said.
Eren was afraid she really didn’t want to know, but she had to ask. “What do you mean, ‘our kind’?”
Taking a deep breath, Sylvia swallowed hard, and fixed Eren with an intense gaze. She’d never seen her look so serious, it was frightening.
“Channelers, though others would call us witches or sorcerers,” she said.
Eren just stared at her, wondering if she’d heard her wrong. Yes, she must have. Or, maybe this was a joke meant to cheer her up on her birthday. If so, it wasn’t funny and she wasn’t in the mood. It was better than the alternative though, so she decided to try and play along.
“I’m sorry, what?” Eren asked. The beginning of smile worked at the corners of her mouth. Maybe this was a joke about the book.
“It isn’t a joke Eren. You’re parents were both channelers and so are you. Everyone in this town is.”
She was absolutely serious, to the point of being scary.
Eren’s smile died on her lips. Her aunt believed the book was real, which made her insane, there was no other explanation. Eren flew to her feet so fast that she staggered and immediately became dizzy again. This couldn’t be happening, not after everything else she had been through in the last eight months. How could her aunt seem perfectly sane for weeks and then all of a sudden flip out like this?
“We’re witches, like spellcasting and all that?” she asked.
Aunt Sylvia shook her head. “No, nothing like that. What we do is very different from what the fairy tales say. We’re not witches,” she said.
Eren’s heart drummed in her chest as if it were trying to keep beat to a heavy metal song and her blood burned through her veins like hot oil. The vibrating feeling returned with such force that her vision blurred. She didn’t want to hear any more. She had to get out of here, had to clear her thoughts.
Darting around her startled aunt, she shot out the door and down the stairs. There would be no catching her, she was like the wind and she knew it.
“Eren wait!” Sylvia cried.
Before her aunt could say another word, she was out the front door and running down the driveway. Gravel flew as her bare feet ate up the road. She didn’t feel the painful bite of the rough terrain as she should have and that realization scared her and fueled her speed. The tall evergreens whipped by, leaving her head filled with their overwhelming scent. Everything was too loud and smelled too strong, it pushed her even faster.
In what felt like a few heartbeats she was already to the pavement. Without hesitating she turned west, away from town, and kept running. Minutes later, she was past the bridge. Though her heart continued its furious rhythm and her pace was blindingly fast, she wasn’t even becoming winded. The world shook and it felt like she was going to explode.
Off in the distance she heard a car approaching. Pace never slowing, she dove into the forest on the south side of the road. Soon the underbrush and aspen trees swallowed her up and the road disappeared. The vibrating became so bad that she slowed and eventually stumbled to her knees. Ferns and moss softened the landing. There was something inside her that wanted out. The horrible feeling that she was going to explode gripped her again.
Suddenly blue energy started to leak from every exposed bit of skin she could see. She screamed in wordless denial and rage. Rational thought was beginning to slip away. Even her fear was fading. A moment later all she could think of was how great the dirt and greenery beneath her feet smelled, how wonderful it had felt to run across it. The blue energy was seeping into the Earth like a falling mist.
“No! This is not happening!” she screamed.
The noise drove a flock of black birds from the trees above her. Their wings were like thunder and their passage through the leafy canopy sounded like the applause at a Friday night football game. She knew the heightened sounds meant she was undergoing some kind of stress
Eren was afraid she really didn’t want to know, but she had to ask. “What do you mean, ‘our kind’?”
Taking a deep breath, Sylvia swallowed hard, and fixed Eren with an intense gaze. She’d never seen her look so serious, it was frightening.
“Channelers, though others would call us witches or sorcerers,” she said.
Eren just stared at her, wondering if she’d heard her wrong. Yes, she must have. Or, maybe this was a joke meant to cheer her up on her birthday. If so, it wasn’t funny and she wasn’t in the mood. It was better than the alternative though, so she decided to try and play along.
“I’m sorry, what?” Eren asked. The beginning of smile worked at the corners of her mouth. Maybe this was a joke about the book.
“It isn’t a joke Eren. You’re parents were both channelers and so are you. Everyone in this town is.”
She was absolutely serious, to the point of being scary.
Eren’s smile died on her lips. Her aunt believed the book was real, which made her insane, there was no other explanation. Eren flew to her feet so fast that she staggered and immediately became dizzy again. This couldn’t be happening, not after everything else she had been through in the last eight months. How could her aunt seem perfectly sane for weeks and then all of a sudden flip out like this?
“We’re witches, like spellcasting and all that?” she asked.
Aunt Sylvia shook her head. “No, nothing like that. What we do is very different from what the fairy tales say. We’re not witches,” she said.
Eren’s heart drummed in her chest as if it were trying to keep beat to a heavy metal song and her blood burned through her veins like hot oil. The vibrating feeling returned with such force that her vision blurred. She didn’t want to hear any more. She had to get out of here, had to clear her thoughts.
Darting around her startled aunt, she shot out the door and down the stairs. There would be no catching her, she was like the wind and she knew it.
“Eren wait!” Sylvia cried.
Before her aunt could say another word, she was out the front door and running down the driveway. Gravel flew as her bare feet ate up the road. She didn’t feel the painful bite of the rough terrain as she should have and that realization scared her and fueled her speed. The tall evergreens whipped by, leaving her head filled with their overwhelming scent. Everything was too loud and smelled too strong, it pushed her even faster.
In what felt like a few heartbeats she was already to the pavement. Without hesitating she turned west, away from town, and kept running. Minutes later, she was past the bridge. Though her heart continued its furious rhythm and her pace was blindingly fast, she wasn’t even becoming winded. The world shook and it felt like she was going to explode.
Off in the distance she heard a car approaching. Pace never slowing, she dove into the forest on the south side of the road. Soon the underbrush and aspen trees swallowed her up and the road disappeared. The vibrating became so bad that she slowed and eventually stumbled to her knees. Ferns and moss softened the landing. There was something inside her that wanted out. The horrible feeling that she was going to explode gripped her again.
Suddenly blue energy started to leak from every exposed bit of skin she could see. She screamed in wordless denial and rage. Rational thought was beginning to slip away. Even her fear was fading. A moment later all she could think of was how great the dirt and greenery beneath her feet smelled, how wonderful it had felt to run across it. The blue energy was seeping into the Earth like a falling mist.
“No! This is not happening!” she screamed.
The noise drove a flock of black birds from the trees above her. Their wings were like thunder and their passage through the leafy canopy sounded like the applause at a Friday night football game. She knew the heightened sounds meant she was undergoing some kind of stress
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