Alizarin Crimson

by Erica Millard

  After we had all received our bracelets, Leslie returned to the podium. “As Aolians progress in the study of their Talents, additional symbols are added to their cuffs. The first symbol is the one representing their Talent. The next two are the classification and sub-classification. Only when their mentor feels they have progressed to utilize all the abilities within their Talent are students awarded the Aolian symbol of the dragon. The awarding of the dragon is rare and has only been achieved at this school ten times.”

  I touched the cuff under my sleeve, the object symbolizing my father’s beginning long ago. The raised symbol of the dragon grazed my fingers.

  “We will continue the awards for those Aolians who have progressed in their studies.” Leslie said. Behind me a line of students stood and walked up the stairs of the stage. “Cate Womack, Intrapersonal.” The screen flashed with a circle with a spiral in the middle. “Jeffrey Campbell, Terraformer.” The screen changed to a mountain.

  So many Talents. So many symbols, I couldn’t remember them all. Some I recognized from mythology and from looking over the textbook, some I didn’t. Before I knew it, Leslie was closing the ceremony and parents were hugging their students and leaving.

  I stood alone.

  Dechrua was over. Did that mean my beginning as an Aolian was over also?

  Across the lawn, Kendra laughed as she said goodbye to her family. Lots of other students stopped to talk with her, and she had a smile for everyone. I never knew it was possible to feel so alone while still surrounded by so many.

  The new Van Gogh books in my room called my name, and I headed for the patio.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Kendra appeared out of nowhere and grabbed my arm.

  “Uh, I think I just saw an alien ship crash-land in the forest over there?” Then I changed to a robot voice. “I have been summoned. Must return to Master Zorginfritz. Must bring chocolate.”

  “Zorginfritz can wait. We have a party to go to. Aliens like chocolate?” Kendra asked as she pulled me back toward the stage. The chairs had already been replaced by a dance-floor. Rock music pulsed from speakers set all around a grass clearing, and the beat still managed to seem refined against this backdrop.

  Still in a robot voice, I answered, “Why do you think I was sent to this planet? The knowledge of chocolate is the most sought-after secret in the whole universe.”

  “Good to know. Maybe I should start carrying it with me at all times in case I get abducted. Come on, it’s time you made some new friends.”

  Kendra introduced me to a group of Aolians standing together. There weren’t many, but I still forgot all their names as soon as she said them. Cate stood close to a guy I assumed was Andy, and I saw why she was so possessive. He was tall, with light hair, tan skin, and a chiseled jaw. He had on a red T-shirt, khaki shorts, and a pair of hiking sandals. He was pretty much the only person dressed casually. I waved at Cate and wondered why she rushed over to talk to me.

  “See, I told you,” Cate said. “Isn’t he so hot?”

  Of course—she wanted to brag. “Yeah, he is,” I said.

  “Did I tell you? He’s a Brute.” She threw me a meaningful look.

  “Should I know what that means?” I asked.

  “Yeah!” She was positively giddy. “It means he’s a super athlete. He has the strength, endurance, and agility of ten regular men.” She stared at him misty eyed.

  “Really?” I said. “He doesn’t look different from most guys.”

  “Well of course not. None of us appear different on the outside, do we?”

  “No one does?” My skin told the entire world what I could do.

  “Nope,” Cate said.

  I studied Andy, trying to see anything that would give me a clue to what he could do, but there was nothing. He glanced up and smiled at me. I turned away, hoping Cate hadn’t seen. What was her Talent? She was right, though. I couldn’t spot anything in the fifteen teens around me that would suggest they were Aolians, let alone what their Talents were.

  Kendra moved with a few others on the dance-floor, seeming perfectly at ease in her skin. How did she do it? I did my best. I smiled and laughed and chatted with those around me, trying not to show how out of place I was.

  The crowd with Kendra on stage grew, and she motioned for me to join her. It was fun to lose myself in the music, but it wasn’t long until my long sleeves stuck to my arms with heat and sweat. I left the stage, found some lemonade and cookies, and headed to an empty table.

  “Hi, I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” said a voice.

  I turned and found Andy settling himself into the seat next to me.

  “I’m Aya,” I said.

  “Andy. You just got here, right? Welcome to the Academy for Freaks.”

  I smiled. “Thanks.”

  “So what’s your Talent?” he asked.

  “They say I’m a Colorist,” I said.

  “I’ve never met a Colorist. What do you do?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not exactly sure. So far I’ve just made things explode.”

  “Mysterious, I like that,” Andy said, his voice smooth.

  My face felt hot. “Cate told me you’re super strong or something.”

  “It does come in handy.” Yeah, the outline of his bicep was visible through his shirt. “So where’re you from?”

  “Montana.”

  “Hmmm, you do kind of have a wild animal look to you,” he said.

  “Yeah, if you live there long enough you start to grow fur,” I said and he laughed. “Where are you from?”

  “Arizona.”

  “That’s cool. Have you been to the Grand Canyon?”

  “Yeah, it’s amazing. My friend’s family runs a rafting company, and I go help at the end of the summer.”

  “That sounds awesome,” I said. “I’ve never been.”

  “You should totally come visit and I can take you.” He brushed his fingers through his hair. “What do you do in Montana? For fun, I mean.”

  “All sorts of things,” I said. “Paint, rock climb, read . . .”

  Cate stared daggers at me from where she stood with Daria. Andy followed my gaze.

  “Hey, did you want to go somewhere to talk?” he asked.

  “Actually Cate told me to stay away from you, and seeing how I’m new at this Academy for Freaks, I’m gonna refrain from getting on anyone’s bad side.”

  “Cate? Why would she tell you to stay away from me?” He frowned. “Wait, she doesn’t think that we’re like a thing, does she?”

  I squinted at him. “You’re not?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “Maybe you should tell her that,” I said. He glanced up at Cate again. She turned her back on us.

  “It really isn’t like that, between her and me. We haven’t even been on a date or anything.” He was silent for a moment. “Oh, did you know there’s an awesome, uh, I don’t know what you call it, where they put all the tiles together to make a picture?”

  “A mosaic,” I said.

  “Yeah, a mosaic on this old wall on the edge of the mansion property. You wanna see?”

  I glanced at Cate’s back. She had said there was nothing official between her and Andy.

  “I’d love to,” I said.

  His face lit up. “It’s back here.” He stood and led me through an archway to a back garden. The darkness surrounded us as we left the lights of the party. “There’s a ton of cool stuff around the mansion,” Andy said. “I haven’t found them yet, but I hear there are at least two secret passages.”

  “Any old mansion that doesn’t have secret passages isn’t worth anything,” I said. We stumbled through a clump of thick trees. I could barely make out a hint of the path in the darkness.

  “Totally, what’s the point of being rich enough to build a huge house if there aren’t going to be any secret passageways?” Andy said. We emerged from the trees and the moon lit the grassy meadow littered with flowers and the great stone wall in front of us.


  “Ta da,” Andy said, spreading his arms like he was showing a prize on a game show. Tiles glittered along the mosaic of a mermaid set into the wall, surrounded by stone and moss. The mermaid smiled down at us.

  “Wow, it’s beautiful.” I slid my finger over the blues and greens of the rushing water around the mermaid’s purple tail. A placard in the bottom left corner held the date 1898. I turned back to Andy. “This is such a cool piece. Can you imagine having to make this design? To fit everything together perfectly before putting it on the wall.”

  “No, I can’t imagine, especially since I don’t do anything artsy. Wow, I never noticed that!” He grabbed my hand to show me something but froze the moment he touched me. The red inside my blood swarmed to where his skin touched mine.

  “What the—” he said. I put my arm around his neck, smashing his body against mine. Everywhere he touched me, the red screamed out.

  I tried to ask him what was happening, but suddenly I was kissing him and he was kissing me back. But it was wrong.

  “Aya, what’s going on?” he asked, his mouth still on mine. He tried to jerk back, a look of terror on his face. I could see the fight between his mind and his body when he touched me. He kissed me urgently. And I wanted him to. But I didn’t even know him. I shoved him away, but Cate wasn’t kidding about his strength. He didn’t even step back. His hand wrapped around the back of my neck and slipped the back zipper open, his skin against mine. It felt amazing.

  Red clouded my vision just as it had with the anger, but this wasn’t anger. The red. Red. The color of anger, of fear, and . . . of desire, of passion. This wasn’t real, but it was real at the same time. My back was against the wall, and he was pressed up against me. I bit down hard on his lip. Did he even feel it?

  “Andy, you have to let go of me,” I said. But I didn’t want him to. His arms were like a vice around me. Most of me was fine with that.

  “I’m trying,” he said through gritted teeth. “What the hell is going on?” My hand slid along his abs and to his back, and he was kissing me and I was kissing him.

  Red swirled in my blood and there was more red, outside my body. I could feel the blood, pumping through Andy’s veins.

  I was losing control.

  His hand slid down my back, leaving a trail of fire. I’d never let anyone touch me like this. It was exhilarating.

  For a split second, I thought of Liam, smiling at me on the streets of New York. I wondered what it would feel like to be touched by him.

  What was I doing? This had to stop before we both did something we’d regret. I put my hands on his chest, and pushed as hard as I could. Not with my strength as I had before, but with my power, my Talent.

  Andy flew backward through the air and landed in a crumpled heap some fifteen feet away.

  10

  So if you know that it’s dangerous at times to have paints near you, why not set them aside for a while by making drawings? Like the other times, this crisis may be followed by another, although much less violent. I think that at such moments you’ll do better not to want to work with colour.

  —Theo van Gogh writing to his brother Vincent

  I slammed against the wall behind me. Pain shot through my head, and I fell on my face against the dark, mossy earth. I scrambled to my feet and to Andy’s side, but I didn’t touch him.

  “What the hell just happened?” Cate screamed from the clearing entrance. She rushed to kneel by Andy. A small group of students stood in the clearing. “What did you do?” she yelled at me.

  Andy lay on the ground. A moan escaped his lips.

  What had I done? I couldn’t stop shaking. Kendra came through to the clearing, and rushed to where Andy lay on the ground, the skin on his face already forming purple bruises visible in the moonlight.

  “Aya? Are you all right?” Kendra said.

  “Get someone!” I screamed. A boy ran back towards the mansion. I kneeled next to Andy but didn’t know what to do. This was all my fault.

  “Get away from him!” Cate yelled.

  Scott appeared and ran to where Andy lay.

  “What happen?” he asked as he did a basic assessment. “Andy can you hear me?”

  Andy moaned something incoherent.

  “Ask her!” Cate pointed at me.

  Scott turned. “What happened?”

  “I . . . I don’t know. I lost control.”

  “Let’s get him to the hospital,” Scott said. “Corbin, help me carry him.” A boy grabbed Andy’s legs and Scott grabbed his arms.

  I followed behind them as they carried Andy to the car and laid him in the back seat. Corbin sat in the passenger seat with Scott driving. The angry red taillights burned through my gaze as they disappeared down the dark road.

  I ran. My head pounded and I tripped over the uneven ground. My heels stuck in the ground, but I didn’t stop until I was back inside my room, the door locked behind me.

  I couldn’t breathe as I slid to the floor trying to comprehend what just happened. I sobbed and crawled to my bed, fully clothed, wanting to disintegrate like vapor into the air.

  How did I lose control so easily?

  Red hovered beneath my skin—deeper, darker, and more sinister than it ever had before. I lifted my sleeve, and the red boiled, alive and churning. Voices echoed from downstairs.

  Footsteps tripped up the stairs and paused outside my door. There was a quiet knock. “Aya? It’s me Kendra.”

  “I . . . I just want to be alone right now.”

  “Okay, but I’m downstairs if you need me.”

  I opened the door a few inches. “Thank you.”

  She smiled at me before she went back downstairs.

  Eventually, the sounds inside the mansion quieted to an eerie silence.

  I couldn’t sleep. I would never sleep tonight.

  Instead I edged to where my box of pastels and charcoals lay with the lid flipped open on the desk by the window. Four rows of color stared back at me, everything from subtle lights to the extreme darks.

  My open sketchbook sat beside the charcoal, a blank page exposed. I reached for a pastel, but I couldn’t face the saturated colors. Not just the red, but also all the color taunted me from within the case. I tore a piece of paper from my sketchbook and covered the color with the perfect calm of pure white, before picking up a piece of jet-black charcoal. I drew like I always had when I was angry or upset, but this time I only used shades of gray.

  Scene after scene materialized on the paper: hiking in the mountains with my mom, attending a Shakespeare play in the park with Katrina, eating ice cream with my Aunt in Central Park, and Liam smiling at me. After completing each sketch, I tore out the page and laid it on the bed. When that was full, I filled the floor. I didn’t notice when the sun came up, but the morning light slanted through my windows. I kept going. The irresistible compulsion to draw, to create, to change blank white paper to something else took over. I wasn’t used to rejecting color. In the past color had always been a comfort, a haven, but now it was a pit of unknowns and deadly surprises. Gray was safe.

  A tiny knock sounded on the door behind me, and I jerked. As I turned, a single sheet of pink paper slid under the door. I had to jump between sketches on spots of bare wood floor to pick it up.

  An advisory appointment with Leslie is set for Ayami Lore at 10:00 am in the Octagon Room.

  That was in just a few minutes.

  I was in for it now. They’d probably kick me out. What damage had I done to Andy?

  I turned back to the drawing I’d been working on, but this scene wasn’t from my past.

  I stared at Van Gogh’s Starry Night, rendered in shades of gray. Why had I drawn it? I glanced at the other drawings at my feet. In addition to other scenes, I’d drawn Starry Night no fewer than eight times. Each was slightly different, but still recognizable as Van Gogh’s most beloved painting.

  I felt better. Drawing made me feel better. It filled me up with the composure I’d lacked yesterday. The red on
my arms calmed. Instead of whirling out-of-control, it only swayed like wheat in a field. I longed to return to art school. If I could control myself, perhaps I could go back, but the recollection of Andy flying backward and hitting the ground doused my hope.

  I found Leslie’s octagon-shaped office off to the right of the entryway.

  “Hi, Ayami.” Leslie smiled as she got up from her desk and motioned to the chair in front of her. “Take a seat. You didn’t show up to breakfast to get the announcements, so I had someone deliver your advisory appointment.”

  I perched on the edge of the chair.

  “Is Andy all right?” I asked, almost not wanting to know the answer. He’d been a really nice guy, and I’d lost control.

  “Oh yes, Andy. I forgot you probably hadn’t heard how he is. I’m not sure what condition he would be in if he didn’t have his . . . particular Talent. His X-ray from the E.R. showed several broken ribs and a broken collarbone, but he won’t have any permanent damage.”

  “Can I visit him or something?”

  “Sure, he should be back by the end of the week. You can see him then.”

  “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

  “We really need to work on your control. I was thinking about what you’d like to study or practice while you’re here.” She flipped open a file in front of her.

  “What?” I choked. “You mean I get to stay?”

  Leslie sat down again at her desk, lying the file in front of her. “Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t you?”

  “I just thought with what I did to Andy last night, I wouldn’t be able to.”

  “Oh, Andy and I spoke this morning. He explained that everything was an accident, and if someone were to blame, it was him. This isn’t the first or last time someone got hurt here.”

  But it wasn’t his fault; it was the red. I’d seen the terror on his face.

  “He’ll really be okay?” I asked.

  “Of course.”

  What had he told her?

  “All right, as I was saying, we need to decide what you want to work on while you’re here. I think you should start doing daily yoga and meditation. There is a class in our gym every day at six a. m., four thirty p. m., and seven p. m.”