Colorless

Chapter5

Her brown eyes glowed with mirth, her dark hair shining brightly as she smiled, flashing her perfect set of white teeth, her canines glistening in the sun. She was beautiful. Her perfect caramel skin glowed in the sun, glistening with sweat as she fought against her opponent confidently, her movements fluid and swift. She wore her signature leather pants paired with a white tank top, flaunting her perfectly toned arms.

Amaya Michealson.

We used to be friends when we were younger. We bonded over our dreams of becoming strong warriors. I wanted to be a warrior so I'd be strong enough to rule my kingdom when I got older, while she wanted to be a warrior because she thought it was cool. Everyone I told about my dreams had laughed in my face except her. She and Grayson had taken it upon themselves to train me. We'd pretend to sword fight with sticks we found in the woods, while Grayson would pretend to be our coach. The three of us were inseparable. Everyone thought our friendship was odd, seeing as we were complete opposites. She was tough while I was fragile, she had rapid growth while I was the size of a pea, she was from the lowest ranks in the pack while I was the princess, but we never let that get in the way. Until we turned ten. Ten was the age every pup was allowed to apply for the post of a pack warrior. She had boasted to me of how proud her parents were, of how excited she was to start training, while I sat in my bed with a strained smile on my face. I cried myself to sleep that night.

That was the beginning of the end of our friendship. She'd come twice a week and she'd do nothing but ramble on about how much fun it was, and how many new friends she was making. I tried really hard to hold the bitterness at bay, but I couldn’t. I didn't need a constant reminder of what I was missing out on. It was our dream, and I was glad she was living it, but it also hurt. It's one thing knowing it, but it's another thing to have to be constantly reminded of it. Our lives became a great contrast: while her parents were proud of how strong she was, mine were ashamed of how weak I was. She got to make friends and meet new people, while I was locked up and only allowed a trip to the doctor's office once a month.

When we turned fifteen, it became too much, so I snapped and yelled at her for being insensitive, and she called me a jealous weakling, and it hurt. I had heard the word a thousand times, but it hurt more to hear it come from her. I told her to leave, and she did. She never came back. I hadn't seen her for years, until this morning when I found her standing stoic by my door. She was my newly assigned guard. She and Dimitri were to take turns. Now it was late in the afternoon, and I was standing by my window watching her combat with some other guards.

It hurt to even look at her, but I was a masochist, so I stayed put, watching her fluid movements and how she laughed and cheered with others every time she effortlessly took down an opponent.

"You really are a masochist, aren't you?" I jumped at the sudden intrusion, spinning on my heels to find my brother staring at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Goddess, Grayson, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Not if you give yourself one first," he replied, tilting his head towards the window to let me know he means. I rolled my eyes at him.

"So, we’re going to talk about what happened?" He asked as he propped himself on my bed.

"What do you mean?" I replied, walking to one of the ceiling chairs to rest my aching feet.

“Oh, you know, your magical healing ability." I paused at that. I hadn't thought of that since... well, since today.

“Oh, that. What happened?"

"I don't know, Jas. I left for a minute to use the bathroom and came back to find you still passed out, your wounds healed."

"What if my werewolf genes are surfacing?"

"You healed at a snail's pace for a week, then completely healed in like ten minutes? Even werewolves don't heal that fast."

"Maybe I'm an exception?"

“Jasmine," I sighed.

"I don't know, Gray. Maybe it was..." I paused as a thought suddenly popped up, more like a memory.

"What is it?"

"Something happened."

“Well, obviously, you..."

“No, Grayson. Something happened. There was someone in the room, a female." I got up from my chair and began to pace the room. “She did something, I don't know what... it's hazy, but I remember feeling light, like this buzzing under my skin, like I was floating. It was strange, I..." I paused as I saw my brother accessing me with a funny look.

"I'm serious, Grayson."

"And I don't doubt you, Jasmine. All I'm saying is that you were drugged up. You were most likely hallucinating, which wouldn't be surprising given the co..." he paused and cleared his throat at the reminder of my injuries. "What would a female or a person have done to make you rapidly heal?”

“But I'm so sure," I mumbled. The memory was hazy, but I could remember the shoes clearly. I could almost feel the strange sensation that washed over me, could hear the dull beeping of the heart monitor.

"Then it was most likely the nurse giving you some drugs," he shrugged. That made sense. It was most likely a nurse, that would explain the shoes and the numbness. There was no way someone would have injected something that would suddenly speed up my healing, right? There was no drug like that, and besides, who would believe me?

"You're right," I said, accompanying it with a laugh. How silly.

"What matters is that you're okay. I told our parents it was your werewolf genes. It helps that they hadn't come in to check up on you, so they don't know that the healing was out of the blue."

"Okay. Thanks," he smiled at me and stood up, stretching out his hand.

"Let's go get lunch."

***

“Sorry, flower, duty calls," I rolled my eyes as he got up and playfully bowed before walking away with the guard that was sent to get him. I pushed away my plate and jumped down from the kitchen stool. I didn't even bother waiting for Dimitri, who had been sent away by Grayson so we could have a 'brother and sister alone time,' his words, not mine. I was feeling quite rebellious, maybe because I just survived from an injury that would’ve taken my life, I don’t know the reason but I decided to take the stairs, which was normally off-limit for me.

Big mistake.

I was nowhere near my floor, and I was already panting for breath. I don’t know what floor I was on but I decided to take a break, I wandered through the hallway of this floor, taking in the colourful paintings on the wall. The hallway was familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint why; probably something from my early life. It was completely silent except for the small thud of my fluffy socks padding on the wooden floor, another rebellious act. My father would most likely punish me if he found me wandering the castle without shoes. I was expected to always look my best.

I had never been to this part of the castle, which wasn't surprising, seeing as I only ever stuck to my territory, which was my room, the kitchen, and the greenhouse. I loved plants; they were the only thing I could see life in. The only place in the castle that was off-limit was my parents’ floor, and I couldn't even be bothered with its location. I just knew it was somewhere in this building.

The paintings were similar; they were all colourful. You could almost feel the blissful energy radiating off them. The vibrant colours that were meant to be beautiful actually hurt my eyes badly and made bitterness seep in. If it were up to me, I'd bring them down and burn them. Some people say art is a way to express yourself, to show your emotions without actually saying them. I used to love painting when I was younger, but I stopped a while ago. After I went through my old paintings and found the ones from my early life, which were a great contrast with my most recent ones. Where I now had gloomy, colourless paintings, the old ones were filled with colour and life, reminding me that I was once happy. It had hurt my eyes to look at, so I had locked them up in my studio and thrown the keys somewhere in my closet. Burning them would have been preferable, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had a weird attachment to it.

“Princess," I jumped and turned around so fast that my head began to spin, clutching my clothes to my chest tightly.

"My apologies, princess. I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine, Dimitri. Let’s just leave." He gestured for me to lead the way, and I was surprised he didn't suggest we take the elevator but was glad anyways. I needed this.

When we reached my floor, I paused at the door before turning around to face Dimitri.

"Do you happen to know anyone who lives on that floor?" He looked at me like I was stupid for a moment but quickly covered it up, his face going back to being stoic.

"That was your parents’ floor, princess."

Oh hell.