Glowing Sky: Book One

Chapter Fifteen - Adelaide

I felt foolish as I stood there on the football field waiting for Lucas. I looked around, feeling small in the large field. He hadn't come. But I stayed anyway even though the idea of waiting felt vulnerable. Raw. Waiting meant giving my power away. Giving hope to something that was utterly hopeless.

Of course he didn't come. Why would he want to get himself mixed up with me?  The moments ticked by and instead of feeling relief like I had expected, knowing my secret would remain my own, I felt my heart break a little. A part of me had hoped he would have come. Even though it was dangerous, I had foolishly hoped anyway. 

I shoved my hands in my pockets, staring up at the dark sky. Why hadn't Lucas come? He didn't strike me as a guy who would change his mind so easily. Maybe he was running late? No, I didn't believe that. He was a person who was always on time, annoyingly so. But he was late today. Something that gave me a large level of anxiety. Either he didn't want to see me, or something was wrong and both were terrible options.

I had started to go through a dozen of scenarios that would have kept him from coming when my answer suddenly appeared in the form of the figure walking towards me.  A piece of my past that I thought I left behind. There she was, coming to haunt me for my crimes. A punishment taking on human form. 

She smiled a sickly sweet smile that was more terrifying than gentle. "Hello, Adelaide."

"Nella?"I whispered. Dread filled my body with ice. "What are you doing here?" I was tempted to run, but knew that I wouldn't make it two steps before everything shattered. She had found me, and my time surrounded by the illusion of freedom evaporated as she tilted her head to the side, taking me in.

"Not happy to see me?" she asked.

My heart raced, threatening to rip through my ribcage and leave me in pieces. "How did you know where to find me?"

"Took some tracking, but you can't hide forever. Doesn't matter how big the city is, or how many friends you make." She stopped and held my gaze, making a point that forced the air from my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. "You are far too valuable to leave unattended."

"What did you do?" I asked, my voice growing angry.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her face taking on a menacing grin.

"Where is Lucas?" My voice rose.

She stared down at her well-manicured fingernails and brushed a loose strand of her long dark brown hair behind her ear to keep her clean appearance intact. "He's not far. Just detained. Much harder to dissuade from seeing you than I thought he would be." She rubbed her nose and I noticed the dark purple blemish that covered her normally perfect skin. 

"Let him go," I growled. I felt power surging through my fingertips, my hands shaking as energy cracked across my palms. Instead of keeping it under control like I had spent months doing, I removed my gloves allowing the blue hue to spark across my fingertips, visible brightly as the power grew. I was done playing games. Lucas wasn't a pawn.

"Or else what?" She laughed, seeming unphased by the idea of me electrocuting her into next week. "Are you going to become the monster you keep claiming you don't want to be anymore?"

I rolled my hands into fists and let out an angry breath as the power began to snake up my arms, caging my skin in veins of blue power. "Don't test me. You know how well that ended last time." My hands began to hum as they sparked more ferociously. My hair began to stand on end as the energy snaked up my temples and into every strand of hair. "Let him go, now!" My voice boomed across the field, ripping through the sky with a clap.

I brought my hands together and a large pulse of power exploded from my hands and flew across the football field in a large arc. Nella took a step backwards, losing her footing for a moment.

She tilted her head sideways. "That's new."

"I've been practicing," I said in a cold voice, raising my hands to the sky allowing the energy to seep from my fingertips and weave into a threatening tapestry in the sky. The air above shifted to a blue hue. A glowing sky of illuminated power. The clouds lit up with lightning, growing more electric with each passing moment. I was about to bring down my hands and send the lightning down onto Nella when she spoke.

"If you hurt me, he dies."

I hesitated. Lightning cracked through the sky as rage filled me. A roar of thunder growled on my behalf. "Don't you dare."

"I will let him go if you come back with me. If you don't, well, things won't turn out so well for him."

I let out a slow breath, fear making its way into my limps, threatening to swallow me whole. She could be lying about letting him go. Maybe she didn't even have Lucas. But I couldn't risk that. I forced the energy to cool, pulling it back inside my body. The light in the sky dimmed and I cautiously lowered my hands, admitting defeat by putting my gloves back on, feeling the power fade from my hands, resorbed into my body.

"I will go back with you. Just let him go." The heartbreak was clear in my voice. I didn't want to go back. I was terrified of the idea, but Lucas getting hurt was worse. None of this was his fault. All he had ever done was reach out and show me the kindness that I had so desperately craved. A gentle openness that was so foreign and so beautiful that it felt unreal. That kindness was terrifying and odd, making me feel like a monster. I had forgotten what a gentle touch was like until Lucas.

Nella laughed, a look of disbelief on her face. "Wow, he must be important to you if you are willing to give up. You are normally such a fighter." She took several steps towards me and I had to force myself to stay still. I didn't want to make things worse. 

I was not willing to let her hurt Lucas. I should have never talked to him that first day. I should have asked someone else where my first class was. I should have sat somewhere else. I should have ignored him. I should have gone to another school, another state, another country, another continent. His life would be better if we never met.

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to collect myself. If Nella knew what he could do, if she knew about his ability, he would have already been taken away. To suffer the same fate that Nella had in store for me. I couldn't let that happen. I needed to leave.

"Let me see him first," I said.