The Lightest Dark (The Dark series Book 1) (4 page)

On another note, my premonition the day before made it seem like multiple creatures would be attacking the compound in a few hours and I had to wonder at the timing of it. I also hope that Ryan is safely away from there and still at the safe house, or at least somewhere that was safely away from the creatures I’d seen.

Realizing I might not have the privilege soon, I decided I should probably give my thoughts a rest and get that nap in. I was a bit wary of sleeping here, but if Dark had intended something sinister I think it would have happened by now. At least I hope that's the case.

I grabbed the surprisingly soft throw off the back of the couch and settled in. I took one last assessment of my surroundings then closed my eyes and relaxed as much as I could, considering.

My only comforting thought as I drifted was that my ability still remained the proverbial ace up my sleeve. I just hope it's enough to win the hand.

It felt like half an hour passed as I lay there with my head up in the clouds. Figuratively this time, though I wouldn’t mind it in the literal sense. I had almost, but not quite gotten to sleep. My consciousness was in that place between awake and sleep. I’m sure you know the feeling.

I was surprised I even made it that far given my state of mind when I’d lain down. I guess this is what they call an adrenaline crash, or something along those lines. I’d heard about them, but this was the first I’d experienced one. Hurray for new experiences.

Anyway, I was half asleep like I said, and my mind was lingering there for a bit when a noise startled me back to full alert. So much for getting any kind of rest. Then again I hadn’t really thought I would.

Careful to keep my breathing even, I cracked an eye open enough to see, but not be seen. Dark had entered the room again, but he wasn't alone now. Someone was standing next to him just out of view. Or it was more like he was blocking me from their view. It was hard to tell, but I got the impression from his body language that he didn’t want this person anywhere near me.

That said, I closed my eyes not willing to chance being caught. If Dark had reason to half hide me from this person- regardless of the fact that I hadn’t seen him in the last two years- I was inclined to fake sleeping. Getting up was just asking for trouble and I didn’t want any part of it.

I felt them move toward me. Dark's voice suddenly came from above me. "She's asleep. We'll ask her when she wakes up."

"If you ask
me
, I think bringing her here was a waste of time. You’re sure she's the one? She doesn't seem like she'd know a glow demon from a fire angel."

The sound of a woman's voice drifted from the doorway. It would have been a very pleasant voice to listen too had she not had an undercurrent of callousness in every word. Just the sound of her voice had me wanting to cringe and pull the pillow over my head to block the sound. I could only imagine how Dark was feeling being on the receiving end.

"She'll tell me. She has no reason not to. Unlike you, she won't keep things that can help others to herself just to be spiteful. If I tell her why, she’ll help."

"What makes you so sure? After all, it's been two years since you've talked to this girl, let alone laid eyes on her before a few weeks ago. Who's to say she hasn't changed for the worse since you knew her? That’s not even mentioning the fact that she seems tight with the second in their army. She could probably have us destroyed with a wave of her hand if she felt like it. Then where would our people be?"

Wow.

The woman had one serious case of spite and pessimism going on. I wasn't sure if she was always like that, or if she'd reserved it just for me. Either way, it seems the decision to feign sleep was a good one and I was having no regrets in that regard. I just wish I knew what the heck she was talking about.

I heard Dark sigh, "I just know, Arie. She... She's not like that. She's not like
them
. I would trust Calista with my life. Besides, from what I've seen watching her this past week, I think Tristan may not be the best person for her to be around. He’s gotten worse since I left."

"Oh? And you are? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you did just kidnap the girl. She has to be having some serious mental issues as far as you’re concerned. What makes you the lesser of two evils?"

I'm pretty sure I just heard Dark growl after that statement. "You're trying my patience Arie. I will not be spoken to like one of your soldiers. It would do you well to remember your place." I guess she was just like that to everyone.

Good to know I won't have to take it personally. Or at least I was pretty sure. I might if she decided she wanted to push my buttons the way she was pushing Dark’s. That’s if she even knows what buttons to push.

Honestly, I hope that I never have to find out. She seems like one of those people who have to be mean no matter the situation and I didn’t do well around people like that. Or I should say I usually won’t stick around to be spoken to like I’m an idiot who has no idea what’s going on. It wouldn’t matter if I did, or not. It’s the principle.

"Oh, hit a sore spot have I? What's the matter? Scared she might pick him over you? We all know she's the same girl, Dark. You're fooling yourself if you thought you could keep that to yourself. You look at her as if the sun rises and sets on her and
only
her. Everyone else could jump off a bridge for as much as you care with her in the vicinity."

I could hear the mocking in her tone and I sort of cringed inside. From what I remember of Dark, he's never reacted well to mocking, but maybe he'd learned to deal with it?

Then again, maybe not.

The next second there was a huge crash that had me shooting off the couch and scrambling toward the open door as fast as my bound hands would let me. I tripped over the blanket I'd had covering me in my panic, but soon my feet were under me and I was running faster than I'd ever run in my life.

On my way out my eyes caught a glimpse of Dark standing over a smashed pool table that had two slender legs peeking out at the end as his beautiful black wings unfurled and twitched in agitation. The vines -that I now saw we’re on his back as well - seemed to pulse with his anger and had turned more silver than black.

I made mental note that he had definitely
not
learned to deal with mocking and his anger was ten times worse than before as my feet took me back out the way I'd been carried in. Soon I was out the door, running through a field of wildflowers with no idea where the heck I was going.

I didn’t care either.

My goal at the moment was to at least make it into the cover of trees at the end of the flowery field, about a mile from the front door. I knew from flying over it with Dark that it stretched out at least ten miles in every direction and would give me plenty of places to hide no matter how good Dark’s hearing is.

The sounds of animals and other things should hopefully give me all the cover I need. At least I was assuming. I didn’t exactly have the time to plan this out so I was running on pure instinct… literally.

I'd made it two steps from the forest when I heard my name being yelled from the house. I didn't think. I didn't stop. I just kept running. My feet felt like they knew where they were going even if I didn't and as scared as I felt, I was inclined to listen. Your instincts usually know more about what’s going on than you do.

Sure enough, I found myself winding around trees, jumping over roots, twisting and turning like some kind of forest nymph at one with the earth. It wasn't until I was halfway into the forest that I realized I had somehow untied my hands, the rope dangling from my left wrist like a cuff from an escaped prisoner.

Hearing nothing but the sound of my own feet softly gliding along the dirt as if they were old friends, I figured at this point it was safe to stop running. My lungs burned as I slowed to a walk, taking in my surroundings.

There were trees, strange exotic flowers, and bushes that seemed to have some kind of berries. As I looked around me, I felt like I'd been here before. It felt like coming home and yet I knew I
hadn't
ever been here before.

I continued walking, allowing my heart to return to a normal pace as I looked around. The further I go the more familiar things seem. I let my feet take the lead as random thoughts and facts float into my mind.

I know that the glossy purple red berries on a small group of shrubs up ahead aren't edible, but the ones in front of me are. I know that there's a small stream about ten minutes’ walk from where I am and the water is clean and crisp, not to mention the hollow tree that serves as a great place to sleep.

My stomach chose that moment to growl. I stopped in front of the edible berries. Blueberries came into my mind. Looking around I saw that I was still alone and decided to change a few branches into a small basket to carry the berries.

I hooked it over my arm and filled it with maybe two handfuls worth. That done I started off in the direction of the stream. As I passed the poisonous berries the name
poke berry
popped into my head.

I kept moving forward, my eyes taking in little things here and there while names popped into my head left and right. After about five minutes into my walk I came upon a tree and the word almonds popped into my head.
Check the fruit.
Okay freaky, but I did look up into the tree feeling like a crazy person. I’m sure I looked it too for the way I’d run earlier, but that was neither here nor there.

My eyes took in what I assumed was the fruit of the tree. The hulls of most were cracked and separating from the shell.
Ripe. Taste to be sure.

That's great, but how do I get up there? The tree was maybe twenty-five feet tall and I'm only 5'5 on a good day.
Shake it.
I wrapped my hands around the trunk and shook for all I was worth. I was rewarded with a bunch of almond fruit hitting me in the head.

I shook it off then gathered as much as I could in the basket and proceeded on figuring I could taste the almonds when I reach my destination.

From what knew of almonds, they were supposed to have a milky taste. At the compound we usually roasted them so they'd keep longer. I figured that would be a good idea now.

No telling how long I'd be out here and it was better to have something just in case. The sight of the stream just in front of me was both a relief and disturbing. One side of the coin is that it really is here. That lets me know that I'm not crazy.

The other side of that coin is that I now had random information about a forest swimming around in my head with no idea where it's coming from. That in itself is worrisome, but add in the fact that I was now hiding from Dark and I had a new list of problems.

It made me kind of homesick for the compound. There my biggest problem was trying to keep Ryan out of trouble and convincing a bunch of stubborn elders that my premonitions were real. Out here was kind of an unknown. Then again if what Dark said proved to be true, I may be better off out here.

I settled myself in the hollow tree after I checked to be sure it was free of animals and insects. The name sycamore came to mind and judging by the green brown and white coloring, not to mention the large size, I believed it. They're a lot bigger in person than they are in pictures.

The hole leading into the tree was about the same height as me, give or take an inch. The base had about two feet of roots and bark rising up from the ground and its width inside could sleep at least four of me comfortably. I was happy for that because it smelled like it might rain.

For those of you who have no idea what that means, it’s a bit like smelling the ocean in the air when you know there isn’t one for at least fifty miles.

I settled myself inside and started to prep the almonds. After separating them, I took the remains of the fruit and shells, changing them into a soft, makeshift bed that covered the bottom of inside the hollow tree and would prevent water from seeping through. After I did that, I started a small fire enough to roast the almonds.

I didn’t want it so big that you could see the smoke. I’d be found too quickly. As it stood, I was taking a chance with roasting them in the first place. Dark might pick up on the smell. With any luck there will be too many other smells blending since I was making it so small.

I changed the shape of a few stones into a small stone skillet and started to roast them up placing them in the basket when they were finished and put the fire out. I also change the ground to look like the fire had never been there as an afterthought before heading into the tree with my small meal and the stone pan.

I was grateful I'd ran into the forest, however impulsively it may have been. It was honestly a lot easier to change organic things in transmutation. I also never felt as drained as I do with metals and other inorganic materials, so being surrounded by nature made me feel a bit better about things.

After making the bed and eating some food, I decided to gather some leaves and sticks to make a blanket and pillow as well as a kind of door for the opening to block sunlight so I could finally take that nap.

It took me about ten minutes, but I soon had a nice light blanket, a soft comfortable pillow and a door that latched on the inside. I also had the added benefit that to anyone passing by it would look like it was part of the tree.

I changed a few small parts of the inside to hooks and placed the basket on one and the small stone skillet on another. I started to settle in feeling a lot safer than I had earlier. With my stomach full and after everything in the last few hours my body just wanted sleep.

Seeing nothing else that needed my immediate attention, I lay down and feel myself being pulled into the land of dreams.