The Divinity Saga: Part I

The Safe House

“We’re here.” Atia woke me up with a kiss.

I opened my eyes and we were parked in a driveway I didn’t recognize. 

“Already?” I stretched.

We took off our seat belts and got out of the car to examine our temporary home.  The house was brick and gold. The brick was the base color and gold trimmed the windows and traced lightly along the edges of the whole house. I felt so much self control here. The house was surrounded by nothing but green grass, You could tell there wasn’t another house for a while. Whoever built this house made to keep distance from others. It was a small two story – but big enough for a family to call home comfortably. There were two large windows on either side of the front door and the yard was covered in Mom’s favorite flowers. I’m sure my mom had been here before. Nana wouldn’t have this house for no reason, maybe this is where mom came when she needed to get away. Either way I’m happy to be somewhere she used to be. I wanted to reach the highest connection with her possible.

“At least it's a beautiful house.” She pointed out. 

“I know, I love it already.” I grinned. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” Chrissy yawned as she walked over to us.

“I call first dibs on the bedroom!” Ava shouted.

“Actually sis, We do. We're the oldest.” We ran to the porch leaving them both behind in the driveway.

 “Do you see a flower pot that the key could be in?” Atia looked around. 

 “There’s only like 100.” Chrissy said sarcastically. 

“Help us then.” I grabbed a flower pot and started to shovel through the dirt. 

“My manicure.” She whined.

“Sleep outside then.” I shrugged as I shoveled through the next pot. 

“Found it!” Ava cheered.

“Whatever. Open the door already I’m starving.” Chrissy complained. 

Ava dusted the extra dirt off of the key and unlocked the door. She pushed on the handle and opened the door slowly. We followed in directly behind her. 

“I’ll check the kitchen.” Chrissy pushed past us.

We all went our separate ways through the house. I took my time. I wanted to take in everything. I walked through an arch that led to a huge living room. The walls were the color of brimstone with fiery red sectional to match. It took up the most space but it was worth having. There were brown pillows to match the small brown coffee table. The fireplace was completely stocked with wood. Everything was color coordinated perfectly. I saw sage sticks on the coffee table and grabbed them. I wanted them for my room. Sage made me calm and I knew the girls probably wouldn’t like the smell anyway.

“Ray.” Ava called after me. 

I could tell by the sound in her voice that something wasn’t right. I rushed out of the living room and up the stairs. I followed her heartbeat into a sky-blue room. The windows covered the whole back of the wall that the bed was against. There were mirrors everywhere. Different shapes, all white trimmed. There were two familiar baby pictures on the wall. I slowly started to piece it together. I saw sage on the dresser and smirked. 

“This was my mom’s room wasn’t it?” My voice cracked. 

"We think so." Atia frowned.

“Are you okay?” Ava rested her hand on my shoulder. 

“Yeah, I’m – I’m fine.” I lied. 

“Let’s give her a moment alone.” Atia whispered to Ava. 

“Call us if you want company.” Ava said before they left the room. 

Feeling overwhelmed with emotions I couldn’t handle, I laid in bed and cried for what seemed like forever. My head was pounding and my heart was broken. Finally, something told me to get up and look around the room. I dried my face and stood to my feet. I fixed any wrinkles I put in her blanket and walked around the room carefully examining everything. I walked over to the white dresser. I looked down and there was M+J=L carved into it. I traced my fingers across the marks. I opened the first drawer and there were baby clothes in it. I assumed they were mine. I closed the drawer and opened the next one. It had nothing but a jewelry box inside of it. I carefully pulled it out and placed it on the dresser. It looked like it had been through a lot. The handle was broken off to twist the ballerina but that didn’t matter. As long as I could get inside I didn’t care. I forced the box open and there was a picture of my mom, a man, and me when I was a baby. I knew it was my father. I could tell by how intimate the picture was. My mom was holding me in her arms and my father’s arms were wrapped around her. He was her protector I could tell. I smiled and shoved the picture in my pocket. This was the first picture I saw of us as a family. Right when I was about to close the box something caught my eye. It was two diamond earrings. I slid them into my ears and put the box back in its place. I heard Atia’s heart beat getting closer. I stood facing the window. I knew she was going to ask if I was okay and the least I could do was not lie to her face. 

“You okay?” I heard her place my bags down. 

“Yes.” I nodded.

“You can have my room if it’ll be easier for you.” She stood next to me. 

“I’ll be fine. I’m sure I’ll adjust. I just wasn’t expecting it.” I sat down on the bed. 

“Well, if it makes you feel any better your mom has way better taste at decorating rooms than anyone else.” She joked. 

“Trust me, I know.” I laughed.

The old school phone began to ring on the dresser.

“Should I answer it?” I asked nervously. 

“Yes it could be someone important.” Atia replied.

“Okay.” I hesitated as I placed the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

“Who is it?” Atia watched me anxiously.

“Rayleigh?” Nana asked skeptically. 

I sighed in relief. “Yes. It's me.” 

“Good, you are safe. I’m so happy to hear your voice. We can’t talk long I just wanted to tell you that I’m having groceries delivered to the house. They should be there very soon. Just let them stock the food and leave. The less people know about you girls right now the better. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.” I nodded. 

“We’ll talk soon.” She promised. 

“Can’t wait.” I sighed. 

“Bye.” She hung up. 

“Who was it?” Atia asked impatiently. 

“Nana.” I smiled. 

“Is she okay?” She asked concerned. 

“Yes. She was just calling because the-” The doorbell cut me off. 

“Groceries are here.” I finished my sentence. 

I peeked out my window at the big food truck parked in the front of our little home. 

“I bet Chrissy is going to be happy.” She laughed. 

“She just might cry.” I joked.

When we opened the door two men in blue collared shirts were standing there waiting with two big boxes full of food. 

“Right this way.” I showed them to the kitchen. 

The guys walked in and immediately started putting the groceries away. When they were done they showed themselves out.

 “Do I smell food?” Chrissy barged into the kitchen. 

“Nana had groceries delivered.” Atia smiled. 

“That’s why I love her so much.” Chrissy said as she opened the fridge. 

“So you only love her because she feeds you?” I raised my eyebrow. 

“Of course not.” She opened the freezer.  “That’s just one of the many reasons why.” She pulled out a frozen pizza and tossed it onto the counter. 

“Why what?” Ava joined us in the kitchen. 

"Hey sis." Atia greeted her.

“Nana bought us groceries.” Chrissy said proudly as she searched through the cabinets.

“So does that mean you’re cooking?” Ava smiled.

“Of course.” Chrissy preheated the oven.

“I forgot to ask. What's the rooming situation?” I looked at the three of them.

“Well, I don't want to be downstairs by myself.” Chrissy whined.

“Honestly, I want to stay in my mom’s room.” I admitted. "Sorry."

“And I love the view from mine.” Atia added.

“Ava?” Chrissy looked at her. “Please don’t make me sleep alone.” 

“Fine.” Ava sighed. “Only if I get some of your pizza.” 

“If she doesn’t eat it all.  It's like she's eating for a small colony. How many months are you anyway?” I teased her.

 “5 if you must know.” She rolled her eyes. 

“Are you sure you aren’t 7?” I joked. 

“That’s it. You get no pizza.” She threatened me. 

“That’s okay, I’m not hungry for this type of food anyway.” I shrugged. “Atia?” 

“I’m right behind you.” She agreed. 

“See you later. Enjoy your processed meal.” I shouted before walking out the back door.

I spotted a lake in the distance. We raced from tree to tree making sure not to be seen. I didn’t know if Nana expected us to live off of the groceries too but I knew I couldn’t. I couldn’t pretend to be normal. I would be weak and so would Atia. How would we defend ourselves? We would be just as defenseless as Ava and Chrissy so how could we protect them? We fed as much as we could to keep up our strength.

 Six animals down and I was stuffed. My clothes were completely drenched in different blood types. I looked over at Atia she was just as drenched as I was. We raced out of the Forest and onto the grassy plane. The sun was just now setting. The sky different shades of orange, purple, and smokey gray. As beautiful as it was I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Atia. She ran so gracefully, so freely. She belonged to the world in this moment. Even in the most beautiful scenery she was what captured my eye. We ran side by side until we made it to the back door. 

We walked into the house and I had no other want than to take a shower. I heard Ava on the phone in the living room. 

“Where’s Chrissy?” I interrupted her conversation.

Ava pulled her phone away from her face, “She’s in the room sleeping. She said something about morning sickness.” She said confused and resumed her conversation. 

“Oh, Okay. Well I’m going to shower.” I kissed Atia and headed upstairs.

I pulled out my toiletries and headed into my new bathroom. It was seafoam green and the shower curtains had seashells and starfish on it. Everything else was all white and perfect. I stripped out of my stained clothes. I carefully placed them on the counter. There was a huge slate of privacy glass that hid me in the shower. I sat back and admired the fact that my mom decorated this shower.  I felt her spirit with me everywhere I went in this house. 

I quickly got dressed when I got out of the shower. I wrapped my wet hair in a bun and threw my dirty clothes in the trash. They were no use to me anymore. I dried the floor of all the water and walked into my room. I stood there in the middle of this room full of memories and just smiled. I smiled because I was actually happy. All I could think about was good thoughts. I loved the room but it wasn’t exactly me. I wanted to make it more of a room for myself now that I would be staying here for a while.

After 20 minutes of rearranging the furniture I had my room exactly the way I wanted it. My bed was against a wall which gave me so much more open space. I made the dresser line up with the bed and scooted my nightstand right next to it. The tan wooden floor really complimented the colors of the room. 

I walked into the dark closet and flicked the light switch on. Christmas lights trailed around the entire closet and lit it up. I didn’t need a light, this was more than enough. There were clothes on each side of the closet. Half men clothes, half woman. It was like their move was sudden. Who would leave all these clothes and shoes behind on purpose? I pushed past the rack of clothes that covered the middle wall. There was a brown blanket thrown over something. I removed the cover and there lied the most beautiful mirror. It was square with a golden frame. The mirror was huge. If I wasn’t a vampire I probably couldn’t have carried it on my own. I pulled the mirror out of the closet and into my room. I cleaned the dirt off with the blanket and stared at myself. I looked beyond beautiful. It gave me a glow that I saw in no other mirror. I removed the smaller mirror from the wall and replaced it with my new one. I stood back and admired my new-found beauty. After I finished putting things where they belonged I climbed into bed. I bundled up in the sheets and fell asleep contently soon after. 

“Rayleigh.” I heard a sweet voice call out to me. 

“Yeah?” I sat up rubbing my eyes.

“Come closer.” I heard the voice again. 

“To where? I can't see you.” I said looking around in the dark. 

“Come to the mirror.” She instructed me. 

“What?” I asked confused. 

“Just trust me.” She said calmly. 

I walked over to the mirror and looked at it. It was no longer my reflection looking back at me, it was an image of my mom. She was sitting on a picnic blanket under a big apple tree. She was eating an apple with one hand and she was reading her favorite book with the other.

“Closer.” She instructed. 

I was so close to the mirror that my face pressed against the glass. A few seconds later the image was reality and I was inside of it.

“Come sit with me.” She patted the blanket. 

Still half asleep I crawled onto the blanket and she guided my head into her lap. 

“I love you Rayleigh. You know that right?” She played with my hair. 

“I love you too.” I smiled.

“Apple?” She placed a shiny apple in front of my face.

“Thank you.” I sat up. 

“You have to pick one. Apple A or Apple B.” She held them in front of me. 

“Apple A?” I reached for it. 

“Are you sure?” She pulled away. 

“Yes mom, Apple A.” I smirked. 

“Here you go.” She placed it in my hand. “Bite it.” 

I bit into the apple and stared down at the ground bashfully as I chewed it. A few seconds later I felt something crawling around in my mouth. I spit out my bite and at least 100 baby spiders came out with it.

I looked around for my mom but she was nowhere in sight. 

“Mom.” I cried. 

“Wrong.” A voice answered me. 

Everything went pitched black and I was stuck in a small space with the feeling that I was running out of air. I had only one small air hole. I pressed my mouth to it. 

“Careful which one you choose.” The voice echoed. 

I realized I wasn’t alone. Someone else was here with me.

I began to scream to catch their attention. I wasn’t going to stop screaming until I was out. I began trying to tip the barrel over but it wasn’t working. I had no strength. It was like I wasn’t even a vampire anymore.

“Pick faster.” It chuckled. "She can barely breathe!" 

I heard nothing for a moment it was complete silence. I sat there as still as the room. 

“Cover your face!” I heard a muffled voice.

 I did as I was told and covered my face. I was either prepared to run or to fight. Either way I wasn’t going to give up easily. I braced myself.

 A few seconds later the barrel collapsed around me. 

I looked up at my rescuer. It was Atia.

“Rayleigh.” She dropped to her knees. “Are you okay? How did you get in here?”

“I – I don’t remember.” I sighed.

“Come on.” She helped me up. “We need to run before it gets us.”

"What does?" I asked frightened.

“I know who turned you. He turned Star and I too. He’s trying to kill us in our dreams for good! We have to go! Now!” She cried.

We ran as fast as we could until we were suddenly in the woods. There was a lake coming up and I was terrified enough. My brain was frozen and I was still trying to understand what just happened.

We both looked behind us and a dark figure was a few feet behind us and it was moving fast.

“What do we do?” I asked frozen.

“Swim.” She pulled me into the water with her. 

We swam for what seemed to be forever and it felt like we weren’t getting anywhere. All of a sudden I felt something pulling me under water. It was stronger than a gravitational pull. Whatever it was wasn’t just waves washing us away, it was literally trying to drown me. I looked over at Atia and she was drowning even worse than I was. I began to panic. I didn’t want anything to happen to her. We grabbed onto each other trying to stay alive but I suddenly couldn’t fight it anymore. I let the force take me under hoping it would release Atia. I opened my eyes and saw that she was being dragged down under too. I held my breath for as long as I could. 

“Rayleigh.” Chrissy was at my side shaking me awake. “Are you okay?” She asked frantically. 

I couldn’t speak. I still could feel the saltiness in my throat. I walked over to the mirror and pressed my face against it. Nothing happened. I backed away and a million crazy thoughts filled my head.

“Rayleigh, Say something!” She begged. 

“I’m fine.” I said after fully catching my breath. 

“Thank god.” She hugged me tight. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.” 

“I’m sorry, I’m fine.” I lied. 

“Good thing I came in to check on you.” She sighed in relief. 

“I thought you were sleeping downstairs.” I looked at her skeptically. 

“I – I was. I just wanted to come see how you were.” She lied.

“You’re lying.” I sneered. 

“No, I’m not.” She rolled her eyes. 

“When you lie you roll your eyes.” I pointed out. 

“No I don’t.” She rolled them again. 

“Did it again.” I growled. 

“Okay, I – I just miss him so much.” She admitted. “He is the father of my child.” 

“We had one rule.” I shouted. 

“I don’t even know why we are here!” She shouted back. “Why can’t I go see him? Why can’t I live my normal life? What are we running from?” 

“Maybe it's your boyfriend since everyone is so worried about your safety all of a sudden.” I argued.

“Zach?” She gasped. “I have nothing to say to you right now. I’m going to go see him whenever I want. Last time I checked my mom doesn't care what I do and how I do it. So why do you?” 

“You know what, since you never listen to a thing I say and you are always right. You win. Do it your way. But don't come crying to me when things end up worse.” I sputtered. “Now get out.”

"Fine." She stormed out and slammed the door.

“Have fun sleeping alone.” I opened my door and yelled after her. 

“Maybe I’ll go to Atia’s room.” She smiled wickedly. 

“I dare you.” I stepped out of my door frame. 

“Whatever. I’m leaving.” She stormed off. 

“You’re going to see how it is without me from now on.” I slammed my door as hard as I could.

I rushed to my window and watched her storm outside and walk onto the sidewalk. She sat down on the curb with her phone glued to her face. I watched her for a few minutes. Right when I felt bad enough to go outside and drag her back in a black car pulled up and she climbed in it.

I rolled my eyes and climbed into bed. I laid there replaying my nightmare over and over until the sun peeked through my windows.

“Rayleigh.” Ava peeked her head in my room. 

“Yeah?” I answered. 

“You up?” She spoke softly.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“Breakfast is ready.” She smiled. 

“Thank you.” I sat up and smiled back. 

“Welcome.” She closed my door. 

I wasn’t really hungry but I knew if Ava made it she put her heart into it. I got up and headed downstairs. 

“Good mor-” I stopped myself when I saw who was sitting at the bar. 

“Ew.” Chrissy scoffed. 

“I’ll take my breakfast to my room.” I said making it known I didn’t want to be around her. 

I put my food on a plate and headed back upstairs. I didn’t even bother getting a utensil. If I could eat a deer in cold blood I could get a little syrup on my fingers. 

I sat down on my bed and force fed myself. 

“You okay?” Atia appeared next to me.

“Yes.” I smiled at her. 

“What’s going on with you and Chrissy?” She restated. 

“I thought that she was saving me from my nightmare but she was really just making sure the coast was clear to leave with Zach, we argued and she left again.” I kept it short.

 I wasn’t in the mood to talk about her.

“Maybe we should call a family meeting tonight.” She suggested. 

“Do I have to go?” I groaned.

“Yes, we all do.” She kissed me. "We're a family."

“Fine.” I gave in. 

“Wait. Did you say something about a nightmare?” 

“Yeah, I had the worst nightmare last night. I was up for the rest of the night tossing and turning.” 

“What was it about?” She asked curiously. 

“It was like one minute I was sitting under an apple tree with my mom and the next I was trapped in a barrel.” I relived the moment. 

“And then I saved you?” She answered.

“Yes. How did you know?” I look at her confused. 

“Because I had the same nightmare.” Her voice shook. 

What does this mean? Did that mean that we were connected in more ways than one or did it mean that someone was actually after us and that was our warning? Either way I was afraid.

“I have no idea what this means. We need to talk to my mom about this as soon as she gets back.” She promised.

“So what do we do for the time being?” I sighed.

“We just need to be extra careful and stay fed so that we can keep our strength up.” She advised me. “Speaking of feeding, do you care to join me?” 

“I’ll pass. I’m not in the mood. Later though?” I smiled.

“Sure, after the family meeting?” She smiled back. 

“I’m sure I’ll be ready to break some necks after that.” I joked. 

“I’m sure you will.” She kissed me again. 

“I’m going to hunt now, I’ll be back soon.” 

“Be safe.” I warned her. 

“Always.” She walked out. 

I grabbed my empty plate and ran it downstairs. Chrissy was standing in the kitchen at the dishwasher. She saw the plate in my hands and continued to stand there. I placed my dish in the sink and walked out.

“Ava, Where are you?” I walked around. 

“In here!” She shouted back. 

I followed the echo of her voice to the hallway bathroom. 

“Hey. Thanks for breakfast.” I spoke through the cracked door. 

“You’re welcome.” She answered back. 

“I’m going to be in the backyard if you need me.” I promised. 

“Okay, as soon as I get dressed I will join you.” She replied. 

“Okay.” I walked back down the hallway and out the back door. 

We had acres and acres of grassy land. I decided that I would practice my powers. I walked to the closest tree and climbed it. There was a squirrel running around the branches. I waited patiently and as still as possible for the squirrel to be within my reach. As soon as he was on the same branch as me. I grabbed him by the throat and walked him back to our yard. I sat down in the grass and placed his body on the ground in front of me. I stared at him for a second. I wasn’t sure if he was fully dead or if he was playing dead but I had to be sure. I broke his neck and dropped him to the floor. 

“Rayleigh.” Ava said shocked. 

“It’s not what it looks like.” I promised her. 

“It looks like you killed a squirrel for no reason.” She folded her arms. 

“Well I guess it is what it looks like. Just hold on, let me show you.” I pulled her onto the ground next to me. 

“Show me what?” She asked creeped out. 

“Just watch.” I put my hands over the dead animal and closed my eyes. 

“Ray.” She said skeptically. 

“Shh.” I replied. 

“Okay.” She whispered back. 

I kept my hands over him and my eyes closed until I felt him moving in between my fingers. 

“Look.” I moved my hands away and the squirrel went running back up the same tree. 

“That was amazing.” Ava clapped.

“I know right. Atia loves it.” I stood to my feet and dusted off. 

“Atia loves you.” She sputtered.