DISCONTINUED - Lights That Shine Mysteriously - Fablehaven Fanfiction

Chapter 7

Kendra giggled, something she hadn't done in a while. "You dyed Alex's hair pink and purple for a week?"

Emma laughed as well. "That was a lovely time. But he got back at me by dyeing half my clothes pink and buying me dresses."

In the short hour that Kendra had spent in Emma, they'd learned quite a bit about each other. Not the important things, those they still kept hidden, but the details. And the details always helped imagine the big picture.

Emma was eighteen, her birthday was July sixteenth which had only recently passed, she had a spiderweb of pale white scars that were hardly noticeable all across her body, she was blonde, tall, blue-eyed, hated the colors pink, purple, orange and dark blue. She loved metallic colors, light blue and forest green. She didn't like makeup, or anything she deemed "too girly". She was a bit like a tomboy, but she did pick her clothes with care, making sure they were decent and stylish. She wanted to learn how to cook, but had nearly poisoned Alex the last time she'd tried. She'd die for anyone she trusted. Emma loved to dance and to run.

Kendra had told her that she was seventeen. Emma knew a lot of the details about her life that interacted with the magical world, so she stuck to the mundane things. She liked blue and yellow. She didn't like makeup either. She loved candles for some odd reason. Seth got on her nerves all the time, but she still loved him either way. She liked to read and draw. She had an odd obsession of making things when she got bored, such as bracelets and pieces of felt stitched together to make an odd sort of stuffed animal.

A hand waved in front of Kendra's face. "Hello? Anybody in that brain of yours?"

Kendra snapped out of her daze. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"It's alright, we all do that. But just a question, are we actually going to draw, or are we just going to sit here talking about her lives?"

Kendra smacked herself on the forehead. "Oh right, I forgot about that."

Emma waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine. How about instead of our drawing lessons, this can be spill your guts sessions."

Kendra laughed. "Fine by me, I suck at teaching anyway." She decided to take a chance. "Not to pry, and you don't have to answer me, but since this is our spill our guts sessions, how did you get those scars?"

Emma's smile turned sort of wry and bitter. "Some of these I got in fights. That's actually how I got half of them. The others, well, I was in an accident when I was young. I remember the details all too well. Alex and I were playing by the window, and we threw a rock at the window. The glass shattered. It would have cut Alex, maybe even killed him. I ran over, pushed him out of the way, and took the glass shards falling over my body."

Kendra flinched.

"Not a happy story, I know. I've never liked my scars, though I'm thankful they're not as visible as others."

Kendra gently took Emma's hand in hers. "Don't be ashamed of them. I think they make you who you are. They tell your story. A story of bravery and sacrifice and love. And besides, they make you look like a warrior goddess."

Emma's eyes were shining. "You really think so?"

Kendra hugged her impulsively. "I know so," she whispered in her ear.

"Thanks. I know I shine brightly, but I always feel like I'm in the shadow of everyone else."

Kendra laughed. "That's actually what I think all the time. Yes, I'm famous. Yes, I saved the world. But I'm still that awkward person who doesn't have that many friends."

Emma grinned. "The life of teenage girls and their insecurities. But seriously Kendra. You shine brightly. There's this aura to you -- and no, that's not you being fairykind -- and it's bright and happy. I told you I can see auras. There's something intriguing, that makes a person curious about you."

Kendra's eyes widened. "You saw my aura?"

Emma nodded. "It's sort of warm and golden. Soft and buttery, like a warm embrace. It's beautiful, and mysterious."

"Lights that shine mysteriously," Kendra mused. "Is it possible that you could describe it, so I could try to draw it?"

Emma shook her head. "It's hard to explain, so I doubt it. Your aura is actually almost the same as mine, the only difference being that you are a different person, and no two people share the same aura."

Kendra smiled at the beautiful, scarred girl in front of her. "To the lights that shine mysteriously!"

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"Kendra," Grandma Sorenson called from the front porch, waving Kendra and Emma over from the tree house.

"Yes, Grandma?" Kendra asked.

Her grandmother had a tight look on her face. Kendra knew this was the face in which she delivered bad news. Alex came out on the porch as well, his face sad. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"There's no good way to say this, so I'll just say it. Seth is gone."

Kendra froze. The world spun around her, blurring and fading. Seth. Her brother. Gone? Her constant companion. Her annoying, yet lovable, courageous brother. The one who saved her multiple times and helped her when she needed help.

One of the few people she loved.

Gone.

Gone.

Gone.

The word rang in her head.

Kendra clenched her hand into a fist. "When?"

"He never showed up for dinner, after he went out for a run in the woods." Alex spoke gently.

"So whatever wants us dead, it's living in the woods?" Kendra asked through gritted teeth. "How did it even get in?"

Grandma shook her head. "We don't know."

Kendra turned to Emma, all traces of the girl who'd laughed and joked around with her, talking about auras and her life. "You said you were trained by an assassin. Would it be possible to train me?"

Emma slowly nodded. "I could do that."

Inside Kendra was numb. Revenge had never been her strong suit, but now she wanted to tear down the world, find whatever had taken Seth, and slaughter whatever it was.

Emma met her eyes, reading the emotions that were captured in her brown eyes. "Training starts 6:30 tomorrow morning."