I breathed in once and looked over at my family. I knew what was coming, but they didn’t. The drawing is going to knock you out. I felt a bit guilty about doing this, but I knew it had to be done, and I knew that this was a big step. It was somewhere closer to the escape that I always wanted, and somewhere that I didn’t want to admit to myself. But it was one step closer to fixing me.
“Got it,” I replied.
***
“Devon, how are we going to know what Nate looks like if he had a mask on?” I whispered quietly as we crouched in the corner of the sector. The sky was raven black with slashes of dark violet, barely a moon in sight.
Devon began to do the spell. I watched as he closed his eyes and breathed out a ball of fire, acting as our only light source for the time being. It was always fascinating to watch. The ball hovered around his face as he carved a symbol within the floating flame. Both Devon
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and I were dressed in full black to camouflage ourselves from our family. I looked at them, sleeping and nuzzled together beside the firewood, unaware of anything that their two eldest were doing.
We made sure to stuff our blankets with thick vines before we left just in case they were to wake up. Highly unlikely, but for precautionary reasons.
“He only had a straw mask on. He had blonde hair and a decently sized build. I should be able to recognize him. Even if he had shown his face to me it wouldn’t have made a difference. I wouldn’t have seen his real appearance anyway.” Devon whispered.
I wondered what Devon looked like to Nate. Well, he had a mask on so it was probably a blurry, but I was still curious.
“Done,” he breathed. “Take a look.”
The symbol was a series of black lines inside the ball of flame, blinking in beats: a perfect small circle in the middle and spiked lines on the outside that resembled the sun. Above the sun shaped carving were two wavy lines. The symbol was all too familiar to me. It worked by sending a heat wave over anyone in its radius, making anyone or anything unconscious except the one who drew it. Great, my inner dialogue clearly numbed my sense of reality. I felt light-headed as the world around me spun, faster and faster. I heard him curse under his breath as he forgot that it would affect me too.
I felt the weight of his arms underneath me as he picked me up and ran me to the Grean forest, then putting me down gently. I was lying down on a patch of dead grass as he held my head. I felt droplets of water trickle down
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my face. I looked up to see that Devon had weaved a vine into a small bowl, filling it with pond water to cool me off.
Near...
It was the voice slithering again, closer. What the hell are you? At least I was one step closer to finding out. I hoped.
The water helped for an instant, until the pain redirected itself to another part of my body. My arm. It started to burn again, but unlike the other times, I couldn’t even think about it. It came, slowly at first, but then electrifying waves of heat hit me like a rock. I bent over, howling in pain. Crimson light bled through the spaces between my fingers as I held my arm. I couldn’t hide it from Devon anymore, he’d seen. My tattoo was bright red, and my body felt numb. I saw Devon rush to my side and threw water on the ink, but it was no use. I fell sprawled out onto the soil, shifting my body uncontrollably. Devon carried me to the middle of the forest, and lay me down against a rough log.
“Kaylin,” he called out, “Kaylin!”
Kaylin...
Now I was surrounded by a chant of my name. It wasn’t Devon’s voice anymore, but someone else’s. My arm started to slowly heal. The burn was fading and the letters stopped shining.
“I have to get you back, there’s no way -”
I stopped him. “Let’s go, please.” I had to push him aside as if nothing had happened. I wished that nothing had happened. I needed to do this for myself no matter the struggle, and trust me, there was a struggle.
He hurried to block my path and stood in front of me, arms crossed. “You owe me an explanation, little sis.”
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I rubbed my arm gently as Devon and I sat on the log. He stared at me attentively as I finished my explanation. It was hard to say, but someone besides me needed to hear it. Especially out loud.
“...So that’s basically it. I’ve been hearing voices for the past couple of days, my tattoo burns me until I pass out and ever since that wind hit me, I got this strange boost of curiosity.” I finished with the simplest explanation that I could provide, in the most light-hearted way I could explain it.
He stared into the horizon of the wilting trees and black bushes, not saying a word.
“Are you going to say something or are we going to find Nate now?” I asked, impatient.
He put out his hand out to stop me. “The curious part, you always had that.” He softened, “But the rest, I’m not sure about. Didn’t you say you heard voices when dad disappeared?”
My mind registered to a childhood flashback: I was eleven, and I had seen my father’s face on the face of that Tamara member. I had told Devon about it, he was the only one I told. Annabelle and Mable were practically babies. I considered the possibility that maybe the voice could be my father, but it couldn’t be. My father was gone. But the thought that maybe it could be his helped me. The burn seemed to hurt a bit less when I thought of him.
I switched back to reality before tears could flood my waterline. “The voices weren’t bad then, and I only heard them like three times in my whole childhood. Devon, now it’s every day. Do you think it could be dad trying to say something?”
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He grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it back to the ground, “You never know. “He looked down at my arm. “Are you going to be all right?”
I nodded and stood up. “We should get going. Where do you think the Coperton sector is?”
He knelt down and breathed out anotherball of fire. He traced anX within the fireball with arrows ending at each point of the lines. He was drawing a tracking mark. How it works is when the spell is complete, a small snake of crimson fire would slither underneath the soil and lead us where to go. For the tracking spell to work, we needed something belonging to the person we were looking for: something belonging to Nate.
He took out the bottle that Nate used to encase the seasoning and threw it in the center of the mark. I waited for something to happen, my heart racing. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, didn’t know what to expect to find, but I had a feeling it would be the start of something that would change my life forever. He stepped back and a few moments later, a red snake appeared at our feet. I swallowed and looked at Devon as he nodded, trailing after the snake. We walked for a few minutes in silence, following as it led us through vines and moss, then out of the Grean Forest. The crimson snake stopped glowing in front of a shaded passageway, covered in dark blue vines. We walked a bit further until we could see some type of luminosity. As we crept around the corner, our gaze turned to hundreds of floating bubbles of water, filled with light. Blankets were scattered all around the clearing, and the smell of burning wolf was lingering.
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Are they still awake? I am not about to get pulverized. Devon waved at me to stick behind him as we entered the sector. No one was moving; thankfully I couldn’t see their faces.
“Kaylin,” Devon whispered.
I pushed away the hanging vines and made my way to Devon’s side, releasing my thoughts from my thoughts. I needed to be stealthy and patient right now, if I ever wanted any opportunity to get out of here. He breathed another ball of fire and started to draw the spell we used on our family. The lines immediately snapped together, and the ball of fire disappeared. I knew we were too close to the sector, our power was useless. He cursed under his breath, “Damn it.”
I watched him move a few steps back, now directly behind the passageway. He let out another fireball and began to trace the lines of the sun inside of it.
“Kaylin, trace the spikes around the sun so you don’t get affe
cted by it,” he said. I nodded and began to draw six spikes around the circumference of the sun. I finished with the two waves on top of the spell.
“Stay behind me,” he whispered.
He stretched out one arm in front of me and made his way into the sector. It looked like ours, except, well, blue. Three heaps of blankets were scattered in different areas. We released sighs of relief. No one was moving. Just to make sure, because Enchanted are easily alert to noise, Devon picked up a stone and shot it at a vine.
Click.
No one moved, so we were in the clear. Silently, we scanned out the bodies. A large blanket covered two bodies: one with long blonde hair, another with short ash
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hair and strands of grey. I assumed they were the clan elders, maybe Nate’s parents, so I just shrugged the thought of that being Nate and moved along quickly. A black wool blanket was steps away from us, a muscular arm hanging over the blanket. The sleeping boy had darker blonde hair and tan skin, almost as dark as Devon’s.
“Kaylin,” Devon called, “I found him.” I glanced back at the boy with the darker hair and made my way beside Devon. I don’t know why this moment captured me. Standing above people who are not a part of our own, it was surreal.
“That’s him.” I glanced back at my brother, who was crouched beside the third blanket. From what I could see, curled under the blanket was a boy with ash blonde hair, fast asleep. “Don’t look at his face, Kaylin. We’ll carry him.”
I breathed in and nodded, keeping in any racing thoughts that came to my brain. I squatted down and grabbed his legs while Devon grabbed his torso. It was only then that his profile came into view. I couldn’t help but look, I was so curious. Don’t look Kaylin, don’t. I braced myself for a view of my father’s face and then I panicked. It wanted me to see him. It wanted me to look. What was I saying, I needed to look. I dropped Nate instantly, but it wasn’t because of my father, it was because of him.
“What the hell are you doing Kaylin?” Devon asked, irritated as he held the upper half of Nate’s body. I heard him, but I wasn’t about to respond to him. I felt time stand still; Nate, an Enchanted, didn’t look like an Enchanted. He wasn’t terrible or horrible or frightening. His features, everything about him was visible to me. His ash blonde hair fell over his face and his long brown eyelashes
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fluttered against his tanned skin. Who are you? I couldn’t help but stare. I was in awe, complete awe. All my problems just got pushed to the side when looking at this boy. His jaw line was carved out sharply, outlining the shape of his chin. His shirt draped over to his side, the muscles on his stomach bare and exposed. I felt uncomfortable, paying attention to his every detail, but how could I not? The curve of his rose lips, the tip of his collarbone and the veins spiralling up his hanging arm. Was I actually seeing Nate? How was this possible? It wasn’t. Nothing was possible; none of this made sense. I saw another Enchanted. Maybe there wasn’t a curse? Maybe that was a myth. But it wasn’t, I saw my father on that Tamara member. What is wrong with me?
“Kaylin just keep watch.” Devon interrupted the millions of thoughts I had, drawing me back to reality. He hoisted Nate onto his shoulder as I stood there in disbelief. Every muscle in my body stood still and I felt absolutely no blood circulating inside me.
“That’s impossible,” I mumbled over and over again.
“The spell is going to wear off in a few hours, let’s go.” Devon said, walking out the passageway with Nate’s unconscious body draped over his shoulder.
What else could I have done? Stood in a sector of some of the strongest individuals gawking over someone I don’t even know? I snapped out of my trance and quickly followed behind Devon. He led us back to the middle of the forest next to a pond. I sat on a log, trying not to stare at Nate. Scratch that, forcing myself not to stare at Nate. He had dark pants that sat perfectly at his waist and a dark short sleeve that contrasted against his skin all too well.
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Good, Kaylin…
It was the voice again. That surely snapped me back into the now, but yet, I couldn’t stop staring.
“Do you seriously not hear that?” I asked Devon.
He didn’t answer me. He stepped out from behind the trees carrying another weaved bowl filled with water. I could hear that Nate was already starting to gain consciousness, but he wasn’t awake enough to talk yet.
Devon stopped in his tracks, turning to face me before bending down. “I don’t want to look at him Kaylin,” Devon admitted.
Before I could answer, he turned Nate over and sucked in his breath. His facial expression quickly changed into horror and fright. He stumbled backwards and moved away quickly, dropping the bowl of water.
“I’m going to kill him. Kaylin, I’m going to kill him.” He snarled recklessly. I have never seen this side of Devon, rather, this side of anyone. The curse was real, but I didn’t see it. None of this was adding up, but I knew Devon couldn’t do it. It was frightening, watching him. I saw an electrifying heat rise through his body. He was in shock, but his teeth were gritting. He was in some type of attack mode if I had ever seen it.
“Calm down, Devon, calm down. I’ll do it.”
“Let me at him Kaylin I don’t want to hurt you!”
Devon was beyond himself at this point. He was in a frenzy, out of control, drawing out both daggers and standing up to face Nate.
“Devon, stop!” I screamed, grabbing at his shoulders and setting my hands on fire. Of course I knew that fire didn’t hurt us, but the shock gave my push a little
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extra strength. He took the shock and flew back a few feet, just enough time to explain myself and what I had to do.
“Leave him alone, Devon. We need him. Let me do it.” I said calmly. I tried to believe I had the strength to do it, but I was just in as much shock as Devon, but for a different reason.
He shook his head, regaining his balance. “Kaylin, you’re going to see Dad. I can handle it.”
Did I really want to tell him what I saw? I needed to. I couldn’t keep this a secret. “I don’t see anyone Devon, I see him.” I admitted.
“What?” He asked, panting.
“I see Nate, his actual face.”
He shook his head frantically, in disbelief actually. I knew all too well this feeling. “That’s... no... it’s impossible. You have to see something.”
He was just as shocked as I was, but I didn’t want to waste any more time focusing on that. I knew mom would wake up soon, and I couldn’t let the only opportunity I had slide. I left him alone in his bewilderment and walked towards Nate. My heart pulsed at an unnerving beat. I didn’t know how it was even possible, but I was confident that I would find an explanation later. I had to.
Good…
I stopped. I just wanted to scream at it, this voice, and this unknown thing. I didn’t know what it wanted from me. I thought finding Nate would stop it, but it just kept coming back. What more will it take for you?
I swallowed hard and continued. I found a small pond source near the trees and weaved a little bowl together of twigs and vine. Scooping up some water, I
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found my way back to Nate. Reaching him, I bent down and poured the water inside his mouth and took a deep breath in, preparing myself for what was about to happen. His eyelashes started to flutter and his eyes gently opened. He was blinking rapidly, revealing the deepest crystal shade of sea blue eyes. I leaned back, astonished, unable to comprehend anything. His mouth opened and closed, parting his lips. As soon as he looked at me, he moved away. What do you see?
“Get away! I don’t - ,” he stopped when I met his stare. I watched his Adams apple bob as he swallowed hard, “What are you?”
He wasn’t scared of me? He didn’t want to kill me. If he did, I would be dead right now. It was a new thing every second I was awake. I didn’t know what else to say.
“I’m an Enchanted, like you,” I chose to respond with.
“You
’re normal.” His voice was low and puzzled.
I looked normal? Did he see me as myself? That was impossible, almost as impossible as me seeing him. We didn’t have the same parents, we didn’t know each other. He was from a completely different clan. It didn’t add up.
I eyed him suspiciously and asked the question we were both thinking, “What do I look like to you?”
The harsh lines on his face softened. “You have brown hair,” he began squinting, “Or red? Sorry. Your eyes are brown, and your skin is really white.” He rubbed the side of his head mumbling, “Why aren’t you afraid? What’s going on?”
I couldn’t begin to explain how I felt, and I didn’t want my thoughts to get in the way of this moment. An
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interaction, face to face, with an Enchanted of a different clan.
“I see you.”
“And what am I?” He asked with hard eyes.
“Blonde hair, blue eyes and you’re very tan,” I managed to stutter. He shook his head over and over as Devon watched me, and only me.
“What is going on? “Devon said in disbelief, refusing to look at Nate. I see that he calmed down which was great, one less thing I had to worry about.
Nate glanced up at Devon and moved back in a panic, looking the other direction. I looked up to see tears in his eyes as he bit his bottom lip, staring into the night.
“I gave you the seasoning.” His reaction was calmer than I expected. “Good thing I was wearing a mask, then.” He spat on the ground.
“Trust me buddy,” Devon said still looking the other way, “You don’t look too pretty yourself.”
Chapter 3
We sat on the ground, surrounded by twigs and dust. Devon was looking down, doing his best to avoid looking at Nate. Nate and I were also trying to avoid eye contact, but that I knew was for a different reason.
Enchanted: The Labyrinth Page 4