Changeling

Chapter 6

I could feel the warmth of Ariton's hand penetrating through the bandage covering mine. His touch was gentle, yet solid and real. As his fingers encircled my wrist, I met his eyes with a look of surprise.

"What, Calliope? You thought you wouldn't feel my hand, did you?" A timid smile pulled at the corners of his lovely mouth.

"I don't know what I thought." I stared down at our hands resting together on the bed. A long concealed and tightly woven feeling began unraveling inside of me. For years I had been tormented. I had been stuck somewhere between believing those like Ariton were real, and in the forced acceptance that they were creations of my broken mind.

I defended time and time again what and who I had seen the night my parents were killed. I argued with therapists. I suffered in institutions and foster homes because of it. Somewhere along the line, I conceded to what the doctors and therapists told me. I was crazy. I manufactured these supernatural beings to cope with trauma. And to survive in this world, I had no choice other than to succumb to the diagnosis and follow the treatment plans.

I had to accept that my mind was so broken it could construct a false reality with such authenticity. At some point along the way I stopped engaging with the visitors as they came to my bed side. I stopped listening to their musings about my identity. I stopped questioning where they came from or what they were. I could no longer feed the hallucinations.

Yet, there was a seed somewhere deep inside of me that stored the truth. It was dormant and safely encapsulated, protected from the excoriating attacks of non-believers. That seed awakened when Ariton first came to me and sprouted with his touch. It ached for light to be shed upon it so that it could grow and bear fruit. I was no longer a child paralyzed by fear and hiding. It was time to understand who I was and Ariton was going to help me do that.

"Are you okay?" he whispered. "I'm not hurting you, am I?" He lifted his hand away from mine- with it went his warmth, leaving my hand cold and lonely.

"No...no, it didn't hurt...you didn't hurt me. I just didn't think..."

"You didn't think I was real." I watched him wide eyed as he sat down on the corner of my bed. The mattress depressed with his weight and he set his hand on my leg, proving to me again that he was alive and present. He was here, in my space and I allowed it. It wasn't that I never believed he was real. I think I always had. It was that I didn't want to believe he was real. I wanted to believe my therapists and doctors. I'd been conditioned to believe them, and if he was real, then so were the Others. It was me who concealed the truth from myself. It was me who locked the vault that Ariton just blasted open with the touch of his hand.

"Do you remember our deal Calliope?" He said as he scooted closer to the head of my bed and seated himself directly next to me. My heart fluttered anxiously not only at the mention of the deal I had no intention of honoring, but also at his nearness.

"No, I don't remember any deal." I lied and looked down at my hands to avoid his gaze. I knew full well he expected me to go with him now. But I couldn't do that. Not only did I have an obligation to the county detention center, but I didn't know exactly where it was he wanted to take me. My birth place, he said so many times. A paradise, he called it.

A warm hand cupped my chin and gently turned my face upward. Ariton's violet eyes probed mine from only inches away. It was impossible not to stare at his handsome face and his soft full lips. Dear God, I was doing it again. I really needed to rein myself in.

"I want to help you. I've been trying to help you for so long. Why won't you let me? You can trust me." He searched my face like he would find an answer written on it somewhere. I suddenly felt self-conscious about my appearance. I hadn't seen my face yet, but it felt like it had gone through a meat grinder and probably looked like it to. He gently rubbed his thumb across my swollen cheek.