NARRATED BY OMBRA
"Yes!" Me and Luna both burst out simultaneously with our hands interlocked we pump them in the air
I drop my hand first so I don't get a disapproving look from Ray, Luna and I both have boyfriends after all.
Tay and Ray (Heh that rhymed) both run after us with big smiles plastered on their faces
Ray Embraces Luna in a hug and whispers in her ear "You did so good"
I give a slight smile with a voice whispering in the back of my head that it could have been me.
I block the voice out with Tay's squeals as he tackles me, I lean against the table for support as Tay kisses me on the lips
I smile at him as he smiles back at me while he lets go.
I gaze over at Judge Cortez who is scowling and I'm not sure what he's scowling at, it's either Tay and I kissing or me winning the jury.
Either way, it involves me.
"Well, you're free" Ray pats me on the shoulder
I give him a toothy smile and Tay pulls on my arm to leave and I follow him out of the courtroom
•••
"So how was it? What was it like?" Tay asks me as he sits down on our living room couch next to Ignis who is processing something in his mind as he takes a sip of soda.
I shrug "Survivable"
"Did you get in any prison fights?" Ray smiles
I purse my lips together "One person called me Omega and tried to punch me, the prison guards got in the way before the hit...didn't know him, but that's about it"
Moonkoli leans up against me purring, his tail wraps around my leg I don't know why this stupid cat likes me so much.
It's kind of hard to process everything that has happened, so apparently, this 'guy' is a luso with way too many powers to remember
I shift my eyes to the purple haired girl who is watching the cars pass by outside the window
"Savari right?" I ask her, she jumps at her name
"Yeah" she looks over at me we eyes seem kind of blank, she did help me win the trial though.
I extend a hand out to her. "Ombra Teksilo" I introduce myself, she shakes it slightly
"Soo do you know Luna?" I ask her before she turns her head back to the window
"You can say that"
It hits me "Didn't you date Frizz for a short amount of time?"
She flinches "Umm." She thinks "Yeah I did"
Luna and Ray kind of look at her weird. Almost like they are warning her not to say anything
I look around the room and then I realize that 2 people are missing
"Where are Racun and Frizz?"
Everyone's posture physically get straighter and tighter as if I just talked about a dead person
"Racun got shot," Savari said in a monotone voice
"By who?!" my voice gets really high and loud. Vesi winces at how loud it is
"The same person who is trying to frame you for their murders" Savari looks down at her hands which are swaying back and forth with her arms
"She isn't..." my voice is quiet because I don't want to allow the word 'dead' back in my vocabulary...I have used it too many times
"No she's not dead" Luna intervenes before I can sputter out the word "in fact, Frizz is texting me right now on her condition, she is stable"
"Wait. Is Hashtag Rizz a thing again?" I smile cheekily picking up Moonkoli and bringing him over to Tay while Ray nods
"Most definitely"
Moonkoli hisses at Tay once the contact between them is made and runs off of his leg and back to me
"That stupid cat used to like me before you came along Ombra," Tay mumbles to himself
"Well, at least one person in this house likes you." I cross my arms and nudge Moonkoli off my leg again
Tay gives a slight smile back to me "Who would have thought I would date the Edgy boy" he slumps back into the couch
Ignis looks up at me "Who would have thought you would be gay" I didn't even think he was listening to this conversation, it seemed like he was in his own little world
I run my fingers through my hair and sit down next to Tay "Definitely not me"
There is a moment of silence before Luna's phone starts ringing in her hand, she flinches a bit before answering
"Hello?"
Pause.
"This is her"
Luna starts digging through the drawers in the living room, looking for something. Me and Tay look at each other suspiciously before Luna pulls out a piece of paper and a pen, she looks at me and starts writing
"Please spell that out for me"
There is a pause and then Luna starts writing frantically before giving a sharp underline on the piece of paper
"Thanks" she hangs up and turns to Ignis "Ignis did you use my phone to call the person who owns the house?"
He shrugs sheepishly "I didn't realize that it was your phone til I was done with the call"
"Huh." Luna nods her head slightly "Well, in any case, we got our guy" Luna turns to me "Ombra, do you know this guy"
She flips the paper over and it reads 'Kilo Teksilo'
I furrow my eyebrows together "Yeah, that's my father"
Everyone's mouth falls open.
I look at them "it's not him though...he has been dead since 8th grade"
Savari steps forward "May I ask Ombra, what colored eyes did he have?" She shifts uncomfortably in front of me
"Bright red...why?"
Savari looks at Luna and Ray who looks right back at her.
Ray pulls out something out of his pocket and hands it to me. Ignis and Vesi slide behind a small gap between the wall and the couch to look at it also.
There are 2 pictures...it must have been the pictures that were provided at court.
One is a family picture with Ignis in it with the little girl crossed out and Ignis circled in red ink and the other is my family picture with my brother and mother crossed out in red...however, my Dad isn't crossed out.
"Is this a joke? Ignis looks up at Ray
"What?" I turn back to Ignis
"Ombra, look at your Dad and mine" Ignis looks back down at the pictures and I do too
My Dad is in both of the pictures, he is identical except he looks a bit older in Ignis' picture
I stare at it intensely. Before turning them over on the back of mine is a date '3/11/97' and on the back of Ignis' is the date '7/12/10'
I hand the picture to Ignis behind me and he studies the date
"I was 2 at the time this was taken...it was only 1 month and 2 days before my Mom died" I run my thumb over the picture
"Ombra, was your Mom a Luso?" Savari kneels down in front of me
I hesitate "Yeah, so was my brother"
"Your brothers dead too?"
"Died at the same time with my father, in 8th grade."
Savari's expression gets grimmer
"Do you think your father killed your mother and brother?"
I hesitate once more then I nod slightly to everyone's shock
"Really?" Tay asks me while he puts his hand on my thigh
I give a little nod "He physically hit me, called me a failure, mistake, runt...he never laid a hand on my Mother or Brother though, I suppose it's because they are, well, 'special'"
I stand up and walk away to the corner of the room
"After my Mom died he said he was 'working' and he was gone every day except for on-"
"Friday's" Ignis still has his eyes glued to the picture "Yeah...he said he was always working on Fridays for me"
Luna calculates a bit in her head and she bites her lower lip "Ignis, you are 2 years younger then Ombra right"
Ignis nods his head
"If Ombra was 2 in that picture..." she whispers to herself a bit then a lightbulb lights
"Ignis...not to call you out...but are you a luso?"
Everyone's attention shifts to Ignis
Ignis gets red "W-What?! N-no!" He sputters out.
Vesi looks deep into his eye "Ignis..." she says softly
Ignis's eyes get softer "okay fine!" He almost yells "I'm a luso" he mumbles
"Really?" Rays eyebrows raise but then I shift my attention to Vesi whose bottom lip quiver and eyes feel with tears. She turns away when Ignis reaches for her
"What power do you have?" Savari speaks monotone
"I'd prefer not to do it indoors...I have had accidents before..." Ignis is still looking at Vesi who is taking comfort next to Ray "I feel like I don't even know him" she whispers shaking a bit.
He walked guilt-fully outside acknowledging us to follow him into the cold autumn breeze
Ignis scams the area of pine trees surrounding our house then he steps over in the middle of the lawn and takes a deep breath
He holds up his pointer finger in his right hand and his eyes start glowing with the bright orange tint
The tip of his fingers light a small flame and fire sparks out
He smiles slightly at our shocked faces before Vesi looks up at him "is that how your sister died?"
Automatically Ignis' fire goes out and his eyes get dim "Yeah...I started the fire accidentally and it..." He hesitates "killed her." He starts walking back inside "I just couldn't control it"
I stop him and grab his hand "you know Ignis, you are not the only one with a tragic past"
He pauses and looks at me and smiles "I guess it runs in the family"
it hits me that we are family and I have to take a breath.
"Yeah. Family."
YOU ARE READING
The Dark Secrets of Estorria
Teen Fiction*Book 2 of 'The Estorria' series* You are not the only one with a tragic past.
