by Sarah Ripley
No matter how much I wanted to ignore the craziness, there were too many things happening that coincided with his story.
I was stronger. Breaking the globe proved that. My body felt stronger too. I was having visions. Kian knew the girl I’d described. He even gave her a name. Dialexa.
My body was healing before my very eyes. He’d told me that it was very hard to kill our kind.
I knew things about him. Things I shouldn’t know.
And I was drawn to him. There was no denying that. No matter how much my logical brain told me I was talking to an insane person, another quieter voice pushed me to go back to him for more.
I banged on the door a second time. Harder. Over the sound of the television someone moved towards the door. But it wasn’t Kian. It was Micah. He took one look at my face and glanced over my head to see if there was anyone else behind me.
“You’d better come in,” he said. “Kian’s not here but I’m sure he’s not too far behind.”
I stepped into the room and Micah closed the door behind us. Inside it was nice and warm, I hadn’t really been aware of how cold I was until I felt the heat. Pulling off my hat, I stayed as close to the door as possible. I didn’t quite know what to do.
“You can come inside,” Micah said. “It’s not paradise but it’s comfy. Better than what I would have expected for such a small town. Not that I’m an expert or anything. I’ve slept in much worse, believe me.”
I nodded and sat down at the small table beside the door. Leaving my coat on, I placed my hands on the table.
“Where’s Kian?” I asked.
“At your house,” Micah said with a bit of a smile. “He went out to keep watch. He’s concerned about your safety. Apparently he’s not as good of a protector as he thinks he is. You certainly had no trouble giving him the slip.”
“He’s been watching me?”
“We both have. Every night since we got here.”
I was a little put off by this. “So you know what he told me? You believe it’s true? Does that mean you’re just like Kian?”
Micah sat down on the bed and picked up the remote for the television. “I think that’s something you need to discuss with him.”
Micah turned up the volume so there was nothing to do but stare at the television for the next several minutes. It didn’t take Kian long to show up. He was panting and his face was bright red, he must have run all the way from my house. I had to wait while he tried to catch his breath. Micah found the entire event amusing. He slapped Kian on the back.
“You’ve grown soft.” He winked at me. “I’ll let you two talk. I think I’m going to walk down to the store and get me something to drink.”
Once he left, Kian sat down on the bed until his breathing slowed. At one point he looked at me and the fear in his eyes was so intense that my feet grew cold and a trickling bit of cold ice shot down my back.
“When I got to your house and realised you were gone, I thought I’d lost you again,” he finally said. His voice cracked and trembled.
I was going to give him a smart remark back, something along the lines of giving him my schedule for the next week but when I opened my mouth I couldn’t say the words. His breathing was still heavy, his eyes wide and watery, the colour of a dark bruise. The veins on his arms stood out against his pale skin and his hands were red and shaking. I wanted to reach out and touch his fingers, hold them close to my body and warm them.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“What were you thinking? Sneaking around in the middle of the night after what happened today?” He began to pace around the room, his feet thumping on the carpet as he walked. “Can’t you see how much danger you’re putting yourself in?”
“I didn’t think...”
“You need to start thinking. A single foolish mistake can get you killed.”
I was speechless. I wanted to argue that it hadn’t been a big deal. I’d walked from our house to the motel thousands of times. But the panic in his voice scared me. He was terrified.
“I’m sorry,” I said again. How many more times would it take before he forgave me? I still wasn’t exactly sure of what my crimes were. “Isn’t this a bit excessive? Nothing happened.”
“I thought you were dead. I was coming back to get Micah,” he said. Pausing, he looked at me, suddenly realising I was actually in front of him. “Why are you here? I thought you hated me.”
“I don’t hate you. I just don’t know what to think anymore.”
I got up off the chair and went over to the bed. Unzipping my jacket, I sat down beside him, close enough to talk but far enough to keep a distance. I wanted to be looking directly at his eyes when I asked my next question.
“What am I?”
He didn’t even blink. “You’re cursed.”
“You told me that,” I said. “I need a bit more explanation. I removed a piece of glass from my hand and watched myself heal before my eyes.” I held up my hand to show him the place where my skin looked smooth and soft. “Explain to me how that’s even remotely possible.”
“We heal fast.”
“Just like that?”
He sighed as if I were just being an impatient child. “There’s more. But in order to understand, you need to hear that you’re different.”
“One of a kind, huh?” The sarcasm was back.
“For our race, yes.” Kian pulled off his jacket and left it crumpled on the bed. “You’re Unfaded.”
"And what exactly is that?"
"We've been called many things throughout history. Immortals. Demons. Gods. Amata. None of that is true. We're simply a subspecies. But we've always preferred Unfaded."
“If I’m Unfaded, then why do I keep dying?”
“Because you’re cursed.”
“Yes, I got that.”
“Five thousand years ago, twins were born,” he said. “Dialexa and Apani. It was a rare occurrence because the mother was human. It would be the equivalence of breeding a house cat with a lion. Up until then it was almost completely unheard of. It's still very rare.”
“I have a sister? That girl in my visions?”
“Yes,” he said. “I don’t know the entire history because it was before my time. Most of what I know is story tale legend. But I can tell you if you'd like."
I nodded.
"It starts with an Unfaded named Rafferty," Kian began. "Your father."
Kian took a deep breath and then began to talk
Rafferty seduced a mortal girl for fun. When he found out she was pregnant, he developed a plan over what to do with the unborn child. A half-human, half-unfaded child would have special powers. Not only would they have eternal life and their own share of magic, they would have the ability and understanding to live amongst the humans. Back then, there was a terrible rift between Human and Unfaded. Now there was only resentment. There were too many differences and wars had been fought. Both sides harboured intense feelings for each other. Rafferty was one of the Unfaded who hated everything Human. He felt a half breed baby would be a great benefit in his determination to destroy the human race.
Not all Unfaded dislike the human race. Many of them preferred to live amongst them and still do today. But Rafferty wasn’t one of them. Playing with the humans was one thing, being equal was another. He felt the humans were too stupid to survive and was more than happy to consider wiping them off the slate. By having this child, he figured this was a good way to enslave mankind. He decided he would raise the child. It would give him the perfect weapon to destroy humanity.
But the other Unfaded feared this idea and decided they’d have to do something. They knew the power would be too great. But at the same time, they never considered the option of destroying the child for their own greed was apparent. If they could raise this human to be good, then there was a possibility that the world could be a better place. Because Unfaded, although greedy themselves, are not really terrible beings. They just exist differently than humans do. They liked the idea of ha
ving a link to the human world. They were becoming extinct through wars of their own and there was a great fear that the Unfaded might die out. It was getting harder for them to breed with each other, so if this possibility worked, if this human child could be born and still be eternal, it would open up doors to the decline of their race.
Both sides waited for the birth, neither of them taking into consideration the thoughts and feelings of the mother who was very much aware of what was going on. She didn’t want either side to take possession of the child. It was her child.
Just before the baby was born, she entrusted the help of a lower maid to fool the Unfaded. It wasn’t the best arrangement but time was running out and she didn’t have a lot to work with. She summoned the head of the Unfaded, Aelin, and discussed her fears about Rafferty. Aelin agreed to help her and made plans for fifty carriages to be present the day of the birth. New born babies would be placed inside each and every one and sent off to all corners of the earth. With some plotting of the mother and her maid, only they would know which carriage held her real child. When she was stronger, she would go and collect the child to be raised by her alone. She allowed Aelin to place a spell upon her unborn baby, a great and terrible magic that would allow the child to remain human until its eighteenth birthday. This way the baby would be raised in the real world without intervention. Aelin hoped that Rafferty would lose interest once he realised he’d been tricked and that the child was gone.
The day of the birth brought about a battle between the Unfaded that would last for a thousand days. The commotion was so great that the majority of them almost forgot about the baby. To the family’s delight, shortly before dawn, the girl gave birth to not one child but two identical girls with thick heads of shiny black hair and pure green eyes. The mother passed her babies onto her maid who dutifully placed each one in a basket of their own and sent all fifty carriages out into the world.
But Rafferty had been waiting for her all along. But he, like the others hadn’t been expecting the second birth and was only able to stop the one carriage. Plucking his child away, he took her to his home at the furthest corner of the unknown world. He raised her the only way he could, showing her only the truest horrors that exist on earth. He showed her what humans were truly capable of. Their cruelness. Their stupidity. Their ability to destroy the very things they try to build. Their wars. Their plagues. Their inability to truly understand anything that is different. The child’s heart became black with darkness and her evil soul became legendary as she grew. Her name was Dialexa and she was feared across all ends of the earth.
The other girl escaped with her maid out of the woods and into another part of the world far away from the beautiful forest and the feuding Unfaded. Aside from the terrified maid, only one other person knew of her whereabouts. But alas, her mother, weakened from the birth, developed a terrible fever and the blood life slowly slipped from her body. She barely made it through the first night and died shortly after, secure in the arms of her father. She never came for the child and the poor maid, confused and unable to come up with a plan of her own, eventually gave her over to a village where she was raised as one of their own. She spent her childhood in the isolated hills and valleys where people lived simple and easy lives. She learned how beautiful the morning sun looked as it rose over the hilltop. She took care of her adoptive father’s house and helped him with the animals and cultivating the farm. She studied healing and it wasn’t long before people came from all over to beg her expertise. Her name became Apani.
But her perfect life was not destined to last.
On her eighteenth birthday, Dialexa was already feared throughout the Unfaded Kingdom. Her cruelty and cunning were talked about in whispers by those who knew her name. Like her father, she loathed all things human, especially herself because she wasn’t pure blood. She could often feel the humanity inside, trying to break free. It created rifts in her aura and kept her from becoming the true demon she wanted to be. She wanted power and convinced herself that humanity was to blame for her mistakes and weaknesses. If the humans were gone she’d never have to compare herself to them again. She conspired with Rafferty to create a war between the Unfaded and the humans. A war so gigantic and bloody, in the end there would be no more mortals to walk the earth. But Aelin refused to allow them to play their game. She decreed by Unfaded law, that anyone conspiring with them would be excommunicated and forced to live amongst the humans. It was enough to keep many of the Unfaded from joining their side. But some of them, mostly the ones who were tired of Aelin's rule, came over willingly. Bit by bit, the army grew.
But before Dialexa could begin this war, she was determined to find her sister. Her twin sister whom she believed would be exactly like her. If she could find Apani, then she’d become indestructible.
It didn’t take long for Dialexa to track down her sister. Blood calls to blood and the Unfaded had a way of recognizing their own kind. A sixth sense one might call it but it was more of an awareness. One could feel and see energy if they understood it enough. Dialexa was able to take it one step forward because she was a twin. There was a special bond that kept them together, even though they’d never met.
Apani knew her sister was coming a week before the arrival. Even more interesting, no one had ever told her about Dialexa because her adopted family didn’t know themselves. But she’d always been aware of her other half. There was power between them. So much that it called to her from across the world. Even though Apani wasn’t aware of her Unfaded heritage, she did recognize she was different. She could do things that others couldn’t. She could heal people just by touching their skin. She could use the energy inside her body to light up an entire evening sky. And sometimes she could whisper to the wind and send messages to the sister she’d never met. She kept these things to herself, knowing full well that the villagers wouldn’t understand and would be frightened if they knew what she could do.
When she knew Dialexa was close, Apani packed a few supplies and hiked out into the field to meet with her. Being that she’d spent her entire life in the peaceful village, she was unable to recognize evil when she saw it. She embraced her sister without fear, without knowledge of the horror’s her sister had created.
Dialexa knew immediately that she could use her sister to her advantage so she convinced her to come away with her. She promised to show her the wonders of the world and give her the link she needed to understand her birthright.
Apani agreed and together they headed off into the world. There would be no stopping them.
"You were both terribly powerful, more than anyone had ever seen before. The story gets a little muddled after that. All I know is that eventually you were trapped and cornered by Aelin and her people. To escape, Dialexa placed a curse on the two of you, stating that each time you were killed off, you’d be reborn. Since then, members of the Council have made it their lives work to keep either of you from reaching your full powers. Until the curse is broken and neither of you live again.”
Every time this Unfaded falls, I shall be reborn. The words came into my head as if they’d been there all along. Had I once spoken them, or was it my sister, cursing us on our deathbed?
“What happens if we reach our full powers?” My stomach clenched, I knew the answer couldn’t be good. Why else would they kill us over and over for thousands of years if the answer was all rainbows and unicorns?
“The world ends,” he said. “The humans. All gone.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “How can that be possible? Do I look like the kind of person who’d want to destroy the world?”
Kian shook his head. “That’s why I’m hated by my own kind. I refused to believe the stories. I’ve made it my life’s journey to save you, not hunt you down and kill you.”
“How many Unfaded are there?” I asked. “I’ve all ready met Anique and Sobek. How many of them are looking for me? What about my sister? Is she alive?”
Kian took a deep breath. “There aren’t many
of us left in the world. We’re a dying breed if that sounds possible. War destroyed the majority of us and the rest have slowly died through accidents, murders, and whatnot. See, we may not age but we can still die. It’s harder but still possible. There’s maybe a thousand of us left, scattered throughout the world. The majority of them are peaceful and keep to themselves. Not all of us agree with Aelin and the council’s decision to continue hunting you. But aside from Micah and me, there’s no one around to protect you. And Anique and Sobek are believers.”
“What about my sister.”
“As far as I know, she’s still alive. Reborn as you were. But location unknown.”
“So you mean somewhere in the world there’s another girl like me having the same memories and probably completely unaware of what they mean?”
“Probably.”
I leaned back and closed my eyes. I felt sorry for that unknown girl. What would have happened to me if Kian hadn’t been here to explain things? I probably would have ended up in a psychiatric hospital thinking I was Napoleon or Marilyn Monroe or something equally freaky. But was Kian telling the truth or was I simply looking for an excuse? Thinking hard, I knew I was beginning to believe him even though the sane part of my brain was screaming at me for being so gullible. But I couldn’t ignore the things that were happening to me. The visions were real. The timing thing, however, was nagging me.
“How is it that I never had any of these visions until I met you?” I demanded. “It’s awfully coincidental if you ask me.”
“It could be,” he said. “But I think it’s more likely that a part of you recognized who I was. We can spot our own kind.”
“So seeing you triggered something in me?”
“Yes.”