Touch Me ✔

Chapter Forty

There was a dim glow in the darkness, pulsing like a thread of a heartbeat. I couldn't tell where it came from, but I focused on it like a moth to a flame. I watched as the slow throbbing glow began to form in front of me into an orb. My eyes were unblinking and curious as my body took shape around me.

I lifted a pale hand towards the glow in a daze, feeling light and nearly nonexistent.

"What a delicately beautiful thing, you think?" A familiar voice said quietly. There was no responding fear throughout me. I lowered my hand slowly, looking beyond the glow to see the form of a man standing just on the other side. His eyes were a pale silver-blue. His skin was wrinkled with age and his face held a history of power, wisdom, and kindness. "It's interesting how such small, pretty things can turn out to be so lethal."

I glanced from Desmond's father the First Elder, the man who initiated the last incantation, to the glowing orb carefully.

"Am I dead?" I asked him uncertainly.

"For now," He answered calmly. "Are you afraid, Katia?"

I was surprised he called me by my name rather than that dreaded title; Phoenix. I shook away my surprise and focused on his question thoughtfully. After a moment, I shook my head carefully.

"What is this?" I asked, indicating to the glowing orb.

"That's your heart," the First Elder told me simply, watching the warm glow with a sliver of sadness passing his features. I took his answer and touched my chest with concern, as if there would be a hole where my heart was supposed to be now that it was in front of me. But my body was intact. "Do not fear. Things are different in this darkness. You will understand over time."

I frowned, looking at him once again. It was strange to see him in front of me. His face was one of many that crossed my mind when I looked in the mirror. His memories were vibrant within my subconscious. His soul and his power helped create me. In a way, I felt a familial attachment to him.

I recalled Desmond's last attack against me and frowned further.

"You probably are disappointed in me. I wasn't able to do as you or the others wanted for me to do," I told him with deep sadness. He smiled, surprising me.

"And what exactly did you think we wanted you to do?"

I hesitated. "To surrender to the Exodus coven. If not that, to avenge your deaths."

"I'm surprised you gained such a straightforward answer with so many souls pouring themselves into your existence," The Elder stated with amusement. I knew what he meant. When I thought about it, there were much more desires behind those that died in that massacre than revenge and purpose.

"You are perfect, Katia," He told me sincerely. "We wanted, more than anything, to live. Nothing you could do would have disappointed us. Whether you went to the Exodus coven, stayed away to marry and have children, or remained with the Genesis castaways."

The glowing orb between us shifted, dimming dangerously. I started and looked to it with concern. The warm glow was changing in front of me, darkening just slightly into a more blackened crimson color. I reached for it before withdrawing my hand.

"You already know what to do," The Elder said knowingly, watching me quietly. For some reason, I did know. I reached for the orb again, feeling a sensation of dark power as my hands cupped it lovingly.

"I wish it didn't have to come to this," We said in unison. I moved the orb to my chest protectively, hugging it to myself. As the orb touched my chest, it easily shifted through my flesh, entering the center of my body where it belonged. The dangerous glow spread throughout me dominatingly, sparking bright over my skin ominously, and then the light was darkened into one of black crimson. The golden words blackened into ink, dripping over me like poison.