Break Away (Away, Book 1)

By Tatiana Vila

Ice Queen. That's what everyone calls Dafne at school. The girl with the striking looks of a Raven Princess but whose cold-steeled touch freezes everyone in her way. Her reputation works for her and she even likes it. People don't mess with her—except for her sister's infuriatingly handsome boyfriend, Ian, who loves pushing her subzero temper to its limits.

Life in Berryford is flowing exactly as she wants it—no drama, no boy trying to get into her pants—until she starts noticing odd, glazed-eyed students everywhere. Something weird is happening and, unusual enough for her, she needs to find out why. But when people start falling into a coma with no reason, among them Dafne's sister, she decides to take the matter in her hands, because if her intuition is right, this isn't something doctors or virologists can fight. This is something...more.

With frustration and guilt leading her way, and Ian forcing himself to her side, Dafne will step onto a road that'll open her eyes to why ignorance is bliss, why hate is so close to love, and why our imagination might be the most dangerous weapon ever known.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tatiana Vila
• Release date: Oct 10, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466054530

Tatiana Vila

When not writing or doing book covers, Tatiana Vila can be found binge-watching series, painting cool abstract stuff, eating way too many candies, and fantasizing about interior design makeovers.Her motto: let the mind run wild.Check out some of her cool book cover designs at her website:www.viladesign.net

Book preview

Break Away

Tatiana Vila

Published by Tatiana Vila at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Tatiana Vila

Cover art by Kizuna-chan

Book cover design by Tatiana Vila

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

For Heidi, Jessica and Luija.

Thank you for being in my life.

There are some people who live in a dream world,

and there are some who face reality; and then

there are those who turn one into the other.

Desiderius Erasmus

CHAPTER 1

Not watching the news today was as hard to resist as sinful white chocolate in my hands. My eyes were already fixed on the white letters gliding on the red band at the bottom of the screen.

Brazilian man steals plane and crashes it into a mall, killing himself and 5-year-old son.

Jeez, I sighed with a sense of voidance in my chest. Wasn’t enough to steal the plane already? I arched my eyebrows, angling some of the snarky attitude towards the unknown, out-of-his mind man. Dad had been right. The world was getting crazier each day. That’s why my fingers stilled whenever my mind shot the command to press the two buttons that led to CNN.

Only today, my fingers seemed to be on a rebellious streak.

Nope, I continued. Crashing a plane into a mall full with innocent people and killing your son in the process isn’t apparently enough. But it wasn’t worse than colliding commercial airplanes against two major buildings in Manhattan and killing almost three thousand innocent people.

I remembered watching through the crystal screen the horrifying images of the Twin Towers falling to dust. A ghostly, pale shattering dust. My whole body went cold, wiping out the fever blazing in my forehead that morning. The first thought that flashed into my seven-year-old mind was: war. And then, Oh no…I'm going to live through a world war like Granny.

I mean, what else was I supposed to think when everything seems to be solved with guns and bombs? I almost fell to the living room floor right there.

Dad was beside me, though. His big, soothing hand found mine and grasped it in a strong, comforting grip. Everything is okay, Dafne, nothing will happen to you. Daddy is here, he said, wrapping his arms around my small body. I lost the worry pricking in my heart and felt grateful. Happy. I had him and Mom with me. I felt as if I could face anything, anytime.

As long as they were next to me.

My throat clenched.

I looked aside. Nothing. Only empty air drilling a deep hole in the side of the couch Dad used to take. I turned back and dropped my watery eyes to my hands. They looked pale, lifeless. They had the same cold shade as, well, two years ago.

Two years.

It looked as if my hands had been frozen in time, waiting. Waiting for them and their soothing warmth, the only one able to melt the unseen ice crusting my palms and fingers.

This was a bad idea, I whispered with a shaky voice. A small, crystal tear fell down on my slender finger. I watched it slide down, tracing a damp trail on my skin until it merged into the ice of my palm. I closed my hand and looked up. Watching news was something I used to do with Dad. Since that dreadful day, I’d promised to myself I wouldn’t go back to the morning routine. But sometimes, the deep hole in my chest seemed to ask for it, as if only for a few seconds a thick, cozy sensation filled the huge gap in my chest. Even if I knew that afterwards, a sharp, burning feeling would deepen the hole.

Breaking news, the CNN anchor announced, shaking me off from the hard waves pressing my chest. "Three people have been hospitalized in Chicago after suddenly falling unconscious at two separate locations in that city. The three are reportedly in comas. Two, both teenagers, were watching a movie at a local cinema when they unexpectedly fell unconscious, according to officials. Around the same time, a twenty-eight-year-old female collapsed at the Eckhart Park Library, exhibiting the same symptoms. Officials have not confirmed a cause, but have ruled out stroke, alcohol and drug use and injury.

We’ll keep you informed as new developments come in. The man ended and looked down at a thin pile of sheets between his hands, his face meaning business.

I turned off the TV and strode into the kitchen. Gran was eating that nasty looking chunk she used to eat every morning. It looked like mashed worms. Yuck. My curiosity wasn’t big enough to ask her what it was. I was afraid to throw up.

Guten Morgen, Dafne, she told me as I sat down and grasped the cereal from the middle of the round table. I didn’t know why she insisted on throwing German words at me instead of simply saying good morning. But, hey, she was half-German. Even though I didn’t like the language—it sounded like rocks were stuck in people’s throat—it was part of Gran’s identity, and if grating out harsh, guttural words made her happy, my dislikes came at the bottom of the list.

Hey, Gran. I emptied some of the Oh’s into a chipped black bowl. Looking at it sent a warm wave to my chest. Everyone in the house knew I’d taken this bowl under my care—and I say care because I was really fond of it. Ever since I’d seen it all pushed down at the bottom of the cupboard behind newer, shiny china, I’d claimed it as mine. My heart had squeezed at the sight.

I knew that feeling sorry for a hollow piece of ceramic, which had no heart or spirit whatsoever, was outright ridiculous. But I did. I loved this bowl. Breakfast wouldn’t be the same without it.

I heard you watching the news, Gran said with a smile in her voice, a faint accent lacing her soft words.

I, uh, yeah. I lowered my eyes, averting them from her knowing stare. She had the ability to peel away layers of skin with those eyes, often leaving one’s core uncovered. And today wasn’t a good day to let that happen. Where’s Aunt Morgan? I asked as fast as I could to change the subject.

Oh, she had some tutoring half an hour ago.

Another one? I said, pouring some organic milk over the yellowish loops. That makes three new students this week. How does she handle it with her classes and all?

One word honey: workaholic, Gran said with her pale eyebrows pulled up.

She was right. Aunt Morgan spent nearly ninety percent of her time giving classes and tutoring on her spare time at college. It was only about fifteen minutes away from our house in the Historic Maple Hill in Berryford, Indiana. All the houses around here used to creep me out when we came to visit Gran on weekends while we still lived in Chicago. My mind couldn’t stop flashing at me imagined ghosts when I spotted the old structures haunting the edges of the street.

But watching the same landscape every single day now—without ghostly shapes staring at me through old French windows—helped a great deal. The idea of a ghost-free neighborhood had finally branded into me.

Where is your sister by the way? Gran said, looking around.

Who knows? I shoved the overloaded spoon of Oh’s into my mouth. Maybeburying hernose intoabook orsomething. I mumbled between crunches. I swallowed the sweet mouthful and said, Or maybe staring all dreamily at her closet, watching that excessive heap of fabric and shoes she dares to call ‘fashion.’ Seriously, I can smell her brain frying from the outfit-picking-exertion.

Don’t be so mean, Dafne. Gran threw me a disapproving look. Clothes and books are your sister’s way of…of—coping with Mom and Dad’s death?—…liberation, she finally said.

Right. I looked away from her, my throat feeling swollen. At least she had a way to do it. Me? I had nothing, only a bitchy attitude that had given me the title of ‘Ms. Ice Queen’ at high school.

Was that my way to cope with my parents’ death? I had no idea. And frankly, I didn’t want to think about it. Watching the news this morning had already broadened the gaping hole in my chest.

You should spend some more time with her, Dafne. She needs your company, not your coldness—which I know is pretense.

I snorted. Whatever, Gran. And right away felt guilty for the bitter words. Perhaps to the rest of the world I could be Ms. Ice Queen, but to Gran, never. She was the only one who could truly see through me.

Sorry, I sighed and looked into her baby blues. "I promise I’ll try to be less cold with Buffy."

What’s up with me? Buffy said as she glided right behind me. She pulled out a Pop-Tarts box from the pantry and turned to look at me. I heard my name, so don’t play the fool on me, sis.

I said Fluffy, not Buffy, I lied, laying my arm on the headrest of the chair so I could see her straight in the eyes. Talk about massive paranoia.

"I may be two minutes younger than you, she placed her hands on her hips. But I'm not stupid or stone-deaf. Besides, do you think I’ll believe you were talking about an old, smelly teddy bear? It’s insulting," she scoffed.

Yeah. Buffy was my twin. Born on the same day, in the same room, and on the same bed. Though we shared these things together, we didn’t share the same physical architecture, or the same emotional traits, or the same personality. The only thing linking us in this life as twins was the day our wobbly forms had come out of Mom’s pain-stricken body. Beyond that, nobody would have suspected we were twins—or related even. We were opposites. An electron and a positron. A yin and a yang.

Where she was cheerful and friendly, I was indifferent and unfriendly. Where she was brown-eyed and blonde, I was blue-eyed and darkette. Where she had a straight nose and straight hips, I had a button nose and curvy hips. And where she dressed all girly, I dressed all tomboyish—sexy tomboyish I liked to think.

We were a walking contradiction.

Actually, that crap of being stone-deaf and all was true dear, Buffy, I told her while looking at my midnight blue nails.

Dafne, Gran said with a reproving voice. Mind the dirty language.

I stopped checking my nail polish and turned to look at her. " ‘Crap’ is the soft term for the ‘s’ word, Gran."

Dafne, she said in a sharper tone.

"Okay, okay. What I meant was that the poop…"—I glanced at Gran for her approval. She nodded, so I continued—…about you being severely hearing impaired was true. You didn’t hear my heavenly voice when I called your name to the heavens for breakfast minutes ago.

Oh, how could I’ve missed your sweet voice? She clasped her hands together in an overly dramatic way. Perhaps the deep knocks on my door, as in let’s-throw-the-door-down deep, masked your calling!

Don’t turn all Buffy-the-vampire-slayer on me, I said to drive her over the edge. I knew she hated being compared to the TV character. Everyone did it. Her name was a curse for life, poor thing.

What I didn’t know was why I was being such a bitch to her. As always, the words seemed to come out of their own will.

Buffy, watch the attitude, Gran told her with that sharp disapproving voice, though less hard than the one she’d used on me.

So unfair.

Why am I the one to watch my attitude? Buffy said, angry, and tossed the Pop-Tart she’d been holding onto the counter. You know she’s the one with that problem, Gran, not me. She clearly has some issues. She always does. At least she always does with me. She looked at me with glistening eyes and stormed away from the kitchen. A sharp snap from a door barked through the house a few seconds later.

You said you will try, Dafne, not make her cry.

I know, Gran, I admitted full of remorse and stood up. I know. I took the cracked Pop-Tart from the counter and stuffed it inside the silver package. See you later.

The sun seeped through the hand-painted stained glass at both sides of the doorway, creating a mesmerizing symphony of colors inside the small foyer. It was a bright day outside and the light only enhanced the shades. I pulled open the door and found myself immediately embraced by the cold arms of a breeze. I stepped inside the house again with a shudder and grabbed my loose blazer from the recently polished armoire on the right, thinking the sun blazing in the sky could’ve been only a bright accessory because the morning was definitely chilly.

Buffy was already inside the car with her arms crossed over her white, tailored blazer, one she’d gotten at some fancy store in Chicago with delicate purple stripes—just totally girly—and glaring at something beside her window, which translated into I’m too mad at you to look at you right now.

I opened the driver’s door and slipped inside the car. Before putting the keys in the ignition, I turned and apologized to her. But first, I paused. I… tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock…

Just say it, Dafne.

I'm sorry, Buffy, I finally said. I really am.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock...

Nothing.

Buffy?

She gave a deep sigh and unfolded her arms. Before talking to you again, I need the heater on. She turned to look at me when I gave no response. Unless you want to die by freezing to death with these thin blazers. Still, I gave her no response. In that case, don’t count me in. She turned back and crossed her arms once more.

I swallowed back a smile and this time, gave her a worthy response. Your wish is my command. I shifted in my seat and settled as if about to sleep, even if I was, indeed, freezing my butt. But no need to show her that.

She took in a deep breath and let it out forcefully. Stop the games and put the heater on! she said facing me. Please, Dafne, okay, I said please!

Fine, fine. There’s no need to plead.

Argh! You truly are a pain in the ass.

I know. I turned on the car and the heater.

"If this is your lame attempt at an apology, then you failed. Completely failed."

I reached down the pocket of my jacket and took out the silver package. Here, I tossed it on her lap. You forgot this. At least she would be less moody with food in her stomach. Guys weren’t the only ones who turned grumpy without food. Girls had the same problem sometimes, even worse if combined with a little friend that knocked on our doors every single month.

She made no move.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know. It’s really bad if you skip it.

She laughed without a single trace of amusement. Oookay, now you worry about my diet? The gates of the Twilight Zone have opened, ladies and gentleman, she announced, looking around as if an audience was watching us.

Buffy, I said with a small voice, and paused. She was right to say these things and be angry at me. I barely talked to her, and when I did, only derisive words exploded from my mouth. Yep. I was Ms. Ice Queen embodied.

Buffy, I said once more. "I know this is really hard to believe, but, I do worry about you. I lowered my head and twisted my fingers uncomfortable. You’re my sister and…and, well, you know…"

It doesn’t seem like it, Dafne, she said with a smaller voice as well, no tinge of fury coloring her words this time, just the hum of sadness. You’ve changed so much these last two years that it’s hard to remember the person you used to be. You’ve really turned into this Ice Queen since… She trailed off and sighed. Well, you know since when.

Of course I knew since when, but neither of us dared to speak about it out loud. It was too much to handle, I guess. We dealt with the piercing sorrow on our own, digging the dagger in our hearts in solitude. Gran was the strong one in the house; she always managed to pull up a warm smile for us. If she suffered for the loss of her daughter—needless to say there was no doubt about her muted sufferance—she gave no signs of her mourning at all. And Aunt Morgan hardly spent time around the house, so it was more complicated to decipher her feelings. The only times we saw her was on weekends. Sporadically. Very, very sporadically. Then, late at night, we just heard the soft roar of her car in the driveway and her footsteps cracking the stairs when she climbed up to her room.

Everyone lived in their own world. Gran was the one that strung our lives on the same thread.

Sometimes when I read or watch a movie, Buffy continued, I leave my door open, hoping you’ll come in to talk, or do something. But you always pass by. You don’t even look at me. You just ignore me, like I’m a ghost or something.

My heart squeezed. If you were a ghost, Buffy, I would run, not pass by. I told her, trying to lessen the thickness in the air.

She half smiled. Yeah, I know how afraid you are of ghosts, that’s why I’m telling you this. Her voice hushed as if talking to herself. You’re afraid of me.

I'm not, I said immediately. But seconds later, a big fat uncertainty settled down in my head. Was I afraid of my sister? Of being alone with her? We were different in almost every aspect, yes. But there was that connection deep down inside ourselves that always brought us together, even if our worlds collided. It was that soul-rooted link that compelled us to seek one another from time to time, to need one another.

Since our parents died, however, an odd necessity to build a brick wall between us had transpired. Not having that connection was easier somehow, and I wanted to keep it like that.

But sometimes little sacrifices needed to be made.

You are, she insisted with that small voice.

"Okay… to prove to you that I’m not afraid of you—lie—as you think I am, I promise you that from this day on, I’ll try to be nicer and spend more time with you." Just as I’d promised to Gran.

Her eyes narrowed and she spun toward me. Is this more of your subzero bullcrap? she asked dubious and a bit irritated. Because if it is, I won’t take more of it today. I’ve had an overdose.

I was about to retort more of that subzero bullcrap when, surprisingly, I snapped my mouth shut and let the nice one speak. You won’t have any more of it, really.

Her brown eyes widened. I think you’re actually serious, she said, surprised.

I am.

Wow. She blinked several times. Okay. She said it as if she didn’t know what else to say, and then, Since I don’t know how long this new shiny Dafne will last, you have to promise me one more thing, right now.

I took in a deep breath and readied for her request. Go ahead. Ask.

Promise me you’ll never, ever, call me Buffy the Vampire Slayer again. She pointed her sharp eyes on mine.

I couldn’t help it and laughed.

It’s. Not. Funny.

I agree, it’s not funny. It’s dead funny.

That’s because you weren’t named after a crappy movie. I mean, what was Mom thinking? Did her neurons explode while searching for a name? Obviously that didn’t happen with you. You got a rocking German name and all. So unfair.

Hey, at least you’re not a nymph transformed into a pathetic laurel for life. You’re a hardcore kick-ass chick with a really hot vampire guy in love with you—at least in the TV series, I added.

What about one of the most important gods chasing your butt?

Apollo isn’t as hot as your fanged guy.

She paused to think about it and smiled, flipping her blonde waves to the side. Yeah…I think you’re right. But you haven’t promised me the name thing yet. She glared at me again.

I turned and placed both hands on the steering wheel. Sure, I promise, I said a bit unwillingly. I loved to use that name to banter with her and letting it go was a pity.

I looked at the digital clock on the middle of the dashboard. We were so going to be late. What I won’t promise, though… I put the car on reverse. …is to let go of my speed crap today. Fasten your seat belt. I commanded, looking over my shoulder

Oh, no, she looked at the time. Only five minutes to get to school. Mr. Ludlow is going to kill me. Drive. Fast!

I pulled out the car from the driveway with a smile on my face and speeded down the long gray road.

CHAPTER 2

"I can’t believe this! Linda shouted, snapping the thin blue door of her locker shut. The weak metal protested with a sharp, dry echo. All this time assuming he was keeping his almighty promise, and I was here, waiting like some stupid puppy. I should’ve known better than that. She let out a soft snort. Now I belong to the lame circle of the cheated. I bet people can see it flashing across my forehead."

I leaned my shoulder against the wall and settled my eyes over her disheartened profile. "First of all, they would need a powerful X-ray vision to see it, better than the one that guy in blue tights—Superman—has. And why