[scifan] plantation 02.5 - daphne Read online

  DAPHNE

  A Plantation Story

  by

  Stella Samiotou Fitzsimons

  ©2013 by Stella Samiotou Fitzsimons

  Blog: Stella Samiotou Fitzsimons

  Facebook: Stella Samiotou Fitzsimons

  Twitter: @plantationworld

  Join my mailing list to receive news on upcoming releases & promotions: Stella Samiotou Fitzsimons

  Books

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by electronic, mechanical or

  other means, without permission in writing from the author.

  1

  The Saviors were divided into two groups of five fighters in the combat ring. They were

  simulating a fight that would have taken place in a world long gone, way before the aliens claimed it for themselves. It was part of a war that would have been fought with arrows and swords, even fists and kicks.

  The air carried excitement and anticipation as the warriors attacked each other over an

  imaginary battlefield. It was always a pleasure to come up with new ways to trick their opponents and bring them to their knees without the use of advanced human or alien technology.

  The rules were quite simple. If a fighter wasn’t quick enough to avoid getting hit by the synthetic knives and arrows, they had to stay down. The last one standing would win the twenty enviable points of victory for the day and would choose the next day’s battle scenario.

  Daphne sat on the paved ground outside the ring stretching her limbs like a waking cat. She

  watched the fight as she tried to reflect on life and recoup her strength at the same time. She had injured her left foot and ankle earlier in an attempt to spin in the air as she was jumping off a tree.

  Her entire body felt antsy and restless despite the injury. She thought she’d stay in the shadows for a while and watch her friends’ performance from a distance but now she knew she had to join in the fight.

  “No,” Zoe said shaking her head when she saw Daphne enter the ring. “What do you think you’re

  doing? You know what Doc said.”

  Daphne didn’t respond. Instead, she directed her gaze at Doc. “Yes, what was it that you said?”

  she asked him. “That I should rest? Is that what you’re going to suggest when we have the Slimies breathing down our necks?”

  Doc swallowed hard. “Perhaps it would be best to be in top shape when that happens?”

  “Whatever,” Daphne said as she stretched her arms behind her back. That hurt, she thought but kept a brave face on anyway. She had to set an example for all of them.

  “There’s no room for you,” Nya said under her breath.

  “And what exactly do you mean by that?” Daphne inquired staring down at Nya.

  “She means you’d make our number odd. There are ten of us already,” Finn said.

  “Maybe we can call Damian back,” Biscuit said. “Then we’d be even again.”

  “You can all be on the same team for all I care,” Daphne said. “I can take you all on.”

  “Hey!” Scout protested.

  “Don’t you know when I’m joking, Scout?” Daphne said as she walked over to the weapon

  stand. She let her fingers run gently across the various fake weapons before picking one up: a long serrated knife with a golden handle. A feeble weapon at best even for Daphne.

  She turned to look at Freya who was sitting quietly on the ground a few yards away from the

  group with a stick in her hand making drawings on the hardened sand and seemingly uninterested in what was going on around her.

  Daphne pondered on the image of the girl for a few seconds. She wanted to be scornful but felt

  intrigued instead. What was it that gave Freya the ability to have a separate life, one that didn’t involve being part of the group at all times?

  “Why don’t you guys take a break and we can all have some fun later when I feel better?”

  Daphne said.

  “Sounds good to me,” Biscuit said. “I could use me some snack time.”

  “Okay, fine, let’s all just take a break,” Finn said. “I‘m sure you’ll feel better by the time we’re back, Daphne.”

  Finn always sensed more than he let on, Daphne was sure of that. She paced around the ring for

  a few moments before walking over to Freya who was still occupied with her drawings in her own

  bizarre little world.

  Daphne took a look at the drawings trying to be as disinterested as possible. She saw two small

  animals, cats maybe, sleeping next to each other. A house with a tiled roof and a bunch of flowers in the yard. Utter silliness.

  “It looks like it’s just the two of us,” Daphne said. “Are you up for it?”

  Freya looked up to Daphne placing her hand over her eyes to protect them from the direct

  sunlight. “Up for what?” she said.

  “Fighting in the ring,” Daphne said rolling her eyes. “What did you think?”

  “You want to fight me?” Freya said smiling. “No, thanks, I’m good.”

  “Scared?”

  “Wow, you think I am that easy to trick, Daphne?” Freya said standing up.

  “C’mon, Freya, it will be fun,” Daphne teased.

  “I’d rather eat bugs.”

  “That could be arranged.”

  “It’s not working,” Freya said as she walked away.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” Daphne said. “Not too much.”

  “I’m not going to bite, sorry, Daphne.”

  “That’s fine. Sometimes I forget what a baby you can be.”

  Freya turned to face Daphne. “Fine,” she said. “If having a make-believe fight with me means so

  much to you, let’s do it. It’s worth it if it makes you shut up.”

  Daphne pointed at the weapon stand with a loving smile on her face. “Pick a knife,” she said.

  “Knives? Really, Daphne?” Freya said as she walked over to the stand and picked a knife with a

  clip-point blade. “These things look too real,” she said.

  “Whoever gets stabbed three times loses,” Daphne said and plunged forward to challenge Freya.

  “Three?” Freya shouted as she twisted to avoid Daphne’s charge. “One’s more than plenty.”

  Daphne was incredibly fast and accurate with knives. The best among the Saviors. Nobody

  could compete with her in that area, not even Damian or Finn and that said a lot. Maybe it wasn’t fair to Freya, but Daphne was the one with the injured foot after all. She repeated that to herself a couple times fully aware it wasn’t important. Injured or not, she could still handle a knife like it was an extension of her body.

  The fight was quick and predictable. Daphne brought Freya down several times. Something

  strange got into her that urged her to act as if it was a real enemy she was fighting. She spun around, jumped and came down on Freya again and again. At the last moment she would stop right before the knife touched Freya’s skin. The scene was repeated until it was not entertaining for Daphne anymore.

  “Just stay down,” Daphne told Freya rolling her eyes. “This is getting boring.”

  Freya shook off the dust from her hair and clothes before getting up one more time. She picked

  up her knife and charged at Daphne.

  Daphne ducked just in time to avoid being hit in the shoulder. She swiftly turned her body to the left and grabbed Freya’s wrist twisting it a little. Freya let out a cry.

  “Not bad,” Daphne said holding Freya’s hand behind her back.

  “What’s going on?” Damian’s voice startled both girls.<
br />
  “We’re just having a little bit of fun,” Daphne said releasing Freya’s wrist.

  Damian glanced at Freya for a single moment and then turned his attention to Daphne.

  “Can I talk to you?” he said.

  “Sure,” Daphne said.

  She followed him out of the combat ring and round the Armory and the Kitchen to reach

  Damian’s office in the Headquarters. The facilities consisted of eight buildings in total and were surrounded by a thick forest that had successfully concealed their presence so far.

  “What’s up?” Daphne asked as she let herself plop down on a chair in Damian’s office. Her foot

  hurt like crazy after the walk through the camp but she didn’t want to look weak in front of Damian.

  He cast an icy glance on her. She knew all about the severity of his countenance and didn’t

  really mind it anymore. She had rather come to depend on it.

  “Whatever it is that you think you’re doing, it has to stop,” he said picking up a stack of papers from his desk.

  “What are you talking about?” Daphne said. Sometimes she had no idea what he was all about.

  No, scratch that. Most of the time she had no idea what he was all about. At least for the past few months. He had become more cryptic than usual, keeping to himself at odd times and leaving many of her questions unanswered.

  Damian started leafing through the stack of papers avoiding eye contact with her. “You are using

  your powers to prove stupid points,” he said.

  “You’re making no sense, Damian,” she said leaping off her chair. The pain in her foot and

  ankle sent her right back to a sitting position.

  “Just stop playing mind games, Daphne,” Damian said. “It’s tiresome. You’re better than that.”

  Daphne stared at him a long while before responding. “Did you bring me here to scold me?” she

  said in the end. She felt her heartbeat get faster as blood rushed to her head preparing her for yet another fight.

  “Leave your companions alone,” he said looking up from his papers.

  There it was again. That strange vibe she’d be getting from him lately. There was a definite shift in his attitude. She could not quite put her finger on it. “You mean Freya?” she said. “Since when did you become her defender? Seriously, don’t you think she needs to be challenged a bit?” Daphne shook her head. “For her own good, Damian.”

  “Just do your part and let me worry about what’s good for the team,” Damian said drily.

  Daphne got up again and ignored the screaming pain in her foot to go to him. She took the papers

  from his hands and placed them back down on the desk before wrapping her arms around his neck.

  “You would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?” she said. She stretched her neck to

  kiss him on the lips.

  He jerked his head backward to avoid her kiss. “Nothing’s wrong,” he said and she immediately

  knew the opposite was true. She could sense it in the imperceptible vibrations of his voice. In the ever so slight shaking of his strong hands. Even the air around him turned paler.

  “I can help,” she said. “I hope you know that.”

  “Thanks, Daphne, but I already told you, I don’t need any help.”

  “Why are you so snappy today?” she asked losing her patience.

  “I have things to do. I can’t just go around playing all day like the rest of you.”

  “Fine,” she said as she turned her face away so he wouldn’t see her cheeks turning red with

  anger and hurt. She stormed out of the office determined not to speak to him for the rest of the day.

  Damian had never been easygoing or open but lately he had become as obnoxious and irritable

  as a trapped animal. It was hard not to love him and, yet, it was even harder to love him sometimes.

  His uneven charm had grown on her like a slow-developing disease.

  She laughed at that last thought and slowed down to take a look at her foot. It was badly

  swollen. Doc had warned her that this would happen if she didn’t keep it immobilized and on ice for twenty-four hours. But she never followed instructions. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she had to trust her own instincts completely if she were to learn how to control her constant

  foresights and divinations that made her life highly unpredictable.

  She heard a strange noise behind her. Turning around to check it out, she froze in her tracks at

  the sight. “Dammit,” she thought. “Not again.”

  The vision returned blurring out the surrounding area. A white mist covered up the buildings and

  the forest giving way to a gray battlefield at a short distance. Ashes and dust flew up in the air causing her to squint.

  She rubbed her eyes furiously. “Concentrate, Daphne,” she whispered. “It’s trying to tell you

  something.”

  That was just great but what was the vision trying to tell her exactly? It didn’t make any sense.

  The Saviors were fighting against an army of huge Sliman warriors that could not be killed. Blasts ricocheted off their bodies and hit nearby trees. Explosions did not seem to faze them in the least.

  What were those creatures made of?

  Then the rain came pouring down, deafening, constant. It formed a pool on the ground that kept

  growing larger and higher. Daphne felt the water on her calves and knees before a white beam of light struck her across the chest. Daphne gasped and took a step backward. Then the mist cleared and in the distance she saw Damian. He was holding Freya in his arms. The two of them were kissing. Damian

  held the girl tight with a sort of adoration in his eyes that Daphne had never witnessed before. It was as if a spell was cast on him and he only cared about one thing: Freya.

  Daphne shuddered. “This can’t be a vision,” she thought. “It’s just a stupid mind game. I’m

  playing tricks on my own mind now.”

  She shook her head and the vision died out just as quickly as it had come. Daphne placed her

  hand on her forehead as she felt a headache settling in.

  “Daphne, are you okay?” she heard Zoe’s voice who walked up to her.

  It took Daphne a moment to pull herself together before she could answer. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she

  said looking straight into Zoe’s eyes.

  “Is it your foot?” Zoe asked.

  Daphne shook her head. “No. Tell me, Zoe, have you noticed anything odd about Damian and

  Freya lately?”

  “Odd how?”

  “Never mind,” Daphne said and put her arm around her friend’s shoulder to support herself as

  the weight of her body strained the ligaments in her foot more than she could take.

  2

  Daphne fought to quiet down the unnerving feeling of impending doom in her stomach. If she

  was lucky she could escape from it for a few hours sleep. Then she could get up in the morning with everyone else and pretend it was only a dream she had in the night, not a foretelling vision.

  No such luck. She quickly realized she could not sleep. She got out of bed, threw a jacket around her shoulders and stepped into her boots without pulling the zipper up. She moved quietly on tiptoes through camp and into Damian’s tent.

  He slept on top of the blanket, his chest rising and falling rhythmically underneath his shirt. At times she wondered if the true reason she felt so attached to him was that he was the first person she ever met with no visible aura about him. None that she could perceive anyway. Rather, there was a multitude of colors around him blending together into something incomprehensible. He was a mystery that needed to be solved. Daphne was not one to walk away from a challenge.

  “Who am I kidding? It’s not about solving riddles anymore,” she thought. “It’s about love.”

  She quickly kicked the boots off h
er feet, tossed the jacket to the floor and let her hair down

  before slipping into bed with Damian.

  He sighed slightly when she ran her fingers across his forehead and down to his chin. He turned

  to his side and opened his eyes facing her.

  “What are you doing here?” he said. “What time is it?”

  “I couldn’t sleep,” she said softly.

  Damian sat up supporting his weight on his elbows. “Go back, Daphne,” he said.

  “Why?” she asked getting irritated at his harsh tone.

  “I don’t want you here right now. That’s why.”

  “You are such a charmer,” she said bitterly. “What’s gotten into you? If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re looking to replace me.”

  “Good thing you know better then,” he said impatiently.

  Her attempt to test the waters didn’t work. She knew it wouldn’t. Damian’s soul was

  impenetrable at times and nobody knew that better than her. She looked away shocked and hurt by his coldness.

  “Someone will notice eventually if we’re careless,” he said in a softer voice.

  “Maybe it’s time they noticed.”

  His determination to keep things under wraps drove her mad at times. So what if people knew

  they were together? What was it he was so afraid of?

  She furiously jumped up to go but the pain in her foot shot through her.

  Damian took her hand. “Stay,” he said with a different kind of determination in his voice. “We

  need to talk anyway.”

  Daphne studied his expression cautiously. It was as if he had come to a sudden revelation and it

  wasn’t a pleasant one. She shuddered. “Why do you say it with that face?” she asked him.

  “I say everything with this face.”

  Daphne surveyed him from head to toe again, slowly, deliberately. “Are you trying to piss me

  off?”

  Damian put his hand on her shoulder. “I can’t do this anymore,” he said. “It’s not fair to either one of us. It’s time we moved on.”

  She tried to control herself as she felt a wave of rage enter her bloodstream. “Really, Damian,

  don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit? It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. If you don’t want people to know we’re seeing each other, it’s fine for now. I will go before anyone wakes up.”