Birthmarked

5-When One Door Slams in Your Face, Another One Opens

“You can trust me,” he whispered in my ear.

My breathing was heavy as his hand landed on my belt buckle. His dark eyes met mine. “It’s only once. What’s the worst that can happen?”

    My eyes flashed open. My hand automatically shot out to turn off the incessant beeping near my ear.

    I turned on my side, not really seeing the red digital letters of my alarm clock. You told me nothing would happen, I thought. I sighed and climbed out of bed. There was no need sulking about it today.

    I grabbed my towel from off the back of my chair and hurried to the bathroom before anybody else hogged it.

    I went through the motions of taking a shower without really noticing them.

    I was a robot; every move I made was mechanical. I stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around my naked body. I tried to avoid the mirror but I couldn’t help noticing myself as I passed.

    I looked over my shoulder, noticing the beginning of a long time hated mark. This was the mark Nathan was talking about. It had grown with me, becoming larger and larger until it covered almost all of my back. Lathan used to love tracing it with his finger . . .

    It was definitely not a heavenly sword, but heavenly it was.

    Bam! Bam! Bam! I jumped in surprise, blinking rapidly as the girl in the mirror did the same.

    “I’ll be out in a minute!” I called. “Penny.” Kristi’s voice. “You should get dressed. Someone’s downstairs to see you.”

See me?

    I swung the door open. Kristi stepped back, surprised. “Who is it?”

Kristi shrugged. “I’ve never seen him before.”

So it was a male. “Thank you, Kristi.”

    She smiled before turning and disappearing.

    I dressed quickly in a long sleeved, blue blouse, skinny jeans and brown boots. I pulled my hair back in a ponytail to try to tame it. Satisfied with my appearance, I hurried downstairs.

    Turning into the kitchen, I froze.

“What are you doing here?”

Nathan stood from the table and approached me. “You look good.”

“Thanks,” I said quickly. “What are you doing here?”

    He chuckled before saying, “I know you have the Mark—”

“I don’t have a mark of a heavenly sword so whoever the hell you’re looking for isn’t me.”

“Penny, you fit all the qualifications. You’re an orphan; you were born with a mark. Now, why don’t you let me see it—”

    I stepped away from him. “Get away from me. Don’t you touch me. I am not who you want. All my life I have been fighting for a shred of normal, and now that I’ve found it you want to take that away from me. I’m not some chosen child to do whatever the hell you need.”

    He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, exasperated. “You don’t understand. The whole world could be put in danger. Your family and friends would be killed. They’re blood would be on your hands.

    “We have been searching our whole lives for someone who even comes close to what the prophecy predicted. And then we found you. Penny, at least let us try. Please, we’ve waited so long for this moment. Please, just let us find out if you are who we think you are.”