Chapter 1
I’m broken. That’s what everyone says. Something must’ve gone wrong with my bloodline. I’m a freak, and clearly, whatever god gave us our light stone made a mistake with me.
For the last 13 years of my life, I’ve been a prisoner, no, I was never locked in a cage, but I think I may have preferred that. I’ve spent years trying to live up to the high expectations of being a day walker. Even when it didn’t seem quite right, I’ve never been the bright, happy girl who can create fire and flourish in the sun. I’m the small shadow that follows along behind you, quiet. Sometimes you forget I exist, but I’m there.
Day walkers are bright creatures; they can create fire. They can fight any battle. They can do almost anything; they’re free spirits. I am not. Or shall I say, I’m not permitted to.
Something went wrong when my family was created. We all know the light stone is what brought us all here, put us on this earth, but somehow my family ended up being the mistakes, the ones that were never meant to be born.
Whilst others create huge flames that could burn for eternities, I create sparks that fizzle out in a few minutes. Whilst they can control every ember that emerges from their bracelet’s power, mine is unpredictable. So no, I am not the free spirit I was meant to be, instead I was hidden away, I cannot go where they all go, I cannot train and learn to fight wars like the rest of them, I cannot harvest blood fruit, celebrate, and share a meal as a community like the rest of them, I’m not allowed to. Instead, I stay home, where I shall stay for the rest of my long, miserable life.
I hate it, yet I don’t. The village comes with criticism and ridicule. I don’t want to be told I’m a freak when I leave my home. I don’t want people to see me and turn away, some in fear, others in disgust. I would rather be the name no one can remember; that’s fine with me. Although Nova. Nova is a star that shines so bright you could see it from any universe. She has never seen a single flaw in me, and I love her ever so dearly for that. Some people have a horde of people willing to fight for them, to stick by them through almost anything, prepared to defend their name with their entire being. I just have Nova, but that girl has enough fight in her to do it alone and a thousand times over for the rest of her days. She alone is my family.
With every day that goes by I accept the loneliness, I accept the emptiness and the quiet, because at the end of the day Nova is always there with that small sympathetic smile that gives you a sense of warmth that not even a day walker could recreate.
And I do, feel lonely that is. Every day. Lonely, sad, like my existence is something to be ashamed of. I would give anything in this world to be like Nova, to be like any of them. To be able to run around freely, to fight wars alongside family. To defend my village and my people with everything that I am. My face looks brave, like the exile doesn’t bother me, yes, I have learnt how to cope and live alone, but that doesn’t mean I don’t long for change. I await the day when I am able to live my life without fear of consequence, without looking over my shoulder to make sure no one saw me step outside, no one saw me near the orchard gates peering in to what I can’t have.
Nova’s father? Commander bright is the complete opposite of Nova, I have never met her mother but I assume she is where Nova gets her compassion. Commander bright is a cruel and strict man, stuck in his old ways. He may have accepted the peaceful change after the war but he never agreed with it, people are their differences, and a village full of people who “embrace each others uniqueness” is a weak village. He was the unfortunate soul that got dumped raising me, after my parents death he was now my family. He was my guardian, my provider and protector, and yet he was never once that. He was the man that encouraged my exile, he decided where I could and could not go. I was damaged, and to him I was a death sentence for his people.
I don’t know why this man agreed to take me in when he hated me so much, all I knew was that he was friends with my father, although he refuses to speak about my parents.
“Hey, just checking in before we leave for the harvest, you going to be okay on your own?” Nova asked, peering her head around my door with that warm smile.
“Yep, all good. Just like last year, and the year before that” I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic, and I think Nova knew that.
She turned away and closed my door whilst I got ready to head out, no I was not going with them, you really thought commander bright would allow me to go to the harvest? No, this is the one day a year where the village is almost empty, it’s the one day a year where I don’t just felt alone, I am alone. I’m going to take advantage of that. Once I heard that door slam shut I poked my head out of the top story window and watched as almost every villager marched towards the tunnel that connected both villages. Reaching into my closet I pulled out my bracelet, these bracelets are what gives us day walkers our power, without them, we have none.
I know I probably shouldn’t be using my magic. It doesn’t work. But I had just a slither of hope that with practise, maybe I could turn my luck around, maybe this stupid bracelet would change it’s mind about me and I would finally be worthy. Maybe then I could prove to the villagers, to commander bright, that I was worth keeping around, that I was in fact a day walker like the rest of them. So that’s what I’ve been doing, every chance I get. Every time they leave for a village meeting, or a training session, or the annual harvest, I practise. I put on this damn bracelet and I try with everything in me to get this magic to work. It hasn’t, yet.
I pushed as hard as I could, every blood vessel in my body feeling as though it was going to explode, and yet, nothing but a simple flicker emerged. I felt defeated. I truly was broken.
I was ready to try again when the sound of marching interrupted me. I looked up into the window to see the same villagers I had just watched trail off in the distance, walk back towards me in a jumble. There was no order to the chaos, everyone looked frantic, most worried. You could hear the whispering, like a group of high school girls ready to start their next rumour.
whilst the others villagers were roaming around aimlessly, chattering away to themselves with worried painted across their faces, I watched Nova and her father make there way towards our home. I couldn’t quite figure out the expression on Nova’s face, it was a mixture of pure confusion and fear, fear of the outraged man behind her, he stomped with enough force to crush a village, you could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears.
I heard the front door open as they disappeared out of sight, I jumped up, snatching the bracelet off of my wrist and throwing it back into the closet with enough force to slam the doors shut in the process. Trying to position myself back on the bed as if I had never moved. Why on earth were they here? They should’ve been at the harvest with the vampires. Nova should’ve been awkwardly smiling and blushing with that vampire boyfriend of hers, commander bright should’ve been stood silently next to the vampire eldress pretending to be accepting of their kind. They should not be storming back towards home empty handed.
Nova came barging into my room, hurriedly closing the door behind her, taking extra care to make sure it didn’t make a noise. I don’t blame her, I wouldn’t want to piss off her father right now.
“What’s wrong why are you all back so soon? Where’s the harvest fruit?” Words fell out of my mouth quicker then I could think
“We couldn’t get in” Nova paused, as if she herself was struggling to understand her own words.
“The gate was blocked, there was some sort of barrier preventing us from opening it, to make matters worse we were alone, the vampires didn’t show”
