Iridescence

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

VANESSA

Krissy and the rest of us worked together to explain things to Abby over pizza. Lucky listened attentively, trying to catch himself up on the parts he didn't know.

Abby, to her credit, did not immediately call the men in white coats to take us away. Instead, she listened silently for a while before saying, "Girls... Don't ever keep something this big from me again. I can't take care of you properly if I don't understand what you're up against."

"You believe us?" Krissy asked.

"After what I witnesses today? Of course I believe you," Abby replied. "I may not understand it, but I believe in supernatural forces. This isn't that big of a stretch..." She paused. "Krissy... You mentioned the name-"

"Tophie," Krissy cut her off. "My brother. The one who erased my memories of him and of my powers to protect me."

"You have a brother?" Eliza asked.

"Had," Krissy replied. "He was eleven years older than me... And he sacrificed his life to save me when I was five, meaning he was only sixteen."

"Your parents thought the trauma made you forget Christopher," Abby said softly. "It seemed cruel to remind you, so they just kind of hid all signs of him away. I hated that, but I had to respect their wishes." Abby shook her head. "I was only two years older than he was. I loved him like he was my little brother."

I realized then just how young Abby actually was. I had assumed she was at least in her thirties despite her youthful appearance since she was Krissy's guardian, but this meant she was only about twenty-eight years old.

"It's okay, Abby. I understand why you guys didn't tell me," Krissy reassured her.

It was Lucky who broke the awkward silence that followed. "So, do you girls think Artemis will let me train with you?" He asked.

"Nope," Faith replied. "No offense, but she's strict on the 'no boys' thing. She only tolerates the male deities being around because they're helping to train us."

"But he's Thea and Ana's brother," I objected. "Emily and I will be stronger if he fights with us."

"He needs to train, too," Jenna added.

"He's not a girl," Faith said again.

"I look great in a dress, but you're right," Lucky replied with a laugh. "It's okay. Artemis will do what she thinks is right. I'm not actually part of your group, and I get that. I'm figuring my powers out on my own pretty well anyway."

"Our dad will help you," I said. "He's going to be so happy we found you!"

Suddenly, I heard a whisper in my mind. It was so faint I nearly missed it.

Vanessa... The whisper called. Vanessa, I'm scared...

"I have to go to sleep," I said suddenly, no doubt confusing my friends.

"You must be exhausted with everything you did today," Abby said sympathetically.

"Someone's in trouble," I clarified. "I think it's Billy. I need to go to sleep so I can find him."

"You can take a nap in my room," Krissy offered. She stood up and walked me upstairs.

I spotted the axolotl and smiled back at the happy pink creature. "Oh my gosh, how cute!" I gushed.

"That's Axl... Axl, this is Vanessa. Watch over her while she sleeps, okay?" Krissy asked. She motioned toward the bed, so I got into it, happy my shoes were still downstairs. As part of my culture, I never wore my shoes while walking around someone's house.

"Good luck, Ness," Krissy said as she tucked me in. She handed me her stuffed clown fish and added, "Snuggle away."

I smiled as I snuggled the fish and closed my eyes. It took me mere seconds to fall asleep.

Something led me straight through the darkness. I could feel Billy, and my heart broke as I realized how terrified he was. I ran toward him, finally finding my way to his location.

I created a path of stars to lead me through the house until I reached the basement. I continued using stars to light the way as I approached Billy.

I almost started to cry as I spotted him, but I knew I had to stay strong. One of his eyes was swollen shut. His lip was busted open. There was blood all over the basement.

Billy could barely move. He'd pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them as he sobbed.

That was when I noticed the body on the floor a few feet away from him.

I ran toward Billy and wrapped my arms around him. "I'm here," I said. "It's okay, Billy. Tell me what happened. Tell me who hurt you."

He flinched for a second before relaxing in my arms. He sobbed as I held him, unable to find words.

"Look at the ceiling," I said soothingly as I made the stars I'd created move. "Watch the stars, okay? Just watch the stars dance."

Billy watched the stars and, very slowly, he started to calm down. His breathing evened out. His heart stopped racing. Eventually, he looked at me with the saddest eyes I'd ever seen.

"Thank you for coming," he said softly.

"Of course," I replied. "Billy, can you tell me what happened?"

He looked away, staring at his feet. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"What are you apologizing for?" I asked in confusion.

"I didn't mean to do it... My dad came down and started hurting me like he always does, and I couldn't take it anymore. I just wanted it to stop, Vanessa..."

"Your dad did this to you?" I asked in horror.

"I deserve it... I'm a monster. It's my fault my mom died."

"What do you mean, Billy?" I asked gently.

"I was born during a lunar eclipse. My dad said it was a bad omen... And when I was five, my mom..." He shook his head.

"Tell me, Billy. It's okay," I coaxed him.

"My mom killed herself. My dad told me it was all my fault. He locked me in the basement after that, and he fed me scraps a few times a week to keep me alive, but he'd get so angry every time he saw me... He hit me, and told me I was a monster, and he hurt me so bad... I just wanted it to stop... I didn't know what would happen..."

"He was the monster, Billy. You're just a kid."

"It never stopped... I just wanted it to stop..." He started crying again.

Dozens of shadows suddenly surrounded us. It was almost like the darkness was trying to comfort him, but it only seemed to scare him more.

"I thought I was going to die this time... But then, the shadows attacked him," Billy explained. "They burst out of me and they tore him apart... It's my fault!"

I hugged him tightly. I understood what had happened. Theadora knew Nyght was the embodiment of Darkness and Shadows. Billy's powers must have unlocked to save his life.

"You didn't do anything wrong," I said soothingly. "It's okay now. I'm going to find your body and get you the help you need."

I didn't know how I'd explain the condition of Billy's father, or how I'd found him, but I knew he needed me now more than ever.

I kissed his cheek and got a good sense of his energy. "I'm coming, Billy," I promised. "Just hold on a little bit longer."

I woke up to find Lucky watching over me. "Did you find him?" He asked.

"I did," I replied, wiping a couple of tears from my eyes. "He's in trouble... It's so much worse than I thought."

"So let's go help him."

"Lucky-"

"I'm not part of Iridescence," he cut me off, "but neither is your man. Let's go save him."

We headed downstairs. I quickly said goodbye to the girls and Abby before we headed in search of Billy. Jenna hugged Lucky like she was afraid to let him go, but she finally released him.

I didn't consciously know where Billy was, but I followed my heart, certain it would lead me straight to him.

I ended up close to Bowne Park, which was about a mile and a half away from Kissena Park. It was much smaller and didn't have any woods, but it had a small lake and a playground. The park was surrounded by houses.

Lucky and I walked toward one of the houses. It looked like all of the others from the outside, with two normal floors, an attic, and a basement. The front yard had been attended to, and everything seemed perfectly normal, but I felt an incredible darkness coming from inside of the house.

"Lucky... You should stay out here," I said. "There's a good chance I'm walking into a crime scene."

"Then I suppose we have impeccable timing," a voice said.

Lucky and I spun around to see three strangers standing behind us. "She didn't mean that," Lucky said quickly.

"Relax," the woman who'd spoken already said. She was tall and athletic, and she had a detective's badge in her hands. Her green eyes were set against brown skin, and her curly black hair had been pulled into a ponytail at the base of her neck. "I'm Detective Adams of the NYPD, but you can call me Simone. We're here to help."

Lucky was visibly skeptical. "Prove it," he challenged her.

"I'm a demigod," Simone clarified. "All three of us are."

I studied the two police officers standing beside her. Both had long brown hair, strong features, and muscular builds. They looked enough alike that I knew they were related, although one was a man and one was a woman.

"Who are your parents?" I asked curiously.

"My mother is Athena," Simone replied. "The twins are children of Ares. Officers Della and Darrell Blake here will be Eliza's bodyguards starting tomorrow. The mortal ones assigned to her today were apparently spelled into not noticing the snake invasion. Ares is watching the house right now, so everyone's safe for the moment."

I decided I trusted them. Lucky was too busy admiring Darrell's impressive physique to argue. "My friend Billy was being abused," I began. "It went on for years. Last night, his powers kicked in and his father was killed. It was an accident, and a clear case of self-defense, so-"

"Chill, Kid," Darrell said. "We're not here to arrest your little boyfriend. We're just going to figure out how to fix it."

"Fix it?" I repeated.

"We have a lot of experience covering up supernatural crimes," Della replied. "Don't worry. If we suspect this was an abusive situation, we'll handle it." She picked the lock and got it open in about ten seconds.

"You spend too much time around that criminal boyfriend of yours," Darrell said.

"He's not a criminal, he's a lawyer," Della corrected him.

"Same difference."

"Look, his father is Hermes, so he's picked up a few tricks over the years. Leave him alone about it."

"Focus," Simone scolded them. "There's an abused boy in this house."

She motioned for me to take the lead, so I did. The main house looked fine. I followed my heart and it led me to the basement. Simone was wearing gloves, so she opened the door. I cautiously walked down the stairs. There was no light, so I created constellations of stars, just like I had in my dreams. I was amazed when it worked.

"Vanessa?" Billy asked, his voice a whimper.

"It's me," I replied. "I brought help."

The demigod cops and Lucky all looked at Billy in horror. I understood. All I wanted to do was heal him, but that wasn't one of my gifts.

Della kicked the corpse in the corner. "He deserved it," she said.

"He deserved worse," Darrell agreed.

"Am I going to go to jail?" Billy asked nervously.

"No, Billy," Simone said soothingly, "but we're going to make sure you go someplace safe."

"Safe..." Billy repeated like he didn't understand the concept.

"Safe," I said firmly. "No one's going to hurt you like this ever again."

As the police handled the crime scene, Lucky and I helped Billy upstairs. He flinched away from the light. "How long were you down there?" I asked.

"Since my mom died," Billy replied.

"How old are you now?"

"Dad told me I was sixteen."

"That's eleven years!" I cried in horror. "You haven't seen light in all that time?"

"Only what creeped in from the stairs... Or your stars. They're really pretty. I like your stars."

"The twins are right," Lucky said. "Your dad deserved worse."

"I didn't mean to hurt him," Billy insisted softly.

"It's okay, Billy," I promised. "Whatever comes next, I'll be right by your side. We'll face it together."

"Together..." He smiled at me sadly. "Thank you for coming to help me, Vanessa."

"Always," I replied.

I hugged him. He started crying after a moment. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"It doesn't hurt," he replied softly. "Your touch doesn't hurt."

I stroked his hair gently as I realized he hadn't physically experienced a kind touch in eleven years. In that moment, I made a decision; Billy was coming home with me. With any luck, my mom would back me up on that. The only thing I knew was that I needed to keep Billy with me, for both of our sakes.