The Revealing

The difficult part was walking. I didn’t mind the silence. We each could independently make a motion, but the other then mimicked that independent motion. It was nice that I repeated everything he said to me, as it encouraged him not to speak. However, he did take to randomly saying things that I would never have said aloud.

“I love your hair, Damian—so luscious and bouncy.” He touched my head.

A second later, I opened my mouth and said, “I love your hair, Damian—so luscious and bouncy.”

I then proceeded to touch his hair. I rolled my eyes, and so did he. He took a step, and then I took one of his steps uncontrollably. I moved my head to look up at him, only to see him looking at the roof.

“Am I actually that short?” I said.

“Am I actually that short?” he said, and then he added, “Yes, yes you are.”

On the inside, I glared at him. It wouldn’t do much good to glare at him openly with him mimicking me. We would not be able to face anyone stuck like this.

“How long are we like this for?” I asked.

He shrugged, and then I shrugged. “How long are we like this for?” he said.

He raised an eyebrow, and so did I. He was thinking about something. Then he took some wobbly, awkward steps backward to one side of the tunnel. I took them in the opposite direction to the other side. Slowly, he sank down to sit, and so did I. Then I could see his face. His idea was for us to sit farther apart. That way, we could see each other. He smiled and waved; I did the same. He was silent. He was thinking, and while he thought of something we could do next, I stretched my legs. He did the same.

He whispered something so quietly I couldn’t hear it; however, I repeated it in a second.

“We are mirrored, right? So if I raise my left hand …” He raised his hand, and then I repeated him. “Good. You raise your left hand.”

I thought, If our physical and verbal movements on the outside are the same, will our organs act the same way? My heartbeat sped up, but I wasn’t the one who caused it. I guess that answers my question. I then got up on my knees and moved forward, crawling toward Damian, who was crawling toward me. We met in the middle. My heartbeat was racing. His face got closer, and my face equally matched his. He tilted his head right, and then I tilted my head right.

“I want to try something,” he whispered, and I repeated his words.

Then he and I closed the distance, and he put his lips on mine. My body did exactly what his did. My heart was beating as if I were running a marathon. At first, the fact that we could each move independently but both mimicked each other took a little getting used to. My stomach got butterflies, and my cheeks burned.

He pulled away, holding his stomach. He looked up at me. “Did I just get myself pregnant or something?”

I repeated his words and then burst out laughing, and he laughed too. “Haven’t you ever had butterflies before?” I said.

He repeated my words and then said, “I don’t get nervous; it’s a girl thing. Why are my cheeks so warm?”

I repeated his words while touching my cheeks. “Because you’re blushing,” I added.

“Because you’re blushing,” he said. He waited. “I have blushed before, but this”—he touched his cheeks—“is new.”

I repeated him and then lowered my head along with his. “I know. It’s embarrassing.”

He repeated my words and then lifted his head to make me look at him. “I think it’s cute.” He then winked. He waited, and so did I. Nothing happened. I didn’t repeat him.

“You really do?” I said. Then I laughed, jumped up and wiggled my arms like a worm. He laughed but didn’t do the same. “We aren’t synced anymore!” I said.

“Good, ’cause now I can do this.” He grabbed my casted arm and broke the cast. It crumpled and fell off my arm.

“Thank you! I have silently hated that thing ever since I woke up with it.”

He hugged me, and I pushed him off—but not with my hands. Some kind of force pushed him away from me. I tried to walk closer to him but couldn’t close the distance.

“What’s going on?” I said.

He shook his head. “Part two.”

I didn’t understand. “And what exactly is part two?”

He stepped forward, and I stepped back. “This,” he said. He took three steps forward, and I took three steps backward. He pushed his hand straight out, and I jumped back the length of his arm. We repelled each other.

“Great,” I said. How are any of us going to save Peridot? I hope she is okay.

As I sat with my thoughts, waiting for the curse of the healing to finish, Damian hummed. He hummed a song I had never heard before, but it felt familiar. I closed my eyes and listened, leaning against the wall. When he finished, I asked him, “What was that?”

He opened his eyes and looked at me. “It’s a song.”

I gave him the blankest look I could possibly give him. He smiled and then leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes again, making it dark, and said, “My mother used to sing it to me when I was a kid. The words are in my language.”

For the first time in seemingly forever, I could see through Damian’s cocky mask and see the real him, the one who’d kissed me in the tree, who complimented me randomly and who’d known me before I knew him.

“Did I ever see you when I was a kid?” I asked.

He looked surprised at the question. His eyes shined light at my face. He was quiet for a while, and then he spoke. “Yes, you did.”

I tried to remember, pushing my memory back as far as I could get it to go. There was nothing about a green-eyed boy with black hair and a crooked smile.

“You probably don’t remember, though. Every time I broke the rules to see you, my mother would wipe your memory.”

My heart sank at his expression. “Damian, maybe if you tell me a memory, I will remember.”

He sighed and took in a deep breath. “Okay, I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

As he began his story, I closed my eyes so I could try to remember.

“It was the day of your parents’ funeral.”

He paused as a breath caught in my throat. There had always been something missing from that day. I’d just always thought I’d blocked it out. He continued.

“You didn’t want to go inside. Both of them at the same time—I could understand why. My parents knew your parents well, so they obviously came to pay their respects. They allowed us to come too. At that point, you were twelve and I was fourteen. Our parents sent us—me and Willow—to the car to wait for them. We had to stay inside the car like the good alien children we were, but you know me.” He smiled.

“When my parents went inside, I opened the door and stepped out of the car. Willow was trying to stop me from going by using her gift; she still hadn’t gotten a handle on it yet, though. Carson was sleeping in the back seat. He’d emotionally invested himself in you, so my parents put him to sleep for a little while. We were dressed for the occasion, because they allowed us to go to the burial; we just had to stay out of your sight. We were allowed to talk to everyone—everyone except you.”

I could feel the pull of tears coming back to me, so I held my breath.

“I came up to you. You were wearing a black dress with your hair down. You weren’t crying.”

I remembered not crying. I could remember telling Mason to leave me alone.

“I came up to you and asked if you were okay. You nodded. Even back then, you were a bad liar.”

I smiled through a couple of tears.

“I told you that you were lying, and you glared at me with fire in your eyes and asked me who the hell I thought I was. I laughed at that, and then I hugged you and said that you didn’t have to go in there. You were so surprised that you didn’t know how to respond. Your cheeks were a lovely shade of pink. I couldn’t stand it when they told you to go inside. You hugged me back unexpectedly and thanked me. You asked me what my name was. I told you it wasn’t important. The next thing I knew, my bitchy aunt came out of the funeral home. She spun me around and slapped me in the face in front of you. I just looked at her, and she backed down, ashamed at her lack of self-control. I tend to bring that out in people.”

I laughed through my cloudy tears.

“My mother came outside and gave me the ‘I’m disappointed in you’ look, and the whole time this was happening, you were freaking out that my aunt just hit me.”

I didn’t remember any of this.

“My mother took you gently by the arm and touched your head right here.” He tapped the spot right above his right ear. “And my aunt aggressively pulled me to the car. I could hear my mother telling you that you should really go inside. And that’s probably everything there is to tell you.”

I remembered a woman coming out to see me by the tree and telling me it would be good closure to go inside and see them one last time. I’d followed her inside. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I no longer felt as if I needed to hide from Damian. There were gaps in my memories that had no sense in being there. I was sure each one of those gaps was associated with Damian, Willow or even Carson.

I no longer felt the invisible force pushing us apart. I crawled over to Damian and huddled into him. They’d died five years ago, and he’d been there for me, as he was now. He wrapped his arms around me. He whispered comforting things in his language into my hair. I felt relaxed and calm—until I heard the scream from somewhere in the mountain. It was Willow.

Damian stiffened, and I did the same. Willow was in trouble, which meant something had happened to Mason. What happened to Mason?

We ran, following the only way down the tunnel, until it forked. We followed the scream, which seemed to be replaying itself. After about five minutes, we came to the end of the line, which was a wooden door. It seemed strange that there was a wooden door in the middle of the mountain. The scream came again. This time, it was much louder, as if behind the door. Damian went to grab the handle, but I stopped him.

“What if they are expecting us? You should at least have something as a weapon instead of jumping in with your arms waving and ready for fight,” I said.

He nodded. “All right, but it’s not like there is a plethora of weapons to choose from!” Damian was distressed, so I picked up a sturdy rock.

“Why not try David’s approach?” I held out the rock, and he grinned at my reference to David and Goliath. He took the rock from my hand. With Damian’s strength, he could probably make the same impact as a bullet with that stone. He grabbed the door handle, turned it and opened the door.

As soon as Damian opened the door, the scream raised in volume to a deafening level. Mason and Carson were both on the floor, writhing in pain. Damian winced but located the man who was focusing on the two boys in pain, because clearly, he was the instigator. Damian flicked his wrist, and the screaming stopped as the man fell to his knees and then to the floor, dead, with a small rock lodged in his skull. The man disappeared. It shocked me.

“Who wants the next one?” said Damian.

Willow helped Mason up, and Damian yanked his brother up. The robed people stepped forward, seemingly unaffected by the death and disappearance of the man with the sound. Willow shrank into Mason’s side, and Damian stood taller.

“Oh, good. The cavalry has arrived. Right on time,” said a woman with a shrill voice.

Damian seemed to stiffen. “Sandra,” he said, looking around for her face.

“Aw, look, he remembers his auntie,” she cooed, taking off her hood. The woman was thin, and everything about her ended with a point, even her fingernails. Her eyes were black. Looking into them was like looking into the eyes of a dangerous animal. I looked down.

“Oh, this is her. Everyone, look! It’s the queen! Well, hello, Your Majesty. It’s going to be an honor to perform our procedure on royalty,” said Sandra as she bowed. Everyone else did the same.

At that point, my brain did not know which was worse: my confusion or my fear. Damian blocked me, as did Carson.

“Oh, relax. Everything will be over when we finish with our procedure. Peridot was useless to us until you arrived. I suggested we roll out the red carpet, but Lukas said it was too much. Unfortunately, he still has some of his host’s humanity leaking into him. It’s disgusting, but what can you do? Your coworkers are your coworkers.”

I stared at the woman as if she were insane. Who was the Lukas guy she was talking about? The rest of my group looked at the woman as if in turmoil. Then a man came forward and took off his hood. His hair was ink black, as if someone had emptied out a fountain pen onto his head. His facial structure looked almost identical to Damian’s, his build was like Carson’s and his eyes were almost the exact same colour as Willow’s eyes.

“Father,” said Damian with hate dripping from his voice.

My mouth dropped open as if a weight pulled it down. Willow turned her face into Mason. The man turned his turquoise eyes toward me, and I watched as blackness swallowed up all the colour. Once again, I was looking into the eyes of a dangerous animal.

“So this is her?” His voice reminded me so much of Damian’s that I couldn’t believe it. “You could have picked a prettier one, Son. This is not a proud moment.”

Damian stood still, shaking from anger. I could feel that Damian wanted to hit him, and then something happened that surprised us all. Carson took a step forward and punched the man in the face, and he fell to the floor. The man shot back up and opened his hands slowly. Water began to flow from his hands, and he lifted them to aim the water Carson; however, Sandra stopped him.

“You’re taking too long. Also, Alison wanted them all alive if possible. We need to get them to her.”

Lukas put his hand down and shut off the waterworks. Sandra seemed in charge, yet I sensed there was something unstable about her. Then she said something I would never forget.

“We just need to get the girl to Peridot and drain them, and we will all live forever,” she said.

Carson stepped forward. “Over my dead body. You’re disgusting.” His voice was soaked with disdain for the woman. I wanted to pull him back; something about her seemed so dangerous that I didn’t want anyone I loved near her, even if it was to protect me.

The woman poked him as if he were a piece of meat. Her expression and opinion seemed to change, as she said, “Not necessary. Nevertheless, that can be arranged.” She raised a glowing hand. Water shot at it before she could do anything.

“Lukas!” She pulled her hand away, sizzling and steaming. Now I was truly confused and terrified.

“No more! Not with mine!” Lukas said. It was as if they’d switched stances on the subject of hurting us.

“Get that other side under control, or I will!” she shouted at him.

Other side? She lifted her arm again, and everything seemed to change into slow motion. Damian made an angry sound close to a growl. Willow gasped, and Carson didn’t see it coming. Sandra shot her glowing hand, which was now free from water, straight into Carson’s chest. I lunged forward, and Damian followed. I came to Carson’s side as the fire she’d shot at him burned through him and made a sizzling hole in his chest. It seemed as if the flames shrank into him and began to flow through his veins, because his whole body lit up, and he jolted around like a fish out of water. Lukas soaked the woman in water, and she made an inhuman sound.

Chaos ensued. Mason and Damian began fighting with the elders in the robes. I cried by Carson’s now-still body. As his eyes began to close slowly while focused on mine, I shouted, “Carson! Stop! Don’t close your eyes!”

His eyelids drooped more until they almost shut. The sizzling of his skin was such a sick sound that I couldn’t take it. Willow was by my side. “Please!” she begged.

He couldn’t stop it; his eyes shut and didn’t reopen. His head flopped to the side, and I stared at Carson in shock as his skin crackled and the light that filled his veins died out. He became pale and unmoving.

He’s not dead. He can’t be. He just passed out from the pain. The pain—that’s all this is, I thought. Willow, beside me, fell to her knees and held her brother, with the hole still hissing in his chest. Damian and Mason were fighting, trying to avoid fireballs, drowning and electrocution. It seemed everything deadly was on the elders’ side. I looked at Carson’s face. He will heal. He will. I stood up.

“I will kill you.” My voice was subtle and quiet, almost a whisper. Everyone grew still and stopped to listen to what the special had to say.

“You will die a death more painful than anyone has had the misfortune of passing through. You will die from the so-called fun you have no problem bestowing on others. You will die!” I jumped at the woman, who now looked terrified. However, it wasn’t my speech that horrified her. My hands felt hot. I looked at them. They were glowing.

Mason stepped forward and said, “Obsidian, don’t do this.”

Damian stood behind me and whispered, “Do it. She deserves to die.” The evil chill in his voice was the reason I didn’t do it. I was not going to let Damian give in to the evil. Plus, who was I to take someone’s life?

I looked down at the power I’d just somehow absorbed from the woman, and I shut it off. My hands were still hot but no longer glowing. I turned toward Damian. “I can’t do it. If I do it, I’m the same kind of monster they are.”

Someone rushing breathlessly into the room interrupted my thoughts.

“We found her,” he said.

It was a man who spoke with a voice I’d heard in my memories. He looked around on the ground at the two dead bodies, Carson and the man of sound with a rock stuck in the back of his head. Willow wept over her brother. Her shoulders rattled as she lay on her brother, holding him to her. Sandra looked down at me, obviously feeling victorious. She stood up straighter and said, “Good. I’m glad this will soon be over and done with.” She grabbed my arm and yanked me forward.

Damian snatched her arm and wrenched it away from me. He stood in between me and whomever he thought was the most dangerous person in the room. Willow did not want to leave her brother, but Mason pulled her to her feet.

“Don’t worry, sweetie. We know what to do with his body,” said the fat man who’d rushed into the room.

Willow glared at him, and then her tongue almost glistened as she spoke to him. “You are a fish.”

The next thing we knew, he was gasping for air, which he already had. Mason squeezed her shoulders. “We don’t need any more deaths today.”

She sighed and said, “You are you.”

The man immediately began breathing regularly but heavily. She tearfully shoved her face into Mason’s shoulder, and he put his arm around her. She cried. I looked at Damian. He looked completely in control, and that worried me. I took his hand. His face was still hard and expressionless; however, he clasped my hand and held it tightly. I had a feeling that holding on to me was keeping him in control.

The woman was pushing and poking me in the back, standing behind me, steering me in different ways. Every time she poked me, I grew more and more irritated. Finally, I’d had enough, and I turned around and said, “You poke me one more time.”

She pulled her hand back, obviously hearing the seriousness in my voice. However, she was cocky and taunted me. “I already know the emptiness of your threats, little girl. You don’t scare me.”

I felt heat inside me; the very power she’d used to kill Carson was flowing through me. Damian, who was still holding my hand, felt it too. He looked over at me. I didn’t look at him. The anger, the heat, was too distracting. Then he pulled my hand and tugged me closer to him. The distraction of his presence was just enough to soothe my new gift. It helped at least to simmer me down. The heat cooled off, and I got it under control—for now anyway.

We turned another corner and entered an extremely dry room. I felt my hair rise a little from the static in the air. Then I saw it: a scene that reflected the picture I had painted on the day I’d broken my arm. Except this scene was a few hours after the picture. The boy on the ground in chains was dead, and Lisa was in a tub of water, folded over the side, not moving. Peridot was in the corner, crying. She looked up and saw me, just as she had in my vision, except this time, everyone else could see her too.

The robed people started toward her, and I ran as fast as I could. In the blink of an eye, I stood blocking her from everyone. My whole body lit up like a star. The heat radiating off my body dried Peridot’s tears. My hands lit on fire, but I didn’t burn; my hair flamed but didn’t singe. I was made of fire.

“If you want her, you’re going to have to go through me!”

My voice echoed. Peridot held on to my leg without getting burned. Surprisingly, her hands cooled my leg, yet they didn’t put out the glow. Damian, from the other side of the room, smiled. Everyone was still. We are going to win. We are going to get out of here with Lisa, Peridot and even Carson. We will figure out a way to wake him up. We will win!

A robed figure stepped forward. Everyone around her gave her space, as if she were important. “Darling, no need to act up,” she said.

A large, tall man with a gut agreed with her and said, “Finally, Alison is here. We can finally get this over with.”

My brain was frazzled, so it was hard to make a connection, but both of their voices seemed familiar.

She continued. “Everyone in here knows you are special. We just need a little something from the both of you, and you can be on your way. You can have Carson’s body back, and we will even give you a car, because the screechers, unfortunately, ate your tires.”

I laughed. As if this woman could do anything to move me from my spot. Nothing she could say would make me willingly move out of the way. Her voice sounded uncannily familiar. I wasn’t going to fall for her tricks. I let a blast out of my hand, aiming straight for the group of robes standing 10 feet in front of me. The woman deflected it with her hand and a flick of her finger.

Her hand had come out of her sleeve; it was slender, thin, clean and young. She did not pull her sleeve back over it to hide it; instead, she lifted it to the hood that concealed her identity. She removed the hood, looking down, keeping her eyelashes low and concealing her eyes. Then she looked up at me, and I gasped. My light turned off. Standing 10 feet in front of me was my mother. Her eyes were black. My dead mother was looking at me straight in the face. I didn’t know how to respond.

The robed figures surrounded us in an instant. Peridot screamed. Damian’s face twisted as he tried to fight the elders who were holding him back. Willow’s tongue was silver again as she told people they were drowning. Mason fought anyone who could repel or block her gift. I just stood there as they prepared to take us and put us through who knew what, staring at the woman who resembled my mother exactly. That was when they got me. My whole world fell apart. They captured us.