"That's childish," Kylen commented walking off into the living room.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I followed closely behind him. He grabbed a small backpack and a brown paper bag with food. I took the time to wear the backpack that he had handed me properly.
"Where are we going?"
"We are going for a walk through the woods and hopefully make it unto the main road without being detected, hitch a ride from a beautiful woman who has a crush on me into town and to my new home we go," he listed, checking his watch.
I was a baffled, blinking idiot. "Aren't you married," I nearly yelled but found some self control.
Kylen glanced at me briefly and then at an empty space at the wall. "It's complicated," he eventually said softly. His brows were furrowed and a deep frown was on his lips.
I nodded.
"Anyways, we have an hour and 3 minutes before she passes by," he explained, walking towards a door that I hadn't noticed before. It was a second entrance into the kitchen that led outside.
I followed Kylen out of the house. It was still very dark outside with only the moon light illuminating our surroundings.
"Do you have flashlights," the little girl who was afraid of the dark asked.
Kylen ignored my question and began walking towards the tall, dark and scary woods. I struggled not to trip over any twigs or step on the back of his boots as I struggled to see the path that he was following. I groaned.
"I need new glasses," I grumbled.
"No, you don't," Kylen retorted, entering the sea of trees.
An owl hooted from a far and crickets sang a continuous symphony. I felt as if I was going camping in a potentially terrifying forest. A small light blinked. My heart jolted upon until the moment I realised that it was only a firefly. I released a sigh of relief holding my chest. I struggled to see where I was putting my feet, since the large trees blocked the light of the moon. I could only see the shapes of the trees, the silhouette of Kylen's body and a few places illuminated by the moonlight that forced its way through the broad leaves of the trees.
"I have vision problems," I said hastily, stepping on the heel of Kylen's shoe when I heard a twig snap.
He paused and turned towards me. I couldn't see the expression on his face but I bet he was pissed off and most likely irritated.
"I'm sorry," I muttered an apology, taking a wobbly step back.
"Your elven blood is strong. You should be able to see deep into the woods without a flashlight." I swear he said that last sentence in a mocking tone.
I blinked at the poorly lit forest floor. My vision was a little better since I unlocked my magic but some things were still very foggy. I had tried to read the tag of a pair of denim shorts and failed. Maybe it was the magic in the air. My mother did tell me of the wonders of Eta. She always spoke of the pristine air while complaining about the bland stale air of Earth. She loved to compare things and people.
"Just relax and trust me…your mother does," he said, holding my shoulders.
I pursed my lips and nodded. I stepped to walk by his side and we continued into the woods. After a couple of minutes, my vision surprisingly adjusted to the darkness and I questioned if I ever really needed my glasses.
When I was child my magic had become a beacon for my father to track me. 'My dark signature,' my mother had called. A feeling that allows you to sense others with my tainted blood. For years I was mad at my mother for locking away what I loved the most about myself until I discovered that she wasn't only protecting me from my father. There were many others who wore the smiles of friends but had the heart of enemies.
I turned to glance at Kylen.
"How close were you to my mother?"
I suspected that he had anticipated the question because a knowing smile graced his lips. He shrugged.
"We hated each other at first. She was the only one capable of putting a snob like me in my rightful place. Ah, she was irritating," he started with a reminiscent smile. "She was my best friend, actually. Save for the few times I contemplated killing her," he continued massaging his neatly trimmed beard.
"Well that took a dark turn," I muttered with wide eyes.
"No, no, it was something we talked about alot," he said with a wave of his hands as if it was no big deal.
I shook my head, pulling the duffle bag closer to my chest as it became heavier.
"You know sometimes I imagine history repeating itself but taking a different turn than your mother and I did, with you and Shane."
I listened closely as Kylen took his time choosing his words carefully, only to understand why when he finished. I shook my head, ready to object when suddenly a blinding light obscured my vision.
"Well it would be damn hilarious if y'all saw this in the history books and ignored it or is this that different turn," a masculine monotone voice said, mockingly.
I flinched, staring wide eyed at the ginger haired man that stepped from behind a tree before us. He wore a black and navy blue uniform with a firearm strapped to his waist and blade sticking out of his boots. As he stepped closer to us, I noticed more similarly clothed people step from behind the trees.
"Shit," Kylen cursed…only it didn't sound like him.
My head quickly snapped to the person standing beside me. I gasped, slapping my hands over my mouth as I stepped away from the familiar person. My eyes darted from the ginger haired man to the guy who I may or may not have a crush on.
'Calm yourself, I'm using a glamour to conceal my identity." I narrowed my eyes as I struggled to catch the few words streaming out of his mind.
"And he's the best you could come up with," I whispered, unable to focus so that I could send the thought into his mind.
Cassian-his dad-Kylen rolled his eyes. 'We are the same height and we share the same bone structure and blood. I could go on but you might get uncomfortable,' he telepathically informed.
I groaned, stomping my feet.
"Care to share," the ginger said, pointing the flashlight back and forth between us.
"She's just being childish," Mr. Cole said, pointing his thumb at me.
I gaped at him. I wasn't the one wearing my son's face. That sounded really weird.
"So is that why you are walking about the last known sighting of the fugitive Kylen Cole," the tall man said accusingly.
I glanced towards Kylen, who casually shrugged. I instinctively hit him on the shoulder. He was as caught off guard as I was.
"I-I'm sorry," I directed towards Kylen stuttering, the man was extremely scary even though he wasn't wearing his own face. "I-the portal that we took dropped us off right here in the woods. We…um…we were just returning to Elverton…after escaping the fire," I said hesitantly. It was very hard to catch up with the shifting images flashing through the ginger soldier's mind. His name was Sam and he had 3 dogs.
I gripped my head as a skull splitting ache went through it.
"Yes, we are very tired. Almost didn't make it back," Kylen added, grabbing my shoulder to steady me.
Sam didn't believe us right away but after comparing a picture on his tablet to Kylen's head, he decided to guide us to the main road. Kylen finally took the duffle bag from my hands, with a complaint of course.
"You are young and strong. I shouldn't be carrying your bags for you," he grumbled.
"And you shouldn't be wearing that face," I muttered under my breath. "How are you wearing that face?" I asked genuinely curious.
"My mother was a witch. Why does this face bother you so much?"
I didn't answer but my mind did betray me when our very heated kiss resurfaced. I quickly shook the thought away. This is not Cassian.
"Because it's weird!"
"Because you like this face, when you look at it you feel this unexplainable pull that has your mind going places that it shouldn't," he said.
I groaned. "Shut up!"
"Yes, that's the one. The irresistible pull," he continued to talk, completely blocking out the people around him and just loving every second of my discomfort.
"I don't want to have this conversation with you. It is very strange given our current situation, don't you see that," I tried to explain without being mean. A few of the soldiers were glancing at us as we bickered.
"But it's necessary, you need to understand that this world is different from the one you grew up in. In this world a cosmic energy binds us to those that we share a destiny with."
"And how do you know that we share a connection," I said, glancing into his eyes, referring to Cassian and I, of course.
Kylen smiled and tilted his head in my direction. "I'm pretty sure that you can answer that one by yourself," he said cryptically.
Mr. Cole was hinting that Cassian and I were soulmates but what he failed to realise was that not all soulmates were lovers. So, what we kissed! I blamed it on hormones and confusion. You don't fall in love in a day or after one kiss.
Love was patient and slow. It was a pure connection established by trust and hope. It was looking into someone's eyes and seeing a perfect future despite the darkness and the pain. It was caring for someone more than you take care of yourself. It was watching the world burn just to see them again.
Well that was love for me. I wasn't sure what having a mate was like and the thought of being someone's fate…scared me.
Sam and his soldiers took us safely to the main road. They waited patiently with us until Kylen's ride came. I caught a glimpse of a photographic memory reminder that Sam took. He was most definitely going to check if we were actually students at Elverton. I was hesitant to give my name but Kylen quickly fixed that, blurting it out before Sam even opened his mouth to ask. I didn't mind being around the man because admittedly I did think of a future with Cassian and if that future became real I really wanted to get along with his family. Which meant that I had to fix things with Cleo–on second thought, I think I'm just going to let fate do its thing and then I do mine. Kylen hopped into the front passenger seat and I hobbled into the back, placing my duffle bag beside me. I closed the door and glanced towards the driver. Her large blue eyes were piercing mine. I raised my brow and glanced towards Kylen, who had thankfully dropped the glamour. "Oh, this is Vanessa. S
When I grow up, I wanted to be a superhero. Someone who protected the innocent and imprisoned the bad but as if this moment I preferred the term vigilante. I did good things but by my own rules. I would steal from the rich and give back to the poor. I would break self-righteous idiots who thought of themselves as better than me for my own selfish need to feel power. "Kneel," I commanded. Derrick had no choice but to fall to one knee. After all, he was proposing to the love of his life. "How does it feel, Derrick? To kneel before your master," I exaggerated, watching as he struggled to make sense of the strange thoughts in his head. "Get the fu–," "Language!" "Out of my head, fuk–itch!" Damn, he was strong but I was juiced up. I pushed back forcefully, sending him flying into a tree. I felt sorry for the tree when its roots rose above ground. A few students ducked out of the way as it went tumbling down. It erupted into flames a second late
It took us 17 days to clean up the library and even after our job was done we had to help the workers build a new set of stairs through the hole in the ceiling and when that didn't work out, we had to make a raised platform thats triggered by weight. We literally made it for ourselves since it could only carry a maximum of 3 people and our initials were pasted on its glass walls. Always Phoebe, Medaline and I were the first to ascend to the second floor in it. It was a short ride but it was so satisfying! "We make such a good team," Medaline commented, staring towards the sky as we entered the outdoor courtyard. "We are good at fighting crime together, creating good art as well as destruction but then again from chaos comes order. We're really good at chaos," she said squinting slightly. "Uryah is not going have us replant that tree, is he," Phoebe asked with a tired sigh. She had dark circles under her eyes and usual bright skin was pale. "Are you okay," I asked
"Wait," Medaline suddenly said, as I hooked my arm around hers. "We need to change first," she said, pulling me in the opposite direction. I caught Phoebe rolling her eyes. “Harris might be there and I can’t let him see me like this,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I released a groan, throwing my head back to stare at the sky. I could feel the confidence that I had found slowly leaving my body, replaced by the thought that maybe Cassian would be at the party too. It had been a very long time that I had seen him and this morning when I glimpsed him, let’s just say that I really wanted to know if he was okay. There may have also been a longing in my chest, most nights I felt as if I was dying. I would remember crying myself to sleep and not know why I was crying. I knew my mother was okay, for now but the pain that I had felt in my chest wasn’t because of her. I missed him. I took a deep breath as we walked across the south hall, with every step
Madeline stopped by a grey bedroom before we went back down stairs. She cringed as she had struggled to see inside the dark room but I found my sight perfectly adjusted. There was no one in the room, after a few seconds of squinting into the shadows she closed the door and we went downstairs. We found Phoebe munching on a bowl of cereal, cuddling a pillow on the couch. Medaline gasped at the sight and I found myself dying of laughter as I sat beside her. "Seriously, you weren't even making an effort," Madeline said loudly, staring at her friend with wide eyes. Phoebe gave a careless shrug, slapping my fingers away from her cereal. I pouted and folded my arms. "I knew you would come to your senses soon enough," Phoebe said curtly, causing Madeline to roll her eyes. The sound of someone entering the house, directed our attention to the front door. There was a tall handsome man entering the house. He was tall with dark hair and his eyes were blue.
What did poor little defenseless Taiti Malcolm do to her great and powerful father Xerxes…she existed. History books speak of creatures similar to the Cider wolves that pass down their power to their offsprings. If an alpha Cider wolf had a wolf pup, the alpha would lose its alpha powers to the pup. As the pup grew so he or she would take their parents power slowly. Xerxes was a Cider wolf alpha and I was the pup. His power transferring to me was as a result of our similarities and the universe balancing itself. One man should not hold too much power but neither should one woman but we do it so well, nobody bats an eye. Xerxes didn't want to lose his power so he wanted to kill me before the majority of it was transferred to me. At least that was what I had gathered after reading several history books on darklings/ dark fae. There was also some old wives' tale about how they used to eat their first born children. I sighed, falling into the table, unwilling to go on.
I have never had a boyfriend. I was always too shy or too nerdy or too unapproachable. I was alienated by design, by a system that chose the girl with the flawless olive skin, small waist, long skinny legs, small breasts and always smiled. The perfectly unrealistic girl because even if her personality and body were on point, her life was a lie. The road that she took to get where she was, that road was grim. Painted with blood, sweat, tears, hatred, disgust…I could go on but I may never stop. The boys in high school wanted that perfect girl because she was the perfect girl. I was never the perfect girl. I didn't smile when a guy told a very disrespectful joke and furthermore I wasn't very approachable. For the first 2 years at high school, I was bullied by this guy. He would say the most disrespectful things that you could say to a teenage girl. I hated high school. Elverton seemed different. Everyone seemed comfortable and I appreciated the fact that the femal
Love was a lie and fate was a sick joke. I quickened my pace as I walked away from the scene of the crime, my eyes burning with tears as the severity of the situation weighed me down. How could he do this to me? Do that to her? She is his girlfriend and he cheated on her with me. I felt like a homewrecker or something. I couldn't breathe. I gripped my chest, leaning onto the hand railing as I descended the staircase. My vision blurred with tears, a blurriness that reminded me of a time when I was a weak little girl, who was mistreated everyday. I gritted my teeth in anger as I pushed past the two men coming up the stairs. "Ahh," I released an angry scream. The framed pictures placed against the wall beside the stairs falling to the floor, there broken glass erupting into the air all around me. I inhaled deeply as I slowly glanced at the two guys crouched on the stairs with their arms positioned over their heads. One of them gasped as his hazel eyes met mine. I