The Unveiling

Chapter Twelve

I slept peacefully, finally gaining some rest, uninterrupted by dreams or messages. By the time I emerged, Chase was already seated at the table, drinking his coffee. In silence he nudged a mug towards me. 

I sank into my chair, allowing the caffeine to kick in and do its work. 

“Had a good night?” he asked, almost too casually. 

“Oswald is an ass,” I replied, I glanced up at him to see a small smile playing at the edge of his lips. 

“You’re not going to get any argument from me,” 

I dipped my head in agreement and finished my coffee. 

Training with Chase had thus far proven to be mostly theory and a lot of exercise, and as we trudged towards the outskirts of the basecamp where an old, forgotten baseball pitch sat, I was not the least bit excited. 

“When did you start your training?” I asked, kicking a stone out of my path. 

“When I was four,” he answered gravely. “In my realm it is customary to begin training as soon as even a hint of your power shows itself.” 

I paused momentarily, “What’s the usual age for someone’s powers to emerge?” 

He grimaced at my question. “Picked up on that did you?” he trudged forward. 

I allowed the silence to settle and simply waited for him to talk. 

“For most it’s around puberty,” he responded solemnly, as if that statement alone spoke of suffering, and not acceptance. 

“Does it hurt?” I asked, frowning. 

“Does what hurt?” 

“When your powers emerge - does it hurt?” 

He looked at me for a moment before saying, “You’re the first person to ask me that.” 

“And you’re still not answering,” I countered. 

He stopped walking for a moment and sighed, turning fully to me. 

“It depends on how strong your powers are. For most it’s mildly uncomfortable.” 

I peered up at him, “and for you?” 

“They knocked me out for two weeks to give my body time to adjust.” 

I stared at him for a while, and found understanding staring back at me. Imagine being four years old when your powers emerge, only they were so bloody powerful that they knocked you out to allow you some peace. How differently was he treated? How lonely had his life been. 

I gripped his hand in mine and simply continued walking, “Don’t you dare think about knocking me out,” I warned. 

He laughed, the mood lighter, “I wouldn’t dream of it Reya.” 

He made me sit in the middle of the baseball field in a meditative state. I fidgeted, allowing the different elements to engulf me. The icy breeze reminded me that winter was indeed on its way, while the warmth of the sun baked upon me, welcoming me in comfort. 

“What am I supposed to be doing again?” I asked with my eyes closed. 

“Connecting with your power,” he huffed. 

“We don’t even know what kind of shifter I am.” 

“That’s a matter for the next lesson, for now connect with your lightning.” 

I could hear the scuff of his boot as he paced on the field. 

I closed my eyes and willed a connection. Soon enough I was freefalling within myself. The darkness engulfing me in my own presence, like a welcoming home of sorts. I  stopped for a moment, some light calling me and as I navigated towards that doorway and opened my eyes I stood, overlooking a suburb - it could have been my realm, except for the sky - it was completely pink. 

As I watched the comings and goings of the town a short, dark haired woman stood next to me. “You need to get going,” she said, without removing her eyes from the scene before her. I nodded my head and slipped back, free-falling within myself once more. 

In the dark distance of my mind, I watched the silver ribbon dance and weave, as if begging me to come and join. Something within me freed, I dived right after it. We rolled and tumbled after one another - a game of tag. And when I finally slid my fingers through that silver thread, warmth engulfed me in a way that said ‘yes, this is who I am. This is who I have always been.’ 

It was a joyous homecoming, and I started to understand that this thing and I weren’t separate at all. I was simply living a half life by keeping it separate. I welcomed the silver thread into my veins, and when we pulsed, we pulsed as one. Tingles ran through my body as I adjusted to the thread settling in. It danced beneath my skin, reminding me that I was indeed something other, something more. In that moment I understood that I was everything and nothing, I could be a small light in the darkness, or I could shine so blindingly bright it could hurt. I stood on the knife’s edge, understanding that it wasn’t simply about balance and control, it was also very much a choice. We were two pieces of the same part, and the rejoining, and acknowledgement of self left me feeling settled, and calmer within myself. There was no longer a war raging within, refusing to acknowledge that this was actually who I was - who I had always been. And that silver thread rejoiced in no longer being ignored, in no longer being shoved down and muffled. The dance was no longer two bodies moving in sync, it was one beam of light that danced and leaped and twirled. 

I allowed myself to bask in this feeling - not of power. but of acceptance - self-acceptance. 

“Knock 

Knock”

The voice spoke. 

An intrusion within my mind. 

The warmth rippled as I tried to ignore it. 

“Knock 

Knock”

He spoke once more, making his presence known. 

I wrapped that warmth around me, comforted by its light. 

‘GO AWAY,’ I shouted within my mind. 

He chuckled, it was a dark, sensual thing. 

‘Your antics amuse me,’ he spoke carefully. 

‘YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE,’ I yelled with a force so great, my mind shook. 

The image of talons appeared as he lodged himself solidly within my mind. 

He appeared once more behind bars, within his cage , only this time his cage was floating, as if he were encaged by the universe itself. 

The silver warmth pulsed through my veins, comforting me as I stepped towards him. Standing in front of the bars I spoke softly, my anger evident. 

“GET THE f**k OUT MY MIND.” 

He leaned back, his tailored suit crinkling, his face suddenly shimmering in and out of focus. 

And for a moment, I thought I had done it, I had banished him from my mental sanctuary. 

It flickered in and out a few more times before solidifying into the face of a crow. He snapped his beak in response before speaking, “Your kind is always so predictable,” he mocked, “as if foul language will make a difference in me simply being here.”  

“I HAVE NO INTEREST IN TALKING TO YOU - LEAVE!” I shouted once more, stomping my feet in anger. It was as if I were a toddler demanding something that was an impossible feat.

“Wish that I could darling Reya,” he continued, not the slightest bit affected by my outburst, “but you will be the one to free me, so it will be here that I remain.” 

“f**k OFF!”

“Free me. Free me. Free me.” He spoke in the sing-song voice of a child, my warmth turning to ice.  

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” I screamed. 

The beady eyes of the crow simply blinked at me. 

“Fine,” I huffed, drawing all the parts of my being towards myself. Once I felt whole and steady - that silver thread still present and within me, I decided to draw back up to the surface to where Chase was. 

The walls of my mind solidified before me. I watched in horror as large cracks formed within the walls, as if they were deteriorating boulders of the past. I was trapped within the walls of my mind. I clenched my fists and beat against the wall in frustration. Did I trap myself here? Wasn’t my mind mine to control? 

“That won’t work,” he chuckled deeply. 

What if I had simply imagined him? What if he was figment of my imagination - I mean, I was currently talking to a bird. 

I sat cross legged in front of him, his cage now floating an inch or two from the ground. I needed to think - but could I trust my own mind? 

After a while I looked up at him and asked, “Why are you in a cage?” 

He snapped his beak and croaked as a reply. 

Great, the trickster could make all the demands he wanted, but when I asked him a question he reverted to the animal or being he was embodying. 

I sighed. “Did you live in my world?” 

“For a time,” he answered. 

My head shot up in surprise that he actually answered. 

He watched me, his beak opening to speak and I held my breath for what he had to say. 

“Free me.” 

I sighed once more. “I don’t even know how to free you,” I admitted. Perhaps I was simply speaking to myself. Perhaps this creature was some deep entrenched version of myself that I had locked up and caged. 

His eyes glowed at my reply and he stood up in his cage to his full height, raven wings unfolding behind me. 

“I can teach you,” he spoke seductively. He was so much bigger than I had thought, In fact he seemed to be growing taller as he spoke. 

My heart beat faster in panic, and I knew that this being was no part of me. I hadn’t fathomed him, he wasn’t a figment of my imagination, and even if he was simply in my minds’ eye, he was very very real. 

My breathing quickened as terror encompassed me, the silver thread burning through my veins. I embraced that heat. I embraced the burning ember that should have hurt. I drew it towards me, allowing it to churn with my anxiety and unrest, growing hotter and hotter within. 

And when it was too much. When I could no longer stand the growing heat within, I released it in a wave of blue and silver electric light. Wave after wave rolled through me. 

The light propelled the cage backwards and away. The light met the walls of my mind, softening them, allowing them to open up for me. And suddenly I was swimming up towards the surface. Up towards the fresh air. Up and away from this creature. I swam and swam, passing the hidden doorway that led towards pink skies and happy people. Up towards my body, sitting rigid in the autumn breeze. Up towards that watery sunlight, peeking through the clouds. Up towards this realm. 

I came up too fast, too quickly. And when I opened my eyes, and my hands unclenched from their position, bright blue streaks of light emerged from me, shooting in almost every direction, burning everything in its path. 

“s**t,” I heard Chase swear as he dodged out the way. 

I was so hot, and as I lay under the autumn air, convulsing as wave after wave of blue and silver sparks emerged from me, the well never-ending. 

I opened my eyes to Chase leaning next to me, he seemed to have created a protective barrier encasing him, protecting him from my lightning. 

“Reya,” he spoke with urgency in his voice. 

I turned my head, groaning at the onslaught of power flowing through me. 

“Reya, I need you to draw your power back into yourself, can you do that?” 

I shook my head, unable to talk as heat scorched the back of my throat. 

“I need you to try,” he insisted. 

I shut my eyes, the roaring of lighting flowing through me pounding within my ears, and searched for the thread. I looked within myself, deep into the well of power, and eventually found the end, as if it were indeed a ribbon that was simply set free, blowing in the wind, with one end anchored down. 

I pulled on that ribbon, reeling it in. It resisted, enjoying the open air. Too long had it been denied. And yet still, I pulled. I tugged, pulled and coerced, until finally, bit by it, the power wound its way back within me, simmering beneath my veins. 

“Good girl,” Chase spoke gently, his hands stroking my hair, no longer encased in his protective shield. My eyes drifted shut, as exhaustion overcame me, the autumn sky blinking once - twice - out of sight. I welcomed the soothing darkness and fell into a deep sleep, undisturbed by any forces.