~Elle’s POV~
I hadn’t slept at all, and I was sitting in the kitchen bright and early when Emiko sauntered in, holding her head. I don’t know if the whole visions from that night had me not feeling like myself, but I actually felt worried for Emiko. I even was so bold as to ask her about it. “You look like hell. You ok?”
She gave me a quick shut-the-heck-up look before wincing and heading to the sink, grabbing a glass, filling it with water, and downing it. She trudged to the chair opposite me. “I just had a rough night.”
I frowned, “Did you have weird dreams too?” Maybe it was just a weird occurrence, and I hoped I wasn’t the only one who experienced them.
Em’s brow’s furrowed. “What? No. Wait, did you have weird dreams?” she asked, suddenly interested in what I was about to say.
“Ya, I dreamt that you were being told you were a vessel for some demon lord,” I answered. I got up and refilled my coffee mug.
Emiko shifted, and when I turned, I saw she was frowning. “And you didn’t hear that from anyone?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No. In my dream, you were talking to that Nino character and some other dude I don’t know. You were standing on the sidewalk not too far away from Ryuu’s house. It was, I think, the day of his birthday, when we were all over at his place.” As I talked about it, I was remembering more and more of my dream.
“Ok, that’s just freaky. That really did happen where you described and the day you described. I really am a vessel for a demon lord,” Emiko told me, crossing her legs at the ankles, getting more comfortable.
“How could I dream that when I didn’t actually see it?” I wondered aloud. Before Emiko could reply, I asked, “So, you and your friends, you all have special…. Abilities?” I was still skeptical, but it was looking more and more likely.
Emiko nodded, “Yes, we all do. What if, Elle, you are gaining some abilities? Or your powers have just been laying dormant for all these years, and are finally coming out?”
“Even if you are right, and let’s just pretend I believe you. Why now? Why are these ‘abilities’ finally coming out?” I asked her, shaking my head, my eyebrow raised.
“Well,” she started, trying to think of a plausible reason. Her eyes lit up when she thought of something. “I bet since you were such a cynic, that your powers never came out because you didn’t believe in it. Therefore, you never needed them. Now that you have been submerged in it all, you have basically awakened your gifts, your talents. You are starting to believe in the paranormal.”
She raised a hand when I was about to cut in. “Think about it,” she said. “You can’t deny what you see. You can try, but it won’t last for long. You have the power of visions. Now that you clearly have abilities that no one knew about, I bet you can now see ghosts and the like!”
“Whoa now, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves,” I shook my head at her. “I need to really think things through. I want to keep some sort of record of this, so I can keep all this organized. I might try to take a nap later to see if I have any more. Maybe it was just a fluke.”
“Well, I have a girl’s day out with Aisling today, so I guess I should go get ready. I’m going to hang out with Ryuu for a little too, so I won’t be home till late. I plan on going through some of the footage from the school. We really need to crack that case soon,” Emiko told me as she got up, heading to her room.
When she said Ryuu’s name, I remember the second dream I had about him being some sort of secret weapon for the demons. “Hey Em, be careful around Ryuu,” I told her, as I too got up. I was planning on doing a lot of research about paranormal stuff today.
She frowned. “What do you mean?” she asked, turning around to face me. “Does it have something to do with your visions?”
I gave her a sad smile. “There is more to him than you think. You know he is a demon lord’s son, right?”
She nodded. “Yes, I know that. What of it?”
“The demon lord’s plan on making Ryuu their secret weapon,” I told her.
She frowned. “Ryuu would never let that happen.”
“Just be wary around him, ok?”
She nodded, “Ya, ok, Elle.”
~Emiko’s POV~
I arrived at the park before Ryuu. I had called Takara to let him know for sure that I was going to be there. So, he was the demon’s secret weapon. From what? The angels? Did that put Aisling in any danger?
God, the voice was back, whispering in my mind. Again, it was still too jumbled up for me to really understand what it was saying, but then, I wasn’t really trying to listen. I just wanted it to shut up and leave me alone. There had to be something I could do to make it stop. It had been too awful last night.
I had barely gotten a wink of sleep, and I had contemplated ending it all, but I couldn’t bare the thought of not seeing Ryuu, Nino, Elle, Aisling, or any of the others ever again. Plus, I was put on this earth for a reason, and I was going to fulfill that reason, whatever it may be.
Tears started falling before I ever realized I was crying. Nino. He was the only one that I knew of that could maybe help me. He clearly knew what was going on, but he wasn’t giving me any answers. And since I didn’t know how to find that Sho character, Nino would have to do. I planned on paying Nino a little visit after hanging with Aisling. I needed this to stop, now!
“Ah, hey Em!” I heard Ryuu’s voice, and suddenly, the voice stopped. I swiped at my eyes, wiping away the tears. He sat down next to me. “… What’s wrong? Have you been crying?” he asked, worry thick in his voice.
Before I could even think about it, I found my arms reaching out to him, pulling him into a hug. “Please don’t say anything,” I whispered. He did what I asked and just held me in his arms. “Thank you, Ryuu.”
“Ya, no problem,” he told me, forcing a soft smile. “Do you feel any better now?” he asked.
I sniffed, smiling, punching him in the arm playfully. “Don’t get too carried away, Ryuu,” I laughed.
“Right, I’ll try to remember that,” his smile suddenly faded.
“Ryuu? What’s wrong?” I asked him, worry clear on my face.
“Can’t you feel it, Em? Someone’s coming,” he replied standing up and looking in Aisling’s direction. She was making her way towards us.
“Ryuu, it’s just Aisling. Why are you so tense?” I frowned, remembering that he was some secret weapon. Was something happening to him? Was that why he was being so jumpy? Especially around Aisling, since she was an Angel? I wanted to ask Ryuu about it, but I had forgotten about it, and now didn’t seem like the right time.
We all exchanged some words before Aisling and I headed off, leaving Ryuu behind. Before he turned away, I gave him one last, long look. Would he ever talk to me and tell me what was going on? Why did I have to hear about this from Elle?
I turned to Aisling, who seemed to have a skip in her step. “You seem in a happy mood,” I smiled over at her.
“Ya, well, when I go on a Girl’s day or night out, it’s usually with my mum, and she’s so… embarrassing,” she muttered.
I laughed as we headed to the crosswalk, waiting for the cars to drive by before we ran to the other side of the road. “So, you’re related to an angel?”
“Huh? Oh you mean Nana. Yeah,” she nodded.
“That’s amazing,” I replied. I hadn’t really had a girl’s day out before, so I felt a little awkward. I didn’t do the whole hanging out bit very often since I didn’t have the time nor many friends.
Aisling nodded, “I guess so.”
I smiled as we made it to the mall. We had a blast at the different department stores, trying on new clothes. We even found one of those photo booths and took some goofy pictures together. I smiled as I looked them over as we were heading to the movie theater, ready to watch a movie together.
Suddenly, the voice was back in my head again. I tried to ignore it as we waited in line to pay for the tickets. I held my head, searching my purse for aspirin, but I didn’t have any, as I hated taking medication of any sort. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to subside.
“Emiko?” Aisling’s voice cut in, she was grabbing at my sleeve. “Come on, we need to pay. Are you ok?”
I was beginning to feel faint. I had never had the voice in my head for so long in one day. The stress was beginning to be too much. I didn’t want to alarm Aisling, so I pulled her aside, letting the people behind us go ahead.
“Aisling, I am so sorry to cut this short, but I have to go,” I told her, the strain clear in my voice. I only hoped I wasn’t alarming her.
“Are you ok? Do you need me to do anything?” she asked worriedly.
“No,” I closed my eyes again as it got more intense. “I just need to go.” I headed towards the exit, bolting out of the mall.
“I’ll come with you,” she insisted, running after me.
“Really, I’ll be ok. You don’t need to,” I told her.
“I want to make sure you make it safely. You don’t look well at all,” she said, “No offense.” She shot me a meek smile.
“Thanks, but Nino’s place is just around the corner. That’s where I’m headed,” I told her.
“What’s at Nino’s?” she asked.
“Answers,” I replied. Hopefully, I thought. I left Aisling at the crosswalk. She needed to go straight and I needed to go down the block. Nino was going to help me, whether he wanted to or not. He’d better be home!
Continue?
So, Elle is slowly coming to grips with the reality that is her having special abilities, and Emiko really wants answers!
