The Calling

by Destiny Hawkins

  “And if it doesn’t?”

  “Then the girl will make her choice. We have time,” Vexton’s smile only slightly faded in the silence as Kalsoton glared at him.

  “I am the only one who should ever have to bare my curse, Vexton,” Kalsoton said in a low and rough voice. “Creating a descendant with my powers was never agreed to. You’ve created a monster.”

  I swallowed, remembering when Soren told me how the Depleters thought that I was a monster. It made me wonder what time frame this discussion was in. It couldn’t have been in the present time, because I only dreamt of the past. What puzzled me more was that there was never anything in the history books about Kalsoton and Vexton working together after the new world or even being on speaking terms. Kalsoton was a dark god, and someone that was locked away in confinement after helping his son create the new world. So, when was this?

  Vexton chuckled. “I’d like to think that I created a god.”

  Kalsoton roared as he kicked the vase sitting next to the throne in my direction. The shattered pieces barely missed my head. “Vexton, this isn’t a joke! She doesn’t know how to control her demon side, and at any time it could take over!” He paced back and forth a few times before stopping at Vexton’s side again. “You have no idea what you’ve done. If this plan of yours goes wrong, then you’ll never be able to redeem the Human Realm”

  Vexton sighed. “Father, stop panicking. She’s stopped her demon half before, and she can do it again. If she does happen to lose control, then it was meant to be. Besides, she’s not alone. I made sure that she has help.”

  “Help? Nothing can help her. She has to learn how to control her curse all on her own. You and your brothers are lucky that you were born before I almost completely turned, or else you’d all have to deal with it too. A human with this curse is just－”

  “A half-human, Father. She’s only half human,” Vexton corrected.

  Kalsoton froze, his anger stilling him. As I walked closer to them, I noticed that Kalsoton’s eyes were brown, but soon filled with an inky black. Vexton only stared up at him. He didn’t seem intimidated but was on alert with his hands gripping at the ends of the arm rests.

  I wasn’t fully understanding what was going on. My first thought was that it was me that they were speaking of, but they couldn’t have been. I couldn’t be half-demon and half-human, because my powers would be black with only one other color, and that wasn’t the case for me, so who were they referring to?

  Vexton sighed. “It had to be done, Father. We needed someone just as powerful as one of us in the Human Realm.”

  “She will destroy the Human Realm. Demons belong in the Demon Realm, gods belong in the Gods Realm, and humans belong in the Human Realm! She doesn’t belong anywhere. She should be annihilated.”

  For some reason those words hurt, even if they weren’t talking about me. I was different than all the other Lighters, and even the Gods Children. I could still call myself a defect, but I wasn’t in any kind of sub-category of a defect like the Gods Sons and Daughters. I was just different.

  Vexton frowned. “So, Father, where should you belong?”

  Kalsoton grunted, and then straightened.

  Vexton stood from his throne and walked around to face his father. “You almost completely turned into a demon, but my mother was able to stop you half way through. You’re a half demon and a half god, so where do you belong?”

  Kalsoton loomed over his son with anger covering his features. “That doesn’t matter. I’m different. I learned how to control myself, but this girl you chose? She. Will. Lose. Control.”

  “So, like I said, if she does, then it was meant to be,” Vexton said before sitting back in his throne. “I chose someone innocent and pure. Someone that could relate to the humans. She will come to understand that one day she will have to make the final decision. We have much time before the day of the three suns, and enough so that she can learn and grow like everyone else.”

  Kalsoton sighed while shaking his head. “I hope that you understand what you’ve done. If her demon side takes over before that day, you will never be able to create a new world. She is the only being that can exist in the Human Realm with a god and demon half, and even if you try to go to the Human Realm and destroy her, you may not win that battle.”

  Vexton smirked. “I beat you.”

  —

  Heat, electricity, burning, voltage. That was all I could think of as I was being electrified back into consciousness. There was a loud clicking noise, and the electricity finally stopped coursing through me. I blinked a few times to see a single light dangling over my head, but then it flickered, and I was back to being electrified again.

  I grunted once the shocking stopped, and when I tried to sit up, I noticed that my wrists and ankles were strapped down to the reclined chair that I was sitting in. This was a familiar chair with familiar straps. It was an electric chair. Sometimes, I had to sit in one during pain testing, and since Artemis hadn’t really been using this form of torture lately, I had forgotten just how excruciating the pain was.

  No, no I don’t want to be here, I thought as I pulled at the straps.

  This was unexpected, and when I was brought into situations like this unexpectedly, I tended to panic. I was used to preparing my body and mind for pain. Even when being bullied. Every day before even stepping foot into the halls, I expected to get hurt. That way, when I did, it wasn’t such a surprise, and my mind could take it. At this moment, I was still recovering from my dream, trying to process the puzzling conversation I’d just heard all while wondering if it was even a flashback or just my imagination. I wasn’t sure if I could connect to the gods through my dreams like the Gods Children, but the possibility was high. I was starting to believe that I was some kind of Gods Daughter. Or I could be…

  The clicking sound occurred again, and I was back to shaking with electrical currents coursing throughout my body. It felt similar to being shocked by lightning, but with less voltage. When the currents finally stopped, I thought that I was going to pass out, which would’ve been good for me. Maybe this time I would go back to the Wild Lands.

  “You know, you remind me a lot of her, Rayah,” Artemis’ voice was like something screeching in my ears, and I winced. He walked around from behind my chair and sat in one on my right, facing me. “That’s what scares me the most about having you as my slave. You’re just like she was.”

  I clenched my teeth but didn’t speak just yet. I wasn’t sure why I was in the P.T. Sector instead of solitary but was relieved that I wasn’t somewhere outside of the academy. That meant that no one saw me use my powers, and Sandra hadn’t said anything about them.

  Artemis stared into my eyes, then moved a wet strand of hair from my cheek with his finger. There was a look on his face that I couldn’t recognize, and although it was kinder than what I was used to, it made my stomach twist. “I loved her, but she was disobedient. She wouldn’t love me back.” I pulled at the straps, panicking, as he reached over to the button on the side of the chair and clicked it. He watched in enjoyment as I jolted and shook as the electrical currents coursed through my body again. I balled my fists and curled my toes, praying in my head that it would end soon while tears of pain built up at the corners of my eyes. A few more seconds went by before he reached over and clicked the chair off.

  I loudly sucked in a loud breath of air and squeezed my eyes shut as the shock wore off. What made it worse was that my body was still aching from the fight with Sandra. I couldn’t have been unconscious for too long, because the bruising on my stomach still felt fresh. Maybe only a few hours had gone by before Artemis brought me here.

  “You see, my father owned a slave girl.” Artemis leaned back in his chair. “My younger brother, Drake, and I－ We both graduated from Ellison Academy early. I’m sure you’ve heard of the place.”

  My eyes widened at the thought of Artemis having a brother. A long time ago he told me that he didn’t have any siblings. We were having
a moment, kind of like this one, only it involved knives. He rarely ever talked about his father, but I remembered him mentioning that he was strict with him, using the same discipline tactics that he used on me. His success in becoming a Major was what made him believe that those tactics worked.

  “Drake was like my best friend, but when we went back home together, we split apart over a girl. A slave at that, and one that our father owned. She was beautiful, just like you are, but that led to her death.” Artemis looked as if he were lost in thought, but then his eyes came back to mine. “My father was still strict with us, even after we graduated, and he pushed my brother away. Drake ran away from home one night after a fight that he had with our father. He wasn’t as strong as I was, but he was younger and probably just needed a little time. I never saw him again, but around that time of our lives, we didn’t care much for each other because of our competition for Olivia. Since he was away, I thought that she would love me, but she still chose my brother.”

  When he reached over to hit the switch again, he noticed how my wide eyes followed his hand and stopped halfway with a smile creeping up his lips. His hand then moved to my cheek, caressing it with the back of his thumb. “After I killed her, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.”

  I shuddered, and my stomach was starting to hurt so badly that I thought I was going to be sick. Artemis wasn’t just devious, but a murderer. He actually killed someone with his own hands. I never thought about him taking things that far and just figured that he used to threaten to kill me as a scare tactic. It worked, even though I used to doubt that he would do it.

  Artemis’ eyes glimmered with excitement. “And then you were given to me. You were just a play toy at the time, but I knew that you’d grow into a beautiful woman. A woman that I could control and claim as my own. A woman that couldn’t say no to me. I was so upset when I had to bring you to the academy, but then I heard of your dilemma.” He chuckled and pulled his hand away. “I thought that you were meant to be mine, but then I started to notice something different about you, and today I saw something.”

  My heartrate picked up in speed, and I began to pant. He saw me. He saw my powers and now－What am I going to do? If I could jump my physical body away from here, then I would. I would do anything to get away from him.

  “You did something.” He stood from his chair. “I didn’t see it, but I know that you used your energy in that duel, and I’m going to push it away. You see, I know for a fact that fear and pain are what keep you from using them, and every time that I’ve noticed your powers getting closer to the surface,” he leaned over me, planting his hand by the side of my head. “I worked very hard to make them go away. Why do you think I sent Kaydar and his friends to your dorm that day? All it took was a little motivation to get him outraged. Losing a sibling? It’s painful, and you were the release that he needed to rid himself of that pain. In turn, you became weak again.” Artemis grabbed my chin and held my head in place, and I wasn’t sure what he was trying to do until I saw that unfamiliar look in his eyes again. He wasn’t looking down at me, but at Olivia. As he lowered himself towards my lips, I tried to turn away from him, but his grip was too strong. “I own you, Rayah. You can’t tell me no,” he hissed. “And if I have to, I’ll just keep making your life miserable until you understand that I control it.”

  My stomach turned as he continued to lower himself towards my lips. He wasn’t doing much, but I felt violated and disgusted. This was a man that the female students here praised and that some male students looked up to. They would be disgusted to know that he had a sensitive side. The powerful Kali had feelings, and the only way he knew how to express himself was by hurting me. Pain was all he knew, so pain was all he gave.

  “Don’t,” I barely whispered, his warm breath on my lips making me quiver.

  Artemis railed back and looked into my eyes with sadness and rage, and for a moment, I thought that he was really debating on killing me. A moment later, his eyelids fluttered, and then he clicked the button on the side of the chair.

  He didn’t turn it off until I passed out.

  Chapter 11

  “One last straw is all one needs to unleash the power within them.” — Sora

  My body twitched as I formed in the Wild Lands, still recovering from being tortured in the electric chair. I slowly opened my eyes to the dark sky, and then turned my head to see that I was laying right next to a large fire. My vision was still blurry, so the fire was really all that I could see, but when they finally adjusted, I was able to see the people sitting on the other side of it.

  Am I in the village? Where’s Soren?

  My chest warmed at the thought of being with Soren. I missed and needed him. Especially, after all that I’d been through since my last time seeing him. All I needed was his smile, his laugh, and his soft touch. His physical contact. There was no one else in the world that could make me feel the way that he made me feel. Not even Tristan had this effect on me.

  I was startled by the gentle hand that came down over my shoulder, but then exhaled to calm myself down. When I turned my head to see who is was though, I tensed. Fear wasn’t an emotion that I had the energy to feel right now, and from the look of it, I wouldn’t have to, but looks could be deceiving. “Psycho…”

  Psycho stared down at me with a sympathetic expression that I didn’t understand. Not too long ago he was trying to kill me, but now he looked as if he wanted to help me. His light brown eyes shimmered in the fire light, filled with wonder, but then as he came to realize who he was looking at, they instantly grew cold.

  “Isn’t that Racer’s girl!?” a Depleter asked.

  Psycho looked up and grinned at his friends across the fire. “Yeah, this is her.” He looked down at me. “She came right to us.”

  I swallowed and began panting. I wouldn’t be able to fight them all, even with the little control that I had over my energy. I was too weak, and too beaten. The last time that I came across Psycho, he wanted to kill me, and even though I didn’t get the feeling that he wanted to do that now, I knew that something bad was going to happen if I didn’t get away from him soon.

  Psycho gave a smug grin and pulled me up by my bicep, then turned me around to face the rest of the village. He pulled me down the pathway, causing me to stumble, and the only reason that I didn’t fall was because his grip was tight enough to keep from doing so.

  Looking around, I noticed that there were no familiar faces in sight, and the Depleters had their tents set up over the ones they burned. Soren’s village was gone.

  No…no…where are they?

  My voice shook. “Where’s…where’s Soren?”

  Psycho slowed to a stop and looked back at me with his teeth clenched and eyes igniting with hate. He didn’t answer but whipped around and yanked me forward. I stumbled but gathered my footing and continued after him. My throat slowly began to burn as my eyes connected with the Depleters’. They gave devious grins, laughed, and taunted me about killing some of the villagers. At one point, I tried to yank my arm away from Psycho, but he only tightened his grip and continued on for his tent.

  My eyes began to water. Soren was supposed to be invincible, and yet, I had the sickest feeling that he was gone. The one person that could make me smile after everything that’s happened was no longer with us, and Psycho was the reason for it. I was alone again.

  “Where is he?” I asked a second time, my trembling voice cracking.

  Psycho growled, but still didn’t answer my question. When we finally got to his black tent, he yanked me inside and let me go. I thought about running back out, but he blocked the entrance.

  It was dark inside the tent, but I could clearly see Psycho heaving a few feet away from me. We both stood there in silence, me thinking of an escape plan, and him glaring at me. If I ran straight to the side of the tent, I might’ve been able to get away, but that was if I wasn’t completely slowed down by the tent falling over me. After that, I’d have to escape from this camp of Dep
leters.

  Psycho still hadn’t made a move, so I started to make my own by slowly turning my foot to run, but his words stopped me. “I wouldn’t try escaping from here if I were you. I brought you in here to keep you away from the others, but out there, once they catch you, I won’t be able to stop them.” His voice was low and calm, which scared me more than what he’d just said. “Even though I’m their leader, sometimes they just don’t listen.” He slowly walked further into the tent while pulling his gun out of his waist band.

  I clenched my teeth as my eyes focused on the gun by his side. “Why did you bring me in here if you were just going to deplete me?”

  Psycho ran his fingers through his hair with his free hand and sighed, then pointed his gun at me. “I wanted to make it easier for you.”

  “To die?”

  “No, to call. I want you to do The Calling.”

  My lips parted in shock, and I began to hope again. “So, Soren’s alive?”

  Psycho nodded his head from side to side. “For now.”

  My heart leaped, and a smile almost came to my lips before Psycho shot a dart into my thigh. It felt like a pinch at first, but when I started to feel as if my muscle was pulling, I reached down for it.

  “Ah, ah, ah. Touch that dart, and I’ll shoot another one into you.”

  My hand shook over the dart, but then I railed it back and stood upright. I couldn’t see the white light taking over my leg because of the suit that I was wearing, but I’d notice how close that it was getting to my head once my neck was taken over.

  “Psycho, I can’t do The Calling. I’m not a Gods Daughter,” I tried to say as calmly as I could.

  Psycho chuckled. “Yes, you are, if not that, then you really are a monster. Either way, I know that you can do it, so call him.”

  “I－” I panted, confused as to how I was going to get myself out of this predicament. “I can’t!” The pain shooting up my leg caused me to put most of my weight on the other. “I’m not like him. I can’t do the－”