© Emma Websdale
Emma_web07@yahoo.com
ALLURO
By
Emma Websdale

Prologue

That moment, when everything has built up, when your head is screaming and your chest is dead from the sick palpitations your heart has sputtered out. When you feel like you are made from the thinnest glass, ready to shatter into everyone faces, it's undeniable. But do you show it?  Of course you don't show it. Because doing so, means showing weakness and vulnerability. Being vulnerable in this game was too much of a deadly risk. Smile.

You pretend everything is okay on the outside, you even laugh. But only you can feel the darkness eating away at your flesh from the inside, crawling into your lungs and tugging at your heart.

Laugh again, yes that's correct, you have everyone in the entire room fooled, laughing with you, right at your fingertips.

Turn your head to the anxious pairs of eyes that are relying on you, waiting for that single movement of yours to finish this room, taking all the fake nails and promises with it. Impatiently waiting for that single nod from the leader, that order which confirms everything – my power. My talent. No one will see it coming; nevertheless I am petrified, a job this big still feels impossible.  

But I have trained my body and soul for this, I have left my only family, I have bounded my name to my duty, so here I was ready to male it all worth it. I blink.

The image of her brown eyes locks on to me, setting my whole world on fire. But they are no longer real, just a heart-burning memory that will always steal my breath away as sharp as a knife to the lungs. Just that one blink was all it took to send me tripping again, that darkness creeping up into my throat and through my eyes. Dreaming and remembering her made it impossible. Just like any addict, I was screwed by unfaithful consequences from having my drug taken away from me.

Sonte digs his nail into my back, focusing my mind back on the room; all the eyes of the protectors look worried. Shit, I am showing my weakness. I broaden my shoulders and flex a dazzling white smile, again, you have them all fooled. And how simple was that? To pretend? These people were making it far too easy.
"Time is almost up." Sonte whispers and instantly turns his back on me. He seems to do that a lot, not having to hold contact with me, because he can't bear to witness the person I have become. Barely anyone can. I take a couple of steps closer to the target, and check on Depli, still no nod. What was the hold up?

That throbbing in my finger tips hinted that something was not right, something uninvited was here. The hairs on my neck and arms stood like stubborn thick wires, another physiological confirmation of messed up plans.
I froze over and held my breath, I needed to hear everything. Heartbeats, the sound of laughter, the humming from an hearing aid, the brushing of hair behind ears, coughing, a neck being kissed, begging, the sound of money falling, the biting of nails, lying, wait... there was something else...I cranked my head to the right, only slightly. Yes, there it was. How the hell did none of us notice?

First it spat, and then it cackled. It shuffled its way around the room, completely undetectable from the human eye. I closed my eyes and concentrated on its erratic movements. Its disgusting hot body enclosed the youngest in a room, a small girl.

I shot open my eyes and glared at Depli, using them to plead and beg him to allow me to make a move. He glared back at me with the most formidable eyes I had ever seen him wear as a leader. I watched the monster steal the small girl's soul, lapping up on its innocence. It made me quiver and tears flocked to my eyes. Why wasn't Depli allowing me to act? Why was Depli standing as cold and emotionless as a rock? I wanted to punch him. He had already taken away the rarest thing from me. I felt the room turn cold; I felt my heart tear right down the middle. The smile was wiped from my face; my hands were no longer clenched.

I fell to my knees, straight to the floor, hearing them crack as they let me fall in failure. The tears fell, and the cry for help escaped. I had finally lost it; I had finally shown my weakness and stopped the foolish smiling. I was broken; nothing was supposed to go this way. This battle was too hard without her, life was too meaningless. I threw my body to the floor and allowed all the pain to leak out, I was almost certain that there was nothing that could have been done to get me back up.

But it was not always like this, I was never like this. It was only until the final part of our plan that things came crumbling down, that we were losing. We could no longer hold it together. It didn't begin like this. First we ran on passion, commitment and a burning thirst to fight for our race. Then she was taken from me. The streets became dark, no hint or blossom of colour trickled through the world. Even the raindrops had turned black. Everybody had become contaminated by fear, and here we stood empty in the future wondering tirelessly who would be taken next.

Before you go thinking that life is one straight path, or that you are even in control of it, don't be fooled. Nothing is ever that simple. Right from the basics of energy acquisition in life, comes a dance with death. Every single inhalation to acquire oxygen consists of a different number of gases fuelling each cell in the human body with an insurmountable energy supply. But what if the atmosphere started to change, leaving us unable to synthesise that one important molecule?  And who's in control? Not you. You rely on that oxygen, respiration is not a choice.

As close as death can come, life is always on the horizon. Just the sound of your voice singing to a song can vibrate waters miles away from you, bringing hibernating water nymphs into their adult life cycle. You have awoken a life.
Today I could have saved a life, a little girl. But the choice wasn't mine to make. None of this was.



Chapter One -The Beginning


The distance between each pace of mine was deepening, making each foot almost unable to defeat the other, filling every pace with frustration and fear. The wind gushed through my mouth and nostrils, overpowering my lungs to forcefully expel. My heart shook with every heartbeat, each pulse convincing me to believe that it were ripping open just that little bit more. Beneath me, the loose gravel slid and was the only connection between the earth and me, now whirling and smashing on the ground in frantic circles like mini tornadoes, as I raced through it. As scary as this moment felt, I couldn't give up. I just wouldn't let myself. I refused to let the ferocity of fear hold me back.

Impossible as it seemed, I pick up my pace, prizing my legs of distressed muscles open, forcing each step to the racing floor, accelerating stronger, harsher. The force of the breath that expelled from my battered lungs, delivered my stinging eyes with fear.

There was no possibility of stopping now, especially when I didn't know how. I kept my mind in tune to my desired place. The wind clung to me, breaking every part of my skin it touched. The gravel spun faster, becoming lost in the maze of panic. The sun scorched its personal autograph along my shoulder blades, making another part of me beg for surrender. But I wouldn't.

I continued to race past the world, barely in contact with the floor now. I used my remaining courage to look up and force my eyes to face their destination – the edge of the cliffs. The tip toe towards a 3,560 feet drop – the third highest in my country.  

I prepared my body for the terrifying break off. I flung my whole weight of burning limbs down towards my feet, and with my last ounce of untouched fear; I sprang up, leaving the smashing gravel on the floor behind me. The wind instantly struck me, but was not sharp enough to take my balance.

Finally, I was able to luxuriate in the moment that I had thrived so hard for; I spread my arms open and evenly balanced out my weight as professionally as a bird. With a clenched jaw, I opened up my pupils to the clear sky; I was flying into the cover of blue.   
              
I endured the freedom of the wind, gliding further away from earth and the painful connection to reality, falling into my own delicate, private world. I consumed the power over the wind and destroyed the fear that rattled through me. I let the supremacy of my body rip through the sky. The sun was bright and inviting with its warm radiance, and the clouds moved weightless and free. The afternoon was hot and the view from this height was spectacular – one that made my lips whisper 'wow'. The air was fresh, making it easy to be breath; I relaxed as my lungs tingled with the treat of well oxygenated air.
             
No one could catch me; no one could pull me down. I had made myself unstoppable. I gazed back down at the view below me, a mighty rock-less sea of blues, I had won and here was the perfect place to surrender. The water was crystal clear, exposing the dark shadows that cast from schools of fish, and it sparkled with temptation. I felt so in touch with the world, I could feel the water thriving with anticipation, waiting to feel my presence explode throughout it. I closed my arms by my sides and absorbed those last seconds of sky-high views and adrenaline rushed heartbeats. The sea didn't become larger as I fell closer like I had expected, instead it remained the same, sitting there with anticipating lapping waves. Suddenly I was upon it.

The water fled through my nostrils, burning me with curiosity as it weaved inside to explore the intruder that had disturbed its world of calmness. The water poured down into my lungs, I began to choke whilst watching my world dissolve into nothing more than black and white pixels. The blue pigment of water had gone. I was too drained to swim, to save myself from dying. This had never happened to me before; my power had never consumed this much of me. The weight of water pushed me further away from sunlight and its pressure pushed at my lungs and made my eyes swell above their cheeks. My brain felt hot, and the unusual presence of water in my airways burnt. And the world went black – had I gone too far this time?

*****

"Finally, he is exploring his talents." I heard mumbling, "After eighteen years he has done it. We can finally invade. The muffled words continued,
"Ah, you see, I told you he had more power within him, you misjudged the will of the boy's talents."
What was going on?  I tried to move but it was useless. I tried to see, but that was useless too.  
"You must take it easy with him; – he is the most important piece. You must remember if we damage or overwork him we could jeopardise everything!" I tried to concentrate on my surroundings, and what I had heard scared me. I focused on carrying the words to my ears
"Master, look! He is moving".
"What how?"
"I don't know but he looks to be struggling."
"He certainly is, perhaps even stronger than I second guessed. Remember, this is going to be a frightening time for him." The voice matched to an older man and was filled with concern. Unexpectedly, I was grabbed from beneath my armpits and forced up to my feet. Why was everything so dark? Complete blackness. I tried to feel my eyelids with my fingers to see if they were open but they wouldn't function properly. My lips felt glued together, I couldn't speak or move. It was the creepiest feeling ever, I knew that something was holding me in place but it couldn't be detected on a personal level. This was nothing I was familiar with. The voices continued.
"He can hear us too." another voice joined in.
"Hear us? Don't talk nonsense! The whole point of my talent is to leave him oblivious to everything, I am in control of his mind now"
"But you should know the tricks of this trade – anything can happen, and besides, we still don't know how strong or clever he actually is." The concerned voice replied, "Let's finally settle this and greet him properly shall we?"
             
Shafts of light gently began merging; I watched each beam sneak into my eyes, running quickly and in fear of being snatched back up by the darkness. Within seconds, enough light had escaped and was sparkling brightly all around me. It took over everything and became worse than the darkness. I tried to close my eyes but again nothing happened.  
             
 "Who are you?" I screamed out, terrified of becoming blind, "Why won't you help me?" Tears started to drip down my cheeks; it was not from fear but from the irritation on my pupils. "Make it stop. Whatever this is, I don't understand? What is happening to me?" The more words that left me gave me chance to judge my feelings. I was terrified. It was obvious from the breaking in my voice.
"Do not panic, the light will soon calm down, everything will be explained in good time. Firstly, I need you to promise me one thing."
"Yes! Anything!"

"What we are about to unleash to you is so valuable and precious, it can not be repeated elsewhere. The volume of the voice increased, "If you fail this, then you will be breaking a promise and don't think you wont see consequences."
"I promise!" I cried.
             
 The stress from not understanding and the glare from the blazing light was tormenting! I needed to see the faces that were talking to me. I needed the heat and irritation on my eyes to stop. I just needed to be able to move.
"Please!" I begged again. A blue burst of fire exploded in front of me and its flames began to twist and turn within themselves, slowly fading and turning into dust. No, it wasn't dust. It was like glitter. Blue glitter was fluttering and floating around me, landing elegantly and lightly on to my cheeks, my lips, my hair, my shoulders and my arms. As each tiny fragment touched me I could feel a small part of energy flow through me.
             
 Each tiny fragment caressed the stinging of my muscles, soothed the burning of my skin and darkened the beam in my eyes. As more gentle fragments rested on me, I flared open my nostrils and sucked in the air. The air was the most soothing of them all, so I stole more. Each breath worked on bringing my heart back into action, waking up each individual vein and capillary which constructed my body. I felt moderately alive again.
            
  "Are you ready?" The voice asked. As I continued absorbing more fragments and oxygen, I nodded stiffly.  
              The beam was gradually easing, and the blue fragments disappeared under my skin. My surroundings slowly came into focus. I was lying on a slab. It was one of the many thick slabs that lined the ground, they were huge. A pair of feet stood still staring back at me, aligned with partners either side.
            
  Each pair, looking identical to each other - thick, leathery shoes, dull in colour from no effort of polishing. The shoes cornered off to a sharp point at the toes and were wrapped with bundles of black laces. More laces than necessary. They were very peculiar. I tried to move again but failed.

I counted up the pairs of the shoes... one... two... three… four... There was at least four people surrounding me. Could I even call them people if they had the power to seize me and control the actions of light? I felt a sudden crave to stare into their faces. What would stare back at me?

"How long are you planning on keeping me like this then?" My voice shattered the empty silence, "I mean, you want to introduce yourselves to me, but I find it very offensive greeting somebody without even giving eye contact!" I was furious. "Or are you all just cowards and prefer to keep your faces hidden?"
"Are you done?" A voice interrupted.
I decided to shut up. Despite raving with anger I had no idea who I was up against; this could be a lethal gang for all I know.
"You may not understand this but we only want a civilised conversation with you. No anger, no fighting. As difficult as it is to believe we really are trying to help you right now." He continued sympathetically, "But I already know that inside you, you can sense we are no danger. In fact, you have been waiting for us haven't you? But you just have had no idea what to expect of us."
"You don't know a single thing about me!" I spat the words out like a monster. "What makes you think that you have the right to trap me here, mess with my head start and pretending you know me? You don't, whatever this is you have the wrong person."
Without hesitation a voice riffled back at me. "Your name is Auro, born on the seventeenth of December nineteen eighty nine in St. Lutras hospital. At the age of two you moved to Krillgo, and again at the age of seven you moved to Denna Brok, but by that time it was just you and your mother. A further move to Mexico for five years was wasted, resulting in your latest move to Umbria where you have remained since.  This wasn't how you both planned it, but was required to prevent the questions and suspicions of your extreme behaviours and it was only two years ago when you attempted to ruin yourself."   
"Chico!. Enough!" The older voice cut in, I watched has his feet twitched.  I burst into laughter. It was the type of laughter that only fear could generate.
"Well you are wrong." I tried to bluff it.
"No we're not and you know that. Like I previously mentioned we have been watching you. We know."
"So who are you? The government? Spies? Is this because of my Father?" I still hated saying that word, "What do you want?" I collapsed to the ground, my eyes flooded with tears, my knees hit with a loud thud.

"You can get up now and face us."
I was out of breath. I wiped my eyes quickly, hoping they hadn't noticed.
A hand rose out. "Here, let me help you."

A flock of long grey hair poured down over the arm held out to me. In response I grasped the hand tightly and stood up onto my feet. His hands felt warm and friendly. This man was right about my instincts I knew these were no threat to me, I could feel it.  That was the only thing stopping me from panicking or attacking in anger.
           
   My eyes couldn't help but follow up the long grey hair, despite the colour, each strand rinsed with shine and solidity. Surrounding the hair was a pure white cloak. He was peculiar looking. As I continued observing the owner of the long hair I could feel my eyes searching every inch of him. A chin came into vision, one that belonged to somebody old. It was deeply dented and creased with wrinkles. From the composition of the chin I could tell the face was smiling.
           
 The rest of the man's face did not match his charred chin. It was only by looking closer that I realised his chin hadn't been attacked by age but by scars. They looked very painful. To think I was almost ignorant to it.  I searched across the man's face to reach his eyes, and how wrong, the man was not that old at all. Years of wisdom and strength rinsed through his face. His eyes electric blue which smudged into a deep green around the outsides, they looked exactly like mine.  He smiled, wide.  
"My name is Depli."  The voice was a perfect match to the steady shaking of my hand, full of respect.
"Well it looks like you already know my name," I stated with sarcasm.
"That's not the only thing we know, as you can already tell." The man's voice was rather friendly, "since we located you, we have never stopped watching you. Most of it has been spent wanting to help you."
"Help?" My voice came out just above the sound of a whisper, "with what?"
"With your life Auro! We have seen you struggle, cry, fight, beg, and kill. It hasn't been easy for us either." The voice remained calm and was the only substance preventing myself from lashing out.

"So how do you think you can help me? What is so special about you to be able to do such things?" I started to challenge again. I was very foolish; I would never get my own way.
"Because we have the answers that you have been searching for, living for, and breathing for." His teeth stood like small confident gravestones, feeding each word with power.
"Then why only decide to help me now?" My knuckles retuned to clenching, I could feel the burning sensation of anger creeping up on my face. "I needed you years ago, not now!"
"Because it is only until now you have asked us. Begging, fighting and crying will never possess you of an answer, it will only provoke trouble. But now you have started to accept who you are, and you are not trying to fight it. You are beginning to feel proud that you are not the same as all the others who are around you, and for the first time in your life Auro, we can tell that you are willing to explore your differences."
"Differences?" I laughed in confusion. These people couldn't possibly know the secrets I had tried to hard to keep.
"You already know the answer to that question. You understand that you possess a talent, one of such mighty strength and speed that provides the perfect balance to allow yourself to fly."

Fly. That's when everything sprung back to me - the stinging of the water gushing through my nostrils, the inability to breathe. But what happened before that? I searched the only stable part of my mind left for the answer. White. Yes white cliffs, the ones I jumped off.
              
 "You didn't jump of the Cliff! You leapt into the air, you were flying! It was marvellous Auro!" A young voice intruded my thoughts. He clumped his hands together steadily into a rewarding clap.

I turned to follow the voice which was bursting with enthusiasm. Stood in front of me in the exact same clothing was a young lad. He looked around the same age as me, with a cheeky open smile doodled all over his face outlining a gleaming set of white teeth. Scruffy, blonde hair draped over his face. He raised his hand up high to his forehead playfully and struck out two fingers and lined it across his forehead into a salute.

"Chico." The lad winked. He was very confident but it only left me in deeper fascination. I still had no idea who these people were.
"You will have to ignore Chico's smugness from earlier on; he is really fascinated by you. He has watched you more than any of us. He explains to us that he loves the way you live your life, the way you are always keen to explore it. You are sort of inspiration to him. So don't take him too seriously." Depli gently added a smile to his statement.  

Chico walked over and playfully punched my arm. "Relax Auro; I've never seen you so uptight." I didn't like the way he was acting as if he knew me. It felt weird talking back to these people.
"Okay, look despite your eagerness to 'help' me; I have no idea who you are. Fair enough you have told me your names, but I can't just place trust on a name. I feel slightly abused and confused so you need to stop leaving me in suspense here and start filling in all these gaps for me. Chico took a step back, and by the expression on his face he wasn't in such a playful mood any more. I felt bad. But that wasn't the point. Everything was too surreal, I had no idea who these strangers were, let alone if they were even real.

"I'm afraid we need to give you a little more time Auro, before we can explain things. We are very important. But you are even more important. This has to be taken seriously, because when we tell you..." he paused unsteadily and lifted his eyes away from me, "You are going to be terrified."  The man's words punched by spine, sending sickly nerves across each vertebrae.

"Auro, you need to return home. Choose what you do with your time wisely as you don't have much of it left." The man turned his head nodding at Chico. I felt suffocated. No, he cant, I need more time to respond and demand more answers, he couldn't leave me like this. I tried to open my mouth but a massive wedge of embarrassment sewed it back shut.  Chico nodded back to Depli and then faced me.
No. I pleaded with my eyes, you can't.
In less than the fracture of a heartbeat they were gone.