Destiny Rising

Chapter 14

I was dreaming. That was the only explanation why I was back at my Grandmother’s house in Wallacetown. Also, the snow was lightly falling while Christmas lights twinkled on the houses. Looking around, I saw my Grandmother standing on the back deck of her house dressed in her usual black and white polka-dotted winter coat. Her short, curly strawberry blonde hair was standing out against the snow. She was smiling and gesturing for me to join her. As I trudged through the snow towards her, I caught my reflection in the window of the dining room. I was dressed in a white knee-length coat that was belted at my waist, over a pair of knee-high black riding boots. My short dark hair hung loose around my face and I had a white crochet hat pulled down over my ears.

“Come on in.” My Grandmother said to me once I reached her. So, before I could even say a word, I was following her into the house. As soon as I walked in, I was hit with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and a sense of being home. I removed my coat and boots in the back room where the washer, dryer, and shoebox/bench were kept. Then, stepping from the back room into the kitchen, I looked around the small house that had always made me feel safe. The house still looked the same as it had always looked. The kitchen was directly in the back room. To the left of the door was the fridge with its wide assortment of quirky magnets she had collected over the years. The counter started beside the fridge and turned the corner, then spanned across the entire east wall of the kitchen. The south wall housed the stove and more cabinets and counters, which joined the counter and bar that divided the cooking area from the dining room, which was set in an open area off the kitchen with a large window facing the west and north. The living room opened off the south side of the kitchen/dining room, where the large space was sparsely furnished with two Chesterfield couches and a recliner that all faced the old TV in the corner. The walls were covered with casual snapshots and professional photos of my entire father’s side of the family throughout the years. The doors leading to the bathroom and stairs were open, while the door leading to my Grandfather’s bedroom was shut. I stood there breathing in the familiar smells of the house that I had long thought I would forget. I joined my grandmother in the dining room where we sat watching the snow drift down from the sky.

“So, your powers are coming out stronger than we thought they would.” She finally said.

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked as I clasped my hands on the table before me.

“No, not at all. It just means that you need to control your emotions better.” She replied.

“My emotions?” I asked, confused.

“Your powers are connected to your emotions.” She explained gently “That is why those things have been happening when you feel anything but calm and collected.”

“Oh, so when the pipes burst, and thunderstorms were because of me…” I asked in amazement.

“Yes. But you need to learn to control it. Michael will help you. Also, you were correct about Kiara and Jasmine. You must move quickly with them though. Kiara is already being swayed by the darkness.” She replied seriously.

“Who is the darkness?” I asked as the dream started to fade around us.

“He knows I’m talking to you. Please, be careful.” She said frantically.

“Who is he!!?” I yelled at the fading image of my grandmother.

“Dante” came a whispered reply just seconds before I sat up in my bed gasping and shaking.

“Dante…” I whispered to myself. It did make a lot of sense, he just appeared out of nowhere and became a business associate of my mom’s and helped my dad expand his diner. His daughter appears and steals Troy and Kiara away from me. Glancing at my clock, it showed 3:49 am, it was way too early to call Michael and tell him what I knew. Sighing, I snuggled back down into my blankets and attempted to fall back asleep. The next thing I knew was that it was 9:06 am, so I knew I had fallen back asleep at some point. As I sat up and pushed my hair out of my eyes, I thought back to the dream with my grandmother. Of the revelations from last night, about Kiara and Jasmine and that they are the other 2 elemental guardians. That Dante Flame is the darkness that wants our powers to destroy everything. This was all so much to take in, that I thought my head might explode. I swung my legs over the side of my bed, but instead of smooth hardwood floors, it was cold water. Looking down, I saw my floor was covered in at least 3 inches of frigid water. Then it hit me, my dream! In my dream with my grandmother, it had been snowing. But now I was starting to think maybe it hadn’t been just a dream. I needed to talk to Michael, but first I had to figure out how to make the water disappear.

“Water.” I said firmly “Go away.”

Nothing happened. But I was always told, that if at first you don’t succeed, try again.

“Come on water, go away. Scram. Shoo!” I said while gesturing wildly with my arms. Finally, I closed my eyes and flopped back on my bed with my arms stretched out to the side. I took a few deep breaths and tried to clear my mind. Then, when I sat back up and looked around, the water was gone.

“This is so going to be harder than it seems,” I muttered to myself as I slowly stood up and headed into the bathroom to shower. After the shower, I scraped my hair back into a little ponytail and dressed in a pair of khaki cargo shorts that hit about mid-thigh and a simple dark blue cotton t-shirt. Then I shoved my feet into black flats, before grabbing my phone from the charger. Shoving my phone and keys into my pockets, I crept over to the door and slowly unlocked it. As gently and quietly as possible, I peered into the hallway. At the end of the hallway, gray light filtered in through the sheer curtains that hung over the window. Thanks to the black-out curtains in my room, I hadn’t known what the weather was like outside. I walked silently down the hall to the window and shoved the curtain aside. Rain was gently falling from the sky like tears, as if someone was weeping. It was almost peaceful and eerie at the same time. Suddenly, the peacefulness of the hallway was shattered when a dark shadow crossed the window and the window exploded. The force sent me flying back, and I hit my shoulder on the hallway table as I fell to the floor. I bit back a scream as the back of my right shoulder connected with the corner of the table and shards of glass tinkled as they fell around me. My heart was pounding so loudly in my chest, that I could barely hear the wind howling across the broken window. I blinked blood out of my eyes as I looked up and instead of seeing the broken window, there was a dark figure standing in front of it.

“Who are you?” I demanded as I scooted back on the hardwood floor and the glass cut into my palms and legs.

“The end.” He replied simply in a deep and menacing voice as he moved his long coat out of the way and removed a crystal sword from its sheath.

“Let me guess, Dante Flame,” I said as one of my flats came off

“Smart girl.” He leered at me. “I’ll enjoy your soul the most.”

“My soul?” I asked, confused. “I thought you were after my powers?”

“Ah, so young, so inexperienced. Your powers are imprinted on your soul.”

“See, you said it yourself. I’m young.” I retorted as he advanced on me with the sword tip pointed right at my chest. He lunged at me and I managed to roll out of the way just before the sword came down, it cut through my left upper arm instead. I screamed in pain and clutched my arm as blood poured through my fingers, running down my arm, and dropped to the floor. He pulled back and was about to skewer me when a force of water flew past me and knocked him into the broken window. Rolling over onto my stomach, I saw Michael running down the hallway towards me with one hand held up, and his palm held towards Dante.

“Sapphire, come on. We have to go now.” Michael told me urgently as he reached my side and helped me to my feet.

“What?” I replied, dazed from blood loss and the pain radiating through my shoulder.

“We need to run now. I can only hold him off a little bit longer.” He said and wrapped an arm around my waist to urge me forward.

“Right, running. Running is good.” I muttered as we stumbled along the hallway and down the stairs. He ushered me out of the house and into the garage.

“Keys.” He simply said, and I managed to get them out of my pocket and handed them to him. Michael unlocked the car and eased me into the passenger seat before running around to the driver’s side. Faintly, I was aware of the wail of the house alarm, the purr of the car, and the grinding of the garage door. Michael pulled the car smoothly out and onto the street and the last thing I saw was something dark flying out of an upstairs window. Then darkness consumed me.