"For you," he said, taking back the guitar and placing the tiny life in her hands. "In replacement for that cactus I spotted in your room."
She lovingly caressed the rough bark. "This is very nice of you."
"Be careful, you'll ruin my rep."
Hand in hand, they walked to the car, away from the house, and for him, it would be the last time.
Chapter Nineteen
Tick, Tick, Explode
There was an ear-splitting boom, heat as great as Bryne's temperature threatening to scald her. She didn't look to the scene, but at Bryne. She could see the tall stature of the fire reflecting in his fearful eyes.
The glowing white orb was high in the silky black sky. A waxing gibbous she recognized. She stared up at the moon a lot as a child, wishing that she could be on it. She imagined silly things only a child could imagine. Gravity present she would swing and still be able to fly. She would stretch her feet out, and for once, she would put her thumb to the Earth and say that it too was no larger than her thumb.
Terra kept the window cracked, allowing a slight breeze to ruffle the top of her head, airing out the cars stench as well. The very small potted plant laid in an inner pocket in her jacket. She thought of where she would put it as she peered through the window that was as grimy as the house's she watched as the neighboring homes fly by. She counted, like counting sheep and feeling drowsiness itch at her eyes. She was a sheep - or rather a house - away from sleep when a loud bang, like a gunshot exploded. She ducked in her seat.
Bryne let out a long slew of curse words, banging on the steering wheel. He pulled over to the side. "Great, this is freaking great!"
There was black smoke ensuing out from under the hood of the car blocking their view of anything ahead of them. Bryne banged on the wheel again and again.
"It's okay. I'll call for a tow truck." Terra said.
"No, I can fix this piece of junk." Bryan tried to open the door but when it wouldn't budge he threw a kick at it, dislodging whatever had it stuck and stepped out into the haze.
Terra followed him out, waving a hand through the kindred, toxic fog. It did nothing to help but it kept most of it from her face as she joined him at the front of the broken vehicle.
The hood was up, his head under it. His elbows leaned against the barrier staring down at the mix of parts that looked all the same to her, though she was able to recognize the engine. She looked carefully at his face, and could tell that he had no idea what he was doing anymore than she would have.
"Do you know cars," she asked.
"I'm a guy, of course I know cars."
She smiled and pointed to a random greasy cord. "What does that do?"
"It starts the thing."
"I thought the engine started it?"
"Technically, the key does."
"Ah." Terra nodded and decided to play some more. "What is it called?"
He slammed his hands on the hood closing it with a shaking bang. He rounded on her, his visage masked in fury, but to her, it was funny.
"Are you trying to be annoying, flower child?"
"No, but you obviously don't know anything about cars."
"If you know any better, then you do it," Bryan bellowed.
It barely ruffled her, in fact, it intrigued her, but she shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't say I knew anything about them. I think we should call a mechanic, Bryne."
"How about we walk?"
"It's okay to accept help." She reached for her phone, but as she flipped it open he knocked it out of her hand, the contents scattering over the black pavement.
"No!"
"Fine," Terra spat angrily. "You now owe me a watch and a phone."
He came closer to her, bowing at the waist, his face close to hers. The smoke from the hood had evaporated and it left them to see their two puffs of breath mingling and joining between them, right in the small space that was left.
"You're a ridiculous little girl."
"You're a stubborn old fool."
"Bitch."
"Jackass."
"Human lover."
"Snotty."
He smirked, that right corner of his mouth curling upwards giving him a wicked and drawing look about him. It was three seconds that she had to admire it, for the next and fourth second, he was kissing her.
It took her breath away, her heart skipping several beats. It was all cliche but all true. He grasped her hips, bringing them to his, and she could feel him, through the thickness of his jeans. She loved it.
He pushed hard, and she pushed harder. He gripped her waist tighter, and she dug her nails into his shoulder past the fabric of his blue plaid shirt. He bit her lip, sucking it into his mouth, and she involuntarily moaned.
How long it lasted, Terra didn't know, but it was over too soon. He pushed her back, away from his lips holding a finger to them for silence. He listened, and right when she looked over her shoulder, they both saw him.
Hadrian clapped once... Twice... He moved down the slight hill between two small farmhouses, until he was a good thirteen feet from them, but it was much too close. "Bravo! Wonderful kiss! Right up there with the last kiss between - ah, who were those characters in that Titanic movie? Oh, never mind! The important likeness here is that this will be a tragedy too. For you."
Bryne tugged roughly on her arm, dragging her behind him.
"Do you think that'll save your girlfriend? I plan on killing all of you. What a shame that must be for you, you know I would have settled for just you. Ah well, these things happen." He held his arms open, palms up, as if he was welcoming them warmly to death.
Terra watched from under Bryne's arm. It may have been odd and unbelievable, but she wasn't scared. It was better to face Hadrian there, than with his sisters. Although the prophecy clearly stated that the four of them would have to be present to defeat him, she feared that her sisters would be killed. There was still the fear that Bryne would be hurt, and she wanted to take the front line, but he held her back firmly.
"Stay away from us."
"Stay away from you or her?"
"Her." He tried to shove her again, whispering "run," frantically over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off of the enemy, but she didn't budge, just like the door. "Damn it, Terra, move."
"No." She wouldn't, not when it would cost him his life, even at the expense of hers. When he was dead, there was nothing to say and everything to say that Hadrian would find them. She wouldn't let him risk his life for hers. She wouldn't let anyone do that.
Hadrian cooed. "She's a doll. You picked a good one, son. Too bad. Tsk, tsk, tsk, it's too bad." He waved and Bryne's grip was a vice threatening to snap her arm in two, expecting to be thrown, to be dead, but there was nothing.
Tick... Tick... Tick... It came from the car, and she noted what was about to happen half of a second before him, jerking him with her, as they ran from Hadrian and the car that was about to explode.
They were on the other side of the street. Bryne kept her in front of him, trailing a step behind, and suddenly there was a great weight on her, his body covering hers. They hit the ground, the air out of her lungs stolen from her, small pebbles embedding in her clothes, the exposed flesh of her cheek, hands, and neck, the pot cracking in her jacket.
There was an ear-splitting boom, heat as great as Bryne's temperature threatening to scald her. She didn't look to the scene, but at Bryne. She could see the tall stature of the fire reflecting in his fearful eyes.
"Is he gone?"
"Yeah," he glimpsed down at her. "He's gone." He sighed, still trembling. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Terra said with her remaining breath.
Bryan sighed a second time, kissing the spot above her ear in thankfulness. She closed her eyes, but the fear in his remained in hers.
Chapter Twenty
The China Doll
She reminded herself that it was what they needed to know, that it could change everything for the better. Before she could finish her thought and think o
r for the worse, she answered, "yes, ma'am."
It was agreed. They wouldn't tell Marissa and Terra about the explosion. They agreed to lie about Bryne giving in to call a tow truck and it had been impounded. It wasn't a lie that they walked all the way home, and fast too, for they didn't want to be seen by the ambulance that was certainly on its way.
Back at Bryne's grandmothers, his hand was heavy on Terra's shoulder, giving her courage. It was the downside to being the leader, the center, or the glue, whatever was vital, to a family. They always got chosen to clean up the mess, to put the pieces together, and to talk to little old ladies about prophets. That was what Bryne told her, anyway, and she knew it to be true, though she would never put it into such a way. She would have put it a bit gentler, not call his grandmother a "little old lady," specifically.
"You can do this," he told her encouragingly but with a secure smile plastered on his proud face.
"She is your grandmother. Are you scared of her?” She found the concept funny. A man as muscular and well built as Bryne was, scared of a tiny dying woman... Put it like that, it wasn't that funny. His grandmother was sick, she understood him being scared, and after all, she had practically raised him. There was a certain amount of genuine and deserved fear under elders.
He gagged. "No. It's like I told you, you're the leader, you do it. This is a better time than any. Marissa and Era are out shopping, bringing us home some clothes. It's best if you have privacy, don't you think?"
Terra exhaled a great gust of air out, and gave him a look that small pinpricks of daggers could slice him up, but it was because she knew he was right. She did want the privacy; in case it was bad she could find a way to break it easy to Marissa.
Terra introduced her company by a small knock, and let herself into the dark room. The door shut behind her, and in her mind she cursed Bryne. They may have not been that different from each other as she had originally thought.
There was the shadow of the bulky mattress, and the woman lying on top. The raspy voice called to her. "Come here, child."
In Terra's mind, she raked through a list of horror movies and their characters. Were there any small dangerous old ladies? She shook her head of the imaginings. She was being silly. The elder was Bryne's grandmother and she was in poor health. She wouldn't harm, Terra, and anyway, how many scary movies were there of elders attacking children? That would be a comedy. Them in their walkers, like a zombie flick, only worse.
She got on her knees and his grandmother took her hand in her small wrinkled one. The veins were bluer against the paleness of her skin, the sailboat night light. She was colder than anyone should be, her blood circulation bad.
"Mrs. -”
"Call me Judy, please. Being called by my surname makes me feel old." She scrunched up her brows and called louder (sounding more like a frog) through the door behind her, "stop laughing, Bryne!" She sighed, seemingly satisfied and focused her sights back on Terra. "Judy, dear. Judy."
"Judy," she tried, the name feeling odd on her tongue. She went on, forcing her to ask the question that she suddenly didn't know if she wanted the answer to, but that answer could solve a lot. She didn't have to want it, but she did need it. "I wanted to ask you about the prophet. Who was she?"
The woman smiled, her thin and cracking lips pressed together tightly. "You don't know? No, I suppose you don't. You didn't know the complete prophecy. I blame that on your aunt. Don't get me wrong, dear, Aunt Gwen is a nice girl, but she is an odd one, even for an Elf. She thinks that denying you the information you were righted to at birth, that she can somehow change a future." She looked her straight into her eyes, her blue ones bright and nearly frightening into her wide brown and indecisive curious ones. "Are you certain you want to know?"
She had to respond before she changed her mind. It was not just for her, but for her family. She reminded herself that it was what they needed to know, that it could change everything for the better.
"Yes ma'am." Terra replied.
"Why, it's your mother, dear.”
It could have been her stomach, or her heart. Maybe it was both, or all of her insides. They came crumbling down.
Judy went on, ostensible in regards to the turmoil that was going through her auditor like a whirlwind of a storm. “Your mother made the prophecy when that little one with you was born. You were there, but I dare say you were too young to remember it. I hoped though, that you would have."
"My mother?" Her throat could barely croak out the words. The world around her took on a dream - like – state. Nothing seemed real anymore. Had it ever? For growing up with humans away from the communities of the Kin, she was acutely aware of what and who she was, and she never thought of herself as normal. It all had to be some kind of twisted dream.
"Yes, your mother. Yours and that small one with you."
"Marissa..."
"That's her name, right, curse my old memory. She is adorable,” she added as if it would soften the blow of forgetting her name, which was not a blow, it was hardly noticed. “You and her take after your mother. She was a beautiful woman, full of life and love."
She tried to smile, but she lost the control of the muscles in her lips. It was set into a frown, like a doll with a painted mouth; she thought it would never change. She wanted someone to pick her up, or not so much her but the pieces that she felt that she was falling into. She was a China doll, fragile.
It was funny, she always thought of Marissa that way. They took extra care of her, despite the fact that she could very well take care of herself, but it was Terra who was the delicate one, and with anymore surprises she would crumble. A worthless doll....
Chapter Twenty - One
Gone
Depression of worries and fear. It was a literal punch in her gut and it winded her. She didn't have time to direct it and learn to turn the ocean and crashing waves into small controlled lakes, for Marissa turned a pale green, and suddenly, she collapsed.
The mattress was folded into the couch, and they all proceeded to sit down on it. Terra, Era, Marissa, and Bryne in a circle. Marissa cried silently, Era wiping her tears with the edge of her long sleeved dress, the one she bought that day when they were out shopping. Terra had changed the clothing they brought home to her. It was refreshing to be in clean jeans and a t-shirt, though it was two sizes too large for her. Still, it was clean and that was what mattered.
"Mom... The prophet was mom all along?" Marissa shook her head in disbelief. "Why would Aunt Gwen hide this from us all this time?"
"She probably thought it was best." Terra shrugged unsurely. The news of her mother was a shock, but it seemed to fit. Who else would be better to know their future than the woman who gave them life? That was not the reason but it was how her mind came to terms with it, she liked to accept that as a legitimate reason for why. Otherwise, she'd be asking why forever.
"That's not good enough," Marissa nearly screeched, but the emotion in her voice kept it as a high pitched gasp. "She should've told us! It was our right to know! She was our mother!" She wrenched her cell phone out of her pocket, flipping up the ear piece and LCD screen with such force that it almost snapped closed again.
Bryne twisted the cell phone from her grip and threw it to the other side of the room. It hit the wall and broke in half, little bits of it scattering and skittering all over the floor. "Stop it. We know and that's all that matters, calling and bitching out your aunt isn't going to do anyone any good."
Marissa wheezed, trying to catch peace, breathing in the air hoping that it would cause her tears to cease, her cheeks were red and blotched. "You don't know how this feels, Bryne!"
"Stop it," Era said breathlessly. "There's no use setting blame. Marissa, wash your face, calm yourself."
She stood and stormed off. The bathroom door slamming and shaking the walls.
"She has a temper," Bryne commented.
Terra touched her gemstone thoughtfully. "Only when you're around."
Bryne noticed how she fid
dled with the Amber, moving it over in her fingers, feeling the facets, the smoothness. It became a part of her, and it was about to become more. She couldn't avoid it for much longer, he would make her take all of their powers. It came close to feeling like it was stealing. She was taking what had been a huge part of themselves. It was more important than an arm or a leg; it was like taking a heart. She thought of how she would feel if one of them took her powers, granted it was singularly elemental, she would feel vulnerable. If she hadn't had her powers when she dropped from the ceiling into the pit of the fire, she would have died. The fall in itself would have caused broken bones.
"Terra."
In her fist she held onto her stone. "Not yet. No one is ready for this."
"That doesn't matter." Bryan slipped off his Carnelian and held it into his own first. It illuminated a lively red, the light shining from the cracks of his fingers. When he released it the red stayed, burning the stone. He handed it to her and it nearly scalded her flesh. It drained, soaking into the skin of her palm, into her body, into her blood. It set her on fire, she felt hotter, dangerous, as though she was a stove on the verge of combustion. Was that what he'd been feeling all of his life? She looked at him, and he appeared to have been drained of the little color he had left.
"Bryne, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said weakly. "It's... cold. It'll take some getting used to." He noted her expression and winked. "I'm still me. I'm still hot headed, just... I don't have the power to act it out." He chuckled lightly.
Era smiled and sighed. "I suppose it's my turn." She peered fondly at the tiny stone in her hand. "I'm going to miss my power."
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