I stop, half in the room. My papers and notebooks are on the floor, out of order, a mess - I look at Aurelio and it hardly bothers me. He is breathing heavily and the look on his face is unsettling. The way he sounds, his voice - it's not his own.
I step inside and close the door quietly, set the books I am holding on top of others stacked against the wall. As I turn to face him again I quell my rising panic.
I steady myself against the desk by curling my hands against the edge.
"I just had a vision." I state simply, as if this was normal. As if I had just informed him I read a book or ate lunch, "And...I think my family's found me, and they might be coming."
"You just had a vision." I repeat the words to myself under my breath. "Your family, how does..." I check myself, not wanting to ask questions blindly.
"Um. Well." I run my hands through my hair. "They're gonna want me back, you know. And they aren't going to be too happy when they find all of you. Especially Father. The vision was so abrupt, what I saw was vague..."
I hear a crackling noise in my ears. Suddenly the room is tinted red, like a drop of blood falling into water.
My fingers are digging into the table and I realize the crack was caused by me. I had destroyed the desk, the power of my hands causing tree-branch cracks and groves to splinter out and around my palms. Leaving the table in a mass of barely standing wood.
I shove it aside, absentmindedly. It crumbles in the corner where it lands and his books fall with a muffled thud.
"Don't." I snarl low and weighted, "Don't you ever speak to me like that again, you filthy mortal, when I am trying to save your pathetic lives."
I pinch the bridge of my nose and let the anger sweep out of me. Aurelio is no longer himself, but another facet of his many-faced divinity. I can no longer push him, though I am not about to cower in fear before him.
I wait until he has calmed before I speak again, this time my voice low and even.
"Aurelio, it would be better, I think, if we were to work together, as opposed to what we have been doing - which is not productive."
"Yes." I sigh. My eyes flicker to the pile of wood against the wall. "Sorry about your desk."
I nudge it with my foot. Not really sorry at all, but I want us to be on the same side. To be allies. And that, after all, is nothing in comparison to what I'm consciously able to do.
I didn't even intend to do that. It was a tick, an angry twitch. Not real power at all.
"So.." I give him a questioning look, waiting for him to make the next move.
"Don't worry about it," I reply shortly, my mind still working out the problem of Cassandra and Ryan.
"But if they do... I don't know. Become dangerous - the both of them - what should we do? What should we do to keep them calm?" He knows better than I what would set them off and unleash whatever power that is inside of them.
"I don't know. Don't piss them off. Keep Caden in check. Maybe...Maybe have Alexis keep an eye on Cassie. Ryan, well, he's gone. We can't prevent him from turning dark. But Cassie's a lot more precious to Marcus and Father at this point, and she could switch sides very easily."
I let my arms fall numbly to my sides. Hoping that at least some of that made sense.
Aurelio's shout takes me off guard. I pause and look up and he is haloed in gold light.
...No, not haloed, I realize. He's emanating it. I feel something seethe just beneath my skin while I try to decide if he's a threat or not.
I'm still trembling, high from the feeling of seeing things shrivel at my feet. It doesn't even feel good--but it seems so incredibly necessary. And seeing Aurelio's light...
I want to smother that, too.
"What?" I finally reply, my voice still oddly low.
"Maybe not so much blind as just nearsighted," I retort, though his quiet dismissal of this half-fact is not lost upon me. Ethan gives me a sad, encouraging smile and I am heartened the smallest bit.
I had wanted to seek out Ryan once I had found Ethan, though now that I was in the presence of both him and Aurelio I found that I now had little interest in leaving. I had seen Cassandra and I knew something was wrong, but I also knew that this was first between her, Ryan, and my brother and it would do little help to pry for the answers that I knew would come in time. For now I simply allowed myself the quiet desire that I had grown so fond of, so used to, and I let my eyes linger on Ethan's frame for a moment longer before focusing on Aurelio, though I address my question to both of them.
"Can I walk with you for a bit? ...Do you mind?" From the looks of it they had been at the edge of a discussion, most probably serious in nature, and I do not want to disturb the fragile atmosphere that seems to surround them.
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I step inside and close the door quietly, set the books I am holding on top of others stacked against the wall. As I turn to face him again I quell my rising panic.
"What is it, Aurelio?" My voice is low and even.
Reply
"I just had a vision." I state simply, as if this was normal. As if I had just informed him I read a book or ate lunch, "And...I think my family's found me, and they might be coming."
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"What does this mean for us?"
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My fingers are digging into the table and I realize the crack was caused by me. I had destroyed the desk, the power of my hands causing tree-branch cracks and groves to splinter out and around my palms. Leaving the table in a mass of barely standing wood.
I shove it aside, absentmindedly. It crumbles in the corner where it lands and his books fall with a muffled thud.
"Don't." I snarl low and weighted, "Don't you ever speak to me like that again, you filthy mortal, when I am trying to save your pathetic lives."
Reply
I pinch the bridge of my nose and let the anger sweep out of me. Aurelio is no longer himself, but another facet of his many-faced divinity. I can no longer push him, though I am not about to cower in fear before him.
I wait until he has calmed before I speak again, this time my voice low and even.
"Aurelio, it would be better, I think, if we were to work together, as opposed to what we have been doing - which is not productive."
Reply
Reply
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I nudge it with my foot. Not really sorry at all, but I want us to be on the same side. To be allies. And that, after all, is nothing in comparison to what I'm consciously able to do.
I didn't even intend to do that. It was a tick, an angry twitch. Not real power at all.
"So.." I give him a questioning look, waiting for him to make the next move.
Reply
"But if they do... I don't know. Become dangerous - the both of them - what should we do? What should we do to keep them calm?" He knows better than I what would set them off and unleash whatever power that is inside of them.
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I let my arms fall numbly to my sides. Hoping that at least some of that made sense.
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"Ryan, Hey!" I shout. Waving him over.
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...No, not haloed, I realize. He's emanating it. I feel something seethe just beneath my skin while I try to decide if he's a threat or not.
I'm still trembling, high from the feeling of seeing things shrivel at my feet. It doesn't even feel good--but it seems so incredibly necessary. And seeing Aurelio's light...
I want to smother that, too.
"What?" I finally reply, my voice still oddly low.
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I'm going to be sick.
"I don't want to talk right now," I flatly.
The anger is receding. Now there's nothing left except numbness and nausea.
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A battle wound.
"I forget how truly blind you humans are." I reply morbidly.
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I had wanted to seek out Ryan once I had found Ethan, though now that I was in the presence of both him and Aurelio I found that I now had little interest in leaving. I had seen Cassandra and I knew something was wrong, but I also knew that this was first between her, Ryan, and my brother and it would do little help to pry for the answers that I knew would come in time. For now I simply allowed myself the quiet desire that I had grown so fond of, so used to, and I let my eyes linger on Ethan's frame for a moment longer before focusing on Aurelio, though I address my question to both of them.
"Can I walk with you for a bit? ...Do you mind?" From the looks of it they had been at the edge of a discussion, most probably serious in nature, and I do not want to disturb the fragile atmosphere that seems to surround them.
Reply
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