The Defender (The Elkavians Book 1)

by S. H. Magillian

  “What does that mean?” he asked angrily. “Are you going to run to him because I’m not telling you what you want to hear? Is that it?” Alexis was perplexed that he knew she was divided between them both. “I’m not the only one who has secrets, am I?” he asked acidly.

  She was shocked to see him turn his back at her and leave the clearing. She was about to walk after him when she realized that that was probably what he wanted. He had found a way of turning the tables. She was not going to fall for that. She sat on the grass and checked her phone. Samil hadn’t read her messages yet. Inside her heart, there was nothing but agony and frustration. She felt her hands burn urging her to knock trees down, break things, and make all go away. She tried to suppress it but the pain it caused her was unbearable, leaving her no other choice but to destroy a couple of trees. After releasing it, Alexis lay down on the grass. For an hour, she allowed a bunch of eccentric thoughts invade her mind. Her imagination went from finding out she had amazing skills, a mix of Wonder Woman and Jean Grey, to kissing Samil; from a time when Margaret’s sheer meanness was her major concern to making love with Ethan; from not wanting to hurt her mom to running away alone and leaving everything behind. She screamed at the top of her lungs and took a deep breath afterward. She felt better. As she would walk her way back home, she got her phone and put some music on. In this moment, Ritual was certainly an appropriate album for that moment of her life. She went back home listening to it in the maximum volume, singing out loud. All her attention given to the lyrics. That was the only way she knew to avoid thinking about anything, music.

  Lucky for her, Anna hadn’t arrived home yet, so she wouldn’t have to give any explanation to why she had left school earlier. She checked her phone. No sign of neither Samil nor Ethan and that was a relief. She could use a break, even though the possibility of never seen Samil again was too terrifying to even be considered. Alexis closed her bedroom door, took her sneakers off and got the diary Samil had given her. She had just opened it when her phone vibrated. Her heart raced. She quickly got it hoping that it would be Samil. Much to her disappointment, it was a message from Mia. She wanted to know what had happened because she hadn’t seen her leave. Apparently, no one had. Being aware of that, Alexis realized that Ethan had been reckless only to please her. She felt bad for having argued with him. Confusion defined her. She felt as if Ethan and Samil were both playing games with her, driving her insane only to get what they wanted from her and whatever that was, it couldn’t be any good or else why would they hide it from her? She looked at the diary. She couldn’t say that Samil was hiding things from her. He seemed to be the only one willing to talk and now he was gone, and that was her fault.

  “Dear diary,

  The time to make a decision has come. I can accept who I am and take up my duties or pack my things and disappear hoping that all this madness will never find me again. I haven’t seen the amulet yet, but my father insists that it will find me no matter where I go, and the idea that there’s nowhere to hide is quite unsettling.”

  Alexis found weird that there was nothing else written on that page, and the next entry seemed to have taken place quite a while later and in a rush.

  “I have no one left. My parents are dead. The amulet is a curse, and even though I am convinced it must be destroyed, I can’t do it myself. Whenever I get near it, I am completely controlled by it. It owns me. I must find a way out.”

  The fact that the writer’s parents were dead and that he thought the amulet was a curse was not a good omen. If Alexis's life was already a mess without her having ever seen the amulet, she could not foresee how things would be when she had it in her hands. She feared for her mother’s life more than ever. She wondered if the amulet was responsible for the writer’s parents’ death. He had written that it was a curse. What if she was the guardian of an evil artifact? She couldn’t deny that she had wanted to kill Margaret and that she would probably have done so if Samil hadn’t interfered. She got back to the diary.

  “I found another Elkavian. He seems much more prepared than I am to protect the amulet, so I can finally turn my back on it. I will have a life of my own, and hopefully, I’ll never write another word in you.”

  Alexis rushed to turn the page and unfortunately for the writer, there were many more pages written after that. She closed the diary saddened to know that he had not escaped his fate. And that reinforced that she had very few chances of doing so herself. She lay down and closed her eyes. She could use some sleep.

  Anna slammed the door. Morgan would arrive in a few minutes, and she had just arrived home from work. She would barely have enough time to take a good shower. Preparing dinner in such a short amount of time was out of the question. They would have to order something. She ran up the stairs. “Al?” She opened Alexis’s door. She was sleeping. Anna went to her room and took a quick shower. There was no time to wear anything fancy. She put on a simple dress in time to open the door to him.

  “Hey,” he smiled and kissed her. “You smell wonderful.”

  “Thanks, mister,” she beamed.

  Morgan gazed at her while she spoke about her day. He admired the light in her eyes, the curves of her body, the excitement in her voice, her gestures, the way she touched her hair without even noticing it. There was no doubt she was his one and only and he feared that he could throw their relationship away that night.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked. There was something different in the way he looked at her.

  “I love you,” he said seriously.

  “I love you too. You are scaring me. What is it?” Suddenly, it became hard to breathe. She considered telling him not to answer her question and forget whatever was troubling him because, by the look on his face, his next words would shake what they had.

  “I…,” he hesitated. He didn’t want disappointments from the past to slowly ruin their relationship, but they had to talk about what had happened so that they could be fully happy. He was convinced he had to continue, “I checked the fingerprints in the letter.”

  “What?” Anna sat on a chair. She thought they wouldn’t talk about that anytime soon. She wanted to leave the past behind and start over.

  “Anna…”

  “I don’t want to know, Morgan. Can’t we just move on?” she asked desperately.

  “How can we move on when you believe that I ditched you on prom night?” He could not cope with that.

  “I believe? I’m assuming it, is that it? You wrote me a damn letter dumping me,” she said angrily. When she noticed her tone, she looked down. He was right. They couldn’t move on like that. She was still hurt, and perhaps she would never be able to trust him completely because of what had happened so many years ago.

  He walked to her. “I didn’t write that letter. You need to believe me, love,” he begged. “My only fingerprints in that letter were the ones from the day I got it from you. The others were yours and Scott’s.”

  “What is so surprising about that?” she asked in denial.

  “Anna, if I didn’t write that letter and neither did you, I suppose that leaves us only one person,” he said cautiously. He knew accusing Scott would make her furious.

  “Scott? You are kidding me, right? How dare you come here to accuse him?” she shouted. That was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. She couldn’t believe Morgan was going to let her down once more.

  “Baby, there is no other explanation… please…,” he pleaded.

  “Get the hell out of my house." She was outraged that Morgan had the audacity to blame a dead man for his mistakes.

  “Anna, please,” he pleaded. “Don’t do this.”

  “Now, Morgan,” she said sharply, her eyes fixed on his.

  He got the letter in his pocket and put it on the table together with the report and left. Anna’s tears fell on the floor.

  “Mom,” said Alexis sweetly. Anna’s shouts had wakened her up. She walked to her mom and hugged her. It was painful to see her suffer. Alexis gla
nced at the letter. She believed Morgan. There was no doubt her father could have written that letter. The question remaining was why. “Mom, I don’t want to be nosy, but what if Morgan is telling you the truth?” She looked at her.

  “Al! How can you think your father would have done such a thing?” she asked, shocked.

  “We can spend a lifetime with a person and never really know them, mom. Sometimes, we do not even know ourselves.” Anna was speechless. “Give Morgan the benefit of the doubt. It will hurt you less.”

  “Will it?” she asked harshly. “Will it hurt me less to believe that the man I married, the man I decided to spend my life with was responsible for the most painful moment of my life? Will it be easier for me to believe that the father of my child was a sick cold-blooded bastard who never loved me? Because if he wrote that letter, he didn’t love me. He wanted ownership, that was all. Now tell me, Al, how will that hurt me less?” Anna was devastated. All the happiness of the previous days had been ripped out of her chest leaving nothing but an empty space that she doubted could be filled.

  “He is not here, mom. Morgan is. Dad was never the love of your life. Morgan is. And that should hurt you less,” Alexis said firmly. At least her mom knew to whom her heart belonged.

  “I need to be alone, Al. Have a good night.” Anna went to her room and locked the door. She didn’t want to hear anything. She loved Alexis, but she didn’t want a teenager giving her advice about love. She got a picture of Scott in her bottom drawer and stared at it. “Would you be capable of that?" She shook her head. She didn’t want to believe it. She sank her head into her pillow and cried. She couldn’t lose Morgan again, but she couldn’t allow him to ruin the memories she had of Scott. It was not fair on him. He couldn’t defend himself. She suffocated her shout with her pillow and put Scott’s picture back in the drawer.

  She lay down on her back and closed her eyes. A film played in her mind. She saw all the events that took place so many years ago pass one after the other vividly in her mind. For the first time, she tried to look at them from a different angle. It was true that Scott who had never given her any attention had strangely started paying too much attention to her that year. He was constantly trying to start a conversation, and he seemed uncomfortable around Morgan. It was also true that he had shown up on her door out of nowhere on prom night. He convinced her to go to prom. She didn’t want to go at first, but he made her want to get back at Morgan. He had been extremely supportive, but at the same time he had very subtly encouraged vengeance and incited hatred. She had never seen things that way, but under that light, it was possible that Scott actually had had something to do with her breakup with Morgan. She hated herself for that thought. Scott had been a loving husband and father, a sweet, caring, and protective man who had done nothing but to bring her happiness while Morgan had once again brought sorrow to her life. She promised herself that she would never let him do that to her again.

  XIV

  The weekend was calm and sad. Alexis did not see Ethan because she had decided to spend some time with her mom. Anna spent the weekend down in the dumps. She didn’t talk to Morgan despite his several attempts to reach her. Alexis sent only one message to Ethan telling him that she wouldn’t be able to see him, but he didn’t seem to care much. He was probably still upset. Samil hadn’t read her messages, and she didn’t hear from him over the weekend which deeply saddened her.

  When Alexis opened her eyes on Monday morning, she didn’t feel like leaving her bed. The weekend had been so depressing that she had no strength to go to school and deal with Ethan, Mia, Margaret and Samil’s absence. Anna would go to work, so she would be alone at home and that would be great. She heard some noise in the kitchen; her mom was already up. Alexis went downstairs.

  “Good morning, mom,” she said sweetly. Anna had baggy eyes. She hadn’t slept well. Maybe she hadn’t even got any sleep. Alexis hugged her. “Why don’t you take the day off?” Even though she wanted to be alone, she thought that Anna would make better use of another day at home than her.

  “I’d better go to work. There I’ll have to focus on things other than Morgan. It will be good to keep my mind off him, at least for a few hours,” said Anna faintly. She doubted work would make her not think of Morgan, but staying home having nothing to do was certainly a much worse option.

  “Okay. I get that. Could I stay home? I… I don’t want to go to school today.” Alexis knew that giving Anna a reason for that request would help her get an affirmative answer, but she didn’t want to lie.

  “Sure, dear. I understand the weekend was exhausting.” Anna had no reason to say no. Alexis was a great daughter and a very responsible student. She had always had excellent grades. One day at home wouldn’t ruin that. Anna drank her coffee, kissed Alexis goodbye, and left.

  Alexis drank a glass of orange juice and went back to her room. She texted both Ethan and Mia letting them know that she would not go to school that day. As she didn't want any drama or a bunch of questions, she said she had a headache which was pathetic since she had never suffered from a headache before. Eventually, she would have to come up with a better excuse. She lay down in bed; a few more hours of sleep wouldn’t hurt her. She looked at the ceiling for a few minutes before closing her eyes.

  When she was about to fall asleep, Alexis felt the sunlight on her skin, the fresh breeze of the morning in her lungs, the gentle touch of the grass under her feet. She opened her eyes and jumped out of bed. The park was calling her. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, put her usual black clothes on and left. It would take her long to get there on foot, her mother had taken the car, and she didn’t want to call a taxi, so she went to the garage and got her bike. She hadn’t ridden it in a while because it brought her too many memories of her father. It was time she learned how to cope with her emotions though. She rode fast. There was an urge to get to Atknan as fast as possible.

  Unlike most of the times she went there, this time she didn’t go to the clearing. On the west side of the park, there was a cliff. She left the bike by a tree and got close to the edge. That was the place she had seen in her mind. The wind caressed her hair. It was peaceful there. As usual, there was no one around. It didn't take more than a couple of minutes for Alexis to feel a rush of energy running all over her body giving her goosebumps. Her heart was racing. It was him, she knew it.

  “Alexis,” he said gently.

  She couldn’t believe he was there standing right beside her. Tears came to her eyes. She was relieved to know that he was not gone for good. She wanted to hug him, but she held back. “Samil,” she said firmly. If she were not going to jump on him, she would try to sound in control of the situation, even though she doubted she was. She looked at him.

  “Were you jealous?” he asked conceitedly, a lopsided smile on his face. She didn’t answer. She was not going to admit to him that she had attacked Margaret out of jealousy. He was not willing to let it go though, so he insisted, “Were you jealous of Margaret being kissed by me? Touched? Were you jealous because I have been inside her?” She looked at him incredulously. “What? Do you really think she wouldn’t give herself to me?” he raised his eyebrows and got closer to her. He felt her power on her fingertips. She was furious. “Suppress it,” he ordered. “Do you realize you could have killed her? You could have destroyed the life, dreams, and plans of a person. You could have destroyed a family,” he said seriously. His air of superiority was gone. “How do you think it feels to know you’ve killed someone? Do you think you would be able to deal with remorse?” His eyes were fixed on hers, his voice smooth. “You need to control yourself. I know it hurts, but you must suppress it unless you are sure you want to kill someone, or unless you need to defend yourself, you must suppress it," he said firmly. "Close your eyes.”

  Alexis did as he asked. He was right, she knew it. She would never forgive herself if she had killed Margaret. She had to be able to control her power before she did something she would regret for the rest of her life.
Unfortunately, Samil was not making things easy for her. With her eyes closed, Alexis saw him kiss Margaret. There was more passion in their kiss than she would like to see.

  “Can you see Margaret and I kiss?” he whispered in her ear. That was the closest they had ever been, and he desired her intensely. Samil had to put some effort not to allow his lips to touch her skin. Even harder than to control himself not to show any affection was to continue what he was doing, but he had to do it, for Alexis's sake. “Can you hear her moan when I go down on her?” he ran his nose on the contour of her ear trying to trigger as much of her power as possible.

  Alexis's body went languid and hot all over. There was a mixture of desire and anger. The amount of power she felt was tremendous. It would be devastating if she let it out.

  “Suppress it,” he repeated. She felt it tearing her inside making her want to scream. “Control yourself, Alexis,” he said firmly. “Take a deep breath. Think of something that brings you peace; any memory; any thought, even if you have to come up with something. Do not think of a person. People can stir different emotions at different times. Think of a place,” he suggested.

  Alexis wanted to cry; the pain was intolerable. She felt her knees weaken. As letting her power free was not a choice, Alexis pictured a vast field of grass on a bright sunny day, and that mental image slowly calmed her down. For the first time, she felt truly in control of her magic. She opened her eyes and looked at him. They were so close, their noses almost touching.

  He put a strand of hair behind her ear. “I am sorry for having gone this far," he said sweetly, "but if you don’t learn how to control yourself, you will end up killing someone. There is no doubt about that.” He knew he had chosen harsh words, but he had to make sure she had got the message.

  Alexis could tell that he was genuinely connected to her. It was a good opportunity to get the answer she wanted after all the mental images he had given her. “Do you love her?”