Shattering Crystals

“What is that?”

I search my mind for the correct term, because I know I’ve heard this before. “A… a phoenix.”

The phoenix shimmers slightly and melts into the form of a human. His hair is noticeably the same red as his feathers, and I wonder if he dyed them that way. It’s too bright to be real. Lorraine says something to him, but he just shakes his head, eyes fixed on me.

He ignores everyone else and walks towards me at a casual pace. I just stand there, frozen, but curious. I wonder if he’s dangerous, but I can’t move. He stops about two feet away.

“So you’re Diana,” he says.

“How – how did you know it’s me?”

“I don’t wanna talk about this here. Come with me, I have a place ready for you.”

----

"This is my uncle's house," the boy says. "And I'm Aaron." The house smells faintly of tobacco smoke. I cringe a bit at the smell and wonder how someone could ever smoke inside the house.

“How did you know it was us?” I ask, genuinely curious. And a bit scared.

“Dreams. And memories.”

“That’s… interesting. We don’t look like our former selves, though.”

“It has to do with… being a phoenix,” he explains, struggling for the right words. “I could sense it. I don’t know what told me, but I just knew.”

“That’s really cool,” Elise says.

"Yeah. It's like instinct or something like that," Aaron replies, shrugging. "Except with magic."

"You are going to come travel with us, right?" Lorraine asks.

"Uh, yeah. Why would I be here if I wasn't?" He gives her a look that obviously says duh.

Just checking," she says defensively. Cody rolls his eyes at her.\

We all start unpacking again in the living room - by now, my fingers automatically know what to do. The whole trip has been repetitive, yes, and yet it was also different for each person. But I think about how lucky we really are - every time, we had somehow found a place to stay. Are we really lucky, or is it magic?

"I don't know why we trust this guy," Cody mutters, pulling out things from his backpack.

"He's one of us," I say.

"Still... Maybe we shouldn't be here. You don't know if we can trust him or not."

“I trusted you,” I say. “And I had no idea who you were. It’s the same with him.”

“No it isn’t. He’s a bit… sketchy.”

“It’s the only choice we have right now.”

“Maybe,” he says, still not convinced.

“Whatever. I think we should start talking to Lorraine again… it’s getting kind of old, isn’t it?”

“Uh, no,” he says. “They started it, and they should end it.”

“Yeah, that makes sense and I think so too,” I admit. “But in this case, we have to do it. It’s just going to get more likely that we’ll get caught.

“Yeah, yeah.” This is the first time I realize it – he doesn’t know what it means to get caught. He doesn’t realize that we would be done, game over. To him… this is all a game. And you can’t truly lose.

“Whatever you say, Cody. I’m gonna go talk to her.” I leave Cody sitting there alone. I scan the room for Lorraine, but only Ashlee and Elise are in here.

I walk down the short, dark hallway and into one of the two bedrooms. It’s empty, with only a small crib and some baby toys on the ground. I guess no one is sleeping here tonight. I try the next room and there they are – Aaron, Dean, and Lorraine. I wonder where Connor is.

“Lorraine?” I ask. She doesn’t answer, completely ignoring me. I just stand there, looking at her.

“Lorraine, Dana wants to talk to you,” Aaron points out, seemingly oblivious to the conflict here. Or maybe he knows – and is doing this anyway.

“Uh, okay,” she says, not making eye contact with me. She knows she can’t ignore Aaron. “You guys can go unpack in the living room. We’ll talk in here.”

The boys leave the room, no questions asked. It’s obvious that Lorraine is a great leader. Maybe that’s why she’s mad at me. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe, all she wants is a chance at leadership.

“So, what do you want?” She stares at my chin instead of my eyes.

“You know…” I say. “The silent treatment. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Yes you did.” Her eyes move up to my nose and I wonder if they’re ever going to reach my eyes.

“Is this… is this about Cody?”

They do. She finally makes eye contact, glaring at me and trying to create the looks can kill spell before answering. “You know what you did.”

“No… I don’t.” I know that this is a lie. She’s right. I know what I did.

“I thought we would be best friends forever,” she says icily. “But I guess I was wrong. Not even a past lifetime of friendship can change that, huh?”

“I still want to be best friends,” I say, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.”

“But best friends don’t do this to each other. Do they?”

“They…”

“They don’t, and you know that. So I guess we aren’t best friends anymore. And I guess you got what you wanted.” She walks out of the room, head held high. But... did I see tears forming in her eyes? And I see that she's just like me. She has to stay strong, keep up her image of being fearless. No weakness allowed.

I would've done the same, however unfair it was. She just did it as something to keep her pride - or as Elise had said – doing a bad thing to make herself feel okay. But her last statement was the most disturbing.

Do I really have what I want?