Flashes Of Light

Past - Sveta

We ran out of Marcum White's house, even though we still didn't have all the details.

It didn't matter.

What we knew was already enough to keep The Anti locked up forever, whether in the Temple or whether someone would open the prison just for him, we didn't know.

Back home, Percie left a note saying he was at the hospital. The Anti was nowhere to be seen.

Logar and I decided to kill some time. We put all of our beer cans in a row, and we took turns with my sniper rifle shooting at them. I had the best aim, out of the two of us.

Just when a can exploded and beer was flying everywhere, we heard someone shouting.

It was Ane Dioretsa. "You two troublemakers!" she shouted. "What are you doing?"

She was trembling ever so slightly, so I decided to hide the gun behind my back. It would be best if she didn't see it too closely.

"Did you help Percie?" Logar went for the throat.

"I did," Ane said, and she appeared troubled. "I'm sorry I left you in this mess. I couldn't take it anymore. I feel as if I have a black hole inside, devouring everything. I realized that when I was depressed and I felt as if my hands would be stained in blood forever, Percie stayed by my side. He was the one who helped me carry on. I asked him to be his girlfriend."

"And?" I asked. I knew Logar was about to say this wasn't relevant, but I was ready to shut him if the moment came.

"He said no," Ane exhaled. "He was right, of course. I thought of him as my best friend, but he said he'd done some thinking about his taste of girls. He feels sorry that he's always taken for granted that someday he would have ended up with you, Sveta. He says he just needed someone to dream about, some idealized girl. And now he says that he'd like a best friend, instead. So we're officially best friends, now."

"Percie is in the hospital," she added. "The Anti beat him up badly. But I beat up The Anti too, and he beat me in return. See my black eye? That is when I finally managed to call the police. He's not in for questioning. Actually, I do not know where he is."

"That is bad news, Dioretsa," Logar said. "But we need to visit Percie in the hospital. Come with us, won't you? I'm sure if you show up like an angel when he has one foot on the heaven's gate, he will accept your proposal."

"I didn't propose. But it's good, being best friends. I don't think I ever had any. He is like an anchor, you know. Now I know I'll never drown."

"I'm pretty sure that is love," I said, then bit my tongue. What did I know about love? "But whatever floats your boat, I guess."

We drove to the hospital with our new flying machine. I'd been so surprised when Logar flew it for the first time --- our crappy quests had never given us time to admire the other's talents. I'd never thought about the fact that he had a scientist mind, before.

I could tell he wasn't so proud of it. It made him so similar to The Anti. Logar had always felt disgusted by Michaim. I wondered what he'd seen. Perhaps he'd seen a person who could have been himself, if he didn't have any scruples, modesty or fashion sense.

When we arrived, I noticed a disturbing lack of nurses and doctors. But I couldn't wait to see Percie. We entered in his room, and waiting for us, there was The Anti.

"Surprise," he said. "It's not the first time I rent an entire hospital. Do not think I will let you go willingly after everything you know."

"What is it that you know?" Ane asked.

"I don't know anything about it either," Percie said. He was standing up, but he'd been hurt badly.

"Of course, you were the decoy. But the toxic twins know what I'm talking about."