by Joshua Laack
Chapter 18
Andrew's eyes fluttered open and he half closed them again from the bright sunlight streaming in the window. He lay there for a long moment enjoying not having to rush to get to up. He was never a morning person so Saturday and Sunday were his two favorite days of the week.
He glanced at the clock on the nightstand and groaned. It was only eight thirty. Why had he woken up? That's when Andrew noticed a strange feeling in his chest and he knew.
“Good morning.” he said to the air above him. Andrew knew that she could hear him, wherever she was in the room. “Stop hiding and come cuddle with me, if you don't mind.” He realized that this invitation was much more forward than he would have ever considered before, but then again, he wasn't about to make the most of this new life of his by hiding from the things he wanted.
“How do you do that,” asked the small form curled up beside him on the bed? Andrew had expected something of the sort, but her sudden appearance still made him jump.
“How do I do what?”
“How do you know that I am there?” He shrugged, or at least attempted to. It was hard to do with someone pressed against his side.
“I just felt you. I don't know how to explain it beyond that.” Johari frowned, and if Andrew didn't know better he would have almost said that she were pouting.
“It just shouldn't be possible for a human when I can't even do it.” Maybe the pouting thought wasn't as far off as he thought.
“Do you think there is something wrong with me,” he asked her? She grinned at him.
“I am an immortal who is almost eight hundred years old. I move at lightning speeds and fight demons yet you are wondering if there is something wrong with you.” She shook her head at him. “What a strange young man you are.” He smiled at her. It did seem silly to worry about it when she put it that way.
“If it's alright with you, I think I will still worry about it a little bit.” She rested her hand on his chest and then traced a finger up and down his stomach. Andrew lay there, enjoying her presence and the peace he felt with her there. It was hard to imagine that he had lived for so long without this feeling. One moment she was there beside him, the next she was just gone.
“Wha...” Andrew started and then the door swung open.
“Andrew. You're mother and I are going out for breakfast. Did you want to come along?” The invitation was not unexpected as Andrew had joined his parents several times over that last couple of weeks, but today the interruption was not as welcome. Only moments before, he had been enjoying himself a great deal and that was gone now. Where had she gone and would she come back?
Andrew raised his head and just about choked. His father was standing there, holding open the door. His head hung just past the opening of the door. Johari stood behind the door, inches from him. The idea of him standing so close to her and not knowing it almost made Andrew laugh aloud, but he managed to control himself.
“I think I will skip it this time dad. Thanks though. You guys have fun.” My dad shrugged.
“Okay, see you later then.” The door closed as he extracted himself. Andrew waited until he heard his father's footsteps on the stairs before he allowed myself to chuckle.
“What is so funny,” Johari asked as she sauntered back to the bed? She looked so graceful in that walk that Andrew almost forgot what he was laughing about.
“I just about cracked up when I saw you standing right beside my dad without him having a clue. I don't know why, but it seemed humorous.” She grinned.
“I suppose that would be funny to see.” She hopped onto the bed and even that move was graceful. Of course it was possible that he was just biased. “So what do you want to do today,” Johari asked, now sitting beside him? Andrew groaned at her.
“It's early on a Saturday morning. I want to sleep.” She glared, though it was not a menacing look, but a silly one.
“I have been waiting all night for you to get up. Now that you are awake, you are not going back to sleep. Besides, it is a nice day outside. We should be out doing something when the weather is warm.” She crawled up next to him and Andrew reached out and pulled her down beside him again.
“This is good.” he said and closed his eyes.
“Oh no you don't,” she said, pulling back. We are not staying here. We are going outside. Now get up and get dressed.” Andrew groaned again, longer this time and then opened one eye and looked at her to see if his mock frustration had any effect. He didn't care about the sleeping any more, but he did want to cuddle with her more. She shook her head at him as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. For all he knew, she might.
“Can you hear my thoughts?” She grinned at his question.
“Maybe.” Andrew looked into her eyes, but couldn't tell one way or the other. “No, I can't,” she said after a moment, “though that would be nice sometimes. Now, no matter how much you groan, we are going out.” Andrew sighed then smiled and rolled out of bed.
“What do you mean waiting all night? Were you here that whole time?” Johari looked a bit sheepish and nodded, as if not sure how Andrew would react to her being in his room while he slept. “What did you do, sleep on the floor?” Johari chuckled.
“No, I don't sleep.” Andrew's mouth dropped open before he caught himself.
“What do you mean you don't sleep? You mean not ever?” She nodded.
“Yes. This body no longer requires it. I am unable to fall asleep, even if I wanted. In truth, there are times when I wish I could leave the world behind for a couple of hours, but it doesn't happen.” Andrew sat back down on the edge of the bed as he tried to process this new information. It wasn't that it was bad or anything, but it brought a new meaning to her age. He tried some quick math in his head. Over eight hundred years, eight hours a night, three hundred and sixty five nights a year. That was more than two hundred and fifty years of awake time than the average person would have gotten out of that amount of time.
Andrew shook his head at the speed with which he had just done that math in his head. He had done alright with math in school when he was younger. It had been getting a little better lately as he had put more time and effort into studying and homework, but the numbers he had just multiplied and then divided had been in the millions and he had done it in a blink. Extra study didn't even come close to explaining that away. What was happening to him? He decided to avoid that line of thinking for the moment. He turned back to Johari.
“Alright, if you are going to make me get up, I guess I should probably shower.” She nodded at him and he grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom.
The shower felt great and once Andrew stepped out, he felt more centered. Of course the thoughts of where this new brain power, as well as the other strange things that had been happening to him did not abandon him, but he felt clear and refreshed.
Now that he was up and showered, he was looking forward to going out. The company might have something to do with that. Well, everything to do with it. He wondered what they would do as he slipped into his clothes. It didn't matter as long as she were there, but he was curious.
She was stretched out on his bed, reading one of his books when Andrew walked back into the room.
“Are you a fan of fantasy,” he asked as she closed the book and set it down on the nightstand? She nodded and sat up on the edge of the bed.
“Yes, I enjoy most types of writing. With fantasy, it is interesting to see other peoples perspectives on the things that could exist. I often wonder if some of them have encountered the things they write about because there are a lot of fantasy stories about real things.” Andrew smiled at her.
“So demons aren't the only dangerous things out there?” he was trying to be funny, but her face was serious when she shook her head.
“No, there are other things just as dangerous. Many of the monsters depicted in fantasy are based in some part on truth. You don't need to worry about it though. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise.” Andrew wasn't worried, but he
liked the idea of her being around to watch over him. He thought about it and realized that wasn't true. He was a little worried, but not about anything besides the demons.
It was difficult to worry about something unnamed that he had never seen or heard of. The demons he had both seen and experienced first hand so they concerned him more than a little bit. He wondered if the demons were like demons in the biblical sense. Did that mean that there were angels too? Where were they? Andrew glanced at Johari and grinned.
“What's that grin for,” she asked?
“Just thinking that if there are real demons then there must be angels too. So that would make you my guardian angel.” She smiled the half smile at me.
“There are angels, but I am not one of them. Though it's nice of you to say that. I think I like that idea a little better than being an immortal.”
“If it helps, I will continue to think of you that way.” She laughed, though the laugh was one of happiness, not of mockery so Andrew thought that his words were appreciated.
“I would like that a great deal. I hope that after you have become accustomed to who and what I am that you will continue to think of me like that.”
“I don't think that will be hard. You are the most amazing person I have ever met.” he paused, unsure how to word his thoughts, “Person is the right description right?” Johari smiled at the hesitation in his words.
“Person is still a good description. I may have a changed body, but who I am remains the same as it was so long ago.” Andrew nodded, done with that line of questioning for now. He was uncertain how to deal with his own changes and thinking of her differences accented his own to him. He changed topics.
“So what are we going to do today?” She grinned.
“Actually, I have a little bit of a surprise for you today.” And that was all that she would say on the matter. Before leaving, Andrew ate a bowl of cereal, which Johari of course declined. She tried not to let it show, but she shuddered as she watched him consume the breakfast dish. Maybe it was her obvious distaste for the contents of his bowl, or maybe something else, but the cereal he always enjoyed tasted like cardboard on his tongue. Regardless of the taste, it didn't make him sick as food seemed to do to her and he knew that he needed the nutrition, so he finished the bowl, brushed his teeth and they were off.
As always, Andrew was thrilled riding in Johari's car. It didn't seem to faze her, but it was still new enough for him that it was exciting. He wondered how long it would take before he was as used to it as she was. Would she stick around long enough for him to reach that point? He flinched against the inevitable advance of the darkness within him and once again was amazed by its lack of presence. Of course there was sadness with the thought that she would someday disappear, but this sadness didn't control him as the darkness would have.
The thought that the rest of his life was free of the scourge of demons filled him with a great deal of joy and without even realizing it, the importance of riding in a fancy sports car faded from him for far different reasons than he just considered.
Fancy sports cars came back to him in a hurry though as they pulled up to a racetrack just past the edge of town. Andrew had known that there was a track, but had never been there before. Today, the track was empty except for one shiny silver car sitting there, waiting in all its glory. It sat there looking for all the world like it had jumped off of the poster on his wall and settled itself there to wait for him.
“I thought you might like to take a Lamborghini out on the race track. I know you liked this car, so I thought I would give you a chance to see if it measured up to your dreams.” Now this was an idea that Andrew felt he could get excited about on a Saturday morning. He tried to act nonchalant and shrugged.
“Sounds okay... I guess.” Then he grinned at her. “If you insist, I suppose I can suffer through it.” She laughed as she pulled into the parking lot.
“Bit heavy on the sarcasm there.” Andrew laughed with her and nodded.
“Do you know someone who owns the car?” Johari nodded at his question.
“In a way.” She glanced at him and smiled, “I bought it for you.” Andrew was quiet for a moment as that sank in.
“Mine as in I get to keep it,” he asked, his voice a little higher than normal? Johari smiled her half smile.
“Yours as in you can take it home.” Andrew thought about that for a moment. That wouldn't be the best idea. He lived in a good neighborhood, but this wasn't the kind of car that you just parked on the street. Not to mention, how would he even begin to explain this to his parents. No, this car would have to stay somewhere else and he would have to continue driving Rusty. With the silver beauty sitting there in front of him, that sounded a whole lot less appealing than it had before. He hadn't ever had any major problems with his car and it had been his, so he was proud of it, but the minor problems seemed a lot bigger as he looked at the car in front of him.
Another line of thought crept into Andrew's thoughts. Why would Johari buy this car for him? He hadn't ever purchased anything for her or asked for anything. Was she trying to buy his affection? First the restaurant and now the car, both in his name.
“Johari, I appreciate these things, but I just want you to know that you don't have to buy me these things.” Johari frowned.
“I know I don't have to.”
“I just want you to know that I don't need the fancy house, or the restaurant or nice cars or anything other than you.” The full implication of what he just said sort of struck Andrew. That was more than he should be feeling at this point, let alone saying aloud. He tried to curb it back a little. “I'm just saying that I like you for you, regardless of what you are or the life that you have lived up to this point. All this stuff is so unimportant compared to you.” The silence was deafening to Andrew as he waited for Johari to respond. He had to wait a bit as she just sat there for a long moment, staring at the silver car, or beyond it to that piece of space that contains all deep thoughts. A small tear trailed its way down her cheek from her right eye, falling through the air to land on the seat next to her.
The sound the tear made when it landed was almost silent to Andrew's ears, but Johari jumped as if it had exploded there on the seat. Her small head turned toward him and tilted to the side with an unspoken question.
“What are you thinking,” Andrew asked when she didn't speak? No more tears fell, but a small sigh escaped her lips indicating that more remained inside that had not had time to escape before she rained them in.
“Astonishing,” was all she said at first. After what seemed an eternity, though encompassed no more than a few minutes, she continued. “In nearly eight hundred years, I have known many people, but none has ever seen so clearly to the heart of me. Not even my first mate truly understood me or even cared to. Many have tried to steal my heart, but none have tried to know me or think about why I do the things that I do.” She shook her head. “You have managed to amaze me over and over by what you can do. You have survived a lifetime of a demon, destroyed that demon with a power that most of my kind cannot even begin to control. You did both of those things with a grace that surpasses understanding. You went on to accept me even knowing what I was. I never imagined that you would be able to surprise me more than that. Andrew Marks, you are an example of the best of mankind and I do not deserve you.” Andrew almost laughed, but realized in time that she was more than serious. For someone who had spent eight hundred years fighting for mankind, she had a low opinion of herself.
“You are the amazing one. You were betrayed and abandoned by every human around you and yet spent the next centuries of your life protecting and saving those humans who had done nothing but treat you wrong. You have given up all of yourself to save those who don't deserve it. If that is not a perfect example of self sacrificing love and an example of light that more people should follow, I don't know what is. The truth is that I am in awe of who you are and what you have done, not just for me, but for the whole world. I count myself luc
ky to have this time to share with you.” There was a moment of silence as she stared at Andrew, one more tear rolling down her cheek. Andrew reached out and caught the tear before it landed on the seat.
There was a small spark of that light within him as the tear struck his palm. A tingle from that spark spread through him from his palm and grew until it filled his whole body before fading away. Andrew glanced down and found that the center of his palm was a soft pink, but the dampness from the tear was gone, absorbed into him.
Johari reached out and touched the side of his cheek with the tips of her fingers. Andrew's eyes traveled up until they met hers. Then she leaned across the center of the car until her face was right next to his. Andrew felt the tingle of power begin coursing through him faster as his heart sped up, and then she kissed him.
Fireworks exploded in his chest and smaller sparks burst all over him as Andrew experienced his first kiss. All his life, Andrew had known that the magic of the first kiss described in movies was fake. There weren't real sparks or magic. He knew that those things didn't exist, but somehow for him they did.
Johari's eyes spread wide and she leaned back.
“Whoa,” they both said, hearts beating fast.
“If I had known kisses were like that, I would have tried it sooner,” Andrew said, a little out of breath. Johari just nodded. Andrew thought that she didn't need to breath, but she was pulling in rapid breaths all the same.
“Kisses aren't like that,” she said after a bit. “Is there anything about you that will fail to surprise me?”
“A similar thought had occurred to me.” They sat there for a second, just enjoying each other's presence. Both of them feeling the whole range of emotions from fear that the amazing feelings could not last to the exuberant joy that they existed in the first place. Andrew's hand crept over to Johari's and she slipped her fingers in between his larger ones. “So what should we do now,” Andrew asked? Johari smiled her half smile and nodded to the Lamborghini parked not far away.
“Time for some fun in your car.” Andrew frowned.
“I thought I just gave all that up.” Johari nodded.
“You did and because you did, you get to keep it all and me besides.” She grinned and he had to grin too. Life was so much more amazing than he had ever imagined it could be. He would have loved for it to last forever.