At the Hand of Fate

Chapter Three

I stretch out on the couch, rotating my ankles as I do so. Reruns of American Horror Story are the best. I laugh as someone's throat gets slit. I rub my stomach as I yawn. I look in the mirror beside the TV. A red and a purple mist swirl lazily behind the couch. I look towards them as a man and a woman materialize. The woman smiles. She's got wavy black hair to her stomach, purple highlights, porcelain skin, and violet eyes. "Hello, Shay." I smile as I jump up and hug her. "Dessi. What are you guy doing here?" Reality joins in on the hug as Dessi and I laugh. I take in how they look. "You guys don't materialize like this usually. Did you guys find vessels?" Dessi bites her lip. "Kinda. They were killed in a shootout. Caught in the crossfire." I turn to Reality. "Do you have a street name yet?" Dessi laughs. "Tell him." Reality rubs his neck as he mutters "Reef" into his shoulder. Dessi and I burst into laughter as his cheeks redden to match the azaleas on the table by the door.

I pull him into a hug. Even though I can't stop giggling, I manage to make a coherent sentence. "Rhys. Your name is Rhys. Rhys McFallon." Dessi wipes tears from her eyes as she sighs. I look them both over as the newly named Rhys and I separate. "But we need to change your looks. You guys look like you've been through the wringer." They look down at themselves. Bloodstained clothes, gunshot wounds, bloodstained and matted hair. Ugh. I direct them towards my room. I breathe a heavy sigh as I sit on the footboard of my bed as I wait for them to take much-needed showers.

I sigh as I hear the silence of the usually empty house. My parents died when I was twelve in a car accident. I can almost hear the knocks at the door and see the sirens of the police cars dancing off the icy white of the entryway as I look out of my room and into the hallway. My grandmother had run over as soon as she heard to let me know. The cops had followed her over, on their way to deliver the news themselves. She flew in the front door as I was walking back to my room with a giant bowl of ice cream, spoon already in my mouth. She glanced outside at the cops leaning against the car, watching the scene. I remember the tear falling from her eye as she told me. I can hear the bowl shattering against the hickory floor, and the car door closing as my aunt ran into the house.

I breathe out a ragged sigh as Rhys walks in, towel wrapped around his waist, rubbing his hair with another. He gives me a sympathetic look, amber eyes shining with tears as he realizes what I was remembering. "Blake, you've got to stop thinking about that." I shake my head as I wipe my eyes. "I know, Rhys, I know. I just, I can't." He sits next to me, water from his hair dripping onto my leg. "I just, everything reminds me of them. You don't know how hard it was. You're a deity, through and through. Your parents are still alive." I laugh dryly. "And judging from your vessels' appearances and the fact that they were in a shootout, their parents are either dead or as high as they were." He laughs.

Dessi walks out in new clothes, and hair tied in a messy bun, purple hair framing her face. She cocks her head as she comes across us. "What's going on here?" Rhys sighs as I dig in my closet for clothes for him. I find something from freshman year, and throw them at him. Dessi stands beside me to give Rhys some privacy. "Are you okay?"

My grandmother and my aunt lived with me until I turned eighteen a month ago. They taught me how to cook, sew, do laundry, clean an entire house in just a couple hours, everything. I can outcook my grandmother now. It's something she's not proud of. I'm still not entirely used to the emptiness of the house when I get home. "Yeah, I think I'll manage." The next day was when I discovered my powers. My phone goes off as Dessi rubs my back, looking over my clothes. I turn to get it as Rhys pulls the shirt I threw him over his head. It's Carissa.

I sigh as the notification pulses at me. I'll answer her later. I turn to tell Dessi and Rhys something, but my text tone comes out of my mouth. It goes off every five seconds. I groan as I turn to look at them. Brantley's texting Carissa and she's mad and excited that I used my powers on him. Which I did not. I roll my eyes as another text rolls in. She's back to freaking out about it. Now she's mad. Freaking out. Mad. Madly freaking out. She needs to chill. My phone goes off again. Now she's sending me screenshots of their conversation. I rub my temple with my free hand. Rhys and Dessi are laughing their asses off. My hands fall to my side as my shoulders slack. "Did you guys make him text her?" They look at each other, and start laughing again. Dessi wipes a tear from her eye.

"It's her destiny for him to make contact with her. We had to make it happen, with or without you." I roll my eyes. My phone starts ringing. Now she's calling. I reluctantly pick up. "Holy shit Blake I can't believe this is happening! The hottest guy in our entire school is texting me asking me if I want to go see a movie or something this weekend or go to lunch or maybe even dinner or walk around the park or-" I have to yell her name into the phone to get her to shut up. "Car. Breathe. You're texting him as we're taking aren't you?" I can almost hear her cheeks reddening. "Maybe." She starts to launch into another boy-crazed tirade. I put a stop to it. "Carissa, you seriously need to calm down. Just agree to the walk in the park, somewhere I can stay hidden in plain sight and make sure I can get a good read of him. I don't trust him." She squeals.

Dead air fills my ear. She hung up on me. I roll my eyes as I toss my phone onto my bed. Dessi laughs. "She's boy-crazy." I shake my head. "You have no idea."

Hello all you lovely people who chose to read At the Hand of Fate! The chapters are just going to get longer, I like longer chapters, and I have tendency to write ones that are too short. Fourth chapter coming soon!