The Revealing

I looked up at him from the mat, and he looked at me with concern, but the concern went away as I started to bring myself back up. He swept his leg underneath mine, and I was back on the floor again with a sore bottom. I started to get frustrated. I got up again, and this time, I jumped as his leg swept under my legs without making contact. I felt some confidence leak into my non-athletic personality. Unfortunately, Car ripped my newfound confidence away when he shot out his hand and shoved me back, which again made me topple over onto my butt. I grunted angrily as I got up. I was prepared and jumped over his leg again and dodged his hand while grabbing his wrist and pulling it down. It was now his turn to flip over. He landed with a thud and a surprised look on his face.

“Is it honestly necessary for you to keep getting me on the floor?” I said.

He shot back up, smiling. “The only way you are going to learn is repetitiveness, and it seems you fight better when you’re annoyed, so I have an idea.” He turned around and went back into the other room. I sat down on the mat and stretched my legs.

“Don’t look at me. I don’t know what he is planning,” Willow said. She was hiding something behind her smile. She obviously knew exactly what Car was planning, and the idea seemed to amuse him. I heard the door click, and Car was back on the mat. I knew exactly what the plan was when I saw who followed him, because so far, the only ones there who could really get on my nerves were Mason and, of course, Damian. I glared at Damian. There was one thing Car had been right about: I wouldn’t fight half-heartedly if given the chance to punch Damian.

“You’re not serious, are you?” I said.

Willow laughed and helped me up while handing me a bottle of water.

“What? Are you scared I’ll win, Bunny?” Damian said.

I sighed. “I thought guys aren’t supposed to hit girls. Like it’s some kind of code.”

Damian was the first one on the mat. “Well, yes, and I won’t be hitting you, because personally, I don’t believe in hitting women. It makes me less of a man, really. However, Bun Bun, the elders don’t care if you’re a girl or a boy; you’re just another Halfling to be drained. Maybe you’d be something with a little more kick, but like I said, another Halfling.”

His words seemed to indicate he assumed I would be different from other Halflings. I pushed that to the back of my mind to analyze later. I returned my focus to the situation. Damian tried the same maneuver that Car had with the leg swinging, but I saw it coming. I jumped over his leg easily; it was becoming a habit. But the routine was angering me. Damian egging me on was not helping. I reared my hand back and shot it at his chest. He moved backward at the force. He did not fall to the ground, but the blow pushed him back a few feet. He looked at me in surprise, and then I kicked him. I knew I was adding insult to injury, but this was the only time when kicking him was appropriate and accepted. I sighed as he got up from the ground and dusted off his pants.

“Well, I’m done for today. Willow, where’s Peri? I want to go upstairs,” I said.

Damian looked insulted. “We aren’t done. You’re not leaving until I’m sweating and panting.”

I glared at him, grabbed the water bottle that Willow was holding for me, opened it and chucked all the water in it at Damian.

“There—now you’re sweating. And as for panting?” I stomped on his foot.

He grabbed his foot and jumped up and down like a cartoon character, gasping from pain, which I suspected he exaggerated a little. I turned around so fast on my heel that my ponytail made contact with his face with a quiet slapping sound. I looked toward the jungle gym that Peri was playing on and searched the faces of the children playing there. I found her and called her name. She instantly came running in my direction. I grabbed Willow’s arm, and we left the training room.

I was exhausted. We had lunch and then dinner, and I went back to bed. It was not a productive day. I couldn’t sleep, so I opened my window again, climbed out and sat on the roof. It wasn’t as cold as it had been my first night. The air was actually refreshing. I sat and read my book until I got tired. When I started to read lines over again, I decided it was time to go to sleep. I put my bookmark in the centre of my book, closed it and climbed back through my window. I put the book on the desk and crawled sleepily into my bed.

The next week at school was exhausting. Car and I finished our cake and worked on the tiny circus animals to place on the cake. We finished the cupcakes by putting a tiny circus animal on each one. Each time Mrs. Shire walked by, she looked more and more impressed. Damian had convinced his partner to do all the work, and he said he would supervise. She let him get away with it, unfortunately. He sat there licking blue and green icing off his fingers while the poor girl slaved away to make their New York–themed figures for the cake. I had an interesting time in gym. I had regular entertainment courtesy of Car’s gym partner, even though mine kept hounding me to pay attention. By the end of the week, I had my cake done and my swing almost perfected.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

On Saturday, Willow and I went shopping to buy some new clothes, which I desperately needed. I came back into the car to find a small MP3 player on my seat. Willow said it was a gift from someone, but she wasn’t allowed to tell me who. She was smiling like a ninny, so my money was on Car. It seemed like something he would do. When we came home, there was a truck by the side of the house, and I saw a bunch of older- and younger-looking men with brilliantly coloured eyes bringing boxes in through the side door.

I turned toward Willow and asked, “Who are they?”

Something on her phone distracted her, but when she looked up and shrugged, I knew they were no threat. She answered, “They are the delivery guys. They deliver the mail and other supplies that we order.”

“What kind of supplies would you be ordering?” I asked, watching one of the delivery guys specifically. His hair was the colour of a lion’s, and his smile was full of experience and charm.

“Sometimes we buy some of the clothes for the kids online—you know, because it would be a little redundant and hazardous to take about fifty kids at a time to shop for clothes.” She smiled and waved at Damian, who was supervising the men taking in the boxes. “We also order some treats for the kids—you know, chips and candy. These guys don’t work for the delivery company, you know? They are all Tharsion.”

Well, that made sense. I couldn’t help but place the one particular delivery guy in my memory. Somewhere a while ago, I felt as if I had met him. Then it hit me like a bowling ball dropped off the roof when he looked my direction and smiled discreetly: he was the boy from the library—the one who’d taught me the magic trick. Damian eyed him for half a second, but my guess was that these guys were specifically chosen for this honor, because they had permission to see the house. That meant Damian trusted them. We made our way over to the side door, and Damian smiled at me, which was odd. He seemed to be in a good mood. I didn’t smile back. I was tired, so I just watched him for a second and then turned to Willow.

“I’m going to go inside and put this stuff away.” I gestured to the bags I’d procured during the shopping venture. She nodded and then turned toward Damian to talk to him about something. I turned and headed inside just as the boy from the library came in carrying a big box. He matched my pace, which was considerably slower than his previous pace.

“Hello, Princess.”

I didn’t respond to the name, though I had gotten used to the nicknames. I thought people used them either because my name was too hard to pronounce or because I really looked like a bunny and a princess. I just nodded slightly, focusing on the burning in my fingers from the thin handles of the shopping bags digging into my skin.

“Have you learned the trick yet?” he said.

“To be honest, I totally forgot about that.”

He put the box down where it belonged and stood up straight, and then he reached over and took four of the six bags that I was holding out of my hands. “Where’s your room? I can help you carry these.”

“Are you allowed in the mansion?” I asked, a little unsure.

“Of course I am. Technically, I am already in here. I would just be going a little farther in.”

I guess he’s right. I smiled and headed toward my room. The boy followed along behind me, and as we walked, he spoke from behind in a slight whisper.

“You seriously haven’t given the magic trick any thought?”

In my head, I listed the countless reasons I had been a little preoccupied, but I just let out a huff and said, “You don’t want to know.” Then we arrived at my door. I opened it since I had less in my hands than he did.

“Nice room,” he said sarcastically.

“It’s a great room.”

He nodded and placed my shopping bags beside the desk on the floor. “All right, then I will reteach you how to disappear. Remember, when you learn the trick on your own without my help, then I will tell you my name.”

I rolled my eyes. I was exhausted. Shopping always took everything I had in me, and shopping with Willow was like an extreme version of shopping. He stood in front of me, a little too close. This guy really had boundary issues.

“You have to trust me for this to work.”

“How can I trust you when I don’t even know your name?”

“Do you trust firemen?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, I’m sure you don’t know all of their names. Pretend I’m a fireman.”

I did as he said, and then he put his hands on my shoulders. He pulled me a step closer. Then he stood behind me and put his hands on my shoulders again.

“Close your eyes, and do exactly as I say.”

I closed my eyes, and he let his hands trail down my arms. For some reason, it seemed to calm me down, and then his voice returned by my ear.

“Breathe in, and breathe out slowly.”

I did as I was told. He kept running his hands up and down my arms. Even though I was focusing on the breathing, I focused more on the physical contact. In fact, I couldn’t focus on much else. Then he made his way around me to the front and held my wrists loosely.

“Now I want you to picture a beautifully clear window, one that has just been cleaned. It can look any way you want it to—any shape, any frame—but focus on how clear the glass looks.”

I imagined a large, clean window with a dark wooden frame. I could see white through it.

“Don’t focus on what you see through it; focus on the clarity itself.”

I did that. I imagined myself zooming in on the glass and focused on how intense and beautifully fragile it was. If I tapped it, it would probably shatter. It was so thin and clear.

“Open your eyes.”

I opened them, and everything around me seemed to have the feeling my window gave off—thin, clear and glassy. That was, everything but the boy in front of me.

“Am I invisible?” I said.

“Yes, you are. Clearly invisible,” he said with a charming smile.

I looked around. “It’s so beautiful.”

He ran his hands up and down again, this time a little slower, and then he put his hands on my waist, adding a slight pressure. He took a step closer and started to duck his head toward mine. I pulled back, not feeling right about this—something was off about this boy. He looked into my eyes with understanding and kissed my cheek. That was when my door flew open, startling me. I snapped out of the world I was in.

The boy seemed to be in that other world; he stayed invisible, or he disappeared. I was not able to tell. It seemed I was in another dimension and would not have been able to touch him even if he were still there. My waist began to cool down and return to normal now that his hands were gone. I looked up to see who had burst into my room unannounced. It was Damian.

“I just came up to check on you. One of the delivery guys didn’t come back inside. Just a little worried.”

“Worried? About me?”

“No, I was worried about him. I saw the way you ogled him earlier. Thought you might have kidnapped him.”

I was about to make a witty retort, when the boy walked into view from down the hallway.

“Sorry. I was looking for the john,” he said.

“Washrooms are downstairs, bud,” Damian said.

“Yes, sir.”

There was tension. I could feel it. The boy went onward after giving me a glance, knowledge filling his expression, and Damian stayed with me, glaring down the hallway at the boy’s back. What a day this was.

“Did you have fun shopping?” said Damian, making polite conversation. It was an odd thing. I didn’t like it, so I dismissed his question. It was already evening, and Willow and I had had supper on the way home.

“Damian, I am kind of tired.”

His face dropped a little, but then he plastered on his smug grin and winked at me. “All right then. See you later, Bunny.”

He backed out of my room, and I closed the door behind him.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

On Sunday, I woke up again to Willow shouting, “It’s time for training!” as she tossed pillows in my direction.

“I don’t want to!” I said through the material of my pillow.

“Well, you have to. Peri and I will be in the gym. Do you think you can make it there by yourself? We can wait for you if you want.”

“Yeah, I can come myself. Go ahead. I will meet you there.”

The two of them left the room, and I slowly picked myself up off of the bed, went over to my closet, rummaged through some clothes we’d bought and grabbed some leggings and a loose T-shirt. I put my hair up, put my shoes on and left my room.

After training, I turned toward the jungle gym to see where Peridot had run off to; it was time to go. I scanned the faces, but Peri’s was missing. Immediately, I felt a chill go up my spine. I turned toward Damian, who was right behind me. He obviously didn’t feel the chill, because he was laughing at something Mason had said that I hadn’t heard. Damian’s facial expression instantly changed from humoured to serious in one second flat when he saw me. He came closer to me. “What’s wrong?” Concern marked his face.

I couldn’t answer; all I could do was shiver. Someone was there, and he or she hadn’t been invited. I couldn’t feel Peri’s presence. I could see Damian’s, Car’s and Mason’s faces in my vision. Their mouths were moving, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Damian was close to shaking me; his hands were on my shoulders. I shook them off and ran around the training room at Olympic speed, maybe even faster. I looked in every nook and cranny of the room and behind every piece of equipment, but I couldn’t find her.

“Where is she?” I shouted.

They were all helping me look, asking the little boys questions. Suddenly, Lisa yelled at the top of her lungs, “What are you doing here?”

We all turned toward a little boy who was sitting on the jungle gym. He looked sinister; his smile was taunting and villainous. It made me shiver again, and this time, Damian put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him.

My whole self was aware of Damian pressed up against my side. I needed to stop thinking about this and focus on the situation at hand, which seemed urgent. The little boy jumped off the jungle gym and landed on his feet.

“This is a nice set-up you’ve got here.” His voice startled me; it was that of a 35-year-old man, not a 10-year-old child. “Room for one more?” He had a British accent, which made the sound coming from the mouth of the dark-featured, tan little boy even odder. He chuckled and walked over to Lisa.

I stiffened. Even though this person was inside the body of a child, he seemed dangerous.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded again, this time with her hands held at her sides. I could see the electrical current rising up in her.

“Now, now, Lisa, none of that.” He took her hand and pushed it down slowly. Oddly, he wasn’t electrocuted right away. “I just want a place to live, a place to make new friends.” He looked around and locked eyes with me. His body might have been 10 years old, but he had experience and knowledge in his eyes. This was a grown man hiding in a boy’s body.

“But I would love to tell you the story of how I got here,” he added. He laughed again, as if this were a sick, twisted joke. “It’s really quite fascinating. All right, well, I will start with what you’re all thinking. Oh, and did I mention that I can read minds? It’s a great thing to pick up. Too bad such a young girl had to die losing it so I could have it.” He sighed.

I was fuming. I was on the edge of the hill, ready to jump off, risk my life and strangle him until he gave the location of Peri to me.

“Obsidian, you interest me—not because of your abilities but because you have so many that you still don’t know about. You have no idea who you are, and that fascinates me.”

I gasped.

“However, unfortunately, an elder cannot take undiscovered powers, so those ones are safe. But this one I like.”

I could feel him inside my head, going through my memories.

“The ability of inhuman strength—I think I will take that one when I’m done explaining.”

By instinct, I drew closer to Damian, and his arm tightened around me.

“Now, back to my story. Where was I? Oh yes! Well, I saw this young man”—he pointed at his body—“playing with his powers outside of the mansion’s cover, throwing rocks much bigger than his size far across the distance. Very irresponsible of him. I decided I needed to fill him to get to where they were keeping you, Obsidian—and Peridot, of course. So I walked straight up to him—well, not exactly me. I actually filled a little bunny rabbit so that he would make contact, because nowadays, who shakes people’s hands anymore, let alone a stranger’s?”

He was making his way over to me, and with every step he took, I grew colder and colder. I was shivering, and he was still at least 10 feet in front of me. Damian tried to close any other space between us, probably feeling how cold I was.

“Well, once this young man picked me up, I filled him and dropped the bunny act. Ha! Bunny act. Do you get it, Bun Bun? That is what he calls you, right?”

I mustered enough courage to stop shivering and glare at him. He glared back, and I was the first one to break eye contact.

“Anyway, I have decided that I need to keep Peridot safe—with me, of course—and take her away.”

“You can’t have her!” I yanked myself away from Damian and marched right up to this boy, who was four foot nothing, and stared down at him. At that point, I realized what a huge mistake I’d made. He started twitching, bending and warbling in and out of sight while keeping eye contact. He started to grow. Everything about him was changing—everything except his eyes. He stopped growing when he was about 6 feet 7 inches tall and stared down at me.

“I can’t have her? Well, that’s too bad.” He paused and leaned down right in front of my face. “Because I have already taken her.” His voice was steady and cold, just above a whisper.

My face dropped. “No!” I shouted, and I reared my hand back to punch him in the face, but he grabbed my fist with his mouth. I almost threw up. I tried to pull my hand away, but his jaw extended over my hand. He was pulling at something. My strength? I fell onto my knees, and Damian came as quickly as I had ever seen him and kicked the man’s head so hard that he let go of his grip on my hand. I held my mangled hand in the other; it felt broken. It was starting to bleed.

Damian walked past me and followed the body of the man who had just chomped on my hand. He pulled his head by the hair, which was down to his shoulders, and pulled him to his feet. The man grunted and said, “This won’t help anything. I am the only one who knows where your precious Peri is, so killing me is not the best option for you guys.”

He sounded calm for someone who was about to die or at least get majorly hurt. Maybe he’d stolen someone’s ability not to feel pain, or maybe he had a plan. The plan seemed like the more likely assumption, and I was correct in thinking so, because just when Damian was about to punch him in the gut, he disappeared, sending Damian’s hand plunging into thin air.

“Where did he go?” I started to freak out. If he was gone, where was Peri? Had he left her there or taken her with him? All I knew was that if he had taken her with him, he was going to die—soon. I sat there helplessly on the ground, clutching my bleeding hand and gasping in pain. Mason was right by my side, blowing on my hand, as he had always done for my injuries before. However, I didn’t heal. The bleeding stopped, but the skin didn’t close, as it should have.

“What did he take from me?”

Mason looked up at me. “He didn’t take anything, surprisingly. To him, you were a buffet of abilities just waiting to be drained. Knowing that you have four that you are aware of must have been a shining beacon to him, which makes this all the more suspicious.”

“Well, we have to find Peri! Whatever it takes. That man was not right in the head. I mean, he stuck my hand in his mouth and bit it.”

He took me by the shoulders. “Obsidian, that is how they drain you of the abilities you are born with.”

My eyes widened. “What if he took something from me that wasn’t supernatural or alien?” I tried to look back into my memories, but it was like bumping into a wall. “I can’t remember anything before we moved here. I think he was trying to make me forget about everything that’s happened, but Damian stopped him.”

Mason looked at me with astonishment.

“Now, that’s an impressive conclusion, Bunny,” Damian said.

I rolled my eyes. Not this again. “Honestly, do you ever quit being a jerk?”

He laughed. “No. Do you ever quit being a princess?”

Princess? Why was that nickname floating around like a bob in the water? I didn’t say anything, though. The last thing I needed was to put the life of the boy from the library in danger before I even knew his name. Damian obviously enjoyed this, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of manipulating my emotions again.

“Okay, would you two stop bickering and just focus on the situation at hand?”

I looked over at Car, who seemed to be anchoring his brother to earth, and his sister as well.

“What do you suggest we do, Captain Car?” Damian’s cocky voice from behind me felt too close on the back of my neck.

“Well, we are going out to look for this guy and where he might be hiding Peri. Willow and Mason, you will stay here and make sure word doesn’t get out and freak everyone out. So basically, you guys are crowd control.”

“And what do I do?” I chimed in because I knew he was avoiding the subject of me.

“You, Obsidian, have the most important job of all. Go to school tomorrow, and make sure everything in your life stays normal.”

“What!” I was beginning to feel frustration bubbling inside me.

“Well, the school is the most public place that you can go, and with Willow there, you will be safe. They aren’t going to risk exposure to the humans for you; it’s not worth it.”

“No! I can do just as much to help. What if I have like some kind of hidden power to save her? I can’t just leave her alone. She trusts me!”

Damian stepped in now. “Well, what happened today—that was surrounded by all of us. Bunny, you’re safer here—with me.”

I looked at him and then at Car, whose facial expression looked just as frazzled as I felt.

“But I thought you are going with Car and Mason,” I said.

He stepped closer to me, and I felt his body heat. He was too close, so I took a step back. I was not stupid when it came to boys.

“That is what Car thinks. I don’t exactly take orders from my baby brother, do I, Bunny?”

Oh yeah, I forgot that he is older. Car just seems so much more—what’s the word I’m looking for? Oh, right: mature. “How exactly are you going to protect me if you’re not in my classes?” I put air quotes around the words protect me, because I knew I could protect myself.

“Well, Bunny, it’s like you don’t even know me. It’s my job to protect people like you. I am sure I haven’t been fired just yet, so I can handle protecting you. It’s no different from any other assignment I have been given—just this one has more attitude and a crush on me.” He smiled.

My feelings were hurt, but I didn’t let him see I agreed, and I punched him for saying I had a crush on him. Then I walked with Willow to my room. He called me an assignment! Is that all I am to him? An assignment? I can’t believe I’m letting myself get worked up over this. It’s Damian, for goodness sake. I could have understood my feelings if Car had been the one to say those things, but it was Damian. Now I’m just being silly. I’m letting my emotions go into overdrive and overshadow the fact that he is not right for me, no matter how attractive I think he is.

Willow walked me to my room. It had been a long day. After agreeing that Damian would come with me to school tomorrow, along with Willow, they all discussed the plan. It involved transferring Damian into all of my classes he wasn’t already in. After all, school was a public place, and anyone could get in if he or she looked the part. They talked to Lisa for a long time. Poor girl, I thought. She is just a kid, and she has to deal with all this stuff.

After we discussed everything, it ended up being past ten o’clock. When we got to my room, Willow dropped me off and gave me a hug. She had an inkling as to why I had been so glum for the rest of the day, and she whispered to me, “Don’t worry; he didn’t mean the assignment thing. He just has a weird way of showing he cares. He doesn’t want you to think too much of him, because he doesn’t want to disappoint you.”

I looked up at her. She had such a way with words, and I felt that my eyes were on the brink of tears. I tended to cry when I didn’t even feel like crying, such as when I was mad or frustrated. Therefore, I always said, “It’s just my eyes.”

Willow looked at me, concerned, because she thought I was about to cry, which was not going to happen, especially not over Damian. I wiped my eyes, gave her a hug good night and then turned to go to my bed. I fell asleep instantly with headphones in my ears, clutching the little teddy bear that Car gave me.