Destiny Rising

Chapter 17

“I don’t get why it can be working one minute. Then not a minute later.” I complained one night as Michael and I sat on the beach at the base of the cliffs at Pearce Park.

“You’re still learning, you’ll get it eventually.” He said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. Sighing, I leaned my head on his shoulder and stared out at the lake. It had been two weeks since my expulsion, and gossip about it had spread like wildfire. Kiara was somehow managing to play the innocent victim and almost everyone was believing what she had claimed. That I attacked her. Thankfully, not everyone though. Jasmine and that 10th grader, Duvessa, were firmly on my side, and Michael, of course. My mom and dad, as predicted, went thermo-nuclear about it all and were looking into boarding schools for troubled girls. I had to sneak out just to meet Michael, so he could train me in the way of control over my powers. So far, they are a little touch and go with it. Almost all our training sessions ended with us making out though…

“I still think Kiara was behind that fire,” I mumbled. Referring to a fire that had broken out at an old house on Omemee Street and killed a single woman who had lived there. It occurred the week following my expulsion from Aliquid.

“I know, but everything about it points to old and faulty wiring. Plus, nobody was able to sense anything about it from her.” He replied “We still need to tell Jasmine though. The longer she’s unaware of her true destiny, the more danger she is in.”

“I know, I know. But exams are like a week away. I can’t stress her out about all this.” I said defensively.

“Sapphire, you need to tell her, before something else happens.” He explained.

“Fine, I’ll tell her this weekend when we go to White Oaks Mall in London,” I replied, caving like a cheap suitcase.

“Alright. Now are you ready to get back at it?”

“I guess,” I muttered, and pushed myself to my feet. I stood there and tried to do as Michael had instructed. My feet were shoulder width apart, my posture relaxed, and my head cleared. I took a deep breath and raised one hand, palm-side up. Then I focused my mind and eyes on the water. Slowly the water started to grow wavy. As my mind strained to maintain control, a section of the water rose even more until it was about a foot over the surface of the lake. Carefully, I moved my other hand as if beckoning it towards me. I could feel myself begin to sweat from the effort as the water moved towards me. It ever so slowly made its way over the sand and surrounded me. So, I was enclosed in a pillar of water with a hollow center. I tried to keep it up, but it wasn’t long before my knees gave out, and I collapsed on the sand. The water that had been around me, fell innocently to the sand.

“Sapphire! Are you alright?” he gasped and rushed to my side.

“I’m fine, I did it!” I said as I sat up with Michael’s help.

“Are you sure?” He asked with concern in his eyes.

“I’m fine, just a little bit tired. But did you see it? Only took like, a million and one tries, but I did it.” I smiled at him

“Yes, you did. But you need to rest now.” He said and helped me to my feet. “Are you alright to climb the cliff?”

“Okay, how many times do I have to say, “I’m fine” before you get it?” I asked and pushed away from him to walk to the cliff, only to stumble a little over my own feet

“Until I’m 100% positive that you truly are fine.” He replied dryly as he came up beside me and slid an arm around my waist to help keep me upright. We made over to the section of the cliff that is climbable and made our way up. Michael stayed right behind me the whole way up, just to make sure I was fine on the climb. At the top, he walked me over to my car and pecked me lightly on the lips.

“Drive safe and sleep tight.” He murmured against my temple as I hugged him.

“I’ll try,” I replied with a smile before I gave him another quick kiss and ducked into my car. When I pulled onto my street, darkness had fallen, but I kept my headlights off. I parked on the street in the same spot as I had parked earlier when I had returned from the diner. Praying my parents didn’t notice it had moved. I quietly and quickly got out and locked it, before moving around the side of the house to the backyard. Climbing the steps to the deck, I kept in the shadows as much as possible. Avoiding the sliding door, I moved to the railing and used the picnic table bench to climb onto the rail. Holding onto the edge of the roof that stuck out and covered the deck, I walked along the edge until I reached the privacy screen beside the wall. The privacy screen was a pretty solid wooden one my dad had built to conceal part of the deck from the neighbors and the sun. But it had these diamond-shaped cut-outs that were big enough to use as footholds. Using the cut-outs as footholds, I was able to easily climb onto the deck roof. Then I quickly crawled across to my window, which I had left slightly ajar. I pushed it open just enough that I could slide through. Dropping silently to my feet in my room, I eased the window back down and slid off my shoes. Quickly changed into my pajamas, without turning on a single light, and curled up under my blankets.

But instead of falling directly into a deep sleep, I lay awake thinking about how I was going to tell Jasmine about everything. I must have fallen asleep eventually, because the next thing I knew, my mom was trying to wake me up.

“What?” I grumbled and rolled over away from her and covered my head with the blanket.

“It’s after 9 am, get your lazy ass out of bed.” She said and pulled on my blanket.

“Not like I have to go to school,” I mumbled into my pillow.

“Exactly. Which is why you’re going to clean this house from top to bottom today.” She said as she succeeded in yanking my blanket off of me.

“Why me?” I asked as I squinted at the onslaught of the bright sun shining through the window. She must have opened the curtains, as I sat up.

“Because you’re the only one available since you got yourself expelled from Aliquid and no other school will take you with only a week of the school year left.” She replied and dropped my blanket on the floor before stalking towards the open door. “Oh, and one more thing. I expect it all to be done before 3:15 pm.” She said over her shoulder before she slammed the door shut in her wake. Flopping back on my bed, I yanked a pillow over my face and screamed as loud as I could. What the heck was wrong with everyone? I wasn’t this bad seed everyone kept assuming I was. That’s it, I was going to prove to everyone I was the innocent victim here. Tossing the pillow aside, I stared at my ceiling for a couple of moments before getting the energy to get out of bed. I was still lying there when my cell rang. Reaching over to pull it off the dock, I saw it was Jasmine calling.

“Hey, shouldn’t you be in class?” I asked casually.

“Sapphire? Sapphire, what’s going on?” She cried, panic clear in her voice.

Bolting upright on my bed, I clutched my phone to my ear. “Jasmine, where are you? What happened?”

“I…I don’t know.” She sobbed “You got to help me. I think my arm is broken and, oh my god, there is a lot of blood…”

“Jasmine, stay with me here. What happened to you?” I asked, trying to stay calm while freaking out on the inside.

“All I remember was leaving my sunrise yoga class at school…then nothing.”

“Do you see anything that could tell you where you are?”

“No, it’s too dark. But I feel slimy rocks like they have in the caves near my parent’s cottage.”

“Caves are good. You’re in a cave. Now where is this cave?”

“How the hell should I know!” she exclaimed. “I’m just lucky my phone was shoved in my sports bra and not my gym bag because I have no idea where it is.”

“Okay, chill out. I’ll figure something out and find you.”

“Alright, but hurry. Please.” She whimpered. I was about to reply when I heard a shout, followed by a scream. Then the line went silent.

“Jasmine? Jasmine!” I screamed.

“Well, well, well. Isn’t Miss Mundan just the most helpful girl?” A male voice came over the phone.

“What have you done with her?” I asked carefully as I got off my bed and moved around the room, grabbing for the first clothes I touched.

“Oh, she’ll be fine soon. That is, if you give me what I want” he replied darkly as I clutched my clothes tightly to my chest, and I finally recognized his voice.

“My soul, you want my soul. Am I right, Dante?”

“Such a smart girl. What a shame it’s going to be to kill you.”

“Where is she? Let her go, she has nothing to do with this.” I frantically lied, trying to do my hardest to save Jasmine.

“Oh, I beg to differ Miss Tallulah. Port Burwell Provincial Park.” He said then the line went dead.