My steps have dwindled down to a pitiful dragging of my feet. As I was dragging my foot forward, my toe caught on a hidden tree root, and without the right amount of energy to stop myself, I fall towards the freezing forest floor. If the boys didn’t react as fast as they did, I would have face planted right into the ground.
“Ren! Ren! Focus on me babe!” Caylen calls out. I try to get my eyes to focus on him, but it’s taking too much out of me.
“Her lips are turning blue,” Titus’ deep voice says, anger underlying his words. “We should have taken into consideration that she would not be able to handle the cold like we can.”
“Why can’t she?” Zavid barks, coming back from his position way ahead of us.
“Because she was born to humans, raised by humans, on a planet meant for humans. She is not used to Relvaria. Just because she’s the… just because she has family here, does not mean that she is like them. Not right now,” he concludes.
My mind tries to understand everything that they’re saying, but my body is shutting down. I don’t know if I’m even shivering anymore. Exhaustion hits my body like a freight train, and going to sleep sounds like the best thing right now. I mean, there’s nothing else I can do, right?
I close my eyes and I vaguely feel someone lift me up. My breathing slows down and I let the strong pull of unconsciousness take hold. Here in my mind, I’m finally warm. I drift in a haze of darkness alone. Until a face forms right in front of me.
It’s me. But I’m wearing a scowl that I’ve never seen on my face.
“Leave you in charge, and you damn near kill us! I have to do everything” the other me says. “Leave this to me,” they say. Oh.
“Sheya?” I ask.
“In the flesh, Dipshit. Let’s see how long I can carry you this time.”
18
Sheya
Out of all of the things that can take us out, she lets a little cold weather almost be it? Dangerous Relvaria animals, crazy men that take us to an abandoned field at midnight, hell, even muggers at the convenience store. All things that could kill us and at least make a worthy story to tell, but she had to go ahead and let some fucking frozen water be the bullet to the head? How pitiful.
“Ren! Wake up!” the friendly one with the blue eyes say. I’m annoyed already, and I know that this trip has just begun.
“What did you get us into, Dipshit?”
I expected a response, but I got nothing. Feeling inside my mind for Renee, I come up with nothing. I know that she’s still there, but it’s almost like she’s comatose. Panic rises in me for the first time in my existence, and I don’t know what exactly is causing it. This is something I’ve always wanted, to be in charge of this body without worrying about when she’ll take the reins back into her hands. But this is a first. She’s always been there and now I can’t really feel her. Is this a product of her passing out from the cold? The same cold that doesn’t really bother me?
“Put me down,” I snap to whoever dare hold me. I’m not Renee, and I don’t get off on being treated as if I’m this vulnerable flower.
“Renee?” Titus asks. I open my eyes and glare into his steel grey ones. Why is he always the one that’s holding Renee? Does he have a problem with sharing his toys? I push off of his chest, forcing him to drop his arms, and subsequently, drop me. I land in a crouch, standing slowly to stretch my limbs. The three men stare at me as if they’re looking at an alien, and hell, I can relate. “Renee? What’s going on?” Titus tries again.
“Oh, now you know how to use your words? Shocker.” He narrows his eyes and I narrow mine back. “Let’s cut the shit, shall we? I’m not Renee, I am Sheya, her Inner Self. But you already know about me, don’t you?” I ask. Zavid crosses his arms and presses his lips tightly together. Mr. Can’t Talk continues to stare at me. And Caylen just gapes at me like he has no idea what’s going on.
“Renee may buy the whole ‘you have a family and we’re going to take you to them’ bit, but let me tell you something,” I walk until I’m face to face with the asshole leader of the group. “I don’t trust you for a fucking second. I had my doubts about you when I first met you, but now that we’re here, I know you’re up to something.” I look at the other two. “All of you. This realm talks to me in ways that Earth never did. It’ll tell me your secrets sooner or later. And you better hope to God Renee has enough strength to stop me from taking you out. Understood?”
Zavid simply clenches his jaw, refusing to answer me. I push him back with a simple thought, sending him flying until he’s sitting on his ass. I walk to stand over him, pinning him to the spot with a flick of my hand. I cross my arms and look down on him like the lesser fucking being that he is. “I. Said. Understood?”
If looks could kill, his would surely take me from this plane. His brown eyes smolder with hatred as he gazes at me, and I can’t find the energy to give a fuck.
“Understood,” he finally ground.
“Good. Now, let’s find a fucking clearing or something. We have to get my body warm so that I can have some pleasurable company to talk to.” I turn back around and start marching in the general direction that douchebag Zavid was heading. After walking in silence for less than five minutes, Mr. Sunshine finds the balls to approach me.
“So, uh, Sheya, is it?” he asks from my right.
“Pretty sure that’s what I said,” I reply, pushing through a particular low hanging branch with it’s curtain-like leaves.
“Right. So, where’s Ren?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” I shrug.
“What do you mean ‘I don’t know’?”
“I mean exactly what I said. Renee is not present in my mind right now, which means for the foreseeable future, you’re stuck with me,” I toss him a smirk that’s far from friendly, and his eyes widen even more.
“I’ve never heard of that happening before,” Zavid says.
“Yeah?” I toss over my shoulder, enjoying the look of contempt on his face. “You make a habit of almost killing Blessed people with hypothermia? Or is Renee your first experience?” He doesn’t answer me and that’s alright with me. I don’t particularly like talking to him either. I look over at the silent giant, wondering how I could fuck with him when he cuts his eyes towards me. He shakes his head “no” as if I would listen to him.
“So, Titus, how come you’re easily influenced by my thrall, but the other two aren’t?” I ask jovially. “It’s almost as if you willingly let me take you under. Or are your mental walls a little weaker than theirs?”
He doesn’t answer me, but Zavid rushes up to grab me my elbow. Indignation rises up in me, and I flick him back to the ground with barely a thought. Who the hell does he think he is, touching me without my permission? “What the fuck do you want?” I spit out.
“What do you mean you enthralled him? When?” Zavid asks from his graceless perch on the ground. I can see that he’s trying to stop himself from jumping up and getting smacked right back down.
“Uh, who knows when it happened? Probably the day he accosted me in the bathroom. Cost me too much precious focus and Renee was able to take back over. Pissed me off,” I huff, turning back around and stomping back in the direction we were previously walking in. “It took a lot out of me to get him to follow me around like a lost puppy, and when I tried to get Mr. Sunshine to fall under my influence, he didn’t. I didn’t even bother with you,” I wave over my shoulder in the general direction Zavid was sprawled in. He’s probably up and marching behind me at this point. “Don’t feel too smug, though. Ever since Renee and I have gotten closer to each other, I’ve gotten stronger. And ever since coming here, I feel invincible.”
“But you’re not. Not until you fully bond with Renee. And that won’t happen for another few months. Until then, you can die just as easily as we can,” Titus murmurs.
“Don’t worry your big ass head. I didn’t let Renee die today and I won’t let her die any days after. You guys think that you have everything figured out becaus
e you know more about this world, but there’s one thing I know with more certainty than anything you think you know about us: I will always protect Renee. Either from herself or from people who are trying to hurt her,” I stare pointedly at all three of them, letting them know that I think that they’re the ones I’m talking about.
“Since you know so much, where are you taking us then?” Zavid says from his place behind me.
“Right now, I’m continuing in the direction you were obviously walking in. Hopefully we find a nice sized clearing so that I can build a shelter to get Renee’s body back warm. As much as I enjoy being in control, I have other shit to worry about than trying to hold a conversation with any of you three. Especially the two who try and use their body to convince Renee that they care about her.”
“We do care about her!” Caylen interjects.
“I’m sure you think you do. I also know that it’s not enough.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We’ll see. I’m done with this conversation.” I increase my pace so that I can increase the distance between me and the three stooges. I need to focus on the feeling that I’m getting from this realm, and I can’t do that while driving this body and dealing with these imbeciles. After a few more miles of trekking in this wilderness, I finally stumble across something promising.
It’s a frozen river.
And right on the other side is a little ‘beach’ of sorts. It looks to be about fifteen feet of space in width and that’s more than enough space for me to build the shelter. The river stretches on farther than the eye can reach on both sides, and I hate to give him any props, but Zavid chose right going this way. We’re out of the forest for now, and if this is like the rivers in those TV shows, I should be able to catch something for Renee to eat. I know she packed all of those snacks, but her body needs something hot.
“We’re crossing to the other side,” I say, standing on the bank. I would make a shelter here, but this side of the river barely has five feet of space and that’s definitely too close for comfort. I walk to the edge of the river, trying to decide if I want to risk it all or carefully walk over it. I don’t know how much more cold Renee’s body can take, so I don’t want to potentially risk falling through thin ice.
Then again, it’s cold as hell out here, there’s no way this river isn’t completely frozen solid. Zavid brushes past me, curling his upper lip at me as he goes. I cross my arms over my chest, trying not to toss his ass across the river like a pebble.
“What? Is the all mighty Sheya afraid of a little cold water?” he taunts, stepping onto the ice and walking briskly across the river.
“No. Unlike you, I take Renee’s well-being into consideration first and foremost,” I say, shrugging my shoulders and walking behind him. He’s making walking across the ice seem a lot easier than it really is. I’d be better off trying to glide across this shit instead of walking. We make it across the thirty or so feet of frozen river, and my legs are burning from the careful steps I had to take,
“So how are you going to build this shelter?” Zavid asks?
“Easy,” I say. “I’ll just use the energy that Relvaria is giving me.” If I can control it, that is. The amount of energy pumping into me is almost overwhelming. It’s taking half of my attention to remain in the here and now, but the rest of my attention is focused on filtering this energy. That’s why I need Renee back in the driver’s seat. If I slip up for even a second, we may end up shutting down from energy overload.
“What energy?” Caylen asks
“Don’t you feel it?” I ask. “Or is it something different for Unblessed?”
“It’s different for us,” Titus says, looking away from my searching gaze. “This realm feels like home, whereas Earth does not. Our souls rejoice with being back here. It brings us peace, I guess you can call it. But we don’t feel anything else than that.”
“Huh. Sucks to suck. Anyway, move out of my way,” I command. Zavid promptly stomps into the awaiting forest, as if he didn’t get enough of that while we were in there. Caylen and Titus move off to the left of me, heads bowed close together as they whisper to one another. Probably plotting my death. But they can’t kill me without killing their dear Renee. Ha! Fucking pathetic.
I turn back to my little expanse of beach, trying to decide how exactly I want to do this. Cracking my knuckles and neck, I grab the hair tie off of my wrist and tie my hair up. I wish I would have cut it shorter, but even back then, I didn’t want to hurt Renee too much. I just wanted to be heard.
I allow the energy of the realm to seep into me a little more, and I almost drop to my knees with the staggering amount of power that fills me. Something about the eagerness of this energy to obey me feels off. Like there’s more to this than me simply being Blessed.
“Ren, erm, Sheya? Everything alright?” Caylen calls out.
I wave him off, not bothering with wasting any more concentration on him than necessary. My head is pounding and it feels like the day after we got drunk at the boys’ party. Focusing on the snow, I place my arms out in front of me, with the back of my hands touching each other. Mimicking the motion as if I was swimming, I sweep my arms out while pushing a little bit of energy along with the motion. The snow is pushed to the side, leaving a clear area. I’ll have to move fast if I don’t want it to pack back up. The snow is falling at a steady pace, and it won’t take long for it to cover everything again.
I jog over to the woods, looking at all of the trees. I know that this action will wipe me clean out, even with the excess energy pumping through my system. I don’t know if I have to use my arms for this, like I did with the snow, or if my intent will be enough, but there’s no better time than the present to find out.
I close my eyes and take a deep, steadying breath. Both excited and nervous for this task. I’ve never pushed myself as far as I’m going to push myself now, and I’m filled with exhilaration at finding out what I’m all about.
Opening my eyes, I focus on a large copse of trees to my right. I don’t need many and the shelter doesn’t have to be large. Just secure enough to get us out of the wind and snow. With one flick of my hand, thank goodness, the trees are cut perfectly. Repeating that motion, while dodging fallen trees, I have a nice amount of trees within minutes. My breathing has picked up slightly, but that was the easy part.
Now I have to get them cut perfectly and moved to the bank. I meticulously cut the trees into perfect logs and I begin the arduous task of moving them all to the bank. It’s no more than five or so feet to my cleared off area, but lifting these things will tax me. I plant my feet solidly into the ground, twisting my upper body left and right to crack my back.
Alright, Sheya. Time to make this shelter your bitch.
I lift the first log and I feel like I’m going to slip a metaphysical disc. This is nothing like moving shoes because I want to show off. This is crazy. I grit my teeth and push the log out into the open. Sweat is beading and freezing on my forehead, and I’m getting a little dizzy from channeling the amount of energy this is taking, but Renee needs me.
Putting each log, one by one, in just the right way. Cutting the corners with perfection and fitting the pieces so that there isn’t much space between each one, took about forty-five minutes. But it felt like it took days. I’m on my hands and knees in the snow, panting with each breath I struggle to take. My head is killing me and my body feels as if it was run over with a truck.
The shell of the shelter is finished, but it lacks a roof. Not having much strength to do anything extravagant, I fit the tops of the fallen trees on the top. The long willow-like leaves hang off the side, looking like a nice hair piece for my little cabin.
I groan as I stand to my feet, the world rocking and swirling for a few seconds before it rights itself. I drag my tired body over to the shelter, desperate to get inside and get Renee back in charge. There’s only one problem.
I cut an opening for a door, but I don’t have a door.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” I yell out, frustration coating my words. Can’t I catch a fucking break?
“Here,” Titus says from directly behind me. In his large hands he holds a solid plank of wood. Almost a perfect fit for my doorway. I cock an eyebrow at him, wondering when and how he acquired that. “I’ve been watching you this whole time. We can’t do that, hell, I’ve never seen anyone do that, but we can be helpful in other ways.”
I take the “door” from him without saying “thank you”. I refuse to. I did all of the heavy lifting. It’s only right that they chip in in some way or the other.
“Before you fix that on there, here,” Caylen says, walking over with a giant pile of twigs and branches. “The ground is still freezing cold, so you won’t warm up with just hiding out of the snow and wind. A fire will help.”
“I know that,” I snap. “I just wanted to get the shelter put up before I gathered wood.”
“And now you don’t have to,” he shrugs, brushing past me to enter the shelter and put the firewood down. “I’ll go grab some more, it’s going to be a long night.” He walks away into the trees, and I just now realized how dark it’s getting. The temperature is dropping drastically and I’m actually starting to get affected by it.
“I’ll be right back,” Titus murmurs, brushing the back of his hand against mine as he walks into the forest after Caylen.
Ok?
Entering the shelter, I look around proudly at all of my hard work. The cabin is about ten-by-ten in dimensions and there’s plenty of room for all of us to lie down without them touching me. I walk to the middle of the room, using the remainder of my energy on pushing a hole in the ground. The ground is frozen and rock hard, so it takes a little effort to make the fire pit.
Once that’s done, I slump down against the wall directly across from the doorway. The cold seeps through my jeans, but I don’t have the energy to care right now. Once I caught my breath, I get up and dump all of the wood into the fire pit. I’m a little nervous to try and light it up. Partially because I feel like I’m one more trick away from fainting, and because I’ve never wielded fire and I don’t know if I’m capable of it. I know dream me could, but I don’t want to test it and burn down my cabin. I slump back down into my spot, waiting for my strength to come back some.
The Inner Self: The Prophecy Page 13