“Hi, stranger. You never called me.”
“I know, I'm sorry. I've been a little bit busy.”
“With what?”
“Nothing important. Just some projects.”
“What is it? Did you finally get a job?”
"Something like that," she said, laughing. Emma was strange, she seemed to want to avoid the subject. I didn’t understand, but I didn’t say anything Who was I to want to know her secrets when I kept so many of them myself?
"It's not a job, it's more of a hobby. You’ll know soon.”
“That's good, Emma. What is it”?
Suddenly I started to miss Joe's. Being a waitress is not the best job in the world, but I've always enjoyed working there. I wondered if when my life returned to normal, my job would still be waiting for me.
"It's no big deal, Liz. Let's talk about you. When are you coming home? I was hoping to be able to visit.”
“Oh really? And your parents?”
“They don’t care. They are too preoccupied with themselves, as always. I'm still alone at home. Not that I care.”
"But I don’t know when I’m coming back. The problem has not yet been resolved.”
Sometimes I just wanted to call Emma and vent. It's weird to have such a big thing going on in my life and she doesn’t know anything. It's like she's a part of me, but the distance pulled her away, more and more. The result was painful.
"What's the problem anyway?" She asked furtively. Her curiosity has always been sharper than mine.
Damn it. I couldn’t remember the excuse I used. I remained silent for what seemed like an eternity.
“Rats?” She remembered, but didn’t hide her mistrust.
“Yes! Rats.”
I sighed with relief.
"It must be pretty bad if the house is still infested," Emma said.
"It is, it's very bad," I lied, and hoped it was convincing.
A few minutes later we hung up. I felt that Emma no longer believed in my story, but what could I do? Nothing. Telling the truth in this situation wasn’t even an option. I went downstairs and sat down on the last step, facing the door. A few minutes later, as a sign, it opened. I held my breath, expecting to see his face.
Maena came in first, followed by Isys, a younger boy and then John. I got up quickly, finally breathing again. I was relieved he was okay. They all carried large bags, they looked like food and household items. As soon as John saw me, he came to me.
"Hi," he said, gently kissing my forehead.
I hugged him tightly, inhaling the jacket that smelled like him. I held him for a few more seconds and then released. The sense of security he was passing over took over my body as he laid his eyes on me.
“What happened?” He looked worried.
"I was worried about you," I blurt it out, and I suspected my face didn’t look very friendly. "I didn’t know you were leaving."
John noticed the cut on my lip.
“What was this?” He said, running his finger lightly on my lip and then kissing it so softly that I just felt a chill on the back of my neck.
“Nothing. I cut during training with Zal.”
John looked at me with the dissatisfaction clear on his face. He feared that Zal would hurt me in training because he knew what he could do. Clearly, he hadn’t yet become accustomed to the fact that I was strong now. I could handle it.
“It was just an accident. You don’t have to fight Zal about it. Why did you spend so much time outside? I was very worried.”
"I'm sorry," my voice still expressed the fear I just felt, and I saw John realize that. His anger over Zal completely disappeared and the face I knew, his gentle face, took over. "I didn’t know it would take so long. Forgive me.”
"And why took you so long?"
Isys came bouncing up to us as if she could feel the subject matter. She had a smile that threatened to tear her face.
“Have you told her?” She asked, continuing to move from side to side.
“What?” I asked.
"No, I didn’t, because as I said, it's a surprise," John said, scowling at Isys and then turning to me. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Surprise?” I asked, curious as to the direction of the conversation. " Is that why you took so long?”
"Yes," he said, smiling. "We're going out tonight."
I didn’t like to go out, but getting stuck inside really put that into perspective. Now the thought made me excited. I even ignored the fact that we couldn’t leave unless it was really necessary.
"All right," I said, smiling, but trying not to show all my excitement. “All of us?”
John brought his mouth close to my ear, bending down to stay at the same height.
"She invited herself, I swear," he almost apologized.
I started to laugh. It was definitely something that Isys would do.
“I heard that!” Isys snapped. “And yes, we’re all going.”
"Who, exactly?"
"Maena, me, and I'll also invited Zal."
"I'm sorry," John said.
"No, don’t be. I don’t mind,” I said, and it was true. I just wanted to get out of there.
I didn’t know what we were going to do, but I was more excited than I've been in a long time. I started to think about what I was going to wear. I had the impression that it would be more casual, so I didn’t worry about it. We all went to the leisure area at the back of the hotel to watch the sunset. I sat on a lounger with John, who wrapped his arms around me.
"I'm sorry," John said into my ear after a few minutes.
“For what?”
"For not telling you I would be long. I really didn’t know you'd be worried.”
I turned to look into his eyes.
“Of course I worry. Putting our feet out of this hotel now is a danger to us all.”
“I know how to take care of myself. You don’t need to worry about me.”
"I'm sure you can take care of yourself, but my mind is unreasonable. I'll worry about it anyway. I just needed to know that you were okay.”
“I'm sorry. We’ll do this, the next time I need to go out, you will come with me.”
"I don’t worry about you and you don’t worry about me," I finished, happy with the solution.
I smiled at him and took his hand, entwining my fingers with his. John reached up and kissed it. We stared at the sky that glowed with orange tones until the sun was completely hidden, making room for the night.
As we got into the room at 11:00 p.m., I was already anxious to know what we were going to do.
"Please, just tell me," I said for the tenth time.
"Then it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?" John again refused to give any details, but continued to smile with my failed attempts to find out what we were going to do.
"All right," I said. "Then I'll go get ready."
I took the dress I’d chosen and placed it on the bed, where John was sitting.
"I wouldn’t recommend wearing a dress."
He smiled, clearly amused by leaving me in the dark.
“Really? And what should I wear?”
“A pair of pants is better.”
Although I thought it was sad because I really liked the dress, I took a pair of pants, a blouse and a jacket to wear. John had never given an opinion on my clothes, so I knew he should have a reason. I asked what it was, but got the same answer.
"It's a surprise," he said.
I went into the bathroom and started changing clothes. I brushed my teeth quickly and when I finished, I put some concealer under my eyes and a little blush on my cheeks to look a little more alive. I took a brush to comb my hair, but soon I saw that I didn’t need it. The fiery hair strands glowed, falling in waves on my back. I left it the way it was. I took another look at the mirror and left the bathroom.
"You look beautiful," John said as I left the bathroom. He sat on the bed and looked me from head to toe, stopping for a considerable time on my face. I could only imagine how re
d my face was. — As always.
"Thank you," I said, swallowing hard. “Can we go now?”
“No. We're leaving later. I think about midnight.”
“Really? So late?”
"You'll understand why."
"All right then," I replied, getting more curious every second.
I picked up a book to pass the time, but soon Runne popped into my mind. She deserved to leave this hotel as much as — if not more — the others.
"Can we take Runne, too?" I asked John, sitting next to him on the bed.
"Of course," he said, defeated. "Everyone's already going."
“Thanks.”
At midnight on the dot we were all at the entrance of the hotel. Runne, however, had to be persuaded to go.
"Do what at such an hour? The streets must be empty,” she asked, releasing the paper she held.
“I don’t know. But Isys and the others are excited, so I think it's going to be fun.”
"The grumpy one is going too?"
"Yes," I said, smiling. "He’s the one who organized whatever this is.”
“Okay, I’ll go. If you think it's going to be fun, I believe you.”
Zal was there too, saying he wouldn’t miss an opportunity to leave the hotel. We left without making a noise and went to the car. When we were all ready to leave, John was interrupted by Isys.
"Wait," she said. “Rogi is going too. I invited him.”
“What?!” John said, alarmed, turning quickly to her.
Isys soon began to laugh, which only made John angrier. The others couldn’t help it and they also started laughing at his expression. Even Runne tried to hide a smile with her hand.
“I'm just kidding!” Isys said when she stopped laughing. “We can go now. Let's go!”
John turned back to the wheel, the anger still apparent on his face. I leaned over to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek and taking his hand.
"Don’t be upset," I said softly in his ear. “She's just excited. And she only does these things because you get angry.”
"I know." He turned to look me in the eyes. "I'm just frustrated. I planned this just for both of us.”
"John, everyone is nervous and scared all the time. Let them have some fun.”
"You're right," he said, smiling. “Let's go.”
"Are we going or not?" Maena screamed as if we were far from her.
"Hold on," I said without turning to look at her. "And we have all the time in the world to come back alone, don’t you think? I'm not going anywhere.”
John kissed me gently, holding my face with his hands.
"I'm not going anywhere either," John said looking me in the eye.
"Elizabeth, I'm sorry, but staying in the car seeing you kissing is not that much fun," Runne said. "Maybe if I had my paper..."
I started to laugh and the others did too.
"No, Runne," I said, turning to her. “We're still leaving.”
“Ah, that's good. I was beginning to think this was a trap.”
John started the car, the irritation completely gone from his face.
"John, does anyone know we're out?" I asked.
"No. They would be mad if they knew we were going out alone at night.”
"And they're right," Runne said. "Doesn’t sound smart to me."
“And why not? If the hunter was on our tail, we are six of us against him. I like those odds,” Zal said with a hopeful smile on his face.
Just the thought of meeting him again gave me shivers. John looked quickly at me, sensing my affliction with the subject.
"Can we not talk about this today?" he said. “Today is supposed to be fun.”
"All right," Zal agreed. "But I still think we would kick his ass."
We passed the familiar streets until we reached the ones that I didn’t recognize. All the way John looked at me sneakily. I felt a nervousness rise in my stomach and seeing his excitement only made me more excited. A long time later, he was parking the car.
“Are we there yet?” I asked in surprise.
"Yes," John said, a smile beginning to appear on his face.
We got out of the car and I looked around, trying to figure out where we were going. None of the buildings looked familiar. John took my hand, leading us toward one of the buildings.
“Is that where we're going?” I asked.
"Yes," he replied, pulling my hand and making us pick up the pace.
We were walking towards an office building. I really wasn’t familiar with the street, but I had heard of this building. I saw it in the paper when they finished building it. It was the tallest building in town, as most were only five stories high. Now I was curious.
"You got a job interview for me, did you?" I smiled.
"Very funny, miss," John said.
"We’re not breaking in, are we?"
"Of course not," he said, his charming smile starting to rise in his face.
We stopped at the large glass doors at the entrance. You could see that it was all dark inside, but it wasn’t difficult to see a shadow coming toward us in the darkness. The person opened the door and went out of the way for us to enter. John put his arm around my shoulders and smiled in the dark. The lights went up, revealing a young man watching us in surprise.
"You said you would only bring one," he said, looking tired.
"Change of plans," John replied. “Liz, this is Scott. He works here. Scott, this is my girlfriend, Liz, and my friends.”
I looked at John in surprise. He had never called me that, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that I liked how it sounded. I shook Scott's hand, and he returned, giving me a small smile.
“Is this the girl?” Scott asked.
John nodded, smiling. I was confused, but made an effort not to ask anything. My curiosity was stronger.
"Here." Scott held out his hand to John, dropping a key. "I don’t want to see a mess tomorrow.”
“You got it.”
John took his arm off my shoulder and squeezed the guy's hand. Then Scott left, closing the glass doors and turning off the lights from where we were, again leaving us in the dark.
"Come on," John said, directing us to the elevator.
"Finally," Isys complained.
We got into the elevator and watched the little arrows go up. I began to wonder why John hadn’t simply taken us to where we were going. We didn’t even have to enter the building. While we waited for the elevator to reach the top floor, I asked him.
"Because Scott knows me, so when I asked him to use the building, he thought it would be better this way. In his terms.”
"And how does he know about your power?" I couldn’t believe a human knew about us.
“I'll tell you later.”
"John saved his life," Zal said.
I looked at him, smiling, but not at all surprised. It was one of those moments when you realize you know someone. When you say "he wouldn’t do that" or "that sounds like him". I was sure John had done good in this world already. I was even more sure that he would do much more.
“How was it?” I asked Zal.
"Torim almost killed John when he heard," Isys said with a laugh.
John put a hand on my waist, lowered his head to the height of my face and said,
"I'll tell you everything when we get home. Now let's enjoy it.”
I nodded my head. We left the elevator and went to the terrace door. We climbed the stairs and as soon as we entered, I lost my breath. The view was incredible. The sky was full of stars, and being so high, it seemed that I could see each of them. The only light was the moonlight, that shone brightly, illuminating the whole place. The city was asleep and the only sound was the wind passing through our ears.
"It's beautiful," I said, but I realized the words were barely out. I was speechless with the perfect vision.
"It is," John said, coming closer to me. "But we didn’t come here for the view.”
Runne sat on the edge, at the corner of the roof, looking up at the sky.
In seconds it felt like she was in her own world. Isys, Zal, and Maena looked at us eagerly, as if expecting us to do something.
“Can I go first?” Isys yelled from the edge of the terrace looking down.
"No," John said. “Liz's coming first.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, not knowing what was happening.
John smiled and took my hand.
"Come on," he said.
He led me to the edge of the roof, where the others stood staring up at the sky. The edge was only a few inches high, so John had no difficulty climbing into it.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
John didn’t say anything, just reached out and I took his hand, also climbing the edge.
We stood there, facing each other. I didn’t look down. I wasn’t sure if I was afraid of heights, even because I've never been in a place high enough to know, but I wasn’t scared now. I know that the fear that people have is not of the height itself, but of what it means. To fall. Die. And I knew that wouldn’t happen. Not while I was with John. I smiled at him, putting my hands in his arms.
“Do you trust me?” He said, eager for the answer.
"With my life," I said.
He smiled and put his hands on my waist, pulling me as close as possible. A second later he pulled us an inch to the side and we were falling. I screamed, but it wasn’t fear. I also thought I heard another coming from the terrace. John kept his hands on my waist as we fell. He smiled. I managed to turn in the air, with my back to the ground. I felt incredible. Free. My hair flew, thumping in my arms, and now shining more than ever in the moonlight.
I opened my arms, making sure John still held me, closed my eyes, and enjoyed the feeling. The wind tickled my skin. I felt like I was flying. That I could do anything. That I was invincible. After a while I felt John's lips on my neck and then a small impact. The smile on my face seemed to be glued there. I was still on my face when I opened my eyes.
We were on the roof, on the floor. I was on top of John. I got up, straightening my hair. John wiped his pants and as soon as he finished, I kissed him, not caring who was watching. I released him gently, still looking him in the eye. They were even more beautiful in this light. They sparkled as they looked back at me.
"I definitely should have done this earlier," he said with a laugh.
The Chosen Ones: Red Smoke Page 18