Equinox

ch7

My mouth dropped open at where I was.

A large cave surrounded me. Stalagmites and stalactites gripped the floor and ceiling, with water slowly dripping from the ones on the ceiling. The walls glistened with something--whether it was gems embedded in the rocky surface of the walls or just droplets of water, I never found out. At the very back of the cave, water rushed down from a drop-off, making a waterfall.

The one thing that I remember the most was that however deep we were in the cave (I couldn't see the entrance) there was still light. Small balls of light--each as big as my clenched fist-- danced around the room merrily.

"Come here, girls," my father said.

As if in a trance, my sisters and I slowly made our way to the center of the room, where a pedestal was. A thin, blue film lined the inside of a bowl sitting on the pedestal.

"Spring, dear, you first." My mother spoke quietly, urging my sister to do something.

Spring snapped out of her trance and asked in a trembling voice, "What do I do?"

My father took Spring's hand and balled it into a fist. "Just stick your hand in the bowl."

'Stick your hand into the bowl.' What about this sounds like a good idea?

Spring did as my father commanded and shoved her tightly squeezed fist into the bowl--into the film on the bottom on the bowl. Her usual emerald green eyes turned a shade of milky white for a split second, then reverted back to normal.

She shivered as if she was cold. "Was that it?"

"Yes, sweetie," my mother answered.

Winter piped up from behind the remained if my sisters. "Uh, what did that do?"

My father laughed. "Nothing yet. When each of you is through, you will have until your eighteenth birthday-- a few days-- to decide what your powers will be, to decide what part in nature you will play. On you birthday, we will come back here and you can make your decision official."

"Can we decide before then?" Summer hollered.

"Yes. It just becomes permanent here."

It felt like I had just swallowed a one-ton weight. Although my parents hadn't mentioned it, that decision would mean the end of our lives--our human lives anyway.

I like my life. I have nothing that I could do.

The full weight of my realization hit me at once, almost making me reel back. I won't be able to talk to Orion anymore.

The one friend I had, the one person I could talk to.

This is why mother and father said to never make friends. How ironic, considering how often I told my sisters to stop talking to people in case of that, that I am the one who can't let go.

My breaths came out in choked gasps. Calm down, Equinox.

"Equinox, your turn."

I jumped at the sound of my father's voice urging me to stick my hand in the bowl. All four of my sisters were in a group, talking excitedly about what it felt like, what they could do.

I wanted no part in that.

"Equinox?" Mother sounded worried.

I looked up at her and plastered a smile on my face. "I'm coming."

Here goes nothing--or everything.

With my heart pounding, I shoved my fist into the filmy substance in the bowl.

It was like a million lights went off inside my head. The exhilarating feeling of excitement made my heart pulse faster and faster, then it morphed into something else.

Power.

It was like a million volts of electricity coursing through my veins, ending at my fingertips in a simmering boil--like anything I did would set it off. Every breath I took was crisp; everything was heightened. From the small plips of water dripping from rock, or the thundering roar of the waterfall as it poured into the small pond below it--I could hear everything a million times better than before.

I turned to my parents and smiled. For the first time, I could understand why my sisters were chattering like birds. For the first time, I felt their joy, I felt their excitement.

I felt their power.

Then, a face. A smiling face surfaced in my mind. The long dirty-blonde hair falling to his shoulders, the way his hazel eyes sparkled with mischief.

Orion.

Just like that, my power intoxication vanished. I was that close, that close to losing myself. That close to losing the humanity that I valued above anything else.

My breaths came out in heaves. I looked to my parents--both smiling expectantly, waiting for my answer. They were waiting on my surrender of myself; my surrender of who I was and my embracement of the new me.

The powerful me.

They won't get it.

I plastered a smile on my face, hoping it was the one they were expecting. "Thank you, Mother. Thank you, Father."

Their smiles almost made me feel guilty about lying.

Almost.