Guardians: The Triplex Part 8

"We used to be."

"We used to be a lot of things, Marcus," she walks off but he takes after her.

They enter the tea room. It's all I can do not to go over and put my ear to the door.

That would be wrong, right?

Right.

Luckily, their voices carry down the hallway.

Emmy, it's a private conversation. You should walk away. Be a good girlfriend and walk away. Walk away. Emmy move!

I don't budge.

Do eavesdroppers ever make it into the Light? Yeah, didn't think so.

I hear Marcus speak first.

"Things don't have to be this way between us."

"What way?" she asks.

"We don't have to be enemies."

"We're not. We're co-workers"

"Seriously?"

"I really don't know what you want me to say."

"Say that we can be friends."

"What difference does that make?"

"How can you ask that? What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this? Are you really this mad because we broke up?"

"You really don't get it."

"No, Ameana, I don't. Explain it to me."

"You didn't leave me the night you broke up with me. You left me months before that but you were too much of a coward to admit it."

"I was honest with you."

"Liar! Every laugh we shared, every kiss you gave me every after you laid eyes on Emmy was a lie."

"What we had-"

"What we had was over. But instead of telling me, you spent weeks pretending. I kept thinking I was doing something to push you away. I blamed myself for not being a girlfriend to you."

"It's not your fault we broke up. You have to know that."

"Breaking up is what decent guys do. They fall for another girl, admit it, and make a clean break. That's not what you did."

"What did I do?"

"YOU ABANDONED ME!!!"

A heavy silence fills the apartment. When Ameana speaks again, she is calm and in control. But there's a sadness in her tone that betrays her attempts to appear composed.

"I loved you. You loved me. Something changed. You should have told me. I deserved to know. Instead you let me be in it alone. Marcus, how could you let me be in love alone?"

A few hours later, we prepare to leave The Sage's home and head for Terra. Although everyone recharged, they don't look very rested. I think not knowing what they are headed for has everyone on edge.

While the team pours over a map of Terra, I grab a breakfast of toast and tea from the kitchen. The Sage offers to have the old lady make eggs, but I have learned the hard way that it's best to eat light when you are traveling with Guardians.

As we head out the door, The Sage stops us. His voice is serious and filled with sorrow.

"I would like to think we are all friends," he says.

We all exchange a look but don't say anything.

"It pains me to know the truth. Still I feel it only fair to share it with you," he continues.

"What is it?" Marcus asks.

"I do not foresee all of you returning. In fact, I guarantee it."

CHAPTER FIVE: HOUSE OF THREE.

We arrive in Terra Oblivioni, a few miles outside of New Jersey. There is nothing here but abandoned warehouses and dilapidated buildings. They told me it would be filled with drug addicted Angels but nothing they said could have prepared me for this heart-wrenching sight.

The Tics looked more like zombies than Angels. In truth, I'm not sure the things sticking out of their backs can even be called wings. They look more like the skeleton of what used

to be wings. The disturbing and sad sight makes me flinch.

Each Tic has wing damage but to different degrees. There is a Tic propped up alongside an abandoned car; his feathers are gone. There's only a thin layer preventing us from seeing the skeleton of his wings.

Other Tics don't even have the skeleton intact. One Tic over by the trash can has only two bones protruding out of his shoulder blades.

"What happened to him?" I ask Jay.

"Sometimes when a Tic runs out of feathers, he'll break off a piece of his wing bone and sell it for drugs."

"His bones are worth something?"

"Angel bones look like humans' but they aren't. They are vastly stronger and more valuable. When Angel bone is ground up and mixed with other ingredients, it has a number of uses. Many of the items sold in the Market consist of angel bone," Rio explains.

I am unable to take my eyes off the Tics roaming aimlessly in the streets. What I find even more disturbing than the Tic's wings is the state of their bodies. They are severely underweight. They stagger out into the streets like drunks with no equilibrium.

At first it looks like they are zombies with black and grey polka dots for skin. But then Marcus tells me the black dots are splotches where darkness has invaded their soul. I look into their eyes and a cold chill runs down my body. There is a black void where their eyes used to be. Miku says they can still see us, it's just that the light has been drained from their eyes.

Some Tics are missing fingers and other body parts. I'm told that's because some attempt to sell off as much of themselves as possible for just one more hit of Peek or CP.

Their bodies are so frail, it's as if death haunts their every step. There is no way to really tell the males from the females since most of them are bald. The decay of their soul is reflected in every inch of their bodies.

"Shouldn't we help them?" I ask.

"There is no helping a Tic," Marcus informs me.

"Technically they can kick the habit," Miku says, uncertain.

"Yeah, and Sellers make it into the light. Give me a break," Marcus snorts.

I look up at the Guardians and their radiant wings flying against the still air.

"So, if Angel feathers are what they need to get more drugs, then you guys-" Rio finishes my thought.

"We are a major payday for them."

"Exactly why we need to find Lakom before-" Marcus never gets to finish his sentence.

A few yards away from us, a Tic grunts out a series of loud noises. The entire town of Terra never realized we were there until then. At once every single Tic registered our presence by turning towards us.

"Why didn't they see us before?" I ask.

"It's like they are sleepwalking when they're under the influence. But sooner or later, one of them comes back to reality, if only for a short time," Miku says.

"That's when they realize there are Angels among them," Jay says.

"I'm guessing that's bad," I say almost to myself.

"Very bad," Rio confirms.

Suddenly, every Tic in Terra is headed our way. It only takes seconds for the mob of zombie Angels to surround us. It looks like a scene out of a bad Halloween flick. The teens are eaten by a mob of flesh-eating monsters. But in the movies, you can fast forward the parts that scare you. We will not have that luxury.

The Tics force us into the center of the mob. There are hundreds of them. They grunt and howl like animals.

"We can take them," Marcus says.

"Yes, but should we?" Miku asked.

"Should we? h.e.l.l yeah we should!" Jay whispers to us.

"I'm just saying they are Angels just like us. They have souls," Miku explains.

"I don't care if they have my grandmother's eyes and my mama's meatloaf recipe. We take 'em down," Jay insists.

"The soul argument is a little weak Pretty; they barely have any soul left," Ameana replies.

"That's not the point."

"Well, when is an Angel not really an Angel anymore?" Rio asks.

"That sounds like a great topic. Maybe we could get it to trend on Twitter later. But right now, can we just find a way out?" I ask.

"We can't hurt them Marcus. I won't," Miku insists.

The Tics study the Guardian's wings as if they're too good to be true. Marcus takes my hand and places me behind him. I could point out that since I don't have wings, I'm no danger but then again, they ripped their own body parts off...

"Can you use your s.h.i.+eld?" Marcus asks Rio.

"They're too close," Rio replies.

"They weak man, we got this," Jay says.

"What they lack in strength they make up for in desperation. The last time I underestimated an addict, she killed me," Marcus warned.

He then signals to Ameana. Before I can get a handle on what's happening, a rust-infested car cuts through the air and heads straight into the crowd. The Tics try to get out of the way but many don't make it in time.

The team tries to take to the air but nothing happens. Rio says it's a no-fly zone and we have to make a run for it. We turn back and find that Tics, no matter how drugged out, don't care to be attacked. We have now p.i.s.sed off the entire town of Terra.

They run after us with renewed dedication. They take off in speeds I didn't think they were capable of. We bolt down the street.

"We need to take them out, Marcus," Jay says.

"No, we aren't killing our own," Miku protests.

"Look at them Miku; they have no issues taking us out."