Rebirth - The Beautiful Fallen (25 page)

             
"So you just had to watch.  Why am I not that surprised?" Chris said.

             
"Of course.  I always like to see what the Fallen Children are capable of.  Especially you, Wilhelm Marcos." Saffron replied.

             
Will looked down at my stone for a moment, then stepped over in front of me.  "So, you're very interested in me as well.  I can't say I'm that surprised.  But for now, I am curious as to whether you're making plans on getting yourself out soon." he said.

             
"I plan to have my freedom soon enough.  But for now, I'm expecting Ariana to be taken good care of.  And you know, you should heed this one's advice Christoff.  What happened the night before this was entirely your fault.  Don't think I won't hang his over your head." Saffron said.

             
"I'm aware of that.  But my lesson is learned.  So just leave it now." Chris replied.

             
Saffron chuckled slightly.  "Very well.  Besides, I have things to attend to.  I look forward to seeing you soon." he said.  And with that, he was gone.

             
At that, Chris stood back up.  "Well, no surprise there.  Why don't we get back and get cleaned up?  If Zane comes back and sees us like this, he's going to throw one of his fits." he said, helping me up as well.

             
I felt myself smile at his words.  It was funny, but Zane was just like that.  He always thought that you should clean yourself up promptly after doing things like this.  I didn't doubt that if he saw Chris and Will now, he'd insist that they needed a shower before they could do anything else in his house.  He was kind of a neat freak.  In fact, I'd almost call him obsessive compulsive about it.

             
By the time we got back into the house, things seemed to be normal again between Will and Chris.  In a way, it was a relief for me.  Maybe they were just being boys.  After all, boys tended to fight when they disagreed on things.  Although being Shadow Wings probably made those fights a little bit more dangerous...

             
I couldn't help but smile as I thought about it while I sat at my vanity as the evening fell and pulled my long red hair out of my pony tail.  Boys will be boys.  I knew that much.  By then, I think I was starting to get used to being there with them now.  And, as much as I hated admitting it, I really liked being there.  This felt more like a family then being with Mama ever had.  Was that because they were so much like me?  I wasn't too sure.  All I really knew was that I'd come to love being around Chris, Will, and Zane.  I didn't want to see anything drive us apart.

             
But as I sat there, I suddenly found myself staring into the mirror.  I felt like I wasn't myself anymore for some strange reason.  And all at once, visions began flashing through my mind.  Strange visions.  I saw dark shapes that were reaching for us, clawing at the air around us.  I saw Chris arguing with Zane, and pointing his sword at him in a darkened place.  And then, I saw us in strange looking room.  It looked enormous, and like the floors and walls were made of crystal glass.  But as I looked at it, I could see blood stains appearing all over it....

             
"I will erase your insignificant existence…”

             
I jumped as I regained my senses once again, the words spoken by that deep voice echoing in my mind.  For a moment, it felt like it was hard to breath.  What in the world had just happened to me?  Looking at myself in the mirror again, I realized that everything looked normal again, say for my shocked expression.  Even my pendant was normal.  There was no sign of a glow or anything from it.  Holding my head for a moment, I tried desperately to catch my breath.  Could that have been some kind of premonition?  And if it was, what did it all mean?

             
Slowly standing myself up, I decided to go look for the others.  I had to see them, just to know that they were all right.  After those strange visions, I just had to be sure.  Quickly going down the stairs, I stopped as I saw the lights on in the kitchen.  I breathed a sigh of relief, then slowly walked over to the doorway.  I could hear Zane talking to Will and Chris in there.  Apparently, he was commenting on their fight earlier.  I couldn't help but feel completely relieved as I saw them.  They were okay.  Whatever that weird thing had been, they were still okay.

             
"I'm telling you, that's a terrible way to do that.  You probably scared her to death with losing your tempers like that.  There was no reason for it." Zane was saying as I stood there.  They hadn’t even noticed me yet.

             
"Couldn't help it.  He pushed me too far again." Chris replied, not sounding concerned at all.

             
"You need someone to push you more.  You've gotten lazy lately.  What in the world has been going on with you?  You’ve never been this soft about things.  Has falling in love really changed you so much?" Will asked him.

             
"There's nothing going on with me, so cut it out.  I'm exactly the same as I've always been." Chris replied.

             
By then, Zane had finally looked over and noticed me.  I must have still looked a little out of it though, because he immediately seemed to pick up on it.  "Well, there you are.  Are you okay?  You look a bit pale." he said.

             
I quickly tried to shake it off.  There was no need for me to worry them like this.  After all, nothing had happened.  Maybe it was just the trauma of what had happened earlier.  After all, that fight had scared me more than I preferred admitting.  So I tried to play it off.  "I'm okay.  My arm was just hurting a little bit.  I wasn't thinking and moved it a little too much." I lied as I came in and sat down at the bar with them.

             
"You should be more careful with that.  You don't want to stress it too much.  It won't heal as quick." Chris said, looking over at me.

             
"Thanks.  I'll be more careful." I promised, walking over and taking a seat with him and Will.

             
"Anyways," Zane continued, "I hope these two idiots here didn't scare you too much today.  They have a bad habit at times of letting their tempers get the better of them when it comes to fighting like that.  Especially when someone's been hurt."

             
Will smiled over at me.  "Yes.  We do apologize for that.  Especially me.  I know you haven't really seen me lose my temper until now.  And I'm certain you've already been through enough with that arm." he said.

             
"It's okay.  I guess everyone does.  But seriously, it wasn't really Chris's fault.  I kind of let my guard down too because I kept listening to her." I said.

             
Zane shook his head as he fixed himself a glass of red wine.  "It's kind of sad when you think about it.  Norma was never like that before.  She must have been insane from hunger to do such a desperate thing." he admitted.

             
"She should've moved on.  She knew damn well that it wasn't doing her any good to stay here." Chris said.

             
"But she said that this was her home.  She was happiest here.  Maybe that's why she just couldn't." I reasoned.

             
Chris looked back at me.  "You'd really think so huh?" he noted.

             
I felt myself nod.  "Yes, I do.  I know what it's like to have to go from place to place.  I did that a lot growing up, and it could be really hard at times.  I never felt like I belonged anywhere.  Although it's not like Mama would've let me be around other kids either.  But it makes me think about how it must have felt for Norma too.  She made her home here, and she was here for a long time.  I'm sure that she loved it here, and never wanted to leave." I admitted.

             
Chris nodded slightly.  It seemed like he was taking in my words.  "Yeah.  She was.  And I did feel bad about doing what I had to last night.  But I couldn't let her keep doing that.  She had probably all but gone insane anyway, considering that humans aren't a good diet for them.  I've heard before that their blood and all messes with their heads, although I don't know that for certain." he admitted.

             
"It's just the harsh reality of things.  You know that as well as we do.  There was nothing more we could've done for Norma.  She'd made her own choices in that matter.  And when it comes down to it, hiding has always been necessary for their survival, as well as our own.  I'm sure Ms. Mabel did everything she could to protect you as best as she could Ariana.  Not only for Saffron, but because I'm certain that she loved you as her own.  Many of them do come to do so when we're children." Zane said.

             
"Yeah, I think she did.  She just was so paranoid with me growing up that I always thought she was weird.  But I guess she just wasn’t allowed to tell me the truth back then." I agreed.

             
By me, Will was quiet.  But he seemed to be thinking over everything we were saying.  It was funny, but looking at him, I could've sworn for a moment that I saw some of those strange flecks of red pass through his eyes again.  But, once again, they vanished very quickly.  I couldn't help but wonder though just what they were.  I was certain that I was seeing them now.  But I also knew that I'd never seen that with Chris or Zane.  Again, it made me consider that there was something very different about Will.  Something that no one else was willing to tell me yet.

             
However, before I could even begin saying anything to it, Chris spoke up.  "She probably wasn’t.  That wouldn’t have been that unusual.  But I know that she was devoted to you as well.  She may have been a lot of things, but she really cared about you.  And I don't think it was just because Saffron made her.  From what Jade's told me, she couldn't have children of her own.  She probably did look at you as her own.  All of us have had women like that in our lives.  And really, moving from place to place is probably the smartest thing she did.  Even with her spells, she couldn't keep those angels away forever if she stayed in one place." he told me.

             
"Indeed.  She protected you, and she protected herself." Will agreed, finally speaking up again.  It seemed like whatever he'd been caught up in thinking had finally passed.

             
I felt myself smile as I looked down and thought about their words.  For the first time in my life, I felt like I could let go of that mental case stigma I'd given Mama.  Instead, I was coming to understand that maybe that was never the case.  Mama was like she was because she wanted to protect me.  She knew that children like me could be hurt or even killed early in their lives.  So she did everything in her power she could to protect me.  And I couldn't have been more grateful.  She’d allowed me to live on for as long as it was in her power, even though it meant sacrificing everything in her life to do it.

             
After sitting there and talking a little while longer, Chris and I walked back out to the porch to sit down and watch the stars come out.  The night was coming fast, and we could already hear the familiar sounds of the frogs and crickets out there.  A big, bright moon was hanging in the sky as well, lighting up the surrounding land as well.  All in all, it was very peaceful and beautiful.

             
“You know, I think I like Baton Rouge.” I admitted as I sat there leaned against him on that porch swing.  I was feeling very comfortable by then.  My arm didn't even hurt as much as it had been, and I’d been able to keep it out of the sling for most of the afternoon.  Hopefully that meant that it was finally starting to really heal.  That would've been great.  I wanted to use it again.  I felt so restricted.

             
“I can’t say that I disagree with that one.  I’ve always like it down here in the South.  It’s almost like another world at times.  Things aren’t as fast paced, and I like that a lot better.” Chris agreed.

             
"I bet you've lived a lot of places now, huh?" I noted.

             
"No kidding.  I've been around the world in the last one hundred years.  But there really aren't a lot of places like this." Chris replied.

             
I glanced back at him as he spoke.  He actually looked very relaxed now.  More than I recalled ever seeing him before.  Taking a deep breath, I turned slightly and allowed myself to relax against him.  My arm wasn’t throbbing anymore, thank God, so I was finally feeling comfortable.  But also, there was just the feeling of belonging that brought that to me.  Once again, I considered just what I had really thought about Chris.  This connection had to be more than just a connection.  Could it really have been true love?

             
“You know, you think too much.” Chris suddenly said.

             
“Are you sure you’re not a mind reader?” I asked, smiling slightly to myself.

             
“Nope.  But I can always tell when you’re thinking a lot.  You tense up, and it gets really uncomfortable.  Will you just relax?” Chris replied.

             
“I didn’t think I was that tense.” I admitted.