Prophecy
Time-bomb

Inquisition.

“I am so sorry about your loss.”

“I am sorry too.”

“Is there anything I or we can do for you? Counselling, support any other need?”

“Thank you, your offers are very kind, but I’m getting ample support from my family and our close friends.”

“Are you sure that you are ready to be here? I mean you’ve been through a great deal?”

“I have given it much thought. I can’t shy away from the public forever. I can’t miss anything more at school with exams coming up too . . . you know?”

“How is the rest of your family? How are they coping?”

“They are devastated, but talking it one day at a time.”

“So where are you staying, since . . .?”

“I’m staying with Thorn and his dad until the end of the school term?”

“How is Caleb? When was the last time you saw him? What did the doctors say? Is he going to be alright?”

“He is still in a coma. We don’t know exactly when he is going to wake up.”

“So how did he look to you the last time you saw him?”

“I, I. . . I don’t know,”

“What do you mean you don’t know? You haven’t gone to see him in the hospital?”

“I uh,”

“Sheesh Summer that is kinda heartless? He is your cousin after all.”

“I uh, I umm,” There was no answer to that in my pre-programmed list.

“That is enough.” I heard him hiss. I felt myself being pulled away from the throng. “This isn’t any of their business and you have said more than enough to accommodate their curiosity.”

The small group scattered to different areas of the classroom after I’d left. “Thanks for pulling me out. I didn’t know what else to say.” I said placing my hands over my forehead and pulling back until my eyes were slanted.

“Are you sure you are ready for this?” he asked concerned.

I dropped my hands and folded them while I glared at him.

“I’m sorry, now I am beginning to sound like them too.” he apologized. “I just can’t stand seeing them attack you like that. They’re like vultures circling around, waiting to feed on whatever left over from the kill.”

I dropped my head down and cringed a little at the description.

“Sorry, poor anecdote, but . . .” he continued apologetically.

“It’s ok, no harm, no foul,” I said lifting my head and smiling weakly. He smiled as he seemed to appreciate my pun. These days, I was getting pretty good at using dark humour to cover what I really felt.

“Next time, just tell me to put a sock in it, when you hear me prattling on.”

“Don’t I always,” I chuckled, as I remembered the many arguments we used to have in the past.

“You used to, these days you’ve gone soft. It’s like your falling for me or something.” he guffawed.

“That’s where you need to put a sock in it. I’m not falling for you anymore.” I said as-a-matter-of-factly.

“Really, because I’ve got a good source that says different.” he replied in the same tone.

“Well you should tell that source to put a sock in it. Because I’m not falling anymore; I’ve already landed dear.” I said tapping his shoulder lightly.

As I sat down, I could feel the eyes of those I’d been speaking to, crawling all over my back. I ignored them and kept my eyes fixed in front of me. I only wavered, when Thorn took his usual seat beside me and I gingerly placed my hand in his and rested it on our desks, which were more closely drawn together than usual.

Ms Schlyfer entered the classroom and as she caught sight of me she seemed surprised, but she didn’t make much out of it. She just started class as usual, which I was so happy about as I didn’t need any more attention.

As the week passed, the inquiries seemed to wear off as everyone had started refocusing on their own lives and were butting out of mine.

I knew that many of them thought that I was heartless and uncaring as I didn’t seem to be falling to pieces on the outside as everyone expected me to be. But what the frick do they know about me or how I should be feeling. None of them had ever gone through anything like this.

It had hurt me one day to overhear James and Melissa one day in bio class. I wasn’t eavesdropping, but sometimes having sensitive ears can be an advantage or the absolute opposite in certain cases, and this was one of those times.

Apparently, a few persons have been speculating that maybe I was the one who had carried out the killings myself or had at least hired someone else to do it. Since I was the only one who left the house that morning and that I was the one who happened to find the bodies. And my seeming unresponsiveness to the situation had verified their suspicions.

Their whole line of reasoning was utter rubbish of course. But they were right about one thing. I was the cause of this mess. I didn’t kill them directly, but I might have well have done it. I was the one who led Omayra to the house, endangering the whole family. We got rid of her, but she’d warned that others would be out there to avenge her death. We didn’t listen. I didn’t listen.

My family was trying to hide not just from the authorities but even from me, the shifter involvement in these murders but I knew that there was something going on, something big.

I didn’t care what anyone at school thought about me. I’d long learned to ignore the opinions of people around you, especially the unconstructive kind if you valued your sanity. I was already a recluse, an outcast at school, so if it was the company that I would be losing, I wouldn’t be missing much. Although it was probably better, safer for them to stay as far as possible away from me, especially now.

I was a like time bomb. Detonation time tick, tick, ticking ready to explode, destroying anyone and everyone in my way.

“Hi, sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if I could sit here?”

I looked up from my untouched food sitting on the cafeteria table. I was surprised to see who it was. I rearranged my expression of surprise into one that seemed more impassive.

“Sure Susan, you can sit here,” I said to Caleb’s girlfriend. I wondered what she wanted. Was probably here to give me the tenth degree about my heartlessness, just like everyone else in my year. I waited for the thrashing to begin.

“I know you might be surprised to see me here, as we’ve never really spoken to each other before,” she said nervously sitting down in the seat across from me.

“To be honest, I am. Aren’t you afraid that they will start vilifying you for being in league with the cold-blooded family killer?”

“I have heard all that, but I don’t believe that you would do that, not from the way Caleb described you,” she said taking a bite out of her patty.

“Caleb spoke about me? I wouldn’t even want to hear what he said.” I scoffed.

“It is not all bad. He said that you were kinda like a twin sister or something, overly annoying, hare-brained and hormonal sometimes, but still a sister.” she said smiling weakly.

I returned the smile. “I thought of him the same way . . . not as a sister, but like another sibling, my brother.” I sighed. “You know everybody has been occupied with how I am feeling, that they forget that you must be going through hell too.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s been hard,” she said nodding her head shakily. “I went to see him at the hospital. There was a lady, I think that it was your mother was there with him?” I nodded. “It was hard for me to see him like that . . . battered, broken. I couldn’t stand it. I had to leave.” she sniffled. “He was all cleaned up by then, I can’t imagine how you must have felt when you walked in that night.”

“It was pretty awful,” I said smiling ruefully. I folded my hand into a fist as it had started shaking.

“It is okay Summer, I know that you are in pain,” she said softly and held my folded fist. Her hand was cold and goosebumps covered the area where she’d touched. I began pulling away but she gripped my wrist firmly. I sharply looked up at her in surprise.

“What are you doing?” I asked confused and tried pulling my hand out of hers, but her hand tightened around mine. “Stop it, you are hurting me.” I protested softly.

“I’m hurting you? This is all your fault you know. Caleb, his family, they had to suffer because of you. You and your selfishness.” she said glaring at me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Susan, but I think I’m going to leave right now.” I said harshly and started getting up.

“If I were you I wouldn’t do that if you wish to keep your hand Laeyx.” I stopped abruptly. I couldn’t move as a sudden rush of coldness flowed up my hand. The pain was so intense, that a scream had began forming at the back of my throat. “I wouldn’t scream either,” she said pulling me back down into the chair.

“Who are you? Why are you doing this?”

“It looks like your just as slow as you were a few months ago. Either that or you have a very shallow memory. I must say that I was expecting more, especially from the Grand Corona’s daughter. Having royal blood doesn’t dilute stupidity.” she sniggered.

“Omayra?” I gasped.

“Well, not so stupid are we, eh.”

“You are dead. This is not possible.” I said stumbling over each word.

“Well as you can see, I’m not,” she said changing temporarily to the blue-eyed, silver-haired demon that haunted my dreams. “I told you that I would make you pay for your little stint earlier this year.” she sneered.

How is this possible? I looked at her face. Well, it was Susan’s face, but the deathly scowl was pure Omayra. “You killed my family. Caleb’s in a hospital because of you?” I said over the crushing pain still being exerted on my wrist, as the full effect of what she’d said had finally dawned on me.

“He is still alive . . . unfortunately. I guess I didn’t hit him hard enough with that pole. Oh well, better luck next time.” she prattled on.

“Why did you have to target them. It is me you want to hurt, not them.” I spat.

She pulled in closer to my face. “Well dear, I am hurting you. Killing you would have been too easy and I wanted to make you pay for every minute of discomfort that you afforded me.

“First it will be your family, then you’re stupid tribe, last but not least, your heart. Then you, that is, if you don’t die quickly enough. Human authorities will become so suspicious of your family, that trouble will be brewing in your little clan. I might not be the one who finally dethrones the mighty Grand Corona but it will happen. . . quite a plan isn’t it. Genius if I should say so myself.” she crooned.

“It is not going to work. We won’t let it happen.” I replied stiffly.

“We? We who? Do you mean the old royal exiles North and his family? I think you should let them know that their plan is not going to work. Mond’s prophecy will never come true.”

“Prophecy? What prophecy?” I asked confused.

“You don’t even know about that. That is really sad,” she said mockingly. “Anyhow, I’d really love to stay and chat for old time sakes, but I have lives to destroy and a plan to execute. This is going to be fun,” she said releasing my hand. I didn’t feel anything as it was numbingly cold and had turned a deep purple.

I watched with bated breath as I saw her get up and taking the food she’d brought with her. I watched as tears started welling up in her eyes before they spilled over onto her cheeks.

“Bitch! Bitch! Bitch! How could you? They were your family.” she shouted at the top of her lungs. The whole dining area had become quiet and was looking in our direction. I could see the plebs getting up from their area to peek over into the sixth form wing. “I hope you burn in hell for all that you did, you, you . . . murderous coward. Make sure that you stay the hell away from me!”

There was a sharp echo in the room as she’d slapped me across my face before storming off. I didn’t look around, but the silence was disturbed by the sounds of chairs scraping on the concrete floor, as persons allowed her to pass.

Right now, the resonating sting of her slap should still be burning into the skin of my cheek. But that was nothing. The numbness should have been thawed out of my hand by now and I should be rolling on the ground in anguish. But that was nothing. My mind was shattering, my brain splitting. Nothing, nothing. All this was nothing compared to the time bomb I heard ticking away in my head.

Tick, tick, tick, tick . . . Boom!

Demolition zone.

I galloped blindly through the path already ploughed by Omayra’s hasty retreat. I accidentally bumped into a few persons going down the stairs. I whispered shallow apologies without looking behind. I just kept on running. I was about to enter the sixth form building, but I veered in the opposite direction.

I ran past the staffroom, the admin building, the tennis courts. I pushed through the gate of the sports complex. I came to an abrupt stop at the edge of the swimming pool.

I knew what I had to do. None of those other things would happen if I wasn’t here. It started with me and now it would end with me. I couldn’t be burned by fire but I sure as hell could drown.

I stepped back a few paces.

“God, you have to forgive me for this,” I mumbled.

I closed my eyes tightly and leaped.

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