Young Writers Society

Prologue

The boy ran. It was all he could do to get away from the enemies that pursued him relentlessly. Or at least, he had to make sure they didn’t take back the thing he stole. The thing he clutched with a death grip. If he didn’t get away, if they caught him, then his people would all die. An entire race; gone. He couldn’t let that happen, wouldn’t. He would jump into the river he ran parallel to and ride it over the waterfall before he would let them catch him. As would his brother who ran beside him.

“We must run faster! They are gaining on us!” his brother yelled over the roaring wind that was also apparently determined to stop them. The odds of survival were not looking good at this point.

The boy shook his head. He couldn’t run any faster. Neither of them could. They’d been running for hours already, it was a miracle they’d even made it this far. Especially since their enemy was on horseback and they on foot. “We can’t. You know we can’t.” the boy said, defeated. But he didn’t stop or slow. He had to try, at least, before he died. Death had become inevitable. Either he would die by an arrow in his back, or he would die to keep himself from being caught. And to be honest a sliver of him was afraid.

“It will be fine.” The boy’s brother said, as if reading his thoughts. “At least we will delay the extinction of our people.”

“Yes. I know.” The boy said quietly, almost in a whisper. Almost immediately after the words were out of his mouth, the boy felt sink into his back and pain exploded throughout his limbs. He stopped abruptly, nearly falling on his face. He’d been hit. He could feel his heart slow dramatically. But he still ran. Even though every movement brought searing pain exploding throughout his body. And when he felt, knew the pain was too much for him, he jumped in the river. The last thing he saw before he went under the water and closed his eyes forever was his brother diving over the waterfall, a hail of arrows chasing after him.

The boy smiled as his eyes drifted shut and his oxygen was cut off. They may lose the war, but at least they won the battle. And with that in mind, the boy gladly fell into the void that was death. Never to wake.

Chapter One

The heat beat down on my back, making unwanted sticky sweat glue my shirt to my body. Definitely not going on my list of pleasant experiences. And the worst part was my friend Julyet and I were walking right next to a very shady looking forest. “Tell me again why we’re not walking through the forest. We can get to our houses faster if we cut through. Plus it’s very hot out here in the open.”

“Because we could get lost, Feight.” Julyet said sheepishly.

We walked in silence after that, trying to cool ourselves down with our dripping towels. Not working. Not at all. Eventually I spoke. “Okay, I can’t be cooked by the sun anymore. I’m going in the forest.” I said, walking into the forest. I immediately felt the difference. I sighed happily. Trees were such wonderful things.

“Feight, what are you doing?” Julyet asked, concerned. She’d stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, clutching her towel nervously. She made no move to join me in the cool shade of the trees.

“Going home. You coming?” I asked, backing slowly into the forest. I was nervous about what I was doing, but I was determined to make it through without running out screaming. And I couldn’t stand the heat for another second to save my life. I eventually halted when I felt I was getting to far away from civilization. I didn’t want to lose Julyet before she decided whether she wanted to join me or not.

“No that’s okay. I’ll meet you at your house.” Julyet said. She stood there awkwardly for a moment, trying to decide if she should just leave or not.

I made that decision for her. “Okay. Meet you there, Julyet.” I said and waved. Then I turned my back to her and walked away. Deeper into the blissful shade. The forest was dark, slightly, and very green. It was so beautiful that I just wanted to stop and stare and never leave. But I knew I wouldn’t survive a life without my books, the ones I was reading and the ones I was writing.

Eventually I got to a place that seemed darker, colder than everywhere else. I didn’t understand why. The trees weren’t denser there. The sun was still too high in the sky for it to be dark or cold. But it was.

I edged forward cautiously. I could never be too careful. It could turn out that Slenderman actually did come out in the day. And it wasn’t just that made me a little scared, it was also that this part of the forest was completely silent. No birds sang. No random chirps from some kind of bug. Not even a breeze to rustle the leaves. Nothing. I gazed around me. Everything still was green, if not a little darker. I peered into the distance and could just make out something white.

I walked forward. It wasn’t the original plan, but in the battle between curiosity and reason, curiosity won. I could swear it got at least two degrees colder the closer I got. As I walked forward I was able to make out more and more of the shape. It leaning against a tree was the first thing I noticed. I could make out brown hair, enough to assume that there’s a face, and weird clothes. Definitely a dude. A sleeping homeless dude? No. as I made my way nearer, I could clearly see that he was much too gorgeous to be homeless.

“Hello?” I asked shyly. There was no response. “Hello?” I asked louder, a little more confident. Still nothing. I walked slightly faster until I stood right over him and found myself shivering. “Hello!” I said, waving my arms in front of his face. Not so much as a twitch. Annoyed that I was being ignored, I decided to shake him awake. As my hand got closer to him, though, the temperature got five degrees colder with every inch I gained. When my hand finally touched his bare shoulder, I found it colder than ice. I gasped in shock and attempted to jerk my hand away, but was pulled away from reality before I could.

~O~o~O~

“Push! Push!” I heard someone yell. I couldn’t see, but I was starting to.

I heard a yell in pain, and I forced my vision to clear faster. It sounded like something bad was happening. When my vision cleared, though, what I saw was anything but bad. It was a birth. I scolded myself mentally. How did I not figure that out? It was so obvious.

“Almost there.” A man encouraged. “I can see its head.” I looked at him curiously. He had skin a white purer than pure snow and a mass of dark brown curls that hung halfway down his neck. His clothes were medieval styled complete with a plain white shirt, breeches, and thigh-high boots.

I heard another cry of pain and directed my attention to the woman the mam was encouraging. She had straight golden hair that was grown out really long. Her eyes were a beautiful royal blue. She had that same pure white skin and medieval clothing as the man, which I assumed was her husband if the affectionate, but annoyed looks she gave him were anything to go by.

“You can do it, Rosahlee, just one more.” The man said, prepared to take the baby when it came out.

The woman, Rosahlee, let out another cry, and as I looked it got very . . . red, so I looked away; I was never any good with blood. Instead I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. I saw a humongous, gray marbled, room with a four poster bed in which Rosahlee was having her child, floor to ceiling windows with thick velvety curtains left open to let the sunlight in, and beautifully woven tapestries and carpets. Basically, everything you would find in the master bedroom of a large palace. I was standing next to one of the windows, near the very large and heavy looking door.

“It’s a boy!” the man cried out joyously. “Onna, bring the blankets here.” The man said to a girl in a pale blue uniform I hadn’t noticed before. She also had pure white skin.

She immediately came rushing to his aid. “Here, Majesty.” Onna said humbly, holding out blankets to the man, king. He took them. He then proceeded to wrap the new born infant whom also had pure white skin.

“What should we call him, Aleczander?” Rosahlee asked when he was done. She had watched Aleczander wrap her son a look of longing on her face the whole time. She most definitely wanted to hold her son.

“Daemeon.” Aleczander said kindly as he handed his wife Daemeon.

She smiled, then grimaced, then let out another cry of pain. I took a step closer to see what the matter was and saw that her stomach was not empty yet. Another baby was on the way.

“Twins.” Aleczander murmured in awe. “Our people have not had twins in a millennium.” He didn’t move, was too shocked to move.

“I know, now come here and help me.” Rosahlee said before letting out another cry in pain. She clutched the sheets of her bed with a death grip, nails digging in relentlessly.

Her words must’ve cleared the shock because soon Aleczander was giving Daemeon to Onna and was preparing himself to hold the latest member of the family. “Push! Push!” he said again, but this time there was more excitement in his voice. And Rosahlee did. She pushed with all her might until her second child was born.

“Another boy!” Aleczander said. He laughed in joy.

“We shall call him Aedrean.” Rosahlee said tiredly.

“Aedrean.” Aleczander said absently, completely consumed with staring at his unexpected child whom, big shock, also had pure white skin. Obviously it was safe to assume everyone here had pure white.

I started to smile, but the moment was short lived because I soon wasn’t there anymore.

~O~o~O~

“Hey! Aedrean! You cheated!” I heard a little voice say.

“No I didn’t. You are just no good at this game. You do not have the patience, Daemeon.” Another little voice said, sounding so like the first that they could’ve been the same person. But I knew they weren’t. I recognized those names. Well, and because my vision had cleared and I could see both the boys.

It was at least ten years after the birth. We were a huge room made of gray marble, and floor to ceiling windows with thick velvety curtains partly closed. It was furnished with a bed made to fit three people, a large desk and chair, and a floor to ceiling bookshelf practically bursting with books. I was standing next to the door.

They were playing chess on their stomachs on the floor. Black was tearing white apart.

“Do too! I always beat Daddy!” the boy I could only assume was Daemeon spoke, getting up to sit on his bum.

“So do I. and besides, Daddy has less patience than you do when it comes to games like this.” Aedrean said, also getting up to sit on his bum. He had his back to me so I couldn’t see his face.

Daemeon, though, was a different story. He had the same dark brown curls as his father, pale blue eyes, and full lips, so obviously Aedrean looked the same. Whelp, looks like I didn’t actually need to see Aedrean’s face to know what he looked like. Him and his brother being twins and all. Though they might not have been identical . . .

“What are you fighting about?” a gruff male voice asked from behind. Aleczander.

Both boys turned at the same time and I didn’t know whether to be shocked or not. Aedrean looked exactly like his brother except for his eyes. They were a deep royal blue like his mother’s, making them neither fraternal nor identical twins. Was there even a word for what they were?

“Aedrean is cheating!” Daemeon accused, pointing at his brother and standing up. Aedrean was soon on his feet also.

I heard Aleczander sigh and he walked pass me to stand in front of Aedrean. “Are you, or were you cheating?” he asked patiently, gazing seriously into his son’s eyes. He stood completely still. Well, minus his chest rising and falling softly as he breathed, but that’s a given.

Aedrean gazed seriously back for a moment also not moving not counting his breathing. “No.” he said finally, his eyes so purely honest, it would nearly be impossible for anyone to accuse him of lying and believe it themselves.

Aleczander nodded once and turned to face Daemeon. Go to your room and compose yourself.” He said, folding his arms across his chest and giving his son a stern look.

Daemeon bowed his head as he walked away silently, his father trailing behind him. He shut the door without turning back.

Aedrean watched them leave, saying nothing. Once they were gone, he put the chess set away in one of the drawers in the desk. He started to hum softly as he walked into the closet to get something. I craned my neck to watch him, but could see nothing past the closet entrance. He came out with a beautiful mahogany violin, and I could only watch, entranced, as he tuned it. When it was finally tuned, he began to play. The tune started out sweat and soft, and when the volume increased, it became both melancholy and joyous, defeated and hopeful. It was beautiful. I could’ve spent the rest of my life listening to it over and over until I died at gape at the idea of getting tired of it, but then it ended. It left me with a bundle of emotions that I couldn’t identify, and didn’t have time to identify even if I wanted to because I no longer was there.

~O~o~O~

This time, my vision cleared instantly, so I didn’t have to stand around, feeling disoriented and lost. I suspected, though, that the reason I didn’t have to wait was because there was nothing for me to hear except birds and random chirping bugs. I peered around at my surroundings, attempting to gain my bearings. No such luck. All I could gather was that I was standing in a clearing of a forest and it was about noon. And I was alone. Neither Aleczander, Aedrean, nor Daemeon was there. I expected for them to be there. They were in my other two ‘visions’ as I had decided to call what was happening.

I heard a distant rumbling and immediately thought earthquake, which made me start to panic. I had absolutely no clue as to what one does during an earthquake if they’re stranded in a clearing in the middle of a forest. Hug a tree? No, that was for if you’re lost. And besides, what if the tree I was hugging fell on me? Okay so don’t hug a tree. Next. Lay flat on the ground? Possibly . . .

I immediately calmed, though, when I heard laughter and playful banter.

“I will beat you today.” I heard a say. It didn’t sound like the owner was too far away. Just out of my line of sight. It had to have been either Aedrean or Daemeon. With their voices the same it was hard to tell.

“If you do, Daemeon, it will be because I let you win” Aedrean said. I knew it was Aedrean because I was pretty sure Daemeon wasn’t talking to himself. That would’ve been a bad sign for a prince.

“You? Beat me? If that is what you think, Aedrean, then you are seriously mistaken. If I remember correctly it was I that let you win yesterday.” Daemeon said just as they came into view. They were riding on jet black horses which had caused the rumbling I was hearing.

Aedrean snorted. “Yes, that could be the reason you lost our last duel, or it could be from the fact that I pay better attention to our lessons than you do. I guess you still do not have the patience.” He said, smirking. He sat proudly upon his steed. The black of it making his skin look whiter than it actually was and making it glow slightly. If I was honest it actually hurt to look at him. And not because he was completely gorgeous, because he was, even though I had to have had at least two years on him, making him at least fifteen, it was because of how greatly his skin and his horse contrasted. It was the same with Daemeon. Well, I guess it would’ve been handy in battle, the enemy not being able to look at their opponent on horseback and all.

“At least with me I run through opponents faster, unlike you whom it would take at least an hour to beat even the simplest of foes.” Daemeon said with a scowl. It was becoming painfully obvious that he didn’t like being called impatient.

I could see in Aedrean’s eyes that he had a clever retort in mind that probably would’ve led to a fight. But I also saw him make an executive decision not to say it. “Yes, I am slow, aren’t I?” he said with a smile. He dismounted gracefully with a wooden practice sword in hand. As did his brother.

“No. you’re just younger.” Daemeon said, also smiling. It would seem that the conflict was over.

Aedrean said nothing, only grinned. He readied himself for the duel that was to come. As did Daemeon. They circled each other for a minute, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Then suddenly, they both lunged at the same exact moment. When their swords met, they moved in such a way that put the most beautiful dances to shame. So of course I was completely mesmerized by them.

I’m not sure how long they dueled, though it felt like centuries, and at one point I sat down to get more comfortable, but soon the sun hung so low in the sky that they eventually stopped. I made a small sound of protest. I didn’t want them to stop. The way they moved, gracefully and powerfully, was so beautiful, so wonderful that I could’ve watched them for the rest of my life. And if there could be another Aedrean to play the song he once played on the violin, then even better. Okay, not even better, my life would be complete if that happened.

“We should get back to the palace. It is getting dark.” Daemeon said, readying to remount.

“You go on ahead. I have more than just my swordsmanship to practice.” Aedrean said, reaching into his saddlebag for something. I watched, intrigued as he pulled out a wooden flout. He moved to the center of the clearing and sat with his legs crossed.

“You and your music.” Daemeon said, shaking his head and smiling. He was now fully mounted and getting ready to ride away. His practice sword was gone, and now that I thought about it, so was Aedrean’s.

“Do not tell me that as soon as you get home you will not paint.” He said, smiling.

Daemeon grunted and started to ride away. “Good bye.” Daemeon said with his back to his brother.

“Bye.” Aedrean watched him leave. And when he was completely gone he started to play. The first song he played was festive and upbeat. It made me want to dance. The next was melancholy. The third was a mixture of the first two and lasted the longest. It was by far my favorite. It was beauty and average, it was light and dark, it was sad and happy. It was life.

Knowing he was unaware of his audience, I edged closer to hear better and ended up right next to him. And I sat like that, listening, until the song ended and he got up to leave to which I let out a sigh that was half protest and half pleasure. He made such sweet music. But then he left and so did I.

~O~o~O~

Aedrean ran. It was all he could do to get away from the enemies that pursued him relentlessly I knew. Or at least, he had to make sure they didn’t take back the thing I had watched him steal. The thing he clutched with a death grip. If he didn’t get away, if they caught him, then his people would all die, or at least, that’s what he said would happen when they were discussing the possible outcomes of their mission. An entire race; gone. He couldn’t let that happen, wouldn’t. It just wasn’t part of his personality. He would jump into the river he ran parallel to and ride it over the waterfall before he would let them catch him I knew. As would his brother who ran beside him. It had been two years since the duel and the music. Two years since peace.

“We must run faster! They are gaining on us!” Daemeon yelled over the roaring wind that was also apparently determined to stop them. The odds of survival were not looking good at this point, which made me want to cry out in frustration and fear.

Aedrean shook his head. He couldn’t run any faster. Neither of them could. They’d been running for hours already, it was a miracle they’d even made it this far. Especially since their enemy was on horseback and they on foot. “We can’t. You know we can’t.” Aedrean said, defeated. But he didn’t stop or slow. He had to try, at least, before he died. Death had become inevitable. Either he would die by an arrow in his back, or he would die to keep himself from being caught. And to be honest a sliver of him was afraid. I could see it in his eyes.

“It will be fine.” Daemeon said, to boost both their spirits. “At least we will delay the extinction of our people.”

“Yes. I know.” Aedrean said quietly, almost in a whisper. Almost immediately after the words were out of his mouth, Aedrean had an arrow in his back. I watched his face contort in pain. He stopped abruptly, nearly falling on his face. My heart ached, knowing I could do nothing. His energy was waning, and fast. But he started to run again. Even though every movement obviously brought searing pain exploding throughout his body. And when pain was too much for him, he jumped in the river. The last thing he saw before he went under the water and closed his eyes forever was Daemeon diving over the waterfall, a hail of arrows chasing after him.

I screamed for both of them. I could feel tears fall silently down my face. Their parents would be devastated.

I don’t know what happened after Aedrean went under, but I could feel myself drifting, fading away as he got nearer and nearer to death, until I was no longer there at all.

~O~o~O~

As soon as I was back to reality I jerked my hand away from the body. It definitely was not a sleeping homeless dude. I backed away slowly and eventually, when I felt I was a good enough distance away, I ran. I went straight for my house and didn’t look back. Branches and brambles tore at my face and clothes, but I refused to slow. I had to get out of there.

I finally slowed to a walk when I was a good distance from the forest and two blocks from my house. Eventually I stopped to catch my breath. I sat, unable to stand on my wobbly legs a moment longer.

“Feight?” I heard someone ask in confusion.

I looked up to see my twelve year old brother Tyhe standing over me. “Yeah.” I said and stood. I was nearly home. I had to get there. I had to tell Dad about the body in the woods.

“Where’s Julyet? I thought you went to the pool together.” Tyhe asked, sprinting to catch up to me.

I opened my mouth to answer him, but closed it, thinking better of my response. “We took different routes.” I slowly said instead, trying out the words. When the house came into sight I started to run again.

“Feight! What’s the matter?” Tyhe asked, also starting to run. I kept my mouth shut he would find out along with Dad

“Dad!” I yelled as I slammed the front door open. I ran to the kitchen, Tyhe hot on my heels. “Dad!” I yelled again when I saw him in the kitchen. “Dad, there’s a body in the woods!”

Dad immediately got up from the table where his half eaten lunch now lay forgotten. “Really? Feight, what happened?” he asked, concern and shock mingling in his voice. Tyhe’s eyes became saucers.

“I don’t know.” I made the executive decision to lie. I had no intention to be labeled crazy. “I was walking through the forest to keep cool from the sun, when I stumbled upon it.” I said truthfully. “And yes. It was definitely dead. I can show you.”

“Did you call the police?” dad asked, grabbing his shoes and opening the door.

“I don’t have a cellphone. I couldn’t have.” I said, feeling panicked as I followed him. What if we called the police and they thought I did it? My finger prints were now on the body and often the people who do these kinds of things are the kind of people you’d never suspect. Well, no one would suspect me, and it wasn’t like they’d find the actual killer. If the visions were correct, then the killer would be long dead by now.

“Well now you can.” Dad said, handing me his cell as he walked. I took it and dialed 9-1-1.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” a lady answered.

“There’s a body in the woods!” I said in a panic, the meaning of the statement finally hitting me with full force, and the fact that if the visions were correct then the body would be thousands of years old.

“Calm down. Which forest?” the lady asked calmly.

“Uh . . . the one near the indoor pool.” I said, unsure. Did they know which pool I was talking about?

“The one near the community center?” the lady asked. I let out a sigh of relief. She knew where I was talking about. Everything would be okay.

“Wait.” I said. I had to make sure she knew that Dad and I were entering on the opposite side of the forest. “My Dad and I are entering the forest on the opposite side.”

“Okay.” The lady said. “Don’t hang up. We’re going to trace the location of the phone you’re using so you can show us where the body is.” She said kindly.

I nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see it. “Okay.” I told her, then I brought the phone away from my ear. “Dad, we have to stop. The police are coming.” I said as I stopped.

Dad stopped in mid-stride. “Okay, honey.” He said. “We can wait.” And we did. We waited for about fifteen minutes before we heard the sirens. One minute until they started to question us.

“Are you the one who called?” a policeman asked me. He looked about the same age as Dad. And had smile lines in nearly half the places they appeared. I trusted him immediately.

“Yes.” I said without hesitation. “Are you going to take the body away?” I asked. I was pretty sure I sounded like a little kid, but with all that had happened I didn’t care. I just wanted it all to end. I wanted to forget what I had seen, or thought I saw, I wanted forget that I found a body. But most of all I wanted to go back in time so I could stop myself from leaving Julyet.

The policeman smiled. “Yes. Can you show me where the body is?” he asked. I nodded and we started walking.

He asked me questions along the way.

Policeman: was it male or female? Me: male.

Policeman: what did he look like? Me: dark brown hair and very white skin.

Policeman: what kind of clothes was he wearing? Me: very out of date clothes.

Policeman: how out of date? Me: thousands of years.

Policeman: how long would you say he was dead? Me: a couple of minutes. Just gone cold.

Policeman: how did you find him? Me: I was walking home from the pool and couldn’t stand the heat anymore, so I went into the woods. About halfway home I saw him.

Policeman: did you see anyone else either before, during, or after you saw the body? Me: no. there was no one else.

Policeman: are you sure? Me: positive.

The questions stopped after that, so we walked in silence until I stopped. “It’s over there.” I said pointing straight ahead. I couldn’t see it, but that was okay. I really didn’t want to look at that white face again. Some of the policemen immediately broke off and headed in the direction I pointed. The rest of us waited awkwardly. No one spoke. No one had anything to say.

“Nothing’s there.” The policemen said when they came back.

“Yes there is. There has to be. I saw it.” I said in shock. I pushed past them as I entered the place where the body lay against a tree. But it wasn’t. There was nothing. Birds sang, bugs chirped, it wasn’t cold. Everything was completely and utterly normal. “But it was here. I know it was here.” I said to no one. This had to have been the spot. It just had to.

I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. I didn’t react. “There are footprints. Someone might’ve carried the body away.” A man said. “Don’t worry. We’ll find it.”

“It was here.” I said in defeat.

“I know. There were signs.” The man said. “Go home. We’ll take it from here.” He suggested. Not rudely, but not kindly. Somewhere in the middle.

I nodded and walked away in silence. I walked pass the other policemen, pass Dad, pass Tyhe. I just wanted to go home and hopefully forget about this whole thing. But I knew I wouldn’t. I seriously doubted that the body was carried away. No one knew about it except me and the animals. And it definitely wasn’t a fresh kill. It wasn’t the visions or the clothes that led me to that belief. It was because I just knew. I didn’t know how or why, but I didn’t care either. All I cared about was that there was a dead body, and now there wasn’t. Forget the details. They didn’t tell me where the body was.

“Honey, what happened? You told me there was a body.” Dad asked, having caught up to me. I glanced at him. I could see the concern evident all over the plains of his face. I looked away

“There was, and now there isn’t.” I said right before I ran.

Chapter Two

That night I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling. I glanced at my alarm. Twelve ‘O’clock. I groaned. Why couldn’t it have been morning already? Why couldn’t I forget about finding the body? Why couldn’t everything be normal? Why, why, why?

I heard soft humming in the wind and was instantly out of bed. I would stare at the hummer until they got freaked out and stopped. Like I’d been doing since I’d gotten home from the forest earlier that day. It was only slightly entertaining, but when you can’t sleep, ‘slightly entertaining’ magically becomes ‘entertaining’. I looked out the window and saw no one. Only houses and the forest in the distance. I sighed, disappointed, and went back to bed. There would be no awkward staring. Only tossing and turning.

Once I lay, I closed my eyes. But I would have no peace. As soon as they closed violins and flutes and humming filled me. I opened them and it was all gone. “Ugh!” I said in frustration. What had I done that result in the universe punishing me in this way? Nothing, that’s what. I’d been the perfect goody-goody all my life. Well, except for the times I took food without asking because I was hungry, but hey, didn’t everyone. I couldn’t have been the only one.

Finally sick of it I went downstairs to watch some good ol’ fashioned TV and eat some good ol’ fashioned potato chips. The world’s greatest distractions. Hopefully. My brain was seriously churning. Luckily it did. I watched Doctor Who and ate lays until the sun came up and I didn’t think the entire time. Yay. But then everyone woke up.

“What are you doing?” my fourteen year old brother, Jac, asked.

“Watching Doctor Who and eating lays.” I said, keeping my irritation on the inside. I was so not in the mood for a questioning, but a questioning I knew I would get.

“Why?” asked Jac.

“Because I couldn’t sleep.” I answered, not looking away from my show, and still shoving lays in my mouth.

“Can we have the TV?” asked Tyhe.

“Sure.” I said. I laid down on the couch to get more comfy and snuggled into the blanket I had brought down with me. Ah, this was the life. The only thing it lacked was books, and I just wasn’t in the mood to go get them.

I could feel the boys stare at me expectantly. I glanced at them. “Oh you meant this one? Well I meant the other one.” I said, not bothering to sugarcoat it. I knew I would feel guilty about it later, but later wasn’t now, and currently I was living in the now.

“But we want to play Mariokart and we only have one Wii.” Tyhe protested. Jac said nothing.

“Dude. You guys play on the Wii every day. You have to remember you don’t own this TV, so I have a right to watch here.” I said, a little, okay a lot, of the annoyance making an appearance in my voice.

Tyhe gave me a dirty look and walked away, Jac trailing behind him. I sighed. Sometimes my brother could be a royal pain in the behind. I still loved him. Just like I loved my eight and six year old little sisters whom were currently running around screaming.

“Little girls!” I said loudly to get their attention. Fail. “Little girls!” I said louder. They stopped.

“What, Feight?” Kloe asked, confused. In her book, she was doing nothing wrong. She was the eight year old one.

“Yeah, what?” repeated Roze. She was the six year old one.

“To loud.” I said. “Go play outside if you’re going to run around and scream.” I said. At that exact moment I wished I had brought a pillow. I was so tired, and tired plus comfortable equaled sleep. I didn’t actually need one though . . .

“Whatcha doin’?” asked my fifteen year old sister, Evere while coming to sit next to me on the couch. The question was innocent, but I knew once I gave the answer life, in sugar coated terms, would stop being a picnic.

“I’m trying to sleep while watching TV.” I said. Eh, life wasn’t a picnic in this house anyways, so who cared if I answered the question. I wouldn’t.

“But that’s not fair.” Evere said. Here we go, I thought. “What if the boys and the little girls wanted to watch TV while you slept? You’re practically taking up the whole couch.” She complained.

“Ugh. Fine. I’ll go upstairs. Happy?” I asked bitterly as I got up to leave.

“Yes.” She said. I rolled my eyes and went upstairs.

When I got to my room, I immediately plopped on my bed and closed my eyes. Exhaustion soon started make my brain all fuzzy and I relished in the feeling. The sleep denied to me in the night was soon to be mine. But just as I was about to fall into the oblivion called sleep, I heard screaming and pounding feet and laughing boys. Ugh. The boys, instead of watching TV, had apparently decided to chase the girls. Upstairs. Completely obliterating my chances of sleep.

I sighed and got out of bed. Obviously sleep and I just weren’t meant to be. Insert single tear falling. I got dressed and put my shoes on. I guess it would be a walkin’ I shall go. “Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! I’m going for a walk!” I yelled as I pounded down the stairs.

“Bye!” Mom answered from her room. Dad said nothing.

I checked to make sure I still had my wallet. I was hungry for fast-food otherwise known as McDonald’s. I grabbed my book off the breakfast counter where I accidentally left it the day before and I was off. The world, here I come. Goodbye and Ta-ta for now, crazy house.

On the way to McDonald’s I thought. I thought about everything but yesterday. I thought about the deliciousness of cheeseburgers, the book I was writing, the book I was reading, and how much I sucked to have no sleep, which I guess isn’t so bad since I hate the way I feel when I wake up from a nap. I didn’t think about the body, the visions, or how the body disappeared. Those things weren’t worth my time, I told myself, but truthfully, I avoided those topics because they freaked me out. How could they not?

When I walked through the McDonald’s door, I plopped my stuff at the nearest empty seat and got in line to order. “I would like a cheeseburger, medium fries, and a lemonade.” I said when it was my turn.

“Cash or credit?” the man, or should I say teen, at the counter asked me, checking me out in the process. I resisted the urge to blush. Okay, it wasn’t an urge. I blushed.

I cleared my throat lightly and said, “Cash.” I handed him a ten.

“I’m Johnethin by the way.” Johnethin said, taking the money. He smiled at me.

My chest then became a field full of landmines. One where there was an explosion of nerves every five seconds. “Okay.” I said, my voice unnaturally high. “What number did you say I was?” I asked, hoping I sounded uninterested. I wasn’t really interested in updating my single status just yet. Especially with someone I’d just met. I had no idea if he was sweet or a rapist and wasn’t willing to bet my virginity on chance. You could only have it once, and when I lost it, I wanted to be a willing participant.

Johnethin sighed. “Seventy-one.” He said.

“Thank you.” I managed to squeak out. I quickly went to my table. I was not one to flirt, and I probably never would be. I didn’t care. When I sat down, I pulled out my book and began to read. It had been a while since I’d had time to read, hangin’ out with my bestie and all.

“Hey, sorry to bother you, but do you mind if we sit here? Everywhere else is full.” I heard someone ask, startling me. I looked up to see two teens about my age stand over me, a guy and a girl, waiting patiently for my response.

“Uh, sure.” I said. Obviously it was go talk to Feight day. The two teens sat down.

“I’m Grais, and this is my brother Jaims.” The girl, Grais, said, introducing them. She held out her hand to shake.

“Feight.” I said, taking her hand. As soon as we were done shaking, though, I hurriedly took my hand back. Something just felt . . . off about them. Maybe it was their black eyes, or maybe it was their unnatural grace, but whatever it was, it didn’t blend well with me.

“Feight? Like the one who found the body in the woods?” Jaims asked, very interested. He stared at me intently, like I was a puzzle he needed to solve. Talk about creepy.

“The one and only.” I said. I gave a nervous laugh. Cheeseburger be done already so I can have an excuse to leave. Or better yet, Mom call and tell me I must come home this instant. I did not want to talk about this.

“What did it look like?” Grais asked innocently. She also gave me the –puzzle-I-must-solve stare, which made me fidget in my seat. I didn’t feel comfortable the way they stared at me.

“Well, uh-” I started, but was interrupted with a “Number seventy-one!” shout from the counter. I sighed in relief. Saved. “That’s me.” I said as I got up and went to go get my food. Man I hated McDonald’s at that moment. So much for fast-food.

“Okay. We’ll be right here when you come back.” I heard Jaims say, sounding perky. Yay! Not. I thought in dismay. Those guys couldn’t take a hint.

“Here’s your order.” The girl at the counter said, giving me the bag that would end my hunger.

“Thanks.” I mumbled. Time to go back to Creepy One and Creepy Two. Insert sobbing, weeping, and begging.

“So tell us. What did the body look like?” Jaims said as soon as I got back to the table. He and Grais stared at me again, but this time it was way more intense. I squirmed under their gazes. What was it with them?

“Uh, well you see . . . how should I put this? I really have to go home right now. Got to . . . clean my room.” The excuse to leave was half sure and half question, but half sure was good enough for me.

“Can we come too?” asked Grais. I was about to say no, but before the words could form, I somehow managed to stare deeply into Jaims’s black eyes. They were so pretty, as was the rest of him with his pure black hair, and pale complexion. As I stared into his eyes, I saw things. Saw my future. With him. It was so perfect. He would hold and comfort me when I was sad. He would steal sweet kisses in the rain. He would bring me flowers and chocolates. He would defend me. He would tell me he loved my every day. All I had to do was say yes.

And I almost did, if someone hadn’t spoken for me. “I think she wants to not bring anyone home.” Said Johnethin. I glanced at him.

“Yeah.” I said, blinking away the crazy vision. Sure it was nice, but it wasn’t love. Love wasn’t, and never would be perfect like that. That’s why I wanted it so much.

Jaims pouted. Grais cocked her head. “Are you sure?” she asked. “It would seem like someone made the decision for you.” She said, glaring at Johnethin.

“Yes I’m sure. I’ll even prove it to you.” I said. I walked to the door. “Watch me leave. Alone.” I walked through the door and didn’t look back. I knew Johnethin wanted to chat, but I was still running on zero sleep, so eating alone was for everyone’s benefit. There was one problem, though, I had no idea where I was going. Eventually I decided I would eat at the edge of the forest. Not inside, but near. And then I scolded myself. Was I really afraid of trees and animal life? So I made up my mind to go inside and find a nice boulder to sit on and eat my food. I could do it. But I found myself at the edge of the forest instead. Hesitating. “Coward.” I mumbled. I took a deep breath, and took my first step into the forest.

I walked for what felt like an hour until I found the perfect spot. It was a spotlighted boulder that was just shady enough that it wasn’t too hot to sit on. Plus, as a bonus, no big harry spiders crawled all over it. I was deathly afraid of spiders, next to heights and blood, I was unsure why. Dad even used to collect them. They just gave me a really, really, really, really horrible feeling. I’d never been bit, but having one on your head was definitely no fun at all.

When I sat and was completely settled, I took one bite of my cheeseburger and put the rest back in the bag. Yuck. Cold food, especially fast-food was disgusting. I sighed and decided to wander around to pass the time. I crumpled the McDonald’s bag that held my discarded food into as tight a ball it would go and carried it around as I walked. I wasn’t about to litter.

I wandered for about a quarter mile before someone spoke up behind me. “I am sorry to bother you, miss, but can you tell me where I am?” that voice . . . I’d heard that voice before. I couldn’t place it, though, so I discarded the thought.

I turned, about to tell him, because it was a him, but ended up stumbling back instead, tripping on a tree root on the way. Shock and fear were written all over the planes of my face. This couldn’t have been happening. I was dreaming. Because what I saw couldn’t have been real. Because what I saw was a living breathing version of Aedrean.

I screamed.

Chapter Three

“What is the matter?” Aedrean asked while I screamed my throat raw. He stood there, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion and concern.

“You-you-you were dead!” I accused. I scrambled backwards, trying to put as much distance between us as possible. How could it be that he was alive? Whelp, I was never, ever, never coming in this forest again. This, apparently, was the place where dead people got up and walked away.

“No. I am not dead. Look. See? I breathe. My heart beats.” He said, taking in big gulps of air to show me. I was sure it was meant to calm me down, but it didn’t. If anything it made me tenser.

“Pleasedon’thurtmepleasedon’thurtmepleasedon’thurtme.” I chanted. He could’ve been a vampire. They could breathe. Only if they thought about it, but still. Vampires could breathe.

Aedrean laughed. “I am not going to hurt you. Whatever gave you that idea?” he said. I only kept chanting. He sighed and sat down next to me. “Let us start over. Shall we?” I still kept up my quiet chant. He sighed again. “Well I am Aedrean.” He said, holding out his hand as if he wanted me to shake it.

“I know.” I finally whispered. I didn’t move any closer to him. I didn’t take his hand. I only squeezed my eyes shut, as if that would make it all go away. Sadly, I knew it wouldn’t.

“You do? Have we met?” Aedrean asked, still holding out his hand. After a moment of nothing on my part, though, he let it fall back to his side. “No. we haven’t met. I think I would remember you. You saw my history, am I correct? Are you a healer?” he asked, his voice was full of hope and excitement when he said the last part. I said nothing. “I do not understand. What is wrong?” he asked, a little exasperated. I still said nothing. “At least tell me your name so we are not at such a disadvantage on my part.”

I was silent for a moment, then, “Feight.” I said it in a whisper, barely working up the courage to say it at all.

“Ah. Feight is a lovely name.” Aedrean said kindly, making another attempt to calm me down, put me at ease.

“But you were dead! I saw you die! How are you here?” I suddenly burst. I finally looked at him and instantly melted. The smile he was currently giving me was . . . indescribable.

“Yes. I was dead, but I was brought back to life, Feight.” Aedrean said calmly. He gave me a look full of patience. “Now will you answer one of my questions? You do not even have to say anything.” he asked kindly.

I nodded.

“Are you a healer? Or do you know?” he asked slowly, making sure I understood.

I blinked at him. I was still in shock. Major shock. “Like a doctor?” I asked, unsure of what he meant.

“Something like that, just different.” Aedrean said. He shifted until he was in front of me. I eyed him cautiously, I was still afraid. And why shouldn’t I have been? Just yesterday this guy was dead.

“Then what is a healer?” I asked, confused.

“A healer is-” Aedrean started, but was cut off when we both heard a snap and something fell from a nearby tree. We both snapped our heads in the direction we heard the noise and caught a glimpse of a bird falling. Aedrean got up went to it. He came back with a beautiful blue bird with a broken wing. “Here, take it.” He said, holding it out to me.

“Why?” I asked, eying it. As much as I wanted to hold it, I was pretty sure I shouldn’t take birds from strangers. But he’s not a stranger, a little voice in my head said. I squashed it. He was a stranger. I’d never actually met him until now.

“I want to test something. I swear, you only have to hold it.” He said, holding the bird out to me.

I took it cautiously, making sure our hands didn’t touch. I wasn’t sure if his hands were cold or not. Like when I touched his shoulder the other day. As soon as I touched the bird, its broken wing healed and it flew away. I gaped. “I . . . it . . . wha-what just happened?” I asked. All I did was touch it.

“You healed it.” Aedrean said, staring after the bird. A look of awe was plainly set on his face. For what reason I had no clue.

“How? Why?” I asked. I did nothing but touch that blue bird, so how could I have possibly healed it? How could that have happened? Was I some freak of nature? I seriously hoped not. The government could come and take me away to experiment on me, for force me to serve them against my will. But then again it could come in handy for whatever reason happens. It was a gift and a curse.

Aedrean looked at me. “I do not know.” He said sincerely. “I am no healer. Only they understood why it happens.” He said sadly. “I cannot help you.” He sat on the ground again and started to fiddle with a blade of grass. He looked up at me suddenly. “Where am I?” he asked, remembering his original question.

“Medford, Oregon.” I said. By now Aedrean didn’t scare me as much, so I stared at him curiously. The visions didn’t do him justice. He was much, much more gorgeous in real life.

“Oregon? When am I?” he asked, confused. There’d probably never been an Oregon in his time. It probably would’ve been smart for me to assume that in the first place. Okay, not probably. ‘Would’ve’ would be the more appropriate word.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. It’s two-thousand, thirteen.” I said, shaking my head to the haze that came with staring at him.

“Oh. Well thank you for your help, but I think I have overwhelmed you. I shall leave you to your thoughts.” Aedrean said, standing up to leave.

“Wait! Don’t go!” I said, surprising us both. I jumped up to my feet. “Where will you go?” I asked, correcting my error.

Aedrean smiled at me kindly. “I do not know.” He said.

“Well, if you wanted, you could come home with me.” I said shyly. I looked at my feet, one-hundred percent nervous about his response.

Aedrean opened his mouth to answer me, but someone else spoke before he could. “I thought you said you didn’t want to bring anyone home. Looks like the decision was made for you, Feight.” I jerked my head in the direction of the speaker and saw Grais and Jaims standing side-by-side. Standing eerily still. Their chests barely moved with breath.

Aedrean turned his head and stared at them. “Who are you?” he asked nervously, like he got the same feeling I got when around them.

Jaims didn’t react. Just stared at me. Pure lust dancing in his eyes. Grais turned to him. “Our boss wants to meet you.” She said plainly. “It would be best if you came willingly. He wants you whole.” Her voice held no emotion, but I could see in her eyes, very faintly, that she wanted Aedrean to rebel.

“No thank you. I am not interested in meeting your ‘boss’.” He said keeping calm and standing tall. He showed no fear or uncertainty. Just like a prince should.

“Why don’t you stay, Feight? Our boss wants to meet you too.” Jaims said, smiling not a nice smile.

I froze. I had been edging away very slowly so that they wouldn’t notice, but I obviously failed. “Why?” I asked. “Why would he want to meet me? I’m no one.” I said, shaking slightly. Were they going to kidnap me if I didn’t agree to go with them willingly? Would they hurt my family? Or most importantly, why did they want me in the first place? I suspected it was because of my ability, but something told me that that wasn’t the whole reason why.

“Oh, but you are someone. For one thing you found him.” Jaims said, inclining his head toward Aedrean. “And for another you belong to no one, but we’ll soon change that.” He gave me an evil grin. I shivered.

“Yes, that will change. But you’re not going to be the one to do it.” I heard someone say. Johnethin.

Grais made a tsk-tsk sound. “Still making other people’s decisions? That’s very impolite.” She said calmly. She seemed composed, uninterested, but I could see the irritation that was there and gone again in an instant.

“And how is manipulating people to make the decision you want them to any better?” asked Johnethin, raising his eyebrow. “Don’t answer that. We’re not here to question your life choices. We’re here to stop you.” He said, taking a step forward.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Jaims said, smiling evilly. He flexed his whole body, like he knew Johnethin wasn’t going to stop.

Johnethin set his jaw, as if he were preparing for what would come next. He took another deliberate step.

Jaims fingers twitched ever so slightly, so slightly I almost thought it was one of those tiny spasms that happened in your hands. Almost. Aedrean cried out in pain and I looked to him to see what was wrong, but there was nothing. No physical injury at all. He was in pain for no reason.

Johnethin winced, but took another step. He eyes wondered to be briefly, and I could see the begging in them. I started to panic.

I looked at Jaims to see what he would do, and almost missed Grais’s lips twitch, hinting a smile. And then I was in pain. Horrible, horrible pain. I screamed. Loud and hard. My back arched. I fell to my knees, and then flat on my face. Pain, pain, pain, there was so much pain. I thought I knew what it felt like, but I was wrong. Having a shovel dug into your finger was nothing compared to this. I almost wished a shovel was in my finger instead. Tears streamed down my face. “Stop!” I screamed. “Stop!” I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t. It hurt too much. And just as fast as it started, it was gone. I would’ve sighed in relief, but the shock of it disappearing so quickly made me faint.

~O~o~O~

I awoke what felt like minutes later and found myself not in the forest. The room I was in was all white, like a hospital, but I knew that wasn’t where I was. No machines beeped, no doctors were called on an intercom, and, most importantly, the whole place didn’t smell like bleach and air freshener.

“Hello?” I asked quietly, my voice hoarse and raw from all the screaming. Only silence greeted me. I turned my head carefully, trying to keep the process of looking around as painless as possible. To my surprise, it felt like nothing had even happened.

I saw Aedrean on the bed to my right. I got up to go to him. When I stood over him I noticed how his cheeks looked flushed and his breath was too slow to be even remotely healthy. He was sick. I hovered my hand over his, intending to touch and therefor heal him, but instantly pulled it back. It was like an oven. He wasn’t just sick, he was very sick. I took a deep breath and quickly placed my hand on his before I lost my nerve. I gritted my teeth from the heat of it, but slowly I felt it start to cool down until there was no heat at all. His breathing became normal and the flush disappeared.

“Feight?” Aedrean asked when his eyes opened. He sat up.

I nodded. “Yup.” I said. “That’s me. Are you okay?” I asked, concerned. I wanted to be a hundred percent sure he was fine.

“Yes. Now. Thank you. But that is not the most important question. The most important question is how are you?” he asked, he stared at me with concern, searching my face. I forgot about our joined hands and just stared right back at him. I never realized what a pretty color royal blue was . . .

“I’m fine.” I said, pulling myself out of the daze. I’d have to be more careful about looking into his eyes. They were just too beautiful to do anything but look at them.

Aedrean sighed in relief. “Good.” He said

“What happened? It was like I was being tortured without being touched.” I asked quietly. I shuddered when I recalled the moment. “I never knew anyone could feel that much pain.” I whispered. So much pain. I had the unexplainable urge to lean on him, but resisted. Aedrean made room on the bed as invitation for me to sit. I did.

“I do not-” Aedrean started, but I cut him off.

“Not ‘do not’, ‘don’t’. If you’re going to live in this time period, you need to speak like you do.” I said shakily. It was the only way I could cope. Yes it was strange way to cope, but it was all I had. I wasn’t . . . that big a fan of his strange grammar.

“Alright. I don’t know. Is there any other words I should learn?” he asked, being patient with me, so I wasn’t sure how he felt about my sudden correction.

I nodded. “’Can’t’ replaces ‘cannot.’ ‘Didn’t’ replaces ‘did not.’ ‘Wasn’t’ to ‘was not.’ ‘Couldn’t’ to ‘could not.’ ‘Could’ve’ to ‘could have.’ ‘Wouldn’t’―” I was cut off.

“To ‘would not.’” Aedrean finished. “There is a ‘would’ve’ too, am I correct? And an ‘isn’t,’ ‘weren’t,’ ‘where’d,’ ‘I’m,’ and such?” he asked. He smiled at me like he already knew the answer, a small playful glint in his eye.

“Yeah, but how’d you know?” I asked, amazed. How was that possible? Did I give any hints about it? No. he just knew. But how?

“I come from a very advanced race.” He said, grinning from ear to ear. “Words and languages are nothing compared to math and astronomy.”

“What about love? Can you understand that?” I asked. It had to have been one of the trickiest and confusing subjects on the planet. I bet brilliant scientist who were obsessed with knowledge hated it because they couldn’t even begin understand it.

A door closed to our right. I turned my head to see Johnethin leaning against a wall. “Love isn’t meant to be understood, only felt.” He said with a serious look. Aedrean nodded once in agreement.

“What happened in the woods?” I asked, deciding to drop the topic. If we started a discussion about love, then they would know how much I wanted it, craved it even. But they would also see that I didn’t have it. I wasn’t about to look desperate. “Why did I feel so much pain?” I asked in a whisper, not wanting to relive the moment, but unable to help myself.

“Grais was messing with your mind. And before you ask, because they always do, think of the brain as a series of buttons. There’s a pain button, pleasure button, sickness button, and so forth. What Grais did, was press the pain button in your brain. I have no idea how.” Johnethin explained.

I nodded. I didn’t fully understand what he was saying, but I understood enough. Aedrean was a different story. His eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“You don’t understand?” Johnethin asked, addressing Aedrean.

“Oh, I understand.” He said, “I even know how, though I can’t explain it. What I don’t understand, is how they were able to do it in the first place. They’re not part of my race.” He got up to stand in front of the window I hadn’t noticed before. It was closed so I couldn’t the outside.

Johnethin’s eyes widened, as did mine. “You can do it too?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes.” Aedrean said plainly, like it was the most normal thing on earth to manipulate people’s minds. “My whole people could do it, but they’re gone now, so I’m the only one.” He said sadly. My heart ached for him. It wasn’t just his people he lost, it was also his family and anyone else he could’ve cared about. Like a lover. I did my best to suppress the strange jealousy that bloomed within me for no logical reason. We’d just met, not counting the visions of course.

“They’re not all gone. I mean, we found another one about a month ago. Bringing her here was not an easy feat. It required winter gear for Antarctica, but we did it.” Johnethin said proudly, like he’d just climbed Mount Everest. “We weren’t able to raise her, though.” He said sadly, almost like he was disappointed in himself. Like he should’ve tried harder.

“Where?” Aedrean asked immediately. I could see the hope as it filled him.

“I’ll take you to him.” Johnethin offered, standing. “You should come too . . . what’s your name again?” He said, looking at me.

“Feight. Why? I really don’t want to go see a dead body.” I said, staying right where I was on Aedrean’s bed.

Aedrean looked at me and begged me with his eyes. “Please.” He said aloud.

I stared at him, thinking. It was a hard decision. Go and see a dead body, stay in an unfamiliar room where anything could happen. Hmm . . . “Fine.” I said finally. “I’ll go, but only because you said please.” I smiled. I got up to go. I was not going to stay here alone. I didn’t understand why, but I trusted Aedrean. Maybe not Johnethin since I knew less about him than I did Aedrean. But I trusted at least one of them, so why not.

Aedrean grinned at me. “Thank you.” He said. I grinned back and something flickered in my chest. I ignored it.

“Well? Are we going or not?” asked Johnethin, standing outside the door. He gave me a knowing smile which I didn’t understand.

Aedrean went to stand next to him. “Come on, Feight.” He said. He started to follow Johnethin as he walked away.

I sighed as I moved to follow them. “I still don’t want to see a dead body.” I mumbled under my breath. Seeing one was enough to last a lifetime, in my opinion. Actually, I wished I never saw one in the first place. I wished I never found a body in the woods, just a sleeping homeless man. But mostly, I wished I hadn’t found out I wasn’t human.

We walked in silence, unable to think of anything to say. “Here.” Johnethin finally said, holding a door open for Aedrean and I. I thanked him politely as I passed. I gave him a look that said he had questions to answer. He nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

“Lillee.” I heard Aedrean say. He was standing over the only bed in the room. He bent down to stroke the cheek of the white figure laying there. I smiled. It wasn’t an aw!-that’s-so-sweet! Smile. It was a he-still-cares! smile. Which made no sense at all. Obviously it wasn’t me he was caring about.

“Did you know her?” I stood next to him, managing to put the smile under control, and stared at the body. She looked freakishly like me. She had long brown hair and partially full lips. We even had the same bone structure. The only difference was that she had pure white skin and hollowed cheeks.

“Knew her? I love her, or loved I guess.” Aedrean said sadly. I looked at him and saw the grief that clouded his features. I felt horrible.

“I could try to bring her back.” I offered hopefully. I couldn’t stand to see him that sad. Or anyone for that matter.

Aedrean nodded and stepped back to give me room. I took a deep breath to prepare myself for the cold, and quickly put my hand over hers before I could lose my nerve. I caught snippets of her life, but not as much as I did for Aedrean when I accidentally raised him. All I caught was a few kisses, her singing, and her writing. Nothing else. When I couldn’t stand the cold anymore, I let go of her. Nothing happened. I prepared myself to touch her again, but someone grabbed my arm.

“Wait.” said Aedrean, letting go of my hand. “It could be a delayed reaction.”

“Okay.” I said. It was his decision. After all he loved her. I wasn’t sure why, but somehow that made my heard soar. I ignored it. Why would my heart soar if he loved her? It was simply illogical. We waited for fifteen minutes exactly. Yes, I was counting every awkward moment of silence. “Now?” I asked, wanting to do something other than stare at Lillee.

“Now.” Aedrean confirmed, waving me onward. I sighed in relief. I wasn’t sure what I would’ve done if I had to stare at that body a minute longer. I knew go crazy was probably the most likely outcome.

I placed my hand over hers, left it there for a minute, got the same images of her life as before, and let go. I could only wait one minute after I let her go before I gave up. “I can’t do it.” I said sadly. Why wouldn’t it work? It was supposed to work. She was supposed to be alive and breathing by now. But she wasn’t, and there was nothing I could do to fix it. Never had I felt so powerless than before that moment. Well, okay. I felt pretty powerless when Aedrean was about to die in the vision, but that was in the past. And because I knew I was supposed to be able to help in this situation. “I’m so sorry, Aedrean, but I can’t.” I said. I walked out to the hallway, needing alone time. I sat against the wall.

“Hey.” I heard Johnethin say. I looked up to see him leaning on the wall opposite me.

I was about to say go away, but corrected myself just in time. “Please leave.” I asked quietly, bowing my head to look at my feet.

“You had questions.” He reminded me. “I thought I might try to answer some.” He sat down.

“Not right now. Right now I just want to feel powerless. Alone if that would be possible.” I said. I failed. I wondered if Aedrean was holding Lillee, wishing I had succeeded in bringing her back. I would’ve.

“You’re not powerless. You couldn’t have brought her back. I’ll explain. This is just a theory, but it makes sense. At least to me.” Johnethin took a deep breath. “When a human dies, we can only bring them back within a minute of their demise because that’s how long the soul lingers. Same for us. But Aedrean and his people, they’re different. I think that the reason why their bodies won’t decompose after they die is because their souls linger forever; never going where souls normally go.”

“So? What does this have to do with Lillee?” I asked. This conversation wasn’t making me feel better. Or at least, that’s what I assume the point of it was. It could have no point at all.

“The point is, Feight, I don’t think Lillee’s soul lingered for whatever reason.” Johnethin said, eyes bright.

“That doesn’t make any sense. You said the reason why their bodies are so perfect is because their souls linger forever. If Lillee’s soul didn’t linger, how is it that her body looks like all she did was take a nap?” I asked. This wasn’t a very good theory. Well, it could be, but that depends on if he keeps it a major work in progress.

“I think she left enough of her soul to preserve her body, but not enough that we can raise her.”

I sighed. I would humor him. “So where do you think her soul went? A better place?”

Johnethin stared at me for a long moment. “I don’t know.” He said finally.

Chapter Four

I stood and dusted off my butt. “I should probably go home. Where am I anyway?” I said. I wanted to go home; to embrace the illusion of normalcy. Even if it was only an illusion. Well, and it was because Mom and Dad had probably called the police. Key word: probably. It all depended on the time of day. “What time is it?” I asked nervously. I did not want the police looking for me.

“Eight thirty.” Johnethin said, standing up himself.

“Crap.” That left me no time to get home. I started to walk away. Going in the general direction we came. I had one major problem. Where the heck was the door out of this place? “I have to go.” I mumbled, slightly panicked. I wasn’t in the mood to scare my parents half to death. No matter how much sleep I had, or how little food I ate. I just couldn’t do it.

I felt a cool hand catch my arm. “Where are you going?” asked Aedrean, stopping me. I looked at the hand that clasped my arm gently. Was it my imagination, or did it tingle wherever he touched. Nope. It tingled. And it made my heart race. I looked at him.

“Home. I have to go home.” I said. I pushed the tingling to the furthest corner of my mind. I didn’t have time to evaluate it yet. I stared deeply into Aedrean’s eyes and got lost in them. I could tell it was happening to him too, for his eyes glazed over. We stayed like that for who knows how long before Johnethin interrupted us.

“Hello. You’re standing in a public hallway.” He tried with no results. “Hey, if you’re going to stare into each other’s eyes like a crazy in love couple, then at least do it in privacy.” He tried again, but this time he was successful.

“We aren’t a couple. We just met.” I informed him. Aedrean dropped his hand, and I had a feeling it wasn’t just because his arms were tired. “I have to go home.” I said and walked away. I needed to escape this craziness. I needed my books. I needed to pretend to be normal for one day, then I could come back and accept my not-normal-ness. Maybe.

“Wait! Don’t you want to know where the door is?” Johnethin said, jogging to keep up with me.

I didn’t stop. I did, however, gesture for him to lead the way. He quickly moved in front of me. “Question time.” I said, unable to stand the fact that my brain was so full of questions it hurt. “Number one: who are you, Johnethin?” I asked. I had no one question that buzzed in my head the most, so I just picked one at random.

“A healer. Just like you, except not as strong. There’s a lot of human blood in my family tree. And please, call me Naithyn.” He answers immediately, like he’d been going over the response for that particular question for quite some time. Or it could’ve been that he’d gone through the process once before. Maybe many times.

“Okay, Naithyn, number two: why did you randomly talk to me at McDonalds today?” I was doing my best to make the questions at least seem like they were related, but in reality, they most likely sounded similar at best. Then again, I was only on the second question.

“Because I could sense you were a healer too. We’re, in theory, all supposed to be able to do it, but some of us don’t have enough healer blood running through their veins. Okay, scratch that. Not some of us, most of us. I’m one of the rare few whom is at least two thirds healer.” Naithyn said, not as sure about this answer as the last one. I seriously doubted he got asked that question a lot, so it was understandable.

I nodded. “Numbers three and four: where am I, and how did I get here?” I would’ve asked what fraction of me was healer, but I honestly didn’t care at the moment. And besides, how would Naithyn know anyway? He wouldn’t, that’s how. Unless he took a blood test while I was passed out earlier, but I doubted it. If he did I would’ve had a Band-Aid somewhere, and I didn’t.

“You are currently in a place called ‘the clinic’, for lack of creativity on everyone who lives here’s part. And you got here by my late reinforcements carrying you.” Naithyn said as he pushed through the front doors. “Voilà! You’re free now.” He stared into the night. “Do you want me to drive you? It’ll be much faster than walking, plus you can ask me the rest of your questions. You’ll have to give me directions though.”

I thought about it, and eventually nodded. “Okay. Number five: who lives in the clinic?” I asked, picking up where I left off. I wanted to make sure I got answers for at least half of my questions before I got home.

“Wow. You don’t waste any time do you? Well, anyway the people who live in the clinic are all healers. None of them full, but healers all the same. The car’s this way by the way.” Naithyn said, going in the opposite direction I was. I could feel the heat rise from my neck until it consumed my face. Why had I thought the car was parked along the sidewalk? I’d never seen it before, so why would I think I knew where it was? Stupid, stupid, stupid. I mentally chastised myself.

Naithyn opened the passenger side door of his car. I had no idea what type it was. Toyota? Honda? Ford? Subaru? I wasn’t sure. As I ducked through the door, I took my first look at the clinic. I gasped when I found a very, very large hotel instead. “The clinic’s a hotel?” I asked, amazed beyond words.

“Was. The richest of us put their heads together and bought it. Yes. Some of us are rich. We don’t all work at minimum-wage you know.” Naithyn said, sliding into the car.

“I wasn’t going to ask that.” I said, closing my door. I faked irritation, because in truth, I was. “Whatever.” I mumbled. “Now, where was I? Oh yeah. Number six: where’s Aedrean? Isn’t he coming with us?”

“We decided he would stay at the clinic since he has nowhere else to go.” Naithyn said as he started the engine. He gave me a quick glance and noticed the worried look I had for some reason, before we were off. “Don’t worry. The worst that could happen is everyone pestering him about his life. Completely harmless. We’re all good people here, Feight.” He reassured me.

“I believe you.” I cleared my throat, for my thought were taking an unsafe turn to the romantic side. “Moving on. Number seven: why did you take me to the clinic in the first place? Why not just take me home?” I asked. I was torn between wishing I’d woken up in my own bed, and glad I didn’t. “Oh, and turn left here.”

“Many reasons.” Naithyn said as he turned. “We didn’t know where you live, we didn’t know how to explain bringing you home unconscious, but mostly it was because you to know we exist without you needing to find out yourself.” He stared at the road in front of him. “Where do I turn here?”

“No turn. Number eight: why didn’t I see anyone there?” Naithyn kept saying there was more than just him, but in the time I was at the clinic, I only ever saw him healer-wise. It was a big hotel and you only saw a little bit of it. They could’ve all been on the top floor or something. I reminded myself.

“Because they all locked themselves in their rooms, doing whatever they do.” Naithyn glanced at me briefly, but not briefly enough.

“Look out!” I yelled as someone darted across the road right in front of us. Naithyn immediately hit the brakes, and we managed to not hit the man. We sat there for a moment, our hearts beating rapidly, our breathing uneven, and our bodies tense. “What the fuzz could’ve possibly gone through that guy’s mind to make him do that?” I asked, still very much afraid.

“Did you catch any of his features? Clothes, skin tones, anything?” Naithyn asked instead of answering my question.

“How is that what’s going through your head right now? We nearly hit someone, and all you can think about is what he looked like? You know what? I can walk from here.” I said, preparing to open the car door and leave. I wasn’t in the mood to be in a car with a person who didn’t care that they nearly ran a person over.

“Feight, wait. At least let me explain my reasoning before you put yourself in potential danger. Please.” Naithyn practically begged, staring at me intently. I had half a mind to just up and leave anyway, but decided not to in the end.

“Explain.” I said, relaxing into my seat. This should be good. I thought sarcastically.

Naithyn sighed in relief, like he wasn’t sure if I would’ve stayed or not. “I wanted to know what he looked like because he could’ve been Jaims. And that’s only one of the reasons I wanted you to stay in the car for. The other reason is that guy looked like he was running from something, or someone, and right now, the car is the safest places to be.” He gave me sincere look. “Are you still going to walk home?” he asked. He didn’t say it out loud, but I knew the meaning. If I wanted to go, he wouldn’t stop me.

I thought about it and decided I wasn’t interested in facing potential danger. I’d had enough of that for today. And for the rest of my life if I had anything to do with it. “No.” I said out loud. “I’ll stay. But only because I don’t feel like walking.” I added. As much as I was afraid, I didn’t want to let him know about it. I was only occasionally that girl, and this was strangely the wrong occasion.

Naithyn didn’t react. Only faced the road again and started to drive. “So,” he started to break the silence. “Any number nine?” he seemed tense as he asked. Almost like he expected another outburst from me.

I said nothing, only stared out at the moving scenery leading to my house.

“So that’s a no then.” He asked, sounding the teensiest bit relieved. Apparently, he wasn’t in any mood to answer as I was to ask. “What number is your house?” he asked as we pulled into my neighborhood.

“Sixteen thirty-two,” Was all I said in response. I was completely unable to give him the turns that would make this go over faster. My mind was churning too much. Each thought racing the others to the point where it was a mess. All because of one tiny little detail I noticed. So small and unimportant that it shouldn’t have stuck in my mind. But it did, and now I had to deal with it. I noticed a flash of white.

Chapter Five

“Honey! We were so worried! Where were you?” Mom asks, sounding angry and worried all at the same time. Something only she can pull off. Naithyn wasn’t with us. We’d decided it would be best if I went alone.

“Relax, Mom. I was just hanging with some of my friends and lost track of time.” I said, giving her my special look of innocence she always falls for. Of course I’m never innocent when I use that face and usually only reserve it for food stealing, or lying about not having homework, but I figure it would work in this situation too. Except, whenever I did use the face I had a nice, believable lie to go with it. Oh well. Guess I’d just have to roll with it.

“Really?” Mom gave me a skeptical look. “You lost track of time? I thought I bought you a watch. And don’t forget your phone. Where’s that?” Mom evaluated me carefully, like she could see a hidden agent of time on my body. But of course she couldn’t, for I, again, had forgotten to bring one. One being my phone because my watch had run out of batteries, so bringing it would’ve been pointless.

“My watch is out of batteries.” I said, leaving out my phone. After having it for a year, I still forgot to bring it. I couldn’t help it. It wasn’t a part of my daily routines, and those were the only things I could manage to remember to do. Besides, my phone was so boring it wasn’t worth taking anywhere. I wasn’t interested in dead weights in my pockets.

“Again?” Mom asked irritably. That had to have been my third watch this year alone. All deciding to stop working after week one. Yup. I failed at being a watch owner.

“It’s not my fault watches hate me with a burning passion.” I said defensively. But who was I kidding? Even if watches decided love me with a burning passion, I’d still not bring it. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I would forget it.

“And your phone?” Mom asked, giving me a motherly glare. She stood there and waited for me to speak because I wasn’t doing it.

I looked at my toes. “I forgot it.” I mumbled. I felt ashamed. You’d think that having a phone for a year, you’d remember to bring it places. But no. Not me. I just had to forget it every single time. I’m surprised Mom hasn’t taken it away from me by now. I never even used it for Pete’s sake! Well, unless you count the occasional game, but I don’t count that.

“You forgot it? Again? Really, Feight, the whole reason I got you that phone was so you could take it anywhere and use it when you need it?” Mom said. She wasn’t so angry now, but she was still angry. But it was only half of what it used to be

“I know, Mom. I’ll try to remember it next time. Don’t be too mad if I forget it again though.” I said quietly. I kicked the carpet, slightly bored. And because I was standing still and my body said, ‘no! You must move in some visible way other than the rise and fall of your chest.’

“If you forget that phone again, I swear I’ll glue it to your hand.” By now Mom wasn’t angry at all. Instead she was slightly irritated.

“Mom, are you so mad you can’t be around me at the moment?” I asked cautiously. I didn’t want to rekindle the anger. Stupid reason, though, because I knew it wouldn’t. I was just afraid she would say yes. Which at this point was equally unlikely. So basically, it was said cautiously for no good reason other than because I was feeling like a child again. Which didn’t happen too often anymore since I became sixteen last year.

Mom sighed, and in that sigh went out all the anger and irritation she was previously feeling. “No, Feight. I don’t feel that way. You just really scared me. Don’t ever do that again.” She said a little desperately.

“I won’t.” I partially lied. The truth was, the best I could do, with all the crazy things happening, was try. I hated the fact that I couldn’t not ever scare her again. With a burning passion even. I hated the fact that my life had turned from sane to insane over the course of a day. I hated the fact that I could never claim normalcy and believe it myself. I hated the fact that the only thing I could do about it was deal with it and just go with the flow. I couldn’t change it, though, so I’d better just act to my level of maturity (which is high F.Y.I.) because I didn’t know to act my age.

~O~o~O~

“Hey, Evere.” I said while lying in my bed. It had been a bit since my chat with Mom, and I was now ‘going to bed’. In reality, though, I was chatting with Evere until we felt like going to bed. Which was a pretty easy thing to do since we shared a room, not having to worry about sneaking from one room to the next and back again and all.

“What?” Evere asks from the top bunk. She sounded slightly tired, but not tired enough to tell me to be quiet.

“Ya wanna know what I think is weird?” I ask, baiting her. It has always been my thing to bait people. It makes their curiosity grow so that they’ll actually want to hear. Just like it’s always been my thing to actually have people guess when I say ‘guess what’.

“What?” Evere asks again. I hear a very soft clicking noise and assume she’s still texting. Evere, unlike me, never forgets her phone.

“From an early age parents teach their kids not to talk to strangers, but when they go off to school, they tell their kids to go make friends, which requires talking to strangers. I think they should change it to don’t talk to adult strangers.” I said, telling my sister what I had over-thought since Mom had said I was free to go. One of the many problems with me was I couldn’t just accept anything. I had to over-think it. Even if I didn’t want to. My mind just wanders.

“Ha-ha-ha, yes.” Evere says, immediately agreeing with me. And of course she would. Parents shouldn’t be telling kids not to talk to strangers, then when they’re going to school without them, tell their kids to talk to strangers. It was just, plainly and simply, wrong. Not to mention how confusing it could get. Just an error in society I guess. An error in society I have decided to fix. Eventually.

After that there was silence. I was over-thinking something so I had something to say, and Evere was texting. Most likely with a million people at once. It always amazed me how she could text with so many people at once and still had time to talk to me. It made me happy that she cared about me as much as the people she texted with.

Eventually I got so bored I turned to my laptop, opened it, and played ‘the twelve’, twelve of our favorite songs which consisted of Bad Day, Over My Head (Cable Car), Nothing Left To Lose, Almost Lover [radio edit], Best Days, Never Alone, Beautiful Disaster, Dreaming With A Broken Heart, Is It Any Wonder, Chasing Cars, So Close, and You’re Beautiful (not in that order of course).

“Your fingertips across my skin, the palm trees swayin’ in the wind.” We sang when Almost Lover came on. We sounded average. It could’ve been better, but it wasn’t go crawl in a hole and die horrible. We were the best during the chorus. “Well I never wanna see you unhappy. I thought you’d want the same for me. Goodbye my almost lover. Goodbye my hopeless dream. I’m trying not to think about you. Can’t you just let me be? So long my luckless romance. My back is turned on you. Shoulda known you would bring me heart ache. Almost lovers always do.” We giggled when we finished. This was the life. Being normal. Giggling with my sister.

We heard a knock on the door. “Girls, time for bed.” Dad called from the other side. “Turn off the music.”

“Okay, Dad.” I call back. But of course I don’t turn off the music. I just turn it down low enough that he won’t hear it across the hall. “Whelp, there goes our sing along session. Guess you’ll just have to let the music lull you to sleep.” I said playfully, knowing neither of us were going to do that. Mostly because we couldn’t sleep unless it was silent.

“Yeah right.” Evere says. “I can’t sleep to music.” Like I expect her to. I smile to myself. “So where were you today, Feight?” she asks unexpectedly.

“Why?” I ask casually. “Jealous I didn’t take you? Believe me, feel lucky you weren’t there.” I shouldn’t have said the last part. It would only make her ask unanswerable questions. I wasn’t ready to drag the rest of my family into the mess now called my life. Ignorance is bliss. Especially concerning the crazy things that had turned my life upside down as of today

“Why should I feel lucky? Sounds like something interesting happened. Bad interesting.” Evere said, asking the question I knew she would ask. I still wasn’t ready for it though.

I thought about the answer for a moment. What to say, what to say? It couldn’t gave too much away, just enough that Evere won’t want to join. So a bad part. But which one? I felt eyes on me and searched around the room and found nothing. When the feeling became very uncomfortable, like spiders on your head uncomfortable, I looked out the window. Sure enough I spotted pitch black eyes just before the ducked under the window. “I think I have a stalker.” I said. It was a lie. I didn’t think I had a stalker, I knew I had one. And his name was Jaims. I wasn’t stupid. I knew when I saw that lust in his eyes earlier that day I would never be truly alone again.

“Really?” Evere asked, sounding worried. “Want me to call the police?” she asked. I could hear her preparing for it.

“Nah.” I said indifferently. “Still got that knife from a couple years ago.” The story behind the knife, plainly and simply, is Evere and I were taking a walk in the woods. For some reason we got worried about cannibals. Evere sees a knife on the ground. She picks it up and hands it to me. Had the knife ever since. End of story. Plus I’m pretty sure I could convince Aedrean to teach me how to use it. Flawless plan. Hopefully.

“Are you sure?” Evere asks, doubting my plan. I didn’t blame her. I would doubt my plan too if I were her. Who wouldn’t? Well, maybe not Aedrean since he doesn’t know what goes on in modern society yet. Though I had no doubt he would understand it very soon.

“Yup. I got this all under control.” I said, feigning a high level of confidence I didn’t actually have. My confidence, in reality, was only half of what I faked. “I made a new friend today, okay two, who can teach me how to actually use the knife, so I’ll be fine.” I snuggled into my blanket, finally feeling the effects of the fan blowing on high. Yes, I was the only one who could feel cold in the summer, but that was okay. Being hot in the summer required me to wear shorts and shirts with short sleeves which I hated.

“Really?” Evere asks for the second time during the conversation. “Who are they? Do I know them? Are they gang members?”

“You know that one guy who works at McDonalds? And no. They are not gang members.” I wanted to bash my head against a wall for asking the question. Could I be any vaguer? The answer, of course, was no. I could think of nothing that I could say that could be vaguer than what I just said.

“Which guy who works at McDonalds? There are a lot of them, Feight.” Evere said. I was now balancing on the wire that was her patience. I was at least a hundred thousand feet off the ground. Not a good position to be in. I was afraid of heights.

“The flirt-y one?” I asked. Still too vague. Looks like I still fail at describing people to my sister. Sigh. Okay, I’m over it now.

“No, I don’t know any flirt-y guys that work at McDonalds.” Evere said. I could barely hear the irritation in her voice, but it was still there.

“Oh, well, his name’s Johnethin. And the other guy is . . . new here. His name’s Aedrean.” I wasn’t sure how much I could give away about Aedrean and Naithyn, so I just told her the small details of the truth. I had no real reason to lie. And she was my sister. I wasn’t sure I could lie to her even if I wanted to.

“So they’re both guys?” Evere asked, sounding interested. I didn’t meet guys very easily. For some reason they just never wanted to talk to me. Which was a good thing at times, and a bad at others. Proof: I’d only ever had three boyfriends. Sad, I know. I’ve come to terms with it though. Sometimes.

“Yup.” I said, going back to being casual. The topic of boys was much easier to talk about than the topic of stalkers with superpowers, but Evere didn’t need to know he had superpowers and I wasn’t about to tell her. That would only make matters worse. And if matters are bad now concerning Jaims, then bad plus worst equals I don’t even know. Probably a word in the English dictionary that hasn’t even been invented yet.

“How’d you guys meet?” asked Evere. I could hear the tell-tale clicking of her texting. I was surprised her friends weren’t asleep yet.

“Well, Johnethin flirted with me at McDonalds while I was ordering my food, and Aedrean asked me directions on . . . how to get out of the forest. He was lost, you see.” I almost said ‘on where he was’ when I told Evere how Aedrean and I met, but caught myself just in time. The result, though, was my stomach clenching. How could you lie to my sister? I screamed. Yes, how indeed. I felt like a traitor. I could only hope Evere could forgive me if she ever found out.

“Are either of them cute?” she asked, buying my lie. Which in turn, made me feel worse. If only I was a bad liar. Yeah, funny thing to wish for, I know. Man, sometimes I was just too . . . I would say nice, but it doesn’t seem like it would fit properly with the situation. Guilty is the word that fits, I think.

“I’m going to bed now.” I said as I closed my laptop, immediately cutting the music off. “Good night.” I said before she could say anything. I covered one of my ears with my pillow, and the other with my hand. I was not willing to discuss the hotness of the guys. I really didn’t feel like blushing at the moment. Maybe tomorrow. Or never.

Silence from the top bunk. “Good night.” Evere said finally in return. I sighed in relief. Now all I’d have to do is avoid the topic for the rest of my life. I could only hope it wouldn’t be too hard, but it probably would be knowing Evere.

About an hour later Evere is asleep, and I’m still tossing and turning. The reason? A slightly uncomfortable feeling that had appeared out of thin air. Well, I guess it didn’t just appear out of thin air. It came on gradually, but still. I hated it. With every fiber of my being if you wanted to be exact. And the worst part? It was still coming on gradually. After another hour of it, I finally took the hint and looked outside. Big surprise, Jaims was the cause of my uncomfortableness. Oh wait, no it wasn’t.

A silent war quickly comes to be. We stared at each other for a couple of minutes. Him with a ghost of a smirk on his face, and I with my fear levels quickly rising. Eventually Jaims full on grins and starts to inch the window open slowly. I panicked and pulled the knife from inside my pillowcase. He let go of the window, but doesn’t stop smiling. I point the knife at him. He raises his hands in surrender, but I could tell he wasn’t actually surrendering. People who surrender don’t grin wider than they did before. And then suddenly, he was gone. And only after he was gone did it occur to me that that window was on the second floor, and there was no ledge to perch on.

I wanted to call Aedrean, but he didn’t have a phone. I wanted to call Naithyn, but I didn’t know his number. So I settled for calling McDonalds. I could only hope it would still by now. ‘By now’ being eleven twenty-three.

“Hello?” asked a guy on the other end. I sighed in relief. I can now make contact.

“Yeah, I’m calling to get the number of one of your employees.” I said politely, keeping the panic at bay. Hopefully.

“Which one?” the guy asked on the other end. Good job, Feight. Know how not to be vague? I threw at myself spitefully. Nope. Wasn’t expecting a reply, but whatever.

“Johnethin.” I said instantly. I could only hope the guy would hurry. I had a feeling Jaims would be back again tonight, and my knife was dull.

“What? He didn’t give it to you himself?” snickers the guy on the other end. I wanted to knee him in the you-know-where. Could he not just get the number so I could hang up?

“Can you please just give me the number? It’s kind of an emergency.” I said. Irritation was stitched into my voice, along with a hint of anger. Couldn’t this guy preform the simple task of getting a simple phone number? Apparently not.

“Okay, okay. I’ll get the stupid number. Who are you anyway?” I could hear the guy move, but he was moving much too slow for comfort. I shifted on my bed, silently begging the guy to hurry.

“Feight, and yes. I am the girl who found the body.” I didn’t know why, but I had a feeling that telling him that last part would help me in some way. “Please hurry. Like I said, I’m having an emergency.”

“Wow. Cool. Why do you so desperately need to talk to Johnethin? I don’t think he can handle female emergencies.” I heard the guy as he quickened his steps. I sighed in relief. Maybe this guy would be helpful after all. But then again, maybe not. “But I might be able to help.” I could hear the guy’s smile over the phone.

I rolled my eyes. I did not need this. “Okay, here’s the thing--”

“Jackob.”

“—Jackob, Johnethin’s not the one who’s going to help me. The only reason I’m calling him is because the guy I need help from and Johnethin are currently living in the same residence. So obviously I don’t need your help. Thanks for offering, but no thanks. Now can you please give me the number?” I feigned politeness. Or attempted at it.

“Wow. Harsh.” Jackob said. I was about to yell at him over the phone to hurry up, but he quickly gave me the information I wanted. “The number is 651-562-8902.”

“Thank you.” I said just as I finished writing it down. I then hung up on him before he had a chance to say anything else. I didn’t have time for any of this. Immediately after hanging up I began to type in Naithyn’s number, muttering it quietly to myself. “651-562-8902.” There was soon a quiet ringing. “Come on. Come on. Pick up. Pick up.” I said after about thirty seconds of waiting.

“Hello?” a tired Naithyn said one minute later. I felt no guilt that I had woken him up. None in the least. “Who is this?”

“Feight. I need to talk to Aedrean, Naithyn. Like now.” I said, my voice betraying the panic I was starting to feel. What Jaims came back before I had a chance to talk to Aedrean? I wasn’t sure how well I could hold my own with a dull knife. Oh yeah. And don’t forget he can manipulate my mind. Nope. I didn’t stand a chance without help.

“You do realize it’s eleven thirty-one right? The middle of the night? Don’t you think it would be better to talk to Aedrean in the morning when he’s actually awake? I do.” Naithyn sounded grumpy. Obviously, somehow, someway he missed the panic in my voice, but I forgave him because he was half asleep. But only if he let me talk to Aedrean. If not, all bets were off.

“Yes, I do realize that, but I’m having a call 911 emergency.” I said, making sure the panic in my voice was very clear and crisp. I had a feeling Jaims would only lend me so much time to call for help before he came back. And that time could end any second now.

“I just have a feeling they won’t be able to help.” I said, hiding the real reason. It was just an instinct I had that wasn’t subtle enough to ignore. I wasn’t sure I would ignore it even if I could though. “Please, Naithyn. I got Jaims to go away, but I think he’ll be back. I need help.” I sounded defeated. I could tell. Like I wasn’t expecting help to come. Or at least to try to come. I could be dead or kidnapped before they came.

“Wait. Hold on. Jaims is there? I’ll go wake Aedrean up and we’ll be there in five minutes. I’m sorry to say this, but don’t do anything. He’ll find you if you hide and make you drop your weapon if you try to defend yourself.” Naithyn asked, sounding much more awake than before. Finally. He understood. Now for Aedrean to get here in time.

“So basically, become a sitting duck? That makes me feel so safe. Can’t I least pretend I stand a chance? You know what? I will. I’m going to forget what you just said and pretend that a knife will be helpful.” I said, not putting my knife away. There was no way I was going to look like a sitting duck. I may be one, but I wasn’t going to look like one. That wouldn’t help me be brave. I wasn’t brave with it, but whatever. Mental shrug.

“Suit yourself, but it won’t help.” I heard him open a door which I assumed was Aedrean’s and heard a groan as he was shaken awake. I heard him ask sleepily what was going on and didn’t hear Naithyn’s response. “Still wanna talk to Aedrean?” he asked me.

I nodded, forgetting he couldn’t see it. “Yes.” I said aloud. The whole reason I got Naithyn’s number, after all, was to talk to Aedrean. I wasn’t going to back out. For some reason I knew hearing Aedrean’s voice would help me calm down and actually be brave.

“Feight?” Aedrean asked and I instantly relaxed. It was strange, okay very weird, but it helped. Anything that helped was welcome at the moment.

“I need help.” I said weakly. Because I did. And that was the moment I started to daydream, because I was the only one who could daydream in times of panic. I daydreamed of Aedrean. In that daydream he fought off Jaims and then swept me up into his arms and carried m to safety, kissing me lightly on the forehead along the way. I blushed furiously. Where had that come from? I refused to admit to myself I liked it.

“I know. Naithyn told me. I’ll be there soon. Do you want me to keep talking to you?” he asked gently, realizing how afraid I was. I was glad he couldn’t see my blush. I did not want him to ask about it. Mostly because I might’ve actually told him. The thought deepened my blush.

“Yes.” I said. I needed a distraction or else I would forget help was on the way and become so crazy with fear and panic that I would attack anything that dared come near. Very bad considering I had a knife. “Aren’t you going to ask how I got in the tiny box you’re holding?” I offered weakly.

“Nope. If you were in this tiny box I wouldn’t be coming to you to help. I’d already be there.” I could tell he was trying to make me forget that I had a stalker whom, without a doubt, would be back very soon now.

“I wish I was. It would be safer in there than out here.” I said, also trying to lighten the mood. But there was really no point.

“I don’t. I didn’t come here to hear your voice.” I instantly tensed. Gripping the knife so tightly my knuckles turned white. Somehow I didn’t hear when Jaims opened the window and entered my room. Bombs exploded in my chest. “Hello, my white little lily. Though not so white anymore. Did you miss me?” he smirked at me which made my skin crawl. I dropped the phone. “Come now, I’m not going to hurt you.” He soothed, but it didn’t help because there was an impending but-if-you-decide-to-fight-against-me-I-will.

Chapter Six

“St-stay away f-from me.” I stammered. Aedrean would be too late. He wouldn’t get here in time. I was toast. I could only hope I would randomly die before Jaims laid a hand on me. Then I realized I had a knife. I wasn’t into the idea of suicide, but it would’ve been better than what Jaims had in store for me. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew suicide would still be better. “Or I’ll k-kill my-myself.” I added. I positioned the knife over my heart.

Jaims cocked his head. His smirk widened to a grin. “Do you really think killing yourself will stop me? I’ll just bring you back. You belong to me, and I won’t let you slip from my fingers. There is nothing you can do to stop me.” I could see him try to restrain a laugh. It was then that I knew how horribly insane he really was.

“B-but you’re n-not a healer.” I pushed the knife very slightly deeper into my breast, confident he wouldn’t be able to bring me back and to show him I was serious. A small pain ignited where the knife lay, just barely not breaking skin.

“Actually I am.” Jaims said dryly. “And even if I wasn’t this house is just full of healers. No humans living here.” He said with delight. “She being the closest.” He pointed to Evere whom had slept peacefully throughout this whole ordeal, which amazed me. Actually, if I thought about it, everyone was still sound asleep. How was that? We were definitely not very quiet.

“What’s the matter with them? They should all be awake.” I whispered nervously. I had a strong feeling it was because of Jaims. And if he could make them fall asleep, what was stopping him from doing the same to me?

“Now where are those boys, Naithyn and Aedrean I believe? They promised five minutes correct? Well I believe it’s been six.” Jaims said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. His words confused me. Why did he care if Naithyn and Aedrean were here? Wouldn’t it be easier for him to just take me before they got here?

“Why do you care?” I asked, forgetting my fear. The confusion had overrun it. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just take me now?”

Jaims stared at me, and grinned from ear to ear. It made me feel the pressing need to escape. “I want him to know he’s lost.” He licked his lips. “Especially now because he won’t know what he’s lost until it’s gone forever.”

“Who he? I don’t understand.” I said, trying to keep him talking. It was more to dull the fear than to stall until help came. Besides, Jaims was waiting for my help to come, so there really was no point to stall. We were going to wait whether I wanted to or not. There would be no getting it over with quickly. I couldn’t tell if it was a gift or a curse.

Jaims gave me an exasperated look, but I could see the mischievous look that held residence in his eyes. “Now why would I tell you that when it would be so much more interesting if I let you find out yourself, hmm? I want to see the look on your face when you do and it just won’t be the same if I tell you.” A moment passed and he smirked. “Hello, Johnethin and Aedrean. You’re late. What took you so long? I was starting to assume that you weren’t coming. It would’ve been a shame if you weren’t here to witness the taking of my little lily here.” He gestured to me as my head swiveled in the direction of the door. Sure enough, there stood Naithyn and Aedrean. Their faces stony.

“I’m not your ‘little lily’.” I said angrily. I belonged to no one. Especially not Jaims. Definitely not Jaims. I’d rather climb Mt. Everest and fall the whole way down. It was just the way of life. Or my life at least. “Where the heck did you get ‘lily’ out of me anyway?”

“I’m giving you special hints, so stop asking stupid questions. I’m not going to tell you outright.” Jaims glared at me and I shivered in fear. I immediately jumped to the conclusion he was messing with my mind. That glare wasn’t even real, and I was cowering under it? Nuh-uh. I did my best to push the fear aside.

Naithyn was obviously confused, but I wasn’t sure about Aedrean. “Are you going to try to take her like you said, or are we just going to sit around and chat? Because if we’re going to chat I’d like to get comfortable. I’m getting impatient.” He said stoically. I tried not to smile. I knew enough of him from the visions to know that was just a mask he used in times where emotion would be dangerous.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to take her. I just wanted to make sure you remembered this moment. For when you finally solve this puzzle which I’m surprised you haven’t solved yet.” Jaims started to walk toward me. In the beginning I tensed, holding out the knife in self-defense, but then for some reason I relaxed and set the knife down. I wouldn’t need that. Why had I ever thought I would? When he scooped me up I snuggled into him. I couldn’t help it. It just felt so . . . right. Like I belonged there. “That’s right, Little Lily. This is where you belong. With me.” Jaims whispered in my ear.

“Do you really think giving me the illusion that I’m sinking is going to stop me?” Aedrean asked, taking a step toward Jaims and me. I snuggled deeper into my captor. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I liked where I was. Very much, actually. Aedrean narrowed his eyes. “Are you really such a coward?” I could tell he wasn’t just talking about Jaims putting an illusion on him.

“Yes. I am a coward. What gave you the idea I wasn’t? And of course I knew a simple illusion wouldn’t stop you. Where would be the fun in that?” Jaims said, pushing past Aedrean as he walked out the door. “Well, are we going to fight, or are we going to chat?” he said, stealing Aedrean’s words. It made me want to laugh.

“Fight.” Right after Aedrean said the word, I suddenly didn’t want to be anywhere near Jaims and kicked and struggled with all my might.

“Let me go!” I shouted. When kicking and struggling only brought a grin to Jaims’s face, I resorted to biting and scratching, but mostly scratching. I would’ve bitten him, but there was no easily accessible place to sink my teeth. “Let. Me. Go!” I said again. I seriously didn’t want to be where I was. Finally, I got to him, and he dropped me with a grunt. I landed with an oomph on the floor. It was painful, but better than being held.

“Happy?” Jaims said spitefully. The aching pain that filtered through my body intensified and sharpened. I gasped, the pain moving to places in my body that hadn’t hurt before now. I really needed to work up a block, an immunity. Else I wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

“Not quite.” Aedrean answered for me because I was unable to speak at the moment, gasping in pain and all. He attempted to punch Jaims in the face, but was blocked. Jaims smirked, but it was short lived because the first punch was only a distraction. The real attack came from lower, for Aedrean’s other fist was directed towards Jaims’s gut. And struck home. I could tell the punch wasn’t normal because soon Jaims was shivering violently. As soon as he broke contact, though, he was just fine. He glanced at me, calculating his next move. Making a final decision, he scooped me up and bolted. Going much faster than I thought possible. “Afraid of a little chill?” Aedrean asked in a mocking tone.

“Nope. Just taking what I came to get. Little Lily.” Jaims yelled as he ran. I didn’t understand what cold had to do with anything, but then again, I was in too much pain to care. By this point, all I wanted was for it to stop.

“Stop.” I whispered, desperate for the pain in my limbs to go away. I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t. I wasn’t strong enough. I thought I was strong and could take it, but I was wrong. I just wanted it to stop. I would do anything for it to stop. “Please stop the pain. Please.” I begged.

“Will you behave?” Jaims asked. We were still running, but now trees attempted pull me out of my captor’s strong grip. I smiled on the inside. Even the trees were trying to help me escape. They might be failing, but it was the thought that counted.

I thought about it for a split second before I made my final decision. “Yes. Yes, I’ll behave. Please. You have to make it stop. I can’t take it anymore. I can’t.” it was becoming difficult to say the words without screaming, and I knew if I screamed he would never make it stop. I needed him to make it stop.

Jaims squinted at me. “Promise you won’t try to break free.” I could see the ghost of a smile that adorned his face. He was enjoying this, but was trying not to show it. He wasn’t trying very hard, though.

I nodded my head vigorously which brought searing pain flooding there. “Yes.” I said. I noticed the tiny seed of doubt that resided in his eyes. It was probably fake, but I was in too much pain to care. I snuggled deeply into him to prove it. My actions made me sick, snuggling into the enemy was bad, but there was nothing I could do about it unless I planned on hosting pain for the rest of the trip. That wouldn’t happen. I wouldn’t be able to take it.

“Fine.” He said. The pain was instantly gone. I sighed in relief. I almost cried out in joy, but caught myself just in time. I wasn’t sure what Jaims would do if I made a sound, and wasn’t willing to find out. “But you owe me now.” he whispered. My breathe hitched. He could ask anything of me. And he could make me do it. That was so not fair. I probably wouldn’t have agreed if I’d known there was a catch. Then again, it really hurt.

“What do I owe you?” I asked carefully and quietly. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know though. This would be one of the times ignorance is bliss. But the question was already out. Sadly, I had no redo’s I could cash in. and even if I did, I wouldn’t be spending them on this moment. I didn’t know which one I would spend it, but spending it on this moment wouldn’t help me be away from Jaims.

“I don’t know. I’ll let you know when I do.” Jaims gave me an impish grin, which implied he did know what he wanted. He just wanted to torture me by having me imagine all the possible, horrible things he could ask me to do. There were a lot.

“Jaims, you coward, come back here. I wasn’t finished yet.” I craned my head slightly to see Aedrean chasing us at top speed, in other words, he was running faster than Jaims, holding a dagger in his hand. I had no idea where he could’ve possibly have gotten it, but I really, really didn’t care. As long as he didn’t use it to kill me I was okay with daggers.

“What do you think, Little Lily?” Jaims whispered in my ear. I tried not to notice how close together we were. Or how he called me ‘Little Lily’ again. I wouldn’t have cared if anybody else called me that, but obviously Jaims wasn’t anybody else. “Shall I seriously injure him, or inflict mass amounts of pain?”

I didn’t answer, not knowing what I should say. Mostly, though, I wanted to say neither, but I seriously doubted Jaims would let that stand.

“Can’t choose? Well then, I guess I’ll do both. It’ll be more interesting that way.” Jaims said, giving me an evil grin. And not goofy evil. Full on evil. It made me want to scream and run. He made me want to scream and run. I refrained from it though. Afraid of the consequences of struggle. “Stay put. Unless you’re willing to face the consequences?” Jaims said, setting me down so he could fight. “Because I assure you, they won’t even be remotely pleasant.” Another evil smile.

“I’ll stay.” I whispered, deathly afraid. And why shouldn’t I have been. If Jaims succeeded in taking me, then I had no doubt life would be even more unpleasant than before. Okay, it wouldn’t be unpleasant. It would be a million times worse. I got as close to the tree he laid me against as I could, practically hugging it.

“Good girl.” Jaims said, patting my head. I had to fight with all my being not to shrink away from him. “I’m going to take care of the threat. I’ll be right back. Don’t worry.” Oh, I wasn’t going to worry. I’d rather be attacked by a swarm of spiders while standing on the edge of a cliff and bleeding. So basically, I’d rather face all my fears combined than worry about my captor. I hoped I wasn’t wearing my feelings on my face. “Whelp, I’m off.” Jaims said, starting to walk away. He gave me one final glance. “And remember, stay put.” His tone was low and menacing, frightening me more. I nodded vigorously. I wasn’t going anywhere. I’d much rather watch the battle at a safe distance.

“Finally decided grace me with your presence in battle, Jaims? I’m honored.” Aedrean bowed, as if he actually were honored that Jaims was going to fight him. The only thing that ruined the sincerity was the obvious sarcasm and spitefulness dripping in his voice. I almost smiled, prideful, but didn’t I was paranoid that Jaims would know and punish me for it. Okay, yeah. My mind was being manipulated again, but I didn’t know what to do about it that wouldn’t result in disaster. At least it wasn’t pain.

“It is I, Aedrean, who should be honored. It’s not every day one gets to kill a prince. They’re such a rarity these days.” Jaims smirked, like he knew something Aedrean didn’t. “Especially since this will be the second time I’ve had the honor. Though last time was unfair. I do hate bows. They’re so dull.” I gasped. Jaims was the one killed Aedrean that final time?

“Yes. It was, wasn’t it?” Aedrean asked. If he was shocked about the revelation he didn’t show it. “Thanks for the chance to settle the score. It means a lot.” He placed his hand over his heart, again, mock sincerity, right where the arrow pierced all those years ago. An obvious sign he understood what Jaims meant.

“Not with that infinitesimal dagger.” Jaims said, pulling a broad sword from thin air. I got the impression he did it to impress me, so I gasped. I really wasn’t shocked, though. I was more along the lines of uninterested. I really just wanted to be rescued. And besides, I’d seen that trick in the visions when Aedrean and Daemeon were dueling, so it was nothing new and gasp worthy.

“Wasn’t planning on it.” I wasn’t sure what Aedrean did, but the dagger changed, lengthened, expanded, into another broad sword. I did my best not let my surprise. Unlike swords appearing from thin air, this actually was new and gasp worthy. It was really hard to hold the surprise in, though, so I let out a teeny-tiny squeak. I couldn’t help it. I hoped Jaims hadn’t heard it. I didn’t know what he would do and wasn’t too keen on finding out. “Do you like it? I made it myself. It’s just that daggers are easier to carry around than broad swords. And don’t forget their weight slows you down when being pursued. And, of course, it’s also handy in pursuing.”

Jaims said nothing, releasing his obvious irritation by lunging at Aedrean, nearly stabbing him in the neck. He blocked the attack with a simple flick of his wrist, looking slightly bored. Like he expected more from Jaims. Now it was his turn to attack. He lunged, aiming for the legs, but sadly Jaims managed to step back a millisecond before he lost a leg. I managed to hide my disappointment, using the fear as a sort of mask.

“Who trained you, because you suck at this. I’ve been dead for at least seven thousand years and I’m still better than you.” Aedrean said passively as he thoughtlessly blocked another one of Jaims’s lunges. Now they were simple: hit the target. Where doesn’t matter. It worked at times, but failed most. And even when they did work, they only made shallow cuts. Not in the least bit enough to slow Aedrean down even a tiny bit.

“Not all of us can be trained by the best swordsmen ever to live.” Jaims snarled, angry that he was losing and Aedrean had the upper hand. I thought, though, that he should be glad he wasn’t dying. He always seemed to dodge or block his foe’s attacks. It seemed that whatever education Jaims got on sword fighting didn’t include attacks that would be helpful in times like these. I silently thanked his educator.

“Really? I thought the government would give you a better education than this. It seems like they only knew how to block. Well, at least you’re good at something. Prolonging the inevitable, that is.” Aedrean sighed, as if in regret, but then suddenly attacked, aiming for Jaims’s fighting arm. He struck home.

Jaims cried out and immediately clutched his injured arm with his uninjured. It healed instantly to my dismay. He wasn’t lying about being a healer. That put Aedrean at a disadvantage. Jaims could heal himself when injured, but his opponent could not. My heart fell. It looked like I was going home with Jaims, and who knew what he would do to me. “Looks like the inevitable has become less inevitable. I could do this all day.” Jaims smiled, knowing he didn’t have to be a skilled fighter to even out the score.

Aedrean looked at him with a bored look in his eye. “Well then I guess it’s you surrender or I surrender, and I don’t plan on being the one to do it, so that leaves you.” He stood as if he expected Jaims to do as he said, but also if he would decide to attack instead.

“Ah, but you see, I’m not willing to give up my Little Lily just yet. I’d rather fight to the end. She’s mine, you see.” Jaims said as he attacked, still with no real aim. It made him look bad. I wanted to hide so I wouldn’t see the awfulness of it for another second. Right then, I couldn’t see how he would ever win.

“I don’t think Feight belongs to anyone but herself, so can she belong to you? It would be in your best interest to stop lusting after her.” I could hear the irritation in Aedrean’s voice. Like he was trying to teach an unteachable student.

“You don’t command me!” Jaims raged as he went in for another hit. It dug deep into Aedrean’s side. I screamed for him. No! Jaims could only miss, how could this happen? Jaims laughed hysterically. “I’ve won. And now for my prize.” He walked over to me with a greedy look in his eyes that terrified me. This was it. I was doomed. But before he could reach me he was tackled to the ground by the same white figure Naithyn had nearly run over hours prior. I took advantage of the moment to go help Aedrean.

“Are you okay?” I asked when I was near enough. I scolded myself. Of course he wasn’t okay! He just got stabbed! Aedrean groaned. “Here, let me help.” I tried not to let the dizziness overtake me as I put my hand over the bloody wound. It was impossible. Wound, heal faster. I’m about to pass out from all that . . . let’s just say red. I mentally begged. Finally, finally it healed.

“Feight? What’s the matter?” Aedrean asked, noticing my dizziness. I stared at my hands, unable to look away. They were covered in crimson blood up to my wrists. I started to sway. “Feight, what’s wrong?” Aedrean asked worriedly, sitting up to hold me so I wouldn’t fall.

“Blood. Crimson. Bad. Tired.” I said dazedly, unable to form a complete thought. The only thing that ran through my head at that moment was ‘bad’ being repeated over and over and over again. I started to feel nauseous. This was so bad. My hands were covered in blood. Aedrean was covered in blood. Blood, blood everywhere. I wanted it all to go away.

“Feight, look at my face. Don’t look at your hands or anywhere else. Look at my face and only my face.” Aedrean said it so seriously, I turned to face him. The movement of my face did not help my tunnel vision. “I want you to answer some questions. Can you do that?” I nodded. The answers wouldn’t be a complete thought, but that would be okay. And he said it so kindly how could I even think about saying no? “Okay. We’re going to start off with something easy. Where are we?”

“Forest.” I whispered. It was all I could manage.

“Good.” Aedrean congratulated me. “What do you like to do in your spare time?” he asked it like he really wanted to know, so I told him.

“Read. Write.” I said, still unable to form a complete thought. I wished I could. I wanted to have an actual conversation about books. I remembered Aedrean used to own a lot of books, so he would understand my love for them. And I wanted him to sing me a lullaby. I knew he could. I would feel so much better if he did. “Lullaby.” I mumbled shyly, hoping he understood my request. Hoping he would enact it.

Aedrean nodded. “Okay, but don’t let your mind wander to dangerous places, understand?” it was a fair trade. I would listen and try not to over-think, and Aedrean would give me my lullaby. I was with it.

I nodded slightly. “Okay.” I mumbled. I did my best to hold my own weight, but it was quickly becoming obvious that wasn’t going to happen. Aedrean pulled me against him so he could support me for me. My heart fluttered. I didn’t understand. I’d just met him and already my heart fluttered for him. And that was saying something. My heart didn’t flutter, it exploded. But here it was. Fluttering. My heart had lost its marbles for sure. Not a good sign for me.

Aedrean started to hum. A sweet song. I liked it. But I still had to force myself to get lost in it. I had to pretend that the reason my hands were wet was because they were sweaty. Not a very good lie, so I didn’t dwell on it. I would only made things worse for me if I kept following that trail of thought. I didn’t want to pass out for the second time that day. That would be irritating. I had never in my life, or that I remember at least, passed out. And now that I have, I find it’s not a habit I want to encourage. Not at all.

As the song went on, I found myself drifting. It was the perfect song to lull me to sleep. No matter how distressed I’d been minutes earlier. I felt myself relax and lean more on Aedrean. I wanted to blush. We were very close. I attempted to keep my blood out of my face, but was unsure of success. I was pretty sure I did it. Though, the slight change in key, as if Aedrean was trying not to laugh told me otherwise. My blush intensified. Man, I was way too shy for these kinds of things. “Where’s Naithyn?” I asked, doing my best to take my mind off my embarrassment. Partial success.

“Shh.” Aedrean said instead of answering my question. “Try to sleep. I need to take care of things that I can’t do while you’re awake.” I knew what he was talking about. It needed no further explanation. Dwelling on that would be bad. Aedrean rested his head on mine and started to rock me slowly. Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man. I thought. You see, I was a very romantically neglected girl, so even this simple act had as much worth as one’s first kiss (I’m not guessing. Luckily I’ve had one of those. It was amazing).

“Okay.” I squeaked. I could tell it amused Aedrean. “Good night.” I said before searching deep inside myself for the peaceful oblivion called sleep. Once I found it, I didn’t wait for it to pull me in. instead I ‘jumped’. Wanting to escape before I blushed again. Yeah. That bad. I sighed in relief when sleep embraced me back.

Chapter Seven

I woke up the next morning in my bed. Last night’s battle more of a dream than anything, so I treated it as such. Besides, there wasn’t any proof. Yup. Just a bad dream. Nothing more. I didn’t want it to be anything more. Well, okay, the rocking was kind of nice, but still. Having Jaims in my room was not so nice. More like scary and horrifying. And healing Aedrean from his injury was . . . uh . . . pass out worthy, I guess.

Okay, new topic. Breakfast. I was starving. I got out of bed and made my way downstairs where the food rested. I was like a zombie. The only thing that spoiled it was that I wasn’t moaning food, must eat. Well not out loud at least. I was in my head. When I got downstairs I found myself not feeling like sentences that made sense. “Food have we what?” I asked my brothers when I came to the living room where they watched Power Rangers. Sigh. Yes, they still watched Power Rangers.

“What?” Jac asked while smiling at me. Don’t get confused, he had no idea what I was talking about. He just always smiled at me. Totally got him around my finger. I bet you I’m his secret hero. Or only secret to me. I had no idea obviously, but I also didn’t care. All I cared about was food at the moment. After all, I didn’t eat anything yesterday.

“Food.” I mimicked putting something in my mouth and chewing. “What.” I had nothing to mimic for that, so I just stood there. Waiting for an answer that would tell me what I wanted to know. There was a fifty-fifty chance I would get it. I betted the usual million dollars to myself in favor of . . . hmm . . . not getting it. Just a hunch. Nothing too random, though still very chance filled.

“What?” Jac asked. Yes! Thank you hunches! Now I owed myself a million dollars. Which could count as a good thing or a bad thing. Eh, we’ll say it’s good. I get a million dollars! We don’t need to dwell on the fact that I also now owe a million dollars.

I sighed. It looked like I’d have physically go look and see what the potential breakfast for today was. I took a step toward the pantry and spotted the bread on the fridge. Ooh, yummy bread. You know what, I’ll just skip the searching of a full meal and just eat all the bread. Mm, yeah. That is the best plan I’ve made up since I woke up this morning. Okay never mind. Coming down to get food was my best plan. Eating bread was just a branch of my original plan. “Don’t tell.” I said to the boys as I pulled the bread down. All full too. Bonus!

Tyhe glanced at me. “Okay.” He said happily before he turned his attention back to the TV. Another sibling wrapped around my finger. Sadly, if I got caught, he wasn’t so wrapped around my finger that he would take the blame for me. Sigh. One second later: over it.

“Bye, bye.” I said as I bounded up the stairs, hurrying past my parents’ room. This was me, breaking a rule. Really easy. Not a very enforced rule really. Mental shrug. Good for me, ‘bad’ for Mom and Dad. And to be honest, I don’t think Mom actually cares. Really Dad’s the one who thinks it’s bad. I don’t understand why. Does he not trust me with food out of the kitchen? That’s sad. I’ve lived with him all my life, a total of seventeen years, and my Dad still didn’t trust me with food. He’s making a great decision. I wouldn’t trust me with food either. Smiley face.

The room is empty when I get back. Once again, Evere somehow managed to leave the house between the time I woke up this morning and now. I didn’t know how she did it. I was supposed to notice everything to make up for never really being noticed. A skill I invested in way too much. Ah well. What’s done is done. Having do-overs would be really nice though. As long as you’re not an insane criminal, or as in this case I like to call them murderers, that is. That would be an apocalypse waiting to happen. Am I right, or am I right? Seriously. I mean it.

My cell rang just as I was about to eat. I groaned, but went to answer it. Bread, sweet bread would have to wait for the time being. Dramatic sigh. “Hello?” I asked as I put the phone to my ear. I longed for my bread through the whole six second process.

“I’m watching you, Little Lily.” Jaims said through the phone. I got the feeling it was supposed to be creepy, but it just made me annoyed. He could come bother me when Aedrean or Naithyn was around, but especially Aedrean. I didn’t think mind manipulation affected him much.

I walked over to the window and closed the blinds (hate ‘em), not bothering to see where the stalker was. “Thanks for the heads up.” I said and hung up. He could wait at least until I finished breakfast. But then he tried to mind manipulate me. I pushed him aside and grit my teeth. Huh, apparently I was more susceptible to manipulation when I’m super tired. Weird.

There was another ring. I groaned again and picked it up. “What?” I asked, knowing it was Jaims without looking at the caller ID.

“Is that anyway to talk to me?” he asked sounding angry. For a moment I was afraid, but I quickly composed myself. I could keep calm. I could do it. I just had to forget the fact that Jaims was a super stalker first. Not easy, but worth attempting. I had to be brave. Aedrean wasn’t anywhere near here, so I’d be alone on this one. I could already feel my fight or flight instincts angling heavily towards flight. “Ugh, whatever. That’s not what I’m calling for. Do you really think closing the blinds will stop me?”

I gulped. “What do you mean?” I asked nervously, my earlier bravery seeming foolish. I so wished I could run, but I was sure Jaims would most definitely catch me if I left the house. I felt trapped and afraid, remembering Jaims could open my window from the outside. Fudge. I needed body guards. And fifty of them. Right that moment.

“I mean, I can access you any time, and closing your blinds won’t keep me out. I’m tempted to come in, but I’ve decided to give you a free day.” Jaims said, and I sighed in relief at his words. I was safe! “But remember, it’s only for today. Oh, and if you decide to take a walk, that’s just an invitation to take you” my heart sunk to my feet. Looked like I was trapped in the house. I could live with that. I think. After everything that happened I wasn’t sure anymore.

“Uh, thank you? I’ll keep that in mind.” I squeaked. I didn’t know what else to do. What could I do? I didn’t want to take any chances. That included calling for help. It was like a bank robbery. I had to tread carefully on dangerous ground. One wrong step and chaos would make its grand entrance. I would rather keep things calm, even if it was a tense calmness. “Anything else?” I asked, wanting desperately to hang up, but knowing it wouldn’t be smart. Didn’t want to spoil my ‘free day’.

“Yes.” Jaims sounded calm, but I didn’t know for sure. I didn’t know what his moods were like and how he carried them out. “You’re mine!” he growled and hung up. I blinked. O-kay then. I stood there for a moment, not changing positions—cell to ear, sitting tensely in the rocking chair—until I forced myself to relax. It would all be okay. All I had to do was pretend Jaims wasn’t anywhere nearby, because I was sure he was, and things would all work out. I could do it. I could. And if I couldn’t, well, at least I tried.

Eventually I got a hold of myself. Pretending Jaims wasn’t around required me to move like I would any other day. Which required movement. I got up and went to my bread. I sat on my bed and ate, if stiffly. It was very likely my stalker was watching me at that moment. And smiling at my inability to relax. I didn’t quite want to relax, though. It was better for me to be on my toes; ready for anything. I was not interested in the slightest on letting my guard down, making me vulnerable to kidnappings. No thank you.

Someone knocked on the front door. I could hear it being opened by Tyhe and faint chatter. I couldn’t hear as well as I liked because my door was partially closed. It could’ve been Jaims at the door. The thought caused me to freeze. And wait. And wait. And wait. Until finally, “Feight, someone’s at the door for you.” Tyhe said, bursting in the door. He breathed heavily, as if he’d run all the way here. Most likely that was the case.

“Okay.” I said, rising mechanically to meet my stalker. Who else would it be? Jaims was just as capable as lying about the ‘free day’ as any other person, so that was most likely him at the door. Waiting to take me away. There was nothing I could do about it. Might as well get it over with now. It wasn’t like I could go down fighting. Ugh. What a depressing thought.

“Aren’t you going to ask who it is?” Tyhe asked. He followed me down the stairs, curious to know what would happen.

“No. I have a guess, and I’m sticking with it.” I said, not looking at my brother. I told him nothing more and made it clear I wasn’t sharing. The less he knew, the safer he would be. Yeah, yeah. Everyone says that, but it never ends up working. I get it. I just can’t think of any other way. I hate it. Why couldn’t I be more original? Why couldn’t find a better way? This way never even worked for goodness sake! So why was I using it?

“Really? Who do you think it was?” Tyhe asked innocently.

I bit my lip, not knowing what to say. What should I say? I didn’t want to use the I’m-not-going-to-tell-you-to-protect-you thing, so what should I say? “Uh . . .” I started, but trailed off. I still had no idea what I was going to say. Luckily I got to the door before I had to give an answer. I looked out the open door and was surprised when it wasn’t Jaims who stood there, but someone I never would’ve guessed. “It doesn’t matter who I thought it was because this is not him.” I murmured to my brother in shock. Because standing in the doorway, was Aedrean. Yeah he looked more . . . human, but he was still Aedrean.

“Hi, Feight.” He said cheerfully. He stuck his hands the pockets of modern clothes, waiting for me to get over my surprise and speak. It took longer than I would’ve liked, but it was done.

“Hi, Aedrean.” I said just as cheerfully. I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before I remembered my manners. “Want to come in?” I asked. “I can’t really come outside at the moment.” I said while shooing Tyhe so I could say the rest I needed to say. “I’ve been grounded and warned that if I go outside, bad things will happen.” I could only hope he understood what I was saying. Please let him understand and not insist on talking outside.

Aedrean raised his eyebrows and mouthed, “Jaims?” I sighed in relief. He understood. I relaxed, but only slightly. I nodded and made way for Aedrean as he came in. I took him to my room, not knowing of any other place to go, and took extra care to pass my parents’ room as silently as I could. Dad lay in there. With a gun and a sword. Oh man, I really hoped he didn’t catch me taking a boy in my room. I’d rather do without the threats. And possible murder. Aedrean mimicked my movements, except he was much, much quieter.

“Thanks.” I said, summing up . . . well . . . everything I had to say thanks for. I plopped on my bed and started to finish my bread. I felt better with Aedrean around. I could eat and forget that I was being watched. I didn’t think anyone scared me more than Jaims. Well, there was this one book antagonist in The Immortal Rules, but he didn’t count. He wasn’t real, and thank goodness for that.

“For what?” Aedrean asked, seemingly oblivious to all he’d done for me. Which confused me. How could he not know how much he’d helped me? He stood in the doorway, glancing around my room so discretely a normal person wouldn’t notice. I wasn’t normal like that. I noticed.

“For . . . saving me from Jaims last night.” I said, focusing on the biggest thing Aedrean had helped me with. Other things were too small to worth mentioning, and the last thing I felt should be left alone. I didn’t want to blush . . . and I didn’t know how Aedrean felt about it. Best to leave it to him if he wanted to bring it up. “So . . . what’s the cause of this surprise visit?” I asked to break the silence that had fallen upon us.

“Not going to have another close call like last night. I’ll be here if Jaims decides to make an appearance.” Aedrean answered, settling onto the rocking chair. I didn’t know whether to be flattered or not. Was this just a duty to him or . . . or did he come because he wanted to. Because he cared. Because he saw me. I really, really, really hoped he didn’t come because he thought he was obligated to. I needed someone other than my family and Julyet to see me. To not walk past me without realizing. Yeah, I know I should be depressed, but somehow I just wasn’t. I guess I was a really good at suppressing it.

“Oh.” it was all I could think of to say. I fail at small talk. Attempting small talk again. “So, uh . . .” Small talk is hard! Making another attempt. I will master small talk. I remembered he liked books. It was all I had, so I’ll use it. Plus it was a topic I could relate to. “What’s your favorite book?” I asked. I hid behind my hair. I hoped he didn’t give me a funny look for my failed attempt of small talk. It wasn’t my fault I was this big conversation stopper.

“I can’t choose. There are just too many good books. And I haven’t seen any modern books yet.” Aedrean said. If he gave me a funny look, I was too busy hiding behind my hair to see. It wasn’t like I wanted to see. I didn’t want to suffer embarrassment. “What’s yours?” he countered.

“Oh, uh, Tiger’s Curse. It’s a romantic fantasy. Nothing special.” I said meekly. Small talk wasn’t very fun anymore. Thank you social anxiety. You’re a great help when talking to boys. Oh, wait. You’re not.

Aedrean grinned. “You like romance?” he asked, crossing his legs to get more comfortable. I blushed. Hard. Very hard.

“And fantasy. Don’t forget the fantasy.” I said quickly, trying to distract him from the fact that I liked romance. I regretted the fact that I’d said the genre of my favorite book. Or at least, couldn’t I have skipped the romantic part? Universe, if you have any heart at all, then let me go back in time, I begged. I desperately needed to fix my error, but stupid time wouldn’t let me. It was so cruel. Why did it hate me? What did I do?

“Yes, but you also like romance.” Aedrean said, smiling and unable to forget my error. He found my weakness. I didn’t know what I would do if he tried to exploit it, but I sure could imagine what it would feel like. His hand stroking my cheek. My body fitting into his when he held me. The taste of his lips. The last one horrified me so much I hid under my blanket, not caring what it would look like to Aedrean. I needed to not be seen at the moment. Or maybe just until a new topic is presented. Please new topic be presented.

“Yes, but so what? It doesn’t matter. Let’s change the topic. I say something random and we talk about it.” I mumbled. Since I was under a giant comforter, I doubted he’d heard my suggestion. I could only hope he did. I couldn’t do this topic anymore. I couldn’t let my thoughts wander to dangerous places that was anything romantic. Mostly because I would die because my head would be getting all the oxygen my blood carried. I did not want to die with a red face.

I felt the bed dip where Aedrean came to sit. I mentally begged him not to try to pull me out from under the blanket. I might try to cuddle him. That would be bad. Very, very bad. I didn’t want to display my romantically neglected-ness. Talk about embarrassing. And don’t forget that he could push me away. Yeah, no. “You’re a romantic.” I could feel the blanket inch off my body. I quickly grabbed at it. No! Blanket, stay! I commanded mentally.

“Stop. Let me hide.” I said, loud enough I was sure he heard. The blanket paused for a moment. I sighed in relief. I could hide for at least ten more seconds. If I was lucky, fifteen. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did. It was a good thing, so I didn’t question it.

“Why? I want to see your face.” Aedrean asked, confused. I got one more second before the blanket was being tugged again. I gripped it harder, digging my nails in. I could not come out. Could not. I wouldn’t let it happen. Not if it was the last thing I ever did in my dull life. I meant it.

“Because I don’t want you to see my face. Besides, it’s quite comfy under here.” I said, using all my strength to keep the blanket where it was. I was afraid of the look on Aedrean’s face when he saw mine. All red with blushes. No. no, no, no, no, no, no, and no. not coming out until he was gone.

There was another pause, except this one was shorter. “It is? Well maybe I should join you then. This bed is a little hard.” Aedrean said. Oh. My. Bubble. He could not be under the blanket with me. That was worse than him seeing my face all red with blushes. Ten times worse, in fact. Or more. Mostly more. He started to lay.

“Okay, okay! I’ll come out!” I said, pushing the blanket off me. Aedrean didn’t even make it halfway down which made me breathe a mental sigh of relief. As much as I knew I would like lying down with him, I was just too shy and easily embarrassed. Well, except for when I was with my friends. I was comfortable with them and knew they wouldn’t judge me. And if they did, it was playful. But really, the major problem was that, for some reason, I was attracted to Aedrean and wasn’t sure how he felt about me.

“Good. I didn’t really matter to me either way I saw your face.” Aedrean said, rising to sit beside me. Yes, it was true he would’ve seen my face either way, but the other way was intimate. Or at least to me. Remember, romantically neglected. I had zero experience with these things. Sure I had guy friends, but we never touched. Only talked. My fast boyfriends kept contact to a minimum too, minus my first, so yeah. No experience.

We didn’t talk for a few minutes, just stared. I got uncomfortable first. I wanted to talk, but didn’t know what to say. I subtly glanced around the room for inspiration. Uh, uh . . . “Candy corn.” I said, saying the first thing that came to mind. What else was I supposed to do? I was mostly sure Aedrean forgot about the romantic thing. Especially since my words had caught him off guard. Or I was pretty sure they did. Ugh. I couldn’t read his emotions. He was unpredictable to me. I could be sure I distracted him until I found out he wasn’t distracted. Like now.

Aedrean laughed, like what I said was a funny joke instead of random words. “You almost got me there, but I caught you in the act. Nice try, but I’m not letting go of the fact that you’re a romantic. Your squirming’s hilarious.” He said, shifting so slightly that I didn’t really notice. That was okay. Squirming was no fun, and that’s what I would’ve done if I’d noticed. I didn’t think my squirming was all that funny.

“I don’t think it’s very funny. Being uncomfortable, in my own room even, is not at all funny. You’re heartless. Poor girls squirming is not supposed to be entertaining.” I said, shifting ever so slightly away, for I had finally realized Aedrean was closer than before. He shifted again, and this time I noticed right off the bat. “Stop. Stay there.” I commanded. Oh. My. Bubble. My weakness was being exploited. Not in a very big way, but it was still being exploited.

“Why? I like being near you.” Aedrean said with a devilish smile. It made me melt and forget my reasoning. Oh great. Now what was I going to do? Obviously I was going to have to make something up that made sense. But what was there? Maybe I could use Dad and his gun . . .

“It’s not the best thing to do considering Jaims is probably watching.” I said quickly. It took a building up of nerves to say, but it was way better than Dad. Sorry Dad. You just weren’t good enough. I wasn’t even one-hundred percent sure Jaims was good enough.

Aedrean didn’t pull back. If anything, he seemed to be closer. “Let him watch. I can fight him.” He said, seeming to forget that he got seriously injured the last time.

“You got seriously injured last time.” I pointed out. I needed him to keep a distance. So many bad things could happen if he got too close. But . . . if I was being truly honest . . . I liked his close proximity. He was warm and made my heart flutter with nerves in a good way. I could only imagine what it would feel like when or if he touched me. In my imagination, it would be heart stopping. Electrical. Beautiful. I craved it. I wanted to fit. Not into society. I wanted to fit into Aedrean. Be his other half. And I didn’t just want it. It was deeper than that. Beyond description.

“I learn from my mistakes.” Aedrean said, moving so that our hands nearly touched. Oh bubble. I could feel the sparks even without physical contact. It was strong. If it was strong, then what would it feel like to touch? Physical contact was always a million times better in books than nearly touching. There goes that craving again.

“Okay,” it was all I could manage to say. Annoyingly, it was said in a squeak. He was too close to raise my voice in confidence, plus I really didn’t know how to act around boys. I only felt comfortable around a couple; friends of friends. That was easy because I just had to act around those boys the way my friend did. This was way different. Aedrean wasn’t a friend of a friend, so the way I acted around him relied on me. I didn’t know what to do.

“So, since you’re a romantic, how many boyfriends have you had?” Aedrean’s questions surprised me. Who taught him about boyfriends? Whoever it was would be getting a sharp tongue whipping from me—that is if I work up the nerve—about what Aedrean should know about the modern world.

I was having an internal battle. Tell him I’ve only had three, or pretend I’ve suddenly gone dumb and deaf? Difficult choices, difficult choices. The whole thing boiled down to did I really want him to know how pathetic my love-life was? “Three.” I said, admitting defeat. I had a feeling that if I didn’t tell him, he’d find out from someone else. It was better coming from me.

“Three? I would’ve expected you to have more.” Aedrean said, his voice softening just a bit. His hand reached out to touch my face and I found myself shocked, but leaning into it slightly. At the last possible second his hand retreated to his side and he stood, giving off another devilish smile. “You know what? I think I’m going to watch the perimeter of the house while you settle.” He walked out. He didn’t glance back. He just left me. The shock I was feeling inhabited my face. So he wasn’t interested? But what about the smile? And the tenderness? I just didn’t get Aedrean.

“Who was that?” Evere asked, poking her head through the door. It was unusual for her to come home this early, but I didn’t question it.

“Aedrean.” I said. One syllable sounded good to me. Okay. Forgive my poor math. Three syllables sounded good to me. Besides, it wasn’t like Evere needed complete sentences. She only asked for a name. And I gave it. I was done.

“What happened?” she asked, staring out the door where Aedrean had gone. She plopped on my bed.

I shook my head. I had absolutely no idea what happened. One minute he was about to touch me, the next he was out the door. Boys were so complicated. What did ‘I think I’m going to watch the perimeter of the house while you settle’ even mean? I couldn’t even begin to form the question about what Aedrean meant by ‘settle’. And what did that devilish smile mean? See? No idea what had happened.

“How could you not know what happened?” Evere asked skeptically. Apparently she didn’t believe me. I didn’t understand why. It was completely possible for people to not understand recent events. That was why the word ‘why’ was invented. So that the human race could ask a question that summed up their confusion.

I thought about what I was going to say. I needed an answer that would make the questions stop because Evere would completely understand. It needed to include how confusing Aedrean was. It needed to be something she would believe. “Um . . . I don’t know what happened because boys are confusing and Aedrean is even more so. And . . . uh . . . my brain is filled with fog right now. Give me a few, or thirty, minutes before I attempt to figure it out.” I said. It was the absolute best I could think of to say. I hoped it was good enough.

“Oo-h.” Evere said, dragging the word out. Not a good sign. “Is he your boyfriend?” see? Not a good sign. I wondered what led her to the conclusion. She didn’t see anything romantic between Aedrean and I. Hopefully. It must’ve sprouted from when I mentioned the fog in my brain. It couldn’t have been from anything else. That was the only thing that could’ve said I had a crush on him. Okay. I’ll admit it. ‘Could’ve’ wasn’t the right word. ‘Did’ was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had a crush on Aedrean. There. I said it.

“No.” I said sourly, trying to lead Evere away from the obvious fact that I had a crush on Aedrean. “We’re not dating.” I could hear the hint of longing in my voice. I could only hope Evere hadn’t. She would tell him. Causing me to die. She could never remember the ‘don’t tell’ part of ‘please don’t tell’. Then again, she might not have ever tried. All the more reason not to tell. My sister could be very involved in my love life.

“Why? He’s cute.” Evere said, giving me that look that said she knew I was crushing. I blushed there was no reason to hide it. Nor was there reason to denying it. Because even if I did those things, she would find out. There was no possible way she wouldn’t. My love life was so pathetic she had made it her mission since seventh grade to help me fix it. I still didn’t know how I thought about it. Obviously, though, I thought it was okay because I never actually tried to stop her. Or was that me being indifferent? Mental shrug.

“Because he’s in love with someone else.”

Chapter Eight

I knew the words were a lie. I couldn’t say why I thought that. I didn’t understand why I would think that. Aedrean clearly said he was in love with Lillee. I wouldn’t expect him to get over her death so fast. That would mean he never really loved her, and the look on his face after he found out she was dead and wouldn’t be coming back was heartbreaking. No. he was still in love with her. So why didn’t I believe it? The only explanation was that the part of me that was crushing was gaining too much power in the logic part of my brain. I knew I should fix it, be I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I couldn’t squish my little bubble of hope that he was starting to see me. Even though we met yesterday.

“Who? Do I know her? Or is it a guy?” Evere threw out the questions, not really caring. Too busy texting. Most likely with her boyfriend. Despite the fact that she sounded indifferent, I had the feeling Aedrean was going to meet my sister very soon. I would have to do my absolute best to stall her the next few days. I would bury myself alive in embarrassment. And then I would get over it and be all lovey gushy if he actually did it, but still. I’d prefer it if he did it without being to do it. Or do it because he was made aware of my crush. No. that just wasn’t how I liked things to be done.

“Her name . . .” I was trying to decide if I would say is or was. Hmm. “is Lillee.” I said. The words flew out of my mouth before I actually made my decision. “And no. you don’t know her. She doesn’t live here.” Technically she didn’t live anywhere because she wasn’t alive, but that fact wasn’t necessary to Evere’s survival. Besides, she wouldn’t tell Aedrean about my crush if she thought he was dating Lillee. I was one-hundred percent positive on that.

“Oh?” Evere asked, knowing that long distance relationships tended to fail. I should have said Lillee lived here, but I just didn’t know where. Nor did I know her last name (which was technically true). Evere was probably wondering how long it would take before he became single, not knowing he already was. I would prefer that it stayed that way, but everything had to end sometime. If only I could somehow change that. Maybe if I got Aedrean to stay away for a year . . .

“Uh, yeah.” I said, going with it. “But don’t think it’s a long distance relationship. He’s . . . only staying for the summer.” It was decent. Not perfect, but decent. Decent was good enough for me. As long as it wasn’t utterly horrible. It was such a good thing school was a month and a half away. Because then I’d have to enact the staying for the summer part. Meaning, I would have to make him invisible. There would be no visits during school days. Or at least, it couldn’t happen every day or too often. Yep. Making Aedrean invisible would be hard.

“Oh.” Evere said. I could hear a hint of disappointment, mirroring mine. She wasn’t the only one who wanted me to date Aedrean. And no, it wasn’t because he was totally hot, because he most definitely was, it was because . . . I don’t know. I just felt this weird attraction. I can’t explain it. It was like, I fell in love with him the moment I met him. Not in the woods. I think it had something to do with a horse which didn’t make any sense. I’ve never ridden a horse. A pony in fourth grade sure, but never a horse. And saying I could have not been on the horse was invalid too. The only time I’d ever seen one in my entire life was on TV.

“Yeah. So . . . yeah.” We sat there awkwardly for a moment. Both of us brain dead concerning what to say next. It was horrible. It made me want to slink into a hole in the ground and hide. “So . . . where’d you go earlier?” I asked to break the silence. I just couldn’t stand it anymore so I asked the first question that popped in my head. The next time, though, I would just say ‘pancakes’ or something equally random. Because random was fun.

“The YS.” She said, plainly and simply. There was nothing I felt like asking after that so the impending awkwardness slipped back to its original place. Well that didn’t work. Time for random words. If I was lucky, a random word war. Those were always fun.

I put on my silly face and looked at Evere. She didn’t look back. Too busy changing her shoelace patterns. “Pan-cake.” I said, drawing out the n. she looked at me then and threw her own silly face at me.

“Peanut butter.” She said. Random word war it was then. Our topic? Food of all kinds.

“Apple sauce.” Such a delicious food that was. I called it. He-he-he.

“Bacon.” Evere countered. Why didn’t I say that? I loved bacon way more than apple sauce. I was going to need to put more thought into my next move.

“Hmm . . . French fries.” Yes, there was a moment of brain deadness, but that was because I had to think of something we both liked to have the most impact. Like what she did with bacon. I had to do revenge for that.

Evere narrowed her eyes. Now it was a war. “Pop tarts.”

“Fish.” Evere made a face when I said that one which gave me a deep satisfaction.

“Cheese.” Now it was my turn to make a face. Yes, I’m aware of the fact that not liking cheese is weird. I don’t really care. I still don’t like it.

“Sausage.”

“Lasagna.”

“Taco meat.” Yes, Evere is a vegetarian. Won’t eat any meat except for bacon and the occasional pot roast. Less now on the pot roast though.

Evere was about to say something, but the light tap on the window instantly distracted us. I expected to see Jaims, I wasn’t sure what Evere was expecting, but there was no one. Confused, I opened the window to see what was going on. I looked out and saw a grinning Aedrean. And as much as I was happy to see him, his presence only created more questions. And then it hit me. He wasn’t done exploiting my weakness yet.

Evere moved to stand next to me, and smiled.

“I’m not very poetic,” he said, staring up at me. “so I’m not even going to try. Do you wanna come down? I promise you’ll be fine.” I got the feeling that he meant that he’d taken care of Jaims. To which I could only sigh. Feeling relieved that my free day no longer had conditions.

“If you mean come down through the window, then no.” I said, already feeling nervous. And I was barely peeking my head out, so how would I be able to climb out?

“Why not? I’ll catch you.” Oh. My. Bubble. He didn’t mean for me to climb out at all. He meant for me to jump. No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I was not going to jump out the window. It just wasn’t happening. Not in a million years. Not in a trillion years. Not ever. I didn’t even trust Dad to catch me, so how was I going to trust Aedrean? I wasn’t, that’s how. I was not going to jump at the risk of the wholeness of my bones. Two stories was high, at least for me. I wasn’t going to do it. Nuh-uh. Aedrean would just have to accept that. I was taking the stairs if I was going to come out.

“No. I will not jump out this window. I will not.” I said, making it clear to him that he wouldn’t need to catch me because I wasn’t going to jump. But if I was being honest, if I weren’t afraid of heights I would’ve jumped in a heartbeat so he could hold me in his arms. Even though that would be bad. Well, it would be bad and good at the same time if you can understand. Okay, let me rephrase that. It would be good because I’d like being held by him, and bad because the craving might grow so large that I’m forced to act on it. If I let Aedrean hold me and the craving overwhelmed me, then I might’ve pecked him on the cheek which may sound good, but isn’t because if I did that, I’d run and hide and don’t forget that Aedrean might not be pleased with it. The cons might not sound bad, but they are. Jaims was still out there, most likely waiting for me to be alone. So obviously I couldn’t jump. Even if I had the courage. I just couldn’t.

“Feight, you can do it. I promise you can. If you’re worried I won’t catch you, don’t. You can trust me. You’ll be fine.” Aedrean said, still smiling. He held out his arms to catch me. Still believing he can convince me to jump. I’d need to kill that belief. I wasn’t going to jump. My resolve was harder than stone. It wasn’t going to happen. That was that. No exceptions.

“No, I can’t do it. I’m going to take the stairs and then I’m going out the door. They work just fine and don’t require me to take a risk like that. No hard feelings. I don’t even trust my dad to catch me.” I said, assuring Aedrean that he wasn’t the reason why I wouldn’t be jumping. He couldn’t have any more arguments. I couldn’t think of anything else he could say. What was there to say? I turned away, heading for the stairs. “I’ll meet you down there.” I was sure of victory. I was sure of it. I wouldn’t be jumping. I was going to stay safe.

“Feight, wait. I have something else that might convince you. Just hear me out.” Aedrean requested. I turned back to him, curious as to what his argument would be. He was still smiling, like he was sure that this was going to be what would get me to jump. “I'll drop the topic of romance, but only if you jump. If you don't I'll never let you live it down.”

My breath caught in my throat. He wouldn't, but another glance at his smiling face proved otherwise. He would. Ugh, that was so mean! Using one of my many weaknesses against me! How un-princely. He would pay.

I narrowed my eyes in an obvious glare. “Do you swear to let it drop?” I said.

“Yes, but you have to jump.” he said, grinning. He held his arms up higher, ready to catch me. I took several deep breaths, trying to prepare myself for the fall ahead. It wasn't working. Not at all. Oh dear. Hyperventilating. Not good. I wondered if anyone else could hear my body screaming at me to back away. Well, not all of my body. One of my organs was just screaming in general. “Common, Feight. Jump.”

“Okay, okay, I'm coming already.” I said as I approached the window. I got so close my tummy pressed against the sill. I gripped the edges so hard my knuckles turned white. I looked down at Aedrean . . . and couldn't look away. The ground was so far away. Bombs exploded in my chest. Curse this two story house. Just close your eyes and jump. I thought to myself, doing as I said. It's just like that one time you jumped off the high dive. That wasn't so bad. You didn't die or loose your breath. Yeah, but I never did it again. Bad pep-talk. Horrible pep-talk. I sat on the windowsill, took a deep breath, and jumped. And as I fell, I worked hard to make sure that my eyes shut. Though, I couldn't help the gasp-scream (mostly gasp) that escaped my lips due to a stomach plummeting too fast and too long.

Finally, finally I landed in Aedrean's arms. I opened my eyes, fully intending to call him a meanie and wriggle out of his arms and stomp away. But my brain was like, 'he-he-he, that's not going to happen.' Sigh. If only my brain was its own person. Then I could give it a thorough tongue lashing and it wouldn't be able to affect my choices this way. For example, when I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was his face. It was the only thing I saw. His face was just. So. Gorgeous. There would be no looking away for me.

He smiled and my heart skipped a beat. My face grew hot. Say something! I commanded myself. Uh, uh. “Apple Bees.” I managed to squeak out. He gave me a confuse look and set me down. I wanted to sigh in relief, for I just barely didn't kiss him, but my body wouldn't let me, apparently sad the near kiss was only a near kiss. Traitor. I'd need to get a new one sometime. I just couldn't accept a body that disagreed with my wishes. It was unacceptable.

“What was that?” he asked, a huge grin on his face. It was obvious he felt accomplished. The emotion practically radiated off him. He was like a sun. Except, this sun wasn't very useful. Nothing grew in its 'light.' And taking a closer look, I also saw how prideful he looked. I did not make me happy. Not at all.

“Nothing, you meanie!” I said. It felt good. Because even though my body . . . really, really liked him, it was still at least a little bit mad at him. I mentally high-fived it. I wasn't finished unleashing my anger on him, so I mentally walked away. “You blackmailed me! I hate heights. I hate, hate, hate them. What you did was wrong, and you should be ashamed of yourself! Next time you ask me to jump out of a window above ground level I won't do it. No, I will ignore you.” I said, throwing in another glare for good measure, because you could never be too thorough with these things.

Aedrean laughed, like something I said was funny. Maybe it was the way I said it. Or it could be my expression while I said it. Did I pout? I thought my face felt pretty angry, but maybe it wasn't. Heavenly Father, if you love me at all please let me not have pouted. “'Meanie'?” he said, and I sighed in relief and mentally thanked Heavenly Father. “Feight, I must say your word choice is quite entertaining. Does it come naturally, or do you have to plan out what you say before hand?” he asked.

My eyes narrow. “Are you mocking me?” I asked. He's probably not, but it kinda sounded like he was. Just a little. The anger toward him I was feeling probably played a part too. “Because if you are, I will march right back to my room.” I put my fists on my hips to show him how mad I was getting. Of course I wasn't as mad as I was two seconds ago, but he didn't need to know that. Overall I thought I looked pretty angry.

And then his grin somehow widened if that were even possible. “You know, you would be a lot more intimidating if you stood up straight”―I straightened myself with a slight blush (okay maybe not slight, but not a big one either)―“and no, I wasn't mocking you. You may not believe me, but it's true.” And then his smile shrank into an insert correct emotion here smile. I couldn't tell if it was a happy smile, or an amused smile, or what. I was betting (the usual million) that it was amused, but I couldn't tell. Whatever. I'll just call it a draw so I don't owe anymore than I already do, which was like, a trillion dollars. At least it's to myself. Yeah . . . moving on.

We stood there for a few minutes, me glaring at him in my angry stance, him smiling at me. At its core it was a staring contest. I was good at staring contests. I would win this. He would cower before my might. Mwahahaha! No. Not mwahahaha. Maniacal laugh. Yes. Much better. I stared right into his pupils, going for the creep-him-out approach. A half a minute later, after my right eye twitched, itching for me to blink, I realized my diabolical plan wasn't working. His gaze never wavered. Not even for a second. It was like he was a pro staring contest . . . person.

Finally I gave up and threw my hands in the air. Suddenly I was no longer angry, but that was beside the point. “Ugh, I give up. You win.” I said, finally letting myself blink. It felt so good I blinked again kept them closed for a bit. Sight could wait for now. I needed some of the bliss of eyes closed-ness had to offer. I mentally sighed when having my eyes closed bored me. I opened them, seeing no more point in keeping them closed, and found that Aedrean had moved closer to me.

He smirked. “And what did I win?” he asked, reaching over my shoulder to play with some of my hair. I immediately stilled, my natural instinct to that. Because if I moved he might stop, and I didn't want him to. I liked it when people played with my hair. It felt good. Don't ask why, because I have no idea. It just does. Eventually, though, I move away just a teeny little bit and he moves his hand away. As good as it felt, it was distracting. Plus it emptied my brain so I could lean into his touch and one thing could lead to another until boom. We're kissing. And that would be bad. I was inexperienced, and what if he regretted it later? Nope. Wasn't taking that risk.

“Nothing, buckaroo.” I said in answer to his question. I sat down on the grass because ugh, standing. Not a big fan of it. And neither was I a big fan of shoes and chairs. And cheese. All those things worked together to . . . do something diabolical to me. I wasn't exactly sure yet. They worked hard to make sure I didn't figure out their evil plans so I could thwart them in their evilness. But I would eventually figure it out and take those evil fiends down. Well not all of them. Too many people in the world liked them, and if I got rid of all of them I'd probably have a worldwide angry mob on my hands. Yeah, no. I don't have a death wish. Death is scary.

He pouted. “Oh, common. What if it's just you paying for lunch?” he said, coming to sit beside me. I played with the grass as I thought about it, plucking small handfuls and tearing it to teeny-tiny bits. I silently apologized for their violent deaths. I wondered if they had voice boxes, would they scream? The thought made me feel bad, so I refrained from plucking another small handful, though it was hard because my hands were super bored. “Well? Sound good?” he asked after a while, and I looked up into his face.

“I is broke.” I stated bluntly. Yes, the grammar was improper, but whatever. I didn't feel like proper grammar. Proper grammar was overrated at times. Like now. Who needs proper grammar when you have perfectly partially good improper grammar sentences just begging to fly off your tongue? Not me. Sometimes. I'm completely and one-hundred percent weird. Once you get to know me, that is. Until then I'm just shy. Or am I? Dun, dun, dun! “Besides,” I added. “It's not lunch time yet.”

“Okay, then you could take me sight seeing. Show me around this place. I'm still new to it you know.” he offered. Hmm, looked like he really wanted a reward for winning that staring contest. This was my chance. My chance to make him pay for jumping out a window located on a second floor. Maniacal laugh. But how to go about my revenge? Eh, I'd wing it. Planning the details would take time, and Aedrean might figure out what I was planning. My poker face was practically nonexistent. I'd have to work on that sometime.

“Where do you want to go?” I asked. Okay, so far winging it sucked, and if it didn't get better soon, I would need a new plan. It had better get better because making a new plan sounded like a lot of work, and work sounded boring. Like school work. School work was awful. I hated and slightly feared it. Not as much as spiders, heights, and blood, but it was a close fourth. Not enough fear for me to not throw it off the roof covered in the most poisonous spiders that were actually harmful to people, bleeding to death, though. Die, school work! Evaluating my thoughts, I finally realized how evil I was feeling today. Hm . . . Whatever. My kind of evil was fun. E-he-he-he! I tried not to laugh at the thought and barely succeeded.

He thought about it for a moment. How about a library?” he asked. Racked my brain nearly faster than humanly possible, looking for something I could could complain about, even if it really wasn't a problem. I could make it sound like one. I was a pretty over-dramatic actor, which was perfect for the part I was about to play. I found something.

“But it's so far!” I whined. “I don't wanna go.” I folded my arms over my chest and pouted like the five-year-old I mentally was. Okay, maybe I was a mentally six-year-old, but whatever. The point was the object of my complaining was the distance between my house and the library. Which, in truth, didn't bother me at all. I'd gone the distance by foot loads of times. I will find my way. I can go the distance. I'll be there someday, if I can be strong, I thought, the Hercules song lyrics randomly popping in my head. This time I couldn't help but laugh a little, but I quickly re-pouted my face. Brain, I thought. Focus! I desperately hoped it would listen to me. I couldn't afford to laugh like that again until I completed my revenge.

“What?” he asked. “What's so funny?” He looked confused, and . . . embarrassed? Did he think he was the object of my laughter? I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. Poor-not-poor guy. Now he really had something too be embarrassed about. His face darkened a little, and I laughed harder. Then his face held a partial mask of amusement, and he became no longer quite as funny. But the memory of his face soon rekindled my laughter. “Having fun, are we?” he asked.

“Your . . . face . . . when I . . .laughed . . . the second . . . time” I said when my laughter died down some. I clutched my sides, wishing it could help the double side-ache I had. Ugh, negativity number one of laughing. At least I hadn't got the itchy throat. Ugh. Nevermind. Spoke too soon. One of my hands went up to my throat and scratched, but of course that didn't help. I glared at him. “Your funny-ness has made me itch and ache.” I accused, not really meaning it, and not trying to hide it either. Or at least, not very hard. I was too busy trying to ignore my itch. As bad as side-aches were, itchy throats were ten times more bad. Finally I gave up ignoring it and pulled at the skin under my chin, very temporarily relieving the itch-pain. Because not only was it itchy, but it was slightly painful too. Why, laughter? Why have you betrayed me so? I thought you loved me.

And apparently Aedrean thought that was his cue to laugh because he laughed really hard. I just stared at him with a blank face, trying to fix my itch. And for some reason that made him laugh harder like gasoline to a flame. He laughed so hard that he eventually got . . . wait for it . . . the hiccups. And because it was the hiccups, I couldn't help but start laughing again, which of course made my itch worse. Which made him laugh harder, which made me laugh harder, which gave me the hiccups, which made him laugh harder, which gave him the itch, which made me laugh harder, which made him laugh harder, which made us both wish we could stop because of the pain. And when we couldn't laugh anymore between the groans of pain and the-clutching-of-ribs-while-laying-in-the-fetal-position we did.

I stood. “I'm”―hiccup―“going”―hiccup―“to”―hiccup―“getsomewaterforus.” I said to him as fast as I could, tired of being interrupted by the hiccups. He said nothing, just groaned. I know how you feel, buddy. I stood up, but couldn't manage to straighten my back without causing myself more pain, so I hobbled into the house like a hiccuping old lady. And for some reason when I imagined that I looked like a crazy old evil lady like from Snow White. Huh. I must have be feeling very evil today. “Maniacal laugh.” I said, unable to help saying it aloud.

“What did you say?” Asked Roze in a bewildered, but also amused sort of way. Bewilder-mused! I stared down at her bewilder-mused face for a moment, then I put my hands out to her like I was trying to grab her with my claws. She then proceeded to squeal and run away and I smirked, dusting off my fairly clean hands as if what I did and her reaction was a job well done. But alas, it truly was not. I didn't get the chance to say 'rawr' before she ran away. And even that wouldn't have been a job well done, because she'd run away before I got a chance to tickle her. Tickling was the best part.

I sighed in regret and made my way too the kitchen, straightening myself a little more with every step. Until I was no longer hunched at all. The pain was gone! Angels sang halleluiah in my head. I thought, what they hay, and jumped in and started to sing along with them. My song was different, though. I sang a song I learned in eighth grade. Same word, different tune. The angels were mad at me. I was mad at them back. It was my head. They could go be mad at me in somebody else's head. I mentally stuck my tongue out at them and kicked them out of my brain. And don't come back until you can be nice! I shouted at them. Wasn't I a pleasant person?

I pulled out two of the biggest cups we had from the cupboard and filled them as high as I could and took them outside. Giving one to Aedrean, who was still laying in the fetal position on the grass groaning, I said, “This will help some. Drink fast because we're leaving in ten seconds.” I started counting to ten in my head. If we were going to the library, then I wanted to start going. I'd spent the last week with nothing new to read, and I died every second I didn't do anything about it. Come to think of it, this was probably the reason for today's evilness. Yet another wonderful reason to go to the library.

He sputtered and choked on his water. “What? Why? Where to?” wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

“Books. Need. Now. Let's go.” I said and started to walk away. I was going to the library! I was so excited. I wondered if thy had any new books. They usually did, but you never know. They could've not. Hold on, my babies, I silently called out to the books. Mama's coming. Because books were babies, and any that I check out are my babies. Entrusted to me to take care of and raise (read). Mothering books was easy, and could be quite entertaining. “Common!” I called back to him.

“Could you at least give me a hand up?” he asked. I sighed dramatically/impatiently and walked back to him. I held out my hand, and he took it. Trying to ignore the very, very, very nice warm tingles swimming up my arm through my veins like fish, and failing, I helped pull him up . . . and ended up a few inches from his face. Oh my bubble, oh my bubble. He was so close. My whole body was telling me that I should kiss him. Right. Now. But I couldn't do that. I couldn't kiss him. What if he pushed me away and never talked to me again? Or worse. What if he pushed me away, still talked to me, but avoided my touch? That would be pure torture. But my body was relentless and angled me just the slightest bit closer. It would've gone further if I hadn't stopped it just in time. Stay put! I commanded it. Luckily it listened, but it still prepared for a kiss. Or at least I thought it was preparing for a kiss. It sent a fiery hot blush up my cheeks, fluttered my eyelids a bit, and puckered my lips ever so slightly. Yup. That was kiss prep alright.

I stood there awkwardly for a moment, swinging my arms. Until I realized we were still holding hands. I made to let go, but as soon as I looked up . . .

. . . And I experienced paradise. Paradise and bliss all at the same time. For Aedrean had kissed me. Was kissing me. And it was glorious. Infinity times better then all my wildest dreams. And very quickly it became fiery and passionate and the only reason why I still stood was because he was holding me up, and soon I could no longer think properly. I wanted it to last forever and eternity, was fully prepared to let it.

It was he who broke us apart, as it was he who brought us together. He let me go, and I swayed on my feet. I watched him pace, unable to think of anything other than how gorgeous he was. “I don't know why I did that.” he said, turning to me. I nodded like I wasn't completely intoxicated with bliss. “I shouldn't have done that. I still love her. I haven't really grieved yet.”

Maybe it was just me, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than me.

Chapter Nine

“I shouldn't have done that.” Aedrean said half an hour later as I plopped down on one of the comfy couches at the library. I wasn't really paying attention, though I was sure he was adding to that first sentence. I was too busy loving on the large stacks of books I had cradled in my arms. I stroked the cover of one of the ones the one on top, wishing it was mine. Happiness swelled in my belly so large that I was barely not crying. Oh, books, I have missed you so much. I would never wait so long to get new ones again. Never, ever, never. If I did I would probably die. Cause of death: missing books. I wondered if they would make a scientific name for it if I actually did die of that. If they did, someone would have to tell me what it was in Heaven. I grinned. There was a pause in his big, unnecessary speech. “How many books do you have?”

“Hm?” I ask, too busy basking in the glorious-ness of books, but then what he said came to me. Huh, I guess some part of me was paying rapt attention to his speech. Drinking in every word probably. I couldn't blame it. He had such a wonderful voice. “Oh, I dunno. I lost count at ten.” I said and went back to basking. The books missed me too much to let my attention wander away from them for too long, and I let them draw me in. I missed them too after all. Poor babies, I thought. Mama's got you now, and she's not letting any one of you guys go until I've finished every last one of you. I promised. I imagined that they grinned happily at my words.

A moment later he spoke. Okay, maybe it was more than a moment. Maybe it was a minute, or two, or three. It felt like a moment. “You have seventeen books.” he said.

I didn't really care at first, then the number made it to my brain. Seventeen. “Ooh! My favorite number!” I said excitedly. I loved my consciousness. It was always doing nice things like this for me. Luck, though, didn't like me nearly as much. It was always showing me how much it didn't like me. Nowadays I only played luck games to show it had no power over me. Well, it kinda did, but I kept it to myself. There was no way I was letting it know it got to me at all. Not in a million years. It's meanness would just get worse.

He gave me a curious look. “Why is seventeen your favorite number?” he asked. I though about it. Whole truth or most of the truth. Well I guess the most of the truth is technically the whole truth, but who cared about technicalities? They were like adding extra details to and already wonderful book, slowing it dramatically down and ruining it. Plus if all there was is technicalities, then you could kiss beautiful similes and metaphors goodbye. And wouldn't that make a book boring. Fuzz, it would make speech boring. I would stop talking and thinking, and then I would be bored all day, and nope, don't like technicalities.

I decided most of the truth, because I still wasn't ready to openly tell people about the world I had created in seventh grade, and I didn't think I ever would be. “A book. The Iron Knight specifically if you were wondering. Don't read it yet, though. It's the last book in a series, or at least in my opinion.” Ah, the Iron Fey series. I loved it, but Megan embarrassed herself so much in The Iron Daughter that I almost gave up on the series. The second time. I'm not sure what I thought about her the first. Probably the same thing. Book opinions only change when embarrassment wasn't involved. Because when a main character embarrasses themselves, I feel embarrassed, no matter if I'm into the book or not.

“Then what's the first book?” Aedrean asked. I guessed that it was only to start a conversation. Well, it would work for a while, and then because I'm the number-one-best-conversation-stopper-in-the-world, it would die into an awkward silence. And I don't even try too. I'm just gifted like that. Though, it was more of a curse, but whatever. I'd rather call myself gifted. To make myself feel better about being the awkward-silence-bringer. Sigh. My life.

“The Iron Daughter. It's a good book.” I said. We then proceeded to stare at each other awkwardly in an awkward silence. Yes. It was that awkward. I blame me and my gift. And then it occurred to m that he was staring at me because he was waiting for me to lead him to the book. Bubbles I was slow sometimes. It was a wonder I made it through freshman year of high school, and a miracle I made it through junior year. “Sorry, dude.” I said. “I can't leave these babies by their lonesome. They missed me. And besides, who knows what mischief they could get up to while they sit here unattended.” I hugged the book stacks to show him who I meant.

“I could watch the . . . babies while you go get the book.” He offered. Huh. I thought he was going to call them books. I never thought he'd actually call them babies. Then again, he could've only done it so that I would do what he wanted. Nice try, but no banana.

I chuckle a little. “Nice try, prince, but you're just gonna have to get your lazy butt up and search for it yourself. This is the twenty-first century; where big boys do things all by themselves, and you, my friend, are a big boy. Even mentally. I am not a mentally big girl, so you get things for me. Got it?” I asked. He'd better because if he didn't I would punish him in some way, shape, or form, starting with refusing to get him the book, and ending with . . . something bad or annoying. Or maybe both, depending on how well I play my cards.

He huffed. “I got it.” he said, and I smiled. My work was done. Now I could sit and enjoy the presence of my radiant books, and maybe start reading one, though I didn't want to finish any of them before they made it home. Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind. Including books. That's just the way it was. “But I have a question.” I inwardly groaned. I should've guessed that he would try too find a loophole. “Where should I start looking?” he asked. Oh. That was definitely not what I was expecting, but I was glad that he hadn't somehow found a loophole. I didn't feel like explaining to him further why I wasn't, or more accurately, didn't feel like, getting the book for him. I was also a lazy butt, but I was better at it than he was. He didn't know the rules of lazy butt-ed-ness yet, and the only way he would learn from me was by following my example.

“Try search it in the catalog.” I said. Aedrean stood, and then sat back down. I sighed in annoyance. What now? “What?”

“Where is the catalog?” he asked. Okay, my fault. I brought that on myself by forgetting that he was still new to the modern word. And this library. But in my defense I have horrible memory. When it comes to people and real life. Strangely I have no problem remembering stuff for by stories, but hey, was that really a bad thing? I guess it could be both good and bad, depending on if you're trying to forget something related to real life.

“On the computer.” I said. “Right there.” I pointed to the two computers that sat on their ridiculously high desk. There were no chairs because of the height of the desk, but I doubted anyone really minded. It wasn't like most people would be spending a lot of time on those computers anyway. All they were doing was checking to see if the book was available or not, and its location if it was. But it was kind of annoying that there were only two. I hated waiting behind somebody else. Especially since the people I waited behind usually had many books to look up. Curse you, luck!

He looked to where I pointed, and turned back to face me, still looking confused. “What's a computer?” he asked, and I pace-palmed. Of course I had to be so thick that I couldn't realize that there was no such thing as computers in his time. Of course I had to be that stupid. Because apparently I had to wait till someone pointed out what I can't simply figure out on my own. Ugh. No respect for me. Nope. Not until you, brain, stop working like a sixties computer and more like a modern one.

“You only know how to talk like a modern person, don't you?” I asked glumly. Looked like he found his loophole, and without trying to too. Points to him. Take away points from me. Shame. “You don't know anything about the technology.”

“Well I do know a little about cellular phones.” he admitted like it was something to be proud about. I guess it was. Cell phones were so popular these days. I was strange for rarely ever using mine, but I had no one I wanted to text with twenty-four seven. All I really needed was my laptop. I could chat with my friends on one of my writing websites. I didn't need no phone.

“Cell phones.” I said. “You abbreviate it. Or, if you really wanna fit in, just call it a cell.” I stood, making my way to the computers, which were empty of people, thank goodness. “Common. I'm gonna teach you how to use a computer so that you can be a big boy in this regard from here on out.”