Page 10 of Heart Shaped Wreckage (standalone)

LANDON

My feet hurt.

We had knocked on several doors, and everyone was happy to see Heath, but they knew absolutely nothing about me.

It was worrisome, and that felt like a new emotion for me.

Old me, the person I couldn’t remember, he must have known what it was like to worry about something.

But in my limited time as… Kevin, I hadn’t ever felt it before.

I hated it.

One person after another told us that they had never seen me before. It was exhausting and made me feel like perhaps I didn’t matter. There had to be someone here who knew me, wasn’t there? If not, how the fuck did I get here?

“We’ll try Judy’s place next. She’s a bit of an eccentric. I barely know her. She keeps to herself most of the time.” Heath put his hand on my lower back as we walked to what appeared to be the edge of the village. “She lives right outside of town.”

I glanced around and saw a small house sitting across from a tiny stream. A bridge spanned the water. Magic finds it difficult to live in water.

I stopped in my tracks. “Hey! I just… Do you know very much about magic?”

“Enough.”

“Does magic find water difficult to live in?”

“That’s not how I would put it, but yeah. Water dilutes most magic and washes it away. Why?”

“The shower didn’t change anything.”

He looked at me with such care that I had to glance away. “No, it wouldn’t unless it was a spell to change your appearance. Even then, there are limits and rules, and it depends on… Hey, you must know something about magic if you knew that.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Maybe the magic you smelled on me was my own?” I smiled excitedly.

“Maybe? It was intermingled with something that I’m sure was not you. It was much older and… Maybe.” I noticed how he changed the subject.

“Intermingled with what? I think I should know, don’t you?” I pleaded.

“There are things in the universe that most people don’t really comprehend. They rarely show themselves to humans. But there are beings that have been alive before creation.”

“Are we getting religious. I do remember religion. God and the angels existed before anything.”

“God is one, and the angels are another. The devil and the demons, too. But there are others. Some say that there are a few older than even God. Beings that existed before the reality we know.”

“How can you smell magic?”

“You’re asking all the questions today.” He laughed. “I’m a shifter.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“It does?”

“Yeah. As soon as I heard you say it, I knew it was true. I know about shifters. Your body is… It makes sense… your muscles… and things.” I could feel my face redden.

All I could think about was the size of his everything.

That cock was something special, and I might not know who I am, but I am definitely gay. “What kind of shifter are you?”

“Wolf,” he replied. “Come on.”

We started to walk over the bridge, and I stopped. “How can something be older than God?”

“If you are indeed magical, you might have once known. Not everything is understood by humans or even most of the magical kind. But some of us are… We know.” He said it with such finality that it brought up way too many more questions.

But he pushed on my back and we made our way over the bridge.

You could hear the trickling of the stream underneath as it made its way slowly down the small ravine.

“I feel like you’re not telling me everything.”

“I’m not.” He chuckled, and it made me feel annoyed.

“Oh… ok.” I stiffened.

“I just met you, Kevin. If you could remember who you are and everything about yourself, you would keep some things about yourself secret, too. Everyone does.”

“Are you annoyed at me? I’m sorry that I’m… me.”

“No. I’m not annoyed at you.” He chuckled. “Stop worrying. I’m helping you and we’ll keep trying, ok?”

I took a breath and looked at him. God, his eyes were so deep. “I think fate had me knock on your door, Heath. You’ve been so good to me. Thank you.”

“It’s… You’re welcome, Kevin.” His smile was electrifying. “Let’s see if Judy will see us.”

“She might not be home?” She was my last hope here in the village. I was tired of people saying they had never seen me before or looking at me with such pity. At least, Heath hadn’t done that. He had treated me like someone he knew, even if he didn’t.

“No, she’s home. But she doesn’t like to answer her door. She hates visitors and rarely leaves her house. She’s… Well, I hope you’ll see.”

Heath raised his hand to knock on the door, and it slowly opened before his hand could make contact.

“Old one… You finally came to visit me.” The voice croaked from within the darkness. “Come in, and I think it's best to bring him with you.”

“You’ve known?” Heath muttered so quietly I could barely hear him.

“Always. I can still see your wings even if you can’t. The impression has always been with you and always will, unless… No, the future is not yet set in stone. So many pieces have yet to be laid in front of you on the pathway to your next existence. Come, and I will show you my face.”

Heath slowly pushed the door open. The room was pitch black, and as we stepped over the threshold, hand in hand, I could see nothing that lay in front of us. It was like walking into the blackness of the darkest night with no starlight to guide you.

Heath seemed to be able to see much better than I could. It made sense since he was part wolf. I didn’t know too much about shifters. I don’t think I ever did.

The door slammed shut behind us as we stepped through, and I nearly jumped out of my shoes.

Heath’s hand tightened around mine. “It’s fine, Kevin. If she meant us harm, she would have never let us into her home. Here we have one of the oldest magics in the world to protect us. The magic of her invitation inside.”

“Old magic that only the oldest know and can call to existence. Heath knows… He has used it before, haven’t you, old one?” Her voice sounded like she had swallowed glass.

“Crone or mother?”

“Why not both?” she croaked. “Sometimes the hardest questions have the simplest of answers. A candle lit on the table and… No, that wasn’t a candle, it was a finger. I had to stop myself from running from her house.

The flickering light cast shadows against a face that looked like wrinkled paper.

“Let there be light,” she cackled as the flame flew from her fingers and around the room.

Candles were lit all over the place, and soon the room glowed with the red flames.

An old woman sat in a chair, and her toothless grin was hideous.

She had to be the oldest person in the world – at least, that’s what she looked like.

Her white hair hung frizzy and long all around her like a veil.

“What do you have to tell us?”

“I think that poor… Kevin, is it, is scared of me. Poor thing, so lost and alone… lonely and sad.” Her voice started to lighten and smooth, and I watched her form shimmer and shift as if it were being filled with a light from nowhere.

She was an old woman one minute and then a young woman the next.

Magic. Very powerful magic. She glowed internally as if she were some kind of angelic being.

It was actually very fucking scary, even if she was prettier this way.

“Ah… I know you, don’t I?”

“Yes, we’ve met once or twice in the past.”

“One of the ancient oracles. That means that… If you would see us… You have something very fucking frightening to tell us.” Heath moaned as if he were starting to become uneasy.

“A fright to one might be an exciting adventure for another. But yes, I knew you would come. It’s been seen for longer than you know. But I could feel the prescient energy of prophecy coming all day.”

“What do you have to tell us, old one?”

“Remember, child of all, that once heard it can never be undone. Are you sure you wish to hear? Do you really think it was an accident that the boy witch knocked on your door? Fate has cast her finger in both of your directions, and in the end, fate always has her way.” She grinned from her chair. She now had teeth.

“Which form is truly yours?” I asked, unable to stop myself. It was bothering me. I needed to know.

“Why can I not be both, child? I have been and will be many things in my long life. Maiden, mother, crone – as well as huntress, rider, and victim. Magic came from chaos, and I have seen my own birth but never my own death. Chaos swirls within me as if she were my mother. Perhaps she was. My death is birth, and my birth is eternal. Now, little witch, do you want to hear what I have to say?”

“Will it tell me who I am?” I tried to stop myself from being scared, but I was terrified..

“I could, but I am afraid I cannot. You are tied into the prophecy, and part of it will be your search for identity.”

“I'm scared.” I tried not to whimper.

“I’m not unafraid.” Heath pulled me closer to him. “A prophecy could mean much.”

“It could mean the end of everything, couldn’t it?” She laughed.

“What do you have to say?” He sounded very unhappy about it.

“Human?” She pointed her finger at me.

“I guess…”

“You do have to say it?” Heath whispered. “Magic has rules.”

“I do know that. Yes. As scared as I am, I want to know who I am.” I tried to stop my knees from banging together. I was shivering.

No… The room had grown cold.

Her eyes flew back in her head, and her image flickered as if she couldn’t get a good signal. Maiden, mother, crone, child – over and over again as the magic channeled through her.

Her body slowly stretched, and she levitated out of her chair and hovered a foot above the floor. She threw her head back and shrieked. I placed my hands over my ears. Heath stood there solemn and straight as a stone, but I could feel the tension in his body against mine.

“Wings that beat no more – awakes the beast within. A foolish witch who seeks himself – tears will be the key. Legion leader, once a friend – now a foe, but closely kin – seeking stones – swirling pool – blood makes everyone a fool. To find what you seek, the blood must leak. Forms shift to and fro; a hollow shaft will heal. But by the end, you must lose to ever hope to win. A last gasp and the choice is made – fate is done, and it’s too late. A choice to make for a lost mate.”

The light slowly leached from her body, and she slowly floated back to her chair.

“Please don’t let my house get destroyed,” the old woman croaked.

“MAGNUS!” The voice was so loud that it instantly gave me a headache. “I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU!”

“An angel comes with a sword and wings of fire.” She sighed and slowly dissipated in front of me.

“What the fuck?” I screamed.

“Get behind me,” Heath took a step in front of me and held his arms out as if he were going to protect me. Did she actually say an angel was coming?

The door literally flew off its hinges, and Heath swatted it aside. It crashed into darkness. The candles extinguished, and I felt something crawling by my feet.

“Something's on the floor,” I screamed.

“Moon Cat?” Heath sighed, and before I could understand what was about to happen. A light glowed so brightly from the door that I had to hold up my hand to stop it from blinding me.

Then…

It was like a hook caught me in the stomach, and all I knew was blackness.

I knew this, didn’t I? It had happened once before, but I couldn’t...

To say that I tumbled through the space-time continuum and into the side of a boulder would not be lying. I fell about three feet from a hole in the sky, and Heath tumbled on top of me with all of his weight.

I looked up, and a sword started coming through the gaping hole, which quickly shut, and a sword and a hand tumbled to the ground beside us.

Heath scooted away from it.

The hand caught on fire and disintegrated in front of us.

“I think I might pass out,” I mumbled.

Sadly, I did.