Black Rose

Chapter 2

I was sitting in the cafeteria with my best friend Alice. The casual cafeteria was packed up with students either cramming for finals or relaxing after theirs was done.

Many things were rushing in my head that time: Studies, friends, my guardian, and 3 bully vampire sisters. While thinking, I picked at a French fry. I told Alice what happened in the principal’s office.

“So that’s it? He didn’t call for the sisters?” she asked and I nodded as she ate in a steady pace as she dipped fries in spicy cheese. “You know, I’m starting to doubt that guy. It’s as if he’s siding with them.” She said and I glared daggers at her.  “Or maybe he's not.” I commented.

I knew Alphonse. He wouldn’t side with those vampires. He can be very secretive at times but he would never turn his back on me. He wouldn’t do that, would he?

Late morning light streamed in through the big plate-glass windows that looked out on the place. The cafeteria before was just simple but now it’s a noisy, packed up place that serves lattes and had free Wi-Fi access. There was a center space with coffee tables and cushioned chairs. A few people were plugged in, hunched over their laptops, and eating overpriced sandwiches and gourmet kettle chips as they surfed.

“So,” Alice said, “how’s your powers?”

I sighed, fingering a barbecue-flavored chip before placing it in my mouth. “I still can’t manage to control them. The invisibility one is giving me a real hard time.” I replied.

“Hey,” she said, “maybe it’s your focus that’s wavering which could explain why you can’t control them.”

Then it hit me. She could be right. Maybe my focus is really wavering. I smiled at her and said, “I’ll give it a shot.”

I knew what could happen. If I turn invisible, I could also be insubstantial with the ability to pass through walls and closed doors. Bait to impending death. Ghostlike. Maybe the key to mastering it is to not think of slippery thought but of finding a way to block one’s emotions and feelings.

Staring at the table, I could feel my heart beat and the air move in my lungs. A sudden memory of watching my mother lay unconscious on a cemented floor and was soon placed in a black body bag filled my mind. It wasn’t easy living with death surrounding me. It was because of Alphonse that my life changed drastically. Memories of grief, sorrow, and pain, shuddered my body.

Anxious, I squirmed on the hard seat, believing that I was on the right track. Eyes closed, I fell deep into my thoughts and tried to see myself as a singular identity, chained to the present by the chains of the past. My hearing was becoming sharper now and I could hear the noise around me clearly: Alice slurping her drink, the sound of the cafeteria’s bell – and after years of learning how to concentrate, something finally came my way.

Excitement shot through me as I suddenly could see the line my life had made. Tense, I saw how I grew from a possibility to a presence, marveling at how my life wove in and out of people’s lives and the ear deafening wail of a great loss, almost as if time or space were making a know to hold itself together when a soul was shattered out of it. It was as if the memory of grief bound the darkness here where I’d kept it, giving shape by what was lacking, a shadow of a presence that burst suddenly back into existence when I obtained happiness.

I felt myself shiver when I realized I could see my soul painting dark images of thought into the future – for thought must have to move faster than time. I could actually see black lines stroked on an invisible canvas extending from me into the future, pulling me on with the rest of the universe. What made it all work, what stroked the lines from my emotions onward, was my own self giving time on which to fasten.

And if I could break some of those lines running from my thoughts to the present, maybe I’d become invisible, like running away from my own pain.

Anticipation made me shiver, and I unfocused enough of my attention to make sure I was still sitting in the cafeteria with Alice and nothing was going on. This had to work. I wouldn’t destroy all the lines – just a few – and none of the lines that were pulling me into the future, just the ones that tied me to this instant of right-this-second.

I took a slow breath and as I exhaled, I plucked a line that held me to the present. It separated like ashes, making a soft hum in my mind as it parted. Encouraged, I ran a theoretical hand between me and the present, taking out a larger number. The soft hum gradually changed into a low growl as it seemed to echo through me.

“Angela?” Alice whispered, and my eyes flew open. I stared at the table, my fingers tingling. “It’s working,” she said, awe in her voice.

I inhaled as if coming up from deep water. I looked over and stared at her. I felt dizzy, almost as if I were to collapse any minute. Alice stared at me with wide eyes.

“It worked.” We both said in unison.