Blood and Light

by Rue Volley

  “Where"s everyone?' I said as I started to eat a muffin. Theodore smiled.

  “Well Kai and Sam have not come out of his room yet.”

  He looked towards the room and I rolled my eyes. “Gross,” I whispered.

  “Johnathan is out, I guess he got up early,” Theodore said. I glanced over at Josh who was “reading”.

  I stood up and walked over to him. I stood in front of him and grinned.

  “So, you"re reading I see,” I said.

  “Yea, I read ya know.”

  I reached down and flipped the book over. “Helps if you have it right side up.”

  He sighed and dropped the book. Theodore laughed and Josh looked at him.

  “Oh shut up,” he said to him.

  Theodore looked at me. “He does read, quite an impressive collection he has ...in his library.”

  I looked at Josh and raised my eyebrows. “Really?” I asked.

  “Yea, I do... I like to read, from time to time.”

  I smiled. “Well, I'm impressed.”

  The door opened and Johnathan stepped in. I looked at him and he rubbed his hair.

  “Where did you go so early?” I asked him.

  “I went to my old house. I just wanted to see it,” he said as he passed me by.

  “Have the new owners moved in?” I asked him.

  “Yea...they have. Nice people,” Johnathan said as he reached into the fridge and grabbed some orange juice, he opened it and chugged it down.

  “We use glasses around here Johnathan,” Josh said as he got up.

  Johnathan stopped drinking and put it down. “Oh, sorry,” he said.

  He walked up to Josh and stared at him.

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  “We should check the binding on this town today,” he said.

  Josh looked up. “We just did that yesterday,” he replied back to him.

  “Well, you can never be too careful,” Johnathan said as he looked at me.

  Josh stared at him. “Well I guess we'll go out and check, but I think that we are okay.”

  “Someone tried to break through the binding yesterday, I think we should be cautious,” Johnathan said as he grabbed my hand.

  I felt a slight vibration and a flash of light made the room go white. I staggered for a moment. Josh moved towards me and reached out. Johnathan pulled me to him and hugged me.

  Josh looked at him.

  “Rue, are you okay?”

  I sighed and blinked a couple of times. “Yea...I need to eat, I think.”

  Johnathan put his hand on my face and I looked up at him. He leaned in to kiss me and Josh leaned up to us.

  “We better go...Johnathan,” he said a little too loud in my ear.

  I closed my eyes and stepped out of the way.

  “Go and check,” I said as I sat down on the couch.

  I watched them step outside and then they flashed into the woods.

  Kai"s bedroom door opened up and Sam came out in her underwear. I sat with my eyes fixed on her as she walked to the fridge. She reached in and grabbed a can of whip cream and walked back across the living room. The door closed and I heard laughing.

  I looked at Theodore. “Okay...that was disturbing,” I said.

  Theodore laughed out loud.

  “After all you have seen, that disturbs you?” he asked.

  “Absolutely...anything concerning my brother and a girl in her underwear does,” I muttered.

  Theodore winked at me. I stood up. “Theodore, I think today is the day to see the new library,” I said.

  “OMG,” he said. I raised my eyebrows.

  “OMG?” I said to him.

  “Hanging out with Sara is bringing you up to date huh?” I said.

  “Oh yes, she is just the most pleasant creature, all „OMG" and „WTF", it's delightful.”

  “Okay then,” I said as I turned to hit the door. I stopped and looked back at him.

  “Do you just want to meet me there?” I said.

  “Oh...wait, I've got to change,” he said.

  I looked him up and down, he looked impeccable...as usual.

  “You look awesome,” I said.

  “Well, thank you, but there is an outfit for every occasion,” he said as he headed to his room.

  ******

  387

  I stepped out on the porch and sat down in the swing. I pulled my shades down over my eyes and flashed back to when the black BMW had pulled up that first time. God to only go back to that...simpler, normal. I knew it would never be again. I pulled out my phone and hit the button. Sara answered on the other end.

  “Hello my immortal friend,” she said. I went silent for a moment.

  “Are you alone?” I asked her.

  She started to laugh. “Yesss…girlie…! I'm in my room!” she said.

  “Oh, Okay,” I said to her quietly.

  “Whats wrong?” she said.

  “Oh nothing Sara...I just, well never mind… Hey, you wanna go to the library with me and Theodore?” I asked her.

  “OMG yea,” she said.

  “Well, he's changing into something I guess more „library" or something... Wanna meet here?” I said as I looked out into the woods.

  “You bet... Like an hour or something?” she said with way too much excitement.

  “Yea...sounds good…see ya.”

  I pushed the button on my phone and realized that I had just planned the first normal thing in a long time. I crossed my legs, and then my fingers, just hoping that we could do this without any crazy...no crazy, please. I stood up and ran back in...up to my room. I pulled my backpack out of the closet and then pulled my blades out. I stood there staring at them for a moment, I held them close to my chest and sighed. I closed my eyes and Josh's face flashed in my mind. I opened my eyes up and grinned, as I shoved them back in my backpack and swung it onto my back. I stopped when I caught my broken reflection in the bathroom mirror, I had cracked it down the middle in a fit.

  It was at that moment that I realized that I was broken, in two pieces now.

  I looked away from my reflection and headed downstairs, ready to just be me...at the library “ reading” a book...not the one I'm living in right now.

  388

  Chapter 18

  Resurrection

  389

  Johnathan raced through the woods ahead of Josh, he suddenly knelt down and felt the ground. He looked up and grinned when he caught the trail he was searching for. Josh flashed up behind him.

  “Anything?” Josh asked as he knelt down.

  “No...nothing yet, but I swear that I just feel funny. Someone has been here...I just know it,” he said as he looked out into the woods.

  “Are you sure…? I don't feel anything... I'm starting to feel like we are wasting our time out here,” Josh said as he stood up and sighed.

  “Well I don't think it's a waste of time, when it comes to protecting Rue,”

  Johnathan said as he raised up from the ground.

  Josh looked at him and grinned. “Of course not…I would do anything to make sure that she is safe,” Josh said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Oh, like getting thrown in the tower of Valon and then having her come and rescue you?” Johnathan said as he looked out into the trees.

  “Hey,” Josh said as he turned Johnathan towards him. “I would of never asked her to come. I'm glad to be standing here, but I would of never let her come and try to rescue me.”

  “Uh huh,” Johnathan said sarcastically.

  “I wouldn't!” Josh said.

  “Well, she did and I am curious how you feel about that? Johnathan said.

  “How I feel…? Well, I'm relieved that she didn't get herself killed... That's how I

  „feel" Johnathan.”

  “Well.” Johnathan reached down and picked up a twig and started to strip it. “I know that you are glad she is not dead. I mean…how you feel about her.” He tossed the twig and looked at him.

  “What...? Oh man, list
en I know that you and Rue are together, I get reminded of it everyday,” Josh said as he started to walk. Johnathan caught up with him.

  “Well, I am reminding you right now that she belongs to me,” Johnathan said as he passed him by.

  “Belongs to you...? What the hell Johnathan…? I can assure you that Rue does not „belong" to anyone... Why the hell would you say that?” Josh said as he grabbed Johnathan's arm and swung him around, to face him.

  Johnathan looked down at Josh's hand on his arm, and Josh let go. He looked back up at Josh and grinned. “Well, a little protective of her I see ?” he said. “I know that you have feelings for her, but I will not let you have her,” Johnathan said as he stood his ground.

  Josh walked ahead of him and picked up a rock from the ground. He threw it as hard as he could and the rock disappeared into the woods.

  “I know that she loves you,” Josh muttered.

  “I'm sorry, I didn't hear you,” Johnathan yelled. Josh turned around and stared at him.

  “I know that she loves you,” he said it slowly and a little malicious.

  “That is right, and I love her...just keep that in mind,” Johnathan said as he flashed forward.

  Josh stood there for a moment. “Dick,” he muttered. Josh flashed after him.

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  Johnathan stopped in a clearing and stood still, Josh flashed up next to him.

  “Listen, you don't need to be a dick,” Josh said.

  Johnathan held up his hand and Josh stopped and looked around.

  “What now?” Josh said as he crossed his arms.

  “Do you feel that?” Johnathan said as he looked around.

  “I don't feel shit,” Josh said as he grumbled.

  Johnathan turned around to face him. Josh looked up, as Johnathan pulled his blades from his back. Josh stood there for a moment and stared at him.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he said.

  Johnathan gripped his blades and turned them sideways. He started to walk back and forth.

  “I am so disappointed in you Josh,” he said as he kept his eyes on him.

  Josh tilted his head. “What the fuck?” he asked him as he pulled his blades out.

  “You are a pathetic excuse for our lineage...your own really. Your father was a great man. Your family very special to us all...and you, the third born...the only one in history, a „miracle!"…they all said… I think more of a fluke…yes, a mistake of nature.” Johnathan grinned and stopped a few feet from him.

  “Are you high?” Josh asked him.

  Johnathan tilted his head and laughed. “What?” Johnathan said.

  Josh stared him in the eye. “Oh...I get it...! You want to fight, for Rue…! Some

  „ma no e ma no bullshit", or something like that... You want to claim her for your own… Listen I get it...you like her a lot, she likes you too...so this is crazy. I am not going to kick your ass, which I would by the way, and then have you go running back to her and telling her that I'm the bad guy.”

  Johnathan stood up straight. “I don't think that you get it Joshua. I've already won her, she's mine.”

  Josh shook his head. “You are tripping Johnathan, put your blades down.”

  Suddenly something flashed in between them. Josh tried to focus on it, but it moved too fast. Johnathan took off after it and Josh yelled out. “Wait...stupid!”

  Josh flashed through the woods and didn't see anything. He didn't feel anything either, which was weird for him. He stopped and knelt down. He pressed his hand against the ground and spread his fingers out. A vibration went through him.

  “No fucking way,” he whispered.

  He stood up and flashed forward. He broke through the trees and came to a clearing, where he stopped and looked around. He spotted a mirror on the ground and walked towards it. He stopped and looked at it.

  “What the hell?” he muttered to himself.

  Suddenly he was hit from behind and he flipped over the mirror and rolled.

  He came up with blades out at his sides, in a crouched position. He scanned the circle and started to stand up.

  “Who the fuck is out here?” he yelled. He heard a girl laugh. “You've got to be kidding me,” he whispered.

  Elin stepped out from the trees and stood there grinning at him. His eyes went to a slit.

  “Oh you crazy bitch,” he said to her. She laughed and pulled her blades out.

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  He looked at her and tilted his head. “How the fuck do you keep coming back...?

  You"re like a cat,” he said as he gritted his teeth.

  “Oh come now Josh,” Elin said as she ran her blade across her hand and raised it to her mouth. She licked it and then lowered it as she smiled. “We had fun, did we not?”

  “If you call ,"wondering if you would kill me in my sleep", fun... Then yea, lots of fun...Elin.”

  She rubbed her blade across her stomach and drew in her breath.

  “I remember you, so passionate and angry... You want to choke me again?” she said as she stopped the blade below her waist. She looked down and pressed it against herself, letting out a little moan.

  “You are fucked up,” he said to her.

  “Oh…don't be so conservative Josh, I know you... You are a naughty boy.” She tilted her head when he didn't respond this time. “Oh, has that little girl got you all messed up...? Don't tell me that you have let her tame you...that would be a shame.”

  “Shut up,” Josh said to her, as he gripped his blades.

  “What? I can't talk about your little whore...? You know that Johnathan has tasted her blood don't you?”

  Josh stepped to the side, as Elin started to pace. “I don't care what they do.”

  Elin threw her head back in laughter. “You lie...that is one of your best qualities isn't it Josh? You say „I love you", but you don't mean it.”

  Josh grinned at her. “Did you really track me out here to fight about us...?

  Sounds like you are jealous Elin...that's new for you. You just move from protector to protector fucking them until you get what you want and then move on... You will never be immortal, you are human… You can't have someone fuck that into you.”

  “I am not human,” she muttered at him.

  “Oh yes you are, and a sad excuse for one,” Josh said as he braced for her to attack him.

  She screamed out and flashed at him...swinging her blades upward, Josh crossed his blades in front of him and pushed her back. She fell on the ground.

  He looked down at her and laughed.

  “You don't even know how to use them... Stop pretending to be something that you are not Elin, it's pathetic,” Josh said mockingly.

  She pushed herself up and went to run at him, Johnathan flashed in between them. Johnathan stabbed her in the side and twisted the blade. She looked up at him and tried to touch his face. She sank to ground as she reached out to him.

  “Why, my lord...? I have done everything that you have asked of me?” she said in a whisper.

  Josh looked at her and at Johnathan's back.

  “What the fuck is this „my lord" shit?” he asked.

  Johnathan leaned down and kissed her as blood ran from her mouth, a flash came from his hand and she cried out. Josh backed up from them.

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  Johnathan flashed up from his knee and spun around, staring at Josh. Josh gripped his blades.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he asked him.

  Johnathan smiled, blood stained his teeth.

  “Your end,” he said.

  “Oh shit,” Josh yelled out, as Johnathan flashed at him.

  Josh stumbled backward as Johnathan sliced his blades at him with lightening speed. Josh spun his leg on the ground and knocked Johnathan down onto his back. Josh raised his blades and brought them down. They hit dirt, and jammed into the ground. Johnathan had flashed out of the way so quickly, that Josh barely saw him do it. He looked up as Johnathan kicked him in the jaw, and Josh fell onto his back. Johnathan jump
ed on top of him and bit his shoulder.

  Josh cried out. Johnathan came up and licked his lips, red with blood.

  “Who are you!?” Josh screamed out.

  Johnathan brought his blade down and sliced it across his collar bone.

  Josh screamed and brought his one blade up and clipped Johnathan on the hand. Johnathan turned his blade and hit him in the mouth, as hard as he could.

  Josh's head turned and he spit out blood. Josh raised his legs and kneed him in the back. Johnathan fell forward and Josh cut his face, as he rolled over him.

  Johnathan grabbed his cheek and looked at his hand. Josh pushed himself up and stood there shocked, his blades glowing in his hands. Johnathan pushed himself up and grinned at him. He licked the blood from his fingers.

  “Ah...Joshua Barrington, you don't disappoint me as much as I thought you would.”

  “Just tell me who the fuck you are. I don't want to put you in the ground not knowing, it will drive me nuts. I'll be thinking about it for a thousand years,” Josh said as he steadied himself.

  Johnathan laughed… “Oh you should know me, Josh... This was your wish, to fight and kill the one who took your father"s life.”

  “Caine?” Josh whispered to him.

  “You are quick. Tell me...do you want to die like your father, or do you want to die slowly...? I had mercy with him, guess I am just sentimental that way,” Caine said as he held his blades out to his sides like a martyr.

  “I will kill you!” Josh screamed as he flashed forward.

  Caine swung his blades to the side to counter Josh. He brought his right hand up quickly, and cut Josh across the upper leg. Josh stumbled forward and almost fell, he grabbed at it and swung around quickly. He pushed himself up with a grunt, and stared at Caine's back.

  “Turn around you bitch!” Josh yelled, as he spit blood on the ground.

  Caine sighed. “Do you want me to remove the glamor...? Or would you enjoy fighting Johnathan, I know you hate him.”

  “I don't give a shit if you look like a three year old girl, I'm going to kill you,” Josh said as he pressed on his leg.

  “Bind!” Josh screamed. Caine started to laugh as he turned around.

  “You really think you can bind me?” he asked as he grinned.

  Josh grinned. “I thought I'd give it a shot.”