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 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.
Chapter Two
The Catalyst
Chapter Two
I gently opened my eyes and found a dark hard wood ceiling looking down at me. I quickly flung myself forward in shock, “What the…?” a small damp cloth fell from my head into my lap. I picked up the cloth and curiously looked around the area I found to be surrounding me. I was in a large room where everything was made entirely of wood and iron, several pieces of paper with strange archaic, and some kind of familiar writing covered two walls of the room. The sheets I sat upon appeared hand woven wool and silk spread out on a four-poster bed with a roofless canopy.
“Uh, this is weird.” I rubbed my head as I got up to have a better look around. I stood with a bit of a wobble and noticed I had many small bandages all over my body and my dress had been stitched perfectly where every rip and tear had been made. “That’s right, I fell through the ceiling…but where am I now?” As I headed for the large door, I continued to observe the room. There was a huge window on the wall opposite the door and it had the same balcony with warped iron railing I remembered seeing outside… so, it must be a real one then. Since I had been backing up while still observing the window I nearly bumped into the door, but my hand rubbed against the metal doorknob before I managed to. I spun around to turn the handle slowly, just in case it made any sudden noises.
I gradually peered out from the room I was in and, glancing in both directions, saw only vast empty hallways. The darkness enveloping the entire place seemed to give every corridor or room an eternal breadth of area. I cautiously crept down the left passage, mostly out of curiosity rather than self-preservation, and ran my hand along the smooth timber of the shadowed walls. It wasn’t terribly hard to see once you had been used to the murky atmosphere for a moment or so, but in a few select areas there seemed to be an unrelenting aura of not only black air but also a morbid rippling that made my skin crawl. I tried to ignore the uncomfortable feelings and continued on for an endless span of time until I felt my hand brush against the cool iron handle of a door. Through my trek, I had forgotten to pay attention to where I was going, “it’s good I kept my hand out,” I sighed, “otherwise I’m sure I would have rammed right into this door.” My voice echoed slightly despite my lowered tone, although thankfully the waves of sound didn’t vibrate as harshly in opposition to the thick wooden panels.
I opened the door and found it to be incredibly heavy, as though it were made of iron as well. With panted breathes and much thanks to my grandmother for pushing me into doing yoga, I managed to heave the door into a slightly ajar position, just enough for me to wedge through. On the other side there was only more of the abyss that appeared to be engulfing the entire building, all, however, except the entrance to the tower where the peculiar clear blue light emanated without origin.
Now that I had become lost within the belly of the beast, I found myself wishing that I could be back in that lobby where at least I was able to see my surroundings. I sighed with frustration at my never ending sojourn and ran my tired back along the passage wall, sitting in defeat and now combing through tangled hair from the impromptu brush against the confines of the corridor. “Crap, now I’ll never get out of this place.”
An abrupt squeak of floorboards came from my previous location, most likely from behind the large door I just realized I had left open. Quickly, my feet scrambled to stand and hurriedly moved me further away from the noises, since currently my brain decided to argue with itself over whether or not to see if anyone were there and basically risk the chance of tortured murder on a different world in another dimension…or something like that. I stumbled lightly, using my painstakingly enhanced balance to catch myself.
“Hello?”
I froze in place, neither brain nor feet working. The question fluttered out of existence after running itself over my sensitive ears and causing little nervous pricks to dance along my skin.
“Hello.”
The voice came closer and this time it seemed as if the sound crashed into me like an ocean wave, flowing around every curve of my body.
A large hand gently placed on my shoulder appeared nearly two seconds after the sounds. “Found you.” The definitely male voice whispered behind me, however, instead of screaming, I tightly gripped the hand, forcefully twisted the wrist, and finally thrust my other palm in the area of his face. All I received for my self-defense was a quiet vocal expression of surprise and the fast gripping of both my wrists.
“That was uncalled for.” He spoke clearly.
I scoffed with irritation in my tone and attempted to pull myself free, but to no avail. “Let go!”
“You’re rather rude.”
“Rude!? HA, you’re the one sneaking up on young women in this abysmal rabbit’s hole!”
“Rabbit’s hole?” His voice sounded genuinely confused.
“It’s a literature reference.” I sighed and shook my head. “But that is not the point!”
“There is no point, therefore this conversation is pointless.”
“Pointless!? You’re the psychotic torturer kidnapping women!”
“Kidnapping? I never kidnapped you.”
“Me? Whoever said I was speaking of myself? I obviously meant the woman you had chained to a wall!”
“Her? I suppose I may have captured her, but I had my reasons; nothing for you to worry about.”
“Why not worry? Regardless of how I got here, I have been kept here, implying that I may be another victim. Not all murders require bait.”
“You are being stubborn.”
I growled at his remark and yet again tried for my freedom. “Just let go already!”
“Why? I came to get you, if you had simply stayed put I wouldn’t have needed to come and find you.”
The strangely matter-a-fact and actually sort of true way he said that only made me more annoyed and yet also kind of embarrassed by the current circumstances.
“Come on.” He released my arms, but I could still feel his presence in front of me. I felt a gentle brush of skin on skin and noticed that he was slipping his hand into mine, strangely I felt my face flare hot for a brief moment. He then easily began to make his way back to the door with me in tow.
After a moment of awkward silence, I opened my mouth to speak. “So…how did you find me?” My voice was relatively quiet, though somehow I knew he could hear me.
“It wasn’t difficult; I followed your heart actually.”
I laughed loudly, thinking his comment had been a cliché joke.
“What’s so funny?”
“What you said, you were joking, right?”
“Joking? No. I followed the pulse of your heart and minute sounds of breath as well.”
I cocked my head in the dark. “How could you follow something like that?”
“The dark is most beneficial, I use it to see and hear.”
“You’re blind?”
“No, but living in the dark helps one learn to use heightened senses.”
“Ah. That’s a useful skill. The most interesting thing about me is that my nose is hypersensitive.” I released a solemn giggle at my pointless fact muttering.
“That is very helpful. A powerful sense of smell can be invaluable.”
A shook my head and suddenly found my face colliding with a solid mass.
“Sorry.” He mumbled. “I needed to reopen the door.”
“Oh, no it’s fine…my fault really. Umm, do you need any help? I know the door is rather weighty.”
“Really? I always thought it a little too light.”
He steered me across the threshold and afterward I heard the quiet thud of iron against wood.
We continued at a calm pace the rest of the way to the room I had awoken in. He stopped me and I assumed we had reached the entrance, though he made no indications. I watched the black air I believed he occupied and a sudden red glow appeared, outlining the upper form of his body.
“He’s taller than I thought.” I swiftly thrust my hands over my mouth during which I thought I heard him elicit a quiet laugh.
When the blood aura decayed, I heard the turn of the handle bringing forth a crack of light from the room behind. Once the door was opened completely I found myself heading directly for the balcony windows, which I pulled wide open allowing me to gaze outside.
The timid breeze rustled my hair and I simply wanted to breathe in the sun’s warmth after my long trek through gloom. I turned around expecting to find the man right behind me, but I only managed to pinpoint his outline still behind the doorway in the darkened hall.
“Why are you still out there?” I tilt my head.
I walked across the floorboards and without even thinking I stretched out my hands and took hold of the man’s, pulling him into the room despite his peculiar hesitancy. Once I got him into the light I noticed his features more clearly than the fuzzy memory of when I first saw him though the ceiling. He did have black eyes, completely pure; I couldn’t see what was iris and what was pupil. He also had long black hair falling down past his hips, with two short pieces draped along his chest wrapped in blue colored ribbons. His skin was fair and smooth with no bits of pigment left darkening fragments of the surface, although he did have dark circles under his eyes.
I think I was staring slightly because his brow rose along one side with curiosity. “What are you looking at?”
“Hmm… oh, nothing. You just…you look exactly as I thought you might.”
“What are you talking about?”
I released his hands and shook my head in denial. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.”
He opened his mouth to question my reluctance, but I immediately spoke before he could. “So…why did you put me in here? Why am I still here, actually?” I casually looked around the room while waiting.
“You were injured because of me; it was only natural that I help you.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to become injured if your ceiling was stable.”
“The tower is stable; you merely became an easy target for Narre. That is entirely your fault.”
“My fault? Maybe you should take better care of where you leave obvious cracks so that curious trespassers don’t become interested!”
“That never existed until your presence triggered Narre’s attention.”
“Well, pardon me!” With my hand expressions gesturing wildly, I fell backward onto the bed and sighed. Though I was focusing my irritated gaze on the ceiling, I soon noticed the man’s head coming into my field of vision. “What?” I mumbled.
“It just occurred to me that I don’t know your name.”
I blinked several times as I also came to the realization that I didn’t know his name either. “No wait, I know you. You’re the Immortal.”
He didn’t seem at all phased at my knowledge of his title. Which, considering my grandmother said that’s what a few people called him, didn’t surprise me.
“I’m Jade.” I held my hand up in the air, expecting the general greeting of a handshake. However, he simply looked at me; for some bizarre reason I think I had been expecting some realization at who I was. I lowered my hand slowly and blinked a few times in confusion. “What? It’s just a handshake?”
“I don’t particularly enjoy physical contact.”
I sat up and furrowed my brow. “What are you talking about? You took my hand in the corridor and you allowed me to bring you into the room by grasping your wrists.”
“Different. One was merely to help you through the dark, the other I had not been anticipating and was not voluntary on my part.”
“Hmm. You certainly have issues.” I stood up off the bed and started to gracefully pace around the room, somewhat unintentionally encircling him. “Soooo, is there any food here? I feel like I haven’t eaten in days.”
“You’ve been asleep for over a day.”
“WHAT! What do you mean?”
“I mean what I said. Why else say it if I had not intended the meaning?”
I rubbed my temples in frustration. “Uhh, too many means…” I casually flopped down face first onto the floor and moaned into the wood. After a few moments of silence I felt the presence of the man next to me. “What?” My voice was muffled and sounded more like ‘uut’ in the confined space between the ground and my barely open mouth.
“I keep some vitals on the second floor kitchen.”
I pulled up onto my arms and raised my brow slightly. “Did you say vitals? You may be old but you don’t need to speak like you are. It’s the 21st century where I’m from and we say food.” I looked at him and noticed he had a much taken aback appearance.
“Who are you?”
I held my mouth open and drooped my eyes as though I couldn’t believe he was that inattentive or ignorant. “I told you, I’m Jade.”
“No, not your name; who are you? Where did you come from?”
This time I sat up, and nodded somewhat for my own benefit. “Oh yeah, err, yes, sorry. I had completely forgotten about that with all the chaos I seemed to fall into.”
“Of course.” He himself nodded to my explanation calmly.
I cleared my voice lightly. “I’m Jade Kannon. Daughter of Sonya and Derek, and granddaughter of Guinevere and Kalen.” I paused my incredibly formal, and honestly, somewhat sarcastic introduction to watch his face. When he made no show of recognition, I then opened my mouth. “Uhm, you do remember her, don’t you? Guinevere, Keeper of the Catalyst?” Still saying nothing in response, I continued with a little of my own confusion, “you know, brown wavy hair, grey blue eyes, a few dark freckles here and there.” I was pointing at my face as I spoke, when at last he did something.
Closing his eyes, his face briefly twisted in anger. “I knew it,” he whispered beneath his breath.
I moved my head to better see his face, which was downcast and turned away from me. He didn’t say anything, so I placed my hands on either side of his face and brought it around to look into my eyes. He looked stunned by my sudden contact and I was also a bit shocked that I simply did such an intimate gesture to a near stranger. I reactively pulled my hands away and held them together close to my chest. “Sorry, but don’t worry.” I paused and pondered what I was going to say next. “Um, grand-I mean, Guinevere didn’t leave you; she was taken back to my world…well, her world. She has never been able to come back to you. The Catalyst, the ring…” I held up my hand, “she gave it to me for my 18th birthday. It was that night that I came here.”
He straightened himself and walked out of the room. Unsure of where I even was, I quickly scrambled to my feet and followed him as best as I could into the darkness of the tower.
End
