Forbidden: Book One of Wild Sky Saga (16 page)

Jaidas watched Aira get into her truck and drive away. He sat there tapping his thumb on the steering wheel thinking, then turned on his car and pulled out of the parking
lot.

Aira drove home. On the way, her thoughts were quiet. All those years of being with Jaidas perhaps made her used to boy trouble, maybe she just felt numb.
Expectant.

She reached home. As she walked inside, the raven sat in a tree and watched her. When Aira closed the door, the raven flew
away.

Aira laid on her bed playing with her hair and starring up at the ceiling. It felt like he was never real. His presence was so far away. Like days after having a dream, the feeling slowly faded away. She sat up. She didn’t want to fall asleep. She felt empty and
uncomfortable.

She got out of her bed and went
downstairs.

Maddy was making a salad. “Hey honey, I hope you’re hungry. I’m making your favorite.
Lasagna.”

Aira sat down at the table. “I don’t really like lasagna right now.” She leaned back into the chair. You could tell she was feeling uncomfortable in
herself.

Maddy looked at Aira stunned. “You don’t like lasagna, right
now?”

Aira didn’t say anything, she just looked at her
mom.

The front door opened. Barry was home from work. He walked into the kitchen and put his keys and lunch bag onto the counter. “Smells good, babe.” He walked over to Maddy and gave her a
kiss.

“How was work?” Maddy
asked.

“Another day,” he answered as he looked over at Aira. The room was quiet. He looked back at Maddy and she gave him a smile, then looked at her
daughter.

“Hey kiddo,” he spoke to
Aira.

“Hey,” Aira looked
up.

“You okay?” he asked,
concerned.

“Ya, I’m
fine.”

“You sure? I kind of know that
look.”

Aira shook her head. “There’s no
look.”

Barry smiled. “Okay… Well, I’m gonna go have a quick shower.” Barry gave Maddy one more glance then walked
out.

Aira pulled at her hair a bit. “Hey Mom,” she looked up, “how much longer?” She seemed
ansy.

Maddy stopped what she was doing and looked at the clock. “Actually, it’s ready to come out.” Maddy grabbed some oven mitts and pulled the lasagna
out.

Aira couldn’t sit there anymore. She stood up and walked over to her mom. “Do you mind if I just eat
upstairs?”

“I thought you didn’t like lasagna.” Maddy said, being
playful.

“I don’t, I’m just hungry,” Aira replied, giving her mother a weak
smile.

Maddy grabbed a plate out of the cupboard, and handed it to
Aira.

“Thanks,” Aira said quietly. She helped herself to some food as her mother stared at her, trying to figure out what was going
on.

Aira held the plate of food. “Um…” she spoke, wanting to say something but instead turned around and walked
upstairs.

Maddy leaned against the counter. She took a breath and started to make a plate for
David.

Israel was out at his sanctuary, sitting on his knees in the dark. The fire wasn’t lit, but the moonlight emanated onto everything around him. He seemed disoriented, gently rocking himself. Slowly, he moved his hands off of his knees and put them onto the ground. Nature was the closest thing to his actual being, and he wanted to feel it. But he felt nothing. There was no relief from the discomfort that was in him. With quieted frustration, Israel stood up, grabbed his kettle, and sat back down pouring the water onto the dirt. He then dug his hands into the dirt making mud, gripping it as if he was trying to get a grip of himself. He pulled off his shirt and started to smear mud all over himself. Then, with the palms of his hands, he covered his eyes and rubbed his
hair.

Mary came out from the forest behind Israel’s spot. She walked over and stood above him. He didn’t even realize she was
there.

She squatted down, moving her head slightly to the side and watched him. As black as the night can be, it couldn’t stand close in comparison to how black her being was. She had no conscience, no emotion, no empathy. She was
remorseless.

Israel lifted his head and looked at her. She knew how encompassed he was by the Darkness, and it thrilled
her.

She let out a sly and twisted smile, she knew she held the validity of his
heart.

Israel moved his hand onto her chest, then moved his hand down slowly, smearing the mud over her heart and down her low-cut, white tank top. Somehow, unconsciously, he knew her heart was
unclean.

Mary sat herself onto her knees, leaned in, and kissed his mouth. Then she stood up, took his hand to pull him up and they walked into the forest
together.

Aira had fallen asleep. Nothing of her supper was touched. She was having a nightmare. Sweating, it was almost as if she was trying to get herself out of it. She was
frightened.

Then, in the corner of the room, stood the Dragon, the Dark One. His face was still covered by the hood of his long, black trench
coat.

He moved his head, looking around for a moment, then made his way over to her. As he began squatting down by her bedside, he pulled off his hood. He was pasty white, but he was beautiful. His eyes were a steel greyish blue. His presence heavy, matured and very
intelligent.

He watched her for a moment, curious about her. He slowly pulled himself up and got extremely close to her face, taking his fingers and running them down her
hair.

Aira opened her eyes. It was morning. She heard David calling her from outside her
door.

“Ya, David… come in.” Aira slowly sat
up.

David opened the door. “Mom and Barry went hunting. Would you take me out to get a few things?’ he asked
hopeful.

Aira rubbed her eyes. Lack of sleep was starting to give her a headache. “Ya sure... Just give me a few minutes,
okay?”

David smiled excited and closed her
door.

Aira took a few minutes to pull herself out of bed. There were many thoughts running through her head. She sat with her hand by her mouth, looking over to her window that was open. She started to play with her hair for a moment, then pulled it towards her nose and smelt her hair. She had a strange look on her face. It smelt of very strong sulfur. She got out of bed and walked to her door and opened it. “David?” she hollered to
him.

“Ya?” He hollered
back.

“I’m gonna have a quick shower first,
okay?”

“Okay!”

Aira closed her door and walked over to her bathroom smelling her hair again. She walked in and closed the
door.

She had a shower, she must have washed her hair at least six times. When she was done, she got out, wrapped the towel around her, walked out to her room, pulled some clothes out of her dresser and walked back into her bathroom. She got dressed, then brushed her hair slowly looking at herself in the mirror. She looked around, seeming somewhat weary. Aira took a breath, lightly shaking her head, feeling that someone was watching her. It was a lingering feeling after her dream, or what she thought was a
dream.

After a few minutes she could hear David calling her from downstairs. Aira grabbed an elastic, pulled her hair together, and she walked out of her
room.

David watched as she walked down the
stairs.

“Aira? Are you okay?” he asked a little
worried.

“Ya, David, I’m fine. I must have caught a bug or something.” Aira grabbed her keys off the counter, “Let’s go,” she smiled at
David.

They walked out, got into Aira’s truck and drove into town. There was silence the whole way. As they got into town David looked out the window. “Hey, isn’t that Israel’s car?” he
asked.

Aira quickly looked as she was driving. She decided to pull around, and as she did, she saw Israel walk out of a store with another girl. The girl grabbed onto Israel’s
arm.

She was laughing about something. Aira’s heart fell into her
stomach.

“Who’s that?” asked David. Aira didn’t say anything, she just pulled the truck around and drove the other
way.

Aira?” David said
quietly.

“I don’t know,” Aira answered
confused.

Israel and Mary got into his
car.

“I want to take you somewhere.” Israel looked at her. Mary
smiled.

“Okay? Where are we
going?”

“It’s a surprise,” he answered simply. He turned on his car, pulled out of the parking lot and drove to Aira’s
spot.

Mary stared at all the scenery like she really enjoyed it, but she didn’t care about
it.

He eventually pulled over to the side of the road, parked his car, got out, and went and opened the door for her. He reached out his hand to help her out, grabbed his bag, held onto her hand, and walked her down the trail. They walked down to the mountain-fed water. Mary bit her lip looking at him, smiling, looking completely
delighted.

Mary let go of his hand and walked over to the water. She bent down and swirled her fingers in the water looking across to the trees on the other
side.

Israel watched her, the look in his eyes that of
longing.

She rose to her feet unbuttoning her jeans, and took them off. Leaving her long, low-cut shirt on, she turned around, walked over to the boulders and crawled onto them. She laid her head back and spoke softly. “I want you to draw me,” she
said.

Israel didn’t hesitate. He reached into his bag and pulled out his book and a pencil. He walked over to her, sat on the ground, and began to draw. He drew one picture after another. Hours went by. He concentrated, drawing, deeply wanting. He wanted to please
her.