Prolouge

The adrenaline coursed through my veins, my eyes desperately trying to adjust in the utter darkness. I clutched the wooden bow tighter in my hand and leaned back against Ashton. Ash, the love of my life, the man of whom I owe my life, the man I might very well give my life, but at that moment I just wanted him to be the man who I ran to for protection. I knew I couldn’t hide though, I had to face the dangers that lie ahead, I couldn’t depend on him to fight this battle, one that I myself had started. No, I had to face it alone, and indeed, that was what I was going to do.


Chapter 1

I jumped up and out of my bed, nearly hitting my head on the metal bed frame above me. My roommate, Faith, turned uncomfortably towards me, her bright green eyes looking at me with question. I put a shaking finger to my lips in a silent show of silence then ever so carefully climbed up onto her bunk. The ice cold steel frame felt cool under my sweating, feverish skin but I ignored it as I began sending her my thoughts. As usual, she picked up them instantly, and smiled. “You have to stop dreaming about him,” she whispered so soft even my superhuman hearing had trouble picking it up. I knew she was right; I really did need to stop, to get back to my life. But it just wasn’t that easy! Ashton was always there, always in sight, always in mind, with everything I did.

Then, of course, there was the issue of Liam. The man who was also in love with me, the man who I was already set to marry, though I had no intentions of actually tying the knot with him that was just the messed up society I lived in. Terashaw, the so called town of the ‘specially advanced’ was my home, or more so where I lived, I had no real home. My friends and I had lived there since before we could remember, but we only met when we were ten and all became stationed in sanction #23. Now going on 17 years of age, I was beginning to realize just how messed up my life really was.

In just a month, I was set to marry Liam, and though he was

an incredible guy who meant a lot to me, I didn’t love him. No, the only man I loved was Ashton, Ashton who was gone, who had always joked about us escaping, running away together to a far off land, had actually left, but he’d forgotten to take me with him.

At first, I’d been crushed. I couldn’t understand why he would leave me in that hellhole, but then my answer came to me. I would’ve given us away, my so called gift would’ve ruined everything, and he just couldn’t risk that, and though in the note he left for me, he’d promised to return and rescue me as soon as he could, I couldn’t help but feel doubtful. Now, since it was my gift

that separated me from my soul mate, I loathed everything about it. I hated that I could hear things for miles away, that I could see microscopic particles invisible from even the best of microscopes, that I could sense peoples aura’s, and that I could sense in the air if someone was lying. But most of all, I hated the fact that with all of these gifts, a ring of haloed white hung above my head, a ring so bright and powerful that anywhere and everywhere I went, it alerted everyone.

It was times like these that I envied Faith, being a child of the Daruotons, she bore no halo above her head, nor did Ashton. Even though she wore no halo, she still had incredible powers, of course she had to, why else would she be in this solitary confinement with me. Faith’s powers centered mostly around physic thing, like levitating objects, reading minds, telling the future, compulsion, and many more gifted talents. We were all a bit different in our own ways, but Faith and her cousin Phantom definitely had the closest similarities in power. The only difference was the fact that his powers were more into healing people, where as Faith’s was more around controlling people.

Distant footsteps pulled me out of my thoughts and I pinched Faith’s arm to alert her of the intruder. She closed her eyes for a second, most likely reading the person’s thoughts, and then blinked once more, a smile playing on her lips. “Who is it?” I asked in a hushed tone and she sent her answer to me mentally, making use of her telepathy.

No reason to panic, it’s just Liam.

I bit my lip as I tried to convince myself that it really was no big deal, but I failed miserably and felt my palms begin to sweat. The doorknob turned slightly and then the door opened, allowing a crack of light to seep in.

“Skye, Faith, you awake?” Liam’s low voice swept softly into the room and I felt my muscles tense. Faith must’ve sent him a telepathic message because he soon came in and shut the door quietly behind him.

“Skye, we need to talk,” he said, his sweet chocolate eyes boring into my bright blue ones. I managed to give him a weak nod and silently slipped off of Faith’s bed. She cast me a sympathetic look, the laid back down. Grabbing my hand, Liam pulled me out into the hallway.

“If we get caught-” I began but he cut me off by placing a finger on my lips.

“If we get caught then they’ll suspect we just a young couple in love who wanted to get an early start on their honeymoon.” His mention of our upcoming wedding made me want to shudder or curl in a ball at the least, but I stood my ground, though I didn’t manage to hide the grimace on my lips.

“It’s only one week away now,” Liam whispered and now that we were out of the dark and I could get a good look at him, I could tell he wasn’t feeling good. His skin had beads of sweat standing out, his normally tan skin had gone very pale, almost as white as mine, and his dark wavy hair clung to his damp forehead. For a normal person, this would most likely be no big deal, but for a fire user like Liam, it meant he was very

stressed.

“We can’t actually get married,” he whispered more to himself than me, and I felt a pang of sympathy go through me. Though I knew he wanted nothing more than to marry me, I also knew he felt terribly guilty stealing my wedding away from me, he knew I was in love, and he definitely knew it wasn’t with him.

“No, but we’ll think of something,” I said as I laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He regarded my hand with a longing look before meeting my eyes.

“Skye, it’s over. They’ve done it, they’ve actually taken everything we have. There’s no getting out of this,” he replied and I felt my heart clench at his words.

“That’s a lie Liam, we can

get out of this, heck, we can get out of anything! We’re gourges for crying out loud! Our race rules the planet!” I was going to continue my rant when Liam suddenly lurched forward. His lips pressing firmly against mine, moving with such an urgency that I was momentarily too stunned to even react. That’s when I heard the footsteps nearing down the hall. I wasn’t sure how Liam had sensed the person, perhaps by their body heat, but he’d definitely sensed them before me.

Now, knowing why we were kissing, I kissed him back, playing into the desperately-in-love-couple act. The footsteps got louder and then suddenly came to a halt. Honor Nickels, a girl who was normally assigned to sanction #27, one of the most hard core of them all, tapped her foot and clucked her mouth in a sarcastic attempt at improvement.

“Now when are you two lovebirds going to get room, I’m sick and tired of watching you clean each other’s throat’s out,” she said with a joking smile and walked over slowly till she stood in front of us.

I tried to stifle my sigh as I again regretted the secrecy of our engagement and the fact that everyone though we really were

in love, well, everyone but Ashton, Faith, and the Queen, that is. Honor seemed to assume what everyone else in our sanction did, that we’d met, fallen in love, and that the fact we were both from royal family’s and both gourges had nothing to do with it. When in retrospect, it had absolutely everything to do with it. It’d been what the Queen insisted, or more demanded. We were to get married, bear the heir to the throne, and forget about anyone else we had hoped of having relations with, especially someone out of our race.

A never ending life with Liam,

once the though crossed my mind and gave myself a mental slap, sure, an eternity with him, but only as a friend. You’re not getting married, because friends don’t get married, and you already found your soul mate, now if only you could find him again…

“Thinking up an excuse?” Honor said with a sneer as she leaned back against the wall, yanking me out of myself pity, “don’t bother, I’m not going to report you as long as you keep quiet about my being out.”

I gave her an understanding nod and she continued off down the hallway without another word, leaving me and Liam in awkward silence. It hadn’t been the first time we’d had to kiss to avoid punishment, but that didn’t make it any less awkward afterwards, especially since I was aware every kiss slowly broke his heart.

“Look, we don’t have much time now Skye, but I just can’t go another night without telling you,” Liam said and I looked up at him nervously, hoping he wasn’t about to declare his love for me.

“I will not ever

stand for you being unhappy, and if getting married makes you unhappy, which I know it does, we’re going to find a way around it.” Great, now he was the positive one, and I was beginning to have my doubts.

“And do what? Liam, if we do anything against Queen Evelyn’s wishes, we’ll get executed, or worse, experimented on,” I said with a sigh and we both gave a shudder at my last words.

“I didn’t say it was going to be easy, in fact, I know it won’t. But that doesn’t matter, what matters is keeping you safe and happy,” he said and then, after quickly pecking me on the cheek, he was off down the hall. I sighed and tried to fight back the tears that were starting well up in my eyes.

“But I’m never going to be happy,” I said the truth I felt from the statement surprised me, “no, I’ll never be happy again, not until Ashton returns.” Brushing my jet black hair back and out of my eyes, I slowly opened my bedroom door and walked in to see Faith staring up wild-eyed at me.

“What, what’s wrong?” I asked and she shook her head in disbelief.

“You’re phone,” she whispered and I shot her a confused glance.

“What about my phone?” I asked as I began to walk over to my bed and Faith’s reached down and caught my arm.

“It’s Ashton, he says he’s on his way.”


Chapter 2

At first, I just stared at Faith, my mind taking comfort in the blanket of haze that settled itself around my mind. I was frozen in place, my limbs tingling with disbelief, and then the haze just broke. I nearly sprang forward, my muscles contracting from the adrenaline as I leapt towards my phone. But before my feet even left the ground I felt a strong hand grasp my shoulder from behind. Thinking it was Ashton; I gasped and whipped around only to find Phantom staring back at me. As soon as his skin made contact with mine, I felt my heart rate slowing down, my thoughts instantly becoming more focused and clearer, and I saw an amused smile playing on his lips.

I didn’t like it when Phantom, or anyone else for that matter, intervened with my feelings, and it especially ticked me off that he thought this was funny. Sensing my rising irritation, Faith lightly touched the top of Phantoms pale hand and he seemed to take this as a sign and silently removed his hand.

“What did he say, exactly,” I needed details, oh boy did I need them, but I realized that right now wasn’t the time, there were bigger questions to be asked.

“Never mind that,” I said after slight hesitation, “how long till he arrives?” I asked and Faith bit her lip, something I know she only does when she’s nervous, I sighed.

“What’s wrong, Faith?” trying to sound sympathetic, though I felt agitation rising in me, I needed to see Ashton, or to at least hear confirmation that I would be seeing his angelic face soon.

“Well, yes he did say he was coming, but…It’s just not that easy, Skye!” she said, her voice distraught and I saw Phantom shift uncomfortably and glance towards the door.

“What do you mean?” I snapped and I instantly felt a pang of guilt, it wasn’t Faith’s fault that we lived cooped up, or even that she was scared, I couldn’t blame her. “I just don’t understand…” I tried again, this time a bit more comforting and I heard Phantom snort from behind me, again making my aggravation flare up again.

“He obviously can’t just arrive and say, ‘I’m home!’” Phantoms voice was cold and lifeless, but there was also a hint of bitterness that I sensed, he most likely was thinking of Ruth, when she had tried to escape. Ruth, Phantom’s love of his life, had been torn away from him, which was mostly what I blamed for his negative attitudes. Ruth had tried to escape, she’d almost succeeded to, but at the last minute, she’d hesitated, not wanting to leave her love behind, and that hesitation had a cost, her life. “He’d get swarmed by security as soon as he arrived; he’d be dead before we could blink!” Phantom shouted and Faith reached out a hand to calm him down but he shoved her away.

“I’m sorry-” I began but he cut me off with a glare so full of hate I shuddered.

“I don’t need any of your damn sympathy; I just need your help in making just it doesn’t happen again!” Even though Phantom’s shouting was mostly the center of my senses, my hearing extended a tad farther and alerted me off footsteps coming down the hallway. Feeling panicked I threw a hand over Phantom’s mouth.

“Do you want to get us killed?” I hissed sharply and I saw his eyes widen as he grasped my words.
A knock on the door was all we needed, we sprang into action, Phantom sprinting to the bathroom to most likely hide in the shower curtains, Faith jumping back up onto her bed, pretending as if she’d just been awake, and I myself, sitting down in a chair opposite the door. The door opened itself; no doubt the intruder had used an ultimate room key. In fact, once the door was open and the woman was standing in my room blinding me with a flashlight, I had no doubt that she was a figure of authority.

“Miss Mitraw, your presence has been requested by the royal highness herself,” Sylvia, a older, gray haired security guard gave me a half hearted smile then turned to face Faith, which
definitely surprised us both.

“She’ll need to see you also dear.”
Noticing she’d dropped the respective title of ‘Miss’ for Faith, I frowned slightly, but gave Sylvia an encouraging nod, “We’ll be right out.”

“Dress nice,” Sylvia called over her shoulder as she shut the door and locked it behind her.

“You don’t think she heard about Ashton, do you?” Faith asked in a soft voice and Phantom reappeared from the bathroom.

“No, Ash is smarter than that, there’s no way he’d let his plan get out.” For once, I felt in total agreement with Phantom, there was no way this was about Ash, but that of course didn’t mean it was going to be pleasant. Sighing, I pulled out a green Burberry sweater dress and slipped on my navy Jimmy Cho’s, then turned to face Faith. As usual, she looked stunning, even without the flowing, flawless red mane of hair she sported, she had an amazing body and that dress definitely played it up. Her bright green eyes flashed at mine and I caught an approving smile on her lips.

“Cute,” she whispered and absentmindedly picked at the seam in her own dress. Not being a royal, Faith wasn’t wearing a designer dress, in fact, I’m not sure she even owned anything as extravagant as my clothing. Of course being the friend that I am, I repeatedly offered to purchase a new wardrobe for her, but she refused, her pride winning over the prospect of a shopping spree. But even though she wasn’t dressed in royal apparel, she still looked stunning, she had a purple tunic that suited her pale skin tone perfectly, and her glowing red hair flowed over her shoulders.

I gave her an encouraging smile and yanked my hair up into a pony. To be completely honest, I didn’t really care about all the ‘designer dresses’ or the ‘weekly spa trips’ none of it mattered to me, it was just something I’d grown up with, and even though I didn’t like feeling materialistic, I was a royal, and this was the standards at their lowest. At their highest, I’d have protection 24-7, ride to and from places in limo’s, have maid’s and servant’s, have a say in the law, and maybe even get a classier room. But, as I’m sure you could tell, I’m not at all high up on the queen’s list of favorite people, and instead of the royal treatment I get a stuffy room, a forced engagement, lab experiments, and the occasional allowance of fresh air.

Still, it was more than Faith ever got, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t taking it for granted. I grabbed her wrist and hauled her towards to door, not wanting to keep the queen waiting and risk having Liam and I’s wedding date bumped up. “We’ll talk later,” Faith called back to Phantom, he nodded and plopped down onto my bed, giving us a casual wave. Once we made it out into the hall I felt Faith’s familiar presence in my mind, what do you think this is about?

I gave her a shrug and sighed, “I’m not sure, but whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

The queen’s living quarters were on the very far side of the building, even getting in to see her could take hours on end so we decided to put pep in our step as we made our way to her. Passing sanctions of all kinds, we tried to keep our heads down but once sanction #13 was in sight my steady pace came to a halt. The terrible memories came surfacing back, the experiments, the drugs, the isolation, the lack of warmth, social standards and sunlight, all of it slapping me in the face. Faith was even more caught off guard the me, I knew I’d had it bad but since I was royal, I couldn’t even bear to think what happened to non-royals, such as Faith. Apparently she couldn’t either because she buried her face in her hands and sent me a mental plea, please, can we just keep walking?

She’d done it again; she’d guessed my thoughts by plunging into my sub conscious mind. I rested my cold hand against Faith’s warm ones, making her look up at me, tears shinning in her emerald eyes. “I j-just can’t g-go b-b-back in there…” her voice trailed off and I suspected she was having a flashback of her stay here.

I gave her a warm nod, “No, of course not. Of course we aren’t going in there,” I assured her and I instantly felt her muscles relax under my friendly embrace, “Let’s just go the other way, that way you won’t even pass it.”

Faith gave me a smile that made my heart warm and brushed her eyes with her small, child-like
hands. “Thanks Skye, I just don’t think I’m ready to go back, I just can’t…” she didn’t need to continue, I got the picture yet there was something that was bothering me. My gut instincts told me to stop walking away, to go run back to sanction #13, to go search its premises because there was something very important there, but my caring heart told me to comfort my distraught friend and that the only thing that sanction #13 would bring me was more emotional scarring. So I kept walking, my hand lying comfortingly on Faith’s back and my instincts screaming at me, telling me I’d regret it, but I guess I’d pay the price later.


Chapter 3

Turns out taking the long way to avoid sanction #13 meant arriving late to our meeting and Queen Verona wasn’t very pleased by this. “Sit,” she ordered once we entered her office and I took it as a good sign, she could’ve made us kneel. “You’re late,” she said with a cluck of her tongue and held up a perfectly manicured hand when I tried to protest. “None the less, we have more important matters to discuss.” I felt Faith tense beside me and I reached over and gave her hand a squeeze, I didn’t like that Verona could scare Faith so very easily, fear wasn’t something Faith showed often.

Verona smiled pleasantly at us as she shuffled through the papers in her hands. Her gray, withered hair was curled in puffy lumps and her make-up was slathered on to where she almost resembled a clown. I bit my tongue to keep from laughing as I pictured a bright red clown nose on Verona. Next to me, Faith relaxed and smiled a bit as she picked up my visions of the circus version of Verona. Leaning forward suddenly, Verona’s face turned deadly serious and all thoughts of humor left my mind.

“Do you ladies know anything, and I mean anything at all, about the whereabouts of Ashton Michael Donaston?” her bird like eyes studied us, searching for any sign of weakness but I knew she wouldn’t find anything, we both knew as much as she did.

“As we’ve already told you, we know nothing,” I replied in a restrained voice and Verona smiled viscously and clasped her hands together.

“Yes, yes, I suppose I am getting repetitive, now aren’t I?” the Queen now wore a smile that sent shivers down my spine, and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “Now ladies, as I’m sure you’re aware, our workforce has been depleting itself over the past years.” I nodded to show her I understood and saw Faith also nod in my peripheral vision. “Well, to cut to the chase, I would like you girls to help out where these times have hit us hardest.” Before she even spoke the words I knew where she was sending us, I felt Faith go as stiff as a board next to me and the Queens smile widened. “I’d like you ladies to help out in sanction #13.”

I just sat there for a moment, staring at the queen with wide eyes, trying to clear my fuzzy thoughts. Then reality settled back in. “Sanction 13?” I asked and the queen nodded with a smile.

“Yes, sanction 13. You, Skylar, will be helping out in the laboratory department, and you, Faith, will be working in the training annex.” Faith seemed to relax a bit at this; at least she wasn’t in the labs.

“Um, your majesty, if I am aloud to speak,” Faith paused long enough to get a nod of permission from Verona. “I was wondering if my cousin could help out also, he’s quite amazing in self defense.” Verona seemed to consider this, and as if to prove her point, Faith continued to speak quietly. “He graduated top in his rankings in his training, and was moved up 5 sanctions just to find someone to match his skill levels.”

Verona nodded patiently then smiled, “Yes, I’m quite aware of Phantom Renegard’s talents, I’m just not so sure he can control his temper long enough to teach anyone…”

Faith frowned but then seemed to come up with an excuse, “I’m sure he’ll behave if we tell him to be on extra good behavior and if not, he’ll be asked to leave, no harm no foul, right?”

Verona nodded slightly, and then a bit more aggressively, “yes, I believe you’re right dear, young Mr. Renegard will make an excellent addition to our faculty.” Then, as if just noticing how uncomfortable we were, she added in a even tone, “You are dismissed. Tomorrow, you will skip your morning classes and report straight to sanction #13, I look forward to meeting with you again.”

“Oh and Skylar!” she called as we turned to walk out, I stifled a sigh and plastered a smile on my face as I turned towards her again, “yes?”

“Do tell Liam I said hello, I’m dearly looking forward to your wedding,” and with one last wicked smile, she ushered us out the door and shut it swiftly behind us.

Once outside of hearing range I turned to Faith. “We’re not actually going to do this, right?” I asked and Faith looked up at me with tear filled eyes.

“We don’t really have a choice Skye, I mean, look at yourself. You’re getting married to someone who you don’t even love but you’re just going along with it like nothing’s wrong!” she said and I shot her an incredulous look.

“I don’t really have a choice to marry Liam, Faith, you know that!” I replied and she laughed quietly.

“Yes, you really do Skye. You don’t have

to marry him, you’re choosing to,” she said, and then she picked up her pace and rounded the corner, leaving me staring after her.

I waited for awhile, thinking that she was just joking, that she’d round the corner again and we’d both burst into laughter but after twenty minutes passed, I realized she was gone. I looked up and gazed into the glass window in front of me, staring deeply at my reflection. “Maybe she’s right…Maybe I am

just giving up too easily…” I sighed out of frustration then jumped when I heard soft footsteps protruding from around the corner.

“Look, Faith, I’m sorry I got so upset it’s just with Liam and I…you know, I get defensive…” I looked down at the floor so that my silky black hair shielded my face from her.

“You used to get defensive about us

too.”

My eyes shot open, wider than I thought they could go and I flipped my head up, my hair flying out of my face. But no one was there. I quickly looked around, searching, no, it was more than searching, it was like I had only so long to live, and right in front of me had been the key to immortality. I needed

it, just like I needed him

. “That’s not possible,” I whispered as I sunk to the ground, “I know you were here ,Ash, I heard your voice, I felt your breath on my skin, I smelt that scent of yours that I long for so much these days…You were here, I know it.” I felt a stray tear slip down my cheek and I resisted the urge to wipe it away, I needed the tears too, it was the only way I could remember Ashton, because certainly no one could feel so much pain if their other being didn’t exist.

I hugged my knees closer to my chest and allowed other teardrops slide down my face in hopeless rivets of memories. I felt the room around me begin to feel chilled and I knew it was time to stop, time to pull myself together, but I couldn’t. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to cut off my only source of being with Ashton, so I let it come. The ceiling above me shook and I shook my head with it, it’s not worth it, I suddenly pushed my emotions out of me. I shoved them away, rejected them as if they were meaningless to me, and the room went back to normal. The paintings stopped shaking, the ceiling healed any cracks that had been forming, and the temperature returned to the normal mid warmth feeling. I stood up wearily, it’s just not fair,

I thought silently to myself, I can never seem to be with you, not even through memories

.

“Skylar? Are you okay?”

I looked up and saw Liam running at inhuman speeds toward me. When he reached me he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his warm embrace. I clung to him, needing him close, needing someone who understood, but knowing that the only person who would wasn’t here. He pulled away for a moment; slowly taking my face in his hands and making me stare into his eyes. We didn’t need words, he just knew. He knew why mascara was running down my face, he knew who I was upset about, who I was actually longing for, and I knew how much he wished that it was him who I was affectionate for, but at that moment, we didn’t care. Liam leaned forward and gently kissed my forward, then slowly pulled me back into his warm embrace.

“Thank-you,” I whispered and I felt him nod against my shoulder.


Chapter 4

After that, my day was uneventful. I gave Liam another kiss on the cheek then trudged off down the hallway until I reached my room. Once I reached the familiar stainless steel frame, I pulled out my key and quickly flung open the door. Faith was still nowhere to be seen. I rolled my eyes out of annoyance and walked into our bathroom, the door swinging shut behind me. Sighing, I pulled off my Burberry dress and reached down towards the knob on our shower when a voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Whoa, what the Hell are you doing?” I let a girlish yelp escape my lips as I whipped my head around to stare at Phantom.

Grabbing a towel, I quickly covered my half-naked body and shot him an angry glare. “What am I doing? This is my

room! What are you

doing?!”

“I was practicing levitating things until you stormed in here and started stripping down for me,” he said with a smirk that made me want to slap him.

“First off, you wish that was for you, and secondly, why are you in here

practicing?” I snapped, my voice smothered with sarcasm.

Phantom laughed under his breath, as if there was some part of this that I was missing that made this funny. “I’m in here because I can’t leave until I know that the guards aren’t passing and you and my cousin ran out so fast I couldn’t check.” He said with a sly grin and I slapped him on the arm.

“Quit joking around, I’ve already had enough crap today, okay?” I said as I wrapped the towel tighter around myself.

“It’s not even noon yet, how bad could your day be going?” he asked as he sat down on the ledge of the bathroom counter.

“Well, starting your day with the Queen is bad enough, but then you find out that you have to do some stupid-” I quickly mashed my lips together and pretended to have lost my train of thought. Thank God he can’t read minds

, I told myself silently as I picked at my cuticles, something I always do when I’m nervous.

“What? What do you have to do now?” he asked and his still amused looking grin alerted me that he wasn’t aware of what I was hiding.

“I think you need to talk to Faith,” I said with a start as I began to head towards the door but Phantom grabbed my arm.

“Tell me, please,” he asked.

I felt an odd pricking sensation in the back of my throat and suddenly, I seemed like a great idea to tell him. I knew what had happened, he’d compelled me, but even though I knew that, I hadn’t recovered enough from my incident in the hallway and wasn’t strong enough to resist. I shot him a nervous smile and leaned in towards his ear. “We have to work in sanction #13,” I whispered and I felt his spine instantly straighten.

The compulsion was instantly dropped; he had other things to focus on now. “I’m sorry Phantom, I really am, I mean, I know how hard-” I was cut off by Phantoms hand pressing itself against my lips.

“How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t need your sympathy? I don’t want it!” he spat and even though his expression looked outraged I knew how deeply he was hurting inside. Working in sanction #13, the last place that Ruth was, was going to be practically unbearable for him. But if Phantom was broken and crying inside like I thought, he wasn’t really showing it. His mouth was set in a grimace but his eyes were sharp and focused. He flipped his unruly black hair out of his piercing blue eyes as he surveyed me.

“I’m just going to get going,” he said calmly and I nodded and gave him a hesitant smile.

“When do we start?” he asked and I felt my stomach clench.

“Tomorrow, we start tomorrow…” I said quietly then I reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. “And it’s not sympathy I’m offering, Phantom, it’s me being someone who understands.” An image of Ashton soared through my mind and I had to push it out of my mind for fear of another incident like earlier.

Phantom laughed quietly without a smile, then headed for the door, “Oh, Skylar, when are you going to get that he’s coming home?” he said as he looked back at me from the doorway. “What happened with Ashton is nothing, not even remotely, what happened to Ruth.” Phantom walked out and quietly shut the door behind himself, leaving me speechless.

I just stood there for a moment, my mind still seething from everything that had happened today. Then, I reached for my neck and tried to massage my sore muscles but they continued to scream for relief. Giving in, I shut and locked the door behind me, then turned the water on. Pulling my black locks out of the braid they were in, I dropped the multi-thread count towel onto the floor and stepped into the steamy shower. The warm water droplets slipped down my back in rivets and into the drain, taking my stress along with it. Sighing, I leaned back against the cold, marble wall and ran my fingers through my damp hair as my mind slowly slipped into a hazy fog.

*~^~*

After one and a half long, steam covered hours, I was finally able to drag myself back into the real world. After pulling on my pink Juicy Couture sweat pants and a white camisole, I laid back onto my bed. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, I reached into my pillow case and pulled out the thick leather book that lie between my pillow and mattress. Smiling, I ran my fingers over the intricate cover art, careful not to tip the picture the lie in the center of the rose patterns.

Aston smiled up at me from the book, his crooked, sly grin teasing me playfully and his sparkling eyes boring into mine. Then, there was the old version of me. In the picture, I was clinging to him, my arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders as he swung me around in his arms. We were both laughing with genuine laughter, not the fake kind that is so common around here, and were staring into each other’s eyes as if we could see the others soul. We were so unbelievably, obviously in love.

I sighed and opened the book; I couldn’t bear to stare at him

anymore, at least not at the moment, for I wanted to avoid more tearful accidents. On the first page was a picture of Faith and I. We were young in it, just turning eight and were both grabbing each other in a tight friendly embrace.

In the corner, a younger version of Phantom stood, he’d just turned ten and his blue eyes sparkled in the dim lighting as he chatted up the girl next to him. Ruth, who was only seven, stared up at him with so much admiration you’d think she’d just saw God. I felt my heart ache as I looked at his big smile, something that I hadn’t seen in a very long time.

Shutting the book, I lazily leaned over and check my clock. It was now past noon, meaning I’d successfully wasted my last free morning. Suddenly, the door swung open and Faith’s auburn hair came into view. “We need to talk,” she said in a strong, powerful voice, then, she quietly shut the door and locked it. “There’s been another enforcing. Honor’s dead.”


Chapter 5

There was a faint ringing sound in my ears and my knees seemed to have turned into liquid below me. I felt Faith’s strong arms wrap around my torso as my body neared the ground. She sat down on the floor and pulled my limp body onto her lap. “Skye? Skylar! Skye, please say something,” she said through salty tears and I reached up and flicked a tear drop off of her cheek.

“I just talked to her,” I whispered under my breath, but Faith’s superhuman hearing heard me loud and clear.

“They said she just went psycho, started throwing things and hitting and all so…well, you know the rest of that story…” Faith’s eyes stayed fixed on the wall in front of us as she spoke and the only time she moved an inch was to wipe her running mascara from her cheek bones.

“This isn’t right, it’s just so…wrong.”

I looked up to see Faith staring at me emotion filled eyes. There were so many emotions in her face, sadness, confused thoughts, but most of all, anger. There was so much anger it almost scared me, I’d never seen her like this. She laughed without humor and put her face in her hands.

“You know what I mean? It’s just so…so completely and utterly disgusting what these people do! We’ve lost so many people Ruth, Ashton, and now Honor…”

“We haven’t lost Ashton,” I contradicted as I grabbed a tissue and blew my nose softly.

“Yes,” Faith’s green eyes glowed with passion and a hint of pity as she continued, “Yes, we have. He’s not here, Skye, and he’s not coming back.”

“What are you saying?” I demanded in a cold voice. “So that’s it? You think that because he’s gone, because he escaped

, that he’s a lost cause? Where’s the fight, Faith? Where’s the girl who I left sanction 13 with?! Where’s the girl-”

“She’s gone!” Faith interrupted with a hiss then, abruptly, her icy glare seemed to melt. Her arms began to shake and tremble as she sunk to the floor, wet tears dripping down her cheeks. “She’s gone,” she repeated, her eyes far away as she continued to murmur quietly to herself, “I was broken, and I tried, oh I tried so hard, but there’s only so many times I can rebuild myself, Skye. There’s only so much pain I can take, only so many scars that my heart can hold.” I felt energy swell inside myself as thoughts began flying through my head. She doesn’t deserve this,

one whispered. You need to protect her

, another chimed in.

Skylar tried desperately to calm her racing blood as the air in the room began to stir. “Faith, listen,” Skylar said frantically as she forced herself to breathe evenly, “I can’t do this, I can’t lose control. I could kill someone.” As is summoned, a calm sort of haze began to settle over Skylar and the bedroom seemed to tilt to the side.

“Skye, I’m so sorry, but you’ll be okay. It’ll only hurt for a bit, I promise,” Faith’s voice drifted in and out of my ears as I tried to focus. Something was hurting, of this I was sure, but what was it? By now, my whole body had gone numb but I still continued to hold onto my conscious mind. Yes, something is throbbing…my head,

I finally identified as a spit of fire like pain shot through the back of my skull. I bit my lip to keep from crying out then found myself swallowing her own blood as a result.

My mouth tasted of iron and now my whole body seemed to be throbbing. It felt like electricity was raging through me, seizing my muscles and forcing them to convulse. The pain continued to grow as I prayed for relief. When it got to the point that I was screaming, begging and pleading for relief, to the point that my body felt as if it could certainly take no more of this torture, the fiery pain receded, replaced with an icy dark nothingness.

*~^~*

A loud annoying beeping was the only thing that seemed to penetrate my senses. I was vaguely aware of other noises, voice, but they were too cloudy and masked for me to make sense of their words. My mind felt groggy and disoriented, I knew there was something I was supposed to remember, something important, but I couldn’t grasp exactly what it was. Suddenly, someone was forcing my eyes open, shining an impenetrable light into my pupils. “Her pupil response seems normal,” someone whispered as my eyes shut themselves once more.

“Will she be alright?” someone asked in a concerned tone and my heart clenched.

Faith, that was who was speaking. But about who, herself? I didn’t understand, I felt fine. In fact, I felt rather great, as if her whole body was floating on air. Open your eyes,

I coached myself as I tried relentlessly to force my eyes open but my efforts were wasted and I continued to stay in inky darkness.

“Yes, she should be fine after some bed rest. Fayette, you did the right thing. She could’ve not only hurt someone else but herself too,” a woman’s voice, who I now identified as a nurse, whispered with assertiveness.

“I just acted on my instincts, I really hope she’ll be okay, and I’d prefer to be called Faith,” Faith sighed and laid a hand on my shoulder, “I didn’t think she’d be out this long…” Not being able to stand another ounce of nothing, I used every part of my being to open my eyes and take in the blindingly bright light that smothered me. “You’re awake!” Faith exclaimed as she gave my shoulder a squeeze and a smile lit up her face.

“Even without true loves kiss,” Phantom muttered through his tousled hair as he sulked in the corner. His dark eyes looked bloodshot and his normally tough exterior seemed even
icier than usual.

“Yeah,” I smiled back at Faith as I reached up to give her a hug then found my muscles scream in an agony of protest. “Oh God!” I exclaimed as I leaned forward over the bed side rail and vomited into the pale below. Feeling not only lightheaded, feverish and confused, I felt the color drain from her face. “What happened?”

The young looking nurses stepped forward with a sympathetic glance and replaced the soiled pale with a fresh one before answering quietly, “You were having a panic attack, so your friend helped subdue you. She used her abilities to do this, something strictly prohibited as you know, but it will be allowed in this special case. Anyhow, to subdue you, she used methods of mind control and manipulation that even a highly experienced adult should stray from. It really a wonder that you’re this good considering all that could’ve gone wrong.” At this, the nurse seemed to shoot Faith a condescending glance before exiting quietly into the back office.

“I’m so sorry, Skye, I didn’t know what I was doing. If I had known that I could’ve hurt you…It’s just, you were begging, Skye, you were pleading with me to do something and…and I panicked!” Faith’s green eyes were filled with grief and guilt as she sat down next to me in a defeated style.

“I’m not mad,” I replied as I patted Faith’s arm reassuringly, “You did what I asked, you stopped me from doing something I’d regret, and for that, I’m forever grateful.”

“Forever’s a long time,” Phantom said poetically as he approached the hospital bed, “any word for you know who yet?” he whispered in a hushed tone.

“Since the text?” I asked in a confused tone, “No, nothing. In fact, I’m not even sure if that was from him, it could’ve been from anyone…” I let my voice trail off for fear that if I didn’t it would crack under all of my emotions. I didn’t want to believe it was someone else, I wanted, no needed, for it to be from him.

Phantom nodded, seeming to notice that it was a touchy subject and motioned towards the door, “I don’t know if you’re up for it, but the Queen is requesting our orientation as mentors in sanction #13.”

Faith sighed and rested her hand on my shoulder as she spoke, “If you don’t want to, or you feel too weak, we completely understand, we’ll tell her to reschedule.”
I shook my head and forced a smile on to my lips, “Oh no, I feel fine. Just as long as the nurse says it’s fine.” I looked up hesitantly at the nurse who looked slightly confused but then nodded.

“You should be fine to go, just make sure to drink plenty of fluids, get lots of rest, and don’t overdo it and you should be fine.”

I gave her a thankful half smile then gave Faith’s hand a squeeze and eased myself out of the hospital bed, “Well, let’s do this.”


More To Come Soon, I Promise :) Please <3/Comment if You Liked it! :D XOXO--Jess

Imprint

Text: No part of this books is to be copied or redistributed in any manner.
Publication Date: 10-26-2011

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To those who support me endlessly through all of my writing.