Chapter 3

 "Krish!" I said in awe, staring at the black-red-haired Indian who annoyed me on the bus."What are you doing here?" 

"Be quiet, I am not here because I want to be." He said nearly spitting, "The Spirit Council said that you were too powerful to waste, now would you kindly step away from the door so I can melt it?" 

I stepped back not because I wanted to listen to him, but because I wanted to get out. He twisted a bead on his wrist cuff, before I could stop myself I said. "That looks exactly like my bracelet. "

For a second he looked confused before steeling his face and telling me to shut up. He kneeled and then pointed his hand at the metal lock, a flash of fire as white as the walls around us broke through the bars. I scream in fear as it licks the metal before the door swings open I am still frozen. 

Why must it be flames? Why, why, why? I fall to my knees, screaming, no no, no, no flashbacks.

My older brother Avi decided to take me out for a spin in his new Honda Civic. 

I was four when I jumped into my blue car seat, my pencil curls flying out of the bun my mom tried to “secure” before we set off to the cake store for my birthday. My mom laughed her old laugh, it was beautiful, and it was the laugh that many boys fell for back in her high school years. At least that was what she told me, and I don’t question a single part of it. I waved goodbye to my mom, already counting off the countless flavors I wanted. “Chocvate, vivilla, stwabevvy, chocvate chip, oveo . . .” 

My brother laughed, “How about just one flavor, okay Miss Chiriya?” 

I pondered that, my face scrunched up in thought "Okay, I want Chocvate with bue fosting." I declared. 

He looked at me with a grin. 

It was the last time he looked at me.

The only thing I remember is the sight and smell of a burning car and the taste of smoke.

I breathed heavily, tears streaming down my face as I desperately count to myself. Ten is the smell of cologne and brown, eleven is the color red and smelled of smoke, and twelve is- 

Krish grips my hand reminding me of where we were. 

His eyes stare at me with curiosity as I gasp for air. “Are you insane?”

I sputter and cough, “I, I, I’m not, insane!” I say my voice coming out mangle. A gunshot makes my jump, my eyes finding five soldiers with guns aimed at our bodies. A hysterical laugh builds in my throat. 

Nope, not the time to prove Krish right.

 Krish points the middle finger at each of them before tossing something black onto the ground, it shatters creating a circle of black flames. He pulls me towards it with sickening fastness.  "NOOO!" a mangled voice cries. I look around to see what made that sound when I realize it was me. 

I hear the sound of a trigger being pulled and alarms blaring as Krish runs dragging me behind him. He looks around surveying the empty hallway before he pulls out another black stone and tosses it at  . . . my  . . .  feet and I scream in terror as the fire wraps around me with quickening speed. 

A gunshot pierced through my ears. 

But that didn’t matter, the black flames enveloped me in the one thing I was deathly afraid of.

Fire.

I'm staring at the white walls. 

I can't be here again.

 I move on the green bed watching as vitamins get pumped through my arm. I watch as the all-orange doctor slowly walks towards me to tell me the news of Krish. 

I’m always watching.

He smiles at me though bags hang under his eyes. He gets straight to the point and says, " Dear child, I'm sorry."

No, NO, NO! 

The infirmary is too white.

 If I had the option to pick the color it would be blue like a peaceful baby blue reminding the people inside of the hospital to be calm.

The hospital is not calm.

There are screaming, unanswered questions sinking into the clean tiles, and trolleys encircled by crying people. A haze surrounds them enveloping them in sadness. 

The hospital is no place for happiness.

And the loneliness, the loneliness is too much, being left in an empty white room with beeping machines that shrouded me in uncontrollable loneliness when they told me my brother was dead.

The doctor's shaking me out of the flashback, "Dear child, you didn't let me finish, I'm sorry for making you worry. Krish is fine, spirts can't be killed unless their head is chopped off or something." 

I sink back into the crinkling hospital sheets, but the questions, spun in my head and I had no idea where to put them. I just wiped my tear-stained cheeks and blurted, "Where are we?"

"Ahh, we are in the middle of the Sahara actually." He says and just starts to walk back before I can ask anything else. I sigh in frustration from not knowing anything before looking out the window next to the bed. 

He wasn't lying, the sand was gold and sparkled in the evening light as I pushed my nose to the window, except for the crystal clear lake we were next to. 

It was a frustrating situation, no one was willing to provide me with any information, and Krish was unconscious and unable to explain things. I felt useless and had nothing to occupy my time. I tried counting sheep to help me sleep, but it took me until 1,356 before I finally drifted off, after tossing and turning for a while.

I get up from the bed and notice that it's still dark outside. I consider leaving the room, but the silence makes me hesitate. As I reach for the door handle, it creaks loudly, making me feel as if I should run back to the bed in the far corner and scream

 IT WASN'T ME!

 I step out into the corridor, but the eerie quietness of the hallway scares me, so I quickly return to the infirmary, hiding between the covers.

"Get up." Ice-cold water splashed onto my face as I gasped and sat up straight with a jerk. Water dripping down my face from my chin. Only for my eyes to find Krish's face, "Oh, it's just you." I said, yawning, slowly slumping back onto the bed after wiping my face with the bedsheet. 

"WAIT A MINUTE, it's you!" I say jumping up out of the bed and tackling him with a hug. His face turned beet red and I laughed. "How are you here? I thought you'd be resting or something."

He sighed "Spirts can get better with the twist of a bead and a couple of elixirs. Honestly, do you know nothing?"

I groaned, falling back to the sound of crinkling sheets, back to being rude.

By then the weird orange doctor came back giving Krish one of those looks parents gave me telling me to be nice. Though I've only spent five hours of actual “talking time” with Krish I can't imagine him being, well, nice.

"Dear child, I know you've never been introduced to our world so if you have any questions please don't be afraid to ask." He said shooting a pointed glare at Krish. 

I couldn't help it, I shouted questions at him with the speed of light.

"Why are we here? Why do you keep saying spirits? Where's my family? What happens with a twist-of-a-bead? Why did you save me? What-"

"Dear child," the doctor says interrupting my flow of questions. "Slow your horses, I guess this is technically my fault for asking you to begin questioning, Krish would explain this better so I'm going to take my leave, but if you need me just call my name."

"But what's your name?" I prompted.

"Dear child, you got me there, My name is Leo Capricada, but you may call me Leo since I am only one century older than you." 

"One century! How can you be ONLY one CENTURY older than me?" I almost scream.

"Dear Child, all spirits live to be one millennium, and don't ask about spirits, I am tired and Krish will explain." He turned excruciatingly slow and walked back with a wobble in his step.

Krish groaned and pulled me out of the room. Where there had been empty corridors the night before, the daylight was bursting with people, WHISPERING people.

"Not real . . . didn't know . . . why is she with Krish."

I sigh and tug at the potato-sack-like dress  I was wearing, wishing I had the chance to change. 

Krish starts talking, "Spirits are ancient sun beings that live with us in our bodies and we can use their powers to fight or accidentally burn down a house. The cuffs we wear restrict our powers otherwise the spirits would likely try to take over our bodies and burn us up." He pulls out a copy of his own and hands it to me. "Here, use this one. I'm going to drop you off at the school residences, and Dhamari will take it from there." 

He led me towards a door that had 'UPSR' written on it in blue block letters and sighed heavily as we approached it. "You sure do sigh a lot," I commented, cringing as he sighed again. "You act as if that door leads to the end of the world."

He glared at me. "It might as well." As he opened the door, the previously silent passageway filled with the sounds of laughter, screams, and things falling.

"Oh," I said, wincing as I pressed my hands to my ears. The noise only increased, and I slumped over in pain.

A hand warmed the small of my back. I sucked in a breath spinning around to Krish's face. The lines on his face softened and he looked at me as if I was a fragile glass vase he thought was strong. "It's fine, I'm fine," I reassured him. "I just have a sensitivity to sound."

"I don't think you can stay here then," came an angry voice from behind me.

I didn't even need to turn around to know the tone. It was the "get-away-from-my-boyfriend/crush" anger that I was used to encountering from girls who preferred giggling and chatting to playing sports with boys. The second was my idea, the first was hers. This girl had probably turned into my sworn enemy just five seconds ago.

The sound was piercing my ears now, making me wilt to the ground, not unlike a flower without water. Krish helped me up, his hand on my shoulder. He turned to face the angry girl. "Dhamari, be nice," he scolded, before closing the door and giving me a moment of relief.

I could see Dhamari more clearly now. She was my age, with brown-green eyes making my amber eyes almost seem dull in comparison, a strong Indian accent, and pale brown skin. But what caught my eye was her hair. It was incredibly long, reaching from her head down to her feet. In my opinion, she looked like a desi supermodel, not someone who would be in the middle of the Sahara desert.

Dharmari let out a harrumph and put on a smile that was as sweet as coffee beans - in other words, not sweet at all.

She placed a hand on her hip and almost launched my hand out of its socket when she aggressively pulled me out of Kirish's hands. I yelped at the sudden movement and could only wave goodbye at Krish as she dragged me away. She twisted her head back and yelled "I'll take care of her!" Into the air behind her before marching me to- wherever she wanted to take me. Leaving Krish stunned, kneeling near the floor where I was, before being dragged away.

As Dhamari strolled down the hallway pulling me behind her like a rag doll, She walked towards a door that was painted a yellow color, like the number five. The door shimmered and glowed as if beckoning me to come closer. My curiosity was piqued, and she stepped forward to push it open. 

As the door creaked open, I was greeted by a magical sight that left me spellbound. The room before me was warm and inviting, and it was as if I had stepped into a fairytale. 

The room looked to be four times the size of a football field and was adorned with soft twinkling lights that cast a warm glow on everything around me. I leaned forward for a closer view of the twinkling spheres and almost screamed when it followed me, hovering over my head. Delicate vines snaked their way across the walls, peeling off in places when people came close. A blue flame flickered in the center giving the space an ethereal feel. The aroma of delicious food wafted through the air, making my mouth water. 

I realized that the tables were laden with a variety of dishes, each one more mouth-watering than the next. On the side of the table, every four dishes were marked with a gold card. Or well most of them people picked theirs up and stored it somewhere safe before digging into their still-warm food.

 I wandered away from Dhamari who was currently pulling a boy tanned and with eyes not unlike her’s by the ear and scolding him.

My eyes followed the gold cards, tracing the pattern in my mind. A, C, E, G, I, K, M, O, Q, S, U, W, Y, and then seemed to shift to B, D, F, H, J, L, N, P, R, T, V, X, Z. 

I wondered, would my name be Chiriya or Widowbird? I know that was a weird question. But everyone called me Widowbird even my parents. 

I favored Widowbird over Chiriya.

Chiriya disappeared when her brother died.

But of course, if I learned anything from Rivers Edge Academy for the Highly Gifted, I knew that the word Widow freaked everyone out. I sighed dejectedly and went over to the C-section. I feel like I was picking up an old journal and trying to act like the person in it. I found mine and traced my fingers over the letters.

"Chiriya? Do you know I picked you're name? Avi said fingering his Rubix cube as I did my coloring. 

"Ywes, Avi, awnd I lwove my nawme," I say staring up at him in total admiration.

He smiled laughing, "Yes, I chose your name because, you were so tiny, and 12-year-old-me decided that if you can't make everyone look up at you in admiration, love, or fear. Then you would fly and make everyone look at you with awe and compassion instead." He got out of his chair and sat down next to me, "So I chose Chiriya, a small beautiful bird that people stop their work and listen to. Now let me help you color your new masterpiece."

A gentle touch made me jerk up from my curled position, placing a break in my weeping. A boy with black hair and thin and slender fingers looked down at me, frowning in pity. 

A burst of anger shrugged through me, I don’t want anyone’s pity. 

His tall frame causing him to lean down to help me up. His auburn eyes looked at me searchingly as he handed me my fallen gold card. "Are you okay?" He asks pushing his hair back so it wouldn't block his eyes. 

Was this guy serious?

I was sobbing my eyes out, for heaven's sake.

"Oh, yeah, I'm okay, the reason I'm crying is because I'm okay!" I say sarcastically.

He stares at me for a second and bursts out laughing.

I can only stare as he shakes with laughter, snorting. Finally, he slowed enough to say, "I am adding that line to the Dictionary of Patel, he said acting like he was pushing her phrase into his mind.

"My name is Ayaan Patel, at your service my lady, you must be new of course. Our desi population is growing, Krish, Dhamari, Aavni, Mithran, and now you. Makes you wonder who’s next." He says mocking a bow. "Now, I have much business, I will see you another time, my lady." Faking a French accent he tips an imaginary hat and disappears into a crowd of students. 

Before I could say much else Dhamri grabbed my ear and pulled me down to her height to yell at me,  leaving the lunch room behind us.

“What’s wrong with you?” Dhamari scolds, yanking me closer to hear her anger. "What sort of kid just starts crying in the middle of the lunchroom? Are you crazy? Or-" she pauses thinking. She shakes her head like a monster clawed its way through her skull and is gnawing at her thoughts. 

"Wait a minute, is this all for attention?" She says menacingly.

"No, what's wrong with you? Look, if you have this big of a problem with me, then let someone else show me around the school." I exclaim.

"You know what, I will, Avani can lead you just fine."

I just stared at the orange carpet as she pulled me through the hallways. 

Suddenly I was pushed into a room with gold lining, filled to the very brim with sand, the particles of the sand seemed to glow with the light of the sun and they shook and swam from side to side as if possessed. My eyes followed the twinkling sand as it spun in the air and moved delicately in a wave to a nearby fire lit on a black box.

The sand took the shape of a bird and simply pecked its beak toward the fire and the flames disappeared. The sand bird spiraled down a few moments after that becoming a diamond that glimmered in the magical light.

"Hi!" A voice says behind me. I lift my head from the sand, eyes finding a tall girl, both of her hands covered with a shimmery white powder that gleamed in the gold light reflected off the walls. "Hello? You must be Chiriya! The spirits spoke very highly about you! The whole school thought you were like the coolest, and then Krish said he knew you. I immediately started shipping you both. Now that I see you you do look like a good match for him, oh my god-"

Dhamari growled, cutting the poor girl off. 

The girl squeaked like she was just noticing Dhamari was standing behind her.

"Amani, I would like it if you stopped shipping people with my boyfriend!" She shrieked before stomping away in fury

I snickered at her childish whine, turning to the terrified Amani.

"Um, hello?" I say nervously.

The girl looks up at me as if waiting for me to say more.

"I thought this was supposed to be a tour?"

She stares at me for a second before bursting out laughing.

"What?" I say in alarm.

"Dhamari made it seem so difficult to get from place to place, didn't she?"

"What do you mean?" I say then chastise myself, I need to find a better word than "What?" If I was going to stay here those words would be pretty frequent.

"Explain your reasoning?" I repeat, there, now that sounds debate-worthy.

"You need to get your SoulSetter, it's what helps you with everything and anything. But first, we need to check how many Diamonds your parents have in their locker. An advanced SoulSetter is 192."

She grins and shows me her hand which has a gold band set around each of her wrists. There were tiny holes in the spaces that beads could fit in. One of the spaces had a stone that was a light yellow, with a silver dot engraved into the side.

"Diamonds? I only have 62$ in cash." I say wondering how anyone could afford 192 diamonds. But then again the girl had made one.

This seems to amuse her more than anything else, she doubles over laughing her heart out.

I fold my arms across my chest and glare at her until she's done. 

"I'm sorry, I forgot that you just arrived, people have been talking about you for years!" Amani says sitting down in the sand caused the sand underneath her to shift and spin.

I frown.

"The legendary Saraswathi's and Rami's daughter, what could we expect from you?"  She says my parent's names in almost a reverent tone.

"My parents were here?" I ask. 

"Were they here? Were they here? They were the strongest SoulSets anyone had seen since ancient times, and mind you there were some good ones, like Circe, Achilles, Caesar."  

Amani looked at me incredulously, "they never told you?"

"No, but-" I say having the sudden urge to protect my parents.

"Never mind, let's check your locker."

Amani pulls on a pouch hanging from her waist that I didn't see before pulls on the top of the bag and removes the pale yellow stone from her Soul setter. The sand previously sticking to her hands fell in tiny grains to the ground and swirling in strange designs underneath her immediately stopped and formed two diamonds, she picked them up and pocketed them. Then she pulled out a gray stone and popped it into the spot where the old stone used to be. The stone spun into place and Amani pointed her hand down onto the sand without a second to spare. A small grey safe of sorts appeared on the ground, Amani's full name flashing over it. "Amani Burrasakula, that's yours, so how do I access mine?" 

"Well," she says and starts swiping something on her left arm.

Names and lockers flash as they thump on the ground before the next one replaces it.

"What's the first letter of your last name?" She asks me still swiping.

"Chiriya Chakrabarthi," I say, "So, C."

"C, C, C, C, and there you are." 

At first sight, my box seemed to be around my height, then I realized that it was taller.

I moved towards it placing a hand on the gold-coated handle. I sucked in a breath and yanked nothing. It stayed locked.

Amani burst out laughing behind me, "Girl, are you joking? Don't human bank accounts at least have passcodes?"

I flushed red.

"Well, how the hell, am I supposed to know the password?"

She pushed a button that flashed red on the side. The name on top of the locker flashed and disappeared. A new sentence appeared at the top of the locker.

"FAMILY" shone in golden letters.

I knew the code.

"So do just say it, is there a keypad or... ?" I ask her.

"You just say it while holding the handle,"  Amani answers. "So then from the next time, it just recognizes your palm lines."

I clamp my left hand on the handle and whisper, S.N.A.C to the door and it opens wide.

Inside are enough diamonds to fill a jewelry shop or make a middle-class person into a millionaire.

"Wow," Amani breathes, staring in awe at the locker, "You have enough in here to buy 100 soul setters."

She shook her head as if breaking out of a trance and handed me a pouch hanging inside the locker.

"Here," she paused handing me the dark red pouch. "There should be two hundred in there, it automatically refills to have two hundred every time you spend, it takes them straight from your locker. I think we should get your soul setter from Miranda if you're as powerful as the spirits say."

With a blinding smile, a fire builds around us and I can only freeze and scream as we are transported to wherever "Miranda" is.