Aqua

  Chapter 9

  The trek down the mountain was intense and annoying. We were now about half way down, and there was a cliff next to us. I was walking in the back, trying to cope with my thoughts. Dylan was walking alone directly in front of me. There were a few feet in front of him, but then there was Mallory and Skye. In front of them was Emily, Jessie and Mikey, who were laughing and talking as if I wasn't fighting back tears just yards behind them. Brooke and Ethan were walking in the front, holding hands. This surprised me.

  I was too busy watching them to realize there was a rock just in front of Dylan. Evidently he didn't realize either because he tripped, rolled three times, and landed on the edge of the cliff.

  "Dammit." he muttered. He rolled over, I guess trying to get up, but in the wrong direction.

  His feet went off first, which was a major plus. He somehow managed to get some footing on a small mound of dirt a few feet below the cliff edge. There was nothing for him to grab, though, so he was leaning forward, and grabbing at the rocks so he didn't topple off. I ran over to him and held out both of my arms. He grabbed each of my wrists and I did the same for him.

  "Come on Haley pull me up," he said. I was looking at the one thousand foot drop below him. I gulped, happy that he hadn't fallen. Us Poweras could go through a lot, like when I was little I would climb the tree in front of my house until I was at the highest point, and then I would jump. I would land on my feet without a scratch on me. Then I would do it again, but I didn't think this was anywhere near the same thing.

  I gripped his arms even harder and began to pull him up. He was trying to put his feet on whatever was possible. "Dylan fell!" I yelled. We were making very little process. Nobody heard me yelling, they were already too far. "Hey! Emily! Mikey! Skye!" I shouted, while trying to pull him up. Dylan slipped and began to fall backwards, to plunge to his death. I held on tight and pulled as best that I could. "Holy shit!" I screamed when he had no more footing and I felt all of his weight. I could feel a scar on the palm of his hand where it was pressed to my wrist. The scissors.

  Dylan started scrambling with his feet, trying to regain what little footing there was. His fingernails were deep in my skin, and I was holding on so tight his hands were turning blue. If Dylan went down, I was going down too. I saw with satisfaction that his left foot had found the dirt pile again. His right foot was swinging through the air. "Haley…" he murmured.

  "Yes?" I asked, trying hard not to let go from the pain his grip brought. I jerked his wrists, trying to help him.

  "We're going to die," he answered, giving up. "Just let go. I'll be fine. I've wanted to die remember?" he asked. I wanted to slap the stupid out of him.

  "Are you kidding?" I asked, not believing what I had just heard. "It's going to be alright Dylan. We just have to get you up here." I replied. I knew from the look on his face my eyes were bright blue.

  He smiled and tried his foot again. His nails were sinking even farther into my arms. Blood was oozing out of the spot where his thumb was. I felt some of the weight go away. I glanced down. His right foot was on a small rock. That was better than nothing. I jerked on his arms as hard as I could manage. His left pinkie broke the skin too and blood was coming out. I tried hard to focus on the fact that if I let go there wouldn't be a Dylan Ross anymore.

  "On three." he commanded. He glanced up at my piercing eyes. I nodded, seeing that his pupil was blended with his iris to a point where there was no difference. "One..." he took a big breath of air. "Two... THREE!!" he screamed. I pulled with all my might and he jumped for it.

  We landed on the ground with a great THUMP! I groaned. I had landed on a rock the size of my leg. I looked over at Dylan. He was lying on the ground with a cut up knee, and a chunk missing from his jeans, but we were both living. I sat up and looked down at my arms. His fingernails had left little holes, and where his right thumb and left pinky were was blood.

  He sat up as well. "Thank you," he muttered. I nodded, not wanting to drag out the embarrassment. I rose to my feet with a deep sigh. "You’d think they would've noticed we were gone by now." Dylan said.

  "Yah that’s what I was thinking when we were on our way to death." I agreed. He stood up and we began walking in silence down the mountain. There were foot prints here and there from our friends, and us when we had walked up the mountain to find- well I didn't want to think about that.

  "Sorry about your arms by the way…" Dylan apologized. He didn't glance my way, so I guessed he hated apologies too.

  "Its fine, as long as you didn't end up as a pile of bones." I replied. He grinned slightly. I smiled and looked down at my feet. "Watch for rocks." I laughed. He merely nodded. I couldn't bring myself to trip him, or hit him. When would we find the others?

  We walked on for about ten minutes in silence, neither one of us saying a single word. I started to say something, anything to break the silence, but I saw seven teenagers running at us. We both jumped away from the edge.

  "Where have you been?" Mallory greeted me with a huge hug. Emily patted my shoulder, and then grabbed Dylan's hand. When Mallory was hugging me Skye saw the blood on my arm. I saw him eyeing it. When Mallory released me he grabbed my arm. I looked up at him, biting my lip. He rubbed a thumb over the bruises that were starting to form from them. I flinched slightly when he rubbed the one from Dylan's thumb. He looked up at me in confusion.

  "We were walking and Dylan tripped…" I began the story, and skipped over the part where he said he wanted to die for Emily's sake. They all listened intently until the very last word. Dylan nodded and added things I left out from time to time. Neither of us mentioned his suicide attempt. Skye continued to stare at my arms, which scared me a bit.

  I glanced at him about every twenty seconds while I explained. Once that was over we began walking again. Dylan and Emily were walking in front this time, and Dylan was watching where he placed his feet. Brooke and Ethan were behind them, and then Mikey and Jessie. Following them was Skye, Mallory, and I. Skye stared at my arms for about two minutes longer, but after that I couldn't take it anymore. "What?" I asked.

  Skye glanced up at my face for about half a second. "Huh?"

  I rolled my eyes. "What? Why do you keep staring at my arms?" I asked.

  He sighed. "My mom was an Animalia like Ethan." he paused, making sure he said the right name. Then he continued "And when she saw even the tiniest drop of blood the wolf part of her kicked in." I remembered with a shiver what had happened when I shoved those scissors in Dylan's hand. "She would suck a body completely dry, and then she would run away into hiding, and because of who she was. I feel like blood would be nice." he finished, regret in his blue eyes.

  I jerked my hand away from him with a gasp. "I'm sorry- I mean I wouldn't actually-," he stammered. I grinned and hugged him quickly.

  "I know…" I murmured, laughing. "You don’t scare me Skye. What does scare me is skydiving. The only time you should be rushing down like that is in water, no offense." I explained.

  Skye laughed "None taken." Mallory was quiet for once, holding on to Skye`s left hand. I was on his right. I hadn't noticed that Ethan had drifted behind us. "Hi Ethan." Skye said, without looking behind him. I whipped my head around to see Ethan walking along behind us.

  "Hey." Ethan replied. He was kicking stones around and staring at the back of Brooke's head. Austin had almost tried to kill Ethan. Why did I keep thinking about Austin? I sighed and reached up to rub my pointer finger on the lightning bolt on my forehead. I jumped a few inches from how bad it hurt to touch my skin to it; water and electricity just don't mix.

  Ethan was still walking behind us when the light suddenly brightened. I glanced around me, uncomfortable from the harsh sunlight. Every one of us was looking around, trying to fine the Light. Light Poweras control the glare of sunlight, how intense it is, the heat, and other things that had to do with the sun. That’s when I saw her.

  She had platinum blond hair that was nearly; it went just past her elbows. Her e
yes were a scary shade of gold. She wore a pretty violet colored sundress over black tights. She was wearing violet shoes that perfectly matched the shade of her dress. She was a very pretty girl. She stepped toward us cautiously. Her eyes landed on Skye and she walked over.

  Mallory stared with an angry look on her face when the girl hugged him and he hugged her back. "Umm…" Mallory said, crossing her arms.

  Skye looked around "Oh, yeah. This is Stella, my sister. She’s a Light. I haven't seen her in over a year... she’s a messenger, she uses rays of sunlight to get from place to place." Stella smiled and nodded. Then she walked over to Mallory. She handed her a letter, and then came to me. She handed me an envelope as well and walked in the direction of the big yellow sun.

  "I'm sorry Skye, but I must go. I will see you if you assist these people to Powera Central. I love you. Maybe I can see you before another year passes." Stella's voice was beautiful! It was how I imagined Alice Cullen’s was. Little bells. Skye was about to reply, but she was swept away by a beam of light. With shaking hands I opened the letter. We began walking so I had to read the message while walking. I unfolded it and gasped when I saw his handwriting again;

  Haley,

  I think about you every moment. My father swears that he will catch you someday. I tell him he should let you go. I tell him it is stupid to obsess over one group of Poweras that have no direct meaning to him. He just won't understand when I murder him. Even if it isn't murder, I'll see you again soon. I know you may not want me there at your side, but I'll be there. One way or another, I'll get away from the Hell my father built for me.

  When I do get away, I'll find you. I promise! I will see your beautiful face again. I know you don't believe that I love you. It's true though. I love you with all of my heart. Yes, yes I know who my father is, and I know that this will take time.

  One time a Light came to my house. She was Skye`s sister (did you meet her?). Lights can see the future you know. Stella saw whom I would grow up to fall in love with, and whom Skye would. I asked her to give me a name and she said that she didn't know names, but this girl had black hair, and electric blue eyes. She said she was an Aqua. I now know she is you.

  Now I believe in telling others the future, Haley. I am still trying to figure out how any other boy could look at you and not want to love you like I do. Love is a very strong four-letter word. Yet I feel love for you like I've never felt for anyone, not even my mother, wherever she may be in this world. This has been a long letter, and I'm dialing Stella's number right now.

  Haley, you can never forget how much I love you. Never. I love you, please, please write me back.

  Love,

  Austin

  I read the letter over and over again, as Mallory seemed to be doing with her letter. I didn't know what Mallory's said, or who it was from. Skye was standing only feet away from her, so why would he write her a letter? I then remembered that there was more to our lives than just a journey across the country, that when we flew back to Georgia on the first plane there would be a family I had been missing. Hugs, kisses, happy tears. I looked forward to it all.

  Austin was another thing. What would I do when I saw his beautiful face again? I had no idea. It sickened me in a way to think about how I might react, because knowing me there was no telling. I sighed and folded the letter twice. I then put it in my back pocket. Skye was watching Mallory as she reread hers. I began to watch her, noticing how her eyes would fly across the page, and how they were always wide. Her eyes were bright purple. I wondered what that letter could say, but I had no idea at the slightest. I didn't even know who had written it to her.

  I walked calmly with my friends, even though I was panicking a little. Mallory had gotten a letter, a letter that she continued to reread for another ten minutes. She began to fold the paper in half, but I grabbed her arm. She looked down from the two inches taller than me. She frowned, but nodded.

  I unfolded the letter and read the first paragraph:

  Dear Mallory,

  This is Cameron. Mallory I miss you. Your dad keeps on coming over and printing out ‘Have you seen this girl?’ flyers with Collin. Cainen keeps on saying ‘Mal-Mal’ whenever your parents come over, because he expects you to come in. I think he misses you too. Your mom is always crying and Merritt is writing songs on his guitar about you. Collin is so protective of me; he won’t even let me put this in the mailbox. Mallory, I’m scared. I don’t know where you are. Will you ever teach me how to play Monopoly like you promised? COME BACK MALLORY!!!

  Cameron was one of Mallory's nephews, well, step-nephews. Cameron was her brother Collin’s stepson, her sister-in-law’s child from a previous marriage. Mallory shook her head and grabbed my arm. She flipped it to the back, where a beautiful note was written. It was more of a note than a letter:

  As a Light I can see into the future. I looked into Skye`s future and saw you and Skye married, and adults. Being almost fourteen, you have a long way to go. As with all relationships there are bound to be tough times. Mallory, no matter what you might come to believe over the years, Skye loves you very much. I look forward to getting to know you better.

  Stella

  I gasped and looked up from the letter. I reached out to hug her and she hugged me back. I could feel a smile tugging at her cheeks through our hug. "I love him Haley," she whispered in my ear. This time yesterday I would have said the same about Austin, but I wasn't sure if I could say that truthfully.

  We pulled away from our quick hug. Skye was staring at us, not with the same white eyes as before, but a natural blue. For a very quick moment I thought I might've seen what Mallory saw in him, but it was gone almost instantly. I sighed, knowing I missed Austin. Nobody looked over to see what was wrong. We were nearing the bottom of the hill, where we would walk from to the main part of the city.

  I sighed once again as I jumped the last twenty feet to the bottom.