Preternatural (Worlds & Secrets) (16 page)

I was suddenly imposed with a
silence, sweeping over me as I was given time to absorb this very prodigious and phenomenal experience whilst Anne let go of me. Suddenly, at
that
moment…I think I accepted it. And when I did, I could have sworn that a part inside me
clicked
, embracing all that I knew I was and possibly becoming. I had something to properly distinguish me from others and apart from always looking different, I finally felt it. And deep down, everyone’s wanted some form of power – and I had it. I just didn’t know what it was yet. It was time to see my new life.

I opened my eyes.

CHAPTER 6.

A New Home

Anne and I stood in a pathway outlined by tall oak trees, each with their branches towered over us. My suitcase was right next to me. I guess I now know where it had been sent. The house stood there in all its magnificence in front of us, an infusion of a modern house, a mansion and a tree. It was painted in the lightest magnolia, resembling a cube of vanilla with a few rays of light brushing against it. On one part, light leafy-green vines crept to the balcony that surrounded the entire upper section with eyes that were Victorian windows. The roof of dark brown tiles made the house seem as if it was born from the trees surrounding it. It was tucked away in the depths of the tall aisle oaks in a space of misty shadows where green mist and fractions of broken sunlight trickled in front of the house. The other large oaks behind the house made it seem as if the building was midway of being absorbed into them, yet somehow seeming as if the house were the entrance to the thick trees behind it.

A f
ew metres away from the house to our right, was a circular canopy of trees. The warm-brown branches seemed to curve into themselves and intertwine to form the perfect dome of broad, bright green leaves. The entrance to this hollow canopy, from where I stood, was practically the gaps in between the tall, firm, tree trunks. Since there were only a few minuscule gaps between the wide leaves, sunlight forced its way through them and spilled onto the glade-like shade underneath the wide circle of shade below. This place was, at the least, a magical sanctuary that ought not to be disturbed by my presence. That’s how grand this environment was – so grand that I didn’t feel worthy enough to be standing there.

I all of a sudden
looked back, away from the house and into the distance. The landscape caught my eyes instantly. It was serene and
utterly too fictional to believe. When I took time to notice, I realised that we were on top of a mountain with a steep
slope.

“
Are we still in Vernaesce? Did I pronounce it right this time; Vernaesce?” I asked Anne as she chuckled slyly.

“
Yes to both your answers.”

“
And is that our house?” I asked again in wonder.

“
Yes. Beautiful, isn’t it? We decided to get it build up here. The view and area is just so tranquil,” replied Anne, excited to tell me more.

“
I can see why,” I muttered to myself behind a smile.

Further below
, I noticed what seemed to look like endless fields of knee-high apple green grass and on my complete right, not too
far away from the house however, was a forest. Frankly, I found it excruciatingly daunting, causing me to take a step back unsteadily after I witnessed it. It was planted of towering trees that stretched down to the horizon. The trees were ridiculously large; a single branch was the size of any ordinary tree, making the entire plant look scarily gargantuan. The roots were entrenched in the ground murderously and the thick barks looked arcane and ancient – despite them being about three metres wide in diameter. Nonetheless, although they looked quite gruesome, they didn’t inflict a sense of mystery or fear. In the dazzling sunlight of this amazing world, it looked like a phenomenal piece of nature, as shades of green were thrown onto the floor from the intense light hitting the leaves.

This particular
side of Vernaesce – wherever we were
– had a more normal sky. It was just a mix of azure and violet. It was blended in such a pale way it made it seem like it was daytime. Although we seemed too distant from the cities (seeing as there weren’t many things to notice around here), I could still make out a few people in the far distance flying through the air like darts.

“
Um, Anne, where exactly are we?” I asked.

“
In the region of Porto-Pyro. The people you see flying are Aero-Capers,” she said, pointing at them.

“
See, the Aero-Capes reside on the Earth’s surface, but islands that they claim as theirs hover up in the air. You might like to see it one day,” she added.

“
I’d love to,” I agreed. I just couldn’t stop smiling, so much so that my jaws began to ache.

“
They can breathe in space as well. I used to be jealous of that,” Anne jested. But our conversation was interrupted as I heard a slight gust of air behind me. Anne and I looked back. Jade had just arrived with Tantrus and her red suitcase firmly in hand. To my surprise, and her annoyance, Jade’s hair had elongated again.

“
Oh no!” she muttered under her breath, clearly upset.

“
I’ll be right back, A.J.,” Anne said as she strode over to Jade.

“
What happened?”

“
I don’t know, maybe it was the teleporting process. Maybe it altered my physical appearance. It was like this at home when we were all of a sudden changing, then mum cut it, then it became even longer, and then grew to its original state again. And now – it’s still the same but…” Jade sighed hopelessly.

“
Well, maybe we can do something about it. I have those long hair sticks if you would like to use them for school? Maybe you could put your hair in an up-do?” Anne comforted.

“
And you won’t mind me using them?” Jade asked.

“
Don’t worry, I have plenty of them.”

“
Yes, please. I’d appreciate it,” she replied, looking relieved and much happier. Anne smiled at her then disappeared, leaving her usual familiar trace to float in the air before dissolving into the atmosphere. She had gone to bring Jaden. Slowly, Jade walked over to me and rested her head on my shoulder tiringly.

“It is unbelievable here,” she gasped as she finally looked at the landscape.

“
This is amazing!” she exclaimed again. Tantrus walked up to us and stood beside me.

I walked clos
er to the edge of the mountain, stepping on a few rocks which crumbled down the steep slope. I stood there, feeling a gush of wind on my face. My blue hair rustled in the wind behind me.

“
Aden?” Jade called behind me.

“
Are you feeling all right?” she added through the gust. This was strange. It was still very sunny with hardly any clouds in sight, but the wind was tremendously strong. Whatever though, I had no time to think of that. I stepped back from the edge of the cliff, too captivated by the view.

“
Of course I’m all right. Why?” I asked.

“
Your hair’s sort of turned…
white
.” She stared at my hair but didn’t seem as shocked as you’d expect her to be, almost
as if she were used to it. My eyebrows pressed together in bafflement.

“
What?” I asked for confirmation. Jade suddenly grew confused when I turned around to face her.

“
Your hair is white...and your eyes –” she walked closer to me “– your eyes, they’re blue,
literally
an aquamarine blue. They keep changing turquoise and back to light blue. It goes back and forth. It’s actually quite astounding,” she muttered, still scrutinising me. I was getting tired of this; first blue, then red and now
white. I may have as well been a rainbow.

I pulled my hair over my eyes and saw
a thick lock of white, wavy hair. I looked back up at Jade, on the verge of approaching her to walk to the house, but suddenly a turbulent rush of wind tackled me. It was enough to make me fall off of the cliff. With unprecedented reflex actions, Jade swiftly caught me by my shirt. She held my collar but the wind kept pushing me as her hair viciously billowed behind her.

“
Why is there so much wind?” I yelled through the strong gusts.

“
What?” yelled Jade back at me.

“
I said, WHY IS THERE SO MUCH WIND?”

“
I – I’m not sure,” but Jade was cut off by my sudden lively stare behind her. An oak tree that was planted on the outline of the pathway tilted and began falling. She turned around, still grabbing a hold of me until she saw the collapsing alien tree. When she had turned around, it was inches away from squashing her flat. Before she had the time to react, her purple eyes shone.

As if time had stopped, t
he tree suspended midway of crushing Jade and remained frozen there as the tips of her long hair began to hang in the still air. The tips and branches of all trees around us were shooting up towards the sky as if a magnet was hovering above them. She subconsciously let go of my collar, but I wasn’t in control of myself. I was slowly held in suspended motion in the air as Jade stared at the hovering tree in front of her. The earth beneath my feat cracked and both large and small fragments of earth began floating their ways into the air, simply as if there was no gravity. The raging wind was now gone completely. I didn’t know if Jade was doing all this, but I was slowly drifting off the top of the hill.

“
Jade,” I gently called out. But she didn’t seem to have heard me. I slowly moved away from the cliff whilst floating like a helpless leaf in the wind. I don’t think she noticed what she was doing – specks of soil, along with rocks and other objects seemed to slowly levitate around her, higher into the atmosphere.

“
Jade!” Tantrus called out. Jade inhaled sharply and blinked succinctly. The tilting tree slammed to the ground next to her, her hair dropped, her glowing purple eyes dimmed, the rocks dropped, the soil floated back to the ground…and I fell. I yelled out to Jade as I instantly began plummeting like an anchor.

“
Aden!” I could hear my sister screaming as I rapidly dropped.

Tantrus came running over to
the edge of the mountain. They could no longer see me. Behind Tantrus and Jade, Anne had appeared with Jaden. They walked over at their own pace, unaware of what had just happened.

“
What’s wrong?” asked Anne through the settling wind.

“
Aden fell!” Jade retorted. Jaden’s eyes widened in fear.

I could see the ground grow
ing closer to me. My heart grew heavy and in one thump, I hovered above the ground as I was just about to hit rock-bottom face first. My hands were suspended next to me as my body was kept motionless a few inches from the ground – so close that a grass brushed the tip of my nose. As soon as I thought things had stopped, the wind surged up again and I was sent flying up forcefully like a deflated balloon. I had air pushing against my face with my white hair streaming downwards. I was getting closer to the house again, but to my dismay, I was rushed past the cliff – far too high up.

“
Oh no, no, no; that’s too high!” I mumbled to myself in distress. As I surged higher – leaving Jade, Jaden, Tantrus and Anne to look up at me in worry and surprise – Tammy and Robbie both gazed up at me as they stepped through the wormhole.

“
Oh my goodness, what happened?” Tammy asked with her hair flying behind her. There was an enormous gale encircling me that caused my teeth to chatter. I had gone far too high up, staring down at the mountain top with the house perched atop it.

“
The wind is settling,” Tammy said, distraught.

“Ab
out bloody time!” Robbie muttered to himself.

“
That means he’ll
fall
, you idiot!” Tammy retorted, under the impression that I would go crashing to my gruesome death at any moment.

“
Can’t we do anything?” Jojo asked nervously. The wind gradually stopped and I was slowly descending before my plummeting would recommence. Jade took in a sharp and brief breath of air.

“
You can teleport up to catch him,” Jade suggested.

“
No, as soon as I attempt to catch him the wind will blow me back,” Jojo answered.

“Dad, it’s him. He’s doing this. You’ve
got
to tell him,” Jojo said.

“No chance,” Tantrus responded with a scoff. Jojo sighed exasperatedly and turned back to face me
, metres up above her and the others. I suddenly dropped and before I knew it I had shut my eyes. The wind had stopped so the only gust I would feel would be from me falling. I slowly took a peek – everything seemed to have stopped. Was this a time stop? Was it Jojo, Tantrus or Anne? I looked next to me and saw Jade with her hand outstretched and her eyes opened in bewilderment.

“
I would have done it if you wanted,” Tammy said calmly.

“
I don’t know how to let go,” Jade said uneasily.

“
Pull me in, pull me in,” I continuously repeated quietly. I couldn’t bear to fall again, so I attempted to not jog Jade’s concentration.

“
This is
so
awesome,” Jaden commented undertone. Jade’s eyes were bursting with violet rays of light.

“
Okay, now try and – you know, bring him forward,” Anne said, guiding my sister. Jade was ever so carefully pulling me towards the mountain cautiously as she reeled her hands in.