“I care about her.” said my dad.
“Are you saying I don’t?” said Peter. “I know her.”
“You’ve known her the span of less than two months.” said my dad. “That’s a blink of an eye. You are so young still, you have no concept of time.”
“Would you stop?” I said, interrupting. “Please. I am just fine. I’m not going to go crazy, promise.”
It was silent in the car as we merged on to the freeway. As I closed my eyes I couldn’t stop listening to the sounds around me. I knew I had to control it because I’d just finished telling them I was fine.
Slowing down my breathing, I relaxed. I focused on not listening. I told everything to hush now. Everything became quiet, just a dull roar of background noises. I smiled and drifted into a deep sleep.
Waking up I saw that we had stopped in at a gas station. I felt disoriented, and sleepy.
“We are almost there.” said Peter.
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked.
“Almost three hours.” said Peter. “You must have worn yourself out. Here, have some water.” Peter shifted in his seat and handed me a water bottle. The expression on his face was not his usual smile. As my Dad opened the door and sat down in the driver’s seat, I could feel the tension in the car.
“You said it would be okay.” I said, concerned.
“We all just need to calm down.” said my dad.
He shifted the car into drive, and we made our way onto the highway. I looked out the window decorated with beads of rain and could see the ocean and tiny stretches of sandy beach between the trees, ferns and cliff faces passing by. A mist rose up from the craggy rocks where the waves beat against them. I focused and listened to the sound of the waves in an attempt to distract myself.
Nothing about the drive felt calm. We sat in silence for about fifteen minutes until we pulled into a gated driveway. The gate opened, and we drove through lush, fern and moss riddled forest. The driveway went up and then back down again. We came around a corner, and a large Victorian style manor house came into view.
“We’re here.” said Peter.
Taking in a big breath I looked around. You’d never know the place was there from the road side. The house was surrounded by tall redwood trees, pines, and ferns that were so thick you couldn’t see past them.
Scooting out of the car, I stood up and walked around it to meet Peter. He grabbed my hand and held it as I stared at the imposing sight before me.
The center of the manor had archways, about twenty feet tall, under which were wooden double doors that were nearly the same height as the arches. One of the large doors opened, and a woman stepped out. She wore a long, green cotton dress.
“Peter.” said the woman.
“Mom.” said Peter.
Her face was out of focus to me. I tried not to stare, but it was unnerving. I had become used to seeing the immortals clearly, without even having to try. It was like she purposely concealed herself from me.
“Why are you holding her hand?” asked the woman.
“We are in love.” He declared, with boldness in his voice.
She said nothing, and froze where she stood, with her hand in mid air where she left off her question. We all stood there for some time, patiently. I was beginning to understand it was common with these people.
Shifting my weight from leg to leg, I felt like I was moving too quick among a party of mannequins. I held myself still and tried not to appear impatient. The whole situation was beginning to get awkward, and I was getting tired.
Taking in a deep breath, I could taste the humidity of the coastal air. Turning away from the motionless figures, I realized that I could see the ocean through a space in the trees. It was beautiful.
The clouds had begun to break away just over the water, and the sea was calm. I watched the waves and listened to the screeching sound of gulls. Closing my eyes, I could feel the vibrations of the ocean tide pouring down onto the earth. It was soothing.
Suddenly I felt unfamiliar hands on my hands. “Let me see you.” said Peter’s mom. I opened my eyes and looked up to meet hers. She came into focus, and I could see her big brown eyes, and long brown curly hair. She looked a lot like Peter, or, I supposed Peter looked a lot like her.
Not knowing what to say, I just waited. She looked me over, tilted up my chin with the back of her soft hand, and looked intently into my eyes.
“I see.” she said. “Well now, this is something I haven’t seen in a very, very long time.” I couldn’t read her expression at all. She removed her hands from me, and turned toward my Dad. She seemed haughty, and I couldn’t help disliking her.
“Nicholas.” she said.
“Selene.” said my Dad, slightly bowing his head. I felt a little nauseous at the sight of my dad bowing to that woman.
“Emily,” said Peter, holding his arm out towards his Mom. “This is my mom.”
“Nice to meet you, Selene.” I said out of pure politeness. She paused where she stood, facing away from me and toward the door. She slowly turned around to face me. She nodded her head and blinked hard like she was wincing. “Nice to meet you too, Emily.” she said.
We followed her through the giant front door, and into an entryway. “Everyone is gathering now into the hall.” said Selene.
We took a left from the entry way, and through a large arched doorway. The ceilings were all about twenty feet high, and as we entered into the hallway I could see why.
We were in long rectangular room, full of chairs all lined up around a large rectangular, faded oriental rug. The chairs and their cushions were made up of various types of wood and patterns. Nothing was matching, really. It was all very quaint.
In two of the chairs at the end of the row sat two very large people, that struck me as massive animated Egyptian statues. They rose up from their chairs with all the others when we entered and I calculated that they were both about sixteen feet tall. As I stared at the sight of them, I realized my mouth was hanging open and promptly closed it.
“We have decided,” said Selene. “that we would like to speak with Emily first, by herself.”
I gave Peter a pleading look. He returned an apologetic look and then turned around down the hall. My dad gave me an apologetic look as well and turned to follow Peter. I couldn’t help but feel betrayed, as they both left without any sort of protest.
Turning around, I faced towards the immortals, not trying to stare at any single one. There were nine chairs on the right, and nine on the left. With my arms hanging in front of me, I placed one hand on top of the other. My hands were trembling.
Selene made her way toward a chair, and everyone seated themselves at the same time.
“Please, come closer.” said a voice. It was the Egyptian woman. I looked at her, and she beckoned toward me with her hand that looked as long and wide as my own face. Walking towards her down the hall, I felt enamored with her beauty and proportion. As she leaned forward, her shiny braided black hair moved like a beaded curtain.
“Come.” she commanded, with her hawk like eyes glistening. Her eyes were so dark, and her skin tan, making the whites of her eyes stand out. I complied as she beckoned me with her hand again. Standing at her feet, my face reached just above her knees. Feeling like a tiny child, I looked up at her nervously.
She looked down at me and smiled. “Calm yourself.” she said, in a soothing tone. Taking in a slow, deep breath I told my trembling body “hush now” in my mind. For a moment I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, and then it slowed and quieted. My hands warmed from their cold sweat, and everything in me felt still. I looked up at the giant Egyptian woman and returned her smile.
“She shows control.” she said, looking around the room at the others and nodding. I looked up at the Egyptian man, and he smiled down at me.
“May I see you now?” said a man’s deep voice from the other side of the Egyptian woman, I tried to see him but he was blocked from my view behind massive legs.
> Stepping back and down the hall, I saw a bearded man sitting in a wide chair. His brassy blond hair was long and thick with subtle waves. His beard that flowed down his chest was the same texture as his his head of hair, with waves of shiny brass. For such beautiful hair his face was wide and fierce, set with sky blue eyes that had a mischievous twinkle to them. He appeared small next to the Egyptian man’s legs though he had to have been at least two feet taller than me and as wide as two of me put together.
I stood in front of him while he looked me up and down. “A beautiful creature.” he said. “I’d mistake her for a pure blood grandchild of Aphrodite if it weren’t for the beating heart inside of her.”
“I can see why The Corrupt would want her.” said a voice behind me. Turning around to face the nine sitting on the other side of the room, I looked from face to face. They were all of average size, like my dad and Peter. They were all exceptionally good looking, but could pass for a human unlike the extraordinary figures that were behind me.
Feeling a tickling sensation on the back of my head, I turned back toward the bearded man to see his hand let go of a lock of my hair. He smiled and winked at me.
“Come see me now.” said a sing-song voice. I stepped toward a woman in the next chair over. She was pale as snow, with platinum ringlet hair. Her eyes were a pale blue, frosty. She wore a dress similar to the one Selene was wearing, but it was a pale blue that matched her eyes.
“Now,” she said. “tell us the story of your life.”
“I don’t know where to begin.” I said.
“Come sit with me.” she said, beckoning me with an outstretched hand. She pulled me into her lap, like a child, stroking my hair with her hand.
“Tell us.” she said.
Rambling, I did my best to tell the room my life story as I paused occasionally to calm myself, because the sights in the room were overwhelming. From sitting in the woman’s lap, I could see the brassy blond bearded man and the gigantic Egyptians couple to my left. On my right sat a beautiful, gentle looking Chinese woman. To the right of her sat a woman on a padded stool, bearing a set of large white feathered wings, like an angel. To the right of her sat an Indian woman with four arms and long wavy dark hair flowing down her back. She held one of her arms to her chin, listening, one resting on the arm of the chair, and the other two in her lap. Next to her sat a large, athletic looking man with light brown, short ringlet hair.
Selene sat at the very end, with her expressionless face. If she was anything like my dad, I could read that expressionless face as a deep concern for the events transpiring - most likely for her son.
No one interrupted me while I spoke, and all sat patiently, listening. The bearded man appeared to be flirting with me, casting me a wink here and there and reaching over to touch my hair. The blond woman, whose lap I sat in, kept batting his hand away like a protective cat.
I told them about my education and my career in as a scientist. After that I spoke to them about how I’d always believed my dad had died in a car accident and had not even seen a picture of him before I’d met him just recently. I told them about my superstitious mom.
I then began to tell the story of walking into the Jewelry store and meeting Peter. I looked over to see Selene leaning forward in her chair, listening intently with her lips closed tight.
“I felt connected to him, from the first time I saw him.” I said. “It was like we knew each other, already, before we’d even spoke to each other.” I told them of all the days Peter and I had spent together, talking late into the night.
“Have you shared a bed together?” said the bearded man, interrupting.
“No.” I responded reflexively, stunned at the question. Selene sat back in her chair as though relieved by the news. I didn’t know how to feel about her body language but I assumed it was because she saw me as not good enough for her son, being mortal and all.
“Emily,” said the man with light brown ringlets, sitting next to Selene. “we are going to put you through some tests now. Some of this will be…” He cleared his throat. “uncomfortable.”
He rose out of his chair and guided me from the woman’s lap to the center of the room. He asked me to sit on the floor, and I complied by sitting with my legs folded under me. He then guided me to place my arms out in front of me, palms up. Before I could even protest, or know what was happening, he had a knife out and violently slashed open my wrists.
My blood began pouring out all over the floor and I felt faint. The room seemed to be turning sideways as I panicked and looked at all the expressionless faces doing nothing to help. I looked down at my blood oozing in waves down to the floor, began seeing stars, and felt like I was about to throw up.
I was pissed. They all just watched on while I was about to die. I thought “this must be their solution to my dad and Peter breaking the law.”
My heart began pounding in my ears, building up a rage. I looked down at all the blood and wanted it back. It was my blood, after all, and they had taken it from me. So I took it back. The air around me assisted as my blood returned back up through my open wounds and into my veins as if the whole scene were rewinding. My skin rapidly healed and sealed in the blood.
I stood up and onto my feet, still enraged, my heart beating wildly, shooting daggers from my eyes at the man that had torn open my wrists. He charged at me, grabbed me by my wrists and then flung me high up into the air.
My back slammed up against the ceiling that was about twenty feet in the air, and I looked down at the floor, imagining the impact cracking my bones. Time slowed down, and I felt suspended against the ceiling in the air with my arms spread out like a bird in flight.
Holding on to that timeless state, I shifted my body mid air to push off of the ceiling and used the force to make my body spin like a whirling dervish in the air. I watched the room go by in a swirl of colors and then positioned myself to land softly on my feet at the end of the hall.
“Stop this!” I shouted, seething with anger, my chest heaving up and down. I felt myself roaring, and a guttural sound emerged from my throat. The adrenalin rushed through me, and I felt the flight or fight instinct take over.
I chose flight, and darted off to the right, rising a foot to kick out the glass in a window, and then out into the chill of the outside air. With heavy waves of rain pounding against me, I ran into the lush forest, and tore off my coat mid run.
I didn’t look back as branches and ferns tore against my legs while the forest blurred by in waves of green. I lost my shirt to the branches, then my shoes to some mud, and the remainder of my clothes peeled away in flying tatters as my skin was slashed and whipped. Running naked, I ventured deeper and deeper into the woods, in an instinctual trance.
When my body could take no more, I dove with outstretched arms, hands first, into a large sea of ferns and burrowed my way into some springy moss. I rolled over onto my back, onto the moss. I felt the rain lick at my naked skin and allowed it to sooth me. I slowed my breathing and fell into a deep sleep.
I woke up in a bed, and could feel and hear the crackling warmth of a fire. Opening my eyes, I looked sideways to see the fire in a fireplace. I was laying in a bed, and could feel a warm body pressed against the back of mine. I looked down to see that I was wrapped in a blanket, embraced by two soft arms just under my chest, and then soft white feathers arched over us like a tent. It was the winged woman from the hall.
I felt like fleeing, but I felt too tired to move. She stroked my arm and said “You are safe here.”
“Was that a dream?” I asked.
“No.” she said, with a high pitched voice.
“The forest?” I asked.
“You went far.” she said. “About thirty miles, but it wasn’t difficult to find you.”
I stared into the fire, while she continued to soothe me by stroking my arm gently. “How long have I been asleep?” I asked.
“Three days.” she said.
“Peter.” I said, suddenly feeling panicked.
“Peter is fine.” she said. “Do not trouble yourself about Peter. Shhhhhh. He’s in the hall, they have been in there speaking for days.”
I squirmed in her arms, not believing her. “I don’t believe a word of it.” I said. “Peter said you’d never hurt me. He said it would be okay. That man nearly killed me.”
“Oh Emily, we would have never let you die.” she said in a little girl sounding voice. “We would never hurt you, he is right.”
My heart began beating fast “That hurt,” I said. “Slashing my wrists!”
“Oh.” she said gently. “It was so fleeting though, just a tiny moment in time. I don’t understand why it troubles you.”
“That was a nightmare,” I said. “that I will never be able to forget.”
She sat us up in the bed, her wings still spanned around us like a little fort. The blanket that was wrapped around me fell from my body. I could see that I was completely naked and instinctively tried to cover myself up. I looked over to see her bare breasts and felt panicked. “What is going on?” I demanded.
“Are you ashamed?” She asked.
I didn’t answer. I just looked looked around me, at the feathers wrapped around us. “You are beautiful, Emily. You have nothing to be ashamed of.” she said, still sounding innocent.
The image of my blood spilling out onto the carpet flashed through my mind before I could even process the bizarre scene I was sitting in. I remembered the wild, animal like feeling of running through the forest. I felt sick.
“Immortal children,” she said. “come into the hall to face those same tests. I’ve never heard one describe it as painful. I think most of them enjoy making a show of their abilities.”
I felt tears trickling down my face. She reached up and wiped my tears with the back of her hand. “You are so fragile.” she said, moving my hair back from my face and then stroking it. “Should we find you something to eat?”
Nodding, I watched her wings retreat from around us and back behind her back. She looked like an angel, and she grabbed my hands and led me across the room. Grabbing the blanket, I held it against the front of my naked body, feeling a chill on my backside.
A Tiny Bit Mortal Page 8