Markadia

Chapter 8

"Markadia truly is a remarkable place," I commented aloud as we continued walking along the beaten path. The grasslands stretched for miles, each way ending in beautiful purple mountain ranges. The clear blue skies were breathtaking and hovered above like a betraying sign of peace.

"Where in Markadia were you before you came to Westeria?"

I thought about her question a moment and sifted through my memories, but there wasn't a name that came to mind. The boys had never mentioned a location of where we had hidden out with Uncle Rusio and I never asked. "I'm not sure."

She eyed me suspiciously a moment before nodding. "You're telling the truth."

I nodded slightly in agreement while keeping a steady pace beside her.

"Do you think it's possible you lost some of your memories? Momma said you must have been through something terrible. When she found you she wasn't sure you were even alive." Her voice was filled with concern and I welcomed the warm gesture.

"That would make sense. Only, you can't lose something you never had to begin with." We remained silent a moment before asking my question for the second time, hoping she wouldn't avoid it this time. "So, where are we going?"

"There's this lady on the edge of town who has a foresight ability. I had a friend bring me here when I was younger after my father died. He thought it would cheer me up to hear what a great life I was destined to have." Annabelle smiled while getting lost in her thoughts. It didn't take a supernatural ability to see her feelings for this friend were more than friendly. "We made it all the way to her front door when my brother showed up." She turned to me with a woeful grin. "There are people in Markadia who believe it's wrong to take advantage of those with the ability of foresight. They believe that it does more harm than good to know more than what has already happened. My brother is one of those people. Although it would have been helpful because, had I known going would only curse me with this for the rest of my life," she pointed to the long scar across the left side of her face, "I never would have gone."

"What happened?"

"The boys started fighting and I was in the crossfire. Wrong place at the wrong time."

"You brother did that to you?!" I asked, horrified.

She shook her head. "No."

I stared in shock a moment then slowly looked forward as I walked. The boy she liked, the one who was only trying to help, scarred her.

"He was older than me and my brother's best friend. We already knew he had one ability, but that day was the day we discovered he had another; a darker power. It broke him when he realized what he had done and I don't think he's used his ability to this day. In his eyes, that's the part of him that's bad. He doesn't understand that it wasn't his fault. Abilities are neither bad nor good, it all depends on the person and how they're used."

I was too busy in my own thoughts; contemplating Annabelle's tragic story to realize that we were standing outside of a dark gray, two story home. The yard was filled with grass that came up past our knees and a stone pathway to the front door that looked like it had seldom been used. Just standing outside gave me the creeps. "This is the place?" I questioned quietly as Annabelle strolled past me, swinging open the small wooden fence that had ivy woven through every opening.

"This is it." She answered confidently and glanced back in my direction. "You coming?"

I reluctantly took a few steps forward and followed her up to the front door. The house seemed smaller once we were standing on the front porch but the size didn't make it any less creepy. Annabelle had barely lifted her arm to knock on the door when it suddenly flew open, an older lady with long grey hair stepped forward, making sure to keep her features hidden in the darkness of the shadows.