Heartless

Chapter 3

The moment Brienna's barrier was down, time caught up to us again and we were moving at the same pace as everyone else. Everyone else has already gathered in one room.

As I enter the room, Brienna has her hands on my shoulders, as if I'd be swept away by a breeze if she didn't secure me to the ground. Maybe she thinks that this pathetic show of affection will lessen the sting on my cheek but my anger is not forgotten, nor have I forgiven her. We aren't one big happy family. It has taken me until now to realize that. No loving mother would call their child a monster. It doesn't make it less true. Maybe I am a monster. I'm not always in control of my own powers and I've hurt people. Not on purpose but intentions don't change anything.

I looked up at the towering figure next to me. Peter smiles down at me. There's something strange about his smile as if he knows something I don't.

He kneeled down next to me. I instinctively shift away from him, bumping into my aunt, my hate for her temporarily forgotten. I don't even come up to her shoulder but Peter is a whole head taller than her.

"Hi, what's your name?" He asked me with a strange hopeful look in his eyes. My illusions make his brown eyes glisten with stardust. It makes him look kind and sincere so I relax my stance. I can tell that he genuinely cares.

That's the positive side of my powers. They allow me to "see" a person's intentions. It may not be the same as a psychic but if the illusions are pretty or filled with light then their intentions are good and if they are dark or scary then they mean me harm. They have never been wrong. I have always been able to see people differently than others do. I don't know if it is a good or bad thing but I trust my powers. My power has better intuition than I do.

"I'm Fantasia." My voice squeaked out.

"Fantasia, it's nice to meet you. Are you ready to go to your new home?"

"I guess so. I mean, I'd rather not leave but if we have to..."

"You don't have to be scared. Your family will still be together."

"I'm not scared. I'm just..." I didn't know how to describe what I felt but it wasn't fear. I felt the urge to grab onto the very foundation of our house and refuse to leave but that would be foolish. Childish. If we stay we die. Simple as that.

If we leave we live but something inside of me is telling me to run. I don't know why but I feel the urge to run away from more than just the Elysians.

"Time to go." Percival said as he hastily entered the room after closing every curtain in our house. We don't need anyone seeing the portal that is about to appear in the middle of our house. For safety measures, Percival activates his power and dampens any technology that has been planted in our home.

Peter opened the portal. It looked like a mirror at first until the image we were looking at became warped and shows a different landscape on the other side.

I wonder what country we will be living in from now on, I wondered but that was because I didn't yet understand the weight of the situation. We were moving farther than a few kingdoms away.

After fantasizing about a beautiful countryside or a high-tech city in the sky or underground. I was disappointed when the first thing I saw was dark grey pavement. Still, the line of trees planted identically on the side in a row of cement, made me hopeful that our new home would be more than variations of grey. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. I was too used to the rocky mountain paths and sandy flats of the desert.

"You understand that my power is limited. Opening a portal of this scale is a strenuous task so once the portal is closed, I will not be able to reopen it. Is that understood?"