Free The Broken Destiny by Carlyle Labuschagne

hands over my nervously twitching fingers.
    “I want to go home,” I said faintly, but only to be with Sam because no other reason existed for me to want to go back.
    She didn’t respond to my request. Tears began to well up in my eyes and I swallowed against the tightness in my throat. I felt I could open up to Anaya. There was something proverbial about the whole family and the entire situation, almost as if I had been there a dozen times before and I wondered why I felt that way.
    “I know,” Anaya finally replied, pushing her hand down harder on mine, “but it’s not safe for you to go yet.” She breathed out heavily, like she was about to cry.
    I decided to accept her answer for the time being. The truth was, a large part of me was not yet ready to go back, and I would not be ready until I knew exactly what I was up against. Some part of me wanted revenge. That should have been another sign that I was not myself.

     
    I tried to silence my busy mind by taking a long hot bath. Another thing not accessible back home – our showers were timed. I lay back against the stone bath and peered up at the gray sky through the small window above the bathtub. What was going on? Why wouldn’t anyone talk about the attack on us yesterday? What were they afraid to tell me? What did the Zulus want with us… with me? I sat up suddenly, the water rocking forward violently and then returning to splash back against me. Sage. I don’t know what made me come to this realization, but I suddenly knew that the attack was somehow connected to Sage’s disappearance. I leaped out of the bath, and dripping water all over the wooden floors, pulled a towel from a nearby hook. I hastily made my way past the small wall toward Maya’s wooden-framed canopy bed. Some clothes were spread across the surface of the bedcovers. I grabbed a pair of jeans, held them up to my nose and inhaled the fresh scent of lavender. I loved the smell of clean laundry. I dressed quickly as there was a slight chill in the room. I couldn’t help but feel that something was odd. Maya entered and was startled by the angry look on my face.
    “Ava?” she asked softly, closing the door behind her.
    “What are you hiding from me?” I asked loudly, angry and frustrated.
    “Nothing,” she answered nervously.
    “Don’t lie to me,” I said abruptly. I began to feel ashamed at my temper and my harsh words.
    “Ava, please, I wouldn’t lie to you,” her sweet voice breaking under the pressure.
    “Then, what… what are you hiding from me?” I inquired.
    I looked down at my hands, nervously rolling my shirt around my fingers.
    She didn’t reply.
    “I want to go home!” I yelled and made my way around her.
    Each step I took was loud and demanding. I was right to be suspicious , I thought angrily. They know what happened to Sage. I was sure of it. I don’t know how I knew. It was just there, inside me.
    “Ava, wait!” Maya called.
    I spun around.
    “No! No more waiting. I think I have been patient enough, sitting in this unfamiliar place and swallowing my fear while everyone tiptoes around me.”
    A rush of adrenalin pulsed through me. I had never spoken to anyone like that before. I was losing it.
    “What’s going on? Why won’t you talk to me?”
    She hung her head.
    “Just as I thought… nothing!”
    I stomped off, leaving the door swinging wildly behind me. Anaya stood in the hallway, poker-faced as usual. I couldn’t read her at all. She was absolutely beautiful though. Her long, brown hair was the color of dark chocolate and was streaked with golden brown curls, high lighting her luminous blue eyes. She was not like the other Minoans in looks, but in demeanor she was as calm as she was humble. Anaya stood tall and slender. My eyes right in line with her perfect bust. As perfect as an anime character , I thought to myself. When I realized what I was doing, it made me feel ill. I hated that I constantly dwelled on looks, never satisfied with my own.