Enlightenment (Children of Ankh series Book 2)

by Kim Cormack

  She heard her father’s voice, “Hurry up, you two! We’re starving! Get your butts down here!”

  Chloe ran ahead of her. She’d always been ahead of her. Only now did Kayn notice that she’d always allowed Chloe to be first.

  Chloe yelled, “We’re coming! Kayn’s being all weird!”

  She’d told on her. Kayn loved her sister but she was always tattling about something. Chloe skipped down the hall in front of her. Kayn followed her sister but slowed down as she passed by the pictures on the wall. They were exactly as they’d always been. Even the plush rose colored carpet felt the same under her toes. Kayn grabbed the wooden railing, sliding her hand along it as she followed her twin down the stairs. She felt the jolt from the bump. There was a knot in the wood about half way down. She loosened her grip a touch and allowed it to slide under her palm. The stairs creaked in exactly the right spots as she stepped off the bottom stair into the entrance where her mother had died. She looked away from the closet where her mother’s body had been found. Don’t think about that right now, she told herself. You are going to hug your parents and your brother again in one second. She followed her sister into the kitchen. The floor beneath her feet changed to a smooth cold surface. Her parents were standing with their backs to her as she entered the room. Her father was pouring the coffee and humming a happy sounding tune. She couldn’t quite place it.

  Her mother was stirring the hash browns in the frying pan. Her mother turned and smiled at her as she scooped out a scraper full of hash browns. She questioned, “How hungry are you? Are you a tiny bit hungry, medium hungry or as hungry as a Troll under a bridge waiting to gobble up Billy goats?”

  “Medium hungry,” Kayn replied. Her mother breezed past where she was seated and plopped a pile of hash browns on her plate.

  Matty appeared from behind her and said, “For the record. We’re getting a little old for the serving size Billy goat references. I’m absolutely famished.” Her mother stood there waiting for him to say it right. Matt sighed, “I’m as hungry as ten Billy goats.”

  She smiled and plopped double the serving on his plate. Matty always had a crazy metabolism. He could eat a damn horse if he wanted too.

  Chloe declared, “I’m medium hungry.”

  As her mother put Chloe’s serving on her plate, Kayn began to tear up, she couldn’t help it. She’d never truly appreciated how weird and wonderful her family had been until this second. Her father went to walk past her. He sensed her distress and placed his coffee down at his spot. He leaned over, gave her an enormous bear hug from behind and said, “You’re having a bit of a blue morning.”

  Kayn began sobbing uncontrollably, she couldn’t stop. It was as though her heart was going to explode with grief. Being granted the simplest moment of normalcy was too much for her to take. Matty touched her leg with his foot under the table instead of kicking her like he would have normally done. She tried to eat, but her chest kept heaving. The tears kept flowing. She was safe. They’d all been safe and she’d never feel that way again. Her mother got up and smiled lovingly as she walked around the table and embraced her. Kayn’s heart felt like it was on overload. People hurt her now. They physically hurt her.

  Chloe whispered an explanation for Kayn’s emotional behavior, “Kayn had a bad dream. She said all of us were dead.”

  Her mother whispered against her hair, “That explains it sweetie. I promise you, we’re not going anywhere until you’re old and gray.” Kayn was dying to scream ‘liars!’ but her lips knew better. There was no point. This was only a dream. She sucked back her tears and gulped down her sobs. She had a moment with them...only a moment to pretend that everything was as it had once been. There was a few obnoxiously loud rhythmic knocks on the glass patio door. There he was in a striped shirt with his mass of wavy dark hair...Kevin. She smiled but not a, ‘glad to see you’ smile. It was a ‘the very sight of you has made this journey back in time complete’ smile.

  Her father unlocked the door, slid it open and announced, “Mr. Smith, I’m so glad you could find the time to stop by, at seven o’clock in the morning on a Saturday. Did you walk all the way over here by yourself?”

  Kevin ditched his shoes, strolled over to the one empty spot at the table and sat down. He declared, “I didn’t walk. I rode my bike Mr. Brighton.”

  Kayn’s mother had left just enough for Kevin to have breakfast in the frying pan. She didn’t even ask. She just served him and smiled. Kevin began to eat and Kayn watched him in silence. Every little annoying habit he had seemed to be magnified, yet still wonderful. They all sat around the table listening to Kevin fill her father in on how they were all going to go into the woods today to lick toads.

  Her father probed, “Where in the hell would you even get an idea like that Kevin?”

  Kevin replied, “Clay told me he was watching animal planet and that if you lick the right toad you can time travel.”

  Matt almost spit his breakfast all over the table. The table erupted in laughter and there came another knock on the patio door. There stood a ten-year-old Jesse. She’d been right. She knew which day she was in now. She’d had a crush on Jesse since kindergarten. Kevin was her best friend and Jesse was her first crush. He’d been nice to her. Come to think of it, he had always been nice to her. That was about to change. Jesse had ended her week of peer induced hell with a bang. They all excused themselves from the table, threw on their shoes with every intention of dashing through the wet grass into the muddy trails on the outskirts of their backyard in search of toads. Kayn hugged both of her parents and told them she loved them before she left. She had no idea when this dream was going to end. She didn’t want anything to be left unsaid. Kevin and Chloe had already disappeared into the trail when Kayn caught up with Jesse. He had waited for her.

  Her father called after them, “Promise me you will not actually lick any toads!”

  Kayn yelled, “I won’t lick any! I know Chloe won’t for sure but I can’t promise Kevin won’t!” She heard her father’s laughter as he shut the door. Kayn strolled beside Jesse into the woods. It was always extremely cool after it rained. You could hear the echoes of crickets, frogs and toads everywhere. She took a step and her shoe got stuck in the mud. When she yanked her foot, it came out of her shoe. After making an awkward attempt at balancing on one foot, she teetered over in the mud with her sock on. It made a disgusting squishing sound. “Oh... that was so gross,” She complained.

  “Nah, it’s not that gross,” Jesse squatted and gallantly yanked her muddy sock off her foot. He laughed, “Now balance on that one. Hold onto me while you take the other one off.”

  Kayn felt squeamish as her barefoot sunk into the gooey mud. She took her other sock off and noticed that Jesse had done the same.

  “I’m not too into kissing toads today,” Jesse laughed. “This will be way more fun.”

  Both of Kayn’s feet were submerged in the goo now and she was smiling so hard, her cheeks hurt.

  “I’d forgotten some of the details about this day,” she noted aloud.

  Jesse laughed again while enquiring, “You forgot about this day?”

  “Never mind,” Kayn replied. She grinned at the feeling of the mud squishing between her toes.

  She heard her sister’s voice, “What in the hell are you two doing?”

  Kayn explained, “I lost my shoe in the mud.”

  Chloe replied, “So, you took both your shoes off and just covered yourselves in mud...sick.”

  Kevin appeared with a toad in his hands. He shoved it in her face, so she would kiss it and Kayn toppled backwards into the mud with a splat. Now, she was gross. Kayn sighed, “I better go inside and change. I’ll be right back.” She stood up and trudged back to the house, knowing what was going to happen next.

  Kevin followed her, feeling guilty that he had startled her and she’d fallen. He pleaded, “Don’t tell on me. I’ll have to go home.”

  Kayn stopped, just before the door and looked back at the trails, just as
she had on that day so long ago. Her sister’s lips were on Jesse’s. It was an innocent kiss. A simple peck on the lips but to Kayn it was loyalty she appreciated more than anything else. To Kayn, Jesse had just chosen her sister. This week had indeed been a rough one on her young untainted heart. She leaned forward gave Kevin a peck on the cheek and said, “I never tell on you.”

  Until We Meet Again

  A voice called to her. It seemed to be echoing, travelling through her subconscious mind from the end of a long tunnel. Wake up Kayn. She gasped as her senses exploded. As her vision came into focus she saw Melody’s face. She was kneeling above her. She’d obviously healed her. What happened? Her mind fought its way out of the foggy haze while hearing echoing confusing voices in the proximity to where she’d awoken. Her vision sharpened. There was a pile of dead bodies right next to her. She recalled the brutal reunion with her childhood friend. If this was their Immortal Testing, they’d all flunked with flying colors…mostly red. There was a crazy amount of blood soaked into everyone’s clothes.

  “You took quite a savage beating,” Mel observed.

  Kayn’s head pounded as she croaked, “You should see the other guy.”

  As Melody helped her up, she exclaimed, “He’s long gone. They all are. At least your boyfriend had the clarity of mind to cut me down before he passed out.”

  Kayn struggled to her feet and as she began to fall backwards, she felt someone steady her and knew who it was without looking. It was the one person who’d always been there to catch her. The realization hit her. This was why they’d been separated by fate. He needed to become a leader and she had to learn to stand on her own. Their separation was necessary.

  Kevin chuckled, “Don’t feel bad, everyone got their asses handed to them today.”

  Melody clarified, “Except for these two. They were the only ones still technically alive when I came to. I healed them first and then you. I’m not sure what to do now. We don’t have another Healer. This will take me days to do all alone. I already feel like I’m ready to pass out.”

  “All you need is energy, right?” Kayn enquired.

  Mel began to pace and the dust her footsteps created began to obscure their vision. She stopped moving as she replied, “Judging by the size of this pile of bodies… I’d say useable energy is in short supply right now.”

  It was overwhelming as the dust settled once again, revealing the morbid display. The bodies of their friends had been towed into one area for Mel’s healing convenience. Their eyes were glazed over and each one of them appeared to be staring off into the distance. They were probably all in the in-between having a slushy margarita. It clicked…Zach would be alone because he was Ankh and they were both already alive. Kayn knelt in front of Zach and lovingly closed his eyes with her fingers. It felt like the respectful thing to do. The already awakened were not the slightest bit concerned. Death was only a temporary situation. They were all clan. It was just inconvenient.

  Mel scanned the bodies, “I really am the only Healer, aren’t I? If there was another one, they’d be awake by now.”

  “You’re the only one I know of,” Kevin acknowledged.

  Kayn was still battling her wicked, ‘it sucks that you died,’ migraine. She stated, “I thought we had a truce.”

  Stephanie smiled as she replied, “Against each other. Apparently, there was fine print. There’s always fine print.”

  “Steph, did you call the guy in the gray shirt, Dad?” Kevin questioned.

  “You’ve heard the story. Tiberius won me in a card game.” She explained. “Let’s just say, he wasn’t father of the year.”

  Stephanie’s father was Abaddon. She still didn’t completely understand how everything worked. Kayn had her first moment of empathy for Stephanie. She didn’t know what was worse. To know you were adored and then lose it, or to have never been cherished at all.

  Melody began to heal Zach. She was only half done when she began to look like she was struggling.

  Kayn offered, “Take the rest of the energy that you need to heal Zach from me.”

  “That’s a brilliant idea,” Kevin exclaimed. “What if you took a little bit of energy from each of us, until you’ve healed everyone? After we’ve pass out, take a touch of energy back from the ones you heal right after us. You can take some of mine first. I barely have a scratch on me.”

  Stephanie was next in line with barely a scratch. Kayn attempted to make small talk with her Triad nemesis, “How old were you when Tiberius won you?”

  Stephanie replied, “I was fifteen years old. I was watching them play cards before I went to bed. Tiberius looked at me and he made me the bet. I was shocked. My dad didn’t even flinch as he agreed. Later that night, Tiberius woke me up and made me come with him. He told me he won me in a card game and he was there to save me from Abaddon. I’ve been with Triad ever since.”

  Kevin had obviously never heard the full story before. He was visibly upset. This was a confusing situation. He was lying if he said he had no feelings for Stephanie. Kayn felt guilty. Of course, she’d been acting crazy. Kayn had walked back into his life and taken him away. Mel began taking Stephanie’s energy. Out of all of them, the feisty Triad had grown the most this week. She was giving of herself in only one week’s time. They gathered around as they took turns fueling Mel’s healing ability, until all three were unconscious.

  Kayn had a strange sense of déjà vu as she awoke for the second time that day. This time she awoke in darkness, not in the shining sun. She was still laying in the middle of the rodeo grounds. Kayn looked around and the ones who were already awake were patiently waiting for the others to come to. They awoke, one by one and helped each other to their feet. Kayn awoke before Kevin did. She knelt before him and gently caressed the side of his face. She’d seen him sleeping a million times before. Her mind could easily flashback to endless platonic sleepovers. She whispered, “I can still see you, asleep on my bed in nothing but your Transformer pajamas.”

  Kevin cracked a grin before he even opened his eyes and said, “That may very well be the least sexy thing I’ve ever heard.”

  Kayn leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. He turned his head. Her lips landed on his. She pulled away, for it had been an accident. She hadn’t meant to do that in front of everyone. It had jolted her heart just the same. By the look in his eyes it had equally jolted his. Kayn whispered, “We have an audience.”

  “Who cares,” Kevin said. He grinned as he reached up, clasped his fingers behind her head and pulled her lips towards his, kissing her again. The kiss deepened as he darted his tongue across hers. They heard the sound of applause and abruptly pulled away from each other. She got up first and held her hand out to him. He appeared to be confused as he took it. Kayn suspected that he hadn’t known she meant an actual audience capable of mass group applause. She helped him in his weakened state to his feet. They were no longer separated by clan as they pushed through the now unlocked grand stand doors. They walked back to the campsite together, as a single herd of partially immortal teens. Kayn turned her head and looked to either side of her. She saw strength and friendship. She could see a unity that had not been there completely until they had each shared of themselves to save the other.

  Kevin appeared at her side. She decided to tell him about her dream. He’d wanted to know as much as he could about his past. She spoke to him as they pushed their way through the bushes, “I had a dream about you.”

  He teased,” I hope it was a good one?”

  “We were about ten years old. It was you, Chloe and me. Believe it or not, that Jesse guy was there,” she added. They burst through the bushes into the open space. They were standing in the playground directly in front of a swing set. It had been there the whole time in front of the dining hall, untouched by either of them. Everyone else kept walking into the building as they stood there together. She had the urge to make use of the swings.

  “The Jesse guy that murdered you?” Kevin questioned.

  K
ayn grinned while replying, “Jesse was always inconsequential to me. I had a childhood crush on him but it was nothing. He kissed Chloe that day and after that I just let the idea of him go. That’s not even what I woke up thinking about.”

  Kayn slid onto one of the swings as Kevin gallantly offered, “Allow me.” He gave her a giant push and ran underneath her legs, mid-swing. He climbed into the swing next to her and caught up with a few leg pumps. They were swinging at exactly the same height, completely in time with one another. Kayn glanced over at him, wishing he could remember the hundreds of times they’d lived this exact moment.

  “Was that the whole story?” Kevin asked.

  Kayn answered, “No... No… it wasn’t. You were trying to get me to kiss a toad. I fell in the mud. You were worried. You thought I would tell on you. I kissed your cheek and told you that I never tell on you.”

  Kevin started to laugh, “I wish I could remember this stuff. I have to tell you the truth, from an outside point of view, we sound like really weird kids.”