Chapter 2
"Sing to slumbers goodnight; let thy dream be bright, for Riley...." A frail voice sang. Even though it was frail, it was still a beautiful voice.
"...and when night time is past, may God wake thee at last...."
The baby yawned. Although he was sleepy, he did not seem to want to sleep. His eyes were dancing. What a beautiful boy he was. The girl bent down and kissed his forehead. She saw a smile form on his lips and smiled herself.
"Riley, son of Isandro, go to sleep now. Mommy is tired", she reprimanded, shifting the baby from her hands so that he lay against her chest.
The baby's pupils dilated, and the weirdest thing happened. A baby bottle full of formula milk appeared to levitate from a table nearby.
"Oh Riley, did I not tell you not to do that? You are normal Riley, you have to be! You have to be!" the girl said as a tear escaped her eye.
"You have to be!"
The bottle ended up in the baby's hands and he gulped his milk, oblivious to the state his mother was in.
*
I opened my eyes. I was surrounded by white walls. The place smelled so bad I felt like throwing up. It reeked of medicine, a mixture of organic and inorganic substances. I was lying on a bed draped with white sheets. A doctor had his back to me.
"Ah, you are awake", he said cheerfully.
He was in his mid-fifties, I judged by his balding head. Balding started earlier those days, I corrected myself. For a man who worked in a place that smelled horrible and people sometimes died, he was cheerful, probably because he went home to a nagging wife and had children who were out of the house and still financially-dependent on him.
I blinked.
"How long was I here?" I asked.
"Technically, your question should be, "how long have I been here?"", he said.
My eyebrows met halfway. If he wanted to be a teacher, why did he not become one? He stared at me, waiting for me to repeat his words. I merely stared back.
"You have been here for an hour. You were completely out", he said.
"What's wrong with me?" I asked.
He walked in the direction of the door.
"Exhaustion", he stated and walked out.
I screwed up my face. What exhaustion? I had not been tired, I was not tired! I sat up. A few minutes later, Casey walked in. His face lit up when he saw me. He enveloped me in a bear hug. His lips slightly brushed against my cheek. I could not tell if it was intentional or accidental. I disentangled myself hastily. Casey knew I hated hugs. With his hands in mine, he looked at me. Something passed between us, something unreal.
Casey and I had that "I hit you, you hit me" relationship. We always argued. I teased him and he gave me unnecessary advice. That day, that moment...it felt as though it was more.
"Your mother said she's on her way", he broke the moment. I let go of his hands. We looked at each other awkwardly, our first awkward moment.
"What happened?" I asked, composing myself.
"You don't know? Mandy said you just fainted. She started shouting for help. Someone called the ambulance".
"Where's she?" I asked.
Casey looked disappointed. He hid it, but I saw it.
"She was here a few minutes ago, Logan too. They left", he said brightly, too brightly. "I'm glad you are okay", he said, squeezing my hand affectionately.
"Now I have a valid excuse for missing classes", I said cheerfully, causing him to laugh.
"I still don't get what exhausts you. It's not like you do anything", he said.
Dreams, the uncertainty, the abnormality, the voices, the pain....
I opened my mouth.
"Oh baby. I am so glad you are okay. You scared me", mother burst into the room, walked over to the bed and smothered me with kisses.
"Mom!" I shouted, pushing her away.
"Thank you Cassidy, for staying with him. You are such a good friend to him, he just doesn't know it", mom said to Casey.
"Don't know it? He reminds me every day!" I disagreed.
Casey laughed and said, "It's not a bother Miss Linley. You'll have to excuse me; I have to get back to class now".
He walked out and mom said behind him, "What a lovely child".
I rolled my eyes.
"I talked to the doctor and he said you will be staying overnight, just to make sure you are okay".
"He said what? No!" I said firmly, pushing the bed sheets off me.
"Riley, you must stop being so stubborn! Do you want to collapse again? I will have them lock you in here if I have to!" Emily Linley said, standing her ground.
I shook my head. "Mom, I'm fine!"
"You looked just like this before you fainted. You have no idea what is going on inside of you!"
I sighed. "I do! I am a freak, I can do things no one can! Now mother, if I do not exit this building in less than thirty minutes, I will show people the freakish things I can do. Do you want that?"
I laid it on the table and watched her suffer. She was indecisive. If only she had known that I would not carry out my threat. I was the freaky one, not her. If I showed people, they would look at me, not her.
"Okay fine. If you collapse again, you are on your own", she resigned.
Typical mom, she would never let me suffer. I got away with a lot of things by pretending that I would reveal my true nature to people. She would never let me intentionally walk into a life of intense scrutiny or preposterous experiments of which I was a subject. She would do anything to protect me, even if I willingly put myself in danger.
"That wasn't so hard", I said, getting off the bed.
I looked at her and her lips were pursed, her nose in the air. She was trying to convince me of her threat. I mentally laughed. I made her angry most of the time. I bunked school, I didn't do chores and I didn't listen. She always promised to leave me on my own to face problems, but whenever they occurred, she was the first one at the scene.
The doctor walked in. "Hey young man. Did your mother tell you that you will be staying overnight?"
My eyebrows met in a frown.
"I am leaving, right now", I said simply.
He looked at my mother and she just shrugged.
"Okay, let us go to my office so I can sign the discharge forms" he said, looking at me ruefully.
*
"Riley, you are playing with your food", mother said simply.
She was sitting across from me, savoring her plate of chicken lasagna. It was my favorite meal, but I was not hungry. I was moving my fork on the plate in circles. I ignored mom and continued making circles around my food.
"Riley, ever since we came back, you have been quiet, what's wrong?"
As soon as the doctor signed the release forms, mom and I had gone straight home. Upon entering the house, I had asked her if I could get my bike my school and she had plainly refused. She had sent me to my room afterwards. I had spent the rest of the day just lying on my bed, thinking. At one time, I had tried to make my phone levitate, but sharp pain had pierced through my body and I had never felt so weak. Thinking of it as a momentary thing, I had tried to do the same thing about ten minutes later. The same thing had happened.
It must have been that bizarre occurrence that had taken my appetite. I was in no mood for dinner. My mind took me back to what happened earlier that day as I finally took a bite of the lasagna. The pain that had lashed through my left hand earlier that day was almost identical to the one that overtook my body as I lay on my bed. It did not make any sense, nothing made sense. If the pain was caused by using my powers, why had I felt pain when trying to draw?
"Riley!" Mother warned.
"I'm fine mom, I am just not hungry", I said.
"How is that? You love chicken lasagna!"
"I am just not hungry", I simply repeated.
She stopped eating and watched me for a few minutes. I did not look into her eyes, knowing she would read me. She had shrewd eyes. She seemed to be literally biting her tongue, as if she was afraid to say something.
"Is it girl problems?" she asked.
I burst out laughing. I just couldn't help myself. She looked at me as if I was faking a laugh, but I really was not. Why would she think I had girl problems?
"Mom, I don't have girl problems", I said in between laughs.
"Forgive a mother for being observant, but, you don't have a girlfriend, do you?"
My laugh dried up instantly. Yes, I did not have a girlfriend, but I did not want one either. Relationships were a lot of trouble and work. I didn't mind being single. Besides, I wasn't interested in anyone.
"Riley, you are an 18 year old handsome boy with your mother's eyes. You are strongly built with a softer side. I don't get how you don't have a girlfriend".
Anger brewed inside of me but I contained it. How dare she say I have that slut's eyes?
"Mom, stop it. I don't have a girlfriend because I don't want one", I said emptying my left-over lasagna into the bin.
"Is there something you aren't telling me? Perhaps you are...you know, not interested in the opposite sex".
Mirth invaded my eyes and ended up on my lips. I shook my head. I had never been interested in anyone to even know what I liked, and I didn't want to get into that with my mom.
"Then, what's wrong?" she asked, concern plastered on her face.
I could not believe my ears. Why was she so keen on me getting a girlfriend? Other parents would be happy if their children were single. That meant no unexpected babies and sexually transmitted diseases or heartbreak that resulted in the kid not talking to the parents for a whole month. Why was mom so keen?
"Mom, is there something you are trying to tell me?"
Mom stood up and placed her plate gently in the sink.
"No, nothing", she replied.
I shook my head disapprovingly at her and exited the kitchen. I went straight to my room and switched on my computer, which was sitting on a desk at the far end of the room, just in front of the windows and next to my closet. I took a seat, typed my password and waited for the computer to log on. The darn thing was really old and took forever to log on. I sighed; I needed a car and a new computer! I tapped on my desk as I waited.
I smiled when the desktop background came to view. It was a picture of Casey and I at the amusement park on Casey's 16th birthday. Casey had his light hand in my jet black hair so that my hair looked all messy. He was giggling. It was windy so some dark-brown locks of hair covered his face.
I went to my browser and clicked on the Google icon. I typed the title "Lands of Azuria" and searched. I really had no idea why I was searching the book, but I felt the need to. It was overpowering. I waited impatiently, went as far as banging my fist on the desk as it looked like the search would take forever. Finally, it opened.
Showing results for Lands of the forgotten
Search instead for Lands of Azuria
That was odd. I clicked the search button again and it yielded the same results. I tried recalling the name of the author, but nothing came to mind. Was it normal that a search for a published book on the internet yielded no results? Unfortunately, yes. That could have been the author's first published book even. After all, even Mr. Winslow did not know him, and Mr. Winslow knew a lot of authors. He was passionate about literature and read so many books. All his life, he had probably said fewer words than he had read.
I was about to click the "close" button when something came to mind.
I typed in the name "Amanda Cornwall" in the search box and clicked "search". I could not put my finger on what intrigued me about that girl, but there was something alright. We had gotten a few new students at Aqua high school in the past years. I had never conducted a search on the internet or wherever on any of the new students. Was I showing an interest in a girl? I shook my head vigorously. That notion was impossible.
When the search was concluded, I browsed through the options. There were several pages which mentioned Mandy. I clicked on one which looked interesting.
Former English billionaire Harry Cornwall divorces, ugly custody battle.
I skipped down to the last part of the article. The first part went on about how the man got rich, etc.
The custody battle ensued after Caroline filed a complaint against Harry, citing that Harry was unfit to raise their children following his depression that led to the breakdown of their marriage and the loss of his billions. The children in question, Amanda (16) and William (7) Cornwall have been living with their father in the estranged couple's London mansion.
Harry has spoken through his lawyer, saying that he intends to fight Caroline with everything he's got.
I almost closed the page, certain it was the wrong Amanda. Amanda came from Silica town and did not have a British accent. Scrolling down however, I saw a picture with the tag, "the Cornwalls in happy times, taken in Richmond, 2006". There was a man holding a little boy, about the ages of 4-6. Next to him was a beautiful brunette woman who was hugging a girl in front of her affectionately. I froze. I did not fail to see the dimples, and the heart-melting smile. The girl was definitely Mandy, 14 year old Amanda Cornwall.
I stared at the picture for a while, trying to put together pieces of a puzzle that did not seem to fit. I heard a noise outside my door. I turned just in time to see mom enter. She was holding a glass of what looked like apple juice in her hand. She smiled sweetly as she placed the glass on my desk. She made to leave when she spotted the picture on my computer.
She frowned and I imitated her.
"What's that? What are you doing?"
"Oh, researching some book for my homework", I said innocently.
She stared at the computer screen for a while.
"You better stay off those social networking sites like I told you to. You need to rest", she warned and left.
I took a sip of the apple juice. Somehow, it tasted a bit different. It must have been because of the pills the doctor had made me drink earlier at the hospital. The taste was different, not bad, so I gulped it.
I looked at the computer screen for a while. My eyes started dropping and my mind which was full of questions earlier on, seemed empty. It was blissful. My body relaxed and I felt like a huge burden had been taken away from me. I dragged myself to my bed lazily, if I slept at my desk, mom would freak and my computer would be taken away, no doubt. I slumped on my bed, and although I willed myself to change into my sleeping clothes, I did not possess the energy. I rolled on my back and gazed at the ceiling, seeing none of it. My eyes closed finally.
*