OKAY I REWROTE THIS STORY SO IT'S A LOT DIFFERENT THAN BEFORE! SO PLEASE READ IT! (and thank u all for having patience with me). My life has been wicked chaotic for the past year and I have almost completely forgotten about this story. I reread it awhile ago and decided I didn't like the way I had started it; so I rewrote it. So, those of you who commented on it the first time comment back and tell me how u like it! Thank u everyone for ur patience :
A tall man wearing a white suit and hair that matched walked up a worn dirty path, leading up to a worn looking building. He approached the old, shabby porch, and rapped his fist against the weathered door; he could hear the faint sounds of footsteps approaching being muffled by the shouting and stomping feet of children.
"Good morning! Come in, the children are all here." An older woman said welcoming the man in as she opened the door. The man nodded his thanks and walked into the small orphanage. Children raced around the room, playing tag or talking to each other.
"Children! Come here and meet our guest! And use your manners" she whispered at the end to the children, smiling. All the children crowded around the man, asking questions, some pulled on his white ponytail and others on his long coat.
"Will you take me home? Who are you? What's in your suitcase? What's your name? Do you like baseball? No! Who likes baseball?" a million questions hit the man who just gave all the children a small smile.
"Children settle down! No need to mob the poor man," the woman said swiftly peeling children off of the visitor. "I'm Ms. Jean, welcome to the Seventh Bell Orphanage." She said smiling.
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"…This is Joanne, Rachel, Billy, and…" Miss Jean said pointed to each child who gave the visitor large grins; some showing off lost teeth. Ms. Jean suddenly looked around the room, "Where are those two this time?" she muttered.
"Kassie?" Ms. Jean said addressing a girl with short brown hair; she looked about thirteen "Where are Lucas and Elicia now? If they ran off again…." she grumbled.
"I don't know Ms. Jean, I know they aren't here though. I haven't seen either of them since breakfast." The young girl said. "They probably ran off in the woods somewhere again."
"Those two…Excuse me a moment." Ms. Jean said excusing herself from the room. The man nodded his own thoughts wandering a bit. Ms. Jean searched in all of the rooms in the orphanage, quickly walking back into the room with a sigh. When she returned to the room the children were had surrounded the man and were climbing and asking him a million questions. The older ones sat down on the old chairs but still assisted in the bombardment of the visitor by shouting their questions or just staring.
"Seems like there are two missing, I'm sorry." Ms. Jean apologized and started sitting the children back down and off the man, "I don't know where those two would've gotten off to this time!"
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"Common Lucas!" a teenage girl with dark violet hair and bright red eyes yelled. She wore worn looking clothing and her hair half up, half down. The front was tied back out of her face. Bobby pins struggled to keep her bangs out of her face, most of them failing to serve their purpose.
"My god! Have some patience! I'm coming, I don't know how you managed to move so fast!" a boy's voice yelled back.
"Common!." The girl yelled impatiently. She went on a little further ahead.
"Hey! Lucas! Get over here! Look what I found!" she yelled up the hill covered in tall grass. A small trail was just visible where the girl had come through the almost waist high grass.
"Ahh! I'm coming! Hold on a second" the boy yelled. A teenage boy with light blonde hair appeared over the bend. He had brilliant, bright blue eyes that looked like sapphires. His clothing, like his sisters, looked old and well used. "What is it?" he asked catching back up with the girl.
"Come here look at this." The girl said as she pointed to the ground in front of her. Curiously the boy walked over next to her. In front of her, hidden by long grass, a few tree branches and a pile of deteriorating bricks was a huge sunken hole in the ground. The girl crouched down and started to pull away some of the camouflage hiding the hole. Below the sound of water running faintly could be heard.
"What do you think it is?" The boy asked his companion. The girl shrugged.
"Dunno." She said looking up. "I mean, why is there some random hole in the middle of the woods??"
Now the boy shrugged. "I think I remember Ms. Jean and Mrs. Rockwood saying something about a tom-" he stopped immediately. His sister looked up at him with a sharp look. "Maybe this is why we aren't allowed this deep into the woods." He said peering down into the murky darkness below. The girl looked down into the black below with a frown, "Maybe we should leave then Lucas."
"Aww, common Elicia stop being such a coward!" the boy, Lucas, said. The girl with him, Elicia, looked down the hole with a stubborn look on her face.
"I'm not being a coward." She snapped. "I don't like it here; not at all. Why don't we try to go the other way near the pond?" she suggested. Lucas shook off the thought.
"I'm going down." he declared already beginning to hoist himself down into the hole. "I want to see what's down there and why its here."
"Hold on! What the hell are you doing?" Elicia yelled. "You idiot do you have any idea what you're doing? Get out. Now!" she said offering her hand to help him out.
"I'm just going to go take a look!" Lucas said his feet dangling over the edge of the hole in the ground. "Listen to your older brother, it'll be fine." Lucas said
"You're not older than me! We're the same age; you know? That's what twins are!" Elicia snapped. "And you wont get me down there. Common lets go PLEASE." She said heavily stressing the please.
"Elicia, calm down." Lucas said. "You can't tell me you don't want to know what is down there. Common, I know you do."
Elicia scowled, "No, Lucas I know what is down there. I'm not going no matter what you say. Why would you possibly want to go down THERE?"
"Because!" Lucas smiled wickedly and jumped down the hole.
Elicia winced as she looked into the darkness.
"That's the suckiest excuse I've ever heard!" his sister yelled. Elicia jumped down the hole gingerly with a grimace. She fell into the darkness, landing in icy water that went up to her ankles. The impact of the fall left her feet numb, she limped around, grabbing for something to hold on to. She leaned on the wall closest to her.
"Ouch…" Lucas groaned in the dim light. Elicia waited a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness; their only source of light was shining down from the hole they had come down from. Elicia looked around, trying to find where Lucas was. She looked over and saw him sitting in the water, he had fallen butt first onto the ground. He sat up, his entire pants soaked. A large cut adorned the back of his calf.
"Hey, you okay?" Elicia asked walking towards him. "Ya, no problem." Her brother winced. He pressed his hands against the cut, trying to stop the bleeding. He soon sighed, let go of it, and watched as the cut slowly started to close up. The bleeding stopped and perfectly normal skin replaced where the cut had been.
"See, nothing too bad." He grinned.
Elicia made a face "You're so full of yourself."
"Common Elicia, don't start this now. I like using my powers." Lucas said choosing his words carefully. Elicia had always been sort of sensitive to the topic.
"I don't want any damn powers. I'd rather not talk about it." Elicia said evenly, ending the conversation.
"Common," Lucas said changing the subject. He started to walk slowly through the dark tunnel. Elicia didn't follow him.
"How are we going to get back out now?" Elicia said suddenly as she brushed her violet hair back from her face, looking up at the hole they had come down in.
"How am I supposed to know?" Lucas said looking around.
"You were the one who decided to jump down first!" Elicia said acidly.
"You were the one who followed me down!" her brother snapped back.
"How did you plan on getting out after you jumped in? How the hell did that not occur to you?" Elicia yelled.
"Obviously it didn't occur to you either or else you wouldn't have jumped down after me." Lucas said smirking.
"Do you honestly think I could leave you wandering down some dark tunnel lost and alone? What am I supposed to do? Go back and say, 'oh my brother jumped down some god damned hole and is lost at the moment down their somewhere?' Ya Lucas that would work out real well!" Elicia yelled back at him.
"No one makes you do anything Elicia." Lucas replied. "You could've gone back and gotten rope or something and help me out you know."
Elicia turned around in anger and stomped down the dark tunnel a few feet. Water splashing around with every step she took.
"We'll follow it and try to find an exit. It's our best bet. I don't like this place, and I can't believe you dragged me down here." She said through gritted teeth. She was cold and her legs were still numb from falling. Never would she admit it but in the pit of her stomach fear was starting to grow. She had a horrible feeling about being here. Her brother waltzed up behind her.
"Stop being so angry; it probably isn't what Ms. Jean and Mrs. Rockwood were talking about if that's what you're so concerned about." Lucas said. Elicia shot him a glare.
"Trust me Lucas I would know if there was a tomb here or not." Elicia snapped with a frown. She wasn't about to show her brother how scared she really was.
Lucas grimaced at her sharp tone and continued walking.
"You're wrong, there isn't anything down here. Relax, we'll get out in a second, it can't be all that hard." He said feeling a little bad for dragging Elicia down here. If she had a bad feeling about something, it usually was for a good reason that usually came true at some point. The twins walked down the dark tunnel for a few minutes, looking for a door or opening.
"Hey look sis! A door," Lucas said suddenly stopping. Elicia turned around to see Lucas looking up at a huge door. It was huge, and blended into its surrounds so well they had almost passed it.
"It's probably our way out." Lucas said looking up at the door that reached the ceilding.
"Hopefully," Elicia agreed. Together, they pressed their hands against the cold stone. A bright flash of light came from the door. Both jumped backwards as the doors swung open by itself.
"What the hell…?" Elicia said looking into the dark chamber. When the dust cleared a little, the two teens saw a big coffin, solitary and silent, in the middle of the room. Elicia screamed and jumped backwards. A million images rushed through her head.
Something stood next to a beautiful young woman with long blonde hair. The thing had a giant pair of wings, and something sticking out of its head. It had a long spiny tail coming out from under its purple-ish hair.
The same two people together again, they were looking at a star studded night.
The thing changed from its weirder big form into a more human looking thing.
The woman cried silent tears as her face fell to the side and her eyes closed forever, as she lay, covered in blood in the same man's arms. The man cried in pain, as he clutched her limp towards his body, tears streaming down his face.
An intense feeling of sadness and pain flowed all around Elicia, cramming itself into her head. She held back a yell of pain as her head felt like it was being pounded. She looked up, struggling to breath.
The same beautiful woman with long light colored blonde hair and sad dark eyes sat on top of the coffin. At the moment their eyes connected the whole world seemed to freeze. The woman gave Elicia a sideways look and slowly walked over to her. Elicia stumbled backwards into the shallow water, unable to move. The woman bent down next to Elicia so they were eye level with each other. She gave her a small smile.
"Don't be frightened." The woman whispered. Elicia stared silently back, "No, please, go away," Elicia begged softly clutching her head. 'Go away because it hurts' She closed her eyes and grinded her teeth together, trying to make her head stop pounding and for the weird images to stop coming. The woman sighed sadly with an almost understanding look; she leaned over and whispered something in Elicia's ear.
"Ahhh!" Elicia yelped as she opened her eyes and fell backwards into Lucas; the woman was gone. A loud ringing was in her ears and different voices, fragments of conversations from the woman's life.
"Elicia! Elicia!" Lucas was yelling, shaking her. Elicia blinked as her head cleared up a little. A small throb of the images stayed in her mind as she pulled her weight off her brother's arms. Elicia felt her forehead with one hand, still a dazed look in her usual sharp eyes.
"Oh my god, Luke." She whispered before Lucas could say anything.
"Common, we're leaving before you really get hurt." Lucas said pulling Elicia out of the room by her arm.
"Are you okay?" Lucas asked with concerned blue eyes. Elicia nodded, even though she herself wasn't sure if she really was. "Whoever she was…her life, it was so sad. Oh Luke, you don't even know how much it hurts." Elicia said on the verge of tears as the woman's words echoed through her head.
"Shh Elicia. Its okay, you're okay." Lucas whispered to his sister. "Let's find our way out of here." Lucas never knew what Elicia saw or felt at times like this, but, seeing her fall apart like that had never happened before. 'What do I do now? This is my fault and whatever just happened in there just shook Elicia up more than I've seen in a while.' Lucas thought to himself with a frown. Elicia stuck close to her brother as they walked down the dim tunnel.
"Uh oh." Elicia whispered suddenly feeling her wrist. "Luke I lost my bracelet; my charm bracelet." Lucas turned around.
"I think I lost it in there." Elicia whispered. Lucas sighed, "Are you sure you lost it in there?" he asked. Elicia nodded, "I think I did, Lucas, please…"
"I'll go get it, hold on." He sighed, running off down the tunnel again, his feet swishing in the cold water. He didn't exactly want to be running back to some tomb but it was his fault for everything that happened and he was seriously feeling bad.
Elicia swore to herself, "If I lost that bracelet I'll never forgive myself."
Lucas slowly entered into the dim room. Nothing seemed bad to him, but he didn't question Elicia. Sighing, he got down on his hands and knees and started feeling around in the water.
"If this was any other bracelet…" Lucas muttered to himself as his almost dried pants were getting soaked again.
He looked up near the coffin, a slight shiver running down his back. On top of the coffin laid a silver bracelet that glinted slightly in the faint light.
"How did it get here?" Lucas whispered. He quickly grabbed the bracelet and as he turned around, a bright flash caught his eye. Looking back at the coffin, Lucas noticed a handful of jewels sitting on the edge of the coffin. They were all different shapes and colors. The thick layer of dust covering them dulled their bright shine. Stopping and slowly walking back, Lucas squinted in the dull light at the jewels. 'That's weird…'. He stared for a moment.
He reached for a bright green rectangular one up in his hand, as it touched his hands, he yelled in surprise as they burned his hands. Dropping it, he looked at it on the ground.
"Lucas?" Elicia called, "Are you okay?"
"Damn," Lucas hissed in the darkness, waving his burnt hand in the air. "Ow, ow, ow. Ya, I'm fine hold on." He called back to Elicia quickly. He held his breath and quickly grabbed the other jewels and threw them into his pocket holding his hand and placing it in the cool water at his feet. He grabbed the last one and ran out with Elicia's bracelet in his unburned hand.
"What happened are you okay?" Elicia asked hurriedly as Lucas joined her.
"I found something; they are these…these jewels. They were on top of the coffin with your bracelet. I can't touch them, look." Lucas said holding up his hand. Bright red burn marks spread throughout his palm and on his fingertips where he had touched the gems.
"Can you not heal them or something?" Elicia asked softly, holding his hand up in the light so she could see them better.
"Its not that bad, it'll be gone by the time we get back." Lucas hoped.
"What were they?" Elicia whispered. Lucas shrugged, "I took a few of them, I'll show you when we get out of here; where we can really see them and look them over."
"Lucas! You can't take something from a tomb!" Elicia exclaimed.
"Let him take them, its okay," a voice whispered softly in Elicia's ear. Elicia's hand flew over her ears, "Oh god," she said panicked, "Stay outta my head!" she yelled at the air. Her voice echoed through the tunnels and darkness. She started walking quickly with Lucas right behind her. He slipped her bracelet into her hand quickly as she walked in the opposite direction of the tomb.
"I found it," he said with a smile. Elicia sighed, "Thanks, really." She smiled slightly as she slipped it over her hand again. They stopped as they came to a fork.
"Which way?" Lucas asked. Elicia closed her eyes, trying to guess which way was best to get out of this maze.
"Go right." The woman's voice whispered in her ear. Elicia bit her lip, "Maybe we should go right." She said reluctantly after a moment. Lucas nodded as they made their way down the right turn.
"Aww my head…" Elicia groaned holding her head with both her hands. "This hasn't happened in a while. I was hoping it was going to stop." She groaned.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Lucas asked with a slight frown.
"Ya I'm fine." Elicia said waving him off a little. She led the way down the tunnel. The splashing their feet were making echoed off the tunnel mingling with the sounds of their breathing.
"Remember when we found the Indian's grave?" Lucas mentioned suddenly. Elicia shot him a look, telling him silently that she didn't want to talk about it.
-----------------------------------Flashback-6 years ago Elicia and Lucas: 7 years old----------------
"Wow! Look at this bug!" Lucas cried holding up a giant bug in front of Elicia's face. Lucas, Elicia, Mrs. Rockwood, and a few other children from the orphanage took advantage of the summer day to go explore a little around a nearby park.
"Eww what is it!" a girl behind Elicia shrieked. Julia, another girl at the orphanage cringed at the bug in Lucas's hand. Elicia stared at the bug and to Julia's utter dislike and burst out laughing.
"It's just a beetle Julia!" Elicia said gently taking the beetle from Lucas's hand. She held her hands flat and let the bug walk around a little.
"Look, it doesn't bite or sting." Elicia said to the younger girl. Julia just shook her head and grabbed Mrs. Rockwood's skirts.
"Just let it go Elicia." Mrs. Rockwood said gently.
"Fine." Elicia scoffed setting the bug on a passing tree branch. "I was going to let it go anyway." She mumbled. They continued hiking through the woods. A few boys ganged up on Elicia, knew they would get a fight from her. They took handfuls of dirt and mulch and dumped it down the back of her dress.
"Robbie! Harold!" Elicia yelled throwing the nearest tree branch at them, missing by a hair. She threw a second one, hitting Harold in the back of the head, making him fall on top of Robbie. Elicia laughed and continued walking on with Lucas.
Suddenly, Elicia froze. Her eyes grew wide as tears started to run down her face and she sank down to her knees; holding her head.
"Elicia…?" Lucas said. Elicia closed her eyes and started sobbing.
"Ahh…it hurts!" she yelped. Mrs. Rockwood rushed over to Elicia.
"What's wrong Elicia?" Mrs. Rockwood said picking Elicia up from the ground.
"It…owww…Go…AWAY!" Elicia moaned clutching her head and crying.
"Come on children! I think its time we should go back home. NOW!" Mrs. Rockwood said in a voice that expressed great authority. She held Elicia up, who was sobbing heavily and grabbing her head. Lucas looked confused and frightened as some children rushed to Mrs. Rockwood's side with Elicia and others groaned.
"Children. NOW! We're going back." Mrs. Rockwood said a second time. "You three go back to, I'll take Elicia." She said shooing three girls away from her feet. The children all started heading back, a few racing down the path.
"What's wrong with her?" One lingering girl asked.
"Is she sick?" Another asked.
"Children." Mrs. Rockwood said putting her hand on Elicia's head. "Please, go with the others. Elicia is fine, she'll catch up with you soon alright. Please go and catch up with the others."
"Mrs. Rockwood! What's wrong with Elicia? Is she dying?" Lucas asked concerned after the two girls started to reluctantly leave.
Mrs. Rockwood laughed a little, "No, Lucas, she's not dying, now back to the orphanage and Ms. Jean! GO!" Lucas nodded, yet walked slowly, staying beside his sister.
"Mrs. Rockwood…my head….make…him leave…owww…" Elicia moaned grabbing Mrs. Rockwood's shoulder. "I…can we go…home?" Elicia whispered softly between sobs. Mrs. Rockwood nodded, trying to stay calm. Once again, Lucas looked frightened and looked up at Mrs. Rockwood's calm mask to Elicia. Carrying the screaming and sobbing child back to the orphanage, Mrs. Rockwood wondered in desperation what she was going to do.
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"Elicia? What's wrong with her Ms. Jean? Mrs. Rockwood?" Lucas asked as Ms. Jean and Mrs. Rockwood looked down at Elicia, who now lay on her bed with her eyes closed. "She's not dying is she?" Lucas asked worriedly. Ms. Jean ruffled his blonde hair, "No you silly boy. She'll be fine." Mrs. Rockwood sat on the end of Elicia's bed.
"How are you sweetie?" She asked softly.
"My head feels better now." Elicia said softly suddenly sitting up a little.
"Child, what happened?" Ms. Jean asked.
"H…He…he wouldn't go away; he wouldn't leave me alone." Elicia shivered even in the summer heat. "This man, he was an Indian. He was standing there and he made my head hurt." Elicia said softly holding her head.
"There was no one there." Mrs. Rockwood whispered to Ms. Jean. "She just started crying and yelling." Ms. Jean nodded with a frown.
"Elicia, was he alone?" Ms. Jean asked. Elicia nodded, "He's been alone for a long time; he isn't alive anymore." Elicia said softly, a distant look in her eyes again. She started shivering again like she had a fever.
"What?" Mrs. Rockwood said suddenly. "He isn't alive?" Elicia shook her head a little.
"No. He died. Right on the spot we were standing was where he is buried." Elicia explained.
"What did he say to you dear?" Mrs. Rockwood asked. Elicia shook her head, "I saw…weird things. It was all about him. His wife died having his only son and then he died a few months later because he was born before he was ready. Mrs. Rockwood, he wont come back will he? He made my head hurt so badly." Elicia cried with tears in the corners of her eyes. Lucas sat on the ground, his head peaking over the side of the bed.
"No dear, he wont ever come back, don't worry." Mrs. Rockwood said softly pushing Elicia's bangs out of her face as she felt her forehead. She withdrew her hand and she and Ms. Jean exchanged worried looks. Elicia still shook with fright and she felt scared like she never had before in her life.
"Elicia? Are you okay?" Lucas whispered holding his sisters hand. Elicia nodded slightly, still shaking.
Mrs. Rockwood excused herself from the room, "I need to go make a phone call Carina. I'll be back soon." Mrs. Rockwood said to Ms. Jean who gave a weak nod. Elicia closed her eyes and leaned back down in her bed, as if she were trying to sleep.
"Common Lucas, let Elicia sleep." Ms. Jean said softly. Elicia immediately opened her eyes. "No, Ms. Jean, can Luke stay with me? Please?" Elicia begged. Ms. Jean sighed and nodded. Lucas sat next to Elicia on the ground. Sighing and feeling a large headache coming on, Ms. Jean closed the door. Shooing the other children outside with Mrs. Rockwood's husband Peter, she found Mrs. Rockwood on the phone talking softly to someone.
"They'll be by later when all the children go to mass in town with Peter." Mrs. Rockwood sighed pulling her sweaty hair out of her face.
Ms. Jean nodded, and exhausted look on her face, "Should she be able to see the lives of deceased people?" she asked.
Mrs. Rockwood shook her head weakly, "I don't know anymore since both of their powers are starting to come out."
"We'll see what they can do. They should be by in a few hours. We caught them while they were in town, fortunately." Mrs. Rockwood said sighing and retying the strings of the apron at her waist.
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Elicia remembered hearing hushed talking in the kitchen and trying to go back to sleep. Her head still felt like it was being pulled in two directions still. She was too out of it to remember a familiar presence around. She felt the figure of Lucas at the base of her bed, curled up, asleep. Her eyes stayed shut but she was drifting in and out of a light sleep; it was hard to sleep with a pounding headache. She heard the door of the room opening, revealing a bunch of blurred figures. Then, Elicia rolled over, so she was facing the wall, and quickly drifted into a shallow sleep.
"It's normal, I guess. Usually it isn't a common trait but I guess anything is possible." A voice said. Elicia felt the faint feeling of an embrace against her chest in her hazy consciousness.
"Poor thing," a comforting voice whispered as Elicia hazily felt her hair being pushed out of face and behind her shoulders.
"We can't do anything else?" Mrs. Rockwood's voice said softly. "We had no idea what to do." A voice laughed a little.
"She'll be fine after her head clears. The best thing she can probably do is sleep." The man's voice said.
"How's he?" the woman's voice said changing the subject briefly.
"You should've seen him, he's been so worried about her he doesn't know what to do with himself. Those two need each other; they comfort each other by simply being with them. He's doing fine though." Ms. Jean chuckled.
""We better go before either of them wakes up." The same man's voice said. Elicia felt herself in another embrace and then the same with Lucas. She heard the faint sounds of bustling out of the room and it was silent again.
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"That was the first time wasn't it?" Lucas said. "That was the first time we realized you could see the dead." Elicia gave Lucas another glare.
"Sorry! I know you don't like talking about it! I just, remembered it that's all. Sorry." Lucas said putting his hands up in defense. They rounded a sharp corner, a small bright light illuminated from the end of the darkness.
"Finally! A way out of here!" Elicia cried running towards the exit, Lucas behind her. They kicked up water as they both sprinted for their way out. Elicia yelled with happiness as they reached the tall grass that grew at the base of the exit. Bugs buzzed through the grass and seeing the sky again was a relief.
"Jeez, what a headache," Elicia said holding her head again as she stopped and sank down into the tall grass. Lucas sat down next to her and lay down in the grass.
"We know not to go in THERE again." Lucas said.
"NEVER again!" His sister said with a relived laugh. Lucas sighed.
"I'm sorry. I should've listened to you if you had a bad feeling. I was an idiot. I'm sorry." Lucas said sincerely. Elicia turned around with a faint smile.
"Its," she said with a sigh, "It's fine."
"Hey, lets get back before we get in any more trouble for not being at the orphanage when we had a guest." She said suddenly as she stood up.
"Yea, let's hurry." Lucas agreed.
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"LUCAS! ELICIA!" Ms. Jean cried when she saw them covered with dirt, sneaking in the back door.
"Awww damn it!" Elicia muttered.
"No cursing under this roof!" Ms. Jean snapped.
"Damn really isn't a curse…" Elicia began. Ms. Jean held up her hand, showing she didn't want to hear Elicia's remarks.
"You two…where did you run off to this time? Never mind don't answer, I don't want to know. You two were very rude missing our visitor. Don't you want to be adopted?"
"Ya but…"Lucas said. "No buts Lucas! You two go get cleaned up right away! You look as if you rolled around in the mud!" she said shooing the siblings out of the kitchen.
"I'm getting a migraine! Why did Elaine and Peter have to go on vacation? Those two kids…where is my tea?" Ms. Jean moaned.
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"The burn marks haven't gone away yet?" Elicia said examining her brother's hands. Elicia and Lucas sat on his bed, in the privacy of their room.
"No and I can't heal them either. At least they don't hurt that much anymore" Lucas lied with a shrug. The burns actually killed, he could barely use his right hand.
"Let me see the jewels." Elicia whispered. Lucas threw his dirty pants at Elicia. She caught them with a look of disgust on her face,
"Ick, okay, this is nasty." Lucas smirked slightly as Elicia shook the pants out upside down. Four jewels fell out of the pocket with a loud clatter on the ground. One was circular and bright blue, another shaped like a hexagon and blood red. The third was a gorgeous green and rectangular and the last one was clear, like a diamond almost.
"Wow…" Elicia whispered looking at the jewels on the ground. "They are jewels. I wonder if they're real…" she whispered. Lucas shrugged. "Don't touch them if you can avoid it, you'll get burned like I did." He warned. Elicia gathered up her courage and reluctantly placed her fingers over the ruby colored one. A burst of energy seemed to connect between Elicia's hand and the jewel when she touched it. A strange feeling spread through her hand as Elicia withdrew her hand. She held it up for Lucas to see, "Look, it didn't burn me." True enough, there was nothing on her fingers.
"Why would it burn you and not me though?" Elicia whispered to herself. Lucas shook his head, "I have no idea."
"Don't you want to know though?" Elicia asked. Inside she wanted to yell, she had so many questions that weren't being answered and instead more questions were coming up. "And why can you not heal it?" Elicia whispered.
"Elicia, it'll have to heal on its own; its not like its fatal or anything. And yes, you know I want to know just as badly as you." Lucas said. Elicia sighed with a frown. "Let's drop it okay?" Lucas said.
"Fine." Elicia nodded still with a frown. She cautiously picked up the jewels and laid them down on her bed opposite of Lucas's. She sunk down into the old mattress and examined the jewels more. Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the door. Elicia scrambled to hide the jewels; she jammed them into her skirt pocket which laid crumpled up at the corner of her bed.
"Children, lights out; its 10:00." Ms. Jean said. She looked from Elicia to Lucas who was pretending to read a book. Elicia gave a quick smile and Lucas nodded. Ms. Jean gave them a suspicious look and slowly shut the door. Elicia sighed in relief and stood up as Lucas threw his book down. She would look and examine the jewels more later. She flung herself backwards into her lumpy bed, spreading her body out in an attempt to relax.
The room was a mess; dirty clothes were scattered all over the floor with some various books and different pieces of paper and pencils. Elicia looked around the small room and its familiar outline. She had lived in it ever since she would remember. Lucas reached for the lamp which was closest to his bed and clicked it off. A short moment of silence hung in the still night air.
"Hey Lucas?" Elicia whispered suddenly.
"Hmmm?" Lucas said from the other side of the room.
"I just remembered, he was back again last night." She whispered.
"Again?" Lucas said tossing his covers aside and standing up. He stared out the window, laying his arms on the window sill.
"I wonder who he really is…"
---------------------------------------Flashback: 9 years ago Elicia and Lucas: 5 years old------------
Slowly opening his eyes, Lucas shivered and curled himself closer, trying to keep warm. A large full moon poured its light into the small window, casting eerie shadows on the wood floor. Lucas rolled over again, trying to get comfortable.
"Lucas, stop it! I can't sleep with you tossing and turning like that," a much younger Elicia groaned from the other side of the room.
"Sorry." Lucas whispered rolling over once more, to face the window and pulling a blanket up to his face he closed his eyes in another attempt to sleep. Suddenly, the light in the room dulled. Lucas opened his eyes to see an odd shaped silhouette at the window. Lucas froze; he didn't even dare to breath. The creature stood at the window for a few seconds, and then suddenly disappeared. Lucas looked around the room, his heart beating loudly.
"'Licia?" he whispered. Elicia made a noise of acknowledgement from her bed.
"W-What was that?" he stammered softly. Elicia got up from bed and got onto her tip toes to look out the window; nothing was there out of the ordinary.
"Nothing," she whispered. Lucas let out a silent sigh as she curled up under the covers again.
"Nothing's there?" Lucas whispered turning away from the window. "I'm scared Elicia." He whispered.
"Don't be. He's our friend." Elicia said softly. Lucas looked at his sister in the dark room; her crimson eyes looked up at him.
"He? Our friend?" Lucas asked getting back in bed. Elicia nodded her head.
"What do you think it was? It looks like some sort of devil...or monster or something…" Lucas said looking nervously at Elicia.
"Ya he does. He's a nice devil though. Can't you feel it?" Elicia said rolling over to face the wall.
"No," Lucas whispered softly to himself.
"Lucas go back to sleep, don't be scared. He's our friend, he wont hurt us." Elicia whispered trying to comfort her brother. She closed her eyes and in a matter of seconds was asleep again.
Our friend? What is she talking about? Lucas asked himself before he drifted off to sleep full of odd dreams of devils.
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"Ya he was back last night. He looked in the window for a good 5 minutes before flying off again." Elicia whispered resting her head on her arms.
"What IS he really? And more importantly why does he keep spying on us?" Lucas asked himself looking out the window again.
"It doesn't want to hurt us. Somehow I get that message." Elicia said looking up at the ceiling.
"Ya me too I guess." Lucas agreed half-heartily. 'I never really know what Elicia is talking about him being our 'friend'? I trust her judgment, but I still feel a little uneasy. It concerns me a little, I guess, that she's so comfortable with him hanging around…' Lucas thought a little concerned.
"I can't read its mind either. It's like a big shield; sorta like yours." Elicia said quietly. Lucas nodded, seeing into people's minds was something else Elicia could manage to do. She never talked about it much; she didn't like to bring it up as was often proved. He couldn't read minds though, he wished he could, but he just couldn't as hard as he tried.
"I've tried. It's like, I can almost see it, but it's blurry and I can't reach it. I can't describe it." Elicia said trailing off a bit.
"Next time you see him wake me up okay?" Lucas said lying back down.
"I will; it seems I always wake up when he's around. I don't know why though." Elicia said with a weird tone to her voice. It was quiet for another few minutes.
"Hey Luke?" Elicia said to the dark.
"Yup?" the answer came.
"Why are we so different? Why can no one else see someone dead or read their mind? Why can no one else heal themselves or do anything we can? Why are we us? I hate it so much…" Elicia sighed.
"I don't like being different either Elicia. I don't know why…" he whispered.
"At least you look normal though. I have purple hair and red eyes. How normal is that?" she whispered back.
"Elicia, we can't change who we are, so we might as well accept it right? There isn't a reason to get worked up over something we can't change." Lucas said. Elicia considered what he said.
"I know you're right but…" she stopped and sighed again, "Do you think it had something to do with our parents?" she sister asked.
"Maybe…" Lucas said rolling over. "Can we worry about it in the morning?" he asked. He suddenly laughed. "Okay, maybe not the morning though because it takes you a good few hours to actually wake up." Lucas teased.
"Just because I'm not a morning person doesn't…doesn't mean anything!" his sister snapped. Lucas laughed a little.
"'Night Luke." Elicia whispered.
"Night Elicia. Remember, wake me up if you see him." Cyrus said.
"Same." Elicia said, lying awake on her bed. 'Why does he not scare me? Shouldn't I be terrified that there is some monster appearing at our second floor window?' Elicia thought, her thoughts drifting back to their "demon". She shook the thoughts out of her head. 'Lucas is right; I can't change who I am, I might as well live with it I guess All I want is to just be normal….'
That was sorta long wasn't it? Hope you liked it :.Anyways, PLEASE R&R! I really want criticism and the only way I can make this better is if people tell me what I need to work on. Not to encourage it, but flame if you really want to I guess; I get what I deserve. AND THANKS FOR READING THIS! Ok tell me if this version is alright and all…thanks everyone :