Within the Crystal

by Kat Blak

  “Nope,” I respond, popping the P. “Just a normal shop.” This conversation is starting to make me feel very uneasy. I head over to the cupboard to grab a cup to get out of here as fast as possible.

  “You know you can tell me anything,” he says whilst reaching out and grabbing my shoulder. What the hell? No one is allowed to touch me without my permission. Shifting my shoulder, he is forced to drop his hand. This seems to make him angry and the fire in his eyes tells me I need to leave. I need to leave right now. Maybe staying with Barbie was the better option after all.

  “With all due respect, I have only just met you, why would I trust you?”

  Grabbing my cup off of the counter I walk backwards out of the room, making sure I keep him in my sights at all times. When he touched me, it was like darkness and a deep feeling of loneliness crashed through my body. It felt like the void was going to crush my heart. Walking out of the room backward makes everything so much harder. This is why I don't see the wall of a man that I manage to smack straight into. The body up against my back is hard and made of solid muscle. The person is also extremely tall as the top of my head only reaches their chest.

  Whipping my body around I find Tek standing there. When I see it's him then my breathing rate slows, but still my heartbeat remains at a solid pace in my chest. It’s now beating for more reasons than the fear I felt at being alone with Andrew. I hadn’t spoken or seen to Tek since we had sex in his bedroom. I watch his eyes leave mine and travel over my head.

  “Tektite, I don't think it’s entirely appropriate to be touching a teaching assistant as you are.'' I'm still staring at Tek, but I know it’s Andrew that has spoken and from his tone I know he isn't impressed. From the flexing of Tek’s muscles, I also know he is not thrilled at being spoken to like a child.

  “It’s my fault, I backed straight into him,” I say, looking between the two guys. I watch as Tek checks me over, like he is making sure I’m ok. I’m not sure what he is looking for, but a confused look passes his face.

  “Are you ready for our meeting, Alex?” Tek asks with his smooth as whisky voice.

  “Yes, sorry I was just grabbing some coffee,” I glance over at Andrew, who seems to be trying to burn holes into my back with his eyes. “Thank you, Andrew, for grabbing coffee with me. See you around.” With that I turn my back on him, grab Teks arms, and half drag him down the corridor to my office.

  Once I'm back outside my office door, which I'm glad to see no longer has the Barbie standing outside, I release a huge breath. Heading inside, I throw myself in the seat and take a mouthful of coffee. Blah, in my haste I forgot to add sugar and I’m definitely not going back down to grab some. Something seemed different about Andrew today, like he was fishing for information from me.

  “Coffee not to your liking?” Tek asks with a smirk. I watch as he glances around the room, while coming closer to the desk. “So about the other night,” he starts. I hold up my hand in a ‘stop right now’ gesture. After the morning I have had, I really don't need to be having this talk as well.

  “Stop! I really don't want to discuss this with you right now,” I rasp out.

  “But-”

  “Nope, I'm not listening,” I say while jamming my fingers in my ears like a child. Tek decides to walk around to this side of the desk. I watch him with eager eyes, the closer he gets the more my mouth seems to dry out. Licking my lips to help moisten them has his eyes flashing and his pupils blowing out.

  Nope, Nope, Nope. I won’t have sex on my mother’s desk, I draw the line there.

  “I was hoping to take you out on a date?” Tek asks. Wow! I wasn't expecting those words to come out of his mouth. Out of everything we need to discuss he chooses to start with that.

  “Sure, but it has to be on a different night than stargazing with Nunu,” I respond. I need to be as upfront with these guys as possible, I want them all to know what is going on between each of us. I hope it will help keep the jealousy down and then later on they don't force me to decide between them.

  “Oh, so you're going on a date with Nunu are you, when did that happen? He never said anything. Can't believe he didn't even invite me. Some things are made to be shared,” he teases. Wow, now I have the image of being hog roasted in my head. I can truly get onboard with that. Tek can obviously sense the change in me as a rumble comes out of his chest, which shoots right to my core, causing my muscles to clench.

  I will not have sex on my mothers desk repeats in my mind till Tek is no longer in the office.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Deciding to head to the library after finishing up teaching my lectures for the day, I want to see what kind of books they have on folklore. They may have some of the old codexes on what happened after the culling of all supernaturals. We don’t really get told much, other than there were several main races that had lived in secrecy for centuries. Until one by one they decided they wanted to live amongst the humans. To be part of the human world, they slowly integrated. Their children went to normal schools. They shopped in regular shops and didn't need to hide themselves away any longer. Everything was fine till the hunters came along.

  They started off as a small faction of humans who didn't want the supernaturals to live amongst them. Forcing them to live in concentration camps outside of the city and away from human civilization. The supernaturals became complacent and started to show the humans who they really were, the greater power. When the humans realized they were no longer the predator and were actually the prey, all hell broke loose. Killings happened on both sides, but due to the sheer number of humans they quickly demolished the supernaturals. After that the hunters took it upon themselves to wipe out every single person with supernatural powers.

  The only reason our family has been able to survive is by blending in. To the outside world we look like normal humans, just with a lot of free spirit. Also, we have always been three steps ahead of the hunters. Nana would get a vision then pack up and leave. Same with Mom, if she had a vision then within twenty-four hours we would be in the next state. It has been a while since she’s had a vision regarding the hunters. But I would still like to find as much information on them as I can. Knowledge is power.

  Opening the wooden doors leading into the library I'm not shocked by what I find, levels upon levels of books, as far as the eye can see. This place is a bookworm's wet dream. Even from here I can feel the different vibrations from the books. Anyone else would find it overwhelming, but for me it's magical. Every book tells a story, not only inside the pages, but from the different people who have read each book. Each set of hands has left an imprint on the book, kind of like a timestamp. Sometimes I can get a read on the individual person. If I'm lucky I will have a vision of them. I'm a Seerer, so I only see what the Fates want me to see, or if someone has a strong enough aura then that can leave impressions.

  Heading over to the library index, this will help me to find out where I need to start looking. I should be looking in history, but there aren't many records of it actually happening, as the humans didn't want their genocide being known by the next generations. This is why no one talks about it. Flicking through all the history cards, nothing mentions the supernatural war, just as I suspected. Heading next to the myths and legends cards, I still come up short, but there are books on individual supernaturals. Grabbing a pen and notebook out of my bag, I jot down the different sets of numbers I need to check. Closing the notebook, I head in the direction for the first book.

  Walking to the very back of the library, I try to find the stairs that will lead me up to the other levels because surprise surprise, most of the books I want are on the fifth level, which happens to be the top level. When I finally reach my target destination I’m out of breath and sweaty, the air up here seems to be musty and stagnant. I doubt many people have come up this far in a while, it doesn’t exactly house the popular books or subjects. Glancing around it looks like I have this level all to myself, and that is fine by me. No one can stick their nose in my b
usiness. Heading down the first set of stacks, I follow the numbers. Finding the book I need, I reach up and take it off the shelf. It's heavy, old, and full of dust. The hard cover on it feels warm and most of the binding is hanging off. Running my fingers over the cover, the lettering is raised up and feels bumpy.

  Blowing off the dust that seems to be resting along the top of the book causes me to sneeze a few times. Once my nose has stopped twitching, I take the book and head over to a private seating area, which has two ratty looking arm chairs with a stained wooden coffee table between them. Dropping my bag to the floor, I lower myself into the seat. Dust seems to spring up from everywhere. Damn, does this place ever get cleaned? Waving my hand in front of my face a few times to try and move the dust away just causes me to sneeze some more.

  Finally getting settled into the seat, I grab the book and peel it open. The contents page lists every single supernatural that has ever been known to exist. Finding Warlock, I head straight to that page. Skimming over most of what it says, I note the key points; wielders of magic, stronger with different elements, linked to emotions. Most of that I already knew, but there doesn't seem to be anything I can use to help Nunu. My powers are linked to my emotions, so I can teach him about that and then we will have no more exploding items when he’s climaxing. Maybe some meditation to help calm his mind when he is feeling any sort of strong emotion, but other than that, I can't help.

  Flipping through all the pages I see loads of different types of supernaturals, from Gargoyles to Sirens. I can't believe all these used to be part of the world around us. It breaks my heart knowing most of these, if not all, have been killed off. Humans go crazy when animals become endangered, but they were more than willing to kill of entire supernatural species just because they may have posed a threat. Hypocrites, that's what they are. I can feel myself starting to get mad about it. The thought of being persecuted for a gift that you were born with boils my blood.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “If you stare at that book any harder it will burst into flames,” a smooth voice says. Glancing over I see Jasper standing there, well more like he is leaning over with his arms draped across the back of the other seat in front of me. He looks all cool and collected, with his shirt hanging open to display the tight, white vest he has on underneath. I pretend to ignore the way the vest clings to the hard ridges of his abdomen, and just focus on his face. Fuck if that helps, all of him is damn beautiful and seeing him sets off little butterflies in my stomach. Obviously, I’m not about to tell him that though.

  “You scared the ever living shit out of me. How about a cough next time? I think you may have just aged me by about thirty years,” I rambled out. With graceful legs, he moves himself to the front of the chair and throws himself down into it. Once again dust plumes everywhere. I have to spend the next five minutes coughing and sneezing. It's definitely not a sexy look, but I can see from the look in Jasper's eyes that he is finding it all too amusing.

  “So, is there any reason you’re up here?” he asks.

  “Well, what do normal people do when in libraries?” I sarcastically respond back whilst holding up the tome of a book. “I'm surprised you even know where the library is, let alone the top floor.”

  “Wow, ain't you quick to judge? I will have you know, I spend a lot of time here,” he responds just as snarky. “I'm not as lucky as Nunu to get good grades, I have to actually study and work at it,” he says with embarrassment. Fuck, now I feel like a really shity person. I pegged him as being the same as Cal, but I guess I was wrong. He has always been the enigma of the group and no matter how much I try to read him, I’m always wrong. Maybe I need to start doing that thing my mom is always going on about, communicating with him.

  “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to jump to conclusions. It's just been a shitty long week, but that is no excuse. Can we start over?” I plead back.

  “Sure,” he smirks. “Hi, I’m Jasper or Jasp for short. I like long walks on the beach and eating ice cream,” he finishes with a wink. Fuck, he almost melts my panties everytime he does that.

  “Hello, I'm Alexandrite, I like eating men and can be found in dusty libraries,” I taunt back. He holds his hand out for me to shake. It’s a perfectly normal gesture of greeting between two people, but I'm a bit hesitant about touching his hand. The last two times I’ve been alone with one of the guys, I have sent my power into them, and so far that has unlocked Nunu’s powers. He can see the hesitation on my face and starts to withdraw his hand. I can see the hurt look in his charoite coloured eyes. The purple seems to dim just slightly. Without thinking, I grab his hand and shake it. At that moment I didn’t give a shit about the consequences, I just never want to be the person responsible for putting that sad look on his beautiful face, ever again.

  “Nice to meet you, Jasper,” I say, releasing a sigh when my power doesn't shoot out of my hand into his. Dealing with Nunu and helping him find his feet with his powers is going to end up being a full time job at the moment without having to deal with all the guys having powers. I was expecting I would get a little time to get to know each ofthem. I don’t know, maybe even go on a date before having to scare the shit out of them with more. That thought makes me sad and so I intend on holding onto their innocence for as long as I can.

  “So what are you doing up here in the dusty stacks?” he asks, appearing to be genuinely interested and so I’m honest with him. The whole honesty and communication thing seems to be working with Nunu and Tek, so might as well keep it going.

  “Trying to find more information on supernaturals and the supernatural war. A school this big and old should have at least some books on it?” I’m guessing from the look on his face he has no idea what I'm talking about. “The world used to have supernaturals as part of it. Supernaturals like; Shifters, Vampires, Warlocks, Fae, Demons and Angels. Just to name a few. They decided they wanted to be part of the human world and came out of hiding. Only for the humans to decide they didn't want to share this world with more powerful beings than them. So they slaughtered them all. It was like the Salem witch trials just on a grander scale.” Taking in a breath I look up to see the purple in his eyes swirling. He looks mortified, but he believes me. There isn’t an ounce of doubt or suspicion that I could be crazy floating around in his eyes and that makes me breathe a sigh of relief. Getting the guys to believe in the supernatural world is half the battle.

  “How come there is nothing in our history about it?” he asks, running his thumb over a knot in the wood on the table.

  “Well, they destroyed any written details on the subject to wipe it from history so that future generations never knew of the supernatural race’s existence.”

  “So, how do you know about it?” he asks wearily.

  “We are Seerers, if the stories had not been passed down from one generation to another as it had been, then we would just have visions on it. I’m kinda glad I didn't have any visions of the war. Well, until Mother Nature decided to show me the whole story,” I say with a shudder. Trying to keep the gory images from my mind has been hard ever since.

  “Is it hard?” he asks with a cheeky smirk, before going all serious again. “Being a Seerer, I mean.”

  “It can be hard knowing what's coming. Sometimes we can change the future, but other times, it’s gripped so hard,” I say with a wink, playing into his earlier flirty comment before going back to my serious answer, “It’s in the Fate's hands and nothing I can do will change that,” I say with the sadness of the truth leaking into my voice. “Like when you know someone is going to die and there is nothing you can do to prevent it from happening, all you can do is stand back and watch.”

  “Does that mean you have seen all our deaths? You still haven't told us about our futures,” he asks ominously. Obviously he wants answers and it’s clear he’s hoping very much that I have not seen his death.

  The memory of our future now brings a smile to my face, the image of us all tangled together in bed. “Yes I have seen your futur
es, but I can't really tell you about them. I just have to help you down the paths that the Fates have set out for you.” I’m desperately trying not to tell him that the path leads to a lot of orgasms.

  “By the look on your face, it seems to be quite a good future. You’re looking rather flushed,” he snickers. I can feel my face getting all hot and bothered.

  “It will be a good future if it pans out correctly, but there is still an unknown factor. I’m not 100% sure on how to get them on board, he seems fine in the life he has.” I don't really want to name Cal and call him out on his bullshit, but without him on board all the well laid plans will go to shit. Maybe I can get some more information out of Jasper on the inner workings of Cal’s mind. Maybe, he can give me something to use to help open him up more.

  “You mean, Cal?” he asks. Clearly I wasn’t being as subtle as I thought. “From what I hear, you already have Tek and Nunu wrapped around your pinky finger.”

  “And what will it take for you to be wrapped around my finger?” I ask flirtatiously, looking down at my hands. I raise my eyes up to him, so I'm looking at him through my eyelashes. I'm trying to act coy, but by the look on his face I'm failing miserably.

  “Cal is the protector of all of us. If you get us all on board, Cal will soon follow. We are his family, and he won't let anything come between us. Not even a bit of pussy.” Is he talking about my pussy or Barbie’s pussy? When I open my mouth to ask him, he is already standing. Guess that’s the end of our discussion time.

  “Well enjoy your evening,” I say. Looking at my watch, it's nearly six o’clock.

  “I shall,” he says with a wink. “Don't spend too long in the dusty shelves, they say this building is haunted at night time.”