Storm Brew

The rustle beneath the sheets didn't divert my attention from the book. A groan came from my side and then my face was smacked by a pillow.

"Good morning to you too, Anna." I pushed the pillow down to bed where she was laying half-asleep.

"Mel… I love you and all but…" I'm guessing she took a while to glance at her cell phone. "It's six in the morning—get out of my room…" The grumble was muffled.

"You know I can't." I shrugged flipping a page.

There was shifting.

"He's out again?"

"Yup," I nodded.

This time, Anna sighed in defeat.

"Why does he have to go jogging when the birds are still asleep…?" A weight fell on my shoulder, it was Anna's head. "Can't you tell him to stop?"

"I've tried. He does what he wants, though."

Anna mumbled something incoherent that sounded a lot like a curse mixed with Nate's name. Four days ago, we came to Roswell for two reasons the stolen car and to keep the Order members in the blank about where we were—at least try. Since we couldn't leave the car Nate said Anna should keep it, I think he just wanted some privacy back. Anyway, she couldn't drive around for long before getting pulled over because it was stolen. So, Nate brought us to Roswell after asking Reed for a safe place to alter the car—license-plate, different paint job, forged documents—that sort of thing. The remodeling should be finished within two days or so. Ever since we came here, Nate had been going jogging early and since he couldn't leave me in the room alone he woke me up, leading me into Anna's room. I took the time to read through The Order's book, not that it was easy with Anna complaining and my eyes were still lulled by sleep. It was beyond me why Nathaniel had started working out so early, but it could be a way of blowing steam since he found out about Aric was his half-brother; plus the things he'd been told… it couldn't be easy. I didn't know if Aric was telling the truth about Kristen leaving because she loved Aric better than she had loved Nate but… the reason why she died—the one he'd told me made me believe it a little.

You could say she died because she didn't know how to let go.

I don't see how that could get her killed; then again, I didn't really understand half the things in my life right now. Nate hadn't opened up, telling me how he felt, not like he needed to. It was easy to see it pained him. He just wasn't moping about it. Another thing he hadn't commented on was the fact that I asked Aric for help. That spooked me a little, because if he was holding something inside… it would blow up soon and when it did… let's just say I would like to be miles away.

"That book has to be really interesting…" Anna mumbled, I was sure she was dozing off in my shoulder. "So interesting…"

After a faint yawn I shook my head lightly. A lot of text was snuff out given to the amount of time, it must've been years since the first pages were written. Still, I was able to acquire knowledge about Aric's specialness. He didn't have a cross-scar because it symbolized subjugation to a higher entity. The regular members of The Order had them, but the founding families and descendants never bared the mark. There had been two founding families, the Kings and the Lanes. Along the Cult's history both families married outside. But twenty-four years ago Vincent and Kristen married and a son. Aric. So, he was a descendent from both founding families, not just one. The power was concentrated in him according to their ideals. Since his Mother was gone, his Father was the one in charge—I presumed—and if Vincent died, Aric would inherit The Order, so to speak. In all of this I could only think that Nate had claim too. He's Mom had been the last from the Lane family—so he had a right. Not that he'd ever want it... I think. I knew one thing, Ah had other plans, though."

Anna shook the bag in my direction; I picked out one stuffing it into my mouth. She crunched quietly shifting to lean on my side peeking at the book.

"So, anything that can help our mystery?"

"Sort of, maybe... I'm not sure."

"I can tell," I gave her a side-glance, her eyebrows arched. "What? It's true." Ann flicked her hair over her shoulders then sat straighter. A moment later I lifted my eyes from the book as she cleared her voice. Anna stared at me a little intently, arms crossed over her chest—she looked like a woman on a mission. "Are you going to explain to me what went down with Nate and... Eric?"

"Aric," I corrected.

Anna brushed her hair once shrugging.

"Same difference," forest eyes locked with mine. "I mean, I understand it had something to do with them being... related."

Hmm, there didn't seem a way to back out of this one. She'd been there, she'd heard what was said. I was surprised she hadn't questioned me sooner.

"What's going on..." I started when a thought startled me. What would happen if the Hive found out the truth about Nate's Mother? That she belonged to The Order, what would happen to Nathaniel...? One step at a time, I fed to myself as I took an intake breath. "Nate's Mom was from The Order," I didn't miss the widening of her eyes and couldn't censure her. "And... she was also Aric's Mother."

"Was? Did she die?" I nodded curtly. "Oh," she mouthed.

"Yeah, oh." I shut the book setting it on the pillow Anna had vacated. "He didn't know until we found the book, it had birth records—Aric's included."

Anna twirled a strand between her fingers thinking.

"They're half-brothers? Huh... they don't look alike—at all." Good practical reaction. "You trust him?" Anna moved the book to the bedside table leaning her back on the headboard beside me.

"I don't trust anyone," I quoted Nathaniel. "He never gave me reasons not to, though. I might be making a big mistake but at least I'll be the one to make it... not anyone else."

I wanted to make my own choices; I was done having others decide for me. Anna studied my dead-straight face.

"I like that motto, kinda screams 'screw what the world wants'."

We laughed leaning our heads together. We used to watch Comedies every Saturday and this used to be how we ended up. The only thing missing was the popcorn bowl—it normally ended up on the floor or eaten before the movie reached its middle. I loved Saturdays, even if I already knew what I'd be doing at night.

"I don't think I ever laughed like this hard at seven in the morning." I breathed clutching my ribs.

Anna covered her mouth trying to stop, her eyes slitting to focus on me.

"Ditto,"

***

The door clicked. My eyes blinked at the surrounding darkness. It was night already… there was something next to me, something soft and warm—a body. I rubbed my eyes realizing it was Anna. Steps crowded my ears, I moved around a little, careful not to jolt my friend. I watched as he silently rubbed his face like he was tired—I hadn't seen him all day. He hadn't come back from running like every other day. Instead, he'd called Anna's cell saying he'd be taking the day off. The day off of me… Not that he'd said it, but it was easy to get. I understood, I guess. It wasn't easy to be stuck with the same person every day for two months, to see the same face every hour. It didn't mean it didn't hurt a little.

Nate crouched to the bed level and my face began to lift so I could look better at him—he held up a hand though, as if telling me to lie back down.

"Mind staying here tonight?" He whispered deeply.

My eyes did their best to hide their admiration.

"Huh… sure I'll stay." I murmured against every fiber of my being.

I watched as the shadows in the room hid him, ate his face as he nodded mutely getting up. Apparently, Nate's day off hadn't been enough, he needed the night off as well. I watched him walk away from bed, not speaking another word to me. It was so distant and… unlike the Nathaniel I'd come to know. It almost seemed like…

Anna's arm beat my head, I groaned looking over to her. Still sleeping, I shook my head. I'd found another person who moved around in their sleep. Goody. I rolled over almost falling off bed. Once I was up on my feet I stumbled toward the window, setting my fingertips on the glass looking outside. At first, I thought Nate was carrying a sack of potatoes—I wondered why, it wasn't like he cooked. Then it began taking shape, I saw the form of a body—a corpse wrapped in a burlap sack. A cold feeling crawled up from the depths of my stomach; it reminded me of a slender snake moving up a twisted tree. It chilled my bones. Who was in that—a member of The Order probably, it had to be. But… Nathaniel never kept me on the sidelines when there were Order members stalking the streets… so why was he doing it now? All the time I'd been together with him I'd seen him kill people for self defense, never for other purposes. My fingers curled in on themselves turning white as paper. He'd been out all day—

The thoughts I began ended, Nate was getting into his Mustang. As fast as I could I latched for the door knob and when I opened I didn't need to look to know the car was driving away, the engine's roar sufficed. I stood there on my bare feet, dressed in my sleeping shorts and his red sweatshirt. Subconsciously, I rubbed a piece of it between my fingers.

"What were you doing Nate…?" I asked. The night was my only audience, I didn't receive an answer.

My mind entered an over-working state for the rest of night. It went without saying sleep hadn't come. I wondered if he'd killed someone who had nothing to do with our quest—I wondered if he'd been… working. I couldn't think about that and yet, at the same time, it was all I could think about. What if Nate had been working last night? What if the body I'd seen him carry to the trunk was an assignment? How would I deal with it? I hadn't been confronted with that situation yet. I thought I didn't care—that he killed for money, even if Nate said the people he murdered had a shady past… I couldn't… process it. I knew what I'd done to Drew had been self defense, I had no choice but accept it. I still felt guilt. How could I be alright with him killing for money?

"Cherry soda, my favorite," Anna chirped sinking in the room's sofa.

My eyes crawled to her. Anna did the same, didn't she? She killed people as a job… I was surrounded by them. Why hadn't this alarm flashed sooner? The sickness inside grew stronger as the image of Parker's severed ear jumped to mind. I curled an arm around my stomach. Anna set the can down placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?" I tried to nod but she knitted her eyebrows. "You know, good people are the worst liars. That said, spill what's gotten you so green."

Couldn't anyone let one little lie pass? God I would have to take an intensive course of lying.

"Last night…" I croaked. "Last night, I saw Nate carrying someone's body into the trunk…"

Anna's face was trampled by a shadow, a feeling of… of someone who'd been caught. My forehead was crooned by worry lines as I leaned to her. "You don't seem all that surprised…" I realized. "Just… surprised you got caught." My mouth stayed partially open, disbelieve written on my face. "Oh my God—you knew?"

Anna titled her head aside; her pony tail hid her face as it crashed on its side. My hand tugged on her arm.

"You knew what he was doing last night, didn't you? Didn't you?" I asked with an edge to my voice.

The raven pony tail whipped around as she faced me, face marked by tiredness.

"Yes, alright? I knew!" She jerked her arm from my hold. "I didn't tell you because Nate knew—"

"Knew what?"

At this point I didn't need confirmation for what he'd been doing yesterday.

"That you wouldn't react well—that you wouldn't understand." Anna watched as I got up from my seat.

One hand fell to my hip while the other one rubbed my forehead.

"Understand… that he killed someone last night?" Anna kept her lips firmly pressed. "But he didn't just kill a person, did he? It wasn't for my safety or his—it was for money, wasn't it?" I looked down to her and felt my eyes shadow from tears.

Being told about what he did—what they did—was one thing… knowing they'd done it with me around… I couldn't understand. I couldn't understand why he did it, not when he could be a lawyer, he could do good. I knew there was good in him. Why didn't he let anyone else see it?

I breathed, swallowed all at the same time—I turned on my heel as the door creaked open.

"What's going on here?" Nate said tilting his head when our eyes met.

Anna strolled past me stopping in front of my boyfriend—then she looked over her shoulder to me, but I didn't allow the hold on Nate's eyes to waver.

"We need to talk." I mouthed more than spoke.

There wasn't a word from Nate as we were left alone. Nate approached me cautiously as if I'd snap and attack him like a deranged monkey at any given moment.

"Melissa," he said holding down his hands. "What is it?" Oh God, really? What is it? Was it that hard to figure out?

"I think you know," I bit down on my lip.

Nate cocked his head sighing out.

"Anna is a real blabbermouth—" He began, tone deep and irritated.

"I saw it…" I whispered closing my eyes for one split second. "She didn't say anything—I saw it last night." I breathed deeply as his eyes widened from admiration. Right then I knew it was true—that he wasn't going to take back… it was true. "It's true…" I shook my head side to side, not able to look up to him. "You… you…" I gasped feeling desperate.

It was consuming me like a dying fire straining to stay alive.

"You weren't supposed to know." Nate said steadily.

"Do you think that makes it better?" By the glimpse I took of his face I knew he did… "It doesn't."

Nathaniel brushed his hair backward as I tried to grasp how everything could crumble with one action, one omission.

"I did what I had to—"

"Why did you need to that?" My voice rose.

His palm struck the flat surface of the wall making me jump.

"Because it's what I do—it's my job, Melissa. Reed gave me the assignment when we came here—it was the sole reason for coming here." His mouth was set in a hard sneer. "I…" Nate looked me over seeing how startled I looked.

He held up his hands taking a few more steps to close off our distance, but for every step closer he took, I stumbled one backward. Nathaniel glanced down to the ground stopping his advances.

"How am I supposed to live with someone who kills people for money? And I don't even understand why you do it. You have a law degree—you could be a good person, you could show people the good I know you have, but you choose this… I don't understand. All this time… the time we've spent together I never gave it real thought because somehow I'd convinced myself that I knew you—that it didn't matter that you killed people as long as it kept us safe… but for money…? Did you even need money?"

"You're right. You don't know me—because everything I've done since I met you I've done it for you."

"So you killed a person last night for me?" There was silence. "That's what I thought,"

"You don't get it!" I stepped back watching as he breathed deeply, shoulders trembling. "You don't know anything—I had a normal life and I got this." He held his arms out but they fell quickly. "To me my parents were normal—both of them. And I got stuck with nothing… and you…" His wavy hair fell forward covering his forehead. "You got…" He rasped angrily. "You got to live a normal life when both your parents were assassins. How is that fair?"

I'd thought about this once. What if Nate didn't like me because he was jealous of me, because I'd gotten normal and he hadn't? It was hard to know I'd been right. Tears accumulated, I bit down on the inside of my cheek. I couldn't cry. Wasn't a right he had? Even I thought it had been unfair what happened. Now, we knew his Mother had been from The Order, still, I thought Nate deserved what I had had, not to grow up surrounded by assassins.

"And if I wasn't confused enough with my Mother belonging to The Order… you go ahead and ask for that bastard's help!" He exclaimed kicking over a table chair, eyes wild. "How do you think that makes me feel?"

"Nate…" I'm sorry, wouldn't cut it.

Nathaniel took a shaky breath looking up above then to me.

"Remember when I told you, you had to accept who I was?" I nodded faintly fearing what came after that. "Well," he heaved softly, but where his voice sounded smooth his eyes revealed hardness and it shocked me. "This is who I am," Nate's face was stone cold, no emotion fueled him. "This is what I do."

I knew that. I'd known for a long time, but to see all this cholera towards me… it was devastating.

There's a faint line between love and hate…

"I love you…" He whispered, I swallowed watching a wisp of love breaking through the barrier of steel that were his eyes. "I love you as much as I hate you, Melissa." A sob escaped my chest, but he didn't stop backing away. "I can't be around you right now." He shook his head. "I need… I need time."

The door slammed.

My lips sputtered as a tear descended my cheek—my chest shook uncontrollably, more tears came and my knees gave out. I kept an arm around my midsection—it hurt. It just hurt so much—I wanted to make it stop. I gasped, sobbed—I knelt there in the center of the room, doubling over myself, wishing my emotions had a switch I could turn off.