I swallowed, trying to find my voice, then closed my eyes and took a deep breath.  “Hi, it’s Riven.”

     “Riven?”  Honey seemed surprised.  Probably as much that I was calling her – everyone at the café knew I hated to call – as that it wasn’t from the café’s number.  “What’s wrong?  Did something happen at the café?  I left a while ago, but I’m not too far – I can come back if you need.”

     I shook my head, then remembered she couldn’t see that.  “No, the café’s fine.  It’s about…something else.  About…someone you know?”  I wasn’t sure if it was the best idea to explain this in the middle of the street.  Well, it didn’t matter anymore – Ren knew where I lived, it wasn’t exactly like it mattered if Honey did, too.  “Um, can you come to my apartment?  I’ll explain when you get here.”

     There was a pause, probably Honey trying to figure out what was going on.  I never went out with coworkers, never told them about myself, never asked anyone for help.  I had worked with Honey for most of two years now and had never seen her outside of work.

     In fact, this was the longest conversation I had ever had with her.

     “Is everything okay, Riven?”  She sounded concerned.  “Do you need help?  I can come help with whatever it is.”  She was worried about me.  I felt tears prickle my eyes again.  No one had been worried about me in such a long time.  Honey was so nice, but – but that was going to change, soon.  Once she knew, she wouldn’t be worried about me anymore.  Still, it was nice to feel like someone cared, even if just for a brief moment, even if I knew it was all fake.

     “It’s complicated.”  I gave her my address.  “Sorry for this right now while you’re dealing with family stuff.”  Oh wait, this was the family stuff, wasn’t it.  Her brother was missing, except he was standing right next to me, biting his lip while listening to my conversation.

     “Oh don’t worry about that, sweetie,” she responded, “if you need help I’ll be there.  That’s what friends are for.”

     Friends?  I was pretty sure we weren’t friends, and definitely sure that wouldn’t be the case within the next couple of hours.  But whatever got her here, I guess.  That was the first step.

    “Oh.  Um, okay, thanks.  Uh, bye then.”

     I hung up and shuffled out of the box.  “She’s on her way,” I informed him.  Or rather, his feet.

     “Yes!  Thank you!”  Then he hugged me, apparently a surprise to both of us.  “Oh, sorry, I just – I’m so relieved.” He said as he quickly stepped back.  “I was worried I was going to starve to death and they’d never know what happened to me.  You don’t know how grateful I am that I found you.”

     I nodded once, then started back towards the apartment, tuning out whatever he was rambling about now.  My first instinct when he’d grabbed me was to flinch and steel myself for the pain.  People didn’t grab me out of kindness.  Especially them.  I couldn’t even remember when the last time was that I had been given a hug, so it had taken me a few seconds to process that he wasn’t hurting me.  By that time he’d already let go and I wasn’t sure if he’d realized how I’d tensed up.  Or that I was on edge now, trying to control my breathing as we walked.  That had scared me more than I’d like to admit.

     When we reached my apartment again, he sat gingerly on the couch, like he expected it to fall apart on him, while I slid to the floor on the other side of the room, trying to make myself as small as possible and just breathe.

     “Hey, are you okay?”  Shoot, he’d noticed.  “You look kind of freaked out.  Don’t worry, the witches shouldn’t come here.  They know about my parents’ place so they can stake it out but they can’t wander over the city easily without causing issues.  There’s no way they know about the café or would have followed us here.”

     I wondered which one witches were.  Were they the ones that looked mostly human but had those auras – some light and calm, but some almost oppressively dark?  Or maybe they were the ones who looked like their skin sparkled with electricity every time they touched something?  I wasn’t sure, but it sounded like they weren’t friendly.  Not that that was a surprise, none of them were genuinely friendly.

     Before he had a chance to continue, there was a knock at my door and Honey’s sweet voice came through.  “Riven?”

     I quickly got to my feet and opened the door to let her in.  I cringed a little as she entered, her eyes taking in the dim room complete with stained, worn carpet; furniture that was clearly salvaged from being thrown out; a tattered box instead of an end table; and, well, not much else.  I had a couch in the living room side, a rickety table and chair in the kitchen side, and really not much else in this room.  My bedroom hosted a mattress on the floor and my clothes.  I probably could have afforded some second hand furniture, but I poured every penny I could spare into trying to get my degree.  What I had worked for me, until I was able to finish my degree and get a real job, and I was okay with it.  It wasn’t great, but it was fine.  But I hadn’t had anyone over before to see what kind of place I lived in, and I found myself feeling somewhat ashamed for having anyone in here.

     Honey thankfully didn’t say anything as she turned to look at me.  “Is everything okay?  What do you need help with?  What can I do?”

     Ah, well, here was the moment.  The moment one of the nicest people I knew would find out the truth.  And then hate me for it.

     I took a deep breath and then blurted it out as quickly as I could, keeping my eyes on my feet while I did so.  “I can see your brother.  Ren.  He’s invisible.  He’s sitting on my couch over there.”  I waved in the general direction of the couch.  “He found me outside the café and came here and wanted me to call you so you can turn him back.”

     A long, heavy silence.

     “What?  He’s invisible?  You can – see him?  How?  Wait, no, that’s not important now.  You found him?!?”  She spun around to face the couch.  “Ren!  Are you okay?  We’ve been looking everywhere for you.  We’re all so worried!”

     “I know, I know,” he responded, his entire being radiating relief.  “I’ve been freaking out about the whole thing.”

     I risked a glance at her face as he spoke – which she couldn’t hear – surprised to see that she just seemed happy.  Happy and relieved.  For now, at least, she wasn’t so worried about me.

     That was good.  Maybe if I was really lucky they’d just fix this, leave, and forget about me.  Ha.  I was never lucky, let alone that lucky.

     Honey spun back around to me.  “Okay, okay.  Let me think.  Invisibility.  Did he say how?”

     “Something about a witch’s curse,” I answered automatically.  I hadn’t talked this much in one day in…years, probably?  It felt weird.

     “A curse, of course, that makes sense.  I mean, it doesn’t, they shouldn’t dare do one, but that would explain how thoroughly he vanished.  We figured they were involved but thought it might be a more straightforward kidnapping.  But a curse makes more sense.”  Her brows furrowed as she thought.  “Okay I’m gonna need Sorrel.  I can’t undo this on my own.”

     Without waiting for a response, she began to dial a number on her cell phone.

     I sank down into the far corner again, hoping to turn invisible myself as Honey swiftly talked to her other brother.  Ren, I noticed, was smiling and almost sagging with relief.  I was glad he wasn’t afraid anymore.  That was good.  He’d sounded so scared earlier, now it was nice to see that was gone.

     Honey turned back to the couch, asking me where exactly Ren was sitting, then talking to herself for a bit until another knock at the door sounded.  Honey let him in without asking me, which I was thankful for.  At least I didn’t have to get up.

     The new man, Sorrel, was, like his siblings, attractive with rich auburn hair and delicate fairy wings.  He wore his hair about shoulder length, but tied up at his neck.  He was taller than his siblings, bigger built than Ren, and when he glanced in my direction I shivered instinctively.

     Unlike Honey, he wasn’t sweet and sunny, and unlike Ren, he wasn’t friendly and talkative.  He was cold, icy, and the glance he gave me made my heart sink.  I’d seen that look time and time again.  Ren and Honey may have forgotten in their excitement that I was there, that I was a problem that had to be dealt with, but Sorrel definitely hadn’t.  And wouldn’t.

     There was no way they were just going to walk out of here after fixing this curse thing and leave me alone.

     I felt my fear rising even as Sorrel turned and listened to Honey, then looked at the couch, then back to Honey.  I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the wall, trying to breathe, trying not to be noticed, when I felt something different.  Something I’d never felt before.

     I opened my eyes to see Sorrel and Honey standing by the couch, their eyes closed as they focused.  That wasn’t what shocked me.  What shocked me was the golden glow flowing from them, lines spiraling out from their hands in the direction of Ren.  It was like watching water flow slowly – no, maybe more like a sculpture.  I wasn’t sure how to describe it, but I had never seen anything like it before.

     It was beautiful.

     Then my eyes met Ren’s as he glanced in my direction and I realized my mistake.  I instantly squeezed my eyes shut again, my breath catching as I felt my heart start to pound harder in my head.

     No.  Don’t be curious.  Never be curious.  That’s what gets you injured.  That’s what could get you killed someday.  Don’t look.  Don’t get involved.  Just breathe.  Breathe.

     “Yes!”  I heard Honey’s happy exclamation but didn’t dare open my eyes.  I could hear the movement, though, someone being pulled into her arms.  “Oh Ren, Ren, we’ve been so worried!  You’re back now, you’re safe.”

     He babbled something in response, and I could hear his voice break in happiness this time.  Honey and Ren were happy.

     But I could also hear the footsteps that came across the room and stopped in front of me.  Without looking up, I curled my head down, waiting for the inevitable blows that I knew would come soon.

     “While I’m glad Ren is fine,” Sorrel interrupted them, “there’s an unresolved issue here.  How could this human see him?  People don’t see someone with cursed invisibility.  No one does.”

     Even without opening my eyes, I could feel his hostility, I could feel his eyes trying to burn themselves into my soul, trying to understand what was wrong with me.

     “Oh, what does it matter?”  Honey responded.  “So he could!  Lucky for us, for Ren.  Riven’s not a Hunter, Sorrel.  I’ve worked with him for two years, I know him.  He’s just shy.”

     I didn’t know what a Hunter was, but I had heard the term before.  It seemed to be something they didn’t like, something they assumed I was.  That comment usually came with some sort of injury to my body.  And if Sorrel already thought that, then it was coming soon.

     I curled up tighter in the corner, wishing I could disappear completely.  Why couldn’t I be the one under a witch’s curse?  Okay, not eating would be problematic but being invisible  – truly invisible – starving to death probably would be less painful than what I had to deal with now.

     I waited, flinching as Sorrel took another step towards me.

     “It doesn’t matter, Honey?  It does.  We need to know who he is and why he could see Ren.”

     “No, it doesn’t.”  She sounded annoyed now.  “He helped us, he probably saved Ren’s life – isn’t that enough?”

     Sorrel swung back around to face her, and I could hear the venom in his words.  “You’re being way too cavalier about this.  It could be a trick to make us trust him.  This is too convenient – and impossible.”

     I stopped paying attention to the words, just hearing Honey’s exasperation in her tone, his growing hostility, Honey’s annoyed response, his sharp retort.

     I could feel myself starting to spiral.  No, I couldn’t pass out.  I had to stay awake.  Had to keep breathing.  It was coming soon, I knew it.  I had to be prepared.  What did I need to remember?  Right, protect my head.  That was important.  And keep my left side towards them.  It hurt more when they hit my left arm, but it was better to risk injury to an arm that was already damaged than to my good arm.  If I couldn’t use my good arm….

     Breathe.  Keep my head down.  Keep my right side towards the corner.  Breathe.  Breathe.