10. Rabbit Hole
10
Rabbit Hole
“ H er name was Merissa,” Tristan began.
“Sounds fitting for a witch.”
“I’ve thought so, too. But she wasn’t always a witch.” He paused. “She was my dad’s best friend.”
“And she cursed her brother’s son?” Alexa couldn’t believe it.
“She was my mother’s cousin, Alexa.”
“Oh—” Alexa stopped short. “I thought you were referring to a dynamic sibling relationship because you said she’s your aunt.”
“No. Merissa and my dad were best friends since junior high and throughout their college years,” he explained. “Somewhere along the way, she developed feelings for him. My dad didn’t know it because he had friend-zoned her long ago. She never brought it up between them either. Then, my mom and her family moved across the state to here. My dad met her at Merissa’s birthday party. They fell in love. Merissa was hurt and furious when she found out—when Dad told her he was in love with her cousin—and professed her love for him. Dad was shocked. He told her he only ever saw her as a friend, that it could never be anything more than that. He loved her as a friend and he didn’t want this to strain their friendship, but Merissa was… Well, she didn’t want anything to do with my dad after he refused her love for him.
“A week later, she disappeared. No one knew where she was. All she left behind was a letter that said she didn’t want anyone to go looking for her, that they wouldn’t find her if they did. Her family sought help from the cops despite her words, but it was futile. Years passed, my parents got married, and they had me. When I was three, one day, Merissa showed up at our doorstep.”
Alexa gasped softly.
“Dad said that she had looked so changed then, that she was no longer the sweet girl he had known. She claimed she had come to apologize, that she wanted a fresh start with my dad and my mom, and that she brought presents for her new nephew…”
Tristan’s gaze hardened at the floor rug he was staring at. Alexa held her breath, watching him, her heart beating with trepidation for what happens next in the story.
“My parents believed her. They welcomed her warmly. She even delivered an apology speech,” Tristan said with a cold laugh, just before his facial expression shifted into a mournful one. “Mom was five months pregnant with my little sister, and she congratulated my parents.”
Tristan lifted his eyes from the rug and met Alexa’s. The intensity of pain in those electric-blue eyes shattered her. Her own eyes brimmed with tears.
“They believed her, in her change, in her ruse. Yes, she brought me presents true to her word, all of them lightning bolt toys. But the one she had mainly intended to give me, the one that brought her to our doorstep all the way from her hiding place, was one to destroy my life—her revenge on my parents. They didn’t realize she was a witch, not until after she slipped a potion into my orange juice when Mom didn’t notice and chanted in a strange language as I drank it.
“I passed out immediately. Mom was horrified. It was at that moment Merissa dropped her mask. Dad said that she was standing next to them as they fretted over me, with a calm and satisfied expression on her face. When he looked at her, there was glee in her eyes. He immediately realized she had done something and demanded it of her. She didn’t hesitate to explain what she did. I cursed your precious product of love. Those were her exact words.”
Tristan heaved a weary sigh and continued, “She then began blabbering about her witchcraft; that she had been training and waiting and experimenting on animals for this very moment, all these years, after she realized she could exact revenge on my parents. That’s why she disappeared without a word all those years ago. Merissa said I wouldn’t wake up until the next lightning stroke the skies; when it did, my parents should lay me outside in the opening where it would flash on me. Dad called her crazy and almost took me to the hospital when Merissa called him crazy and said there was no cure for me in modern medicine or anywhere in the world—other than death itself.
“If they didn’t do as she said, I’d die on the next day the first lightning touched the earth. And when the lightning did flash over me, my curse would activate… permanently. It was do or die . My parents chose the first option.”
Alexa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. A real fantasy? She stared at Tristan in sheer disbelief, not because she didn’t believe what he was saying, but because she couldn’t accept it. This was much crueler than any acts she had read in fantasy books. Knowing that an innocent, three-year-old boy had been the victim… She felt her blood boil over.
Tristan stared at her, as if waiting for her response. Alexa had a hard time pulling herself out of the trance. When she did, words tumbled out of her mouth. “That’s so cruel. Oh, Tristan, I cannot accept—you were only a child! What did you ever do to—Oh, my God, I hate that woman more than I’ve ever hated anyone!” She wiped at the few tears that slipped her eyes, furiously. “What’s the curse? The superpowers could barely count as a curse, right? Is there something… a gruesome part to it?”
“Yes.” Tristan nodded solemnly, eyes drenched in pain as he continued his story. “When… When the first lightning struck the skies, Merissa appeared at our doorstep again, despite what Dad told her to never set foot in his property. It was nighttime, and Dad was home. She reminded my parents that she wouldn’t be held accountable for my death if they didn’t bring me outside and I died on the next day. I had been out for a week by then and my parents were terrified because nothing they tried worked on me. They had no other choice, and they did as Merissa said.
“They brought my unconscious body to the terrace and laid me under the open skies. When the next lightning tore through the skies, my body jerked. Mom began moving to me but Merissa stopped her and my dad, saying, if they touched me during this process, it would kill them on the spot. At the next strike, my body began to writhe. And at the next, electric waves covered my body, increasing the writhing. I remember Dad saying it was the most horrible sight he had ever seen. He wanted to throw caution into the air and come pick me up. He almost did, but Merissa held my parents back with her magic. After the fourth strike, I woke up.”
There was a long pause before he continued. “I was never the same again. I remember everything that happened afterwards; every inch of my body hurt and I was screaming. But Merissa muffled them, permanently. She informed my parents that the curse had been activated, and that if anyone were to touch me or I touch them within half an hour after the final strike, they’d die by my hands. She was gleeful when she said this, and walked out of the terrace, leaving my parents’ feet glued to the floor.
“She had a vengeful day then; my parents had to watch me writhing in pain and crying out to them, my sound muted. When the lightning came no more and the half an hour passed, Merissa’s spells wore off from my parents. They took me back inside, scared to death, but I was… despite being scared, I didn’t feel a twinge of pain in my body or the exhaustion. My parents never let me out of the house again; at least, they tried to. But one day, I slipped out unnoticed, and it was one of those days the rain clouds gathered in the skies.”
Alexa covered her mouth in horror. “Oh, Tristan…”
Tristan’s eyes softened as they met hers. “Alexa—maybe I shouldn’t—”
“No, no,” she protested and sniffed, wiping away the fallen tears. “I want to know what happened.”
“You might not feel the same about me after this.” He shook his head slowly, his eyes tormented.
“That’s not up for you to decide. And what could your child-self possibly have done that would make me change my mind about you?”
Tristan stared at her for a moment before he proceeded. “It began lightning. I went through the torture all over again. The pain was immense, agonizing. That amount of torture would’ve killed anyone on the spot, but not me. I would never die by lightning, I couldn’t; there’s not even a negative side-effect from it. I couldn’t make a noise when the lightning struck me either, because of Merissa’s silencing spell. So, no one heard my agony. But then, Mom came across the scene. I remember seeing her freezing at the doorway in horror.” His eyes watered. “And the next moment, she was running toward me with one hand supporting her overgrown belly. She fell on my side and grabbed me, and I… I killed her.”
“No,” Alexa whispered, shaking her head.
“ Yes, ” Tristan insisted, locking his glassy eyes with hers. “I killed my mom and my unborn little sister. The moment she grabbed me, she was hurled backward by force; she landed feet away from me. At that moment, I knew I had hurt her and the little sister I had been waiting to be born, for whom I’d been selecting names with my parents. I wanted to move to her but I couldn’t, the pain was cutting through every inch of my being. Only after the last of the lightning faded from the skies and the half an hour passed was I free. But by that time, my mom and my baby sister were long gone… I didn’t realize it then. When Mom didn’t wake up to my calls, I went into the house and dialed Dad from her phone. He was at work but he answered, and I told him what happened—as much as a three-year-old can explain. When I learned that my mom was not going to wake up, and that my baby sister was not going to be born, I realized what I had done. I had killed them both.”
“No, you didn’t.” Alexa insisted, staring at him incredulously.
“Yes, I did, Alexa. I have been carrying the weight of that guilt to this very day, and I’ll carry it to my grave. I killed my mom and my sister!”
“ Merissa killed your mother and your sister!” Alexa shot up from her seat and crossed the distance between them, crouching down in front of him and grasping his hands. “Don’t you ever blame yourself for something Merissa is responsible for, for something that Merissa started in the first place!”
“Does it change anything though?” A tear slipped his eye. He grasped back onto her hands and looked down at her. “They died at my hands, just like she said anyone who touches me would.”
“Because that’s how she sleeps at night!” Alexa exclaimed, keeping her voice low at the same time. “Think, Tristan! How can a human being sleep peacefully at night after doing such a horrible thing to fellow humans? Blaming the future incidents she anticipated— even envisioned, who knows—into your hands is how she can sleep at night, not bothering to bear the guilt! That’s her stupid, foul excuse for the crime she’s committed!”
“Alexa—”
“No, I’m not going to hear you blaming yourself for the death of your mother and your sister again,” she cut him off, staring up at him fiercely. “You may have lived all these years bearing that guilt, but not anymore. I’m not going to let you. Even if it will take my whole life, I’ll spend it trying to make you understand you are innocent. I will, Tristan.”
Her declaration stunned him, she could tell. He stared at her breathlessly, in undisguised shock.
Another tear escaped his eye. Alexa caught it and wiped it away. “Hasn’t your dad ever told you the incident was never your fault?”
Tristan didn’t take his eyes off her as he answered, “I never told him about my guilt.”
“And he’s never said a word about it either?”
“He thinks I don’t remember that day, at least something like that, because we’ve never talked about it. I know he doesn’t hold it against me. My dad loves me. But it doesn’t help the guilt that I had been the cause.”
“ Merissa was the cause,” she corrected him. “Merissa made you what you are because she wanted revenge on your parents. She knew that one day, sooner or later, the curse would take your mother away from your dad’s life. What child is cautious? What mother is uncaring and selfish?” Alexa winced inwardly as she remembered her own mother, and made a correction. “Well, except my mother. But I know other mothers are wonderful. Yours was an epitome of love, Tristan. She knew it would kill her and the child in her. She knew that, despite the fact that you were in pain, it wouldn’t damage you. But her love, her motherly love, couldn’t stand back and watch while you writhed in pain. At that moment, she didn’t care if she lived or died. All she cared was to save you from the pain you were in, even if it was for one last time. The choice was hers, selfless and overflowing with love, and the fault was Merissa’s.”
“But I disobeyed my parents and went outside, that was the cause. I was disobedient, and my family paid the price.”
Alexa’s face softened. She tilted her head. “What did I say about a child being cautious? What child is cautious, Tristan? Almost all of them are troublemakers and rambunctious, trying to do cool stuff, seeking adventures, or simply being naughty. So what? They are all innocent no matter what they do.”
“I’m sure none of those kids killed their mother and their unborn sister.”
“Tristan,” she called him on a sigh, her eyes pained.
“Alexa,” he called her back. He shifted in his seat, moving aside and pulling her up from the floor to sit with him. He held her hands firmly in his. “I really appreciate you trying to justify me—please, let me say this,” he added as she opened her mouth to protest. “I appreciate you and your words, I do. I really do. A tiny part of me even sparked to hope at your words, that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t my fault after all. But there are other parts of me, the rest of me that is drowning with guilt, and that tiny spark doesn’t seem enough. I deeply appreciate you, Alexa, you have no idea how much, but my guilt is just too strong. ”
Alexa’s heart softened and clenched at the same time. Even though she hadn’t been in a situation as he was, she understood what he meant. Such a hard feeling, the burden he had been carrying on his own from his childhood, was difficult to make disappear. It would take time, a lot of time, and Alexa decided that she wasn’t going to give up on him.
He didn’t deserve to be in this misery.
“We’ll take it slowly, then.”
“We?” he asked, almost breathlessly.
She gave him a soft smile. “I’m not going to leave you alone in this, Tristan. I believe in your innocence, I know you’re innocent, and I’m going to fight until the last hold of guilt is lost on you. You carried this weight all your life, all on your own; from what you said, I’m assuming you haven’t told anyone about it. I’m not going to leave you alone in this, not anymore.”
The smile that softened his face, small but heartfelt enough to light up his tormented eyes, did strange things to Alexa’s heart.
Then, she realized it. She was the only one he had shared this part of him with. An immense warmth washed over her heart and she found herself asking, “You haven’t told this to anyone but me, have you?”
“No,” he said simply.
“Why did you tell me something you’ve never told your dad or your other family members?” she whispered.
His smile broadened slightly, his voice tender as he spoke. “Because I knew you were the right person to share it with. Now I’m proven right.”
Alexa didn’t understand what that meant. Before she could mull over it, another question crossed her mind. “ How were you at my dad’s funeral and I didn’t see you?”
Tristan’s smile turned apologetic. “Because I was invisible.”
Alexa gave him a disapproving look. “You are beginning to make me dislike that ability of yours. How could you have stayed invisible from me all these months? We should’ve met earlier!”
“You had a boyfriend then. I didn’t know you’d appreciate another boy’s company, or that your boyfriend would approve,” he admitted honestly. “I didn’t want to interfere in your relationship.”
“I’ll forgive you for that if you promise to never be invisible in my life again.”
“Unless I have a reason to, I won’t,” Tristan said with a grin. “You’ve brought me out of my shell, Alexa, and I don’t ever want to go back into it.”
Alexa smiled in spite of her obliviousness as to how she had pulled him out of his shell. “And what reason are you hinting at that you think you might need to be invisible in my life?”
“Depends. We never know what the future has in store for us.”
“Okay…?” Alexa drew out uncertainly. “So, yesterday at the bridge, you shifted to the midair and back. That’s how you saved me, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, and you weren’t trying to dive,” Tristan countered, meeting her eyes with a firm look.
Alexa burst out laughing. “Yes, I told you that already.”
“It’s not a laughing matter, Alexa.”
“Me trying to kill myself, no. But the two of us trying to deceive each other with our stubborn declarations, yes.” She glanced at him in between her laugh and nudged him in the ribs, causing him to crack a smile. “I owe you.”
Tristan’s smile dropped at her sudden words. “If you keep saying that, I might actually ask something from you.” It was hard to tell whether he was being serious or not. His facial expression betrayed nothing.
Alexa blinked, her curiosity peaking. “I’m curious. What would you ask?”
“Something you can bear, I swear.”
“And that might be…?”
“You know you’re actually tempting me now, right?”
“No, but since I do owe you, I’m willing to do anything.”
Tristan arched an eyebrow at her. “Alright, here’s an honest question. Is that why you said you’re not going to leave me to my past demons alone? Because you owe me?”
“Oh, what —no, Tristan!” Alexa’s eyes widened. “How could you—I wasn’t even thinking about it! Frankly, it didn’t cross my mind until now. Don’t you believe me?”
“I will, if you truly mean it,” he said earnestly. “Because if that declaration wasn’t from your heart, I would not let you be there for me.”
“Well, good for you, I meant it.” Alexa narrowed her eyes at him slightly, before she composed herself and took a deep breath. “Tristan,” she called him softly, taking his hand. “I meant it. I truly meant what I said. I swear that owing you hadn’t crossed my mind since we departed last night. So if you let me, I’ll be there for you. Always.”
Tristan squeezed her hand, his eyes suddenly unreadable. “And if you let me, I want to be there for you, too. Always. ”
Alexa cracked a tiny smile to hide the impact of his words inside her. The way he said always sent a blow to the protection ice around her heart. “Seems like we are going to be there for each other,” she said, and added for her own sake, “As friends.”
Tristan’s eyes smiled, and she realized he understood. She appreciated it beyond his knowledge.
“So,” she mused, drawing her hand from his and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Tell me more about how your curse works. How did you get your superpowers?”
Tristan’s fond expression shifted to grimness as he delved further into his story. “I’m still not sure if the powers are part of the curse. Merissa would have never wanted me to have them, but I certainly got it from being cursed. My assumption is the lightning strikes; that I’m a supernatural because of the countless strikes I’ve had.”
Alexa nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense. Merissa would never have wanted you to have such an outcome from a curse meant to make your life insufferable.”
“My life has been insufferable, Alexa.” He met her eyes. “Until you. But you want us to be friends, and I respect that. So, I’ll simply set aside that matter.”
Alexa stared back into his eyes, engulfed in sudden heat. Did he like her that way? Unable to form a word, she simply nodded.
“Would you like to know how I discovered each of my powers?”
Alexa nodded again, grateful that he was changing the subject.
“I can see and hear better than normal humans, as well as smell. All my senses are heightened,” he began, averting his gaze to the bookshelves; which was good, because her heart had begun beating an erratic rhythm learning he had feelings for her. “I remember a time when I tried to overhear a conversation between my dad and one of my aunts—his sister. I was seven then, and in the living room, playing with my cousins. They were in the foyer. I heard him mention me and I tried to get a rope of their conversation. I ended up hearing every single word as though they were talking right next to me.”
He finished with a small smile, turning to her. Alexa returned it. “And your eyesight?”
Tristan furrowed his eyebrows, thinking hard. “I don’t quite remember when I discovered that one. I think… I think it was once I pointed out something to Dad in the dark. After he figured out about my two heightened senses, he encouraged me to try out the rest.
“I could smell better—not the best of my abilities, I must tell you. The most astonishing one of them is that I could feel the electricity. Anything that has electric power, I can feel them as natural as my skin making contact with a mere object. It’s how I confirmed there was no camera in your sister’s bathroom as Brandon claimed.”
He finished with an easy smile.
Alexa gaped at him. “You can feel the electricity?”
“As natural as touching anything.”
“And never get the shock waves.”
He gave her a small smile. “I’m a living, walking, breathing shockwave myself.”
Alexa averted her gaze, astounded. “What about the other powers? How did you discover them?”
“My strength is the first one I discovered. I could always lift things easily as a child. And the fastness…” Tristan trailed off with a fond smile, staring at the floor rug as though recalling a sweet memory. “I was playing with my cousins one day at their house. We were chasing each other. It kind of just happened at my mere will, even I didn’t notice it. My sisters shrieked with delight and asked me how I was doing it. I asked them, do what? They told me I ran at a lightning speed that their eyes barely tracked my moves.”
“And the invisibility?” Alexa asked with a tease of a smile at her lips. “You wished to be invisible at some irritable occasion and it just happened? ”
Tristan gave her an impressed smile. “Well guessed, Miss Ford. I was only fifteen then, attending a boring party of Dad’s friend with him. Everyone was staring at me; girls around my age especially, whispering and giggling, oh my God, that boy is so hot .” He rolled his eyes sarcastically and Alexa suppressed her giggle. “I was more like the center of attention there and I wished I was invisible. I truly, desperately wished for it. And it happened. I didn’t realize it until the girl who had been staring at me occasionally stared right through me. She then looked around the room as though searching for someone. I looked down to my shoes at some point, out of habit, and realized I was the one she was looking for. I couldn’t see myself! I panicked and slipped outside, and willed myself visible. Only then did my breath fall right.”
Alexa barely withheld her amusement, imagining the scenario in her head. “And the teleporting?”
“ Dad encouraged me to try it, actually.” Tristan chuckled. “After I told him about the invisibility, he suggested I try teleporting like the apparition in Harry Potter. We experimented right here in the library and it worked.”
“Harry Potter vibes. I love that.” She grinned. “Is there any other ability that I don’t know yet?”
Tristan shook his head. “This is all.”
The disbelieving smile was back on her face. “I still can’t believe I met a supernatural boy and I’m talking with him right now.” She turned to him. “This feels like reading a fantasy.”
Tristan gave her a soft smile. “I assure you, this is reality.”
“It’s just that I’ve always been a fan of fiction, obsessed with fantasy and disappointed that none of them were real. That, they were only real in my head . So, to know that something like this— you —exists…”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, the softness lingering. “Whether my powers are part of the curse or not, I am grateful for them.”
“Me too.” She reached for his hand instinctively and gave it a gentle squeeze before releasing. “Have you… have you ever had lightning strikes after… after that day?”
Tristan’s face turned grim, but not with displeasure at her question. She was sure of it, from the way his eyes regarded her. “I have.” When Alexa gasped softly, her eyes wide in horror, he reached for her hands and held them securely in his with assurance. “Several times, and they were all accidental. Living off my days cooped up in my house, when I finally get ticked off about my situation, I used to venture outside in secluded places I knew of. The lightning would befall me with no warning. The first time it happened, years after the incident with my mother, I carried my new phone with me. Once the lightning hit me, it turned to ashes in my pocket. Since then, I would never bring my phone unless I was in a building. Lightning doesn’t have the same effect on me when I’m under cover.”
“Couldn’t you just teleport back to your house when the lightning strikes?”
Tristan smiled at her sadly. “None of my abilities function once the lightning hits me. Only half an hour after the final strike I could regain them, just like my normal strength.”
“That’s horrible.” Fear gripped her soul. She grasped onto his both hands, her eyes pleading as she said, “Promise me you’d never go out like that again. If you’re bored, simply come to my house. I’d love to have you there. Just never ever go out and risk such devastating pain again, even though it wouldn’t damage you.”
“I appreciate that, Alexa, thank you.” Tristan looked at her in earnest. “However, those accidents were years ago. Now, I have a safeguard of sorts, thanks to my scientist of a godfather. When he gave me my motorcycle, he also gave me this watch.” He held up his left wrist, revealing the elegant black watch she had noticed before. “It’s inserted with an element that attracts the lightning. When I wear it, with the help of my heightened senses, I can feel the lightning even before it appears in the sky. My skin tingles intensely. That mere moment of warning is enough for me to teleport back. We weren’t so sure it would work, but I gave it a try one day. The moment I got the tingle, I teleported. It worked.
“My godfather has friends at the National Weather Service, and he assigned them to send me notifications whenever the lightning is predictable in Harmony Hills. So far, the last few years have been easy on me. Still, I don’t always leave the house. Years of being cooped up has bestowed me with social anxiety. Why else do you think I was invisible at the funeral?”
He offered her an easy smile.
“I’m so sorry to hear that. I cannot imagine not being able to leave my house.” Alexa sighed. “So, being inside a building is safe for you?”
“Oh, no. I wouldn’t exactly call it safe.” Tristan wiggled his eyebrows and shook his head. “Being in a building is simply a safer choice , but it’s not safe from the lightning’s effect by any means. Whenever the lightning strikes, I could still feel the pain, just not as intense as the direct one. And if I’m touching someone when it happens, they’d get a shockwave that would make them jerk away by instinct. Thankfully, it does them no harm. Little mercies though.” He chuckled sadly.
Alexa’s heart bled for him. He’d been through so much since childhood. Yet, pity was the last thing she had to offer him. No, she admired his survival; it astounded her. She couldn’t imagine what would’ve become of her if she had been in his shoes. Just the thought of being isolated from the world suffocated her.
Though he claimed to have social anxiety, it was the last thing she saw in him. All that she saw was a warrior, a survivor, and a chivalrous knight. He was strong inside and out; he couldn’t have survived all these years otherwise.
“Thank you for telling me all this,” Alexa said with a grateful smile. “For trusting me with your secret. I still don’t realize how it is possible for you to trust me, but I assure you, it’s safe with me. Though… do you mind if I tell Cassie?” she asked hesitantly. “We never keep anything from each other, and she knows you already; as Lightning Knight and mysterious Tristan, even though she hasn’t connected the dots yet.” She chuckled lightly. “I promise you, it will be safe with us.”
“Of course, Alexa.” He smiled. “I would never ask you to do so. I just hope she won’t think I’m a dangerous guy.”
“She won’t,” Alexa assured him with all the certainty she had. “Especially when she learns that you saved me—and defended me, not just once but four times.”
“You’re gonna tell her that you attempted…?” he trailed off, as though he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence, the smile leaving his face.
Alexa shrugged. “Like I said, we never keep each other in the dark. It’s an oath we’ve taken.”
She could only hope her sister would forgive her after she told her everything.