Page 58 of In Between Darkness
“So, your brother’s a restorer?” An orange and red butterfly soars past us, its wings coloured like a sunset. I can’t help but stare. I look back at River.
“Yeah, Jace.” He smiles as if he is reminiscing about fond memories. “I always wanted a brother. His family took me in when I was six… I was so happy when I met him.”
He picks another strawberry out of the basket and offers it to me. I gladly pluck it out of his grasp and take a bite, slurping its juices as I swallow.
“I will forever be in debt to him and his family…my family. I—I always felt like there was something I was missing. I bounced around between foster homes, and I never met my birth parents.But when they took me in, I finally felt like I was part of something.”
He stands up and skips a rock in the pool ahead of us. I stand too and rub his back gently.
“I never knew my mother either; she died during childbirth… I know what it’s like to feel like something is missing.” I feel a catch in my throat as I speak. “It’s always been just me and my dad and the stories he told me about her.”
River offers me a reassuring smile and passes me a smooth, round pebble. I throw it and watch it skim across the stream three times before sinking into its depths.
“I wish I knew her. Not just the stories but actually her.” I feel the familiar sensation of tears welling in my eyes and brush them away before they manifest. I transfer the spotlight back onto him. “What about you? You ever wish you knew your parents?”
“I used to, but after reading my file, I think I am better off without them. I don’t know much, but I know that they were sentenced to death for a crime they committed.”
He skims another pebble, and I nod my head in response to him. That must have been a pretty bad crime to be sentenced to death for.
“I think we need some more of this,” I say, breaking up the silence and gesturing towards the flask. I pick it up, take a swig and offer it to him, wiping my mouth afterwards. His eyes glisten as he smiles and takes a sip.
“I’ve never told anyone that before,” he confesses, turning to face me. I can still hear the splashing of the water next to me as I lock eyes with him. I give him a comforting smile.
“And I don’t talk about my parents a whole lot either,” I reply genuinely.
“We might just be as screwed up as each other,” River laughs as he pulls me in for an embrace.
He really is a romantic. The sun is hanging lower in the sky above. He has timed it so that we will be able to watch the sunset soon. His arms wrap around me, and his rock-hard pecs tense against my cheek. He smells like a warm summer day. My right hand traces the ridges of his abdominal muscles. I feel connected to him. I can finally see through his charming exterior, and I like it.
He pulls me in, and my whole body tingles. I see his face moving in, his lips inches away from mine. My hand cradles his cheek, and his rough stubble pricks at my fingers. He leans in, and I tilt my head back to embrace his soft lips. The tingles continue up my body as his tongue pleads for entry. I feel his hands run up my back and press me closer to him. I open my mouth, letting his tongue touch mine. My eyes close fully as I get lost in the rhythm of our kiss, feeling tingles zap through my body and bubble underneath my skin. I feel him run his hands through my hair and grip onto me tighter, like he is afraid to let me go. Another zap runs like electricity through my veins as the kiss gets more intense. I gasp as I feel the waves ripple to the ends of my fingertips, sending shocks down my spine. I hear a sudden crash in front of me, which forces my eyes to open. The glass from the flask is smashed into a thousand pieces on the floor beneath us. River is nowhere to be seen, and my hand is pulsating with a large black glow.
I screw my eyes shut and open them again. This can’t be real. I pinch myself but remain intact.
H-he’s gone?
The glow is fiercer than usual and looks bigger. I feel the air warp around it as the pressure builds. The butterfly from before flutters around me, just as intrigued as I am. Its wings get caught in the warp, and I watch as it is sucked into the darkness. I gasp. Shit. No, this can’t be happening… River has been sucked into the vortex.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“F-fuck. Fuck. Fuck. F-fuck. Fuck.”
I try to breathe, but the air disappears from my lungs.
“He’s gone! What have I done!?!” My mind races, trying to make sense of what’s happening. He brought me here and poured his fucking heart out to me and I-I-I…
“WHAT HAVE I DONE?!”
A tennis ball-sized lump forms in the back of my throat, and this time I cannot stifle the feeling. I cannot hold back the tears that flow down my cheek like the steady streams around me. Helplessly, I drop to my knees and sob uncontrollably. I fix my gaze on the vortex in my hand and feel anger bubble like lava in my veins.
“FUCK YOU!” I scream at the black hole dominating my palm. This power has caused me nothing but problems.
‘Don’t cry, my child. He is not gone, just simply lost.’
I sense light peeping through the shadow of darkness as Oriah consoles me.
‘How do I get him back?’I plead in my head, drying my tears with the sleeves of my cardigan.
‘You must learn the ways of the moon to gain control,’she repeats the same line she told me before.
