Destined

Chapter Two: Shadows in the Dark

The sky is aflame with the setting sun set as I walk down the desert sidewalk in the thick summer heat. I've been walking the streets of Abbey Circle for the past hour, trying to clear my mind. It's difficult. I still try to wrap my head around the letter and the way my Aunt reacted. In my time of walking, I had managed to rehearse three different arguments in my head about why she should let me go. Of course, in the end, I realize it is no use.

The small park on the other side of the highway comes into view for the second time since I'd started walking. It is empty, like everything else this time of the year. The swings swing back and forth in the breeze and the merry-go-round stood is deadly still. Few cars fly down the road, making it easy to run across the to the other side. The ground had a layer of dead grass, the heat sucking every drop of moisture from the green blades, turning them frail and brown. I sit alone on the hot metal seat of the swing, slowly pushing myself back and forth, my eyes on the dehydrated ground. I am accompanied by only the swing to my left, slide, the red merry-go-round in front of me, and a blue trash can to my right.

You're never going to escape.Says a doubtful voice in my head. I try to ignore it, to tell it to go away, but I am curious to what it has to say.

You are trapped with nowhere to go...and there is nothing you can do about it. Anger slowly starts to rise inside of me the more I let the voice continue.

Your parents died and left you trapped with these people...forever.

I don't want to hear any more. I quickly stand, heading for the nearest object to take my anger out on, the trash can. I kick it hard enough to leave a dent, ignoring the pain pulsing in my foot, then I start to punch. I continue on that way, seeing red, my anger uncontrollably, before I go to flip the trash can all together. The steady breeze turns into a huge gust of wind that rushes around me, sending the trash can flying a few feet before I could even touch it. I stop to catch my breath, bemused, staring at the overturned trash can.

What was with this wind? I ask myself, sending letters into my room and blowing away trash cans?

The air smells of rain as thunder rumbles in the distance. I turn to find the swings swinging wildly and the merry-go-round spinning in circles. The horizon is black with storm clouds, a streak of lightning weaving its way across the dark clouds, telling me it is time to return home. I quickly start off down the sidewalk as the setting sun and storm moving in makes my surrounding dim, the only light the last few golden rays of sun and flashes of lightning. By the time I am running up the driveway the bottom has fallen and rain falls hard. I race through the door, the A.C. washing over me feeling as if ice water had just been thrown over my head, making me shiver. I start up the staircase when I hear hushed voices in the kitchen.

"We have no other option. She has to go." Uncle Dave, who must have gotten home early from work, says as I creep back down the staircase.

"But the school is a dangerous place." Aunt Mary replies.

Dangerous place? How can a school be dangerous? I wonder, hiding behind the wall in the living room next to the entrance to the dining room.

"She's a threat if she stays here. She could bring the whole house down on us." Uncle Dave says, an edge of panic in his tone.

The sound of lightning cracking through the atmosphere makes the house shake. I jump at the sound, knocking into the end table next to me. The thunder is louder than the lightning, masking the sound of a cup falling from the end table. I bite my lip in worry that I am heard, but the conversation continues.

"You don't understand, Dave," Aunt Mary tells him, sounding on the edge of insanity. "there are forces that we can't comprehend. Things that got Jonah and Emily killed."