Be Careful What You Wish For

I waited in my room for about an hour for Vic to come back. Multiple times I tried to get my powers to work. Hoping that somehow I would be able to appear where Vic was and help him out. The thought of that seems silly but I don’t want him to get hurt. I also don’t want to get hurt myself and being here without Vic increased that chance.

I paced back and forth in my bedroom, wishing my stupid powers would just work but they never did. Not correctly at least. I was able to pick up the wooden chair in the corner for only a second before dropping it and breaking one of the legs. That was pretty much no help in my hopes to find Vic. The longer he was gone, the more anxious I became. I wish he didn’t leave.

“Kellin.” I heard his voice call me from behind and I turned around, prepared to yell but my mood drastically changed when I saw him.

He wasn’t hurt too bad, His lip had a cut on it and blood was dripping down a bit. His knuckles were bloody and his arms had light scratches on them. No serious damage but it still hurt to see him like this. I took a second to take the sight in before deciding on what I wanted to say.

“What’s wrong with you?! We just had this conversation about taking care of yourself?” I yelled at him while walking to the bathroom for some gauze and medicine.

“Well, I hope you’re happy. You went and got yourself hurt and-” I stopped when I entered the room and saw his appearance once again. He was healed. Perfectly fine. He smiled at me and I threw the roll of gauze at him.

“What the hell is a matter with you?! What are you doing to me?” I yelled once again and put my hands over my eyes. I have never been more angry at him until now. He tricked me into thinking he was injured after I worried over him for an hour.

“Kellin, it’s okay, my love. I took care of it. Plus, I can heal the supernatural, myself included. I just did that to mess with you. I guess, it worked too well.” he said to me and a small smile played on his lips. The first time he pulls a prank and it’s like this!

I removed my hands from my eyes and stared him down in rage. He continued to try and explain himself but I wasn’t listening. It wasn’t just his cruel joke but also the fact that he could have been really hurt. He promised he was going to start taking better care of himself and picking fights isn’t taking care of yourself.

I walked out of the room while he continued making his case and justifying why he went to fight. I grabbed my coat out of the hall closet. I started putting it on when I felt a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from fully getting dressed.

“Where are you going? You can’t leave.” he told me, not bossy but more panicked. I shrugged his arm off and continued putting on my coat.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore. You left me alone now you can be alone. Feel how nervous and worried you had me.” I told him in a cold voice and walked out the door before he could argue.

Maybe I was acting childish but he really upset me. He promised me he wouldn’t leave my side. He promised to start taking better care of himself. In one minute he was able to break two promises to me. He’s supposed to be my soulmate. Relationships are only as strong as communication and right now we’re not even speaking.

I walked through the high Michigan snow and second guessed my decision. I was cold and alone. I could go back and be with Vic but I was too angry to even look at him. So, despite the lack of temperature, I trudged on. I wasn’t heading anywhere in particular, just killing time to make him nervous.

I was deep into the woods by now, surrounded by snow covered branches that once held green leaves but now we’re bare. I sat down under one of the trees and put my back against it for support. I closed my eyes and decided I’d try and work on my powers. At least it’ll give me something to do.

I put my hands out in front of my body and concentrated on the tree directly in front of me. I was going to try and peel off a bit of the bark. I wasn’t sure what my powers were (or what Vic’s are, for that matter) but there’s no harm in attempting.

I squeezed my eyes shut and my hands were shaking from the long pose. I thought only about the tree and how I wanted to see what was under the bark. I stopped thinking about Vic or what just happened. The only thing I thought about was the tree.

I peaked open one of my eyes and gasped at what I saw. The trees bark hadn’t peeled one bit. Instead, the entire tree was levitating off the ground! The only thing keeping it from flying off was the roots and they were starting to snap a bit. I looked at my hands in astonishment and then back at the floating nature.

“I’m doing this.” I whispered to myself, still in a state of disbelief.

“No, I am.” I heard a voice say from behind and I jumped in my spot.

I dropped my hands when I was startled and noticed that the tree hadn’t dropped either, just stayed in the air. The voice was right, I hadn’t been the one to cause it to levitate. I frowned in disappointment until realizing I had a mysterious stranger who had powers right behind me. I quickly got to my feet. When I turned to run, I bumped right into him and was knocked back on the snow covered ground.

“Going somewhere?” he asked with a smirk.
His smirk didn’t seem devious or evil but it also didn’t feel wholesome either. I looked at him and noticed that he didn’t look like the other spirits I’ve encountered these past few weeks. He didn’t appear to be neither demon or angel. He didn’t have red eyes or sharp teeth but he also didn’t have that warm glow to him either. I didn’t know what he was but it was obvious he was human since he had powers.

“Yeah, I was just leaving.” I told him in a calm voice and went to step around him but he moved in the way once again.

“No, I don’t think so. I think you should stay and chat for a bit.” he said to me and without my understanding as to how, we were both sitting on the icy ground. I tensed up, afraid of his unknown intentions.

“So, I see you’re trying to bring in your powers.” he started off, as if we knew each other and we’re having a casual conversation.

“Yeah.” I said in a wary tone, half expecting him to kidnap me by now. In that moment, I regretted my decision to walk away from Vic.

“I promise I’m not going to hurt you. Can’t we just talk?” he asked in a polite tone. I didn’t understand him or his intentions at all. I just hoped he wasn’t actually here to hurt me.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I don’t know you.” I told him in all honesty and nervously avoided his stare.

“That’s okay. You’ll get to know me. I’m Justin.” he said to me and like a normal human being (which he was not) he stuck out his hand for me to shake. I stared at it for a moment until deciding to accept the handshake. He didn’t feel warm but he also didn’t feel cold. He felt like nothing at all.

“I’m Kel-” I began but was cut off with his deep laughter, which didn’t make me feel so confident. Perhaps I had said the wrong thing or this man is just very strange.

“I know who you are. No need for introductions anymore. Everyone in our world knows who you are.” he said to me and stopped laughing but kept the smile on his face. When he smiled, he seemed normal and it relaxed me.

“Oh.” was all I said. Cursing myself for being stupid and forgetting that the entire spirit world was hunting me.

“You smell like Vic.” he said to me and sniffed the air around us. I hadn’t even notice Vic’s scent, maybe I’ve been around him long enough to be numb to it.

“How’s he treating you?” he asked in a nonchalant voice. I raised an eyebrow, not sure how to respond. I decided to just go with what came to my head.

“Look, I’m sorry but just because I know your name, doesn’t mean I know you. I just don’t want to talk to you about Vic right now. Actually, I don’t want to talk about him at all right now.” I told him, accidently giving away that there was a problem with us at the end of the sentence.

“Trouble in paradise?” he asked and I rolled my eyes, wanting to get up but not being able to work my muscles. They seemed frozen and wouldn’t cooperate.

“Whatever you’re doing, knock it off. This is not going to make me talk about Vic.” I told him in a stern voice and he rolled his eyes in reply.

“Do you love him?” he asked, a question I hadn’t been prepared for. I pondered my mind for an answer but came up with none. I care for him and like him a lot but I’m not sure what love is or what you feel when you are in it.

“I.. uh… I don’t know.” I told him, stumbling over my words and seeming pathetic. Like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck.

“Do you think he loves you? Do you think he’s capable of love at all?” he asked in a philosophical tone and I became suspicious of his last question.

“Of course he is. I mean, look at all he does to make me happy and keep me safe. He’s completely capable of love. I mean, he was once an angel and they send out love.” I told him, purposely avoiding his first question.

“He was an angel, correct. But now he’s a fallen angel. A corrupted soul. A lost cause.” he said in a harsh tone and I took offense to his words, even though he hadn’t been insulting me directly.

“He may be a fallen angel but he’s not what you say. He’s kind and gentle and will go out of his way for people. He’s protective and a bit pushy but it’s only out of care. What gives you the right to say these things? You don’t know him like I do.” I told him in a stern tone. Here I was defending Vic against a stranger's words. Hard to believe only half an hour ago, I told him off and insulted him myself. I started to feel a pang of guilt.

“Poor naive, Kellin. Heres the truth; you don’t know him at all. Trust me. He’s hiding everything from you. I thought you were smarter than this.” he said in a pity voice that made me want to punch him.

“He wouldn’t do that. I’m his soulmate. He doesn’t hide things from me.” I said to Justin, getting pissed off with the more time I spent around him.

“Are you sure about that?” he asked me in a mocking tone and I struggled more to force my body to get up and leave but had no luck.

“Yes! What would he hide from me? Why should I believe you anyway?” I shouted at him and noticed how hot my flesh was getting, looking down at some of the snow melting around me. I was unconsciously activating my powers.

“You should believe me because I’m telling the truth. Why don’t you see for yourself?” he asked and threw a sphere like object at me.

I looked into the cold orbe, seeing nothing at first but slowly a picture formed. The time period wasn’t something I could easily recognize, way back before colonial times. Before our ancestors even took over America. The picture was of a group of large native men wearing head pieces and shouting things in a dead language. From the corner of my eye, I saw Justin swirl his fingers and they were speaking english now.

“Brothers! We are starving! We must fight back against the evil ones! They have murdered our men and children. We can not let this go on! Tonight we attack!” the biggest man standing on top of a tree stump shouted. He was covered in animal skin and what appeared to be red paint. I presume he’s the leader of the tribe.

“How? We will surely die!” another buff seeming man shouted from the back of the pack.

“If we die, we die with dignity. We must make one final attempt.” the leader replied and the group of men cheered in agreement.

The scene changed from the meeting at the campsite to the men wandering around through the trees. Each of them had a homemade weapon clutched tightly to their bodies. Their eye scanned every inch of the area. They were obviously terrified of going into battle.

A loud scream was heard but couldn’t be seen who it was. It came from none of the men, it was too high pitched to be a man’s voice. The entire group sprinted off to the opposite direction and retreated back to their grounds.

The sight in the next picture made my lungs deflate and heart sink down to my shoes. It was Vic. He had the same body but he looked different. He looked rekless. His eyes were a bright blood shot red, his body seemed less tone and his facial expression had mean written all over it.

“Please don’t hurt my daughter! You can have the entire tribe and all our homes. Just don’t hurt her!” the once seeming strong chief begged.

This only made Vic laugh. His laugh sounded like nails against a chalkboard. He had a firm grip over the girls throat. She had darker skin than him and raven hair pulled into a braid. Her body was shaking and her eyes were watering. She didn’t seem to be much older than me.

“No! No one is allowed to love anyone. Humans are disgusting! None of them deserve to live!” he screeched at the chief.

The father took a small step forward, holding his hands out in a surrender position and started a sentence that ended with a scream. Vic had slashed her throat. Blood spilled out in all directions from her body. He dropped her to the ground and the dad ran over to her. Picking her up and cradling her. Vic smiled with her blood on his face.

I dropped the orb in both fear and disgust. All these emotions running through me, ones I didn’t even know existed until now. My hands shook uncontrollably and I stared off into the distance. He killed a young girl for no reason. Vic! The man I was destined to spend forever with had killed an innocent soul for no seeming reason.

“Still think you know everything?” he asked with a cocky smile but sympathetic eyes.

“That can’t be him. He wouldn’t do that. I refuse to accept that!” I shouted at Justin and tried to clear my head so that I could think straight.

“It was him. It’s still him. He still has that evil in him. He’s a loose canon. A bomb waiting to go off. That wasn’t the first or last time he did that either.” Justin told me, bringing the orb back to him.

“Vic wouldn’t. I- he. No.” I stumbled for words. Not wanting to believe what I just saw but I had seen it and it was real. There was nothing to hide behind this time.

“Why do you think he keeps these things from you? He wants you to see him as the good guy. He’s a phony. Don’t trust him.” he told me, leaning into my ear.

I pushed away and stood up with shaky legs. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples on my head. None of this can be real. The Vic in the flashbacks is completely different from the Vic then. But then again, what if he's just playing me? That wasn’t the only time he had killed someone for no reason.

I ran out of the forest. I didn’t want to be anywhere near Vic but I also didn’t want to be around Justin or that terrible memory ball either. I didn’t know where I was going. I took the opposite direction of my house and just kept going until the joints in my knees started burning from using them past their limits.

I slumped down on the sidewalk, trying to catch my breath and run things over in my head. Vic is my soulmate. The Vic he is around me is in no way how he was back then. I like to believe people can change but at the same time. Vic was a murderer. Vic has killed innocent people. Doesn’t that make him just as bad as Perses? Is he planning to kill me? What if everything is an act? I’m destined to spend the rest of my days with a killer. I just hope if he does kill me, he makes it quick.