The Hidden Gemstone

Chapter: 09

Alex's POV:

The wind blew violently, the leaves rustling. It blew on its own course; nothing about my emotions was encouraging it. Mostly because if I was feeling anything at all, I couldn't decipher it. I'd been sitting on the damp ground in the woods for God knew how long.

My mind was racing. I'd tried so hard to suppress everything that happened three years ago to the back of my mind. From there on out, I decided not to let anyone in ever again. The doubt I'd had about whether I should tell my family was gone. I could never let them know.

At first, I thought that it would be hard. Not having Elijah by my side anymore, not having someone to talk to. But it wasn't. It turned out, being alone wasn't all that bad.

I had locked my entire focus on training. It was the only thing that mattered to me. I'd go to school and I'd train. Everything else fell into background and the distraction was helpful; as far as I was concerned, Elijah didn't even exist anymore.

Zoe was a different story though. She was intrigued by my infamous personality although she didn't push me. She gave me my space when I needed it. That and her numerous other qualities were the reason I let her in. I didn't tell her about my gifts though, and neither was I ever planning to.

My plans weren't an obstacle in the way of fate though. She'd seen me training in the woods one time. I remembered vividly when I was so close to losing control that I couldn't even understand what was happening anymore. Coincidentally, she was there. She pushed herself in front of me despite the danger. The shock of seeing her shut out my focus.

Even then, her attitude toward me remained the same. She didn't cower back like Elijah, even though she'd only known me for three months and he had known me my whole life. It took a good deal of time to forget someone like Elijah, to press him to the back of my mind, to pretend that he didn't exist.

All those efforts were useless now. I was still staring into nothingness, unable to take my mind off him. All that I had tried to suppress and ignore was coming back to me.

A sound snapped me out of my thoughts and I was more than grateful for the distraction. It was only then that I saw the sun had already set; in fact, it was dark now. I couldn't help feeling a pang of disappointment on missing the sunset. I had always enjoyed watching the sun as it dropped below the horizon, taking the sky's red and orange streaks with it as it went.

The sound came again, clearer this time, thanks to my enhanced hearing. I narrowed my eyes reflexively in concentration until it came again - and then again. It took me a minute to realize they were footsteps, entering the woods.

I found it odd since no one really came into the woods, especially not after dark. Part of me thought it might've been Zoe but she knew better than to approach me when I was angry. I could hear everything clearly now. Even the snap of the branches when they broke as the person made their way further into the woods.

The footsteps were light but quick. My instincts forced me to my feet and somewhat reluctantly, I looked behind the tree.

There, running along the narrow path between the trees, was a small female figure. I narrowed my eyes and almost felt my pupils widening more than humanly usual.

I sensed fear - extreme fear. Like the girl was running away from a monster who was ready to claw at her the second it got its hands on her.

As she got closer, I realized she probably couldn't see me in the dark. I fisted my hand and reached out for any available heat. There wasn't much but there was enough to get the small flame started on my palm.

It took only a second for her to notice me after that. When she did though, I realized that she may be scared at the sight of a person with fire burning on their palm.