Crystal Skies

CHAPTER 1 In a blink of an eye, everybody started fading out.  Trees started to sprung from the ground beneath. I blinked once. Twice. In front of me were wild dark green leaves four feet higher than me. A little lake stretched out and purple toxic flowers began growing nasty sharp teeth.  The flower touched my skin. Its soft silky petals felt soft against my skin, like a normal flower from a magical garden. I brought my hand to caress the petal with my palm and the devil-looking flower purred and snuggled closer.   A tall lad stood before me, his hair blond and his eyes gray and pale. It looked merciless, emotionless – so be it, lifeless. I didn’t have any clue what his ability was, how strong he was and how capable he was of controlling his own specialty. Despite the little fire within me that told me to stay strong and win, I feared him. It was as if I was preparing myself to lose.  “Nathan and Cassandra stand before you today,” Violet declared, her voice booming inside the arena. “On the screen, you will see what the both of them are seeing.” There was no sign of purple wavy hair that hung loosely just on her shoulders, tantalizing purple eyes that glowed in the dark, purple lashes, purple lips. Violet had already made this illusion for Nathan and I to fight.  “Do everything to survive and succeed this challenge!” was the last thing I heard before the flower tried to eat my skin. I huffed, taking two steps back, and ran to find the totem of this quest: the jade necklace.   With all my strength and speed, I ran and ran. Vines as huge as my thighs tried to snake my legs and pull me down. My foot was stuck.  Nathan froze the lake. Ice – that was his ability. I flew and tried to pull out my foot from the vines and sped up to get the prize.  As I neared the alter, a big icy rock hit my back. Nathan was already behind me, struggling as vines attacked his feet. I groaned in. I flew again, not minding the ache.   My fingers brushed the prize before my feet went cold and pulled me down. I shouted in pain as I felt my blood froze inside. My whole body was still thrown away until I landed on mid-air. In a soft muscle-like figure. Everybody started to fade back in my sight.  Nathan had caught the prize. Nathan won. There was an arm holding me in place when I looked at my waist. I jumped and tried to fix myself. I was close in tumbling again but the same arms reached out for me to let me balance my figure. I turned away from the guy who caught me and looked for Kyah in the crowd. Her eyes were wide and all the other girls were scowling at me.  Violet walked towards us in fury. I was ready to apologize for showing how weak I was. But unlike the other girls and their sharp looks aimed at me, she was looking directly at the person who caught me.                                                                                              ❅  “I can’t believe he caught you,” Kyah spoke slowly as we entered the cafeteria for our supper. I got my tray and fell in line with the other students. Kyah stood in front of me, copying my actions. “Some say he ended the activity.”  So, Nathan didn’t win?  “That must have been why Violet was so pissed.”  “They say you’re lucky for that,” Kyah said. A pang of anger rushed through me. I wasn’t lucky, I was embarrassed. I couldn’t move, couldn’t fly. I couldn’t do anything. “So many girls were jealous of you.” Envying me for being such an embarrassment was something that didn’t make sense. “You know, you should have thanked him,” Kyah said, taking a bite of her burger. The cafeteria doors opened.  There he was, walking in with both of his hands inside his pockets. His dark jet-black hair was spiked up, its tips flaming. Fire. It was evident that he could put everything on fire if he wanted to.   “Don’t drool, sunshine,” Kyah teased.                                                                                           ❅ They say the sun sets before dark takes over and stars appear themselves to remind us the light in every dark corner. They say that the stars, along with the moon, would shine in the dark with its tiny gold lights as a symbol of us hope in times of darkness.  I opened the window to see the beauty of the stars shining in the sky. They twinkled their golden selves sending me comfort and calmness. It was always been a dream for me to be part of the stars. For someone to see me as hope.  The stars were the reason I learned I could fly. It was the reason I knew I was different. Good different.  Even the faint tic-tocs of the clock, I knew I couldn’t sleep.  I jumped out the window and flew to the school garden. Near an ancient enormous Old Oak tree, I landed. The scent of flowers was marvelous, blended all together. I took a deep breath and lied down, putting my hand on my chest where I felt my heart beat. I reached out my hand to feel the air, swaying my fingers as if I was close to catching one of them. “So close,” I whispered to myself before a smile spread across my face. “Darling, you’re so close yet so far away.”  Suddenly, a shooting star passed making me gasp and sit up tight. I closed my eyes as hopeful thoughts clouded my mind.  “You’re wasting your time,” a husky voice said. The oak’s branches stretched so far; the light post wasn’t able to illuminate the rest. The voice was husky yet smooth at the same time.   I was looking all around, in every branch of the tree but saw nothing. I didn’t see pass the shadows. Maybe he was just a fragment of my imagination, a voice inside my head. Deep inside me knew it was real. But I let it go. I lied down on the ground again with my hands rested on my chest when I hoped and wished and dreamed.