Modern Monsters Ch. 3&4

Chapter Three:
Unwanted Information.

“Though you may not want it, take it for granted. The world is full of surprises. Perhaps this will be one that saves your life.”
         — Words to the Wise

“WHAT?!” I cried, my voice echoing and making us jump.

         “I’m not exactly sure who your real parents are, all I know is that one of them was part Ai’yume with a link to me. It’s the only explanation I can come up with.”

         “But why is it so strong in her?” Matthew wondered.

         “I still have to figure that out. Ever since Clairyssah was young I have been able to hear her thoughts and feel her emotions. It’s almost like we’re two souls squished into one body,” Lumena replied.

         “Wait a second!” I interjected. “What do you mean Mom and Dad aren’t my biological parents?” All of this talk about being one with someone else and being part Ai’yume was interesting and all, but I really didn’t care about that. I wanted to know what in the world she was talking about. My parents had gone into gory detail about my birth and even showed me the recording when I doubted them. I mean, I didn't exactly look like them, but that’s only because the genes I inherited weren’t very strong in my parents, it was stronger in my grandparents. That's why I was born with blue eyes and blonde hair while my Mom and Dad had black hair and brown eyes.

         “Just that, they aren’t your real parents. They adopted you unknowingly when their true daughter was switched with you. That’s what I think happened, at least.”

         “But —.”

         “I saw what happened with my, I mean our, eyes as they switched you two. Don’t think I am lying to you because I won’t,” she said fiercely.

         I couldn’t find any lie in her words so I grudgingly let the matter drop.

         Suddenly, a shock ran through me and I was thrown out of Matthew’s mind. Confused as to what happened and my head still filled with the new information I’d learned, it was a moment before I realized someone was speaking to me.

         “Miss? Miss! The bell rang. It’s time to get to class,” the librarian said. “And that goes for you too!” she added looking at Matthew.

         Oh, no! I’m going to be late for Economics! I thought in horror. I jumped to my feet and nearly fell. My head was still spinning.

         “Easy!” Matthew cried, grabbing me by the arms. We slowly made our way to our lockers, which were on opposite sides of the same hall, before we rushed to Econ. We made it just ahead of the bell. Before Matthew could take the seat next to me at the long table, Mrs. Schwartz beckoned him to the front where she introduced him. Only then was he finally able to sit next to me. And then the teacher called Nicolas to the front to do the same as she’d done to Matthew.

         Our eyes made contact as she spoke, making my blood run cold.

         Once done with that, Mrs. Schwartz had him sit in the empty spot right next to me. Great! Now I was going to be stuck between both of them! Hadn’t enough happened already?

         As the teacher started into the lesson Nicolas began to speak to me. Though I tried to ignore him, it wasn’t that easy.

         “So, how does it feel to know you are the last Ai’yume?” he inquired. I said nothing in return, trying to concentrate on what Mrs. Schwartz was telling us about the economy. I was going to fail my classes if stuff like this kept happening. “I bet it’s sad knowing you’re the only one left, even of the part Ai’yumes.”

         “What are talking about?” Matthew snapped over my head in a quiet voice.

         “Don’t you know Light Spell-weaver? The Mavelle ordered the Dark Magyck users to kill the part Ai’yume and humans so It will no longer have anyone who can threaten Its will to rule the world.”

         Matthew shuddered at the thought. It made me uneasy as well.

         “It really means you are the last Ai’yume and the only one standing between the Mavelle and the world. So watch your back,” he warned, aiming a wicked smile at me. I shrank against Matthew as Nicolas's brown eyes bored into mine.

         Finally, he took his eyes off me and raised his hand interrupting Mrs. Schwartz.

         “Yes Mr. Greymen?”

         “May I go to the restroom?” he asked in his stunning voice, dazzling all the girls, but striking fear through me.

         She nodded and continued speaking.

         My mind was a confused mess. I really had no idea what I believed anymore. I didn’t even know if what I was taught in school was true. All I truly believed was I was in danger.

         “Don’t worry Clairyssah, I’ll keep watch over you,” the voice of Matthew whispered in my mind.

         I looked up at him and saw the fierce determination in his silver eyes. With a start, I realized I trusted him. It seemed years ago I hadn’t liked him just because he kept staring at me. And now I would trust him with my life if that’s what it came down to.

         “It might just come to that,” Lumena stated solemnly.

         It made me shudder.

         The class slowly dragged. I couldn’t concentrate on anything the teacher said. It was as if I was standing at the opposite end of a tunnel and trying to listen to a conversation taking place at the other end of it while the speaker faced away from me. At long last, the bell rang, ending the torture of sitting next to Nicolas and the awful feeling of his power-hungry aura.

         I accepted Matthew’s proffered hand as he helped me to my feet. It’d been a mistake not to eat lunch. My stomach twisted with both hunger and nausea. I didn’t know which felt worse.

         As we exited the class, I warily watched Nicolas as he strode down the hall, a wide berth spreading around him. When he turned the corner, I felt a hundred times better. It was almost as if his very presence caused me to be sick.

         “That’s because he’s a Necromancer,” Lumena stated darkly.

         I shivered. I seemed to be doing that a lot today.

         Matthew, who was still holding my hand, pulled me in the direction of our lockers. I let him drag me along deep in thought about everything I’d learned. It scared me that I was willing to accept what Matthew and Lumena told me, yet, with one of them inside my head and the other I’d been in, it was hard not to trust them. And this new threat from Nicolas ... just his name sent a pang of fear through me.

         Before I was even aware of it, I was at my locker with the door open and my Chemistry books in my arms. I didn’t even remember opening my locker and getting them.

         Lumena laughed softly, like a soft breeze in the trees.

         “What?” I snapped under the murmuring voices of the crowded hallways.

         “Nothing,” she chuckled.

         It was then I noticed Matthew standing next to me, a broad grin on his face. Before my lips could form words, he grabbed my right arm and escorted me down the hall. The slam of my locker barely sounded over the racket of the other students. As we hurried to get to Chemistry I wondered how he knew where to go, yet before I could ask, Stacie passed us. When the sight of Matthew clasping my arm registered she stopped dead, forcing everyone to swerve around her.

         It was a moment before she found her voice. “Cheating on Nicolas already, Clairyssah?” she called after me.

         My face turned red.

         As if sensing a fight was about to happen, Matthew pulled me along even faster, forcing the people in front of us to move aside so we wouldn’t run them over. We reached our class with two minutes to spare. Taking my usual seat in the back, I pointed Matthew to the empty seat on my left. He took it with a grin.

         Pushing all my worries to the back of my mind, I quickly got out my pencil and paper and looked at the board to see what we were doing today. When the words dawned in my head, I felt sick. I’d completely forgotten about the test we were taking today. What with all that happened it was no wonder I’d phased it. I had studied for it, and, at the time, I thought I was going to do a good job on it. Now I didn’t think I could recall anything. I was going to fail this test. I started to panic.

         “Relax!” Lumena commanded. “I’ll help you remember what you studied. Don’t forget, I have access to your memories as well, and I know how to unlock them if I need to.”

         At first, I still couldn’t recall anything, and then it came slowly. I was able to remember the Periodic Table, which was what the test was on. And then, with a violent jolt that nearly made me topple out of my chair, everything was at the forefront of my mind. I could clearly bring to mind the questions and answers that would be asked.

         “What did you do?” I asked, my voice barely loud enough for even me to hear.

         “I brought the information you wanted and shoved everything else to the side so you can concentrate,” she replied.

         “Oh,” was all I could think to say.

         The rest of Chemistry flew by. The fact that Nicolas wasn’t sitting anywhere near me didn't even register, even when Matthew kept a close eye on him even though he was so far away. The only thing that mattered at this moment was the test and the grade I’d get.

         I was done before anyone else, except Matthew and Nicolas who didn’t have to take it. The moment I dotted my last period and turned it in, everything pertaining to Chemistry was shoved away from the front of my mind and what I’d learned that day took its place. It wasn’t that I forgot what happened, I just wasn’t focused on it. Now I was. The force at which my memories had come to the front had me wondering again if what Lumena and Matthew told me was true.

         “Let’s not get into this argument again, please,” Lumena muttered wearily.

         “Sorry,” I whispered, “but I can’t stop wondering about it when it’s changed my life.”

         The bell rang before she could say anything. I pushed my racing thoughts to the back of my mind, then I slowly got to my feet and walked beside Matthew toward our lockers. This time, as we forged through the crowd, more people gawked at us than before. It seemed the story of Nicolas kissing me and my obvious distancing from him sparked the interest of these people who already had enough to gossip about.

         I put everything in my locker and just grabbed my book. Since I didn’t have homework, I had nothing else to do in study hall. The instant my locker shut Matthew was by my side. I was starting to get used to his presence beside me, though I’d only known him for one day.

         Study hall went by in a blur as I devoured my book. Within its pages I was able to lose myself to the new things I’d learned and just daydream about being in another place altogether. Both Matthew and Nicolas had a book of their own, but they didn’t even glance down as they stared at each other the entire class. I was even oblivious to this fact as I read with a furious passion.

         When the bell rang I reluctantly closed my book and headed straight for my last period: Choir. I loved to sing, and this was the only place I really opened up and let myself be heard. I took my seat in the back row of the sopranos and watched as Matthew and Nicolas stopped beside my African American teacher, Mr. Johnson, and waited for him to tell them where they were going to be placed. After the bell chimed Mr. Johnson took them into the back room where he figured out where to place them while the choir practiced for the Christmas concert as the piano accompanied us. Five minutes later, both Nicolas and Matthew followed the conductor where he then pointed them to their seats, which had already been brought into the room.

         And then I lost myself in the music. It felt as if I was one with the choir, as if our voices were blending just for the purpose of helping me unwind from what I learned. Then, we came to the song in which I had a solo. Out of all the girls, Mr. Johnson had chosen me. At first I’d wanted to say no, but with a lot of coaxing on the teacher’s part, I had finally consented. It had surprised everyone, even me, the sound that came out of my throat. It hadn’t even sounded like me. And now, having already lost myself to the music, I was unaware of the staring everyone gave me. I just closed my eyes and sang my part as if I had been singing it for years. It was my best solo yet.

         When the bell rang, I reluctantly returned to the present. I always hated when Choir ended.

         As we filed out of the room, Matthew caught up to me. “You did really well on that solo,” he said with a big smile.

         I smiled shyly back. “It was nothing really,” I whispered.

         “I beg to differ,” he retorted as we made it to our lockers.

         After we gathered our things, we exited the school and waited for the buses. Number 56 pulled up and Matthew headed for it along with forty other students.

         “Well, guess this is goodbye for today,” he said as he waited for everyone else to board. “Take care of yourself and don’t let Nicolas scare you out of sleeping tonight. You have Lumena who’s going to watch over you while you sleep, all right?”

         I nodded, a lump of fear growing in my throat preventing me from replying.

         The doors of the bus began to close, so Matthew jumped on and waved a final time as the yellow machine pulled away from the curb.

         I dallied for only a few more minutes before my bus finally arrived. With a great sigh of relief, I entered the relative safety of the bus and sat staring out the window, my brain full of thoughts of Lumena, Matthew, and Nicolas.

Chapter Four:
Unwanted Intrusion

“The next time an intruder enters your home, do what you must. But, remember, they’re human too.”
         — Words to the Wise

THE NEXT THREE DAYS PASSED SLOWLY AS I got into a steady pace of avoiding Nicolas as much as possible. I dreaded the time we were near each other, the times when I had to look into his brown eyes and see the perfection of his body. He seemed to take pleasure in following me around and making snide remarks. To make things worse, Stacie and her gang of "friends" had started to pester me about always being around Matthew and not with my "boyfriend" Nicolas. I hated my Physics class. Matthew was unable to change his schedule and join me since he’d already taken Physics in his old school. So, for the entire period I was forced to ignore Nicolas as much as possible. He always sat next to me pretending to make me forget about Matthew and become his "girlfriend" again. At least he never kissed me in front of the whole class though he did threaten he would if I didn’t "help" him. So, not only was I doing the work for Stacie and her group, I was also doing Nicolas's. Thank goodness today was finally Friday.

         After Matthew and I finished lunch, we went to the library so I could study my notes for my presentation in Econ next period. I so wasn’t ready for it. What with Nicolas harassing me every time we crossed paths, I had trouble sleeping at night much less doing homework and studying.

         “Just relax and try to concentrate. I’ll be there with you so Nicolas can’t do anything while I’m there. I’ll make sure of that,” Matthew said, trying to comfort me. Over the last few days we’d become close friends; it was almost like we’d grown up together. Yet I had a feeling he was hiding something major from me.

         Pushing my notes away, I heaved a great sigh. “Forget it. I can’t concentrate!” I growled, clenching my hands together.

         “What did he say in Physics this time?” Matthew asked. putting the book down he’d been reading.

         I stared at my fisted hands. “It’s not that he said anything, it’s the fact everyone’s teasing me because they think I was his girlfriend and now I’m cheating on him with you.”

         “Are you?” he asked slyly, eyeing me from corner of his eye.

         “Ha, ha, very funny,” I said, glaring up into his silver eyes, “Of course I’m cheating on him with you,” I muttered sarcastically.

         “Well, that’s a relief. I’m glad you think I’m good looking enough for you to date me instead of Nicolas.”

         Before I could come up with a witty answer, Lumena screamed making me jump. And then I toppled out of my chair as Matthew threw himself on top of me. We landed with a quiet thump with most of his weight on my left shoulder. I stared up at the ceiling, yet it looked — fleshy for some reason.

         And that’s when the blood began to slowly trickle onto my face from above.

         Lifting a dazed hand up to my face, I wiped the crimson blood from my cheek and stared at it. Its blood, I thought in horror, my hand starting to shake, its real blood!

         I screamed, my voice echoing throughout the dead quiet library as my stomach began to churn and my eyes swirled with dizziness. And then I fainted, my hand falling limply to my chest.


“WHAT HAPPENED TO HER? Did she not eat again?” the voice of the nurse, Mrs. Smithsen, asked.

         “No. It was the sight of blood,” Matthew replied, his voice loud as he looked down at me.

         “Who’s was it?”

         “Mine.”

         “Where did you get hurt?” the nurse inquired worriedly.

         “Here,” he answered.

         I opened my eyes in time to see him lift his hand and show her a small cut. I blanched at the sight of the dried blood yet forced the queasiness down.

         “So, she’s one of those kind of people that faints at the sight of blood, huh?”

         “That’s correct,” I said before Matthew could say anything.

         “Ah, I see you finally came round,” the nurse stated belatedly.

         Duh, I thought to myself. Lumena laughed like a chorus of bells.

         “How are you feeling?” Mrs. Smithsen inquired as she stared into my eyes with a little flashlight she produced out of nowhere.

         “I feel a little queasy, but its nothing I can’t handle,” I answered.

         “Do you want me to call your parents?”

         “No!” I cried, “I mean, that probably wouldn’t be a good idea. They’re both asleep right now and need their rest,” I explained when they gave me a funny look.

         “Well honey, I’m afraid I’m going to have to call them. This is the second time this week you’ve fainted. I think maybe you should go the doctor and see if anything’s wrong.”

         “But there’s nothing wrong! I just fainted because I saw blood!”

         “And what about the first time? Did you really faint just because you failed to eat? I don’t think so. I think there’s something going on. Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

         I shook my head. “I just want to go to class."

         The nurse sighed. “Do you think you can handle it?” she inquired.

         “Yes,” I lied. A headache was blossoming in the side of my head and the world kept tilting at a strange angle. I also felt weak as a new born lamb.

{indent“Well, all right, but the instant you start feeling bad, come right back here and I’m calling your parents, got it?”

         I nodded.

         “All right then, hurry to class before the bell rings. And Matthew, make sure you clean off that blood!”

         “Yes Mrs. Smithsen.”

         I hurried out of her office before she could see me stumbled with dizziness.

         “You lied, didn’t you?” Matthew asked after we’d gotten to the hall.

         I contemplated whether to tell him the truth. “Yeah, I did,” I finally replied.

         “Why?”

         “Because I want to know what happened. Where did that blood really come from? And what made you land on top of me like that?”

         “I can’t tell you right now,” Matthew said, glancing around as if to make sure no one was near.

         “Why?” I wanted to know.

         “I just can’t. I promise I’ll tell you later though.”

         “Why can’t you do it now?”

         “I just can’t.”

         Seeing as I was going to be unable to get an answer to my questions, I let it drop, but only because the tardy bell rang.

         Without another word, I sprinted toward my locker, threw it open, grabbed my books, and rushed to class my dizziness and headache forgotten.

         The rest of the day passed slowly. It felt as if time itself was conspiring against me and slowing down just so I had to wait what felt like forever before I’d finally get to learn what Matthew promised he’d tell me. Aside from contending with that, I also had to deal with Nicolas who seemed to somehow know I’d fainted at the sight of blood. For the rest of the day he teased me about it nearly to point to where I could kill him if he said another word about it.

         The end of choir finally came. With a sigh of relief, I followed after Matthew to the buses. As we waited, he kept me talking about choir and other things effectively making me forget to ask him when he’d tell me. When his bus pulled up, he waited for the other high schoolers to get on first. He said bye and entered the bus. That was when I remembered.

         As his bus pulled away, I waved at him trying to get his attention, yet I guess he thought I was waving bye since he just waved back with a smile. And then I heard his voice in my mind.

         “I’ll tell you tonight when I come over after your parents leave for work, I promise.” And then the bus pulled away and he was gone.

         Later that night after I’d eaten dinner with my parents and struggled through my Government homework and said bye to Mom and Dad, I waited in the living room as I read another of my many books. Yawning, I looked up at the clock and started at the realization that it was quarter to ten. I sighed, put my book down, and headed to my room.

         Upon opening the door, I came face-to-face with Nicolas.

MATTHEW

“SPELL-WEAVER KELZBY. Kelzby, report to my office, now!” the voice of the HeadMistress called over the intercom.

         And I was just about to leave, I thought with a sigh. I glanced at the clock; it was nine-thirty. Clairyssah probably thought I’d lied to her and was actually never going to tell her what happened.

         “Kelzby! Get in here now!” the intercom screamed making me jump.

         With a longing look at the door and a heavy sigh, I turned on my heel and went to the HeadMistress’s office. Knocking on the gold door, I waited for Cooper’s voice to tell me to come in.

         “Finally,” she greeted, wrenching the door open. “How long does it take to get from one end of this school to the other?”

         “I was side-tracked,” I muttered, gazing down at her red shoes.

         “Well, get in here where it’s quiet and away from prying eyes and ears.”

         She grabbed my arm and dragged me into her office, a place I tried to avoid whenever possible. The room was an assortment of mismatched things and colors put together that made you either want to run screaming from the room or wrench your eyes out and sear the image from your mind. The wall across from the door had been painted pus-colored white. The right wall was mottled with pea-green, blue, yellow, and orange. The left was bright red this side of blood. The ceiling was paneled like many floors in modern houses, yet the tiles were every color known to man. Aside from the ugly paint job, it was the objects within the room that drew the eye. Mounted above the fire place the head of a lion tinted blue gazed into space with dead eyes. The chairs placed about the room were all different and in every color of the rainbow.

         As I said, I hated coming to this room, it was that bad.

         HeadMistress Cooper was another example of someone who needed some lessons in fashion. Today she wore bright red high heels with mud-green pants that went to her knees and hugged her slim figure and a purple shirt so dark as to being almost black. Her hair, which was dyed a disturbing array of colors not meant to go together or with her complexion, was braided in a hundred different lengths and sizes.

         “What is it we need to talk about?” I inquired after a lengthy silence where the HeadMistress was lost in thought.

         “I have another job for you,” Cooper finally responded.

         “But I’m —!” I cried nearly standing from the brown chair I’d taken to sitting.

         “I know, but you’re the only one with the talent strong enough to do this job I have for you,” she interrupted with a hand held up.

         I sighed heavily. Juggling two schools, and three jobs, one of which required most of my attention, was beginning to take its toll on me. Though I took potions to force my body into thinking I’d gotten a full night’s rest, it was high time for me to crash. “HeadMistress, I don’t know how much more I can do. I know we’re low on students and people able to work, but I’m already trying to live the life of three people. I can’t handle any more. I’m truly sorry.”

         “You’re doing three jobs?!”

         “Yes,” I replied calmly. “As you said, my talents are sought after by many of the high ranking Magyck users.”

         “Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier? All students are to have only one job at a time, not three.”

         “I need the money,” I whispered.

         “Why?”

         “Master!” a male voice cried. “Master Kelzby, something terrible has happened!”

         “Kahlil? What is it?” I asked, turning as the door burst opened and a small arctic fox rushed into the room.

         “Gail’s not answering and there’s something wrong smelling at Clairyssah’s house,” the fox replied jumping onto my lap.

         “Show me,” I commanded.

         Kahlil nodded before beginning his transformation. Where once a fox had sat, a hazy black mist now hung in the air. Within the shadows of the haze, another darkness formed over the house of Clairyssah. To the nose of a cat, it smelled evil and full of power-hungry lust, a feeling I knew very well.

         “Enough,” I commanded. “I’m sorry HeadMistress, but I must leave; my job calls."

         “Then by all means, hurry and get to her,” the HeadMistress said. “And good luck, Mage Kelzby.”

         “Thank you, Sorceress Cooper.” I stood and bowed to her. Kahlil landed on my shoulder in the form of a robin. “Hang on,” I told the Kaemyn. I then concentrated on Clairyssah’s house, a place I’d been to every night since we first met, and pulled a small amount of swirling white Magyck into my being. Three heartbeats later and I was slammed into an invisible wall which registered on every single plane I could see and probably even to plane 13. Clairyssah was trapped on the inside while I was stuck out here, unable to do anything, though I threw every spell I could think of at the barrier. Nicolas was just too powerful for a play-acting Spell-Weaver Vamgoyle.

CLAIRYSSAH

GAZING INTO THE BROWN EYES OF NICOLAS, I instantly became frozen in place. I could hardly understand the screaming curses Lumena cried which echoed in my otherwise silent mind.

         “Hi,” Nicolas said as if greeting an old friend. He slowly advanced toward me while looking my body up and down. “How nice of you to make it so easy for me to catch you. I thought I’d have to fight that pathetic Spell-Weaver. It seems he really doesn’t care you’re going to die tonight.”

         I struggled to break away from the spell I’d knew he’d placed on me. Yet it was to no avail.

         Reaching out a hand Nicolas brushed his fingers against my cheek. I shuddered under his touch. “Such beautiful hair. It’s a shame you never wear it down. It’s such a waste.”

         “Lumena!” I cried mentally, the only thing I was able to do, “Help me, please!” Suddenly, my room filled with blinding light. I was encased in the middle of a swirling mass of white radiance. The band holding my hair broke and my tresses of long locks unbraided falling gently to my waist. “What do you want?” I asked, my mouth moving as if it had a mind of its own.

         “Oh, so you had to call on Lumena’s help. How pathetic. I would have thought you could handle me on your own,” Nicolas sneered.

         “What are you doing here?” I repeated as I stepped away from him. I felt Lumena within every cell of my body. It was as if we had merged into one being with two minds yet the same purpose: getting away from the Necromancer.

         “And why should I answer to the likes of you?” he inquired.

         My hands lifted of their own accord. White light I somehow knew was Magyck engulfed them.

         “Now, now, there shall be none of that,” Nicolas stated. Moving faster than my mind could comprehend, he’d placed himself next to me on my right side and was grasping my wrists in an iron grasp. “Let’s just put Lumena back where she came from, shall we?” he asked no one in particular.

         Screaming curses, the other soul within me was forced to the back where she’d been. “Clairyssah!” she yelled. It was the last thing I was able to hear before I became an immobile vegetable once again.

         “There, that’s better,” the Necromancer said with a smile lighting his perfect features. “Now we can be left in peace.” He turned from me and began touching my things, the bed and desk, the pictures on the wall and the bookshelf, which was behind me.

         And then I felt his presence slightly to the left and behind me. I shivered as I felt his hand petting my hair. We stood for what felt hours before he finally said something.

         “I truly do love your hair. It’s … Oh, what’s the word I’m looking for? … Stunningly beautiful. Yet it’s such a waste on someone with your complexion and facial features.” I heard him sigh heavily. “Well, we’ll just have to fix that, won’t we? Hold still,” he commanded.

         And that’s when I felt Nicolas begin to cut my hair right along my scalp, nearly to the point where I’d become bald. I tried everything in my power to escape his grip, yet I was still under his spell and helpless to stop him.

         When Nicolas reached the other side of my head, he stood in front of me, glaring into my eyes with a maniacal glint. He then gathered my hair into a large ball and ate it. Correction, he didn’t just shove it into his mouth and swallow it all in one go, no, he took the end, stuck it into his mouth, and sucked it as if it were a huge string of spaghetti.

         Get a hairball, get a hairball, get a hairball, was the only thing I was able to think in my dazed state of mind as I watched, enthralled, as he licked his fingers one at a time.

         Smacking his lips, Nicolas stared at his hands. “M-mm, that’s better. You look so much nicer. I think I like you with short hair,” he said gently caressing the side of my face. His hand moved down my neck until it rested under my chin. As his hand migrated, he shifted closer until our noses were practically touching. “You know, Clair, I’ve watched you grow up, and something that’s always struck me as odd is the fact you’ve been gifted with the voice of an angel,” he murmured, his breath mingling with my heavy panting. “Your voice has always enchanted me. Especially when you sing.” His other hand came up and tilted my head upward toward him.

         And then his lips were crushing mine. I tried to pull away and found that I could move once more. I reached my left hand around in a wide arc and slapped him with everything I could muster.

         Slowly, he pulled away, a strange glint entering his eyes; it was even worse then the crazy look he’d given me while eating my hair. Suddenly, I felt my back pressed against the wall as Nicolas moved us faster than he should’ve been able. He dragged my arms above my head and held them with one hand as I struggled to break free.

         “You think that was funny?” he asked, his voice dripping with anger. “Well?”

         I was too scared to answer out loud, so I shook my head.

         A smile began to grow on his face. “Well, unfortunately for you, I’ve grown tired of being nice today. I’m going to have to punish you. Hmm, what am I going to do though, that’s the question.” He heaved a great sigh. Inhaling quickly through his nose, an idea struck him. “Ah, I know! Yes, that’s a befitting thing for you,” he stated removing his hand from my arms. Though I tried to bring them down, they stayed glued to the wall. It seemed Nicolas had spelled them.

         He stalked closer, his eyes shining with a strange mixture of emotions I’d never be able to put a name too. And then my throat felt as if I’d swallowed a lump of burning coal; it felt as if it were on fire. I struggled to get away from the pain, yet my body was pasted to the wall.

         “Since you seem to favor your voice so much and flaunt it in front of others, I think I’ll take it for myself and use it to make mine even better.”

         “No!” I screamed as the pain increased within my esophagus. My cry was cut short as blood poured out of my mouth as something I assumed was my voice left my being. Hours seemed to pass as I felt my voice migrate toward Nicolas and enter him. I tried to curse him, yet nothing came out except air and more blood.

         Nicolas tilted his head back until he was looking up at the ceiling. A pleased smile caressed his lips once he’d closed his eyes. They opened and blazed black as he looked back into my eyes. “Ah, that’s much better. What do you think of my voice now?” he questioned with a smirk knowing I was incapable of answering him.

         I was dazed by the quality of his voice. If anything it was even more perfect then before. I knew anyone, man or woman, would be enchanted by it.

         “Hmm, should I take it as a good sign you aren’t saying anything?” he murmured closing the distance between our faces. “Guess I will, seeing as you refuse to answer me.” He pulled his head back, that irritating yet frightening smile still holding his lips up. Using a slim, perfect finger, Nicolas brushed a drop of blood from my chin and held it up to eye level.

         And that’s when, for the first time, I realized I was bleeding. My knees gave way, but I was unable to fall to the floor since my arms were still glued to the wall. My shoulders took my entire weight. My muscles flared in pain as I tried to regain my balance. The room started spinning as nausea overcame my mind.

         Nicolas must have noticed my reaction, for as soon as I began to struggle weakly to regain my footing, his face lit up with sadistic humor.

         “Oh, are you queasy around blood?” he inquired. “Hmm, I think I can use that to my advantage,” he whispered conspiratorially.


Next Chapter 5: Things Seized, and Chapter 6: Things Seen