Chapter 13: From one freak to another

Instructions

“What do you mean you were raised by Harold?” I was yelling louder than I had in a long time. I wanted to stand, but Calvin took my crutches. He knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. “Exactly what I said!” “Vin, why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Elly asked, yelling just as loud as I was. “Well, for one thing, to avoid this!” “It would have been avoided if you had told us sooner!” “When? When was I supposed to tell you? When we were running for our life, or when you couldn’t breathe?” “I don’t know.” I yelled. “But how are we supposed to trust you? You were raised by the man who wants to kill us!” “Why would I free you just to take you back to him?” He yelled. “Think about this logically.” I did. The more I thought about it, the less likely it seemed he was with Harold. It was still infuriating. I was so angry I could almost feel my body warm up. My body warm up? I looked up and saw my hair was glowing, and the cups of water that used to have icecubes in them were now boiling. “Jewel, calm down. Take a few breaths, we don’t want this whole place exploding.” Calvin said, putting his hands up. I took a few breaths, and soon my hair went back to normal and the water stopped bubbling. “Sorry.” “Its okay-” “I wasn’t talking to you.” I told him. Even if he didn’t have a choice, I was still angry. He looked down at the ground. “Right. You need rest, using your powers soon after the gem can be even more draining than usual.” “Yeah, I can tell.” It was hard to stay conscious at this point. “Can I have my crutches back?” “If you don’t hit me with them.” I grabbed them, and, with a little help from Willow, went back to my room and laid down. The next morning was a little tense. Nobody said good morning as Calvin walked in. “Thanks.” He said, sarcastically as he sat down next to Elly. She moved her chair away from him. “Really?” “I don’t know, did you really lie to us?” I asked. “I didn’t lie.” “You didn’t tell us Harold is your father.” “He is not my father.” He said, savagely. “He raised you. He taught you everything you know-” “That doesn’t mean he’s my father.” “Practically.” “You know what?” He stood up. “I think I’m going to eat in the lounge.” He left the room, mumbling something I couldn’t quite understand. “Guys,” Willow said, “Maybe we should cut him a little slack.” “Why?” I asked. “I know you’ve been hiding something, ever since we got Elly out of that prison!” I stood. I didn’t need any help anymore. “What is it?” “Well…uh…” She looked down at her feet. “I shouldn’t be the one to tell you.” “Wow, thanks.” I said, angrily. “But, you can ask him yourself.” “You know, I think I will.” I went to leave, but Willow stopped me. “Just…try to be gentle.” “I’ll do whatever I like, thank you.” She looked at me sadly. “Please?” I hated when she looked at me like that. “Fine. I-I’ll be gentle.” I left the kitchen, and saw that there were only a few doors. “This shouldn’t take too long, right?” I opened the first door. There was nothing in there. It was huge, why would it be empty? I walked in further. “Wait!” Somebody knocked me over. “What the…” I looked up. It was Mason. “What are you doing?” “Oh, just saving your life.” “What?” I looked at the wall and saw it was covered in arrows. “How did you-” “Let’s just say exploring may not have been one of my best ideas.” I laughed. “You’re funny, are you a comedian?” “No, just a boy who likes to make jokes out of bad situations.” “You must be really popular.” “Not really.” He looked sad. “Except for my sister, everybody just thinks of me as a freak.” “Why?” “Let me help you up, then I’ll tell you.” “Deal.” I said, laughing. He pulled me up from the ground. “So, back to my question, why do people call you a freak?” “For one, my eyes are different colors, and I’m sort of…” He paused, and chuckled. “Weird.” “Well, everyone's weird.” I said. “If someone was normal, wouldn’t they be the real freaks?” I looked down at the ground. “But I do know what you mean. All the other kids at my school call me fish girl.” “Why did they call you that?” “Well, when I’m not hanging out with Willow, I’m either studying or in the water. I’m not exactly what you would call normal either.” “Good.” I smiled. “I’m also kind of quiet. There’s a rumor going around school that I actually can’t talk.” “You were definitely not quiet with Calvin.” He said laughing. “That’s different.” “What do you mean?” I sat down on the ground. “He still hasn’t answered all of our questions, and then we find out he was raised by the sociopath who wants to kill us. We don't even know if we can trust the answers he has given us.” There was a long silence, then he said, “Everyone has a reason. Whether it’s jealousy, or power, no action is completely evil.” “How do you know?” “Uh…” He put his hand to his shoulder. “I just do.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “The point is, he has his reasons. And he did just save us, so I don't think they could be that bad, right?” Continued...