I do not own the Benedict series, I am not Joss Stirling. Please read series, Remembering Indigo, and Helping Harmony before reading this story.
Chapter 1
"I got a surprise for you!" Gem exclaimed, tightening her grip on my arm. Her peach, aqua, and pink aura flaring.
"Oh jeez, what is it?"
"You don't need to sound so put out."
"Oh goody, I can hardly contain myself! What is it?" She was unimpressed with my second response, but enjoyed the sarcasm.
"Why do you bother going places, if you don't like it?" She asked with a laugh.
"Because I always keep my promises."
"Ari!" My head jerked in the direction of my art dealer's voice. I saw his gold and lavender aura stand out among the brown, lime, and lemon colors.
"Adam!" I exclaimed, opening my arms for his greeting. He hugged me, while giving a kiss on each cheek.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't able to escort you this evening, but Erik was very adamant to see you, and we haven't had a date in a long time-."
"It's fine. What are younger siblings for if you can't force them to escort you once in a while? Gemini this Adam. Adam, Gemini."
"A pleasure to meet you-."
"Adam!" I saw a turquoise, and magenta aura, rapidly coming towards us. "I can't believe you left me like that." I smiled at the scene.
"I take it you're Erik. Pleased to meet you." I said, raising my hand. I saw part of Erik's aura rise, and felt his hand in mine.
"The pleasure is all mine. Who is your companion?"
"My younger sister, Gemini." I saw their aura connect for a second then release. "She was just about to tell me her surprise, when you arrived." I gestured to Adam.
"What's the surprise?" Adam asked, clearly excited by the sound of his voice. Not to mention the flare of orange in his aura. I turned to look at Gem.
"Well a friend of Tori's from the continent is staying with Ari for the next while."
"What?" I asked completely shocked.
"Oh, don't worry. He's also a friend of mine." She said reassuringly.
"It's not the friend part that has me worried. Why is he staying with me?"
"Well, he's helping Tori with a project, and thought to visit him here. Tori and I thought it would be best if he stayed with, and you could help him adjust."
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Adam exclaimed, I snapped my head in his direction.
"How, exactly is that wonderful?" I demanded.
"Well, all you ever do is paint, and go to church. You only come to these art function because I ask you too. You need to go out, meet some guy and be happy. Not be a hermit, stay at home and work on you prison pallor." I gave him an irritated look. "What's his name?"
"Will Benedict."She replied. Will had many meanings, so it made some that at the back of my mind I thought it might some kind of intervention from God.
By the time I got home, the rain stared to pick up and turn into a storm. I was tired and sore, and just wanted to go to bed. The issue of Will Benedict could be dealt with tomorrow. I changed into my pajamas, made sure the door was locked and my sweater and iPod were on the dresser. I crawled under my sheets, closed my eyes, and prepared to fall to sleep when a there was a knock on the door. Ignore it, you're imagining it, go to sleep. There was a minute of silence, and I went back to trying to sleep. There was another knock at the door, and I ignored it just like the first one. I thought back to that old saying, "If you leave it alone, it will leave you alone". The knocking turned into hammering with a voice.
"Hello! Could you please let me in, it's pouring." A yank? No way in hell was I letting in some yank! My door continued to be pounded. Growling, I tossed off the sheets, grabbed my sweater off my dresser, and headed downstairs. I strode to the door and swung it open before he could further damage it. My sight turned on and I saw the different colors his 'aura'. There was a scarlet, expressing that he was easy going, blended with blue for loyalty and pink for love and compassion. There was also a bit of yellow, meaning he was anxious. It was definitely a change from the people I saw recently, aside from Tori, Gem, and Adam. The yank then started to spout gibberish, which after a minute I realized was him trying to speak dutch.
"Would you just get in before you further butcher the language? Or worse yet, catch pneumonia?" I shouted in english, glaring at him. He stopped talking, muttered a thank you, picked up something, then finally entered. I slammed the door shut as he passed me. I inhaled his scent, and relaxed a bit. He smelled like rain, which made sense since it was pouring, but I have always loved the smell of rain. Shaking off the sentimentality, I crossed my arms and turned to face the yank.
"Thank you, my name's Will Benedict." I gaped at him. This was the friend my younger siblings asked to help me? That's it, when this was over I'm going to kill them. Groaning in frustration, I put my hand to my forehead.
"Just tell me if it was Tori or Gemini who put you up to this."
"Um, both." Yep, they were both dead. "I take it you're Aries?"
"How long are you here for again?"
"A few months I think." Sighing, I dropped my hand and leaned back against the wall.
"Before I show you to your room we need to go over some rules. One, put everything back where it was if you're finished using it. Two, if you plan on cleaning or moving things, tell me before hand. Three, you are to join me every Sunday for church."
"Do the lights work?" I just about snapped right there.
"Did you even listen to a word I said?" I shouted, angrily.
"Yes, but I'm finding it hard to see." I took a deep breath and counted to ten.
"I'm going back to bed. Your room is on the right, mine is on the left, and my studio is at the end." I went to go to the stairs, but hit something and nearly crashed to the floor. Will managed to catch me before I hit the ground and pulled me against him. His smell over-flooded my thinking, and all I could focus on was the smell of rain and the feel of Will's arms.
"I'm sorry, I thought my suitcase was in plain sight." Frowning, I pulled back to look him in the face.
"They didn't tell you?" Please God, tell me he knows.
"Tell me what?" I was starting to really hate my siblings. "Maybe if the lights were on you would be able to see."
"It wouldn't help. You were probably right, and it was in plain sight, but sight is something I lack of." A splash of grey appeared in his aura, he was very confused.
"I don't understand."
"I'm blind." He still stood there, the grey started spreading all over. I let out a frustrated sigh. "Would you just go? I'm tired and want to go to bed." The grey and yellow cleared, he picked up his suitcase and went upstairs. After I heard the door open and close, I went upstairs to my room. I put my sweater back on the dresser and climbed back into bed. I tried to get comfortable, but every time I closed my eyes, Will Benedict invaded my mind. I quickly grabbed my iPod from the dresser, put it in my ears, and pressed play. I tried to relax to the music, but still couldn't get Will out of my mind. Well, this is going to be fun, and long.