It seemed to take forever before I had a mug in front of me, and by then I could hear voices and footsteps coming down the stairs. Omar’s was among them, and I stood, blowing the steam away from my mug as a group came in. I turned when Omar passed, immediately going towards the stairs. I couldn’t handle anymore stress right now.
In my room, I closed the door and started removing my clothes, which still felt cold to me. I dropped them to the floor as I made my way to the bed. Setting the tea on the nightstand, I pushed myself under the covers, sighing as I closed my eyes.
What a turn of events, running into Linden when I was at my weakest. Still, despite my better judgment, I was very glad I did. So glad … seeing his face in reality was so much better than my memory. His bright eyes stood out even in the dark, and I was flattered their concern was for me. His hair was the same, though I might have imagined it looked a little longer, falling into one of his eyes a little more. He was still beautiful … still dangerous.
I still agreed to talk to him, because my two warring sides wanted to. The part of me that knew I had to stay away wanted to know why he had kept seeing me, even when he knew what I was. Why was he here? He knew the history and the morals, why did he break them? Then the other part of me just wanted to see him, be near him again. That part wanted to hear him laugh again and feel at ease around me.
This opposition within myself was tolling, and I rolled over onto my side, pulling my knees closer to my chest. I couldn’t wait for the next day, but I was also so afraid. What kind of person was I to have missed him?
TWENTY
Noon wouldn’t come soon enough for me the next day. I woke up early, around seven, to see the sky was covered in clouds. It was as if he hovered nearby, waiting. I ate breakfast early, tried to distract myself until Rene woke up. I started the final planning with her, going over the short ‘guest list’ and the food that would be prepared. Everything seemed fine to me, and I repeated that multiple times until she agreed. The last thing she had to do was finish the red dress I would wear.
“How’s it coming along?” I asked, grinning. I knew she wouldn’t tell me anything. I wouldn’t see the dress until the day came.
“That’s for you to find out. Later,” she said, handing me a plate of tarts she’d made the day before. I graciously took one, eager for as much energy as I could muster. Sleep had done me a lot of good, but I still felt somewhat weak, and my stomach felt light and hollow. I wanted this to be gone by the time twelve o’ clock hit.
When it was finally late enough for me to start walking, I hurriedly searched for my shoes and a decent hoodie. Passing a mirror, I glanced at my reflection briefly, fighting with my hair. It was fine, straight as usual. The deep red seemed to clash with my green eyes like the red and greens of Christmas, though these were the features I was usually complimented on.
“Whatever,” I mumbled to myself, going down the stairs and still running my fingers through my hair. No one asked where I was going, but I left Rene a note on the kitchen table saying I’d gone to the orchards to see if Meryl needed any help.
I tried to keep an even pace as I walked up the road. My heart was going a little fast, sending adrenaline through me when I spotted the line of the trees. Already I could see Linden’s car parked on the side of the road, his face pointed towards his radio. He looked up when he saw me and smiled slightly, starting his car. I took a deep breath as he slowly drove forward, stopping a few yards in front of me. He leaned over the seat and unlocked the door before I reached it. I sat down and gave him a meek smile before I shut the door.
“Thought I’d be here a little early,” he said as he put the car in reverse, “and I don’t think we should drive by your place.”
“Probably not,” I agreed as he turned around. He headed back in the direction of his house, turning off onto another road that would go around the town to the highway.
“How was your night?” he asked as he exited onto the wide, busy road. This was good; he was paying attention to traffic rather than meeting my eyes.
“Fine,” I replied. “Yours?”
He shrugged. “Pretty good.”
It felt odd just having small talk, but I guess we had to start somewhere.
“Were you okay when you got home?” he asked, glancing at me. I nodded, explaining that I’d just been in the swamp for a little while. I didn’t specify what I was doing, but he could probably guess. I’m sure he had some idea of what projecting was, or what I could possibly be doing.
“You really tired yourself out,” he commented.
I laughed, “Only a little.”
I reined myself back then; I was getting too comfortable with him again. Remember what he is, the Anti side of me stated. Elemental.
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes, staring at his arm. He was wearing a short sleeved white shirt, fitted to his slim frame and—
Elemental!
Right. I looked at the tattoos on his arm, all of them water-themed. That made sense since he was an Undine. Still, all the images there were so pretty …
I looked back at the highway, disappointed with my Pro side, the one that seemed to be dominating all of my thoughts. I had to remember; things couldn’t ever be the same as before.
“Well, we have a good hour ahead of us in this traffic,” Linden commented as he slowed down to 65. “Shall we proceed?”
He looked at me pointedly, and I stared back, confused. “With what?”
“Talking. Questions.”
Ah. He was ready to get right down to business. The Anti liked this idea.
“Okay,” I started, feeling business-like. “How about we start with Twenty Questions?”
“Fair enough,” he replied. “Who’s first?”
“You are.” Might as well have him get the ball rolling.
“All right,” he said, and paused, thinking. I watched him squint slightly as he bit his bottom lip. “Favorite color?”
I frowned, looking at him to see if he was serious. “Color?”
He nodded, waiting.
“Um … I don’t know, green, I guess,” I replied.
“Good choice,” he said, apparently satisfied. “Your turn.”
I took a few moments to think, immediately deciding that I couldn’t back down and ask him what was his favorite color. “Did you really come to our town because you inherited that house? Not just because of us?”
“That’s two for you,” he pointed out first. “And yes, I came to the town because I inherited the house. No, it was not just because of you and your family.”
“Was your great uncle an Elemental, too?”
“That’s three. Yes, he was.”
I looked at him in disbelief, closing my jaw with a click. “And he knew about Rene? And the others that lived there before her?”
“Four, five. You’re going to waste all your questions, Riley,” he said, grinning. My heart gave a pathetic jolt when he said my name. “Of course he knew about Rene, your kind always sort of emanate an aura, whether you mean to or not. We can just pick up on it easily. Yes, he knew about all other witches that lived there before you or Rene.”
“Were you taught to call us ‘witches’ or is that a personal preference? Because it’s kind of offensive,” I said, not meaning to sound so harsh.
“It’s a habit, I guess. I was sort of taught, if you want to call it that. I haven’t heard any other common names. What’s your preference?” he asked, looking at me.
“Something else … gifted maybe.”
Linden snorted and nudged my shoulder. My skin burned where he touched me. “Gifted? Come on, I think witch is a little more up to par.”
“Well you seem to cringe at being called an Elemental. How’s Undine for you?” I retorted.
“Seven! I don’t care what you call me, it’s what I am, and it’s the truth. I can’t deny I’m an Elemental, or an Undine either. Whatever you want,” he said.
I went quiet then, feeling a little defeated. He was sti
ll laughing to himself at how many questions I had asked, whereas he had only gotten in two. He insisted I sit back and let him be the interrogator for a few minutes.
His next five questions were menial and completely unrelated to our predicament. He asked what my favorite season was, my favorite genre of music, and three other meaningless things. Grudgingly, I answered them all truthfully, waiting until I got a chance at questioning again.
“Okay,” he sighed, flexing his fingers on the steering wheel. “I’m done for now. Shoot.”
“Are you aware of the history between our … kind?” I asked, not sure what word accurately described us.
“Yes.”
I waited. “And?”
“I’ll let that one slide because it wasn’t a complete sentence.”
“Linden!”
He laughed at my annoyance, a sound that sent my Pro side into a silent thrill. I wasn’t amused for long.
“Fine,” he said when he stopped laughing. “I think I get what you’re asking. I know about the history, and I don’t care about it. That was the past, and this is now. There are no ground rules.”
“But there are, Linden,” I replied. “People like me—gifted—are supposed to stay away from Elementals. You’re spirits, you hover between the worlds and … we’re just supposed to stay away.”
He seemed to close off after I spoke. He looked angry, but he didn’t say anything.
“You have to know that,” I said, quieter.
“Of course I do,” he replied lowly. “But once again—don’t care.”
This put a damper on our questions, and I fell silent as he drove. He didn’t bother to go on for the moment, and I felt tension building up between us. I tried to come up with some kind of apology, but my Anti thinking assured me that this was the appropriate thing to do. He had to see the stupidity in his thinking.
I had almost forgotten what the city looked like when we finally reached it. Buildings seemed so tall even though the largest was only about ten stories. I was entranced with the sights as we exited the highway, stopping at a light at an intersection.
“You hungry?” Linden asked, the first question in a long while.
“A little,” I replied, then added, “Eight.”
He smirked a little and turned right, saying he had a particular restaurant in mind. He said he’d been there a few times before, so I trusted his word.
Turns out, it was a small diner with a 50’s feel to it complete with red vinyl booths and a black and white checkered floor. I stared through the glass as Linen parallel parked a few doors down, asking me to take a handful of change from the cup holder between us. I picked out the silver change and got out first, plugging up the meter while he locked the car.
“Hour and a half,” he said when he looked at the time the coins had given us. “Should be fine.”
“Do all Ele—people like you eat normal food?” I asked as we approached the door.
“I’d pick your questions wisely if I were you,” he suggested, holding the door open for me. “You’re running out.”
“Are you saying—” I stopped myself before I completed the question. “You’re not going to answer any questions after that.”
He smiled at my statement. “I don’t know, depends on the question I guess.”
I decided to go along with his game and was careful how to answer him thereafter. Standing in front of the counter, I had no idea what to order. I wanted to ask him for a suggestion, but instead told him to order for me as I went to search for an empty booth. Luckily, there was one left in the back corner, and I sat down immediately, facing the rest of the room. I fiddled with the mini jukebox at the end of the table, looking through the list of songs before I settled on Earth Angel. Putting in a remaining quarter I’d kept, I punched in the song code, knowing we probably wouldn’t be here to hear it.
Linden approached with two tall cups in his hand, and he slid one to me before he sat across from me.
“Chocolate malt,” he said. “You’ll like it.”
“I’ve had it before,” I said, pulling the cup closer. “I’m not that sheltered.”
He smiled around his straw as he struggled to sip the thick shake. He gave up after a second, and I resorted to taking off the top of mine, spooning it into my mouth with the end of the straw.
“Does everyone in your house know about me?” he asked, suddenly, folding his hands on the tabletop.
“I guess we’re back to questions then,” I replied.
“Right.”
I glanced around the room, for a second nervous to talk about these things. That was a caution deeply embedded in me. “I think they do. Rene was suspicious after a while, and when it was confirmed, I think she told everyone.”
Linden nodded thoughtfully, absentmindedly rubbing his arm. “And she completely hates me.”
I hesitated before answering, “Not really you, just what you are.”
“Which is me,” he corrected, smiling almost sadly.
We sat in silence for a few moments as Elvis hollered over the speakers. “Um—are there anymore of you in the area?”
“No Undines that I know of,” he replied. I glanced around nervously when he mentioned Undines, but no one had taken any notice. “I don’t keep tabs on anything else, just my own kind.”
I nodded, ignoring his emphasis.
“Why did you decide to talk to me today?”
Now he was getting into the things that would really make me feel pinned. But I wanted to tell him the truth. “I don’t know. Have you been hiding out at your house?”
“Not really,” he said, kneading the back of his neck. “I don’t really have anyone to talk to besides you.” He paused and looked at me thoughtfully. “Are you afraid of me?”
My voice hitched in my throat when I wanted to immediately answer no. My answer came out in a whisper. “Yes.” I moved on quickly before he could react. “How long will you stay in town?”
“As long as I want,” he said, grinning a little. “Am I allowed to talk to you after today?”
“I don’t know.” The truth, at least, and I kept the questions coming. “Do you want to still talk after today?”
“Yes.” An instant answer. “Is it going to have to be a secret though?”
“Yes. Can you do that?”
“Of course. Will Rene personally kill me if she knew?”
“Only after she killed me. Am I the first ‘witch’ you’ve ever talked to?”
“This personally, yes. Why did you kiss me last time I saw you?”
I felt my face pale and blush at the same time. With the slew of questions coming and going nonstop, I hadn’t even thought this might come up. Now, it felt horribly embarrassing. I couldn’t even look at him.
Thankfully a waiter appeared then to drop off our order. Linden wasn’t even phased and said thank you and asked for ketchup to go with the sweet potato fries he’d ordered for the both of us. I was still caught in mortification.
You can’t be silent forever, I reminded myself fiercely. He was still waiting for an answer.
“I—I don’t know,” I finally said, my eyes flicking to his face and back to the table. I couldn’t read his expression.
“Hm. You don’t know … were you repelled in any way?” he asked.
“How many questions is that? Aren’t we done by now?”
“Don’t dodge the subject,” he said quietly. “In truth, this has really been bothering me.”
Bothering him? In what way? I wanted to ask, but I didn’t dare.
My teeth were clenched tight together, and I was torn between the truth and what I needed to say.
“No—I wasn’t repelled,” I replied, going with the truth.
He mulled over this for a minute before pulling a small basket of the fries towards him. “All right. But you thought it was a bad thing to do.”
“Yes,” I answered, even though it wasn’t a question.
“Fair enough,” he said, sounding like he’d reached a
conclusion. “Now you have to try one of these, they’re the best.”
I tried to brush off the final questions as we ate. It was almost easy if I tried to forget it had happened. We fell into a more normal state of conversation, and I was absorbed in the sweet potato fries anyway. Linden was right, they were awesome.
Before we’d finished entirely, I was surprised to hear Earth Angel come on over the booth. Linden noticed my reaction and asked if I’d picked the song. I replied yes, feeling embarrassed all over again. I was glad when we left, even though the song was stuck in my head.
Linden suggested we walk before we headed back into town, something I was definitely feeling up to. The cool air and the wide space left me feeling a little better about the situation. At least he knew the truth of the matter, in all senses. Though he—and my Pro side—seemed to be having trouble grasping the seriousness of the situation, I had hope it could right itself. It would just take some strength on my part.
That strength was definitely waning as I heard Linden muttering parts of the song as we walked. Maybe he didn’t mean to, but it still got to me, and I felt like such a sap listening so hard to him.
“… Darling dear, love you all the time,” he muttered as we crossed a street. He hummed the rest, but the words still went through my mind. I didn’t know where he was leading me, but I stayed at his side, looking at everything we passed.
As we neared the park, I was busy looking off at the kids on the playground when he let his fingers graze the inside of my wrist. It sent shivers through my body, starting where his fingers had touched me. I looked up at him, alarmed at my own reaction, to see he hadn’t meant to do that.
“Let’s go that way,” he said, pointing. I silently agreed, following behind. The grass was long, and my feet sunk in, buried up to the ankles. I smiled at this, finding it more comfortable than a clean-cut lawn.
Linden led me to one of the larger trees, tucked away from the busier parts of the park. He sat down under it, stretching his legs out in front of him as he leaned back on his hands. I sat next to him cross-legged, surprisingly comfortable.
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