Chapter two
During dinner we were all quiet. I stirred my chow mien with my fork, not
really hungry. I was too excited. Tonight was the bonfire and the official day
of the summer solstice. Most years this was the day he came to me, but not
every year. Some years he came a few days later, with no explanation. Only that
he had other duties to attend to first. Today held almost nineteen hours of sunlight, and the day when I had to
be least afraid. Supposedly, but I had already seen one darkling today. And in
the sunlight no less, which was against the rules. Even the shadows were almost
nonexistent. Unlike Garrick and his kind, darklings couldn’t stand the sun.
They were scary but being under Garrick’s protection meant they would never
hurt me, just haunt me. It was always a bit terrifying, but I knew tonight I
would be safe again. I might be anyway. Soon
after me and Pheona’s incident, our parents had come home with dinner. We
hadn’t had another chance to talk, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to her
about it just yet. I had decided to wear a purple turtleneck (to cover my
growing bruises) and a pair of my most flattering jeans. I couldn’t wait to get
out of here. After about fifteen minutes of
silence. I stood up and grabbed my plate.
“Ok, I have
to meet Maizy at the bonfire soon.”
My mother
glared at me and held up her fork.
“Your sister
only comes home once a month, do you need to go out tonight?”
“What?” I
shrieked. I had spent so many nights being stuck at home, safe. Safe from the
darkling, in my room. Sleeping with the lights on; afraid to turn my back. This
was my first chance to go out, like a normal teenager. It was the longest day
of the year.
“I’ve been
looking forward to the bonfire for months,” I said. I dropped my plate back on
the table. “You can’t make me stay at home; I’m almost eighteen.”
“Gabrielle,”
my mother said in her most stern voice.
I looked at my father who just continued eating. I knew why he wouldn’t look me in the eyes. Sadly, I knew my parents too well. They needed me to stay at home so they could go out for drinks or whatever it was they did, and they couldn’t leave Pheona at home alone.
I looked at my father who just continued eating. I knew why he wouldn’t look me in the eyes. Sadly, I knew my parents too well. They needed me to stay at home so they could go out for drinks or whatever it was they did, and they couldn’t leave Pheona at home alone.
“Seriously?”
I told him, stomping my foot a few times. I let out a sigh and spun around
towards my room.
“You guys are
barhopping idiots! Go out to your stupid bar and drink, do the only thing your
good at!” I screamed in anger as I slammed my door shut.
I laid down
on my bed and screamed some more into my pillow. I knew I was acting like a typical teenager,
but I didn’t care. Afterwards, I listened to my heartbeat racing. Just lying
there hurt. My parents didn’t care about me, they didn’t even care about
Pheona. Why else would they send her away? I already knew the answer. So they
wouldn’t have to deal with her. I sat up
and strained to hear their voices from the dining room.
“Don’t mind
her, Pheona; she’s just a spoiled hormonal teenager. She wants to see you,” my
father mumbled.
“Pheona…” I
heard my mother’s voice drop to a small whisper. “You two could have a girl’s
night and spend quality time together. Your father and I have some last minute
work to do at the office anyway.”
I moaned loudly
and made an angry fist at the wall. They couldn’t see me, but it still made me
feel better. I knew it. They didn’t have work to do; that was always their
excuse. They tried to be good parents, they told lies to make themselves feel
better. Sure they may stop by the office, if only to pick up a file or some
money. They were both accountants and did payroll for most of the business in Clearwater,
but their job didn’t take up that much time. Everything was basically computerized
these days and all it needed was a human to input the amounts here or there.
I threw the
closest thing to me at my bedroom door and screamed again. As my small stuffed
rabbit hit the door, I threw myself back on my bed and started to sob. It
wasn’t fair. They didn’t care about me. Even now, Pheona was only home for a
few days and they weren’t even planning on staying home with her. It was always
the same. I never could go out on weekends because we spent them visiting
Pheona. It was always “Pheona needs this” or “Pheona would want you to do
that.” I mean Pheona and I hadn’t lived in the same house in over ten years.
She had come home for a few years when she turned eighteen,
but her mental stability from her drug and alcohol abuse took a turn for the
worse so they sent her back.
I heard the
loud rumbling of an engine and tires backing out of our driveway. I didn’t feel
bad for feeling so selfish about Pheona. I saw her every week and she never
talked to me much less looked at me until today. She was an adult, an incapable
one, but still a grown woman. Each week I sat in the corner, my parents sat
with Pheona on her bed in her padded room, sometimes we were allowed outside if
the weather permitted. They talked to her about all of the fun things she was missing
out on, as if that would suddenly make her sane. It was pathetic.
My bedroom
door swung open and I shot up.
“Grab your
coat.” Pheona threw my light gray jacket at me and I caught it with one hand.
“I’m not
going anywhere with you,” I said bluntly.
“You are and
you will, today is the solstice and the one day I don’t fear as much. You are taking
me out.”
“No,” I said, throwing my coat back at her. “ I am not
going anywhere, you tried to kill me earlier, have you forgotten? Plus mom and
dad would flip if they knew you left the house without them. You’re not allowed
outside the home, remember?”
Pheona
laughed, throwing her head back so her black hair fell behind her shoulders it
was now combed and not so stringy looking. She was strangely beautiful, I
noticed, but in a scary way. And though I had never noticed it before, usually
because her hair was lifeless and looked uncombed and she hid under layers and
layers of loose clothes, she looked young. Her skin was so pale and tight on
her body, slender and small. She pulled off what I never could: the allure of mystery and desire. Pheona wore a pair
of skin tight black leggings and a black cardigan that looked a little too big
for her.
“Going
through my closet?” I asked her. She gave me a secret half smile and pressed
her hands over the cardigan to try and make it tighter.
“I’ve got a
fat sister,” she said and turned around to walk
out. I let my mouth drop.
As soon as I
knew she was gone, I walked to my full length mirror and turned around to
examine myself. Sure I was about five sizes
bigger than Pheona give or take. But I was also a stunning 5’9 and Pheona
barely made it over five feet. I wasn’t large, but very muscular. I had taken
dance lessons my entire life, and I still did every summer when I could find
the time. I loved to dance. Anything from ballroom to ballet or jazz, made me
feel more alive and connected to the world that anything else I had
experienced. I loved the movement of feeling free. I still remembered the first
time I had danced. I was about seven and I had
danced with the sprites in the woods behind my house. They had spun around,
jumping and swaying with the melody of the wind and the songs of the insects.
They twirled around and beat on the rocks, all while stroking the trees and
caressing the wind with their palms. I remember how beautiful they looked with
their long flowing hair braided loosely with flowers, and green vines that
wrapped around their body like clothes. Oh how much I wanted to be as carefree as they
were. I know better now; I can never be a sprite. I am just a human gifted and
cursed with the sight.
A loud
crashing noise knocked me out of my daydream. I let out another small sign and
ran out into the hall in search of the source. Everything seemed normal. The
hallway was empty, nothing on the ground or out of place. I knew better than to
search it out, but something felt wrong. A small chill ran up my spine that
made my whole body shiver with an addicting fear. Pheona could be in danger, or better yet
trying to kill herself. After that run in with the darkling earlier, I wasn’t
about to take any chances.
“Pheona?” I
whispered. The house echoed back emptiness. Nothing. I took a small step back
towards my room, when another crash in the spare bedroom made me jump. Without
thinking, I ran full speed towards the sound. The bedroom door was wide open,
and inside I saw Pheona armed with a silver throwing star and an empty glass
bottle. She was alone, but my heart was beating wildly. I was glad she was
okay, but scared out of my wits. I placed my hand on my heart and gave myself a
quick second to catch my breath.
“What is
going on? You about gave me a heart attack,” I cried, still trying to slow my
heart down.
Pheona pushed
her dark locks behind her ear and plopped down on her bed.
“Gaby, what
is this? A breeding ground for darklings? Why the hell are they even able to
come out in the sunlight anyway?”
I raised my
eyebrow. I had wondered the same thing but there was no use going crazy with
wonder, Garrick would explain it all soon.
“I have no
idea, but they seem to be staying in the shadows. They looks…stronger. I don’t
know. I shook my head in confusion. I knew they wouldn’t hurt me, they wouldn’t
risk angering Garrick like that. It was only fear they wanted, it was what they
liked.
“I guess we
need to discuss that.” I walked across the room and rested my head on the
wooden doorframe. As much as I didn’t want to talk about it, the truth was out
and it was inevitable. It seemed as though deep inside I had always known. It
didn’t feel like such a shock, only a sweet relief.
“So we both
can see them, how long?” I asked her.
“For as long
as I can remember,” she replied. I narrowed my eyes at her and inched closer to
the bed where she sat.
“I was six;
can you see the others too?”
Gaby looked
up at me. “What others?”
“The good
ones,” I stated.
“There are no
good ones.”
“There are.”
I sat down on the bed, and Gabby moved up off the floor to sit next to me. She
was my sister, but this felt the most honest conversation we had ever had
together.
“They are
wonderful,” I explained. “Beautiful and full of
light. Honest and good, they are everything humans can never be.” I could hear
the awe in my voice, and for a moment thinking of them made my whole body warm.
There must have been a dreamy look on my face, because when I looked at Gabby
her eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. She wouldn’t understand. She could never
understand what Garrick meant to me, what he had done for me.
“You’ve got
to be kidding me!” Pheona laughed, she fell back on the bed in a shaking fit.
She wrapped her arms around her waist like she would split apart at any second.
“They have
you pegged for some sort of idiot, well… you are an idiot. But really?”
Offended, I
stood up. Who was she to act as if she knew even the tiniest thing about
me? I started to pace the room. It was
the smallest room in the house, so I didn’t have much room. The spare room was
decorated with pink and yellow cottage like flowers. The comforter, the wall
boarder, the pictures; the flowers were everwhere. It was all too sappy.
“Screw you.”
I pointed my finger at her like a parent scolding a four-year-old and started for the door.
Pheona’s attitude was becoming increasingly annoying.
“Wait!” she
called out after me. “Show them to me, these…
good darklings.” Their name came out sarcastically and I knew right away that
she didn’t believe me.
“How could
something so evil have an exact counterpart?”
I thought for
a second. It was a valid question. Yet it was true, the fey were the exact opposite
of the darklings.
“Okay, but
you have to tell me what you were doing in here.”
“Warding off
a darkling.”
“With a
bottle and a ninja star?” I raised my
eyebrow, this time I was the one in disbelief. I point to the two objects on
the bed.
“The silver star
distracts them; the bottle is filled with sun essence.”
“Sunlight?” I
smirked. “Where did you learn these little tricks? Usually I ignore them and
they mostly leave me alone.” I shuttered as I said the word mostly. They did
mostly leave me alone, but not always. Using a star and a bottle seemed like
the most ridiculous way to ward off a darkling, but you work with what you got.
“Well when
your family abandons you and leaves you locked in a cushioned mental cell most
of your life you learn a few tricks and you learn to defend yourself.”
Her remark
hurt, though I was not the one who sent her away. I did feel bad that I had the
chance to do things that she would never be allowed to experience. And I’m sure
she stemmed a lot of jealousy on her end.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
“Don’t be,”
she said. “I snuck out lots of times and tonight we are going to the bonfire
you were throwing that tantrum over.”
She picked up
a set of car keys to Dad’s old pickup truck and
threw them at me. A little harder than need be. I caught it in my left hand a
few of the keys pierced my palm. I winced and moved the keys to my right hand.
She was strong.
“You drive.”
she said, smirking as threw her dark hair over her shoulders. “Because I don‘t
know how.”
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