Blinding Light (BLS Book 1)

Mila

Memories flood my mind.

I open my eyes to a blur. I can’t see, and I can’t speak either.

Only then do I realize that I’m no more than a newborn child.

How is this even possible?

Someone hovers over me. Instead of being intimidated by her silhouette, I feel warm and protected.

“Hello, my darling.”

I giggle, hearing my voice echo back. She brings her face closer and puts a light kiss on my cheek. Her features are on display, but I couldn’t interpret her features except that her eyes are a warm brown.

“My pretty Mila, my dear.”

She sighs, “I’m sorry you couldn’t meet your father. I didn’t know what to think. You have his eyes, and you remind me so much of him.”

Before I could interpret anything, the images disappear—replaced by another.

The blue sky is over me. I’m traveling by the motion, but I’m not moving myself. The sky is filled with white, bubbly clouds, and the sun is warm on my face. But in a swaying motion, I’m moving.

I roll my head to the left and see buildings, passing by too fast which makes my head dizzy. To my right, I could clearly see a floral dress, flowing and flapping. It takes me a minute to realize that whoever that is, is running, and carrying me in a basket of some sort.

Finally, we come to a stop. The sky stops swaying and a familiar face comes into view.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” The voice reverberates. “You don’t deserve this. I promise she’ll take good care of you, my dear Mila.”

Suddenly, it gets dark, the sun disappears and everything darkens

I knew she left, but a heavy weight lies in my chest. It sits there, and it stays. Something tickles my face, and I know I’m crying. Tears run down, but she does not come back.

A familiar voice rings out and I look up to see Mother.

“Oh, my sweet, beautiful angel, there you are.”

I only look at her, speechless, wordless, mindless. She picks me up. I shudder at the touch, the embrace.

I find myself back, not back, only to the room of doors. It’s still that rectangular shape that’s utter annihilation. I’m on the ground and out of breath.

How did I even see that?

My thoughts wander to the first woman. Why would my birth mother abandon me?

My brain is swirling with confusion, with questions. I stand sternly, wiping the tears away.

First, I have to get out of here.

I only see more doors—more wooden doors, with spiderwebs everywhere. At least the ground is free this time. I can walk freely without stepping on any webs, without drawing the spiders out. Maybe it’s clearing up because I’m getting closer. One step closer to finding out what everything means.

I ease my way up to the first door, unsure of what else to do. I twist the handle, and it creaks open. It reveals a dimmed lit room. A camp candlestick (bottle) sits on a table. The door behind me shuts with a slam without warning, causing me to jump away and stumble. Then it disappears like the first time.

I place my hand on my heart and take a deep breath in.

It’s okay. It’s okay.

I slowly creep up until I’m right next to the table. A note sits there, written slightly messy in all caps:

TO: MILA

I rip open the letter:

Dear Mila,

You must be confused about everything around you. But don’t be afraid, all will be revealed. Phase 1 of APT Testing results just came out positive. I know you won’t understand what that means, but it’s not our necessity now, not until phase three. I know it’s strange, you probably think of yourself as crazy, but you’re not. If you don’t believe me, I know Midnight. Yeah, I know that darn cat. I would explain more, but not now.

If I could talk to you, I would—but not is simply not the right time. But fear not, what is coming will come, and you will be our hero.

~Si

***

I’m back in the bathroom.

I see my reflection staring back at me in the mirror.

What just happened?

Someone wrote a note to me. Someone named Si? I’m part of the APT, whatever in the world that is.

I glance down, seeing my swimwear, and remember why I was here.

“Here…”

I look around, but the voice is gone, not here. I’m not crazy, I tell myself.

“Not crazy…”

Huh?

I open the door and rush out of the bathroom. Panting, I run down the hall. I glance over my shoulder, making sure no one’s following me.

Viens (come on)! Get ahold of yourself. Voices that aren’t your own don’t exist in people’s minds.

“Whoa!” I skid to a stop, my nose inches from Nolan’s broad chest.

“I never thought you were this excited,” he says, winking. I say nothing, searching the hall.

“Is everything alright, Lady Mila?”

I give my best smile, “Oui, Votre Altesse.”

He was about to protest when I silent him, “Shhhh… I’m hiding from someone.”

It takes him a moment but he bursts into laughter. Except that all my thoughts travel to one word,

Run.

“Hilarious, Mademoiselle, but it’s not going to—”

I grab his wrist and pull him into a run. We run down the hall until I stop dead in my tracks, a dead end.

Trapped.

I drop his wrist in alarm and search around the corridors.

“You are…huff…very fast. I didn’t know…huff…you could run, my…huff…Lady.”

Yet, I didn’t feel tired at all; I’m not even panting, I try to grab his sleeve, which I realize it’s not there. I look over, finally coming back to my senses.

He’s shirtless.

I feel my eyeballs pop out of their sockets and my mouth hangs open. I gawk like a pudding-headed fellow (total idiot).

“You’re…huff…staring.” His hands are on his knees, trying to catch his breath. His back muscles rise and fall as he breathes heavily.

I blink, flustered, snapping my open mouth shut with a click. His broad chest is tan and muscular. The glimmer of sweat barely starting to form.

“I…” I hold my tongue, not letting my mouth betray my wild thoughts. I try to only look at his face but I fail. So, I turn around, wide-eyed and stuck in panic mode. Hands clamp down on my shoulder, strong hands.

Stop.

Nolan turns me around to face him. I can see the sweat now glistening on his warm, tan, and very bare skin. What those muscles would feel like under my fingers, under my touch. I close my eyes and inhale sharply.

“Lady Mila, you are still joining me for the dive?” His eyes burn my body as it trails down. I shrug out of his hands and laugh nervously, blushing.

“Oui…I…” I clear my throat, trying to keep my gaze on his face. His blonde hair is messy and looks. I stop my thoughts there and keep my eyes on his nose, “Oui, I’m still joining you for the di-dive.”

He laughs, and my cheeks flame. I swallow, hard, looking away.

“Wonderful, shall we go?” Nolan chuckles. He extends his arm, I take it, keeping my eyes away from anything that’s not clothed.

***

We reach the tip of the ship, I climb up to the plank-like diving board and look down. The water sways slowly with the boat, the waves seemed too calm. And much on point with my prediction, suddenly, a huge wave hits the side of the ship, rocking it so violently that I lose my foothold and tumble over the side of the ship.

I scream as the chilly water engulfs me. Popping up for air, I shiver from both the adrenaline and the coldness of the water.

A big splash eats me alive as Nolan cannonballs down. I laugh as the water enters my mouth, causing me to spit.

Ugh, that was salty.

“Salty…”

“You could’ve told me you were going to act tough, Lady Mila.”

“I wasn’t. A wave made me lose my balance,” I shrug, ignoring the voice.

I hear people up top the ship, chattering loudly. When I glance up, I see the people gawking over the side of the ship, but we’re hidden in the shadows so they can’t see us.

“Shall we play a trick with them?” I peer at Prince Nolan, a mischievous smile on my face.

A smile slithers up his face, “What do you suggest?”

I motion for him to follow, and we ease closer to the shadows. It covers us like a blanket. The people shout frantically above.

“Where is his highness?”

“Are they alive?”

“Did Mademoiselle Hayes just jump overboard?!” Someone screams, clearly in consternation, making me laugh. I could almost picture the woman panicking with her hands on her head in disbelief.

Nolan chuckles, “So mysterious and full of ideas.”

He tucks a strand of hair behind my ears. It’s then when I’m aware of how close he is to me—our noses inches away.

“Should we reveal that we are, very much, alive?” He asks, laughing then spitting out the water that got in his mouth.

“Very well, Votre Altesse.”

We swim back into the sunlight and hear shouts of the people above.

“There they are! Thank the heavens they’re alive!”

Everyone cheers as we wave to them. It was not long when nobles began joining us in the water. I soon lost Nolan in all the commotion and went for another dive.

This time, I stand upon the board and feel the cool wind blow-dry my hair. Diving smoothly into the water, I make the smallest splash possible. When I resurface, I feel the pleasant sun rays on my face. I couldn’t be more ecstatic than at this moment.

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Thanks, with lots of smiles

☆•Yiona•☆