iFeel

by Marissa Carmel

  “You’re a strange creature though. I find your tenacity amusing. Usually Empath’s are frail submissive creatures, but you; you fight me tooth and nail. You’re quite the little challenge, very stimulating.” He concludes; with an emphasis on the word stimulating. It turns my stomach.

  I squirm in his death grip, having no choice but to listen to him go on and on. His voice starts to sound like nails being dragged down a chalkboard, giving me chills. “A powerful Empath guarded by Seraphs, sentinels handpicked by the stars. If I had more time I would dissect you, but I find myself getting bored with this cat and mouse game. And I want to move on,” his grip becomes tighter around my neck. He is breaking me down.

  “How heartbroken your little cherub will be when he finds your body drained on the rocks because he found out too late that what he was chasing was only my astral projection, while my flesh was really here killing you.” I can feel his satisfaction from the image. The Stalker hides nothing; he gets off on infusing his feelings into me.

  “Get out of my head!” I screech trying to fight him, but he merely laughs. “Fiery little thing aren’t you.”

  “She’s not the only fiery thing coming at ya!” A raspy voice says before I am flung off the rocks and into the water; where there were no waves before they roll in one after another now.

  I gasp for breath as I climb out of the icy water and try to get a clear look at what just happened. Justice has the Stalker pinned to the ground, his scorching heat force melting his skin. He is at his darkest point, there is no soul left in his eyes, and he is engulfed in the flames that look like they shoot straight out of hell.

  Regardless of his appearance, elation overwhelms me, but it doesn’t last long. The Stalker manages to thrust Justice off him stirring up a supernatural smack down. All I can do is watch as the two attack each other mercilessly.

  Justice propels himself at the demon sending both of them flying off the jetty and into the water. I run over to the rocks edge, but the darkness hinders any indication of their existence. I stare into the deep for what feels like an eternity, when, like two geysers erupting from the earth they surface still engaged in battle.

  I’ve never seen Justice so vicious; it is like the monster within has completely taken over the angel I know.

  Landing on the jetty, the Stalker catches Justice’s face in his hands; looking straight into his eyes, he squeezes his temples with his thumbs. It is a quick exchange, but Justice falls unresponsively to the ground.

  “Jus! No!” I cry out in torment, not having a complete understanding of what has just happened. The Stalker wastes no time; while Justice is unconscious, he turns his attack back on me. As he propels towards me, something hot sparks in my chest.

  I try to fight him off with very little success. He is too strong, too fast, too powerful, for my human body to contest. I don’t stand a chance; my attempts are nothing more than a futile distraction.

  He grabs hold of my head, frustrated and hungry for blood, one hand under my chin the other over my forehead. I swear I can see the reflection of my death in his eyes. He has a traumatizing smile pained across his face like he knows he’s finally won. As the burning grows hotter inside me, my expiration date looms uninvitingly near.

  Then, without warning, the Stalker is jerked away.

  With one deafening blow, Justice casts the demon over his head and smashes him into a saw-toothed rock, sending shards of mineral in every direction. The force is so strong it catapults me back into the sea.

  As I grab hold of the jetty, I stare at the Stalker, who is laying there motionless. Like a marble statue in a museum.

  I drift in the current wondering if it is really over. Justice stands above me, still ablaze. He glares unyieldingly at the body that is trodden.

  “Jus?” I say faintly as the wave’s crash against my body. I feel strange; my core is cold and my lips are numb, but my esophagus is an inferno.

  He looks down at me, suddenly realizing I have no strength to pull myself out of the water. He jumps in after me extinguishing his flames then wraps me in his heated arms.

  “You’re going to freeze to death.”

  I swing my arms around his neck and hold on for dear life.

  “I thought you were dead.”

  “No, I’m just stupid.”

  “Why?” I asked through chattering teeth.

  “I’ll explain everything inside, first we need to get you out of here.”

  A suggestion I am not opposed to.

  As he cradles me in his arms I feel an abrupt twinge in my stomach. I look over his shoulder; the Stalker has resurrected and is charging towards us at a terminal speed.

  It all happened quickly then; I don’t even know what came over me, almost as if something primal emerged.

  I thrust my hands out and screamed “No!” A burst of light erupting in front us. There’s a loud boom that sounds like an explosion then I find myself addled under the water. If it wasn’t for Justice fishing me out, there is strong possibility I would have drowned.

  He quickly pulls me to the surface and asks erratically, “where did that come from?!” He shakes me firmly by my arms. I am too confused to understand what he’s saying, but the urgency in his eyes tells me something drastic has happened.

  “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I shake my head feverishly.

  “Liv,” he pulls me closer to his face, his wide eyes impaling into mine. “Where did that come from?” He asks again, as if my mind is slow or something, his hands squeezing tighter.

  “Justice, you’re hurting me,” I whine. The strength in my body is starting to dwindle.

  I notice a strange foam floating around us. At least, I think it’s foam. It is the same color as the Stalker’s pale grey skin.

  I don’t know what’s going on or what just happened. I look to Justice for answers.

  “You blew him up!” He growls tensely. “You blew him up!”

  “I don’t understand what you’re saying,” I tell him. Maybe I do need the slow sentences.

  I can’t think.

  I stare at my hands that are defensively clutched to Justice’s shirt; they have turned blue. A second later he forcefully lifts me out of the water, his hot body burning against mine, the same way a hot shower would burn against cold skin. It tingles.

  He walks swiftly up the beach and back to The Cliffs. I see my broken shoes between the dunes; I look up at him mournfully.

  “Jocelyn’s dead, he killed her,” I say in a weak voice.

  Warm tears stream down my face as I bury myself into his chest. My thoughts are slow and labored, and I am having a hard time keeping my consciousness.

  “She’s not dead,” he whispers, “and neither are you.” He tightens his grip around me, and I feel safe for the first time in a terrifying hour.

  That is the last thing I remember from the night.

  Oops! Did I Do That?

  I wake up in Justice’s room; I am nestled under the covers dressed in one of his white button ups and a pair of boxer shorts.

  There is no pain.

  This is not how I usually feel after a Stalker attack. Oddly, I feel at ease. I try to remember everything that happened, but I am only recalling snippets. I touch my lips; they are warm, and my hands aren’t blue anymore. I get out of bed and put on a pair of his cotton knee socks. I hear voices echoing down the hall.

  As I get closer to Daniel’s study, one voice that is particularly familiar sounds crazed.

  “She blew him up Daniel! She blew him up!”

  I knock softly on the half-opened door and peek my head in.

  “Liv you’re awake,” Daniel says with one of his warm inventing smiles. I walk into the room. Justice is standing by the window; his arms folded tightly across his chest, a nasty scowl plastered on his face. Daniel leans comfortably against his writing desk.

  “Feeling well?” Daniel asks.

  “Surprisingly yes.” I tell him.

  Justice just stands there,
silent.

  I give him a puzzled look. “Why are you so upset?”

  “Why…Why am I so upset?” His eyes start to smolder. “Because all this time you’ve had a defensive power, and we had no idea!” Whoa, he should be wearing a sign- BEWARE- accosting angel.

  “Justice we couldn’t have known the range of her power,” Daniel says trying to calm him. “It was going to come out in its own time. I guess it just needed some stress.”

  “Some stress!” His eyes erupt into full-blown flames.

  “Would you please calm down!” I urge with a slight edge to my voice; his exertion is making me restless.

  Justice breathes heavier and with guarded words he says, “Cross knew.”

  “Cross knew what?” Daniel asks.

  “Cross knew she had defensive tendencies.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because,” he grinds his teeth. “When she was unconscious he said something, that she was explosive, but I didn’t take it literal. I thought he was talking about her personality.”

  “Well you know Cross; you need to dissect every word.” Daniel gently reminds him.

  Justice tightens his fists until they are white. “I’m going to kill him.”

  “I think you’re overreacting,” I interject, “he may be a conniving jerk, but I don’t think you need to kill him.”

  “Oh no?” He spits. “By not being clear about that little tidbit it left you vulnerable, we went there to find out about your powers, and he left out one very important part. If we knew you had a defensive power, we could have been honing it this whole time, making you stronger instead of susceptible!” His voice erupts.

  “Can you please not yell at me!” I burst.

  “I’m not yelling at you, I’m speaking with conjecture!”

  “It sounds like yelling to me!” My throat starts to burn.

  “Um, guys,” Daniel says calmly watching our exchange.

  “Can you just be thankful we’re alive?!” I snap.

  “I am thankful, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be pissed.”

  “Ugh! You’re impossible!” I yell, waving my hand in the air.

  “Liv no!” Justice clears the room in a single bound pinning my arms against my sides; beside me one of Daniel’s large ginger jars spontaneously combusts.

  “Don’t. Make. Any. Sudden. Moves.” He says robotically.

  Daniel sighs, “That was one of my oldest, and most favorite pieces.”

  I stand there encased in Justice’s grip trying to figure out what just happened. He stares down at me with a pressing look.

  “Did I just do that?” I ask him timidly.

  “Yes.” He answers evenly.

  “Oops.”

  He plops me down in a chair, “sit on your hands,” he orders.

  I immediately do what I’m told. I look over at Daniel with remorseful eyes. “I’m so sorry; this is all new; I didn’t mean…” I ramble.

  “It’s fine,” he puts up a hand. There isn’t an ounce of anger in his tone. “It’s not the first time a priceless antique has met its fate in this house.” He looks at Justice. “No wonder you like her, she has some firepower of her own.”

  Justice crouches down in front of me and takes my face in his hands. “You shocked the hell out of me last night.”

  “Welcome to my world,” I grin. “Shock has been a daily occurrence ever since I met you.”

  “Ditto.” He says.

  “Liv, you are going to have to start working on your powers immediately,” Daniel stipulates. “As of right now your hands are considered deadly weapons.”

  I look at him distressed. “Oh no, back to square one.”

  “What does that mean?” Justice asks.

  “Look at how long it took me to tame my first power; I’m never going to be able to leave the house,” I pout.

  He chuckles, “I’m not really opposed to that.”

  The mood in the room swiftly lifts.

  “So what can we do to make your prison sentence a little more pleasurable?” Daniel asks.

  I look up at him with a devilish smile. “Breakfast?” My stomach is ravenous; it feels like I haven’t eaten for a week.

  “I think we can accommodate that,” Daniel says.

  Justice glances towards the door. “What do you want?”

  “Eggs?” I answer.

  “With French toast?” He asks. “Aayden has a new recipe he wants to try, he’s been eavesdropping.”

  “Ya sure!” I smile. I am always up for an Aayden experiment.

  I walk back to Justice’s room with my hands locked under my armpits. I kick the door open. I’m afraid to handle anything. I walk into his closet and use my foot to open my duffel bag. How am I supposed to manage this?

  Justice knocks on the doorframe a second later. “What are you doing?”

  “I can’t go downstairs in your boxers; I need to change. But I’m afraid I’m going to blow myself up.”

  He raises an eyebrow and gives me an entertained smile.

  “You think this is funny?”

  “A little,” he admits. “But I understand your pain, when Derrin first started flaming, he caught everything on fire, one time he nearly burned off Daniel’s eyebrows.” He tells me with humor dancing in his eyes. “Which pants do you want?”

  “The Seven jeans,” I tell him amused by his story, still concealing my hands. He turns towards me on his knees and slowly removes the pants I am wearing. Parts of my body burn from his touch, and none of them are my esophagus. He looks up at me with piercing blue eyes, the corners of his lips quivering. He’s fighting the urge to a smile. I stand there in just his white button up and knee socks. I don’t know where this is heading, but really I don’t care. As long as he is touching me that is enough.

  He runs his finger down my thigh.

  “That’s not fair,” I sigh.

  “What’s not fair?” He teases.

  “I can’t touch you back.”

  “I know; it makes the game that much more fun,” he grins deviously.

  “Are you sure you’re really an angel?” I ask, my head slightly spinning.

  “I’m a lot of things,” he reminds me. “It depends on who you ask.”

  He stands up and kisses me on the mouth, then lifts me off the ground. I wrap my legs around his waist and the heat spikes between us. My lips are on his wanting, pleading, but as soon as it begins, it ends. He pulls his face away from mine breathing deeply to collect himself.

  “What?” I ask, panting.

  “We can’t.” He says.

  He carefully puts me down. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “I think if anyone should be worried about getting hurt it’s you.”

  “I don’t want to move to fast, and I don’t want to send you to the hospital with third-degree burns either.”

  “Daniel’s home,” I get up on my tippy toes eager to kiss him again. “I won’t have to go to the hospital.”

  He shakes his head. Not funny, huh? No joking about voluntary infliction, when he’s the one causing the pain. It’s the only way I can cope with the problem at hand. It upsets me that he’s scared to get to close.

  “Breakfast is almost done,” he changes the subject. “We don’t want to keep everyone waiting.” He turns and walks out of the closet. The change in him makes me sad. Love isn’t just emotional.

  Everything in its own time, I guess?

  I walk into the remedied kitchen and see Jocelyn and Melenia setting the table. I am overly ecstatic. I wrap my arms around Jocelyn nearly tackling her to the ground. Everyone in the kitchen ducks. I guess my secret is out.

  “I thought you were dead!” I say gripping her.

  “No, I’m still here.” She’s irritated. “Luckily Daniel came home and healed me in time.”

  I think she is nursing her ego after letting the Stalker get to her like that.

  I carefully hug Melenia next; I don’t want to cause a panic.

  I look over her
shoulder into the media room. It’s a mess. Everything is broken and shattered.

  “Oh no.”

  “Don’t worry about it Liv,” Jayden assures me as he puts fresh-squeezed orange juice on the table. “Daniel will fix it and it’ll give him an excuse to redecorate.”

  I can’t say that makes me feel one hundred percent better, since I am the one responsible for the cause of the mess. But I am thankful everyone is safe, including me. I just want to put last night behind me and look forward to my indeterminate future.

  The Stalker is gone; I am here with Justice, and it is a beautiful April morning. I plan on taking full advantage of it as long as there is nothing breakable in my way; I dub it another beginning. I feel like I have so many more prospects in my life now.

  I sit down at the table just as Aayden is plating the French toast; it smells like warm vanilla sugar. Justice’s place setting is next to mine, a lonely coffee cup. No plate, no fork, no knife. I will never understand.

  Everyone sits down and digs into Aayden’s taste bud tingling breakfast. It feels like a family. A family I have become a part of. A family that is nothing and everything like my own. I look around and take it all in. This moment is just so perfect. I finally have the life I never knew I wanted.

  “How’s the toast Liv?” Aayden asks.

  “Devine.” I reply.

  Epilogue

  Club Scene Remix

  “Liv please,” Justice pushes, but I vehemently reject him.

  “Come on, what are you scared of?”

  “I’m not scared; I’m smart. And I’m not getting on that thing. I don’t do two wheels, remember?”