The Awakening of Gardenia

Chapter five

It was in the early hours of the morning when I finally arrived home. Quietness loomed over the city and my house seemed especially empty.

I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe my mom pacing back and forth on the porch, Alissa waiting by my house waiting for me to come back or police lights. Just something to show me that they care.

But it's nothing. And I don't know if I should feel relieved or sad. I can't even tell them where I actually was, so maybe it's a good thing they're not worried. I'll say I went for a walk and got lost or that I went camping by myself and forgot to tell anyone. Maybe I can ask Alissa to cover for me.

I unlock the front door quietly and quickly, hoping I don't wake anyone up. Jasper would have my neck if I woke him up from his beauty sleep.

I creep up the stairs that creak under my weight, it sounds eerie and sinister. And everything just feels wrong.

Getting to my room, I silently open the door and shut it behind me. I flop onto my bed and take a deep breath.

What even was today?

I think back on Henley and wish I could go back and save him and then my thoughts turn towards the king. Evil. Evil. Evil.

His eyes lacked any warmth that a normal person would have and the stupid mystery surrounding his words was just infuriating.

As the day's events run through my brain, fatigue starts to take over and my eyelids are now too heavy to keep open. I let sleep take me peacefully, knowing that tomorrow it wouldn't be peaceful at all.

****

I don't even know how long I was asleep for. Maybe a couple hours, maybe ten. All I know is that I'm completely disoriented and hear banging on my door, along with Jasper's voice yelling.

I get a complete sense of deja vu. "You better open this door right now Clara!" His voice is loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood.

I try to avoid the inevitable by closing my eyes and calling on sleep to come again but it doesn't. I'm wide awake and he's still banging on my door.

Rolling out of bed, I trudge to the door and open it. Jasper's face is red and he looks like he could kill someone. Kill me.

I try to close the door but he wedges his foot between it. "You think you can get away with this? You're such an attention seeker. You've been gone for three days, didn't answer anyone or tell anyone where you were going. Your mom has been so worried. You spoiled brat."

When he gets all his words out, he slaps my cheek. Hard. It's burning. Then he grabs his belt, the one he leaves outside my room. He tells me to turn around and then I hear the sound of it flying through the air, along with the impact of it burning down my spine.

Tears appear in my eyes and I try to blink them away but when he hits me again they spill out. It happens five more times before he grabs my wrist and turns me around. "You will never do that again. Understood."

I don't nod, I don't talk and I guess he takes that as a sign of defeat so he leaves.

Sometimes I wish I could stand up for myself, show him what it feels like. When I get my power, he will no longer be able to beat me. Mark my words.

I lock my door and crawl into my bed. I wrap the blanket around me like it can protect me. Show me the love that no one else did. I just feel stupid.

I want my power and I'd be willing to do anything to get it. Just as that thought crosses my mind, a light tap sounds from my window.

At first I thought maybe a bird flew into it, until it came again... and again.

I'm not too prideful to admit I'm a bit terrified. Someone would have had to climb up a whole story just to get to my window and they're knocking on it? I'm guessing it's not a murderer or robber and if it is, it's better than life here.

When I turn to the window, I only see a dark figure. A dark figure who seems to have very thin patience. I kick my legs up and get out of bed hoping that this is just a bad dream.

I unlock the window and the man doesn't even give me a chance to open it before he's shoving his way into my room.

"What are you doing here?" I whisper harshly, looking around my room as if a guard could pop up any second. "I didn't tell anyone about the kidnap situation."

"I know. I need your help," the king of Nightshade replied, looking way to calm.

"With what? I have no powers and you should definitely not be here right now. How did you get through the borders?"

He looks amused by my panicking. "Calm down," the smile that he gave me was devastating, like he was holding back a laugh, and it made his face completely glow like he wasn't a king, but a normal boy, "I always sneak through the borders it's not difficult and I don't need powers, I need your help."

He put an emphasis on your, as if I was going to make it break whatever he needed help with. I was confused and tired and... sore. I stumble a bit as the adrenaline starts to wear off and the stinging on my back intensifies.

"What's wrong?" The king asked, looking a bit worried and skeptical.

"Nothing," I try to brush it off by taking a seat on my bed but questions still lurk in his eyes. "So what do you need help with?"

He shakes off whatever questions he has. "There's this thing that your king took from me and I need it back."

He chose his words carefully and calculated but I immediately shook my head. "I'm not going to steal something for you from the King just for my head to be chopped off."

His jaw ticked. "I wouldn't let that happen and it's not stealing if it's mine. He won't know and you don't have to go into the castle... I don't think." He scratches the back of his head unconvincingly.

"You don't think?"

"I only have a tiny bit of knowledge on where it is."

"Okay...? Are you going to share it with me?" I ask. Maybe then I can make up my mind.

"Yes." He doesn't move, and neither do I. "Eventually."

"Eventually? Are you joking? Truthfully, I don't owe you anything. I didn't tell anyone, and I won't, so we're even. If I do this for you, you'll owe me."

"Okay. Is there something specific that you want?" I try to think about it for a second.

I needed to be strategic with whatever I chose and I knew that with the pain lingering in my back, my brain was only focusing on that. "I'll think about it."

He nodded and he's about to leave again but I have too many questions so I jump up, push him out of the way and slam the window shut. Standing in front of it, I ask "Why did you ask for my help?"

His eyes held mine for a split second before he looked away. "What do you mean?" I know he's trying to play dumb.

"I mean, you have hundreds of guards willing and ready to do this. They'd probably do it a lot quicker too. Why me?"

"I-," he stumbles over his words, looking around my room until his eyes finally settle on mine again. He doesn't look embarrassed or shy, but mad, like my curiosity angered him. What doesn't he want me to know? What is he hiding? "Look. I can't tell you everything right now. Just- Just trust me. Okay?"

I'm about to speak, but he continues. "I know we're on opposite sides of the war and you have no reason to trust me. I get it. But I'm a man of my word. Whatever you want after this, I'll do my best to give it to you."

"Fine."

He looks like he's about to debate with me again, until my answer sinks in. "Okay. Meet me at seven pm by Canna River. Don't be late."

I move out of the way so he can go back out the window. When he's about to jump down, he looks back at me one last time and nods.

I'm probably going to regret this for the rest of my life, but I can't back down now. For years I've been wanting to - no needing to prove myself. Maybe this isn't for my Kingdom or my family. But it's for me. And for once in my life, I'm doing something just for me.

Someone finally needs my help. And maybe it'll lead to death but no one ever needed me before. I finally have the one thing I've been searching for, purpose, and it might not be for long but time is only an illusion.