Chained to You

Extremities

I sat upright in my chair, not daring to exhale the breath that I had been holding. After years on the streets, encountering gangs, police dogs, drug addicts and rats, I'd never believe that some words would be the thing that terrified me. But they weren't just words, they were my future. I'm not ashamed to admit that over the past couple of years, I wished I was a character in one of those fairytales we had to analyze in middle school. Life would be so much simpler.

"Nova? Please say something," Kai begged me. "I know it can be a lot to take in-"

I didn't hesitate. I jumped up from my creaky, wooden chair and flung myself at Kai. But instead of attacking him, I gave him an enormous hug. Tears were streaming down my face and I was struggling to breath through my heaving sobs. This was all I ever wanted; to immerse myself in some fairytale land and move on from the life I was trying so hard to forget.

Kai didn't move. He sat there as if he was a statue at a museum, unable to communicate whether he wished for the hug to be cut short or be longer.

"Thank you," I whispered near his ear when I found my voice again. I let out another shuddering breath and felt Kai relax under my arms. Realizing what I was doing, I quickly jerked backwards and leaned against the adjacent counter. Kai still didn't move, but spoke in a low voice instead.

"It's not going to be as easy as you're thinking," he said. "I brought you here for another reason. I can't explain it to you now, you need rest and...and training."

I wiped the remaining tears away from my eyes and stood up straighter. "That's the stupidest thing I've heard in my 17 years of life," I scoffed.

"I knew you were going to react like-"

"My life can't get any worse, so there's no reason you shouldn't tell me." My voice was rising and I was shaking with anger. There was a ringing in my ears that seemed to vibrate my entire body, starting with my toes and ending at the tips of my hair. Kai got up with one hand outstretched and his brow furrowed in concern.

The lights hanging over the kitchen table suddenly came alive, bright and powerful, showering the room with unnatural yellow light. They grew brighter and brighter until I was forced to shield my eyes with my arm.

"Nova!" I heard Kai cry out, but it felt sluggish, like my name was glossed over. I was spiraling, the light was the only thing that didn't have a dream-like quality. My skin was on fire again, but this time I reveled in it, I stretched out my arms and embraced it. The light was mine to control and I wouldn't let fear take grasp.

I heard a man scream "No!", but it wasn't Kai this time. Before I had time to figure out what it might've been, I was knocked backwards and my luminous light was gone, replaced with a slow, black fog. The darkness was just a beautiful as my light, if not more.

A young man was standing at the center of it, like the eye of a hurricane. He was wearing an all black suit, but his hair was white, not a strand out of place. When I noticed his eyes, I almost screamed aloud; they were pitch black and bottomless. Within a split second, his eyes changed over to a dove gray and the dark fog surrounding him dissipated.

It was only then I noticed a slumped over body laying in the middle of the kitchen with burns and blisters covering any exposed skin. I slowly sunk to the ground with a hand over my mouth, swallowing any cry that tried to escape my throat.

"Kai..." I whimpered.