Arianna's Awakening (Arianna Rose Part 1 & The Awakening Part 2) (22 page)

Luke looked at her and held her gaze for the briefest of seconds.  Usually, his eyes nearly sparkled, their silvery hue shimmering and dancing with delight, with warmth.  But when he looked upon her now, his eyes had hardened, their silvery shade replaced with steel, cold and mirthless.  In the fleeting second that he looked at her, Arianna knew that nothing between them would ever be the same again.

Tears burned her eyes, and the lump in her throat grew so large she worried words would not escape her lips. 

“We have to leave now, Luke,” Arianna managed, her voice a hoarse whisper.  “We have to get out of here.”

He nodded mechanically and his eyes refused to meet hers again.  She turned and walked toward the front of the house, toward Luke’s pickup truck.  The only way she knew he followed, was the soft shuffle of his feet echoing behind her.

Chapter 23

For more than five hours, Arianna had ridden alongside Luke, and he had not spoken a single word to her.  They had not stopped to eat at a diner and they had not shared a motel bed together.  Instead, they’d traveled in silence without even stopping to visit the drive-thru window of a fast-food restaurant.  When finally they’d reached her trailer park, Luke returned her just beyond her doorstep, hungry and enervated, and had refused to meet her eyes with his.  Their silence was not for lack of subjects to discuss.  They’d experienced a traumatic incident, had committed murders.  He’d seen her powers displayed in a most violent manner.  And unlike their uncommunicative trip after their night together in the motel, she was certain Luke’s reticence had nothing to do with sex or insecurities; it ran far deeper than that. 

Once she was inside her trailer, she dashed past the living-room area, thankful that her mother wasn’t home to ask frivolous questions about her trip.  She had not cried yet, but knew that one look at her mother, one attempt at speaking to her, would have granted her some sort of unspoken mother-daughter permission to cry.  She did not cry often, and feared that if she started, a great floodgate within her would break and she would not soon stop.  Yet, it seemed unavoidable. 

Stopping at the bathroom to splash cool water on her face, she felt her throat constrict, felt a lump swell in her throat.  She swallowed hard against it, an act she was all too familiar with, and choked back the tears that threatened.  The events of the last few weeks, all the death and destruction that surrounded her, all of it fell upon her with crushing heaviness.  She felt her chest rise and fall against the seemingly insurmountable weight of it and clutched her head with both hands.  She was responsible for all of it, she was the source.  Her friend had died because of her.  The man in the alley, though he had attacked her and Stephanie, had died at her hands.  And now, two more men could be added as casualties.  Of course, they had been shooting at her and Luke and would not have mourned her death, but celebrated it.  Nevertheless, she was not comfortable with killing.  She was not experienced at it as they were.  They had burned Lily to death.  No matter how enraged she’d been at them, how angry she remained, and no matter how much she tried to justify their deaths, it all came back to her.  The men would have never been hunting Lily had she never been friends with her in the first place.  She was the Sola.  She was the one issued a death warrant by Howard Kane and his people.  She wondered how many others had lost their lives in his quest to slay her. 

The thought of more acquaintances, more innocent people whose only crime had been associating with her, losing their lives, sent a shiver of revulsion through her body.  Bile rose in the back of her throat and she dropped to her knees before the toilet as sickness threatened.  When several moments had passed and she was confident the need to vomit had passed, she stood and stripped her clothes off, the need to shower overwhelming.  She turned the water on and stepped behind the shower curtain.  Standing beneath the spray, she was reminded of Luke’s comment about their motel shower’s water pressure, how it had been better than the one at his house.  She had agreed, and he had been right, the motel shower had been better than his and hers, as well.  Everything had been better at the motel. 

With a meager mist of water cascading down her body, a chill settled over her, and the heaviness in her chest was immediately replaced with emptiness.  She reached out and turned the temperature control knob to the left, making the water hotter, in an attempt to rid her body of the chill that felt as though it had seeped into her very core.  But even as the water flowed over her, it did little to warm her. 

She wrapped her arms around her waist not only to warm herself, but to physically hold herself together.  She leaned her forehead against the cool vinyl of the shower inlay and replayed the entire drive in her head.  Her memory revealed the scene at Lily’s house as it had unfolded.  Luke’s face looped in her mind again and again like a film reel, the look of shock and horror after he’d wielded the pickax, his look of repulsion when she had not been merciful with the man who’d intended to murder her, who had murdered Lily, and had chosen instead to use her powers in front of him.  She rubbed at her eyes, tried to rid her mind of Luke’s look of disgust at her.  All the while, tears began to mingle with the water that fell down her face. 

Salty droplets streamed down her cheeks as she agonized over what had happened, and how things had changed.  She doubled over, her body racked with sobs, and yielded to pain of the raw and ragged hole that had been punched in her chest since her powers had been revealed; since she’d learned she was the Sola.

The Sola
; the name made her knees weak, made her cry even harder.  She found the title absurd, her role the stuff of science-fiction novels.  Yet, no matter how much her brain wrestled with and resisted her designation, a deep-seated sensation persisted, one that confirmed all she wished to deny, one that resonated with certainty. 

The realization was a harsh truth.  She released her grip on her waist and straightened her posture.  Several deep breaths did little to alleviate her profound sadness, but helped take the edge off of it long enough to halt her tears.  She washed her hair and scrubbed her body, allowing to the clusters of bubbles and lather to slide off her body and down the drain.  Cleansed, she tur
ned the water off and stepped from the shower. 

As she dressed, other issues arose in her mind.  Chief among them was the fact that she would see Luke the next day at school.  She had no idea what to expect from him, no way to anticipate what his attitude would be.  She wondered whether he would continue to ignore her.  She supposed she’d find out in the coming hours. 

The thought of him disregarding her sent a pang of sadness through her once again.  She’d barely managed to stave off tears during the long car ride home, and then it had been just the two of them.  At Herald Falls High School, Luke was her only real friend.  Without him to ally herself with, she would be utterly alone.

She smiled sadly at the irony of her aloneness and her title as the Sola.  After all, the Sola had been prophesied as the one who walked alone, and she had been alone her whole life.  She was a walking example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

But loneliness was not the only concern that plagued her.  Numerous questions nagged as well.  She wondered whether anyone had seen Luke’s truck parked on Lily’s street.  His truck did not exactly fit with the vehicles that typically lined the wealthy neighborhood in Rockdale.  Surely, someone had noticed his rusted, out-of-place truck.  And if the truck had been noticed and coincided with the sound of shots being fired, eventually, Luke would be implicated.  She guessed the police had paid a visit to the Andrews’ residence and had found the two bodies in the backyard.  Luke had handled the pickax with his bare hands, had undoubtedly left behind fingerprints.  His truck, paired with forensic evidence, would all but seal his fate. 

The very real possibility of Luke going to prison, of another life being destroyed because of her, left her breathless.  She combed her hair quickly and strode down the hallway, fully intending to hop on her motorcycle and ride, ride as long and as far as it took her to organize her thoughts.  She was about to open the front door when it dawned on her that her bike was not beyond it, chained to a post on the front porch, that it remained in Luke’s garage.  Her temples began to throb and she contemplated punching the flimsy front door to punctuate her frustration.  She was stranded, left only with her thoughts and devoid of any type of outlet. 

Chapter 24

After a night spent drifting in and out of restless, nightmare-laden sleep, Arianna woke to the sound of the front door opening.  The sound startled her.  She opened her eyes and sat upright, alerted, only to see shadows covering her room with dusky fingers.  A thin stream of light trickled in from the kitchen through her partially open door and cast eerie shades on familiar objects.  A quick glance at the alarm clock on her nightstand revealed that it was just after three in the morning.  She climbed out of bed and listened at her door.  Footsteps padded upon the carpeting and the jangle of keys rattled.  She assumed her mother had returned home alone after a night out until a man’s voice echoed down the hallway.  It was immediately followed by her mother’s laughter.  Clearly, her mother had brought a friend home. 

She nearly groaned aloud.  Another man would be sharing her mother’s bed.  She knew she shouldn’t be as annoyed as she was.  After all, he was just one among a seemingly unending line of suitors.  Arianna felt nauseated.  Too little sleep and too much stress united and aggravated an already offensive situation.  She slammed her door shut, an immature message to her mother that she was awake and did not approve, but a message, nevertheless.  Shushing followed by giggling suggested that both her mother and the mystery man were intoxicated.  The situation was not unfamiliar.  In fact, it was all too familiar to Arianna.  But her blood boiled more than ever before.  She collapsed on to her bed and rested her head on her pillow.  Her alarm clock had been set to ring in three hours.  She needed to force herself to fall back asleep, but as riled as she was, she felt it impossible.

To her surprise, sleep found her faster than she could have guessed.  But it was not peaceful sleep.  Horrific images flashed over and over, images of burning people tethered to posts, screaming and pleading for help, for mercy.  But neither help nor mercy came for them.  Instead, cloaked shapes chanted, their voices carrying in the wind as unnervingly as a haunting wind shrieking through trees.

When the shrill cry of her alarm clock sounded, she did not stir immediately, rather she believed her dream had continued.  But a brightened sky peeked through the narrow rectangular window overhead and warned that a new day had begun.  A night of broken sleep that had been filled with nightmares and gruesome images did little to lift her heavy heart.  In fact, dawn brought with it not only the recurring recollection of her dreams, but also the realization that she would see Luke again at school.  He had not mentioned picking her up for school as he’d done in days past.  She guessed she was on her own.

Thoughts of Luke made her throat squeeze and brought an instant sting to her eyes.  But she forced herself up to a sitting position and slid her body out of bed.  After gathering her clothes quickly, she headed to the bathroom, confident she would not run into her mother or her mother’s overnight guest.  Both had been drunk hours earlier and had likely fallen asleep not long before her alarm had sounded.  She brushed her teeth and washed her face then styled her hair.  A few quick coats of mascara and a swipe of eyeliner completed her morning beauty routine and she was left with the task of figuring out how she would get to school.  She strode down the hallway, not bothering to make an attempt at quieting her movements.  She gathered her backpack and rummaged through it to be certain she had a full pack of cigarettes then stepped outside. 

The morning was unseasonably warm.  A fine drizzle fell from gray skies and a balmy breeze blew.  She pulled a cigarette from her pack and placed it between her lips.  She ignited her lighter and watched as the flame wavered in the winds.  With her cigarette lit, she drew smoke from it and inhaled it deeply into her lungs.  As she did so, she glanced about the trailer park and noticed that someone watched her. 

“Hey asshole!  I thought I warned you not to spy on me!” she threatened and knew she could support any threat she made.

His face disappeared from the grimy window of his trailer.  She was about to breathe a sigh of relief when it reappeared attached to a body at his front door.

She immediately dropped her cigarette and turned toward him, her stance defensive, prepared.  With her feet spaced shoulder-width apart and her hands on her hips, she squared off with one of the least attractive men she’d ever seen. 

She expected him to come out shouting, or angry, at the very least.  She had called him an asshole, after all, and most people did not prefer to be called that.  But instead of yelling, he smiled at her.  His teeth were a dull greenish brown and looked as though they were all competing for the same spot in his mouth.  Overlapped and jagged, his teeth made his smile look more like a grimace.  He held up his hands in surrender.

“Just gettin’ my paper is all,” he called out to her.  “Don’t want no trouble.”

He seemed harmless enough, but Arianna was unsettled that he always watched
her.  Even when she didn’t see him as she came and went, she always felt his eyes on her.

“Why do you always watch me?” she asked him and surprised him as well as her.

He froze reaching to pick up the newspaper laying on his stoop.  “I, uh, I guess, well, I guess I just like to look at pretty things,” he said and shrugged.

His candor caught her off guard, disarmed her briefly.  She didn’t know why, but she’d expected him to say something rude.  She’d braced herself for it.  But he had not.  He’d responded simply, and sincerely.  She did not know what to say.

“Thanks, I guess,” she muttered.

“I don’t have much to do most days.  But I like to watch birds and butterflies and flowers in the spring.  Your mom is real pretty, too.”

“Hmm,” was all Arianna could say and nodded.  Then a thought occurred to her.  “Hey, you don’t happen to know the bus schedule around here, do you?”

He stood clutching his newspaper in front of him and twisted his mouth to one side, deep in thought.  “Why yes, yes I do,” he exclaimed excitedly.  “The number seven bus comes by here at 6:48 a.m.  It runs down the county road and out past the high school.”

Arianna glanced at her watch and saw that it was already 6:45 a.m.  If she hurried, she might make it to the end of the park in time to catch the bus.  She slung her backpack over her shoulder and began jogging, but not before thanking the man who’d watched her since the day she and her mother had arrived.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Absolutely no problem,” he replied closing his eyes and shaking his head from side to side enthusiastically.

His goofy
,unfortunate looking smile confirmed that she’d said the right words and she headed toward the end of the long pathway leading out of her trailer park.  She reached the end of it just in time to see a bus approaching.  The doors opened and she stepped inside.  After paying her fare, she took a seat at the rear of the bus.  Few people were seated and all bore the same defeated expression. 

The ride was short and stopped just next to the gas station near the driveway of Herald Falls High School.  She jumped off and dashed inside the market of the gas station of purchase a buttered roll and a hot chocolate.  Deep within her
, a voice whispered that she would need as much strength and sustenance as she could get for the day ahead of her.  She ate quickly as she walked and made it to school in time for the first bell. 

The first half of the school day had passed uneventfully.  She had not seen Luke yet and wondered whether he had taken the day off.  She’d sworn she’d seen Stephanie, but wasn’t sure.  When the bell ending fourth period sounded and officially began lunch period, Arianna went directly to the cafeteria.  She had not packed a lunch and needed to buy a sandwich.  In the service area, she grabbed what looked like chicken salad on wheat bread and a carton of chocolate milk.  She turned and was about to pay when she nearly walked into Bulldog.  He was with Beth, and though they’d narrowly avoided a collision, when she looked up at him about to crack a joke about it, he merely looked over her head as if she wasn’t there.  Neither he nor Beth acknowledged her.  She felt heat creep up her neck and color her cheeks, embarrassment and sadness joining forces.  She dropped her gaze immediately, an uneasy knot twisting in her stomach.  She turned from them awkwardly, her hands trembling, and pretended to examine a display of fruit, picking up and sniffing an orange.  Her hair covered her face like a dark curtain and she stole a look from behind it and saw them leave.  She dropped the orange where she’d found it and gripped the plastic tray that held her food so tightly, her knuckles whitened.  Bulldog and Beth had reacted to her peculiarly.  She wondered what Luke had told them.  Perhaps he’d told them he and Arianna had broken up.  Perhaps he’d told them everything.  She did not know.  She needed to speak to Luke. 

After paying the cashier for her lunch, Arianna rounded the corner of the service area and saw that Bulldog and Beth had joined Mike, Carrie, Ryan and Christa at a table in the far corner of the cafeteria.  Seconds later, Luke strolled in wearing his usual warm grin.  He sat with his friends, then, as if sensing her eyes on him looked up and made eye contact with her for a fleeting moment.  In the instant that he’d locked eyes with her, she’d tried to convey a psychic message that they needed to talk, but was met with a steely gaze, one that warned her to stay away.  She dropped her eyes to her tray and found an empty table at the opposite end of the lunchroom.

Alone, she set her lunch down and fought tears that threatened.  Determined not to cry, she opened her sandwich and began eating it.  The mayonnaise tasted sour and the bread, chalky, but she did not care.  She ate to have something to do.  Leaving would mean they’d won, that they’d succeeded in making her so uncomfortable that fleeing was the only option.  Instead, she ate her vile lunch, swallowed every bite despite a growing urge to vomit.  She dug through her backpack and produced a textbook and began flipping through its pages. 

As she did so, she began to pick up on snippets of conversations from neighboring tables.  A familiar voice nagged at her ear, Cheryl’s voice.

“Aww, look at her,” she said sarcastically.  “She has no one.  Even the rejects don’t want her anymore!”

Arianna glanced up and saw that Cheryl watched her, and that a few of her friends had turned in their seats to watch as well.  None of them knew that she could hear them.  None of them knew of her powers; she hoped. 

“She’s looking at us,” a female voice said concernedly.  “Do you think she knows we’re talking about her?”

“That trashy bitch has no idea.  Just smile like you do at your stupid-ass poodle, Lisa,” Cheryl said.

Lisa smiled at Arianna as she was told and Arianna was sure she knew just who the dumb bitch among them was. 

“See, she has no idea,” Cheryl hissed encouragingly.

Lisa laughed nervously and Arianna smiled in their direction before erecting her middle finger at them.

“I told you!” Lisa accused Cheryl.  “She heard us!”

Cheryl ignored Lisa, her focus on Preppy-boy who had just sauntered into the cafeteria.

“How does my hair look?” she asked Lisa and smoothed her golden locks.  “Do I look okay?”

“Yes,” Lisa replied exasperatedly.  “You look the same as you always do.”

“Good because he wants to do it again today after school and I want to look as…
appealing
as possible,” she crooned and unbuttoned the top button of her sweater. 

“Oh God,” Lisa groaned.

Arianna was done listening to Cheryl’s nasty conversation and decided it was time to leave.  Lunch was almost over and three more classes were scheduled before the school day ended.

She endured English class, barely, and had nearly sprung from her seat when it finally ended.  She was eager to leave the class, leave the school.  But she needed to speak with Luke, if for no other reason than to discuss how she would get her motorcycle back from him.  She regretted accepting his offer, regretted ever meeting him.  She had allowed him the smallest sliver of access to her heart only to be frozen out.  She’d seen her mother go through breakup after painful breakup, and seen her lose a bit of herself each time.  Arianna did not want to be like her mother, even if it meant never loving another person.  She’d come so close that night in the motel, so close to surrendering to Luke’s sweetness and innocence.  Her fantasy of Desmond had been a blessing in disguise.  It had snapped her back to reality.

Her mind swam with frustration, so much so that she only caught the tail end of a rude comment hurled at her from a small cluster of people gathered by the lockers to her left.  She heard her name and the word “loser” attached to it.  She stopped and glared at the group.  A staccato laugh followed by blonde hair being tossed arrogantly over one shoulder divulged the source of the comment.  Cheryl stood with Preppy-boy, a nervous looking Lisa and two other girls she did not recognize.

“See, she knows her name,” Cheryl said in a cloying, bitter tone. “She responds when we call her ‘loser.’”

Cheryl laughed again and Arianna felt her insides heat, her blood simmering and pulsing through her veins. 

“What are you looking at, loser?” Cheryl asked acidly.

Unable to withstand the vicious taunt any longer, Arianna dropped the books she clutched in her arms and strode up to the group.  “What did you just say?” she asked, inches from Lisa’s face.

The two unfamiliar girls stepped back, away from Lisa, and away from Arianna.  “I-I didn’t say anything,” Lisa replied in a trembling voice.