Page 80 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Fire

The falling ball of flame descended rapidly as I threw the car in gear and sped toward its direction. Mr. Redding mumbled something under his breath as he grabbed hold of the top of the vehicle through the window. With four-wheel-drive, I expertly maneuvered the machine around the sands while semi standing on the driver side to get a better look. We were closing the distance quickly and he was almost to the ground.

Please be okay, please be okay. I’m coming Isolarel!

The impact was booming as the earth shook. Again, I was left baffled as to why no one had noticed him before. Wouldn’t the authorities or some sort of government have discovered him by now? If this curse had been happening everyday for centuries…

“By jove, I didn’t think I would live to see it,” whispered Mr. Redding as I slammed on the breaks, bringing the vehicle to a skidding stop, kicking up dust around us.

We both waved away the plume and continued to do so when we got closer to the crater emitting smoke.

“Isolarel!” I cried out. “Hold on! I'm coming!”

“Khepria, are you sure?—”

I didn’t stand around to hear what he had to say. I immediately began to climb down, the weight of my backpack behind me. I slipped on the last step and slid all the way down, scraping my hands but I swiftly got back to my feet and ran toward the glowing form in a heap with embers shooting from him.

Tears tracked down my face as I took my backpack off and rummaged through its contents. Removing the necessary first aid items, I kept looking for something that would put out the remaining flame.

“There is no possible way anything could survive, let alone keep a solid form based on that curse,” Mr. Redding said beside me as he too got on his knees and took off his backpack.

“He’s not just anyone,” I sniffed as I finally pulled out a fire blanket and covered him. The heat threatened to burn my palms but I gritted my teeth and covered him with my body, holding him the best way I could to let him know that he wasn’t alone.

“No, you’re right, Khepria.” I could hear Mr. Redding pull out the tome he brought with him and begin flipping through the old pages delicately. “Geb.”

“What?” I asked, wiping my tears as I began to rub Isolare’s body, hoping to stimulate him enough for a response.

“He’s a descendant of Geb. His father took on a… mortal companion.”

I blinked a few times and turned to look at him over my shoulder. Mr. Redding’s brow was furrowed in concentration as his fingers ran along the ancient text. Many nights I had wondered how he came upon so many of them and who exactly wrote them.

He stopped reading and looked at me, the cogwheels of his mind turning behind them. “What did you say his name was?”

I sighed and laid my face against his cooling body. “Isolarel.”

Khepria

I gently handed him water,careful not to jostle his head on my lap. He took as much as he could and began coughing, curling into myself against my stomach. I caressed his shell and held back my emotions, knowing that no matter how much I tried to ease him during his time here, it was all for naught.

“Khepria,” he croaked and it was all I needed for the floodgates to open. I cradled him against me as three of his four arms wrapped around me. We were bonded by heartache—his from his torment, mine from watching his.

The nights I had spent alone growing up, tortured by my own self deprecating thoughts were nothing in comparison to what Isolarel had to go through. Being with him gave me a perspective I never had—he made me realize that life was so much more than my own menial problems. And, that in itself, compounded the bond that grew between us.

Mr. Redding cleared his throat and I looked over at him. He blubbered a little in a gesture that led me to believe he was uncomfortable at what he was seeing, vibrating his large, fluffy mustache.

“I’ll be right back Isolarel,” I promised, creating a small makeshift pillow from one of the fire blankets and maneuvering his head onto it. He was reluctant to let go but I gently pried off all of his limbs one by one and patted his shoulder.

He reached out for me as I scooted closer to Mr. Redding who furtively casted his gaze from me to Isolarel. Our connection grew stronger the longer I was with him. I had the innate need to touch him too, but I crossed my arms to physically hold myself back and gave Mr. Redding my attention.

He cleared his throat again with one last glance at Isolarel. “He’s an illegitimate child and demi god. I’m unsure if there’s anything else we can do to help him. His curse is for eternity and you don’t have eternity, Khepria.”

He kept his voice low, but it wasn’t like he was saying anything Isolarel didn’t already know. My temples throbbed with the beginnings of a headache.

“There has to be a way!” I hissed, refusing to accept it. Isolarel didn’t deserve this, no matter what put him in the position to get the curse to begin with.

“Khepria—I-I’ll keep looking,” he replied, flipping back to the beginning of the book.

My chest felt heavy. Guilt eating away at me for involving him. He told me the people would have to understand the library closing for the day since we barely do. But to what purpose? To bear witness the brutality of the gods with me? Only for us to be just as helpless as when we first started?

There had to be a way. All curses had ways to break them. We just needed to figure out how.

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