LYRIC
Jace sat next to me, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
“At least, tell me what you did, Ly. Why are these people after you? I need to understand how I can help.”
I exhaled a long breath. He was right. If I needed his help, he should know what I did.
It was terrifying that I had to say this. I was letting out a very big secret, but I didn’t have a choice.
“Three years ago, I was in Mystopia.” It was where I met Penelope and had my twins. But I didn’t mention that to Jace. It wasn’t important.
“I got a job in a hospital, but I was under training and supervision. I hardly interacted with the patients there. Then, I noticed that the few times I did, the patients could easily get better.” I bit my lip, hesitating for what I was to say next. “One day, I stumbled upon a certain room. Before then, I’d noticed that room was always locked, and not everyone could be granted access into it. But on that very day, the door was open. So, I went in and found a young man on the bed.
“He was asleep, his face pale. He was in a coma.” I still got the chills as I remembered what it felt like.
“I was curious to know what was wrong with him. But I also suspected that this man was someone important who the others had been hiding. I went forward–stupid me–and I–I touched him. I don’t know; maybe I just wanted to know how cold or hot he was. But as soon as we made skin contact, he came awake.
“I was scared and quickly stepped back. And it was in that moment that my supervisor–Winnie–came into the room. The man went back to sleep again, looking pale like he didn’t just open his eyes. My supervisor was very mad at me that day and even threatened to get me fired.
“But the next day, she called me to her office and asked how I’d been able to pull him awake. She asked me if I could try to make him wake permanently. I wasn’t sure of what I could do yet, but when she promised me a lot of money–which I needed–I agreed to give it a try.
“I was led on what to get for the man. I held his hand much longer, and to my surprise, he did wake up. But I didn’t stay for long to hear what he and my supervisor said.”
I shook my head, feeling guilty and stupid. “I don’t know, but I think I made a terrible mistake, Jace. Something in me keeps screaming that that man was dangerous and was supposed to stay asleep. I don’t even know how I had the power to wake him up. But…” I swallowed around the lump in my throat. This was the scarier part of the story. “The following day, my supervisor ended up dead.”
I could still recall the fear I’d felt when the news reached me that she had been killed.
“Nobody knew who was responsible, but I realized that there was trouble. I had a gut feeling it had to do with the man that was awake. So, I ran. I ran to a different city and… with my discovery of my abilities, I worked on my scar and got them removed.” I shrugged. “That’s pretty much what happened.”
Jace was speechless for some time. He exhaled, wiping his hands against his face and propping them in his knees.
“Goodness, Lyric. You must’ve done something really dangerous. That man was clearly a prisoner, and you just released him when he was supposed to stay imprisoned.”
My throat turned to dust. The more I realized I was wrong,the scarier it got. “I–I didn’t know. And when my supervisor told me to-”
“Yeah, before she ended up dead,” Jace cut me off. “No wonder they’re after you. They want you to pay for what you did, just like her.”
I buried my face in my palms, cold crushing my bones. “I don’t know what to do, Jace. How do I make them understand it wasn’t intentional?”
Jace was silent for a couple of minutes. “Have you…tried to understand what you are?”
I lifted my face to look at him. “I have. Apparently, we have this thing in our family where some of us are gifted with these special healing abilities.”
“I know. But don’t you think yours is quite different?”
He was damn right. I’d been concerned about that as well.
Jace chuckled before revealing the heart–shattering truth vite pour Sphon.”
My head spun.
“I d–I don’t understand.”
Successfully unlocked!
“It’s obvious! You have this knowledge of what could work for everyone, and the healing process occurs only completely when you make contact with them.”
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57
I couldn’t agree any less. The first instinct in me when I see a sick person is to touch them. I always had this feeling that they’d be better as soon as I touch them.
“You’re not healing them through the normal way you know. You’re siphoning their sicknesses from their body to yours. Only difference is, your body has been made for things like this. So, you don’t feel it.” He stood up, lifting and falling his hands. “Do you fucking know how special that is? We haven’t seen a Siphon in hundreds of years!”
My stomach churned with dread.
No. It couldn’t be. I loved being different, but not Siphon–kind of different.
“J–Jace, what do I do?” A tremor ran through my quiet voice as I stood up. I’d never been more scared in a long time. “I can‘ t be a Siphon. I don’t want to be!”
“Oh, girlfriend.” Jace shook his head. There was no fun in his eyes. Just worry for me. “You already are. And the Executioners already know, which is the reason they’re going all out to hunt you.”
Siphons were more of a curse than a blessing in our world. They were forbidden, and every Siphon that had been born in the past was always killed.
“You do realize how dangerous you are, don’t you?” Jace took my hands. “You could hurt people, Ly. Destroy people. You can siphon so much, not just a person’s sickness.” He looked down at our hands joined together. “If you focus, you can actually siphon oxygen out of me and I’ll drop dead. You can siphon emotions, my reasoning, and even my memory!” He huffed, shaking his head. “Your kind has always been forbidden because you could do things that aren’t allowed.”
“But I didn’t ask to be this!” My voice was filled with agony. “I don’t want to be this, Jace. I don’t want to be this dangerous to people.”
I lowered my head, a tear slipping down. “I’m so scared, Jace.”
“Hey,” he cooed, coming closer and taking my hands again. “I know you, Ly. You’re the sweetest defenseless girl I know. You won’t want to hurt anyone. That’s how I know you’ve got this.”
More tears streaked down my cheeks as I looked at him. “But if the others get to know… I’ll be dead.”
“You won’t. I won’t let that happen.” He squeezed my hands. “We’ll both protect this secret with our lives, and I’ll make sure no harm comes to you.”
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