Unbound (Unbound, Book 1) ~Formerly Casting Power~

Chapter 23

All weekend, I holed up in my room, only coming out to eat. The best thing about my bedroom was the light that came in through the large windows, allowing me to paint by natural light, unhindered by the dull electrical hues. Saturday morning, I pulled out a blank canvas and set up my acrylics and brushes.

I spent the time painting, which put the overheard conversation to the recesses of my mind. The scene depicted a cliff shrouded in the darkness of the shadowy night, surrounded by woods and a storm-filled sky. A woman stood at the very edge of the cliff with arms outstretched towards the full moon radiating above. The wind was blowing her hair in every direction and the trees bent to the will of the breeze. Lightning spiked down from heavy clouds and the spinning power emanating from the woman's hands swirled as bright as the northern lights, the only flash of color in a setting of dull blacks and greys. The woman in the painting was featureless, but the memory of seeing my mother just this way was fresh in my mind.

Obviously, my emotions took over, as they always did.

After lunch on Sunday with Zach and my mom, my mood took a downturn. I gave up on the project and went back to my room to paint the scene black—if Zachariah wanted to see my paintings as badly as he claimed during lunch, he could dig them up himself and stare at nothing. I still didn't understand what he was even doing at my home. Were they trying to hide something or attempting to protect something? Because, either way, whatever their discussion, they were lying about everything.

*****

Monday came as a blessing.

Nancy couldn't stop talking about her time with Julian or the fact that he was coming home again to take her on an official date. She was, just as predicted, obsessed. My guess was that he wanted his mom to do his laundry, but I bit my tongue before the words flew out of my mouth. It was great that she was happy, but it seemed trivial considering everything else. Plus, I dreaded being the middle person in their inevitable post-breakup phase.

As school progressed past first day adjustments, I was able to focus on things other than my mother and Zachariah. It was a band-aid, but it was working—for now. I still felt the awkward pauses when they stopped talking as I entered a room, and I swear Zach had moved in for good.

Late at night, or when Zach wasn't there, I could hear whispers as my mother spoke in hushed tones into her cell phone behind her bedroom door. Sometimes, when I took Onyx outside to do her business before bed, I would find my mother coming back from the yard. She always said she was taking Opal out but the direction she returned from was where the gazebo was located while Opal was playing by the fence. Whenever I asked her about it, she made excuses and became defensive, saying that I didn't know what I was talking about. If she wanted me to butt out, what could I do? I hadn't been able to eavesdrop again, and I had no clue what was going on.

So, I did my best to ignore them.

I set aside the feeling of dread at the pit of my stomach that made me feel like I was constantly PMSing and tried to enjoy the warm September weather. Even school, which meant being away from home and all the secrets that our house now represented. When I was home, my time was spent locked away in my room, though I had no more inspiration to paint.

When Julian came back to Briarville for the third consecutive weekend, I agreed to a night out. I had to admit it was for Nancy—no boy needed his mommy to do his laundry every weekend. I wanted out of the house, so I said yes when they asked me to come out with them. Anything to avoid my mom and Zach.

That's how I found myself bowling with a date of my own.

A blind date.

If I had known that Jules was bringing someone back from college to babysit me, I'd have taken my chances at home. Nancy and I had met them here, and I realized that was so I wouldn't know until we arrived. Trevor I-don't-remember-his-last-name was nice, maybe even cute, but a blind date? No, thank you. No pity party for this girl.