Brooklyn Taylor and the Myths of Occara: The Infernal Desert

The image of a round-faced woman flashed before me. Her mouth curved down in a frown, her gray eyes analytical. Slowly, she began to morph into another, this one with a thin face and an evil smile that let out a terrifying laugh. 

I bolted upright, the maniacal laughter ringing in my ears, as pounding knocks sounded on my door, rescuing me from that nightmare and pushing me into another. I glanced at the door. The hulking shadow of a man blocked the light from outside my room. 

"Up, now." His voice grated against my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. "And make sure you wake up your sister as well. If you two aren't out the door in twenty minutes, you're walking to school." I glared at the door as his footsteps faded. 

On the bed adjacent to mine and watched as Lili slowly stirred, being woken by the sunlight leaking from the window. I hopped out of bed and knelt next to hers. I nudged her, but she didn't stir any further. I started tapping her arm. Finally, she began to awaken. She groaned as I kept tapping her. I traced words on her back, telling her she had to get up.

She groaned again before rolling onto her side. She cracked her eyes open to reveal her beautiful turquoise irises. She was so tired. She must've stayed up reading despite my advice not to. 

"We have to get ready, Lili." I bushed the deep brown locks out of her face. "School."

"Don't want to," she mumbled, closing her eyes so she couldn't read my lips. I sighed. This was always her way of rebelling. She happened to be deaf, and the man who raised me didn't know until after he adopted her. Now he resents her as he does me.

I traced I don't want to either, but we have to onto her arm.

"Tired," she whined. She opened her eyes again.

"I know you are. But we don't have a choice." She whined in protest but slowly sat up. Her brown hair was a mess, all poofy and fluffy. I grabbed a brush and sat behind her. I tapped her arm and pointed to the book on the other side of her bed. She smiled and began telling me all about what she had read last night. I listened without hearing her. This was our routine. I would help brush her hair while she recounted her novels' adventures to me. It made her happy, so I was glad to hear her go on and on about her latest book.

After a minute or two, I finished straightening her hair. As I set down the brush, she turned around and hugged me. I tensed up but made myself hug her back. When we broke apart, she said, "I am going to get dressed and do makeup." I nodded, smiling. She got up, grabbed her clothes, and headed into our shared bathroom. 

I sighed and flopped back down after she closed the door, letting my smile drop. That nightmare had been etched into my brain: the gray-eyed woman and that laugh. I shivered thinking about it.

I stared at the picture on the nightstand between my and Lili's beds. It was a picture of the two of us smiling and laughing. That was the only picture I had of us being genuinely happy together. Every other photo was forced or was of the man who raised me. There are no pictures of my mother. If I could even call her that. No stories about her, no family from her side coming to see me. Nothing. The man who raised me has never told me a word about her or anyone else. It's like she doesn't exist.

I was brought out of my thoughts by Lili. She walked out of the bathroom with her hair covering the left side of her face and dark blue-almost violet eyeshadow making her turquoise eyes more pronounced. She wore a blue shirt with lace sleeves and ripped blue jeans. 

Lili was one of the most beautiful girls ever to live. But she tried to cover up her beauty, hence why her hair covered her face. What infuriates me the most is that most guys don't find her attractive because of her deafness. Like it's her fault! She wasn't the one responsible for all the cigarette smoke she had to live with because her bum of a father decided that that was all he wanted to do. The man who raised me only ever did one good thing for us; bringing us together. If he hadn't adopted her, my life would be very different.

"You okay, Brooks?" she asked. 'Brooks' was Lili's nickname for me, like Lili was her nickname. Her full name was Persefoni Lilyana, but she hated being called Persefoni, so I gave her the nickname Lili. She wanted to spell it that way because a character in one of her books has the same name. 

It was easier for her to say Lili than Persefoni anyway, just like it was easier for her to call me Brooks rather than my full name, Brooklyn. Only she could call me that. Every time someone else tried, I either hit them or yelled at them. 

I nodded, putting on a fake smile. "Fine, Lili. Time for me?" She raised seven fingers in response. I jumped from my bed and grabbed everything before running to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and dark brown hair before pulling on my pants. I applied some makeup-nothing like Lili had. Just some touch-ups. Instead of changing, I kept the purple and blue long-sleeved shirt I slept in on.

I stared at my reflection for a moment longer, taking in what I saw. My gray eyes stared right through me. My dark bronze skin was as smooth as ever, but it wasn't that I had a problem with. I swore I was gaining more weight, even though I barely ate. Although the shirt was baggy, it was tight around my stomach and chest, showing off my flabby sides. I pulled my collar up to hide the skin, exposing my stomach's bottom. 

"Ugh, why do my shirts keep shrinking?" I whispered. 

A knock on the door brought me back. I turned as Lili opened the door, peeking in hesitantly. "We need to go," she said. I nodded and headed back into our room, and grabbed my stuff. I zipped up Lili's bag and checked that she was ready before we left our room. It was small, only one story tall, but it didn't matter. Lili and I spent most of our time in our room, anyways. 

I grabbed my keychain off the windowsill and locked the door behind us as we stepped out. Once done, I turned around, only to see him driving off. 

"Barely a minute late," I said under my breath, feeling stupid. I should've known he wouldn't have waited for us. I sighed as I turned to face my little sister, who was staring at me expectantly. I held my hands flat in front of me and moved them as if they were feet, which was sign language for walking. Her face fell, but she nodded. We were resigned to it by now.

The trek to school would've taken 10-15 minutes by car. By foot, it would take almost an hour. And that's not including waiting for signal lights and all that. And this morning in Anefield, Rhea, it was cold. It was the dead of winter, the 10th of Panther, the last month of the year. I stuffed my lunch in my backpack and helped Lili with hers before we started the walk to school. 

Now you may be asking, 'Brooklyn, why don't you call someone to pick you up?' The answer is simple: He doesn't let us have phones or any way to contact someone besides emailing teachers and students in school, with the email he monitors almost 24/7.

I tried not to shiver as we walked. It was the first month of the year, the first out of twelve, so it was freezing. We only had one jacket, and I had given it to Lili, but I knew she'd give it to me if she saw me shivering. 

We reached school around 8:32. Classes usually start at 8:00 AM sharp. I ignored the dirty glares I received from the staff in the school office as I signed us into school and we got our hall passes. I walked Lili to her first class before going to my locker to place some things in it. Afterward, I leisurely strolled toward the gym, where my first period-P.E.-was. Lili was lucky and had been excused from P.E. I find the subject unnecessary, but as a 17-year-old junior who skipped it freshman year, I had no choice but to take it.

I stalked through the doors, head held high, and more than a few students stopped playing their tennis games to look at me, though the squeaking of shoes against the hardwood floor persisted. I walked up to the teacher and wordlessly gave him my tardy excuse before going to where my only friend in this class was. Sina had dirty blonde hair, light blue eyes, and light brown skin. I always thought it was an interesting combination. She never dressed for P.E., so I could always hang out with her, no matter what we were supposed to do. Today, she was wearing loose-fitting jeans and a crop top. I didn't understand the trend with those kinds of shirts. I didn't want to, either. 

"Hey, Brooklyn," Sina greeted with a smile. "Did you see the new kid?" I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. As usual, she didn't bother asking why I was late.

"Seeing as I just got here," I deadpanned, "I'm afraid I haven't." She frowned at my tone but continued anyway.

"He's over there," she pointed to the other end of the bleachers where a tall kid with brown hair stood, not dressed for P.E. or even trying to participate. And when I say tall, I mean tall. Well, compared to me, everyone was tall. I was barely over five feet, but this kid made me look like a dwarf. He had to be over a foot taller than me. Even in the terrible lighting of the gym, I could see his shirt with the Rhean flag on it and jeans, a white and red jacket on the bleachers beside him. "He's kind of cute," Sina admitted. "In a nerdy-type of way." I shrugged. Unlike Sina, I've never been boy-crazy. Thankfully, Lili hasn't been either.

"Have you even talked to him?" I asked. She shook her head, and I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes this time. "I'll go do it, then." Before she could protest, I started for the new kid. "Hey, kid!" He visibly stiffened and looked around wildly before his gaze fell on me. He had neat golden-brown hair, and his eyes were different, almost like-wait, were they orange? I stopped in front of him and studied his eyes. Yup, they were orange. Not like the fruit, though. More like a burning fire. "I like your eyes," I said in Desponian without realizing it.

"Umm, I don't speak Desponian," he said. "I speak sign language." He did the signs for sign language.

I blinked in surprise. No one ever just knew sign language. Barely any of the teachers knew it, which made school that much harder for Lili. 

"My sister and I speak sign language, too," I said, smiling a little bit. "What's your name?" 

"Oh." He rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I'm Eli. Eli Sophia."

"Cool. I'm Brooklyn."

He glanced around the room as if looking for something. Like a way to get out of this conversation. 

The thought made me angry. Was I annoying him? All I was trying to do was be friendly! He was the new kid! 

"Am I bothering you?" I asked hotly.

He glanced at me. "Not really. I'm just looking for someone."

"Who, then?"

"No one in particular," he replied. I grunted in frustration. Vague answers like that always pissed me off.

"Well, if you tell me, I can help," I offered. 

He hesitated. "Well-" he started, but the bell rang before he could finish. He looked around before muttering, "Gotta go, bye," and ran off, leaving his jacket behind. 

"Wait!" I called after him. "Your jacket!" He didn't hear me as he joined the crowd of kids walking out of the poorly lit gym. I picked up the jacket as Sina walked over and stared at me expectantly. "What?"

"Was he cute up close?"

*~*

I met Eli again before third period. I found him talking to Lili in sign language in front of her locker this time. 

"Hey!" His head shot up, and his orange eyes locked with mine as I stormed up to him. "Why'd you run off like that? All I did was say that I could help you!"

He didn't answer me. He scanned our surroundings before signing Can you both see my eye color?

"Of course, we can!" I exclaimed. Lili nodded in agreement. 

He eyed the area again. You are not supposed to. 

"What do you mean we're not supposed to?" I asked incredulously. "Why wouldn't we be able to see your eye color?" 

Only true mortals can not.

I stared at him disbelievingly. "What do you mean by that? 'True mortals'? And why is this important?"

"Rhean, Brooks," Lili told me. "Take a breath." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I hadn't meant to switch to Desponian. It just happened sometimes, mostly when I was angry. 

Eli's eyes widened when she spoke. That sent another burst of white-hot anger through me. 

"You thought she couldn't talk?" I shouted at him, this time in Rhean. He winced, and Lili lowered her head in shame, making me feel worse. "She can talk just as well as you and I can! Don't presume what you don't know!" 

"Hey!" I heard a voice yell from behind me. "What's going on?" I turned to see a broad-shouldered, dark-skinned Evraxian security officer walking toward us. 

I ground my teeth as I said, "Nothing, sir." The man stared at me for a second, then turned to Eli. 

"Are these two giving you trouble, young man?" He asked. Oh, cause that's not sexist at all. Ignore the girl and speak man to man. How mature. 

"No, sir," Eli responded. "It was just a minor misunderstanding. We'll settle it before class starts." Satisfied, the guard nodded and walked away. I let out a groan of frustration as the bell rang. I stormed off, his jacket firmly grasped in my hands.