Humanity 01 - Child of The Dusk (3 page)

The next two classes passed considerably
quicker. Mirage found that she could ignore the stares and barbed
comments better than before. She was smiling by the time she walked
into Mr. Kinely’s class.

“
Mirage, can you come up
here for a second?”

She nodded and set her books down at a desk.
“Yes, Mr. Kinely?”

“
How has your day gone?”
He spoke quietly, as he bent over a sheet of paper, pretending to
show her something. “Don’t worry, Mirage. I’m making sure they
don’t think I’m playing sympathetic. That will only make them
dislike you more.”

Mirage nodded her understanding, bending
over and placing her long nail at the edge of the sheet of paper.
“I understand. It’s been…difficult.”

“
I’m sure. As a Chief’s
daughter, you were probably respected.”

Mirage shrugged. “The respect was feigned.
Remember, my mother is Illuminitica. They never approved of my
father marrying her.”

“
Ah, yes. He told me about
the uproar. It was nearly enough to shatter the barrier to your
Promised Lands, wasn’t it?” He cleared his throat. “I planned group
work for today, but I’ll hold off on it if you want.”

Mirage shook her head. “I really appreciate
that, Mr. Kinely, but that’s okay. Just put me in a group with
Michael.”

“
Michael?” Mr. Kinely’s
voice seemed to change pitch. He was obviously
surprised.

“
Yeah. He’s been showing
me around today. He’s…nice.”

Mr. Kinely glanced over at Michael, worry
clear in his eyes as he shook his head. “Alright, Mirage.”

She smiled. “Don’t worry about being too
nice to me during class, Mr. Kinely. I don’t want to cause any
problems for you.”

“
I’ll treat you no
different than a human. I’ve been firm with that since our
principal Mr. Taylur told us you were coming. Now, please take your
seat.”

Mirage nodded, walking to the desk that
Michael had saved beside him. She sat down, barely listening as Mr.
Kinely split the class into groups of two.

“
You’ll be fine with the
subject material?” Michael asked after they’d gotten their
assignment. “I don’t know where you left off at your old
school.”

“
I didn’t go to school,”
Mirage said as she opened her textbook. “My dad homeschooled me.
He…” she hesitated, her smile faltering. The memory clung to the
edge of her subconscious but she refused to acknowledge it. “He was
really intelligent. I’ve been past this in our book.”

“
Really?” Michael gave a
slight smile. “Then you can help me with this. Cells are definitely
not my forté.”

Mirage stood. “You get the microscope and
I’ll prepare the slides. Biology is a specialty of mine, so I’ll
show you.”

Michael nodded, leaving.
While he was gone, she pushed their desks together and grabbed the
plastic bag of slides Mr. Kinely had set down on her desk. She
separated the slides, using the task to keep her mind from
wandering to the boy who had just returned with the microscope. The
rest of the class was spent determining what each cell was, and
Mirage was almost able to ignore his shoulder as it pressed against
hers while they both bent over the microscope.
Almost
.

When the last bell sounded Mirage was
happier than she remembered being since her father’s murder. “Are
you riding the bus?” Michael asked.

Mirage nodded. “My mom dropped me off, but
she’s working and can’t come back for me. I don’t much like the
idea of riding on a bus, but we’ve only got one car.”

“
I can drive you home,”
Michael offered.

Mirage hesitated, biting her lip. “Are you
sure? I don’t want to get you into any trouble. What would the
other humans think?”

He waved her question away. “Who gives a
damn? Everything’ll be fine for me. Come on, let me drop my
backpack off at my locker.” Mirage followed him and waited as he
put his things away. By the time he had closed the locker, the
halls were almost clear. They walked out into a nearly deserted
parking lot.

“
How far do you live from
the school?” Michael asked.

As Mirage opened her mouth to answer she was
pushed forward. It was so sudden that even her speed didn’t keep
her from falling. She was barely able to stop her head from hitting
the pavement. She looked behind her to see Derrick. He wore a
football uniform and was tossing a small black book in his hands.
Her heart seemed to stop as she watched her father’s book rise and
fall, her mind wandering to where or when she could have possibly
left it. Lunch. It had to have been, but she was sure she’d put it
back in her purse…

“
Derrick, give me my book
back,” she demanded urgently. Her tight, angry voice held the
threat of power.

“
What, this?” Derrick
asked as Michael helped her up. “This is mine.” He opened it.
“Though I can’t read a damned word of it.”

“
That’s because it’s in
Shadowstart tongue,” Mirage said. “Proving that it’s mine. Hand it
back.”

“
Hang on,” Derrick said.
“I’m not finished.”

“
Come on, Derrick,”
Michael said. “Give her the book.”

“
Stay out of this,
Michael,” Derrick growled. “No one asked your opinion. Let your
Dark Child bitch handle herself.”

“
You asshole,” Michael
retorted. “Just because you can chase a ball up and down the field
like the school’s lap dog doesn’t mean you’re the king of the
school. You can’t just take anything you want.”

Derrick moved so fast that Mirage didn’t see
it coming in time to warn her friend. His fist caught Michael in
the chin, knocking him down. He was on him before Michael could
react.

“
Stop it!” Mirage
screamed. She grabbed Derrick’s shoulder. “Leave him
alone.”

Derrick pushed her
backward and backhanded her. Mirage crumpled to the ground, her
head ringing. Blood dripped onto her chin from her lip and she
wiped it way. She pushed the pain to the back of her mind as she
stood up. A hot anger coursed through her like magma. She
was
tired
of it.
She was tired of humans treating her so badly. She watched Derrick
pummel Michael with a detached air. Her power batted her rational
thought away as easily as swatting a feather. All that was left was
the sweetly singing anger. This boy had helped and defended her and
this was how she repaid him?

The magma of anger spread, pushed through
her body by the painful thudding of her heart. She could feel her
power growing, her arms heating up. She jerked her velvet arm slips
off. They had hid the Shadowstart runes that arched across her skin
like charcoal scars. The black symbols were emanating a soft red
light. Her vision tinged red as the symbol beneath her eye matched
the glow of her arms.

“
I said
get off of him
,” she
snarled, her voice resonating with depth. The light around her
dimmed as shadows seeped from her skin, echoing from the swirling
runes. They flowed down her like water, pooling beneath her feet
and spreading.

The first tendril touched Derrick and
latched on tightly, coiling around his ankle like a pulsating
snake. Derrick paused, his fist still in midair as Mirage’s shadows
crawled along his skin. He opened his mouth to scream, but as she
waved a hand his voice caught in his throat. She waved another hand
and Derrick lifted involuntarily from Michael. He stayed suspended
above the ground as Michael groaned and slowly got to his feet,
holding a hand to his bleeding nose. He shook his head and bent
over to pick up the book that Derrick had dropped.

Derrick’s breathing grew more labored as the
coil of shadows around him tightened. Mirage watched the football
player fight for breath. “Come on, Mirage,” Michael said softly. He
reached a hand out to touch her shoulder and hesitated as her gaze
fell on him. Mirage could feel his fear caress her skin. It fed her
power, made her feel stronger. The shadows called to her to finish
Derrick off as Michael took a deep breath and laid his hand on her
shoulder. “Don’t do something you’ll regret later. He’s not worth
it.”

Mirage watched her friend fight his fear of
her and it calmed her. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.
She fought the call the power had on her, and the shadows shirked
back, leaving her with a clear mind. “I’m alright, Michael,” she
whispered as she opened her eyes. Her voice had returned to
normal.

“
Thank you.” Michael
nodded and stepped back.

Mirage loosened the shadows that gripped
Derrick. “You will not bother me or any of my friends again,
right?” Derrick nodded his head vigorously. “You will not tell
anyone what happened because if I’m expelled there’ll be nothing to
stop me from doing more to you than I have already. If the Marksman
Law is called on me, I’ll make sure that you follow me to my grave.
Am I understood?” Derrick nodded again and Mirage released him. He
landed heavily on the ground. He didn’t say another word as he
scrambled to his feet and ran.

Mirage’s anger ebbed away, along with her
power. Her runes ceased glowing, and she stumbled backward. Michael
caught her. “Thanks,” she groaned.

“
No, thank you,” he
replied, his voice strained and thick. “I know how much it could
cost you to help me.”

“
I couldn’t just stand by
and watch him hurt you,” she stated as she stood up. She looked
back at him and grimaced. His nose was still bleeding, his lip
swollen, and his right eye had already closed and taken on a
rainbow of colors. She hesitated before she said, “I just can’t
leave you like that. Come here.”

He looked at her, puzzled.
“What do you mean?” he asked as she cupped his chin into the palms
of her hands. She didn’t answer as she forced herself to breathe
slowly. Her Child of the Dawn powers, stolen from a different tribe
than that of her father’s, were more difficult for her to control.
It always seemed that the Illuminitica part of her was fighting
against the Shadowstart Chief line that dominated her blood and
every aspect of her life. No matter what anyone said—especially her
uncle—she
was
the
Chief to be.

The small diamond shaped marks, etched into
her palms, flashed bright silver, and Michael gasped as her power
entered him. Mirage watched his injuries heal before her eyes. She
could feel the drain on her energy, threatening to make her black
out. When she finished she let him go and turned away from him,
bending down and picking up her purse she’d dropped when Derrick
had pushed her. She put her arm sleeves back on, and it gave her a
moment to collect her thoughts and to ignore the shocked expression
on Michael’s face.

“
I didn’t think Children
of the Dusk could heal,” Michael commented shakily as he picked his
own things up. “I always thought their powers only relied on
darkness—like what you did to Derrick.”

“
They do. My mother is a
Child of the Dawn.”

“
An
Illuminitica?”

Mirage nodded. “Yeah.”

“
I didn’t know the Tribes
could mix.”

Mirage shrugged. “It’s rare. We normally
tend to stay with our people, but it does occur. It’s difficult
because most powers don’t blend well. I’ve always had difficulty
with my powers. I’m a slower healer.” Her busted lip from Derrick
was finally beginning to heal. Her mother’s would have healed in a
third of the time.

“
Well, you’re pretty cool.
Come on, I’ll show you the way to my car.”

Mirage looked at him, surprised. “You’ll
still give me a ride after you’ve seen what I can do?”

An odd expression ghosted across his face,
but it left too quickly for her to read it. He replaced it with a
side smile and an arched eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I? Geez, I know
you’re a Child of the Dusk. It would be stupid for me to think you
didn’t have any abilities.” He handed her the small black book that
was so precious to her. “Are you coming?”

Mirage couldn’t help but give a wide smile,
exposing her sharp teeth. She nodded and Michael took her hand,
leading the way to his truck.

* * * *

Tranquility walked into Mirage’s room. “I’m
home.”

Mirage rolled her eyes as she closed her
book and slid it under her pillow. She leaned forward and said
sarcastically, “I would have never known if you hadn’t announced it
to me.”

Tranquility laughed and threw her white
jacket onto her daughter’s head. “I see you’re in a good mood. I
take it that this school’s not as bad as we’d thought it would
be?”

Mirage shrugged as she tried to get the
jacket off her head. It was snagged on one of her horns, which
caused her mother to laugh. She ignored the sound as she fished the
sleeve from around the curved bone. “Oh no, it’s terrible. I was
practically attacked by a football player who makes a Child of the
Soil look small.”

Her mother winced. “That
bad, darling?
Please
tell me you didn’t use your powers.”

Mirage shrugged, feeling guilty, and her
mother groaned. “It won’t cause problems, I promise,” Mirage
assured quickly.

She shook her head. “Look, I’m not going to
lecture you. It’s not worked before; why would I think I could ever
compete with that Child of the Dusk stubbornness? You know the
possible consequences, and that’s enough.”

The disappointment in her mother’s voice was
worse than if she’d yelled. Mirage dropped her gaze and muttered,
“I’m sorry, mom. I’ll be more careful.”