Daeva: Black Diamond Chrysalis - Danielle Bolger (essential reading txt) 📗

those kids who hurt your brother, did they do it bad?"

Eric slipped his hands away. "They did, they, just at four years of age teased him, made nicknames, then at five made gestures and shut him out of friendship circles. That's when we knew, that's when we made the change. At the special school the kids were behind just the same but with Jordan he was put into the top class with all the smarter autistic type and was soon made the dumbest amongst them. Things got worse from there, from name calling, to kids following him around the playground until one decided to attack him without provocation. I saw many bruises before I walked into a situation where it happened. That was when I became angry.

"I was only a kid myself then, but a whole five years older than Jordan and his cohort, but I couldn't stand by their bullying any longer so I made the Deverell name known. Mess with us, I told them and you feel the consequences!

"It sounded like a cool thing to say when you're just a kid defending what you believe in. But of course the other kids didn't listen to a word of what I had said and came and attacked me. There were three of them, all were younger, but one was actually my size, but still none landed a single punch or kick on me. It's unsurprising really because when you think about it since I was attacking the ones that couldn't fight back and all of a sudden I had become the bully beating those weaker than me."

"Was your brother there?" I asked.

"Yeah." Eric lowered his head. "My brother saw it all, ran up to me and started flying punches into me! I couldn't understand it, I went there to protect him! To save him from his bullies and teach them a lesson and you know what he said to me? He said, no fighting, brother. It hurts both ways."

"Violence begets violence." I murmured thoughtfully as I recalled words from a film with its title long forgotten.

Eric pricked the corner of his mouth skyward. "Exactly. I was in year seven when it happened, Jordan in year two at his special school. I was a stupid kid, trying to act tough to protect his brother but in the meanwhile I attacked three boys that stood no chance against me. There's... really no excuse for what I did."

"Hold on!" I protested. "But you said these kids were teasing Jordan, that's not cool!"

"But violence isn't the way to fix those issues, you just said it yourself, Abigail."

Nodding slowing I understood. "There were a lot of people hurting there. Jordan who never lashed out at anyone, then those kids who thought they were above him so they harmed him because they thought they could get away with it, then you stepped in to defend Jordan and attacked them because, even though you were outnumbered, you knew you could over power them with your wit and skill. And you did."

Eric nodded. "You see now, how violence can escalate? You see how good intentions can turn bad and ultimately turn to evil actions?"

I nodded myself. "Yeah, if the cycle didn't end there then more powerful people would try their own vengeance and hurt others. And then those others would try to gain power just so they could reach a position to harm the ones that harmed them and it would go on and on until it became a worldwide issue..."

"Like world war one and world war two. The issues they had didn't have to divide the planet, but there was so much hate, anger, despair and sadness that the people just couldn't let it go and the nations waged their terrible wars."

"You can't blame the people!" I refuted. "They didn't start the wars, it was their governments!"

Eric nodded. "True, but many governments form by popular persuasion. Sure, some people didn't understand who they were really voting for, but some did and I don't think they'll admit it, but I bet it will be a large majority of those voters who wanted the reforms that happened."

I nodded slowly, not liking the words despite liking the boy, but respecting them all the same. "So those boys who attacked your brother, that you fought in return, no one is to account for their own actions?"

Eric squeezed my hand but it seemed more a twitch than a voluntary movement. "No," He frowned, "People are responsible, we still have choice, but what I'm saying is that circumstances lead people to crossroads where bad choices are made." He sighed here. "I was only a young kid when I started that fight, but I can say to this day that I regret it because of those words that Jordan told me. I should have tried talking and if that failed, walk away, but instead I led to the chain of violence plaguing the world."

I fiddled with the fabric of my school skirt in my free hand. I didn't know why, I just did it because I supposed it felt comfortable.

"Eric!" I cried. "I have something really important to ask you now. It's this!" I whipped a long pale pink ribbon from my pocket. "Mum wants me to start tying my hair with it instead of a hair band. I told her that ribbons are too loose and fall out and otherwise just makes my hair look drab but then she says it's the family way for the girls to tie their hair in ribbons. She's been trying this all my life and I keep saying no but she never stops pestering me with the darned ribbon so I gotta ask for your advice here! How do I tell her that I don't like these ribbons!?"

Eric took the ribbon from my hands and with a sneaky smirk moved behind me.

"I totally agree with you, but, you look so cute with this in your hair!"

"Did you just put that thing on me, Eric?!" And as I fought my hands back behind to tear at my new entourage Eric's hands held mine steady.

"Please." The boy begged. "You don't have to wear it all the time if you don't like, but just leave it for the day! You look so adorable with it on!"

"You sound just like my mother when she tries playing dress up with her teenage daughter." I responded monotonically.

"Hey, I bared my soul to you, didn't I? Just give me one day of you looking like the girlfriend from heaven, please?"

I frowned and laughed at the same time. "Gosh, you're all loony. Fine, I'll wear the darned ribbon!"

-

In art I started my major that day. An oil on canvass of the teenage couple on a park bench, but managed to execute no more than a few ill-fitting brush strokes. It was her eyes that stopped me from concentrating, ones that lingered on me but as I turned to catch them they were already away.

I frowned. "I wish she would stop looking at me, it's really giving me the creeps."

"Who?" Amy murmured as she followed my hostile line of sight. "You mean Ariel? But she's not looking at you at all and why would that be so threatening? Ariel is a lovely girl!"

"Don't judge a book by its cover." I warned.

Amy laughed at this. "Isn't that what visual arts is all about? Here it's nothing but first appearances!"

It wasn't just Ariel I saw, but also the daeva-lux girls, but only briefly and at a distance as I hurried between classes. And though I wanted to I never found an opportunity to approach one of them. When I saw them though, I could not help noticing that during school all four of the girls kept far apart. In years eleven and twelve they hung around in different groups. I heard gossiping from afar and even witnessed Pearl and Rebecca walking past one-another but they never shed a glance to the other, as if they were strangers.

Then school ended and just like a regular Monday afternoon Bethanie and I were walking home from school.

"Bethanie, this is all so weird!" I cried suddenly unable to contain the thoughts and emotions that had been broiling inside during the last two days. "I feel like nothing has happened and yet it has, hasn't it?"

Bethanie smiled as she rubbed my shoulder. "It has, but that doesn't mean that you can't still have your normal life."

"But there's bad things out there, aren't we meant to protect people from them!?"

"Hey," she soothed, "sure there's bad things, but there's no need to go looking for them. If you do you'll only put yourself in danger. Just keep on living the way you are now. If things are going to happen, they're going to happen but we're not going to look for it, okay? All that business is too dangerous and we're too new to all this so just take a step back."

"I guess so." I replied. "Don't get me wrong, I like normal boring life, it's just, it feels odd to have learnt all this and do nothing. But then I guess, I don't even know what we're supposed to do."

"I don't really know either." Bethanie admitted.

"We should find those daeva-luxes and find out more about what's going on!"

Bethanie winced. "Yeah, maybe, but then also maybe we're better off not. It's all so confusing with one side pointing the finger at the other and calling them evil. I don't think that those lux girls are lying, I mean it's become pretty obvious that Ariel and Raziel just want to turn as many daevas as they can, but we don't really know what either side's game is. For all we know those daeva-lux girls could be vying for their own power."

I frowned. "Maybe you're right, two of those girls did really scare me. Vanessa seems hell bent on destruction and then there's the black-haired girl, Rebecca, she frightens me most of all. She talks about violence and death so calmly. There's definitely something not right about those two, but then Lara and Pearl don't seem so bad. And Pearl I really like!"

"Hm, I got the same vibe, but then two of them were overpowered by Ariel. And the way Ariel lied to us so easily, that just can't be forgiven." I noticed that Bethanie had her hands clenched.

"Still, despite that I kinda feel sorry for Ariel. It's just her and Raziel against those other four. They might be strong enough to overcome the others, but I think it must be pretty lonely for them..."

Bethanie scoffed. "Lonely? Not a chance. There's two more girls in that crew, no doubt daeva-noxes too and if you think Vanessa and Rebecca are scary then you should see this Dorothy chick, she seems to me like she's positively insane."

"Oh!?" I gasped. "More daevas?"

"And then of course there are those shades. I have no idea whose side their on!"

"The monsters that attacked us last week..?" I husked.

We walked in silence for a few minutes as unease crept heavily into our hearts but then suddenly Bethanie asked, "Hey, Abigail, I was wondering why you're not walking home with Eric today. You two are dating now and he doesn't live too far from our streets, so why are you with me instead of him? Didn't he offer?"

I smiled shyly. "He did actually, but I turned him down. Walking home together after school is our thing and besides, Eric and I spent all lunch together!"

"And probably many more lunches to come!" Bethanie prophesised. "Well I don't mind the afternoons but don't ditch me in the mornings, that would mean I'd actually have to catch the bus!"

"Oh no!" I cried passionately. "Then you'd lose your beauty sleep! We can't have that now, that extra half an hour makes the world of difference to your complexion!"

Bethanie scoffed. "You know I don't care about that stuff, three brothers remember? That makes me as adept as a boy in those things. But, sleep any way its sliced is