Ruby Rising

by Leah Cook

  “Do you know who the father was?” I asked.

  “We were sent some pictures…” Tears filled her eyes and her face reddened, I reached across the table and held her shaking hands between mine hoping the small action would help ease her pain a little. “She was, they…there were about six of them, all having sex, it was hard to tell who people were. The angles weren’t very focused on the…on their faces…if you know what I mean.”

  I felt my face turn scarlet matching her own, at least we were both as uncomfortable as each other.

  “The only face in all of the pictures that could be distinguished was my little girl, everyone else’s was just a blur. I never showed her the pictures, I’m not sure she even knew about them, but they were dated six weeks before we found out she was pregnant, I just put two and two together.” She got up and walked to the window, staring out into the garden. “In the pictures, it didn’t look like she was…she didn’t look happy to be there.”

  I closed my eyes as the revelation made my blood run cold. “I’m sorry to ask, but do you still have them? The pictures?”

  “No,” she answered not taking her eyes off the garden, “I’m sorry but I never wanted anyone to see them. I can tell you they were dated March twentieth last year.”

  I realised that it was a year ago yesterday, a lot had changed in the last year.

  “What happened… to her baby?” I felt absolutely terrible asking her, but I knew it was important.

  “At some point Mikayla realised that she wasn’t this Chosen One that and started telling vicious rumours around the entire town, including that Krystal was a slut and that she didn’t know who the father was. Which was true, but not because she didn’t want to know. She just refused to remember the night she fell pregnant. She blacked it out completely. When I asked her she just cried and told me she couldn’t remember anything past a small group sitting together watching TV at Mikayla's. Mikayla went from being her protector to a callous, catty bitch overnight. Sorry, but it does fit her. Krystal was outcast by the entire town overnight. Not just her so called friends, but most of the adults as well. It was disgusting the way they treated her, and us.” Julie walked over to a shelf above the unused open fire place and picked up a small photo frame. Then turned back to me, tears streaming down her face. Walking over she placed the delicate frame in front of me. “She was twenty weeks pregnant when she lost him, she went into labour and they couldn’t stop it. She lost so much blood she was in hospital for two weeks, we nearly lost her twice. We’re not sure why she lost it, the ultrasounds looked fine, they said it might have been her heart not being able to cope, but we’ll never know for sure. When she finally got back to school a month later, everybody knew, and Mikayla told her that at least now she didn’t have to raise a bastard son on her own.”

  I gasped, feeling sick to my stomach. I had no words in me to comfort the grieving mother that came to sit back at the table with me. Her shoulders were slumped and her hands were shaking violently. I picked up the small frame and let the tears fall free from my eyes. I was looking at an ultrasound picture and next to it was an impression of two tiny little feet. Painted in blue the image was heart breaking, underneath someone had written in black pen ‘Rest now my little Mitchell, I will meet you in heaven and hold you forever.’ We were both silent for a few minutes, I needed time to pull myself together and Julie looked to be trying to do the same.

  “Before you ask, we wanted to move, to give her a second go at being a teenager where nobody knew her past. But my husband lost his job because of the rumours, and we had to use all our savings on the mortgage and bills. We nearly lost everything, now I guess we’ve just lost our reason for all of that.”

  The doorbell rang, startling me and Julie.

  “I’m sorry Ruby, I completely forgot that the new priest was coming over this afternoon. Father Thomas, our current priest has always liked to check in on us and see how we are. The church has been so supportive in the last year, especially since Krystal…” She never finished her sentence, but stood to answer the door. I stayed where I was, too overwhelmed with grief and even more questions to move.

  I looked around and noticed the lounge room was full of pictures of Krystal and religious images and paraphernalia. Crosses, statues and rosary beads lay amongst the sympathy cards and flowers on the mantel piece. Prayers were framed and hanging on the walls, it wasn’t over done though, it was beautiful.

  “Ruby, this is Father Michael, our priest.” Following her into the kitchen was a young man, around thirty, dressed in casual clothes. The only give away that he was even a priest was the while collar tucked underneath his shirt. HE had an air of familiarity and I felt an immediate attraction to him. I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he slowly walked into the kitchen.

  I stood and took his outstretched hand. He took it between both of his and looked deep into my eyes with his own striking amber ones. “Nice to meet you Ruby. I’m glad you’re here, seeking the answers that you need.”

  “Um,” I felt myself blushing as he continued to hold my hand. “Nice to meet you too, um, Father.” I hadn’t spoken to a priest since my mother stopped taking me when I was about five. I didn’t ever recall my father going with us, he had some kind of hate for the church, and eventually he had worn my mother down and she had stopped going. I still don’t know what had happened in his life for him to hate religion so much.

  “I saw you at the funeral Ruby, I’m sure Julie and Tom appreciated you coming. This is actually my first week in Primfield, but I’ve known Julie and Tom for a few years now.” He explained, at least I knew where I had remembered him from. He had been sitting opposite me in the church that day.

  I hadn’t noticed Julie leave the room but suddenly I was alone with the attractive priest and I was still a hideous shade of red when he leaned in and quietly whispered in my ear.

  “You can come to me anytime, Ruby, if you need anything, even if you just want to talk or somewhere quiet to sit for a while. God’s house is open to everyone, but especially those who need it the most.”

  His voice was low and deep with a slight huskiness to it, I averted my eyes from his when he finally let go of my hands and I shoved them into my pockets to hide the slight shake that was there. I was ashamed to feel such an attraction to him, a priest of all things, but I couldn’t control the pull he seemed to have on me. I secretly hoped our paths would cross again at some point.

  “Thank you,” was all I said before Julie came into the room carrying a pink envelope and handed it to me. I watched as Phoenix came out from under the table and jumped up onto the priest’s leg, tail wagging ferociously, a little whimper of utter happiness coming out of him. Father Michael bent down on one leg and gave him a good scratch behind the ears while I talked to Julie.

  “This is the letter I was telling you about,” she paused for a moment before letting it go completely. “Will you promise me something?”

  “Anything,” I replied without hesitation. I truly believed that I would keep my promise.

  “If there is anything, at all in there that I should know, regardless of whether it will hurt me or not, will you tell me?” Her eyes pleaded with me.

  “I promise.” She let go of her letter slowly and I knew it was the last thing that Krystal had left with her and while I desperately wanted it I also felt terrible taking it. “Thank you.”

  “I hope you find what you’re looking for, Ruby. I’m sorry I don’t have much else to tell you. Just be careful, especially around Mikayla and Scott.” She hugged me tightly, holding me for nearly a minute. When we pulled apart we both had tears on our faces, we laughed a little and I kissed her cheek and said my goodbyes. I walked slowly home, Phoenix quickly falling into step next to me happily.

  CHAPTER 20

  I put Krystal’s letter on my desk unopened. I didn’t feel ready to open it yet, needing time to let what I had learned from Julie sink in.

  I was also feeling guilty and ashamed by the fierce attraction
I had felt for Father Michael. He was a priest for goodness sake! And what about Scott? I thought to myself. I desperately wanted to cry, but I told myself to suck it up. I didn’t want to cry anymore, especially over a boy. I didn’t know what we were, if we were every anything at all. I trust him completely anymore and I didn’t know if I wanted him in my life, but I wasn’t sure if it would be that easy to get him out of it either.

  I stretched out on my bed, putting one hand under my pillow. I felt something cold and put my hand around it, pulling it out I realised that it was the black onyx dagger that I had found when I was searching for Scott’s things in the debris at camp. I rolled it around my hands staring at it, feeling it in my hands. It was light, but I felt safer knowing it was in my hands, I had to find out what it was, I knew there was more to this beautiful crystal than its colour.

  I opened my laptop and waited for it to load, than went to Google and typed in ‘Black Onyx Dagger’ and stared at over four million results. I sighed scanning the pages, eBay listings, and Amazon listings; everything that had loaded were items for sale. I changed my search to include ‘meaning of’ and hit enter again this time only wielding eight hundred and fifty thousand results. At least that would be doable, considering I was on holidays and had time for it.

  One of the pages gave me a description of the gemstone which didn’t tell me a lot other than its basic properties. Then I came across Sonia Perozzi’s article on Hubpages which indicated that it was a powerful protection stone that had other special properties including rejuvenation, balance, strength, change, and banishing negativity. I wondered why Scott had had it with him at camp.

  I found numerous other pages linking the gem to protection rituals from demons, improving mental focus and self-control. Soon enough the information became repetitive so I put the stone in my pocket, I liked knowing it was there even if I didn’t know what to do with it yet.

  Suddenly, Scott’s mobile beeped and I looked at it, it was a message from Mikayla, at least that’s whose name it was under. I figured I already stole his phone I might as well read his messages. I opened up the message centre and was surprised that there was only the new message there. Opening it, I realised it was Scott.

  Hey Ruby, I’m sorry about the trip going so badly. I don’t really know where to start, but if you’ll meet me at the lake, on the rock, we can talk. I’ll be there at six and stay til seven. If you don’t want to talk then just leave the phone. Scott.

  I didn’t text him back, I checked the time, it was five thirty now, he hadn’t really given me much time to think about it. I did want to confront him about the phone number I had found on his phone.

  I went downstairs and found my mother in the kitchen having a cup of coffee and staring out the window.

  “I made one for you too honey, I was hoping you would come down.” She nodded at the seat opposite her where, sure enough, a steaming hot cup of coffee sat.

  “Thanks Mum,” I sat down, tucking one foot under myself.

  “How did you go with Krystal’s parents?” My mother was relaxed, her fingers brown and dirty from her day in the garden.

  “It was hard, I learnt a few things, but nothing that can explain everything. She, her name’s Julie, gave me a letter that Krystal left for me. But I can’t seem to bring myself to open it yet. I’m not sure I’m ready.” I sipped my coffee and let the warmth seep into me. It was the end of summer but I felt chilled to the bone.

  “You’ll know when it’s the right time honey.” She got up and put her hand on my shoulder. “I’m not feeling the best tonight, so I’m going to have a shower and tuck myself into bed with a book. Can you get your own dinner tonight?”

  “Yeah no worries, I was going to go for a walk soon though, it’s still light out.” I looked up to my mother, she did look slightly pale and tired. “Are you sure you’re alright though? I don’t mind staying in if you want.”

  She gave me her smile that was meant to make me feel fine about leaving her but failed dismally. “No honey, it’s okay really, nothing a good night sleep wouldn’t fix.”

  I stood up, hugged her and thanked her.

  “For what?” she asked.

  “Just for being there for me without asking too many questions and letting me try and work this one out for myself.” She gave me a little kiss and headed for her bathroom.

  I looked at the c lock, it was six now, I patted my pocket where the little dagger was and walked out the door, this time deciding to leave Phoenix at home. I didn’t want to be distracted with him around the lake again.

  When I reached the rock Scott was already there, staring out over the water.

  “Hi,” I said as I sat next to him on the rock, immediately feeling the intensity of our physical connection from being so close to him.

  “Thanks for coming, I didn’t think you were going to show. I mean, I didn’t know if you would want to.” His nervousness reminded me of being on a first date and that feeling of trepidation as you walk into the unknown. I smiled a little at him confusing him further. “Can I ask what you’re smiling about? I’m so nervous I’m about to vomit and you’re smiling?”

  “I think it’s a nervous thing,” I answered. “I need you to be honest with me and I’m not sure you’re going to be.”

  His eyes met mine for the first time since I’d arrived, my hand instantly going to his face. His eyes were blue, a beautiful sky blue and in that moment I wanted to fall into them forever. I’d seen this blue so many times now that I knew it was his natural colour. He had a large gash above his eye with eye Steri-strips across it but they didn’t hide the several stiches that has been carefully sewn there.

  “Mikayla…kicked me out…” he began, “of youth group. Well actually it’s more like a banishment. I know you know a little bit, but, she can do things, to people, to your mind.” His eyes were full of truth, “she made me tell her…what I thought you knew...what I thought you were. She’s going to come after you Ruby, but I’m not sure if she wants to kill you or use you.”

  I pulled away from him, the physical contact making my head cloudy. “She wants my water ability? I’m pretty sure she already has that and more, there’s nothing else I have that she would want.”

  “You still don’t know what you are, do you Ruby?” He stood up in front of me.

  “I’m not this Chosen One that you all think I am, I don’t know why she thinks I’m so damn special.” I raised my voice, but tried to keep calm and I had flashes of what happened on the mountain. “I didn’t fall on that damn hike did I? She had people hold me down…she… dammit I can’t remember!” I pushed at Scott in the chest, he took a step backwards. “What did she do Scott? Why didn’t you stop her?”

  I pushed again and he staggered backwards, I felt the anger running through me and my adrenalin started pumping.

  “Ruby, you don’t understand.” He staggered again, the air whooshing from his lungs as I pushed again. “Ruby, you have to calm down, you’re going to hurt me!”

  I stopped, my nostrils flared as I tried to control the power that had grown within me. My breaths were deep and ragged and tears threatened to spill down my face.

  “The girl you were touching, the one you stopped from fighting? She, Mikayla has no hold on her anymore. She left the youth group and Mikayla couldn’t do anything about it. Nobody leaves the group, do you understand? You either stay in or you…”

  “What?” I started pacing.

  “I think that you are more than us, more than Mikayla, you just don’t know it yet. Or you don’t want to know. I don’t remember…look I’ve lost parts of my memory and I’ve been kept out of the loop since I told her I was in love with you. Ruby, there is so much more I need to tell you. Can we go to your place?”

  He did love me! Part of me was relieved that it wasn’t some idea that I had concocted in my head.

  “First I need you to answer a question for me. Why you have my father’s work number in your mobile.” I pulled out his phone and handed it to him
, slamming it into the palm of his hand. I stared at him as the hairs on the back of my neck rose and I turned to see Mikayla and a small group trailing behind her. There was about ten of them all together and they didn’t look like they wanted to talk.

  “Big brother, I thought we had an agreement.” Mikayla raised her hands and flicked, Scott fell to his back his head bouncing off the ground.

  “Mikayla!” I directed all my rage at her, everything that was still lingering from being so worked up by Scott. I raised my hands and pushed them out towards Mikayla’s group, a massive pulse released, throwing me back onto the ground. I scrambled onto my feet to see the wave hit Mikayla and her group like a nuclear bomb. No fire, no flames, it was just air. Mikayla wasn’t affected by it and just raised that really annoying eye brow of hers. The rest of the group had been knocked down, by the force of the gust but they quickly regained their footing, flanking Mikayla.