Three large horses leap into the clearing with Paylon, Codian, and Chadian as their riders. Their leather and woven riding mats hang heavy with swords. Behind them, I can just barely make out the Hounds. There are five of them with heavy chains linking them together at their wrists. They are incredibly thin, their eyes sunken back in their heads. My eyes land on the youngest of the group, just about my age. The sight of her causes fear to build in me. That is what will happen to me if I get caught.
“So what do we have here?” Paylon’s eyes scan Alexander and me before glancing up and seeing Zavy in the tree above us. “An escaped citizen, a prisoner, and an un-loyal officer,” Paylon says, leading his horse just inches closer to us. I step forward, ready to use my gift, when he starts laughing at my stupidity, and then my eyes land on the glowing green rocks around all three of their necks. “Don’t tell me you haven’t already figured out that I’m immune to your gift.”
“Paylon what are you talking about? Adaline doesn’t have the gift,” Alexander says, stepping forward with me.
“Of course she does, Alexander. Let me tell you a little secret. Statistics show that almost every child with green eyes has the gift.” My heartbeat quickens and I feel ashamed to not have said something to him earlier. Tears brim my eyes and I can barely make out the hurt expression on his face.
“I know how you must feel Alexander,” Paylon says, “Betrayed, unwanted, not trusted. Go ahead Adaline, tell him what gift you have. Let’s just start getting the truth out.” Paylon’s immaturity of only being 18 shows in the tone of his remarks.
I’m silent for a moment longer as I take in a deep breath, “Force Lifter,” I mumble.
“What was that Adaline? I couldn’t quite hear you.” Paylon smirks, bleeding with arrogance.
I lift my head and stare at him. My eyes are red from the tears, and immense amounts of anger are starting to build inside of me. I respond one last time as I shout, “Force Lifter. I am a Force Lifter.” As I scream the words the ground beneath my feet shakes with the powers in my body coursing through my veins.
With that out, I’m ready to battle. I raise my hand and snap thousands of branches off the trees, and launch them straight at Paylon and the search group. I’m taken aback by how seamlessly my gift worked. I don’t even remember processing the thought it just happened. Even at the intense speed I throw the branches they are deflected by the armor, but I do happen to hit their horses. I watch as the horses stand on their hind legs, flipping Paylon, Codian, and Chadian off their backs and fleeing into the woods.
“Get them!” I hear Paylon shout, aggravated that I have outsmarted him. The horses have run into the woods taking Paylon and his partners’ swords with them. Defenseless I watch Paylon, Codian, and Chadian sink back into the woods for cover.
I whip around just in time to see an army of about 20 soldiers coming toward us, all with the green glowing rocks around their necks that Alexander had described last night. I know my gift can’t affect them directly, but I can still control the objects around us.
With my gift, I take hot stones from the fire and launch them at the soldiers. I break down tree branches smashing groups of soldiers, stopping everyone in my path. Most of the trees I break down aren’t on purpose, I still can’t control this gift, but the mayhem and destruction are working.
On the other hand, Zavy and Alexander aren’t doing so well. Alexander is good with his sword and many men have fallen injured from him. I watch him fight and he is focused too much on where his sword hits so he just injures and not kills these soldiers. There are too many men though and his careful tactic is his weakness. Just as he’s freed himself from a group of guards another has pulled Zavy from the tree.
The lid to the bunker flies open and I hear Toby scream and run out of the shelter, prepared to save his sister. We should have covered the lid so he couldn’t run out.
Zavy rolls on her back and fires her bow and the three guards who had pulled her from the tree. As Toby runs to his sister another guard catches him and throws him over his shoulder.
“Toby!” Zavy screams and she tries to fire at the guard who begins to run off with her brother. Paylon joins him and they begin running away with Codian and Chadian following close behind. An idea comes to mind too late to save Toby, but just in time to save us.
I start to picture all of the guards’ swords being moved to their hearts. I might not be able to control the soldiers’ movement, but I can control their weapons. All of the swords start shaking in the air, and the guards scream and retreat into the woods. Alexander and Zavy fall to the ground breathing heavily, showing how exhausted they are, and for a second I hesitate killing the guards. For a second I let my heart into battle, but I know deep down that if I don’t kill them they will just be back to kill me.
So, I focus on the swords. One deep breath in. Hold it. My mind flashes back to the gold coin and the guard in the castle. Focus. I stare into the array of swords and they become still in the air. I stare so hard into them their surroundings become blurry and I can feel my eyes pulsing in my head. As I let out my breath I push the swords through the guards’ bodies and watch as they all fall to the ground around the perimeter of the clearing. Once the soldiers have quieted I fall to the ground and take in deep breaths of air.
It is silent except for our breathing. Zavy pulls herself to her feet and starts stumbling across the clearing. “I have to get him back,” she says and tears are running down her face.
“Zavy wait,” I say and meet her in the center of the clearing. “What’s wrong with your foot?” I ask, noticing her heavy limp.
“It got pulled when they ripped me from the tree,” she says and pushes around me.
“You can’t go after them on a twisted ankle,” I say and grab her wrist. “You’ll never catch them.”
“Are we just going to let them have him?” she asks and looks at me shocked.
“No,” I say and my brain searches for a plan. “We’re going to go get him together. Let’s just get your ankle wrapped before you make it worse.”
Alexander clears his throat across the clearing, and I turn to look at him for the first time since the battle ended. “So when did you plan on telling me you were a Force Lifter? Did you ever plan on telling me?” I turn away from him as the tears start to form again. The pain and betrayed look he has is too much for me.
“Of course I planned on telling you. Just not at the moment. I mean, I just found out the day we met. It’s not like I’ve known my whole life,” I say sheepishly, trying to come up with an excuse. I help Zavy to the ground and we carefully work on getting her shoe off her swollen ankle.
“But why Adaline? Why not at the moment?” Alexander pushes me. “I thought we were in this together.” The hurt tone in his voice makes my heart tighten.
I turn around and raise my voice to a deathly scream. I rise to my feet and make my way across the clearing, tears streaming down my face as anger and pain mix into one. “Because Alexander! Because I had just lost my mother and my brother. I ran to freedom for myself. I ran so I wouldn’t have to be taken in for my gift that I’ve only known about for a few days. I ran so my gift wasn’t wasted. My life is different from yours, Alexander.
And you might not understand where I’m coming from, because you never had to try for anything! It was all handed to you from the day you were born. You had the most perfect family. They gave you everything! While mine fell apart. My father left me to figure things out on my own. Unlike when your mother left you. She stood there the day she left and told you how much she loved you. Do you know what my dad said to me when he left? He said nothing! Nothing, Alexander!
So don’t stand here and question me about trusting people with my most treasured secret. You don’t even belong here with us, so you might as well just go back to the castle. And don’t act like you are any better than me. You have green eyes too! So what’s your gift? And Zavy has a gift too! Her eyes are just as green as the rest of us. I’m not the only one her
e who kept my gift a secret!” The world around us falls completely silent as the words I’ve just said settle and it physically feels as though the connection between Alexander and me that I have felt my whole life is broken.
I watch as Alexander looks at Zavy and understands that she is not in the least bit surprised to hear that I’m a Force Lifter. “You told Zavy?” he spits at me. “You trusted her?”
“She’s not the one I can’t trust, you are. You’re the one who worked for the castle. You’re the one who worked side by side with Paylon. Who knows, you could just be some spy. You could take the information about where we are and what gifts we have back to King Renon and get us killed.” I say back to him, but I can’t get my eyes to meet his.
“Adaline, I don’t know what hurts more. The fact that you all kept secrets from me, or the fact that you think I would turn you both into King Renon.” Alexander turns and runs toward the forest, but stops and looks at me one last time, “I’m a Sensor. I have an enhanced sense of touch,” he says, choking on his own tears as they pour down his face. Then, he spins back around and continues into the forest.
Frustration swells in my chest. I pick up my black bag and throw it across the clearing towards Zavy, letting out a huff of anger. When it hits the ground my mother’s diary launches out and lands by Zavy’s feet. I look at her and see her staring off into the distance where Paylon, Codian, and Chadian ran.
“We’re going to get him back,” I say. I rub my damp cheeks and make my way back to her. “I promise Zavy. They won’t hurt him, he’s not who they want.”
Zavy’s eyes meet mine and I can tell she blames Alexander and myself because if we hadn’t been together Paylon would never have found them. I can see the words sitting tight in her throat, but she doesn’t speak them. Instead, she picks up my mother’s journal, “What’s this?” she asks with a tight voice.
“It’s my mother’s old journal,” I explain, “She gave it to me right before she died. I haven’t been able to read it yet because I can’t get it unlocked. I don’t even know what could be in there.”
“Well from what I know, all Future Holders are given journals, and that’s where they keep all the information on what they see in the future,” Zavy says as she hands me the journal and takes in a deep breath. I can tell she is debating whether or not to say her next thought to me so I push her.
“What else?” my eyes squint and I can see her distant face contemplate her next words.
“Nothing, I just think I know how to unlock it,” she says. My pleading eyes are enough to get her to continue, “Someone with an enhanced sense of touch would probably be able to take off the lock.”
Her words hang in the air as my thoughts move to what Alexander had just yelled before he left. He has an enhanced sense of touch. The one person who can open my mother’s journal will probably never talk to me again. I lift my bag and shove the journal deep inside.
I feel Zavy’s eyes trying to read my thoughts about never getting the journal open without Alexander. “We don’t need him, Adaline,” Zavy says, but I know we do. I pull out the white bandages Alexander had given me the day before and begin to wrap her ankle.
“Zavy, we’ll get Toby back, okay? We’ll regroup and go after them,” I say, dismissing her idea to leave Alexander behind.
“I know Toby can survive,” she says more to try and convince herself. “The only thing he would have to do is find a weapon. He’s an Aeros, by the way.” She sees the confusion on my face and explains, “An Aeros is someone with an enhanced sense of touch. They can handle any weapon they come in contact with to absolute perfection.” I watch her next thought register on her face. “He can probably open the journal for you!”
I shake my heavy head. “I still have to make things right with Alexander.” I see her face tighten and can tell she disapproves.
“He literally lied to our faces last night. When I asked why Paylon didn’t take control of him I was trying to give him an opportunity to tell us what gift he had,” Zavy says with a stiff voice. “He has an enhanced sense of touch, same as Paylon, and that’s why he wasn’t taken under his control. He knows that’s why, but he lied to us.” I don’t know what to say to her because she’s right. She lets out a heavy breath and says, “If it was up to me, I’d say we leave him, save my brother, open your journal, and move on by ourselves,” I try to say something, but she throws her hands in the air in frustration. “It’s fine. Go fix things with Alexander, and then we’ll go save my brother. I’ll clean up this mess.” She turns and gestures to the dead soldiers scattered through the woods.
“We’re going to get through this,” I say softly and she just nods in agreement, but her frustration is obvious.
I turn and head off into the woods to clear my head about Alexander. Once I’m far enough in the woods I sit under a large tree and lay my head on it. I let my eyelids fall shut, and I sit here for a long time and think about a lot. The quiet woods are a sudden change from the chaotic battle we were just in. The amount of soldiers I just killed weighs heavy on my mind.
For the first time, I hate myself for clinging to numbers because I feel the internal tally of how many people I’ve killed in the last two days tick away in my head. I take in deep shaky breaths and try to calm my anxious mind. They would have killed me if I didn’t kill them. I repeat it over and over trying to justify the killings. Now it’s us against Paylon, Codian, and Chadian. Three against three. The only back up they’ll have are the Lost Souls.
When my beating heart slows my mind shifts and I think about mine and Alexander’s friendship. We used to be so close. I told him everything. He knew everything there was to know about me. I feel ashamed of myself for keeping my gift a secret, but I was only nine the last time I saw him. I would say Zavy feels the same way, but I know she doesn’t. She only thinks she is right. She’d never apologize to him in a million years.
Although we are practically strangers now the last couple of days were still real. He is the only person I’ve been with in the last seven years besides my mother and brother and both of them are dead. I didn’t trust him from the beginning and I questioned whether I even wanted us to be a team out here, and yet he sacrificed so much for me. A single tear escapes my tightly locked eyelid and rolls down my cheek.
Suddenly, I hear someone say, “You really like him don’t you?” It’s Zavy. She’s probably been here all along.
I open my eyes and fight to hold back the loose tears, “I don’t know what I feel for him. I know he was my friend. I’ve been dancing around the connection I started to feel for him, but it’s broken now. There’s nothing left.” Once I hear myself say it out loud I know it’s the truth, but Zavy doesn’t believe so.
“Adaline I can tell he cares for you. The way he looks at you,” she starts to explain.
I stop her short and interrupt, “The way he looks at me? Did you see the way he looked at me when he found out I had kept my gift a secret? He never wants to see me again, to see either of us again.”
“You’ll never know unless you try. Go find him. He can’t be far, but honestly Adaline, he’s just a boy,” she says flatly as she walks away.
I let the words she said settle. There is something greater between Alexander and me than some childhood friendship. He’s a part of me. Alexander and Zavy are all I have left from my life before the prison. I can’t explain the connection we had, it was as if we knew each other from a different life, or that outside forces were pushing us together. I have to try to fix things with Alexander. If I still can. I rise and start to wander through the woods, hoping to find him and have some chance at restoring our bond.
Chapter 8
I’ve been walking aimlessly around the woods when I finally find him. He’s sitting on an old fallen tree by the river. I watch as he fails at attempting to skip rocks with one hand while the other holds his head. I picture a hand full of rocks lifting into the air. They more or so just bobble around in the air and I try to skip them down the river.
Most just sink, but a couple of the rocks make two or three hops on the brown creek water.
Alexander turns and looks up at me, but doesn’t offer a smile. His eyes are puffy and red. The tears have stopped coming, but only because he has no more left to cry. I step over the log and take a seat next to him. I lift a rock and try to skip it without using my gift, but it immediately sinks.
“You know, without my gift I’m nothing,” I look at him, and then back down before I add, “Even with my gift I’m nothing. I don’t know how to use it.” I pause and he doesn’t say anything so I keep talking, “I didn’t have the right to speak to you that way. I’m truly sorry for what I said back there, Alexander. I didn’t mean any of it.” He still refuses to look at me and I don’t blame him. I take out my mother’s journal, I don’t have a use for it anymore anyway, and I put it on the ground by his feet.
We are silent for a second until Alexander says with a broken voice, “Just go away.”
“I’m not going anywhere Alexander,” I say but he cuts me off.
“I said go away,” he repeats harsher, but there is no hatred in his voice.
“What if I don’t want to?” I struggle to say back to him, my voice growing and beginning to shake.
“Adaline it doesn’t matter if you want to or not. I need time to myself. Whether you meant what you said back there or not, the fact is you’re not who I thought you were,” he says, and his words pierce my heart, leaving my chest aching.
“Alexander, I’m still that girl you knew. I’m the same girl that went on all those crazy adventures with you, running through the woods and the city.” My voice is so weak I can barely make my words audible. I don’t believe the words I say and neither does Alexander. I’m not the same girl and he knows that now.
“The Adaline I knew would never have kept something like her gift a secret from me,” he says coldly and I know he’s right.
The Markings Page 8
