FORBIDDEN CH. 9

Saturday April 11, 2009

I felt a bead of sweat roll down my face. I gave up and stumbled into my room, literally. Nicolette and Emilina followed right behind me, but they were more graceful. "What are you doing here?" I whispered to Nicolette urgently. She smiled and said that Addam sent her here. Apparently speaking to ghosts was her thing. Emilina seemed to recognize her very clearly. When Nicole had come in the room, Emilina had brightened up a bit. Well, Nicole did know how to perk up someone's day. I didn't realize that I was holding my breath until Nicole spoke the word, "Breathe!" loudly.

I blew out the air that I had sucked in and started to breathe evenly again. All of this was just so overwhelming. Nicole faced Emilina now and said, "Emilina, how nice to see you again. I knew you would come back sooner or later. Genevieve will be so happy to see you again." She sat down on the edge of my bed and crossed her perfect legs.

Emilina spoke for the first time since I had seen her in my dream. "Nicole, I see that you still haven't changed a bit, and I don't only mean your looks." She turned toward me and smiled slightly. It looked like she was about to cry, but she was aggravated that she couldn't. I realized that the blinds of my window were open but it was too dark. It was going to rain. I could hear the low rumbling of the thunder and the steady pitter-patter of the rain. I could see the faint light of the lightning in the distance. I had woken up during the making of a severe storm. How come I hadn't noticed the eerie darkness that I only wake up to on occasion? I felt uncomfortable in my present state and yearned for a nice warm shower. But I didn't want to miss this reunion with my mom. I tried not to think about the great mess my hair must be.

Emilina sat down next to me and moved my hair off my cheek. "You have grown up so much in the last sixteen years. I-I have no idea what to say. You have Jacob's eyes and my hair. You are absolutely beautiful." Nicolette interrupted our little exchange. "That is why Addam loves her so much; I swear those two are inseparable. It's like they are attached at the hip. The way they stare into each other's eyes makes me feel like saying, 'aw.' They are so cute. Not quite puppy love, something way more special than that. They are made for each other. You can tell that she is embarrassed by just talking about this. Look her cheeks are tomato red." I wanted to claw her eyes out. That way she couldn't point out any color ever. Emilina held my face in her hands and whispered, "Is this true Eva, are in love with Addam?" I think she knew him. That she has met him before.

How can that be? Addam is only a few months older than me? I nodded slightly. She smiled a huge smile and told Nicolette to call him up here. She went to the door and yelled his name. "Addam, could you come up here for a second? I want to show you something." I could hear the noise his feet made when he came up the stairs. He stopped at the door when he saw Emilina. He slowly stepped forward to meet the strange figure. "You're Emilina, right?" She smiled and then nodded to answer his question. He sat down on the bed beside me and took my hand in his. "Just like you said, they are joined at the hip. Addam, the last time I saw you were when you were born. At that time I was pregnant with Eva. I wondered why I had such an attraction to a baby like you, I guess now I know why." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him flush just a tad. I squeezed his hand. He calmed down a bit.

"Eva," Emilina spoke. "I'm here to warn you about the upcoming danger that you are going to face. I don't want you to die, that's why I gave you the vision that day." Addam and Nicole were unsurprised by what she had said, unlike me whom sat shocked and with her chin almost to the ground. Emilina smoothed out the tangles in my hair and then stood up. "I am so sorry; you needed to take a shower. You go right ahead, I have to go anyway. I might not see you for a while; I think I have fulfilled the business I needed to." She paused and then spoke again, this time with more feeling. "Evangeline, I love you so much and I have missed you so much. I feel guilty for not being there when you needed me most, for not helping you out when you needed help. I'm shocked that you would turn toward Witches to give you advice. I mean, really, they rely on their powers more than they need to. My mother did, and that is what got her killed, her and Dad. I will miss you tons and tons. I really wish I could stay, but they are calling me. I love you sweetie; I can't leave you." She hugged me tightly and I embraced her back. She wouldn't let go so I had to pull her off.

Right before she shimmered away I called out to her. "Mom," Saying this word started something inside of me. The butterflies in my stomach were going crazy. I had finally gotten to meet my mom and I didn't even speak. "Mom, I love you too. I just feel sorry that we could not have a longer time together. I will miss you, forever." She waved goodbye and flickered away. I sighed and then headed for the bathroom door. "I'll be out in a few minutes." I whispered as I entered the bathroom.

The warm water on my body unknotted all of the knots in my back. I must have been very stiff from being still all night. I got out quickly and wrapped a towel around me. When I went back into my room I saw that it was empty. I would have expected Addam or Nicolette would be waiting. I changed into my clothes in a trance. Was this all a dream too? If it was, I didn't want to wake up. I didn't hear the soft pitter-patter of the rain anymore. In place of that I heard children playing on the road in honor of the rain clearing up.

When I reached the bottom of the staircase, I could see that Nicole was waiting for me. She was standing in the kitchen picking at a muffin. I strode to her and picked up another muffin from the plate on the counter.

"Nicole, can you answer a question for me?" I asked. She looked up from her plate and nodded once. "Why does Addam think he can hurt me easily? I mean, he always seems so hesitant just to touch me. He's always so careful when around me. It's like he knows that one wrong move can kill me. There hasn't been one moment when I was with him that he actually wanted to be near me. I feel like I love him way more than he loves me. More than he will ever love me." I could see the smile creeping across her face. She giggled.

"Eva, you have no idea how much he loves you. He's always dreaming about you. He's always mumbling your name in the middle of the night. Nathaniel and I have the room next his, so we know. Eva, he is madly and deeply in love with you. I can just tell by the look in his eyes when you come into view. He looks at you like a blind man who is just seeing the light for the first time. You may not see it, but after such a long time he seems……happy. If only Nathaniel would look at me like that. Eva, I have fallen in love, so I do know what it looks like. Truth be told, I am sort of jealous of you both." I was staring out into space while she talked. I heard every little word and emphasis. I had no idea why I never noticed it. Why did I not notice the way he looked at me?

"Eva, you know that he just wants you to be safe. He makes precautions for himself so he doesn't hurt you. His power is still not fully under control and he just wants to get passed that before he can have you all to himself. Believe me; he yearns to be with you just as much as you yearn to be with him. It hurts him that he can't hold you the way others hold their girlfriends. To me for some reason, girlfriend doesn't seem like the right word for you. Your love is a lot stronger. You could say love, soul mate, destiny, fate, but none of that would fit in a general conversation." I saw her look up when the doorbell rang. Who could that be?

I ran to the door and opened it. Speak of the angel and he may appear. He did appear in front of me, the way I intended him to when I opened the door. He was beautiful, all six feet of him. His brown hair was windswept. He wore a button down white collared shirt with khaki pants. His black coat was opened to reveal the shirt. I let him in because it must have been freezing outside.

He shuddered and then shuffled through the door. As he walked through the door, his skin looked awfully pale from the cold. He took my hand and examined the burn that I had acquired from him yesterday. It was still dark red, almost violet. The look on his face was painful. I didn't like the way he seemed like he was blaming all of this on himself. His expression didn't change as we strode into the kitchen to join Nicole.

Nicolette kept talking to us and Addam and I stayed quiet. She was making plans for the rest of the break, since school was out. I glared at him from my peripheral vision. He was looking at me. I could now see what Nicole was talking about. The glint of light in his eyes when he saw me, it was like a bright star on a starless night.

The look reminded me of the time we had night and day in the same hour. The sun was sinking and taking with it the warm colors of the sky. The other half of the sky was blue and purple, but there was no moon. In the middle where the line was drawn, there was a lone star. The sun sank and the moon never showed, but the lone star never faded. It was bright and beautiful, but soon enough the moon appeared in full form and the lone star was joined by many other stars. But the lone star was still the brightest of them all. I had no idea why I had kept that memory with me this entire time, even though it happened when I was almost thirteen. It has been five years and I still remember. His arm rested on the middle counter. I let my hand skulk toward his. My hand was situated on top of his. Nicole's chatter was now a humming in the background. I peeked up at him to see if his expression had changed. I saw the corners of his lips curve upward in response to my action. I loved that smile so much. Every time I saw it, I went about crazy with butterflies. He turned his hand over, palm up, and held onto my hand. Nicole kept on talking, but I didn't understand a single word. Everything was tuned out; there was no light except for the tiny bit coming out of Addam's eyes, everything just disappeared. Everything but Addam. I gazed into his beautiful, tawny eyes. I gazed and I gazed until I just couldn't look away. He was just so stunning.

I could see everything Nicole was talking about now. The passion burning in his eyes, but I couldn't believe that the passion was for me. The passion that I didn't deserve. He didn't look away and neither did I.

Suddenly the background noise stopped. Nicole was not talking anymore. I didn't look, but right before she left the room she whispered in my ear, low enough that only I could hear, "Told you so." She danced out of the kitchen and then headed to the living room. I watched her walk away and hoped that Addam didn't hear any of that. I turned around and looked into his amber eyes filled with curiosity. He was smirking at me. "Would you like to tell me what Nicole told you about?" This was the question I was afraid of.

I shook my head side to side, slowly. He took my face in between his hands and murmured in a convincing voice, "Please?" My breath caught and I forgot how to breathe. I had lost all capability of speaking when his warm breath with the sweet aroma swept across my face. My lips parted, but nothing came out, other than my silent panting. I tried to control my breathing enough so that I could get that one word out. When I finally spoke, I didn't say what I wanted, instead I said, "Okay."

I regretted everything I had just said. He took his hands off of my face and held both of my hands. I tried to speak out again and I succeeded. "I asked here before you came over if you……. If you actually er, loved me." I winced and looked away reluctantly. I caught a glimpse of his thoughtful expression. His lips were pursed and he was looking down. I sighed and felt guilty for saying anything to Nicole and Addam. I felt his hand on my chin pulling my face back to look at him. He was smiling? What was there to smile about? I had just told him that I didn't trust his love for me. "Eva, I did tell you yesterday about how I felt about you. I still feel that way about you today, and I will tomorrow and for the rest of my life, I mean existence, I love you and cherish you. You are the only one for me. You see Eva I don't want to get too close to you because I too also have a fear of losing you. I feel that sooner or later you will not want me anymore, that you will actually want to have a life that was real and not full of evil and magic. I don't think that I am right for you. I don't deserve you."

I stared up at his blank expression. I smiled. "That's funny, it is what I think about myself; that I'm no good for you. You deserve someone a lot better than me." He smiled and then I reached up to touch my lips to his. He kissed me back willingly. My arms wrapped around his neck and his wrapped around my waist. I tried to remember how to inhale through my nose. We both pulled away and then went into the living room where Nicolette was waiting. I hadn't heard the door open and I saw that Jason and Kristin were home. "Hey Eva, we just got back. How are you and…. Addam?" Jason said his name unwillingly. I had a feeling that he didn't like Addam very much. I nodded and then Addam and I sat down on the loveseat. Jason spoke again, but to Addam. "So Addam, are you and my sister in a serious relationship?" Translation: Have you had sex yet?

I wished that Addam could read my mind right now; so that he could hear the warning I was giving him. He answered so confidently. "Well, I love her and she loves me. We both make each other happy and I wouldn't have asked for anyone better. And no we haven't had sex." He smiled and I could swear that he was suppressing a laugh. Jason's face fell. Kristin playfully hit him on his head. He didn't even flinch. I whispered in his ear, "Good one." He simpered at me. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Kristin was clutching her stomach and her hand was over her mouth. "Uh Oh" I gasped. She stood up and ran to the bathroom. I could hear her violent puking. Jason stood up and then rushed to the bathroom to help her.

Poor Kristin. "I wish that I could help her, but I have to go. Nathaniel and I have a date. He and I are going to go hunting." She flew out the door, literally.

After she left Kristin came out of the bathroom still holding her stomach. "I think I'm going to go lay down." She sluggishly crawled up the stairs with Jason right behind her. I hope she gets better. I went back into the kitchen to get some water and saltine crackers for Kristin. Addam watched as I gathered the stuff. "What?" I asked when I saw him staring intently at everything I did. He grinned and then answered, "You are a really thoughtful, caring, unselfish, noble, nice, polite, and pleasant person, you know that?"

"I think that those are all of the synonyms of nice. What's your point Addam?"

"My point is that, you care so much about other people, that you never have any time to do anything for yourself. I, on the other hand, am so selfish that I am willing to let you in on my family's secret, thus putting you in the worst possible danger. I think that's unfair."

I chuckled and then headed up the stairs to give Kristin her feel-better food. I knocked on the door and Jason answered. "Um, yes?" He seemed anxious and worried. I handed him the crackers and water. He took then and then he scrunched his eyebrows together. "Eva, I think I'm going to have to take Kristin to the hospital. She just fainted and this doesn't seem like her normal morning sickness. Call Dad and ask him if he's going to be home tonight, will you?" I reluctantly got my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed Jacob's number. He answered on the second ring.

"Hey Eva! How are you?" He said when he answered. I cleared my throat and then replied, "I'm fine, but I don't think Kristin is. Jason in taking her to the hospital. I need to know if you're going to be home tonight." I almost whispered the entire thing. I heard some murmuring in the background. "Um, not today. I have to go out of town. We have to meet with another company, but I'll be back tomorrow afternoon." I had put the call on speaker so Jason could hear everything. I said bye to Jacob and then turned to Jason. "Um, I don't want you to suffer all of the puking so please call one of your friends so you could stay over at their house. Please?" I nodded and then Addam interrupted me. "She could stay over at our place." He suggested. Now he was going to get killed. "No way! She is stay overnight at someplace where you will be." He yelled. I heard Kristin moan in the other room. I could see that Jason was yearning to be with her.

"No, it would be fine actually. My father, brothers, and I are not going to be home tonight. We are going camping so Eva can stay with Nicolette, Elizabeth, and my mother. Of course if that's fine with you." Jason considered that for a moment. I hope that he would say yes and I wondered where Addam was actually going instead of camping. I knew his secret so he didn't have to lie in front of me, but he did in front of anyone else who didn't know. Jason looked like he was in a hurry so he nodded and then headed back into his room to get Kristin. Addam and I deliberately walked back downstairs. Once I was sure no one was listening I asked him, "Where are you going instead of camping?" He smiled and said, "Nowhere." I slowly nodded and went back upstairs to my room. Kristin and Jason were leaving soon and I had to get all of my stuff ready for tonight. I packed all of the necessities: toothbrush, sweats to sleep in, clothes for tomorrow. There's more stuff too. I caught a glimpse of Kristin before they left. She was as pale as paper. I wished that I could help, but I couldn't do anything for her except give her crackers and water. I wasn't experienced in the medical department.

Jason carried her to his car and Addam held the door open for him. I saw them drive away and sighed praying that everything would be alright with Kristin.

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