The Hidden Gemstone

Chapter: 01

5th November 2010

Alex's POV:

There was always a constant battle going on inside me. A battle between my heart and my mind; a battle that neither won. I had spent my whole life trying to stop it, trying to choose between the two, but nothing ever worked. So I gave up. And it was the only thing that I had ever given up on.

I never asked for this power, but I embraced it the moment I was born. I had learned how to control it and how to use it, but I was never truly sure when I was supposed to use it. It didn’t serve a real purpose in my life. I mean, sure, it was a part of me, but I had always wondered why that was so – it wasn’t like I had any monsters to fight, so why was I bestowed with it?

You would think my family might help me figure out the answer to that question, but the truth? They couldn’t. Not because they didn’t want to, but because they never knew about the question. I hid this from them – it was unfair, and I knew it. I could make up some lame excuse about never finding the right way or the right time, but that was crap. I had my whole life and countless opportunities to tell them. I just chose not to. And after the incident three years ago, the one where I faced the consequences of telling the truth, I was intent on never letting them know.

That wasn’t easy though; this secret was burdening me, and it would've crushed me completely if it wasn't for Zoe, the sparky redhead who was standing next to me while I leaned on my locker.

"Do you feel something?" I heard her ask cautiously. She always knew what to ask. But she also would've guessed from the way my eyes were closed. She knew what color my iris would be beneath my eyelids.

"Stress," I muttered slowly.

"So, hazel?" Zoe asked. My eyes changed their color to red, and I opened them, turning to her. I glared. Zoe grinned. "Come on, I'm not wrong."

"Shut up," I snapped and closed my eyes again. Just as I did, the bell rang. Its ringing was normal to Mortals, but for me, it was like a high-pitched scream. The ultra-sensitive hearing had its consequences, and this was one of them. I sighed.

"Relax, it's the last class of the day. You'll make it without smashing someone's skull with a hammer," Zoe said sarcastically, and I gave her a fake smile before swinging my bag over my shoulder and making my way to Math.

The sounds around me were muffled as they always were. No one spared me even a glance. I was always so worked up about my gifts that I never had the time to make friends. My social life had slimmed to zero in the past three years, but I never minded being hidden in the shadows. Zoe had been my only friend for the last few months, and that had only been possible because she had noticed me and reached out, although she never pushed me. She gave me my space when I needed it and when she found out about my gifts, she suppressed her shock and stayed the same person to me she was before.

As I entered the class, I made my way to the back. The chatter in the class died when the teacher came in and started handing out our test results. As he put mine on my desk, my eyes met a red B. I smirked and picked the paper from the table, pocketing it. I was surprised I didn't fail.

*

After the bell rang, I picked up my bag and walked outside. Zoe was already waiting for me there, and her face lit up when she saw me. I never knew why Zoe chose me to be her friend when she knew that if she befriended me, she wouldn't have much of a social life. Zoe was amazing and talented and certainly deserved someone better than me.

"Congratulations, Alex!" She said as I walked towards her. "You made it till the end of the day without killing anyone."

"I think you need to learn to shut up," I told her, and she grinned wickedly.

"Many people have tried to teach me that. It's the only thing that I can't possibly learn." I shook my head at Zoe and threw my arm sideways around her.

I never came in contact with anyone like that. My personal space was like my pride. Only a few people were an exception, and Zoe, who helped me bear the burden of my power while making sure that I didn't blow my head up in the process, was one of them.

"Your birthday is coming up, you know," Zoe said and I sighed, resenting the topic.

"There's still time," I told her.

"Yeah, but think about it. You'll be eighteen. An adult. How cool is that?"

"Not at all cool," I muttered, and Zoe smacked my shoulder. I scowled at her, rubbing the spot. "I like being seventeen."

"Oh, shut up. No one likes being seventeen. Now, where do you wanna go? The mall, the ice cream store-"

"The woods?" I added, cutting her off. Zoe deadpanned at me and I grinned.

"I don't want to go to the woods," she said and I rolled her eyes.

"Don't you have to babysit your siblings?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow. Zoe’s eyes widened and she cursed.

"I'll see you later," she said and scurried away, her red hair flowing behind her. I grinned, shaking my head before continuing to walk, the leaves on the sidewalk crunching beneath my boots.

The sky was gray now, the wind blowing past me although it wasn't going to rain anytime soon. I usually caught the scent of it an hour or two before it started to pour down. At that moment, there wasn't anything in the air.

The color of the sky reminded me of a certain fourteen-year-old, gray-eyed boy. Of all my siblings, Xander was the one I was closest to. Whenever I thought of him, my heart ached. I didn't know whether it was from longing or guilt. The kid looked up to me more than a child looked up to his mother, but I always had a feeling that would change if he found out what I was.

When I started to consider telling him, he got his letter from a music academy in England. He was psyched about going. Music was his life. He would spend all day sitting in his room, playing guitar, and he wouldn't get bored. It was one of the things I admired about him.

I missed him. It had been eight months since he left, and I knew he was going to come back in just one more, but I still longed to see those gray eyes.

He was the only one who had inherited our mother's eyes, and whenever I looked at him, I felt as though I was looking through him and at her. I wanted to feel that again.

The rustling wind brought me back to reality. I shook my head and focused on the path ahead of me. I was thinking too much, and the only thing that would help with that was training.