A Diamond in My Pocket
* * *
Several Death Clan members lead me to the center of the clearing and bind my hands behind my back. Then they lift me and lay me down on my back on the rock altar, which is especially uncomfortable with my hands beneath me.
The withered old leader speaks to his other clansmen. “Bring two slaves.”
Two emaciated individuals in shackles are delivered to the leader. They have the scent of Runners.
“Unzip her pocket and remove the diamond,” he says to the first slave.
“No. Don’t do it. You’ll die,” I plead with the Runner.
His mind reveals he knows he’ll be killed if he doesn’t follow orders. He opens my pocket and pulls out the leather pouch. It slips out of his hand and lands on my stomach. I realize too late he’s dropped the diamond due to his heart stopping. I wanted to try to heal him. Now I can’t feel anything in his body. The slave crumples to the ground, dead.
The second captive is ordered to slide the diamond out of the pouch onto my chest without touching it. I try to warn him, too. He’s hesitant to pick up the pouch, and I can’t blame him, after seeing its deadly effects on the first person. Instead, he carefully unties the strings, trying not to touch the pouch. I delve into his body and monitor his heart while he performs his duty. He quickly tips the pouch upside down, sliding the diamond out into the late afternoon sunlight and onto my chest. The Sanguine Diamond catches the light and its radiant brilliance reflects everywhere. The gasps from the onlookers float through the air. Just as I begin to think the second slave might survive, he collapses to the ground. Dead.
My eyes water and my throat constricts. I thought by keeping the diamond, I’d be the only one who died. Now two innocent men are dead because of my decision to keep the stone.
The withered leader addresses the clans. “Today, you will all witness ultimate powers bestowed upon our clan, and you will discover the fate of all who stand in our way.”
He and the other Death Clan members form a wide circle around the stone table and begin chanting unrecognizable words. Their arms are raised and their hands shake. I look to my left, then to my right, and find Chris standing in front of everyone with a terrified expression. He opens his mind.
Why didn’t you tell me, Calli? Why didn’t you confide in me that you had the real stone all along? Why didn’t you let them kill me? Clearly nature wanted that to happen. I had the number he called. But now I’ll be saved, only to live without you.
Oh, how I wish I could communicate with my mind. I would tell him everything. I would tell him the witch told me—no, ordered me—to keep this absolutely secret, not to remove the stone from the pouch, not to tell anyone and not show anyone, to keep it safe. She informed me I was nothing more than a regular human, enchanted to appear as a Runner. She did not tell me the stone would give me all the powers, including Healing. She did not say that so much about me would change. She left out the part about how I would become selfish and greedy with my newfound powers and how I would do anything to make sure Chris didn’t die in the end. I would tell Chris he clings to a misguided vision about someone else, not me, and he should move forward in life and find the girl of his dreams: his Healer. I’m only a human, the Sanguine Diamond deliverer, being used to do what people with powers cannot.
Then Chris says to me with his mind, I don’t care that you’re human. You are the girl in my vision. I wish you would have trusted me. I would have been your support through the hard times. There is nothing selfish and greedy about you. You are my Healer.
I spoke with my mind! And he answered! I reply back, Chris, I’m just a regular human. Am I defying nature, or am I completing what nature intended all along?
Our eye contact is blocked as the Death Clan members tighten their circle around me. I wish they would move so I could continue talking to Chris.
The language the Death Clan chants sounds like gibberish. My mind wanders to the cave by the falls, to the day I first discovered my powers, the day I learned Chris had feelings for me. I remember how I felt inside and how my heart warmed.
The stone on my chest heats up, and a new awareness fills my senses. The exposed diamond, unhampered by the pouch barrier, infuses even greater powers into my body. The present blurs away as a new scene comes into focus. I stand on well-trimmed grass before the headstone of a grave. Several children run toward me shouting, “Grandma, Grandma!” I kneel down and open my arms, embracing them. Together, we lay flowers on the grave of Chris Harding, loving husband, father, and grandfather. My mind, body, and soul fill with an intense love that takes years to develop, the kind that will grow over the years needed to reach the point in the future where this vision will take place. I experience love for the little ones in my arms and love for the man we are there honoring, and who is and will always be the love of my life. The vision switches to a gathering of ten or so middle-aged people, including myself and Maetha, where the decision is being made to harvest another diamond. I pull out of my vision due to the searing pain on my chest.
The stone becomes hotter and hotter, and I cry out as it feels like it will burn a hole right through me. Why can’t they kill me and get it over with? No, they have to put me through agony first. But wait, I’ve just viewed my own future which means I’m not going to die after all. The thought buoys my spirits, yet the diamond is becoming dangerously hot and it begins to vibrate. My breathing does nothing to knock the stone off my chest. The sheer weight of the diamond holds it in place, even though my chest is rapidly rising and falling with my breathing. Some of the Death clan collapse, and I can see Chris again. He’s being held back by several guys, including Justin. His face glistens with tears.
I send my thoughts to comfort him. Everything will be fine, Chris.
He’s too distraught to reply.
The pain intensifies, and I can’t stand it any longer. It feels as if a hot sword has been stabbed right through my heart. I arch my back and scream in agony as a bright explosion rocks the clearing all around me.
Then everything goes black.
Chapter 14 - Unaltered