Rising From The Ashes of Her Past

Trace

I stand from my seat, unable to keep sitting with the new information swirling around in my head. Eight full days of my life lost to sleep. Burning flames surrounded me, keeping me sheltered from the outside world for eight whole days. My heart is racing, my legs start moving, pacing back and forth. I chew my bottom lip until blood fills my mouth. Nobody says anything, I can feel them shifting uncomfortably in their chairs. There is something more, I can tell. There is a nagging feeling in my mind, I turn abruptly, locking eyes with Terrance. I push with all of my mind, urging him to tell me, to keep going. He shakes his head lightly, seemingly to clear his head.

"There is something more." He finally speaks, Rachel makes a face. Something tells me she doesn't want me to know.

"Nothing you need to worry yourself with." Rachel says in a clipped tone. I don't look at her, I keep my gaze on Terrance, he will tell me.

"Strange things have been happening the last few days." Terrance says, squirming under my gaze, "things that I can't sense or understand"

Strange is not a word I expected him to use. Strange could mean any variety of things. I don't know a lot about the stretch of his abilities, but Terrance seems troubled by his lack of being helpful so it doesn't settle well with me. I look at each person in the room, they all have the same concerns etched in their faces, but the triplets won't look at me. I know they think what is going on is my fault. Perhaps they are right.

"What kinds of things?" I finally ask.

"Strange symbols appearing burned into the ground.." Rachel says softly, something tells me she is leaving things out. I focus on Terrance again.

"A couple of bird shifters have disappeared." He answers the question I am asking over and over in my mind. "Only one was found. Burned to death."

"This is my fault!" I shout, making Rachel jump. "Oh my god you have to let me leave!!"

"No!" Four deep voices chime out in sync. I am surprised that the triplets even care when they have accusations burning in their eyes.

"You can't leave. Something here is protecting you." Terrance says simply. "Someone had placed a blessing over you. Leaving is unpredictable, I don't know that it would even last through leaving."

I don't care. I don't care at all. I can't let people die for me! I can't let shifters who have done nothing wrong die. I don't know why these things are happening to me, but I do know I will not drag anyone else into this.

"Where is Jackson? He would agree with me." I demand, turning to Rachel. "You can't make me stay if I am causing this."

"Jackson is out patrolling, he agrees with me wholeheartedly." Rachel says, her voice soft and even, raw with emotion.

"We have utilized all of my strength and I have extended a protection over all the remaining bird shifters in town." Terrance says. I relax a little because I do trust Terrance, but something still feels off. Some elements of this are unpredictable. I am going to leave whether they like it or not.

After the tense conversation, my head still feels like it is swimming. The doctors and Rachel want to keep me in the hospital for one more night. I will be allowed to leave tomorrow morning for school if the night goes well. I am going to keep my head down and pretend to submit to their wanting me to stay for the next couple of weeks. Keep up appearances long enough that someone's guard slips up. I smile and allow the nurse to attach wires and monitors to my skin. I pray to my creator for strength to get through this night with no slip ups so I can resume the false normalcy tomorrow.

I sleep with nothing on my body aside from the plain white sheet in case my body decides to combust an entire room again. But it won't. I won't do anything to keep me here longer than I need to be, eight days is enough for me. I hover along the edges of sleep for the bulk of the night, any shift, any beep enough to wake me up and put me on edge. I toss and turn all night, apparently my body feels eight days was enough as well.

When the nurse pushes through the door the next morning I am already sitting waiting for her. We don't make much small talk, but I shovel down the entire breakfast she brings for me. I am allowed a shower, and when I am finally dressed I feel completely refreshed. I am wearing clothes that Rachel dropped off for me, the tight fitting clothes show off parts of my body I had been too afraid to show for years. I look myself over and pride swells within me. I am not half bad looking with my fresh beautiful skin. My hair seems to shine brighter. The waves have reached my mid-back and I let it fall loose today. I feel good, great even. Confidence is not something I thought I had until the moment I smudge some makeup around my eyes and I realize I look hauntingly beautiful.

I leave in a hurry, I had gotten so distracted by my own vanity that I was going to be late and make my ride late as well. I walk into the parking lot and scan for any sign of familiarity, panic sets in when I come up empty handed, but a small gray car pulls into the parking lot, I see the familiar shape of Terrance. He pulls to a smooth stop right in front of me.

I open the car door and scramble in, Terrance has deep circles under his eyes and offers only a grunt to me as a greeting. I smile at him brightly, but I don't think he has even spared me a glance. When my seatbelt buckles the car lurches forward.

"Thanks for the ride." I say, flashing a megawatt smile at him. He looks up at me finally, his eyes widen in shock and the car swerves slightly before he looks away from straightening the wheel again.

"Those are the clothes Rachel brought for you?" He asks me incredulously.

"Yes!" I chirp, he steals another glance at me, but doesn't say anything more.

The car ride is quiet, unspoken tension hanging above me. Terrance glances at me occasionally, but never speaks. When I catch his eyes on me I offer him a smile. The vanity I had felt this morning swelled in my chest, spreading a warm confidence through my body. I wonder if Terrance thinks I am attractive? No one has ever found me attractive before. Terrance snorts and I realize I may have just let my thoughts roam too loud. The car stops outside of the school and I quickly make my way out of the car. I am embarrassed now so I don't even offer a goodbye, but I hear the window open slightly.

"Even if I were dead I would find you attractive." Terrance says through the crack before pulling away quickly. My cheeks burn pink.

A small smile creeps onto my face as I turn to walk into the building. I know my route so I keep my head held high making my way down the halls. For the most part people ignore me as they always have, a few people throw strange glances my way, but overall everything seems normal. And normal means I can't escape certain somebodies. I feel her grip on my hair and I know immediately who it is.

Holly yanks me backwards by the nape of my neck and a small groan leaves my lips. Holly lets go of my hair and grabs ahold of my upper arm.

"You look like someone needs to remind you how unwanted you are here." Holly sneers, white hot anger boils up within me.

Holly screams and rips her hand away from my arm as if I have hurt her. I try to step around her and keep walking, but she grabs at me again. Every time her hands connect to my skin she hisses at the contact.

"What are you some kind of freak??" Holly screams at my face after her third grabbing attempt.

"Yes. I am some kind of freak." I say grabbing both of her wrists. She shrieks in pain at the contact, "Now leave me alone."

I drop her arms, and shove past her determined to make it to my class before the final warning bell sounds. I push through the door and realize I am the last to arrive. My chair choices are limited. I fall into the seat between Lynx and Echo without saying a word to them. Echo's eyes trace my body, I feel them lingering on me. I don't care about anything else in the room anymore. I turn my full attention to him, looking at his perfectly sculpted face. I take in all of his features. His messy hair clings to his forehead, his eyes have a small wrinkle right on the edge from smiling. His eyes are somewhere between melting honey and warm amber.

Instinctively I lean towards him, taking him in wishing I could be closer, close the distance between us. Warmth spreads through my body, his eyes trail my body once more before meeting mine. My mouth waters, and my eyes dart to his lips. I want nothing more than to press his lips to mine. Someone clears their throat in the room and my senses return to me. I snap my eyes away from his and stare down at my desk, unsure of what has come over me. I can feel Echo trying to catch my eye, but I can't make myself look at him now. I am embarrassed which is another emotion I am not familiar with feeling.

When the class ends I stand trying to leave as quickly as I can, but three massive walls stand between me and running. Echo doesn't look at me now, a change of pace from before, Lynx look's conflicted, but Ashe is pissed. His face twisted in rage, and I can't stop myself from feeling rage of my own.

"What!" I spit my words at him like I have a bad taste in my mouth, "your little girlfriend told you I was the big bad bully?"

"She said you grabbed her and threatened her?" Lynx speaks in a soft voice, Ashe's jaw tightens. He is pissed, but I match his energy with rage of my own.

"Yes, after she grabbed my hair and burned her hands against my skin trying to push me around." I nearly growl with these words.

"That is not true." Ashe says cooly. "Holly has promised to leave you alone."

"Holly is a liar and a bully." I shout at him, stepping closer. "And if she doesn't stay away from me I will make her life worse than she ever made mine. Tell her I said that."

This time I have had enough, the anger is boiling up inside of me again and I don't want to take it out on people who don't deserve it. I shove past them and through the door. Instead of going towards my next class I decide to leave. I have never skipped a class before, but I can't be here anymore. I set off down the road, unsure of my next destination, but glad to be free from the oppressive atmosphere.

How could anyone believe Holly over me? How could anyone believe anything from her mouth? A new seed of doubt forms within me. How do I know she is even the destiny of the triplets? Who else would it be though? Holly was the prettiest girl in our grade, the most well known whether it be for the good or the bad, and the triplets were..well the triplets. But what girl my age wouldn't give everything they have to be with them? I know just a few weeks ago I would have too. I know who can help me, who can answer my questions, but I don't know where he is or how I could even find him. I know that I can force my mind to reach out to him when we are in the same room, but I don't think I would be able to do it from here.

Gravel crunches under my feet as I make my way down the familiar road. My subconscious has made me start my journey to my old home, so I may as well go. I can inspect the damage I have managed to do. It takes several minutes before it comes into view, but when it does I suck in a sharp breath. Every inch of the house is charred black, the windows that had blown out are boarded with thick sheets of wood. My foot creaks on the bottom step when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"You can't go in. It isn't safe." Terrance's voice makes the hairs on my neck stand up. "The floors are unstable."

I turn around to face him, his face is clean shaven, his eyes still lined with a sleepless night, but he looks more alert now than he did this morning. His hair looks like he has been running his hands through it, and I can't help but think of how handsome he is. I bite my lip trying to push the thought down hoping he doesn't feel it.

"Your handwork eh?" He raises a questioning eyebrow at me. "I suspected it, but now I am sure."

"Yes. The night I was taken to the hospital." I admit. It makes me feel nervous, but I don't want to lie to him. "I. I just pictured it on fire and it was."

"You have something inside of you. A power most people never get to feel." Terrance says, taking a step closer to me, "I can feel it, bubbling just under the surface. When I am with you my extra abilities seem to be able to hone in"

"Can I ask you something?" I ask abruptly. I want to ask if Holly is who she says, but the idea makes me think I will sound needy and nervous.

"She's not. She won't ever get the chance to be either, but you have to let them figure it out themselves." Terrance says gently brushing a stray hair away from my face, "These lessons come with time, coming from you would feel untrue and make little progress."

I open my mouth to say something, but I am unable to bring the words out. Relief floods my body, and a fat tear rolls down my cheek. Terrance steps forward pulling me into his arms, I inhale his scent of pine and relax into his shoulder letting the tears stain his shirt. We stand like this for several moments before I regain my composure.

"What were you doing out here anyway?" I ask, pulling my head from his shoulder.

"Alpha Jackson has asked me to keep a trace on you.." Terrance says softly, "so I followed you."

I scramble to get out of his arms, horrified by this statement. How dare they do this to me?

So much for running away…