Chapter 23
With a suspicious look, Miah turns my stomach into knots. Those hazel eyes, no longer playful but calculating, looking me up and down. These are the outcomes I was afraid of, and now we walk awkwardly to Shellbourne gardens. A silent Miah – something I didn’t think was possible – trails behind me slightly, locked in thought, and has been since we left the beach. I could ask her what’s on her mind, see if I can help, but I have a feeling I already know and choose to remain ignorant to it.
“So, this is where she wanted to meet us,” Miah confirms as we enter the gardens between the spring and summer section.
We had tried to persuade Darcy to meet us on the beach, but she refused, suggesting we meet here instead, as she’s heard so much about it and has never been. “I can see why! It’s beautiful.” Miah points out.
The spring section is well in bloom, covered in a mix of yellow, blue and purple flowers of which I don’t know the names for. This section has always been my favourite, due to the mix of colour and the bright picnic area. It has more tables and benches than the winter section – due to more people eating outside in the sun – and instead of old fashioned lamps, there are luminous fairy lights wrapped around silver poles that sprout up from the ground. The effect is minimal in the daylight, but at night time it shines brightly, adding a touch of warmth and serenity.
“I don’t say it enough, but I really am lucky to live here.” I proclaim. “Although, I’d love to try city life, for a while at least.”
Miah nods. “It is different. I think I’d miss being able to buy cake at three o’clock in the morning.”
“You can do that?”
“Of course hun.”
Striding through the picnic area, Miah eventually settles on a table in the corner, away from a family sat with their young child and toddler, and a couple having champagne and strawberries. “Romantic, huh?” Miah says, raising an eyebrow.
I shrug. “I guess so.”
“You guess so?” she questions.
“It’s a bit cliché, don’t you think?”
She looks at me deeply, her eyes wide. “Mitchell Harper, I never thought you’d know romance?”
“I-I-I don’t.” I stutter. “I just think it’s been done. You know, the whole strawberries and champagne–”
“Because you’re an expert?” she interrupts.
Fidgeting in my seat, I look around, what for I am unsure of, maybe an escape route to get me out this conversation. I think I preferred it when she was distant, at least I couldn’t say/do something stupid.
She continues. “So tell me Mr Expert, what’s your idea of a romantic date?”
I shrug again, trying to avoid eye contact. “I dunno. What’s yours?” I shoot back, diverting the spotlight back to her.
She pouts her lips, then bites the tip of her tongue. “Something exciting, an adventure.”
“An adventure?” I question.
“Yeah! Something unknown, that’s completely new to me…” She trails off at the end, becoming lost in her thoughts.
“All this on a first date?” I ask, keeping her going, as to avoid her putting me on the spot and asking questions on a subject I have no idea about – romance.
With her attention back on me, she rolls her eyes. “Not all on a first date.” Suddenly she becomes coy, grinning from ear to ear. “Why’re ya asking?”
My tongue falls flat in my mouth like a lead bar and all rational thought fades away. I try and answer, but no words will come, only sounds. After saying “Um,” or. “Er,” a tonne of times, I begin to sweat and bite my lip in frustration. All the while Miah looks on, still grinning, probably punishing me for not telling her about the ritual.
“You winding him up again, Miah?” a voice calls out.
“I can’t help it, Dee, he’s just so cute when he’s flustered.”
I have never been so happy to see Darcy, she’s like a life-ring thrown out to me while I’m drowning, held underwater by a sea goddess – Miah. With her head up and forward, she walks between the two occupied tables in the largest heels I’ve seen her wear, strutting like she’s on a catwalk. The little girl of the family near us points at her and mutters something to the father before he pulls her hand down and ushers her to go and play. Darcy is oblivious to this, but even if she weren’t, I’m sure she’d enjoy the attention.
“Off to a party after?” sniggers Miah.
“Oh, this?” replies Darcy, pulling a pose. “It’s just something I threw on.”
She’s wearing a gold summer dress that sprinkles in the sunlight, with many gold beaded necklaces draped around her neck and a light brown floppy summer hat that heightens the ginger in her hair. Normally I feel put off by her eccentric dress sense and find it hard to make eye contact, but today is different, either I’m now used to it or just happy someone else is here to take Miah’s attention. The latter sounding more plausible.
Perching next to me, Darcy waste no time in her questioning. “I need to know why you’ve asked me about the Kalayaan ritual? You would tell me if something is going on, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course, he won’t.” Miah scoffs.
“It’s just… such a strange coincidence that you of all people would ask me.”
“Why?” I question.
No longer a life-ring but a pair of concrete boots pulling me further down into the ocean, Darcy continues to stare at me worryingly, shaking her head slowly.
“Ok,” Miah firmly interrupts. “I’ve got no idea what this is about, but we’ve spoken and studied rituals many times before. Why is this one so special and why more so that Mitchell has asked after it?”
“Because it can only be performed by a Celestial and a Daemon that shares a blood bond!” Darcy reveals.
“Like brothers?” I murmur.
Darcy looks at me the same way she did when she found out Matthew was a Celestial; in amazement, yet cautious. “A ritual that couldn’t possibly be performed, because to perform it, you need the impossible. And it just so happens the impossible turned up on my doorstep asking after it.”
My body turns numb like it’s not mine anymore. Could Talia have known this? It’s can’t just be coincidence, or fate? People speak of fate all the time, everything happens for a reason, was I meant to meet Talia, speak with Darcy, all so one day I could be part of this ritual?
Darcy continues. “A wise man and a dear friend of mine had to do some digging, and luckily he already knew of someone in his circle with information on the Kalayaan ritual. He said the only way for it to be performed was with one Celestial, one Daemon and a Nexus-Being. From his understanding, the Nexus-Being is to absorb the powers of the Celestial and Daemon, merge them together and release it slowly over a Nexus-Point.”
“To do what?” Miah blurts out, nearly falling off her seat in anticipation.
“He didn’t know the outcome, only how to perform it.” She replies, grabbing my hand, making me feel uncomfortable. “I’m telling you this so you won’t go elsewhere and find false information, but please, please promise me you won’t do anything stupid. Not until we know what we’re dealing with.”
“Of course, I won’t.” I lie.
I feel awful lying to her, as she sounds genuinely concerned for my wellbeing, but I already know the outcome, a better world; a safer world for everyone. And now I know it was meant for Matthew and me, there’s no way I can turn my back on it. It’s fate. It’s been waiting for us this whole time.
“Great!” she cheers in her normal perky voice, exposing her pearly white teeth. “So, now that that’s sorted, let’s not waste this day any longer, I want to see these gardens!”
We make our way to the summer section and follow Darcy, who, like a child, runs on ahead and detours off a gravel path. The ground here is untouched, uneven and at points treacherous to walk. Even the trees have seen better days, with green moss growing up their trunks and branches overhanging, wiping me in the face as I tackle my way through. Of course, Darcy has no tr
ouble manoeuvring herself through the bushes and trees, gaining distance from us, even in her overly extravagant heels.
Trekking further from the track, we come to a small secluded area, overgrown and wild, but beautiful in its natural state. It has a small river running through it that leads its way through the rest of the gardens, into the town centre and finally out into the ocean. Darcy, excitable as ever, has already removed her heels before we get there and is paddling, shins deep. “C’mon losers!” she yells, throwing beads of water our way. “I’m supposed to be the boring adult here, not you guys!”
“Exactly,” Miah retorts. “Supposed to be.”
Dismissing us with a wave of the hand, Darcy continues to throw water up into the air, soaking her summer dress completely. Whereas Miah and I retreat to the closest tree and peer through the mass of leaves to ensure we’re at a safe distance. “We should stay dry here,” I say.
Distant, Miah grunts, then perches on the ground with her back resting up against the trunk of a tree. Although I hadn’t noticed it until now, Miah and I haven’t spoken since the picnic area, any attempt I did make was met with an unimpressed look or totally blanked altogether. “Are you ok?” I ask.
“Fine.” She fires back.
I’ve never had an interest in another girl before Miah came along, nor have I been around many in the past, but I’ve always been told that when they answer with fine, they really aren’t.
Cautiously, I lean up against the hard bark and unknowingly put my hand directly on a patch of sap. Its warm ooze spills through my fingers like it’s trying to capture me, so I pull away, leaving long sticky strings connected to the tree and frantically try to wipe my hand clean by rubbing it on the ground, only to make it worse, clumping wads of dirt into the gluey substances.
“What are you doing?” asks Miah.
Red faced, I show her my palm, now covered in black soil. “Sap.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re telling me.”
Trying to relieve some of the tension, I force a laugh, but her face remains still, with not even the slightest twitch. “Are you sure nothing’s wrong?” I hesitate.
“Well,” she snaps back. “If ya must know, I’m annoyed.”
“Ok.” I reply, unsure of the right answer in a situation like this. I’ve never seen her like this before, she’s angry, and my best guess would be that she’s angry at me.
“I saw them! I saw your dreams. Did ya not think we had a right to know?” she fumes.
“You read me?” I shoot back.
Her eyes widen and jaw hangs low. “Of course not!” she barks. “I told ya, things just come to me like memories, only they’re not mine.”
“When?” I demand.
She lowers her head. “When you and Darcy were talking, just before we left the picnic table.”
“How much did you see?”
“Enough to know that you must be going through hell.” She looks into my eyes sympathetically. “Why didn’t you tell any of us, why didn’t you tell me?”
“And say what?” I shoot back, getting up from the base of the tree and walking away to get some distance. “Should I have said that no matter what I do, I’ll end up losing control of my powers, turn evil and kill most of the people living here? And that’s just what I’ve seen!” I sigh. “Who knows how much worse it gets.”
She joins me, resting a hand on my shoulder. “But dreams are symbolic.”
I look up to the sky through the many branches and envision it turning black. No longer would light be allowed in this world, scorched out of existent by my hands. “I can’t take that risk.” I sigh. “This binding ritual is the only way.”
She takes a step back. “So ya do know what it does!”
Obviously, she mustn’t have seen my conversation with Talia and had no idea of the outcome, but I can’t lie to her further. Not divulging all the information is one thing, but outright lying is something I never want to do to her.
“I do,” I mutter, unable to make eye contact. “It’ll seal all the Nexus-Points, binding my powers” – I hesitate – “and the powers of every other Half-Breed on Earth.”
She remains silent for what feels like minutes, but can’t be longer than a few seconds. Uncertain of what reaction is to come, I scan her face looking for any sign or emotion she is about to display, but it’s empty. “Did you hear me? I said it’ll–”
“I know what ya said.” She interrupts sharply, looking out into the wild overgrowth. “It’s funny, I always wondered what I’d do if someone came to me and offered me a button, one that would make me normal.”
I crouch down next to her. “Would you press it?”
She smiles. “No. This is the way I was born, there’s no changing that.” Turning to me, she looks longingly into my eyes. “But if I have to lose my powers, that’s fine, as I’ll always be half-Daemon, and that’s my choice. Hopefully, one day you’ll also be able to accept that too.”
I purse my lips, perplexed. “But I already accept the fact that you’re a Half-Breed.”
She smiles politely. “I’m not talking about me, hun. I’m talking about you.”
No words come from me, as there’s nothing I could possibly say that wouldn’t be a lie. I know I’ll never accept this, for if I were to, I’d be accepting an unstoppable evil. She hasn’t lived this, no one has, so I can understand why she’d think the way she does and I respect that about her, I too wish I could be in the same boat. But I was dealt a completely different hand, one in which I cannot give back and exchange. So I don’t have to accept these cards, I just need to play them the best I can, and this is all I have. Continue on with these powers, display a poker face in the hope I’ll convince everyone – and myself – that I won’t turn evil, or give them up, throw my cards on the table in the hope I’ll return to a normal life.
“That was so refreshing, you guys missed out.” Darcy proclaims, drenched from head to toe.
Once again I’m happy to see her, she’s a beacon of gold sparkles saving me from yet another awkward moment with Miah.
“Well, that’s enough excitement for you today!” Miah jokes in an overly mature voice. “Time for the adult to take the child home, we don’t want her getting sick.”
Darcy pulls Miah up by the hand and attempts to bear hug her, but quick as a flash, Miah bolts through the trees until she is out of sight. “Well,” Darcy ponders, placing her hands on her hips. “If she won’t hug me, I guess you’ll have to do.”
Suddenly, she lunges for me, but I roll to the side, jumping to my feet in seconds and before I have time to think, I’m off, sprinting through the trees while small branches whip at my face. She may be able to walk in her heels with no problem, but running is a different matter.
“Spoilsports!” She yells.
And even though it sounds as if I’ve put some distance between us, I don’t look back, afraid I might be wrong, and that somehow she’s behind me, powering through like an athlete.
Lying awake and clock watching as per usual, I try and get comfortable, but tonight my pillow feels like it’s made of concrete. Already it’s past midnight and my body isn’t even close to feeling tired. I just can’t switch off and continuously hear Miah’s words in my head, hopefully, one day you’ll be able to accept that too.
Can her Mundarium heritage really mean that much to her? Even once her powers are gone, will she still refer to herself as a Half-Breed, or half-Daemon? I for one know I’ll never mention it again, not if I don’t have to. And the sooner this ritual is complete, the better.