Page 80

Glaide

“You think this will work?”

“I have no clue. But it's worth a shot.” I smile at Erasmus as he stands at Amias’ hotel room door. Him and Amias have been sharing rooms, mostly because of Amias’ condition.

It's been a day since we've searched Amor Beach. The guards had gone out to nearby villages to find Ignatia. Amias hasn't left his room today. I think his powers exhausted him yesterday when he freaked out.

The weather's even worse today, so maybe it helps that he's inside today. The hotel is conditioned, and even now my skin is glistening in sweat under this thin white shirt and beach shorts. I'm tempted to take my shirt off like Erasmus right now.

Erasmus slowly nods and takes the pot of soup out of my hands. I follow him in as he sets it on a marble countertop in their mini kitchen.

Past the kitchen, Amias sleeps on a bed covered in blue sheets, identical to his brother’s next to him. A documentary about dreamscreechers plays in front of him.

His body looks so frail as he whimpers in his sleep. His ribs are pronounced without a shirt to hide them. No amount of sleep seems to be decent enough for him.

A knife of pity must be twisting in my gut. Amias doesn't deserve this torture, and it's all because Amara cleansed him.

Erasmus takes a bowl with a spoon and ladles the soup into it. He walks over to Amias and he sits on the bed. I follow him and stand next to him.

“Hey Amias,” he prods his shoulder. “Wake up.”

Slowly, Amias’ black eyes flutter open. He glances wearily between us before looking towards the soup. “That smells… good.”

“Yeah it does, baby brother. It does.” Erasmus smiles meekly. He speaks like he’s talking to a five year old boy. “Glaide brought it for you to eat.”

He snaps his gaze to me. “Oh. You didn't have to do that,” he says softly.

I squeeze my eyes shut a second before offering a grin. “I'm more than honored to cook for my best friend.”

He returns my expression before he gasps and glances away, putting his hands to his head. “I can't eat! I have to kill Ignatia first!”

“Amias, no!” Erasmus says, grabbing his shoulder. “You can't kill Ignatia until you eat. You're starving yourself.”

“It's not me! It's the voices!”

“Please try to fight them for me! For Glaide. For Mother. Please. I need you to eat.”

Amias catches his breath. I come over to the opposite side of the bed and pat his shoulder as if it would comfort him. It's the least I can do.

“Please baby brother,” Erasmus pleads. “Just one bite at least.”

Amias finally looks at him, tears twinkling in his eyes. “Fine. I'll try.”

Erasmus gets a spoonful and holds it out. “Just think about how it smells and how good it's going to taste.”

He nods before Erasmus slowly starts to bring it to his mouth. All is calm. All is quiet. The spoon is still in Erasmus's hand. Amias isn't reacting. Everything is good.

Come on Amias. Eat.

It's only an inch away from Amias’ mouth, when he jerks back, his eyes flashing open. His pupils dilate beyond normal, consuming both of his eyes.

Oh fuck!

Black tenebris flowers spring up, twisting around the spoon and flinging it across the room.

My body freezes, goosebumps forming on my skin. Erasmus gasps before standing up to retrieve it. “Shit!”

Amias screams as the flowers start to twist up my arms. I try to pull away but it's no use. “Calm down!”

“Get out of my damn head!”

“Amias, please!” Erasmus runs back to him as the flowers wither quickly.

“No! I can't do it!” he shouts before lying his head back down on the bed. “There's no use.”

Each breath of mine is shallow and painful. Erasmus’s breath doesn't seem much better. “We can try again.” Erasmus sits down with the bowl of soup. “One more time. Please.”

“If I could eat, I wouldn't be like this!” Amias cries. “I want to eat. I smell the things you guys make and I want to eat. But the cleansing potion…it's ruined me…” He becomes quiet as he leans against the bed again.

Erasmus leans in closer to him, setting the soup down on the night stand. “Amias. You're dangerously skinny. Too much longer, and it's gonna be too late.”

“I'm aware,” Amias whispers.

“If you let these voices take over, you're going to die.”

“I know, but I can't fight any longer.”

Erasmus sniffles, knotting my stomach. He doesn't cry. I've never seen it, and neither has anyone else I'm sure. It only hammers down how serious this is.

“Look baby brother!” Erasmus weeps and stands from the bed.

“I don't want you to die. And I certainly don't want to tell Mother that her baby dove is dying!” His hands start to tremble.

“ I don't want to tell her to say her last goodbyes to you. I don’t want her to ask you what colors for the funeral.

I don't want her to weep every night blaming herself for letting you get cleansed like she has already.

I don't want this pain either, but what about Mother?”

Amias' shiny eyes shift. He doesn't say a word. He only stares at him.

Erasmus storms away and slams the door. His weeps are heard from outside.

I can't stop my lip from throbbing. Erasmus was more confident than anyone when it came to Amias’ condition. He started off moving with him away from his soulmate, optimistic that he could save Amias from starving and also help him kill Ignatia.

But that confidence is dead.

I look over to Amias. “You'll never find Ignatia in time.”

He nods his head, his body juddering. “I-I know.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to swallow the burn in my throat and hold in the tears.

I don't want to lose Amias and the more I see these things, the more I think Amias was right before.

It's painful to think for the last month, I haven't even needed to stop him from killing Ignatia.

I worried during the first month when he was at full strength, but he has grown too weak now.

I wish he was how he was before. I wish he'd be able to yell at me about dreamscreechers. I wish we could debate about it. Maybe we could've challenged each other on the idea.

Maybe if I had before, I could've saved him from this.

◆◆◆

I feel so stupid just for looking into this.

I’m sitting down on the hotel’s cement steps outside at night.

Palm trees stand on either side of the stairs, planted under the tall pastel pink hotel behind me.

Not too far in front of me is the beach, the waves of the ocean lapping over shore.

The salty ocean breeze helps to make my cream tank top and black shorts less sticky from the heat.

At first, I came here to take my mind off Amias, but after continuously scrolling on my phone, I ended up searching through articles about dreamscreechers possibly having a good side. I feel dumb. It's like trying to find evidence that Estrella's star isn't real.

I keep scrolling. Everything is about dreamscreechers being horrible, with absolutely no nuance.

Would the Amara kingdom even allow such an article to exist?

I almost feel like Amara's trying to hide something. Maybe Amias had caught onto something that Amara didn't want people to discover.

But now, she cleansed him. She cleansed him in a way that would get him to crumble without her having to even look his way.

I turn off my phone and stare at the beach. What am I doing? I've already seen how dreamscreechers behaved! They're evil. They love to shred people apart.

Why does it seem wrong to believe that now?

“Someone’s getting a little curious.”

I snap my head up to meet dark eyes. Her skin looks a few shades lighter than mine, with dark dreads and blonde tips.

I cock a brow up. “Huh?”

“Dreamscreechers.” She shrugs. “I couldn't help but notice the word dreamscreecher on your phone.”

I scrunch my brows together. “So you were looking over at my phone without my permission?”

She shrugs again before sitting beside me. “It's just something I caught at a quick glance. It piqued my interest.”

I chew on my lip and lean away from her. Weirdo . “So what? Are you gonna report me and get me cleansed?”

“No, actually.” She looks back at me, laughter lining her lips. “I like people who can open their eyes a little.”

I glance away. “No. I don't think the dreamscreecher thing is a lie. I just…” I hold my tongue, wondering if I should continue.

“You just…?”.

I scowl and straighten my posture slightly. “I just need a solution for my friend. He got cleansed and he's suffering because of it. I'm looking for any last resort before this cleansing ends up starving him to death.”

My face heats up. Why am I admitting this?

The woman slowly nods. “And you think, going after dreamscreechers will help you find a solution?”

“Maybe. It's a last resort.”

It falls silent between us. Waves slosh ahead as the woman stares at the water. “Join me.”

I draw my lip back. “What?”

“Join me. The dreamscreecher resistance is having a meeting tonight.” She smiles before standing up. She starts walking down the stairs.

Meanwhile I stare in shock. What? No. I can't join that fan club. I've always said not to join those crazy people. I can't go against my values!

She looks over her shoulder. “Are you coming?”

“No,” I say firmly. “I can't. I'm not going to join that mad group.”

She crosses her arms. “You want answers. Don't you?”

“I…” I whisper before realizing that's what I want. But no. I can't. “I'm not mad! I'm not crazy.”

“Never said you were.”

“But no. No, I can't!” My heart starts racing, and my stomach knots. “Dreamscreechers…I can't join that dreamscreecher fan club! What kind of a lunatic would I be?”

She slowly nods, glancing at me up and down. “ But you doubt that dreamscreechers are all evil. You're seeing holes in the ideology.”

My eyes widen. That's my situation. It seems very flawed now that I know what Amara did and seeing Amias' condition. “Yes.”

“Don't you want to know if your suspicions are right? Don't you want to be certain?”

“Yeah, but I'm not going to that stupid fan club to-”

“Join me. We don't judge.”

My glance at her sideways. “No-no! It's not because I feel judged!”

“No one outside will know that you've visited. We don't care if you started off as a friend or enemy, just as long as you're looking for the right answers.”

“No. I-”

“Join me.” She nods, before walking to the left, parallel to the beach. She doesn't look back this time.

I ponder on the idea. Do I really want to go with these lunatics? The people I've been taught as crazy my whole life? What would people think?

But what if they hold the answers? What if Amias was right and he's fighting against the wrong person? Could this meeting save him?

I watch her walking along the beach a minute longer before pushing myself off of the steps. If there's just a little possibility that I could find answers for Amias, I should go. Even if it makes me a mad man and bite my words.

Just as long as there's a solution for Amias, my pride is worth sacrificing.