Chapter 1Harbor
Chapter 1
HARBOR
S creaming. My head pounds. I can’t see anything because the suns are shining so brightly, and the screaming won’t stop. Why won’t it stop?
Wait. That’s me. I’m screaming. Until I stop. It all stops, and then stars appear above me.
Wincing, I blink, straining to open my eyes. My whole body hurts, but my throat–what the fuck happened to me? I look down, noticing I’m in a bed, but not my own. Glancing around the room, I notice it’s not lit by any light other than what’s peeking through the curtains of the far window. The sparsely decorated room includes only the bed, two chairs, and a console along the wall. While this is a pleasant space, I don’t recognize it at all.
I guess it’s time to get up and find out where I am and what is going on. I pull back the plush comforter that covers me, and swing my legs over, only for pain to flash through my body. My hip feels broken, and my arm aches like I’ve been hanging from it for hours. What the hells? I push myself to my feet and stand for half a moment before collapsing to the floor. Tears well in my eyes, and I clench my teeth to pull myself together. Where the fuck am I? What the fuck happened? Why am I in so much pain?
Oh, fuck. I remember, I think. I was attacked on my way out of a meeting I had with a professor. Oh my gods, I fell over the side! I remember that! I never even saw the guy; only a blur of black clothes. I’m so lucky that Talon was in the building. He moved so fast to save me, using his powers. That was the craziest thing I’ve ever felt. For half a second, I was floating; the free fall after was terrifying until Talon’s wind magic cradled me to the ground. No matter how soft his magic was with me, though, my previous injuries from the assault caused white-hot pain to shoot through my body.
When I finally climb back to my feet and stay standing, I take a deep breath. The pain radiating from my chest makes it hard, but I manage to pull myself up to my full height. I take my first step with the foot on the side that isn’t about to collapse and decide that if I plan on moving, I’ll have to put most of my weight on the stronger leg. My strategy is successful, for the most part. When I nearly reach the door, I get excited, moving just a little too quickly and falling into the wall. A whimper escapes my lips, but I fight to stay standing. It’s at this point that sounds from outside the room finally reach me. A man’s voice murmuring lowly and a woman crying. Fuck, whatever is going on, it’s bad. Why am I scared to open the door?
Bracing myself, I reach for and turn the handle. As soon as it cracks, the sound of sobbing pours in, flooding my ears. When I peek around the corner, it shocks me to see Isabella on a sofa, crying into her hands. Father sits beside her, his arm draped across her shoulders, trying to comfort her the best he can. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the softer side of my father, and it brings back fleeting memories.
The last time I can remember him being gentle, or loving, was around my tenth birthday. I can’t remember why, but he smiled and hugged me and that filled my heart to nearly bursting. I remember grinning so hard that day that my cheeks hurt. It didn’t happen often; Father was always busy and stressed with work, or solemn with trying to fit in with the society he wanted us to be a part of. At least, that’s what I told myself.
Taking a step into the room, it’s then that I draw Father’s attention.
“Harbor!” His elevated voice is more from surprise than anger. That draws Isabella to look up and gasp, trying to hold back her tears. “What are you doing out of bed?”
“I, uh, didn’t know where I was,” I say with hesitation. “What’s going on?”
“We had to bring you to the healing center. You don’t remember what happened?” The pained voice I hear from my father is unnerving. It sounds as if all the stress of whatever is going on is getting to him. Like, everything is unraveling and out of his control. Isabella only stares up at me with red-rimmed eyes, the vision of complete, uncontrollable sorrow. Based on their behavior, I’m suddenly unsure if I want to know what happened.
“Yeah, I guess not. I remember being attacked in the Elemental Magic building. Someone approached behind me as I headed toward the stairwell, and then they threw some sort of magic at me. It hit my side, throwing me off the landing of the stairwell. I’m lucky my…friend Talon was in the building and heard me scream. He used his air magic to create a wind to cradle me and lower me to the first floor. After he checked that I wasn’t too hurt to run, he went after whoever attacked me.”
Dad remains quiet as he considers all that I’ve said. His eyes shift back and forth as if he is trying to determine why I was attacked. He doesn’t know about the bullying I’ve experienced; so there is that. I never thought the bullying would go this far. I can’t say exactly that it was Colette, or even Silas, who attacked me. That doesn’t mean he couldn’t get someone else to do it, though.
Isabella hesitantly turns to look at Father, tears building up and creating a glistening effect in her dark eyes. He glances at her, only for her to throw herself into his arms, sobbing even harder.
“Harbor,” Father says slowly while stroking his wife’s hair, “please forgive her. She’s heartbroken for our friends, Myles and Stacy Oramar. You knew their daughter, Bethany, right?”
I blink, confused at what he just said. He knows I know Bethany; he told Myles that he was helping us reconnect. Wait … he said knew …
“What’s going on, Father?”
Right as he goes to speak again, the door opening to the opposite end of the room draws my attention. Kane appears, carrying a bag of what looks like bottles of water.
“She died earlier today, Harbor.” My father’s words don’t register as I watch Kane enter, but as soon as they do, I freeze. My brows furrow as I slowly blink, trying to process.
“I-I’m sorry, what?” I don’t understand what he’s trying to say.
“Harbor,” Kane whispers as he slowly approaches me. “I found you this afternoon lying on the ground outside Bromberg House. You were lying unconscious right off the path, and strangled, as we now can see.” His eyes drift to my neck, lingering on what I expect is a bruise, a souvenir of what happened that I unfortunately haven’t seen yet. “I also found Bethany. She wasn’t far, a little further into the lawn, almost hidden by bushes under the tree.” He lowers his voice before he continues. “I’m sorry, Kaia. I know she was a very close friend of yours. I cannot imagine the pain and heartache you’re going through.”
I stare out into nothing as I try to take it all in. The memories I do have–of being attacked–meld with the new ones rushing in. I can vaguely remember running away and then finding Bethany. She was with Silas, and he seemed…alarmed? I don’t know how to describe his attitude. Wary, maybe? He was concerned, that was for sure. And since he was with Bethany, I know he wasn’t the one to throw me over the stairwell.
As the room starts to spin, I glance around, looking for a quick place to sit. Unfortunately, the closest seat is across the room, so I brace myself on the door frame. All my breath escapes me as an invisible snake coils around my chest. I blink through my racing thoughts, images of everything flashing across my eyes. What else happened? I vaguely hear someone mumbling around me, but the words aren’t clear.
As I lean against the frame, the memories begin to flood back. Bethany helped me back to the dorm, only for us to realize I didn’t have my key. She left me to run downstairs to the building manager, before the scream. Fuck, was that Bethany? I hobbled back downstairs, only to find fire damage along the walls. Ohmygods, the symbol! It was in the char marks! Heat rolls through me as I remember someone attacked my friend. She was an innocent bystander, randomly harassed. But how did she end up outside?
Fuck, my hands are shaking. I remember walking outside and looking around. The suns were both high in the sky, but not many people were around. A lump forms in my throat when the image of her blonde curls on the ground replays before my eyes. The image of my childhood friend, slain by someone else’s hand, is now seared into my memory. The golden sheen of the dark blood pooling beneath her and the emptiness of her eyes will always be the last memory of her. That’s not how I want to see her.
“No,” my voice breaks as I speak for the first time since I remembered my friend. “No. She can’t be… No, no. Where is she? Was she taken to the healers? Please, what did the healers say? It’s just… She can’t be…”
Kane steps into my line of sight, placing both of his large hands on my shoulders. “Kaia,” he says softly as he stares deep into my eyes, “it was too late. She was already gone.”
“No!” My voice breaks from the emotion I attempt to restrain. “No, no. I won’t believe it.” I shake my head, not accepting what he’s claiming as the truth. This can’t be possible. Turning, I pull away from him and move back into the bedroom that I woke up in. This just isn’t real. There is no way. I-I just don’t know what to do. I wish I could turn back time because I can’t believe this is the truth.
Stumbling over and dropping onto the bed, I grab my phone and try to call her. I sit there, listening as the other end tries to connect. After what seems like minutes, I end the call. I collapse to the side and find my pillow wet with the tears that are streaming down my face. This isn’t possible. How is this even happening? As I lay there, crying, I shut out any and everyone. Kane attempts to talk to me, to tell me it will be okay. The problem is, I can’t believe that. There is no way that this works out. Bethany was the joy in my life. She was the one who lifted me out of my misery and antisocial behaviors. Bethany was the one who stood by my side as I learned the truth four years ago, and she remained there when I returned from my exile. She was my safety net, and it’s now suddenly yanked away.
It must be hours that I’ve been sitting here before I realize the ambient lighting in the room has faded. I sit up when a knock comes to my door, a knot settling in my stomach waiting for whatever lies beyond. When the door cracks, though, my father slowly steps into the room.
“The healers are saying we can take you home. That you need to rest for several days, as the bruises on your side might cause you trouble when walking.” I nod, ready to leave wherever this place is and take the steps to put this nightmare behind me.
I don’t know what time I got home last night. Kane had to help me down the stairs, but as soon as I reached my bedroom, I politely said thank you and then shut the door. I’m not sure what he expected, but I was just not in the mood to be around anyone. I ended up falling into bed and passing out after the horrendous day.
As I slowly come back to consciousness, my eyelids feel like sandpaper as I try to blink away the sleep. My mind filters through reality and I remember why I feel like shit, and instantly the knot in the pit of my stomach returns. Fuck, it’s even worse this morning. Tears spring to my eyes, burning even worse when I realize I’ll never see Bethany’s goofy smile. They finally spill as memories of our last chill night flash into my mind. She was always so happy, even when Cassandra stopped seeing her. She didn’t deserve this. Fuck, it should have been me!
A scream explodes out of me as sobs wrack through my body. I sit in bed, holding myself as the agony of her loss, still so fresh, sears through my soul. A knock sounds on my door, but I ignore it. No one can ease the ache from the open wound of my heart. Instead, I climb out of bed and limp toward the shower. Turning the spray on with a flick of my wrist, I roughly strip off the clothes I’m still wearing from the day before. I don’t even test the water temperature; I just step in and sink to the floor under the spray.
Tears continue to fall, the salty drops falling from my face and melting with the water that pools on the shower floor before draining away. I miss my friend so much. My thoughts begin to run rampant with anything they can latch on to, my mind spiraling with all the scenarios that caused this tragedy. Is this some sort of attack on the school? Why didn’t they protect us? That symbol was there again, but wait–Bethany and I deduced only I’d be able to see it because it was meant for me. So why did Bethany die?
“Fuck!” I scream out again, my rage and pain echoing through the shower. So whatever charred the walls was meant to hurt me. How did she make it outside? Who got close enough to-to… I can’t even say it.
Fucking hells, someone really wants me dead, then, don’t they? Is it Silas? I know it wasn’t him, but I definitely wouldn’t put it past him to hire someone to take me out. Shaking my head, I can’t imagine who would hate me so much. I’m nobody. I’m not worth any amount high enough to pay someone to kill me.
“Maybe I should help them out,” I say aloud to myself. “I mean, the brightest part of my life is gone. It’s all dark now, anyway.” As I sit under the spray, a visual of myself being surrounded by darkness fills my mind. I could… What else is worth hanging around for? Almost immediately, I can imagine Bethany picking me up over her shoulder to make me laugh. Fuck, she’s likely to come back and haunt me for even considering it , and I chuckle as the tears begin to slow.
Yeah, fuck. I can’t. I can’t give up, especially when her killer is out there. I’m going to have to find out who is responsible for all of this. Bracing myself for the pain, I struggle to stand and attempt to steel my emotions. Turning the water up, I realize just how cold I’d left the water when I first walked in. The water heats slowly until I’m better acclimated. When it gets to where the water is steaming as it pours over me, I resolve myself, turning it up higher to motivate myself to actually move.
Once out of the shower, I dress and pile my hair up on my head. I slowly make my way up the stairs, and once I step out onto the main floor, I hear hushed voices. I keep going, searching out whoever is here. As I go past the kitchen, I see Isabella being comforted by my father.
“Um, hi,” I say, alerting them to my presence. My swollen and puffy face must be a sight, so I keep my head ducked down.
“Harbor, darling,” Isabella sighs, stepping away from my father and tenderly embracing me in a hug. “I didn’t realize you were so close to Bethany. She was a wonderful girl.” Nausea rolls in my stomach, the attention bringing back some of the feelings I’d managed to drive away. I release her and try to smile, but my efforts fall short. The tears that pool in my eyes spur her to embrace me once more and lend me some strength.
“I just spoke with Myles,” Father says, clearing his throat. “There will be a memorial service in two days before they proceed with final preparations according to dragon customs.”
Memorial service. Gods dammit. I love my friend, but public grief and a spotlight as her best friend is asking for attention that I don’t want.
“Has there been an investigation started to find out what happened? Who attacked me, or who…” My question trails off as I’m unable to voice the words.
“Ah, no,” Father says. “Myles and Stacy have declined. She’s so heartbroken that Myles decided it was best to try not to linger on the pain. They will allow time to grieve, and then they will be moving forward.”
My stomach churns with the thoughts of my friend being forgotten. How do they not want to find out who hurt her?! I’m frustrated, obviously not understanding the thought process of foregoing an investigation. Despite the pain, justice might prevail if someone else investigates the attack.
Excusing myself, I make a quick escape to the patio overlooking the beach below. Taking a deep breath allows me to stave off the nausea that almost overwhelmed me, so I remain outside, letting the breeze wrap around me.
As my mind wanders, thoughts of where I go from here begin to swirl around in my head. I struggle to organize what to do, now that my confidant is gone. I guess I’ll have to continue at school. But maybe I’ll be able to investigate for myself.
Whatever is going on, I have to fight for her. I just hope I can make it through this week.