Star Eater
Chapter Forty-Five

The next morning, Kai took a seat outside the frozen yogurt shop. He was there right when it opened, which suited him. He waited patiently with his camera out, taking pictures of the morning crowds, of the farmer’s market and the cars. It wasn’t a rooftop vantage, but that was okay. Sometimes it was nice being on ground level.

A little over an hour after he’d arrived, a black SUV pulled up to the side of the curb. Kai grimaced. He was getting tired of seeing black SUVs with tinted windows. But then Ava and Mason stepped out, followed closely by FBI agents. The two siblings approached the table while the suits held back, hovering protectively.

Kai stood and embraced Ava. She still smelled like raspberries. Her face was bright with a happiness and lightness he’d never seen before. Most of the cuts had faded or healed entirely. There was a delicate blush to her cheeks when she pulled away. Kai’s heart filled with joy. Akuma smiled a cat’s grin inside.

Mason stood right behind her. He also looked nearly normal. Apparently, the hospital staff had been very surprised at how quickly he healed. He still walked stiffly, his ribs not fully mended from the beating he’d taken. And there was discoloration around his eyes, but for the first time, his expression wasn’t grim or weary.

He nodded gruffly at Kai and offered his hand. Raising one eyebrow, Kai shook it. The older boy coughed and turned bashful. Then, the grimness that Kai was so accustomed to returned. He glanced around, as if expecting an ambush. Or maybe he was just getting used to the idea that there were no more threats to worry about.

“Have you ordered?” Ava asked. Kai shook his head.

“I was waiting for everyone.” 

Ava nodded. “We’ll wait then,” she said, and sat down.

They didn't have to wait long. Link got off the bus and bounded over with a broad grin a few minutes later. He hugged them all, excited to see them and to be let out of his current state of grounding.

"Yeah, I’m not sure how meeting with an old friend and refusing to run away gets me grounded for life,” he said as they walked in to get their yogurt. “And yet Kai successfully ran away for like three days and wasn’t punished at all.”

“Not true,” Kai said. “They took away my credit card.”

And your bus pass, Akuma said.

“And my bus pass,” Kai added. “They think that will discourage me from wandering.”

“Will it?” Mason asked, amused.

Kai shrugged. “Probably not.”

They got in line to order and Kai tugged Mason behind Link and Ava. The two were animatedly discussing yogurt options. Kai glanced back towards the door where the FBI escort had moved up to watch the place. They hung back at the doors though, for which Kai was grateful.

“If this is about that day—” Mason glanced at the bathroom and his cheeks colored for real.

“Nope,” Kai shook his head quickly, really not wanting to discuss that with Ava nearby. Or ever. “I, uh, I wanted to return your sunglasses,” Kai said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a sunglass case.

“You never—”

“Thanks for letting me borrow them,” Kai interrupted firmly.

Mason took the sunglass case mystified. It had taken Kai some serious shopping under his dad’s hawk eyes at the mall to replace a case big enough to house the two needles. But he had, along with a $200 pair of sunglasses that his dad bought out of guilt. Mason glanced back at the agents, and then slipped the case into his own pocket.

“I found them in the Guided Way shop,” Kai said quietly.

Mason’s eyes widened as understanding lit his face. He even seemed a bit awed. Kai cleared his throat uncomfortably, and glanced at the yogurt menu.

“Just in case,” he whispered.

Mason exhaled a big breath. Before he could come up with an appropriate response, the girl behind the counter was asking them for their order.

Kai got kimchee and lime. Mason went for sesame and vanilla. Ava ordered raspberry and lemonade. Link went for chocolate and banana. Again.

After they got their yogurt, they wandered back outside to a table. The group avoided talking about that day. Instead, they talked about school, and television, and their parents. Ava talked about her mother who had never really recovered from their brothers’ deaths, but was doing much better now. Link talked about joining junior ROTC next semester. Mason didn't talk much, but when Ava prodded him, he said he was looking forward to getting back to karate. Kai took a picture of all of them and said he was thinking of entering a photography contest. When they ran out of things to talk about, the atmosphere turned heavy.

Link cleared his throat and said, “I know we’re not supposed to discuss what happened, but something’s been eating me. What was the white powder?”

He turned to Kai who shrugged.

“I have no idea,” Kai said. “I sort of threw it up after I, uh, drank a gallon of ammonia.” They all looked at him strangely. “Don’t ask,” he said. “It’s an Akuma thing.”

“It was sodamide,” Mason said. All eyes swiveled to him. “I found it in your backpack when you were trying out for karate and stole some, had it analyzed.” Ava gave her brother a disproving look. “What? I was still trying to figure out why Joseph wanted him.”

Now that they were on the subject, Kai asked Ava about her campaign to bug her family. 

“I knew Mason was trying his own methods,” she said. “But I figured there needed to be a backup plan in place.” She flushed and glanced at Mason uncertainly.

Instead of being upset, he grinned broadly. “My sister,” he said, “the absolute mastermind.”

“Where did you learn to put all that equipment together?” Link asked.

Kai had managed to fill him in on some of the more lurid details via the contraband burner phone that Link’s dad had yet to confiscate. By sheer dumb luck, Link’s dad had actually slept through most of the event and heard about it on the news later. Link had been able to sneak back into the house with no one the wiser. He was calling it the Rescue Miracle.

“YouTube,” she said.

 Link laughed. “I love YouTube,” he said.

“Where did you get it all?” Kai asked.

“I asked for it piecemeal,” she said. “I kept telling different people I needed it to help with my learning. They never checked.”

Kai shook his head. The Wrights had never seen Ava coming. They had all assumed her dyslexia meant she was stupid, and it had cost them everything. She’d almost single-handedly dismantled the organization. He wanted to ask her what she was doing tomorrow or next weekend. He knew things were awkward, what with her being in protective custody, but at some point they had to let her out. At some point, things had to return to normal.

As if on cue, one of the suits called the siblings, gesturing for them to return to the cars.

“It’s time for us to go,” Ava said. She smiled sadly at Kai, all the possibilities of them in her eyes. It took a few seconds for Kai to realize Ava was saying goodbye.

“What do you mean?” Link asked.

Kai sighed. I don’t like this, Akuma said, fluttering in Kai’s shadow. Ava noticed and smiled down at him.

“The FBI is going to put us and our mother into witness protection,” Mason said.

“So that’s it? You’re leaving leaving?” Link asked.

“When?” Kai asked, his heart breaking.

“Soon,” Mason said.

Kai and Link exchanged glances. That meant immediately. This was a goodbye yogurt.

“I’m sorry, Kai, we couldn't tell you,” Ava said.

“You don’t need to explain it to me,” he said taking her hand and squeezing it.

There were a lot of things Kai wanted to say but his nerve failed him. Mason stood up. He held out his hand and shook first with Link, then with Kai.

“You really saved us,” he said to Kai. “I owe you. Twice,” he said. “If we ever do meet again, I won’t forget it.”

Why won’t they tell us where they are going? Akuma asked. And why aren’t we stopping them?

It’s better for them if we don’t, Kai said, although he really and truly hated it.

“Let me, uh, walk you to the car,” Link said standing. 

He and Mason moved towards the curb.

For a moment, Kai and Ava were alone. Kai stared disconsolately at his empty yogurt cup.

Tell her, Akuma insisted.

What? That I love her? That I don’t want her to go?

Yes, Akuma insisted.

Instead, Kai said, “You know I always used to think that you were like the girls in the manga I read. Like you were this cute, normal girl during school hours, the cutest girl in school, but at night you turned into Sailor Moon or some badass, sword-wielding chick who fights evil.” He blushed. “I was totally right. When you told that FBI guy I was your boyfriend, I think that was the happiest moment of my life.”

“I thought you liked Link,” she said shyly. Kai blushed harder. She was so sharp. It was easy to forget sometimes.

“I did. I do,” Kai nodded, withdrawing a little. Kai glanced at Link. His feelings hadn’t really changed. “That doesn't change my feelings for you though. I guess I should have asked you out for yogurt a long time ago.”

“I wouldn't have gone,” she said. Kai winced. “Not because of you,” she added quickly. “Because, I wasn’t free to go. I wish I could be free here. I always liked you too, Kai.”

“I guess there’s no visiting, huh?” Kai asked.

Ava shook her head and he could see tears welling up in her eyes.

“Well,” he said. His voice rose an octave and cracked as he said, “I hope you get everything you want, Ava. I hope you are happier in your new life.” Akuma flickered in Kai’s shadow and touched her ankle gently. “Akuma does too,” Kai said in a whisper.

Ava wiped tears away.

“Akuma has always liked you,” Kai admitted.

She laughed at that. “I have always like him too,” she said. Ava leaned over and took something out of her purse. It was a children’s book of fairy tales.

“I wanted to give this to you,” she said. “This is where Joseph got some of his information on you.” She flipped through to the page to the story of the fhear dorcha, the Dark Man. “Do you remember what Akuma said before the FBI stormed the place?”

Kai shook his head. His memory of that was spotty at best. He remembered Akuma apologizing to him, but he couldn't remember why.

“Akuma threatened to kill everyone by tearing the star out of your chest,” she said softly.

Kai frowned. “What does that mean?” he asked.

Ava showed him a picture of the island on fire.

“I think it’s dangerous, Kai, not just for you. I bugged Joseph’s office and he did a lot of research into this place called Fair Island. I think that’s why Akuma’s threat worked. The island is uninhabitable because the radiation levels are too high. Scientists think it’s from a meteor that crashed there a long time ago, but Joseph thought it was from another fhear dorcha. I thought you should know,” she said. Then she stood. “Goodbye, Kai.”

Ava walked away and slid into the SUV. Her and Mason waved once before the suits slammed the door shut. They drove out of sight without fanfare. And suddenly, they were gone from Kai’s life. He felt his heart breaking and knew that this would take a while to get over. She would take a while to get over.

Link wandered back over to the table and sat down. “Well, that was a shitty ending,” he said.

Kai nodded in agreement, totally depressed.

“You going to be in school tomorrow?” Link asked.

“Yeah, I guess I should go back at some point.”

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. “I’m still on probation, so I can’t stay. Tomorrow, let’s have lunch and pretend that we’re regular teenagers.” He slapped Kai on the back and left.

Kai sat there, camera forgotten on the table, totally melancholy. How was he supposed to act normal when his first love was gone?

“So, here we are,” he said. “Alone again.”

We’ve got Link, Akuma pointed out.

Kai acknowledged that. He did have Link and his friendship. He knew that. And it gave him comfort. He also knew Link would never return his feelings, which stung. Ava had admitted she liked him. He’d had the girl and now she was gone.

But Link knows, Akuma pointed out.

Certainly. Nobody else, besides Link, knew what he was, what they were.

Homeland Security had officially ruled the hydrogen plant robbery as a ‘gas leak.’ If they were still looking for the portable EMP, they weren’t saying. Kai fingered the zipper on his bio-suit. He hoped it was enough to keep him off their radar.

The FBI had indicted Silas and Joseph Wright on murder, attempted murder, obstruction of justice, child abuse, burglary, arms dealing, and a half dozen other charges. The FBI had determined the work of the bomb at the Wright house to be unsolved. No one was looking for Kai anymore.

And then there was Ava’s gift. Is it true, Akuma? he wondered.

When stars die, they burst. As if that answered everything.

“What the hell are we going to do?” he asked out loud.

“I’ve got an offer for you,” a voice said.

Kai looked up and Akuma growled low.

Daemon, Akuma warned.

The man nodded in greeting on the other side of the table but didn't come any closer. He was in his mid-twenties, handsome with dark brown hair, shaved on the sides and a little long on top. He had a short beard that defined his already sharp jaw, and full lips. He leaned on his back leg in a handmade suit, for all the world a careless business man on a stroll along the storefronts of Ventura.

“May I sit?” the man asked. When Kai didn't answer, the man pulled out a chair and sat anyway. “I didn't come here to pick a fight.”

“Then why are you here?” Kai asked.

“To get a handle on who this new player in the game is,” the man said, turning his nearly black eyes onto Kai. “To meet the boy who took down the Wright organization.”

“I didn’t take down the Wrights,” Kai said.

“That’s not what the rumors say,” the man said. “Walked through the walls into their compound, stole the daughter of Silas himself. Called the FBI, blew up the front gate, and managed to get most of them arrested. Sounds pretty crippling to me.”

Kai stirred uneasily. He wanted to run away or sink into the earth below them. Unless he was dealing with Mason, he didn't want any more contact with daemons. How the hell did this daemon know so many details from that day? They weren’t all true, but it was far too close to the truth for Kai’s comfort. Not even the Feds knew the whole story. They thought he was just Ava’s boyfriend at the wrong place and the wrong time. And the Wrights, or what was left of them, wouldn't have talked to outsiders. It was far too embarrassing for them.

“You really do have a fantastic poker face,” the man said. He smiled and it softened all his hard angles into a visage that was a little less intimidating and far more attractive. Kai shifted even more uncomfortable than before.

You need to stop falling for every big smile, Akuma said.

Oh shut up, Kai thought.

“Nothing?” the man prompted. He seemed a mite less confident with Kai just sitting there staring at him.

“Who are you?” Kai asked.

The man smiled broadly this time, and held out his hand. “My name is Caleb Sharpe.”