A/N: Earlier I said that it'd be R… I don't know about that yet… We'll see, okay? (:
bTrue Colorsb
iChapter onei
12-21-2002, Journal entry 27
"All the times before, when I said that I had left normal, I was really sure my life couldn't get any stranger, nor more complicated. I was wrong. Really wrong. Right now, I'm so confused… I'm not even sure of what it is that I'm feeling… The only thing I know is that I'm confused. And that's not helping. Not much, anyway...
So many things are unclear, so many questions left unanswered. Ava said that I was changing. Am I? Did Max do this; did he cause me to change? Or has this, this 'thing' been inside of me all along?
I don't know, and not knowing frustrates me..."
Liz sighed and read back on everything she'd just written down. She moved her pencil, intending to write more, but her hand stopped in mid-air when she hesitated. She didn't think she was ready to write about Future Max and she iknewi she wasn't ready to write about Present Max's last words to her. She was trying to forget he ever said them, she had been trying to forget it from the moment he implied that he could no longer trust her. Not that that was even possible. Max's words were seared into the flesh of her brain.
First, she'd lost his love, and now, somehow, she'd also managed to lose his trust. It was tearing her apart. She was grateful that she'd been able to save him in New York. He probably just got back, since he had been traveling by bus. He hadn't brought his jeep along, and with Lonnie and Rath being evil he hadn't had a car to drive back. She hoped she had regained some of his trust with saving him. She'd been scared out of her mind, but when Isabel told her that when Max would hear someone's voice it would be hers, she somehow had known that Isabel was right. She somehow knew that she would be able to save him, to warn him for the menacing danger. And she had.
Liz sighed once again, softly closed her journal and hid it carefully behind one of the loose bricks in one of the walls of her balcony. The same wall Max had made the heart on when she'd had that blind date. The same balcony where they'd shared their first kiss. The same balcony where they'd had their first break-up. The same balcony on which he'd seen her in bed with Kyle. This balcony held so much memories of him. Good ones and bad ones, nice ones and sad ones.
She stood up from her lawn chair and extinguished the candles, their vanilla scent still lingering in the air. It'd been a long time ago since she'd done this for the last time; writing in her journal about everything that had happened. The last time must have been somewhere before the whole destiny-issue. In fact, she thought that the last day she'd written in it had been the day before she saw Max kiss Tess. That had been another painful happening, another thing too painful to write about. It felt good to write again, to pour out some of her thoughts. To sort them out, even when she wasn't sure of what she was thinking. Writing in her journal helped, it always did.
Liz stepped inside her room, closed her window and went through the process of getting ready for bed on autopilot. Ava looked peacefully asleep, clutching Liz's favorite teddy bear against her chest. She snored a little every time she breathed out. Liz prayed that Ava wouldn't have anymore bad dreams this night. She felt sorry for the girl, for her being bossed around her whole life by Rath and Lonnie, and seeing the love of her life dying in front of her eyes. Liz quietly shook her head. How was it possible that someone who looked so much like Tess could be so different? They were like sun and night, fire and water, black and white. 'Like good and evil,' Liz thought, and involuntary she shivered. She was glad that she and Ava could get along so well. It proved once more that her feelings of hatred and distrust towards Tess had nothing to do with Tess's supposed "destiny" with Max. There was just something about Tess that Liz didn't trust, something evil almost…
Liz threw the covers back and slipped into her bed. An hour ago she'd been sure she wouldn't get any sleep tonight, but right now, she was so tired… She yawned once and closed her eyes. Pretty soon, she was deep asleep.
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Ailiana cringed when Iria's cold hands, covered with mud, touched her face. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but Iria said that it had to be done. People couldn't recognize her this way, for even though she had grown up, she still looked a lot like she used to do. She had become even more beautiful than she had been as a child, and with the years, she'd grown a little taller, but she still was smaller than girls of her age should be, partly due to the lack of food she got to eat. Her hair was still silky and long, but because she never got to wash it thoroughly, it was tangled and full of knots. Her eyes still were a tint of deep brown, although they did no longer shine with the innocence and naivety of a five-year-old. She had changed, yet stayed the same.
Iria's fingers delicately traced her face and the base of her throat, covering her face in mud. Ailiana was fourteen years old now, and her powers had been developing since she was eight. She had already had some as a baby, but back then, she'd only been able to change the molecular structure of some small utensils.
Now, she could easily mindwarp people like Iria could, and had the ability to 'talk' to animals. It wasn't really talking, but more like forming a connection. She would send the animal an image, a feeling or a thought, and she'd get a thought, feeling or image back. She'd practiced that power a lot, for it was nice to have a conversation with someone else besides Iria. There were plenty of animals in the dungeons to practice with. Small ones, like spiders and flies, and bigger ones, like rats and mice.
"You can escape," Iria whispered. "Tonight. When the First Moon has reached its top, they'll bring in the new prisoners. The soldiers will open the gates. You'll walk towards them, carefully. Try to get no one to notice you. Mindwarp them into believing you're one of the guards and walk away with them."
Iria's hands gestured hastily while trying to explain her idea. "Find your way out of the palace. When you have managed to do so, leave for the Second Moon and try to find The Resistance. They'll support you, and help you out."
Ailiana smiled. She loved the way Iria could get when she would passionately talk about something. Escaping? Out of the dungeons of Kravou? That was impossible. No one had, not even the bravest warriors of the Resistance. Why would she be able to do so? Sure, she had powers. Most people hadn't, for only the ones that were royal of blood had.
"There's no way I'll be able to escape, Iria," Ailiana stated. "No one ever has, and no one ever will. It's impossible."
"Not for you, Ailia," Iria retorted, "not for you. You are special. You are strong. You icani escape."
Ailiana shook her head. "I'm not going to try it, Iria. It's too dangerous. Khivar knows I'm of royal blood. He won't have made it that easy for me to escape. He's not stupid."
Iria looked her in the eye. "Ailiana… He didn't know how strong you were. The only time he has ever seen you, was when you were very little, and almost without powers. You were late with developing them, and he probably thought you would never get them. You can escape, believe me."
She averted her gaze and looked around her, making sure no one was eavesdropping. "Ailia, please…" she begged.
Ailiana sighed. "What about you? What will happen to you when I escape? I will not leave you here."
Iria shook her head. "You'll have to, honey. There's no other way to do this."
"But…" Ailiana tried to say, but Iria cut her off.
"No, Ailiana. I will not hear more of this. You will escape tonight, without me." Ailiana tried to say something else, but again Iria kept her quiet. "No, Ailia. You will," she said. "You will."
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i So… What do you think? Should I continue? Please, please, please review… i
Love,
Katie