________________________________________________________________________________
Days passed by too slowly. Even though the sun was rising and setting constantly, I felt like I was only living in the night. Maybe it was because I never opened my blinds or got out my room. My nights were sleepless once again, for the first time in months. But it wasn't Demetra this time.
I dreamt about my dad mostly. They were happy dreams, but they were dreams of the dead, nonetheless.
I found myself re-reading the lines telling me I was adopted. It stung every time. I felt my self becoming more depressed and angry everyday. I know it's selfish and stupid to not talk to your mother after the death of her husband, but how could they not have told me?
I'm 17 for God sakes. Did it just slip their minds?
Oh right, forgot to tell you Max dear. Your not our child. Yea... we just picked you up at some hospital.
If that's even where I was picked up.
The funeral was depressing. I sat in the back of the church trying my hardest not to cry around all my aunts and uncles. I didn't look at Dad, I couldn't. I wanted to remember him alive.
I knew that once I even glanced at him, I wouldn't be able to get that image out of my head. Serenity sang a beautiful song. Her voice was so soothing, it brought everyone to tears, but it only left me astonished. I didn't know she could sing.
I went up and read a little summary of dad's life. That got to me a bit which is exactly why I didn't wan to do it. I choked up and had to have mom finish. In all honesty, I just wanted everything to be over.
I sat at a tree and watched his coffin go down into the dirt. People often looked back at me, some probably thinking 'why is he in the dirt, in his new suit?' Others willing to rush to my rescue if even a tear escaped.
I didn't want anyone around me though. The day didn't go by without much people being offended by my quietness and emotionless face.
"Don't mind Max. It's hard for him. It's best if you leave him alone." I heard mom telling someone when she thought I was out of ear. I didn't mind.
I kicked some dirt into dad's grave and left the whole family to their crying. I made my way to the car avoiding the stares I felt peering down my back. They probably thought I didn't care. They probably saw it as disrespectful, but I couldn't mourn with people. I began to learn that.
I calmly opened the car door and sat down in the drivers seat. I felt it building up, like too much water behind a small dam. The brick wall could no longer keep the water from rushing over and flooding the unfortunate village below its level.
I'd held in the emotion for too long and finally it could consume me while no one else could see.
I bawled out and kicked and screamed, knocking on the seats and staring wheel. It became a combination of crying and yelling. I worried that I wouldn't be able to stop.
Why did I feel so angry?
Why did he have to leave?
The tears began to subside after a few minutes. I felt slightly better breathing hard, my head pressed against the steering wheel.
Max, it's life. Your father is in a better place now.
I heard a low whisper. I thought it was God. That sounds like something God would say, but it wasn't. I knew that voice too well. Smooth and velvet.
Her face came a bit visible in my head. I pushed it out and waited a couple minutes for mom and a few more relatives to get into the car. We were heading back to my house for food.
The drive was longer than ever. I didn't even want to be around anyone.
My little cousins made a lot of noise in the back, mom began talking to her sister about more things dad was known for. I cleared my throat and she got the message to stop.
If I cried, we would have another car accident. That would be on her hands.
I pulled into the driveway and opened the door for everybody then made my way up to my room for the night.
Impatient I ripped the stupid suit off me until I was only in my undershirt and boxers.
My bed welcomed me though I wasn't very tired. I laid there and stared up at the ceiling and bit my lip to keep my thoughts from shifting to dad. It wasn't working, everything went back to him. The lamp on my dresser he gifted me. A picture of him and mom were on my working desk.
Even a shirt I borrowed form him was thrown along the chair. I mumbled an 'I miss you' before I heard a knock at the door.
"Max? Can I come in?" It was Serenity. I almost forgot she came.
She would be a perfect distraction. I cleared my throat before answering. "Yea."
She looked like a princess in all her glory coming in. Her blonde hair poured over the black dress she was wearing. The dress was just a little below her knees. It wasn't tight but it still managed to bring out her nice shape.
"You look great by the way." I commented. She sat beside me on my bed and took my hand into hers.
"Thanks. You look defeated." She replied, smiling slightly.
"You know what else I am?" I looked at her jokingly.
"What?" She asked.
"Adopted."
I waited for a reaction but she only shrugged. "Don't tell me you already knew."
She nodded her head. Screw this. Everyone knew except me. Perfect.
"How did you know?" I asked upset. She hushed me.
"Your mom told me last year. She was planning on telling you but she said there was more to the story, that I couldn't know about."
I sighed and turned away from Serenity. I felt mad at the world.
She took the gesture and left my room.
Everyone began to leave around 8 as I hoped would happen. I could finally come out.
I walked to the kitchen, expecting to eat but realizing that I wasn't hungry enough. It's been a week since the accident, and I can honestly name everything I have eaten since then.
I heard mom's footsteps down the stairs and closed the fridge door, knowing she was coming into the kitchen. I sat on the sofa, legs open, poker face on. I knew she was going to say something this time.
"I know you read the scrapbook, sweetie." She began in a calm voice. I huffed and shook my head. I wasn't having it. I tried to wait until I cooled off, I gave the situations some days to air out, but you just don't get over this kinda stuff.
" When were you going to tell me?" I asked.
She was silent. I'm guessing she never really planned on it.
"Why weren't you going to tell me?" I corrected.
She came and sat beside me and took my hand. I looked at her face filled with slight pain and sympathy. I couldn't be mad at her now. Not when she was weak.
"You were a very weird child honey." She paused and her look became distant, like she was remembering something. I watched her confused.
"You used to toss things across the room without touching them. When you were mad especially."
My eyes widened and my mouth fell open. She had to be kidding.
"Once your dad and I, took you to the doctor, to see what was wrong. The doctors ran tests, took blood, everything. They said you were fine. Then when you came home, it was like you were mad at us. We couldn't touch you."
I blinked a couple times. "What do you mean you couldn't touch me?"
"There was some kind of invisible barrier around you. It wouldn't allow us to be more than a few feet away." She took a breath and let it out in a sigh. I guessed she was trying to chose her words carefully.
"It was just very odd. You amazed us and scared us all at once. We were afraid to get you a babysitter, afraid to send you to school-"
"That's why I was home schooled until I was 9?" I questioned. It began coming together. Mom nodded.
"Why did you stop home schooling me? How come i'm fine now?"
A timer in the kitchen went off making me jump a little. Mom got up and went to check on something she had left in the oven. We both seemed a little glad for a moment to breathe.
I sighed and rubbed my head. Calm down Max.
Mom returned, taking off her mittens, one at a time and setting them on the coffee table in front of us.
"At around 8 years old, you complained about these dreams you were having. You said you saw a pretty lady and you had to save her. You were so caught up about it sweetheart. You would wake up screaming, I didn't know what to do."
Mom's eyes met mine and I forced a nervous smile urging her to continue. "The dreams stopped after a while, thank God. You stopped throwing things around, you were finally becoming normal.
Your dad and I thought, maybe if we pretended you were normal, you would forget everything, and you did. I really did mean to tell you that you were adopted, but I knew I would have to tell you everything else. And.."
Mom's face left mine and she looked down, tears gathering at the sides of her eyes.
"I wasn't ready to tell you that. But I should have. I'm sorry darling."
My head spun confusion. Anger sped through me like a bullet through the air. I tried my best not to show that side of me to mom.
"Excuse me." I said as calmly as I could. I grabbed my sweater and through it over my head, then picked up the car keys off the coffee table. I dragged my shoes with me into the car.
Mom ran out of the house. "Where are you going honey?" She asked desperate.
"I'll be back soon." I answered and started the engine. I pulled out the driveway slowly and kept at the speed limit until I was out of mom's sight, then when I turned the corner I stomped on the gas.
I hoped there were no cops around, especially when I broke the stoplight. "The Hilton's" came into view and I slowed down looking for the house I had left her at before.
The pale blue house came into sight and I killed the engine, slipped the keys in my pocket and got out the car.
I walked up the stairs to the house, completely enraged.
I banged on the door. "Demetra!" I yelled.
I waited a second before knocking furiously again.
"Demetra! It's Max!" She wasn't answering. I walked around the house and peered through its clear windows. There was no furniture, just grayish wooden floors. The house was deserted.
No one lived there.
I looked around savagely. "Demetra, are you kidding me right now? What the hell is going on?" I screamed to no one. I hoped the people in the other houses wouldn't call the police.
I got into my car and slammed the door, when I suddenly turned and saw her sinister face staring at me.
My breath caught in my throat. I swear my heart stopped for a second.
"Don't do that!" I exclaimed desperately. I rested my head on the steering wheel, trying to gather myself. She didn't even apologize. I thought I sensed an amused smile.
She got out of the car and began walking down the street. She was wearing normal clothes. Well more normal in her sense. An old fashion house dress, dyed the darkest purple. What time period was she living in?
"Where are you going?" I asked. I sounded like my mother, that scared me a little.
"To my house." She answered.
I looked at her like she was growing another head. "Oh yea! Where the hell do you live?"
She didn't answer, just lead me past the house she claimed she lived in first. I noticed an abandoned forest like place approaching us as we made it around the corner.
This girl was insane. I was fully convinced.
Something about her attracted me though. I don't know if it were her looks, her creepiness or her attitude.
We walked into the park and then she slowed down. Branches crunched beneath my converse and I often stumbled and had to hold on to a tree. Demetra seemed to glide along the path. She did everything so gracefully.
Small animals made noises in the forest, I don't remember hearing these sounds before. The only animal I could recognize was the hooting of an owl. The ground felt damp from the rain.
Slowly a small house came into view.
The house was like a little cottage. The small place seemed to be made of unsturdy pieces of wood, even the door was wooden. It looked like something she-
"I built it myself." She turned and smiled at me. I didn't return the friendly gesture.
We walked up three wooden steps. It was well built compared to what I could do. The steps croke like they were about to collapse. She opened the door that didn't seem to have any type of locking mechanism on it.
Inside wasn't what I was expecting though. It wasn't as uncivilized as I would have guessed from outside.
How did she make this?
All the furniture in the cottage seemed to go perfectly together, even though not one of them matched. The couch was long and the color intrigued me. Blood red. Call me emo, but that is an amazing color. It looked like it was recycled from an antique market. A crooked red velvet guitar hung on the wall above the sofa.
The curtains that hung through the house looked like rags, but they somehow managed to keep a clean and balanced look. The black carpet gave great contrast to the chair and went well with the purple vase pushed to the side of the cottage. I noticed a purple painting hanging on the wall, along with a lighter purple quilt thrown over a coffee colored table in the kitchen.
It was like every bit and piece of the cottage fell in a weird balance, like no other style I had ever seen. Nothing matched completely but it was all well arranged and perfectly neat.
An old wooden door was half open, I guessed it was her bedroom. Another small door was closed, probably leading into the bathroom and the kitchen was visible through just a slight partisan.
I kinda liked it.
I liked how it smelled exactly like her, like jasmine.
It also smelled a little old, but somehow that only added to my liking.
There was no TV, or radio, or computer. What did she do in here?
"Have a seat." She motioned to the sofa. I took my shoes off not wanting mess up the balance I saw in the room and sat down.
"Why did you come looking for me?" She asked calm. She sat on the carpet of her floor and I suddenly felt weird on the couch. I shuffled down to the floor with her.
"Who am I?" I asked, my voice broke slightly and I swallowed at what she was about to tell me.
"What do you mean?"
"Who am I? I seem to have known you longer than I thought, since I was a child...I was adopted. The powers? Please tell me what the hell I am. " My breathing sped up and I didn't notice I was speaking loudly until I stopped talking.
I quieted my voice, though she just looked at me slightly nervous.
"I know you have some kind of connection to this." I finished.
"I know more about you than you do about yourself. I can't tell you anything, you have to find out for yourself Max." Oh great.
"Look, I don't know what kind of shit this is. But I quit. Alright? I'm done. Find a new alternator or what ever the hell you need, but I am not him!"
She pulled her hair all to one side and let it rest on her shoulder, she didn't seem phased by my tantrum. She got to her feet and stared at me. Her eyes set into mine, I couldn't pull away from them.
"Lets play a game." She said.
I got to my feet without wanting too.
The lights dimmed and my heart began to over react.
"What game?" I asked a little terrified.
"Truth or Dare." She answered. "I will tell you everything you want to know. Well..depending on what it is."
I nodded my head in agreement. "And the dares?" I asked.
"The dares will be interesting enough." She answered with a slight grin.
"Truth or dare?" I asked.
"Truth." She replied.
"Are you the Demetra from my dreams?" I narrowed my eyes willing her to be honest.
"Yes. Sorry for lying. Truth or dare?"
"Truth." I answered.
"Are you afraid of me?" Her hands went to her hips. In that moment she looked like a child. It made me smile a little, but at times I was.
"Sometimes." I answered. Her eyebrows wrinkled.
"Truth or dare?" I continued.
"Truth." She answered again.
"If Max isn't my real name, what is?"
"Your real name is Cyrus." She answered.
"Cyrus." I felt the name out in my own mouth. I kinda liked it. I wondered what it meant.
"Cyrus what?" I asked her.
"We don't have last names. No need. There aren't many of you." She replied. She let me ponder my name before continuing the game. "Truth or Dare?"
"Truth."
"How did you find out you were adopted?" She asked. I sighed before answering.
"My dad got into a car accident and he passed away, a week ago. They found somethings in his car, including a journal he wrote about me. It said I was adopted."
"Truth or dare?" I asked wanting to get off the topic.
"Truth."
"What happens if I cant save you?" I asked.
"That question is an exception to this game." She answered. I rolled my eyes.
"Then I get to ask again." I said. She shook her head "Nope. Truth or dare?"
"Dare." I said curious as to what she was going to come up with. She smiled and gracefully glided over to me.
"I dare you to move the vase." She pointed to the vase in the corner of the room, a playful smile lightening her face.
I shrugged and went to pick it up but she called me back. "Without touching it." She added.
"I can't do that, that's impossible."
"I wouldn't tell you to do it if you couldn't." She answered. "Just try something. I can't tell you anything."
I took a deep breath and stared at the vase intently. Nothing happened. I imagined lifting it, it still didn't budge. I wondered if Demetra was just making me look stupid.
"Your mind controls everything." She whispered.
I focused a little more on the small vase instead of her.
Move.
The vase shifted to the right, only slightly. I smiled. You had to be kidding. I looked around at Demetra who had an approving look on her face.
Elevate.
The vase floated off the ground and I used my eyes to carry it across the room. It felt like I had to be careful. Like holding a stack of plates on a tray. That if I went too fast everything would fall and shatter.
I brought the vase close enough to grab it. My eyes didn't leave the object in my hand.
"Truth or dare?" I mumbled astonished.
"Dare." She chuckled.
"I dare you to lift the couch."
She smiled and kept staring at me. The chair began floating anyway. So you didn't need the eye contact, you just had to focus on it.
She made the chair spin slowly, then flipped it upside down before setting it back on the floor in the perfect position.
"Show off." I mumbled. She laughed.
"I dare you to shatter the glass." She said. I ignored the fact that I hadn't answered "truth or dare" and kept my eyes on her.
I thought about a high pitched scream shattering a glass, and pretended the glass was in my hand. The vase broke into pieces in seconds. I laughed for the first time in a week.
"You still want to quit?" She asked her bottom lip jutting out slightly into a pout.
"No. This is cool." I answered, the smile still pinned to my face. She smiled.
"Good. You couldn't quit anyway. It's your destiny."
I looked at her, her green eyes bright as ever. I couldn't believe what was going on. This weird girl was the key to my weird childhood. I had powers. I didn't know exactly what I was capable of, but it frightened and excited me.
Her head tilted to the side and she bit down on her bottom lip like she didn't know what to say.
"Sorry about your dad." Her voice was quiet and sincerely apologetic.
"It happens." I said. I quickly got off the subject again. I didn't want to be depressed.
"You've been communicating with me. My head hurts when you do. Why?" I asked remembering.
"It's one of your powers, and mine. I need to be able to communicate with you sometimes. For circumstantial..purposes." I knew she wasn't going to go into any more detail, which bothered me.
How much of this did I need to figure out?
"I don't know how to communicate back." I said slightly timid.
"You have a lot to learn."She walked to the door and opened it pointing me out.
"Your mother needs you." She said.
I walked out into the forest before realizing, I didn't know my way through it. She was at my side in seconds.
Oh Demetra.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Vote, Comment, and Fan.
:)