Spellbound

Chapter 2

The guards came in, their loud footsteps creating an unappreciated ruckus in the otherwise quiet conference room. Elvira rose, followed by the other two Elites and walked to the door, her silent tread inaudible to all save herself. She opened it slowly, making sure it didn't squeak, just as she was taught during her training sessions. The guards came into the room and the otherwise bright and joyous seeming room filled in with the black of the guards' uniform, bringing along with the dark colour, a sense of violence and hostility.

The two Elites walked ahead of her as the fragile, pale looking Elvira followed in silence, the guards covering them from all sides. They walked down the familiar corridor that led to The Hall where all ceremonies were held, including the screening of the fight between the Clover and the soulmate.

Elvira took a seat and waited for the projector to put on the camera recordings. She saw barren land, a few trees here and there and a mountain further away. Then, she saw the one person that meant the whole world to her - her brother.

"Elek," she whispered, so softly, the name almost died in her throat. She felt an excruciating pain. It wasn't any physical pain but it felt as if her heart suddenly contracted and her lungs were squeezed and her wind pipe was losing in on itself because she couldn't breathe anymore and the sole reason she was alive was because she was managing to somehow wheeze the air in and out of her.

Then, she saw Fascinthia enter and her last moments with her flashed by her mind as she eased up and her breathing returned. "She's strong," she thought, "and clever too. She'll find a way out of this pathetic game, and she'll save Elek too. She's very loyal. She won't betray me."

She didn't regret her thoughts. She didn't regret them all the way up till a disastrous thought came to her, "Let's hope so anyway."

***

They locked the metal bars behind her and watched her like a hawk, waiting for her to use her powers and hurt Elek. But she would never do that.

"Elek," she thought, praying he could hear her, "Elvira told me you have telepathy. If you can hear me, please, please nod." There was the slightest hint of desperation in her voice and she hated it but seeing the boy nod, the smallest action, one not even the cameras could have caught, she continued, "Get down low. I'm going to swing a tree at you."

With Elek knowing her next move, Fascinthia raised her right hand, her palm facing a tree, and concentrated on it. The tree rose up high and she brought it down at Elek, with great force, but greater control. Elek ducked and the tree didn't touch a hair on his head.

"This was a distraction," she thought, "now, the real plan. When the bars break, run."

Elek had no idea what Fascinthia was talking about, but then, he heard a loud snap, then two more followed almost immediately. He looked towards where the noise came from and saw three bars broken, leaving enough space for a man to escape and from the corner of his eye, he saw her run, so he followed, still dazed about the happenings.

He slipped through the space, just like Fascinthia but stopped immediately. A man, dressed all in black with a gun pointed towards Fascinthia. His gaze met hers for a split second and he knew then, he could trust her with his whole self. So he walked, getting closer to the man with every step. The gun had found a new target now - Elek's chest and just as the man fired the shot, Elek closed his eyes.

It was his death, coming to take him, he thought, but he was wrong. He heard a sharp cry of pain and saw blood splattered on the floor. The man lay there, eerily still but his chest still moving with the beating of his heart.

"Run!" she screamed, taking off, half pulling, half dragging the stunned, still, Elek along.

***

Elek had now coped up and Fascinthia and him were running shoulder to shoulder when she ran into someone. They had killed seven soldiers while running away and injured eleven so her next action was pure instinct. She kicked the man's knee pit. He groaned and fell to the ground and only then did she notice that he wasn't wearing black like all the other soldiers, he was wearing a yellow T-shirt with palm trees on it and blue shorts.

"Who are you?" questioned Fascinthia, turning him over to see his face. The first thing she noticed was his eyes. They were a shade completely out of her world. She saw in them, rows of lilacs and lavenders. His eyes were the violet seen in rainbows. Dark, but not too dark. Light, but not quite light enough. It was a perfect blend of all the right shades of purple. And it suited him too. It didn't seem like anything was out of place.

His fair skin and black hair complemented his pearl like eyes in a way that not everyone would notice his violet eyes. Not until one looked closer and deeper would one realise it's not blue, it's purple. That his eyes looked like that of an angel. That his eyes were a small piece of heaven gifted to earth for keepsake.

"Your eyes," Fascinthia said, staggering back by the slightest, her gun still pointed at him, "They aren't black."

"Yeah," replied the boy, "they're purple because I'm a clover."

"Rubbish," said Elek, as if voicing Fascinthia's thoughts, and maybe, he really did too, "She's a clover too. But her eyes are black, just like the rest of us. What are you? Are you even human?"

The boy's lips twitched and formed a smirk, "Did you have breakfast?" he questioned, his gaze fixed upon Fascinthia. She shook her head to say no, knowing that the question was directed to her.

"You've not gone a day without having the musta breakfast shake, have you? Except, of course, today."

Fascinthia shook her head once more.

"It's the drink that makes the eye colour and hair colour of all Eleptians black. Clovers have abnormal hair and eye colours. I've dyed my hair black but in reality, it's silver." He said, explaining himself.

There was a moment of silence that was soon interrupted by Elek.

"He's being honest," he said, "and he's here to save you."

Fascinthia's eyes widened, "Me?" she thought, "but why?"

"Because, Fascinthia," said the purple eyed boy, "you are my soulmate."