The Stars Never Rise

“Like…speed. And strength. They can run fast, so you have to be able to run fast. They’re strong, so you have to be strong. But like I said, those additional abilities have to be triggered.” He glanced up at me with a shrug. “That’s what we call it, anyway.”


And he’d told Devi that had already happened. “How?” When I realized my head was no longer spinning, I shook out the blue blanket—the best I could, still seated—and folded it in my lap.

“By exorcising your first demon.” He grabbed a flashlight standing on end near the rows of cans and dropped it into the duffel bag. “In your case, that was your mother.”

“Superpowers as a reward for matricide. This just keeps getting weirder.”

Finn glanced at me in surprise, and I remembered that he hadn’t read Mr. Yung’s old picture novels, and he probably had no idea what I meant by “superpowers.” But then he smiled.

“They’re not superpowers, and you’ll only be able to use them to their full extent when there’s a demon near, but yeah. I guess it’s kind of weird if you’re not used to it.”

“So why did I pass out?”

“Because it takes a lot of energy for your body to implement those changes. That happens to everyone, and obviously you’re most vulnerable when you’re unconscious. Which is why we’re here.” He made a sweeping gesture to take in the entire warehouse. “I wasn’t sure how soon you would shut down, and I didn’t want to be running when that happened. But now we have to go. Can you stand yet?”

I planted both palms on the ground, then carefully got to my knees on the pillow beneath me. “Did it ever occur to you to tell me I was about to lose control of my own body?”

“I was getting to it when you passed out.” He grabbed the blanket I’d folded, and refolded it into a longer, narrower shape, then stuffed it into the duffel on one side, as padding for the other supplies. “How do you feel?”

I stood slowly, my arms out for balance, and when the warehouse didn’t pitch around me, I let out a sigh. “Fine. I feel pretty good.”

“Great.” He tossed me my school satchel, and I caught it easily. “Take all the cans you can carry.”

I stepped over the lantern and two pillows, then knelt in front of the double row of canned goods. “Who’s Devi?”

Finn made an annoyed sound deep in his throat, and some small bit of dread inside me eased. She was definitely not his girlfriend.

“Devi’s a friend. Well, more like the irritating girlfriend of a friend. She only speaks in commands and seems to think she’s the boss of the whole world, but she comes with the territory, and she carries her weight, so what can you do?”

I unzipped my bag and picked up two cans, but Finn rolled his eyes and snatched the satchel from me. “You’re not going back to school, so this is all worthless.” He turned my backpack upside down and dumped all my textbooks and notebooks onto the grimy floor.

A surprising bolt of disappointment shot through me at the realization that he was right.

I dropped the first two cans into my empty bag, trying to find points of commonality between my life before I’d killed my mother and this new existence on the run with dangerous abilities I didn’t yet understand and a beautiful green-eyed boy I didn’t really know. But I couldn’t find any. The before and after halves of my life seemed to have nothing in common except me.

And Melanie. She was still my sister, even if my mother wasn’t really my mother and my school was no longer my school and my future was now a huge question mark scribbled over the path I’d always assumed my life would take.

I couldn’t leave her.

“Where are we going?” I dropped two more cans into my bag, then picked up another two without glancing at the labels.

“Today? To our current home base. It’s much more comfortable, and it has running water and a functioning bathroom.”

Good. I’d been trying to ignore the pressure in my bladder ever since I woke up. “And after that?”

Finn shrugged. “We don’t have an agenda, but we’ll stay in the area long enough to hunt down most of the degenerates scenting you, unless the Church gets too close to finding us.”

I wouldn’t leave Melanie, even if that happened.

I zipped my full bag and stood, mentally preparing myself for how heavy it’d be, and was surprised when I lifted it with very little effort. Did the increase in my strength mean the degenerates were getting closer?

When I turned to Finn, I found his little campsite virtually gone. He’d managed to fit most of his equipment into that one huge duffel.

“Where did you get all that, anyway?” I waved one hand at the pillows and cans remaining.

“I…um…I’m pretty good with acquisitions. I’ll show you later.” He threw the bulging bag over his shoulder with as little effort as I’d needed to lift my satchel. “Ready? Devi and Reese should be here any minute, and hopefully they’ve thinned out the horde a little on the way.”