180 The Ones Who Stayed [Nicole]
180 The Ones Who Stayed [Nicole]
It felt like ages since I last saw him, though it hadn’t been long at all. At least, not in the way time moved inside my mind. My memories were tangled, stretched, and folded over themselves, tied to him in ways I couldn’t explain to anyone else. Maybe not even to myself.
I stared up at the washed-out Markend sky while lying in the ditch he practically tossed me into. Mud soaked through my skirt, and the smell of wet concrete filled my lungs. I didn’t move, just watched a lonely cloud drift overhead until a shadow blocked it.
Someone leaned over me.
Same face as mine. Same eyes. Same voice when she opened her mouth, though hers was laced with pure irritation.
Onyx.
Her dark hair was a mess, unlike my neat, office-polished look. She wore a black biker jacket covered in scuffs, as if she’d survived a dozen brawls before breakfast.
“For god’s sake, Nicole,” Onyx said, grabbing my wrist. “Get up. You lost him again. Again. Can you even believe yourself?”
Another face appeared above us. Same features, but softer, delicate, and almost ethereal. Her hair was silver, brushed neatly behind her shoulders. She wore the same biker jacket, only cleaner.
Silver clicked her tongue. “Onyx, don’t bully her. It’s not her fault she’s weak.”
“I’m not weak,” I muttered.
“You fell into a ditch,” Onyx said flatly.
I sighed, letting them bicker over my head. These two versions of me had appeared the day they “died” inside him. The day everything changed for me a second time. They showed up in my life without warning, acting like old roommates who never left.
But I knew why they existed.
I knew everything about him. Because I had been there. As Silver. As Onyx. Even when they died in his presence, their memories had bled back into me like my own. Every glimpse. Every moment. Every time he breathed in their direction.
Even now, I still saw flashes.
And he had the nerve to pretend he didn’t know me.
I pushed myself upright, brushing dirt off my clothes. Onyx swore under her breath, pacing in circles. “That bitch had to be Amelia. Ugh. Can’t believe they’re that close already. Did you see her? Clinging on him like that? Gross.”
Silver folded her arms and looked away. “Maybe we should just… let him be. Maybe it’s better if we stay out of his way. We could live our own life.”
Onyx stared at her. “Absolutely not. The guy always gets the girl at the end. That’s how the story goes.”
Silver pouted. “He did get the girl. It’s just not… us.”
“Speak for yourself,” Onyx snapped, pointing at me. “We’re still here. We’re plenty alive. I should’ve never said goodbye that day. I should’ve said see you again. Maybe he wouldn’t have forgotten us.”
I didn’t know what to say to either of them.
I wasn’t them.
I wasn’t Silver, and I wasn’t Onyx. I was a new person. But their memories sat heavy in my head, making everything more confusing. I knew everything about him, but he didn’t know me anymore. Not the way he used to. Not the way they remembered.
And I had no idea what I was supposed to do with that.
While I stood there, caught between two versions of myself arguing over a man who wasn’t even looking my way, a large biker with tattooed arms walked by. He didn’t even glance down before his shoulder slammed into me, knocking me back into the ditch.
“Outta the way,” he grunted. “Lookin’ pitiful down there.”
I just lay there again, staring at the sky.
Honestly, at this point, I couldn’t even argue with him.
The biker had barely shoved past me when he suddenly doubled back, his face shifting from annoyance to syrupy interest, pupils softening like melting tar. He leaned in, breath warm and heavy. “Hey there, sweetheart,” he said, voice dripping with forced charm. “Didn’t mean to knock you over. You alright? Someone as pretty as you shouldn’t be lying around in a ditch.”
Of course.
I’d seen this look too many times. That murky haze of affection. That magnetic pull I never asked for.
I knew I was pleasing to the eyes. People reminded me every day of it, whether I wanted them to or not. But this wasn’t just appearance. I could feel it. The tug of my Empathy reshaped through Telepathy, a reconstructed echo of what I once had. The special nature of my empathy made people like me more than they should, instinctively.
It was an awful, convenient curse. Of course, it wasn’t always like this and I could control it most of the time, but since reawakening my power, it had changed a lot.
“Oh my god,” Onyx groaned behind me. “He has a boner.”
Silver scoffed sharply, her silver hair catching the light. “Great. That’s exactly what we needed today. I’m already irritated.”
Onyx began cussing, pacing back and forth. “Move, Nicole. I swear, let me handle this. I’ll rip his tongue out and feed it to a stray dog. I’ll—”
She didn’t have to continue.
I was stressed. Beyond stressed. Irritated, tired, overwhelmed. And this idiot had chosen the exact wrong moment to flirt with me like a creep.
I gave him a sweet smile and laid a hand on his shoulder. He brightened instantly. “See? Knew you were the friendly type. Y’know, I’m somethin’ of a gentleman—”
His thoughts told me otherwise. His intentions screamed otherwise.
I struck fast.
I slammed the heel of my palm into his throat, cutting off his breath with a sharp wheeze. Before he recovered, I grabbed his head and smashed it into his bike’s handlebar. Bone thudded, metal clanged. I lifted his face and slammed it a second time for good measure. His body went limp, dropping beside his bike.
Empathic-derived strength caused by simple hormone manipulation. A common trick that Onyx taught me in great strides.
I dusted my palms off, walked around the fallen bike, and unlocked the nearest car with a key. I slipped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Onyx and Silver appeared into the back, half-arguing.
Silver crossed her arms and sighed. “Nick wouldn’t forget us. There must be a reason he’s keeping his distance. Something happened.”
Onyx jabbed a finger at the window dramatically. “He came back to Markend. Back here. Of all places. Obviously it’s because of us, not that stupid bitch hanging off him.”
Silver frowned. “Onyx… maybe not.”
“No! He must’ve been kidnapped or brainwashed or something!”
I let my forehead fall lightly against the steering wheel. “Onyx, please. That’s not possible.”
We all knew how strong Nick was. Nothing short of a cosmic accident could restrain him. Onyx wasn’t worried. Instead, she was jealous. Silver kept watching me, concern softening her expression.
“Nicole,” Silver said gently, “you have a life of your own. You don’t have to listen to us. We’re just… ghosts of the past. Echoes. You don’t owe us anything.”
I stared at the road ahead, fingers tightening on the wheel.
“I just want to see him again,” I admitted, voice low. “To confirm how I feel. Because… even if I’m a new person, that doesn’t change the fact that I was you. Both of you.”
My phone buzzed once.
A single message. No name. Just a string of numbers.
“A job.”
I turned the car around and drove silently until the large sign appeared before me:
MARKEND FUNERAL HOMES INC.
Onyx cracked her knuckles. “Good. Maybe this’ll help us blow off steam.”
I cut the engine, stepped out of the car, and smoothed my skirt. Silver and Onyx leaned forward as I opened the door.
“Behave,” I warned them.
Onyx grinned like she wouldn’t. Silver nodded like she might.
I walked into the building.
Markend had always been divided between two major powers, the gangs and the capes who pretended they had everything under control. But beneath all that noise was a third force, the one whispered about only in backalleys and morgues: the Funeral Homes.
They weren’t undertakers. Well, they were, technically. But they buried more than bodies. They buried secrets, threats, and anyone the world needed erased.
No one knew who owned the organization. It simply appeared one day and began accepting applicants from mundanes, capes, and anyone productive. I rose through their ranks with ridiculous speed. Before long, I became one of their top assassins.
A fresh start, courtesy of Nick. And I used it to become a killer again.
Typical.
I reached the elevator, brushed dirt from my skirt, and pressed the coded sequence along the hidden panel. The floor indicator flickered, then the wall behind me slid open, revealing a narrow steel corridor.
Onyx whistled low. “Still creepy as hell.”
Silver murmured, “It’s supposed to be.”
I ignored them both and stepped inside. The hallway was long, dim, and quiet except for the soft hum of servers behind the walls. At the end stood a massive reinforced door. It scanned my face and swung inward.
I entered.
The dark room lit up only by the enormous screen at the front. Static fuzzed across it like snow.
I bowed my head slightly. “Monitor.”
A voice layered through the speakers, metallic and calm. “Nicole. Are you ready for a new mission?”
“Yes,” I answered. “I’m ready.”
The static shifted, forming a dossier. My breath caught.
On the left: Nick’s unmasked face. On the right: Eclipse’s infamous image from his rampage against the Murder of Crows.
The Monitor spoke steadily. “This request comes from the Monarchy. They’ve confirmed Eclipse has resurfaced in Markend. The mission: track and assassinate him.”
I clenched my jaw. “With all due respect… is that even possible? You know what his powers are.”
“This contract is worth 10.2 billion marks,” Monitor replied. “Every top assassin in our firm has accepted it. Everyone risks their life for money, Nicole. Whether you accept is your decision alone.”
I stared at the screen, feeling my chest twist.
How did I end up here? Nick had given me a clean slate. A chance to be someone new. And what did I do? I became exactly what I was before, technically an adjacent to it, but an assassin was no better. I told myself I needed resources to find him. That this job was a means to an end. A justification.
But in the end, I hardly used any of the resources. And then he showed up again, suddenly and violently, like fate was mocking me.
Onyx snarled, her voice echoing in my head. “The Monarchy? Those degenerate bastards. Let me at them. I’ll gut every last one of their inbred—”
Silver cut her off with a sigh. “I hate them too, but please don’t encourage Nicole to burn down an empire today.”
I folded my arms, thinking. I had no love for the Monarchy. If given the chance, I would wipe every one of them off the planet. But the mission wasn’t about them.
“I accept,” I finally said.
Silver gasped. “Nicole, why!? That’s betraying him!”
Onyx smirked. “No, you idiot. She’s being smart. She’s gonna use this chance to get close to him, kill all the assassins trying to kill him and swoop in like some badass knight. God, that’s hot.”
I turned and walked toward the door.
“That’s not the reason,” I said quietly.
Both of them went silent.
Onyx asked, “Then what?”
I stopped halfway down the hallway and looked at my past selves and my ghosts.
“Tell me… do you know anyone in Markend who can kill him? Because we all know what Eclipse is. And if he disappeared for four months, he probably came back stronger.”
Silver’s expression softened. “Then why accept the mission…?”
“Because,” I said, breathing out slowly, “this might be the only way to meet him again. Properly. As capes. With masks. On equal ground.”
There was a beat of silence.
Then Onyx burst out laughing. “You crazy bitch… no, wait. You crazy genius bitch!” She slung an arm around my shoulders even though she was not really here. “Oh my god. Lovers to enemies to lovers! It’s so romantic I could puke!”
Silver covered her face. “Why am I the only sane one here…?”
I pushed open the exit door.
Time to prepare.