“Everyone who can command the wind will have a different color. You will see only your wind from miles away. No others will be noticeable by you, as yours isn’t noticeable to others, until it latches onto your hands or...” He tapped his temple, “Your mind.”
I continued to stare it down and soon we had a little contest going...I think. “Once it latches on, then everyone can see it?”
“No, only those who command it can see others.”
“Oh!”
Then out of nowhere he said, “Let’s begin.” He raised his arms.
The pink thing didn’t move slowly, but rather zoomed right in and latched onto my hands. My first reaction was to shake the crap out of it and run away screaming again. But Zack got a hold of my shoulders and spoke softly until he got me calmed down.
The first lesson was simply to follow his movements, to learn how to control it. That was not an easy task. It may be light, but it had incredible power behind it and figuring out how much force to use with my command was the most difficult part. Eventually though, I got the hang of it and he was able to teach me how to snap it like a whip and how to curl it around solid objects. With certain hand movements, I was able to give it the strength to pick things up to throw them.
When we were done, my thoughts immediately went to Nathanael. “Mom, I’m going for a walk,” I stated.
“Don’t go too far,” Mom said, touching my back as I walked past her.
“Saydi,” Mora said from behind.
“Yeah?” I hesitated at the front door with my hand on the handle.
She touched my arm. “I’m sorry.”
I sighed and hugged her tightly. “It’s not your fault.” Unlocking my embrace I asked, “Have you seen any decisions from him?”
“No. Whatever he’s doing is blocking everything out. He’s completely shut it off.”
Nodding, I gave her a weak smile.
As a mother, she must be so torn and hurt
. “See ya,” I said, squeezing her hand. I stepped out into the frigid evening air and took note of the frost starting to cling to the branches of the leafless trees.
The swimming hole was no longer my peaceful place. Too many bad things were connected to it, I preferred some place different—the wind shot me like a bullet to my intended destination. Down the highway I flew, then turned onto the path that led to the mine, easily dodging the branches and obstacles that came at me.
It was already dark, but with the full moon and the snow’s reflection, it was still very bright and could see everything as I crawled onto my rock and let my legs dangle over it. The feeling of wanting to cry still hadn’t left me and the need to feel closer to Nathanael was intense. I raised my arms—the trees in the distance swayed, the snow fell off the branches—the pink hue came to me easily and gently swirled in the air. A smile came to my face when I thought of a name for it.
Pue.
How silly, but the combination of “pink” and “hue” tickled me.
With one lesson under my belt, I recalled the book and how I thought how neat it would be to control something like the wind and there I was training to do just that. The Pue was becoming one of my favorites—it was time to play with my pink mine monster. As my hands rolled, the Pue’s pink tail followed. A flick of my wrist had the Pue snap against the rocks on the side and an echo ricocheted against the walls as the rocks tumbled into the depths of the hole and crashed to the cavern floor. As I watched them fall, Zack’s lesson came back to me. He had said I would eventually become more comfortable with my ability and it would strengthen to ultimately be able to control the wind for miles.
That seemed an impossibility, but mind you, so was finding out I was a Half Light.
I absorbed myself in the way the Pue flowed, getting more comfortable with it. After some time passed, a sense of peace eventually fell over me—a peace that gave me the ability to simply saunter back home—no need to run. The lights of the town shimmered off the soft curtain of ice fog that hung in the air. Houses were lit up and a dog barked off in the distance. All of it combined gave the ambiance of stepping back in time—Main Street was practically deserted and most shops were getting ready to put their “closed” signs out. A breeze picked up and I thought about playing with it, but thought better, it wouldn’t be good if I lost control. The last thing the town needed was a freak mini-tornado going through it. I laughed at myself.
I walked passed a few shops and waved to the people I knew, noticing some even had Christmas decorations outside in boxes waiting to be put up. Just when I was about to turn down the street that would take me home, something caught my eye. A red Mercedes was parked outside the leather store...Norma was wrapped up in someone’s arms.
There was only one person I knew in town that owned a red Mercedes... No! He loved me! He kissed her softly and my stomached pitched forward. She said something that had him throwing his head back laughing—the street light caught his green/blue eyes. The air was instantly stolen from my lungs, my blood pumped so hard it palpitated against my ears and wrists.
With no control, I clutched my chest, commanding myself,
Breathe!
With a fiery cough the air let go, and so did the sobs. The blaze rammed into my heart and worked its way into every crevasse of my being—I gagged, not only for the loss of Nathanael, but also the betrayal of my friend.
Norma wasn’t the person I thought her to be. Maybe she had always been like that and I chose to ignore it. Case in point—when Job called her, she didn’t hesitate to meet up with him and gave no consideration to Angie’s feelings. That incident alone should have made me cautious. Instead, I overlooked it because of who Job was and how he was a master of his suggestive abilities.
What a fool you are!
The scene in front of me gave me no reason to doubt Nathanael instigated the whole thing. That left me to come to only one conclusion—they had turned him.
My legs wanted to dissolve from underneath me. The street disappeared behind me as the park went past in a blur, the pathway long gone. I ran around the swimming hole with my hands held high. The thin layer of surface ice cracked from the pressure of the rising water. It listened to my command, cascading into the air and twisting with each pass I made around the swimming hole.
Saydi! What’s wrong?
“Get out of my head!” I screamed, tears pouring down my face. My throat burned as I tried to take deep gasping breaths.
Saydi!
A suit of armor clamped down inside me, closing me completely up—hiding myself from myself, not wanting to feel the pain growing steadily in every cell of my body. I even had to conceal my love for him, tucking it away, and when it was hidden completely, only then could I stop running.
They did turn him, the ritual worked. I am simply his prey.
I let go of my hold on the water. It hovered for a second then came crashing down, folding into itself. It splashed over the sides and sprayed on my face. Then I watched as the wetness slowly receded back into the hole from where it came and that second in time allowed me to think.
The self-protection peeled away, rendering my ability to keep myself hidden useless—unleashed were dozens of razor sharp tentacles, first ripping my heart in two, then with speed, strength and precision it took out my soul in one pass. It was hell-bent to ensure that neither would ever mend as it wound its way around and punctured every piece of me. The torture seemed to have a mind of its own, leaving me completely empty.
I held myself tight, praying for it to end.
~ * ~
As I opened the front door, loud voices shocked me out of my personal torment. The whole house seemed to be in an uproar. The air was thick with anger—the living room was the stage.
“I tell you, Mora, the boy was wreaking havoc all over the place today. The ritual worked. He’s more Pyre again,” Zack insisted.
Mora fired back. “That’s impossible! He has Tov in him as well, and he’s always been stronger with his human side. Nathanael would never be like them!” She was crying.
Dad stood up. “Mora...Zack is right. The feeling in the air today was wicked. Two stores were robbed, Luis and Gerald separated, some kids from the town over showed up to taunt our kids at the school, fights were instigated...and every time we looked, there was Nathanael or his red car.”
Mora shook her head. “No, Nathanael would never do such things.” She saw me in the doorway, jumped and hugged me. “Saydi, tell them.”
Gently backing away from her, I braced myself and very coolly said, “I saw Nathanael...”
Mora threw her arm out and twisted, looking at Zack and Dad. “See, I told you,” she said.
“I saw him about forty-five minutes ago on Main Street kissing Norma,” I finished.
Everyone’s mouth dropped.
“Oh, honey!” Mom burst out, reaching for me.
My mind shut down right along with my emotions. “It seems it did work, Mora. How will we know when the battle will begin?”
Everyone exchanged glances.
Dad spoke. “Honey, we don’t need to worry about such things right now. Do you want to talk privately with your mother?”
I shook my head. “No, there’s nothing to talk about. How will we know when the battle will begin?” I reiterated.
Mom gave Dad a nod and he started, “Well, things will get worse. People will get very agitated, more rudeness and unhappiness will be the norm. A large number of murders will occur frequently, but it won’t be confined to just our town. Chances are, it will start in the big cities and work its way to the source.”
I tightly smiled. “It already has started in the big cities. Lilly and Ted, their neighbors... Is anyone keeping track of any of that stuff?”
They shook their head.
“It shouldn’t be starting already," insisted Pearle. “Saydi isn’t eighteen for another five months.”
Grunting, I looked at them. “Maybe you were wrong about that, too. You can all go home now, I won’t be needing you.” I sauntered through the living room, then swiveled around in the hallway door. “There is no battle without Nathanael.”
I left them to their surprised looks.
Melting on my bed, the feelings shoved hard at me, wanting to spill out and cause me torture. I worked hard to repair the cracks and beat back the pain. Sleep finally found me and the morning dawned with fresh suffering.
“Saydi, it’s time to get up,” Mom said from the doorway.
“Mm-hm.”
She sat beside me. “How did you sleep?”
“I didn’t have any dreams, if that’s what you mean.” The water works sloshed forward, working its way up. “It’s the waking up that’s hard.”
Rubbing my back, she soothed, “Oh honey, I’m so sorry.”
Flopping my head on my pillow, I tried to hide from it. “It hurts.”
She stroked my hair. “I know, honey. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of being able to hide. We must keep going.” She kissed my head. “I wish I could take the pain for you.”
“Mm-hm. I know.” The hole in my chest ate at me little by little.
~ * ~
The morning was a blur. Everything I did was methodical, right up until I started walking across the field to school. Then I was jolted back into reality. Nathanael ran to me from the parking lot and it didn’t look like he had slept. His terrified eyes were swollen and red, along with dark circles—and in one leap he had me around the waist, putting one hand on the back of my head as the other pulled me tight against his chest.
“Where did you go yesterday? I thought something happened to you. All of sudden you weren’t there...then you were...then you weren’t! When I tried to speak to you, it bounced back and I couldn’t feel you. Saydi, what happened? And why are your parents so angry with me?”
My head said dismiss him, he was playing me for a fool.
You’re his prey.
My heart, however, was weeping, tempting me to wrap my arms around him and tell him everything.
If you tell him everything, you’ve shown your hand,
my inside voice warned.
Swallowing hard, I felt the pain try to breach my armor. I pushed passed him. “Nathanael, please leave me alone.” The words scarcely got out.
“Whoa!” he choked, then was suddenly in front of me holding my arms. “I’m sorry I got so angry with you. I spent all day yesterday needing to get my head on straight, but also try to figure out what to do. Father knows she’s here, and he was none too pleased.”
It became clear the overwhelming feeling of needing to cry wasn’t exclusive just to me. I was feeling Nathanael’s emotions for the first time.
Saydi it’s all a trick. They need you close,
cautioned my head.
“Saydi! What happened? I tried to see you last night and then again this morning, but your parents turned me away. What’s going on?”
The pleading almost got to me, then I saw him and Norma in my mind—
Here is a guy who I’ve known for just over two weeks and in those two weeks he’s shattered my heart twice!
That realization gave me some strength. “Nothing. Please leave.”
“Saydi, don’t.” He reached for me.
“Everything okay, Sayds?” Todd asked, jogging toward us and glaring at Nathanael. Behind him I could see Norma, who happened to be standing beside Angie and Becky. She was smirking. What is wrong with her? Was she getting pleasure from my torment?