Timeless (ForNever)

by Rosaline Saul

  Kieran walks to the cupboard and he pulls a bag of popcorn and a bag of crisps from inside of it. He opens it and then he upends it into two separate bowls.

  Candice pouts and looks at Jayden as if they are joined at the hip. “Ooh, can we watch the romantic comedy first?”

  He peeks at me, before he wraps his arm around her shoulders and says, “Anything you want.”

  I turn around annoyed and walk toward the lounge, and I sit down on the two-seater couch. Shannon and Dermot follow me in, and they sit down together onto the single couch, which is broad enough to accommodate both. Kieran follows moments later, carrying the two bowls. He puts them down onto the coffee table and then he hunches in front of the unit with the DVD player. He pushes the DVD into the slot and then as he walks past the coffee table, he scoops up the remote control.

  He smiles at me as he sits down next to me. I put my one leg over his leg, and he puts his hand on my thigh, as I lean my shoulder closer to him and snuggle into him.

  The familiar introduction music of the movie company starts playing at full volume, and Kieran calls loudly, “The movie is about to start, Jayden.”

  “Okay. Be there soon.”

  I sigh exasperated.

  Kieran leans his head closer to mine, and he asks softly, “What’s wrong?”

  “We are watching the romantic comedy first, and now she’s not even here.”

  From across the room, Shannon gives me a look, a look I hope Kieran did not see. A look which expresses everything I am feeling at this moment. I feel as if Kieran and I are a couple, I feel comfortable with him, he makes me feel safe, and I had decided a while back this is the only ingredient needed for an everlasting relationship. Why then am I having this feeling of jealousy toward Candice and why do I feel as if my heart is being torn into two?

  Clearing my mind of all things Jayden related, I rest my head on Kieran’s shoulder as I settle into the movie. Every time something romantic happens or one of the actors says something romantic, Kieran tenderly squeezes my leg, just above my knee.

  When the movie is finished and Shannon exhales a long, delighted sigh, I admit, “That was a nice movie. I enjoyed it.”

  Shannon agrees, “It was so sweet.” Dermot groans melodramatically and she punches him on the arm. “Gawd, Dermot you are so unromantic.”

  Kieran gently moves my leg from his and he gets up to change the DVD.

  Looking over his shoulder, where he crouches in front of the DVD player, he asks me, “Don’t you want to get us some juice?”

  As I start to get up, I ask, “So who wants juice? Shannon? Dermot?”

  They all want juice, so I walk through the double doors into the dining room.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  I walk through to the kitchen and the lights are dim. As I come around the corner, I see something from the corner of my eye. At first, I dismiss it as a shadow, but then I notice it is Jayden and Candice.

  He is leaning with his back against the counter and she is pressed closely to him. His one arm is around her waist while his hand is pressed up against her back, between her shoulder blades, holding her to him tightly. His other hand is under her blouse and I can see he is making small caressing movements on her back with his fingers. It looks as if his eyes are closed, but as I stop next to the island in astonishment, his eyes look up at me, past her head. He continues kissing Candice, as his eyes fill with amusement while he looks at me. I can only stand there.

  I get a hold of myself and I turn on my heels, rushing out of the kitchen.

  Shannon asks, “And the juice?”

  “I thought I saw a ghost.”

  Kieran looks up from the DVD player, but I tell him, “Don’t worry, just need to gather myself.”

  I turn back to the kitchen.

  When I walk into the room again, they are still kissing. Honestly, how long can it last?

  The glasses are in the cupboard behind Jayden, so I ask politely, “Why don’t the two of you go up to your room, Jayden? I have to get the drinking glasses.”

  Candice moves away from Jayden, but he pulls her back into him. As he glares at me, he kisses her determinedly.

  I hear her moan and it feels as if something in the pit of my stomach twists. Hurriedly, I turn away from him and I take three glasses from the basin. I start to rinse them under warm running water and then without looking back at him, I open the fridge to get the juice. I keep my back to him as I pour juice into the three drinking glasses, and when I walk out of the kitchen, with the three glasses tightly pushed together in my two hands, I concentrate hard on not dropping them.

  I have seen the action movie before, so when Kieran suggests we go up to his room, I agree.

  He takes me by the hand, and we walk up the stairs. I notice there are only two rooms upstairs and a bathroom.

  We walk into his room and he falls onto his bed, folding his arms under his head. I sit down on the edge of the bed.

  Looking down at him, I ask, “I thought you said your parents are in Spain, but this house has only got two rooms?” As I talk, I realize I already know the answer.

  He smiles up at me alluringly. “Yeah, actually the witch who put a curse on us, was our mother.”

  I frown and he laughs. “She wasn’t yours and my mother, but my and Jayden’s mother.”

  My frown furrows deeper. “So, your mother was a witch? She was a real witch and not just an innocent accused of being a witch. Why would she do this to you?”

  “She knew we both loved you, and she wanted to punish you, severely, after you accused her of being a witch at the Trials.”

  “Why did I accuse your mother though? I feel awful now.”

  “They were going to put you on the pulley until you confessed or gave up the witch who was supposedly making you do wicked and immoral things, so Jayden convinced you to say it was our mother. We thought she would escape with a spell, and we thought she would get out unharmed, but after they put her in the pulley until she confessed, there was no more fight left in her.”

  I realize this is probably why Jayden looked so downhearted when he was telling me about the pulley on the train that day. It happened to his own mother, and it was ultimately his fault she was there in the first place. Jayden chose to protect me, rather than his mother. I feel the guilt weighing down on me.

  Kieran continues, “I really don’t know what happened, all I know is she used her last strength to put a curse on all three of us, instead of saving herself.” He smiles slowly while he wraps his hand around my arm. He says softly, “Come here.”

  I lean down toward him and softly I let my lips drift over his lips.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  Kieran and Heather are lying on their stomachs, propped up on their elbows, next to each other on his bed and Kieran is making a play-list for Heather on his laptop.

  Heather hears Jayden downstairs tell Shannon and Dermot they can sleep in his room. She hears Dermot and Shannon come up the stairs noisily and then she can hear them whispering softly until they fall asleep.

  Everything gets quiet.

  He turns his face to her and asks, “Where is your music player?”

  “Downstairs in my jacket pocket.”

  “Get it quickly, so I can download this for you.”

  She leans into him and softly she touches her lips to his. She feels his lips smile under hers.

  “Hurry back,” he says.

  She pulls herself up and then she stumbles over him and off the bed.

  Jayden looks up toward the ceiling despondently as he hears the creaking noise coming from Kieran’s room.

  It is pitch dark downstairs and Heather feels her way down the stairs by tracing her fingers along the banister and then the wall.

  She sees a strange blue light coming from the lounge, so she walks closer to investigate. She looks past the door and she sees Jayden sitting on the couch. He is holding his hands, palms facing each other in front of his face, while blue streaks of electricity jump between
his fingers, backward and forwards.

  Unintentionally she takes a deep breath and he instantaneously drops his hands as he stands up. He is standing in front of her, even before she exhales.

  She hisses softly, “What are you doing?”

  “I am bored, why? Would you like to entertain me?” He says, barely audibly, and she must lean closer to him to hear. While he glares down at her, he frowns as his eyes narrow slowly.

  “So where is Candice then?”

  “Sleeping,” he answers her dismissively.

  Accusingly Heather insists, “What if she sees you playing with magic? She will run her mouth off to everybody at school.”

  “I will just put a spell on her to forget. Simple really. I think I would still have her love me though, everybody needs somebody, don’t they?”

  She avoids looking at him as she steps past him and then she walks to the kitchen to get her jacket.

  He follows her, and when she turns back to the door with the jacket in her hand, he is standing between her and the door.

  “I am sorry about your mother,” she says apologetically.

  Wretchedness flashes across his face. “Kieran told you?” She moves to walk past him, but he says, “Wait.”

  She turns back to him. “Kieran is waiting for me.”

  “When my mother cursed us, it was not to punish you, but it was to punish me only. She knew the truth, and she knew my heart. She knew how much I used to love you, and so she made it so you would always choose wrong as well because I betrayed her.”

  “No, Jayden. It happened so long ago, you should let it go,” she says sympathetically.

  He smirks sarcastically as he looks down at her. “We do not all have the luxury of forgetting each time, over and over again.”

  Heather looks up at him insulted, and then she hisses, “Go back to your girlfriend. Leave me alone.”

  “She means nothing.”

  Heather says over her shoulder, “You could have fooled me.”

  She walks away and he watches her. He hits the soft, fleshy side of his fist down onto the counter and he wishes with all his heart that this wretched curse could be broken, and he could just move on without her.

  Heather contemplates his words as she walks up the stairs and the fact he said he only used to love her, meaning he does not love her anymore.

  When she gets back to Kieran’s room, she climbs over him and settles in next to him again, lying on her stomach, with her elbows propping her up.

  She hands him the music player, and she asks him cautiously, “So who am I supposed to choose? Obviously, I would want to choose...”

  “No, Heather. Do not say it. Not yet.” He says urgently. He turns onto his back and then as he pushes his arm in under her chest, he moves himself until he is lying half under her. She leans down slowly, with a smile on her face, and his hands come up around her shoulders as he pulls her down to him gently. Just before their lips touch, he says softly, “I want you to say it, but I am so close to getting a spell breaker. We need to be patient.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  The next morning, we sit scattered across the couches in the lounge.

  Kieran suggests, “Why don’t we go to the aquarium in Bray today.” He nudges me playfully. “It should be fun; don’t you think?”

  I lift my head from his shoulder to smile up at him lazily, feeling tired. I see Jayden scowl briefly and then he shrugs his shoulders indifferently when his eyes meet Kieran’s, just after he glances at me.

  Dermot says apologetically, “I won’t be able to go. I have a football match this afternoon.”

  Shannon confirms, “Yeah, and I have to be there, otherwise he would be totally useless.” Dermot smiles at her insulted, and she insists, “You know I am right. If I am not there to cheer you on, you have two left feet. Besides, I am shattered, and I don’t think I’ll enjoy looking at fishes in a tank today.”

  Candice, who is following Jayden around like a puppy, is obviously going without even having to be invited.

  When we leave the house and we discuss the logistics of fitting all of us into Jayden’s car, Candice claims the front passenger seat as her own.

  I end up sitting in the middle of the back seat, between Kieran and Dermot, while Shannon sits on Dermot’s lap.

  In Balbriggan, Jayden drops Shannon and Dermot off at her house, and then I climb over Kieran’s lap, so I am sitting behind Candice. Jayden has been glancing casually at me in his rear-view mirror all the way from Drogheda, and I am sure if I moved, he would not be able to see me behind Candice.

  When we stop at the first traffic light, Jayden adjusts the rear-view mirror slightly and he smiles pleased when I glare at him infuriated.

  In Bray, Jayden parks his car in the parking area in front of the National SeaLife Aquarium.

  Kieran takes my hand as I get out of the car and then we walk into the building, where he buys four entrance tickets.

  Letting go of his hand, I walk away from Kieran so I can read a poster on the opposite wall. I feel Jayden when he comes to stand behind me. He glances up at the poster, as if he is reading it, but I hear him murmur sarcastically, as he leans closer to me, so that only I can hear him, “Don’t go saying anything stupid today, like declare your undying love for Kieran. This is not the place.”

  I look up at him over my shoulder annoyed. I see what he means though. The shadows are everywhere, they are dark and menacing, it is as if there is an atmosphere of eager anticipation in the air.

  Smiling, Kieran walks toward me and I step toward him, pretending I did not even know Jayden was standing behind me. Kieran leads us into the aquarium. It is cleverly themed to look like realistic underwater caves.

  We stop at the first tank and octopus occupies it. Kieran stands closely next to me as I look in on the eight-legged masterminds.

  He puts his arm around my waist lightly and he asks, “Did you know the octopus is a great escape artist?”

  I glance at him sideways sceptically.

  He smiles as he continues, “An adult octopus can squeeze through a hole as big as a one Euro coin.”

  “No?” I look back at the large creature.

  Jayden says from behind me, “And they have three hearts, imagine the pain, when the one they love does not choose them.”

  With irritation, I glimpse over my shoulder at him, and I see Candice pout. She says with concern, “Shame.”

  He puts his arm across her shoulders and pulls her into him tightly as she beams up at him. He leans down and kisses her gently on the crown of her head.

  We walk on and stop at each tank. We read the descriptive plaques and every now and again Kieran or Jayden will tell me and Candice interesting fishy facts, as they call it.

  I am not sure if it is my imagination or just the effect of the cave-like surroundings, but it feels as if it is getting progressively darker and gloomier.

  When we walk into an even darker cave, with less, dimmer lights, my eyes fleetingly look up at the roof and with utter distress, I see a swirling black mass of shadows there. It looks as thick as a cloud and it twirls around in a circle, like a brewing tornado.

  As I am looking up fearfully, a shadow shoots from the swirling mass like a lightning bolt directly at me. I yell instinctively and curl down to the ground, balancing on my ankles and holding my arms over my head protectively.

  I feel it knock into me and wildly I start to flail and wave my arms around my head, yelling and screaming, trying to keep it away from my face. I can feel it trying to squirm its way between my thrashing arms. I feel it brush past my face for a brief instant and I can feel it stealing a mouthful of air. I gulp another breath of air before it swoops past my face again. I can hear a cackle of laughter far away, in the distance and the sound fills me with terror.

  From a distance, I hear Candice ask, with laughter in her voice, “What’s wrong with her?”

  Although Kieran is standing close to me and Jayden is a few steps behind me with Candice, it is J
ayden who scoops me up into his arms.

  He has one arm under my knees and the other arm around my shoulders. He presses my head into his chest, and I hear him hush me softly, soothingly, “Tell them to keep their distance. Perform a spell by announcing what you intend to do and then keep it strongly in your mind, until you begin to feel better.”

  Kieran leans over me. He asks concerned, “Heather, are you okay?”

  My eyes are closed, and I am trying to calm my breathing, so I am unable to answer his question. I am chanting in my head repeatedly, “Darkness go away, shadows leave me alone.” I try to keep this thought in my head, but it just bounces around chaotically.

  Jayden says gruffly, “She’ll be fine.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Kieran exclaims, “They have never attacked before. All the other times, they have always kept their distance until she chose. Why has everything changed?”

  “All the other times, we never told her. She did not know why she had to choose, she did not know about the curse or any of the details.”

  My breathing gets slower and I can hear the thumping of Jayden’s heart under my ear. Uncomfortably I shift in his arms.

  He lifts his hand from my hair, where he still has it, pressing my head tightly against his chest as if this will protect me. He smiles slowly, reassuringly, as he looks at me with concern. His lips are mere centimetres away from mine. He asks, “Okay?”

  I smile self-consciously. “Yeah.”

  He puts me down onto my feet gently, holding me supportively around my waist to steady my feet when Candice steps closer to us. “What’s going on? Heather, you just started going mental.”

  Jayden looks down at me and for a split second, I imagine he is looking at me as if he does love me—not used to love me.

  He turns away from me and smiling humorously down at Candice, he wipes his palm across her eyes as he leans in to kiss her softly on her forehead.

  When he lifts his head, Candice says, “I am bored, can we move on to the next tank already. I cannot wait to see the seahorses.”