by Darby Cupid
A small creature lands on my shoe. It rests there, opening and closing its delicate white wings. I stare, transfixed and unmoving.
“It’s called a butterfly.”
As Linda perches beside me, I keep my eyes fixed on the tiny creature.
“Are you okay?” she asks, giving me a gentle nudge. “Jaik’s been filling us in on what happened inside.”
I continue to stare at the butterfly, mesmerised by the opening and closing of its wings. I can hear people talking as they walk by on the street outside. Everything is carrying on around us as if nothing extraordinary happened this morning. I can’t decide if it’s comforting or infuriating.
“It sounds like you kicked ass,” Linda tries again.
As the butterfly finally grows bored and flutters away towards some flowers, I break my stare and turn to look at Linda. “I kicked what?”
Linda chuckles, although the mirth doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s an expression. It means you’re a badass.”
I continue to stare at her in bewilderment.
“You fought with impressive strength?” Linda tries again.
“Ah,” I give a small, fleeting smile. “I suppose you could say that. I’ve certainly never used my amulet like that before.” I hope I never will again.
Linda wraps an arm around my shoulders and gives a gentle squeeze. “If you hadn’t, it’s safe to say it wouldn’t just be the Doc missing now.”
At the mention of his name, a sombre silence falls over us. The image of Doctor Oakstone lying in his ruby puddle, looking so young and innocent, will haunt me for the rest of my days.
“Crystal! Linda!”
We turn in unison to find Sera standing over us in the doorway.
“Dylan’s awake!”
My heart pounds as I pull myself up, stumbling back towards the living room. Leaning against the doorframe, I find Dylan sitting up on the sofa against a flowery pillow. He’s pale, but oh so gloriously alive. I realise I’ve not been allowing myself to think about him waking up. What if he hadn’t? What if we hadn’t been strong enough? I stand frozen in the doorway, staring at him; alive.
“I thought you were dead,” I whisper.
“Nope,” he says, looking down at himself with a small smile. “Definitely not dead.”
He lifts a hand towards me, and I fall forward, dropping at his side, my eyes filling with tears of relief.
“Hey, don’t cry,” he soothes, wrapping his arms around me. “I’m okay, thanks to you.”
As he strokes my back, I notice the rip across his blood-stained shirt. I touch my finger to the hole, tentatively running my fingertip over the pink silky scar tissue.
“How do you feel?” Jordan asks.
“To be honest, like I’ve been hit by a bus.” His deep voice rumbles against my ear and I wrap my arm tighter around him. “Although,” he continues. “Jaik looks like he actually was.”
“Thanks, mate.” Jaik raises a hand from where he’s sitting. Someone’s given him a bag of something, which he’s holding over his swollen eyes.
“Seriously,” Dylan says. “Thank you Jaik. Thanks to both of you.”
Dylan’s fingers gently lift my head from his chest, turning my face to his. A myriad of emotions flash through his eyes as he takes in my face. I wonder absentmindedly what I look like. When I talk, my skin is tight, but whether it’s blood, sweat or both, I have no idea. He traces his fingers down my cheek and I close my eyes. Not so long ago, I thought I’d lost him forever.
My eyes open as I remember my realisation. I love him. My heart beats unevenly as the thought swells in my mind. I wonder whether he can sense my thoughts as his eyes widen slightly and his thumb finds its way to my lips, brushing against them.
“So!” Sera coughs loudly.
Reluctantly, I break my gaze and turn to look at her.
She stands leaning in the doorway inspecting her dusty hair with disgust. “I don’t think I’m the only one who needs a shower.”
My cheeks burn as Sera looks pointedly at me and Dylan.
“Now that Cadicus is no longer a problem,” she continues. “Why don’t we go to my house and get cleaned up?”
Linda leans back against the door with a groan. “That sounds like a fantastic idea. I’m so over this place.”
Dylan shifts beside me. “Are we sure it’s safe?” he asks.
Jordan shrugs. “I guess so. I mean, Cadicus’ men aren’t interested in us without him, right?”
“Even if they were,” Jaik smiles wryly. “I think Crystal scared them good and proper.”
Dylan nods. “Let’s do it then.”
“There’s just one thing.” Linda steps out of the kitchen, looking around with a frown. “I hate to say it, but people are going to ask questions if the seven of us wander across town covered in blood.”
“Okay. Well we could use the bathroom here to wash our faces and clean up a bit,” Dylan suggests.
“Perhaps there are some clothes or coats we could borrow in the wardrobe?” Eddie adds.
“Great!” Jordan pulls out his notebook from his back pocket. “I’ll make a list of everything we take, so we can clean it all and bring it back before the aunt comes back from her cruise. She can’t ever suspect we were here.”
“Right.” I stand with renewed determination and nod at Jaik. “Let’s sort out your face.”
Jaik smiles and pulls a long silver chain from his pocket, holding it aloft so the shimmering yellow stone glints in the light from between its ornate casing. “And later, we’ll send another signal.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Jaik
My ankles are showing. I tug at the waistband of the dark blue jeans Sera has borrowed from her dad’s wardrobe, but it makes little difference. I mean, it doesn’t matter if the jeans are a little short. Not in the grand scheme of things.
Staring at myself in the full-length mirror in one of Sera’s guest bedrooms, it’s just nice to feel clean again. Crystal healed the gash on my cheek right down to a sore looking white-pink line and although my eyes are sore, they’re no longer bruised and bloodshot. The hot shower stung, but it was a welcome relief.
I throw myself down on the bed and place my hands behind my head, staring up at the black jewelled chandelier dripping from the ceiling. The soft duvet envelopes my weary limbs like a deep pink swirling marshmallow and the warm breeze licking the curtains makes me smile with every caress against my skin.
When is the last time I’ve felt this comfortable? It’s been far too long since I felt any sort of comfort. Memories are still coming back to me all the time. Memories of home. Memories of my family. I realise things must have changed loads in the last seven years. Is my father even still alive? Perhaps he was on the same ship as the King and Queen. I close my eyes. A feeling I don’t recognise washes through my body with every breath.
“Jaik? Are you okay?”
Linda’s voice on the other side of the door forces me to open my eyes and sit up out of my marshmallow. I reach for the clean t-shirt Sera found for me. “I’m fine. Come in if you want.”
As Linda opens the door, I stifle a grin as her eyes bulge slightly at my naked torso. “Are you okay?” I ask, pulling the shirt over my head.
“Yeah. Of course! Fine.”
My grin develops into a full smile. Linda is crazy and adorable all rolled up into a neat little package. I stand and walk over to her, slinging my arm around her shoulders. “Come on. Let’s get Crystal and send this signal.”
I practically bounce down the stairs to the others. Inhaling deeply, I manage to place the feeling I couldn’t identify. It’s hope.
When we reach the kitchen, Crystal’s quietly nervous disposition pricks at my good mood. I skid to a halt, forcing the smile to stay painted on my face.
“Are you ready?” I rub my hands together and sit on the stool beside her at the breakfast bar.
“As I’ll ever be, I suppose.”
My smile slips replaced by a frown. “Why
aren’t you more excited?”
Crystal struggles to meet my eyes. “It might not work,” she mumbles.
My heart sinks. This has to work. If it doesn’t, I’m stuck here. We’re both stuck here. Although, I now realise, perhaps that’s what she wants.
“I mean, we can try,” she adds as she notes the steel in my eyes. “I just don’t want you to get your hopes up for nothing.”
Panic tickling my lungs, I reach out and spin her chair to face me, causing her to cry out in surprise. I place my hands on her shoulders and put my face close to hers. “Hope is all we have, Crystal.”
She wriggles out of my grasp and I’m vaguely aware that Sera, Jordan and Eddie have stopped their conversations and are staring at us curiously. Linda hovers awkwardly somewhere over my shoulder.
“It’s a little different for you,” Crystal says tightly.
I sit back on my chair and fold my arms across my chest. “Oh? How so?”
“If this signal works, we might get to go home,” she says, “but your home is very different to mine.”
I frown. Is that it? “We’ve both suffered losses, Crystal.”
She closes her eyes and rubs her temples as though struggling to explain something simple to a toddler. Irritation causes me to grit my teeth and tighten the grip on my arms.
“When you go back, you can continue your life,” Crystal explains, staring at the ground. “You can rekindle friendships and hopefully find your father. However, I’m the Queen. I’m going back to deal with the biggest attack in our planet’s history and the Zarbilian uprising.”
Tears form on her dark lashes as the words tumble from her lips. The silence is deafening, and I have nothing to say. All I can do is watch.
She slips off her stool and walks to the door. “I’m going to check on Dylan and then we’ll send the signal.”
The kitchen door has barely swung closed before I’m off my stool, chasing after her. She doesn’t make it far. I find her collapsed a couple of steps up the staircase, her fists balled in her eyes as though attempting to press the tears back in.
“Oh, Crystal,” I sigh, sitting beside her. “I’m sorry.”
She says nothing, her head still down.
“I’m just so excited at the thought of going home,” I explain, slipping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing gently. “I suppose I didn’t think about what that meant for you.”
“It’s fine.”
Resting my head on hers, I exhale. “I forget sometimes when I’m with you. It’s like I’m still the Jaik you knew on Starlatten and this whole Earth thing has just been a crazy dream. Although, nightmare would be more accurate. I’ve never really dealt with what happened. Cadicus took my memories before I could grieve for my mother. I don’t know how to be angry and sad about something that happened seven years ago.”
Crystal raises her head and I lift my own out of the way, taking in her damp, red eyes. “I don’t know how long ago my parents died.”
“What do you mean?”
“How long does it take to get from our solar system to here?” she asks. “Because I have no idea. In a large ship would be one thing, but in a tiny one-person escape pod? It might have happened an orbit ago. The control panel wasn’t working when I woke up. I don’t know whether it was one orbit, two orbits… I might have lost a huge chunk of my life.” Her eyes open wide. “I don’t even know how old I am. Maybe Starlatten isn’t even there anymore. Maybe Zarbilian won and destroyed our planet.”
My mouth falls open as Crystal spews the contents of her mind before me. I hadn’t even considered half these things. No wonder she seems so tense. I’m not sure whether to shake her or hug her.
“Look,” I try. “Cadicus seemed to be in the loop. If Zarbilian had won, he wouldn’t have been so eager to get your amulet, right? There’d have been no point.”
“Maybe…”
I reach out and wipe a tear from her cheek with my thumb. As I look into her eyes, suddenly I’m a kid again, lying in the grass, carefree, happy and buzzing from a day of mischief. I smile at the memory and a small smile plays on Crystal’s lips in turn.
“Crystal…”
“It’s okay,” she says, sitting up a little straighter and wiping the remaining tears away with her palms. “I’ll be okay.”
She stands and before I can stop myself, I grab hold of her hand, my eyes still fixed on hers.
“Let go, Jaik,” she says, trying to shake off my grip.
I’m not sure what I’m doing. I just don’t want her to go. Reluctantly, I let my hand fall, watching as she makes her way upstairs without a backwards glance.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Crystal
“Dylan?”
My heart is pounding as I reach the room Dylan is using. I lift a hand to knock on the door, but it opens before I have the chance and I step back in surprise.
“Are you okay?”
I open my mouth to reply but the words stick in my throat. Dylan stands in the doorway, his eyes narrowed with concern and his hair dark with water. My eyes follow the droplets of water as they pool on his bare shoulders, making tracks down his muscled chest, past his scar and down his stomach.
“I’m just getting dressed.” He pulls the white fluffy towel tighter around his waist and steps backwards into the room. “Come in.”
Swallowing hard, I step into the room decorated with dark green leaves and brightly coloured orange flowers. I’m unsure what to do with myself. I haven’t felt this awkward around Dylan for a while. I’m not sure where to look.
“Let me throw some clothes on and we can talk.”
He grabs some clothes from the back of a chair and disappears into the bathroom. I look around for a moment before deciding to sit on the bed to wait. I don’t have to wait for long. It’s mere seconds before Dylan emerges; his t-shirt wet in places where he’s not dried himself properly. He rubs at his damp hair with the towel and sits down beside me.
“Have you been crying?” he asks, although I know it’s not really a question.
I force a smile. “I’m fine. I’m just finding it hard to cope with Jaik’s newfound enthusiasm.”
Dylan tenses. “Why? What’s he done?”
“Nothing really,” I say. “It’s just hard to figure him out. It’s like he’s three people. Jaik I knew from years ago, Jake the guy who attacked Linda in the alley and now the Jaik whose only goal is to get home.”
Dylan raises his eyebrows in surprise. “Did he say that?”
“Not quite,” I admit. “He’s just very excited about the possibility of going home.”
His eyes hold mine fiercely. “And you’re not.”
I groan and look away, studying the thick green carpet instead. I sink my toes into it and consider my answer. “It’s not that I’m not excited or looking forward to it. It’s just that it might not happen. The chances of our signal reaching the right people is minute at best.”
“But it might.”
“It might.”
He sighs and lies down on the bed, his hands behind his head. “What if it does?”
“I don’t know—”
I gasp as Dylan’s hands reach around my waist, pulling me down onto the bed beside him. He pulls me to his chest and wraps his arms around me from behind. A smile warming my face, I relax into the embrace and cover his arms with mine.
“Talk to me,” he murmurs in my ear.
Staring at the long curling leaves painted across the walls, I try to organise my thoughts. “I’m just not ready,” I admit. “I’m not ready to go back and lead an entire planet. It sounds ridiculous even saying it. I wasn’t the best in any of my classes and now I have to decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of people?” I shudder. “I miss Starlatten terribly, but the Starlatten I knew is gone. Most of my friends and family are dead and I can only imagine the mess the planet is in after the attack. It may never be the same.”
Relief at finally sharing my concerns is suddenly overshadowed by fear of judgem
ent. What if Dylan thinks I’m a coward? What if he thinks less of me for considering running from my responsibilities?
I wait in agony for his response, the warmth of his breath against my ear and the thudding of his heart against my back. Just as it’s becoming too much to bear, I hear the intake of breath I know will carry my answer. However, the answer never comes.
Dylan pulls out of our embrace and turns me to face him. He stares at me for a moment, his lips parted as if on the verge of saying something. Then, all at once, he seems to change his mind, choosing instead to cover my mouth with his.
My head swims as I inhale the citrus scent from his still damp hair. Our kiss deepens and he rolls on top of me. My heart contracts and I gasp at the sensation of his weight pressing down on me. His kiss sets fire to my blood and when he pulls away, I moan in disappointment.
“Don’t go,” he breathes, kissing my earlobe.
My heart stops. “What do you mean?”
Dylan props himself up, his breathing shallow, as he stares into my eyes. “Stay here. On Earth. With me.”
I open my mouth a few times to respond but any words I catch hold of, slip away. Nauseated by the flurry of emotions running through me, I push him off me and sit up.
“Please say something.” Dylan swings his legs over so he’s sitting next to me. He tries to take my hand, but I flick him away.
As the swirling emotions settle, I realise which one lies closest to the surface. “How could you?” I snap.
Dylan blinks in surprise. “How could I what?”
“How could you make things even harder for me?” I demand. “How could you be so selfish?”
His mouth sets in a firm line. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
I stand up and make my way to the door, my already sore eyes filling with angry tears. My hand on the handle, I pause, unable to meet his eyes. “No. Perhaps you shouldn’t.”