The Morning the Sky Bruised

The sun didn’t rise the next morning; it bruised the sky.

I woke up with my heart performing a frantic, uneven rhythm against my ribs. My breath hitched as if I had been running in my sleep. For a long, disorienting second, I didn't know where I was.

I expected to feel the bite of the North Star’s frost or the rough bark of a pine tree against my back. I expected to hear the baying of hounds.

Instead, I felt the soft cotton of my duvet and the familiar, faint scent of lavender laundry detergent.

I was home. I was safe. I was just Elara.

I rolled onto my side, my muscles aching with a strange, heavy soreness. It didn't make sense. I hadn't gone to the gym. I hadn't gone for a run. Yet, I felt like I had spent the night hauling stones.

"Elara! If you aren't out of that bed in five minutes, I’m telling Mom you’re the one who broke the blender!"

Ethan’s voice boomed through the door, followed by a heavy, playful thud against the wood. I groaned, pulling the pillow over my head.

"Go away, Ethan! The blender was already dying!"

"Five minutes!" he shouted back. "Or I’m coming in there with a bucket of ice water! We have errands to run before the summer ends!"

I dragged myself upright, my head spinning. I caught a glimpse of myself in the dresser mirror and paused.

I didn't see anything "supernatural." I just saw a girl with messy black hair and eyes that looked a little too tired.

But there was something about the light on my skin. A glow that felt like it was coming from the inside. I rubbed my eyes, trying to make it go away.

Must be the new soap Evelyn bought, I told myself. Just a trick of the light.

The kitchen was a chaotic sanctuary of sizzling bacon and the sharp tang of coffee. Evelyn was at the stove, looking every bit the woman who held our world together.

Liv was already at the table, her nose buried in a book about forensic science. Her little "detective" brain never took a day off.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Evelyn said, not turning around. "I hope you enjoyed your last few days of sleeping in. School starts next week, and I haven't seen you touch a single book. Did you finish that history assignment for Mr. Pringle?"

I slumped into my chair, reaching for a piece of toast. "I’m almost done, Mom. I just have the final essay left."

"Almost done means you haven't started," Ethan chimed in, sliding into the seat across from me. He looked at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"You better get it together, Elara. Senior year is going to be a nightmare for me if I have to keep bailing you out of the library."

"I’m a Junior. I can handle my own essays," I shot back.

"Can you?" He grinned, leaning forward. "Because I remember a time in middle school when you were so distracted by a certain someone that you forgot your own middle name."

"Don't you dare," I warned, my face heating up.

"Oh, I’m daring," Ethan laughed, looking at Liv. "Liv, did I ever tell you about the boy Elara followed around for three months? Little Tommy Higgins?"

"He was shorter than her, had a permanent runny nose, and wore a superhero cape to school every Friday. Elara followed him like he was a movie star."

"I did not!" I shouted. "He had rare trading cards! It was a business arrangement!"

"You were obsessed," Ethan cackled. "You should be grateful I’m hoping you find a real boyfriend this semester. Since, you know, no one has actually proposed to the Great Elara yet. The town’s bachelor list is looking pretty slim for you."

"I don't need the town's list," I said.

A sudden, sharp memory of Kael’s silver-flecked eyes flashed through my mind. The heat of his touch on the street felt like a secret I was carrying in my marrow.

"I’ve already found someone," I whispered.

The kitchen went dead silent. Even the bacon stopped sizzling.

Liv looked up from her book, her eyes wide. "Wait. A real person? Or a book character?"

"A real person," I said, my voice steadier than I felt.

Ethan let out a snort, leaning back and crossing his arms. "Okay, I’ll play. Let me guess who has finally captured the heart of the Ice Queen."

"Is it 'Lanky' Luke from the hardware store? The guy who can’t talk without spitting on himself?"

"No," I rolled my eyes.

"Is it Toby the Tech-Wiz? The guy who lives in his basement and thinks the sun is a government conspiracy?"

"Definitely not."

"Okay, final guess," Ethan said, his voice dropping to a theatrical whisper. "It’s 'Wheezing' Wallace. The guy who has to sit down after walking up three steps. Very romantic. Very stable."

"He's none of those things," I said, my heart starting to race.

I looked at them, and for a second, I wasn't in the kitchen. I was back in the shadows, feeling the presence of a man who felt like a mountain.

"He’s… different," I said softly. "He’s like a shadow that protects you from the sun."

"He’s silent, but when he looks at you, it feels like the whole world finally makes sense."

"He’s strong, lethal even, but his soul feels like it was made to watch over mine."

Ethan stared at me for a long beat. Then, he and Liv erupted into a fit of laughter that made the windows rattle.

"A shadow man?" Ethan wheezed, clutching his stomach. "Lethal soul-mate? Elara, stop! You’re living in a fairy world!"

"That’s not a guy, that’s a hallucination from lack of sleep."

"I’m serious!" I defended, though even to my ears, it sounded like a dream.

"Focus on your books, Elara," Evelyn said, setting a plate of eggs in front of me. "Fairy tales don't pass exams."

"And you’ll need all your focus this year. I heard Vice Principal Grimmer is in a particularly foul mood this semester."

The laughter died instantly. The name Grimmer acted like a cold front, chilling the air in the room.

"Is he really that bad?" Liv whispered.

"Worse," Ethan said, his playful face going hard. "He’s not just a teacher; he’s a warden."

"Did you hear about the student who almost reached his breaking point last year? Grimmer didn't just give him detention. He humiliated him."

"He followed that kid everywhere. He tore up his art projects in front of the whole class."

"He called the kid's parents and told them their son was a 'parasite' on the school's reputation."

"The man has never smiled. Not once. I don't think he has the muscles for it."

"He doesn't even fear the Principal," I added. "I saw him bark at Mrs. Higgins once. She just stood there and took it."

"It’s like he owns the building."

"He’s a stone-faced monster," Ethan muttered.

He suddenly stood up, pulling his face into a terrifyingly accurate mask of pure, joyless misery. He hunched his shoulders and lowered his voice.

"Mr. Miller... why are your shoes untied? Do you find the rules of gravity optional?"

"Or are you simply a failure by design?"

I couldn't help it. I burst into laughter.

"He’s going to catch you doing that one day," I warned.

"Let him," Ethan said, grabbing a rusted, jagged-edged key from the counter. He gave it a frustrated jiggle.

"I’m a Senior. He can’t break me. But you two… stay away from him when school starts next week."

"Especially you, Elara. You have a way of looking like you’re daydreaming, and Grimmer hates dreamers."

I followed him out to the driveway, where his "pride and joy" sat—a 2005 sedan that was more duct tape and rust than actual metal.

"You sure that thing will make it to the store?" I teased.

"She’s a classic, Elara. She has personality," Ethan defended, kicking the driver’s side door twice to open it.

"Besides, if she breaks down again, you’re the one pushing."

I laughed, but as I turned to head back inside, a sudden, sharp vibration rattled the soles of my shoes.

It wasn't an earthquake. It was a low, rhythmic thrumming that seemed to be coming from the street.

I walked toward the edge of the porch, my eyes narrowing.

A black SUV was idling three houses down.

It was sleek, tinted, and expensive enough to buy our entire street. Completely out of place against cracked pavement and overgrown lawns.

There was no one in the driver's seat that I could see, but the feeling of being watched was so heavy it made the hair on my arms stand up.

"Elara? You coming?" Ethan called.

"We need to get these supplies before the 'Old Tank' here decides to give up on life!"

I let my gaze linger on the black car for one more second. My heart was thumping like a trapped bird.

Next week, I would have to walk through the doors of Blackwood High and face Vice Principal Grimmer.

I would have to be a normal student in a town that felt like it was closing in on me.

But as I looked at the dark windows of that SUV, I realized the "fairy world" Ethan mocked was already at our doorstep.

And the man I had described—the shadow in the rain—was the only thing I truly believed in anymore.