WARNING!! -- this is old, and while recently updated with minor edits and the last of the chapters i never put up back in the day, it shall never be updated...enjoy it anyways!
...since a lot of you seem to keep doing so o-o ...
- Created By itsumademo
Chapter Eleven
The Catalyst
Chapter Eleven
My butt hurt, my torso screamed, and my arm wanted to simply fall off.
“Immortal…can’t we please, please, take a break now?” My voice came out quiet and whiney, “It’s been almost five hours, I need to rest and eat something.” I rubbed my face onto Caleb’s coat, which sat in a messy bundle on my lap.
He stopped and sighed heavily.
“Alright.”
Orion slowed his pace and suddenly bucked me off; as I became airborne I gripped Caleb’s jacket tightly to my chest as if it could somehow save me from the inevitably painful landing. A large twisting flutter grew in my gut and spread to all edges of my limbs, even blurring my vision as it flooded my head.
The Immortal’s black hair blew around beside me, and his strong hands and arms gripped me unexpectedly, I hadn’t even begun to fall back to the earth. In the instant he caught me I glued my hands to his cloak and shirt.
“Don’t you dare drop me.” I barely exhaled, while I tried to gather oxygen back into my lungs…Orion, you ASS!
He slowly sat me down against a large tree.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m f—” My lip dropped from my words as my eyes entangled themselves with the Immortal’s.
There wasn’t ever a time I had found such softness in pure black eyes…I was simply thrown from reality. In the slightest of seconds my fingers edged towards his handsome face, but Orion’s blustered snicker jerked us back.
I scowled at him while his grinning eyes looked back. The Immortal stood up and unpacked a small bag, which most likely had the last of the berries. He looked into it and narrowed his eyes; he abruptly rammed a fist into Orion’s thigh forcing the large horse back and onto the ground. He angrily ground his teeth and writhed around until he stood up tall, attempting to tower over the Immortal, although he only reached about a foot higher.
Seeing them so firmly grounded and erect made me realize that I was much smaller.
“This makes me feel insignificant.”
Both guys moved an eye over to me, one black and one blue.
I inhaled to speak but instead dropped my head onto my knees, for some reason my head was still swimming.
“Jade, you and Orion go out and find something to eat.”
“What about you?”
“I’m just going to get some rest.”
He turned from Orion and dropped down beside me, although with perfect execution. I had to rock myself just in order to balance with the tree so that I could stand.
I looked back at him before I walked off, but the Immortal’s eyes were already shut tight and his head turned down. I lightly bit my lip in thought, but then spun around to follow Orion through the sporadic trees.
Orion was unsettlingly quiet as we walked in near silence. Luckily the farther we went the greener the forest became, creating a somewhat more comfortable atmosphere to walk in.
“Orion, do you even know where any food is?”
His piercing blue eye looked back at me briefly then rolled away, followed by a quick snort and a headshake, his weirdly long auburn hair flapped in my face.
“I’ll take that as a no then.” I sighed.
I was despondently kicking at a few patches of grass when my hood was nipped off my head.
“What?” I glanced up, expecting to find smirking horse eyes, but instead I caught him staring straight up into an adjacent tree’s canopy.
I quirked my brow at his odd behavior, “what is it?”
He blustered anxiously and stomped his hooves against the ground.
I shifted my view up towards the treetop and came across what Orion was so desperately wanting. Hanging from strong, healthy limbs were large and beautifully red apples. They seemed to be calling us to them. We probably looked like drooling pets in wait of a treat.
His snicker pulled me from my fantasies of a full stomach and I looked over to his begging round eyes. His soft nose nudged against my own and a gentler, almost purr-like whine came from between his lips.
I ran my hand along his forehead. “Alright, alright,” I smiled lightly, “let’s grab some fruit then.”
He purposefully licked my entire face, just to annoy me I was sure. Thankfully he was so oddly hygienic for a horse I didn’t have to worry about smelling like rotten hay, or something equally disgusting.
My cape fell completely onto my back as I lifted my arms to take hold of the tree while I found a solid foothold. With a swift inhale I pulled myself up and grabbed onto the larger section of the split trunk and yet again heaved my way up until I was more horizontal then vertical and could take a breather.
From about ten or so feet below, Orion whinnied with restless excitement…which wasn’t really edging me on in any way towards the near twenty, or maybe it was more like thirty, feet to go. My breath was a bit shaky from the strenuous climb, however just the thought of sinking my teeth into a juicy sweet apple was too tempting to give up. I hoisted my dress up further and stretched my leg as high as I could lift it and then lengthened myself out again. I managed to get a strong rhythm in place; the closer the canopy edge approached, the faster I moved.
When I reached the top, slightly less sturdy branches, I began my task of fruit removal. As I looked down to Orion I saw he had collected a large bunch of ripped up dirt, grass, and piles of dead leaves. He was a clever horse…sometimes.
I twisted the apples delicately until they unhitched from the tree limbs and dropped them down, each landing onto the makeshift bedding. I had gotten about fifteen or so apples off the tree when my arms began getting thoroughly exhausted from not only constantly removing the apples, but also holding me to the branch like glue. Every shifted movement I made scraped my hands and arms against the rough bark. Despite my growing desire for something other than berries, I felt the painful sting of my bandaged arm begin to grow as I held tighter to the tree.
“I think that’s all I’m going to grab for now.” I exhaled.
From my perch I could already see Orion nipping at the food I had risked life and limb for.
“You’d better not eat any before I get down there!” My shout wasn’t as forceful as I would have hoped but I could hear his responding snort, alleviating one of my several stress-ridden thoughts. “I can’t have you eating everything before I even touch ground.” I muttered softly to myself.
It hadn’t really occurred to me when I first began my climb that coming down was going to be an entirely different experience. A thoroughly impossible one so it seemed; most especially while wearing a dress and cloak.
“How the hell am I going to get back down from an almost forty foot tree?”
Gradually, I edged down the bark about a foot or so, but as I pulled back I felt my foot slip against a lose piece of bark. Before I even began drifting off the branch’s edging I could feel the flutters of falling dance through my gut, similar to when Orion bucked me off him, but on a whole new level. My nails clawed at the limb out of instinct, raking along for a few seconds until I lost touch of the scratchy tree altogether.
I gasped suddenly.
It was almost surreal seeing the tree fly further and further away, knowing that the earth was coming up just as fast to greet me. Painfully.
My body curled as close together as I could and, tightly, I shut my eyes in preparation for impact.
“OHF!” I jolted sharply from the force, not from hitting bottom but being hit head on.
I peeked from beneath my closed eyelids as I felt the wind come to a stop and the world was in one place again. I uncurled quickly out of shock and my head instantly collided with a firm chin.
“Ow…” Gripping my aching skull I started to register that a pair of sturdy arms was holding me. Familiar arms, in fact.
I turned my face up to see my rescuer and found violet eyes against gentle, though playful, features.
“Caleb!?”
“You really are annoyingly accident prone, aren’t you?” he laughed at me.
My eyes narrowed and I pouted my lips in frustration while still rubbing my scalp.
“What are you doing here? Have you been following me still?” I struggled to be released from his hold but he didn’t seem too keen on abiding. “You have a hard head, you know that?”
He walked at a slow pace towards Orion who, from the looks of it, hadn’t taken one eye off the nest of apples. I frowned at his obliviousness. “Ass.”
Caleb raised a brow at my mumbled curse then giggled softly. “I suppose I deserve that.”
“Hmm? Oh, no no! I didn’t mean you, I meant Orion…not you, no, sorry.” I shook my hands furiously, my eyes a little wide with embarrassment. Though, in retrospect, he may have kind of deserved it actually.
He glanced over at the large white horse and then back down at me.
“What on earth were you even doing?”
“Well I was hungry and so the Immortal— Hey, hold on, I’m going to be asking the questions here and besides you never answered my first ones!”
He sighed but nodded.
“So, what are you doing here?” I crossed my arms, however with some difficulty while still in the cradle of Caleb’s limbs.
“I had to come back and get my coat of course.” He grinned.
We stopped beside Orion and Caleb let me down easily, and then placed his hands on his hips, still wearing his classic smirk.
“Really?” I cocked my head a bit with my brow furrowed in disbelief at his excuse. “You just happened to be here so that you could get your coat back?”
Orion had started spitting and nipping angrily at Caleb, who seemed unfazed by the horse’s attempts to scare him away. He began pounding at the dirt and preparing a stance to charge.
I smacked my hand onto his nose, while my other hand slowly rubbed my temples in soothing circles. “I’m hungry, tired, injured, confused, lived through death and then near death,” my tone increasing in volume as I listed, “and almost every other emotion possible right now. I can’t be referee to a duel among a boundary-less moron and an oblivious ass.”
A deep breath filled my lungs and slowly calmed me down. I looked up and went over to the saddle where I grabbed Caleb’s coat.
“Here, if you intend to keep it then don’t give it to someone.” I was a little sad to lose the piece of clothing; it had kept a faint scent of Caleb on it, which eased me somewhat. Though I couldn’t really put my finger on why.
He took it from my hand and swiftly slipped into the fabric with more poise than I could ever hope to have. He pulled up the collar and inhaled deeply. “Ahh, it smells like you.”
I ruffled my features in confusion. “I smell?” My voice mumbled half-heartedly. I threw my hands over my mouth in reaction to my thought blurt.
Caleb’s strong, memorable laughter rang through my ears. He’d definitely heard me.
“You’re so funny sometimes,” he tapped my nose with his index finger and grinned.
I had crossed my eyes to follow his poking finger then shook my head.
“Yes yes, I’m a riot.” I began pushing Caleb off into the woods. “Now go back home, or wherever the hell it is you come from all the time.”
He chuckled mildly but moved out of the clearing. “See you later, beautiful!”
I scoffed at his sarcastic farewell, but as I turned back a small smile danced on my features.
Orion looked at me with an odd, pathetic giving expression but quickly changed in order to begin begging for apples. I ruffled his mane and reached down to grab one. His eyes grew wide and he let out a small, eager whiney.
I glanced at his blue gaze then took a large bite out of the fruit in front of him, savoring every bit of the juicy flavor while he watched.
He snorted with irritation, nipping at my shoulder.
“Fine, here.” I held it out in my hand and Orion practically inhaled it from my palm.
“Yuck…” Wet, dripping saliva stuck to my limb, courtesy of Orion. I swiftly rubbed it against the blankets beneath the saddle. “You’re so sanitation conscious for a horse…couldn’t you be a bit more well-mannered?” Mumbled annoyance slipped from my mouth.
He simply ignored that anything was heard and continued nudging at my back for more.
“No, nope. No more for you.” I pushed his nose back from me and went to begin collecting the apples.
There were unfortunately so few places to put them. I managed to get a nice majority into varying saddlebags and a few into my hood as it hung against my back. The remaining ones I held in my arms.
“Come on, let’s get back to the Immortal, we’re probably going to be heading into town today.” I smiled happily at the idea, “I actually sort of miss normal humans.”
Orion snorted at my comment.
The trees behind us rustled lightly. I turned my head quickly at the sound, my brow furrowing in confusion, “Caleb?” No answer came and I shrugged, taking a bite of an apple as I went back to walking, my opposite hand defying my own words and handing another apple to my four-legged companion. “Must just be me.”
Chapter Six
The Catalyst
Chapter Six
“What are you doing, Jade?”
“Just…wandering. Why do you ask, Grandmother?”
“Don’t you know where you are, dear?”
“Uh, not really, I guess.” I stopped my feet. I had never really thought about it, but in fact I had no idea where I was or how I got there. “I’m just…here.” I exhaled. “Grandmother, where am I?”
I waited to hear the soft sound of my grandmother’s voice, however the silence continued. I glanced around only to notice that there was nothing and no one anywhere near me. The ground beneath my feet was rough and barren, going off into the distance endlessly. As I watched the clear sky move slowly up above I felt a tremor run up through my body and abruptly my legs gave out, dropping me to the earth I stood upon.
My hands pushed in opposition to the ground with my nails digging into the hard soil. I harshly bit my lip; breathing had suddenly become so difficult.
A cold wind rushed against my side, forcing me to the ground completely. I looked in the direction the gust had come from and saw a huge, black, mist-like mass gradually soaking up all the light that was filtering down to the wasteland I seemed trapped in. The being before me groaned with deafening strength, compelling me to shield my ears.
Finally able, I stood up awkwardly, facing the center of the darkness. It was almost mesmerizing, staring as I was, and the longer I watched, I began to notice a small figure appearing in the depth. I stepped forward without thinking, merely so that I could see more clearly. Just as I started to reach my hand toward the small creature forming in the black, two bright lavender eyes opened, knocking me backwards with invisible force.
Quickly, I jumped up and looked around, but instead saw the light of early morning shining on the floor of my grandmother’s bedroom. My chest rose and fell with rapid breaths; apparently it was only a dream.
“I’ve never dreamt something that felt so real before.” I sighed, exhaling a long withheld breath of anxiety. “…So real.”
I held my head in my hands as my body calmed down from the insanity of what I felt just happened. It was very strange, my thoughts wandered against my will back to the dream, a small black mass with lavender eyes…
I looked up again, staring briefly at the desk against the wall where my two fruits sat quietly, frozen like crystal. I had managed to perform the frozen spell once more on the peach from The Immortal’s garden.
“The Immortal!” I threw the covers off my legs and jumped to the floor to quickly put my clothes on.
I hadn’t seen the Immortal for almost three days now. “It’s a good thing I had found a bathroom on our way back to the room last time or I probably would have gotten lost and died in this damn tower looking for one.” I slipped into the bare minimum of my clothes, as I wanted to go and try and find him as soon as possible. I put on the under part of my dress and laced up the back.
As I opened the door and began heading into the hall, I attempted to comb through my hair with my fingers. “I wish I had a hair brush…I probably look horrible. But seeing as there is no time for me to head into the bathroom and take a quick shower...err, more like a bath really, I’ll simply have to bear with it.” I sighed.
I managed to find a staircase, however due to the darkness and the fact I had spent nearly all my time in my grandmother’s sun lit room, I was still not accustomed to walking around in the black of the tower.
Once I reached the floor again I turned both ways, I couldn’t remember which direction we had originally come from, or if there was even a way, or if it was a huge room or a small passage, or if I stepped forward I’d fall into a hole. It was simply too hard to see; to some degree I could make things out but otherwise I was barely able to notice my own hand in front of my face. “Crap.” My voice sounded quiet and minute.
I chewed on my lip as I thought, eventually I decided on right and once I found the wall I moved across it slowly as far as I could. There were a few instances where I came across a door…but not knowing what I would find kept me from looking, even though each time my side smacked into a doorknob my curiosity grew. I didn’t want to come across something I would wish I hadn’t, or perhaps irritate the Immortal, I didn’t think I wanted to piss off the man kind enough to let me, a stranger, stay here. “I suppose I’m not exactly a stranger. I mean he knew my grandmother, and from her stories I almost feel like I know him myself. Well, maybe a little anyways.”
I giggled slightly, which echoed in the hall.
Once I calmed down I heard a small wind blowing from somewhere near me, or at least it sounded as though it was near me. It was difficult sometimes to tell where a noise was coming from in these passages. I continued moving forward until I came across dim light drifting from a somewhat ajar door at the end of another corridor to my left. I could see an opened balcony similar to the one in my grandmother’s bedroom although it appeared to be larger. Perhaps it was one of the other real windows I had noticed outside the tower.
I walked toward it, heading through easily without holding against the wall to know where I was going. I placed my hands on the door’s side and edged it open so that I didn’t make a sound.
The room was enormous; books on large wooden shelves lined three of the five walls in the place. There were also two large old desks placed side-by-side, each having antique objects such as lamps and stationary sets. Lining yet another wall was a huge bed with four posts reaching up to the high lifting ceiling, on either side sat a nightstand lined with books and papers as well as a few old fashioned pens and identical twin lamps, both of which appeared to be oil fueled. Up along the last wall hung several types of weapons, most were sword-like in appearance, there were also a few bunches of daggers, some axes of different types, many spears and staff shaped poles, and at the top of this impressive collection were a couple odd looking guns, none of which were overly familiar to me. On the floor just beneath the arsenal rack was a bench with a few disheveled towels and blood looking stains spread upon it.
I reached my hand out and ran it along one of the larger claymore-like swords that had a strange greenish stone engraved into the blade. “You’re very beautiful.” Grandmother had once taken some sword handling lessons and because of that she had a few antique ones she kept in her home. She always told me that a sword is precious to its handler, just like a child to a parent; you always refer to them by gender and name. In fact, I would even on occasion talk to them when my cousin, Daela or grandmother, or my uncle weren’t around.
“I may not know your name, but you seem female to me.”
I stroked the stone gently when a sudden chill slipped in through the window. I turned around; I was tempted to close the balcony doors, however I didn’t want anyone to know I had been here.
Glancing about the room again, my curious urge couldn’t be stopped. I walked as lightly as I could as I moved over to look at the many things spread out on the nightstands. The papers were old looking, not unlike the ones in grandmother’s grimoire, with lovely articulate letters spread on it. I sifted through a few of the books but paused when I came across one that reminded me of a notebook or journal.
I felt a bit bad for snooping, everything about this room felt untouched and aged, however something continued to push me forward and so I opened the cover finding not only words but also sketching. Some was really incredible, practically photo-like sketching.
They looked like plans or something, although nearly every page was in different languages; there were a few that appeared familiar and some I didn’t think were even from my world, and probably weren’t. To be honest, I was a bit disheartened that I couldn’t read it. While still flipping through the pages I saw a drawing of a young woman, and she continued to appear numerous times, the majority of the notebook was filled with her. I stopped my scanning when a full-page portrait came up, and as I traced the lines with my eyes I found her familiar. I remembered back in my grandmother’s home, all the photographs she had and realized that this…was her. There was something different about her here though, her eyes seemed unsure but happy. Far happier than much of the time I was with her back at home. Her hair was cut a bit differently also.
“Grandmother was so lovely.” A sudden tear fell onto the page. “Oh damn!” I dabbed at the mark and blew on it as carefully as I could, and thankfully the mark lifted, for the most part. I quickly shut the journal and set it back under the books and loose papers. Hopefully it would dry completely and no one would be the wiser if they came to open it.
I moved away from the stand and noticed that there were a few empty and filled sheaths hanging on the banister opposite me. Unfortunately my notice of those belted holders drew my eyes to a green chaise which had the Immortal’s shirt draped upon it. The very one I had seen him wearing the last day I was with him.
“Oh hell…this is his bedroom.”
Now I felt even more like a trespasser than before.
Well, I suppose that it’s not the end of the world; I had been trying to find him. “If I wait here, he’d have to show up eventually. Although, if I wait here, there is no way he wouldn’t know that I probably rummaged about his room.” Then, as per usual, my thoughts wandered off a bit, “I wonder when he actually sleeps anyway?”
There had to be some way I could contact him, especially in a place this large. I walked over to the still opened door and slipped out, making sure to close it just enough to match were it had been before I came. I edged back through the hall until I made it to the crossroads were I turned from earlier. I headed left in order to go along my original path. I hoped.
After a heart-racing trip down a few stairs I managed to take hold of the banister, catching myself before I fell the entire way. Once I made it past the rather long set of stairs I ended up in the room I had first fallen into, meeting the shocked Immortal and a strange pink eyed woman. The ceiling was still broken with my blood spattered on the remnants of it, which sat despondently in piles on the flooring. I lifted a few pieces and looked nostalgically at the splintered edges where my blood soaked into the fibers. I winced at the vague memory, dropping the wood back to its place.
“Exploring?”
I leapt back, running into the broken wall beside the mess on the ground. An average sized woman, running closer to petite, stepped out from behind the floating wall in the center of the room. As she faced me her eyes opened fully, revealing two vividly pink marbles grinning at me on a breathtakingly beautiful face.
“You’re that woman the Immortal had imprisoned.”
“Oh no, we were merely playing a little game.”
“Game? Torture is hardly a game.” I stood firmly in place, mostly because I knew nothing about this woman to be uncomfortable in her presence.
“Hmm, perhaps it isn’t.” Her exposed shoulders shrugged, however, her gaze flickered to me with a dark mischievous glimmer. “To some.”
That was a bit unnerving; my own gaze began to watch her closely as a strange uncertainty started to slip through my veins. Suddenly her body seemed to vibrate and one blink later she stood directly in front of me, her eyes looking at my own with an expression that was rather unnerving.
“You know, I think you really are Guinn’s granddaughter. Your faces are a similar, and yet, not.” She giggled lightly, running a finger along my jawline.
I turned away from her touch, trying to maintain the blankest expression I could manage.
She scoffed with an amused look and, swift as lightning, I was tossed onto the floor where two loud brakes were made near my ears. I looked up and the woman was hovering over me, her hands dug into the wood beside my head. As I watched above me, her golden hair slid off her shoulders and fell onto my arms; the tresses were smooth but oddly slick and cold, chilling my skin.
“I think you’re much prettier though. Like a lovely porcelain doll.” I felt her fingers playing with my hair and running along my neck and collarbone. “Must be sure not to break you.”
I tried not to focus on her as she lowered her head to mine, the skin of her cheek touching my own. She was soft but cool, rather than warm like a person would normally be. I heard as she inhaled.
“You smell warm and sweet, just like strawberries wrapped in rich chocolate cake.” She licked her fingers, her face appearing to be in delicious thought, “I love strawberries”. I tried to slip from beneath her, but while her eyes were still shut she quickly placed a finger on my forehead, holding me completely still. “Precious dolls shouldn’t try to escape.”
“I am not a doll!”
Her face looked saddened by my words, but only for a moment. She quickly grinned again, “hmm, fiery are you? You should be careful though, you might burn up.” She laughed.
Abruptly, her amusement stopped.
In that moment, I become aware of a blood red satin ribbon with the bow on the side tied around her neck and attached to the center knot was a lone silver chain link. The fetter was strangely compelling, if I weren’t held down I would have been drawn to try and touch it.
“Oh damn, I wanted to play more.” She stood up lithely, pulling me with her and distracting my thoughts from the reflecting object around her neck. Her pink eyes caught mine once more, her hand moving to gently stroke my hair. “Until next time, precious doll.”
Right as I went to slap away her hand she was already at the far wall, grinning with a light giggle. In a flick of the eye, she appeared to vibrate again and then she was gone.
I felt as though her eyes were burnt into my brain. They were strange, almost like they were seeing through me and into my soul, and yet, strangely glassy and slick, like her hair. Although, what hung in my memory the most was the silver link that was joined with the ribbon neatly tied around her slender neck. Considering how strongly it called to me, I wondered if it were enchanted or something…though I suppose I could have also just discovered the unknown urges of onset kleptomania. “As if that’s even a thing.” I mumbled.
“Jade, why are you here?”
The Immortal stood in the doorway of the room, his eyebrows down in confusion.
“Uh, it-it was an accident. I just kind of wandered in here…I was looking for you, actually.”
“Me?”
“Well, yes. I mean, I haven’t seen you for three days. Haven’t you wondered where I’ve been? If I needed something? I mean, I haven’t gotten to eat either! Have you even eaten? Do you even eat at all?” My thoughts were sort of on the spam setting, hands held on my hips, the pent up irritation from that bizarre and unsettling experience with that woman seemed to be flowing free as I babbled. Plus, I really don’t know why I hadn’t realized it earlier, but I was very hungry. “Where have you been anyway?” I seemed to finish my rant and quirked a brow at him, with still kind of clouded but strong interest.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve been busy.”
“Don’t you think the person who is also now apparently living here would like to be aware of that? And you still have no food I bet.”
“Not as of yet, no.”
I groaned. “Immortal, there needs to be food here. I don’t know what or when you ever eat, if at all, but it obviously isn’t here seeing as everything is decades, if not centuries old.”
“I generally eat when I’m out. There is little need to have food here.”
“Well now there is. I’m here and I need to eat.”
He sighed and left the room.
Hastily I ran after him. “You said there was a town nearby…”
He blinked several times, seemingly in thought. “I never said anything like that.”
Crap, that was Caleb. “Uh, I suppose I thought it was you. Must have been something I considered asking about while speaking to you at one point.”
He said nothing and I exhaled thankfully. “So?”
“So what?”
I scoffed, “So is there a town or not?”
“Yes there is. Two, in fact.”
“Good, then would you please come with me to get some food? I would really love to have a decent meal. Plus…” I rubbed my arm, already feeling the weirdness of the moment that hadn’t, if ever, happened yet. “It would be kind of awkward to just stroll into a big place I have never been to as a complete stranger, who knows nothing all about them or this world, by myself.”
He was silent for a few minutes.
Does he really need to think about taking someone who hasn’t eaten for days to get food? I nearly mumbled that passing thought right as he began to reply to my question.
“I suppose. I do need to get a few things.”
“I thought you said you were just out? What were you doing then?” I quickened my pace to stand beside him and glanced up at his face.
He smirked ever so slightly, knowing I was probing him for slipped out secrets. “I wasn’t out doing errands.”
“Ah, well what were you doing?” I smiled sarcastically at him.
“Nothing of consequence.”
“Hmm,” I huffed. “That’s just a fancy way of not telling me.”
“Perhaps.”
“Fine then. Buuut, you’ll be taking me to town, yes?”
We were paused in the intersection where the Immortal’s bedroom was hidden down the right corridor.
“I’ll go and finish getting dressed. You meet me there once you have whatever it is you may need.” I babbled off the arrangement like I were reading a list of what to do.
In his usual tone, “Of course, milady.”
“Oh, don’t be facetious.”
He quietly exhaled a tiny laugh at me. I smiled to myself; luckily he didn’t seem upset with me anymore. I had almost forgotten in all that had gone on the past three days how angry he was that evening when he found me with the grimoire.
While I moved along the passages to get to my room, I felt my heart beat faster. I didn’t realize how excited I would be to go into the town of another world, especially one as interesting as this. I wondered though if I was more excited as to what people would think of me, an unknown person appearing with the legendary Immortal at my side.
For a quick moment I felt my face burn.
Chapter Five
The Catalyst
Chapter Five
CRACK! POOF! BOOM!
I waved my hands fiercely, trying to move and disperse the smoke now swirling in angry clouds all around me. As the opaque fog began to clear I noticed the charred, broken bits of my ingredients spread in every direction.
“Crap…wrong again…”
I wiped all the debris from my clothes and started sweeping the excess pieces scattered on the floor into an increasingly large pile to my left. My hand reached back and grabbed yet another of the several random objects I had managed to find in the room. I set what appeared to be a half burnt shoe on the floor in front of me and then placed a few dead leaves I had found curled up in a corner on the balcony around it. I then gently placed a small heart shaped locket I had happened across in the drawer of my grandmother’s desk amongst the other pieces.
Quickly I went to make sure the doors of the balcony were still held open and with a brief glance to the sky, I ran back and kneeled before my pile of what appeared to be a conglomeration of useless junk.
“Ok…”I exhaled with determination.
I attempted reading another incantation I had found in the grimoire in hopes of finding the correct archaic translation for my grandmother’s English written spell. The locket flamed as it had done every time before, the leaves seeming to melt into the deformed footwear. However instead of freezing, as I had guessed the poem was for, the half flame-eaten shoe expanded. I leaned back from the chaos when it suddenly sucked itself into a thin mass and then fizzled up with the leaves as the locket flames enveloped it.
I thrust my fist against the floorboards. “Damn it!” Sighing, I sat down and then fell backward to the floor, covering my face with a tired arm.
“What are you doing?”
My eyes popped open and I turned back on my head to see who was behind me, as though I were standing and looking to the sky. Upside down, while leaning casually against my open balcony doors, stood my midnight intruder, Caleb. Though I was on the floor I could still make out his face, wearing the same smirk I remembered seeing the night before. “What are you doing?” I replied, somewhat sarcastically.
He chuckled lightly and sashayed over to where I was still lying in irritation with myself and leaned over me. “I asked first.”
“Just… shut up.” I rolled my eyes and sat up with my back to Caleb. I heard him step forward and mess with the pile of burnt ashes I had been making. “Stop that…”
“Stop what? I haven’t done anything.” Caleb appeared beside me and gracefully lowered himself to the floor. “But you have obviously got some issues.”
“No I don’t! I just…I just can’t figure out what these spells mean…” I looked to the open book but made my way back to staring sadly at my brand new pile of black residue. “I wish grandmother had made some sort of key to her spell book.” I leaned on my hand, several seconds ticking by in silence.
“They’re not that difficult.”
I had almost forgotten about Caleb, he seemed one to constantly make sure every person around was aware of him, and not hearing his voice made it seem as though I were alone again.
“It is difficult, Caleb. I can’t read this language. Plus I was never very good with finding meaning in poems anyway.”
“You don’t need to find meaning exactly…the words are simply over complicated. Guinn preferred being rather traditional in her homemade works.”
I looked at Caleb while he spoke; I never knew grandmother cared so much for customs…? “Can you understand them?”
“Of course.” He grinned proudly.
I reached for the grimoire and placed it in front of us, keeping the page with the English wording opened. I pointed a finger against the rough, ancient paper directly beneath the words of the small spell I had found and been attempting to decipher.
Frozen.
Drops of red wishes,
Bits of existence yet none that flow,
No breath to have,
Glow of life,
Dance of strength pulsed with text.
Simple answers,
Glean complex regrets.
“I don’t recognize this one; it must have been one of her last.”
I followed his quick moving eyes as he read through the words over and over. “So, do you know what it means?”
“Yes, it’s fairly simple. Permanent though.” He looked about the room several times and then abruptly jumped to his feet.
I watched him as he grabbed the apple I had placed on the desk. He seemed to look it over with great intensity. His violet eyes turned to me as he walked lithely back to where I was sitting.
“Use this.” The apple Caleb held suddenly dropped from above me; looking up I saw his face, a little more serious than I was used to. “Live matter is best for beginners.”
“This isn’t alive…” I turned the apple over in my palm.
“It may no longer be…but technically plants are living matter.”
Caleb’s even toned words were strange to my ears; he was acting very different. It was nice to know he had more than just perverted sly as a setting in his brain.
While he returned to his position next to me, I set the apple on the floor. “Ok, so…now what?”
“I suppose it will be easiest to go line by line.”
“Alright then. Frozen…I assumed that was a title or the purpose of the spell.”
“Pretty much, yes.”
“Ok then, drops of red wishes. What is that?”
Caleb took firm hold of my right hand, “Hey…” he slid his finger across my palm and a bleeding cut suddenly appeared out of my skin. “Why did you do that!?”
He shrugged nonchalantly at my question “It’s not my spell.” He moved my hand over the apple and squeezed with great strength, my bones felt like they would break from the force. Despite the pain, I continued to watch curiously as blood seeped from my hand and fell onto the apple, coating it in dark red splotches. “One down.” His grip was released and reasserted itself on a few strands of my hair, which he pulled out with no care for me.
“OW! Stop abusing my body!”
He chuckled with a grin as he dropped the few long hairs onto the blood-covered apple. “Bits of existence, yet none that flow.” He spoke.
I rubbed my head gently as he yet again stood up. “Where are you going? I thought you were helping me?” I turned and followed him with my eyes.
“I am helping you.” He quietly shut the double doors of the balcony. “No breath to have. It means the air around the spell must be stagnant, no wind at all.”
“Does that mean we can’t breathe either?”
“Yes, but only when we begin the incantation.”
I had all this time been watching Caleb move all over the room doing this and that and it was slowly dawning on me that perhaps Caleb wasn’t as bad as I had first thought. After all, if grandmother was close with him he must have something redeeming about him; idiots always put her off.
“Now for the Glow of Life.” Caleb opened his hand up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. I watched with interest, first at his hand then his face. He opened his mouth and began quickly forming words; however I didn’t hear anything, which deepened my attention in what he was doing.
Suddenly an intensely bright orb of light ripped itself into existence a few inches from the bedroom ceiling. I had to shield my eyes from the blaze; the small sphere looked exactly like a miniature sun.
“Hmm, not my best.” Caleb lowered his hand and turned back to me.
I quirked my brow at him “Do you make a habit of creating small suns or something? Because…that’s just weird.”
He laughed loudly at me.
I narrowed my eyes and then stuck out my tongue, which seemed to be my favorite expression of annoyance lately. “Well whatever. Now what do we do?”
“Not me, you.”
“But I can’t read this?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to pronounce everything.”
I sighed lightly and bit my lip. “Ok, but what does this line even mean? ‘Dance of Strength Pulsed with Text.’”
“It appears that Guinn tried to add hand motions to the incantation. HA, I swear she only did that to piss off whoever read this.” He chuckled a little.
“What? Why?”
“Sometimes she added things like that simply to irritate some of the other lower class witches in town. They always snuck peaks in her grimoire when she brought it into town and wasn’t looking.”
“There is a town here!?”
“Well, duh. Did you just think this world was an out of place, fucking castle in the middle of an abandoned forest?”
“Sort of…grandmother never really told me many things about other places. She rarely mentioned other people besides The Immortal.”
Caleb’s face ruffled in anger for a brief moment before he took my hand and quickly sliced it once again as he ran his finger’s edge against my palm. The same palm he had cut earlier, though strangely the prior cut was gone.
“AH, What the HELL!?” I tried to pull my hand from him but he held it exact and in place.
“I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. She doesn’t actually want you to do motions to the text, she wants two more drops of blood added, one before and one after you read the spell.”
My face softened in mild shock and confusion. “How do you know that?”
“Guinn and I were very close; I know a lot of things about her.”
His face seemed blank as he moved my hand over the apple and squeezed it, however this time his grip felt weaker than his earlier bone crushing one. I winced slightly from the pain and chewed on the inside of my lip while watching drops of blood fall back to coat the already clotting blood from before.
“Caleb…are…are you alright?” He gave my hand back and I rubbed it gently, until I noticed the still bleeding abrasion begin to suture itself up.
“Yes, I’m fine. Here read these words, I wrote each to suit the way they would be pronounced.” He sat a piece of paper in front of me with characters written on them almost as though they had been typed.
“How did you..?” I pointed to the parchment in front of me.
“Magic, Jade.”
“Duh, sorry.” I shook my head briefly and then nodded. “So I simply read this over the apple, and what, it will freeze?”
“Should, just make sure you don’t mess up. One screwed up word alters the entire thing.”
“Thanks for the confidence.” I scoffed.
“Sure, anything to help.” He smirked sarcastically.
“Ugh, well hush up. Oh, and don’t breath, remember, I’m about to start.”
I took a deep breath and started to read the few lines of the ritual.
“Glayceealis,
Occoombow of rootilus vota,
Secooi of veeta eteeamnoonc noolloos oot permoveeo,
Hawd spearitus habayo,
Tripoodeeo of veares comotus per lacoona.
Simplex refero,
Mico ooniversa desiderium.”
Before I let myself take a breath, I moved my hand over the apple and allowed the last remaining drop of blood from my nearly healed wound to slip onto the fruit. Suddenly the clotted blood surrounding the red skinned apple began to fizz slightly, followed by small quick exploding bubbles which turned over on themselves, freezing instantly once popped. The splatters combined to make a solid layer of ice, however after a few moments in the makeshift sun the ice slid off the once blood covered skin, revealing a perfectly crystallized apple.
“Oh my gosh.” I lifted the fruit carefully and watched it gleam in the mini sun’s rays. “This is amazing…I can’t believe I did this!”
“Technically, we did this, since you couldn’t figure out the text.” Caleb poked a finger against my forehead.
I groaned at him as I stood to go place the apple beside the peach I also had sitting on the old desk.
“Well, as I read from the paper I realized that I actually did know what that is. The writing is Latin. I wasn’t able to notice it because I never actually took the class at school, my friend did, and she always joked around by reciting it exactly as it was spelled. Because, of course, as no one really knows how it is pronounced, they can’t know whether the idea they have for its pronunciation is correct or not.” I laughed mildly as I came back to stand beside Caleb.
“Yeah, that’s not funny.”
“Well, we thought it was.”
“Ok..well, now I’m going to go and not be here with your ‘Latin’.” He stood up and started backing towards the door, giving me sarcastic air quotes as he said Latin.
I frowned at his annoying behavior. “Sometimes I wonder whatever possessed me not to knock you out when you first snuck into my room.”
“Because I’m sexy.”
“Get out!”
He laughed at my command and continued to do so as he leapt from the balcony and away from the tower.
All I could do was sigh as I rolled my eyes.
Chapter Four
The Catalyst
Chapter Four
I slowly pulled the threads stitched into an old white blanket spread over my grandmother’s bed. The nervous tears I made in the now slightly damaged bedding helped ease the anxious flutters from my last encounter with The Immortal. Even now, a good two hours later, I could still clearly see his hard black eyes glaring at me with anger and disgust.
“I don’t understand what I did wrong…”my sudden voice in the wide room sounded foreign and abrupt to my ears, especially with the long hours of relative silence. As I shifted position to better satisfy my comfort, clumped strands of my long black hair fell past my shoulder and pooled around my hands where I continuously fiddled with the loosened fibers. “I wonder why he got so upset.” I turned my head in thought while tumultuously picking at the cloth.
“Because he’s got a pole up his ass.” A sudden sarcastic male voice broke into my personal conversation with myself.
I looked up quickly with surprise, recoiling on the bed until I was sitting up straight, facing the intruder. He was leaning casually against the edge of the open balcony doors, a smirk gracing his features.
“Who the hell are you?” I furrowed my brow and watched him closely, in wait for his answer.
He shrugged slightly and pulled off the wall to head toward the bed with hands held up as he sighed. “Questions, questions. What’s wrong with being a mystery?” He peeked at me from beneath closed eyes and grinned while dropping his arms, crossing them against his chest.
“I suppose I prefer knowing who the perpetrator is beforehand.” I mirrored his movements, in some way demonstrating that I was playing along.
“Perpetrator? What makes you think I’ve come to do something that my incriminate me?”
“You snuck in, how would I know what you’re thinking?” I raised my brow with a mischievous smile tugging at my lips.
“Valid points.” He nodded to me, similar to a gesture of gentlemanly defeat.
I released my arms and, against my natural instincts, crawled toward the man, though I kept enough distance in order to move back if necessary. I looked up at his lowered face and noticed his still smirking lips below nearly closed eyes. “So, who are you then?” I cocked my head while still gradually edging closer to the man in anticipation.
Nothing happened for several minutes. I opened my mouth to speak again and in an abrupt flash the man grabbed my hand, pulled me off the bed and let me land directly on his lips. My eyes were open wide; his strong hold around my waist edged me closer, while his other hand cradled my face along the jawline. I must have been about a foot or so off the ground.
My brain was not really working correctly and so I felt my body take matters into its own…well, hands. His eyes opened and looked at mine, I couldn’t make out a single expression in those exquisitely bold violet colors. Suddenly I saw my fist come hurling towards the man’s cheek; when the skin, muscle, and bone collided with his face my lips and body were freed as the victim of my blow nearly lost balance from the surprise and dropped me to the floor.
“What in the hell do you think you were doing!?” I glared angrily at his hidden face.
However, instead of whatever it was I had been expecting him to do, I heard a quiet, clear laugh erupt from his slightly hunched posture. “You are fiery, aren’t you?” He turned up to face me, still smirking, without any mark or drop of blood on his face.
I grimaced in confusion, noticing a sharp, growing throb of pain in my knuckles. “I really should have kept on with those kickboxing classes.” I whispered to myself, while examining my quickly bruising hand for any breaks.
“Kick boxing?”
I looked up, quickly noticing the perverted stranger staring at me with puzzlement in his features. I realized I had yet again spoken my thoughts. “Oh, um, it’s a sport…a type of fighting practice, I guess.” I shrugged as nonchalantly as I could manage.
“Fighting? You?”
True, I wasn’t really much of an actual fighter. I had started many things, only to move on quickly afterward. Uncertain of where this situation was heading I opted to stretch the truth, just a bit. “Yes, actually. I enjoy many sports; kickboxing, rock climbing, horseback riding, swimming; lots of things.” My voice ticked off several of the activities I had participated in, although my thoughts were already beginning to wander a bit off track. Mumbling, “Grandmother took me everywhere with her, anything interesting and unique.” I smiled longingly at the thoughts.
“Ah yes. And how is dear Guinn?”
I focused my drifting attention back on the man, leading me to notice how close he was to me. I took a step back, hitting the bed with my leg before I stopped. “What makes you think Guinn is my grandmother?”
“I can see it in your face. You look similar and yet not at all…there is just something new and different about you, it’s there, in your eyes.” He reached his hand out to me but I pulled away, nearly falling backward onto the bed. “Hmm…regardless, I welcome you my flaming beauty, I am Caleb.” He moved back a step and bowed low before me.
“Uh…thanks, um, I’m Jade.”
“May I ask you something, Jade?”
I leaned back more with my balance being secured by my hold on the bedpost beside me. “Sure, what is it?”
I watched cautiously as Caleb’s hand slid along the wooden post, his eyes watching mine. He suddenly grasped my steadying hand tightly against the timber, “How much do you really know about this place?”
“Uh…o-only what my grandmother’s told me…what’re you doing?” I mumbled anxiously, finding it hard to predict Caleb’s movements.
I managed to release my hand, but was instantly shoved back and pinned down on the bed with Caleb securely holding my wrists. We looked at each other for a few seconds; he was very handsome, with soft masculine features and coiffed yet messy black hair framed his face. He moved closer to me and opened his mouth to speak.
“There were some things Guinn never knew…” he came even closer, his cheek down beside my own. I could feel his hot breath on my neck, and, despite the peculiarity of the situation, I found myself to be blushing fiercely. My quickening pulse I sensed in places I had never noticed before as his whisper continued “…there were secrets we Immortals never revealed.” The soft brush of his lips sent my body into hot shivers.
“Wait…” I exhaled quietly “…we? We Immortals? You’re Immortal?”
Caleb pulled away from my neck to look into my face. The exciting moments now left and part of me was excessively pissed at myself for halting its progress. I continued gazing into his seemingly endless violet eyes while I waited for his answer. Instead, he leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to mine, flaring my hormones again. As he slowly backed off the bed I found myself following, not wanting to break our gentle bond.
Caleb moved back from me and grinned “If you ever need me, call my name and I’ll come.” He bowed once more with a glint in his bright eyes.
“T-thank you…” I whispered, though I quickly regained my senses “…but you’re still a creepy pervert.”
He laughed and then stepped toward the open balcony doors.
“Wait!” I inadvertently spoke to him just as he was about to leap from the railing. “I uhh…can I, um, if I call for you…will you allow me to ask questions?”
“It all depends on the question.” He grinned a convoluted farewell and leapt from his perch.
I gasped quickly from his sudden departure and ran over to the rails to look for him. I thought I may have seen him slip beneath a tree but it was so dark I couldn’t really tell whether it was or wasn’t even anything at all.
“Caleb?” I heard the strange echo of my voice flow out over the trees.
“Yes.” He asked calmly from behind me.
“Oh my gosh,” I turned around to find him smirking as he did before with his hands on his hips.
“I’m gone for hardly ten seconds and already you miss me?”
“No,” I turned my head in denial, “I don’t even know you…” With the slightest bit of embarrassment in my tone, “I was just testing.”
“Didn’t think I meant what I said, huh?” He quirked his brow at me and crossed his arms.
“Listen, I’m sorry for being skeptical, but I’m just not used to you guys yet…this is all very weird for me.”
“You guys?” Caleb scoffed, “don’t compare me to that man.”
“The Immortal?” my brow furrowed. “Why not? He isn’t that bad really, a little mysterious perhaps, but not bad.”
“That all depends on one’s definition of bad. Even still, whether he be bad or not, he most certainly isn’t someone I would leave a young woman with.”
“Oh no … no, he’s not like that… I mean you are, but he isn’t. Definitely not. No.” I shook my head several times.
“No, he’ll bore you to death!” his hands gestured into the air. “He hasn’t been company to even the dust in this crappy tower for the last few centuries!” Caleb shouted with irritation, rolling his eyes and continuing to fling his hands about.
“He’s not that boring, I think he simply needs to work on not being…I don’t know..passively annoying.”
Caleb stopped his over the top antics, “Passively annoying?”
“Yes, he is always teasing me slyly, hiding behind his stoic face, like I don’t notice it when he does. And one time I swear he laughed at me.” I rolled my eyes.
Caleb didn’t respond, he looked as though he were staring into space.
“Caleb?” my hand reached out, but I stopped it quickly.
“That bastard!”
“What?!”
“That ass, how dare he! Not after everything, no way in hell!” Caleb ran past me and leapt off the balcony.
I spun around in confusion, trying to follow where exactly the conversation had gone and why Caleb was suddenly pissed at The Immortal. Or, well, more pissed. Leaning over the railing I was barely able to make out the figure of him protesting loudly and walking in a circle.
“CALEB?” I shouted out to him, but from the way the shape continued to pace I assumed he hadn’t heard my call. For a brief moment I saw the glow of his violet eyes before he ran into the darkness of the dense Talen forest.
I watched for a little while longer but I never saw anything more, so I went back into the room and closed the two doors behind me. Once I had both shut, I noticed for the first time that the wooden carvings sporadically placed on the glass didn’t match against each other’s opposite reflection. Instead they made some odd design….somewhat like the symbols in grandmother’s book. I walked over to the still opened text and started flipping through the pages in a quite possibly ill attempt at finding the meaning.
I leafed through every page and image, taking a cursory glance at each, but I couldn’t find anything that matched the sign formed by the double doors. With an almost unhappy realization, I knew that there was practically no way I would ever be able to figure out a single word in this book, at least not without the help of a certain person who seems to be invariably unpleased with the mere sight of the old grimoire. I dropped my head down onto the desk with a sigh; I had fallen faster than I realized and though I stayed down I could feel the bruise forming on my forehead.
“Ugh…I don’t want to ask him for help…I’m surprised he hasn’t already thrown me out!” I wrapped my arms around my head in irritation. “Damn it, damn it, damn it…there is no way I can learn any of this. I don’t know why grandmother ever thought I would be good at this. How can I hope to be a witch if I can’t even read the language! Plus even if I could read it, I wouldn’t be able to understand it.” I bit my lip harshly, but resigned myself to my fate.
With mental and physical exhaustion, I closed the book and went slowly over to the disheveled bed where I laid down with yet another weary sigh.
“Today has been the longest day of my entire life…I’m just so tired…” I rolled over onto my side, staring at the blank old wall ahead of me. I kept my eyes open for a long while, thinking over the bizarre bits of information I had gotten from Caleb. Everything about him and his words seemed to upset all grandmother had told me; I was more lost in this world than before.
I slid my eyelids shut and began drifting into the weightless feelings of sleep. Confused combinations of violet and black eyes swirled around in seas of silky onyx hair, drowning me with knotted lies. In my floating unconsciousness I pondered what to believe, my grandmother who raised me more than my own mother or a strange sensual pervert who suddenly appeared with strings of unanswered questions.
“…Caleb…”
Chapter Three
The Catalyst
Chapter Three
After two large inhales, the annoying, ticklish congestion of a sneeze erupted from my nose, which of course didn’t seem to faze the Immortal any as he continued to hunt around in a large open closet. I brushed my nose with my hand and looked back to the several boxes and small containers that lined a few shelves I had been asked to search. I lifted yet another box and wrinkled my nose at it. Dust. Every single object in the kitchen was covered in layers of thick, caked on dust. I ran a cloth I had found earlier across the front of the box, it was very difficult to figure out what anything was when all the food appeared to have come from various countries and various…who even knows… around the world both back home and here. I sniffed at its contents and coughed away from it, to avoid disturbing the dust again, and with irritation shoved the box back in-between its companions.
I examined a few more cans and with great disgust tossed them aside and turned to face the man still passively digging through the closet behind me. “You have absolutely no food in this kitchen. I mean, I know you’re Immortal, but you still need to eat! What have you been living on all these years? The only thing that’s plentiful enough to sustain a full-grown man here is dust. Dust, dust, and more freaking dust!” I set my hands on my hips and waited for him to reply.
“Here.”
His stoic voice surprised me and immediately following a small, circular object was thrown at me. My hands barely caught the thing before it hit me.
“I found that fruit in the pantry, that’s all I have.”
“An apple? Who keeps one apple in a pantry yet can’t even keep bread or cereal or just something that lasts more than a few weeks? Peanut butter! That lasts forever. You don’t even have that.” As I spoke I checked the apple thoroughly to ensure there wasn’t any mold, or worms, or bruises, anything that would make this an unsavory meal. “Ha, meal.” I looked up and saw him staring at me strangely.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head and inwardly hit myself for not working on that annoying habit when grandmother had kept insisting to.
“Well, come on. There are a few fruit trees in the garden.”
My eyes opened wide. “Garden? You have a garden!”
He grinned slightly at my expression and headed out of the small kitchen. I hurriedly followed so that I would not become lost in the maze contained within the dark tower.
“Where could you even keep a garden? I walked the full span of the tower when I first came, and regardless, the land was completely barren at least 10 or 15 feet around this entire building. So there is no way you could be hiding one, not by shielding it from sight at least. Unless, perhaps, you have some way of pulling it to and from this dimension which is just silly…I mean, I hardly believe that this is even a whole other world.”
The Immortal chuckled quietly ahead of me, to which I scoffed louder than I intended in the blackness.
“You’re quite talkative, aren’t you?” His still surprisingly mild tone carried to my ears.
“No. Sometimes I just ramble. Grandmother would always tell me when, so that I would shut up.” I rolled my eyes at the thought but then became silent. I know I hadn’t been gone from home that long but my grandmother’s death was starting to weigh on me with every mention of her.
“Jade.”
The sound of my name on the man’s lips was foreign and jolted me from my internal trance. He had never called me by my name before now and, strangely, I found it comforting. “What?” I held up my hand to avoid running into his back again.
“We’re here.” He opened a wide but low door, flooding light into the darkness of the hall.
Behind the door was a huge greenhouse, incredibly bright in comparison to the rest of the building, which hurt my eyes for a moment or so.
“Wow. I can’t believe such a place exists in this tower. How is this possible?”
I looked to find the man but he was not beside or behind me. I glanced to the doorway where I noticed his outline; he had yet again declined to enter the light.
“Why do you avoid the sun? It can’t hurt you. Well it can.” I mentally snapped my filter shut before I began to ramble about the various issues with prolonged sun exposure.
I walked to him and saw a gentle glow from the whites of his eyes. “Come on.” I took hold of his wrist as I had done before and pulled him to the smooth stone path on the floor of the nursery.
He was more reluctant this time, but came forward anyway. He looked even paler in this light, however he didn’t stay in place long enough for me to continue observing his features. His feet lithely walked further along the path of well-placed bricks, after a few steps he stopped and turned his head slightly; I saw a glint in his black eye and began to follow him.
“So, how did you manage all this?” I sped up my pace so that I was close enough to hear his low answer, if he gave one.
“I didn’t. The entire greenhouse is capable of maintaining itself.”
“How can it do that? They’re plants…I mean, well organized and trimmed plants.”
I watched his face and waited curiously for a reason, his eyes lowered once in thought but he declined to respond. Despite my curiosity, I decided not to argue and attempt to pull it out of him, his downcast face seemed to repel me and so I stepped back and followed in silence the rest of the way.
“Look.”
I turned my head, following his outstretched arm and extended finger. Growing up to the top of the arching glass dome was an enormous apple tree; reflexively I began to slowly caress the lone apple I still held gently in my palm.
“This tree must be centuries old.” I walked up to the tree, being careful to avoid stepping on any of the smaller plants surrounding the path and placed my free hand against the rough bark covered trunk. My eyes slid shut as I stood beneath the shade and inhaled the sweet smelling nature air around me. “Immortal, do you know how old this tree is?”
I waited for a few moments but he didn’t answer, I couldn’t even recognize his slow breath on the air. I turned from the tree to look toward the path where I had last seen him, but he wasn’t there. I blinked several times in confusion and glanced around the area. “Immortal?” I mumbled.
I stumbled lightly as I headed toward the path and turned in the direction of the door and then back to where we had been heading. My brow furrowed in confusion and annoyance. “What kind of person leaves someone stranded in a greenhouse in a pitch black maze of a tower?” I whispered beneath my breath before finally deciding to head further into the multitude of colors.
There was myriad foliage in every direction, in every color possible with vining limbs or bold leaves branching all over the visible patches of faux earth. Some seemed to be concoctions bred there in the greenery and others were foreign plants that were nearly or definitely extinct back home. I had a difficult time resisting going to each plant and touching its exterior or marveling at its colorful beauty. Focusing on finding the Immortal was becoming more difficult every time I saw what had to be a dead species with all its abnormal coloring and design.
After a great deal of walking, I noticed that the stone bricks were becoming fewer and far between and soon my feet were touching lush green grass. I followed the carpet to an even larger tree, which broke from the glass and spread its ever-growing branches out over the exterior of the dome. My head craned itself in order to take in the entire canopy of green and yellow and orange shifting from a slight breeze drifting through the leaves from the outside.
I brought my gaze down and saw the Immortal standing before the huge expanse of life; it was difficult to tell his expression from his stoic stance. However I did notice that he had his hands in front of him, possibly holding something.
“Immortal?” I leaned forward a little in order to try and see what it was he held so close, but not disturb him by trying to pier over his shoulder, not that I could, since he was so tall.
His head shifted briefly in acknowledgment of my question.
I waited and he soon turned around, eyes closed and palms still cupped. His pace was steady and even; his feet stopped beside me and he looked down at my confused expression. He suddenly dropped an orange colored item in front of me, which I caught awkwardly, while still holding the apple he had handed me earlier. I shifted the object into my free hand and saw that it was a large, soft peach, lightly colored with a few leaves still attached to its stem.
“Um, thank you.”
He nodded and continued in the direction I had just come from. I looked back at the peach tree and gazed for a long while without really thinking of anything or anyone, I merely watched the leaves swirl around in the wind beyond the confines of the glass.
“If you linger, you’ll be left behind again.”
His sudden loud voice startled me out of my thoughtless reverie, causing me to nearly drop the fruit in my hands. “Pardon me.” I muttered somewhat sarcastically.
He exhaled what could have been an airy laugh and walked on, leaving me to catch up or be left in the continuous wilderness. I quickly jogged to follow him. His black hair swayed with his gentle gait and entertained me through the silent journey to the door of the greenhouse, although when he stopped at the threshold I nearly rammed my nose against his spine.
“Don’t nod off in the hall; my back won’t be visible to follow.”
I shook away my mesmerized expression and childishly stuck my tongue out behind his back. Once we stepped into the dark, I instinctively held the fruit closer to my chest while I watched the Immortal’s outline disappear as the greenery door shut and the light was extinguished.
I could hear my quiet breaths and the light taps of my feet on the wooden flooring, the hushed aura in the hall made me a little uncomfortable.
“Stairs.”
“What?” I stopped after hearing his voice ahead of me.
“We are at the stairs.”
“Oh.” I moved the peach into my other arm and then reached my hand out to find the banister. Instead I met his hand in the dark; he took hold of my limb gently and moved it to the smooth surface of the timber rail. I grasped it abruptly, he then released me and went on down. I cautiously groped my foot out ahead of me and let it fall, with the hope that a step would stop me. Luckily it did. I sighed in relief and continued easily down the stairs, but nearly fell forward once I had reached the floor in a sad attempt to find another step.
I searchingly listened for his minute breaths to figure out how close to me he was, but couldn’t hear anything. I took another cautious step forward until I saw the familiar red light glow around the Immortal’s hand against a wall. Quickly I headed over to him, stopping right as he opened the door to the room we had been in earlier, my grandmother’s old room. The pale orange of evening light flooded the hall as he opened the door and gentlemanly gestured for me to enter. I slowly walked into the center of the large room and then turned to face his familiar outline in the doorway.
“So, I’m staying in here then?”
“Yes, it would be most appropriate.”
“Alright,” I turned back to face the setting sun’s glow. “Goodnight, Immortal.”
No response came to me, and I assumed he had already left, likely closing the door without a sound beforehand. A small grin settled itself on my face.
I walked over to a sturdy, dark wood writing desk adjacent to the window and placed the two fruits on the chipped surface, making sure they wouldn’t topple over. Slowly I pulled the chair out from beneath the table and sat with a low sigh. “I have barely been awake that long today, but I still feel worn out.” I dropped my head onto the old top and wrapped my arms up into a pillow.
“Ow.” I lifted myself off the desk and looked down to see what had jabbed my stomach. A small curved handle protruding from a drawer had been knocked loose when I laid my head down and applied weight to the top. My hand rested upon the knob and gently pulled the drawer loose, revealing an ancient book and several scraps of paper, alongside a few aged pencils.
I slipped the hard covered text out from its container and placed it where I had once been resting. Archaic symbols, some of which were exactly akin to the ones covering the paper that decorated the walls of the room, spread themselves before me. I ran my palm across the coat, feeling every torn fabric edge and embossed character against my fingertips. The textile smelled similar to my grandmother; “she always had a lovely aroma…” a tear broke free of my eye and glided down my cheek, landing on the rough stitching of the book.
With one hand running along my face to catch the salt water of memories, the other took hold of the edge of the pages and opened the strange volume. Pages flipped and flew by, finally settling on a bookmarked section with a thin strip of paper in the crease. The words were small but at least they were in English. My finger underlined the handwritten text as I read.
“Frozen
Drops of red wishes,
Bits of existence yet none of flow,
No breath to have,
Glow of life,
Dance of strength pulsed with text,
Simple answers,
Glean complex regrets.”
I left my hand on the page as I thought of the poem grandmother had written into a spell. The words themselves were combined in such a way so that they were to create something, supposedly. I leaned back in the chair, pushing it up onto two legs while stabilizing myself with the elderly desk. “Ugh, I always hated literature classes. I don’t do analysis very well.”
I stood from my seat and walked away from the confounding text; instead, I decided to search the rest of the room. When I faced the door unintentionally I stopped in my tracks, noticing the stance of the Immortal past the threshold and glaring at the book I had just left.
“Immortal?” I cocked my head at his peculiar expression and stepped toward him in curiosity.
His hard black eyes kept away from me, continuing to force its anger at the area behind me. I held my hand out to him in a mere gesture of concern. “Immor—” he turned his face in my direction, stopping my words while looking at my outstretched limb with disgust. His eyes slid closed, swiftly turning from my view, and heading out of the room without a sound.
End
