“Girl, I don’t even know.”
“But,” Akela said. “I thought fairies were tiny?”
“They are, but Drisdol is on some messed up shit, he made them MF’s big as hell and made them some servants.”
“Daaaaammmmmmmm!” Zane said.
“I know one thing,” Sumea said. “The food is yummy.”
“It’s fairy food, that stuff is mesmerizing.”
“I know.”
We ate the rest of our dinner in silence. When we were finished, I took a shower and got into my bottom bunk. I reviewed my notes from class and wrote questions that I needed answered in my investigation of the Council. Akela was quiet all night, while Natira stayed up in the living room talking with Zane and Birkenstein.
Chapter Four
Akela had struggled through her entire dinner. Something was wrong, and she couldn’t put her finger on it. She had been hearing the calling once again. It came from beyond the turbines, from a place that she’d only seen in her dreams. She looked out at the turbines through the window, their steady buzzing seemed to magnify in intensity tonight, the noise was worse than standing underneath a freeway underpass. She remembered those nights when she lived in the mortal world, nights when she’s mysteriously end up underneath a freeway underpass asleep. What was hiding in those hills? What was calling her? She felt a need to answer to the calling of the wild.
On her first night at the Academy she’d found an exit that led to the rooftop and she’d been out every night since. Tonight, the sky was clear, and the stars shone through like tiny Christmas lights in a dark sea. Akela thought about her mother. Where was she? Was she out there calling for her?
She’d gone over the details of the last night she spent with her mother before she was taken to the Academy. She remembered returning from school to find her mother sitting at the table over a pile of bills. She’d been crying. Things had been very difficult over the years as a single parent trying to raise a child on a waitress income. Gretta had worked over 50 hours a week in order to keep up with the inflated rent on the mountainside.
She and her mother had gotten into another argument because she had been hanging out with Dillion Pendergrass again. He had been arrested on several occasions for petty theft and had a bad rep, but she liked being with him because he never judged her. She and her mother argued for most of the night, when their fight escalated, Akela had run out of the house to take a walk. She remembered walking down a dark alley to get to the bus…and that was where her memory failed her…the next memory was waking up the next morning underneath a freeway underpass. Her nails were filled with blood again, which had happened on many occasions before. Sometimes she woke up with blood all over her body. When she got home, that was when she found out that her mother had called Walter.
The questions circled in her head over and over. Who did the blood belong to? Had she…she’d expected the police to show up any minute, but they never did.
“What you doing up here? It’s past curfew you know,” Natira asked as she crawled through the open window above the theatre.
“Yep, I know. What are you doing up?”
“I couldn’t sleep either.”
“Dreams?”
“Not quite, but strange things have been happening lately. I’ve been trying to sort it all out.”
“What kind of strange things?”
Natira looked out at the turbines, even from her seat on the rooftop they towered over her. “I don’t know, the turbines, they somehow increase my energy. It’s like I’m becoming an electrical current or something. Everything I touch sparks. Like, yesterday I tried to plug in the blow dryer, and it caught fire.”
“That’s dangerous, did you tell Duchess?”
“No, she’d just send me to the lab, and I don’t want to go away right now.” Lab happened off site and it often took two, sometimes three days to work through an issue and conduct an investigation. You were poked, prodded and observed like a lab rat by the council as your newfound abilities were put on display, recorded and observed.
“So that’s what happened to the blow dryer!” Rune came out of nowhere.
“Watch this,” Natira was sitting cross legged. She raised her arms in front of her and proceeded to use her index finger to poke at the air, as she did little beams of light appeared like dots and illuminated out into the darkness. “Now, touch them.” She said.
I put my hand out to touch the beams and had to retreat because it burned. The beams were so hot they would fry anything that came near them, it was as if she was creating some sort of forcefield of protection around herself.
“Ouch. Turn it off,” I yelled, rubbing my finger. That freaking hurt!”
“Sorry,” Natira apologized, pulling the light back into her hands, she rolled it around and it became a ball of energy, the color was deep red and an angry current surged through it as she rolled her hands around it.
“What are you going to do with that?”
Natira looked into the distance. Far beyond the turbines she could see the battle raging in the valley of Jezerel. Two armies fought over the souls of the daughters of the damned. Natira stood and threw the fireball as far as she could and in the distance the girls saw what looked like a display of fireworks over the mountains.
“Natira, how on earth did you do that?”
“I’ll explain later,” I told Natira.
The girls were quiet for a moment, looking out into the distance. None of them were aware that the hills were alive with evil eyes peering in their direction, all with orders to destroy the daughters of the damned and forever end their legacy.
***
I open my eyes and the cold in the room was so unbearable that I was shivering, even with the heavy wool blankets on my bed. I tried to turn my head to the left, but something is blocking my movement. Ice. I raise my head to look around and the room has been transformed into an ice cave. Am I dreaming? I ask myself, unable to believe that that I’m in an ice cave in the middle of the desert. I feel around the bed for my cell phone, but my fingers are emerged in ice water and my clothes are saturated with water. When I finally find my phone, I shine its light throughout the room and Natira is also lying in her bed shivering and the freakin’ room is filled with big blocks of ice. I get out of bed and underneath my feet the floor has turned into ice as well. When I look out the window, we are surrounded by an island of ice beyond which I can see patches of what used to be the yard. In the distance, the white pillars of the windmill keep turning. Where are we? I try to wake Natira and she mumbles something in her sleep but doesn’t respond to my shaking. I shake wake Akela and she opens her eyes in astonishment of her surroundings.
“What’s happening. Where are we?” she jumps up and slips on the ice underneath our feet.
“I don’t know. It looks, like some kind of ice cave. How did we get here?”
Akela grabs her blanket from the bed and we wrap ourselves up in it.
“Where’s the door?”
“I.D.K.”
“Did you try to wake her up?”
“Yes, but she keeps mumbling something in her sleep, she won’t budge.”
Akela looks around the room, and then at Natira who is still in a deep sleep, her necklace is glowing a light blue color. “I think it’s Natira, she must be having a nightmare. We have to wake her up.”
We shake her but she does not wakeup, instead she mumbles in her sleep as if she is talking to someone …
Suddenly, the room starts to shake, and the ground underneath us begins to move. The ice cracks as a dark shadow fills the room.
“What is that?” I say looking as far into the ice as I can see.
“I don’t know!” Akela yells.
We shine the light at the surface of the ice and from deep down underneath a huge sea creature comes barreling at the ice once more. When his body hits the surface with a crash and the room shakes again and another huge ice crack slides across the surface of the ice, this time it divides us.
“Wake her up!” I yell. Looking around for another way to escape the room. I open the window and put one leg through, but when I step into the snow my foot sinks down into a white foamy substance instead. It’s not ice. There is no bottom. I crawl back into the room as it shakes again. This time, the creature penetrates the surface and the ice cracks enough for him to push his head through. His teeth are the size of my feet and his mouth is hungry for our blood.
“What is it?” Akela yelled.
“I don’t know!” I scream, “We have to wake Natira up!” I shook her again, this time I see her fighting to pull herself free from the overpowering dream. She opens her eyes and closes them again and the creature smashes into the room once more, this time he lets out a massive roar that sounds like a fleet of sea vessels all blowing at the same time. I shake her again.
“NATIRRRRAAAAA!” we both yell.
“Where am I?” just as suddenly as she awakes, the snow around us disappears, and we are in our warm dorm again.
“What happened?” She asks. I fall onto my bed with relief.
“We were all asleep, and somehow we awoke to room full of ice, and a sea creature was trying to kill us?”
“My dream,” Natira rubbed her eyes. “It’s happening again. When I have nightmares everything around me transforms to whatever I am dreaming about and the people who are near me are pulled into the experience as well, on Zarmina…” Natira looked away.
“Tell us,” Akela sat next to her. “I hadn’t done it since I was five, but when we dream out loud, the people around us usually help us through the dream. They fight with you to help you remain safe because…”
“Because what?”
“If you die in your dream, you die in real life.”
We sat quietly. Natira rubbed her necklace, she wanted to go home.
She had not been able to contact home since the explosion. The energy in her necklace was too weak. How could she survive life on this planet? How would she contact her planet again? In her Earth Studies class on Zarmina they told her about a space center on Earth where Alien remains were housed. There, scientists did research on extraterrestrial life forms. If she could make it to that center, she would be able to apprehend the celestial samples of her planets rock forms, with those and the energy from the turbines, she would be able to send out a signal that could be seen in her galaxy. Could she trust her new friends to help her escape Desert Academy to retrieve the rock?
In class I opened my Cambridge notebook. Mrs. Willowbrook announced that there would be a quiz on the History of the geography surrounding the school, so I made sure to pay close attention:
Chapter Five
After everyone had gone to bed Akela remained on the roof a little longer. She lay back and looked up at the sky. Again, she remembered when her mother told her the story of her father and how she’d met him.
They’d met at a bar; her mother didn’t really want to go that night, but her roommate at the time was a bartender and she’d promised her she’d celebrate her birthday with her. So, she went to the bar during her friends shift that night. When she got there, the place was quiet, which gave her time to sit and talk to her friend throughout her shift. Three drinks later, a tall dark and very handsome man walked into the bar. His eyes were dark and mysterious, and when he took a seat next to her, she knew she was in trouble. Something about him got her attention. His hair was dark and curly, and he was wearing a navy suit jacket and jeans. He ordered a vodka and tonic and started cracking nuts and staring at the baseball game above the bar. She and her roommate exchanged knowing glances, something girls did when they saw something they liked. The handsome stranger looked to be in his early thirties, which was a bit older than her at the time, but she was immediately attracted to his strong presence.
“What are you drinking?” the roommate asked him.
“Vodka and Tonic,” he smiled revealing a set of beautifully etched white teeth.
She watched her roommate fix another drink and hand it to the stranger. They drank in silence again. Finally, she got up gather up her things.
“I’ll see you at home,” she announced.
“Leaving so soon?” he said.
She looked at the stranger, “Uhhh yes. I have some studying to do.”
“What are you studying?”
“I’m a student at the local University. Senior year, lots of cramming.”
“I see. Well, can I walk you out?”
She looked at her roommate who winked and sent kisses of approval into the air between them.
“Yes, sure.”
Outside, they talked, but talking was not what either of them had in mind. His eyes trailed her body and he smiled. When she smiled back at him, he knew it was ok to make a move.
“I love your pouty lips; I wonder if they taste as good as they look?” he got straight to the point.
“Why don’t you come over and find out,” she said and that was it. They spent the entire night intertwined in lust and passion. An irresponsible evening of pleasure would pave the way to a future of turmoil. The next day when she awoke, he was gone. No note. No name. Nothing.
Twenty-seven days later she was working at the coffee shop when she got sick to her stomach. That’s when she knew that she was pregnant with his child. She tried to look for him, but she had nothing. No leads. No name. Nothing that could lead her to him.
She graduated the next month and moved back home with her parents. Although her father didn’t say much, her mother used every opportunity she could find to remind her how disappointed she was. Overall, the pregnancy was easy enough. She was only sick for about a week in the second trimester but as she got closer to delivery things began to take a turn.
One night after work, she walked out of the coffee shop and looked up at the full moon, its glow seemed to illuminate the entire parking lot that night. She heard her own footsteps as she walked to her car which was always down the block from the coffee shop, this was her way of getting the exercise that she would otherwise never get. Suddenly, on the ground in front of her she could see a shadow approaching from the moons glare.
She stopped and turned around and there was no one there. She looked around and the wide street was both quiet and empty except for the cars parked somberly along the residential curbs. She saw a light in a nearby apartment window go off. Someone was watching. This somehow assured her that if anything happened, she’d have a witness to the crime.
“Who’s there?” she asked the darkness.
“It’s me,” a male voice said and came into the light. “We have to talk.”
It was the guy from the bar, she was suddenly ashamed of her belly, she looked down at it and then at the concerned look in his eyes. She was reminded of her mother’s disapproval and suddenly anger arose inside her. He’d left her with no name; and no way to contact him. What did he want now? It was too late for anything but giving birth.
“Can we talk?” he came into the light of the moon, something in his eyes was eerie.
She continued to her car, “Get in.”
He looked up at the moon and hesitated for a moment before getting into the passenger seat of the car. “Your friend told me where I could find you. I don’t have long.”
“OK.”
“This baby, I assume it’s mine?”
“What?” she shifted in her seat to face him.
“OK, it’s mine. We- what’s your name?”
She laughed, “This is backwards, here I am nine months pregnant with your baby and you don’t even know my name. For that matter I don’t know yours either.”
“Walter. I’m Walter and you?”
“Gretta. Gretta is my name.”
He looked at the moon, “Gretta, this baby cannot be born. You don’t know what could happen.”
“What are you talking about? This baby is coming in less than a week.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“It, I mean I- “Walter closed
his eyes. It was happening. He looked at the moon and swallowed hard. “We- “then he doubled over in pain. “I have- to go, get home! I’ll look for you.”
“Wait-what?” She watched him get out of the can and disappear into the woods in the distance. She watched for a few minutes to see if he emerged, but he didn’t. So, she drove home.
That night she awoke at 3 a.m. Outside her window the full round moon shone down on the quiet neighborhood. The pain in her abdomen was unbearable. She doubled over and screamed. She felt like her back was going to break into two pieces. Although her parents were only two doors down, her screams were to no avail, but they slept like logs.
“Moooooooooommmmmm!” she yelled, pulling herself out of bed and gathering a few items to stuff into a bag. “Mooooooooooo!”
“What? What is it?” her mom came to the door still half asleep. “You know your father doesn’t like being awaken when he has work in the morning.”
“I think it’s time.”
“You have another week. First babies are always late,” her mother said, convinced that she was not ready.
“Mother, either you drive me to the hospital, or I’ll call 911.” Gretta doubled over in pain again.
“OK, ok but this better be it, I was sleeping good,” she huffed and walked away.
At the hospital they performed an ultrasound to access the pain and make sure that the baby was not breech. When the doctor came in, he looked at the ultrasound in astonishment.
“Gretta, the ultrasound images are very unclear. It seems that the baby is under a lot of stress and the movement is unremarkable. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“So, am I in labor?”
“No, no not yet. But we are going to keep you overnight for observation.”
Her mother stood, “Good. I’m going home. Call a cab to get home if you don’t have the baby. Remember Gretta, you got yourself into this mess.”
That night she was left at the hospital alone. When her mother left, she lay there in the quiet of the room thinking about what Walter had said. What was so dangerous about giving birth? She rubbed her stomach and the life inside her squirmed again, she could see her stomach moving with every roll and cartwheel the baby made. With that the pain grew more intense. Throughout the wee hours of the morning she winced and moaned in pain until the nurses came in and prepared the room for birth.
Daughters of the Damned Page 4
