The Broken Destiny

by Carlyle Labuschagne

  I forged a smile, forcing myself to believe him. He gently kissed me again and I felt myself fall. I let go of all my fears for a moment. I won’t let anyone rip this away from me. I deserve this. His hands slid over my back and my stomach made another startled turn. I felt heat generate from places deep inside me that would make any woman blush. As we kissed, I breathed deeply as if I was inhaling his essence. It felt wrong, but the more wrong it felt, the more excited I got. I took it in until the wrong felt so right. The more excited I got, the more I started to lose control.

  “No.” I pushed him away.

  “Did I do something wrong, Ava?”

  I could read the disappointment in his face. I walked away from him and sat down on the sofa.

  “This is wrong. It is so wrong in so many ways.”

  He stood still for a moment, his ice blue eyes turning even icier. Then, he looked down, smiled and walked over to me. He sat down on the small table in front of me and sighed.

  “Explain how this could be wrong.”

  “You’re too old for me and you’re all kinds of dark.” I looked down at my hands, swallowing the words as they came out. “Every girl’s fantasy right?”

  “Is that all?” He pulled my face toward his.

  I breathed deeply. I didn’t want to say it, say that we should end it. For once, I had let myself jump in with both feet. I didn’t want it to be over, and hoped I would survive it.

  “Maya… she said to stay away,” I said softly.

  I felt him tense up.

  “Let me handle Maya.”

  He pushed me back onto the couch and his lips met mine fiercely. I felt the awkward burn for him. I grabbed him by his collar and held him away from me.

  “No!”

  “What now?”

  He got off me, sat next to me, put one of his long arms around my neck and gave me a wicked smile.

  “Is this all I am to you?” I asked.

  “I like you, Ava. I like you too much for my own good.” He pulled me closer. I stared in his eyes feeling the fall ripple through me.

  “He’s no good for you, Ava.”

  I turned my head to where Maya was leaning against the wall. Her arms were crossed over her chest. I hadn’t heard her approaching. I had been too distracted. I felt myself turn scarlet. I got up from the couch, glared at Enoch and walked over to Maya.

  “Goodnight,” I said to both of them and retreated to Maya’s room.

  I couldn’t sleep at first as excitement and anxiety built up inside me every time I thought of Enoch. How he felt on top of me, his hands on my body, the cold burn of his kisses. I couldn’t imagine what Maya and he were discussing. I wondered if I would be asked to leave in the morning. I knew it had been wrong to do what I did, but I couldn’t figure out why something was wrong if it felt so good. I fell asleep before Maya climbed back into bed. I didn’t dream that night. It felt strange for me to not dream, much the same as not breathing.

  Weeks had passed without Enoch mentioning what he and Maya had said to one another that night. We had begun to live in a distinctive pattern. The warriors recruiting and training most of the day, while Arriana and Anaya ceased their usual village duties to intensively train Maya and I in the ways of mental focus. They taught us to build on our existing talents. Kronan brought small injured animals for Maya to practice on. At first she could only heal cuts and bruises, but she eventually healed broken bones. I couldn’t harness my powers. I couldn’t do anything with my mind. Nothing had come to me yet. It was as if I had no powers at all. An important lesson we learned was that our actions had consequences. I didn’t see it at first. Maya tried to read my mind and I tried to read hers, but after numerous failures we guessed that our species didn’t have that ability. So far, healing was the only ability she possessed.

  When Enoch came home from a day of training he was exhausted, battered and bruised. I used to tease him about getting old. We continued seeing each other on the sly. He wouldn’t admit it, but I knew it. I denied it too after a while. I could feel passion in his kisses and in his touch. I was totally infatuated. When we were together, nothing else mattered. The heat between us was self-explanatory. I mistook it for love. Even though he had never said it, I had assumed it. He became gentler and less angry with each passing moment we spent together. I mistook that for love, too. For a while, it felt like I was on top of the universe. I didn’t realize that I was about to fall.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Perfect Lies and Beautiful Denials

  I woke to a loud scream that left me shuddering. I leaped out of bed and ran as fast as my legs could carry me, my breath almost knocked out of me as I hauled ass down the passage in the direction that the screams were coming from. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Maya spread across the floor, her hair strewn all around her head. I could do nothing but stare as Anaya fell beside her, listening for a heartbeat. She was just lying there, pale, helpless and limp. Anaya swept the hair out of her face to check her pupils. Still, I stood. The hollow burn in my legs nudged my consciousness. Something was happening to Maya, I could feel it course through me. I pushed the pain down and just stood there, watching intently as her lips turned blue.

  “Move.” Arriana said as she pushed Tatos and Anaya out of her way and dropped beside Maya. How she could see through her blindness always astonished me. She was blind, but moved like it didn’t affect her sight at all.

  Arriana held out her hand. “Tatos, the elixir.”

  She, herself, looked weakened by the constant use of her powers. She pulled out a crystal from somewhere inside her traditional robe.

  Enoch rushed in, headed straight to his family and knelt next to Maya. And still, I stood watching, mouth agape, beads of sweat running down my chest and dotting my forehead. It all happened so fast, but yet it felt like forever as the scene unfolded before me. Enoch made it to the other side of the room in a few strides. He grabbed a blue wooden box adorned with golden filigree, which kept all the semiprecious stones in place, and on its lid the purple of amethyst, the pink of rose quartz and the iridescent golden brown of the tiger’s eye, glinted in the light of the fire. Tatos moved to lift Maya’s head as Arriana poured the elixir down her throat. Anaya started on what could only be described as CPR. Enoch encircled them with all kinds of crystals from the box. Arriana held a white glassy rock over Maya. Little by little, the horror sank me to the floor. I slid down the wall until my legs were stretched out before me. I continued to watch helplessly. If I’d known just one prayer, I would have invoked my soul.

  “Monga Noringa sunoch ka trinclerso. Monga Noringa sunoch ka triclerso!” Arriana chanted.

  The others slowly joined in. Rion burst through the doors, his face pale as he took in the scene before him. Before long he started the chant, a deep intent burning in his dark eyes. Steadily, a glowing sphere formed around Maya. The already balmy room started to rise in temperature. The warm, golden glow encircling us intensified. I felt the world float around me as the golden sphere grew into an almost solid orb of light. Rion proclaimed his love for Maya – no one flinched at his declaration. I assumed that they didn’t like the Chief’s son much either, but now that Maya was not one of them, I presumed that the marriage was off. Having crawled to where Maya lay, I looked at my sister and told her to hold on. I let her know that I too had been there, in that darkness. As Anaya tried to resuscitate her one more time, giving her the breath of life, I felt my legs move. My body carried me outside in a fit of rage. I had no recollection of opening the door.

  “Come and get me you coward!” I screamed.

  My voice echoed back through the thick, gray fog.

  I drew in a deep breath and spun around as I scanned every bush. Focusing my super-hearing, I listened for any subtle sounds anywhere within the vicinity of the village and into the distance.

  “I know you are out there, you asshole! Show your face!” I screamed.

  My throat burned as I continued to rant.

  “What are you afr
aid of, huh?” I screamed in every direction. My voice carried down to the nearby river. I stared at the gate, the gems dull from the lack of light. But, the valley only mocked back with silence.

  “I am waiting!” I screamed one more time.

  Out of the blue, Enoch stood before me, shaking me. I couldn’t hear what he was saying over the mad rush of adrenaline coursing through the veins in my ears. I should have noticed how my anger weakened my senses. His arms enveloped me and all I could do was stare – only managing to see red. When I eventually registered that he was right in front of me, I started to cry. The whole world seemed to stop as I crumbled into his arms.

  “It’s going to be okay.” He murmured.

  All I could do was sniff into his dark shirt.

  “She will be fine. My mom knows what she’s doing.”

  Enoch turned me back toward the front door and led me up the steps at the exact time Anaya came running out with a blanket. She wrapped it around me, warming my naked legs against the chill. Old habits die hard.

  “I hate this,” I said to her.

  She just held me closer.

  After the episode, most of us were grim and exhausted, sticking to our separate spaces; Anaya was back at the stove, Tatos tended to the fire and Enoch and Willard gathered wood. I watched Maya’s chest slowly rise and fall with each breath. Tatos had been so kind to keep the fire going in Maya’s room because I had left my pants lying on the floor along with my mood. I sat in the warm chair beside the fire wrapped up in the blanket, keeping an inspector’s eye on my sister to make sure he wasn’t coming for her again. She had almost died. He was threatening her to get to me. I knew it.

  I placed a call to Sam.

  “Is she alright?”

  “She’s strong,” I told her.

  “I can’t believe I have a sister,” I said distantly. My mind in a million places all at once.

  “We’re having daily drills now, and they’ve increased the number of guards,” Sam continued, ignoring what I’d just said.

  “I hate this.” I said to her.

  “I don’t,” Sam said.

  “What?”

  “Well, we’re all in this together, Ava. You should see it. Everyone is buzzing over this super-human thing…”

  “They know?”

  “Yeah. The truth had to come out sometime.”

  “You told them.” I rolled my eyes. “Of course you told them.”

  There was a slight pause.

  “They’re saying that there’s some kind of superwoman inside of you just waiting to burst out and whip some Zulu ass,” she pronounced. “Guess they’ve watched too many superhero movies.” She said, laughing.

  I, too, laughed, wishing it was that easy. I wanted to tell Sam about the strange color of my blood and that I suspected I wasn’t human at all, but I didn’t. I guess I was scared that she would reject me like all the girls in the dormitory had, like Kim, like the Council. But who cared about them right?

  “I haven’t started any real training yet.” I said to her.

  “But, you have trained for a while now?” She questioned.

  “I suppose, if that’s what you call training, Sam. I still don’t know how to hold a knife, draw a sword or punch someone.” I snickered.

  Sam laughed. “Perhaps you not supposed to defeat him with your action hero moves.”

  “I don’t know why they’re hesitating. Obviously, the threat is growing with every second that passes,” I said.

  Sam sighed. “Robert and his gang have taken me in under their wing.”

  There was silence. Slight jealousy rose up inside me. She hoped it would motivate me to leave.

  “We want you to come back, Ava.” She finally said.

  “Even Troy?” I dared ask.

  “You know he won’t admit it.”

  I snickered. “He will.” I smiled, all knowing. I didn’t see it any other way. I would wait for him.

  “So you’re coming back then?” She asked.

  “Maya needs me.” I deflected the subject.

  “She’s one of us now.” She stated.

  “It’s not that simple, Sam. She has… she has a family here.”

  “You mean you have a family.”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “Ava, you don’t belong there and I don’t trust Enoch.”

  “Sam, I don’t want to hear it.”

  There was a long pause followed by Sam breathing loudly into her device.

  “Why are you doing this to yourself?”

  “What?”

  “I know you, Ava. You’re running away from something and you’re going to get hurt… or get yourself killed in the process.”

  “Sam, please.”

  The line was quiet once again.

  “We’re coming to fetch you.” She said adamantly.

  “You can’t do that,” I said.

  “Watch me.”

  After a slight pause, I uttered softly, “Sam?”

  “Yes.”

  “You are coming to see me tomorrow, aren’t you? For my birthday.”

  “Yes, of course I am.” she replied.

  “Pack your bags then! I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She hung up and I laughed at her determination to win me over, like it was ever up to me where I stayed.

  When I looked over to Maya’s bed, I saw her smiling back at me through twinkling eyes.

  “Hello, you,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief at seeing her laying there blinking at me.

  “What time is it?” she asked and tried to pull herself up.

  “No, let me.” I said, getting up to attend to her.

  “Ava,” she said, raising her head. “I’m a quick healer. It’s one of my powers.” She grinned.

  “Oh, you have powers now?” I mocked.

  “You’re not the only special one around here,” she teased.

  We burst out laughing.

  After I had taken a nice hot bath, slid into a tight pair of jeans and a thick coat, I headed out to the porch, where Anaya and Tatos were hanging up some decorations; beautiful colored paper lanterns in every color and size.

  “Is that all for me?” I inquired, closing the door behind me.

  Anaya swung off her chair when I startled her with my unusually cheerful tone, but Tatos caught her before she could lose her balance. I guess being around someone your entire life enabled you to become perceptive to the other’s reactions.

  I smiled wildly. “That’s just so sweet!” I cocked my head. I hadn’t been in such a good mood in a very long time.

  As I reached the far end of the deck, the wind blew boisterously throughout the valley; the cold spray of rain hit my face like tiny pebbles of stone. I moved back under the roof.

  I turned to them. “We should postpone it until after…” I didn’t want to say the word. The word ‘war’ was so final.

  Anaya looked amused. “You’re not getting off that easily.” She grinned at me.

  “I really, really think it’s a bad idea. I have a bad feeling.” I pleaded.

  “The whole village is looking forward to finally meeting you.”

  “Why?” I asked, choking on my own spit with surprise. I’d been there so long, and all I got was silence and happy smiles from the villagers. Did their customs call for a formal meeting before one could hold a conversation?

  “Well…” She turned to Tatos. “You are the only one who has survived numerous attacks from the Isithunzi.”

  “The what?” I pulled a face.

  “The Shadow,” Tatos explained without looking at me while he hung the blue lantern from the wooden beams across the porch roof. I noticed that all the wooden pillars now had some kind of flower twirling around them, all the way to the floor. Minoans obviously had a good relationship with flora to be able to conjure up new plants like that.

  “You know, my dear…” It was Arriana. She had come up behind me. Her hair was wet and she worked her fingers through the knots. She was so beautiful;
I just wished she dressed differently. I thought she was way too young to resemble an old lady.

  “You’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for,” she said.

  “I know.” The sarcasm rolled off my tongue. “You keep telling me that.”

  I looked down at Arriana as she sat at her spinning wheel. She pulled her long hair into a high pony and flung a lump of wet clay on to the flat surface of the wheel.

  “Tall and narrow, or shallow and bulky?” she asked.

  Puzzled, I met her gaze. “I won’t even be able to take on a squirrel, let alone a witchdoctor.”

  “Oh, get over it!” Arriana retorted playfully.

  I began to question how playful it had been. I hadn’t seen her mouth move.

  “Tall and narrow it is then.” Arriana proclaimed.

  I frowned.

  Anaya laughed. “My sister is making you a vase – as a gift.”

  “Oh,” I said, surprised.

  My eyes fell on Enoch as he came through the little gate at the end of the cobblestone path. He smiled and summoned me with one of his fingers to join him over by the Jacaranda tree. Quickly, I looked to Anaya who nudged me on with a smile and a soft touch of the shoulder. It was finally happening, us being together, the way I had hoped. Well, it had taken him long enough, I thought.

  “Go,” she mouthed as I hesitated.

  Pulling my hood over my head, I met him halfway up the path where I stood motionless in front of him. I strained my neck as I looked up to meet his gaze, his eyes once again taking on that glacier look as he stared into the distance. I knew that when his eyes were that color, he wasn’t really in a good mood. I figured he was still tired. He suddenly smiled down at me, but not convincingly.

  “Come.” He took my arm gently.

  I looked back at Anaya and Tatos who were still hanging up lanterns, and found myself staring at their backs for a second before I moved my feet.

  “What is it, Enoch?” I asked nervously. He is going to break up with me, I thought.

  “Come,” he said, motioning toward the clearing under the enormous Jacaranda tree.