At Odds

Edith

I don't bother getting back up, I'm too out of breath. And so is he.

"You're getting stronger, without the use of your ability." Zack says, offering his hand. I take it and he pulls me up.

"I'm not nearly as strong yet."

"Physically, no. But you're the strongest out of us all in terms of abilities. No one can control their flame the way you do." I look around at everyone else. Most are talking, others training and fighting. Training for what exactly? I'm not sure. But it has served as an outlet to release their pent up anger towards the rest of humanity who've shunned people like us. "Sun's going down. I'll walk you home." I nod and we head out the warehouse.

"Why are dark souls forced into hiding?" I ask halfway through our walk through the forest.

"The government, or more generally light souls. They fear what's different. It's the same old story. They are granted the ability to create light, and to heal. Then there's us. Our blood runs darker, thicker. And when we try to heal, we cause more harm. We absorb the abilities of light souls, and drain their life. We can't create light, and instead we create flames." He says.

"Can we heal other dark souls?"

"No, we burn them from the inside out with our flame." He bluntly says. "Dark souls aren't granted the ability to heal. Many have tried. We're just defects."

"So then what's there to be scared of? The simple answer would just be to avoid the powers altogether." He looks over at me and hesitates before answering.

"It's the corrupted dark souls they fear. The one's who've actually killed light souls by absorbing their lifespan and abilities. They don't gain a light soul's abilities by doing so, but they do get stronger. More power hungry. They are able to grow their flames, their skin starts flaking revealing dark flames underneath. That's what they're scared of. So they choose to get rid of the potential threat before it reaches that extreme. They get rid of us. So we hide to stay alive."

I was afraid he would say that. Flashbacks from that night come to mind. The night I escaped. The burning, the dying. The large dark flame.

"You talk about it like you've seen it." I say trying to distract my own thoughts.

"I have. My older brother." We get to the back of the house and stop. "We're not all bad. You know that. But they don't."

"I know."

"Edith?" We both turn to see Luca standing at the back door.

"Living as one of them. Pretending to be one of them is risky. Be careful." He says. I turn back to him but he disappears back into the forest.

~

"So what? This is why you haven't been telling me where you go out everyday after school? Because you're out with some guy?" Luca says following me up to my room.

"Leave Zack out of it." I say ignoring him as we walk up the stairs.

"So he has a name. What were you two doing in the forest? This guy can be dangerous, you know?" He says raising his voice and I stop at the top of the stairs and turn to face him. He's two steps lower so I can look down at him.

"You don't get it. He does. Okay? And he's not dangerous. But of course that's what all you light souls think of us." I can hear the anger in my own voice. After all that Zack has told me, seeing the way they all live in that warehouse. It's hard not to get angry. It's hard not to see Luca as someone different. Because he is. He and I are different.

"So he's a dark soul. Are you crazy? What are you doing out with dark souls?" I roll my eyes and go into my room.

"I'm a dark soul dumbass!" I yell and turn towards the door. I see him approach and I reach towards the door to shut it but it slams shut on it's own before I can actually touch it. Did I do that?

"Edith!" He yells from the other side of the door. "What's going on with you?"

I don't know.

I don't know.

I'm angry, I've always been angry, angry is all I've known. But fighting with Luca is new. We never fight. I never take out my anger on him. So why now?

"Look, I'm sorry. I overreacted. It's just, it feels like everything is changing, you are changing, but so am I. And change is scary, but it's also good. You are making friends and so am I. I'm happy for you, but I also miss you. I miss my best friend." He says gently on the other side of the door. I step closer to it and rest my hand on the door knob. "We don't do this, Edith, we don't shut eachother out. We shut the rest of the world out, remember?" He scoffs a little.

It's like I can hear Liz yelling at me. Don't open the door Edith. Be more independent. Stand your ground. Don't revolve your world around his. But that doesn't stop me. Sorry, Liz.

I open the door and his eyes meet mine. They're a slight red and glossy. Like when's trying his hardest not to cry, not to show emotion. Which makes it harder not to say the next words.

"I miss you, too."