Esmeray (Queen of Darkness)

12

I remember once, learning about Terra and Caelum, about their love and how it united the sky and the earth. Their story was beautiful, and I used to pretend that it was me. That I was the girl in the book. I would picture the sky in the past, how clean and fresh it was, I would think of how the ground felt when I would go down to see my soulmate. It was wonderful. It helped me escape my world. I always wanted to be her. To be happy, to find love, and a connection that she had. Now, I learn that it wasn't just love ,it was a Vlikenta, a life link, that held them together and formed they're bond.

I wished so hard that it would all come true. That I would fall into the book and land in a new world as a new person. Now that it is, I don't want it to be. This all seems like one big, terrible, nightmare but I know that the pain in my body is real. That the smell of the room is real. I'm not dreaming. I'm alive, and this is real. This is true. There is no going back to what once was.

I have never heard of a Vlikenta, never once did I learn it in one of Erebus' history lessons. He never spoke of it. Why did he not explain what it was? Maybe if he had I could figure out whether or not it's real, whether or not I'm part of one. I would know how it felt, what to expect and what it means. Now I'm dropping in blind.

"It's Damian, isn't it?"

My voice is barely loud enough for it to be a whisper. Part of me already knows the answer to my question. There's just too many things about him, about how I feel toward him, that just don't make sense. The Vlikenta explains them all.

"Yes. It is."

"Explain it to me. What does it feel like?"

"Like I can't breathe when I see you in pain." Turning around I look at Damian as he speaks and he remains standing in the doorway while he looks back at me, "When I hurt you, I got a pain, right here," he says and points to his bicep, "I've known for a while, Ariel. I didn't want to believe it, I refused to. Then, you came here. I fought you, locked you in our prison, I felt so sick. I was in so much pain, I knew it was real. It explained why I don't distaste you. Why I didn't just kill you right in the beginning."

His words are hard to comprehend, it's weird to think about him feeling that way. Then again, it could explain the pain I experience in my chest. Why I feel the urge to trust him. It could answer so many things.

"How do I know?"

Sighing Damian finds his way over to me and sits down beside me. Holding out his hand he looks down at me and my eyes twitch as the urge to look away overwhelms me. "Take my hand."

Doing as he says I lace my fingers through his and I gasp as the heat of his skin spreads all the way up my arm and into my mind. There it begins to ease my thoughts and calm the whirlwind of words spinning so furiously. It gives me peace, and all I want to do is curl up and sleep.

"Can you feel it?" Adeena says.

I don't trust my tongue. I don't trust my mouth, I can only nod. Dropping my hand Damian rubs his palm with his thumb and leans back against the couch. He looks hopeful. His face is calmed and relaxed and his eyes are directed up at the ceiling even though I know they look at a place a million miles away.

As the warmth of him dissipates all my thoughts come back and I groan as I rub my temples and stand up. "I need to be alone."

Giving me a brief nod Adeena points me to the next room at the far end of the house and I step over Damians legs that are resting against the table. Snagging my wrist I wince from the heat of him and turn my head to face him.

"Don't run away." he pauses and drops my wrist, "Please."

Biting my lip I nod and walk away.

As I sit with my back against the wall, I stare up through the ceiling at the thick canopy of trees surrounding me and my mind draws me back to the Academy.