The Crossing (Book One)

Chapter Two: Found

"How was practice?" Aurora's mother was always smiling.

"Fine." Aurora opened the car door, threw her bag in the backseat, and jumped in.  She swung the door closed after leaning over to kiss her mother. "You're early."

"Well, we've got some errands to run and a grocery list that just can't wait anymore." They pulled out of the parking lot and into the busy streets. "Besides, I'm thinking we could make your favorite for dinner."

"Spaghetti and meatballs?" Aurora's amber eyes twinkled in delight.

"Mm-hmm." Her mother stopped at the red light and turned around to look at her with love. Her hand reached out to caress the locket that hung from Aurora's neck, a gift from her on Aurora's previous birthday.

"With your special sauce made from scratch?" There was no stopping the watering of her mouth at anticipation of the sauce.

"Oh, why not." The smile widened across her mother's face. That made her day.

The light turned green and everything changed. Aurora turned away from her mother and saw the oncoming car. Her mother's foot was pressing down on the accelerator and was unaware of the speeding car heading directly toward them.

No! No! No!

It was so clear, yet blurry around the edges. Tires skidded with a screeching halt. Glass burst. Metal crunched. And the blaring racket of a horn violated the air. Twisted metal was sprayed across the pavement.

Aurora knew she was fine as she retrieved her hands from the dashboard. In her confused state she saw something that resembled the fine thread of a spider web dissolved from her hands. Then she turned and saw her mother's lifeless eyes staring back at her.

Shut it out, her brain shrieked at her as she fought for consciousness. "NO!" 

Her breath came in hard, short, quick pants as Aurora sat up on her bed. She looked at the familiar surroundings of her small bedroom and began to calm down. Her hands instinctively caressed her mother's locket that she always wore.

It was just another dream, a nightmare really. In the last couple of weeks, her sleep had been invaded with dreams of strange places and, most frequently, the accident that took her mother's life.

She jumped out of bed and headed to the crammed bathroom she shared with her roommate, Lily. After turning on the tap, she cupped her hands in the cold water, ready to splash her face, but she stopped and simply stared at them.

The water skirted around her hands while they remained dry: a delicate shield coated over them. She clenched them into fists and the water poured once again onto them. The shields were manifesting more and more, sometimes without conscious thought. It was just as it had happened the day of the accident. Angrily, she shut the tap off and went in search of Lily. Talking to Lily about her mysterious powers usually made her feel better. They'd been through a lot together.

Lily kept insisting that she could do wonderful things to help others with her magic. And for a while, Aurora had tried to control her power, to call it at will, but it didn't always work. It seemed to only manifest when she was scared. If she could learn to use her magic, to control it, then perhaps she could make a difference. Things could have been different. Perhaps, her mother... she sighed and cleared her head. The guilt always returned.

"Lily, where are you? I need to talk to you." Aurora walked down the short hallway expecting to find Lily in her room. She had this quality of finding the bright side of things in any situation. 

After not finding Lily in her room, she headed to what they called the "Everything Room" because it was their kitchen, dining, and living room. There was a sticky note on the fridge:

Gone to class. See you at the bridge after work.

It had a smiley face at the bottom in the typical, cheerful Lily-fashion. After knowing Lily for most of her adolescence as her foster sister, Aurora was positive that girl didn't have the facial muscles capable of a frown. She reminded Aurora of her mother. 

Aurora studied the picture that was stuck on the fridge: the both of them smiling and laughing by the lake. Long had she wished for Lily's flaxen hair and perfect smile. Lily's natural beauty had made her feel inferior countless of times. Her eyes then turned to the clock. "Work! Crap!"

In record time she showered, dressed, and ran out the door with her small leather backpack, a change of clothes packed for after work. TGIF! she thought as she caught the bus to work.

Work dragged on miserably throughout the day as a cashier at a department store. The 'beep, beep, beep,' of every scanned item across her register was the monotonous soundtrack to her day. However, her shift eventually ended and Aurora made a mad dash to the employee restrooms.

"Hot date?" Erick, a fellow employee with a dashing smile that could not be ignored, yelled after her.

Spinning she answered: "Nope, it's even better! It's Girls Night Out!"

Smiling, she shut the door behind her. Flats, skinny jeans and loose shirt with shoulder cutouts replaced her uniform.

It wasn't the sexiest outfit but a little eyeliner around her amber eyes would hopefully distract from that. She had her father's eyes. It was the only detail she knew about her absentee father. Putting all thoughts of her parents behind her and determined to have fun tonight, Aurora stuffed her things into her backpack and walked out the store.

The sun cast down its late afternoon rays making the sky a crimson glory with streaks of blue and yellow lashing out like ribbons. Clouds and impending twilight loomed in the distant horizon inviting rain with a cool breeze that stretched throughout the city.

She inhaled the air sharply and began walking through the parking lot. A stray dog barked at her as a greeting before trotting down the lane. Suddenly, the hair on the back of her neck stood. An ignition started and then she saw the rear lights of a truck backing up straight into her.

Out of instinct she raised her hands. A familiar heat pulsed from her hands in waves, taking her energy with it and transforming it, solidifying it. Seconds before she was about to be crushed by the vehicle, a pale sphere surrounded her. It withstood the crushing blow of the vehicle.

What had she done?! Not again! Without waiting to find out if anyone had seen what had happened, she raced through the parking lot and into the alleys.

It happened again! Just as it had in her mother's fatal accident. Her strange power manifested itself and protected her. The accident was the first time it had happened. It was the reason why she had survived and not her mother. That accident had changed her. Or as Lily had put it: it unleashed something already in her.

Aurora stopped running, took off her backpack and leaned against a wall to catch her breath. She cupped the sides of her head, reeling in pain, and wished everything around her would stop spinning. Clouds had finished swallowing the sun with a chilly, persistent breeze that prickled the skin and whispered of the coming rain fast approaching.

The effort drained her but, after catching her breath; she walked with wobbly legs in the direction of the bridge. The backpack dragged at her side. At this rate, Lily would be there waiting for her.

There was a debate in her head whether or not to tell Lily what had happened. If she did it might spoil the evening. Better wait till later. She felt the first cold raindrops sprinkle her face. "Ugh, nice but wet."

Lightning in the distance shattered down in multiple streaks illuminating the sky. Its slow progression reminded Aurora of a giant four-legged beast making its way into the city, the thunder its booming footsteps.

A splash that could only belong to another pair of footsteps startled her out of her thoughts. Instantly, she hastened her step and dared to glimpse back. A shadowy figure walked a short distance behind. Every instinct in her body screamed that something was wrong. Very wrong.

She walked faster, and the footsteps kept her pace. Again, she increased her pace and so did the footsteps. Blood pumped in gushes through her veins as she broke into a dead run. 

"Get her!" the man's voice bellowed.