by Peiri Ann
It’s dark now, and Ealander’s eyes start to glow. Creepy! “On the contrary,” his voice takes on a dark tone, “my kind is well under-control and not in debt to the universe. We do not owe for deaths.”
“No, you just cause them.” Scott interrupts, with a voice I’ve never heard him use before.
“As have you,” the guy standing next to him with the dirty-blond hair follows. “Do not stand here like you all are the innocent ones. Your names are at the top of the list for a reason. We are not here for nothing, and it’s time you pay up—” He looks over at me. “—with your lives or theirs.” What!?
Nathan turns to him, full-bodied. “Corieen.” He shakes his head and says, “That is a dark road you do not want to go down.”
“You are not supposed to have this. The two of you know you are forbidden against this—the same goes for your sister.” His voice grows louder. “All three of you, born to your family. We are right to be here and we are right to handle this now.”
“I advise you to lower your voice, prat,” Scott says from Nathan’s side.
Corieen stares at him, then back at Nathan. “You will speak now—or die.” What!?
Nathan says nothing, and Scott turns his back to Nathan’s so that he is facing the third guy. “You too Josen? Scott asks him. Josen, simply nods with a frown to his smooth face and piercing eyes. That’s it. The shit’s about to hit the fan.
“Nathan, do not do this. It will not end well for you. That is not a threat,” Ealander warns.
“It’s not my ending that you should be worrying about.” I look over to Glen and see that she’s laying down. I quickly look back to the guys. “What was it exactly that you came here to discuss?”
“Nothing!” Josen spits, quickly reaching out for Scott, grabbing him by his neck.
I gasp, and remind myself not to move. I don’t do well with watching other people fight, especially people I care about. It’s three on two, and that isn’t fair.
Nathan sends a quick punch to Corieen, sending him back a few steps and grabbing his face.
Ealander starts shaking—vibrating. The air around him starts to buzz.
Nathan backs up, taking him in. Not knowing what Ealander is going to do, he kicks him in the chest. Ealander flies back and a gust of blazing air erupts from him.
Nathan moves quickly, avoiding the blast, but backing up into Scott, who has just been dropped by Josen. His hands are still around Scott’s neck, but Scott is kneeling in the sand, cuffing the guy’s arms. Scott pulls the guy’s hands from his neck as he turns around to look at Nathan.
Corieen is walking towards Nathan, making it to him in seconds, sending the same kind of kick to Nathan that he had delivered to Ealander—hitting him and sending him into Scott.
Ealander is back on his feet, rushing over to Nathan and Scott as they get up from the ground.
Corieen starts walking towards me. I’m about to scream out to Nathan, but hold it in, remembering what he had said.
Nathan! I yell internally.
It’s hard for me to keep still and not to speak. I don’t know why he doesn’t want me to speak, but I’m not willing to risk it.
Josen is now on his feet. Nathan looks at Scott, who nods. Leaving Scott’s side, Nathan ends up next to Corieen. He grabs him by his neck, turning him around.
Corieen fights back, issuing Nathan a few blows to the head. Nathan’s eyes turn night-blue, with a faint light in the back of them, making them easy to see in the dark. He grabs Corieen’s hand that’s hitting him and makes deep eye-contact with him.
Corieen he has electric currents flaring from the fingertips of his free hand. Slowly, Corieen’s hand starts rising to his own chest and he reaches inside him. My mouth falls open as I watch it. This has to be the most sickening shit I’ve ever seen.
I can hear the flesh burning and separating. Seconds later, he pulls his hand out, with his own heart held in his palm. It bubbles and sizzles until it turns into ash. Corieen’s body goes limp and Nathan drops him in the sand. He concentrates on the body for less than a second and it erupts into sand, joining the sand on the beach.
I remove my hands from the sand, eyes still on Nathan.
“Nathan!” Scott yells, and we both look in his direction. Ealander and Josen are hovered around Scott. Ealander is behind him, struggling to hold him down, while Josen has the electric current flowing from his fingers—pressing firmly against Scotts face, but not penetrating it.
Nathan rushes over, grabbing Ealander by the sides of his head, wasting no time as Ealander yells out. Nathan crushes his skull in seconds. Concentrating on the limp body, it also joins the sand. Josen is left to Scott.
Scott pushes him and he flies backwards into the air. He lands in the sand on his feet. Scott meets him the moment he lifts his head.
Tracey, look at me! Nathan yells in my head.
I look at him, but quickly turn back to Scott.
Tracey, look at me! he says again, harshly.
I turn to him, but can’t help turning back to Scott. Scott is closing the distance, his jaw looking animal-like.
Nathan appears in front of me, on his knees, blocking my sight, with his chest at eyelevel. I hear a cold, manly shriek. It must be coming from Josen, or else Nathan would be helping.
What is going on? I want to see what’s happening! There is another shriek, but it is cut off by a gurgle sound that fills me with a sickening feeling. I hear flesh hit the ground. Nathan doesn’t move.
He lets go of an angry breath as he lowers his head to look at me. His eyes are swirling from the color of night to brown. “I’m sorry.”
I look at him. Scott walks by and kneels down beside me. “I’m sorry too.” Nathan turns quickly as Scott grabs my attention, but when I look back at him, he’s looking back at me.
“Thanks,” he says to Scott, still looking at me.
Scott stands. “No thanks needed.” He walks away, back towards Glen, who is still lying down.
Nathan only stares at me. “Can I touch you?” he asks, after minutes have passed.
Why is he asking?
“I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable if I did.” It did freak me out seeing what he is capable of—the whole mind-possession, the strength to crush skulls, then the turning dead bodies into sand—but he is still my Nathan, right? He wouldn’t do those things to me, right? “No, I wouldn’t, Tracey.”
“Are you okay?” I ask quietly, my hands still shaking as my nerves try to calm themselves.
He nods, sitting next to me. “So can I touch you?”
“Yes, Nathan. There is nothing you can do to make me not want you.”
He pulls me to him, wrapping me in his arms. “Thank you, baby.” He kisses my temple. Everything eases—my nerves and the sickening feeling I had.
Sitting out here no longer settles well with me. I want to leave. “You ready to go?”
“Yes,” he answers, without thinking about it.
I get up, throwing everything in the bag it came out of, pissed that I didn’t get to enjoy any of it. He grabs the blankets and we head towards the house. “Are you going to tell Scott we’re going in?”
“Yeah.” He pauses. “Just did. They are going to sit out here for a little while longer. Then they’re going to stay overnight here. You okay with that?”
“If I wasn’t, would you make them leave?”
“Yes,” he answers without hesitation.
I laugh. “No, I’m okay with it. Your house is big enough. They can have the basement and we can have your room.”
He looks down at me. “Right. We could have popcorn and watch a movie,” he suggests.
I like the sound of that. “Good idea,” I say, smiling.
We take the long walk back to the house and thoughts from earlier make their way back into my head. Nathan is talking about all the movies they have that I can choose from.
“Nathan?” He looks at me, but doesn’t answer. I quickly continue, before he reads my thoughts. “Why d
on’t you wake up with me?”
He hardens. “What are you getting at, Tracey?” he says, looking away from me.
“I’m just asking a question.”
“But that’s not the question you’re trying to ask.” His voice is smooth, no tone in it. It is hard to read him.
“Nathan, just answer the question. You kill me with your beating around the bush.” He looks at me with a slight squint in his eyes. If I didn’t know him well enough, I wouldn’t have noticed. “And get out of my head.” I give him a warning look.
“We’ll talk when we get in the house.” We always have to wait. I don’t understand that.
I stay quiet for the remainder of the walk that is taking forever. We finally walk into the house, and he throws the blankets down what looks like a laundry chute. He reaches out to grab the bag of snacks from me, and I hand it to him in a way so he can’t touch me.
He notices and tenses up, clenching his jaw. The sexiest shit I ever saw. He turns from me, placing the bag on the island, not bothering to put anything away. I hold myself together, wanting to go over to him.
Without speaking, he goes to a cabinet, grabs a bag of popcorn kernels, and puts it in a microwave that sits near the fridge. He turns it on, pressing the popcorn button, then grabs a two-liter of orange soda from the fridge and places it on the counter.
Everything he does, he does forcefully, ending with a thud or a slam. I hold back my amusement. He opens another cabinet, grabbing two glasses. Going into the cabinet next to it, he grabs two plastic bowls. He looks back at me, catching me watching him. Turning back around, he shakes his head.
I continue watching him as he goes to the freezer side of the fridge and fills one of the plastic bowls with ice. The microwave goes off and he gets the other bowl, takes out the popcorn, and empties the bag into it.
He throws the empty bag in the trash and walks over to me. Handing me the two-liter and the bowl of ice, he grabs the popcorn and glasses.
“Come on,” he says to me coldly, and starts walking ahead of me. Aww, I made him mad.
Taking the journey to his room, he stops by what looks like a den and grabs two movies. I can’t see what they are as he walks back to me. We climb the rounded staircase and finally make it. Gosh, that’s a lot to go through just to get to your comfort zone!
I walk in first and he follows, closing the door behind him. I set the pop and ice on his desk, and start taking off my shoes. He walks by me, doing the same, standing closer than he needs to.
“Umm, can I get some space?” I ask jokingly.
“Umm, can you stop acting like you can’t touch me?”
“I will, after you answer my questions. Touching you will make me forget.”
“If I wanted you to forget your questions, I wouldn’t have to touch you.”
“I don’t know where you’re going with this, but you better not.” I cover my head with my arms to protect it.
He laughs at me. “What are you doing?”
“Protecting my head from you infiltrating it and making me forget—or whatever you’re going to do.”
“Oh yeah, you covering your head is definitely going to stop me.” He pulls my arms down and pulls me to him. “I wouldn’t do that to you anyway. Go sit down while I set up the movies and popcorn.”
I sit on the king-sized bed, which is very comfortable. I didn’t notice how comfortable it is, yesterday. I could definitely get used to this room.
“What are you saying, Tracey?”
“Get out of my head, Nathan.” I change my own subject and watch him do everything. I’m ready to change my jeans into something more comfortable. I really want a shower.
“Go get in the shower. There’s some clothes for you in the top drawer of the dresser that’s next to you.”
Did he really fill a drawer with clothes for me?
“Yes.”
I let go of an irritated breath. He is doing that on purpose. Leaving my mind blank, I grab the clothes and go to the shower. Extremely blank as I get in the shower. I like that the bathroom is attached to his room so I don’t have to risk running into anyone. I feel uncomfortable about taking a shower in someone else’s house.
I finish up, dry off, and put on the clothes I had grabbed. I took a pair of his drawstring shorts from the drawer. I also noticed he had put some panties, bras, tanks, socks, jeans, and a few shirts in his drawer for me as well. I smiled when I saw everything. I grabbed a pair of panties, a bra, and a tank.
This time, in his bathroom are a comb and a brush, sitting on the sink, still in the packaging. I open them and brush my hair heavily from my scalp to the ends. It feels so good, considering I had not brushed it all day or last night. I pull it back into a ponytail, letting it hang. I brush my teeth and rewash my face. I feel so much better. Watching Nathan fight, and feeling him get angry, really took a lot out of me.
Carrying my clothes, I leave the bathroom. Nathan is gone. The bowl of popcorn is sitting on the bed and the cups, filled, are on the nightstands. I pick up the movie case from the TV stand. Pelham 123 with Denzel Washington and John Travolta is waiting to play on his TV, which seems like a 60-inch in his bedroom. Why does he have such a big TV?
Shaking my head, I set the case down. I walk over and set my clothes by my shoes and make myself comfortable on the bed.
As soon as I sit down, Nathan walks back in the room, clothes changed, and hair wet. He has a towel in his hand, rubbing it over his head, and some water droplets run from the back of his neck down his chest. I almost lose it. Check yourself, Tracey.
“So where can I put my clothes?”
He looks over to me, drying the water that’s running down his chest. “Open that door over there.” He points by the desk. “It’s a closet and there is a laundry basket in there.”
I walk to the closet with my clothes. Opening the door, I’m stunned. “Umm, Nathan, your closet is the size of my room,” I say after taking it in.
“Yes, it’s over the top, but it came with the room so…”
I stand here for a moment, admiring the closet space and the amount of clothes he has. Everything is expertly organized from his shoes to his suits, shirts, and jeans.
“Tracey, that closet it not going anywhere.”
“What are you saying, Nathan?” I mock him.
“Put your clothes in the laundry basket and get out of the closet. Come on.”
I do as he asked. Since he wants to act like that, I know how to make him shut up.
“What are you saying, Tracey?”
“Nothing, Nathan,” I say, walking back to his bed. “All I know is, when I wake up, you better be next to me.”
He grabs the remote from the TV stand and makes his shirtless-way over to me. “What are you trying to say?” He uses a serious tone.
“I think you should put a shirt on so I can remember.”
He makes a cocky smirk, getting on the bed. “No, I think I’ll leave it off. Are you uncomfortable?”
“No, but you will be. Are you going to press play?”
He chuckles, pressing play on the remote, and the movie starts. He throws some popcorn in his mouth before he asks, “Have you seen this movie before?”
“Nope.” And I really don’t plan on seeing it this time either.
He turns his head, looking at me, and then looks away. “What’s on your mind, babe?” he asks calmly.
“I want you to tell me the truth. Tell me what’s going on. Don’t treat me like how Scott is treating Glen.”
He sits up, placing his back against the headboard, and moves the bowl to the nightstand. “I don’t treat you like how Scott treats Glen.”
“I watched you do some crazy shit today, some shit that freaked me out, and other things that scared the shit out of me. I didn’t want to bring it up, but I have to be honest with myself. I don’t understand what happened today or why it happened, but I saw it happen. I saw a part of you I really never wanted to see, but it won’t change the way I feel about you.” I t
ake a deep breath, making sure I have my words together. “So tell me what it is you’re keeping from me. Tell me what’s so bad about this bonding thing and what we are now.”
He studies me before speaking. “Now, you have a choice. You can choose to stay or you can choose to leave. You can understand the difference within your feelings for me, with no interference from me.” He shrugs. “I love that you accept me, and I love that some of the ‘real’ me didn’t scare you away. But I don’t want you to feel obligated to me. And if we do those things and become bound, you will be.”
“You don’t want to feel obligated to me?”
“I am already obligated to you. I’m with you forever—no matter what you need—because your heart beats for me,” he says calmly.
“Okay, I’m not following you.”
“Tracey, after we are bound, you will never be able to leave me.”
“Can I leave you now?” I ask, not caring about the answer.
He shrugs. “If you wanted to.”
“But I don’t want to.”
“But you may want to.”
“After what?” He is killing me.
His eyebrows scrunch together. “What do you mean, ‘after what’?” His head moves in a pulled-back, shaking motion.
“After what will I want to leave you?”
He looks at me like I’m talking crazy. “After nothing!” he states factually.
“Exactly. How much worse can you get?”
He looks away from me. “What happens if I try to kill you?”
I take a moment to think on that. “Will you try to kill me?”
“No! But I—”
“Nothing, Nathan. What is it? Can you just tell me? I’m already attached to you. You’re already on my heart and every other inch of my mind and body. I already want you more than I want to breathe. And every time you’re gone and not around me, I can’t breathe anyway.” I keep his eye contact. “What could be worse than you denying me and me feeling like I was going to die? Then you accept me, but every time I wake up, I feel like it was all taken away again. I am not understanding this. You either want me or you don’t. Stop dragging me along. Be all in or nothing.”
“Tracey, why are you saying this? Everything is fine now, is it not?”