“This isn’t the first place we’ve tried
making our home, ya know. We had no idea what your world was like.
We dressed different, spoke different, and even the simplest of
things were difficult for us. Our world is very primitive. We don’t
have electricity or any of the conveniences you have here. It
didn’t take long for people to notice how strange we seemed and to
start asking questions. Octavion was searching for other locations
when one of Shandira’s scouts found us. We barely escaped with our
lives.”
Lydia flipped her braid behind her back and
jumped off the bed, getting as far as the door before turning
around to finish her point. “Maybe you should try looking at this
through
my
eyes.” Then she stepped into the hall and out of
Kira’s sight.
Not once had Kira considered what life must
have been like for Lydia or the pain she endured leaving her home
and family. It wasn’t like Kira could sympathize. She didn’t even
have a family anymore. Maybe she was the one being selfish.
“Lydia,” Kira called, but she got no
response. She pushed the covers away, slid off the bed, and walked
down the hall to the living room, where Lydia sat on the couch
lacing her boots.
Lydia didn’t look up before speaking. “I’ll
have Octavion come by later, and you can tell him what parts of all
this you want to forget. He’ll be careful.” She switched to the
other boot and started cinching up the laces.
“You will
not
,” Kira said. “I don’t
want to forget anything. I just want you to tell me the truth, and
promise you’ll never leave me like that without some kind of an
explanation.”
Lydia straightened and looked Kira in the
eye. “I promise to explain what I can, but . . . you have to be
patient. Octavion is my guardian and I have to do what he says.” A
smile slowly crossed her face. “
Most
of the time.”
Kira smiled back and gave into the temptation
to hug her. “Friends?”
“Always,” Lydia said as she stood. She looked
around the room as if just now noticing something wasn’t quite
right. “Your mom redecorating or something?”
“Mom left,” Kira said.
“
Left?
What do you mean left?”
Kira stepped to the couch and plopped down on
the only cushion that wasn’t sporting a hole. She rubbed the sleep
from her swollen eyes before running her fingers through the
tangles in her hair. “I mean . . . her and Paul packed up and
left
. He got a job in California and they were gone when I
got home from school Thursday.” Kira looked up from her tear-filled
eyes to find genuine concern in Lydia’s. “So you weren’t the only
one who abandoned me.”
Lydia slid down to sit beside her and wrapped
her arm around Kira’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you say
something when I first got here? No wonder you’re so upset.”
Kira shrugged out of the hug and leaned back
with an over exaggerated sigh. “She said I was weak.
Weak!
She didn’t even tell me she was leaving, just took off and left me.
What kind of a mom would do that? Why didn’t I see it coming?”
Lydia put her hand on Kira’s shoulder. “It’s
not your fault. She’s supposed to be the adult and take care of
you. To be honest, I think your mom’s a
flake
.”
Kira wiped her tears on the hem of her shirt,
then pinched the bridge of her nose. “Maybe so, but that doesn’t
help the fact that I don’t have a job, Lydia. How am I supposed to
pay rent? Not to mention utilities and food.”
For a long moment, Lydia seemed lost in her
thoughts. “We’ll just have to be creative. You’re already editing
my photos on your computer. I’ll take more photos and maybe we can
check out a few local art shows and see if we can get into
those.”
“I guess,” Kira said. “Or maybe I should get
a real job, like flipping burgers.”
Lydia grew suddenly animated as she stood and
offered Kira her hand. “Talking about food, you hungry? I have a
great way to cheer you up and get your mind off all your
troubles.”
Kira looked at her curiously before taking
her hand and letting her pull her up to stand. “A little. Why? What
do you have in mind?”
Lydia smiled wider, with a bit of mischief
behind the sparkle in her eyes. “Well, before I knew how mad you
were, I’d hoped to kidnap you.”
Kira gave her a wicked glare. “And where,
exactly, were you going to take me?”
Lydia touched a finger to her lips and
whispered. “Shh—it’s a secret.”
“Okay, but I have one condition,” Kira
said.
“Name it,” Lydia agreed.
“If Octavion is there, you have to keep him
on a leash.”
About halfway up the mountain, Kira started
protesting. “You’ve got to be kidding. You are
not
taking me
back up there again. I thought you meant a picnic at the park or
something.”
“That wasn’t your condition,” Lydia
teased.
“I’m not joking. What about those men? What
if your sister finds you?”
“Relax. Octavion has traps set up all over
the place, Toran’s guarding the area and he’s certain the scouts
didn’t report back our location. Besides, it’s a big mountain and
we’ll be clear on the other side, in the canyon.”
Kira folded her arms across her chest and
slumped down in her seat. “I don’t know.”
“Look, it’s gonna be great.” Lydia took her
eyes off the road just long enough to see Kira’s expression. “I
want to show you someplace special. Okay?”
“Okay, but there better not be any trouble
and I’m not drinking anything but water, especially from
Octavion.”
For the next few minutes, neither of them
spoke. Lydia seemed deep in thought, although Kira did catch her
rubbing her ruby a few times, most likely telling her brother they
were on their way. Kira, on the other hand, was busy trying to
ignore the infernal itching. The burn around her wrist had turned a
dark tan and didn’t bother her anymore, but the cut on her palm
drove her crazy. She’d managed to peel off most of the scab over
the past few days, but there was still a tiny section at one end
that just wouldn’t let go.
At some point during her scratching fit,
she’d managed to prick it loose with the edge of her fingernail.
Lydia pulled off the side of the road and rummaged through the
glove box for a spare tissue. It wasn’t even one drop of blood, but
you would have thought Kira had reopened the entire length of the
wound. Kira dabbed at the pin-point droplet and it disappeared.
Lydia sighed. “You have to be more careful,
especially around Octavion.”
Kira wadded the tissue and pressed it firmly
against the scab. “Why do you say that?”
“It’s just that . . . his sense of smell is .
. . well . . . sensitive and sometimes he reacts badly.” Lydia
eased back onto the road. “You just need to be careful, that’s
all.”
Kira remembered his reaction when he cut her
hand. She wasn’t sure of the reason behind it, but with what little
she’d already learned about their lives, she knew she’d have to
adapt to their ways if she wanted to be Lydia’s friend. “I know,”
Kira said. “The night he first made this cut, he acted really
weird—then left.”
Lydia sighed again. “Octavion
left?
He
didn’t tell me that part.”
They’d just pulled onto a graveled parking
area at a trailhead for hikers when she peeled away the tissue and
stuffed it into her pocket. As Lydia retrieved her backpack from
the trunk, Kira examined what was left of the scab and found
herself wishing it would magically go away, like Lydia’s wound had.
The instant the thought popped into her head, she started thinking
about the possibilities. She certainly didn’t want to go through
the pain she’d experienced that night, but then, this was much
smaller, and already mostly healed. She ran her index finger along
the scar, but nothing changed.
Concentrate
, her inner voice
whispered. This time Kira pressed her palms together, tightly
squeezed her interlocked fingers, and tried to see her hand healed.
A tingling sensation radiated between her palms, then stopped. She
peeled her hands apart to find the scar, scab, and itch completely
gone.
Lydia opened the door so she could get out,
but Kira just sat there, staring at her hand.
“It’s . . . gone.” Kira held out her palm for
Lydia to see. “Why didn’t you tell me I could heal myself? This
thing’s been driving me crazy.”
Lydia’s eyes widened. She grabbed Kira’s hand
to get a better look. “Octavion’s gonna
freak
.”
“You mean, you didn’t know?”
“No. He created the Crystor as a divining
tool. He was afraid Shandira would kidnap me and they wouldn’t be
able to find me. We found out about its healing powers right before
we were forced from our home. We really have no idea what it’s
capable of doing.” She pushed the Crystor up Kira’s wrist before
touching her fingertip to the burn. “Can you fix this, too?”
Kira shrugged. “I guess.” She wasn’t sure she
liked the fact that Octavion had no idea what the Crystor could do.
The effects it already had on Kira’s mind and body were positive,
but what if there were negative side-effects? She wrapped her hand
around her wrist and focused on the burn like she’d done with the
cut. This time the sensation was barely noticeable.
Lydia let out a hoot when Kira pulled her
hand away and the burn was gone. “Did it hurt?”
Kira smiled. It felt good to see Lydia back
to her usual self. She’d missed her. “Just a tingle, that’s all.
What else do you think I can do?”
Lydia chuckled. “Patience, Kira. You must
have patience.” Then she became more serious. “You can’t tell
anyone. You know that, right?”
Kira nodded. “I know.”
“I mean it, Kira. If someone saw you do
something like that, we could be in danger.” Lydia paused for a
moment. “We have to act normal or it’ll draw attention to us.
That’s where we went wrong in Montana.”
“I guess.” Kira had to admit it would be
difficult. How could her life ever be “normal” again?
* * * * *
They’d walked for about twenty minutes when
Lydia stopped and leaned her hand against a tree. Kira had followed
behind her the entire time and hadn’t noticed how labored her
breathing had become. Now she could see the difficulty Lydia was
having. “Lydia, are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She wiped little beads of sweat from
her brow. “Man . . . I thought I had all my strength back. Mind if
we take a break?”
“No, not at all.” Kira motioned to a fallen
log that lay a few feet away. “You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” Lydia lowered her backpack to the
ground and sat on the log. “But Altaria’s got some work cut out for
her.” The words had no sooner left her mouth than she looked at
Kira with an apologetic expression. “Sorry, I forgot how you feel
about that.”
“Honestly? I think it’s kinda cool.”
“Really? But Octavion said it scared you. I
was afraid if I changed again, you would get upset.”
“I was afraid because I didn’t know what was
going on. If you’d explained it to me, I might’ve been all right
with it.” Actually, Kira thought the whole idea was bizarre.
She sat down on the log next to Lydia. “How
exactly does it work? I mean . . . if you were to change right now,
would you be a different person or just look different?”
“That’s a good question.” Lydia looked down
at her hands. “I’m not sure how to explain it. We are the same
person. The difference, really, is in our personalities and the way
we look at life. I’m more laid back. I worry about the little
things and less about my appearance. It’s not that I don’t care,
it’s just that Altaria is—a bit vain.” She smiled and shook her
head.
“What?”
“Altaria didn’t like that,” Lydia said.
“You mean you talk to each other?”
“Of course. Don’t you talk to yourself?”
“All the time,” Kira admitted.
“Well, it’s kinda like that.”
“But what about the rest?”
Lydia thought for a moment. “I guess the
biggest thing, except personality, is the physical change. Let’s
say a good-looking guy walks by and you’re slouching. What would
you do?”
Kira straightened, held in her stomach, and
tucked a few wisps of fly-away hair back into the elastic band
holding her ponytail.
“See, it might not have been a huge change,
but you physically look different. You look taller, skinnier, and
well groomed. Even your posture is better.”
“I think I get it, but when you were Altaria,
you looked
totally
different. Even the shape of your face
and the color of your eyes changed. Not to mention the fact that
she hates me.”
Lydia’s head shot up. “She doesn’t hate you.
And as for the changes, we’re just better at manipulating our
features, that’s all. It takes practice, and sometimes it can be
difficult, especially since our gifts aren’t as strong in your
world, but when I need the extra strength, it’s kinda nice.”
“Like now, you mean?”
Lydia sighed. “You’re not suggesting I change
now
, are you?”
“If it will help you make it up this mountain
without collapsing—yeah.”
Lydia turned her attention back to her hands.
For the longest time she said nothing. Then she shrugged again.
“What is it?”
“You have to realize that this is strange for
me, too. Even in our world it’s kept a secret. Besides you, there
are only two people outside our family who’ve seen me change. One
has no memory of it, and the other one is . . . dead.”
“Serena?” Kira guessed.
Lydia’s brow furrowed. “How did you know
that?”
“Octavion told me. Don’t you remember?”
“No, I don’t.” She jumped off the log and
grabbed her pack. “I’m rested now. I think I can make it just fine
like I am.”