Now, Rune,” said Dr. Meadows. “Do you think that perhaps you and your friends are a little… shall we say, too close?”

Rune ran her finger over the arm of the sofa, tracing the leather-stitching absentmindedly. “Why don’t you ask them?”

Rune jerked her head towards Vlad, Serenity, and Oric. All of whom were seated side by side to her on the sofa. Oric was half-asleep, resting his head on his propped-up fist; Serenity scrolling through her phone’s feed on the Mecha App (Everian’s own social media platform); and Vlad fidgeting anxiously as he tried to keep his fangs from popping out unexpectedly.

“That’s the point, Rune,” Dr. Meadows frowned. “Therapy is a private and rather intimate ordeal. And yet in each of your sessions, you all insist on being together. None of you have had a single private session to date.”

“What? Is group therapy not a thing anymore?” Rune rolled her eyes.

“Yes, but I highly doubt that’s what you need,” Dr. Meadows replied.

“What I need is to get enough hours in to please the academy’s admission requirements,” Rune flicked a small speck of dust off the sofa’s arm.

“King Brimstone believes it’s in your best interest to talk about your feelings around certain… traumatic events in your childhood,” Dr. Meadows sighed. “And work through them. Which I’m not sure can happen if the four of you keep being so reliant on each other.”

“You think we’re co-dependent, don’t you?” Rune sneered. “Yeah. The Dragon’s Spawn knows all sorts of big words. Imagine that.”

“I never implied you weren’t intelligent.”

“You never implied we were,” Rune shrugged, sharing a knowing look with the others. “But you want us to talk about our trauma. Let’s see… my mom beat on me almost every day and night, made me torture prisoners against my will, drained my blood repeatedly, ran a drug ring as a front for an insane dark ritual, hid my true identity from me for most of my life, hired freelance goons to round up my friends to kill all at once, tried to sacrifice one on the roof of our home, and then tried to turn all of us into Kentucky-Fried Keepers. What am I forgetting… it’s on the tip of my tongue… Oh, yeah, I killed her to save the world. Vlad? You want to go next?”

Vlad chuckled. “Hard act to follow, but I’ll do my best. My dad would burn me whenever I refused to kill people — probably took it out of a page from the international bestseller ‘How To Be A Vampire Douche For Dummies’, he murdered, well, a lot of people on Shadows Keep and even hired some asshats to drug me. But good news is he’s dead now, but for real this time. No more undead for the pale and bloodthirsty. Oric?”

Oric yawned, stretching. “I watched both of my parents die. Broke some bones too. Very tragic. Serenity?”

Serenity slipped her phone in her jacket pocket and began to twirl her long red-ringlets. “I lost my mother. She was murdered. My friends helped me through it.”

“Is that all?” Dr. Meadows asked, her face etched with shock and concern.

“You’re really boring?” suggested Serenity, a slight smile tugging at her lips.

“That and she has really good taste in furniture,” Oric added. “Feel like I could sleep for days on this thing.”

“Really? I think it’s too massive,” said Rune. “It’s like the sofa cushion’s trying to eat me and I’ll have to fight my way out.”

“Eh, only because you’re so short,” said Vlad, playfully. “And one with all that’s feisty.”

“And tell me, Vlad? How does that make you feel?” mocked Rune.

“Like someone’s touching my inner child,” said Vlad. “It’s why he likes to hide in the back of my mind, with my dad’s old Playboys.”

“But, Vlad, that’s such a toxic way to cope!” said Serenity, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “Don’t you know we have to work through this? So, get that little guy out.”

“I don’t know, Serenity,” said Oric, rubbing his chin. “That could be very traumatic for the kid and then he’d have to be the one in therapy. And we wouldn’t want that.”

“But Oric,” Rune snickered. “It’s not about what we want, but what we all so desperately need!”

All four burst into laughter, causing Dr. Meadows vein to throb on her forehead. “Is any of what you told me true?”

“Sure is,” said Vlad, through the laughter.

“Then why —?”

“Because it’s life,” said Rune. “We’re not crazy or whatever term you’d like to use. Yeah, our lives sucked and it made us close. But when you live in a prison with the worst of the worst, who’s life goal is to drain every ounce of hope from your soul… to make you wish you were dead. And I mean, literally make you scream out through the tears and blood for someone to just end it all, right then and there — most of them being your own parents — it becomes you and your friends versus the world. They’re all you have to give you that reason to never scream, to keep fighting… hoping for something better. So, how could you not become close? How could you not choose to confide in them over a stuffy therapist in an expensive getup, who has at least three visible track marks on her arm, reeks of pot and has saline solution sticking out of her purse in the corner of a dimly lit office?”

“…I think our time is up.”

“Oh, but we were just starting to have fun,” Rune drawled, standing up with the others. “But guess we can always have some more next time…”

“I’ll tell the academy you completed your respective hours,” Dr. Meadows replied, coldly. “They should be in contact with you in the next few days to finalize all four of your acceptance requirements.”

“That’s even better,” Rune smirked as she and the Keepers walked to the door, before stopping.

“Oh, by the way, do you validate parking?” asked Serenity. “Our driver said not to forget this time.”

“Uh, don’t remind me,” Rune groaned.

Serenity handed Dr. Meadows their parking slip and the good doctor grasped her hand. “Just know that if you ever change your mind, about needing something more… my office door is always open.”

Serenity stared at her for a hot minute, her eyes fluttering before pulling her hand away. Serenity straightened her crimson-jacket’s sleeve, pulling it farther down her arm with disgust etched on her face. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

The Keepers filed out of the office, Rune couldn’t help but notice Vlad staring down at his shoes. “Okay. Spit it out. What’s eating you?”

“Nothing, just… you sure we made the right call?” asked Vlad. “I mean, yeah, it was fun busting her ass. But she seemed like she cared. It was nice.”

“You really want some bigoted addict messing with your head?” asked Rune.

“Yeah, good point,” sighed Vlad. “Still, maybe Brimstone could get us someone better.”

Rune rolled her eyes. “Not a chance. We just got our feet through the doors, Vlad. And we’re not screwing that up, so you can go emotional overkill. If we give anyone here one reason to send us back, or worse, they’ll do it in a heartbeat. Even Cory wouldn’t be able to help us.”

Vlad looked ready to protest, but bit his tongue.

DING! DING!

“Serenity?” asked Rune. “You okay? You look rattled.”

“Oh, not rattled. I’m excited,” said Serenity, eyes sparkling. “Brimstone came through, I’m now officially on Mecha. No more social media ban! Isn’t that great?”

“If you say so,” Rune shrugged, turning her head. “Oric, come on!”

The shadowrider was still standing in the hall, staring at Dr. Meadows’s door. “Sorry. Weird vibe.”

“See? Even Oric could tell that Dr. Druggie needed help more than us.”

“Yeah, something like that…” Oric sighed.

“And just like that— the Spawns of Shadows Keep otherwise known as ‘The Keepers’ are now formally enrolled in Brimstone Academy. After six weeks of political debate and various psychological testing, their first full day of integration into Everian society will take place this week! But will it work? Or are these Spawns the first sign of a new threat to our beloved nation?”

“Cut that off, already!” Mo shouted.

“Sorry, boss!” said Chris, quickly ending the live stream and putting his phone away. “It’s just — they’re actually doing it, letting those freaks in!”

“Those freaks saved the High Prince,” Mo gestured to large ship stationed at the port next to them. “…Or so he claims. Pretty strange if you ask me. Spawns rescuing royalty.”

“And now we have to watch over their precious ship!” Chris threw his hands up. “It’s like they’re VIP’s instead of escaped convicts!”

“Like the Everian Police Force doesn’t have better things to do,” Mo sighed. “Who’d even be dumb enough to go near the damn —!”

CRASH!

The two officers eyes widened.

“You were saying?” asked Chris.

“Shut up and follow me,” Mo turned on his flashlight and walked onto the creaky ship. In the dim light of the crescent moon with its Victorian styled deck, some would say it looked striking. But, to Mo, it only added to the eeriness of it all.

“Boss?” Chris poked Mo on the shoulder. “There’s someone on the deck.”

Mo turned his head to the right. A tall woman wearing a nice top with a pencil-skirt was standing next to the wheel, her back to them. Mo cleared his throat.

“Whoever you are, this ship is private property. If you leave now, we can avoid any trouble. But if not —!”

The woman dropped to her knees, sobbing. Mo arched his eyebrows, while Chris scratched his head. The two approached the woman, with Chris kneeling down to check on her.

“Miss? Are you okay?”

“…I am now.”

The woman turned around and snatched Chris’s hand — her eyes glowing acid-green with tears a blood pouring down her cheeks and her porcelain skin peeling away in a rapid fashion.

“BOSS — HELP!”

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

BANG! BANG!

But it was too late. For them. For the rest of the officers stationed at the docks. And soon, for all of Everian.

“And this time, your castaway will stay dead… dearest.”

“CORY!” Rune shouted, waking up in a cold sweat. She was in her plush queen-sized bed inside the small house the Keepers currently called home. She ran her hands through her drenched acid-green hair, now inches longer than it’d been in years. “It was just a nightmare… not real… just a nightmare…”

“Rrrr…”

Shit. She’d woken Ridis. The white-skeletal tiger had started stretching and smacking her lips. Rune glanced at her bay-window. The sun was just starting to rise. “Hold on girl. It’s not time yet.”

Every morning around seven, Rune would have to put a large leash on Ridis and walk her through their front yard to… do her business and then bring her back inside before going back out and scooping it up. It felt mortifying for them both, to say the least, but Cory assured her it was the only way to keep neighbors somewhat at ease about Ridis. Apparently, the world wasn’t ready for tigers of any sort to be house pets. Go figure.

Rune reached over to her large nightstand and picked up her phone, calling…

“Cory?”

“…Rune?”

“Are you awake?”

“Only when I open my eyes.”

“Could you open them?”

“…What’s up?” Cory’s voice changed, more alert and… was that concern? The two of them hadn’t talked much since the whole “Fiancé” bomb dropped. Mostly due to Rune’s insistence. While he hadn’t lied to her, he’d left a huge piece of his life out of all their prior conversations. If she’d known Cory was engaged, Rune never would’ve kissed him or showed him her scars. But she did and there was no taking back the humiliation it brought her. So, it was easier to only talk to him about their probation. Until this. She had to know he was okay. That it truly was just a nightmare.

“I… just wanted to…”

“Rune, it’s okay, tell me,” Cory replied, calmly.

“It happened again.”

“Night terror?”

“Something like that.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Cory.

Rune Wraithwood wasn’t big on talking to most people. But there was one person she could tell everything to, even if she hated to admit it. For while it was true, that it’d always be her and the Keepers vs the world… her castaway was something different all together. In a world of his own. No longer a potential lover. Never a surrogate brother or a simple friend. Not someone to use or insult. Nor someone to fear and hate. Cory Brimstone was more. He was not really what she wanted, but what Rune needed.

RETURN IN TWO DAYS FOR CHAPTER 2... NIGHT & DAY