Forbidden To Love (The Erosians) (2 page)

My irritation at sucking at my job and hating my life needs to be paused; time to play the mortal. Two groups of girls are wandering over to where I
’m sitting. Their inane chatter quickly attacks my mind giving me no time to create a barricade to shield myself from their voices.

“
You should definitely wear the purple one?” One girl squeals

“
Are you kidding? I'm trying to make him work for to see the goods not show him everything at once!” all the girls collapse into giggles as they seat themselves two benches down from me.

The second group walks to three benches above me.

“I can’t tonight I got to study for the trig test if I fail my mother will kill me” one of the other girls in the group announces.

“
Come on B! Just an hour he’ll be heartbroken if you don’t turn up!” the rest of the group makes pleading noises with the first girl.

I do my best to appear normal. I grab my phone from my bag and start to open some apps, so I blend in with the rest of the people sitting alone. Their conversations continue to flow into my head, one through each ear. They crash into each other; their words fighting for space, giving me one massive headache.

Attempting to put up a shield as Allana taught me to do when I don’t want to listen any mortal voices around me, is now impossible when they’re this close. I should never have taken my shield down, but no one was this near to me before and I wasn’t expecting company.

The girls sit closer to me than normal, which is why I
’ve been allowed the unwanted privilege of hearing every bit of their conversations, which mainly focus around tonight, and some party that's happening.

“
Tonight is the night, I'm so getting with Marcus” A girl from what I’ll label as ‘group A’ confidently announces.

“
Well you need to come; you need to witness me finally capturing Marcus!” A girl from group B states!

“
Capture him? He’s not an animal!”’

“
Oh I bet he is!” The girls in group B collapse into laughter.

Guess this Marcus is going to be one lucky guy.
Don’t get the wrong idea about me; I'm not some sort of weird eavesdropper. I’m not listening in deliberately. I can thank my glorious immortal maker for the ability to hear everything. As an Erosian my senses are more advanced than mortals; so really I would still be irritated by them no matter how far they choose to sit from me. When the mortals are at a distance though I can choose which ones I listen to, or I can put the shield up and block them altogether.

Allana told me that I shouldn
’t try to use the shield too often. She calls the ability to hear mortals talk an ‘advanced skill’ to be used to our advantage. I prefer ‘advanced annoyance’. I mean I try hard enough already to be normal, but being able to hear everything constantly, even the smallest whisper, presents a whole new challenge. Not to mention how the irritation swells within me when they’re talking about me, which seems to be pretty often. Hearing my name makes my head snap up like some wild meercat. They all burst into hysterics whenever this happens. If I allowed my feelings to exist, I’d be seriously hurt by their reaction. I’m not even going to dwell on what they’re saying about me at the time.

Leaning back on my hands I tilt my head to the sun. My life
’s not all grim. I suppose. I guess Allana’s half right; hearing everything can be sort of useful at times, especially when they’re talking about someone they want. Sometimes the skill makes my job easier when one of them eventually starts talking about someone they like who is viable. Then I just check they match; work my magic, and voilà. Not today, though.

Some senior boys pass me as I return desperately to scanning the horizon. The football field in front of me has huddles of jocks dotted around most with their red jerseys slung onto the floor, which of course has attracted clusters of girls to the benches. I try to pick through their auras for any matches, but I
’m still out of luck. The senior boys stop by the girls in front of me.

“
What are you doing sitting so close to loner aren’t you scared you’ll catch something” the senior boys howl with laughter and start punching each other. I ignore what they say and check their auras instead. May as well try and make the best of the situation – I swear that is the motto to my life!

The word
‘meathead’ springs to mind when I glance over the boys, but I check their auras against the girls they're currently drooling over. No matches there either. I’m beginning to think the Fates are toying with me by planting me in a school were romance is like a pool in a desert.

The meatheads start to grin and elbow each other as they nod in my direction. Trying to ignore them, I focus my attention on the other group of girls; allowing their conversation to flood my mind, so I won
’t be privileged to whatever jibes they’re about to make. I know I shouldn’t be bothered by them; I'm not here to make friends or to be liked. The familiar ache in the pit of my stomach wakes up as the image of Eros discarding me like a piece of trash returns to my mind. Tears prick the backs of my eyes, the same sting I get every time I replay that day.

I'm not sad he didn
’t want me. I don’t even want to imagine what my life might have been had he said, “Yes, Zeus. She’s the one.” The pain of the speedy rejection is what hurts; he only took one look at me. I felt a dagger swipe through my body, and the wound is still raw. At times, I wish Zeus had done what Eros was demanding from him and thrown me back to Prometheus so he could roll me up and try again!

             
I start re-scanning each of the cliques here at the school hoping someone new has magically appeared whose aura fits perfectly with another’s. I hate the way the school groups itself into small bands of people, they become so stuck in the same patterns they never pay attention to anyone else around them. On the rare occasions I do find matches if they’re from different cliques there’s a whole social divide to get over before they’ll let themselves be together! That is one of the things about the mortal world which undoubtedly drives me insane.

If I
’d been blessed or cursed enough to stay in Olympus I’d still be surrounded by cliques, the court there is just as guilty. The few weeks I spent there before we came to the mortal world were a lot like high school, but with eternal sunshine, the most gorgeous kinds of food and the most spectacular gardens you’d ever seen. Honestly, though the Prom King and Queen titles would go straight to Ares and Aphrodite, the geek clique would be led by Hepthasteus, and Moirae with Persephone would be representing the more Gothic types. Imagine high school with magic and immortality, and you’re close to Olympus.

Thank the Gods I can finally see a potential match. A dark haired beauty looks miserable in her emo-esque circle, pretending to listen to one of the other girl's stories about how she almost lost her
‘V’ with some guy she met the other night. She is practically crying out to be matched with someone. She has a beautiful golden aura that shimmers in the afternoon sun.

The gold would knit almost perfectly with the green one from the jock guy who has been stretching the same calf muscle for at least twenty minutes while he gazes distractedly towards the school gates. His thoughts may be off somewhere else, but his aura is glistening.

It’s a good job I'm here because they’d never notice each other or act upon the sparks of lust which might be simmering down in their bodies if they did. They’d be too afraid of the judgments they’d get from everyone else. Sad really, but clique or no clique, my job is to pair people up where they appear, and they belong together.

Focusing in on the golden haze surrounding the girl I close my eyes and allow all my energy to leave my body. The usual ball of heat swells in my stomach, drawing warmth from every part of my body leaving crisp tingles behind. The ball explodes into two streams that shoot from my arms, flowing out to where I
’m aiming. They reach her and begin to stretch the edge of her aura to a point in the sky halfway between where she’s sitting and where he’s doing his stretches.

The gold arc floats in the summer breeze
, I shift my attention to the guy’s green glow and quickly begin pulling. My energy moves before me and takes hold of the shimmer pulsing around him. I gently knit the two of them together, taking care not to cause any fractures that would manifest later in their relationship as rough patches.

Pulling the guy's aura takes more energy than I was expecting. He
’s pretty reluctant to be tied. Concentrating harder I finish the pairing seconds before my energy gives way. I almost fall backwards off the bench as my energy snaps back to me after it had been pulled so thinly. The beautiful colors of their auras melt into each other quickly creating a complete new shade that will be unique to their love.

My job is now complete. I
’ve joined them to each other, and now their auras will do the rest. Gradually they’ll be brought together without them realising. There’ll be accidental shoulder bumps, and delightfully confused expressions of 'Didn’t I see you earlier?', until they giggle nervously and begin talking, slowly becoming more than strangers.

Cassidy and Keagan are their names. I heard them being used by their friends and pretty soon both groups of friends will be whispering about them as a couple. A small burst of satisfaction explodes in my chest, I guess I do get some happiness from helping others find love
– how could I not want to help others fall in love when I want so badly to fall myself. I guess when you’ve had the feeling and lost it; like Eros.

The bubbles of happiness all pop and the familiar painful surge of loneliness fires through my body. I grit my teeth trying not to focus on the pain as it soars along every vein.

The bell’s about to go ending our lunch break. I get up quickly and head towards the beige brick building that will trap us for the next couple of hours. I want to get there before everyone else as I usually do, so I can stand near the door and watch for any matches wandering past. Bending down to pick up my bag full of the school books I’ve never had any intention of reading, I do a quick final scan of the students.

What the hell?

My eyes are forced to stop on something weird on the football field. Something I’ve never seen before and no one told me about the possibility of it existing. Squinting to try and get a better look doesn't help. Neither does shielding my eyes from the sun to make sure they aren’t messing with me.

Walking slowly and cautiously towards the edge of the field my heart starts thumping in my chest. I can
’t tear my eyes from the abomination before me; my legs move without instruction almost landing me in the lap of one of the girls I’d been listening to earlier. This can’t be right. My stomach starts to twist itself into knots, but I can’t figure out why.

Fear?

But why should I be afraid? This feels nothing like what I experienced in Olympus when I was faced with Eros.

Reaching the edge of the group of football guys who are no longer stretching, I can
’t pass what I'm seeing off as a mistake or a trick of the light. This guy has no aura! My heart starts to rattle loudly in my chest, my throat becomes dry, and my head is screaming for me to run. But I can’t. Something has me locked down in place.

A pain starts to swell in the bottom of my stomach; erupting into flames that burn towards my chest, like flaming claws ripping away at me from the inside. Bile rises in the back of my throat as I almost succumb to this pain and crumble right now before him. I need to assess him properly to try and figure out what he truly is, but the torture I'm under is forcing my eyes shut; like someone doesn
’t want me to see him!

I take a deep breath and throw my head upwards towards him, I hold back the scream that rises from the channels of pain contracting around my neck as I arch it back. I can
’t think of any rational excuse for the pain he is putting me through.

I can take him in clearly now, and there
’s no doubting that the guy certainly has no aura. He is not of this world. Nothing surrounds him; no glow, no shimmer, and no halo of light all mortals possess some inner light that I can see wrapped around them like a full body blanket – but not this guy. What type of immortal can he be? His powers must be advanced; he isn’t even looking at me and I'm suffering from the effects of his talents. He must be so experienced in inflicting this type of pain that eye contact isn’t a factor in his abilities; unlike most immortals I’ve heard stories about.

I stare at him, not knowing what to do or what he is, or whether I should do something. My focus is torn between controlling my breathing, so I don
’t succumb to this agony and trying to figure out what he is. Is he a creation of Hecate, a lycanthrope or a vrykolakas? They’re only sent to the mortal world on missions from Hades and those missions always end badly for someone.

Goosebumps rise all over my skin momentarily distracting me from my hell; I haven
’t had them since I was presented to Eros. They are only brought on by fear, and nothing has scared me since Eros threatened to destroy me. Why am I so afraid now? What sort of creation is he? They aren’t even the worst questions to be asked: the most troubling is what purpose has he been created for?