Chained to You

Truth

I've already gotten myself into so much trouble, I might as well go along with it. I looked Valkyrie in the eye and shook her hand slowly.

"I'm Nova." The girl smiled mischievously and dropped my hand.

"I know," she said. Kai gave her a warning look and pushed her aside.

"At least wait until we get inside, Kyrie," he told her and started to guide me up the steps and into the house.

"Were you guys stalking me? What the fuck?" I was about to launch into a rant, but Kai's smile caught me off guard. Valkyrie chuckled softly.

"I promise we'll explain everything when we get inside. Now c'mon," he said, urging me inside. "And before you ask, no there's no trap at the door. Watch, I'll go first." He scooted in front of me and deliberately took one step through the door. Then another and another until he was a foot inside the house. I sighed softly and skittered through the door after him with Valkyrie behind me. The house smelled as musty as it looked.

"There, that wasn't so bad!" She exclaimed and walked past me into what looked like a kitchen. "You want an sandwich or a drink - not poisoned of course."

Before I could refuse, my stomach growled and Valkyrie grinned. "That'll be a yes then." I didn't say anything. Kai silently walked me to the kitchen table and pulled out a chair, which I gratefully sat down in.

"Why did you bring me here? If you're not a police officer, then who are you?" I couldn't stop the questions from spilling out of my mouth. But Kai didn't seem to mind. He pulled out a chair across from me and sat down with his hands together in front of him.

"I brought you here to protect you," he started to explain.

"You really expect me to believe that?" I shook my head vigorously and slouched in my seat. Kai laughed through his nose and ran his fingers across the wood knots in the table.

"No, actually I don't expect you to believe anything without an explanation." He paused. "Nova, you're...how do I say this.. different."

"Sounds like something from a book," I said lazily. Valkyrie laughed from across the kitchen and I couldn't help but smile.

"It does, doesn't it?" He went on. "But it's true. I'm surprised you haven't asked about what you did earlier with the light." I looked past him at the decorative dishes hanging above the oven. "And haven't you noticed that you're head isn't pounding anymore? Where'd your concussion go?"

"I was trying not to think about it," I answered hesitantly. Valkyrie skipped over and plopped a sandwich down in front of me. "Thanks." She hummed and skipped out of the room. Forgetting about Kai, I grabbed the sandwich with both hands and inhaled it in just a few bites. I looked from the empty plate to Kai and back down to my plate, and my face started to heat up.

"Um, yeah so I'd rather address this right now," Kai said, ignoring my embarrassment. "There's a race called warlocks and to put it lightly, you're part of that race." I stopped wiping jelly off my face and stared at him with a dropped jaw.

"But I thought warlocks could only be guys," I said stupidly. He put his hand over his mouth to muffle his laugh.

"Of course that's your first question," he said after clearing his throat. "But that's a myth. Anybody can be a warlock and we all have a power, something we're born with." My head was spinning. Could it be true? Or is this guy a psycho that's just trying to confuse me before he kills me? What will he do with my body?

"What's mine?" I couldn't resist the question, no matter how dumb it sounded in my head. Kai smiled softly.

"Haven't you guessed already? It's manipulating light, of course."