One week later….
The infirmary at the Shemer's headquarters was a large, airy hall lined with beds, their sheets shining white under the sunlight streaming through the tall, burglary proof windows. Unlike every clinical centre Sal had ever been to it didn't smell like medicine and chemicals. It had a pleasant smell, a colorful combination of fragrances that made it impossible to pick out one individual scent.
Sal had stayed there, inhaling the pleasant smell and watching faithfully over Julika as she slept on, making no other movement but the rise and fall of her chest.
He had taken her as his responsibility and had watched her sleep, unable to resist the guilt panging in his chest as he gazed on her face and remembered Percival. It was a guilt that had been eating him up since he sensed her beating heart back in Nowhere.
He'd thought the spell had failed but he'd been wrong and now he didn't know how he would approach the subject of her father once she woke up.
If she woke up.
Sal knew it had only been a week but he'd hoped her eyes would open up like they'd done before, shining red like blood.
He'd also hoped Lucifer or anyone from the Court would show up and tell him what he had to do next but he hadn't heard from them, even after he'd completed his hunt, and their silence had given way to this uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
The feeling of neglect.
"Salome" said a voice, kind and careful. Sal smiled as he heard it. It was Peter's, the only other person that had stayed with him these past few nights as he watched over Julika. "I brought tea"
Sal turned just in time to see Peter place a tray of tea on a stool close by Julika's bed. He sat on the infirmary bed opposite them and looked at Sal worriedly, his hair neatly combed as always, brown eyes warm as they settled on Sal.
"I don't think I'm in the mood for tea, Peter" Sal said, turning away from Peter and facing Julika once again. "Not today at least"
"Nonsense" Peter said. "tea doesn't require a specific mood to be taken neither does it require a specific day, just one cup and I promise…"
"No"
He heard the sharpness in his own voice and instantly regretted it.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so harsh"
"That's okay" Peter said with a grunt.
Sal turned to him and saw that Peter was now lying on the infirmary bed with his back against the wooden bed post and his legs crossed. He'd worn a black long sleeve shirt and dark jeans and hadn't bothered to take off his shoes that rested one over the other on the bed, though they were spotless and wouldn't do any harm to the white sheets draped over the mattress.
"Salome, you haven't moved from this position in a week, and I am getting worried"
Sal looked away, clearly ignoring this piece of information, and faced Julika.
"Sal…"
"Have you ever killed someone before?" He asked. He was aware of how flat his voice sounded, how bitter his tone was.
"I don't think…"
"I have", Sal cut in, "multiple times, some of them didn't deserve it, others did, but regardless of if they did or I only ever regretted it for a second"
He turned to Peter again who was looking at him attentively.
"Percival deserved it" Sal said, resting his head against the wall, his eyes directly in contact with Peter. "And yet I wake up every morning regretting it"
Peter was silent, his gaze on Sal was thoughtful but it was clear he didn't have an answer for him.
Sal sighed and turned to Julika again, her hair had fallen over her cheek at some point and Sal reached out a hand, tucking the strands behind her ear.
"I took her father from her" he said, as his fingers brushed her skin softly. Her skin was so smooth, her hair so soft, and asleep she looked as innocent and peaceful as a dove. "She is fatherless and it's all because of me"
"You had no choice" Peter said.
"Yes I did" He retracted his hand and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. "I just chose wrong"
"Even so, if we all sat in one place sulking because of the wrong choices we've made we'd be no better than a bag of bones" Peter said. "We all must come to terms with the fact that those choices have been made, and what remains now is figuring out how to move forward"
"I have tried figuring things out and this is what I've come up with, I'll stay here until she wakes up, I have to be here for her"
"She might not wake for another week or weeks or months or years, you would rather sit here and wait for a day that no one is certain of?"
"Tell me you wouldn't do the same" Sal said.
"I would" Percival said. "but I don't have a family that is worried sick about me waiting for my return outside the four walls of this building"
Sal's heart clenched at that, his friend's faces rising to the surface of his mind. The last time he had seen them all together in one place was at Katarina's house after they'd portalled from Nowhere.
Portalling in itself had been a narrow escape.
Sal had been the last, and as soon as he'd put one leg through the portal Nowhere began to crumble away into darkness. He was lucky he'd gone through when he did, the minute his feet landed on the paved road in front of Katarina's house the portal turned from a swirling blue to a still black before closing.
They'd all slept in Katarina's house that night, bones and bodies weary from exhaustion.
But Sal didn't sleep. His mind had kept replaying Percival's words over and over.
I'm sorry you had to be the puppet.
The next day, having failed at getting any sleep, he'd woken up very early, dressed into some old clothes Katarina had given him, and gone out to take a walk. He'd crept down the halls quietly and made his way to the front door grateful that he hadn't woken anyone up.
He'd opened the front door, it was still dark out and the sun had been nothing but a thin line of light in the horizon, and sitting on the porch steps was Katarina.
She'd worn a large black hoodie, it was so big the edge of the sleeves were bunched into the palm of her hands, her hair hanging down her back like nightfall.
She wasn't staring up at the sky, waiting for the sunrise as Sal had expected. She was looking down at her feet, and she was sobbing, the sound as soft as a whisper.
"Hey everything alright?" He'd asked, there was a slight tremor in her shoulders as he'd spoken and he knew he'd startled her.
She'd turned, slowly and partway, but that was enough for him to make out the line of tears shining down her cheeks.
He didn't know when he'd moved and sat down beside her, his hand placed hesitantly on her knee.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm here"
She'd laughed, it came out like a sharp exhale of breath, and looked up at him. Her dark eyes were glistening, her lips stretched into a sad smile.
"Yeah I can see" she'd said as she wiped at her eyes. "why are you up so early?, you used a lot of magic yesterday you should get some—"
"Cut the crap, Kat, why are you crying?, what happened?"
"Nothing happened"
"Don't lie to me"
She looked at him for a while, her eyes searching his, then she sighed and picked up something lying on the floor between her feet.
It was an envelope, the paper crispy white, the symbol that sealed it shut, two wings stretched out in flight, broken. Sal flipped the Hermes message open and pulled out the note that was in it.
There was only one word on it.
Come.
"I got it around midnight" Katarina had said. "Diana's call must be answered, I have to go"
"Okay" he'd said, unsure of how to take in the information. "When do you leave?"
"As soon as possible, later today maybe"
So soon, he'd thought.
"Then how long will you be gone?" He'd asked.
She'd looked at him with an uncertainty that broke his heart in two.
"You don't know, do you?"
"It depends on what we're hunting" she'd said. "It could take weeks, months…. years"
"Years!"
"Look I don't want to go but I have to, okay, I have to"
He'd been unable to say anything, he'd just looked at her, memorizing her, keeping her in his heart just in case.
"I don't want to tell the others, they can't know where I've gone, why I've left, I don't want to do that them"
Sal scoffed, half aware of the words that tumbled out of his mouth next.
"But you have no problem doing it to me"
"Sal…"
"You know what you can go" he'd said as he tossed the letter to the floor and rose to his feet. "It's not like I care anymore anyway"
"You don't mean that" she'd said, her voice was already shaky with tears. "You can't possibly"
He'd looked down at her, his heart battling intensively with itself.
Stop, that small voice in his head was saying, it's not her fault.
But he wasn't listening.
"I've never meant anything more in my entire life" he'd said instead.
He'd stormed up the steps and before he knew it he'd reached the door.
"Sal!"
He stopped, her voice halting him the way it always did, always would.
Turn around, the voice came again but he pushed it down.
He turned his head slightly but all he could make of her was a blur at the edge of his vision.
"You said you wouldn't let me go" she'd said,
I don't want to, he'd wanted to say, but he'd bitten the words back.
"Maybe", he'd said instead, "but I never said I'd hold on forever"
He'd heard her gasp and he knew then that he had broken something, but it couldn't be helped, he could never have her. Her heart was held captive by service and she couldn't set it free, not for anyone, not even for herself. This was for the best.
He'd pressed his hand down on the door handle and pushed it open despite that small voice saying; Look back, don't walk away.
But he hadn't looked back, and that afternoon, when everyone else was still asleep, he'd heard the pounding of horse hooves downstairs and knew that the other hunters had come for her.
He didn't say goodbye.
And then she was gone.
Now as he remembered it all he realized with a jolt in his heart that he missed her. He missed her like she was a part of himself that had gone missing.
"I don't have a family waiting for me" Sal said. "They all left, Bloom and Melchior back to Fey Land, Marcus back to the Sambisa, and Antony back to his father"
"And Katarina?" Peter asked, Sal hadn't told him about what happened that early morning, he hadn't told anyone.
"Gone" he said simply.
Peter nodded with understanding.
"All I have now is Lester, and because I've been here I haven't seen him in a week"
"Then you should, I'm certain he's worried si—"
Sal's phone vibrating on the night stand cut him off and Sal found himself reaching for it. Lester's name and picture was displayed on the screen.
"It's him" Sal said. "Excuse me"
Peter nodded and Sal answered the call.
"Sal, oh my god Sal" the voice was frantic, panicked, and it wasn't Lester.
"Antony?, Antony what happened?, is everything alright?"
Peter gave him a look of concern but Sal was solely aware of Antony's voice breathing heavily through the phone.
"You need to come home now" Antony said.
"Antony calm down, talk to me, is Lester okay?"
There were voices in the background, dozens of people talking at once, the sound of car doors slamming shut, the loud wail of sirens in the air.
"That's the problem, I don't think he is" Antony was saying over the noise. "Sal, I think Boulder got him"
***
Sal had never portalled faster in his life. As soon as he'd heard the name Boulder he'd bolted from his seat, slashed his wand in the air and jumped into the portal all in one go.
The hospital Antony had taken Lester was one he knew well, and once his feet landed on the familiar concrete pavement, he ran past the people and burst through the double doors.
The smell of drugs and sickness hit Sal hard but he ignored it and dashed forward to the receptionist.
"I'm here to see Sylvester Aleric" He said to the receptionist.
She looked at him with a wary expression but he didn't have time for that.
"Tell me where he is!" He commanded, a shred of magic bleeding into his words.
She said the ward number immediately and he dashed up the stairs, concluding that the elevator would be too slow.
Sal was worried, and above anything else he was scared. This was Lester, his best friend, his brother, the only friend he'd known his entire life.
Please let him be okay, he prayed as he got to the ward and pushed the door open. Please let him be alive.
What Sal saw next was somehow more gruesome than a thousand undead corpses and Percival lying lifeless on the floor.
He saw Lester lying on a hospital bed, his eyes closed.
Sal gulped.
He wore those blue dress like shirts patients usually wore and he lay still and unmoving, his chest rising and falling as he breathed through an oxygen mask. His face was battered, the wounds were a very dark purple and they were swelling like welts. Bandages were wrapped around his head, which rested delicately on a pillow, and around his arm, which rested across his stomach.
Sal felt his stomach twisting and he clutched it as he whispered his name; "Lester"
Suddenly someone was holding his arm and Sal turned to see Antony beside him. His eyes were flickering, the way they did when he was Shaded, but the Shade did nothing to hide the intense worry in them.
"Sal, I'm so glad you're here" Antony said. "Where have you been?"
"I was at the infirmary with Julika, I…." He looked at Lester and then looked at Antony and he was so confused he let all his emotions out in one desperate breath. "What happened to him?"
"I don't know, I just went back home to get some of my stuff and the front door was wide open. When I walked in he was just lying there, and he wasn't moving so I called 911 and then I called you"
The door was wide open, he was just lying there.
Everything was echoing in his head like the resounding of a metal gong. He remembered what Lester had told him, the distinctly red cut on his arm, the clear warning in his eyes.
He said he's giving you two weeks to settle whatever it is that's keeping you away from work.
Sal had been watching over Julika and he realized with dread that he had forgotten all about his mortal life, all about Boulder and his job and the dangers that came with it.
He'd forgotten about Lester.
"Oh gods" Sal whispered. "This is all my fault"
Antony grabbed Sal by the shoulders and held him tight, his eyes peering at Sal reassuringly.
"Don't worry the doctor will be here soon, okay?" He said. "everything will be okay"
Sal wanted to believe him, but he didn't know if he could. When was anything ever okay.
Just then the door clicked open and a doctor walked in. He was slim and tall and lanky, his hair a mass of black curls and his eyes a startling green.
He looked from Sal to Antony and then back to Sal, his eyes on him were wary.
"Tony, who is this?" The doctor asked.
"Hi doc" Antony said, hiding his concern and worry. "Sal, this is Doctor Felix, the one I was telling you about, doc this is Salome—"
"Markson" Sal cut in. "Salome Markson, I'm Sylvester's foster brother"
"Oh" Doctor Felix said. "Well it's nice to meet you"
"I need to know if he's okay" Sal said. "Is he?"
The doctor gestured to a chair in the room.
"Why don't you take a seat?" he answered.
Sal sat down and Antony came to stand behind him. Sal was grateful, he didn't know if he could listen to all this without someone to hold him, someone to lean on.
He and Antony listened as Dr. Felix explained a lot of things, he said a bunch of science stuff like "nervous system" and "reaction" and "paralysis", these were all words Sal knew but hearing them being said the way they were being said sounded like listening to a ballad.
"In other words", Dr. Felix was saying, "Sylvester is unable to move any part of his body, he can feel and hear perfectly but the beating he got basically paralyzed him, rendering him immobile"
Immobile. Sal remembered Lester cooking him breakfast after a break up, he couldn't imagine Lester like that, unable to move, unable to smile.
"Can he be cured?" asked Antony.
Dr. Felix sighed again, the way doctors sighed when they didn't know if what they were about to say was good or bad.
"We don't know", he said, "we're trying everything we can but be rest assured that it's not impossible"
It's not impossible, that was something right?, a glimmer of hope?, but would that be enough?
There was silence, Sal didn't know what to say, he didn't know what to do, he didn't know how to react without accidentally breaking this doctor's neck.
"Doc, could you give us a second?" asked Antony.
The doctor nodded and walked out of the room.
Immediately he did Sal slowly got up from the chair and walked to the bed, he reached out to touch Lester but retracted his hand afraid that he might hurt him.
"Les, I'm so sorry, I should've never left, I should've stayed with you, I should've...."
You should've come back.
He heard Lester's thoughts without meaning to, without trying. Sal fell on his knees as the sadness crashed down on him like an anvil.
"I know, and I'm sorry, I promise, I'll find a way to fix this" he whispered as tears fell from his eyes and onto Lester's arm.
You don't have to, Lester said, I forgive you.
Sal continued to cry silently until he felt Antony's hand on his shoulder.
"Sal, get up"
Sal didn't listen.
"First it was Casmir, now it's him, how many more people have to get hurt because of me, who's next huh?, Katarina?, you?"
Sal felt Antony kneel down beside him, his hand on his back, a sign that he was there for him.
"Sal, it's going to okay" said Antony.
Sal clenched his fist and pressed his forehead on Lester's bare arm.
"Of course it will" he said. "because I'm gonna make it that way"
He raised his head and turned to Antony, anger burning in his heart.
"I'm going to kill Boulder"
***
It was midnight when Sal's Uber pulled up on the other side of the street that faced the Joint. He had no weapons in his hands, no guns, no blades, nothing but his fists and his anger.
Despite all of Antony's protests he was here, and regardless of what anyone else would say he was ready as he alighted from the car and watched it speed away into the night.
The Joint had changed since the last time Sal was here. It was less lively, the streets around empty of people, the lights in it dimmed so that it looked inhabitated by beggars and runaways who had no other source of light but candlesticks and matchboxes.
Sal had heard rumors that Boulder wasn't doing well these days, that business was slow and that without his "ghost boy" he was facing threats from all over the city.
Though none could ever be as deadly as the one approaching him now.
Sal crossed the street.
The doors to the apartment building were locked. Sal tried shaking them open but grew impatient and kicked the door. It flew across the dimly lit foyer in flying splinters of wood.
"Hey!, who's there?" came a small voice.
Sal could make out a silhouette at the top of the stairs, a gleaming gun held firmly in their small chubby fingers.
Sal immediately recognized them.
"It's me Cameron" Sal said.
"Uncle Sal?"
The silhouette stepped into the light coming from the bulb in the ceiling and Sal could see him clearly now. A young familiar black boy of no less than 10 years old, eyes wide as they settled on Sal.
"Where's Boulder Cammy?" Sal asked the little boy.
Cameron scratched his head with the gun, his hair was all wild and curly, and it made his brown eyes stand out.
"Where do you think?" Cameron said, his voice was coarse and small at the same time, the signs of early puberty. "You've been gone a long time Uncle Sal, do you even remember the difference between coke and weed?"
"I remember" Sal said. "I also remember telling you to stop scratching your head with a loaded gun"
"It's not loaded" Cameron said. "But I have to keep appearances, these are bad times Uncle Sal, Boulder's lost his respect and all his power"
"I guarantee you he's about to lose a lot more" Sal said.
Cameron gave him a thoughtful look.
"I heard what he did to Uncle Lester, is that why you're here?" Cameron asked.
Sal kept silent but Cameron nodded and pointed the gun up.
"He's upstairs in his room, told me to keep a look out while he packed up" Cameron said.
"Aren't you going to let him know I'm here?"
Cameron scoffed and walked down the stairs. He was a short boy for his age, and he had a light in his eyes that was too cunning to be on the face of a child.
"I ain't no snitch" he said as he reached Sal. "Besides he left me here all alone with a gun that isn't even loaded, I don't owe him shit"
Sal smiled down at Cameron and ruffled his hair.
"Go outside and wait for me, I'll take you home when I'm done"
Cameron nodded and walked outside, still scratching his head with the gun.
Sal took a deep breath and went up the familiar stairs.
Cameron had been right when he said Boulder had left him alone. As Sal ascended the stairs he didn't hear anything, no music, no voices, not even whispers.
He got to the last floor and this one too was empty. Boulder's apartment door was wide open.
It was somehow strange to see this place the way it was, empty, but still find traces of what it had been before, the smell of sweat and drugs lingering faintly in the air, the stains of alcohol and blood that dotted the walls and rugs.
He walked to the back of the room, the route as familiar as daylight, and opened the door to Boulder's room.
Boulder was there.
And he was alone.
And Sal felt hate seize hold of his heart.
Boulder was huddled over a hole in the floor, his bed upended across the room. He was viciously grabbing money from the hole and stuffing it into a duffel bag beside him. He looked frantic, beads of sweat rolling down his bald head as he worked quickly.
"How far the mighty has fallen, huh boss?"
Boulder stopped dead.
Sal walked forward slowly, his sneakers making no noise against the floor as he did.
"Kit" Boulder said. "You got my message"
"Both of them" Sal said.
Boulder chuckled and then he stood up slowly and turned. There were two guns in his hands, ans they were pointed directly at Sal. Bobby's shriveled body flashed across Sal's mind and he smiled.
"You should wipe that smile off your face and stay where you are" Boulder said.
"C'mon boss, you've seen me dodge bullets" Sal said as he continued to walk forward. "There's nothing you can do to hurt me"
"You sure?" Boulder said with a smile. "How's Lester?"
Sal stopped like someone punched him in the guts and took a seething breath.
"Wimpy little fucker" Boulder said. "You know he tried fighting back, even punched me right here", he pointed to a spot on his cheek, "I made sure to break that arm"
Lester's bandaged arm flashed across Sal's eyes and he felt his control snap like a twig.
He dashed forward and seized Boulder by the throat. The guns fell to the ground with a clatter and Boulder's fingers groped at Sal's hand squeezing his neck.
"You hurt Lester" Sal said as he lifted Boulder slowly off the ground. "We had a deal"
Boulder gasped for air he spoke, veins pulsing up his neck and temples.
"I gave you two weeks" he croaked. "It's your fault he's dead"
Sal's grip almost loosened, what was he talking about?
"Lester isn't dead" he said.
Boulder looked shocked.
"Impossible" he spat. "I left him dead, I'm sure of it"
Sal squeezed harder, he could see the whites in Boulder's eyes going red, his pupils rolling to the back of his head.
"You left him dead?"
He could literally feel Boulder's life ebbing away gradually, still he spoke.
"You needed to be taught a lesson, you needed to be reminded who was boss"
"So you figured killing my brother was the best way to remind me". The hate he'd felt earlier began to squeeze his heart tighter. "I could kill you right now"
Boulder laughed, and then he went into a fit of coughing, his fingers were still scratching at Sal's hand, though he was growing weak.
"You won't" Boulder said. "You're a killer Sal but you're not a murderer, besides, I made you, you owe me you're entire life"
Sal clenched his jaws and took heavy breaths, his fingers pressing into Boulder's neck slowly, but then he sighed and released his grip.
Boulder fell to the floor in a panting, gasping heap. He coughed violently, his hands massaging his neck as he coughed and groaned.
"You're right, I'm not a murderer, but I'm not merciful either" Sal said. "You will leave this city and you won't come back, the Joint, the drugs, you'll leave everything to me, I'll take over"
Boulder laughed as he stood from the floor still nursing his neck.
"You won't be able to handle it"
"I didn't ask for your opinion" Sal said. "I'll be back here tomorrow, if I get word that you're still here I'll kill you myself"
Sal turned his back, and then there was the click of a gun, then a loud bang.
Sal smiled and turned.
His mark burned and as the bullet met with his chest it turned to specks of dust. He saw the shock and fear on Boulder's face before he rose into the air screaming.
Sal thought his body would shrivel like Bobby's had, but it didn't. Instead Sal watched as Boulder's head turned slowly, blood streaming from the corners of his eyes. He could hear the bones in his neck snapping, the muscles tearing, Boulder's eyes going wide as his head went around his neck like a corkscrew.
When it faced Sal once again Boulder's face was frozen, his mouth open, his eyes wide, and then he dropped to the floor.
Sal looked down at the body in disgust as Boulder's head rolled away from it, blood gushing out and pooling up beneath him.
"Have fun in Hell, Boss" he said.
And then he walked away.