When I woke up my chest was on fire. I was in the same clearing the only difference was I was alone. I slowly sat up, wincing at the pain. "What... happened..." I looked around finding nothing to offer clues when my memories slammed into me.
I was cornered. I had taken over half of them down but they had closed me in a circle without my notice. I spun one witch, three tali, and four lycans created the circle. The most dangerous were the tali. I needed to take them out first, then the wolves. The witch I saved for last. I lunged for the closest tali but they easily evaded my knife. I'm running low on energy, I'm exhausted. Three more hours till daybreak and I was safe. My eyes flicked to my target, the cyan glow of the moon only enhancing the blue glow of his eyes. The hairs on the back of my neck stood and I spun around, coming face to face with a flying witch.
Wait, witches don't fly, I thought as searing pain exploded through my chest. I fell back hitting the ground with a hard thud. I glanced down as my vision blurred. "Well fuck," I let out a humorless laugh as I stared at the knife protruding from my chest. "Andrian. Please-" Zeke, he found me. "Shut up Ezekial, I've made up my mind." Andrian. My Andrian.
It took so much effort but I turned towards their voices, forcing my eyes to focus as my two favorite people entered the clearing - together. My eyes widened in confusion as everything faded to black.
"Oh, I'm dead." I stood up and brushed the grass from my pants as rustling sounded behind me. "Lailah?" I spun to face the voice. It was so light and musical, and so familiar. A woman no older than 30 with platinum blonde hair and green eyes stood across the clearing. I knew this woman.
"Honey, how are you here?" She asked as she made her way across the clearing. A memory of my mother slamming into my thoughts. She was making spaghetti and helping me color a cat picture. "Mom?" I whispered. She smiled and ran the rest of the way wrapping me in a tight hug when she reached me.
I wrapped my arms around her. "The Cyan Moon. Zeke failed to protect you." Her full pink lips tugged down in a frown. I shook my head. "No mom, I let my guard down and a witch got me. Zeke helped me access my powers even before I turned and trained me. I took 11 of the 20 down before they got me."
Her eyes filled with tears. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you." She folded me into another hug and froze when her arm brushed mine. "Mom? What's wrong?" I pulled back and searched her face for any clues. "You're warm? How are you warm?" I laughed. "Well, of course, I'm warm. I'm alive-" I froze. I'm not alive though. I reached out and touched her arm shocked yet expecting the ice-cold skin.
"Dead people, no matter if it's been seconds or hours, are never warm here." She whispered her eyes wide. "Then I'm not dead?"I wondered aloud. "No, you're dead, you wouldn't be able to see me if you were in any way alive." She grabbed my hand and dragged me along with her. "Come on, I know just who to ask about this." I followed her still trying to figure out how it was possible that I'm warm.
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"You're not meant to be here. You have much left to do and so you must find your way out of this realm and back to your body." The man said. He was frail and old, but his voice was steady and powerful. My mom squeezed my hand as she peppered the man with questions. "How is she to do that?"
He smiled and looked right at me, "You must forgive. Forgive yourself, and your parents. Forgive Andrian for his past mistakes. Forgive Ezekial for hiding who you really are. Forgive and go back so you can be who you're meant to be." The man shimmered and faded away.
"Well, that should be easy then," I smiled as I turned to my mom. "No, honey, forgiveness is one of the hardest things one must do, and you have a lot to forgive. Come now, I'm sure you'd like to see your father." I nodded and followed her.
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EZEKIAL
It had been a day since we found Lailah. Her body was still warm and Andrian wouldn't leave her side. He wouldn't eat, he didn't sleep, he never even moved from his spot. Not even to stretch. I peeked through the door, Evanoreen right behind me. "She's in there." She pushed past me and took her place next to Andrian. He didn't look at her. She sighed and held her hands above Lailah's body and they began to glow a faint purple.
"She's dead. But she's not meant to be. Her soul is fighting to return but there are obstacles in her path. She must overcome them if she's to return." She lowered her hands and pulled the sheet down to expose the dagger wound. It was gone.
"How is that possible, Evanoreen?" Andrian looked up at my question, his eyes widening when he saw the missing wound, the beginning of a Tali mark slowly starting to form. Evanoreen just smiled.
"She will return when that mark is complete. Think of it as a way to track her progress, like a timer. You will be reunited with your friend," she said as she looked at me. She laid a gentle hand on Andrian's shoulder, "Young man, you will meet your lover again if she can complete whatever she's meant to do." She stood, and made her way out of the room. "Call me if anything changes, Ezekial." I nodded and took her place next to Andrian.
"She'll come back to us. She doesn't know how to give up." I smiled and patted his back, his eyes never leaving the slowly forming mark on her chest.
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LAILAH
"I give up! How am I supposed to forgive you, when I don't even know what I'm holding against you?" I rubbed my hands over my face. "Lailah, I think you harbor anger over our deaths and blame us for leaving you at such a young age." I looked up at my father's gentle smile. His grey eyes twinkled and he ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair.
"It wasn't your fault Andrian and the rest of the Kamatayans killed you," I muttered. My father put his hand on my knee. "You're right. However, your young mind couldn't understand how we would leave you alone in this world with two strangers as adoptive parents." I smiled at his hand. "But I love them as much as I love you guys. I'm not angry at you guys anymore, I haven't been since I got your letter." I looked at my mother and she smiled.
"The more I find out about this world the less mad I am." My mother's eyes flickered to my chest. "Lailah, you said you hadn't changed when you died, correct?" I nodded as she reached forward and pulled my tank top aside. "Then what's that?" I glanced down at the slowly forming tali mark.
My dad chuckled. "Why it's tracking her progress. I'm assuming her body is going through the change while she spends time here with us." I smiled at him. "Dad, mom, I forgive you guys." I glanced down as the outer circle of the mark completed itself.
YOU ARE READING
The Tali
Lãng mạnLailah Davis is a completely normal girl, so she thinks. But a few weeks after her 23rd birthday things start getting weird. She discovers she's not who she thinks she is and it turns her world upside down, well splits her world in two; the world of...
