Relentless

Chapter 3

 As the hot air balloon starts to fall, my fear begins to rise. I start to panic, but Ashton seems oddly calm, which just makes me panic worse. I began to hyperventilate and I have developed a death grip on the side of the hot air balloon.

I look at my sister and- is she smiling? She is! She's almost laughing too! I just don't get that girl.

"Oh, relax." She says with a smirk.

"What do you mean relax?" I ask, panic clear in my voice. "We are falling from the sky!"

"Not for long."

Her arrogance is as baffling as it is infuriating.

Before I can inquire further, Ashton snaps her fingers, says "going up," and a flame lights from her pointer finger. The flame flickers from the wind and she makes it intensify. As the flame grows, our decent slows until we are steady once again.

"What- what?" I can't even begin to understand what I'm seeing.

"I didn't want you to find out like this." She says almost sheepishly.

"Tell me what?"

"I-I was planning to tell you, though. Maybe even tonight..." She lets her sentence fade as she distracts herself with bringing the hot air balloon back to our original height.

"So-so why can you do what you do?" I ask when the silence has become unbearable.

"You mean what am I?"

I hesitate before nodding.

"We are Divines, Cel." She explains as if the answer should have been obvious.

"But... I don't have powers."

"Yes you do!"

I just look at her, confused. "I think I'd know if I had supernatural powers."

"Don't you remember when we were little and you'd always catch me sneaking back into our room even though it was pitch black? And whenever we played hide-and-go-seek after dark how you always found people so quickly and you were near impossible to catch during tag because you were always so confident at running in the dark when others were more cautious. So many times you claimed 'it wasn't too dark' when no one else could see without a light."

"So," I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this, "you think I have night vision?"

"Yes, well, that's part of it. I'll explain when we get home."

"If were Divines, does that make us not human?"

"I'll explain when we get home."

"And why haven't our parents ever mentioned this? Do they know? I assume so." I say, answering my own question.

"I'll explain when we get home."

"And how do you know about this?"

Now Ashton was irritated, She grabbed my shoulders, making sure that he has my full attention when she says, "I'll explain when we get home."

"Okay, but could you explain one thing now?" Panic is laced in my voice.

"What?" She asks impatiently.

"How are we not falling now? Your not producing a flame anymore."

She takes a step back and looks up at the contraption.

"I can do more than just make fire. I can also manipulate the flame. You see, when the lighter broke it snapped over the oil that was fueling the flame, causing it to go out. I not only made the flame, but also fuel it with a different kind of energy... it's hard to explain, but I don't need to use my hands, I mean, I do to start the flame, but after that I just manipulate the flame with my mind. See," she points to the center of the balloon. The flame is just sitting there in midair. "I'm holding it in place."

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this new knowledge.

"Why don't we head back home. It's earlier than I'd like to leave, but I think there is a conversation we need to have that can't be ignored.

I nod. "Okay."

Ashton begins to change the balloons course. We head for the clearing in the trees and she slowly lowers us down. I watch as the sun fades below the line of trees as we descend.

I sigh, knowing that I already miss the view and freedom of being in the sky.

Soon, we have landed. Ashton keeps the balloon from deflating while we step out. I watch the balloon collapse once Ashton takes away her flame.

"Before we can go home," Ashton explains, "I have to go back to the owner to let him know that we finished our ride early. Otherwise, he might think that we stole it or something went wrong. I'll also let him know about the repairs it needs."

I nod and follow her back to the pole building.

I wait outside the building as Ashton talks to the owner inside.

I think I hear my name so I step forward, oblivious to the flow of people until I am sucked in their current. I'm being pushed and elbowed forward. I turn back to the pole building as I call to my sister, but she is nowhere in sight.

Soon I am passed the building and in the middle of the brightly-lit carnival. I stumble to regain my balance as I am dispensed into the center of the flow of the crowd.

I turn a full circle looking for a way of escape, but I am at the center of a crowd that splits off into five directions and I have lost sight of the direction I came from.

I began to feel panicked. I nervously run my fingers through my hair from scalp to tip and ty in vain to clear my head to think.

"Celeste! Celeste, over here!"

I freeze and slowly turn as I recognize the voice.

I smile, relief flooding in as my eyes meet Kane's.

"Kane, I'm so relieved to see you." I pull him tight in an embrace.

When I release him, his hands gripped my shoulders and he looks me over. "Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." I say, gently pushing his hands down.

"Calm down. I'm here with Ash. I kinda got sucked in the flow of the crowd. She's back," I look around, but still can't tell one way from another. I shrug, "some way."

He grabs my wrist almost forcefully. "I'll help you find her."

"No," I say yanking my hand free of his grip. I don't know what's wrong with him, but he's not acting like himself. He's scaring me and I just need to distance myself from him.

"Don't be ridiculous! Let me help you."

I simply shake my head and take a step back.

He takes a step toward me and his voice sharpens. "Without me, you'll simply get more lost."

I glanced back to see that I've backed up to the crowd. I have nowhere to go, no choice, but to stand my ground.

I make sure to look in square in the eyes as I say, "I'll take my chances."

He raises his eyebrows to me, regains his composure and wishes me a good evening, although his tone wishes me otherwise and he leaves. An instant after he enters the crowd, I've lost sight of them.

I hadn't realized how good he was at sneaking around. Although, I shouldn't be surprised because he sneaks past my parents all the time, and I'm sure his own.

It takes me to remember that I came from the direction with the least amount of lights. I can't see clearly over the tall people in the crowd, but I can see enough to make an educated guess as to which direction I came from.

Soon after entering the crowd, Ashton finds me. Her eyebrows pulled together in concern. We step to the side of the crowd, her hand holding mine.

"Are you alright?" She asks me.

I nod. "I just want to go home." I wine.

She nods back. "Alright