Exodus - The Khiara Banning Series Book Two

Eight

Khiara

I realize that time passes really slowly wherever we are. It feels like it's been days, but the clock on the wall hasn't budged. It's broken, stopped perpetually at 4:15, and I don't know if it's AM or PM.

Those girls disappeared into thin air a while ago, but not before saying every hurtful thing in the book to Unity and me. It feels as if we're being tested on our ability to handle criticism, to see if we bow under our senses of pride; so far we haven't.

Suddenly, the Teacher is walking into the room, telling us to look at the board. We obey, and I see that my photo has changed. Instead of the picture of the boy and the girl...who I'm about eighty percent sure is me, there's a photo of two kids.

One has curly red locks of hair and big blue eyes, and strangely she has marker covering her left arm from the elbow down. The other is laughing so hard, I can't tell what colour her eyes are because her right hand is over her face. Her hair is the same mousy brown as the girl in the other photo, and she's got a huge cast on her left arm with a whole bunch of well-wishes scrawled on it; that explains the marker on the red-head's arm. Next to them is a huge trophy, lying on its side. I can just make out its inscription, which reads, Children's Bowling Champions of Serene Falls.

The back of the photo has a date that (I think) goes back to when I too was a child, and under that, The Amazing One-Armed Duo is written in a child's messy scrawl.

This photo stirs something in me, a weird sense of wistfulness and something that feels almost like a memory unfolding in the back of my mind – and just as that feeling washes over me, the photo disappears from my hands, in a puff of purple smoke, and I know that this is just another test to see how I'll react.

I turn to Unity and see that she's staring at me, a small nervous smile on her face. "I guess we're done."

I nod. Sigh. "Guess so."

The Teacher clears her throat. "One more thing, girls, and then you're free to retire to your room."

Unity blinks at the teacher, curiosity making her brows furrow. "What's that?" she asks.

"Sorry," the Teacher replies, her forehead crinkling and her mouth turning down at the corners. "This might hurt."

Everything goes dark...

I'm in a huge hall of mirrors. All of them reflect a girl who looks absolutely frightened. I step towards the mirror closest to me, and she mirrors my movement.

Oh. It's me.

This feels familiar somehow, and I feel like I should know why. But I have no idea what to do with myself; no idea who I am.

I wait.

And I wait.

And then the urge to touch the mirror in front of me is so strong that I reach out, and place one finger on it. And it shatters into thousands of pieces, and suddenly images are passing before my eyes and

Blood is everywhere.

Death is everywhere.

And I am awake.

I am blood and death all wrapped up in one; a pathetic mass of what was once a human being. I was told this would happen, that this would be the end of me. I just wanted to believe that I had a chance. That Cael and I could be together. That Cara and I could laugh together as Tristan does something awkwardly endearing and Vicky gives him hell for it, telling him to be a man. I wanted to get to know Liam, Sam, and Lisa better. I wanted to tell my parents how much they mean to me. I can do none of those things. I see that now; I see everything.