Authors: L.S. Darsic
Just as we are done eating and about to leave the dining room Carter and Zack come stalking in towards us. Damn it, I was hoping they would get lost in the castle or at least take a hint and fuck off.
“You two will be going with us today back home, go pack your shit.” Zack glares at Anja and I. Oh hell no. Be the bigger person, be the bigger person, I chant over and over in my head until I stop seeing red.
“Finn, Alec, Anja, lets get going. I can't wait to see everything!” I try for excited but probably sound more pissed than anything. I start to walk towards the door and suddenly Zack is grabbing my arm roughly and trying to hold me. That bastard just won't leave it alone. UGH.
“You best be letting go of her right now before I tear your arm off” Finn grinds out as he is stalking up to Zack. Whoa, he is pissed. GQ model pissed off is HOT! Alright, now is not the time to drool but daaaang! He eyes are almost pure black, he is that pissed.
“Zack, you need to leave it and let go of me” I warn
Zack shoves my arm away roughly and stalks out of the room as Carter is talking quietly to Anja over in the corner. She looks like someone kicked her puppy. I walk up to Anja and hold out my hand, hoping to help her be strong enough to walk away. After a second of deliberation and Carter pleading with his eyes she grabs my hand and we walk out with Finn and Alec behind us and the dogs behind them. Looks like we have our guardians again.
'So, that was your ex-boyfriend huh?” Finn remarks as if he is talking about the weather. Ha, yeah, just casual conversation.
“Yeah, that was my
EX
-boyfriend” I retort with extra emphasis on the EX part which makes Finn grin. If only Zack would get that hint.
“Do you know why he came all the way here? Did your family send them?” Finn asks quietly. I look over to him and see he is looking at the ground and has a blush creeping up the back of his neck.
Sigh “Finn, I have no idea why they are here and my family never told us they were coming but they wouldn't have known where we were without someone in the family telling them and there are only a few who know where are we. I have no idea what is going on but for right now I don't want to think about it anymore. I just want to see Scotland” I reply with a bright smile hoping he will drop it
“Alright then lassie, would you like to travel by SUV or horse?” Finn smirks when he says the word horse. He must think I am a city girl and can't ride a horse. Little does he know that all the females in my family are very experienced horse riders and we have a large ranch full of horses.
Smiling shyly back at him “how about we try the horses?” I reply as I hear Anja giggle.
“Horses are adorable!” Anja giggles with a shy look on her face. These guys have no idea what they have gotten themselves into then.
“Alright then lassies, lets see how you can handle the 'adorable horsies', we won't be too hard on you” Alec mocks. Suckers.
Walking up to a large stable I see the most beautiful buck skin mare with a black mane, running around in the pasture as if she is calling to me to ride her.
“I want to ride that one” I point to her. Finn laughs like I am a crazy person.
“Alex, she is far too big and wild for you. How about we have you ride on Dreamer here. She is docile and sweet.” Finn replies as he is pointing to the fattest and shortest horse I have ever seen.
“No way Finn. She looks like she is about to give birth to a food baby! I want to ride the buckskin” I demand but put a coy smile on my face as though I am just being adorable.
“Fine but if you fall and get hurt or she takes you to five towns over don't blame me. She is too wild of a horse for someone like you” Finn replies in an attempt to sway me. Too wild for someone like me? Ha. Little does he know. He must think I am made of glass, city girl can't even get dirty. He is in for a surprise.
Finn goes into the pasture to try to capture my renegade horse and it is hilarious to watch! She must love to play games because every time he gets close she runs off kicking her hind legs like its a party. I cluck my tongue three times and miss sassy pants comes trotting over to me like I am best bud. Finn has the look of shock plastered on his face as I gleefully bring the buckskin out of the fence. Take that Finny!
Finn runs up to us and tries to grab the horse “here, let me help you. If she gets frisky again she will run away with your arm still attached to her halter”
“Finn, she is fine. Look, we are best friends! "I say as I rub her nose "Aren't we girl? Awe, what a sweet girl you are, I am going to give you lots of apples and sugar cubes” I coo at her as she snorts on my shoulder as she smells me. Finn just rolls his eyes and walks along with us to the stable where the saddles are kept. When we walk into the barn, Finn heads towards the English style saddles but I head towards the Western style.
“Alex, these are more suited to a lady and more comfortable for longer rides” Finn prods. What the hell century does he think we are in? A “lady”? Pfft. I am no “lady” in those terms. Yes, I have the “lady” parts but I do not act like a “lady”. And no, dude does not look like a lady in this case. Damn I am funny. Who doesn't enjoy quoting Aerosmith from time to time? Rolling my eyes at my stupid jokes and at Finn, I walk over and grab a Western style saddle and blanket and walk back over to my beauty. Finn seems to think I am amusing and stubborn, so he stands there watching and waiting for me to ask for help because surely I am a ignorant helpless woman.
“So what is her name?” I ask Finn while I saddle the horse up. As I am doing this the smug look slowly gets wiped off from Finn's lovely face.
“H-her name is Whisper” Finn replies with an awe stricken look on his face. Guess he is surprised I'm not helpless after all.
“Well hello Whisper, sweet girl. We are going to be best friends. This is Egypt who is my other best friend. E, come say hi to Whisper.” There I go again, talking to the frickin animals, like I am Dr. Dolittle , as I watch Egypt walk up and touch noses with Whisper. Awe. They are friends now too. Now I just need more friends my own species!
“I-I'm just going to go saddle up my horse. I will meet you out in the front pasture” Finn says as he stumbles out of the barn with a confused look on his face. He probably thinks I am nuts for talking to the animals like I am Cinder-fricking-rella. Sometimes I am just too weird to make sense.
After giving Whisper and Egypt each an apple I jump on Whisper and trot out to the front pasture where I see Anja and Alec are sitting on their horses. Anja has a beautiful all white mare and Alec has a dark chestnut gelding. Anja's mare gives me the creeps. Albino things just freak me out. Jace had an albino ferret when we were kids and that thing used to chase me around biting my feet. I haven't trusted anything pure white ever since that rodent tortured me. Looking over my shoulder I see Finn coming out riding a massive black horse. Holy shit. Can this guy get any hotter? Fuck, probably. Who am I kidding, he just keeps getting better and better.
“W-wow Finn, your horse is beautiful” I stammer like an idiot, once again.
“Thanks Alex. I have had Midnight here since he was born.” Finn replies as he is giving his horse a pat on the neck. He looks like a natural on that horse. I wonder if I am out of my league with him when it comes to riding and lets face it, everything else.
“So, which way are we going? North Highlands?” Alec asks Finn
“Aye, North. Let us see if the city girls can handle the ride” Finn replies with a wicked smile on his face and a wink. Next thing I know the guys take off running through the field while Anja and I just stare dumbly at them.
“Well then, looks like we have no choice but to show them up. Damn they look good on horses and pretty much everything else they do” Anja says dreamily.
“Yup, lets go and kick their asses and show them we aren't prissy city chicks. And hell yes they are hot but we don't need to tell them that!” I yell back as we take off after the boys.
Its almost as if Whisper knows I am trying to show up Finn because she takes off like a bat out of hell and catches up with the boys pretty fast. Smiling over at Finn, I pull Whisper up next to him and Midnight and look back to see where Anja and the dogs are. Anja, of course looks like a princess riding on her white horse and the two dogs following behind her. I look over at Alec and see he has a dreamy look on his face and seems close to drooling. He has it bad, how cute!
“So how long have you been riding Alex?” Finn asks with a cross look on his face as if I deceived him.
“My family has a large farm with a lot of horses, so I guess you can say all my life? I also competed in barrel racing, roping and show since I was in first grade. But I probably haven't rode in a few months” Maybe my few months explanation will placate him but from the look on his face it didn't. “Its not like I told you I never rode before Finn. You just assumed I was some prissy city girl who is afraid to get dirty” I say defensively
“I'm not upset Alex, I am more turned on than anything but I am also embarrassed that I had a poor opinion before you even arrived and for that I apologize. You have surpassed all my expectations and have blown my mind with how beautiful, graceful, fun and warming you are.” Finn replies huskily. Well alright then. I guess I was totally wrong on what he was thinking. Since I am a social inept loser, I say nothing and trot my horse over to Anja to try to avoid Finn and his piercing blue eyes what I can feel burning holes into my back.
“So An, I think Alec has the hots for you.” I say as I get near her. Looking back I see Alec and Finn talking close to each other as well.
“N-no he doesn't. Why would you think that? He is just being nice to me and making me feel welcome here” Anja blushes. Mmm-hmmm right. She is so in denial. She hasn't so much as gone out on a date with a guy since her and Cater broke up almost a year ago, not that there are many guys for us to go out on dates with anyway.
“Alright An, whatever you want to believe but I can see it plain as day. That man wants you bad.” I laugh at her.
“What about you and Finn? He is always staring at you and he almost kicked Zack's ass because of you. Now who is in denial?” Anja retorts back. She has got to be kidding me. Finn is too hot for me, he is so out of my league. No way would that playboy want me when he can have an endless parade of women going through his room. Looking over at Alec and Finn again I see Finn is looking at me again and when he catches my eye he winks. What the hell is he winking about? Yes, he may have just said some pretty words to me but I'm sure he is just after me cause I am fresh meat and a challenge. I stopped believing there were decent men in the world a very long time ago and Zack reaffirmed that over and over again during our two year relationship, if that is even what I can call it.
“An, I am sure Finn just is looking for his next bed warmer and finds me interesting cause I am new and a challenge since I don't fall to his feet and try to kiss them. He is probably the hottest guy I have ever met but he is just like all the rest of them and after only one thing.” I reply grudgingly.
“Lassies, would you like to get moving or should we start up a sewing circle?” Finn jokes
“Yup, let's get going. I want to see this country of yours” I say as I spur Whisper into a fast trot.
Riding in this countryside seems like it would be much like riding in Tennessee. The hills are rolling, everything is green and beautiful. There are deer all over and they look at us like they could care less that we are there until they see the dogs trailing us. This makes me miss home. I like the city but not as much as I like the freedom and beauty of the county. I really only went to the city to get away from being so close to my family and the small town where everyone knows everyone and everything. It just gets old after awhile. We ride for about an hour and come to a downward sloping path which leads down to the beach. Once we reach the beach there is a lighthouse further down to the south.
“Wow, this is beautiful here. I love it!” I proclaim to Finn who looks at me smiling brightly.“An! This reminds me of Tennessee minus the ocean of course.” I yell over to Anja who looks to be awestruck.
“It does. I love it here. Its so pretty. I like the city but the country is just something I will always be drawn to.” Anja replies in agreement.
“Do you want to head back to the castle or we could go to the town for some lunch and drinks?” Alec asks
“Let's head to town. I would love to see it. When we drove through last night I couldn't see much” Anja replies excitedly.
“Can we give the dogs a rest first and walk around the beach for a bit, I want to take some pictures?” I ask Finn with a smile
“Sounds like a plan” Finn smiles back, jumps off his horse and walks over to me to help me down. Grabbing me at the waist to help me down, Finn holds on a little longer than necessary and bends down like he is going to kiss me but at the last minute he winks and walks over to grab the horses. Talk about mixed signals! What a tease
Egypt and Phoenix are already playing in the water and chasing each other. So much for them taking a break. Finn leaves the horses to eat some dune grass and walks over to the water to watch the dogs play.
“Well they seem to be enjoying themselves” I say lightly into Finn's ear. Let's see how he likes someone sneaking up on him. Damn it. All he does is smirk at me over his shoulder. Its like he knew I was there. Bastard.
“Well I am going to go walk down to the lighthouse and check it out.” I call over my shoulder as I walk away. Soon Finn is at my side and Egypt is trailing slowly behind us. Guess I am more interesting than play time in the water.
“So Finn, how long has this lighthouse been here? Anything interesting facts you care to give me?” I ask with a quirk of my eyebrow. Maybe he will be a bit more open than our car ride last night.
“I am unsure how long its been here, lets just say a verra long time and as for interesting facts, well I am told it is haunted by a highland warrior who was hung from the dooryard” Finn replies as if this is the most boring thing he could ever tell me. I love ghost stories! Especially the ones that take place in old buildings. I used to watch any ghost hunter show I could find till it became redundant and fake. Alright, so I know most people would consider them all fake but some seemed real at the time. Now I despise TV shows because its the same shit over and over. So I am reading books during my spare time which recently has been a lot because hey, I'm a single loser. If I didn't have Egypt and needed to give her play time I would probably never leave my house unless its go to work. I live a riveting immortal existence as you can see.
“Finn! How is this not interesting to you?!? I LOVE ghost stories” I gasp
“Well, I guess you will have to show me what is so interesting about them” Finn chuckles
“Can we go inside the lighthouse? I don't want the owners to get upset or anything”
“I am positive they won't mind you looking around, seeing how my family owns it” Finn replies with an eye roll
“We don't have to go if you don't want, or I can go by myself if you want to go back and hang out with Alec and Anja” I try to compromise.
“No, no. Its fine. I need to keep an eye on you anyway. The building is verra old, I don't want you falling through the floor during your ghost hunt. Plus I will keep you safe from the ghosties” Finn smirks
As we start walking towards the lighthouse Egypt gets more tense and rigid in her posture. Maybe she senses ghosts! I stop and take a few pictures of Anja and Alec off in the distance with the ocean and cliffs as a backdrop, it is so pretty here.
“So do you enjoy taking pictures?” Finn asks as we pick our way through the boulders on the beach towards the lighthouse.
“Actually I love it. It doesn't feel like a job so that is important to me when I was trying decide what I wanted to do for a career. Plus I am pretty good at it” I reply smugly.
“What do you mean a job? You don't just do it as a hobby?” Finn asked looking quite surprised.
“Well no, everyone in the family has to go to college and work when we are done, by time we are at our full power have must be working in a position that is beneficial to the family “work” and contribute” I say with air quotes. Surely their structure can't be that much different, although there are far more of them then there is of us.
Finn furrows his brow in confusion “those in my family are not required to get a job. Those in the village work to support themselves much like the humans do except they are paid far better and have very important jobs to our kind. How is being a photographer helping the family?”
“Well I guess it doesn't really
help
the family, it just makes things easier for when I have to go out and deal with problems all around. Its a great cover story for me being gone a lot. My family owns the travel site that I take pictures for so its not like I am bringing in loads of money to help support the family financially or anything. Basically the money I make goes to supporting myself and Egypt.”
“You mean to tell me that you are an
ENFORCER
?!?!” Finn growls. Enforcer? What the heck is that? Why is he so pissy about me working?
“Finn, what do you mean by enforcer? What the hell is wrong with me working and supporting myself? Surely you are aware it is 2014?” I reply tensely back at him
“Alex, I think there are some things that you don't know about in our world. I understand that you live in a different country and things are done differently there but sending out a young female to clean up demon and others issues is not right. You just came into your full powers, correct?” Finn asks. I nod my response because I want to know more of what the hell he is talking about here.
“Well, the way we do things here is far different. We have nephilim who are trained in combat and have the abilities that would be beneficial to help them in a fight. What are your abilities, if you don't mind me asking?” Finn stops walking and turns to me with a serious look on his face
“M-my abilities? Well I was told we were to never discuss our abilities cause they could be used against you.” I mumble and look at my feet. I feel bad that he wants to know but I was brought up to never tell, like its a dirty secret. But Finn isn't my enemy so I don't understand why I couldn't tell him. Then again my family isn't my enemy either and I wasn't supposed to tell them either so now I'm even more confused.
Finn grasps my chin and gently pulls my face up to look at him “Alex, I am not your enemy. I don't know what your family told you or how you were raised but things are different here. We can talk about this later. How about we get on with our ghost hunt and then head to town?” Finn asks as his voice deepens and he moves closer and closer to me. Shit, is he going to kiss me or something?
“Alright” I reply and turn my head. I don't understand what is going on here. Hell, I don't even know why I am here. They say ignorance is bliss, well I say not knowing is a pain in my ass. Finn sighs and walks up to the lighthouse door and pushes it open. Well alright then, moving on I suppose. Time to ghost hunt!
Egypt and I creep into the lighthouse slowly and look around. Immediately she is standing in front of me growling and baring her teeth. “E, relax. Its just Finn” I say while petting her head. Damn, its so dark in here, where the hell did Finn go?
“Hey Finn? Do you have a flashlight? I can't see anything” I call out and get nothing back as a response. I try to walk a few more steps but Egypt is standing in front of me and not budging a bit. Then I hear what sounds like a scuffle and a thud. What the hell was that?
“Finn? Are you alright?” I yell into the darkness with panic in my voice