Throwing Stones in Glass Houses (Tentatively Ongoing)

Chapter 14: The Abyss

Hey gentle readers. If you're active in the FB group, you'll know that I've had some issues (read: total lack of access) with my WP account for the last couple of weeks. If you're weren't aware, I'm very sorry. I couldn't even post a message on here to apologise for the delay; I've been completely stuck! As such, I've had this chapter for a while and haven't been able to post it. However, thanks to my new best friend David (the WP tech guy with three cats and a wife named Sophie - he's the greatest conversationalist alive!), I am now back up and running. I'm going to try to get back on track with a regular update schedule very soon.

Once again, you continue to amaze me with your support, so thank you for your patience.

"Found the what!?" I squeaked. My voice hitched as I stared at Kota, turning his words over and over in my mind. Finally found the missing part of his whole. That didn't make sense. Like a soulmate? Or a soul... sister? I cringed slightly at the idiocy of my thoughts. Such things sounded wholly more fairy-tale than reality, like something the dashing knight said to the damsel-in-distress just before he fought a dragon to win her heart. As much as I wished that life could imitate the stories that I'd loved so much as a child, this just wasn't how my life was meant to turn out. My whole world was spinning wildly out of control, slipping further from my grip with each passing hour, and it was just getting to be too much to wrap my head around.

"The missing part of me," Kota reiterated, as if somehow rephrasing it would help me to understand what was clearly already obvious to the strikingly solemn boy.

"I don't..." I started to say, but, as I glanced around at the other boys, I realised that maybe I did understand. "Is this about what happened with Jade?" They thought I was a conduit for their power, right? The mysterious tenth in their group, whatever that meant in practice. That had to be what he meant. The missing link in their group, their – what was it called again? – Pantheonic Revival.

"Yes." Kota nodded, his eyes fixed on my face as I turned back to look at him. "And no. I mean, what happened with Jade was just the manifestation of your power, but it's more than that. I..." He paused, then his gaze flicked over to Master Blackbourne and back so fast I almost missed it. "We knew you were a manifest the instant we each met you. The feeling in my gut when I saw you that night, curled up on top of your Legacy, was unmistakable, but it wasn't until later that night that I knew exactly what you were to me.

"To you?" I mumbled, not even realising I'd spoken aloud until I felt someone step up beside me and twine their warm fingers with my gloved ones. My breath hitched as my body instinctively reacted to the unfamiliar touch, but I fought to remain still. I wouldn't allow my insecurities, or my past to ruin my fledgling friendships with these people, who had already given me more of themselves than anyone I'd ever known.

"To all of us," Victor said softly, leaning into my side slightly as Kota nodded in agreement. I released a lungful of air slowly, giving my body time to relax and grow accustomed to his presence. A soft smile spread across my face as I mentally added Victor to my rapidly-growing list of people whose touch didn't make me want to run. It wasn't like with Silas yet, an exchange that now felt as effortless as breathing, but I squeezed his hand gently to let him know I was comfortable with this development in our friendship.

"I don't understand," I explained, shifting my gaze from Victor's face back to Kota. He pressed his lips tightly together, as his gaze drifted to a point just north of my right ear. He looked like he was thinking hard, perhaps trying to figure out how to make me understand. I felt like I was missing something, something obvious or hidden away in a dusty corner of my mind, but I was drawing a blank.