I stared at my laptop background for a few seconds. The photo had been taken about a year ago, inn our back garden in California. Claire and I had our arms slung around each other, laughing into the camera.

Blinking away tears, and swallowing the lump in my throat, I opened up the internet when I heard his voice.

"Mind if I take a seat?"

I turned to look around, and see the face of a man who would shape the rest of my life. Long, curly black hair, light eyes that shone in the mid-morning sun, and a half-smile resting on perfect lips.

"Uh, of course." I cleared my bag from the chair opposite and motioned for him to sit. He thanked me and dropped into the seat, sipping his coffee.

"I'm Anna." I said, feeling the need to introduce myself. He glanced up when I spoke, and smiled again.

"My name's Loki."

"Loki?" I repeated, trying to hide my surprise. Who the hell would name their kid Loki?

He laughed gently, "I know, not very conventional. Then again, I don't exactly come from a conventional family."

"Me neither." I admitted, feeling the familiar lump rise in my throat at the mention of family. I still had no idea why I'd come back to this city, where they'd died. Maybe closure? That was ridiculous.

"I've upset you?"

I'd completely forgotten about him. He was sat leaning slightly forward on his chair, blue eyes clouded with guilt. I waved it away.

"No, no. It's not you. It's..." I inhaled deeply. "I lost... Some people. My parents and older sister."

"That's awful." he leaned forwards a little more, cocking his head to one side, "How did it happen?"

"A c-ar c-crash." I said, hearing my voice wobble.

"I'm sorry." he said softly, reaching across the table and patting my hand with long fingers.

I smiled gratefully. "Thank you. It's... It's been hard."

"I can imagine." he said sympathetically.

I explained it to him; how we'd been off to see the Opera for my birthday; how I'd been talking to my sister right before it happened; how I'd woken up briefly after the crash to see her, lying there with blood trickling down her forehead and pooling by her stomach; how we'd both been rushed to hospital; how I'd lain in my hospital bed listening to someone screaming and crying out because they'd lost their child, and how I hoped desperately that it wasn't her. Then finally, how I'd woken up to doctors and nurses avoiding my eyes.

"She didn't make it." I managed to croak.

"I'm so sorry." he whispered, his hand still enclosing mine.

"It's fine... It's..." I laughed nervously, "Wow, I can't believe I just told a total stranger a bunch of things I wouldn't even tell my therapist." I sniffed, and looked back up at him, "And I just told a stranger that I have a therapist."

He shrugged. "Sometimes you need to vent, Anna."

I'm not sure how long we sat in that cafe, or how many coffees we both drank, but by the time we stood up to leave, it was dark outside.

We stood up, and he helped me put my jacket on before walking me to the door. We stepped out onto the street, and I smiled up at him.

"Thank you, for today. I really had fun."

He gave a tiny bow, making me laugh, "I'm glad, Anna. I hope to see you soon."

"I gave you my number, so I expect you to call." I joked, winking. He promised he would, and left, (not before hailing a cab for me.)










When I got home that night, I threw my things down on the couch and looked at the fridge, to another picture of me and Claire, taken not long before the crash. I really missed her. We fought and argued like all sisters did, but deep down, I think I loved her more than most. She had a knack of knowing when something wasn’t quite right, and that same knack could be applied to when something fantastic had happened to me, like meeting Loki today.

“You’d like him, Claire.” I said, gently stroking two fingers against the photo, “He’s a gentleman, just like you said you wanted, remember?”

I didn’t get an answer, though, serving as another cold reminder that yes, my sister was gone and dead and buried in the grave next to our parents.

I sighed and walked past the fridge and into my bedroom, ready to get an early night’s sleep without dinner, when my cell phone rang.

An unknown number.

I picked up, “Hello?”

“You told me to call, and here I am.” I heard Loki’s unmistakable voice and smiled.

“I didn’t mean that quickly.”

“Oh,” he sounded genuinely upset and confused, and I backpedalled.

“But it’s fine. What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to go out to dinner with me, perhaps on Saturday evening?”

I swallowed hard. Usually this was the call Claire would be getting. She’d often tell me about her many cell phone contacts. There was a reason she was asked out so much; if you took one look at her you’d understand. Me? I kind of got lost in the background to my prettier, smarter, older sister.

This guy though? Loki? He knew my sister was dead, and he was still calling. He wanted to talk to me. He genuinely cared about what I wanted.

“Of course I’ll go to dinner with you, Loki.”

We made our plans, and he said goodnight, leaving me to get the best night’s sleep I’d had in months, a grin barely suppressed on my face.






The next couple of months passed very quickly. I had been given an allowance by my Aunt and Uncle to spend in New York, plus I had my parent’s inheritance stocked up in my bank account, so a job was of no importance to me. I spent as much time as I could with Loki, and every minute I spent with him, the further I fell in love.

He was charming, funny, intelligent, attractive, and a genuine gentleman. The only problem I was starting to see was that he was away for long weekends on trips back home. He’d always go with a frown on his face, and come back with an even deeper one embedded on his features. It never took long for me to wipe the frown off his face, however, so I put the thought out of my mind.

One day, about six or seven months after we’d met, he caught me glancing at the picture on my fridge. His arms wrapped around me and he held me tight, murmuring words that I barely even heard.

“You miss her? Your sister?”

I nodded, and he sighed.

“I’m sorry. I should probably start moving on-“ I began, but he interrupted.

“No, no. It’s not that Anna, it’s just…” He took a step away from me, leaning on the counter.

“Your sister? Claire? She uh…”

I cocked my head, confused.

“She isn’t dead.” He said eventually. “Not anymore.”

At first I thought he was joking, messing with me. Slowly though, I began to realise he wasn’t.

“What do you mean, not anymore?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“I didn’t mean to upset you.” He promised, but I ignored him.

“What do you mean, Loki?”

He paused, almost as if he didn’t want to tell me. “Your sister, Claire… She died in the car crash. However, the government created a… Uh… treatment to bring her back.”

“When did she come back?”

“About a week or two ago.”

“How do you know about all this?” I asked, confused as to why she hadn’t come to find me if she’d been back for two weeks.

“My brother… He works there.”

“Can he get me in to see her?” I asked, suddenly becoming exited. I’d be able to see her again. My sister, the girl I’d been missing for a year. I could see her again.

He shook his head, “I don’t think that will really be possible. You see, Anna, they didn’t exactly bring her back the way you would remember. She’s different.”

“Different how?”

He ran a hand through his hair, clearly aggravated, “I don’t know. I’m not the one who works there! I’m just telling you what my brother told me!”

I recoiled, surprised at his outburst, and watched as his shoulders slumped.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. It’s just…”

“Your family?” I asked. He was due to go back pretty soon, and I could tell it was getting to him.

“Yes. My family.”

I walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. He relaxed against me and combed his fingers through my hair. “Maybe one day I could go meet them with you?”

“They live quite far away.” He admitted.

“What, like, Canada?”

He chucked, “It’s certainly cold like Canada.”

I buried my face into his shirt, breathing in deeply. “I can travel to Canada. For you.”

“I have no doubt about that, Anna.” He kissed my forehead softly and clung on to me tightly.


And that was probably the last day of normality I had with Loki, before everything changed, and the Spear entered our lives.