The Calling

by Destiny Hawkins

  I took a moment to think, trying hard to figure out what I liked to do, or eat, or play, but nothing came to mind. Nothing interesting at least. “Well, I like to watch the stars. I used to watch them with Tristan all the time. I don’t have a favorite food or game, but I do know that I love to go out to the roof at night. I would watch the stars, and just…”

  “Leave everything behind?”

  I bit down on my lower lip and nodded.

  Soren gave a half-hearted smile. “And your friend Tristan, he helped you escape when you two were together.”

  I thought back to Tristan’s smile, his smell, and his kindness, missing him. “He was always my escape.” I looked down at my feet, replaying my memory of him being hauled off from his dorm. “And then he was just taken away from me. Just like that, and then my escape was gone, and all I had were the stars.” I bit my lower lip, feeling my positive mood slipping away. “I thought that it was some sort of miracle that I met you.”

  Sore’s eyebrows furrowed. “And why is that?”

  “I’m not sure.” My chest slowly began to burn. “I just never met someone that could make me feel so free.”

  “Your friend. He didn’t make you feel that way?”

  “Somewhat, but not the way that you do. You’re just so different than anyone I’ve ever met.”

  Soren pushed a few loose strands of hair behind his ear. A nervous habit of his. “I guess I am a miracle then, huh?”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Well, I’m glad that I could help. Anything to make you smile.”

  I smiled nervously, wanting to tell Soren more about myself, but our chat was cut short. Soren stopped walking, and then held his hand out to stop me.

  When I looked up, I saw turquoise blue, dark blue, and white flashes of light circling around us and blocking us in. “Depleters.”

  Soren sighed. “Psycho is here.”

  My eyes shot from left to right as I searched for Psycho. Out of all of the Depleters that I’ve come across, I knew that he was the most dangerous. It was funny, because I never got to see Psycho’s true power, but I had the feeling that he could somewhat match Soren in a fight.

  “Do you see him?” I asked. The flashing lights around us were becoming so bright that they were almost blinding.

  “No,” Soren bit his lower lip. “Stay close.”

  I frowned. “I can handle myself.”

  Soren chuckled, but his face was still covered with a frown.

  I continued to search for Psycho with my eyes but didn’t find him until I turned around. When my eyes landed on his, my heart skipped a beat. This was the second time that this man has thrown me off guard with his handsomeness. I expected him to look like the villain that he was, but instead, he looked like a normal person. Someone that I wouldn’t mind getting to know.

  Psycho stepped into the circle of light with a grin on his lips. His short brown hair was as wild as I remembered, and his shirtless body was still in amazing shape. Since our last run in with each other, he didn’t have as many Life Stones around his neck, but I guess he took more lives for the purpose of living longer. The thought of that is what reminded me that he wasn’t a normal person at all, but a cold-blooded killer.

  “I’ve been looking for you,” Psycho said with his eyes locked on mine.

  Soren took a deep breath before turning around to face him. “I was wondering when you’d show your face again. After that beating my sister gave you, I figured that you wouldn’t come out to play for a while.”

  At this point, the Depleters stopped circling us and were now closing in.

  Psycho chuckled. “I’ve had a hard time getting a signal on the girl.” He held his hands out and shrugged. “Must be a glitch or something. All that matters,” in one palm a white flame appeared. “Is that I found her.” In the other hand, water formed from his palm and floated into the air.

  Soren tensed, slightly side stepping in my direction. “Rayah, when you get the chance you need to run.”

  “I can help you,” I whispered.

  “No, Psycho’s serious this time, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  I frowned, feeling a little insulted. “Don’t worry about me getting hurt.”

  Psycho’s eyes locked on mine again, and just like the time he caught me in the woods, I saw something in them that told me that he really didn’t want to do this, but when they moved to Soren, pure hatred glistened from them.

  “How painful would it be for you if I killed her right now, Racer? Or should I wait for you to get a little more attached?” A devious grin crept up his lips, and there was a wild glimmer in his eyes. It was as if he had become a different person in only a few seconds. “I owe you for Jackie.”

  Soren cocked a brow. “So, you’re going to go against Assassin’s orders just to get back at me?”

  Psycho chuckled. “Screw his orders. I just want to see you bleed!” He clapped his hands together, blasting a roaring swirl of fire and water straight at me.

  I knew that I would be able to dodge it, but right before I attempted to jump out of the way, I felt a strong burning sensation starting in the center of my back, and then throughout the rest of my body. The pain was so shocking that I couldn’t scream, and a blast of electricity inside of me kept me from moving.

  My eyes widened as the swirl of fire and water was only milliseconds away from penetrating my stomach, but then I was suddenly tackled to the ground by Soren, and the blast past over us, plunging into the Depleter that electrified me from behind.

  Soren pushed himself from on top of me to see if I were okay, then jumped back to his feet to stand guard.

  “Get the girl!” Psycho yelled.

  I slowly turned my head to face Psycho and noticed large blows of fire shooting from his fists at Soren, but Soren blocked them with ease, literally smacking them to the side. Psycho then shot lightning out of his fingertips, but Soren had only redirected it to a tree, setting it on fire.

  I could hear footsteps running in my direction but couldn’t see who or where they were coming from, because my vision was starting to blur. The last thing that I saw clearly were dark blue pointed ice cycles shooting over my head.

  “Get the hell away from her!”

  —

  When I awakened in my dorm, I sighed. I jumped back to my body out of either fear or exhaustion, but what irritated me the most was the fact that I was so helpless against Psycho. I didn’t even last through the first attack. I should have taken better caution of the others, but I was so focused on the man in front of me that I wasn’t paying attention.

  I sighed and rolled over to my side, hoping that Soren and Sora were okay. This was the second time that I left Soren in the middle of a fight because of my weaknesses, and I could only hope that he and his sister got away. I knew that if I went to sleep now, I wouldn’t jump to the Wild Lands. It was just a sense that I got. I knew that sometimes I’d jump as soon as my eyes were closed, and other times I knew I’d just end up dreaming about Vexton.

  “Rayah,” someone called.

  I jolted at the sound of my name. I didn’t notice that anyone was in the room, and after looking, I still didn’t see anyone.

  “Over here,” it was a familiar voice, but I guess because I was so tired, I just wasn’t registering who it was.

  The intruder was sitting against the wall at the end of my bed. I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed that there was another person’s body weight on this small bed but was even more surprised to find out who it was.

  I instantly sat up and scooted back so that he and I weren’t too close to each other. “Kaydar?”

  Kaydar’s regretful eyes gazed into mine. It was the same look that I remembered him giving me after Sandra had beat me to a pulp.

  “What are you doing in here?” I asked.

  Kaydar lowered his eyes. “I came to apologize.”

  I drew my eyebrows together in confusion, not fully understanding what he’d just said. “You
bullied me for years.” I wasn’t intending on sounding so angry about it, even though I was, but the words just came out that way. “Why are you apologizing now?”

  Kaydar clenched his jaw and turned away. He was looking down at his hands that were on his lap, fidgeting with something between his fingers. “Because, I see you now. While I was in confinement, I thought about what I did to you, and of what I let Sandra do to you, then I thought about how I treated you over the years.”

  My eyes narrowed. “So, it took you years to realize that what you were doing was wrong?”

  Kaydar sighed. “No, I’ve always realized that, Rayah.” His eyes came back to mine. “But I was angry, so it felt right. My brother was collared a long time ago, and when you should have been, you weren’t. I was pissed that they allowed you to stay, but they didn’t even think twice about my brother. I－”

  “Get out.” The sudden rage that I was experiencing heated my entire body. Kaydar helped contribute to making my life miserable to a point that I wanted to end my life. He was actually second, next to Artemis, under the list of people that I hated most. I wanted to forgive him for everything that he’d done but couldn’t find the strength. I wanted to hurt him.

  Kaydar’s soft eyes only became filled with more pain. “Rayah, please I just－”

  I quickly got to my feet, feeling like I would literally explode. “I don’t know how you got in here, but don’t come back. I don’t care about any revelations you’ve experienced, or even how sorry you are. You made me hate myself growing up here, because in every situation I was the weak one.”

  Kaydar slowly stood to his feet. “Rayah.” He held his hand out to me. “Please, just listen to me.”

  “No!” As if a gust of wind blew through my dorm, Kaydar stumbled backwards and into the wall. “You’re not here to apologize for my sake, but your own. Did you really think that apologizing was going to make up for all the years that you made me wish I was dead? I hate you.”

  Kaydar’s eyes glossed with tears, making me only want to hurt him more. The pain twisting in my chest, and my shortening of breath was starting to make me feel light headed. I experienced this feeling only once before, but it wasn’t this strong. I actually had to grab at my chest but didn’t falter in front of Kaydar.

  He looked concerned about me as I tried to catch my breath, not even realizing that he was the one causing me to feel this way. “Rayah, are you alright?”

  “Get. Out!” I screamed in frustration.

  Kaydar was pushed back by a force that I couldn’t see and slammed against the wall with a crack. He stood there in shock for a long moment, but then doubled over and began coughing. “What was that?” He croaked.

  When I looked into my mirror, I noticed that my eyes were glowing red. Right as Kaydar pushed himself to stand upright, I lowered my chin and squeezed my eyes shut.

  “Rayah－”

  “I don’t forgive you,” I said with a shaky voice. “Now leave. I won’t report you for breaking into my dorm if you just leave right now.”

  I could hear Kaydar’s heavy breaths for another couple of seconds, and then I heard my door slide open and shut. When I opened my eyes, I was alone again, and my anger was slowly starting to die down. I was relieved that my body was starting to cool off as well, sure that if Kaydar stuck around for any longer, whatever power that I had inside of me would’ve come out in full force and destroyed everything.

  Just like Kalsoton, the god of destruction.

  —

  When I opened my eyes, I sighed. I was in a rush to get back to Soren and Sora and didn’t even know where I’d jumped to. Last time I was just lucky, but this time I could’ve ended up in Psycho’s camp, or all the way back at the village.

  “Soren?” I called out. Usually, he’d be right next to me when I awakened, but this time he wasn’t. Dread poured over me at the thought of being miles away from him and my destination point.

  I slowly pushed myself up and leaned back on my palms while taking in my surroundings. I was somewhere that I haven’t jumped to before. Somewhere familiar, but not.

  It was darker here, tinted with more blue than I’ve ever seen, and loud. The sound of a waterfall made its way into my ears and looking forward－ I didn’t know how I didn’t immediately notice it pouring down from only a couple of feet away from me. I was sitting on a walkway made of rock that led straight to the center of the waterfall. The rock was surrounded by clear blue water that had small silver fishes swimming below the surface. With every flip of their fins the moonlight glistened from them, making it seem as if there were dozens of blinking white lights in the lake.

  Why does it feel like I’ve been here before?

  I slowly pushed myself to my feet, looking to see if there was a way to land, but there was no walkway on either side of me that would get me there. Land wasn’t far, but I couldn’t swim. The last time that I was in a lake, I almost drowned.

  I sighed but wasn’t stressed out about my situation. Sure, I was trapped, but something told me that I was trapped right where I wanted to be. I could feel the energy surrounding me, relaxing me.

  I was at the Hot Spot.

  I wasn’t sure what it was that I should have been doing, but something was telling me to go to the waterfall and was pulling me to it. The waterfall seemed ordinary, but every few seconds there was a white pulsating glow emitting from it, as if there was a heart beating within.

  Slowly, I made my way over to the waterfall. I didn’t hesitate, and I wasn’t afraid because I didn’t need to be. I felt connected to the energy and everything else around me.

  I stood on the edge of the walkway now, directly in front of the waterfall. It was tall, wide, and would probably instantly kill anyone that fell from the top of it. Anyone but Soren at least.

  “What am I supposed to do?” I asked no one.

  The waterfall continued to pulsate. I was starting to feel silly, but as I reached my hand out to touch it, fear rose within me. My fingertips felt like magnets as they neared the water, but once my hand slid under it, all my fears washed away.

  I closed my eyes and exhaled, and when I opened them, they instantly watered. I felt surprisingly happy about what I was seeing, but then again, I felt heartbroken.

  A single tear slid down my cheek as I thought of my mother. Her sacrifices were for nothing.

  I’m so sorry.

  Chapter 8

  “Sometimes, there is a deeper reason for the actions of a monster. People aren’t born evil. The good in them had just been beaten away.” — Carmen

  My lips parted as the red water poured over my hand. As soon as I connected with the water, it pulsated to the color of my light, or what I thought was my color. After a few seconds, it pulsated to dark blue, then yellow, then orange, then green, then pink, and then many other colors. My mind went blank, and I lost track of time. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been watching my colors switch, and frankly, I didn’t care.

  My mother sacrificed her freedom for nothing. I was a Gods Daughter, or something else. No one had the ability to switch their light. There was nothing like that in the history books, science books, or class handbook, and I knew this because I’d looked many times before. I may have only been looking for studying purposes, but I knew that I’d never read of anyone experiencing different color energies.

  “They’re going to kill me,” I whispered. I was going to be killed over something that I couldn’t control. Over something so beautiful, and vibrant, and powerful. I was going to be killed because I was different, and the sad thing about it was that there was no part of me that wanted to die anymore. After meeting Soren, the thought of death struck fear and sadness inside of me like never before. The only good thing that would come of my death would be my mother’s early release.

  “Rayah…” I jumped, but then relaxed as Soren slid his hand over my shoulder.

  “I found my light,” I chuckled, sadly. “It’s in me somewhere, but it’s－it’s not standard.”

&nbs
p; Soren watched quietly as the waterfall continued to switch colors, and then he gently turned me around to face him. His hair was dripping with water, and his chest glistened in the now pulsating white light. What took my attention though, were his eyes. They reflected sadness and something else, reminding me of Tristan’s.

  My heart stopped, and my lips trembled. Why did he have to look at me that way? Like he was afraid for me, why did he have make me feel this way, and why did the thought of never seeing him again scare me so much? I felt like I failed him somehow.

  I reached up and touched a healing bruise over his temple. When I left him alone to fight Psycho, I failed him then too. I was just a failure, and my loved ones suffered for it. “I’m sorry,” I whispered with tears streaming down my cheeks.

  Soren clenched his teeth, and he frowned with glossed eyes. “You shouldn’t be.” He cupped my face with both hands and used his thumbs to wipe away my tears. “If you weren’t in Lytonia—Rayah, your light is beautiful.”

  “But it’s not standard,” I sobbed. “What am I going to do? I can’t try to level up now. They’ll kill me once they see this, and if I don’t level up soon, Artemis will collar me. I can’t go to him. I can’t…I can’t…”

  Soren grunted and pulled my head to his chest, then wrapped his arms around me as tightly as he could without hurting me. I could feel his rapid heartbeat against my face, and his hot energy building in his chest. “I…” He didn’t know what to say, and I couldn’t blame him. I had just been given a death sentence. What words of comfort could anyone give to that?

  After what felt like forever, I finally stopped crying but didn’t let go of Soren, in desperate need of his warmth.

  “Rayah,” Soren said. “Rayah, look.”

  I sniffled and pulled my head away from his chest just enough to look up at him, but his eyes weren’t on me. That’s when I noticed that we were surrounded by darkness, and the pulsations from the waterfall had stopped.

  When I looked into the water, I frowned. “What is this?” It was completely black. The water was so dark that I couldn’t even see the fishes, and I was afraid that I killed them somehow. Then I noticed something familiar happen. There was a red spark in the water, and then a blue, and then green. They sporadically occurred all over the lake. “I’m doing this?”