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  Death of an Immortal

  Eli Hinze

  Regale Press

  Copyright © 2021 by Eli Hinze

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover by Psycat Studio

  Published by Regale Press

  Contents

  A Quote from the Buddha

  1. Watcher at the Window

  2. Spirited

  3. The Immortal

  4. Breath of Air

  5. The Star-Scraper

  6. Return Fire

  7. The Devil’s Bargain

  8. Rusted Riches

  9. A Place in the Sun

  10. The Raven and the Sparrow

  11. A Lament of Heroes

  12. A Darker Half

  13. A Secret Kept

  14. The Curse’s Queen

  15. The Stars Usurped

  16. Ad Fidelis

  17. A Hawk from the Gauntlet

  18. Lost Eons

  19. Red Hands

  20. Death, Interrupted

  21. Sparrow Song

  22. Magnum Opus

  23. An Autumn Dirge

  Epilogue

  Leave a Review

  Your Free Book is Waiting

  Historical Note

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Other Works by Eli Hinze

  “The trouble is, you think you have time.” — The Buddha

  1

  Watcher at the Window

  I check my pulse for the third time today and release the tension I didn’t realize had gathered in my shoulders. Perfectly normal, as always. Small an act as it seems, this sort of repetition is the glue that holds me together. Sustains me. For some people such mundanity is the death of them, but those are the people that don’t have their lives together. Not like I do.

  A reclaimed-fabric clad customer walks up to the counter, the side of her hand smudged with graphite. For a millisecond, my eyes flick up to her for assessment: a community college student pulling an all-nighter and in desperate need of caffeine. Those are the only customers a coffee house like this gets at eleven PM. Why the hell are we even open that late? And doesn’t she know all-nighters will ruin your health? Too much sleep can be lethal too, though. There have been studies on it. Seven and a half hours is thought to be the best amount, so that’s what I aim for every night of my life, trimming and lengthening my natural rhythm with meds and alarms and whatever else necessary.

  “Did you get that?” my all-nighter-because-I-can’t-plan-my-life customer asks.

  But judge her all I want, I’m the one who spaced out.

  “Sorry, could you repeat that?” My hands shake as I punch in her order for an iced horchata latte. Stupid.

  She thanks me despite my ineptitude and waits for the barista to whisk together her drink.

  I give an inward sigh as I glance at the coffee-cup clock, the spoon-shaped minute hand crawling towards the end of shift. Eleven o’clock strikes just as the door swings open, the chimes above it banging in a cacophonous rattle. I force my eyebrows to stay down as a scraggly old man walks through the door, bits of food enmeshed in his beard and his teeth a putrid yellow. Colors may not have a smell, but it gives me that impression all the same. I don’t even want to think about the bacteria a man like this plays host to.

  “We’re closing in two minutes, sir,” the other barista, Nick, says as he slings an espresso-stained towel across his shoulders. He has less patience than I do when it comes to late customers, or at least doesn’t bother with bending over backwards for them. If it weren’t for him, I’d probably let these people keep the shop open all night, too afraid to upset anyone should they complain to the manager. Not that she would’ve liked staying open late, either.

  “Then I’ll take two minutes.”

  Nick masks his irritation well, then goes to the register. “What can I get you?”

  “Are you Eugene?” he asks.

  I look him up and down from across the counter. It’s not possible that I’ve met him before—is it? I’ve never seen this man in my life.

  “Nope, not me,” Nick says.

  “Well, I need him to take my order.” He points a dirty fingernail at me. “I guess that’s you.”

  Nick blows out a half-stifled laugh, making it seem almost like a cough. It takes him a minute to step away from the register though, almost like he’s wary. Waiting for something. It’s likely just my imagination.

  “Good luck,” he mutters as I pass him.

  “What would you like, sir?” I ask. Working food service for the past two years, I’ve learned how to school my features into pleasantness even if I don’t feel it.

  “Don’t know. Don’t like coffee much.”

  “Oh.” I pause. He stares at me, face blank. “Well, we have a selection of teas available, if that’s something you’d like.”

  He shrugs. “I want the cheapest thing you have. Only got five bucks for the night.”

  Homeless then, though I’m not sure late night treats are the best use of his money. Not that it’s my place to say as much. I eye the red glass bowl of individually wrapped caramels near the card reader, marked for 50 cents apiece.

  “That would be these, sir.”

  He grunts and roots around in the bowl with those cracked and tobacco-stained nails. A queasy feeling skitters through me.

  “One of these, then,” he says.

  I punch it into the machine. “That’ll be fifty three cents.”

  “I thought you said fifty?”

  “Sales tax, sir.” I force my breathing to stay even, to not cower in the face of his annoyance—though I don’t quite look him in the eyes as I say it.

  With a huff, he hands me a single five dollar bill, crisp and clean despite his appearance. I blink. Either someone was very generous to have given him a full five, or he isn’t as hard-pressed as I thought. I take it and fish around in the drawer for his change.

  “I’m sorry, sir, but I was just wondering.” I glance down at where my name tag should be, but that my work doesn’t provide. Apparently labeling people doesn’t mesh with the pseudo-bohemian vibe of the cafe, even if it’s as innocent as stating one’s name. “How did you know my name?”

  “Some woman out in the parking lot.”

  I wait for him to continue. He doesn’t. “Some woman in the parking lot…did what?”

  “Gave me money, told me to get some food.” He scratches at his stomach and his stained shirt rides up. “So long as I asked for you.”

  I falter as I slide the change towards him. My patience for the evening is wearing thin, anxiety beginning to replace it. The later I leave work, the less time I have to tend to my evening routine, the more likely the next day is to get thrown out of whack, and so on. The gentleman in front of me certainly isn’t going to help get things back on track, either. Best not to indulge him.

  “Here you go, sir.”

  The door bangs open, the chimes tied to it rattling in the quiet air.

  “We’re closed,” Nick says from over his shoulder as he wipes down the milk frother.

  The woman who just entered makes no move towards the counter, doesn’t even glance at the overhead menu. I try to assess her like all the others, to anticipate what she’d want, but instead draw a blank. Her eyes, golden like raw ocher, graze over the homeless man before locking onto me. I squint. It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone wear colored contacts, at least those of such an unnatural color. It would be jarring if they weren’t so transfixing. She nods at Nick in what I guess is acknowledgement of what he said, then m
akes a sharp turn out the door, black hair whipping behind her. Weird, but one less customer for me to contend with—one who respects closing time, no less. A rarity. Her silhouette climbs into a car under the parking lot’s buzzing light, but she makes no move to pull out, just sitting there. I turn away. Better for her to dawdle out there than in here.

  The congregations of students begin to file out, the dull murmur of chatter leaving with them and the parking lot emptying car by car. The homeless man leaves too. Nick tosses his rag into the sink and slings an arm around my shoulder.

  “I don’t want to say I hate late customers,” he sighs, “but I hate late customers.”

  I chuckle, but keep it low in case the manager is listening in. Never mind that she left an hour ago. “I feel that. Had a lot of them this week.”

  He nods. “How many hours does this make for you? It’s gotta be something wild.”

  “I don’t mind,” I say even as I stifle a yawn. I take in a lungful of the coffee bean scent in hopes it’ll revive me.

  “You’re probably beat. Anyone would be, with your schedule.” Nick shakes his head and closes down the register. While I’ve never had an older brother, Nick seems like the person who’d make a great one. Protective, slightly annoying, and very much a hardhead. It’s an endearing combination. “I can lock up today. You head home, alright?”

  “No, I’ll stay. It’s not fair to leave you with all the closing stuff.” In truth, I just don’t want to be thought of as someone who coasts at their job, someone who’d jump at the chance to take it easy. If word were to get back to my boss, all my future job or college plans could shatter. In any recommendation letters or references, she could toss a wet blanket right onto my prospects with two short words: he coasts.

  “Might be for the best,” Nick says as he collects the cappuccino cups. Their chipped porcelain clinks together in his hands as he sets them in the sink. “Last thing this town needs is another Brendon Watts.”

  I quirk an eyebrow up at him. “Am I supposed to know who that is?”

  He quirks one right back at me and turns away from washing dishes. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Do you not watch the news or something?”

  “Celebrity news doesn’t count as news.”

  “Are you for real right now?”

  “Uh, yes?” I stammer as my pulse quickens.

  “Brendon Watts.” He says it like a statement, not a question, but I still can’t tell what he’s getting at. Nick leans in, elbows on the flecked granite countertop and eyes bright like a child with a secret he’s not supposed to share—but who plans to anyway. “Dead kid?”

  My expression remains blank, though I kick myself on the inside. Apparently this is a name I should know, and while it’s somewhat familiar, ‘somewhat’ doesn’t cut it. I’ve tried to get into the habit of making flash cards from unfamiliar names and facts to sharpen my memory, but it’s remembering to do so that I forget.

  Nick continues. “Two days ago, someone named Brendon’s found shot dead in a parking lot just north of town. Some guy in my finance class, his old man works with county PD, and word is that it was brutal. Like, execution style. No motive, no evidence, nothing. Things are still kinda hush-hush because they don’t want to freak everyone out, but I think it’s a bit late for that.”

  An involuntary chill scuttles down my spine. Never would I have thought something like that could happen here. Sure, no place is ever totally insulated from violence, but still. Austin is known for being safe, and while the growing population has seen our crime rate increase, it’s still low.

  Nick shakes his head and clicks his tongue before turning back to the cups. “Crazy world out there, man.”

  “Yeah.” I grab a clean rag from the drawer, mind elsewhere, lingering on his words. “Sure is.”

  I wipe down the counters and look out the window again, into the vast blackness of the parking lot. The black-haired woman’s car is gone.

  Nick and I walk to the back employee parking lot together. As we finished cleaning the cafe, he’d taken it upon himself to divulge the gory contents of every last Brendon-Watts-related rumor that’s ever graced his ears, and nineteen though we may be, now neither of us feel all that safe walking into an unlit, unsurveilled lot at night. From the pallor of his face, it’s safe to guess Nick regrets psyching himself out too.

  Tragedy though it was—I really do feel for his family’s loss—I throw off all thoughts of Brendon and step into my paint-chipped sedan. I hit the lock three times before I buckle my seatbelt, a habit my older sister ingrained into me. The car rumbles to life, and after double-checking my rearview mirror, I see a third car in the employee parking lot—despite that only Nick and I were on-shift. Loiterers. Before I sit long enough to look suspicious—the hell do I have to look suspicious for? I’m the one at work—or to contemplate the dim outlines in the car, I speed away.

  Fifteen minutes later I’m home, having averaged a responsible gas-mileage and never daring to edge near the speed limit. Once the doors are double-bolted and I’ve ingested enough calories to maintain my weight, I open my email on my phone. My eyes drift to one message in particular and I tap it.

  Beautiful here as always! Abuela says to make sure you’re eating and sleeping enough. How’re things on your end? Try to relax and enjoy this summer!

  XO - Mom and Dad

  Attached is a photo of my dad and his mother, my abuela, with his finger blurring the upper corner of the lens. Their sun-kissed cheeks are flushed with a rosy tint and wide smiles eclipse their faces. Currently my parents are off in Spain visiting my father’s family, well into their fourth week by now. They’d tried to drag my older sister along with them, but she was toiling away on her graduate thesis and would’ve sooner swallowed glass than get onto an airplane. I had chosen to stay so I could work and invest in my mutual funds, that way they could grow while I was busy with whatever degree I pursued. Which I definitely would pursue—once I decided what to do with my life. My parents, however, still feel bad about leaving, and have been sending messages since.

  I pull the coffee-and-soap-scented shirt over my head and toss it into the hamper, then throw in the shirt for my other job as well. Realizing the name tag is still on it, I bend over to pluck it off. Eugene Reyes, it reads. Such a godawful name, uptight and weak, but it fits me. Lanky, not that outspoken, a completely anal basket-case, and with a mess of black hair that skims down my neck like a sodden mop.

  By the time I floss and swallow my sleep aids, the clock reads 11:32. Two minutes later than my norm, but…I’ll survive without bumping my alarm ahead. Two fewer minutes of rest won’t be the end of me, so long as I don’t indulge the behavior. I flop onto my bed and give a small sigh, pulling my thick-framed glasses from my nose. Thank god the hipster style is in. Contacts pose too great a risk of papillary conjunctivitis for my liking.

  I tug the bedside lamp string and the room goes dark, the shadows bleeding in like ink through cotton. As I lie there, eyes closed and slowing my breathing, my mind flicks back to Nick’s words. No evidence, he’d said.

  Stop thinking. I picture a blank wall and try to focus on it, attempt to clear my thoughts, but to no avail. Execution style, he’d said. My mind’s eye conjures up the image of some poor soul’s lifeless body, left to be discovered in an alleyway or parking garage. What kind of person could do that? Try as I might to picture a wall instead, I can’t shake the image. I roll onto my side, then my back, then around again until my legs tangle in the sheets, but the thoughts remain.

  What was Watts doing to draw a killer's attention to him? Was he in with a rough crowd? No, Nick said they hadn’t found a motive, not yet at least. Was he just not being conscious of his safety? Blaming the victim is never in good taste, but sometimes you wonder: if they acted differently, would things have turned out the same?

  At the very least, I know that I’m in the clear. I live in a safe neighborhood. My jobs are in reputable areas of town.
I take care to watch my back, and I’m hyper-vigilant in almost every aspect of my life. Unexpected though the unexpected may be, that sort of tragedy is the last thing I’ll ever have to worry about—one of the many benefits of making my life predictable to a T.

  Eased by the thought, I curl around the comforter and drop into sleep.

  2

  Spirited

  I bounce on the balls of my feet, back and forth, back and forth as I wait for the crosswalk to give me the light. Even though there are no cars at the intersection, you never know when one might come around the corner, but I don’t want to lose my momentum either. Waking up early just to further torture myself with a run is bad enough as is. Catching every standstill crosswalk doesn’t help. I check the morning’s humidity level on my phone and try to calculate how much water I’ll need to drink to replenish my fluids. And what amount of electrolytes I’ll need to consume to keep my water intake from diluting my stores. And how to fit it into my daily caloric allotment.

  I wish I could just let things go sometimes, but my mind refuses.

  The white pedestrian icon lights up. I trot across the intersection, still careful to check both ways for cars. There aren’t many on the road at this time on a Saturday. My thigh muscles burn. I pound across the pavement. Sweat runs along my bony spine. Save a few hiccoughs, these moments are some of the only times my brain is quiet. Relaxed. I’ve certainly been told exercise will fix my problems often enough for me to give it a try. It doesn’t, but it comes with its own benefits. The baggy shirt swings around my form with each stride, a collar of sweat darkening the neck of it. I pull it from my skin with a finger and duck my head to give myself a sniff. I cough. As if there was any doubt that I reeked.