When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (best ereader for textbooks .txt) 📕

of lightning illuminated his face and Avia gasped, throwing herself to the far end of the bottle. It was Cheshire, without question, but he was...damaged. His glossy skin was sickeningly pale, the dark circles around his eyes screamed of death. His hair was without its silver streaks and matted against his face. But what truly terrified her was his mouth. A grotesque Glasgow smile was carved into his cheeks while blood still poured from the cuts.

“When I was alive, Avi,” he began, his voice shaking. “I was a lot like you. I hated everything about this life. The people, the places, the emotions; they all just sucked the life out of me. But I carried on. I bore the burden for those around me and put on that charming smile every day—until I just couldn’t take it. I thought, maybe, just maybe, if I could make the smile permanent. He made a cutting motion across his face. “I would be happy in the next life.

“When I crossed over, I met the Hatter. I mean, you know how it—it is.” His whole body twitched, his gestures growing more erratic. “I just couldn’t go back. I begged him to let me stay, told him I would do anything. He told me the way he does it is cutting all ties to every realm. He doesn’t dreamwalk. The guy takes his whole body. But he gave some warning and crap… said that if I crossed over in my body, I’d spend eternity in the state I left.”

“Cheshire, you…”

A shadow fell over his face and he looked down. “Yeah. Figured as long as I was on the other side I would be happy. Wrong. Turns out Earth wasn’t the problem, Avi, I was.” His head shot up, rage twisting his every feature. “You see this place!” he screamed, slamming his fists against the glass. “This is my home! A sea of the tears I have shed over the decades!” Blood gushed from the cuts and streamed down his neck. “It was this, or let my wrath and my pain burn me alive! I am trapped forever in the hell of my own mind. You can try crossing over as much as you want, Avia, it will do nothing!”

He slammed on the glass again. “We’re all mad in the end. We can douse our flames in the sorrow or burn until there’s nothing left. When I met you in the aether, I thought I could save you. I warned you, again, and again, but look where we are?! I did everything I could, but you just played it off with a stupid smile! But now we’re here. Just look at me! Behind the smile. I am just as fucked up as you are!”

“Cheshire! No!” Avia sobbed, throwing herself towards him. “You aren’t… you can’t be…”

He sighed and placed his palm against hers on the glass. “Avia… Please don’t go any deeper, or you’ll never find your way back. Just…. Just find someplace where you won’t be alone.”

He turned away from her and disappeared into the raging storm.

“No!” she screamed. “You can’t leave me alone! Cheshire!”

Avia smashed her fist into the glass over and over until a crack began to spider web along the top. “You can’t leave me here alone!” She threw herself against the glass, again. The bottle splintered and water flooded in through the widening gaps. She raised her fist to strike again and the bottle imploded. Waves smashed her into the debris and quickly filled her lungs. The current dragged her under and she slowly sank to the bottom of Cheshire’s ocean.

“Are you sure I’m going to be able to get her out?” Zadkiel asked, staring into the pod. Her skin was still a glowing orange. The flames that blazed from every inch tested the enchanted glass that held her.

Michael had tasked him to pull her from the rubble of a frat house. In the middle of the night, no less. He’d begrudgingly dug through ash and debris for an entire five minutes until he found the glowing ember that they now stood before. Her flames almost matched the fires of Tartarus. It had actually been necessary to use five different enchantments to bring her back without getting burned. It wasn’t difficult; he simply believed himself to be above the menial task of retrieval.

“I’m not concerned,” Michael said, placing his hand on Zadkiel’s shoulder. “I have faith in you.”

“I think Vlad had an easier job….” Zadkiel muttered, leaning in closer to the pod. “All he had to do was stalk a ghoul.”

The king ignored his cynicism. “Call for me when you pull her out,” he answered, turning towards the door. “You are my Pride, after all.”

“Avia.”

“Who’s there?” she demanded. She looked around but couldn’t see anyone. Everything was still black.

Her spirit had retreated into the depths of her mind where the nothing thrived. There was no sound or light; only the endless expanse of darkness. She often questioned if she really was in the abyss, but it didn’t matter. The dark went on forever. Now she remained in quiet solitude. The burning rage in her chest warmed her through the everlasting night.

“You really buried yourself deep in here,” the voice spoke again. “It took a whole year to stabilize your flames.”

A white light flashed and blinded her momentarily. When the light dimmed, she opened her eyes and saw a man standing in front of her. Messy, blood-red hair cascaded past his shoulders, and deep wrinkles cut through his white dress shirt. His skin glowed with a golden aura. Perhaps that was the source of the electric hum that now filled the blackness.

Avia blinked, making sure she really saw the wings jutting from his shoulder blades. They were almost as large as her. Each white feather flowed perfectly into the next and gave off its own