Eyes of Light

I carried myself inside slowly, unsure of exactly how I was feeling. Why was Nick always so… distant? I was helping him. Maybe I had to tell him that I cared about him, just as he let it slip about me. Why was this so confusing?

I pushed through the curtain, the darkness of the long hallway taking me in. Staring down at the floor as I walked, I gasped, jumping when I felt that warmth run through me. If I wasn’t so oblivious, I would’ve noticed the brightening glow before he had even touched me.

“What’s your problem now?” he muttered, spinning me around.

“Nothing,” I lied, looking away from his intense eyes. Why did he care?

“So… girls get upset over nothing? Interesting,” he nodded, sarcasm apparent.

“Just…” I wanted to tell him to leave me alone, but I knew that wasn’t what I wanted. “Why do you even care?”

He looked at me thoughtfully, cocking his head with slightly pouted lips, but his hand never left my shoulder. Maybe he’d finally say something nice…

“Because we have to leave in the morning… together, and I don’t need your mood swings,” he finally muttered.

Right. Because my mood swings were the bad ones.

I furrowed my eyebrows and inhaled deeply, locking my eyes on the small portrait behind him. It was a dark gray wolf, almost a black color, with light tints of brown specked thorough. I knew it was another work of my mother’s and I had a feeling it was also the great wolf.

“I’m angry because of the way you treat me,” I finally answered, settling my eyes back onto his surprised--but only slightly--face.

“Excuse me?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. “And how exactly do I treat you?”

“Well… like I don’t mean anything most of the time. You can be nice and I’ve seen some of that, but you never keep it up. You haven’t really said one nice thing about me,” I rambled, sighing when he dropped his hand to cross his arms.

“You haven’t really said anything nice about me either,” he snorted. Hadn’t I, though? Or had I always just thought it? There were many things about him that could be described, and even more so if he just opened up a little.

“I’d… know more if you let me. You haven’t told me anything you like: what you like to do, eat, what your favorite color is… as far as I’m concerned, all you care about is getting rid of the black magic, but did it occur to you that our fight together is going to last forever?” he cringed at the word, hurting me further. I looked away, my mouth slightly hung open. “You know…” I trailed off, my voice quivering. My eyes met his again and they seemed completely confused. “Maybe I should just leave you alone. Maybe we can both just die alone because you’re too scared to even acknowledge the fact that we’re supposed to be soul mates.”

“Lonnie-” he started, sighing heavily, but I didn’t want to hear it for once.

“Just forget it,” I whispered, pulling away and heading back down the hall, but then I realized that we shared a room. Sighing, I turned back around and put my hand out, feeling that spark of warmth and light shoot through me as I pushed him back gently, allowing myself to pass.

I hurried back into the entry way, Eve, Sheba, and Coimbra’s eyes’ all on me; they looked confused. I ignored their stares and pushed open the door, quickly bounding down the few steps and onto the pathway. The trees rustled in the wind softly, telling me that the black magic wasn’t around, and I sighed in relief… but I had no idea where it could be. My eyes darted around as I moved forward, biting my lip. I spotted a pathway to the left, meaning that I didn’t have to try to make it up the hill.

I rushed forward, the wind whipping my hair around. It was cool out, the sky a dull gray, but the sun was dying to peak out and I had a feeling tomorrow morning was going to be sunny… if I even went with Nick. I shook my head and realized I had to stop thinking about him. If he didn’t want to be soul mates, then maybe we wouldn’t be. Sure, we had to no matter what; Eve’s newly said information about the council was sure to hold some rule about soul mates and how you had to be with them, but it hurt.

I continued forward, the trees around looking almost identical, and I didn’t bother to look back. This was unusual behavior for me. I usually never let what anyone did or said get to me, but Nick was… different. It might just be the fact that I knew we were supposed to be together, or it could be some other reason. Did I… like Nick? I gulped and stopped to think about it. I knew I liked him--he was my soul mate--but did I… did I really like him? That was a question I wasn’t ready to address yet.

The clouds seemed to clump up in the sky from what I could see between the tall trees. I had this eerie feeling wash over me and I glanced around, the sound of a few leaves crunching making me jump. I gasped and clutched my chest, my eyes widening when I spotted Nick rushing forward, anger on his face.

“What are you doing?” he muttered, his voice low and hushed. Before I could even answer, my glow began to flicker a little brighter, his hand clasping mine; it surprised me. “You can’t just walk off like that! Don’t you realize that there are other things out there besides black magic that could hurt you? Vampires, other wolves, other witches… there are even normal things that could hurt someone like you!” he exclaimed, tugging my hand. Not only did I jolt forward, but a new feeling in my body did too.

I pulled back, but his hand didn’t let go, his head turned to face me seriously. “What do you mean by ‘someone like you?’” I mimicked, setting my free hand on my hip. He rolled his eyes and pursed his lips, his curls gently swaying in the wind.

“I mean,” he sighed with annoyance, stepping a little closer so I didn’t have to stretch my arm out, “that you aren’t exactly the strongest person and I need to protect you. You can’t just walk away without me.”

I stared at him, blinking in slight surprise and felt like I wanted to smile. Maybe my mood swings were a little worse than his, but I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to stay mad at him for long… and now was just the beginning.

He stood up straight and licked his lips, turning away almost uncomfortably. He ran his hand over the back of his neck, letting a sigh fall out of his mouth.

“Look Lonnie-” he started, his dark eyes connecting with mine again. “don’t be mad.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” I hissed, yanking my hand out of his despite the calm feeling it was sending through me, and I crossed my arms. “You don’t even like me. I’m annoying.”

“You are not,” he sighed, shaking his head. He shut his eyes tight and ruffled his hair.

“Well you don’t like me then,” I scoffed, tapping my foot in the dirt slowly, looking down.

“That’s not true,” he muttered, but I didn’t know if his voice was so convincing.

“Oh yeah? Name three things you like about me then,” I challenged, raising my eyebrows at him. He looked caught off guard: like a dear stuck in headlights, and I felt like crying again. Maybe I was being stupid. I turned around quickly, stopping when Nick spoke almost desperately.

“Wait,” he insisted, a breath escaping his lips in the silence. I slowly turned back around, my eyes focusing on him, waiting. “I don’t know much about you…”

“Because you never ask or let me say anything. You know Nick, you aren’t the only one uncomfortable with this whole soul mate thing. But I’m trying to deal with it because I know that, no matter what, it’s going to, so-”

“Yeah, yeah,” he cut me off, closing his eyes slowly. I bit my lip and waited, his eyes slowly opening. “Three things?” he questioned. I nodded. “And then you’ll come back and not cause any more trouble?”

I didn’t want to argue, so I just nodded slowly, slightly eager to hear what he was going to say.

“Umm,” he cleared his throat, locking his eyes on the trees around us. “I like how you’re always nice to me, even when I know I don’t deserve it.”

I guess I’d take that as one.

“You… you’re adapting well to all of this…”

“But what about me personally?” I asked, sighing. We weren’t going to get anywhere at this pace.

“Right,” he cleared his throat. I had never seen him so… unsure. But he kept his face blank, somewhat, still. “I like the way your eyes sparkle when you smile; it shows you’re genuine.”

I stared at him in shock, unable to comprehend that his lips actually twitched up into a smile, but just a tiny one, and I found my own lips turning up, feeling the glow coming back.

“See?” he said softly, nodding towards me with a raised eyebrow. “You’re doing it right now.”

I felt my cheeks heat up, my head dropping a little so he couldn’t see my face. I was… surprised to say the least.

“That’s really nice of you to say. Thank you,” I whispered, looking back up with a straighter face. I realized he had composed himself too, his curls bouncing when he gave me a short nod. He held out his hand almost hesitantly and turned himself back towards the direction of Eve and Sheba’s place, the wind blowing gently.

“Now… come on, okay? Hurry up.”

I rolled my eyes but took his hand, inhaling deeply as he gently pulled me closer, allowing me to walk freely on the path. I glanced around at all the trees again, the feeling of eeriness gone. Was this how it was going to be now? I didn’t even know. I didn’t know what was going to happen, what things meant, or what I was even thinking. But… I kind of liked it.

&&&

When we got back, Eve had informed us that she had talked to my father. She said that I was lucky he hadn’t called the police, but that he was completely worried and wanted to see me now. I couldn’t, though. And she knew that, we all knew that. It didn’t change the fact that I missed him and that I just wanted to curl up in my bed, even if it meant having those nightmares again. But maybe I didn’t want to give this up so quickly anymore. Why was that? A few thoughts and my mind gets completely changed?

I paced across the dimly lit room, my arms crossed over my chest. I kept chewing on the inside of my cheeks, my eyes darting around, settling on Nick once in a while. He was leaning up against the dresser with his muscular arms crossed, his eyes focused on me as I moved, his face serious. His chocolate orbs locked my own eyes, his lips parting with a sigh, and his voice stopped me.

“Stop moving.”

For some reason, I did what he said, but now I was going to speak.

“I want to see my dad,” I blurted, getting a short nod and a calm look from him.

“I know,” he answered blankly.

“It’s… not fair. My dad’s the only thing I have.” I watched him as he opened his mouth, hesitating before quickly closing it and listening to me again. “When my mom died, my dad and I had no choice but to become close and I love him. I miss him and I need him to be there, but I’m not even allowed to see him. You get to see your dad tomorrow,” I blurted, almost instantly regretting it when I saw the look on his face.

“Nick-” I whispered, but he cut me off.

“I don’t get to see him as a human tomorrow. I don’t get to see him smile… or hug my mom, or tell my brothers a joke,” he shook his head, slowly taking one step forward, rocking on his feet almost nervously, but his face looked drained of emotion, even though his voice held strain. “I don’t… I don’t get to hear him say he loves me… because he doesn’t.” He looked down, his arms dropping to his sides with clenched fists. I was surprised to hear him say that.

“Nick…”

“Just forget about it and go to bed,” he ordered. “We have to get up early and I don’t want you lagging.”

I swallowed hard and nodded solemnly, turning towards the clothes I had on the bed. I watched Nick pull his shirt off through the corner of my eye, his muscles flexing as he shut the light off and kneeled down. I could hear the blanket rustling and the floorboard creaked as he lied down, pulling it over his body loosely. I looked away, realizing that my glow was bright in the dark, sort of like a night light, and wondered if it was bothering him; he didn’t say anything and I didn’t want to bother him further… tonight, anyway.

[&&light]

Everything looked blurred. My eyes were focused on a small dark red cottage like building, except there weren’t any real trees around… like a forest. I could hear the faint sound of the waves crashing against rocks in the distance and my view closed in on all the tiny grains of sand, each one looking perfect in the setting sun. The wind was gentle and different scents filled the air, the sound of faint chatter echoing until it came into final earshot.

I saw Eve and Coimbra nicely dressed, sitting on a bench next to my father and two boys that looked to be in their fairly early twenties: all of them smiling faintly, making small conversation. There was a bench behind and a man with glasses sat, his arm wrapped around a woman with curls forming loosely to her shoulders. There were so many people around, people I didn’t recognize, but everything looked so peaceful and beautiful.

My eyes continued to zoom forward, like a camera, taking in every possible aspect. The waves looked crystal clear and a pathway led towards a small platform, roses lining the whole way, soft petals blowing over the ledge. I saw a beautiful dress flowing onto the pathway, the lace rustling in the breeze, the cool water feeling… real. And I recognized that face under the covering that mirrored a veil. That face… was mine. And I couldn’t believe it.

The camera like zoom suddenly zipped around, landing on a tall, muscular, and slender figure in black fitting clothes, and curls that looked so perfect, and I could feel myself gasping for air through the vision. The figure slowly turned around and his face became so clear, so vivid and beautiful--complete with a soft smile: Nick.

“Lonnie,” I heard a velvety voice hiss, my body shaking slightly, and my eyes flew open with a gasp escaping my lips.

I struggled to swallow, my throat dry and my heart beating quickly. His eyes locked on mine and he gave me a strange look, knitting his thin eyebrows together.

“Lonnie… are you okay?” he asked reluctantly, removing his hands from my shoulders. I nodded weakly, licking my dry lips. “Okay, then get up. We need to get going soon.”

I sighed heavily and turned over, burying my face in the pillow and wrapping the blanket around me tightly. I could feel the warmth run through me like an electric current and I gasped, the blanket being ripped off of me, the cool air hitting me.

“Nick!” I squealed, turning over to glare at him, but I was surprised to see a faint smile on his lips, amusement in his eyes. I bit my lip and realized that I didn’t want to keep him waiting. He needed to see his dad… and I wanted to see the great wolf.

“Come on Lonnie. What did I say about lagging?” he muttered, throwing the blanket to the edge of the bed.

“Fine, fine. I’m up,” I squeaked, wiggling on the bed, trying to get my clothes situated on my body properly. He gave me a look that said I was crazy and grabbed my ankle, pulling me down the bed, and I screamed.

“Shh,” he hissed. “We don’t want to wake the she devil,” he whispered, his face above mine from where he pulled me. He seemed to be in a… good mood, or a better one, at least.

I shook my head, finding myself smiling. “No,” I giggled, unable to stop. “We wouldn’t want that.”

And a little light flicked on in my head when he returned the smile with a wider one, actually chuckling. I think he liked the fact that I was agreeing with him about Sheba.

Nick quickly got up and grabbed some clothes, hurrying out the door while ruffling his curls. I let out a loud yawn and combed my fingers through my hair, muttering to myself. I hated being a teenager, what with all the ever changing emotional mood swings. I guess this was just something else I’d have to get used to, seeing as I was only fifteen. Wow. I hated that.

&&&

When Nick got out of the shower, he had on a pair of black skinny jeans and a white snug fitting tee, an over shirt hanging loosely against him, unbuttoned. His hair was damp and in perfect ringlets, his face seeming refreshed, but I focused on getting my clothes and taking my own. I could hear faint voices down the hall, Eve’s giggle erupting, and I did not want to know what was going on.

I ran a towel through my hair roughly, clearing my throat as I slipped my feet into a pair of sneakers Eve had given me. They fit perfectly… but I missed my own. I missed home. I’d have to give that thought up for a while, maybe I’d be able to see my dad tomorrow… maybe he’d come by school. And then I remembered Josh and Anna and felt even guiltier.

I slowly pushed open the door to find that Nick was no where to be found. Setting the towel on the bed, I set my hand on the orb that sat around my neck and exited the room, hurrying down the hall. I could hear Eve’s voice suddenly, along with Nick’s as I made my way through the curtain. Everything was going by quickly.

“Make sure you’re back tomorrow… for at least half of the school day, okay? I don’t want all this interfering with you two. You still are young…” she trailed off, smiling at him. He nodded and sighed boredly, his eyes trailing over to me. “Morning,” Eve smiled, moving forward to hand me a breakfast bar. I thanked her silently and began to eat it, making my way over to Nick who was now by the door with his backpack and I suddenly remembered that I needed something to wear for tomorrow. As if he read my mind, Nick spoke.

“I have a couple of things in here for you. Come on.”

He held the door open after he stepped out, the sky lighting up slowly; it was definitely early. I turned to Eve and smiled when she pulled me into a hug. It felt like it was my mother.

“I would say be safe, but I know Nick will take good care of you,” she whispered, my eyes shutting tight. “It’s hard to tell, you know… but he does care about you. You just have to be persistent,” she chuckled, smoothing my hair out. For a moment, I saw my mother’s face flash in front of me, and I quickly looked away.

“See you soon,” I whispered, pulling away from her.

I made my way out the open door and waited for Nick to follow down the steps, but he was quicker than I expected. He raised his eyebrows at me and nodded towards the direction of the hill, his eyes seeming to glow a little. I followed, trying to keep up with him, his pace swift. It took all my concentration not to fall down the hill as we neared the top, the roots of the trees taunting me, ready to make me fall. I breathed in deeply, the sound of the birds chirping in the trees echoing through the brightening sky. It seemed warm already, the sky clear; just a few puffy clouds being seen through the trees.

I gasped, my body hitting Nick’s muscular chest, my mind snapping back into reality. He steadied me quickly, his hand slipping into mine, and I watched him curiously. He sighed slightly and slumped his shoulders, his eyes narrowing as he stared at me.

“I told you yesterday…” he trailed off, and I didn’t know what he was saying at first--until he continued. “You have to name one thing you like about me.”

I was surprised by the seriousness in his eyes, by what he asked, but he seemed to be surprising me a lot lately.

“Umm, well…” I started nervously, licking my lips. He waited almost patiently, his eyes locking on my face. “I…I like the way you look when you’re serious. You sort of have, um, a boyish charm,” I said softly, holding back a laugh. He, on the other hand, looked slightly shocked. “I’m not saying that you’re… not mature or whatever, because sometimes I don’t even think you’re seventeen. But there’s something about you that makes me think that I won’t ever be able to stay mad at you…”

“Well… thanks,” he muttered, and I looked away, embarrassed. I felt his hand squeeze mine slightly, getting me to look back up. “Really,” he added, giving me a small, one sided smile.

Maybe we were getting somewhere… like a journey.