1.11

(Other)


“He’s on Earth.”

Those three words were the only thing that could jolt Romeo awake. He couldn’t sleep, but was in a stupor that could only be relieved by putting the Ironstar case to rest. Let the judges handle Pilona. Let them handle Heathcliff if they must. He still wanted to believe in his boyfriend, but it was hard to look at him too.

There was otherwise a tangle of bureaucracy and hopelessness in his life. Romeo tried to call his doctor about getting his meds re-adjusted, but he got waitlisted until the end of the month. And he celebrated his 45th birthday alone earlier. It was easy to dwell on what went wrong, but that night, everything was about to go right. They simply needed someone to go undercover and confront Pilona.

Romeo drew the short straw in that, dressed in a shabby shirt and vest found in the back of the field office’s locker room. He had to lure Pilona into a false sense of security. Yet, Romeo had a feeling that the daemon already knew who he was. The faceoff invigorated him in an unusual way.

With the van of feds behind the corner, Romeo walked on a street close to the hammam on a hazy night. Pilona didn’t strike him as a man that anyone would come across on the streets. He was a ragged old daemon who walked with a cane, after all. A simple massage could snap him like a twig. So perhaps the van was overkill, but it didn’t come out of Romeo’s paycheck. They could seize the hammam after all and gather more evidence.

“Sir, excuse me, do you know if I’m on Bayshore Highway or not?” Romeo asked him.

“I am sure you know it better than I do,” Pilona said.

“No, I’m new to town.”

“I know who you are, Romeo. Heathcliff never stops talking about you.”

He walked closer to the strange man. Despite all the intimate details that the task force revealed, Romeo was still surprised that Pilona glowed so much and how thin his limbs were.

Digging around in his pocket, Romeo had his thumb on a little alarm that would ring inside the van. At the press of it, a dozen armed men would descend upon the scene and Pilona would face justice or crumble into dust. They were not in sight of the van, but it wasn’t a long scramble to get there and catch a decrepit man.

“Do you know what you did?” he asked Pilona. His hand started to tremble inside his pocket.

“Nothing unusual for my species.”

“Well, you have the right to-”

His finger missed the button as a new figure grabbed his face, digging their thick claws into it.

“You have to play by our rules now,” they said.

 

Romeo didn’t see what hit him, but he was out cold. And no one was around to help, not even the FBI at that point.


When he started to wake up, Romeo felt blood pooling in places he never expected. The pain hit him immediately, all throughout his head and shoulders.

He was still drained, but it was also the best sleep he had in weeks, and he woke up to swirling auroras above him. Cool grass nuzzled his wounds and provided a hint of relief. The air was thick and heavy, much worse than Bridgeport’s could ever be. It was almost like paradise.

The worst part was counting all the places that hurt. It was like he fell down 10 flights of stairs. Worst of all, it sounded like Pilona had escaped yet again. The whole place was silent, but there was a portal nearby, if only he could walk there.

Romeo tried to move his leg, and the gravity of the situation took hold. It wasn’t about where he was. His arms worked fine, even with the bruises. But his right leg was weighed down and while only sore when still, was the worst pain he felt when trying to move it. It was like his shins were made of crushed jelly. One of the bones was snapped in half. He could almost feel it wiggling around.

“There is no easy escape,” his assailant said. “You would get lost in there anyways. But welcome to Hell, and all it entails.”

Romeo had so many questions swirling around in his head. What else did she hurt and was it even fixable? Was this Hell if it was so tropical? Were his men still in the van? Did she need to do any of this?

“Go to hell yourself,” he coughed out. His chest rattled. “Why did you do this anyways?”

“You would not wake up.”

“Where’s Pilona?”

“He got distracted while you were asleep.”

No matter what he did, she would not remove her foot from his leg. Granted, he wouldn’t be able to move that fast anyways. If Romeo made it back to Earth, the bulk of the work wouldn’t be on the FBI’s shoulders for Pilona, but with an orthopedic surgeon. Probably his ex-fiancée knowing the luck he was having…

Time was meaningless, but he watched the auroras above, which didn’t seem to let up. It seemed like his daemon wasn’t getting bored either while standing still on his crushed leg. Maybe it was part of their training and Heathcliff slept through it. That man couldn’t sit still, but it only added to his charm.

Then there was laughter, a trio of giggles from the distance, echoing off the glass and stone ruins nearby.

Of course, Pilona had a grand time while escaping Romeo’s clutches. He walked into the scene with two other daemons, a man and a woman. At least now there was nowhere for either of them to escape to.

“What did you do to him?” Pilona asked, dropping his cane. “You were supposed to keep him alive.”

“And he is,” she said.

Romeo didn’t want to watch the fight. He was a captive watcher until Pilona’s last line.

“Heathcliff will kill me if he sees what you did to him!”

Pilona sat down across from him, legs extended onto the ground. “Sit on the grass and straighten out your legs,” Pilona said. “Take it from experience, and I am sorry I let her do that.”

Romeo shook as he got into the position, but found that the ground helped his bones settle a little bit. They both took a fistful of grass.

“Why should I let you win?” Romeo asked him.

“Do it for your boyfriend,” he said. Pilona was much more clear and calm than he was on the streets, like he actually had a bad day without Romeo’s help. “You and I both hold Heathcliff dear to our hearts. He is sharp and funny, big and friendly, and as dumb and loyal as they come.”

Romeo smirked a little thinking of him.

“Don’t be so harsh on him, I’ve met some pretty big dumbasses.”

“Did you know he had a party two nights ago?” Pilona asked. Romeo sighed. He started to feel bad about missing it and he did spend that whole night looking at the selfies Heathcliff sent him. What Pilona forgot was that Heathcliff was also beautiful, with big androgynous features and a tall, sinewy frame. And they were a dime a dozen in Bridgeport, but what Romeo liked the most about him was never leaving him alone.

Well, except when he was trying to sleep.

Maybe Heathcliff was more innocent than the feds thought. They were ready to blame him with Romeo sometimes threatening to leave him as an innocent.

“You’re trying hard to get out of this,” said Romeo, furrowing his brows. “You’re still a guilty man. I wouldn’t let anyone get away with what you did.”

“Besides the fact that you yourself are in the industry of torturing prisoners, I think that is a bold statement, Romeo.”

Pilona’s strongest partner came up behind him with a sword held close to his neck. It was silent and unknown to him until the tip of his blade almost rested between his eyes. He didn’t dare to move forward any more.

“Well, can’t get charged for anything you do on another planet,” said Romeo. “This isn’t gonna be a fair deal.”

“More than you think.”

“You want to leave me dead.”

“Hardly, you know Heathcliff would find out,” said Pilona. “I have an interest in staying in his good graces too. I worry that he knows even more powerful daemons who could hurt either of us, like that damn Victor.”

Romeo had met Victor a few times. He was a jovial bartender, though something did seem otherworldly about him, like staring into one of those Himalayan salt lamps. And he was huge. Taller than Heathcliff and broad like a brick wall.

“Point taken.”

But he wasn’t going to let himself be fooled. Victor wasn’t a criminal or at least not on their watchlist. But willowy Pilona was and his hired muscle was far more dangerous than any bartender. They made people disappear. They made threats. With all the complaints, Pilona’s crew was difficult to ignore. And yet, all Pilona thought he needed to do was ask for clemency and receive, like Romeo was a goddamn charity worker.

His eyes were closed for a while, but opened to a worse sight.

“You should not have meddled with our society.” Pilona had crouched close to his face, and Romeo couldn’t escape. It was muscle and blades and pain in all directions. “My deal is simple: let me go, let my assistant go, and go back to your boyfriend, at any cost. He would do the same for you.”

“Or don’t let your arrest control Heathcliff’s life. He is much more than you,” said Romeo.

“He would wither and die without his favorite uncle bankrolling every moment of his life. You should have seen him before I stepped in, all lazy and with his hair tangled. You have committed yourself to a daemonic life with him even if it stays in the back of your mind. Be thankful that we are letting you in at all.”

“What is that supposed to mean, you old bat?”

“Lots of arranged marriages in these parts. Heathcliff beat me to that. I admire his stubbornness.”

“I’m going to tell him what you did to me,” said Romeo. It still hurt to breathe or even lie down. And if he had to explain that to a doctor? He’d be in a whole different kind of hospital. “And we still have a file on you. Any time you come back to Earth is fair game.”

“Anywhere in your puny country?”

“Anywhere in the world, in some sense.”

“Never accuse me of not having a backup. Mina’akami, we are going all the way to Plan Z. Fetch my elixir.”

Romeo was free. Akami was the one who was holding him captive by sword. She disappeared with Pilona behind one of the ruins.

“This man will die in a few years.” Pilona produced a clone, nearly perfect but a lot weaker and held up by Akami. “I do not have any real documentation on Earth. I am not a citizen of any country, I am unable to legally vote, and everyone confuses me with my friend Tava. You are a brilliant species most of the time, I suppose.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Romeo said.

“Or, should I sweeten the deal, reject it and Heathcliff goes away. He cannot die, of course, but he goes away into some arranged marriage in a quiet mountain village. He does desk work for me and forgets what a nightclub is.”

 

Romeo was also helped up, also by Akami. Pilona’s clone had learned to stand on his own two feet again, even without a cane. Romeo kept his weight off his right leg, hoping that there was something left to save.

“And there’s no guarantee he takes me back, is there?” he asked.

“No, but that boy loves you,” said Pilona. “And he is very worried right now. Vama will get you to the hospital. You suffered a nasty fall in pursuit of me, if they ask.”

He gulped, looking at the swirling blue vortex that would bring him back. It was the color of clear skies and Heathcliff’s favorite sweatpants. It was the end to a story he would dare not tell him.


Whatever Vama used to knock Romeo out again was potent. He was crying in pain as he traveled faster than the speed of light, like the flesh was peeling from his limbs. In some places, it looked like it was already doing that. She still promised that regular medical help was closeby. She didn’t tell him anything else, like about the dreams.

Now most of it was this absolute darkness that went by quickly, like he went under the knife for surgery. He probably was knocked out that way with the state his leg was in. But sometimes he could hear a voice, wondering if he was starting to wake up or if it was like an answering machine message that he kept.

After a long slumber against his will, he woke up to a familiar scene from a decade before. In a moment of potent doubt, he looked through a vertical slat curtain on his bride to be: the young Diana Patterson. His sisters adored her far more than he ever could, planned the whole wedding with her alone, and did her henna too. Nicoletta’s horoscope matched hers better than Romeo’s did.

The disconnect was hard to pinpoint. She was a lot younger than him, but that didn’t seem to matter when it was Heathcliff instead. And for them, it was a twenty year gap compared to fifteen for him and Diana. He and Diana could talk endlessly about their big bicultural families, but her other interests bored him. What was an escape room again? And he hated kayaking. But it shouldn’t have been an insurmountable horror. Maybe all the hype around the big wedding week let him down right before it kicked off.

Every time Romeo remembered it, it felt like he was given the choice again: stay and get married or leave. There was one correct answer, and he instead took a taxi far away and tried not to talk about it at work the week after.

But it had been so long since he thought about it. He was still in touch with Diana. Things were less awkward once she found a different husband and became Mrs. Jones instead. And now Dr. Jones. She was an orthopedic doctor and surgeon and just finished her residency. Soon her interests were all about casual bedside manners, broken legs, and spiral fractures.

Spiral fractures…

Spiral fractures…

“Stop! You’re better off not marrying me!” He sprung out of bed and almost tore the stethoscope off Diana’s neck.

She looked disappointed in him. “Anyways, we had to surgically set your tibia with a metal plate. You’re in that cast for the next six weeks.”

Romeo was wide awake again. The heavy plaster over his right leg was easy to feel. The pain was dulled by a nearby IV full of magic. Thankfully, his mind didn’t feel like a pile of wet noodles with that. He felt rested and eloquent for once. And he missed that gift of sleep while awake, and never asked how Pilona and his minions did it.

“How’s the husband?” he asked, like a weight was lifted from his chest.

“Johnny’s good, but I don’t talk about him much here,” she said. “And I won’t press you about your life either except that you need someone to get you home.”

It turned out Dr. Jones was the only orthopedic surgeon on call that night. Not everyone knew about her history, since it wasn’t worth talking about, and she wouldn’t let any grudge get in the way of her job. But for Romeo, she was the ex who would be the most hurt and honest about it.

“Wait, can I tell you a secret?” he asked Diana. “This stays in the room.”

“Don’t make this weird for me, Romeo.”

“My boyfriend’s uncle did this to me.” He had to leave out the details of a very confidential case, but knew that Diana could fill it in. “And I know it has nothing to do with him. He’s so…well, I wouldn’t leave him under the mandap.”

“A glowing review, of course,” she said.

“But what should I tell him? This isn’t someone estranged from him or crazy, they’re very close and his uncle is the only person coming between us. And even he still wants us together.”

“You wouldn’t give me advice about Johnny, and if you did, I wouldn’t take it,” she said. “We have different lives now. Maybe your boyfriend does too and you have to stay out of it.”

“Well, I’ll call that advice,” he said.

“And Romeo?”

“Yeah?”

“Congratulations, but you could have just come out to me.”

Good news started to roll in afterwards. His office got news of his injuries and lauded him as a hero, even though Li-Anne ended up arresting the (fake) Pilona. But the broken leg effectively retired him, even if they didn’t want to say it to his face.

And his other injuries? Nothing that couldn’t be addressed at home or at followup.

He was soon discharged with recovery instructions and a lot of pain relievers. The thought crossed his head to have Heathcliff pick him up. He had access to a truck and a van for sculpting materials and general joy rides, after all. But the clock would start immediately on when to talk to him, when to admit truths or tell small lies.

Being at home would let him get his wits together and answer his phone. He was mugged, or was in a motor accident, or fell off the pier during a bachelor party.

It was easy to forget that he lived on the top of a hi-rise. But one challenge at a time…

2 thoughts on “1.11”

    1. Thanks, I really like Pilona’s little moon garden (or wherever he is…don’t ask me because I have yet to find it out for myself!)

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