Weaving Destinies

“What do I do?” my mind raced. Callagroth looked incredibly cocky. He knew he had already won.

I tried to dart to the left and run away, but Callagroth tackled me and firmly pressed my wrists against the wall. I was left with only one option.

Moving quickly, I kicked him between the legs and wrenched myself away from him. Callagroth was close behind me, but I ran towards Madison and Alec. I wouldn’t be able to fight Callagroth, but if I could get Madison away from Alec, then maybe he could take on the challenge.

“Madison!” I shouted. It was just enough to get her to look up for a second. I slammed into her and knocked her to the ground on the other side of Alec. I was about to attack her when Callagroth commanded, “Apprentice! Retreat!”

Madison flew away into the shadows. I turned back to see how Alec was doing. I was greeted by a most confusing sight. Alec appeared to be fighting himself. There were two Alecs, both wrestling and making punches at each other.

“Oh man! I forgot Callagroth can shapeshift!” I suddenly remembered. I tried to see which one was the real Alec, but they were virtually indistinguishable.

“My love, please help me!” one of them cried.

“Dearest Faith, do not listen to him! He is a fake!” the other objected. I just stared at them, bewildered. They were getting serious in this battle. If I didn’t interfere soon, the real one could be killed.

I thought of the mock fight I had had with Alec and how I had managed to win. It was my only chance.

“Alec, darling!” I exclaimed, stepping forward. One of them stopped and looked at me in pleased surprise. The other ignored this remark and aimed another attack. Only the real Alec would forget about saving his own butt in order to win affection from me.

“Oh no you don’t!” I jumped at the attacking Alec and viciously dug my fingernails into his face. He pushed me away in disgust, slowly transforming back into Callagroth.

“This is not the last you will see of me,” he said darkly. He leapt into the air and disappeared. I sat down abruptly on the floor, exhausted from my efforts. Alec knelt down next to me and brushed a strand of still-wet hair from my face.

“How very clever you are, my beautiful Faith,” he said, smiling at me. His smile quickly faded into a look of concern. “But are you harmed?”

I looked at myself. There were little cuts from wherever a wire had been attached, and I was sure I had several bruises from being slammed into various objects. I was sore and very tired from this ordeal.

“Nope! I’m just fine!” I grinned at him. He laughed and stood up.

“I suppose you would like to go back and get cleaned up,” he responded, and this was most certainly true. He grabbed my hand and helped me to my feet. For the first time, I didn’t pull my hand out of his as we left the cave and walked the short distance to the mansion at Porta.

Taking a bath felt wonderful. Not only did it feel good to wash my dirt and blood away, but it was relaxing. I was able for the first time to be alone and forget about why I was here on Torm in the first place. I was homesick. I missed my family. I missed my cat. I missed Kiyoshi. I missed being a normal teenager. Well, I wasn’t that normal of a teenager, but it was better than this. At least on Earth I didn’t have to worry about staying alive long enough to see the next day.

After my bath, I slipped into a pink silk nightgown with short sleeves. It was all trimmed in lace except for the hem which was simply ruffled. It was a bit old-fashioned, but it was comfortable. Besides, it was the best I could get on an old-fashioned planet like Torm.

I soon met up with Alec in the hallway. He took me to a small room that would have classified as a living room on Earth. There was a bookshelf and stacks of board games I had never heard of before. Alec sat down on the couch and motioned for me to sit beside him.

“I thought that after a stressful event such as that, it would be nice to simply spend time together,” Alec explained. “Tomorrow, Gregory Ingraham will arrive with your maids, and we will devise a plan. Until then, we can just relax.”

“Sounds perfect,” I agreed, plopping down next to him. “Have you heard about Tari?”

“She is fine,” Alec smiled. He paused. “But how did you know the name of Callagroth’s apprentice?”

“I… heard him mention it once when we were first captured by him,” I lied, looking down at my hands.

“You never tell me about yourself,” Alec frowned, trying to meet my gaze.

“What’s there to say?” I shrugged. “I live with my parents in the suburbs of Louisville, Kentucky, and I always thought I’d major in something like Communications or Political Science.”

“Those are perfect for the future queen of Torm,” Alec replied happily.

“I’m not going to stay here, and I’m not going to marry you,” I reminded him firmly. “Not after we finish off Callagroth, and not after I complete college.”

“I will wait for you if you would like to continue life on Earth,” Alec said sincerely. “I will live there with you, or I will stay here until you are ready to return to me.”

I studied his face, trying to see if he was as true as his words. There was no chance of that, really. What guy would say that? What guy would be devoted to such a pitiful point? Didn’t he have anything better to do than be obsessed with me?

“Not happening. I’m not going to marry you,” I shook my head.

“Then what about your friends?” Alec asked.

“Kiyoshi Gardner. She’s also a junior. She’s my only friend,” I answered, smiling as I thought of her.

Kiyoshi had been there for me when everyone else abandoned me.

“It’s not your fault,” she had assured me as we lay next to each other in the dark.

“It is,” I insisted.

“It might as well be my fault. I’m as much to blame as you are,” Kiyoshi argued.

“No, you’re not.”

“For Madison, I am. I mean, I was right there. I was right there, Livvy. If I had just…”

She stopped talking, and I could tell by the irregular sound of her breathing that she was crying.

“They won’t blame you,” I finally said. “No one will blame you. They’ll blame me. And you’re in no way responsible for Sophie. Or yourself. Everyone will blame me for hurting you.”

“Then I’ll tell them to just shut up,” Kiyoshi said fiercely. “I don’t blame you, not one little bit.”

“Faith?” Alec’s voice brought me back to the present.

“Sorry! Lost in thought,” I apologized, shaking the memory from my head. I had a question of my own that I wanted to ask, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it.

“You realize that my name isn’t Faith, right?” I began. “I’m Olivia Jones.”

“But you are also Faith,” Alec replied patiently.

“Am I? No one has ever called me Faith before, and even though I’ve gotten tired of trying to correct everyone here, I really don’t think I’m the Faith you’re looking for,” I said uneasily.

“My beloved, you demonstrated perfect telepathy! This is a very rare ability. It is proof enough that you are Faith and my one and only soulmate!” Alec tried to assure me. I wasn’t convinced. I wanted to ask if he would love me if it turned out I really wasn’t Faith, but the words were stuck in my throat.

He put a hand under my chin and turned my face to look at him. I gazed into his deep blue eyes as he said, “I must admit that there are times when I do not believe many things, but all I have to do is look at you and my doubt vanishes. I know that I love you, and that is all that matters.”

I looked away, almost guiltily. If, by some impossible chance, he was truly in love with me, I was breaking his heart.

“Do you ever think of me?” Alec asked softly.

“I’m with you all the time,” I grinned.

“But when we are not together, do you-” Alec stopped. I couldn’t stand looking at his face. He looked truly torn apart.

I grabbed the closest box and held it in front of him.

“Puzzle?” I asked cheerfully. He smiled and nodded as I poured out the wooden pieces. Just like Callagroth had said, Alec’s supposed love was politically motivated, but somehow, I wanted to make this time I was spending with Alec last as long as it could.