the Stirring || Book 1 of the Amatori Chronicles

Chapter 8

For the next few days, I didn't go to school. I didn't attend any of the meetings, rehearsals, and recitals I was supposed to go to. But Mari ordered me not to, in fear that the Drakai could find and kill me.

Cayden was living with us now. I never saw him eat, I never saw him sleep...not even a nap. Whenever he was tired, he would usually go off into the forest and disappear for an hour or so. And no matter how hard I pressed him for it, he would never show his wings. He told me the same thing every time: "Your wings will grow, and then you can see for yourself." Cayden hardly ever smiled, and when he did, it was the tiniest pull on the corners of his lips that disappeared as soon as someone noticed. He didn't talk much either, usually replying in a very curt or blunt way.

Mari seemed to be in very high spirits now that I knew about the world of magic. She would flit around in the kitchen, flicking her fingers and making any wilting plants look healthy again. She would often tell me stories about my mom and her, or her and my dad. But the one big change she made, was her eyes.

I had never known that my aunt wore contacts. But it definitely answered my questions about her eyes glowing when she was angry. My reaction was as follows. I walk into the kitchen, say hi to Mari, and then proceed to take a seat at the table when suddenly Mari looks up at me and her eyes are orange! As orange as balls of fire. You can guess what happened next. I'll give you a hint, it has something to do with falling out of a chair...

My assumption about Cayden turned out to be horribly wrong. I believed that maybe I would warm up to him, and he would warm up to me and then we could be buddies. Nope. Nothing even remotely like that. Actually, it was the exact opposite. Now that I had started to train with him, he seemed to take pleasure in throwing me to the ground and pummeling me. It was absolutely the worst. Every morning and every night when I woke up or got into bed and stretched, I could feel every muscle in my body scream in protest.

Now you would think that with my super human body I could easily take on the toughest exercises. Wrong. Yes, I could run, if I wanted to, for three miles at a steady pace without breaking a sweat. Yes, I could sprint at speeds up to sixty miles per hour. Yes, I could be punched in the gut or the face by a human with hardly any pain. Yes, I could carry weights that were a hundred pounds. But an entire day going up against a master of combat? Hell no. Cayden was ruthless when it came to training. But the good thing was, I was getting the hang of it.

Every night before I went to bed, I would stare at myself in the mirror, looking for any signs of my old self. But, as always, I would always see a stranger in the mirror. A girl who was unrecognizable. A girl who had a responsibility. The only problem was, the responsibilities took place in another world, in another dimension.

The text messages and the phone calls were the worst thought. It was pure torture to look over and see your phone ringing with the words "Kacey" appearing on the screen. It hurt to know that I was forced to ignore all of my friends, all of my coaches, and mentors. But I knew it was for the best.

"What does cereal look like?"

I snapped out my reverie and blinked, looking up at Cadyen who was awaiting my answer. "What?"

"On the grocery list, it says 'cereal'. What does it look like and what is it?" He asked, oblivious to the fact that there was a middle aged woman looking at him in a very concerned way. "Humans have very strange and peculiar food."

"Shhh!" I hissed. "You don't say that out loud, especially not in the middle of a grocery store!"

Mari had come down with a cold and had given me the grocery list so I could run her errands for her. And because of the current situation, I was in with the evil shadow demons and stuff, Cayden made it quite clear that he was going and that no one was stopping him.