by Rue Volley
“You mean literally stab her?” he asked.
Theodore backed away from me and sat down on the chair.
“Yes... we put her in the tub with ice and then Josh stabbed himself. Then we stabbed her in the heart,” he said, like it was just same old, same old.
Johnathan rubbed his hand through his hair.
“Unbelievable,” he muttered.
I grinned and looked at him. He shook his head and stood up.
“Do you think that you could just try a little harder?” he said as he stared at Josh.
Josh leaned back and let his blade rest on his lap.
“You are kidding, right?” he asked him.
Johnathan stood there, breathing a little too hard as he glanced at me.
“I don’t want to return here one day, have you shrug your shoulders and say, ‘Well, she finally died’.”
Josh laughed out loud and sat up. “Like that’s going to happen… ever,”
Johnathan looked back at Theodore and then back to Josh.
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” he said. Josh stood up and stepped up to him.
“You don’t have to worry about my ability to make sure that she is safe… I won’t let anything happen to her… unlike you.”
Johnathan laughed. “Oh right… like I would let her die.”
Josh walked past him and bumped his shoulder. Johnathan turned to him.
“You think that you won’t ever fail,” Johnathan muttered to him.
Josh turned back to him and raised his hand.
“I know what I am able to do when I care about something.”
I looked up at him. Am I the something? Maybe I am.
I really wanted to interrupt them and say something funny, but my head started to hurt and I leaned forward. Josh looked at me and sat back down next to me.
“What is it?” he asked me.
“Headache,” I said.
Theodore walked back in and looked at me.
“Headache?” he asked me. I nodded as I looked up at him.
“Well, it will pass… just a side effect,” he said.
I stood up and let the blanket fall. I stood there in my bra and underwear. I looked down and smiled. I looked up and Johnathan stared at me. Josh cleared his throat. Johnathan turned.
Josh picked up the blanket and wrapped it around me. He held it and looked at me, grinning. I looked back at Johnathan.
“So… how was the date with uh…” I asked him. Johnathan turned to me.
“Brittany,” he said.
“Yea… anyway… did you kill her in the forest?” I asked him, trying to get a joke going.
He grinned at me.
“No, I did not. She is cool… I took her home,” he said.
“Mmm,” I said.
“What does that mean?” he said to me.
“Oh nothing… I’m glad you had fun,” I said as I walked to the stairs and started to walk up them.
Johnathan watched me until he noticed that Josh was staring him down.
Josh crossed his arms and smiled.
“You know that you can’t date humans,” he said to him.
“Why?” Johnathan asked him.
“Well, when you hit twenty-one, it will get awkward. They keep aging and you just stay the same,” Josh said.
Sam entered the room and sat down next to Josh.
“Stop it,” she said to him.
“What Sam?” Josh asked her. “Tell him.” Sam rolled her eyes. “No really, Sam… Tell him about your first boyfriend.”
Sam looked at Johnathan and leaned back.
“Well… it didn’t work,” she said as she shrugged her shoulders.
“Oh… it more than didn’t work, Sam,” Josh said as he laughed at her.
“Shut up Josh,” Sam said as she let her head fall back on the back of the couch.
“What happened?” Johnathan asked her.
Sam raised her head and looked at him.
“I accidently killed him,” she said.
“What?” Johnathan said as he sat down on the chair.
Josh leaned up and placed his hands on his knee.
“Yea… Sam here decided that she wanted to ummm…you know, with him,” he said.
Sam waved her hand. “It worked out just awesome,” she muttered.
Kai came in and sat down next to her.
“What’s up?” he asked her.
Josh turned to him and smiled.
“We were just discussing why we are not able to really have sex with humans.”
Kai looked at Sam.
“Dirty girl,” he said to her. She sighed.
“Well, anyway… it doesn’t work... You either have to try to turn them temporarily, which is a mess, or you drain them... not knowing,” she said.
Josh tapped Kai on the shoulder. “Just be glad that you are not human… Sam would kill you.”
“Tell me about it,” Kai said as he smiled at her.
Sam sat up and looked at him. “Get your blades Kai.”
He smiled and flashed from the room. He was back in an instant.
Sam stood up and looked down at Josh. “We are going to train, wanna come?”
Josh looked towards the ceiling and shook his head.
“Go have fun,” he said to her. Sam grabbed Kai’s hand and they flashed from the house.
Theodore shook his head.
“Children,” he muttered as he smiled.
Josh smiled and hit the stairs running. Johnathan stared at him.
“I’m going back out,” he said. Theodore nodded.
“Be aware of your surroundings… there are strange things lurking,” he said.
Johnathan nodded and walked out the door.
***
I sat on my bed holding my head. I started to pull my hands away and watched as light started to follow my fingers. I stared at it and lowered my hands as I noticed Josh in my doorway. I looked at him and pressed them together. The light wrapped around them and it felt like it cramped my fingers. I shook them out and Josh walked in and sat down next to me.
“You want me to show you how to get the pain out?” he asked me. I grinned.
“Yes I would,” I said.
Josh turned to me and I turned to him. He raised his hands up and I watched a glow start to form in his palms. He closed his eyes and it swirled around his fingers.
“Close your eyes,” he whispered. I didn’t. He peeked at me and sighed.
“It’s not a trick,” he said. I closed my eyes and he concentrated on the core.
“What am I supposed to be doing?” I asked him.
“Nothing yet,” he said. I kept my eyes closed and then I felt a tingling in my hair.
I opened my eyes up and he had his hands at the sides of my head. My hair started to pull towards his fingers like it had static in it. I giggled. Josh opened his eyes up and looked at me.
“I am going to pull the pain out of your head now,” he said.
I nodded and watched as little strands of light started to come from my head absorbing into his fingers. He hissed for a second and his eyebrows crinkled. I continued to watch until he suddenly pulled his hands away from my head and he shook his hands down to the ground. The light seeped from his hands and seeped into the floor.
Theodore yelled up to us, “Watch where you throw bad energy, Joshua Barrington!”
“Sorry!” Josh yelled out to him. I smiled. I felt fine, the headache completely gone.
I looked at him and grinned.
“Ooops,” I whispered. He smiled too.
“Thank you,” I said to him.
“No problem. It’s just a matter of collecting it and getting it thrown away,” he said.
“Listen Josh, I’m sorry about the…” I held up my fingers and wiggled them at him.
“Yea… well, I just hate to be shocked,” he said as he leaned back.
“Did it hurt?” I asked him. Josh scratched his arm.
“No… it tickles,” he said. I tilted my
head at him.
“Like ‘haha’ tickle?” I asked him.
Josh sighed and placed his hand on his face.
“Yes… don’t tell Theodore and Sam… okay?” he asked me. I shook my head, “no”.
“Your secret is safe with me,” I said, as I leaned towards him.
He touched my face softly and looked at me. I let him, it felt like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. I cleared my throat and he sat up and looked at me.
“What?” I said.
“I am destined to wear myself out with you,” He said.
“I don’t know what to say to that, Josh,” I said, as I looked down at my hands.
He touched my hands with his fingers and color crept from his skin to the top of my hand and swirled on top of it. It rolled around to my palm and I touched it as it left a trace of warmth. I breathed in and looked back to him. He was staring at my face.
“Well,” he said. I grinned.
He leaned forward and touched my face. His lips were so close to mine I could feel him breathing. He lingered there and then just hugged me. That’s new… I always expect to find myself getting too worked up, almost to the point of not being able to stop, but there we were, hugging. That was an awkward moment for him, Josh doesn’t come off like a ‘hugger’. I let him hold me and then he backed away. I looked down and realized that I really need to get some clothes on.
I stood up and the blanket hung around my shoulders.
“I wanna get dressed,” I said.
“Yea… okay… umm,” he said as he stood up.
We stood there for a moment in an awkward silence. I looked at him and touched my hair.
“Okay… yea,” I said.
Josh walked to the door and pulled it behind him. I looked back at him and he smiled, a new smile. One that I had never seen before, but could get used to seeing everyday… maybe the rest of my life. The rest of my life...? Oh crap.
Chapter Ten
Tantrum
Caine stood in the field and looked at the girl, sprawled out in the grass. She had been cut across her chest, in an x. He looked out towards the forest and grinned.
“He is very efficient,” Caine muttered.
Erik stepped up to his side and looked down at the rogue.
“Seems that we have a warrior on our hands,” he said. Caine looked at him.
“We have a few… this is the work of Joshua Barrington, golden child. He was the first spark of a new beginning for our race.” Erik looked at him.
“Wasn’t he banned from Valon my Lord?” he asked.
“Yes… he refused to embrace the host family. He seems to be tainted with a soft spot for humanity,” Caine said as he stepped over the girl and towards the forest’s edge.
Erik followed him and he stopped when Caine held up his hand. Caine looked down and picked up a stick, he swiped it on the ground and saw the symbol glowing up at him.
“Clever,” he said as he rose up and looked at Erik.
“Seems that they have found stronger protection spells to use,” he said as he looked at it.
Erik stepped forward and Caine held his hand up to his chest and shook his head at him.
“I can retrieve the body Caine. I can smell it,” Erik said.
“If you step into this you will be drained of your energy. It will start slowly but it will speed up. You will dead within the hour,” he said to him.
Jonah stepped up and looked into the forest.
“This is the work of that arrogant ass that cut my head off!” he said.
Caine looked at him. “Yes… seems to be true... You need to call upon someone that you are not fond of here,” Caine said as he looked at him.
Jonah tilted his head as he looked at the symbol glowing in the ground.
“Ahhh, I see that he wants to do us harm,” he muttered.
“Yes… choose someone who is expendable to you.”
Jonah looked out at the rogues staring at him. Everyone else was oblivious to the task at hand.
“I do not want to sacrifice anyone here… They have been by my side for over a hundred years Caine.”
“Perhaps we should call upon Lily,” Caine said as he grinned at him.
“Absolutely not!” Jonah said as he stepped back from him. Caine laughed.
“Oh, Jonah… you amuse me. Of course I would not sacrifice your sister’s life! Unless you do not choose quickly,” Caine said as he stared at him.
Jonah sighed and looked around. His eyes rested on a boy who had a red shirt on with a black vest. He smiled and walked towards him. Lily had at one point been enamored with this boy and Jonah saw an opportunity to put a grudge to rest. He pointed at the boy.
“Come,” he said to him.
The boy stepped forward and Lily flashed up and looked at Jonah, then to the boy. She tilted her head and Jonah held his hand out to her. Caine put his hand on the boy’s shoulders and threw him into the forest. He cried out and they heard a thud. Caine leaned in.
“Retrieve your friend,” he called out to him.
The boy located the body and hissed when he saw the condition it was in.
“He is in pieces, my Lord,” the boy called out to Caine.
“Well… retrieve what you are able… as much as possible,” Caine said as he turned and started to walk back towards the tents. He stopped and stood in front of Jonah and Lily.
“It would best if you kill him quickly, unless you wish to watch him suffer,” He said and Lily looked at Jonah.
“What is going on?” She whispered.
The boy came from the woods and dropped the body… pieces flew around in the grass. Lily hissed and backed away from Jonah. The boy fell to his knees and looked at his hands, black cracks started to form on his skin, and he looked up at Lily with a look of desperation on his face. She tilted her head and flashed towards the tents. Jonah looked at him and sighed. He looked around the circle and raised his head.
“Take the body to Caine. I will follow shortly,” he said as he looked down at the boy. The boy fell on his side and held it. He started to sweat and groan. Jonah scanned the crowd of rogues. “Now,” he said sternly.
They all started to flash away towards the tents. Two rogues stopped and picked up the body and another grabbed some pieces that had fallen around it. They looked at the boy and Jonah waved his hand at them.
“Go,” He said.
Jonah looked at the boy, writhing in pain on the ground.
“Seems that you are expired,” he said to him.
The boy held up his hand and screamed out, as Jonah lunged at him. Lily flashed to a dead stop and turned her head. Her doll baby hair bounced into her face. She looked back as she heard a scream then turned and continued to flash towards the tents.
Caine stepped into his tent and stopped. Elin stood up and stared at him. Caine tilted his head and smiled at her.
“There you are my love,” he said as he stepped towards her.
Elin sighed and took a step forward.
Caine took her hand and placed it to his lips. He kissed it gently and kept his eyes on her.
“And… you were going to come back for me when?” she asked him.
“Oh… I had all intention of retrieving you. I just had other business to attend too. I had a slight delay,” Caine said as he turned, grabbed a bottle of wine, and poured some into a glass for her.
Elin crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her other foot. Caine turned to her and handed her the glass and she took it. She looked to the bed and walked towards it. She sat down and raised the glass to her mouth.
“Are you going to have some, my Lord?” she asked him.
He grinned and took a drink from the bottle. He held out his hand to her.
“As you can see… I am still alive,” he said to her.
She raised her glass and poured it out on the ground. He looked at her and set the bottle down.
“I am sensing that you are angry with me,” he said as he took a step forward.
<
br /> “Well… I don’t know, you killed me and then brought me back. I went to the house and killed that obnoxious family and waited. My skin started to change, I felt as if I would just die. You never came. I waited as long as I could,” she said.
Caine flashed to her and knelt down. He reached his hand out and touched her face. She let him, not showing any reservations. Caine grinned as he kissed her. Elin let him, not really responding to his mouth. He pulled his lips from hers and looked into her eyes.
“You know that I have always favored you most, Elin,” he whispered.
She rolled her eyes and he sighed again. He stood up and walked to the opening in his tent. She looked around the room and grinned.
“Quite the accommodations you have here, Caine… looks like shit,” she said to him.
He turned to her.
“How did you know that I was here?” he asked her.
“I felt you… I would, you have bitten me a thousand times, Caine,” she said as she leaned back on the pillow.
“Yes… I see,” he said to her.
Caine sat down on the bed and touched her leg. Skin peeked out from the slit in her skirt. Elin watched as he rubbed his fingers lightly on her. She looked at him.
“You look quite well, Elin, for not having me to feed you,” He said.
Elin reached up above her head and twisted the tassel on the pillow.
“Well, I have improvised… Surely you would not think that I would waste away… starving like some weak human,” she said to him. He laughed.
“I tasted him on your lips,” he said as he grabbed her leg and squeezed it.
Elin shot up and pushed away from him.
“Tasted who?” she asked him…knowing that she was now in slight danger.
“Oh… so clever, let me see… what did you do...? Seek him out because you feared dying?”
Elin stood up and glanced at the tent opening.
“No,” she said. Caine smiled at her.
“Why did you come here, Elin?”
Elin smiled and took a step. “Perhaps it was to say goodbye,”
“You may leave,” Caine said to her.
She tilted her head as she relaxed the grip on her blade behind her back. Caine stared at her.
“If you really wanted to kill me Elin, you would have taken the opportunity already.”
Elin bit her lip. “I hate you,” she said.