Rebirth - The Beautiful Fallen (24 page)

             
I looked down, feeling a bit sick inside as he said that.  In my mind, a vision flashed.  Jade and Saffron in an old room, similar to the one I’d seen in my dreams of Chris as a child.  They’d been fighting, and Jade was holding his right eye, black blood running down his cheek.  Saffron backed off into the shadows again, laughing menacingly at him.  He’d been so proud then.  He’d wounded Jade.  And the wound would always remain.

             
Chris sat down beside me, gently pushing my hair back to look me in the eye.  “You know, you ended up with a pretty superior gift yourself in all of this.  Even just speaking of someone you’ve had contact with, you can pull up pieces of their past.  Maybe that’s why Jade’s so uptight about you.” He said quietly.

             
“How’d you know?” I asked him.

             
“It was obvious that you'd been seeing something.  And with what we were talking about, I’d assume it was that.” Chris replied.

             
“I guess.” I said, though still showing just how unsure I was in my voice.  “But it still seems like I can’t pull anything out of you.  The most I’ve ever gotten to see is when you were a kid and Jade saved you, and maybe a little bit of him taking care of you.  Other than that, I haven’t been able to see anything.”

             
“That’s partly my own fault.  I tend to block a lot of things out of habit.  Trust me, once you’ve been around Will long enough, it becomes a force of habit.  He’s as nosey as they come, and never hesitates to pry whenever he gets the chance.” Chris said.

             
“So Will can do the same thing I can?” I said as I took a bite of a bagel he’d brought over for me.

             
“Well, to an extent.  He’s a fairly powerful reader, and he’s good at picking up people’s thoughts, even when they’re trying hard to hide them.  It actually gives him something to use against people at times.  No matter how nice him or Zane seem, deep down inside, just know that they aren’t a lot of times.” Chris admitted.

             
“You don’t believe that they’d turn on us, do you?” I dared ask.

             
“I doubt it.  They’re not the types.  They just like to manipulate things in their favor.  I guess it’s just the demon blood that runs through their veins.  I think in the end, we’re all the same way at times.  Either way, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.  They both also know better than to piss me off too much.” Chris assured me.

             
I felt myself smile.  "Sounds like you're a little possessive yourself." I noted.

             
Chris smiled back.  "It never hurts to be." he replied.  He looked back up at the clock near us.  It was nearly ten.  "Hey, I still want to get in some more training today.  You don't mind, do you?"

             
"I guess not.  But I don't think I can really do anything." I admitted, glancing back at my arm that had been put in a sling.

             
"It's okay.  I don't expect you to be able to train today.  But do you think that you'll be okay to stay here on your own for a few hours?" Chris asked.

             
I nodded.  "I think I'll be fine.  You won't be that far away either, right?" I said.

             
"No.  I'll just be in the same place we always go.  And Zane should be back soon too.  But if you need anything, you can always come get me." Chris promised as he stood up.

             
I smiled as I stood up with him.  "Okay.  That sounds good then." I agreed.

             
"All right.  I'll see you soon then." Chris said, giving me a quick kiss goodbye.

             
Watching him walk back out, I couldn't help but feel the lightness that remained in my heart.  Finally, I felt like I knew where I stood, and that I actually had his love.  But in the back of my mind, his words about Zane and Will haunted me slightly as well.  After all, I never wanted to believe that either of them would ever betray us.  Besides, would they even have stood a chance against Chris if that ever happened?  I just hoped that I would never have to find out.

Nine

             
I hated admitting it, but I really didn’t like being laid up and stuck in that house.

             
I found myself thinking about that as I sat out on the glassed in porch and gazed at the sunlight pouring in through the surrounding trees.  I’d been out there by myself for nearly an hour, and I was getting bored.  I’d brought myself a book to read, but I couldn’t get myself past the first page.  Instead, I was sitting there and thinking about what had happened to me the night before.  As if to remind me as well, I felt my arm throb slightly.  I wished it would stop doing that now.  I couldn’t even hardly use it for the pain.  And I hated that.

             
Looking back outside, I pictured Chris in my mind once again.  He’d gone out earlier, saying that he needed to do some training.  It was something he did every day from what I'd come to learn.  He wanted to make sure that he kept himself strong.  Of course, he’d waited that day until later because he'd been concerned about me, and he wanted to make sure that I would be okay on my own.  Normally, he was out there first thing in the morning.  But with our night before and my arm still being pretty bad off, he'd waited a little bit longer, and even considered not doing it.  I couldn't see him doing that just for me though.  So I convinced him that I'd be fine, and that if anything did happen, I would go out there and get him.  After all, I was safe and sound in Zane's house.  Nothing would try to hurt me there.

             
But sitting there, I considered maybe just going out to watch him.  As dumb as it sounds, I really loved watching Chris train.  No, I didn’t enjoy when I had to train with him, considering he didn’t go any kind of easy on me, but just watching him train was more than entertaining to me.  Chris was incredibly strong, and had an amazing ability to manipulate his energy into whatever weapon he wanted.  His weapon of choice though seemed to be his sword.  He was a master at using it, and could cut down a full grown tree in one swipe if he wanted to.

             
However, that wasn’t the biggest reason I loved watching him.  It was because I had actually fallen in love with him. 

             
I didn’t know exactly when I'd started to suspect that.  Maybe it had been there all along.  After all, I had admitted to myself from day one that Chris was a very handsome man.  He may have been Jade’s son, but that didn’t matter that much to me.  He didn’t act at all like Jade.  Although I wished he was a little friendlier at times.  Still, thinking back to the night before, I couldn't help but smile to myself.  I'd finally gotten the truth from him, and admitted my own.  I'd even gotten my first kisses.  I felt my heart flutter slightly as I thought about them.  What beautiful memories those were.  I wanted many, many more of them in the future too.  And perhaps even a little bit more.

             
Finally, I could take it no more.  I had to see him.  Slowly getting myself up, and being very careful about moving my arm too much, I put the book aside and walked back off of the porch.  The afternoon was definitely warm, but not overbearing like some of the previous ones had been.  Walking across the yard, I followed the path into the nearby woods.  The birds were all singing in the trees, and I couldn’t help but think that it was a perfect day.  As I came to the nearby clearing, I could see Chris out there.  The ground was ripped up a little bit from where he’d been practicing, and he’d changed into a tank top to stay cooler.  Now this is more like it, I thought as I sat myself down on a nearby tree stump.  This is much better than any book.  I carefully straightened my dress using my good arm as I sat there.  I really loved this dress.  It was the same black and blue one I'd woken up in at Zane's house after I changed.  It had taken me a bit of effort to change into it after Chris had left, but I'd managed.  After all, I liked how comfortable it was, and of course how I looked in it.

             
Chris glanced over at me, but didn't say anything.  Far be it for me to break his concentration.  He'd already knocked down three trees near there.  I sighed inwardly to myself.  Just how in the world had I fallen so hard like this?  I was in way too deep for a first love.  But then again, I also considered that perhaps it was the love I was meant for as well.  At least, it was supposed to be according to everyone else.

             
The sound of footsteps near me brought me back from my daydreams.  Looking over, I saw that it was Will.  "Looks like you got back early." I commented.  He'd been gone for a few days now, and I really had expected him to be gone longer, considering the kind of work he'd been doing.

             
"It actually went a little bit better than I anticipated." Will replied, running a hand through his hair.  He looked surprised though when he saw me.  Apparently, he didn't know what had happened the night before, or that my arm would be in a sling.  "What the hell happened to you?  That looks like it was pretty bad." he said.

             
"I'm okay.  It's finally getting better.  I kind of had a run in with a spider lady last night." I admitted.

             
Will looked really shocked then.  "You mean Norma?  How in the world did you run into her?  I thought Chris was supposed to take care of her." he said.  Obviously, he'd known about the issues with Norma.  I hated being the last to know...

             
"I did.  It just took me a bit longer to find her then I thought it would.  But she's gone.  I made sure of that." Chris said, finally taking a break to walk back over to us.

             
"Well, apparently you didn't do that good of a job if she managed to do this kind of damage to our girl here, did you?" Will contended.  He looked pretty mad now.  It was an odd sight for me.  Will always seemed so cheerful and laid back.  But sitting there, I also noticed something a little odd.  Once again, I thought that I saw flashes of red specks in his eyes.  But once again, they were gone as quickly as they had appeared.

             
"It wasn't like she knew that much about the ones like Norma.  And there aren't that many Shadow Wings that can defend against spider venom.  But we've got it healing now, so just drop it." Chris ordered.  He didn't seem too happy about even seeing Will now, let alone having to argue with him. 

             
But Will wasn't about to give it up either.  I could see it in his eyes, and how his fists balled up slightly at his sides.  "Give me a break Chris.  Just how in the world could you let that happen?  You didn't just let her go out there on her own, did you?  As I remember it, you were supposed to take her out yesterday." he said.

             
"She's free to do as she pleases.  You know that.  Besides, if I hadn't been stuck with the problem of Norma in the first place, then I wouldn't have been too tired to take her.  So who's fault was that?" Chris replied.

             
"Come on Will.  It's not that big of a deal.  I'm fine now." I insisted.  I really hated it when they decided to argue over me.  It happened a lot between the three of them.  But then again, Zane and Will always seemed to be hard on Chris about the things he did with me. 

             
Will wasn't listening to me though.  Instead, he was too focused on arguing with Chris.  "Let me guess, you wanted to sleep all day because you felt tired over searching for Norma and let her go without even thinking about it.  And then you ended up trying to help her, but still underestimated Norma in trying to attack her." he said.

             
Chris gave him an angry glare then.  "Shut it." he ordered.

             
"And I hit the nail on the head.  Honestly Chris, you do this kind of shit all the time.  You underestimate, and things end up happening that you regret later.  You haven't learned your lesson yet?" Will continued.

             
"I said shut it!" Chris ordered, sounding more forceful this time.  It was more than I'd ever seen before.  He was actually losing his temper now.  His wings came back out, the black feathers shining in the filtering sunlight from the trees.  Yep, he was definitely mad.  A part of me wondered if maybe I should get myself up from where I was, although I knew that it might be a little difficult with my one arm in that sling.

             
Will just stood there, looking just as defiant as him.  His own wings came out as well, ripping open the back of his dark shirt.  "So you dare to challenge me?  You know better than to threaten me Christoff.  I don't back down." he said.  For the first time, I felt a little unsure of myself around him.  I'd never seen Will act like this before.  He was always so cheerful and easy going.  But he was genuinely angry now. 

             
Chris wasn't intimidated at all though.  "Fine.  You want a good fight, then I'll give you one.  But not around her. She's been through enough, and doesn't need to get hurt anymore because of your temper." he told him.

             
"Chris..." I started.  But the two of them ignored me.  Instead, they quickly walked back out into the middle of the clearing, spacing themselves about ten feet from one another.

             
I sat myself back a little then, considering whether I should try to call for Zane.  But just as I thought about that, my pendant lit up again.  "Now this should prove interesting.  Let's see what they can do." Saffron said.  He sounded very amused now.

             
He would think that this is great, I thought to myself.  He'd probably just love to see them kill each other...

             
As I watched, Chris held up his hand.  Black electricity built up in his palm, then stretched out to form his sword.  Will just watched him, his expression not changing at all.  "Go ahead and give me what you've got.  Don't keep holding back on me.  I'm getting tired of it." he said.

             
"You asked for it." Chris agreed.  As I watched, he took the sword and swung it in a circle over his head, black flames forming within it.  After a moment, he let them go and they flew quickly at Will.  But Will quickly countered this, sweeping his hand around and bringing the dirt up in front of him to form a solid wall.  The flames were easily repelled to the sides, scorching the trees near us.  The bark was left black from the fire, and the leaves completely disintegrated into ashes to the ground.

             
You have to be kidding, I thought.  This wasn't just practicing.  They were being serious!

             
"You'd better start fighting back this time you coward." Chris told him.  He really sounded mad now.

             
"If you insist." I heard Will say.  Suddenly, something glowing black flew out of the wall and wrapped around Chris's sword.  It took me a moment to realize that it was a whip.  Apparently, Will had formed a weapon that I hadn't seen before.  As the wall of dirt fell down around them, I could see him holding it tightly as Chris tried to pull his sword away.  But the whip was a lot stronger then what Chris could do.  Will looked at him almost triumphantly.  "As I said, you underestimate your opponents.  It's the one flaw in your incredible fighting abilities.  And if you continue to allow it, then you will always allow her to end up hurt.  Use your head and listen to your gut more.  Got it?" he told him.

             
For a long moment, the two of them just stood there like that.  Then, Chris dropped the sword, apparently conceding.  It disappeared into a burst of flame on the grass.  "Fine.  I get it.  You win this one." he said.

             
Will smiled, actually looking like himself again.  "Good.  You've actually started listening to me.  I told you before that it would do you some good." he said.

             
"Whatever." Chris replied.  He then walked away from him and back over to me.  "How's your arm feeling?" he asked as he sat himself down beside me.

             
"It's getting better, although it still hurts.  By the way, please don't scare me like that again." I said, finally feeling my heartbeat coming back to normal.  I really hadn't been sure of what to expect then.

             
"What was there to be scared of?  You know we wouldn't hurt each other that badly." Chris replied.

             
"You scorched the trees up with the same fire you threw at Will.  That's a little more serious than usual." I contended.

             
"What can I say?  I lost my temper." Chris admitted.

             
"You don't need to worry so much.  I'm very good at defending myself.  After all, I've been doing it for centuries now." Will assured me as he walked over as well.  He looked over his shoulder and made a face.  "Although I do admit that I should've thought more about losing my temper here.  I really liked this shirt."

             
"Well, whose fault is that?" Chris said.

             
"No sympathy, even though I just taught you something." Will said, pretending to pout a little.  It wasn't that believable though.

             
I had to laugh a little bit to myself.  Now this felt normal.  Around my neck, the pendant glowed once again.  "Bravo.  Now that was impressive." Saffron told them.