The Broken Destiny (37 page)

The guards stepped back. I took a deep, painful breath. It was Kronan. I felt my stomach tighten. I didn’t want to him to be there. I didn’t want him to save me. His big hands came down toward me and lifted me off the cold, hard ground. My knees bloody and bruised and the cuts on my face began to sting, followed by those on the rest of my body. The pain still didn’t compare to the pain caused by the cut within me. Inside me, was a big, gaping wound that I was certain would never heal, and an emptiness that would never be filled. I cried, not because I pitied myself, but because nothing and no amount of beating would make me feel better.

Anaya draped a cloak over me, “That’s not true,”

She came into view, her eyes hollow and sad. She pulled the hood over my head and drew me to her.

“What have we done to you?” she said softly.

I felt nothing.

“Leave me,” I said to them.

“Stupid girl,” Tatos replied and snorted.

I looked around. The guards were crouched at our feet. The whole tribe had gathered to come and see the display I had put on earlier. The whole platform, every skull and every piece of rock had shattered and were laying in pieces all around us.
The witchdoctor will never come back
, I thought to myself.

“He will never come back!” I screamed out loud so that everyone would hear me.

“You did this?” Kronan inquired, his eyes trailing over the evidence.

“Yes,” I said plainly. “I would do it again if I knew it would make things better.” My eyes searched his.

“Let’s go,” Anaya said.

“Wait.” The young queen came to my side. She held out a tiny gemmed cross for me to take. “I wanted to say thank you,” she said softly.

Her hands were free from any beads and her head was free of the heavy looking wrappings she had worn earlier. She was now plain and beautiful – just herself. She enfolded her small, warm hands around mine. Our eyes met.

“We have found liberation.” she said.

I frowned.

“When you destroyed the prince and my evil husband gave in to your power, you set us free.”

I couldn’t understand what she was going on about as I thought I had done nothing but destroy everything in my path. I looked into the faces of the women and children who had gathered around us. Where there had been despair and fear, there was now a flicker of hope. The young queen and I shared a warm hug.

“I’m glad you are okay,” I said to her.

“You, too, will be just fine,” she whispered into my ear before releasing me.

Hooking my arm into Anaya’s, I walked off into the distance with her, leaving the ruins of my life scattered among the debris and ash. I knew that if I was going to return home, I would have to suppress what I had become, swallow the urges and carry on as if it had never happened.
Maybe I had done some good after all?
The thought shone in my mind for a second before the bitterness set in, along with the remorse. I automatically enfolded myself in the numbness that would, from that day forward, be a part of me forever.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Motionless

I
never asked Troy how, or if, he came back from the dead, but standing in my room I knew everything would be just fine. I was just happy that he was alive and I had gotten a chance to make things right, it would be the hardest thing I would ever have to do in my life. Most days the sorrow and guilt weighed heavily on me, making it hard for me to breathe. I still couldn’t believe I had given myself to the enemy, to become like him was a horrible feeling. Kim had prescribed some tablets for my anxiety, but we knew full well that medication was not the solution. Kronan offered to do a spell, but I declined his proposal. I had to deal with the remorse in my own way. I had begged Anaya and the Council to ease me back into school. The threat had been eliminated, so there was no reason why I couldn’t go home. I would have two homes when I went back, one with Sam and one with Maya. I got to enjoy the best of both worlds, although I hadn’t returned to the Minoan village as the scars were still too fresh. At times, I couldn’t escape from my rage. I occasionally snapped and lost my temper completely, often breaking things. I felt like I was coming apart at the seams and some days, I was so depressed I would just stay in bed and sleep most of the day away. For some reason, the Council wasn’t really interacting with me. I preferred it that way, though. I hadn’t seen Troy yet, but I had spoken to him on the device for many long hours, mostly with him begging to come pick me up, to spend some time with me. I had to tell him almost every day that I wasn’t ready to see him, my reasoning being that I was convinced that once I saw him, it would pull me off course in an instant and drastically hinder my progress. He wouldn’t ask what was going on inside my head, he just trusted me. However, the truth was that I hadn’t made any progress at all. Nothing I did and no amount of thinking removed the numbness from my mind. It didn’t even make a dent. I had no idea how to remove the part of my mind that was blocking my ability to feel. The only thing I could think of was to scratch the wound open and to pick at it. Some days, I made myself sick with the trash I was filling my head with. I knew that ignoring a problem and burying it would only result in it festering until the day it burst open and all the nastiness came raging through, and I would become that
thing
again. Whereas, picking at it and analyzing it would result in it being dealt with – then it would all go away, or so I hoped. But, I was not ready to feel that yet.

“I’ll wait for you… for now,” Troy said, his voice smooth and inviting as always. “Then, I will come and fetch you.”

I laughed softly.

“Why are you laughing? I would be scared of me if I were you.”

“Why’s that Troy?” I asked.

“Because, once you see me, you will see the truth and you’ll have to deal with it,” he replied.

I knew what he meant. I hadn’t accepted the truth yet. To be honest, I was damn scared, but I knew I couldn’t hide forever.

The weeks passed by. I kept myself busy with gymnastics, completing art projects and focusing on my studies. Things had changed at school and in the city. We had more freedom. This was very strange to me indeed. I knew the Council was up to something, but what? I had signed up for extra subjects – foreign languages such as Zulu and Dutch, and economics. I had also started taking dance classes. I got a job at the library and spent most of my nights there, losing myself in books. I chose the library, because at the time it was the quietest place on Poseidon. I would sometimes ignore Troy’s phone calls. Every now and then, I was so despondent, I couldn’t let him in. Escaping by reading books helped a bit. On the weekends I didn’t work, Sam and Sage would kidnap me and we would spend a few hours at the lake by the ruins. It was great that Sage was back with us. After a few sessions of counseling we could already see a change in her. The scars were healing. She was a strong girl. She was definitely stronger than I was. She couldn’t remember much of her kidnapping, or the reason why she had been kidnapped, but we all knew what it was. Her clairvoyance had disappeared completely though. I was convinced that the witchdoctor had taken it from her. Spring had finally arrived. Purple flowers carpeted the forest floor once more, blossoms lighted up the landscape, the hills had turned from brown to green and the orchids’ beauty had been restored, dotting the streets with pink blossoms. They were just as beautiful as I remembered them being when I was a child. All around us the signs of summer setting in had begun cropping up. Silverwood Forest was bursting with life. In fact, the whole planet was. Everything had transformed into one or another shade of green. The sun warmed up the lake beautifully and swimming was a pleasure. Everything had been restored to its rightful condition and all was right with the world. However, one single thought prevailed in my mind:
Why does it feel like a lie?

I was sitting under a dim light in the library in the early morning hours, my head buried in a novel. I accidentally cut my finger on one of the pages and stared at the strange color of my blood, still pondering what I was. Enoch knew, and I wondered if I would ever know what he meant by
“What you are, what is inside of you”
. I sucked on my finger to clean the blood, but when I pulled back there was something else, something mechanical. I pulled at the skin to get a closer look, when I heard footsteps making their way down the long hallway.

“Sam said I would find you here,” a voice said.

I peered over the book’s rim to find that a whole group of people had entered the room. Maya, Tatos, Kronan, Anaya and Kim – just about everyone I was avoiding. My stomach dropped.

“You do realize that it is almost daybreak,” Maya said as they drew near.

“Uh-huh,” I replied.

“Sam says she hardly sees you.”

“Uh-huh,” I said again, my eyes straying back to the page of the book I was reading.

Suddenly, the book was pulled out of my grip and I glared at Maya as it flew through the air and into her hand.
She has a new power. Good for her
, I thought. I wanted nothing more to do with my powers. I had left them on the steps of the wrecked platform among the ashes of my life.

“Oh, come on,” I said, glowering at her as she placed the book on a table beside her. “It was getting good.” I clicked my tongue out of irritation.

“Uh-huh,” she retorted.

I forged a smile.

“We never hear from you, Ava. We’re family, dammit!” She huffed.

I climbed off the table on which I had very happily been sitting cross-legged. As I swung my legs over the side, the tingling sensation of pins and needles stung my legs. I pulled my hair band out of my hair, letting it fall around my shoulders. I tried to hide how ugly I still felt. Shaking my legs to bring life back into them, I steadied myself and stretched out a long yawn.

Maya was now standing in front of me.

“I miss you.” She murmured softly.

“I know,” I said bluntly and grabbed my bag, which was strung across the back of a chair.

Everyone’s eyes followed me closely as if I was some form of entertainment.

“I just don’t want to see anybody,” I said in reply to their stares.

“Why?”

“Just, because.”

“I don’t understand, Ava.”

“You don’t need to,” I said as I made my way past her.

Surprisingly, it felt like I had walked into an invisible wall. I turned to see Maya glaring at me.

“Oh, will you stop that.”

She laughed.

“It’s bad enough I don’t have powers anymore, now you go and taunt me with yours.”

“That’s why we are here,” Maya said. She pulled out a chair. “Sit,” she ordered, pointing to it.

I sat down beside her reluctantly and glowered at everyone around me. Kronan rubbed the bridge of his nose as he, too, sat down.

“Ava, Ava, Ava,” he said, slowly.

“So they say,” I joked and flashed him a sarcastic smile.

He held back a smile. “You’re a mind-shifter.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“It’s simple really. Your mind creates your powers as it sees fit.”

“Meaning?”

“Why do you think your hair has grown so quickly?” he asked.

I shrugged.

“You are hiding.”

“Meaning?” I said again.

“Meaning,” he said, letting his smile break through, “your powers change according to the situation. So, your powers are limitless. It’s quite unique.”

“That’s great, Kronan, but I don’t care.”

I rose to leave, but he pushed me back down into my seat. I could see his patience was running out. I continued to glare.

“I like that about you – your stubbornness. It makes it hard for anyone to break through.”

“Tell me about it.” I shrugged.

“Let me explain further, because this power of yours is unlike any I have ever come across.”

“Is it dangerous?” I asked, interrupting him.

“Very,” Anaya affirmed.

“I’m not interested,” I said, looking one and then the other in the eye.

Kim was awfully quiet in the corner.

“Well, you have to be, because they can come back at any time and in any form,” Kronan said, as he stood up and lay his hands on the long library table in front of me. “You have to learn how to summon them, control them and switch them off.”

“They’re off. That’s all that matters.” I looked down at my feet, a lump beginning to form in my throat. I didn’t want my powers back. I had evolved a year too early and it had almost broken me.

“If you don’t learn to control them, Ava, you will self-destruct.”

I looked up, shocked. Hadn’t I already?

“You’re unbalanced,” he began.

“We know that already,” I interrupted.

“Not like that, silly girl,” Tatos said, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He was clearly amused at my comment.

“Listen to me very carefully,” Kronan continued.

Kronan crouched down beside me. He was so tall that even on his haunches he could look me straight in the eyes.

“S-e-l-f – d-e-s-t-r-u-c-t,” he said slowly, his hazel eyes pushing the words into my mind.

“And, that’s not a good thing?” I joked mildly.

“No, it’s not,” Maya spat.

“The way you’re acting, it could happen any day now. Today might be your last day alive,” Kronan concluded.

I felt a knot form in my stomach, almost taking my breath away.

“We’re not quite sure what will happen. Your mind could make you extremely sick, like it was a form of cancer, or you could just die,” Anaya said from behind me.

“Or, you could explode from the inside,” Maya joked.

I bit down on my lip. “I don’t want to die.”

“Well, you don’t seem to want to live either!” Maya shouted, her face turning scarlet as she banged on the table.

She had never lost her cool in front of me before. I fell silent.

I had died once before and there was no way I would go through that again. Evidently, they were under the impression that something was still coming – the prophecy had just begun.

“I…” I attempted to think of something to say.

“We’ll help you, Ava,” Anaya said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

“Yes, we will,” Kronan confirmed.

Maya cleared her throat.

“Yes,” Tatos said, rolling his eyes and finally smiling. He didn’t smile often.

Anaya kissed him on the cheek.

I stood up.

“What now?”

“You need to think, Ava,” Maya said. “I’ve done a lot of thinking. It helps to focus the powers.”

“You, too?” I asked.

“Not quite. My powers are also a result of intellect, but they’re nothing like yours.”

“So, what then?”

“Oh, I can control particles with my mind.”

“All particles? Like air?” I asked, impressed.

“Yes. It would seem that I can manipulate anything that has some sort of fabric or molecular structure.”

“That’s evil,” I said, half joking, half serious.

There was a loud knock on the door. I spun around and my stomach twisted into a tight knot at the sight of him. It was Troy. I quickly turned the other way and smoothed down my hair.

“Sam said I would find you here,” he said gently.

Damn Sam. I’m going to kill her.

“Son.” Kronan acknowledged him with a bow.

“Dad.” Troy returned the gesture.

Troy walked toward me. I watched his reflection in the window as he neared. My entire world seemed to come alive as he came closer. Gracefully and confidently, he spun my chair around. Our eyes met and my heart melted. I felt extremely nervous, almost shaking in my boots as one would say.

“How about, hello.” Anaya whispered in my ear.

Troy greeted the others with a bow and then held out his hand to me. The others took a step back.

“Your time is up.”

His smooth voice sent echoes of pleasure rippling through my entire body and into my mind. Now that he was here in front of me, I craved him like he was a drug I desperately wanted to consume after abstaining from taking it for what felt like an eternity. The excitement of his touch left me quaking. As he stood looking down at me he was as cool, calm and collected as he had always been. It was hard to read him. I smiled and took his hand. I knew then and there that I would have to take the leap or lose him forever.