Chapter 17: abuse

The days that followed were the worst. It just seemed like Dave just kept getting worse. Emily would always suggest calling a doctor, but her mother would always refuse. Not only her mother, but her father told her she shouldn't. Day after day, night after night Dave felt as though he couldn't control himself. He never could. Whenever he was angry, they would know because he would be in a rage. It started with him knocking over and breaking things to throwing things across the room. Doing this would result in a broken window, a broken item, or even hitting his wife or even his daughter with them.

One day the wife couldn't take much more. It was torture living with this man who beat her and hurt her. Who made bleed and did her harm. So, in the middle of the night, she left. Left it all behind, her life, her husband, her daughter, everything. Distraught and fed up with the life she left behind, afraid that it was going to come back to haunt her, she made sure she didn't live to see the sun. That night she drank. She drank to forget. To let it go. Drink after drink it became worse and worse. She was losing herself. She was losing her mind. Drink after painful drink, she downed it all until she inevitably collapsed to the ground. Next thing she knew she was in an ambulance. Slowly slipping. Her life draining. Until she shed one final tear.

The next day, Dave and Emily heard the news and quickly rushed to the hospital. She was no more. They tried to save her but it was too much. There was nothing more they could do. She died of intoxication. Emily's father sat next to her. With tears rolling down his face he sighed. He grabbed hold of his wife's ice cold lifeless hand and put his head to her forehead. Emily, in disbelief, stumbled outside the room, almost falling backwards as she backed up. Her back hit the wall. She slid down the until she was sitting at the base of the wall. She folded her legs up and put her arms around them. Huddled up at the base of the wall, she wept. She couldn't control herself. She cried. Her heart broken. She knew that her father would get worse and, this time, her mother wasn't there to protect her. For the very first time in her life, she felt alone. The world was cold around her. A boy walked past her and stopped.

"Are you okay?," said the boy. Emily looked at him. She said nothing. He looked to be about two years older than her. She wiped her tears and looked away from the boy.

The boy then gazed in the room where her mother lay. Her father gripping on to his cold, lifeless wife. The boy then sat down next to her.

"...I'm sorry...I didn't know...," the boy said. Emily said nothing. She just cleared her throat. The boy sat back and gazed around the hospital. Then suddenly he got an idea.

"Hold out your hand," the boy said holding his right hand with his palm facing towards the ceiling. She just looked at him and spoke, " How will that solve anything...it cant bring her back..."

"True, but this will give you strength and hope. Just trust me," the boy said. She held out her hand until her palm met his. His forearm started glowing red with strange letters. Emily didn't know what the letters said, but she didn't question it. Every blade was like this. Whenever they use something having to do with their own power, their arm lights up with ancient letters and the color that that blade is. People have been searching for centuries and haven't found out what any of them mean, but each blade was different, and Emily knew this. Her parents taught her all about blades, but she hasn't seen this before.

When the boy's arm went dim he let go of her hand. When she pulled back her hand, she looked at it in confusion.

"W-what did you do?," she asked.

"My father always taught me that the palms are the way to the soul. That's why we have soles on our feet," the boy said.

"But that is a different kind of soul," Emily said.

"Is it?," the boy asked.

She thought about it for a second and then spoke, "Okay, then what has that got to do with what you did?"

"It has everything to do with it. I just strengthened your soul. Now you can go through life without feeling alone," the boy said as he smiled.

"What is your name?," Emily asked.

"Ni, and yours?," Ni asked.

"Emily...Ni is a funny name," Emily said.

"Yeah, but my dad says the i in my name makes me heavenly. So, it's like I am an angel," Ni said.

"An angel...?"

Ni then got up and spoke,"yeah, that y in your name means that you are going to be super powerful"

Ni then smiled and ran off. From then on, she thought about what that boy said. Powerful? How? Even as she sat in the gym, worrying about her friends, she thought about it.

"Hmm...super powerful," she said with a deep breath. As she then exhaled then noticed a green light...

...coming from her right arm."