“I know you won’t.”
He relaxed moving backwards, “It’s not worth it.” I glared at Marrow as his face changed into my father’s.
The sky started to dim down, and then turned dark. I realized my mother was reacting calmly to the quarrel
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between Marrow and my brother. “Devon, enough.” She turned to everyone, “Let’s eat.” We all gathered around the roasting deer, everyone keeping quiet.
The atmosphere was still and dull. My mother was asleep with Annabelle and Mable, Devon was slumped against the wall, Marrow was in a corner, Liz and Lore together by the firewood, and Ethan and Paul were near my mother. I saw Nate, his knees up, head leaned back and arms around his legs, awake. I was in blankets, analyzing the wind move his hair and the sparkle of his crystal pupils. Stop being creepy Kaylin. I couldn’t help it though. It’s not every day you see an Enchanted, well, unless you’re me. I closed my eyes once and pushed the blankets aside, lacing up the boots beside me. Walking towards him, I noticed his dark shirt ruffled and his dark pants cuffed at the ends. He turned his head my way and sat up. Quite the look.
“Mind if I sit?” I smiled.
“No, sit.” He moved his hands and fixed his hair. “I didn’t think you were up.”
“I don’t really sleep a lot.” I sat down beside him, but instantly regretted that I didn’t bring a sweater. My teeth were chattering which never happens. He picked up a blanket and draped it over his shoulder, lifting the other end.
“You’re free to come in.” He smiled. “Body heat makes everything warmer.”
I laughed moving closer to him as he placed the blanket around my arm. I could feel him looking at me, but when I turned he moved his face away.
“I’m sorry about Marrow,” he sighed.
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I shook my head, “Don’t apologize, Devon’s an idiot sometimes.”
A faint smile spread across his lips, “Why do you think I can see you Kaylin?”
Ah, the question I was dying to avoid since I met him. Avoid when it came to him, but pondered every single second I was awake. I wanted to answer, but I couldn’t help my eyes, they were shutting. I tried to fight the urge to sleep, and stay awake, but it was practically impossible.
“I don’t know,” I yawned. “The Tamara member-,” but I couldn’t continue. My head fell to his shoulder lightly, his body warm and tough. I felt his shoulders tense, but then he leaned his head on mine. I felt the muscles of his arm wrapped around me as he carried my body a few feet away from the wall, placing the blanket over me.
“Goodnight Kaylin,” I could hear him whisper. I felt his lips gently press against my forehead and I was out, hearing footsteps walk away from me.
Chapter 7
I felt a light weight pressed up against my chest as my eyes widened. At first it sort of scared me, but then I realized it was just a pair of dark pants, dark boots and a clean black shirt, along with my clan dagger. I moved behind the passageway as I stripped off my dirty clothes, exchanging it for my clean ones. I washed my hair, playing with the auburn tips as I waited for it to dry out. Was today the day we were finally entering the Crescent? Were we finally going to actually escape once and for all? So many other thoughts flooded my mind such as last night, when I was with Nate. I remember falling asleep on his shoulder, him carrying me then his lips against my forehead. I pressed my fingers to my hairline and stood up. Walking out, I noticed everyone in different places eating leftover deer. My mother was talking to Paul while
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Annabelle, Devon and Mable were sitting in a corner eating. Marrow was still asleep, Lore and Liz were pacing and Nate was creating small element tornadoes with Ethan. I wanted to go sit with Nate and Ethan, but Marrow awoke just as my thoughts were in progress. It was my father’s face at first, and then blurred into Marrow. I rolled my eyes and walked towards him as he emerged from the blankets, shirtless. He stretched and flexed his muscles as he bent down to pick up the dark shirt beside him. It was hard not to stare, but his revolting personality made it a tad easier on me. “What happened with you and Devon yesterday?” I asked, annoyed.
He squinted at me. “Well good morning to you too.”
“Are you going to answer?”
“Only if you give me a kiss,” a grin formed on his face.
I leaned back on my heel, scrunching my eyebrows, “You’re pathetic.”
“And you’re way too dramatic. Tell me something we both don’t know.” He was staring at me with the darkest blue eyes, I couldn’t help but relax. He did see me as, me. Get over it Kaylin, don’t read into it.
“Shut up.” I tried to process everything. I wanted to ask him how he was looking directly at me without flinching, but I didn’t want to stay longer around him. Did I? No, I didn’t. That shouldn’t even be a question.
“Come and make me.” He sat down with arms wide open. Before I could move away, I felt his hand tug me down to his lap. He looked at me, scanning my features closely and brushed away the hair falling from my face. “Not bad from up close,” he breathed in my ear.
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It didn’t even take a second to think about this. I pushed him away and stood up, examining his face. It was attractive, dark and charming, but he was a new level of arrogant. I just needed to see him.
Nate moved to my side faster than I could have noticed.
“Ah Nate, what a great time to join us.” He lifted his hand and stood up, his abdomen flexing with each word.
“What are you doing Marrow? You can’t see her and she can’t see you.”
He lifted his eyebrows in amusement. “On the contrary sport, she can see me, and I like what I see when I look at her.”
It looked like someone had just brutally murdered Nate’s family. I wanted to stab Marrow at this moment, taunting Nate like this. Nate turned angrily towards me, “You can see him?”
I swallowed hard, trying to figure out the words, but not deny the truth. “Sometimes I see my father, and other times I see him, like now.”
He turned to Marrow who was putting on his shirt. “And you see her?”
“Yeah,” he answered. “It’s actually kind of funny. I didn’t see her at first and now, my visions’ going crazy. I see her everywhere.” He grimaced walking slowly towards Nate and bending into his ear. “I win.” I heard him whisper.
Nate clenched his fist and bit his lower lip as blonde hair got in his eyes, covering parts of his face. His eyes were flashing now an electric blue, the colour of Marrow’s. I’ve never seen that happen before. Marrow
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walked away and joined his mother and father as they drew the rest of the path. Nate turned to look at me and I bit my lip, thinking about what Marrow said to Nate. What did he mean, I win? Why was I talking to myself, I could just ask.
“I win?” I asked, standing frozen in my spot.
Nate shook his head. “I guess he wanted you Kaylin,” he chuckled but I knew he wasn’t happy. “He got it.”
My face blushed red, not with flattery but with anger. That, I didn’t need to think about. My fingers started to heat up, as the wind slipped through my ears. “Why does this matter?” I asked.
“Destiny or love, remember?” His tone was sarcastic.
“I see you,” I shot back. Why was I even getting angry at this?
“And you see Marrow.” He moved away from me, fiddling with his fingers.
“Tell me why this matters.” I demanded.
“It doesn’t.” He snapped then looked to his left, where Ethan was standing. His head was directed to the ground, as he hugged his arms together. “Are you guys fighting?” He asked, curious and innocent.
We both shook our heads and glanced at each other. “No, we were just playing a game of who can talk the loudest.” Nate smiled and looked at me like nothing happened. Pretended, is a better word.
“Who won?” He asked.
I put up a shield to see his face brighten with amusement. “Nate.” I
breathed out, crossing my arms
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over my chest. He shot me a glare before positioning himself beside me.
“I just came to show you guys what I learned,” Ethan started. “My daddy said if I do this,” he wiggled his little fingers in the air, creating a curved line and two parallel lines in between, “Then I can make music with the wind, watch.”
I watched as he completed the last of the lines before a gust of wind hit our faces. A melodic tune began to hum in not only my ears, but I could sense Nate’s as well. Nate smiled and looked at Ethan, giving him a high five.
“Do you like dancing buddy?” Nate asked.
“I’m the best at it,” he turned to me. “Come on Kaylin, and dance.” Ethan grabbed my hand then Nate’s, swinging our arms. His palms were soft upon first touch, and a tad sweaty. Nate turned his head to face me and extended his hand. Taking it, he intertwined our fingers and began to move. We walked in circles as I felt the warmth of his fingers squeezing tighter, a mixture of heat and ice running through my body.
“Finale,” Ethan yelled twirling both of our hands out of his. My arm flew to the side as I spiralled into Nate, my arm on his chest and his hand at my waist. My body felt warmer, more secure as I stood breathing hard underneath his chin. I moved my head to face him, seeing crystal eyes staring into mine. His red lips parted and his high cheekbones tightened.
“I say we got first place.” Nate said to Ethan, letting me go gently. I shook my head and fixed the bottom of my shirt, trying to release the moment of us almost kissing in my brain. Ethan smiled and took both of
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our hands, rushing us to where everyone was. My mother’s expression changed as I walked to her.
“Would you like some?” She handed me her pot as I shook my head. “Kaylin, you’ve got to eat something, we’re leaving today and we aren’t coming back here.”
“Didn’t you pack food?”
She glared at me. “No, you’re going to pack food.” She pointed to a basket near a stack of vegetables and fruits, Devon sharpening his knife beside it. I moved towards the bag, and began picking out the vegetables. I wasn’t about to complain with my mother, not today. Not on the most important day of my life.
“Get in any fights?” I joked.
Devon looked up from his knife, and set the rock down, “I wish.” He replied.
I laughed and picked up an orange pepper. “Can you hand me that knife?” He looked once at the blade and handed it to me. “Thanks,” I said as I cut the pepper in half and placed a flame in the center with my finger. A rich orange light sparked out of the pepper as I set into the basket. That’s how you keep food fresh. Genius, I know.
“Who taught you how to dance?” He looked down at me and smiled. “Or was it Nate on his spare time?”
I assumed he saw us and plucked out another pepper. “Nate is trouble.” He spoke softly.
“You liked him before.” I challenged.
“Oh yeah, he was always a fine lad to me,” he said sarcastically. I remembered the forest, when they were fighting and I had to separate them. Definitely sarcasm.
“You’re just saying this because of what happened with Marrow.”
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“No, I’m saying this because I don’t want you risking your life for a guy you just met. This ‘I can see you’ thing you two have isn’t an excuse.”
I dropped the pepper and gave him my full attention. This wasn’t something I wanted, and this feeling was surely at the top of my avoidant list. “I can’t control the fact I can see him, Devon. The Tamara member said it was love or destiny.”
“Screw the Tamara clan Kaylin, they aren’t here, they shouldn’t matter. I don’t want you to end up dying for his cause.”
I relaxed my shoulders and tried to calm down, realizing he had a point. Family first, always. “We’ll all make it out,” I said softly. I felt that since we were getting all of our harsh feelings out, I should tell him about our mom. Maybe she already did? I don’t know, it was weird for me. I didn’t want anyone to replace dad, ever. “You know mom can see Paul.”
He picked up a pepper and pulled out another knife from his belt, slicing and flaming the middle. “I kind of figured. Guess we get to call him papa Desirea from now on.”
Not the reaction I expected, but I knew my mom made it obvious. I shrunk at the thought of calling someone else other than Daniel my father. Maybe he is still alive, waiting for me. Maybe he’s the voice I’ve been hearing all this time. If my mother and Paul were meant to be together, why did my father come in? Was Ethan to be my brother? Maybe that’s why I was so comfortable with him. Devon waved the pepper in my face before I could keep thinking. He snapped his fingers and clapped his hands. “Are you daydreaming about Nate again?”
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I grabbed the pepper and he started to laugh. He nudged my shoulder and lifted me up, taking the knife out of my grasp. “Mom just told us to come over, so bring the bag.”
I stood up fully and dusted my pants, throwing the bag over my shoulder and ignoring all the questions in my brain. Everyone sat around Liz and Lore who finished carving something into Paul’s skin.
“Just in time.” Liz put up a shield and turned to Devon and I. “We found a way to sense if there is something near us, just in case something is dangerous inside the Crescent. When something is near, we will feel it coming. Let me carve it, dear.”
Lore took Devon’s arm and Liz held mine. She wrapped her fingers above the map. Icy pain shot up my arm; just the fact we were opposite elements made it ten times worse. As the burning started to fade, I looked to everyone’s arm which had carvings as well. It was a black cross with two small triangles on the opposite ends.
Liz and Lore released both of our arms and moved towards the center. “Time to activate the mark,” Lore said. He created a bubble with his palms and traced the exact drawing inside of it. As he finished, blue light shot out of all our marks and disappeared. Moments after, I looked around to see that everyone’s cross mark was flashing different colors: Ethan’s and Paul’s were white, Nate’s families blue and my family red. Lore looked at his wife and stood up, “Let’s go.”
Everything was in fast pace from this point on. Everyone moved to different directions. I strapped on my belt and added knives to each placement. My family was collecting bags, Nate and Marrow were lacing up their
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boots, Liz and Lore were communicating at the entrance and Paul stood with Ethan in a corner, hugging him and whispering something in his ear. I stood by my family and walked out of the passageway with a deep breath, looking back once to say goodbye to the sector’s protection.
Lore and Liz walked in front of everyone, leading us through the forest then out through a path of rock and gravel. Mable moved towards me slipping her fingers through mine, looking frightened. I couldn’t imagine how she felt through this. She was so young, unable to comprehend the majority of the entire situation, especially the severity. I found Annabelle and grabbed her hand as well, moving beside my mother. Willow trees hung over us like canopies as we walked up the path, hearing whispers. I noticed that the cross mark on everyone’s arm was flashing their colour, including mine. Liz and Lore stopped us and crept forward holding out their clan knives. I drew mine out as well, just in case. We all followed slowly, Mable and Annabelle gripping my hand tighter as two figures emerged from behind the trees. They were staring right at us with vine masks to cover their faces and clan daggers extended: Sage and Beth, the Tamara clan. They drew back their knives when everyone came into view.
“What are you doing here?” Liz asked in confusion, scratching at her light curls.
“We’re here to help.” Sage replied, his low voice seemed to boom through the ground.
“I thought you were too scared to come?” Marrow added sarcastically.
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Beth raised her hand and Marrow yelped, falling downwards as vines grabbed his ankles. I couldn’t help but laugh, he deserved
it.
“My feelings remain the same, pest.” Beth slithered to Marrow.
For once, he didn’t answer and Beth released Marrow. “We were mistaken, let us go with you.” Began Sage. “An escape is needed. Our son was murdered by The Enchantress, may he rest in peace.” They had a moment of silence and it was then that I understood. They wanted to find an escape, but they were afraid that they would have the same faith as their son. “She shall receive wrath, and pay,” he finished.
Nobody argued, mainly because the more we had to this team, the easier it could potentially be. I hope. Lore nodded at Liz, “Thank you. Come with us, but let me first mark you.” They moved towards Sage and Beth and extended their arms.
“The cross mark,” Liz began as they both carved the marks into their arms, “Is a sensor. If anything is near, you will feel it and know in which direction it’s coming from. That’s how we knew you were here.”
Minutes of silence passed and they finally released their arms, walking down to the end of the path where a wall was covered in green moss and vines. We caught up with them and stopped, examining the grey bricks and dried flowers. Lore moved the vines aside, revealing a carving of a crescent moon, outlined with lines of fire, water, smoke and soil.
“I think we need to place our hands on the mark.” He said to his wife. I looked down at Mable and Annabelle who were now huddled to my side.
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“Paul, Sage, and Lyle, place your hands on your element,” Lore ordered. My mother swallowed and walked towards the wall, curling her fingers. Lore stared straight at the wall and placed his hand on the water mark, my mother on the fire, Paul on the smoke and Sage on the soil. A white light mixed with blue, red and brown glowed out of the half moon, mist spewing out as the Crescent parted ways and split the wall in two. It was like nothing I have ever seen before, mainly because it was. I glanced at Mable and Annabelle and pulled them closer, thinking to myself that this could be the last safe moment I have with them. I will not let anything happen to them, I won’t let anything hurt them, and I will protect them. I spotted Nate who smiled at me and turned away. Ethan rushed to Paul’s side and my mother grabbed hold of my hand as we all followed one another through the mist.
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