After twenty minutes the air was pungent with what smelled like burned rubber and the fighting suddenly stopped. Mr Stevenson walked through the trees looking for Nathan and Mrs Stevenson followed slowly.
I was stunned, wondering what I had seen and moved to go to back to the house when Mr Stevenson walked by me. He was half carrying, half dragging Nathan with him. Nathan looked awful, his face was all bright red and blistery and there were gashes on his neck and arms. Blood and a black liquid trickled from these gashes and dropped onto the leaves. The leaves sizzled as soon as the droplets hit them.
It started raining as I hobbled home and the rain felt like acid on my skin. The wind tore at me like bullets. Nathan had been hurt because of me. He wouldn’t have been in the woods at all if I hadn’t gone out. I felt awful, and when I got inside not one person noticed me. I headed upstairs, changed and slipped into bed.
I couldn’t get the image of him bleeding out of my head and those creepy shadow creatures kept appearing. Soulless black eyes, made me shiver worse and the aches in my body increased. I began gasping and soon was crying into my pillow with great heaving sobs that burned my ribs in agony. Eventually I fell into a fitful sleep where the monsters from today chased me, never catching me because of Nathan, and I woke up in terror, panting for breath.
The following morning the noises of Jenny leaving for school woke me up. I missed school oddly enough, but I was house bound for another full week and then it was a holiday before Halloween.
I sat up in bed and looked around, noticing a small note tucked under my phone,
I struggled up and went downstairs for some breakfast. The house was eerily quiet, and as I hobbled towards the kitchen I saw Nathan was coming out of the kitchen with a tray laden with food. I squealed and jumped because I wasn’t expecting him to be in at all. He looked at me smiling sweetly. His eyes crinkling as he walked towards me, closing the gap in seconds. He placed the tray on the table he passed.
My body was frozen as he leaned down pressing his lips firmly to mine,
“I missed you.” I shook my head and he frowned at me.
Before we could talk further a car on the driveway caused him to move away from me.
“Get in the dining room,” he hissed at me. I hobbled over and he rushed in ahead of me. He slammed the tray down and dived out of the door. .I stood behind the door a voice spoke sounding concerned.
“You are supposed to be resting Nathan. Being venom in that quantity is deadly and you were in a bad way. Go to your room and stay there. Your father or myself will be back early tonight to check on you. Has she been out of her room again?” Her tone changed and ice dripped down to my stomach when she spoke of me.
“No mother. I haven’t seen her at all.”
“Hmm well we’ll need to be setting some boundaries for that one. She shouldn’t have been wandering off, but we can deal with that later. Now off to bed, go on. I need my keys for the office, I forgot them.”
Her voice moved further away and a door opened. I stayed frozen until the front door closed over. As I breathed in a sigh of relief the door opened beside me and I jumped. “Sshh it’s just me.” He walked closer and pulled me into his arms as he whispered, “That was close,” and kissed my head. My body fought against his hold and he pulled back. “What is it?” His eyes got wider as he took in my face.
My eyes filled with tears and being so close to him made me want to crumple into him but my thoughts from the previous few days wouldn’t leave me. His eyes widened as he watched me. He put his finger under my chin tilting my head up and spoke softly to me.
“What is it, talk to me?” I shook my head as a tear rolled down my cheek. He swept it way and leaned down to kiss me. I gasped as he touched his lips to my cheek and shook my head again, “Nathan, don’t please. I can’t take anymore.”
He bounced back as though I had slapped him and his face crumpled. “You can’t do what anymore?” he whispered in a hoarse voice.
“This. Us. You don’t love me and you keep hurting me. We have to stop, this is crushing me.” The damn broke and tears rolled down my cheeks.
“I’m hurting you?” he asked me in disbelief. “Do you have any fucking idea how difficult this is for me when I’m supposed to . . .” he broke of panting. “I can’t do this right now.”
He moved away and his top rode up a little and showing the marks on his stomach.
I reached over to touch him and he jumped away,
“Didn’t you hear me? Don’t fucking touch me.”
His voice was like a whip as he snapped at me. He grabbed the tray and walked out the door, slamming it behind him. No longer feeling remotely hungry I made my way back upstairs and collapsed in a heap on my bed, yelping in pain as I hurt my ribs.
The door flew open, waking me up from a sleep and cracked so hard that some paint chips fell and landed on me.
My eyes flew to the door and Nathan was standing there. His eyes were glazed,
“Help me,” he muttered before collapsing in a heap at the door.
I rushed over to him, ignoring all the aches and pains and leaned down to touch his forehead. He was shaking, foaming at the mouth and his lips were turning blue. My fingers brushed his cheek and almost stuck to his forehead. He was ice cold and fear spread through my chest.
I dragged him into my room, not sure what to do or how to make him better. I pulled all the blankets off of my bed and covered him but his breathing became more laboured and I couldn’t think through the panic. I went over placed my hands on his face and it felt colder. I was seriously starting to panic now but heard the front door open and close.
“Nathan?” came his dad’s voice.
“Mr Stevenson,” I screamed my voice cracking.
I ran to the top of the stairs and beckoned him up. He glared at me and stood there,
“What is it?” he asked in voice full of contempt as he stood glaring up at me.
I contemplated for a second how to tell him,
“Nathan, he’s all cold and shivering.”
“Where is he?” He asked as his eyes widened.
“My room.”
He barrelled up the stairs and shoved me out of the way. My body ached but I followed after him, worried about Nathan. He flew into my room and slammed the door behind him. Seconds later he shouted, “get me some rosemary, hot water and thyme from the kitchen now. Don’t put them together.”
My body turned and I flew as quickly as I could before running up the stairs, ignoring the burning in my ribs and ankle as I reached the room door,
“I need you to help me. Add those herbs to the water now.”
I walked into my room and saw Nathan, his lips were bluer and his chest was barely moving. I stared at him until Mr Stevenson grabbed my attention.
“Sit at his head and hold his head still no matter what. He will writhe and struggle but you need to hold firm.”
I just sat there looking at Nathan until Mr Stevenson said,
“Now Jasmine, hold firm and whatever you do don’t let go.”
I held on as tight as I could, but nothing could have prepared me for the shaking that was about to happen. The whole house vibrated along with Nathan and my wrist and ribs shook so much that pain lanced through me.
As Nathan’s colour started coming back I glanced at his dad for the first time and wished I hadn’t. He was in full demon mode, but I looked away before he could see me. I returned my gaze to Nathan, watching as his eyes flickered open. He looked right at me, smiled and closed his eyes again breathing heavily.
“Help me get Nathan into bed!”
I stood up and my ankle screamed at me, I winced as all the pains came rushing back but I ignored it and helped Mr Stevenson move Nathan. We half pulled, half carried him into his room.
“It’s very fortunate you were here. If he had been alone, he would be dead now.” His tone sounded clinical and unfeeling as he talked about the life and death of his son. My heart pounded a rough beat as I thought about if
I hadn’t been in the house. Nathan’s hand tightened on my arm for a beat and I nodded.
Nathan would have died if he was alone, holy fuck. What were those creatures? My mind raced and I was so confused, but hid it.
“I have to go back to work, but I need you to stay in here with Nathan. Do not leave him and hold his hand. He needs the contact. I hope you realise though that he will remember none of this, so any silly idea you may have about romance would be foolish.”
I nodded again at him, hiding all my emotions because I felt numb about what I had just witnessed. We reached Nathan’s bed and his father lay him down gently. I stood there feeling awkward. This was the first time I had been in Nathan’s room. Mr Stevenson had left and shouted back at me,
“Jasmine, hold his hand.”
I pulled over a chair and picked up his hand. My eyes darted around his room in interest. The walls were covered in drawings of trees, some coloured brown and green, some shaded in grey and some looking as though they had eyes which were looking around.
His desk had one of my favourite books and I thought about picking up his copy, but as I tried moving his grip tightened,
“Stay with me.”
His voice was hoarse and shook, but when I looked at him he was as still as a statue. I leaned back in the chair and all the aches of helping hit me like a freight train. My body ached as my ankle burned, ribs screamed in agony and my wrist was on fire.
For two hours I made shapes in the trees, but my eyes closed and I slumped back into the chair. My hand held Nathan’s in a vice like grip. Nathan moved and I bolted upright, causing myself to wince in pain.
He was lying staring at me, smiling but pale.
“Are you ok?”
“I’ve been better. What happened?” he asked in confusion.
“You collapsed at my door so me and your dad saved you. It was terrifying.” A lump formed in my throat so I stopped talking.
“My dad worked with you?” His voice was calm but his eye showed how scared he was.
“Well I don’t think he had much choice to be honest. I’m sure I wasn’t his first choice but I was the only one here,” I answered a little waspishly, hurt at his question.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that he normally doesn’t work well with others, but I’m glad he let you help. Jasmine I need you.” He wriggled closer to me, but paled further.
I leaned over ignoring the protests of my ribs and touched my head to his head, “Don’t move Nate.”
His eyes widened and he smiled up at me as I touched my forehead to his. He spoke quietly, his voice rasping,
“I’m so sorry about how I acted this morning but I just want to protect you. I need you like I need water, you’re more than my heart, you’re my soul, my world and I would do anything to protect you. If anything happens to you because of what I am I’ll never forgive myself.”
“You said you didn’t love me.” My voice cracked as I voiced what was hurting me the most. Tears ran down my face and into his hair.
“Ssshh baby, I don’t love you. I can’t love. I’m programmed not to love. It’s in my DNA, but I am completely awed by you. You make my world brighter and shine a light through my darkness. You are my candlelight. My flame that won’t blow out, and I only wish I was capable of love, because if I could love, I would love you.”
I touched my lips to his and said, “I almost lost you there. You were so still, I thought I’d lost you.” My eyes filled again and tears started streaming down my face and ran onto his cheeks. I kissed him gently then pulled back and gazed at him.
“Jasmine I won’t leave you voluntarily. I promise, but I will do everything in my power to protect you from what I am. I will get you out of here. It’s gonna be tough and terrifying, but it beats the alternative.”
“What alternative?” I asked stunned at his words. He did love me even if he didn’t want to or couldn’t admit it.
“I can’t tell you, but please trust me on this. You would hate me so much and I can’t . . . won’t, just please . . .”
He was breathless again and was getting paler. I leaned over, touched my lips to his forehead and whispered,
“I love you Nathan. I know you don’t think you feel the same, but I think you do.”He opened his mouth to say something and I kissed him. My tongue slipped into his mouth and his body heated. I pulled my head back with my heart pounding and leaned down, touching my lips to his once more and whispered,
“Now get some sleep please.”
He leaned up winced, grimaced and fell back down. He looked paler so I took his hand again and he relaxed. After a few minutes he was asleep again and I sat there for the longest time thinking about all the ways he showed me he loved me, when his room door crashed open with an almighty bang. I glared over at the door and at Jenny who screamed at seeing me,
“What are you doing in here?” Her voice dripped with contempt as she shouted, “Get out.”
I looked at her tiredly and was about to retort when Nathan stirred beside me. He glanced in disgust at my hand holding his then dragged his eyes to my face. His eyes pleaded with me before he glared quickly away and barked,
“What the hell are you doing? Get off me now.”
He snatched his hand away and my heart splintered again. I shuffled forwards in the seat when Mrs Stevenson arrived,
“Ah Jasmine, you don’t need to be here any longer, but thank you for all you have done today. Nathan you should thank Jasmine as well, she saved your life today.”
“I’m not thanking her,” snapped Nathan.
My eyes darted to the door and I shrugged as I moved towards my escape. Mrs Stevenson stopped me as she placed a hand on my arm,
“This girl saved your life Nathan, the least you can do is say thank you, and Jenny if it wasn’t for Jasmine, your brother would be dead, so I’m telling you both now to say thank you.”
“Thank you, Jasmine,” came Nathan’s resentful voice. The coldness in his tone brought tears to my eyes as I processed how his attitude had changed from earlier. His constant shifting of emotions was exhausting me.
Jenny spoke next, her voice sullen as she bit out, “Yeah, thank you I suppose.”
As I left she continued speaking to her mother and Nathan, “I don’t get how she helped save you Nathan. I mean she’s a fucking mortal.”
“Watch your language Jennifer Stevenson.”
As I sat on my bed my emotions swung around like a pendulum. I was shifting constantly from happy, to scared, to worried and terrified. What worried me most was what would happen if his family realised he had feelings for me.
I lay down with my mind swimming, but the exertion from earlier had tired me out and I drifted off to sleep. My gnawing hunger woke me and I found some food in my room before going back to bed. Closing my eyes, the image of Nathan, lifeless and barely breathing on my floor played over and over again. I got up and was about to tiptoe into his room when the sound of voices speaking softly reached me.
“What does the girl know?” asked Mrs Stevenson.
“Nothing. I told her nothing. The only I said was that she had to help Nathan. His body would have fed on her luminosity today. That’s why I had her hold his hand. The power of her luminosity sustained him until he was strong enough to survive. We should encourage them to spend time together if we can because he’s going to need her help to recover. Being venom is deadly and the mortal’s luminosity will heal him.” Mr Stevenson’s voice came softly from outside the door.
I stood there shaking, so that’s why he needed my help today I was the only one who could save Nathan.
“Do you trust her not to get the wrong idea though? I mean I know Nathan wouldn’t go near her but she might fall for him.”
“Don’t worry about that I will fix her in the morning. I’ll cast an enchantment on her to make sure she doesn’t fall for Nathan.”
“How are you planning to do that?”
They walked further away and I crawled back into bed, wonderin
g if I would still feel the same the next morning or if I in fact remember all the feelings I had for Nathan. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and when I eventually fell asleep I dreamed about sitting with Nathan all night. The thought comforted me and his smell relaxed me enough to let me fall into a deeper sleep.
The next morning my emotions were on a knife edge. Mr Stevenson knocked and came in with a tray of food and tea.
“Don’t panic,” Nathan’s voice warned, soothing me and helping to calm my breathing. He smiled and sat beside me. I glanced at him, unsure of why he was sitting with me,
“How did you manage to control your panic yesterday? You looked terrified when you saw Nathan on the floor. Why?”
My eyes flickered to his and I again noticed that he was gorgeous. His eyes were the same as Nathan’s with more lines and they had the same colour of brown hair but his was short and spiked. He did not look old enough to be Nathan’s father, but he was and he wanted answers. Breathing deeply I answered him,
“I was terrified. He’s almost the same age as me. What happened to him?” I played dumb as I continued, “Why didn’t you take him to a hospital?”
“He didn’t need the hospital. We managed fine, but would you mind sitting with him today. I think he could use the company while he’s to rest. ” He spoke politely, as though I had a choice. I could feel there was something brewing under his words.
“Nathan has made it quite plain that he doesn’t want to spend any time with me,” I answered petulantly.
“But he needs you. Spend the day with him. You can sit in the den and watch movies.” They have a den, that’s news to me. I haven’t ever been inside the den. Have we moved from Scotland to the States?
Luminosity (Escaping Demons Saga Book 1) Page 17