Twisted Souls

Chapter 22

The next two days were days of waiting in uncertainty. Not knowing whether or not Coxen would pull through or slip away.
I felt bad for putting so much on Sephora. With this and the darkness rising and preparing a solution for me to get home, she had a lot on her hands. I tried to make her load as light as possible, helping her out and keeping out of her way.
I also tried to distract Elle from all the stress going on by taking her around the castle and showing her the stables. She seemed to enjoy it, but her mind was still always on her brother.
On the third day I thought she going to explode with disappointment. There was still no improvement. That was until the middle of the third day.
Elle was teaching me how to play a board game that's common around these parts.
"Now you move this piece over to this spot and if you do, you'll collect-" She stops, mid-sentence and looks past me.
"Collect what." I ask. When she won't respond, I follow her gaze to the bed.
I could hardly believe my eyes as I watched Coxen's eyes flicker open and glance around the room.
"Elle?" He sits up quickly, but waste all his energy in doing so.
Elle goes rushing to her brother's side quicker than I thought humanly possible. Tears of joy are already trickling down her face as she hugs him with all her might.
Coxen seems a little taken back with the action, but hugs her back anyway.
I approach them, a smile on my face and relief rushing through my system. Once Elle pulls back, I quickly embrace him as well.
"What happened? You act like I was at death's door." He says looking between the two of us.
"You were." I explain.
Elle nods tearfully. "We didn't know if you weren't going to be able to fight through it and- and I was-"
Coxen holds her hand and looks her dead in the eyes. "I would never leave you, I wouldn't leave you alone in this world."
Elle goes to hug him. I feel like the heaviest weight just got lifted off my chest and now I can finally breathe again.
I decide to give the two of them some privacy, so I slip out and head somewhere else.
As much as I'm overjoyed at the situation with Coxen, a building weight was beginning to choke me in a different area.
For the past few days, I'd been trying, unsuccessfully, to talk to Xalale, but he won't even open the door or respond to me. I try twice every day- once in the morning and once in the afternoon. He hasn't left his room for a second in these past three days. I'm starting to worry and I'm not sure what to do. But today I'm feeling lucky, with Coxen's positive pull out, I'm hoping that maybe he'll at least answer back.
I give two hard knocks and wait.
Nothing.
I try again.
Nothing.
At this point I would've walked away, but today I'm feeling daring, so I knock once more and call out to him.
"Xalale, can we please talk? This is really important."
The silence is deafening to me and I can't help but sigh in frustration. I don't know what to do or what's bothering him or how to fix it. "Why won't he talk to me?" It's these times I wished I'd asked my dad how to pick a lock.
"I'm not leaving this spot until you open the door." I wait, but no response comes. "OK fine. I'll just tell you what I have to say. You do remember that there's still a threat on the way, right? It hasn't gone away and you haven't been practicing your powers. This is serious and as hard as you may try, you can't hide from it. I want to help you, but you need to help me to that and staying in your room all day isn't going to help anybody."
Like I thought, no response, but at least I spoke my mind. Suddenly, as I'm beginning to walk away, the door swings open. Darkness floors out into the dim hallway and standing in the doorway is Xalale.
"Help you?" He scowls.
"Yes. I need you to work with me here, not shut down."
"You have done everything opposite of helping me." He shots back.
I recoil at that comment, recoil with anger.
"The opposite of help you? The opposite of helping you? You son of a- that's all I've been doing is helping you. I've been, since day one, trying to be a help to you because you asked- no you didn't even do that! I helped you out of the stupid kindness of my heart. I could've let you fall but I didn't. If I wasn't here, your shitty powers would still be controlling you."
"Get out."
The words are cold and simple, but they drive out all the anger I had in me.
"What?"
"Get out of my house."
He doesn't wait for my response before slamming the door on my face. Suddenly I feel strangely lost.
"He just...kicked me out." My mind has trouble fully processing what this means. "Where do I go now? What about Sephora, Elle, and Coxen? No. He specifically said to me, 'get out'. He means it."
My limbs feel heavy as I make my way to my room. I collect my necklace- the only valuable I brought with me.
"Isn't this what I wanted the entire time I was here? To leave? But now...I need to be here."
I pause at the main doors to the castle, looking behind me one last time before stepping out to journey to an unknown destination.
Maybe I'll try to find my way back to Elle and Coxen's village. Or maybe not.
I decide to head west (or at least I think it's west). I travel a used path, though nobody travels on it now but me. I begin to worry about bandits and thieves attempting to mug me. It would be easy to do since I'm all by myself and without any protection.
"What about when it gets dark!?" My heart races a bit faster at that thought. All alone, wandering without a destination, in the dark? I don't know what's out there lurking in the shadows of the dense forest surrounding me. This was a horrible idea.
"Maybe they have taverns or inns or something around here?" I think trying to practice positive thinking.
I don't know why, but I glance back in the direction of the looming castle, though it has been out of my view for the past few minutes. All I have now are the lonely thoughts of my mind and the endless worry ahead. Even as I assured myself that I'll be fine, that my guardian angel is watching over me dutifully, I couldn't help the suffocating fear collecting in my lungs.
"Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts." I coax myself. But it only made the fear and anxiety worst. Thinking about happy times while I walked through a very unpleasant one.
A random twig snapping in the forest catches my attention, breaking me out of my thoughts. I halt right in the middle of the road and survey the area around me.
Now logical me is thinking, "Ok, probably just a squirrel or whatever. Nothing to see here, better continue to move along and hope to find a nearby village before dark."
But this what current me us thinking, "What the hell was that!? It could be a monster or- or a band of violent theives. Oh my gosh, I'm dead! I cannot let them catch me. But what if it's not human!? What if its a creature that's native here and I've never seen before? What if it eats human!?"
Out of these two mindsets, I of course choose the stupidest one: fear. Wasting no time, I begin to race away from the area with lightning speed. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glance of a shadow to my left. It's just a fast as me and is gaining on me.
With adrenaline pumping through my system, I dash into the woods on my right side, hoping to thwart whatever nightmarish creature is pursuing me. The woods are darker due the lack of sunlight breaching through the trees.
Sweat pours off my forehead and falls off in heavy droplets. I'm not even sure I'm breathing anymore- just holding my breath until I pass out. I'm not watching where I'm going and something below me catches my dress and trips me. I don't even have enough energy left in me to hop back up and continue running from my imagination.
"Stop it! Just stop it! You're acting like an idiot. Pull yourself together." My logical side finally regains control and causes me to calm my breathing until it returns to normal.
Looking around, the mysterious shadow is gone and the only living thing in these woods is me. I push myself off the forest floor and brush myself off. I'm glad no one saw that. They might think I'm a crazy woman, running from nothing but thin air.
Out of breath momentarily, I stagger over to a fallen, decaying tree and collapse. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I glance up at the sky hidden behind the thick branches and leaves of the trees. Only small cracks of blue peek through, staring back down at me.
I look down at my lap where I pulled out my necklace.
The pendant is entirely stone, while only a little bit of the chain remaining normal. I let out a troubled sigh and close my eyes.
"What am I suppose to do?" I ask myself aloud my famous question.
"What exactly are you suppose to do?" A voice behind me asks.
I whirl around, my heart jumping in my chest, as I face the stranger behind me.
She steps back and apologies.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."
Only the log separates us. I scan her with startled eyes, searching if the woman maybe armed with any kind of weapon. I still don't relax even when I don't find one.
"Who are you?" Her voice is warm and her expression concerned.
"Uh...nobody." I say taking a step back as she steps over the log.
"Oh, I get it." She smiles. "You don't trust me. I understand. These woods are dangerous to navigate."
She pauses and gives me an earnest look. "What are doing out here, by yourself?"
"Just thinking on some...issues." I reply starting to let my guard down.
"You seem very upset. I say you running from something, but I didn't see what. Are you ok, dear?"
I don't know why, but something about this woman gives me a comforting vibe, like I can be truthful with her. I barely know her, but somehow, somewhere, she reminds me a little bit like my mom. A warm smile ready to listen to my misery and tell me everything's going to be ok. Right now, I desperately needed someone like that.
"No, I'm not ok." I admit quietly. I sit back down on the log and stare at the ground. The woman sits right besides me.
"I- I don't know what to do." I continue. "I'm so lost."
She makes an understanding sound.
"How do you help someone who keeps pushing you away constantly. You've tried to show them the light but they keep rejecting you. And on top of that, the world is falling apart all around you and you have to somehow fix that as well." I finish miserably.
I feel her finger guide my chin to look up at her.
She's a beautiful woman. Not as old as my mom- probably mid-thirties if I had to guess. Her hair was an icy blond that, in thin strands, escaped from her long braid on her shoulder. Pale lips and fair skin complimented her stunning, hazel blue eyes.
"When someone you care about is pushing you away, it feels like the worst thing in the world. They can't do it by themselves, but they won't accept your help. You feel frustrated, anger with them even. But then," She pauses for a moment as if to analyze whether or not I was ready for what she was about to say. I must be because she continues. "But then, you have to try harder. Don't give up on them. Give them a shove, wake them up to what's happening. Show them that no matter what, you'll always be there for them."
"Thank you." I say genuinely. "You don't know how much that helped me."
Her warm smile returns again. "You are welcome. I don't know how to respond to your question about the world falling apart, but I know that in time, everything works out for the better."
I feel amazing again. Revived. Her words spoke to me with such encouragement that I felt nothing could stop me now.
"You know, you remind me of my mother." I say smiling at her.
She only pulls me in for a hug and looks at me with compassion.
"What's your name?" I ask.
"Aelita."
A beautiful name to fit a beautiful woman.
"What would be yours?" She ask.
"Mallory."
Not as elegant.
I slowly stand, thoughts racing through my head as I decide what to do next.
"I think I know what I have to do." I tell her.
"Do what you believe is right." She replies.
I turn around to quickly hug her once more and thank her. As I depart from the woods, heading back towards the path, I glance back at her one last time before losing sight of her. She gives me a small wave and an assuring smile.
I know what I have to do. This was just a short walk to clear my head, now I'm going back where I'm needed.
I send a quick thank you prayer up to God for answering my first prayer. Aelita was the answer to that prayer.