I Am Where You Are | Mystical Flowers#1 (Ongoing)

Chapter Thirty Five

Just as we started to walk away, she spoke again.

"You still haven't told me how."

I turned around and looked at her, confused. I felt Archer tense next to me, as if he was expecting an attack or some sort of threat from her side. She must've sensed his fear, because she raised her eyebrows at him, looking at him like she was impressed.

"Do you always keep your guard up?", she said to him.

"Just like you do. We're the same when it comes to not wanting to show our true emotions, aren't we?", he said, keeping his body stiff. I looked at him and was surprised to see anger in his eyes.

She stood up a little straighter, raising her chin. "Are we?", she asked, then looked into the forest. "Then again, isn't that all of us?", she said with a laugh.
Her laugh sounded like a thousand glasses clinking noisily against each other. It sounded like it was on the verge of breaking. I thought I felt something like a chill run down my back as they looked at each other.

Archer regarded what she'd said quietly, saying nothing. The anger in his eyes had subsided to something less intense, but I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He must've felt my eyes on him, because he looked down at me, his eyes searching. I noticed that his gaze was soft and he looked concerned.

I was just about to tell him that I was fine when Kassandra coughed loudly and we both looked at her, suddenly aware of her presence.

"You still haven't given me an answer, Lisa."

I blinked, still confused. "What are you talking about?"

She looked at me, her eyes filled with curiosity. "How you could see what had happened in my past. How did you do it?", she asked, her voice suddenly soft. I saw her throat move and my thoughts went back to the little girl who I couldn't save.

"I.."

I paused for a moment, looking down. She waited, her long hair floating lightly in the wind, and suddenly I found myself wondering what I would tell her. I didn't know how I could do it. It's not like I summoned my powers out of thin air at will. But I couldn't tell her that, could I?
I shook my head and looked at her.

Raising my voice, I said, "I don't know how..it's normally just flashes sometimes..but with you it was different. I.. I could feel what you felt..it was..different", I finished, waiting to see her reaction.

She frowned, looking right into my eyes.

"What do you mean by that? You don't know how you do it? How is that possible?", she asked.

I sighed. She was asking questions to which I didn't have an answer. She was right. I was supposed to know how I could be so powerful. How I could look into peoples pasts. How I could know their fears and feelings. I just didn't know. That's all I could say to her.

"I don't know."

The answer wasn't enough. At least, not for her.

"I hoped for a better answer." Her eyes flashed in annoyance and I automatically looked over at her ravens, afraid that she'd unleash them on us any minute now.
She ran her hands along her hair, looking deep in thought. When she looked up, her hands were crossed across her chest, her smooth skin shining in the moonlight.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself? I expected a better answer when I released the boy. I wouldn't like to think that you'd lied to me just to get him released."

I shifted in my place, uncomfortable.

"Well...I wasn't lying. You asked me how, and I told you that I'd tell you if you released Archer. Wasn't exactly a lie."
As soon as I'd said that, I felt the air around us grow tighter, like someone was squeezing the air out if it. Kassandra gave me a disapproving look.