A loud knock on the door made Daris jump awake and had me scanning the room for a hiding place. I settled for scurrying to the closet. Daris grabbed my hand and stopped me, putting a finger to his grinning lips.
“Daris! Open this door!” his mother demanded. Our time was up, and yet he didn’t move. “Daris! I know you’re in there! I know you’re both in there!”
Daris tiptoed to the window and slid it open noiselessly. He motioned me towards him and climbed out, turning to help me out, but I couldn’t.
Daris’s mom called through the door again and I knew I had to go with her. The break Daris gave me was worth it, but his mother was just another form of reality trying to break down my walls. Also, I knew that not responding to her while she was bothering us would result in more bruises and cuts the next time I summoned the courage to join her in the field.
Sadly, I shut the window behind Daris and felt my heart crack when he looked at me with a sort of betrayal as I locked the hatch and walked towards the door. I took a deep breath, rolling my shoulders back and steeling my face into a look of impassiveness. I opened the door. Katherine was red-faced and her eyes showed every bit of fury she must have been feeling. Her eyes hardened when she saw me, judging me for being anywhere near her son and skipping out of my training.
“Let’s get started,” I said to her. My voice had no emotion. I had shut them down. I walked past her and into the backyard where I began to stretch. I felt like I was being watched, but when I turned to the door, I saw that Katherine was somewhere else in the house, nowhere near the windows or the open door. I didn’t have to shift my gaze up to the roof to know that two blue eyes were curiously watching my every move, trying to figure out what happened to the girl who was happily watching movies just a few minutes ago. But that girl left when my thoughts started wandering. I was going to get answers. I was tired of the guessing game.
Nature responded and formed the targets, each one growing thirty feet away from me, trapping me in a circle. I closed my eyes and threw my dagger into the air. It got caught in the high branches of the mango tree and dangled, the hilt caught in a fork in the twigs. It swayed precariously before settling and my training began. As Daris watched and Katherine was who-knows-where, I started.
Tornados swarmed around me and tore up the landscape before another row emerged like shark teeth. A wave of water rose around me and tore them from their roots. Another row was buried underground before the last warm-up started. Each target, this time, had a question written on it, one I wanted to ask or one that Daris deflected. I hoped he could see what each one said from his wonderful perch before each one disappeared in flames.
“What am I?” Burned is what you are.
“Why does she hate me?” Does it matter?
“What am I supposed to do?” Burn more targets.
“Is Travis still following us?” I don’t know because no one will tell me.
“Do you think I can beat my father?”, “Am I anything like him?”, “How did this all start?” One by one, they all collapsed in a pile of ash. Then, the more personal questions arose.
“Why do you call me Blossom?” If I burn like fire.
“Why are you the one training me?” When everything I do shocks you.
“What were you expecting when you met me?” Surely not everything you’ve seen.
“Why do you protect me?” When it’s obvious you keep hurting my feelings.
I breathed deeply and watched as one more target grew before me. I was shocked at the question and knew that my mind was no longer in control of the exercise: “Do you feel anything for me?” Nature was reading my heart like I read a book.
“Thanks, everyone, but I don’t need to ask that question yet. I have more than enough on my mind.” I flicked my wrist and watched as the sparks attached to the outside of the round target and burned to the center until the question was gone from my sight:
I jumped up to grab the dagger and felt my negative emotions start to fade, but I wanted to keep them for a little bit longer, to feel how they fueled my energy. I slipped the blade and threw it into an extra target so it stuck out like a rose thorn. One breath in and my confusion swirled. Two breaths in and my anger ignited, my vision starting to narrow. Three breaths in, and I was feeling the confusion again, this one so overwhelming that I was stopped. I wanted comfort.
I didn’t want movies or hot chocolate to make it up to me. I didn’t want my mom’s home-cooked pasta or my father’s hug like I longed for when I was younger. Now, I wanted answers. I wanted confirmation and truth. I wanted something I couldn’t have, something I felt would never be mine at the rate things were progressing.
“Dammit!” I stomped my foot and was launched up into the afternoon sun. I made my platform and just lay there in the sky, watching as the blues turned to oranges and yellows and reds and the sun turned white.
I watched the stars appear slowly, not wondering what happened to my training session with Katherine, not thinking about the person I left sitting there on the roof or caring if he was watching, not even considering the possibility that I could potentially be found and taken away from the place I had no other choice but to call home for the past few months. Instead, I just waited.
I waited for the answers to appear, for the problem to be solved, but that wasn’t happening this time. Mom wasn’t here to be the shoulder I needed to lean on and I never had a father to chase away the boys. I was alone, a sad truth I felt I would have to start getting used to.
I shrank my platform to stop at my knees so that my legs hung. I rocked them back and forth to some imaginary rhythm. Then, I limited it to a bar just a few inches wide as I felt my back crack and loosen. I was balanced steadily, the complete opposite of my emotions, which were in turmoil; so, I let go of control. I leaned back just enough to feel my body slide. I hooked my knees on the bar and stretched my hands towards the ground, sighing as my shoulders stretched. Then, the control was gone as I let myself fall to the floor. I righted myself so that my stomach was towards the ground and stopped. My body was no more than two inches from the ground and the grass tickled my nose. I giggled and took off, feeling the emotions blow away in the dust.
As the stars illuminated my path, I stayed close to the ground and bent my body around the trees like a snake. The blades brushed my skin and my hand caressed my dagger as I zoomed by. The cool metal didn’t simmer my emotions but it did ignite my speed. I was throwing caution to the wind and riding the breeze.
Then, it was back. The sensation of someone watching my every movement, that feeling of someone hot on your trail that makes you look back. So, I did and sped away as soon as I saw playful blue eyes. Daris may have thought my flight was a game, but to me, it was the closest to freedom I’d felt in a while. I felt my emotions surge, the confusion and anger replacing the happiness. My dagger hummed in response and nature answered my call. The trees inched just enough to block his path and make him swerve more than I had to. Weak grass blades reached up to wrap at his ankles. The wind pushed against him for more resistance as I was left to fly.
So, what if I was running away from my problems? We’ve all done it before; it was my turn.
“Skyler!” Daris laughed. “Slow down!”
I sped up.
“Where are you going?” he screamed. “Skyler, stop!” He was panicking, but I didn’t stop. Instead, just as the boundary of the yard came into view, I banked left and skid past him. I fixed myself and flew straight towards the house.
In my rush to get to the door, I nearly ran over Katherine. She had been standing in the middle of the yard, looking for us, probably, when I flew up and slammed my heels into the ground to slow down. I slowed until I was in front of her and she glanced at me.
“Can I help you?” I asked her clearly.
“Have you seen my son?”
I noted that that was the politest thing she had said to me since we met. Her son landed beside us and doubled over. He was coated in sweat and gasping for air.
His hair was a mess and fell into his eyes.
I looked at Katherine. “Found him.”
A tree lowered its branch to me and I eagerly climbed up, grabbing some fruit on the way. Two pairs of blue eyes watched me from below as I made myself comfortable. The tree extended a large leaf filled with water. I thanked it and stared back at the mother and son duo.
“Can I help you?” I asked just as sweetly as before. Katherine looked at me in surprise, but there was something in her eyes that I didn’t like.
“You’re more powerful than I thought. You’ll be useful when it comes time to battle your father…if you don’t betray us.”
You witch, Katherine, damn you. “With an attitude like that, who says I want to help? I don’t know anyone I would be risking my life for. I have no attachment to either side of this little war you have going on, and my dad doesn’t count. That bastard abandoned me years ago. He disowned me and I disowned him. He is a man with power. If I fight him, I will fight for my mother and for myself. If you want me to fight as a Luxator, you aren’t putting yourself in a very good bargaining position.”
“Pardon?” She caught her stutter just before it became too noticeable. “It’s your duty as a Luxator to fight against them.”
“Oh? Then what’s yours? Because, while you’re here scolding me and doing something Daris has been doing for weeks, training me for this huge battle, am I to assume that you are leaving your people to defend themselves and fight against this growing threat without their leader?”
She gaped at my words.
“To be honest, I couldn’t care less about your position over your people. As far as I’m concerned, I am neither a Luxator nor an Acerlum; therefore, I am not someone you can boss around as you please. Get used to it.” I turned to Daris who was trying to control his breath after chasing me. His mother was furious and it showed in the way she was grinding her teeth and clenching her fists.
Daris’s eyes flickered from his mother to me and back, showing his indecision.
I caught his gaze and pleaded silently that he would side with me this time, that he wouldn’t become her puppet again. Glancing at Katherine, I saw how hard and angry her gaze was, demanding that he defend her.
When he was silent for too long, his mother scolded, “Daris.” She put so much weight on his name, the threat woven in each syllable of his name.
“Daris?” I asked. He looked at me and what I saw shook me to the core. His eyes were stark with betrayal and anger as if I had insulted him rather than Katherine. I knew then who he would choose.
“Do not speak to her that way. She is your leader and you will not speak to her like that.” His voice was firm, and I felt something inside me crack.
My disappointment bubbled until it was boiling rage. It could have been his emotions and confusion talking. Maybe it was the fact that I left to train after he gave me a break. Either way, he chose her and it hurt more than when she kicked me or when he yelled at me the first time after my mom died. I felt my shattered, but when I saw the smug look on Katherine’s face, I lost it.
“Are you really one to tell me that? After you helped me ditch training and told me to keep trying and not give in to her? After you kept healing me after sessions? After you yelled at her for her training methods? Hypocrite! At least I listen to her. If what I do is disrespect, then how do you describe your actions?”
He was silent.
“That’s what I thought. Get your own thoughts and actions under control before you go reprimanding others. Get off your high horse!” I soared into my room and grabbed my backpack filled with clothes, some food, my e-reader, and a few other things I took from home. I took a blanket from the couch and flew back outside. They still hadn’t moved.
“When both of you want to stop acting like my father and Travis and start realizing that I am a person and not some prize to be fought over, let me know. Until then, I’ll be out here.” And with that, I placed my stuff in the tree and flew off to collect my food for the night.
When I came back, they were both gone and the lights in the kitchen were on. I smiled as I ate. I would train myself, teaching myself any ability I could figure out. They were free to watch if they wanted, but I was done listening to a dictator instructor and the person I thought I was falling for. How could I have been so stupid? I was falling for Katherine’s little puppet. He was the perfect son she wanted and I was nothing but a valuable piece in this game of chess. And to think I was so blinded by my emotions that I let him weave his way into my heart. Skyler Leti didn’t get thrown off by guys; she threw them off. She didn’t let anyone get inside her head. Letting that happen was like telling someone flat out what your weaknesses are and giving them the knife to destroy all of them.
The trees around me curled, folded, and wove together to make something like a nest. I rolled in the blanket and fell asleep as the rustling leaves provided the perfect lullaby.
“Skyler!” Daris called late one afternoon. “Skyler, it’s time to train.”
I stayed silent as he flew up to my level. I had been up in the branches for a few days and had made the area comfortable with another blanket and some pillows; and each night, Daris tried to coax me out to train with him by begging or bringing food out. Yesterday, he brought the one thing I hadn’t had access to since I had isolated myself: meat. It was almost enough to make me roll out of the tree and do something other than read. Instead, I made a small thunderstorm appear above his head. He ran back inside, taking the food and my companion with him.
A couple of days after I first stationed myself, he and his mother had tried to forcibly remove me from the tree, sending winds that made me grip the tree for dear life. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for them, the garden was still on my side. Roots wrapped around me and kept my stuff and me protected in a sort of dome structure that grew back too quickly for them to do any real damage. I heard my trainers struggling and sensed the area around me. They could probably hear my laughter while they tried to untangle themselves from the roots and branches around their legs and arms.
Recently, Daris had been coming out by himself a few times a day to try to get me to do something other than read, but every time he did, I refused. His voice was hard and hollow, and I was sure that his eyes were becoming darker than Travis’s at this point.
“Stay out there and get weaker for all I care! When your father and Travis come for you, let’s just see how well you manage!” he called from the door. Now, that shook me. That made my spine tense, my face flush, and my vision narrow. It made my blood boil and my anger stew; and for the first time since the silent treatment began, I attacked. A twister sliced through the landscape until it slammed into the door. Unfortunately, I had just proved him right. While I was physically strong and powerful, while I was able to come up with arguments to deal with both mother and son, my emotions were crumbling at the base; and I cried. I watched the disappearing light and the appearance of the stars as the tears rolled down my face and I sobbed, loudly.
Part of me hoped that they heard me, that Daris felt the plague of guilt, or that my mom could just appear and be the company I desperately craved. Hell, I would have preferred to wake up in my bed screaming only to discover that everything that had happened was a dream. But that didn’t happen. Instead, Hell started knocking at my front door, literally.
“Sky!” The shriek sliced through the pain to bring nothing but shock. I wiped the tears that were dripping onto my shirt and flew up to the roof so I could look down and see who was so incessantly screaming my name and banging on the door. The shock from moments before was replaced with panic because standing on Daris’s doorstep in their usual almost-naked fashion were Camille and Melanie, and I feared Travis wasn’t all that far behind.
“Skyler!” Camille yelled. “Open the door! We know you’re there. We tracked your phone!” Seriously? They kept knocking and, knowing Daris and Katherine, they were just ignoring it. I was too until Camille started annoying me. “Sky! Get your butt ou
t here! Get out here!” They were giving me a headache.
I jumped from the roof and landed back in the backyard silently. I stomped up to the house, my feet burning the grass. The back door flew open and I saw Katherine and Daris struggling to figure out what to do about the situation. I brushed past them and marched straight to the door with the intent to kill, muttering along the way.
“Blo-”
“Don’t even start.”
He was not allowed to call me that after the emotional rollercoaster he’d caused.
“You can’t let them in,” Katherine ordered. I stared at them.
“I’m angry, not stupid.” I kept moving. I looked back as I got to the door. I thought they were going to break it down with how hard they were knocking. “Besides,” I smiled for the first time in days, a wicked smirk that screamed mischief, “I learned a new trick.”
Earlier, I figured that if I could make fruit grow and move trees with nothing more than a thought, I could do something a bit similar to my body. That was when I thought I had officially lost my mind, but then the unthinkable happened and I made myself into a different person.
That was what I did now. My hair grew longer and darkened to black. My eyes got lighter until they were lighter than the dawn sky. My skin got paler and I added an extra inch to my height, making me look older than I was. The light blue t-shirt I was wearing flared into a casual blouse and my shorts stretch to black leggings. I looked in the mirror and smiled, satisfied with how I had turned out and happy that it worked as opposed to the first few attempts.
Marked by Time (The Mark Series Book 1) Page 20