Avenging Amethyst (Immortal Eyes)

by Price, Kaitlyn

  "When does your next job start?" Felix asked Riley. "Rema left me in charge of training her and I could use some help."

  "Tomorrow," she said. "It's a quick one and I should be back in a few days. I can help you then. I think Axel is taking the next week off though. You could ask him to help but I think he just wants to rest for once. Why are they assigning us to help train?"

  Felix ran his hand through his hair. "Rema said Daryn and Ashli aren't doing very well. The rest of the trainers have taken on their classes and are completely full."

  "What did she mean about them not doing very well?" I cut in.

  Riley frowned and shook her head sadly. "Lovac become trainers when they turn twenty-five if they haven't gone completely crazy yet. Most Nesmyr won't hire anyone after that age if they haven't found a Dimidium so it's the only job for them. They help train the younger Lovac but they deteriorate very rapidly at that age. Daryn has been barely hanging on. He's almost twenty-seven. And poor Ashli. She's barely twenty-five. They were both incredible fighters at one point."

  The way Riley talked so casually about this situation shocked me. Two good people that they both knew were losing their minds and going crazy. She also seemed very casual about it happening to her too.

  "None of this seems to faze you very much," I said.

  She shrugged. "It's part of who we are. We've lived our whole lives knowing we would probably die in our mid-twenties. We learn to accept it."

  "The sooner you learn to accept it too then better your life will be. Just try not to think about it too much," Felix said.

  "Easier said than done," I muttered as we continued our way back down the stairs. This was all too new to me and I still didn’t fully believe I would go crazy in a few years. I didn’t think I would ever be able to accept it.

  "Hey, did the adoption get settled okay?" Felix asked Riley. I forgot that that's where she had been.

  "Sort of. I've never witnessed a tie before. It was a little rough and Mr. Vancil walked away with a bloody nose. The Kruskal's finally took him home. Mrs. Vancil was devastated. It was sad to watch."

  I wanted to say something about it being wrong and that they should adopt him out to the most qualified family, not the richest, but I bit my tongue. I kept reminding myself that I grew up in a whole different culture than them and I needed to respect their ways.

  Once we were on the floor where Lovac slept, Felix led me to one of the many doors and pulled a key out from above the door frame. He explained that only unoccupied rooms kept the keys above the doors and that I would have complete privacy.

  "I have some errands I have to take care of but make yourself at home. You can order food from a bookmark on the laptop in the room and watch as much TV you want. If you need anything, start knocking on doors. I’m sure everyone will be more than willing to help you. We’ll start training tomorrow."

  He didn’t even give me a chance to reply before walking back in the direction we came from. Riley and I both stood and watched him walk away. She had the same confused expression that I had.

  "Does he always act that strange?" I asked her.

  She shook her head slowly. "I’ve known Felix all my life and he’s never been the kind of person to run away from something. Lately he’s been acting stranger and stranger though. He’s only twenty-one but I think the darkness is already starting to take control."

  There was a slight ache in my chest for Felix. Part of me hoped I got a chance to get to know him before he went crazy and another part of me didn’t want to get close to him at all, in case he lost his mind soon. I didn’t think I could handle watching a friend slowly lose their mind.

  "Did Felix tell you anything about me?" Riley asked. I was grateful for the change of subject.

  I shook my head. "No. He didn’t mention any names when we talked in the coffee shop."

  "But he told you about our unique powers, right?"

  I nodded.

  "I have the ability to see the future. It’s not always clear but one thing I know for sure is that you’re going to be a great asset to our ranks. You’ll also find your Dimidium."

  I wasn’t sure why she was telling me this but I noticed the sad look in her eyes had deepened and I started to understand something. "Why does it seem like finding a Dimidium is rare?"

  She smiled sadly and said, "It is. It wasn’t always but over the past twenty years it’s gotten worse. Rema was the last Lovac to find her Dimidium. One year, it just seemed like all of the Dimidium disappeared. Most Lovac think we’ve been cursed. I have a feeling you’re the one that’ll break that curse."

  "How accurate are your predictions?" I wanted to believe her but I didn’t know how I would be able to help.

  "Well, the future can always change but most of the time my predictions come true. The good ones anyways. The bad predictions are the ones we try to change."

  "Well, I hope that prediction comes true. I don’t want to go crazy."

  "No one does. Do you have anything in your car that you want to bring up? I know Felix isn’t being a very good host but I can help you out for a little bit."

  "I don’t have much but I could use the company."

  Riley didn’t say another word before leading me back down the stairs and out to the parking lot. She explained a few important details that Felix never mentioned like how most Lovac and Nesmyr schedules are different from humans. Since Nesmyr and Zhulik don’t go out in the daylight they’re awake during the night and sleep during the day. I’d probably have to be on the same schedule and when Felix said we’d start training tomorrow, he probably meant later tonight, when everyone would be waking up.

  It was still early in the morning for me, but to the Nesmyr and Lovac community, it was past their bedtime. They had only stayed up late to have the adoption ceremony.

  Riley carried my backpack, while I carried the trunk and once we were back in my room, we threw them both on the bed. She explained how to use the provided laptop to order food and watch free movies and TV shows. There was a staff that worked twenty-four hours a day if I needed any technical support.

  After she went through the basics with me and made sure I was comfortable she gave me a quick hug and went to leave.

  "Most of the doors on this floor have a name plate on them to let you know where everyone is. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to come find my room or even Felix’s. I don’t mind if you bug him."

  She left with a smile and that was the happiest I had seen her since we met. She always seemed to look sad and I wondered what her story was. Then again, seeing the future might be part of it. Seeing glimpses of what could happen would take a toll on anyone’s emotions.

  I closed the door to the room and finally got a good look around the room. It looked like what I imagined a dorm room at a college would look like. It had a twin sized bed, with boring white sheets, a small desk with a laptop, a closet and my own personal bathroom.

  I unpacked my clothes, hanging them up in the closet and threw the empty backpack in the corner. I shoved the trunk under the bed and hoped it would be secure there. There weren’t many hiding places in the tiny room and it was the best I could do.

  I sat down on the bed and my exhaustion caught up with me. I wasn’t physically tired, but with everything that had happened in less two days, I had no mental energy. I looked around the room for a clock, finding one on the nightstand that read eight in the morning. Even though I knew it was still early, I had lost track of time. Days, hours, minutes, they all seemed to run together now and were seemingly unimportant. It felt like months since I was Wyoming, living with my mom.

  I also felt like I had aged years in the past two days. I learned so much about myself and my future and taken on a lot of responsibility by agreeing to learn to train. I barely had a chance to grieve about my mom but I felt like I didn’t even have the energy for that anymore. I felt guilty about it too. My mom was gone and here I was, moving on with my life.

  That's what she would have wanted tho
ugh. I learned to be tough by her. She never let any stress or drama get to her. She lived day by day and always told me that's what I had to do too. And that's what I would do.

  After learning I only had maybe seven or eight years left to live before going completely crazy, I really did need to live in the now. Unless a miracle happened, like Riley seemed to think it would, I had no choice.

  I had only been awake for a few hours, but if Riley was right about Felix planning to train later tonight, I would need as much sleep as I could get. I was never the athletic type and I knew I was going to have difficulty trying to learn to fight.

  Luckily, the bed was comfy and inviting. I didn't even bother to change into pajamas and instead just took my jeans off and slept in my t-shirt. It took a while for my brain to shut off; I was still trying to process everything that happened, but eventually I drifted into sleep.

  Chapter 7

  I don't know when the nightmare started but I know it interrupted my peaceful sleep. I wasn't in the forest anymore. This time, I was at my house back in Wyoming, except it was old and abandoned. All of our belongings were still there but they were torn and scattered around. There was a thin layer of dust everywhere and it smelled stale. The windows had been broken and there was a cool breeze running through the house.

  It was also dark.

  I was in the living room, staring at the top of the stairs. A dark shadow was motioning me to follow it. My instincts told me to fight the urge to follow the figure but I couldn’t. I slowly crept up the stairs, every step creaking as I went.

  The shadow led me to the door of my room. It was closed but the shadow was able to go through it. Its hand appeared back out to encourage me to come in. I kept telling myself not to go through that door but my body ignored my brain. I turned the handle and opened the door. It was pitch black in my room and I refused to move any further.

  Come in, a voice whispered from inside. We need you, we want you, you have to come in.

  It kept urging me to step into the room and my body started to move on its own again. It felt like a magic spell was pulling me forward. No matter how hard I tried to stay where I was, my body was trying to move forward. My body finally won. I took one step into the room and fell.

  There had been no floor past the door to my room and I fell into the darkness. I couldn't see anything but I felt the wind flying past me as I went down. I expected to hit the bottom soon and splat onto the ground somewhere, but it never happened. I just kept falling and then a voice was laughing. A malicious laugh resonated from the pit I was falling into. My fear rose and the feeling of falling started to make me sick.

  "Wake up," I told myself. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

  Chapter 8

  I was sitting up in my bed back at the headquarters, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. My exhaustion was so strong that I passed back out moments later. I didn't want to think about these nightmares. I only wanted to sleep. The nightmares stayed away the second time around and I was only woken up by a loud knock on my door.

  I pulled my jeans back on and opened the door with groggy eyes. Felix was waiting impatiently for me outside.

  "Time to start training," he said. He was smiling brightly but he had dark circles under his eyes. I wondered if he slept at all. At least he looked more willing to help me train than he had yesterday.

  "What time is it?" I asked, yawning.

  "Four in the afternoon," he said. Which means I had slept for a good nine hours. It was the longest I had slept for a long time yet I still felt tired. I blamed the nightmares.

  "Wait, why are we getting up before the sun has even gone down? Riley said you’re day doesn’t usually start until later at night since Nesmyr can’t go out in the sunlight."

  "Training starts early and ends late. We need to get as much training in as possible to catch you up. Your whole day is going to be filled with training from now on."

  I groaned. I didn't know I was signing up for boot camp. I shut the door in Felix’s face to quickly throw on some clean clothes and met him out in the hallway a few moments later. We walked down the hall in silence for a while and I noticed that he was still tense. So not as willing to help me train as I had thought.

  "Where are we training at?" I asked, breaking the silence once we were back on the main floor.

  "The gym. If it's nice enough outside, we might go out there for a little bit."

  The gym was the same room where the adoption had been held yesterday but it was completely empty today. All of the bleachers were pushed back and the chairs were all gone. The stage had been dis-assembled and it looked like a normal high school gym.

  "Have you been taught anything about self-defense or fighting before?" Felix asked. He had opened up one of the storage rooms and we started dragging mats out.

  "Not a thing," I said.

  "So we'll need to start with the basics. How athletic are you?"

  "Not very," I admitted. "I always wanted to try out for sports but my mom never let me."

  He sighed. "Let's go outside then. I want to see how well you can run."

  We stopped dragging out mats and headed out one of the back doors that led outside. It was starting to get dark outside but I could still see a running track hidden amongst the trees. Felix produced a stop watch that I didn't see him grab earlier.

  "I want you to jog five laps. Pace yourself so you don't get worn out too fast."

  I followed his orders without too much complaint and started to jog. After the third lap I was panting but I kept going. I had no endurance and by the end of the fifth lap my legs were wobbly and I could barely breathe. I started to feel self-conscious and I hoped the sweat dripping down my face wasn’t very noticeable.

  "That's all you've got?" Felix asked.

  "I told you... Not very athletic," I panted.

  "Well, before we start any kind of defense training we're going to have to build up your stamina and endurance. I doubt you have much muscle either. Let's go back inside. We're going to do some weight training."

  The rest of the night was filled with alternating between weight training, running and yoga stretches. We took a break for lunch but we worked almost non-stop. By the time Felix called it quits I was drenched in sweat and my body hurt so much I didn't know if I would be able to make it back to my room. Felix had done most of the exercises with me and he hadn’t broken a sweat once. His hair was still perfect, his body not slouched in pain and his breath was even the entire time.

  As we walked back to my room, I realized I was staring at Felix way more than I should be. We made small talk the whole way and he would occasionally compliment me on something I did during training. There was no doubt that my face was bright red from blushing but I hoped he would think it was from all of exercise. Anytime he smiled in his cocky way my heart always jumped and I would hear myself giggle.

  At the door to my room, Felix hesitated before he said what was on his mind. "I’m sorry I acted rude earlier this morning. There’s been a lot on my mind lately and I didn’t think I could handle training you. It went a lot better than I imagined."

  "So does that mean you’re not going to dump me off on another Lovac?" There was flirtatious hint to my voice and I wondered where it came from. I had never flirted with another boy before and I didn’t know I was even capable of it.

  Felix laughed and smiled sideways. "No. I think I’m going to enjoy whipping you into shape."

  He was flirting back with me. Maybe not consciously, but he was definitely flirting back with me. I heard myself giggle again. It was a stupid nervous habit I had and I mentally slapped myself for not being able to control it.

  "Get some good sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be much worse."

  "Is that supposed to get me excited about training?"

  "Absolutely," he said with another bright smile. He shocked me even more by giving me a hug that lingered slightly longer than a friendly hug would and ran off down the hallway. I stood frozen in front of my door for a full minu
te before rushing inside and slamming the door shut.

  He hugged me. And he was flirting with me. Why was this guy that knew we had no chance of being together being so friendly with me? Not that I was really complaining. His hug had been warm and full of his spicy cologne that only held a hint of sweat. I’m sure I enjoyed it much more than he had. I probably smelled like an old man’s armpit and I was still damp with sweat.

  I collapsed on the bed and groaned. Why was I worrying so much about what Felix thought? I never had guy trouble before but I always wondered what it would be like. I didn’t like it one bit. I was grateful my mom had kept me sheltered now.

  I froze, mid-groan. My heart sunk at the thought of my mom. I had no right to be worrying over a guy when my mother had just been murdered. I felt guilty for not mourning my mom enough and I felt my eyes water a little bit.

  But I still didn’t have the energy to mourn her properly. My tears were only enough to wet my eyes but not spill over. My heart ached but it didn’t feel like enough.

  After lying in bed for a few minutes and trying to grieve for my mom and I sighed and pulled myself off the bed. I smelled horrible, felt sticky and I desperately needed a shower.

  It took the last of my energy to keep myself standing up during my shower but it was worth it. My stomach had started to growl halfway through the shower and once I was finished I ordered dinner off the laptop.

  Once the food was delivered, I shoveled it down and crawled into bed. The second my head was on the pillow, I was asleep. I didn’t think I had ever been so tired in my entire life.

  For the first time in over a week I didn’t have a nightmare. I woke up feeling refreshed but so sore I could barely move. I barely managed to get out of bed when Felix knocked on my door to take me to training.

  "Your muscles will stretch out the more you move," he told me when I wobbled down the hall next to him a few moments later.

  "It feels like they’re tightening the more I move," I said through gritted teeth.