Kristen Day: Chosen

The last time I had seen her would have been at least four years ago. By the spoiled smirk she was wearing, it appeared humility and kindness were still foreign concepts to her. I had to admit, she was stunning. Her golden hair tumbled over her neck and shoulders, accentuating the golden color of her skin, and the black sundress she was wearing didn’t leave much to the imagination. Every guy I knew would jump at the chance just to be near her. I begged to differ. She couldn’t hold a candle to her . No one did. No one ever would.

“Hey there,” she purred and wrapped a snake-like arm around my waist. I abruptly stepped out of her greedy embrace. The golden eyes she had inherited from her mother boasted a different type of hardness behind them. She was used to getting her way, and the lingering path her eyes created as they slid down my body told me she had expected nothing less from me. She was about to get a very rude awakening.

“Come with me,” she demanded. Last I checked, I wasn’t a pet Chihuahua who would follow her around begging for her affection, so I stood my ground and raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

“Finn, give us a few minutes to talk. Why don’t you let Nadia show you around?” Mom smiled and nodded her head, insinuating it was safe to leave her alone with Persephone. I refused to budge.

“Finn,” Mom urged again with apologetic eyes. I shot one last threatening glare at Persephone as a warning and ignoring every instinct I possessed, painstakingly forced my feet to follow Nadia. Instead of showing me around their home, Nadia made a beeline for the back door. I continued to follow her as we walked down a dirt path, while she rambled on about a girl at school whom she didn’t like. I stopped listening after less than a minute, and tried to figure out when the nextideal time to go surfing would be. The tide would be up by the time we got back, but a storm wasblowing in tomorrow, so it might be better to wait until then. I could ride my short board instead-“Were you even listening to me?” I ran right into a fuming Nadia, whose carnal eyes werenow boring a hole into mine.

“No,” I shrugged my shoulders and let out an exaggerated sigh of boredom. Surprise flitted across her features before they darkened considerably. She pointed a bony finger in my face.

“When I talk, you listen. Got it?”

I tapped my chin as if thinking. “What am I supposed to say? Oh that’s it - Yes, your highness.” I bowed to her and then flipped her off with a gallant smile. Light swirls of gray smoke lifted from her skin, reminding me of a smoking fog rolling off the ocean. I didn’t need the vapor pouring out of her skin to tell me that she was evil. I could sense it a mile away. She stiffened but remained silent, as she attempted to reign in her wrath. The vapor disappeared and her eyes returnedto their normal honey color.

“We’re almost there.” She twirled around in a show of indifference and continued to walk until we reached a tall stone staircase that led underground.

“And just where is ‘ there’ ?” I questioned her with heavy skepticism.

“You’ll see. I made it myself.” She skipped down several more stairs and pivoted to glare up at me. “Well?” Wanting to get this little journey over with, I rolled my eyes and followed her down the stairs. We continued to walk through a dark, dank tunnel for what seemed like hours, until we reached a dead end. I could hear water rushing above us which was slightly unnerving, but I ignored my urge to leave.

“Congratulations. You made a dead end.” I raised an eyebrow but she simply reached out and touched my shoulder. I swatted her arm away, but we had already been conveyed to what I assumed was the other side of the dead end. She was lucky I was used to my mom using conveyance to travel.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t inherited that particular ability. But I had some other cool ones that more than made up for it.

I inspected my new surroundings and couldn’t help being awestruck. Somehow she had created a completely enclosed square room underground. But that wasn’t the cool part. It was the ceiling - or the lack there of. Instead of solid stone, above our heads were clear rocks that displayed the full fury of the rushing river above.

“I enchanted the rocks above this part of the river to be transparent so I could see through them,” she bragged with a smug smile. “It’s my hiding place. Only one way in and only one way out.” She wiggled her eyebrows for effect, “ Me.”

“Of course. It’s your world. We’re just living in it.” I responded with cynicism. My eyes ran along the pristine stone walls once again. I had a feeling I could bust out of there if I had to. If she was trying to intimidate me, she’d have to do a lot better than that.

“So…” She sauntered over to me slyly and ran a finger down my chest. “What do you want to do?” Punch that smug look off your face.

“Leave,” I growled and moved away from her. She was beginning to push her luck. “Now.”

The angry vapor rose from her skin again as she approached, armed with a cocky grin and an arrogant swagger. “You better get used to this now because we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”

“I doubt that,” I threw back at her and laughed. She smirked and moved to stand within inches of me, rage flashing in her eyes.

“My mother has spoken. You’re mine.”

Finn You know that glorious sliver of time between the moment you wake up and the moment where reality hits? Unfortunately for me, it slipped through my fingers so quick, I nearly missed it.

Not to mention my dream hadn’t been too different from my current reality. That day six years ago, I had no idea how true her selfish words were. I was young and clueless. Even when Mom explained it to me with devastated tears in her eyes, I didn’t give it another thought. It was no big deal. I’d find a way around it by the time I was eighteen. When you’re twelve, eighteen is a lifetime away. I told myself it didn’t matter. And I was right, it didn’t. Until she came back. Until I looked into those unsettling blue eyes and glimpsed her soul. The day on the beach when she became real, was the day that everything changed.

The roar of the water rushing above me soothed my anxiety, while my inner clock fought to calculate what day of the week it was. If my math was right, I’d been down here for five days. I’d spent almost a week in the bowels of the Underworld, as the world above continued to move forward as if I’d never existed. At the onset of each darkness, I would willingly slip away into catatonic episodes of extreme isolation and pain. My mind would do its best to convince me that no one would be searching for me. I told myself everyone had given up, moved on with their lives, and my body had been disposed of in the vast meadows of the sea floor. Or maybe they would bury it on the Isle with a nice headstone that read: Here lies Finn Morrison. The worst Prime who ever lived. My mother would weep with shame, and Stasia would turn her back; unable to bear the evidence of my obvious failure. She had risked everything for me, only to be repaid with utter defeat.

I had been a fool to think I would protect her by keeping her in the dark; sacrificing my own destiny. The only thing I had sacrificed was my relationship with the one person that ever mattered to me; my reason for breathing. I should have known it was never me who was meant to be the hero.