Delsin followed me in. My better judgment told me to put myself somewhere where he was in between me and my father but I couldn’t move in time. “SORA-“He was going to yell but he saw me with Delsin. Delsin turned so I was behind him. I could tell father had been drinking. “Sir, I am sorry. Sora has been with me this evening” Delsin said as nice as he could. “I DON’T CARE! SORA, WE ARE LEAVING TOMORROW!” He boomed. My jaw dropped, no! I had friends, a date, and…and… just no! It wasn’t my fault that he can’t control his temper. I stepped around Delsin wanting to get a good shot at him. I had to get closer. As soon as I got around him, Delsin grabbed my waist and pulled me back. “Oh no you don’t” He whispered in my ear. “Oh yes I do” I shouted “YOU CAN’T KEEP MOVING ME AGAINST MY WILL! I HAVE A LIFE TOO YOU KNOW!” I shouted as tears started to prick my eyes while fighting against Delsin’s iron hold against my waist. “Sora, we’re leaving whether you like it or not” He said grumpy and walked back into the living room. I stared after him and turned into Delsin’s chest. “No! You can’t leave” He said quietly. I think that I wasn’t meant to hear that. “I have to” I cried. My eyeliner and mascara was running down my cheeks. I pulled out of his grasp and flopped onto the couch. “Will you be at school tomorrow?” he asked sitting across from me. “Doubt it” I said quietly. My head was spinning, so much had just happened. “NO! You have to!” He gasped getting up.

“If I live that long”

“What do you mean? Of course you’ll live that long”

“Not with him I won’t. Maybe ‘til 3 tomorrow morning”

“What do you mean?” I had to look away from his face. It was too concerned. No one had ever cared this much. “I mean, He is drunk and mad. That is not a good combo in my favor. The bruise you saw yesterday morning,” I pulled my sleeve up revealing the same foot long bruise that trailed up my arm “That’s from him. I have two on my legs and another on my ribs.” I said and pulled my sleeve back. “What!” he said quietly, “Your dad, your arm, has he ever…”He asked trailing off suggestively. “No, no!” I said, “But now you know why I don’t wear skirts.” I gestured to the jeans I had worn. Delsin paced around my coffee table in the family room. For several awkward moments I watched him contemplate what I had just told him. “Would you like to stay at my house? It’s probably too late to call Kory or Kelsee” He offered. “No, I couldn’t intrude on you like that.” I said getting up. He grabbed my wrist “No, my family would be quite glad to meet you” I could tell he was genuine about this. “Umm, ok. Just give me like 5 minutes” I said and ran to my room. Not realizing he followed me. I grabbed some necessities that I may need.  I threw them into a bag and threw the bag over my shoulder. “No, no, you’ll need more” He grabbed my bag and threw some more clothes into it so my shirts were almost flowing out of the top. “Let’s Go” He said quietly grabbing my wrist and school backpack.

            I walked into his home and was washed over by the scent of roses. Delsin took my hand and walked me up to the guest room. He closed the door behind me without a word. “Hey son, how was the-“I guessed that was his father. There was some mumbling and then a knock on the door. “Hey Sora? Can you come out for a moment?” Delsin asked on the other side of the door.

I opened the door. Wow, his whole family stood so close to the door. He took my hand and introduced me to everyone. “This is my sister Westin” He pointed to a girl with wavy blonde hair, she had a bouncy edge to her, she reminded me a lot of Kory. “This is my brother Kevin” He pointed to a boy who had to be 14 maybe 13. He was buff though for being so young. “And this is my mother and father, Abaster and McEnna” He pointed to two younger looking adults. “Nice to meet you all” I said politely. Delsin kept a strong, almost protective grip on my hand. The family all walked into the living room and he pulled me along. I heard him ask his father “Should we tell her?” and he responded “May make things easier on you”.  Tell me what? I wondered what they could possibly want to tell me. I sat down on the two person couch next to Delsin. This was moving so fast. He wrapped his arm around me. “There is something we might all want to tell you. So don’t run away and think we’re weird. Ok? Promise?” He asked. Gee, this sounded promising enough. “Promise” I nodded. Westin pulled out a big book. It looked ages old. Abaster started their conversation. “For ages our family and many others have lived in fear of a group called the Kabhaldi. They are a group of many people who have extraordinary powers. They live in Alaska but they have mini clans all over. We live by a prophecy saying that a prophet shall come to save us. She will be of Native American decent, she will have lived all over, and she shall bear to the crest of the star and moon.” My hand went to my necklace. “Sora,” Delsin turned to me, “When you lived in New York, I started following you around. It has been my job since you turned 13 to protect you. I have known you longer than you think. Since you were 10 I had seen you occasionally. We moved to Bainbridge with you. You just didn’t know it. Everyone thinks that we have lived here longer. Sora, you are the Prophet.” He said grabbing my shaking hands. I never had been one to believe in prophecies and prophets. I shook my head and stood up. I yanked my hands out of Delsin’s and ran to the guest room. I wouldn’t even look back.

I closed the door and sat on the window seat. I was scared. They were strange people. I had never heard of anything so ridiculous. Delsin opened the door and sat on the floor across from me. “What do you want to tell me now? That dragon exist and Whales are actually a good source of sea transport?” I cried “I didn’t even get to why I told you. Even though both those things are true. Some of the families who believe in the prophet are not for the prophet. They are against you. They want you gone and so the Kabhaldi can take over. One of these families is in town right now. They know you are here. I am going to be a little more protective than normal. Normally, I wouldn’t interfere in your daily life but for now I am going to be overly protective.” He stood up and wrapped his arm around me. “I would like it if you stayed here. They know where you live. Your father was not drunk. He was being controlled be one of them. They were going to get you somewhere where they could kill you.” He said holding me tighter. I twisted out of his grasp. “So you were dating me to get me out of the house? Not because you like me?” I asked. “No! No no no! I- well-I” He looked away. Yes. I threw a pillow at him “How could you” I cried. “Now, Sora, you don’t understand” he started, blocking the objects I tossed at him. “Oh I understand perfectly” I yelled back, “Now get out, please!” I sobbed. He came up beside me and put his hand on my arm. “I didn’t mean to hurt you” he said patiently and walked out of the room, careful to close the door behind him. I curled up into a sharper ball to get rid of the sobs shaking my entire body. Tomorrow I had to go to school with this on my back. Great I thought to myself. I was too awake too fall asleep but I must have because the last thing I remember was the moon light bouncing off the door.