Part Twenty

Is this what insanity feels like?



 My dreams were plagued. My body writhed. I think I had fevers. I was hardly aware of the days passing by. One minute, a monster’s claws dug into my flesh. The next, I was sipping orange juice in bed. My mind was too confused to contemplate Tristin’s alliances. Then Trist himself decided to visit. At least, I don’t think he was a hallucination. I was watching TV when he came in.

“Hey, man. You look bad.”

He had knocked on the front door and I was alone, so I called out for him to come in. I turned the volume down on the TV as he sat next to me on the couch.

“I’m doing better,” I told him. I wasn’t ready to bring up John’s worries. Turns out I didn’t have to.

“Look,” he said, “You’ve probably heard some nasty things about me since…”

I nodded, ashamed. “John and his group think you’re… evil.”

Trist looked hopeful. “Do you not believe them?”

 “Really, I’m not sure what to believe. Everyone’s adamantly against you. I really want to trust you, but this is my brother we’re talking about.”

 Trist thought for a minute. “Well, let me tell you something. You’ve read Harry Potter, right?”

“Er, not really. I’ve seen some of the movies, though.”

“Well, in the last book, Harry is known as ‘Undesirable Number One.’ The whole wizarding world is against him. But he’s the hero, right? Why would they all be mad? It’s because the government has been spreading lies about him. They warped the truth until Harry was seen as evil.”

I drank in what he said. Could John really have lied to me? He never lied to me before, and he was so serious. Then again, our true nature, our wings, he kept it all a secret. Supposedly that was the way it was meant to be. The conflicting tales made my head spin.

 “There’s also the possibility your brother was misinformed. Somebody else could have lied about me to him. Or he could have thought I was someone else, the real guy he was after.”

 I nodded slowly and turned to the TV. That must have given Trist an idea because he changed the channel to a news one. We watched a story on a bank robbery for a few seconds, but then Trist changed the channel again. This time he found what he was looking for. The reporters talked over an amateur video of fuzzy monster-looking things attacking each other. The quality was so bad it was hard to make out what was going on, and the clip so short it repeated before you could get a good grip on it. The reporter explained there have been sightings of “monsters” throughout the world.

The clip changed to a still that sent a shiver down my spine. The blurry shadows distinctly reminded me of something from one of my dreams: A werewolf looking thing attacking a saber tooth tiger.

 Trist sounded choked up when he spoke. “To think your brother thinks I’m their leader….”

I looked at him, confused.

“There’s a war going on, James. A war among Daes. Some people insist we stay hidden, as we always have been. I think, and so do many others, we should join humans. Show them what we truly are, and continue to live in harmony. Until that day, Daes are in danger by the humans’ ignorance. Imagine,” he said, putting a hand on my shoulder, “if one of us were found out, people would go berserk. Fear of the devil and demons will drive the humans to destroy this poor Dae, when all he’s trying to do is live a normal life. I want to stop that from happening.”

I could see where he was coming from. I nodded, but my vision flickered, and suddenly my stomach cried out with anger.

“James! Are you okay?” Trist shouted worriedly. I could only shake my head.

Then the door opened and John stood there. His eyes flared when he saw the situation, and Trist jumped to his feet in surprise/fear.

“Get away from my brother!” John shouted, jumping at my friend. Trist stumbled away.

“The—back—door!” I yelled through gasps. Trist heeded my word and shot through the kitchen. Luckily, John didn’t follow. He was too stunned by my actions.

“Wha— How can you protect him? What did he do to you?”

“Nothing!” I managed, but the pain prevented me from explaining.

John hesitated, but decided to carry me back to my room. When I couldn’t get out a protest, I just collapsed in his arms. The spasm lessened as we went up the stairs, and I was asleep before John even opened my door.