Chapter 1
Giana
I rested under a big oak tree, my breathing coming out in loud whooshing sounds, as I attempted to slow my heart rate down. I knew I had the advantage in the woods. They knew it too. I pressed my hand lightly against my back and winced when it made contact. I felt the sticky blood against my white cotton shirt, but refused to look at the sight of it. If they caught me, the beating I would face next would be much worse. I had to keep moving somehow, even in this weakened state.
Getting up was painful, but I finally stood, unsure if I were even going the right way anymore. It was dark and these woods were massive. It had been a long time since I had walked through them. I stopped in my tracks when I heard the familiar sound of a rattlesnake behind me. I turned to face it. It had elevated itself and let out a hiss of warning. I smiled at it, meeting its eyes with mine.
“Shhhhh, shhhh,” I whispered, maintaining its gaze. It relaxed, completely docile at my feet. I picked it up, placing it around my neck for protection. It hummed against me, calming my heart rate even more. I hadn’t been able to take a knife with me this time, but a venomous snake would do just fine. I didn’t like taking it from its home and would release it as soon as I could, but for now, I needed all the help I could get.
As I walked silently, my thoughts drifted to my mother. Her death had been what it had taken to set myself free. It was an odd combination of missing her more than I ever thought possible, but also knowing that they no longer held that control over me any longer. She was the only person I loved in this world. She was their pawn, and as long as she was living, they could use the threat of violence against her to make me comply.
Now all that remained was the threat of violence against me. Not death, of course. I was far too valuable to ever kill. My death would only come at my own hands, and I was seriously considering it. The snake, who I decided to name Pyson, could easily take care of that for me right now. But I couldn’t risk it. I had no idea how long it would take for the venom to kill me, and in that time they might find me.
As another hour passed by, I started to question whether or not my mother knew what was she was talking about when she told me of Kalahar’s house in the woods. I should have made it there by now. I felt a prickle of panic down my spine as I considered that maybe she was mistaken. That was my only plan, my only hope. I had very little food or water, and while I could probably find a way to survive off the land, it would only be a matter of time until they found me.
No. I would not allow myself to even consider it. He had to be here. Failure was not an option.
In the distance, I suddenly made out a small cabin, and it looked exactly as my mother had described. You wouldn’t notice it if you weren’t seeking it out, and it seemed to be nearly camouflaged into the environment. I let the breath I hadn’t known I was holding stream through my mouth at once as I found renewed energy to pick up my pace. The deep cut on my upper back, the fresh bruises running down my spine, the unhealed wound to my foot where they had impaled me with a nail...all of my injuries fell to the background as I jolted to Kalahar’s cabin, praying he would help me.
I knocked on the door. Then again. A third time, louder still. The adrenaline that had me racing here plummeted, and the radiating pain from my left foot nearly knocked me to the ground.
“Kalahar?”
I slowly turned the knob, unsure of what else to do, and it opened effortlessly. Given the potential for danger, I would have to talk with him about leaving his door unlocked. His cabin was so dark inside that I couldn’t see anything. As I made my way to find a light, I tripped over something on the floor. When I reached out to see what I had tripped over, a shrill scream escaped me as I made contact with an icy cold hand.
I didn’t know how long I screamed for, but at some point, I forced myself to stop. The sight before me was gruesome, and seeing it in the light had caused the small amount of food I had consumed to make its way back up. This was what they wanted. To shock me, to horrify me. To show me that my decision to run would destroy all the innocent people who find themselves in my path. But how did they know where I was headed?
The how didn’t matter. Somehow, they always knew. There was no escaping this life I had become destined to live. I ran away to stop them from using me to hurt people and yet people were still getting hurt. This man, whom I assume was Kalahar...a man my mother spoke so fondly of, was dead because of me.
“I’m so sorry you lost your life because of me,” I whispered, sadness washing over me.
“Not because of you,” a voice came from behind me. “Definitely because of me.”
I found myself screaming once more, grasping Pyson from my neck and pointing him towards the man.
“Don’t come any closer! This is a highly venomous snake and I promise he will bite you if you don’t stay where you are.” My heart rate raced in my chest as I watched him intently. It shocked me to my core when he suddenly let out a laugh.
“Not only do you look like your mother, but you speak like her too. If it were thirty years ago, I’d be certain you were one in the same.”
“Kalahar?” I breathed, relief flooding every inch of my body. “Then who is this?” I gestured towards the body between us.
“Don’t know. He was after you though, and he was after...” his voice trailed off as if he caught himself revealing more information to me than he intended. I felt him studying me, and I fought every urge inside me not to use my ability on him. I had promised myself I would never do so unless I was in danger and had no other choice. Right now, I was safe.
I wanted to trust him. In a world where almost every individual around me had bad intentions, I desperately sought those who were worthy of my trust. So many times I had blindly placed my trust in someone who had betrayed me in every way possible. I shuddered in remembrance.
“You’re not safe with me here,” I told him. It was a statement, a fact. “I don’t know what my plan is, but I have no intention of staying and putting you in harms way.”
Kalahar stared at me silently for a moment, a small smile forming on his lips. He shook his head, another chuckle escaping him.
“Oh Giana, just like her mother. So stubborn. Your mother might not have had your abilities, but you share the same spunk. No doubt about that. Don’t you worry any about me, I’m an old man, but I’m not as frail as I appear. I’ve been doing this for years. Now I’m sure you’re starving and, no offence sweetheart, but you look like you were repeatedly ran over by a bus. I’ll boil you up some water and you can take a bath.”
In that moment, all the emotion I had been building up for far too long came bubbling to the surface. I hadn’t cried when they beat and tortured me. I hadn’t cried when they killed the snowy white rabbit in front of me because I refused to charm any animals for them. I hadn’t even cried when my own mother died, even though it had broken my heart, because I refused to allow them to see that they had that control over me. But it was as if all of those moments had culminated into one dreadful moment of sorrow, and Kalahar’s simple acts of kindness towards me were just too much. A sob escaped me, and once I started crying, I couldn’t stop.
Kalahar said nothing, but stopped in his tracks toward the kitchen and walked towards me instead. He sat with me, continuing to say nothing, but I could feel his attention next to me. He placed a hand on my shoulder, and the gesture was comforting. Only after the last sob escaped my throat did he give my shoulder a squeeze, and then head back to the kitchen to fix us dinner.
I understood why my mother had sent me to him, but I felt the unusual feeling of raw sadness give way to the more familiar feeling of fear. I did appreciate his kindness, but I didn’t want to care about him. Nor did I want him to care about me. When I cared about people, they died. I swallowed the lump in my throat, summoning every ounce of power within myself to remain distant to Kalahar and to the world. I would take a bath and enjoy a meal, but then I would formulate a plan of what to do next. One that didn’t involve growing close to anyone else, or putting good people in danger.
Kalahar
I listened patiently as Drake yelled at me through the phone. Well, I half-listened. Mostly I just allowed the opportunity for him to vent, as I expected he would. But nothing he could tell me would change my mind this time. I had been alive on this earth long enough to know that every so often, you had to fight for something important to you. Or in this case, someone. This issue, if you could call it that, was something near and dear to both of our hearts, and the idealistic part of me had hoped he would be eager to help us. The realistic part of me knew I was a crazy old man for even considering any other reaction than the one he was currently yelling into the phone.
“I can’t believe you would trust someone we don’t know anything about. I can’t believe you would put your life in danger the way you’re doing now. And you want me to put my life on the line as well, and for what? Some woman who could very well be working for the enemy? You’re far too trusting, Kalahar.” He paused for a moment to take a breath, which I saw as my opportunity to finally get a word in.
“Drake, I understand your concerns. My mind is made up though. I’m helping Giana. It would be a lot easier if you would help me to help her, but that’s up to you. Just know that she needs our help desperately, and she’s a good person. And you’d know if I were lying to you. I hope that after all we’ve been through, you would believe me.”
Drake let out a long sigh, and I could almost hear him contemplating my words. We’d known each other for years and I could picture exactly what he was doing now. He would be pacing the floor, his lips tightly pressed together, a hand raking through his hair as he tried to think of a way to counter me and outsmart me into giving in. Not this time, Drake.
“I believe that you believe she’s a good person. I also know that you’ve known her all of four hours and that you are a bleeding heart that would help an escaped convict wanted for killing an entire town if they fed you some sad story about their horrible life.”
“All I’m asking is that you come see for yourself. Once you see her, you’ll be able to figure out whether or not she’s telling the truth. I know you’re putting your life in danger, but...” I paused, not knowing whether I felt comfortable playing the guilt card. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t, but I wasn’t sure if there were another way to get through to him. “But how many times have I put my life in danger for you?”
After I hung up the phone, I felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Drake was on his way here and he could help Giana in ways that I simply couldn’t. He hadn’t exactly agreed to help, but he was at least willing to meet with her and we could all go from there. I just knew that if he gave her a chance, he would see the strong, incredible survivor who has fought all these years for her life and to protect her mother. And her mother, well...
She was an angel.
I couldn’t go there though, not right now. The pain was still so deep, so raw. Instead, I turned my attention toward the task I knew she would want me to take on. And that was protecting Giana. I was putting Drake in danger by asking him to help me protect her, but I knew if we didn’t help her, we would both be damning her to a fate so terrible I refused to even think of it.
I went to the door of the bathroom, gently knocking on it so as not to scare her. I figured she had plenty of time by now to wash herself off, and I wanted to talk to her about Drake. He was one of the kindest people I had ever known in all of my sixty-eight years of life, but he could be abrasive towards those he didn’t fully trust. Over the last decade, those he didn’t fully trust was pretty much anyone with a pulse.
Giana didn’t answer the door, so I knocked again, more loudly. I waited for the sound of her soft voice to call something out to me, but I was met with a looming silence that suddenly filled me with dread.
“Giana?”
Not wanting to invade her privacy, but already knowing something was horribly wrong, I turned the knob to find an empty bathtub. The towel was folded neatly on the toilet seat and there was a scribbled note on top. My heart plummeted.
Kalahar - your kindness is a debt I fear I’ll never be able to repay. Please stay safe. Even having me here this short time was inevitably a great risk. Be well. Giana
I muttered a curse as I ran out the door, not bothering to grab a jacket. I shouted her name as loud as I could over and over again as I ran through the woods frantically. This couldn’t be happening. This could NOT be happening.
She’d been through a great deal during the course of her life, but she had no idea what was yet to come. No idea what they were capable of.
“Gloria,” I whispered into the darkness of the night, “please protect our daughter.”
