The Broken Destiny (17 page)

“A bit late for a walk, wouldn’t you say?” a loud voice declared.

My heart stopped. When he stepped out of the shadows, I moved back, startled. I recognized him. I remembered his black hair, dark eyes, thin lips and puffed out chest. He had been on the beach that day.

“Oh, it’s only you,” I said calmly.

“You can call me Rob,” he retorted and howled loudly.

“Shhh.” I pleaded.

He chuckled.

His friend dropped down from the tree above us, landing perfectly on both feet, his chest puffed out proudly, just like Rob’s. The tall fair-haired boy hit his friend on the chest. The force made him lose his balance. They exchanged a look, nodding in agreement.

“Troy sent us. He thought you might be up to something.” He raised a questioning eyebrow.

“It seems he was right.” Robert smirked.

At the mention of Troy’s name, I felt a pang of longing in my chest. How and why, I wasn’t sure but it was real, and I had to draw a deep breath to curb my hunger for something I didn’t understand. I had no idea what he looked like, but our brief quarrel that one night had played over and over again in my head. I shouldn’t have been such a coward, should have lured him out of the shadows.

The fair-haired boy held out his hand. “Dave,” he said with a straight face, “and this dumbass…” He smiled wickedly. “…as you now know, is Robert.”

I shook each one’s hand; my skin as cold as ice compared to their warm hands.

“Nice to meet you both,” I said sweetly, possibly too sweetly. I needed the company.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to go for a walk,” I said brazenly, shrugging my shoulders. I walked past them before turning back. “You coming?” I asked, wrapping my arms around my shoulders for warmth. As I followed the path toward the park, only one pair of footsteps echoed through the gardens. I turned to see the boys still trailing behind. I wondered why sleep had eluded my so severely that night – possibly my mind trying to put past events together, or I was nervous about things to come. As I scratched my hand, I noticed for the first time, a round puncture wound just below the knuckle of my index finger – a sign I had been on a drip when I was under. I turned back again to see if they were still following me. Once again, the absence of their footsteps left me feeling alone. They finally caught up wearing an all knowing smile. I shook it off, stopped under a big silverwood tree, its bare branches clawing at the darkened sky above, sat down on a wooden bench and watched the boys as they scanned the landscape. Dave waved at someone who whistled back at him, acknowledging each other’s presence and confirming the perimeter was safe. I forced myself to feel safe – the Zulus had eluded their barriers before. I sat staring at the darkened park, studying the shadows. I didn’t want any surprises jumping out at me.

“So,” I finally said, satisfied we were well protected. “What’s your story?”

They didn’t answer.

“You know…” I gestured with my hands, “What’s life like in the Military School – all that kind of stuff.”

“Oh.… chit-chat,” Robert said plainly with a little bob of his head.

I listened politely as they told me their life story. They were senior military students and a part of the Jaguar gang, which varied from nine to eleven members. The gang admitted two interns at the start of a new cycle.

“We’ve known each other since we could pee straight,” Robert joked.

They told me stories about surfing, rock climbing and base jumping.
Real adrenaline junkies
, I thought to myself. I was waiting for them to say something about Troy when I heard the deep roar of a bike in the distance. Suddenly, the boys stood on edge. I watched as the dark rider deftly navigated the twisting path, patches of light flashing off his helmet as the moons’ beams broke through the clouds. I felt my body stiffen. The bike came to a slow stop in front of us. The dark rider greeted his friends with a nod and held his hand out to me. I looked to my two new escorts; my new friends. They nodded with a smile.

“Time to go,” the rider said plainly.

I recognized his voice even though it was muffled by his dark visor. It was Troy. The dark rider was Troy! My stomach churned violently. I jumped on, heart pounding, pulse quickening and cheeks flushed. The bike pulled off and my body jerked backwards, slamming forward once again, all in one move it seemed, resulting in my head slamming against his helmet. I waved goodbye to Dave and Robert when I had finally regained my balance and dignity. I held onto Troy’s jacket, careful not to touch him. His body was unyielding, cold and distant as we slowly navigated the short path to our dorm. His aloofness left me aching inside. As the trees flew past, I took in his gorgeous muscular scent. For the shortest moment, my senses indulged in this desire and my mind floated away. I was pulled back by the slight bump in the road. His body stiffened. I wondered why he hated me, but still felt compelled to take care of me. His words to Enoch that day on the beach, the all too condescending ‘to impress a little girl’, would leave a sting for a while. All too soon the trees gave way to my apartment’s front gate. We stopped and I dismounted, feeling the cold biting at my chest. I didn’t realize how warm his body was until I had peeled myself off him. I also hadn’t noticed how tightly I had clung to a stranger, which was very much against the norm for me. Without a word, I made my way to the front door. He pulled off slowly and I felt my stomach tighten into a knot, the hole inside me suddenly grew a whole lot bigger. I looked up. The dark sky was slinking away as the sun began to rise. The door swooshed open and a gust of wind hit me in the face, before I reached the top step.

“Where have you been?” Sam stood with arms crossed, eyes ablaze, blocking the entrance.

“I went for a walk.” I said with a feeling of total disappointment. I had finally had a moment with Troy, for once knowing who he was, and I blew it!

“I had escorts,” I snapped, my irritation misplaced. “I couldn’t sleep,” I said honestly. Sam smiled tenderly – she knew me too well. It was time to be alone for a while. Tiredness weighed heavily on me, my feet feeling like lead and my back aching. I dragged myself up the stairs, just managing to slide my feet out of my shoes and plunking onto the bed, before I slipped out of consciousness.

Sam and I spent the next two days staring at the blue glow of our computer screens, a constant reminder of the countdown until cycle’s end. Sam’s hands flew wildly through the air as she dragged items across the screen, enlarged others, and explained in-depth what the numbers meant to her. I realized how much passion she had for the subject matter and the potential she had to become a professor who taught math and science, or anything else she wanted to teach. Now that I knew how simple interstellar travel was, I could see how endless the possibilities were.
Adventure is right there – on the other side of a mirror,
I mused. We had to complete a few final exams before we were done with junior high. On Poseidon, you became a senior at seventeen, but everything about school was a drag. I’m pretty sure that if it wasn’t for Sam, every day at school would have been more painful than it already was. Sam sat with me during those two days before our finals, drilling knowledge into my head. There were so many questions and answers that it made my head spin, but it wasn’t about knowing everything, it was about understanding and, quite frankly, I didn’t want to understand. My mind was a shattered mirror. It was in millions of pieces, scattered all over the place; a place I dared not go. Yet, some pieces were just out of reach. Glimpses of events swirled before me, such as memories of the attack, of Enoch, Troy and the Minoan village. I had an aching feeling in my gut and an itch that needed to be scratched. I shouldn’t be here, I should be out there learning about my destiny, learning about dark magic and how I was going to defeat it. If there should be another attack, I was as unprepared as before – this was a total waste of time! My body throbbed in desperation, I could feel the Change happening as I sat around. These past events changed my soul. I had always felt out of place. ‘Weird’ and ‘eccentric’, were the nicest things people had to say about me
. Was it such a terrible thing to want more out of life than the humdrum, to feel beyond the surface?
I asked myself. Every afternoon when I looked up at the three aqua moons, their majestic faces pinned high against the purple sunset, I was reminded that there was something splendid and unusual about being on Poseidon. My mother’s journals gave me confirmation. Everyone tried so hard to be normal, to fit in and not to accept what they were, what we all were. We were anything but normal. We had been brainwashed. I wanted to scream the word out to those fools, the fools who walked around every day pretending that they were better than everyone else. School didn’t matter. Nothing mattered to me. I had realized that there was more to me than trying to fit in. We were living as exiles in another galaxy far away from our home planet – far away from the truth. Questions constantly ran through my mind.
What’s special about my bloodline? What does it all mean? Am I human at all? Are any of us human? Can I go around slicing everyone to see the color of their blood?
A broad sinister smile spread across my face.
No, of course I couldn’t
…

“Ava!” I heard a voice call out, followed by a soft object hitting my arm.

“Hey!” I said glaring at Sam, who was clutching her fists at her sides, her nostrils flaring.

I looked down at the object that had struck me. A gray box lay at my feet. I bent down to pick it up.

“What is it with you, Ava?” Her voice sharp and loud. She was actually yelling at me! “Here I am sitting up until…” She whirled around to take a look at the clock. “…two in the morning, trying to help you pass your finals and you couldn’t, for even one second, try to get your head around this! I don’t want to give up on you, Ava. We made a promise to each other – wrote it down with our tears. Forever friends, remember? I give and give…” She paused, a deep frown set between her ginger eyebrows.

I was a million miles away again. As I stared into her light blue eyes, I thought that any boy out there would be so lucky to be loved by such a beautiful fiery redhead.

“…and you’re a stubborn lunatic!”

Sam stomped off, the bedroom door slamming behind her. I twirled the object I had picked up around in my hand, hesitating before opening it. A thin rope was wound around the gray box, and pieces of lavender and dry rose petals were tied in under the bow. She had made it herself. I smiled. Slowly, I pulled the string to unwrap it and stared into the box. A small note was stuck to the bottom. I unfolded it.

“Good luck with the exams – looking forward to your birthday.” Dark marks were burned across the yellow page. Hardly anyone used paper anymore, so I wondered where she got it. I laid the box down on the floor beside me. I was unnervingly unmoved. I should have felt something, but I felt nothing. Deciding to leave Sam to cool off, I switched on the projector and sat in front of the drop-down screen.

“Movies,” I said out loud, pretending that the dormitory was still full, and that at any time one of the girls might join me.

“Hello, Ava.”

Ox came to life.

“What is your selection?”

I sat staring at the white glow of the screen for a while.

“Hi, Ox,” I replied to the computer. “You choose.” I said absently.

“Something out of the sixties always cheers you up.” She chimed back.

Ox ran through the favorites menu, deciding on an old James Dean film. I pulled a blanket over my legs, swallowed my self pity and pushed my feet under the soft pillows. The film hadn’t even been on for five minutes when I started to drift off.

I felt my throat tighten and tears welled up in my eyes.

“I didn’t think we would ever see each other again,” Sam’s voice echoed through my dream.

We hugged for a long time before her face turned black and became a shadow that grabbed at me. I thought of Maya and the shadow receded. It was silent for a while. I was standing in an open field; trees were bending over in the distance due to a soft breeze. But I wasn’t alone. There was something moving in the shadows. The darkness reached out for me. I tried to run.
Where is everyone?
I wondered. I couldn’t breathe. I felt my chest cave in, and suddenly, I was pinned to the dry grassy ground by something I couldn’t see. I was terrified of the world I had found myself in. I didn’t understand it – couldn’t figure it out; why I couldn’t wake up, and why I couldn’t just open my eyes and let go. I wondered what it was that had this power over me.
Surely my own mind is doing this to me, merely projecting my fears and anxieties,
I thought. That is what Kim has always told me. My mind screamed for me to wake up, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t lift my head, my legs were as heavy as lead and my voice only screamed within itself. I could feel the air in my lungs drifting away. I forced myself to breathe. I felt myself being dragged off the couch toward Sam, realizing that I could only wake from the dream if I had someone on the other side. I knew it was a dream, but I was stuck in a horrible nightmare. I needed Sam to wake me and save me from my dream. I could see my body crawling with great effort to get to her. I could taste the bitterness of fear and weakness. I couldn’t understand why she wasn’t waking me, and why she couldn’t see me. My whole body quivered in terror that I might never wake up.
If the darkness gets me here, I can never return to my body,
I told myself. I shook my head violently to wake. Abruptly, I woke up. Sam was standing over me. My breathing had returned when I suddenly received a blow to the chest. I choked and drew in the real air around me. Sweat dripped down the front of my chest. She didn’t say a word, but just climbed in underneath the covers. She immediately fell asleep again. I fought off sleep, scared of the darkness that kept coming for me. My eyes begged to close. I lay awake for a very long time, holding onto Sam’s hand.