Page 52 of In Between Darkness
Chapter Nineteen
First bell rings and disrupts me from my sleep. I sit up in my bed and brush my hair off my face. Flashbacks of Oriah swarm my mind, and reality hits me. I look down at my hands and concentrate on the power within me. I feel the energy coursing through my veins. The tips of my fingers tingle. An orange orb sparks on my left hand. I bring it closer to my face to examine it. It looks just like the light workers. Maybe it is, and Heira is playing tricks on me. No. Gods don’t lie.
The orb flickers and dims, like a lightbulb losing its power. I turn my attention to my other hand. The tingling grows, and I am reminded of that day with Alex in the stairwell. It’s a similar feeling, but how did I have my power before I received my Gifts? My eyes narrow in, but nothing happens.
“Come on,” I whisper to myself, giving in to the power.
I squeeze my eyes shut and think about last night and that image of myself in the mirror with the haunting darkness in my grasp. I feel a sort of release within me, but the need to open my eyes is replaced with hesitation. I carefully open one up and see the black abyss before me. It’s true. I couldn’t believe it before, not entirely, but now it’s hard not to. The ball of darkness is floating in my right hand. I stare into its vortex, and I feel a current racing through it, drawing me in almost like a black hole. I hear a noise next to me and quickly close my palm and hide my hands underneath my duvet.
“So… how was it?” Nala is rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and looking over at me. Remember what Oriah said…‘Pretend Heira visited you. ’
“It was eye-opening,” I say with an exhale.
I look over at her, and her face contorts with confusion.
“I mean eye-opening in a brilliant kind of way!” I say more excitedly, trying to distract her from my previous response.
“Sooooo, who did you meet?” Nala sits up in her bed and beams at me in excitement.
I feel bad having to lie to her, but the last thing I want is for her to be mixed up in all of this.
“I met Heira,” I say whilst uncovering my left hand from under the sheets and igniting a small flame for her to wonder at. The flame doesn’t sit on my hand for long and extinguishes after a few seconds. I watch as her jaw drops, and she leaps out of her bed and races over to me.
“That’s amazing. Told you it would be something badass!” She grabs my wrist and watches the orb reappear.
“Careful, don’t want to blind you on my first day with my Gifts,” I say, pulling my hand away from her, and a laugh escapes our mouths. She flashes me a smile and gets up, gathering her things for a shower.
“You’re up early, aren’t you?” I tease.
“I know. I guess I was just excited to find out about your Gifts.”
She picks up her towel and glances over at me. “You know what else is exciting?” she asks, and confusion is now smothering my face. “Your date with River!” she exclaims, twirling the towel around on her finger.
“Oh, don’t remind me.” I roll my eyes, and a giggle escapes her lips. “The boy who doesn’t give up,” I laugh.
“Asha and River sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-” Nala sings, but before she can finish, I launch a pillow in her direction.She closes the bathroom door in response just before the pillow reaches her and lets out a muffled laugh as it collides with the door. I feel a tingling in my palm again as the black orb returns unprovoked. I close my hand again to compress its dark glow. Keeping this a secret may be harder than it sounds.
I think back to last night -‘Find The Soldark’.That book from the Archives, I need to get it. I knew it seemed important, but I can’t go yet. Someone is sure to see me this early in the morning. I will have to sneak in again later tonight. Hopefully, my date with River won’t go on too long. Maybe I should just call it off, but then he’ll definitely think something’s up. The last thing I need is for people to ask questions.
That settles it. Go on the date and then find The Soldark.
I find it hard to concentrate at first meals. All I can think about is getting my hands on that book. Nala is talking to Charlie opposite me at the large oak table in the dining room. I break up a large slice of sourdough bread and spread a generous dose of butter on the end of it before plopping it in my mouth. I feel eyes burning into the side of my head and turn to look. It’s Alex. Seriously, why can’t he just leave me alone? He approaches our table, and I roll my eyes in his direction.
“I hear you’re a light worker, Calloway?” he says before taking a piece of bread off my plate and waving it in my direction.
“I’m surprised news travels that fast in the healing quarters,” I retort with an unbothered tone, snatching the bread from his clammy hands and placing it back on my plate.
Nala and Charlie let out a light chuckle, which annoys Alex. He places one hand on the table in front of me and stares into my eyes as if trying to intimidate me. Nala makes eyes at me from across the table.
“Why don’t you just fuck off, Alex!” she taunts, and he throws her daggers.
He leans in closer.
“You know, you may have fooled every other fucker in this school, but not me. Something’s not right with you, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”
I feel heat spread to my cheeks. I can tell Alex is going to be an issue. His eyes search mine for a moment before he is cut off unexpectedly. River stands behind him with his hand gripping Alex’s right shoulder.
“Is there a problem here?” River says as he towers over Alex and looks back and forth between me and him. River yanks Alex back so he is now standing facing him. “They told you to fuck off, mate.” River says in a serious tone.
