Free Falling by J Bennett Page B

step away.
    Tarren struggles up to his elbow, panting in pain. I turn
away from him, toward the highway. “Don’t follow me.”
    “Maya wait!” Gabe stumbles out into the field still wearing
his t-shirt and striped boxers. “Oh god, don’t…go yet. Just…give me…a second.” 
He leans over and gasps for breath. His bare feet are dirty and bleeding.
    “Maya, don’t go.” Gabe straightens up, and the moon catches
his flushed face and tousled hair. “If you go back it’ll be all over the news.
Grand will come for you. He’ll turn you into an angel. You think it’s hard to
control the hunger now? If you turn, it’ll be impossible. You’ll kill people.
Men, women, children.”
    “How do I know you’re telling the truth? How do I know any
of this is real at all?” I shout back at him. Ryan, Ryan,
Ryan, if only I could leap into the ocean and wash up on the shores of Avalon .
    “Mom knew that if Grand ever found out about you he would
stop at nothing to find you and infect you just like his father infected him,”
Gabe says. “That’s why she gave you away, to protect you. She never blamed you
for who your father was or how you were conceived. You were innocent. She knew
that, and we know that.”
    “I want to go home.”
    “You can’t,” Tarren says, sitting up with a wince.
    Gabe gives him a look, and the hysteria that has been
bubbling beneath the surface of my mind suddenly erupts like a geyser. “This is
crazy. This is fucking insane,” my voice squeaks. “You two are…and especially
you,” I huff at Tarren, “and I’m….,” I look at Gabe helplessly. The words fall
from my lips like haunted things.  “I don’t know what I am.”
    Gabe doesn’t hesitate. “You’re our sister,” he says. He
squares his shoulders and stretches out his hand. “I’ll prove it. Take my hand
without your gloves on.”
    “Gabe,” Tarren barks.
    “Let me do this.” Gabe never lets go of my eyes. “Maya, take
my hand.”
    “I…I can’t.” Traitorous tears flee down my face, and I wipe
them away. “Don’t ask me to do this.”
    “Maya, you can control it. I trust you. Come on.” Gabe’s
eyes are big and sad, and I feel again that whiplash certainty that I’ve known
him my entire life; that maybe I can trust him. He gives me a small smile, but
can’t keep the tremor out of his extended hand.
    “Come on,” he says again.
    I peel off my glove and reach through Gabe’s glowing aura to
take his hand. Our fingers interlace. The orbs push up with a mad insistence,
but I keep the skin of my palms anchored down. This is pain burning toward
implosion. If I could transfer this agony into a scream, I think the moon would
hear it.
    “I’m trusting you with my life right now,” Gabe says softly.
“It’s because I believe you’re not an angel. It’s because I want to help you.
Tarren and I are the only ones who understand what you’re going through. We’re
the only ones who can protect you from Grand. And together, we’re going to
defeat him and all the other angels.”
    There is nothing harder, nor more painful than not killing
Gabe right now. With a guttural moan, I tear my hand from his grip, stagger
away from his pulsing energy and press my palms against the front of my legs. I
taste blood where I’ve bitten through my lip. The tears are hot on my cheeks,
dripping off my chin.
    “It’s…all too much,” I gasp. My body is so exhausted from
the strain that I can hardly stand. “I can’t do this. None of it even makes
sense.”
    “My brother and I have been fighting our whole lives,” Gabe
says, “and we’ve seen awful things Maya. Things I can’t even begin to describe.
And we’ve lost a lot, just like you. But just because bad things happen doesn’t
mean the fight isn’t worth fighting. And it doesn’t mean we can’t find some
measure of happiness even so. You’re my sister, and I’m going to protect you. I
won’t let you slip. I won’t let you fall. Tarren is working on