Equinox

ch10

"Orion?"

My hands felt over ever inch of his face, trying to get him to move, to say he was okay.

It felt like my heart had been ripped out.

His mouth was slightly open. His hazel eyes shone with unshed tears as he stared up at me, trying to say something.

"Quinn."

It was the softest mumble of a word. Slowly, the light left his eyes and he just stared unseeingly into space.

"Orion!" I shouted. Desperation clung to my voice. "Orion, look at me!"

"Orion?" Please no.

"Please?" I whispered.

There was no movement. No opening of his eyes, no rise and fall of his chest.

No heartbeat.

"Please?"

Never had I said a word so sadly before. The dead boy on the ground-- the dead man on the ground was the only friend I had ever had. The only one who I was myself around.

The only one I--

He was it. The only person I needed.

And now he's dead.

Tears slipped from me as I clutched his head to my chest, trying to get him to wake up.

It was hopeless. He was gone.

Mortal life is so fragile.

Carefully, I laid his head on the ground. The bickering of my sisters had yet to cease.

They haven't even realized what they've done.

Something inside me snapped. The numbness I felt from Orion's death vanished, and something else came back full-force.

Pain.

I thought I had felt pain before. Breaking my arm, scraping my knee. But that was physical pain. This was something different.

Nothing compared to the pain of losing Orion.

Nothing.

"Summer! I told you, that was mine!"

That was it. That was the final push I needed.

I shakily pushed myself up from the ground and looked up at my sisters. My parents stood back, not doing anything.

Not doing anything.

The bowl.

As if I were in a trance, I started to walk toward the bowl in the center of the cave.

"Ox, what are you doing?"

Finally, someone noticed me.

But it was too late.

I plunged my fist into the bowl, feeling the slimy film engulf my hand. My arm shook as a jolt of electricity ran up to my shoulder and swirled around in my body.

The exhilaration was back. But this time, it brought something else.

Revenge. Grief.

My sisters still fought their petty fight. They were arguing over who got the year to themselves. Their shouts were loud, but mine was louder.

"Silence!" I bellowed. My voice echoed around the cavern powerfully. I flicked my eyes downward for a split second. I was hovering in the air.

My sisters immediately stopped fighting and looked at me.