by Rue Volley
“What now?” I asked him.
“Now you belong to each other,” Theodore said.
“Like own?” I asked him. He smiled.
“Well, not exactly… you will always be connected to one another,” Theodore said.
“Forever?” I asked him.
“If you like… a bond can be broken, but it is painful,” he said to me.
“Well, I don’t plan on breaking it, Theodore,” I said.
He tilted his head at me and I stared back at him.
I think I understand why he came to talk to me.
“You don’t think that I will stay bonded with him?” I asked.
“I do not doubt your conviction, but you are young, Rue,” he said. “Joshua is my brother. I love him… I have loved him much longer than you and I only want what is best for him… You understand?” Theodore said as he turned from me.
I grabbed his arm and he stopped.
“Theodore, I would never hurt him,” I whispered. Theodore turned to me.
“You already have,” he said.
I let his arm go and looked at his face. I don’t know where this was all coming from, but it hurt me that he thought I would just dump him at some point.
“That is so not nice,” I said.
He held his hand up and shook his head.
“No… no, I did mean to make it sound so cryptic. You see Josh is a Lord. For him to bond is a serious thing. He is unable to bond with anyone else now, Rue… It is you and you alone,” he said.
“Oh… like he only gets one shot?” I said.
Theodore shook his head and then smiled.
“I just wanted you to know that it was not an easy thing that he did.”
I shook my head and watched him walk away from me. Serious conversations are not my strong point. I would much rather be joking, or running from danger I guess. I turned back to the mirror and looked at myself. I looked healthier than I had for a while. The dark circles were gone. I dropped the towel and traced my fingers over my ravens, then I touched the scar from Josh’s blade. It shimmered under my fingers. I looked up and Josh stood in my mirror. His scar on his chest shimmering too. I grabbed the towel and covered myself quickly, like he hasn’t seen me naked before.
“Would you please stop touching yourself?” he said with a wicked grin on his face.
I turned and sighed.
“Really? What? Do not tell me that you can feel everything I do now,” I said.
He continued to grin.
“Not everything, but if you are concentrating on me… yeah I can.”
“Well, that’s weird,” I said as I walked past him and to my closet.
“Why?” Josh asked.
I started shuffling through my clothing, making quick decisions as I threw t-shirts behind me.
“Because… we are two people,” I said.
“Yeah… and,” Josh said as he stood there.
I turned to him and sighed.
“Listen, I need just a moment to get used to the fact that I can literally feel your heartbeat in my chest now, it’s unnerving,” I said, with no anger… just honesty.
“I understand,” Josh said.
“You do?” I asked, totally surprised that he wasn’t arguing with me.
“Sure… it’s weird,” he said.
“Oh,” I said, suddenly feeling a little irritated that he was feeling that way.
Why am I acting like a girl? I shook it off. I was the one who said it first anyway, right? He laughed at me. I grabbed the perfect shirt for the day I think. I held it up and grinned at it.
He tilted his head at me. I turned it to him and he smiled as he rubbed his hand through his hair. It read ‘Just ignore me… I’m crazy.’
He shook his head and walked to my door. I looked at him and bit my lip.
“Don’t,” he whispered.
I looked down at my hands and realized that I was humming again. Maybe it was the realization that he was in my room with no shirt on. Awesome, now everything was going to be a thousand times harder. Perfect. I finished getting dressed. I chose wearing my pinstriped jeans and stepped up to the mirror and looked at myself.
“Today is going to be fine,” I whispered to myself.
I looked over at my window as a bird landed on the windowsill. She, well… I am assuming that it’s a she, sat there and looked at me. I walked to the window and looked at her. She nestled down and looked all cozy. Maybe that’s what I should do. Just relax and let my reality settle in. I smiled at her and started to touch the glass. She looked at me and then flew away. I watched her fly through the air into the woods. I thought I saw her dip into the trees and then a small glimmer of light flashed at me. I blinked and leaned in. Nothing. I should stop thinking that everything is weird. Just for one day anyway.
I walked to my door and heard the familiar bantering coming from downstairs. Evidently the house was up. I stepped into the hallway and glanced back at the window. I grinned and walked downstairs.
“You should not be so certain,” Jonah was saying as I stepped into the living room.
“I am certain of everything I do,” Josh said back to him.
I stepped into the kitchen and looked around at everyone. Sam smiled at me and Kai shook his head and went back to eating. I glanced at Jonah and Lily. He sat there, her on his lap. I rolled my eyes and took my chair across from Josh as usual. I grabbed my fork and started to stab some pancakes.
“Ahhh… wait,” Theodore said as he stepped up to me.
I looked up at him, hoping that I wasn’t about to get a muffin, or cookie… or anything magically filled with crazy juice. He turned back to the counter and then turned back to me, with a plate in his hands. He stood there and one candle burned in the middle of a huge stack of pancakes for me. I dropped my fork and leaned back in my chair.
“Oh god… really?” I said as I sighed.
“Yes, it would seem that we have a birthday celebration,” Theodore said to me.
I shook my head and stared at the candle flickering on the stack.
“I didn’t even remember,” I muttered.
“I know,” Theodore said as he placed it in front of me.
I looked at it, watching the wax start to melt down.
Today I am nineteen, the last year of being a teenager for me… Freakin great.
“I think that it is customary for you to blow it out as you make a wish, Rue,” Theodore said.
I looked up at Josh and he grinned.
I closed my eyes and wished for the one thing that would make sense.
“Please… let this day be normal,” I thought to myself. I blew it out and Theodore clapped.
“Oh, wait,” he said as ran into the living room and pulled out a box from under the couch.
I looked at it and shook my head.
“No… no presents,” I said as I glanced over at Johnathan.
He was unusually silent this morning. He stared at me, kind of blankly. I got caught looking into his eyes for a moment and then I watched Theodore place the decent sized box in front of me. I stared at it for a moment and then looked at Josh. He raised his eyebrows and waved his hand at the box. I stood up and pulled the lid off. Whatever it was it was wrapped in white. I pulled the white leather off of it and stood there kind of stunned for a moment. I reached in and grabbed the hilt of the most beautiful blade I had ever seen. I lifted it out and looked at my reflection in the metal.
“Oh crap,” I muttered.
I ran my fingers along the metal and blue traces of light followed my fingertips. I closed my eyes and heard the blade sing to me. It was the most beautiful sound to my ears. I sucked in my breath and forgot that I was with anyone for a moment.
Lily stood up and backed away from me. I opened my eyes and looked at her.
“What?” I said to her.
Jonah looked at her and held out his hand.
“Come, Lily,” he said gently. She took his hand and sat back down on his lap.
“Lily has
never seen a warrior receive her blade,” Jonah said.
I looked at Theodore and he had a big smile on his face.
“A warrior?” I asked him.
“Yes, Rue… it is time for you to train now. You are in the last two years of your mortal life,” he said to me.
I laid the blade back in the box and held onto the table for a moment.
“My mortal life,” I said.
Josh stood up and grinned.
“You are now becoming what you will be for an eternity,” he said.
I shook my head and looked around the table.
“Okay… but I feel no different,” I said.
Everyone laughed. I didn’t know why.
“Come here,” Josh said as he held his hand out to me.
I took his hand and he walked me to the window. I looked out and watched color swirling in the air and on the ground. A bird flew by and color trailed behind it.
“Oh,” I whispered.
“You see all the color, Rue?” he asked me. I nodded.
“What is going on?” I asked him.
“You are starting to change now… You will become more in tune with the earth and everything on it every day now,” he said.
I looked at him and watched color swirl on his skin.
“I see color on you,” I said.
“As I see you,” he whispered.
I looked back at the kitchen and smiled.
“This is kind of weird,” I said to everyone.
Sam laughed and stood up. She walked to me and placed her hand on my shoulder.
“It is a beautiful thing,” she said.
I looked back out at the sky and watched every color swirl on the wind.
“Yes… it is,” I muttered. “Is it life?” I asked.
“Yes… the heartbeat of the world,” Josh said.
He grabbed my hand and I stood there watching birds swoop in the air, with beautiful trails of red and yellow behind them.
“Why now?” I asked him. Josh shrugged his shoulders.
“At nineteen we all start to see it; it’s nothing compared to the first day,” he said.
I looked at him. “The first day?” I repeated to him.
“The first day of your new life, Rue,” he said.
I squeezed his hand and closed my eyes. I can’t imagine it, if this was nothing compared to that.
***
We had all finished breakfast. There wasn’t much conversation, kind of strange. We were all normally extremely talkative. I didn’t spark any talk either. I sat there and ate my pancakes. I didn’t even ask Theodore what he had put in them. My stomach did not turn over on itself, so I had to guess that he mixed something into it. It filled me up though, for first time in a long time that I could remember.
Jonah and Lily had stepped out of the house and Johnathan had gone to the couch with Kai. They were locked in a deadly battle of demon slaying. I sat there and stared at my empty plate. Theodore cleaned up the dishes and Sam had gone to the shower. Josh sat across from me and tapped his fork on his plate. I looked up at him and grinned.
“You want to play with your new blades?” he asked me.
I blushed, thinking about the last time he had shown me how to fight. What a moment of crazy. I nodded though. I want to go out and try these new weapons out. I shook my head “yes” and he smiled as he stood up. Theodore turned to him and pointed his finger at him.
“Slowly… with purpose,” he said to Josh.
Josh laughed and looked at me.
“Most certainly,” he muttered.
“I mean it,” Theodore said as he glanced at me. I grinned.
I stood up and grabbed my blades. I held them in my hands and felt a slight buzz coming from them. Johnathan looked over at me and then at Josh.
“Are you going out?” he asked him.
“Yes… you stay,” Josh said to him.
Johnathan shook his head and looked back at the screen.
“Fine,” he muttered.
I walked to the door and looked back at Kai and Johnathan sitting on the couch. Sam walked in with her hair wet, rubbing it with a towel. I glanced over at Theodore at the sink, humming while he cleaned the dishes.
God… if I didn’t know any better I would say that that was normal.
I grinned and stepped out onto the porch looking over at Jonah and Lily. They sat there swinging and chattering on about something. Lily turned to me and grinned, without showing her teeth to me. I smiled and leaned towards her.
“I didn’t mean that… about your teeth,” I whispered to her.
She nodded and looked at Jonah. He tipped his hat to me.
I looked out at the sky and watched it swirl. Josh touched my waist and I looked up at him.
“You ready?” he asked me.
I nodded and we flashed into the forest.
This time as I flashed, colors swirled by me. Everything felt alive, with a heartbeat. It didn’t make my stomach hurt; it actually calmed me down. We both came to a clearing by a small stream and Josh stopped. He stepped out in front of me and then turned around to face me. I looked at him, trying not to get too excited about being alone with him. I knew he could feel me, so I needed to be calm until we both felt up to speed. I smiled as I felt my blades humming in my hands. He looked down at the blades and grinned.
“It seems that you like them… I am glad,” he said.
I held them up and looked at them.
“Where did they come from anyway?” I said.
“I made them for you,” Josh said.
I looked at him and grinned.
“Made them?” I asked.
“Yes… after I met you the first time,” he said.
“Why would you do this?” I asked him.
“Because, when I touched you the first time, I felt like I had known you forever,” he said.
I looked at him and lowered the blades.
“Josh,” I whispered.
He smiled, it was a new smile. One that I didn’t think he had ever shown to anyone. It wasn’t wicked… not sarcastic, it was happy and honest. I drew my breath in as I felt his heartbeat in my chest. He shook it off and looked at his blades. Obviously he was hell bent on getting me up to speed. I placed my feet apart and stared at him.
“What do I do?” I asked him.
“Look at the sky, Rue,” he said.
I looked up and watched the color swirl above us.
“Do you see all the color?” he asked me.
“I do,” I said.
“Raise your blades and call it to you. Just concentrate on how you are a part of everything around you. You are the sky, the wind, the water and earth,” he said.
I looked at the sky and at the sun shimmering on the metal of my blades. I started to slow my breathing and watched the colors start to drift towards my blades. It started to snake around the metal, as it sang to me. I could hear the entire world in my head. It was a low violin playing in my ears. I smiled and watched the colors swirl and start to absorb into my metal and my skin. It felt like a blanket on a cold night.
“Oh my god… it is so cool,” I said. Josh smiled.
“You are becoming what you should be.” he said to me.
I felt the wind tickle my face and I closed my eyes as I heard birds singing in the trees.
“I can hear everything,” I whispered.
“You hear the light,” he said to me.
I looked at him as color swirled onto his blades too.
He turned his blades sideways and grinned at me.
“Are we going to fight?” I asked him.
“Not so much as play,” he said to me.
He lunged forward in a flash, but to me it looked like slow motion. I raised my blades easily and the metal of his blades slid down mine. I sucked in my breath, not out of shock but out of the pleasure it brought to me. I watched him spin behind me and I turned and blocked him. He smiled and leaned into me.
“You can give me your best,” he whispered.
I grinned and started to twist my blades in my hands. I didn’t know how I knew to do it. It felt like the blades themselves told me where to move them. He backed up as he countered me. I stopped and watched his blades start to shimmer, as well as his skin.
“Am I doing this right?” I asked him. He laughed and nodded.
“Better than you would know,” he said to me.
He flipped over me and I looked up and watched him. He looked so graceful. I pivoted on my foot and held my blades up to my chest and then swiped them out and hit his blades as he ran towards me. I started to see small sparks of light in the air. I continued to breath slowly, it wasn’t even winding me. That surprised me I guess, for someone who never did any sports, ever. I felt a humming in my hands and looked at him.
“Oh… are you ready to go harder?” he said as he tilted his head at me.
I nodded and lunged at him. I hit his blades in a blur of continuous blows. He backed up from me as his eyes started to swirl in color. We ended up chest to chest, blades at our sides touching. I wanted to lean up and kiss him, but I promised to not get all excited. He shook his head at me and pushed me back from him. I stopped myself as I my feet slid on the dirt. He smiled and lunged towards me. Suddenly he jumped up and he froze mid-air. I blinked and looked at him, suspended there. I lowered my blades and tilted my head.
“Josh?” I said to him.
He remained suspended.
I looked around us, maybe someone is playing a trick on us… or maybe he is.
“Is this some kind of trick?” I asked him.
He remained still; I didn’t even see his chest moving. Small sparks of light started to fall around us slowly. I watched them drift slowly to the ground. I held out my hand and let one land in my palm. It absorbed into me and I heard a whisper. I turned and saw no one.
“Who is there?” I yelled out.
I heard a whisper on the wind and recognized the voice.
“Sara?” I yelled out.
I heard her yell out in a desperate echo in my head.
“Sara?” I yelled as I started to move in the direction of her cries for help.
I flashed forward until I came to the edge of the forest. I looked down and saw the glowing symbol in the dirt. I heard her cry out again and I looked up and saw her standing in the middle of the field. She was holding her arms and looking around her in every direction.
