Rising From The Ashes of Her Past

Phoenix?

The first thing I notice when my eyes open is that the lights have come back on. The second thing I notice is that I am completely naked. Horror strikes as I realize Raymond must have won and finally gotten my clothes off of me. I am laying in the middle of my bedroom floor, I don’t remember having been here at all. I try to stand, but it feels as if my legs are made of gelatin, so I have to use my bed to pull me up. When I manage to stand I give my body a once over, my entire body is covered in blood. A scream forms in my throat, and the door to my room swings open.

The person who enters is the last person I would have ever expected to be standing in my home. Jackson Solis. His jet black hair is disheveled, and for some reason he isn’t wearing a shirt. His stomach is surprisingly toned, and his amber eyes lock on me.

“I am surprised you are awake this soon. Grab yourself some clothes and come out when you are ready.” His voice is smooth like velvet, but I am suddenly so aware of how naked I am in front of this stranger.

He closes the door without sparing me a second glance, and I rush to the closet in my room to find something to wear. I opt for a black t-shirt and some plain black leggings, they will probably be the easiest thing I own to wash the blood out. I rush to the door and throw it open.

The scene in front of me is so strange I almost laugh. Raymond lays his eyes wide and lifeless, his stomach has been torn open by some sort of knife, or maybe multiple knives. I don’t know who killed him, but I do know that I owe that person my life. Next to Raymond is a pile of shredded fabric, and my shoes. This is indeed a strange site to behold. I cautiously make my way into the living room, the blood is everywhere that I remember it being, but near the couch is my mothers body. Someone has covered her with a sheet, but it doesn’t cover her feet and I would recognize those worn down shoes anywhere. My stomach turns into a knot. I scan the room and my eyes land on Jackson. He is sitting in my fathers favorite armchair with an unreadable look on his face.

“Tell me everything that happened.” Jackson says, his voice is startlingly calm for the scene he is seeing. “Everything.”

“I..I don’t know, I don’t know what happened.. Where do you want me to start?” My voice is hoarse, and my throat feels tight.

“Tell me everything that has happened since I saw you leave the school this afternoon” Jackson says. I am surprised that he would have even noticed me leaving school..

“I went directly to my shift at Helen’s. I have worked there for 5 years now.. My shift started at 4, but I got there a few minutes early..” I am straining to remember this afternoon's events. “It was a slow night, pretty boring if I am being honest.”

“What time did you leave?” Jackson’s voice is hard, bitter maybe.

“I got off at 9:30. I walked home, uh I. I started to walk home, and about a block later I thought I heard someone behind me, so I ran. I ran all the way home.”

“And then?” Jackson says, sounding impatient.

“And then, when I got home.. I realized that the lights were all off. Something felt wrong..something kept telling me that I should run. I should leave. But I came inside anyway.” The words are tumbling out now, like vomit, “When I came inside I slipped in something wet.. Something sticky. It smelled so bad. So bad. I made my way to the closet for a candle and when it lit he was behind me. Raymond was behind me. I knew he was going to kill me, but I couldn’t make myself fight him.”

“Please go on..” Jackson says, his voice softening this time. “Please tell me what happened next.”

“When I saw all the blood.. I knew my mom was dead, I knew I was alone, and I couldn’t fight. Raymond grabbed my throat. I.. I couldn’t speak. He told me he shut my sister up, and now he was going to shut me up.” My voice comes out more hollow than I intend it to. “And then something happened to me. Him saying he killed my sister broke something. My body started to tingle.. I wasn’t in control anymore, my limbs were tingling and acting on their own.”

Jackson was silent, waiting for me to continue, but I wasn’t sure what more to tell. “I was flailing around, when my kicks hit him he didn’t move, he was so strong. It felt like my whole body lit on fire, and then. And then he screamed, and let me go. I don’t even remember hitting the floor.. Or how he got my clothes off.. I don’t know what he did to me.”

“Raymond didn’t take your clothes off. They ripped when you transformed.” Jackson says. I raise my eyebrow, confused. “When you transformed into your beast, your beast killed Raymond.”

A laugh leaves my lips, “Are you trying to say I somehow killed the man who has beaten me everyday for a year?”

“No. And yes. Do you ever feel like there is a voice inside of your head?” Jackson asks me, c*****g his head expectantly. “Or a presence in the back of your mind giving you warning?”

“Doesn’t everyone??” My voice has almost raised to a shout at this point. “In school they say most people do? And that if we do, we should encourage and listen??”

“No, not everyone does, a lot of people who live in Furn Lake have these things, but not everyone.” Jackson says, “Especially not twins that lose half of themselves at birth”

The words he says feels like he is slapping me in the face. Not only am I some sort of freak, I am even more of a freak because my brother is dead.

“We weren’t certain you would ever have a beast counterpart. We were actually a little bit certain of the opposite.” Jackson says, he has a far off look on his face. “Is.. Is she there now? Can she tell me what kind of beast she is?”

This is by far the most bizarre thing I have ever heard, and I think maybe he is pulling my leg? “Who do you mean?”

‘He means me’, a soft voice says from the back of my mind. My eyebrows shoot up in surprise, I don’t even know how to communicate with this being in my head, and here it is talking to me! ‘I hear every thought you have, you do not need to try, I am just aware’. The voice is more clear now, closer to the surface. ‘You can tell him.. Tell him I am Agni, and I am a phoenix’, the voice is more clear now, and sounds extremely strong.

“She.. she says? Her name is Agni.. and she is a phoenix?” The words tumble out, but they sound more like a question.

“That would explain how she was able to surface before your 20th birthday” Jackson says, stroking his chin, he seems lost in thought.

“I mean no disrespect, but what the f**k are you talking about?” I ask bluntly. Jackson looks up at me seeming to remember I am here and confused for the first time in many moments.

“Yes, you must be so confused. Why don’t you take a shower, then you can come home with me, my wife and I will explain everything to you there.” Jackson says. He doesn’t move, but looks at me like he is expecting something from me.

Agni in my head urges me forward, telling me that I need to listen to this deranged man, but I suppose I am the one talking to an invisible thing inside of my head, so maybe I should listen. I quickly grab the first thing my hands touch from my closet then rush to get into the shower. It takes several minutes before the water runs clear around me, but once it does I scrub until my skin is raw. I notice the bruises on my arms and legs seem to have healed miraculously fast. Agni is quick to take credit for healing the wounds, and tells me that the next time she takes over I will shed all of the scars from my body. I am skeptical of this because I don’t think she will ever take over again. Agni laughs at this, but in a more serious tone tells me that I need to stay with Jackson because she will be leaving again, at least until my birthday, but it could take longer because she came too early.

I finish my shower and quickly throw my clothes on before returning to the living room where Jackson sits unmoved in my fathers arm chair. He lifts his nose in the arm and looks at me quizzically before saying “Your beast has left you hasn’t she?”

“Wha.. how do you?? Why do you think that?” I stammer trying to pick the right words out.

“You smell different now.. Not just clean, but you smell of innocence again.. She will return when the time is right I assume?” Jackson questions.

“She said she would return as soon as you could, but it wouldn’t be until at least my 20th birthday..” I finally answered his question.

“Well, let’s go, it is a long walk back to my home without the ability to shift.” Jackson says, before hoisting himself up and towards the door.

I follow behind numbly as Jackson leads the way, but my mind starts to wander about fifteen minutes into the walk. My mother is dead, and so is my sister. The thought brings tears to my eyes as I try to process the information at hand. Jackson is kind enough to pretend he doesn’t hear the sniffles. My mother being dead is something that hurts a part of me that had hoped I could one day reconcile with her, but my sister being dead is something that shatters me to the center of my being. My sister was only twenty. My sister held my hand while I sobbed for the death of my father. My sister had stopped all the girls at school from hitting me for years. A sob racks my body, and my vision blurs. I am unable to even see where I am going, just following by the sound of Jackson’s feet hitting the ground.

We arrived in an area of town I have not been many times, the houses are huge and further apart than they are in other parts of town, we have been walking for about forty minutes at this point, and I know we have to be getting close to the destination. I swallow back the sobs forming in my throat, and look up, forcing the tears to stop. I catch the last tear on the back of my hand and wipe it away. I promise myself this will be the last tear I shed for this situation because I am now alone in the world, and I can’t afford to show anyone how weak I am.

We are greeted by a woman at the door who is supermodel beautiful, she has honey blonde hair, and warm brown eyes. I feel that she is familiar, but I know I have never seen this woman before in my life. She has tears in her eyes as she looks at me, and I fight back the urge to let my start to spill again. I walk up the front porch steps, and unexpectedly the woman wraps me in a soft hug.

“Oh honey, Jackson told me everything that happened and I just want to say I am so sorry for you” The woman says, still holding onto me tightly. “I am Rachel, Jackson’s destiny”

“I..I am Maye” I stammer out. What is with the people of this town calling their husbands their destiny?

“Come on inside, let us explain everything to you.” Rachel says, finally releasing me from her hug.

Walking into the home I am blasted with warmth, I hadn’t realized how cold it had been outside until the moment I stepped over the threshold into the warm air.The house is immaculately clean, white on every surface of the home, everything around is very modern and minimalist. I scan the area nervously, I don’t know how I am supposed to sit anywhere here without dirtying the surfaces. Seemingly oblivious to this Rachel leads us into another immaculate room, and pats a seat on the perfect white couch next to her. I hesitantly take a seat next to her, feeling some comfort in being so close to her.

“Honey this will go a lot better for everyone if you listen to what we have to say and save your questions for the end.” Rachel’s voice is soft, but holds a tone of urgency. I nod instead of responding to show my resolve.

“This is a story that has been weaved through generations, no one knows what is real and what is a folk tale, but it is all we know about where we come from.” Jackson takes the lead. “Nothing you know about your life is what you think.”

“Upon the creation of man, Elohim, Goddess of creation looked down on her creations and let out a sigh, something seemed to be missing from their lives.” Rachel started, “Her sister Mani looked over her shoulder and said ‘I know just what they need’, and created humans that were bound to the souls of Artemis’ creations. Human souls bound to animals, whose bodies were influenced by the pull of the moon”

“Elohim loved the idea of binding souls so much that she brought forward the idea to Aphrodite, Elohim asked for each of Mani’s strange creations to be bound to another soul apart from the two that shared a body. One true love some would call, true mates others would call, but most commonly we refer to that other soul as our destiny.” Jackson continues, his voice surprisingly tender. “The first pair of souls were bound to the spirit of the wolf, they were surprisingly successful, so Mani felt confident in moving forward with the creation of more. Mani did not care what animal the person was bound to, but it seemed that wolves, bears, and eagles were the most compatible between.”

“Thus the creation of shifters, after a few generations Mani realized that just because the person was bound to the spirit of a certain animal did not mean that Aphrodites weavings made sure they were pair with one of the same species, so some of these shifters bore mixed souls, and others did not bear shifters at all.” Rachel said, placing her hand on my back, in a soothing gesture. “Elohim worried for the safety of her precious humans because of the unpredictability of the shifters of the moon, so the goddess decided amongst themselves to divide areas into different territories and packs.”

“So shifters were moved into a region where they began to split into small cities, and towns amongst themselves, the strongest families elected to preside over the areas.” Jackson pauses, my head is reeling at this point. “We are located in the Furn Lake pack, I am the leader or what some people would call the alpha of this pack.”

“Your father was the second in command in this area, he died protecting this land, and you from shifters who are no longer in touch with their human side.” Rachel proclaimed, proudly. “Your father was an eagle shifter, he was amazing, he found his destiny in a wolf shifter that was rumored to have had extra abilities to control flames, which is how you ended up a phoenix shifter.”

“We have all kept a close eye on you over the years, your brother Kai passing away during your birth was a traumatic event, when twins are born to shifters they share a soul, they have connections no one can speak for, and they usually even share a destined partner.” Jackson says, measuring my reaction. “So we were not sure your shifter soul would survive the passing of its literal other half. No one was sure you would end up with shifting ability at all.”

“When shifters reach the age of 20 they are officially considered fully matured, this is the age when shifters can start to feel their beast within who usually explains all of this to them. At 20 you are able to find your destined pairing, and control the beast within you” Rachel says, my head is reeling with all the new information I have obtained.

I give myself a few moments to process everything that has been said to me. My head is reeling, and I wish Agni were present in my head to confirm or deny these things to me. I was soul bound to an animal, and also soul bound to some random person I don’t know. In eight short months I will be able to shift at will into something completely different than my current being. I open and close my mouth multiple times, trying to process the questions swirling around in my head, but nothing comes to the surface. I open my mouth to ask how this was all possible, when I hear three heavy sets of footsteps coming down the stairs. How could I have forgotten that they lived here too??