What If
“We’re out here, now what, Jewel?” Lark said.
The tension in her voice was palpable, but I held up my hand to stall any further complaint.
“Give me a minute. I have to think,” I said.
Her lips puckered into a grimace, but Lark stayed silent.
The moons were hidden behind the clouds, but the Ember trees burned brightly illuminating the night. No stars were visible, and I was lost.
“We can’t just stand here, Jewel.”
I whipped around and glared at her. “Shut up, Lark,” I said. “I misjudged the cloud cover. Go back inside, if you want. I will find her.”
Lark shrugged. She started to walk away, but turned back after a moment.
“I told you I was with you on this, Jewel. I am staying.”
“Stay then, but stay silent,” I said. “Things just got complicated.”
I moved deeper into the trees and motioned for Lark to follow me. I rolled up my sleeve and activated the Indigo Wave detector on my Monitor. Members of my class strictly forbade use of this wave, but I was desperate.
The Medium would help me find peace. I just needed to find her.
I walked in a trance, following staccato beeps into an unknown part of the forest. The Ember Trees lit up the gloom. I was walking through a fire without getting burned.
Nothing mattered but my goal.
Lark grabbed my shoulder and shook me. I turned my head to look at her, my eyes refused to focus on her features.
“I can’t do this, Jewel, I’m frightened,” she said. Get the ball cheeks were wet with tears I didn’t know she’d shed.
I shook my head and tried to grab for her hand. “I’ve gone too far…Turn around while you still can.”
My voice spoke those words, but my brain didn’t formulate them.
Lark screamed and backed away from me. Sparks crackled from her hand as she wrenched it from my shoulder. Her eyes lingered on me for a moment longer before she fled, and I was alone.
My body was no longer my own, my thoughts raced, and fear gnawed at my gut. What had I done? Why hadn’t I listened?
I saw every warning, but refused to acknowledge them. Fate couldn’t be changed. Those who tried perished. I thought I was different, I was wrong.
My mother’s face flashed before my eyes, broken and bloody. She died protecting me, and I spit on her memory by ignoring her sacrifice.
My Monitor beeped frantically on my wrist and my legs quivered with the urge to run. I didn’t remember grabbing onto the branch of a tree, but I clung to it as if it was the last solid thing in the universe.
I would not move.
Fate was not mine to control. Pain wracked my tortured muscles, but I held my ground. I nearly lost myself to my greed, but my mother saved me again.
I swung my hand and smashed my Monitor against the trunk of the tree. The pull dragging me forward was now broken and useless as the device on my wrist. A woman screamed in frustration in the distance, but I was free.
My fate was uncertain, but I didn’t care. I ran, and I didn’t look back.
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