Prologue
°~Ruby~°
"Did they love each other at some point?" I asked. Wesley nodded, and stared out at the vastness of the ocean, "Or at least I think it was love."
I remember that the ocean was nowhere near our previous home, in fact the first time I'd seen the ocean was when we'd moved here.
"Did they fight back home?" Maybe the change of scenery was what made them so angry all the time.
"Never," my older brother answered quietly, "I don't even remember them raising their voices at each other."
"Do they fight because of me?"
Wesley scoffed and ruffled my hair, "Whats there to fight about? Other than your obsession with Disney movies."
I wasn't convinced, and despite the playfulness in my brother's voice I wasn't sure he was either.
I was twelve years old and I couldn't remember anything before the screaming and fighting. And Mum crying.
Mum always seemed to be crying nowadays.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive!"
"Whats going to happen when you leave for college in a month, Wes? What's going to happen to me?"
His face fell, "You're going to have to stay here, Rubes, with Daadee Priya."
The word sounded forced, strained and unnatural when Wes spoke it.
Tears formed in my eyes, so I closed them, I wanted him to stay.
I would've begged if I didn't know how hard he'd worked to get into a good college.
He doesn't know I know this, I know he doesn't. But when my older brother applied to colleges he'd purposely selected ones that were far away from us.
I understood why, he was finally getting out.
He was going to be free.
"You're coming back for holidays and birthdays right?" I sniffled.
Wesley rubbed my back, "Of course I am."
"Whats with all the tears?" Daadee gasped.
Wesley and I shot to our feet, guilty.
She'd warned us about going near the edge of the cliffs. The ones we'd been sitting on moments before.
"Nothing," I lied. I hastily wiped away the tears on my cheeks with the back of my hands.
"What did I say about lying?" She narrowed her eyes at me and Wesley threw an arm around my shoulders.
He was still wary of our mother's mother, I mean I don't blame him we'd only met her when we'd moved into this town just over three years ago.
Wesley just had a harder time letting people in, especially since he'd spent the better part of his adolescence raising and caring for me.
He worried alot.
"She's upset I'm leaving for college soon," he glanced at Daadee, "I told her I'd come back as often as I could," he paused, "and that she'd have you to keep her company while I was away."
She smiled softly, that was the closest thing she'd got to acceptance out of my older brother, it pleased her.
"He's right! You're stuck with me," she laughed, "come on now it's getting cold outside and I made cupcakes!"
Wesley left after a few months passed.
And he didn't come back.
°~Elliott~°
"What's wrong with me, Mama? Why can't I do that?" I watched Elijah from a distance, the way the water bended at his will, moved in any direction he ordered.
Mama wrapped her arms around me, "Nothing is wrong with you, my love, some people just pick up things easier than others. It doesn't mean you won't get the hang of it eventually."
Dad approached Elijah, a small smile on his face.
Dad never smiled.
Or maybe he just never smiled at me.
"I want to try again," I said. She went to protest, "Please." She let out a sigh and summoned the spilled water out of the ground and levitated it back into the large metal bowl.
Hours passed and eventually I wound up on the ground with my head between my knees as tears of frustration fell from my eyes silently.
"It's okay. It's okay," arms wrapped around me and Mama's perfume filled my nostrils.
"We can always try again tomorrow."
I couldn't command the water the next day, or the one after that.
And Dad never smiled at me.
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A/N IMPORTANT
This story contains the following:
~Strong Language
~Sexual scenes
~Mentions of suicide
~Mentions of ED
~Extreme violence
~Intense Gore
~Sexual Assault
~Mentions of racism
If you are not comfortable with reading any of the above please discontinue reading the book.
This book has been a passion project for years now. Wow...makes my babies sound a little old doesn't it?
Anyway, I don't promise happy endings because originally I'd planned to give this book a sad ending.
However it has been rewritten many times and I've grown very attached to my characters.
I do not want to harm them of course but, I love those books who make me cry at 3AM. I'd like this to be one of those but we'll see how it goes!
They say third times the charm, and gosh darn I hope that's true.
