Forbidden: Book One of Wild Sky Saga (17 page)

Mary stood up, jumped off the rocks and walked towards him. She took his hand and put it over her heart. “I could love you, Israel,” she paused. “Could you love me?” she asked staring into his eyes, knowing she had complete control over
him.

“Yes,” Israel answered. He looked at her mouth and leaned in to kiss her. The surge running through his body was intense. She pulled
away.

“It’s getting late, we should go,” she uttered, and she started to walk to his car. Israel followed her, leaving the drawings all over the ground. She waited for him to open the car door for her, and as he went to open it, she grabbed his hand. Israel looked at her and she stared into him, becoming a mirror of himself in her eyes. The real him that was locked in by
Darkness.

“Do you think I’m beautiful?” she
asked.

“You have me,” he answered, taken by what he
saw.

Mary ran her finger down his nose and down to his mouth. “But not all of you.” She opened the car door. “I want all of you.” She smiled, then got into the
car.

Aira was back at home. She had spent the day taking David around town and even to the forest to find things he needed. She was now curled up in her blanket, her thoughts unable to escape what she had seen. She didn’t want to believe
it.

David spent the next day and a half building in his room. There were branches
everywhere.

In that time, Aira hadn’t seemed to have moved. She slept and cried, getting up only every once in a
while.

Maddy walked into the kitchen where Barry was making a salad. They had returned from a fun weekend away, but instantly realized Aira was still not
herself.

“I don’t know what to do,” Maddy said, feeling
exhausted.

Barry stopped, walked over to her, and he hugged her with a look of
disappointment.

“It’s going to be okay,” he
said.

David came out of his room mid Sunday with a backpack on and walked into the kitchen. He just stood there as Maddy and Barry looked at
him.

“Hey, honey, what are you doing?” Maddy
asked.

David looked at Barry and Barry smiled. “You want to go somewhere?” Barry
asked.

David felt happy. “Ya, I want to go and try something
out.”

Barry hugged and kissed Maddy, grabbed his keys and said happily, “Well, let’s
go.”

Maddy stood there, in shock. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. She smiled with disbelief as they walked out the door. Maddy walked out of the kitchen and upstairs. She made her way to Aira’s room and gently knocked on the
door.

“Aira?” she said, softly opening the door, “are you
hungry?”

Aira threw the blankets off her face and sat up. Her bed was covered in tissue, her hair had not been brushed in days, and her eyes were red from
crying.

Maddy smiled lovingly at her daughter, then walked over and sat down beside
her.

“How does this always happen? First Dad, then Jaidas, now him.” Aira paused for a second. “Jerks,” she continued. “I thought he was different, I don’t
understand.”

“David told me,” Maddy said. Aira crawled over to her mom and laid her head in her
lap.

Maddy moved the hair out of Aira’s face, and looked down at
her.

“It took me a long time to realize what your father did had nothing to do with me. Sometimes the way we see things isn’t actually how they are. There’s nothing wrong with you, Aira, and I can guarantee no matter what happens, you will end up exactly where you’re meant to, no matter how confused or lost you may feel sometimes. You are love, Aira, it’s what your entire being is made of. Nothing can change that. And in a world like this, there is nothing greater than
love.”

Aira slowly sat up. “I love you,
Mom.”

“I love you,” Maddy smiled. “Now let’s do something with this hair of yours and go and get some ice cream.” Maddy walked into Aira’s bathroom, grabbed her brush and an elastic, walked over to Aira and did her
hair.

“Okay, there you are. Now put these on and let’s go.” Maddy smiled, threw a pair of jeans and a sweater at her and walked out of Aira’s
room.

Aira got off of her bed and got dressed. She took a deep breath and walked
downstairs.

“Ready?” Maddy
smiled.

“Ya,” she replied, feeling a bit silly. Maddy grabbed her
keys.

“Where’s
David?”

“He’s out somewhere with Barry.” Maddy
smiled.

“Are you
serious?”

“I know, I can’t believe it.” They walked out together and closed the
door.

Israel was sleeping. There was a knock on his door and his father looked
in.

“It’s a beautiful day, you should come help your old man finish the deck.” Israel opened his eyes and looked over at his
father.

“Alright… sure, just give me a minute,” Israel replied half
asleep.

His father tapped his hand on the door frame. “Okay,” and he walked
away.

Israel slowly sat up and put his feet on the floor. He sat at the edge of his bed, rubbed his eyes and got up. He walked over to his chair, grabbed his hoodie and walked out to the back deck. His father was
hammering.

“Your mother’s been on my case to get this finished.” Nehemiah handed Israel a hammer. Israel grabbed a piece of wood and started to hammer it in
place.

“We haven’t seen much of you lately. I know it hasn’t been that long, but it feels like
forever.”

Israel grabbed another nail. Nehemiah watched him and then continued, “How’s
Aira?”

“Aira’s a mess, it would’ve never worked.” Nehemiah was completely taken caught off guard. “Really?” He didn’t know what to
say.

Israel was somewhat distracted. “Dad, actually I have somewhere I need to be, can we do this
later?”

“Ya, sure son.” Nehemiah stood and watched Israel walk
away.

He sat down for a few minutes, then got up and walked into the house. He walked into their bedroom where Abby was. She was sitting on their bed fixing one of his
shirts.

“They have
him.”

“You worry too much.” Nehemiah shook his
head.

“I need you to have another
barbecue.”

“We just had a
barbecue.”

“Okay, then we need to have a
feast.”

“A feast?” Abby smiled at him like he was being
ridiculous.

“Abby, something is going on with our
son.”

Abby looked at him tentatively, feeling how unsettled he was. “Okay, I feel like cooking
anyways.”

The day passed. David had spent the entire day out with
Barry.

Aira spent the day with her mom shopping and having a girl’s
day.

Israel spent the day with Mary. They had climbed Hope Mountain, and laid at the top together. It was one of those days where everything seemed really, really
still.

Night time came and Aira was sitting in the kitchen with her mother when the front door opened. Barry and David walked in to join
them.

David was really excited. “Mom! You wouldn’t believe it, I made my own slingshot and Barry taught me how to use it, and it worked perfectly!” David was so
proud.

“You made your own slingshot?” Maddy
smiled.

“Yes, and he’s quite the story teller too.” Barry rubbed David’s
head.

“Are you hungry?” Maddy asked
them.

“No way! Barry bought pizza and we had a huge chocolate milkshake!” David replied. And Barry put his head
down.

“Traitor,” he mumbled, then
smiled.

“Oh really?” Maddy smiled at Barry. “And what happened to our
diet?”

Aira and David
smiled.

“We had ice cream,” Aira lightly
laughed.

“Oh really?” Barry smiled and shook his head at
Maddy.

“I guess that means we’re even.” Maddy winked at her
children.

Barry shook his finger at Maddy and started to play fight with her. He picked her up,
and

Maddy started to laugh. She touched his face. “I love you,” he
said.

“I love you too.” She kissed Barry and then he put her
down.

Aira saw the love they had and was happy they had each other, but in that moment it also felt painful. Aira just looked
away.

“It’s getting late, David, you should jump in the shower before bed. You guys have school tomorrow,” Maddy
requested.

“Okay, Mom, and thanks Barry, thanks a lot,” David said, feeling very happy as he walked out of the
kitchen.

“Aira, you should try and get a good sleep tonight. I am exhausted. I’m going to do some reading before bed. I love
you.”

“Goodnight,” Aira replied as they walked out of the kitchen, and down the hall to their
room.

Aira pulled herself out of the kitchen chair and stood up to go upstairs. David walked back into the
kitchen.

“Aira?”

“Ya, David?” David walked cautiously over to the table, and Aira sat back
down.

“Are you really
okay?”

“I’m fine, really,” Aira answered, nodding her head. She didn’t like when her brother
worried.

“I mean, I know how you feel,” David
continued.

“What do you
mean?”

“I know what it’s like to feel how you feel right
now.”

“I know,
David.”

“I hope Israel realizes how great you are,” he said quietly. Aira closed her eyes in pain for a second, then she stood up and hugged her
brother.