章 58: Passage Of Time

A whole year has passed since I came to Utopia and I've literally made a new life for myself. Kinda. My thoughts are constantly filled with my parents and the others but when I got here, I was broken in more ways than one.

When I landed from that fall, I had fractured both my ankles but somehow managed to walk over two miles to this City. By doing so, I went from fractures to broken bones. My injuries were severe and required me to say in bed for several months. I tried to get up and start walking back to the others but I couldn't even put weight on them without falling.

I even tried to drag my body, screaming and crying while cursing the universe until Fern and her brother took me back. They let me crawl for a block before the skies opened up and I gave up. I remember lying there on the ground, crying and screaming with despair as the rain chilled me to the bone.

I got extremely sick and according to Fern, I nearly died. I spent several months laying in bed, wasting away in my own sorrow as my mind raced with self-hate and blame. After a while, Fern lost her patience with me and slapped me, hard.

She shook me and screamed at me but when she started to cry, something in me turned back on. She bawled like a baby and when I saw how hard she was crying, I too started crying. She held me in her arms as I broke down and cried.

I took my first bite of food after weeks of refusing to eat and after a while, I started coming back to life. I thought about returning back to the city with my parents but when I thought about how long I've been gone, I found myself hesitating.

They've probably marked me dead... as well as Thane. If I did go back now... would they welcome me back with open arms or would they interrogate me? Would they think I was now a traitor? In many ways... I was. I hated them. They're liars and bullies.

When the larger cities like mine find out about cities like Utopia, they attack them and kill them! The stories I've heard and the number of children left without parents... it's sickening! These people are different but they're not monsters! My people are monsters!!

And what kills me the most? I was one of them. I was ready to kill anyone that wasn't like me... and that terrified me. I knew that once word about my "death" reached the city, my parents would be devastated but they would no longer be held accountable for the money my brother took off with.

In a way... they were free. Free within a prison of lies. I spent the following months getting stronger and learning how to fight in a whole new way. Fern's brother Hunter, was much like his name. He was a Hunter and a really good one at that.

He taught me how to read the land, taught me the different paths and what they're used for. He taught me how to track and travel without leaving behind tracks. Fern taught be all about the plants and what could be eaten, used as medicine, and which were poisonous and dangerous.

Their parents were killed when they were much younger so they both relied on each other for survival but you couldn't tell they had gone through anything like that. They were both kind, warm people who took me in and helped me like I was one of them.

They are now more like my older brother and sister and the three of us live together in their home this whole time. CheeChee has also stayed with me this whole time and to be honest, he was part of the family too. He was so incredibly smart and now he almost understood everything.

But now it's been a year since coming here and I feel myself growing restless. I NEED to know what happened to the others... I need to know. I've racked my brain for months trying to figure out a way to somehow contact my parents but I can't think of one. Not without letting others know I'm alive.

Maybe if the others are still out here... I grit my teeth and stop myself. Maybe, maybe, maybe... if, if, if... I can't tell you how many times I've said those words. I've changed in more ways than one. Even though I still smile from time to time... according to Fern, it's a broken smile.

It never really reaches my eyes. I've practiced smiling in front of a mirror several times but I think something's broken. I don't say much anymore and other than working with the glass Fern has, I don't really find joy in anything anymore.

In a way... I'm just existing. I don't know what's right or wrong anymore and I've found myself hiding from the rest of the world. I sit at my little work station outside and use my powers to blast the glass with fire.

When the glass is hot enough, I quickly change it from fire to ice. The glass shatters within itself but still remains whole. I lift the piece of glass up into the sunlight and watch as the light refracts in a million different ways. It was beautiful.

It was one of the only remaining things in my life that I had control over and for once, beautiful and simple. "Valerie! We need help! Something's happened!" Fern says running out of the front yard in a rush.

I quickly place the glass down and follow her out to see several people coming in with injuries. I help carry a man in and sit him down as I quickly pull out my hand rag. I press it against his leg as Fern and the others help the other injured.

I look up to the man with blue scales and ask "What happened?" He grits his sharp teeth in pain as he says "Soldiers from the larger cities attacked us. We were just out hunting! We tried to explain to them that we meant no harm but they didn't listen! They never listen!"

He leans his head back in pain as I say "Hold this, I'll be right back." I quickly walk off and grab several herbs that will help with the bleeding. I quickly walk back over and give some to the others before kneeling next to the man and placing it on the wound.

His hisses in pain and says "To make matters worse, a Phantom showed up! It just wasn't our day." I freeze at his words before finishing my work with shaky hands. Medics soon arrive and take over as Fern and I step back.

When Fern sees my hands, she reaches over and grabs my hand. She squeezes it and says "Let's go back."