Do Mine Eyes Deceive Me...A Gorgeous Sadistic Vampire?

"Cal, are you being serious? I can teleport people!" I exclaimed, disbelievingly.

"Apparently, so," he nodded, impressed. "But don't get too cocky just yet; we still have a hell of a lot of work to do."

I frowned, but didn't complain. He was the authority figure here, after all. There was nothing I could do, and I had agreed to this.

"OK, what next?" I asked, suppressing a sigh.

"I never said we were moving on. You still haven't mastered flying," Cal said, trying to act all impatient and authoritative. I looked at him with an eyebrow quirked. "Oh, just do it!"

"Fine," I grumbled. So, I re-entered the very depths of my own mind, searching for the luminous stronghold that guarded my power.

I found it easily enough this time, remembering the way. The only emotion I knew strong enough to break down the darkness was love. But I wanted to control it this time, and I think the more powerful the love is, the more control it will give me of what I want to do.

Instead of just imagining the overwhelming love I felt for Harrison, I conjured up all the love I'd ever felt for anyone. I'd already thought of my family, but what about all the friends I'd left behind? What about . . . Devlin? I'd loved him. But then came the anguish. He'd betrayed me, lied to me. And I still couldn't get over him, despite the fact that I loved Harrison more. And now he was gone. Dead and gone (excuse the lyrics, please). He got himself killed because of me. He was too much of a coward to face me after he tricked me into loving him. A passionate fury now coursed through me, and this was something I could not control. Devlin had made me hate Harrison. He'd made me despise him and want to kill him. I would never be able to get Devlin back. He took care of that himself.

The fortress shook in front of my eyes. It seemed to be cowering in terror of my rage. Light was pouring out of me. A bright, angry light so much different then the one of love when I'd realized I was in love with Harrison. It had the same effect, nonetheless. My power came to me, and I remembered I was supposed to be flying, and so that's what I did. I pushed off the ground with my feet, returning to reality but holding onto the power with my mind. I pushed my arms out on either side of me and imagined myself as a bird.

"Good, Joan. See what you can do with it," Cal called from the ground.

OK, I could do this. I wanted to release some of this emotion. I wanted to let go. Maybe I could do some fun aerial tricks or something that would look cool in the air.

The best way to hold my arms was in this goofy-looking Super Man position, but I didn't care at this point. I did a couple of laps around the perimeter of the gym in what felt like record time. Then, as I got the hang of it, I attempted some flips and jabs and dives and such.

"Alright, now I want you to try lifting me in the air, and giving me free control. Just focus on letting me do what you're doing," Cal called up to me. "I think you might be able to fight like that."

I began doing what he asked me to. But, then I thought of something. "But, Cal - why do you need to test my aerial fighting abilities by being in the air, yourself? Won't most of my enemies be on the ground?"

I looked down to see him grinning up at me. "I was wondering if you would catch that. Very good. However, faeries can fly. And shapeshifters could give themselves some method of flight, I suppose. You are correct that most of your enemies will be on the ground, but there are others out there . . ." He trailed off to a whisper, talking to himself now more than anything.

I wasn't about to hassle any answers out of him, so I let it be. "Just tell me whether or not you want me try and make you fly or not, alright?" I snapped.

"Joan, you'll never be able to do this if you're so flustered. Come down here," he asked with a sigh, trying not to show his frustration. Hell, I was frustrated, too.

"Dammit, I just have a lot on my mind," I apologized.And it was true. It seemed like I got this way every time I thought about Devlin, or home, or my family. Everything that had been taken away from me. And then there was everything that had been given to me. I fell in love with the greatest man I'd ever met, and he cared about me, too. Did he love me? No, probably not. Yet, at least. Good things take time, right?

I released my flow of energy, and floated back to the ground like a feather. Cal was there waiting, and he knew that I was going through a rough time with this. I just sat down on the floor, carving designs in the wood with my fingernail. A hand found its way to my shoulder. He then sat down on the floor next to me.

"I don't get it," I told him.

"I know, but I don't blame you. You've had a hard time, Joan . . ." he replied understandingly.

"No," I answered shortly. "What I don't get, is how you seem to know everything I've been through already. I guess I'm trying to ask you how you know so much about me."

"You really don't want to know the answer to that question," he said. He removed his hand and got up before pacing back and forth.

"What, have you been stalking me or something? It can't be that bad," I negotiated.

"No, Joan, I really don't think you understand. It's -" he began, but I stood up and cut him off.

"I'm tired of all these damn secrets! I'm tired of immortality and everybody whose a part of it! I just want things to go back to the way they used to be. What the hell is wrong with everything?" I was beyond frustrated now. I was to the point where every little thing was just downright pissing me off.

"Wait . . . I have an idea," Cal grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Do you trust me, Joan?"

I thought about it. No, I didn't actually trust him very much. But he had an idea that would hopefully help me out somehow. And I was up for anything.

"Oh, what the hell," I muttered, and then took the hand he offered.

He began tugging me along, but then stopped. "You know what? I don't wanna waste all this time getting there, so project your power at me for a moment. I promise I won't take any of it or something like that - it that's even possible. I just want to transport us there. And since you don't know what or where it is, I'll just have to do it."

It was easier this time. Since there was all that pent-up emotion already bubbling at the surface, all I had to do was gather up all that powerful energy and focus on pushing it at Cal.

In the blink of an eye, we were in a very crowded environment. There was loud music, that throbbed in your ears, and a hoard of people gyrating together in one big group. I looked around, and found what I was looking for; the bar.

"Cal, you brought me to a bar? You want me to drink away my problems? Can I even get drunk?!" I screamed at him, fighting to make myself heard over the music.

"Yes, yes, and yes," he answered. "Trust me, you'll be fine. Since you're half-superhuman, you can get drunk. But it will take longer than it would a human. And, you won't be hungover in the morning. Can you possibly think of a better idea? Forgetting your troubles with no regrets the next morning?"

"I don't have any money," I countered.

"I've got enough for the night," he said with a satisfied smile.

"OK, well as far as I know, you're not any sort of superhuman hybrid. How do you plan on getting drunk? Or are you my designated driver for lack of a better term," I asked.

"Oh, I have my ways," then, he handed me more money then I'd ever handled in my life and sauntered off in another direction.

I looked toward the bar. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? I really did want some sort of a stress relief. And I wasn't about to go over the top. Maybe just a few beers. Yeah, that sounded nice.

©Copyrighted