Shining Light

20 May 2016, Friday

One day. I'll leave this small town. Where everyone knows everyone far too well, where everyone talks too much. Sometimes it gets suffocating. I get so frustrated.

I don't know where I'd run, though. Maybe I'd ask Kalen to sweep me away somewhere to a foreign land. Maybe ask Isabelle if she wanted to adventure the world with me. It's always been in me - this need for escape, this desire to take flight. It's always been half-dormant within me, but today's events fanned the flames of my thirst for freedom.

Because today, I skipped school. It was an impulsive moment. "It's a Friday. No time to be sad. Let's do something fun today," Isabelle told me this morning after seeing the look on my face. She'd caught Amelia teasing me again. And before I could decide, with a piercing glare at Amelia, she'd dragged me out.

I discovered, just today, that she lives really close to school. We snuck back to her house so I could borrow a set of her clothes to change into. No one was home.

I've always been a tshirt and jeans kind of girl, but today, she braided my hair, put me in a short pleated skirt and a cropped hoodie, told me I looked cute.

I stared at the girl in the mirror and almost didn't recognize myself. Her eyes were wary and her stance was timid, almost as if she was afraid to take up too much space in the room, but today, there was an excitement sparkling in them. The skirt was too short - my parents are so conservative I've never worn anything that went above my knees. But it made my legs look longer, made me look girlier than the drab cartoon t-shirts I'd always worn.

"Stop overthinking, Avery," Isabelle told me. "This style looks great on you." I wanted to say no, that I'd feel uncomfortable, that it'd draw too much unwanted attention.

Girls like Isabelle were used to turning heads, didn't care what people thought of them. Meanwhile, I was raised, conditioned to be always watchful of the things I did, how I presented myself. The adults I was around always had something to say about others. I didn't want to be a subject of their conversation too.

But then, I remembered my last entry - I need to change. And in that moment I thought, you know what, screw all that, let's do this. And that marked the first time I stepped out of my comfort zone.

We watched a movie, chilled at the food bazaar, and had a lot of fun at the arcade. And just as school ended, we ran back, got me changed back into my uniform, grabbed my stuff and headed back to the car porch to wait for my parents.

I've been to that mall many times on the weekends with my parents, but today, I saw it in a different light. With Isabelle there, it felt like I was on an adventure, everything was different. I went into stores I'd never noticed before, played games at arcade machine I'd always walked past without a second glance because my parents always called them a 'waste of money'.

Today, I laughed harder, had more fun than I'd ever had in years. Even now, my memories of today are a blur but I remember the sparkle in Isabelle's voice as she threw back her head and laughed with me as we played, the way her aura seemed to glow radiantly. I couldn't help but stare.

In the darkest of my days, she's become my shining light. She's given me a taste of what it feels like to break the rules, do something for myself, and let myself have some fun.

With her around, my days are a little brighter. And I'm beginning to feel it within me. Changes are afoot. Slowly but surely.

-

"What do you want?" she asked warily as he advanced onto her.

He flashed a grin that was both enticing and dangerous as he languidly walked up the dais. "What do you think I want, your Highness?"

She took a step back and realized she was backed into her throne. There was no leaving this space until she regained at least part of her powers. She was effectively trapped, Gaia realized. "Stay back." There was a small tremble in her voice. She was used to ordering everyone around. When was the last time she'd felt threatened? But this man was different.

"Why should I?" he seemed amused, scarlet eyes curving into crescents. "I gave you what you wanted. Now I'm here to claim my end of the deal."

She was sure he was here to exploit the loophole she'd realized just as they made their blood contract. She couldn't afford for him to leech off the power she'd so painstakingly plotted to regain - the power that was almost within reach. "Alright, I'll grant your wish. Ask for anything but power," she pleaded.

His grin widened as he gently caught her wrists with his hands. "Ah, but I think you've got it wrong, my dear. What I want, is you."

And an earsplitting scream rang out, making the underground chambers shiver as the demon's brand was seared onto her skin the moment he uttered his words.