Beyond the Rift ✔ (Completed)

Chapter 43: Terms Of Endearment

The vehicle stops in front of the frail iron gates. The jet paint chips off the corroded metal signifying the ages of turmoil it has resisted. It stands proudly among the rest of its veteran associates. One of them being the cracked bird bath.

I still recall the summer I accidently overflowed the bath with flax seeds, that was the only day the bath was deserted, no bird ever came that day. I was only 9 at the time. Mom was busy dusting the interior, as Dad was coming home after 6 months. I was just as excited as her. I wanted to go to Disneyland. At that point, every friend of mine had either gone to Disneyland or were on their way. The exhilaration was real. However, dad never showed up.

I walk up to the main door and stare at it.

Mom knows nothing about the current situation. To her I am still attending college as usual. It's going to be super tricky explaining her something like essences and supernatural entities.

I slowly lift my clenched fist and knock the door. Ethan, Elvira and Halitus decided to stay in the car, while I meet mom. Also, they needed to keep a guard out around the perimeter.

What if she is gone to the market? No, the door isn't locked. Maybe, she is busy watching television. But, I can't hear any blaring noises.

Five minutes passes like eternity. I look around the garden, the place seems to be quiet. I look down and notice specks of mud trailed over the threshold. The stamp looks like a muddy footprint dragged into the house.

Did Nick get to her before us? Maybe the tridents? Or worse ... I shake off the thought from my head. My breath quickens and I rap my fist on the door.

But, I don't wait for it to be answered. I take the door knob in my fist and exert my fire essence on it. The heat from my palms melts the metal like soft cheese.

Slinging the door open, I dash into the house. As the silence settles, a shovel jabbing sound comes from behind the glass door. I sprint across the house and bust open the glass door that leads to the backyard.

I freeze.

My eyes fixate on the person in front of me. I scan the mud-covered gloves and fuzzy hair. She is as shocked as me, but for reasons discrete.

"Mom!" I run and hug her tightly. I could hear her heart beating in her chest. I can imagine her mouth still slightly open in surprise. I breathe in her lavender scent fused with the fragrance of wet earth. It feels like forever, I want to lay in her arms endlessly. Mom is like my shelter in the winter time, when you feel as if ice freezes your heart and blood, she is like the daisies in the grass during the summer. She is my guardian; my home.

"Alexis, baby, is everything okay?" She slowly pulls away and searches my face for answers.

I don't reply but rather stare at her in happiness. Her expressions are perplexed.

"Did something happen? What are you wearing?" She looks down at the clothes Elvira had lend me; which happens to be a tank top with a jacket thrown over. She knows that ripped jeans were never my thing.

"Mom." How do I tell her? This is so bizarre and outlandish to break dad's news to her. I don't know her reaction, but if I had to guess, she might think of me as a fool.

"What is it?"

"I know what happened to Dad." I blurt out.

Stillness hovers in the air for few seconds. Mom doesn't bat her lash. She plainly looks at me as if I myth-busted the fact that Lightning never strikes the same place twice. My statement doesn't earn the reaction it deserved.

Why is she so calm? Why isn't she annoyed at me for bringing up dad? She would never talk about him but she would always change at the sound of his name.

"Really?" She turns away from me and returns to the freshly dug pot of mud; she must've been planting before I charged in on her. Her voice is surprisingly contained. She is acting as if the topic is least of her worries.

"Yes."

"What do you know?" She continues shoveling the red mud from the center of the plant-less vessel.

"That he didn't go missing." I pause. "Mom! What's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why aren't you freaking out? Why aren't you shutting me up? Why are you being so quiet about this?" I exhale in irritation.

"What do you want me to say, that, I was not aware of his death? Because, I am!" She raises her voice dangerously. "It's something I have buried in me for ages. I never talked about it because I knew that if I did, I wouldn't be able to fight the tears. I decided to stay strong, I promised to not wither away in sadness, for you Alexis."

The air seems to leave my lungs all at once. I sizzle like icy water on hot metal. My blood heats up instantly, but I make an effort to ignore the spiteful emotions swirling in me. Maybe I heard it wrong.

"You knew about Dad, about the things he did, how he died?" I bite my lip as I try to conceal the fire essence.

"Yes, I know how he sacrificed his life to stop the evil, I know about the Altruist and the Essences. I am aware of your powers too. The outbursts and the pain you felt since childhood were all part of a life you were never made known to, until now." She deliberately advances towards me, regardless, I step back.

"How could you do this?" I whisper between my shallow breaths, my nose flares in resentment. I want to cry with her; however, my essences have intervened and now I can't stop it.

"How could you not tell me something so significant? Don't I have the right to grieve Dad's death?" I grit my teeth.

It's mom Alexis! Don't get mad at her. You love her! Remember that!

Regardless, she lied to me. She concealed the truth from me, she kept me in the dark. And, I am tired of the lies.

From the moment I have turned eighteen, everything I have ever taken as facts has been a lie. Everyone has done nothing than lie to me. Be it about the world, my powers, about my father or me included. When I learnt about Nick's true motives, any shield of trust that was ever in my heart has been crushed to dust. It hurts when someone lies to you, but it hurts even more when that someone has been in your life forever.

"Alexis, I couldn't put something like that on you at that point. I needed you to be strong. I wanted both of us to be happy for a while, because I knew that the things that took your father away from me, would one day come back for you."

I strive to shake off the fury in me and think about what she said. She is right, those six years after dad, were the years we made tons of memories. She never let me out of her sight until last year, when I started working to pay for college. Irrespective, she visited me every month.

I feel a hammer hit my head as I stumble back in pain. My pulse hurries and I clasp my palms to my head. The fire essence wants an outlet. The rage stirring in me wants to blast every single thing in front of me. I could hear Mom's panicked voice as she reaches out to help me.

"No!" I warn her as I stagger my way outside the house.

Something is different. I can't seem to command my essence. I feel vulnerable. I slump on the door frame as my hands spike with hot white currents.

Aether.

"Ma'am, I need you to come with me, now." I overhear Elvira say to mom, but the blinging lights impair my vision. The heat fills my chest as I howl in pain. The ground quakes. There is a ball of fire. The lights switch off.

I hear two voices, one of Ethan.

The other calls me out sweetly; Asmodeus.