The Boy who Lit up the Sky (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 1)
Page 19
Senya returned to me a final time the following year when I was fourteen. He must have been seventeen then. Like the first time, he was very ill. He appeared in a flash of light and haze in my bedroom, stumbling to my bed like a zombie. At first I didn't recognize him, and I screamed, prompting Allen to yell “Shut up!” from the next room. Senya's beautiful long hair was gone, completely shaven away and his body was battered and bruised. He looked like a ghost again.
“What happened to you?” I cried, pulling him in bed beside me. He collapsed on his stomach, burying his face in my pillow. His back was a mess of welts and bruises, old and new scars. “Senya, what happened?”
He didn't answer, just pulled me down next to him and hugged me so fiercely so I could barely breathe.
“I want to die. I want to die.” His voice was like a whisper in my head.
“No, no,” I protested, holding him as his body shook and trembled as he cried.
He stayed with me more than a month that time, never moving from my bed and rarely speaking. Always he laid face down, clutching me throughout the night, his head on my chest. I stroked the fuzziness that remained of his hair and watched the night turn to day, listening to his labored breathing. His wounds eventually faded but still he stayed with me. We never made love like we had the last time. I did terrible in school.
Since I was up all night holding him, I slept at my desks during the day. My mother was ready to ship me off to a psychiatrist.
My brother Allen accused me of being on drugs. My father came and sat on the edge of my bed one night, obviously not seeing Senya or his feet which hung over the edge.
“What's wrong, Katie?” Dad asked. “Is it a boy?”
“Actually, yes,” I admitted glancing over at Senya.
“Well, Sweetheart,” my dad said, clearing his throat a few times. “You can't destroy your future over a boy who is here today and then gone tomorrow.”
“I know,” I agreed. “But he's going through some really tough times right now.”
“That's what they all say,” my father grumbled. “Don't let him pressure you, Katie.”
“He's not pressuring me, and he really is going through some tough times.”
“Like what?”
“I don't know,” I admitted.
My father made a face. “Don't ruin your future,” he said sternly and then got up and left.
“I need to go back,” Senya said after that and pulled himself to his feet.
“No, you're not well yet,” I protested.
He sat down heavily where my father had just been and reached for my hands.
“You need to do well in school. You need to get into your academy.”
“I will,” I insisted. “I'll do better. Lay down again. You can stay longer.”
“You need to find me.”
“I will. Just tell me where you are.”
“I don't know.”
“What do you mean? Are you in a hospital?”
“No,” he shook his head. “I don't know where I am.”
“You won't die if you go back, will you?” I put my arms around his neck. “I love you.”
“Aw Kate,” he wrapped his arms around me. “I won't die. Someday I will hold you for real. Someday I will make love to you all night long.”
“Senya,” I cried, and I lay my head against his chest. How could I hear his heart beating if he was not really here? "Who are you?"
He took my chin in his hand and raised my face to look at him. His eyes were open, and that strange silver light was shining through.
“You will find me, Milaka MaKani. I will wait for you."
“I will find you,” I promised. “Don't die!”
“I love you, my Kate.” He was gone. No door opening, no flash of light, he just dissipated into the air.
Four and one half years later, I entered the SpaceForce Academy, and three years after, that I was commissioned as an Ensign and assigned to the StarShip Discovery. I had never been on a date, held a boy's hand or kissed anyone. Don't think I wasn't asked, I just always said no. I couldn't be with anyone. I belonged to Senya.
Chapter 20
Meri