I'm lost in thought, watching him in his movements.
The slow stop in time is soon pushing forward, back into reality.
I shake my head from my trance, and begin listening to the men that stood in front of me.
"We mostly just train beginners here." It was Echo who spoke.
Echo
His voice was low, distant. He wore a black long sleeve shirt with a brown vest grappling to his chest. The vest had the auburn leaves, from the still trees, running across it.
He intrigued me for reasons i'm not quite sure of yet.
He was holding no weapons.
He must be fighting with his hands.
Dylan eyes him in confusion, worry plastered onto his face. "What exactly are we training for?" I know he knows the answer to that question. He just wants to know what they know.
We haven't told them about the journal, about moms correct predictions.
I don't know if I trust them yet.
Or if they'd believe us.
Echo shifts his weight, looking slightly uncomfortable at the question. His eyes trail into the deep golden green around us. "These training camps have been around for 20 years. At first it was simple, we trained for battle against our own kind, mankind, waiting for the nations to turn against the lower class. We used guns back then." He looks back at Dylan, his gaze becoming serious. "Until someone blessed with the eyes of the future led us to believe we wouldn't be fighting man." He looks down to me, studying my features, then looking to the sky. "We would be fighting against earths creations. Against the force of nature herself."
Dylan and I snap our eyes to each other, no doubt thinking the same thing.
I want to know who this visionary is.
I bet mom would've been intrigued by them.
Echo showed us around the camp grounds, pointing to various tents which all were very very big.
People lived here.
He showed us the hand crafted weapons, pointing down towards the river where 10 men were shooting arrows into the water.
I want to learn how to shoot with a bow. They made it look so easy.
But I still don't trust them yet.
After a while of talking and pointing, my legs become tired. It had been nearly an hour of walking around.
So much walking.
I should definitely work out more.
I was falling behind.
I can't help but notice Echo picking up the pace when we reach a larger tent, big enough to fit a well sized living room no doubt.
I stop before he could walk us past it, pointing towards the entrance. "What about this one?"
Echo stops in his tracks, not turning around to look at me. "We don't let anyone in there. That's Syrus' quarters." I smile amused.
"Well i'm sure he wouldn't mind if I..." My voice waves off as my hand reaches to the zipper of the tent, keeping my eyes trained on his back.
"Ruby." My hand drops when Dylan's stern voice lifts my name through the air. His eyes narrow down at me as if telling me to drop it.
I roll my eyes, following as we continue to the front of the base where we came in.
Echo clears his throat once we reach the end of the forest line, bordering humanity's walkway. "So tomorrow then?" He looks to Dylan, shaking his hand.
I take his hand next, only for a second, but in that one second I felt the calluses upon his palm. "We'll be here."
As we walk back onto the path, we begin making our way home. I can tell Dylan is conflicted.
He doesn't say a word the entire way back.
My mind begins to wander as we reach the yard I've become familiar with.
I think I trust Syrus. Maybe we should tell him about the book.
Maybe not.
They're hiding something, and I want to know badly what it is.
My eyes trail to the car in the driveway, distracting me from the questions running through my mind.
Dads home already?
Dylan voices my thoughts, rushing towards the porch. "He's home?" I follow after him, entering through the front door.
Only then do I think to check the time.
It's already 5 o'clock.
We are met in the kitchen with silver balloons lining the chairs to the island. A small cake is laying on the countertop, emerald and gold icing painted over the outside. Next to it sat two presents. One was wrapped in floral wrapping paper, the other was pastel blue with pure white clouds.
My hands reach for the flowery present, already knowing which one was mine.
Dylan does the same to the one covered in the beautiful sun spotted clouds.
"I thought I told you to stay home?" My eyes snap over to the living room. Dad stood, leaning on the open doorway to the kitchen.
"Sorry dad, we just wanted to clear our heads for a little bit." Dylan speaks up, a soft smile spreading along his face.
"Thank you for this." I motion to the perfectly wrapped presents and beautiful balloons.
He straightens his back, walking towards the living room. "Don't thank me guys." He points to the front door, only then do I hear a loud 'beep beep' coming from the driveway.
The front door flies open. "Okay so I went to the store and got them some snacks. James you have absolutely no healthy food in this house I can't believe-" I am met with the eyes of someone I haven't seen in a year, blinking back the tears from my eyes. "Dylan! Ruby!" She drops the bags from her arms, speed walking towards us.
"Rosie?" Dylan and I say, clearly synced in thought.
She's moms twin sister. I haven't seen her since we moved.
I haven't seen her since the funeral.
A part of me was happy she had to go back to Florida.
She reminded me too much of mom.
She went through the same childhood mom had been through but mom never talked about her.
But I knew she loved her.
"Hey guys." She lets out a long breath, engulfing both of us in her embrace.
She pulls away, taking in our appearance. She smiles for a split second before her expression becomes serious.
"We need to talk." She begins walking back to the front door where she had dropped the grocery bags to the floor.
My eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What are you doing here?"
She sighs, placing the bags onto the counter of the kitchen, sliding the cake slightly to the side. "Your dad filled me in on your mothers journals. At first he was angry, calling me to tell me he needed help." She pointed between me and Dylan. "With you two." She starts placing the contents of the bags onto the island. "It took a while but I got him to understand a few things."
Dylan speaks up, glancing over to where dad is sitting on the sofa. "So you believe us now?" Dad doesn't move, sitting still on the couch, looking at the void from the television screen.
"I believe you yeah." His voice is quiet.
"Rosie." My eyes focus on the woman standing in the kitchen. She resembles her so much. "Did you know?"
I didn't have to say anything more. She was aware of what I was asking.
She frowns. "Yeah. Yeah I know. I've known since we were kids." She pauses, fidgeting with her bracelet. The same bracelet mom used to wear. "Crystal always had a gift. I used to be jealous of her, but after your grandma died, her gift became unbearable. She was forced to write down every detail of her visions, just to keep herself sane."
"They're just scribbles on a page though." Dad looks up from the couch, turning to face us.
"Well yes, but to her it looked like real words. She wrote with her soul, not with her eyes." Rosie's face turns pale, eyes glossy as she remembers her past. "I never knew how she did it, or what she wrote. I just knew that she was blessed."
"I can read it." Dylan's face is red, looking down at the book he had brought out from my bag. "It looks like normal writing to me."
Rosie's eyes widen at his statement. She stays silent, pondering deeper into her field of thoughts before speaking aloud. "What does it say?"
We haven't read a lot of it. Mostly just the first few pages.
Dylan looks to me before responding. "We only read a small amount. The first book was about past visions, things that already happened. We have barely skimmed through the second book."
She smiles, reaching her hand out. "May I?"
Dylan becomes hesitant but nods, handing her book hidden in royal blue leather.
She hastily opens it, taking in the first page of the journal.
She slides her fingers along the pages, her eyes focusing onto the scribbles written in black ink. "There was one vision, She couldn't write about- even in her blessed symbols."
She closes the book quick, creating a loud shock of noise. She looks up at us, setting the book on the counter and sliding it back to Dylan.
"The day the twin stars were forged in the darkness of the celestial abyss."
My face falls, confused. "We already know about that. The news of the stampedes."
She shakes her head, pointing down to the book. "No. There was a second part to the vision. Today marks the beginning of the first wave of natures revenge upon man."
The room falls silent as Dad finds his way over to the kitchen, leaning onto the counter. "Why didn't she tell me?" He looks down, stunned. Sadness and anger lingering on his face.
She shakes her head again. "She couldn't. All she wanted was to be normal, to live by the sun and dance by the moon. She wanted nothing to do with the violence she knew mankind would endure." Her expression falls, traces of different emotions crossing her face. "I resented her. She knew what was to come and she did nothing to stop it."
My hands are red now clenching them into fists. Before I can speak, Rosie continues, not looking up from the lettuce she had grabbed from the bag. "She called me 20 years ago, telling me about the vision. I didn't believe her. I thought she was selfish, lying so I'd forgive her." Tears begin streaming down her face. My hands loosen, looking at her with pity.
"I hadn't seen or talked to her for 20 years. Then, I got a call. A call from your father, telling me her funeral was in Sydney Nebraska. The same city we were raised in." She looks up at us, wiping her tears from her eyes. I do the same. "Then I saw you two. I saw the stars. Her vision was true. I wanted to stay so badly, but when I saw the way you looked at me. I knew I couldn't stay."
I look down, guilt clouding my thoughts.
I should've at least tried.
We only talked to her for an hour or so at the funeral, exchanging hugs, but I couldn't bring myself to fully look at her.
"I'm sorry." I finally speak, catching my breath as I look into her florescent hazel eyes.
Just like mom.
She looks just like mom.
She smiles, waving her hand at my apology. "No need. I'm just glad I get to be here now. We can talk about everything tomorrow, let's just take in the moments we have now."
Dylan grabs the present in front of him, eagerly looking up at her. "Present time?"
She laughs, nodding for him to continue.
We talked for a while, catching up on her life in Florida.
She told us all about the beaches, and the buildings.
She told us how the sun hits the sand perfectly, glistening like diamonds.
She told us about the sky, how she missed seeing the stars.
There's too many lights to see the stars there.
She told us how she's sorry she never got to see us. How she would've spoiled us with gifts.
Time passed and I found myself thinking back to the forest as I lay in bed, looking up to the ceiling.
I imagine the world, spinning towards the sun, away from the moon.
I imagine everything is balanced, as the trees provide life for the creatures within it.
I imagine humans, nature, living in harmony once again, just like we did when we were created.
Ruby
I jump, startled out of my thoughts.
Ruby listen to me.
Be better than the demons of man kind.
Goosebumps form on my arms.
I shake my head trying to rid myself of the familiar sound.
There's the voice again.
It's so much clearer now.
I jump from my bed, racing to the bathroom and closing the door shut.
My breaths become scattered as I try desperately to calm down.
Stop.
I turn the sink on, lifting water from my palms to my face, scrubbing desperately.
Maybe I can rub my thoughts out of my head.
Maybe i'm going crazy.
After several minutes of dragging water down my face, my breathes become steady, focusing on the mirror in front of me.
My face is wet, drenching my skin.
I turn my attention to the door, opening it cautiously and walking slowly out of my bathroom.
I stand there for a minute, shaking my head.
"I'm going crazy." I mumble to myself, climbing back into bed and throwing the covers over me.
"Oh great and now i'm talking to myself."
I roll my eyes back, shutting them. I try to think back to the day I first arrived in this quiet town.
Something to bring me to reality.
The sun seemed so much more bright back then. It was new, but scary.
Now,
I somehow feel..
Comforted.
Safe.
My thoughts soon disperse into different dreams as I'm claimed by the darkness of the moon.
One thing raves through my mind.
'Be better than the demons of mankind'
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Wow this book is just full of twins huh?
Haha yeah...
Well wish me luck <3