The Lores of Lyra - Rising Star [Book I]

Chapter 14 - Telepathic Trouble

 Chapter 14 – Telepathic Trouble

Annabell troubled with trying to fathom the recent events. The sudden appearance of Miriam’s voice had frightened her. In general, there weren’t that many things that scared. However, she would rather face ten hours of hell than to relive the memory of the look on Joshua’s face when he had noticed her talking to Miriam.

She recalled how his eyebrows scrunched together, along with her dismay when he didn’t believe her – he honestly thought she was losing her marbles. It wasn’t until later that he started to believe her.

“But I don’t understand, you said we had to travel to Yildun, why are we now heading for Kokab?” Annabell asked. She received an annoyed look in response, which didn’t help her growing frustration.

“Not only does she has the same birthday as you, she also knows of the prophecy. Even if it somehow turns out that she is not your sister - something I highly doubt - we still need to decipher that prophecy. I couldn’t get a hold of it anywhere, and it might lead us to where we will find the Rising Star,” he explained in a tired voice, only accompanied by an audible sigh.

“She got all quiet after I told her she might be my sister,” she mumbled. Joshua didn’t respond. For every day that passed, this mission seemed to appear harder and more complicated than the last. Granted, Annabell had developed considerably in terms of social skills. However, the more comfortable she felt, the darker everything around her seemed.

She was still plagued by severe mood swings, and he was first in line to be victimized by it. The guilt that ran through her was something different, and it didn’t help matters one bit. She looked up at Joshua. How can he stand to be near me?

Annabell was ashamed. The knowledge that she was making him feel more uncomfortable was killing her inside. She wanted to apologize, yet nothing came out whenever she tried.

Not to mention the confusion she suffered about their almost tender moment before. Shooting a glance to him, she almost blushed by the memory. She shook her head to clear the thoughts from her mind, before focusing on Joshua.

The map he had folded out in front of him was easy to follow now when they had a sense of direction. They had decided to travel along the edge of the forest in an attempt to avoid getting lost. Even though, they initially feared that this would delay them – Now  Joshua smiled as he ran a finger over the paper. They were on the right track, and the discovery of Miriam had only excited him more – they were closer than he dared to anticipate.

An irrational stab of jealousy shot through her by the thought of her sister, “What do I even have to talk to her about?”

 “I don’t know, you can communicate with her through your head, maybe try doing that some more before you have to stand face to face to her,” he suggested with a shrug.

Annabell was exhausted – she hadn’t wanted to complain. However, when she mentioned how fast he was walking, he forced her to sit down. Seated on the trunk of a fallen tree, she looked down at her hands.

“What would I even say?” she asked and made a face, “The only thing I can think of is: ‘So… Do you always get in fights too?’”

Joshua shot her look, and she pouted in response.

 “She’s your sister; ask her what she likes to do, ask her about her life. Just ask her something, anything at all actually.” He sent her a faint, comforting smile.

“We don’t know for sure that she’s my sister,” she pointed out. Joshua frowned at that, his eyes showing a depression, which baffled Annabell. He did look pretty confident in his case, but she didn’t think it would be something he would take that personally if she didn’t believe him.