Chapter Seven-The Moon and the Stars

The boy looked at me with his brown eyes, expecting an answer.  I could not think of one thing to say except, “Wha…?”
         I whipped my head around the corner to see that the area was still empty and then back at the boy who was still staring at me with a very bored expression.
         “Well,” he prompted, “how long?”
         “Not long,” I lied, “I just got here.  Really.  But I’ll be leaving now.”  I got up and started to walk around the corner without passing him only to feel him grab my wrist.  I turned around and he was standing, I did not hear him get up.  The top of my head only came to about his chin.  I looked into his eyes; they were such a dark brown that at this time of night, they almost looked black.
         “You’re lying,” he said still holding my wrist, “you’ve been here since before I got here.” He was not asking a question this time; he was accusing.
         “Well,” I said with a nervous laugh, “why are you asking questions you know the answer to?”  He merely shrugged in response as he let go of my wrist.
         I turned the corner of the mausoleum and was about to start running away when I realized I did not have anywhere to go.  That stopped me in my tracks.  I thought for a moment about what I was going to do and then felt the urge to ask the boy what he was doing.  I knew it was a bad idea, but then I thought, why not?
         I went behind the mausoleum, ready to ask, but he was gone.  Again.  I looked around the corner to see him there, jumping into the grave.  I took one last look behind the tomb and then walked over to where the boy was digging.  I stood at the edge and watched him for a moment before he said, “I thought you were leaving.”  I noticed he did not look at me when he said it.
         “I just…uh…wanted to ask you something,” I began to play with my fingers, “what are you doing digging up this grave?”  That made him stop and turn to look at me.  He stared at me for a long moment and I saw that the top of the grave was already above his head by a good foot.
         “I’m doing my job,” he said, “I have to dig up this guy to get his jewellery so his damn wife can be happy.”
         “Why does she want his jewellery back?” I questioned.
         “Don’t know, don’t care.”  He then turned and went back to digging.  I looked down the path and saw that a light fog had come in, creating an eerie effect.  My thoughts drifted back to the zombie movie I had watched with Damien earlier that evening and a twinge of fear went through me.  I did not want to go back down the path, at least not alone.
         “Weren’t you leaving?  Go away already,” he sounded like he was getting annoyed.  I looked down at him and he had stopped digging to look at me again.
         “I don’t want to go yet,” that was telling him, I thought.
         “What’s a girl your age doing in a graveyard near midnight anyway?  Why don’t you go home,” he shooed me away with his hands, “I’m sure your parents are worried.”  He began to annoy me now.
         “I said I don’t want to.  Besides, I don’t have parents…that I know of.  And I don’t have a home either!  Well I do…sort of…but I don’t…do I?”
         “Listen sweetheart,” he said leaning on his shovel, “I don’t need you watching me all night.  Besides, if you stand there the dirt might—“Suddenly the ground beneath my feet disappeared and I fell on my butt into the grave, “—cave in,” he finished.  I looked up at him and he was actually smiling.  His smile turned into laughter which eventually died.  I hated how people laughed at me so much.
         He took his shovel and stabbed it into the wall of the grave behind him and then took the handle and did the same with the opposite wall.  The shovel hung there like a limbo stick.  He turned back to me as I was dusting myself off and offered his hand.  I took it and the boy helped me up.
         “I tried to warn you, sweetheart,” he said still chuckling.
         “Well, not soon enough!  And don’t call me that, I have a name you know,” I dropped his hand the second I could stand and backed as far away from him as possible.  I think I kind of hurt his feelings.
         “And that is?” he asked with honest curiosity.
         “It’s Sapphire,” I said crossing my arms, “And who the hell are you?”
         “Name’s Hunter and it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance Sapphire,” he smiled at me and gave a bow, “now get the hell outta my hole.” And just like that the smile vanished.
         “Fine,” I said and then turned to walk away, forgetting that I was indeed in a hole.  I turned to see Hunter role his eyes at me.
         There was a gust of wind and Hunter was gone.  I looked around the small hole to only find the shovel still planted in the earth.  Then someone tapped my shoulder.
         “Up here, sweetheart,” he said stressing the word ‘sweetheart’, I looked up to glare at Hunter, somehow he was out of the hole and looking down at me.
         “How did you get up there?” I asked.
         “I flew,” he said like I should have known, “now give me your hands and close your eyes.”  I did not feel like arguing any more and did as I was told.  I felt a gust of wind and knew my hair was blowing all over the place.
         “Okay,”” Hunter said with a laugh, “you can open your eyes now.”  I opened my eyes and knew why he was laughing.  My hair was everywhere; I could hardly see.
         I took a moment to arrange my hair and straighten my clothes before looking Hunter in the eye and asking, “How did you do that?”  The smirk on his face was gone in a second and a mild annoyance flashed behind his gorgeous brown eyes.  Damn, I thought, I just said his eyes were gorgeous in my head.
         “I’m a magic-user,” he admitted, “I can control the elements.”
         “Really?” I asked showing far too much enthusiasm than I had meant to.  But he could control the elements.  How cool was that?  It appeared that my reaction was not what Hunter expected as his eyes widened.
         “Yeah,” he said, looking a little relieved for some unknown reason, “all six.”  I could not help but smile at the thought of what his power could do.  He could probably fly!  I found I did not care about anything else he could do, as long as he could fly.  Then it hit me.
         “Six?” I question, I thought there were only four elements.  I looked down at my hands and counted.  Water, earth, fire, air.  Water, earth, fire, air.  No matter how many times I counted my fingers, I came up with four.  I counted a couple more times before Hunter stopped me.
         “Okay okay, stop,” he said, “you’re forgetting light and dark.  Everyone does.”
         “Oh…I see.” I did not know what else to say. 
         Hunter then grabbed my wrist and told me that he was taking me to the gate of the graveyard.  I did not like that idea.  I stepped back to find that the hole was directly behind me and I began to fall hearing Hunter yell, “Hey, look out!”  And suddenly I was in the magic boys arms.
         My head was against his chest and I could hear his heart beating quickly.  He had one arm on the back of my neck and one across the middle of my back, holding me.  Realizing that, I felt my face begin to redden.  We stood there for a moment longer than necessary.
         Finally Hunter released me from his grip and stepped back, it was dark, but I could have sworn that his face looked a little red too.
         “You uh,” he said scratching his head, “you should be more careful.”
         “S-sure,” I stammered.
         “Come on, I’ll walk you to the gate,” this time I did not object simply because I did not feel like arguing anymore.
         We began walking slowly down the path, passing graves and statues coated with a white fog.  I was glad Hunter was walking with me.  Sure I did not know him, but I still felt better knowing he was there.
         A cold wind blew from my left and I hugged myself as I shivered.  Hunter noticed.
         “Here,” he said taking off his sweater to reveal he was wearing a long sleeve shirt so dark green that it looked black, “take this.  It’s cold.”  He held out his black sweater to me.
         “What about you?”
         “I’m fine, my powers allow me to not care about the weather,” he smiled, “it could be a blizzard out here and I would be fine naked.”  The thought of him being naked made me blush even though I did not really picture anything in my head.  I took his sweater and he hid his face from my sight.
         That was smart you idiot, I could hear his thoughts, mention being naked.  Smooth, very smooth.  He was embarrassed!
         I could not help but turn my head away from him and give a small laugh.  Thankfully I did not think he noticed.
         The wind blew again and I decided that it would be better if I put on his sweater.  I slipped it on and it was about three sizes too big for me, but it was warm from being on Hunter and it smelled a little bit like him.  For some stupid reason, that made me a little happy.  And then I cursed myself for having a happy thought when I was supposed to be mad at Gin for spelling me and Damien.
         Hunter and I continued to walk in silence, it was killing me.  I had to say something, the silence was unbearable!  But what could I say?  I did not listen to any music; watch any shows except for the movies I saw with Damien.  I did not go to school yet, have any activities.  In my mind, I had only been alive for about two days.  And one of those days I spent in bed!
         I heard a clunk and it jerked me out of my thoughts.  We were at the gates and Hunter had opened them.
         “Here we are,” he said awkwardly, “I’ll…see you later?”
         “Bye Hunter,” I said quietly, not knowing what else to say.  Why did I never know what to say?
         “Bye Sapphire,” he smiled and I smiled.  Then he walked away.  I watched him walk for a short while before noticing that I was still wearing his black sweater.
         “Oh!  Your sweater!” I shouted at him and he turned.
         “Keep it,” he waved me away, “I’ll get it some other time.”
         “Okay,” I said quietly to myself as I thought how he would find me.  But then again I seemed to be accident prone to the people I met.  If we were in the same area he would find me by looking for the wounded people and flying objects.  Right?
         I turned and stepped through the gates and onto the sidewalk.  I glanced up and down the street to see that it was still empty save for the two glowing lamps.  I looked at them for a moment and thought about how sad they must be.  They were the only ones lighting up the street and they were so far apart from each other.  Destined to be together forever but a cruel fate has pulled them apart.  Doomed to be on separate sides forevermore.
         The lamps reminded me of me for a short moment; right before I remembered that I did not have a significant other on the opposite side of the street.  I did not have anyone at all.  It was just me, standing on the sidewalk at night with nobody to keep me company but the stars and the moon.
         I sighed and sat down on the curb.  Until now, I never realized how completely alone I really was in the world.