by Kim Cormack
Melody couldn’t stop staring. She apologized, “I’m sorry… I miss her and you look just like my mom. Almost identical, every single detail right down to the dimples in your cheeks. You’re quite a bit younger than she was of course.”
“Feel free…Stare away.” Jenna replied. “You’ll probably catch me staring at you too. You’re a part of him and your mother looked like me so it stands to reason if I had a child with Orin maybe she would have looked just like you. I never had a baby of course, but for hundreds of years I dreamt about it and wanted it more than anything.”
As Kayn observed Melody and Jenna, she knew they’d have no problem pretending they were mother and daughter. She suspected their hearts had already begun to fall into the roles. Melody was a lucky girl. Kayn sighed as she rested her head on her pillow and drifted off to sleep while listening to them laughing as they talked about Orin. A while later she stirred when she sensed Frost. It had been a while since she’d awoken to find him sitting beside her like this, watching her sleep. She knew it was him without even opening her eyes by the way his fingers tenderly stroked her hair. She usually felt warm and secretly adored in this moment but today her dreams had been of Kevin. They hadn’t been romantic dreams…They’d been about innocence lost. They were running around the cherry tree in Kayn’s front yard with homemade weapons. Chloe was perched in the tree and they were protecting her. Her sister Chloe had always been a princess in every game they played for as long as she could remember. Kayn had never been envious of her sister. She had never coveted the role of princess as a child. She’d always dreamt of being the hero. She kept her eyes closed until he left her side. She knew he still cared, even though he had been attempting to act like he didn’t. She could feel it in his fingertips.
This is Not a Fairytale
Night time came once again, christening the landscape with shades of pink and orange, painted artistically across the horizon. Kayn raced through the trails, with her hair pulled back in her usual messy ponytail. She’d wanted to look like she was only going for her nighttime run but in truth she had other plans. She’d been overthinking everything…The way he’d been looking at her earlier. Was he still in there somewhere or was that just wishful thinking? She needed to think and it was difficult to allow her thoughts to revolve around Kevin when she knew it might hurt Frost. Kayn sprinted down the road towards the track, desperate to go for a run unencumbered by twigs and roots of trees. As she arrived at the college she was relieved to find there was not a soul in sight. She needed to run wide open so she could feel her blood coursing through her veins. She wanted to run fast enough to match the beating of her own heart with the rhythm of her feet. She’d always done her best thinking this way. For her, a good run could be easily compared to an evening at the spa. She took off from a random start point with everything she had and ran until she was surprised by the arrival of darkness. Night crept across the isolated track as daylight faded. She pictured the shadows reaching out for her, grasping at her ankles, this vision drove her powerful legs harder and faster until she was running blind in complete and total absence of light. The timed flood lights turned on, revealing a presence. Kevin was walking towards her in the pathway of light, streaming from above. She didn’t have time to be nervous as she slowed down and wiped the perspiration off her brow. Why was he here? Why did he look upset before either of them had even said a word? Her eyes clouded with unintended tears. It felt as though she’d loved him in another lifetime. There were a million intelligent things she could have said in this moment, but instead she walked into his open arms. Maybe he wouldn’t speak for a second and she could pretend he was still her Kevin. She felt him uncomfortably patting her back but held him tighter and whispered against his neck, “Don’t say anything. Let me pretend it’s really you. Please… For a second.” He stiffly allowed her to embrace him as he leaned in and if she wasn’t mistaken smelled her hair. With her body pressed against him, his embrace relaxed and she felt his entire being soften as he melted against her while touching her hair. She shuddered against him as a few sobs slipped out.
He stroked her hair gently as he whispered, “Hey…Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I asked Tiberius if he erased my memory. He told me the truth. He explained why he did it. His actions made perfect sense. He didn't want me to waste my days pining away for someone I can never have. We can never be together. I don’t see the point in attempting to remember you.”
Kayn backed away from him a step. His brutal honesty had stung. She was biting her bottom lip, trying to think about what she could say to get him to want to remember her. She searched his eyes for what had once been there as she recited just a touch of their story, “We met when we were five years old. We’ve been best friends our entire lives.” She stepped forward again and caressed his face tenderly with one of her hands, desperate for him to see how much he meant to her…How much they’d meant to each other. Her mind whispered, you are not what is important. You know he left you to save his family. Her heart clenched in her chest. She lowered her hand knowing spending a week with this version of him was going to break her heart. This fantasy she’d been holding onto had been just that...A fantasy. Tears began streaming from her eyes and she tried to blink them away.
Kevin began to speak, “I don’t think I’m the same person I was when you knew me. I’m sure we’ve both changed. The guy I am right now thinks you’re incredibly hot. How could I not want you with that wild messy looking hair and those adorable freckles? This guy would suggest that we lock ourselves in a hotel room for a few days and try to figure this mess out. I know that’s not what you want from me but that’s all I have to give you.”
Tempted to take him up on his offer, she tried once again to explain why she was crying, “My whole childhood. Everything I miss and love is tied to memories of you.”
Kevin’s demeanor changed and his voice became colder as he replied, “We’re not Romeo and Juliet. We’re not going to live happily ever after. I know my life is not by any stretch of the imagination a fairytale. I don’t know about your life but mine is like a damn horror movie. I know my story doesn’t have a happily ever after ending. My life is all about who dies next and what kind of pleasure I can find myself to make my existence moderately tolerable. I’m just trying to survive here. Let’s not make this week awkward. The last thing I need is for you to be hanging off of my arm sobbing for the next week. If you want to try to hang out together and see if I remember, I'm all for it. Just no more girlie water works.”
His dialect, his tone of voice, everything was different. He sounded a lot like Tiberius. Kayn guffawed, “You have got to be kidding. Don’t do me any favors.” He didn’t remember her at all. Girlie water works. She should punch him in the damn stomach. He would remember her then. Kayn sensed a new presence. She turned to see Lexy walking towards them in the stream of light.
Their clans crimson-haired Dragon said, “Hi again Kevin. Kayn, you need to come with me. I’m sorry… Oracle’s orders.”
Kayn took one long last look at Kevin. She fought the urge to punch the new and definitely not improved version of him in the throat before she walked away. What a douche. Deciding to take the high road, Kayn politely said, “Goodnight...I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”
Kevin quietly responded, “It’s a small campground. I’m sure we will.” He disappeared into the darkness as he stepped out of the beam of light.
Lexy walked beside her in silence for a moment until Kayn glanced at her and tried to explain, “I didn’t go looking for him.”
Lexy replied, “I know hun. You got to see him and he is all in one piece. Winnie has his back. You need to trust that she will take care of him.”
Kayn stopped walking. “How do I just allow him to be this person? This isn’t who he was. How do I just let him go?” Kayn answered while staring off into the black, almost starless night sky. She glanced back at the now deserted lighted track. Her version of Kevin was gone.
“He’s already gone
,” Lexy replied as they began to make their way back to the others. After a moment of walking in awkward silence, Lexy added, “Everything works out just as it’s meant to. I promise you it does.”
Kayn attempted a weak smile for she knew that was the truth. He’s already gone. Her best friend was now a testosterone filled Tiberius wanna be. He’d actually given her the, ‘let’s not make this awkward’ speech. You’d think they’d actually slept together. After a long walk through the woods in the darkness, they entered the crypt finding it still lit by the soft calming light of torches. Her carefree looking clan were sitting around reminiscing about days gone by. Jenna glanced up at Kayn and smiled as she walked past her. She just needed to be alone. Kayn turned around to the hollow sound of footsteps echoing behind her.
Jenna touched her shoulder and said, “Humor me for a minute, I might be able to help.” Jenna placed her hand into the grooves on the wall and the stone slid away to reveal a small private room. Jenna walked across the small room, sat down on a dusty cushion in the corner and signaled Kayn to join her there.
Curious, Kayn strolled across the room and sat down.
Jenna began to speak, “My best advice in this situation is, if you do what’s right, the right things will come to you. I realize the two of you will undoubtedly attempt to spend time together while we’re gone. You just need to remember that he’s on a different path. His path’s adjustment might make it possible to save his mother and brother. If he doesn’t at least try to do this your separation will have been in vain. You can’t tell him about his mother and brother. That discussion is out of bounds. He’s not strong enough to do anything about it. You my dear, have a path all your own and it’s a very important one. You need to travel your road and he needs to travel his. The two stand no long-term chance of coming together until you’ve found yourselves. You’re both still in the process of becoming who you are meant to be. So, concentrate on being happy in the here and now. There is only pain in wanting someone who is incapable of loving you back the way that you need them to.”
Kayn nervously fumbled with the corner of one of the pillows. She knew the Oracle was right. She had a random question burning in the back of her mind and she suspected that if you had the chance to have a deep conversation with an Oracle, you should make it count. Kayn asked, “Kevin had his gift before he left Ankh a year ago, when do I get mine?”
Jenna smiled as she responded, “You only get your abilities once you’ve demonstrated some form of control over your mortal side. You need to be capable of separating emotions and duty. Think back, Kevin made the right choice that day. It was a painful choice, but it was the right one. He chose the harder road, having faith that he’d end up where he was meant to be. You need to find that kind of faith within yourself. Trust in the process.”
Kayn understood what she was saying to her. Kevin had taken the path that he was meant to take. He’d chosen the path hardest on her. With his memory erased, what did he lose?
Jenna laid her hand on Kayn’s heart. She grinned at whatever it was that she saw there and whispered, “I have to confess, I was curious as to how the mix between the two of you would happen but you’ve combined seamlessly. It is rather extraordinary when you think about it.”
Kayn realized she was talking about her twin sister, she replied, “Extraordinary isn’t the word I’d choose. Confusing is more like it. She’s an inner voice, a feeling. I have some of her memories. She urges me in silence towards what she wants.”
Intrigued by her declaration, Jenna questioned, “Towards what she wants?”
Kayn answered truthfully, “She makes me dream about Frost.”
Jenna smiled affectionately and patted her lap. Kayn rested her head on it and Jenna began to maternally stroke her locks. She said, “Let me tell you a little something about relationships. Imagine that you’re building a puzzle and all the pieces fit perfectly. You put new pieces in each day and then one day, when there are only a half a dozen pieces left, you can’t seem to find a single piece that fits anymore. Now if those pieces aren’t meant to fit in that puzzle, it doesn’t matter how hard you try…You’ll never complete it. If you want the satisfaction of completing the puzzle, you must take all of the pieces apart and put that old puzzle back inside its box. You’ll have to close that box and put it back up in the closet so you don’t get the pieces mixed up when you open a new box and start to build a new puzzle. I think you still have some pieces to put back in the box.”
As Jenna continued stroking Kayn’s hair, her eyelids began to feel heavy. She was mentally drained from the events of the day. She did have to put the pieces of Kevin’s puzzle back in the box.
Jenna’s soothing voice whispered, “I’ll stay here with you, until you fall asleep.”
Kayn was so tired she couldn’t bring her mouth to open to thank her for her kindness. Jenna laid her head on a pillow and she heard Jenna’s voice whisper, “Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you.” She heard the door grind open and then close. After that Kayn heard nothing.
Rise and Shine Princess
In the morning, Kayn awoke after having the most amazing sleep with Grey standing above her clapping his hands obnoxiously, “Rise and shine princess! We’re training in the in-between today! Woohoo!”
Kayn groaned dramatically and then grinned because she loved the sound of Grey’s accent. That mixed with his comical smile, immediately lightened her mood. He held out his hand and helped her to her feet. She felt something tickle her foot and looked down. Maybe it was nothing. Kayn shivered as a spider scurried across the floor. She swallowed and squeezed Grey’s hand tighter. She hated spiders.
Having his big brother role down to a tee, Grey nonchalantly said, “Spiders drink from your tear ducts when you’re sleeping.”
Kayn fought a full body shiver, wrinkled her nose and sparred, “Thanks for that.”
He grinned back at her and replied, “Just doing my best to keep you informed.” Grey began to spout off the details of the campgrounds, “The Summit rented the entire resort for a telekinetic study retreat. There will be almost no staff present. The only staff on site will be from the Aries Group.”
Kayn didn’t know a lot about the Aries Group except that they were a government run organization that dealt with gifted people. Their staff was trained to deal with the unusual. The clans had some sort of deal with the Aries Group.
Grey continued his little speech, “The corner store will be run on the honor system. The kitchen staff will be on site every morning and every evening for two hours in the main meeting room. The kitchen staff are also from Aries Group. So don’t worry about passing the salt to someone with your mind, it’s not an issue.”
Melody appeared beside her. She whispered, “Did you actually sleep in the crypt last night?”
Kayn nodded and Melody grimaced. She had slept in the Ankh crypt last night. She had the heebie jeebies over the fact that she’d slept on the floor in there. Spiders probably had been drinking out of her tear ducts. She shivered and continued to silently follow the growing group through the bushes towards the conference room. That little tidbit of useless yet utterly mortifying information was going to stick with her. She was starving. She was aware it was strange timing for that thought. Spiders drinking out of her tear ducts and instantly hungry.
Zach appeared out of nowhere. He poked her in the ribs as he shimmied past her.
Kayn glanced at Zach. He looked like he hadn’t slept. She questioned, “Where did you end up last night?” He grinned without responding. She knew what that meant. That was code for, ‘he was up to no good.’
Melody shoved him and teased, “Zach… Are you already fraternizing with the enemy?”
Grey chimed in, “Don’t knock it until you try it. No lines between the clans this week. There’s only one more trip to the in-between after breakfast and then you have a whole week to relax.”
Kayn knew they would only be gone for an hour, possibly less than that in the human span of time. It woul
d be a week in the in-between for the three of them as they headed out to the last bit of their training. She couldn’t help but feel gratitude for the forced emotional break. They arrived at the conference hall and Grey held open the doors. Please don’t be there. Please don’t be there. Kayn held her breath as she walked in. Kevin wasn’t there and it honestly made her whole morning. They’d both changed due to circumstance and self-preservation but she needed to believe that she still had a future to design. This was an adult revelation and much bigger than a childish list of broken fantasies.
After a quick breakfast, a disheveled looking Lexy appeared and snagged a few pieces of bacon before they left. They walked back to the Ankh crypt and when they arrived, Jenna and Orin were already there. They followed Grey down the long corridor to the very end where there seemed to be nothing but a wall of stone with no grooves and no ridges. Zach ran his hand across the wall. Grey stood back and allowed Zach to attempt to figure it out.
Zach chuckled, “I’ll bite... How in the hell do you open the wall?”
“It doesn’t open!” Orin hollered from down the length of the corridor. “You have to run through it!”
Zach backed up and ran at the wall, smoking into the stone.
Jenna scowled at Orin as he howled laughing and scolded, “That was completely unnecessary.”
“Oh, I had to. At least once...Come on, admit it. It’s a little funny,” the blonde immortal chuckled.
Jenna smiled back at him; Kayn guessed that she had not been in touch with her own humanity in a long time. She had forgotten the concept of joking around and laughing for no good reason.
“After we make it so you can…Way to jump the gun kid,” Orin chuckled again.
Embarrassed, Zach picked himself up off of the floor and brushed off his pants while scowling at Orin, who was still grinning as he placed his hand on the wall. Grey positioned his hand on the wall next to him and so did Lexy. The wall became almost transparent.
