Page 123 of Swift Wings Shadowed Heart
“It’s not enough. You have to tell meeverything.”
“It’s painful for me.”
“And you don’t think this is tearing me apart?” The pain etched in his features leaves me no doubt about it. This isn’t easy for him either.
I nod. “All right. One last time then…”
50
Rhea
Every child looks forward to their Cleansing. I wasn’t the exception.
That day, the crisp autumn air nipped at my nose as I skipped along the sidewalk, my new dress swirling around my ankles. My mother’s hand, warm and comforting, held mine tightly, her smile as bright as the sun peeking through the leaves of the trees overhead. Today was the day! The day I would finally become part of the real world, the day I would leave behind the carefree ranks of childhood and join adulthood.
I couldn’t wait to see what awaited me beyond the familiar path, what wonders lay hidden behind the imposing gates of the Cleansing Authority. My heart pounded with a mixture of anticipation and… fear. No one had explained exactly what would happen. They just said I would meet the Neutro, and then we’d go home. But that couldn’t be all, could it?
As we walked further away from home, a chill crept down my spine. The trees along the street seemed to whisper a warning, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers. My excitement died down.
“Can we go another day, Mama?” I asked.
My mother’s smile faltered, and I saw a flicker of worry in her eyes. She squeezed my hand a little tighter. Then, I didn’t understand why my parents had told me that I should never look into people’s thoughts, that it was rude. More important yet, they drilled into me that I should never tell anyone that I could hear theirWhispers, as I used to call them. My understanding would soon change.
“We can’t go another day, Darling. We have an appointment we must keep. But this will be done before you know it.”
I tried to shake off the mounting unease, attempting to regain my original excitement, but the whispers of the trees seemed to grow louder, and my mother looked so nervous. As we reached the imposing gates of the Cleansing Authority, their iron bars casting long, eerie shadows, I whimpered. Dread filled me, and it only got worse when we stepped into a gloomy room where a spindly man with long-fingered hands awaited.
When he asked my mother to leave, I started crying and refused to calm down until he said she could stay. He sat me across from him, a narrow table between us, and took my small hands in his clammy ones.
The Neutro’s unsettling gaze bored into mine. His long, pale fingers, almost translucent, tightened around my hands. A shiver ran down my spine, not from the cold, but from a strange tingling sensation that seemed to emanate from his touch. It was as if he was reaching into me with some unseen force.
My breath hitched in my throat. It felt wrong, utterly wrong. As if I were an insect being pinned to a board, he examined me, dissected me. His probing power seemed to pierce through my skin, searching for something hidden deep within. I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened, his fingers digging in painfully.
A low hum vibrated through the room, emanating from the Neutro. As the hum intensified, the tingling sensation grew stronger, spreading through my body like a jolt of static electricity. I felt dizzy, disoriented, defiled.
The Neutro leaned closer, his breath hot and stale on my face. His eyes, now glowing with an eerie inner light, seemed to delve deeper, searching for something, something I didn’t understand. Terror gripped my heart. I wanted to scream, to run, but I was paralyzed, trapped in the grip of the Neutro’s invisible power.
—She’s a Weaver!
The man’s Whisper cut through my mind with sharp precision, even though I’d been guarding against listening for a while. He sounded delighted.
—You can do it, Mortimer. Come on, your first Weaver.
The delight turned to hesitation.
—The Superintendent knows nothing. You’re ready for this.
The hesitation grew, accompanied by a measure of fear.
—You don’t need to stop, don’t need to call anyone for assistance. If something goes wrong, no one will care. Not about this nobody child. Do it!
His boldness mounted despite many warning Whispers blaring inside his mind.
Pain exploded across my body as he tried to rip me apart, tried to steal something that belonged to me. I couldn’t allow it. On pure instinct, my wind power fought back, and I found myself in a maelstrom, furniture tossed about the room, while the Neutro—face contorted in a mask of fury—held me by the throat. I could barely breathe, my vision blurring as I struggled against his iron grip.
“Mother!” I screamed, seeing her through the whirlwind, her face pale with terror as she tried to reach me.
She called my name, her voice lost in the cacophony of the storm. I could see the fear in her eyes, the desperation.
