by Jamie Gray
“All I’m saying, is we screwed up,” he mumbled, letting his head hang heavy.
"I know. But what were we supposed to do? We wouldn’t just be taking away her freedom, but her happiness.”
"We should have at least said something."
Lexi’s heart skipped a beat. They were talking about her. This was her chance to hear them for how they really felt, not the sugar coated explanation she received earlier.
"How would we have told her?"
"I don't know, but we could've figured something out."
"She'll thank us later," she insisted, crossing her arms. She turned her head to look back at the Danvers house across the street.
Lexi ducked and threw herself against the side of the house to avoid being seen. She held her breath.
"Once she learns the truth."
Lexi froze. What truth? Did she still not know the truth? Does the truth not include what Daymian told her.
"Yeah, except now she's gonna learn it from that Umbien who thinks he knows everything," Adrian growled, huffing as he crossed his arms and followed Kadences gaze to the house. “You don’t think he could actually be a Void do you?”
“I’m not certain, but we have to abide by every possibility,” Kadence replied seriously.
"Well, he's definitely a Dark Element."
"Yes. We should’ve realized,” she sighed. “I mean, the hair and attire were right in front of us, not to mention the shock Lexi told us about. But I simply can't wrap my head around the reasoning behind his decision to tell her about everything."
"To screw with us?"
"Why bother? Why not just kill her?" she replied hushedly. "You and I both know that any Umbien would love to sink their claws into her."
Kadences words sent chills down Lexi’s spine, making her shiver all over. What was that supposed to mean? No way Daymian actually wanted to hurt her, nevermind kill her. He’d just saved her. Surely Kadence and Adrian had to be wrong about him.
Adrian glanced back at their house, his face turning pink. “Maybe we should tell Stephanie and Joseph.”
“What? Are you insane?” she fummed.
“Kadence, we don’t know what we’re doing,” he replied, shifting to face her. “We need help.”
“No. We can handle this ourselves. Telling people will only make matters worse for us.”
“Why do you always have to be so paranoid. Stephanie and Joseph are good people. They adopted you purely out of the kindness of their hearts. They want to help you.”
“And I’m grateful for them doing that, but that doesn’t mean I need to trust them.”
“But they-”
“I’m done talking about this, Adrian!”
The soft buzzing of the street lights filled the street as they both fell silent. However, it didn’t take Adrian long to obviously grow too uncomfortable to stay silent. "God, I hate this!" he groaned, throwing his head into his hands. “I’m sorry, okay. I just don’t know what to do.”
Kadence softly patted his back, rubbing his shoulder blades in a circular motion as she bent down to try and find his face. "It's okay. We'll figure this out. This guy clearly has an ulterior motive that requires him to keep Lexi alive. They caught us by surprise last time. We won't let that happen again."
Adrian lifted his head out of his hands, nodding to her.
Suddenly, a tall silhouette of a person emerged from the shadow that was casted from the street light directly in front of the two. Both Kadence and Adrian leapt to their feet, frozen on the steps. Adrian sighed. “You just HAD to jinx it.”
“Adrian!”
Lexi gasped, darting her hand to cover her mouth, as she kneeled against the wall. Her body frozen as an internal conflict left her torn. This was clearly a Dark Element, maybe Daymian, confronting her two best friends. She wanted to run in and help, but she had no idea whose side she would be on if she did. She had never felt so anxious before. Her fear had begun to mix with her stress to make a decision, causing her to stay. She couldn’t move. She didn’t want to move. Leaving her with no choice but to keep her feet planted to the ground as she watched intently.
"Who is that?"
"I'm not sure… but I'm not exactly in any rush to question them," Kadence spun on her heels as she rushed up the steps and reached for the door handle. Lexi watched her scramble back as the cloaked figure emerged from the shadow beneath the doorframe, standing nose to nose with Kadence. She would have tripped down the steps if Adrian hadn't been there to catch her. They both stumbled backed down the stairs till they reached the sidewalk.
It was impossible to make out any specific features of the figure. A hood hung over their face as they wore all black baggy clothing that hid their natural physique, and their face was indecipherable as it was shrouded entirely in shadow. It was like they had covered themselves in shadows. A living, breathing shadow. It was like what Lexi saw in the warehouse, but it was different. The figure was huge. Bigger than what she thought she had seen. But perhaps it was her own mind playing tricks on her. Regardless, she couldn’t move. Her muscles felt frozen solid, while her chest tightened with every burning heartbeat.
"Daymian?" Adrian called out.
No. That can’t be Daymian, Lexi told herself. There was no way. Sure Daymian and them had some racial dispute, but he would never attack them. At least she didn’t think.
The hooded figure didn't even twitch, from what Lexi could see, as they slowly stepped down the porch stairs, forcing Kadence and Adrian to back up onto the street in a frantic panic. "Read his mind! See what he wants!" Adrian screamed, whipping his head around to look at Kadence, who already had her eyes closed.
Lexi felt herself lean further forward as she tried to watch. So Kadence could read minds. She watched as Kadence tilted her head, furrowing her eyebrows as the street fell silent again. All she could hear was her own heartbeat; she watched Kadences face scrunch and shift. After a short moment, Kadence blinked her eyes open, her gaze darting between Adrian and the cloaked figure. Kadences face flooded with fear. "I can't. He's blocking me," she exclaimed.
Terror shook Lexis entire body. It didn’t work?
As the figure reached behind their back, Adrian let out a scream.
The figure froze as the house beside Kadence and Adrians suddenly illuminated with lights. And only a moment later, their middle-aged neighbour stepped out onto his porch to see what all the ruckus was all about. He spotted the three in the center of the road, and he called out for their attention. He hadn’t noticed Lexi hidding across the street.
Kadence and Adrian looked to the figure as if they expected it to disappear back into the shadows to keep from being discovered. The figure did descend back into the darkness beneath them, but before Lexi could blink, the shadow re-emerged behind the man. In an instant, their hands were around the man's neck, and in a single swift motion, the chilling sound of cracking bones echoed through the air, making her body shudder as she fell back onto her butt. The man fell dead. She couldn’t breath, her lungs abandoning her as her wide eyes denied her the relief of blinking.
Kadence's entire body visibly shook as her bottom lip trembled. "Daymian?" she quietly called out again. This time, the figure whipped their head around upon hearing the name. The faceless silhouette stared at Kadence. "Let's talk. Think about what you’re doing. How do you think killing us will solve anything?” she asked, speaking quickly. “Lexi will learn of your tretury and come after you. You believe you have her wrapped around your finger, but you don’t. She is stronger than you will ever know and she will see the truth whether we live to tell her about it or not,” Kadence cried out, her face red and her body shaking.
Lexi turned her attention back to Kadence. Did she really feel that way? She was surprised to hear Kadence speak of her so fondly.
The figure calmly walked back onto the street before Kadence and Adrian. Again, the figure reached behind their back, pulling out a silver hilt. Attached was a string of tiny rectangular silver pieces that hung
like a whip. With a strict flick of their wrist, the small square pieces clicked and locked together in a single line, forming a thin silver sword. It wasn't as thin as a fencing sword, but it certainly wasn't bulky either. It looked swift and deadly sharp.
"I don't think he's listening to you," Adrian warned Kadence, his voice quivering as much as his body was.
The figure stood in the center of the street, between two sets of street lights where a pool of black shadows lay. Everything went silent. Kadence and Adrian stood frozen staring at the shadow.
After a short moment of nothing but silence, Lexi had to refrain from gasping as her heart dropped deep into her stomach and the figure suddenly sunk into the shadow below them, disappearing beneath the black blanket that covered part of the street. Kadence and Adrian spun all around, scanning all around them in search of where the figure re-emerged, but nothing could be seen. It was like they’d vanished into the shadow. Gone without an explanation.
A guilt-inducing amount of relief washed over Lexi. The attacker was gone. She’d gotten off without anyone having known she was there, but their neighbour had been murdered for simply being a considerate person… and she felt terrible. She regretted not taking the leap to jump in, leaving her full of guilt. She never had much reason to hesitate before, but something about the conflict she felt, kept her locked in place that entire time, watching from a distance. Perhaps if she had made a decision and stepped in, or just tried to call out to Daymian, maybe she could have stopped that from happening. But why would this person show up, act like they were going to kill Kadence and Adrian, instead kill an innocent harmless neighbor, and then disappear without a trace. What was the point? To play mind games? To scare them? Because it sure achieved that goal with Lexi.
She watched as Adrian approached Kadence, extending one of his hands to her, but Kadence ignored him and stormed back into their house. Adrian dropped his arms, looking around the street one more time. As his gaze shifted towards her house, Lexi threw her body against the wall again, flattening herself as she closed her eyes and pleaded for him not to see her. After waiting for several seconds, sbe peaked back towards the street. Adrian was walking back up the steps of his porch. It felt like hours before he opened and closed the door behind him as he stepped back into his house. She collapsed back onto the ground, lying back onto the grass as she tried to remember how to breathe. She could barely comprehend what she had just witnessed. All she could pray for was that it wasn’t Daymian who attacked Kadence and Adrian.
Chapter 11
Daymian hung his head, as he walked down the empty street sidewalk. The sky had been covered with a black blanket, decorated with specks of light and a thin crescent moon at its center. The air was cold as it wrapped around his exposed arms and nipped at his pink cheeks. His quick footsteps echoed like stomps against such an eerie silence. He jumped back as a pair of black army boots came into his slanted view. He darted his head up to see the face of the culprit who had scared him off his feet. He gasped as his gaze landed on the cynical face of his older sister as she stood before him with her arms, solidly crossed. She was significantly older than him, ranging in her mid-twenties as she stood about an inch taller than him. Her wardrobe consisted of nothing but skin-tight black clothing as she wore pants, a long sleeve shirt, and tall lace-up military boots. Wrapped around her waist like a belt was her silver whip sword, a weapon nearly as deadly as the woman holding it. Her long hair was as black as the night sky and was tied into two tightly weaved dutch braids, each hanging over a shoulder to reach just above her rib cage. Her face was long and narrow, and her chin and cheekbones were sharp like blades. Her grey eyes pierced through his soul as their gazes locked.
"Mara?" he gasped, astonished to see her there on Earth. He’d thought he’d been sent out there on his own. A solo mission, he believed. "Wha… what are you doing here?" He found it oddly difficult to form any proper words while his mind ran wild with panic. How long had she been there, watching him? Watching everything he was doing. His heart began to beat faster, straining his chest as it tightened with every pulse. What if she had seen him with Lexi? Seen him save her life instead of ending it.
"Astonishing isn't it," she began, her expression hollow as she blatantly ignored his question. "A Light Element, after all these years. I'm impressed." Her voice was flat and guttural, as it gave off a deep eerie chill.
A smile tugged at his lips. Her words felt like a warm blanket being wrapped around him. She was impressed. He wanted to thank her, leap into her arms and hug her like he’d never hugged anyone, but he knew he couldn’t. All of that recognition she had expressed to him would be stripped away if he did. Still, he remained grateful. She was never impressed with anything, nevermind something he’d done. He possessed merely a sliver of the skill she did. She had been one of the leading commanders in ‘The Liberation’, a battle she helped lead to victory. She was the best of his family, the golden child, and receiving her praise filled him with a sense of achievement he never thought he’d receive from someone like her. "Really?" he grinned, but paused, shaking his head, reminding himself to stay focused. "I mean… it was really nothing," he added, rubbing the back of his neck as he averted her gaze. He knew she was looking for information. She was merely playing mind games, trying to read his thoughts. "How long have you been here?" he asked quietly, glaring down at the pavement. He knew that if he looked at her, he would fall apart.
He could feel her eye burning into his skull, compelling him to yield. "Don't tell me you've actually shaped a connection with her."
"No, of course not!"
"Daymian, she is a target." she didn't have to yell to strike the kind of fear into him that would make any man crumble into a pathetic ball of tears. "We've discussed this. You cannot sympathize with your target," she told him, speaking with the certitude of a drill sergeant lecturing a recruit. "Have you forgotten your own history? This is no training mission, Daymian. This is a proper war you've just stepped into. And this war isn't finished until she is dead. You know this!"
"But she isn't a threat."
"Don't lie to me! I saw just how harmless she was earlier today. She could've killed you."
He knew there was no point in trying to convince her of anything but the truth. She had read him like a book, and now all he could do was defend her as best he could. "But that's the thing. She doesn't even know anything."
"Yes. Why not leave it that way?" she stiffly asked, her voice coming down in volume but not in authority, as her voice still thundered through him.
He knew she was referring to his decision to reveal the truth to Lexi and reduce their advantage over her. He stuttered, trying to come up with a liable explanation that she would understand. "Well… it wouldn't be very honourable to fight an opponent who doesn't even know a skirmish has begun," he slowly explained, thinking over each of his words before speaking them. "It wouldn't be very sportsman-like."
She quieted for a moment. "I understand your point of view," she nodded calmly. "But now I'll need you to stand aside."
"I'm sorry?"
"Father sent me to oversee your progress. See if you could handle the pressure, and step in if you needed it."
He rolled his eyes. How was he not surprised? "Wonderful. Another gratifying vote of confidence from Father," he sighed sarcastically, matching her crossed arms as he looked up at her.
"Don't take it personally, Daymian," she replied, shaking her head as she walked past him. "No one could have predicted someone such as a Light Element would be hiding here. It would be better if I simply take care of her."
His heart sank, turning with her as the air was ripped from his lungs. "Wait, you're going to kill her?"
She pivoted back to look at him, nodding her head. "But of course. It's only adequate,"
"But she isn't hurting anyone!"
"That doesn't mean she won't," she replied deliberately. "Someday, you'll understand Daymian. For now, you're going to lay low, I don't want you getting any mor
e involved than you already are." She took a few steps back so that she was standing in the broad shadow being cast by one of the stores beside them. "Meet me at the abandoned warehouse at 57 Penrose Road at high-noon tomorrow.”
Before he could say anything else, she dropped down into the shadow covered pavement, disappearing in the darkness.
He let out a long exhale as he released the tension he’d been holding throughout his entire body. He considered descending into the shadow, as his sister did, and reemerge a million miles away. But he knew that would do no good. He wanted time to think. So instead, he decided he would walk down the sidewalk, explore the town, contemplate its history and the stories it held. Perhaps it would help re-level his head and soothe his racing mind.
∞∞∞
Daymian walked down countless empty streets, undirected as he let his mind wander as his feet lead the way. He admired buildings and shops, avoiding any people he passed along the sidewalk. Finally, he turned onto a completely dead street. The only building on this road looked to be a factory of some kind, but it was surely unoccupied this late at night. Despite the dead, empty roadway, he couldn't help but feel as though he was being watched. Surely it couldn't be Mara, she could've simply stayed if she wanted to keep an eye on him. No, this felt different. This felt confrontational. He held his breath and kept his body still as stone as he listened. Breathing. He could hear the slight sound of air being sucked in and released. The rubbing of clothing. Someone was there, in front of him. He was sure of it. The sight crack of a foot sliding against the concrete confirmed it. In a swift motion, he swung his arm in an upward motion, throwing a pure wave of dark energy down the road. It was nothing too dangerous, more of a high-speed wind to throw his attacker off balance and out of focus. Kadence and Adrian appeared falling to the ground. He shook his head of the soreness of being tampered with, as Kadence had surely messed with his ability to see them. He figured they must have gone out looking for him, and trailed behind him while he was walking down street after street. He was positive they had been waiting for him to wander away from the rest of society, so that they could confront him without exposing themselves. Regardless of the reason why, he held steady in a battle-ready position.
