Limitless
Things were starting to make sense now. I didn't have the whole story, not even close-but I did have a better understanding. I knew the reason behind Jake's guilt…but not the reason behind his pain. It was possible the incredible pain I felt from him, that would at times leave me gasping, tied into the guilt he had for not being able to completely save me. From death and from immortality…his curse. But I wanted to know how he knew my mother. I wanted to finally know why he had so much agony bottled up inside of him, that he would have to hold back because he knew I was becoming more advanced with my empathy. I also knew, that if he didn't hold it all back…his emotions would kill me instantly.
There were so many questions occupying the space in my head. The answers he had provided already just caused for more questions to be formed. He had said my mother was older than him. How old was he exactly? How old was my mom? How did she become a phixie? How did Jake become one? Was Ailani and Adam there the night of the attack too?
He called this his punishment. Did he do something wrong? What could he have done that would result in this?
My head was buzzing as I sat alone in my room. It was around midnight and Jake hadn't shown. I remembered how he kissed my forehead intimately, before leaving. My dad had just walked through the back door a second after Jake slipped out the front. He hadn't really said he would be back…but didn't it go without saying? Especially since he did it so often now?
I stayed up. Half out of blind fear. And half out of longing…longing to see him, his beautiful and angelic face. Hear the one voice that could make my heart beats instantly holt. I wanted him there so he could hold me in the shadows, and still tell me it was okay. I needed him to fill the empty, yet throbbing hole in my soul that yearned for him, yearned for him to make me whole.
But I was also scared. Terrified that if I laid down, relaxed and comfortable, closed my eyes, I would have the dreams and images again. Or worse, I would slip into my father's body and be forced to witness his pain first hand. It was remarkable how my empathy was rather sugar-coated compared to actually being inside of him, inside his torment of pain. I didn't think I could survive that. Not right now.
I was broken enough. And my pieces were lost.
I awoke that morning alone and cold. Freezing. I realized I had fallen asleep with the covers wrapped around me, tucked. So why was I shaking so badly? One thing was for sure as I sat up and looked around a room that hadn't been touched since I blacked out.
Jake hadn't come.
My heart was automatically sent into a frenzy. The fear of him leaving me returned with a vengeance. Where was he? Was yesterday too much? Did he think he was hurting me by staying in the midst of his failure? I didn't care! Being with him could've killed me, yet I hadn't budged. He could have my life. It was worthless, penniless and pathetic without him.
I slowly stood up on woozy legs, nearly crashing to the floor, but I grabbed the side of the bed in time and held myself up. I felt weak and…dead. I didn't know what was happening to me. There was a scream in my throat and pain in my chest. My heart was beating but just barely. My stomach felt as if someone was stabbing it with a butcher knife. I gasped and let myself collapse to the floor in pain, causing a thud to echo in the room. I didn't know what was happening to me. My eyes blurred and stung with tears and I clutched myself, refusing to scream and cause alarm to my father. I laid panting, and gasping on the floor. I knew I was bleeding but I couldn't sense where. I felt as if I was thrown into a pool of blood, I could feel it on my skin, yet I was still in my room.
An illusion? Is Jake here?
"J…Jake…" My voice was shrivel and weak. I could barely see through the mess of tears. A soft voice answered me as a pair of feet stood in my vision.
"No, not Jake. But you shall see him soon. For now, rest." I tried to blink back the tears as a blurry and un-shapeable face came closer until I was sure they were looking in my eyes. A shadow washed over me, pushing me into unconsciousness.
My eyes fluttered open, revealing Adam's face. He smiled at me and rose me to my feet with a movement of his hand. My entire body was unresponsive as I tried to move, but he had me in an iron grip. Ailani appeared out of no where, holding a cup filled with a dark liquid. She gave me a reassuring smile as she walked towards me slowly, balancing the cup in her hand.
"It's okay. Don't be afraid. Bailey, you're very weak and need to feed." Feed? I had eaten lunch just last night. What else could they mean? I looked down at the cup she held out to me.
"What's in the cup?" I asked timidly, not sure I even wanted to know.
"Blood…among other things." She had answered me so simply, it almost made me forget she was trying to get me to drink blood. Almost.
The scent of the liquid filled my nose, my mouth started to water instantly as my throat screamed again. The liquid wasn't the color of blood. It was brown and smelled delicious. Almost heavenly.
"Drink it. You need to feed." My eyes were glued to the cup as my hand reached for hers, slowly wrapping my fingers around the plastic cup. I had brushed my fingers against hers and felt nothing. Her skin didn't feel shocking or cold anymore. But I was too mesmerized to ask or give it further thought. I raised the cups to my lips and let the fluid fill my mouth. It tickled my tongue and stung my gums, yet I gulped it down savagely. As if I hadn't eaten anything in days. The empty cup fell from my hand and dropped to the floor silently. I looked up at Ailani who exchanged looks with Adam.
"It's a remedy we need in order to survive. You were dying back in your room Bailey." Dying? Adam released his hold on my body, laying me back down on a couch as he stood beside Ailani.
"You can't maintain life on human food. It doesn't sustain us because it's nothing but air."
"The only thing that keeps phixies alive is the remedy you just drank." I tried to gulp all this down, but I was still incredibly hungry.
"What…was in it?"
"Blood. Two types, actually. And a special ingredient Jake will reveal to you once he returns." I was just about to ask what other types of blood could there be besides human and animal, but the mention of Jake stopped all thoughts.
"Returns from where?" Ailani cocked her head to the side, studying my reaction to what I had just devoured in less than a second, while Adam answered me.
"He's fetching the second blood and will return by morning. I must go…he might need assistance." I gave him a weird look that made him add, "It's not particularly safe for phixies to travel alone."
"But he wanted to make sure you were taken care of." I looked at Ailani and was grateful I was sitting down. It wasn't safe for phixies to travel alone. And Jake was.
"Go." My words were barely audible but Adam glanced at Ailani and disappeared at once. Ailani stepped closer to me and placed a gentle hand on my knee as she smiled.
"Bailey, you are one of us which means you will have to feed once every month. Come here and we'll take care of you."
"What types of blood?" I asked, while my brain had a moment to think before whirling with images of the possibilities of Jake getting hurt. I hoped somehow Adam was with him, though he had only left literally, five seconds ago.
"We need fresh human blood…and…the blood of a silver tiger." I gave her the strangest look. I've heard of white tigers, jaguars, black stripped tigers, but…silver? "There are creatures among our existence that you aren't aware of." That was fairly obvious. Turns out I'm inlove with a phixie, automatically becoming apart of his phixie family.
And oh yeah, I'm a phixie too. An immortal phixie.
Ailani's gaze hardened, yet remained comforting as I felt her lay me flat on the couch. She wanted me to relax and calm down. I was too rattled but couldn't fight her control over me. For one, she was impenetrable.
"You are safe," she whispered as reassurance.
"I feel safe," I said out loud. And I meant it. I knew she wouldn't hurt me, I was apart of her family now. Her sister.
She nodded her head. "You know, ever since Jake saw you coming, he had been watching you closely…we all have. We were waiting for you to become aware of your change before we approached you. Jake had wanted to give you your space, but I knew what you were going through. He loves you so much. We all do, Bailey." Her words soaked through my skin and went straight to the heart as she kissed my cheek swiftly and stood up. I couldn't hear her footsteps but I knew she was halfway up the stairs by now.
I looked around the room I was in. It was a living room. A huge flat screen tv stood in front of the couch, against the wall. There was a chair beside the couch and nothing else. No lamps, bookshelves, coffee tables. Nothing. The walls were glass, letting the sun's light fill the room completely. There were no curtains.
"Where…am I?" My voice cracked the silence, sounding smoother than it did before.
"You're in our home." Ailani answered me from upstairs. I wanted to get up but figured I needed the rest. So much was happening so fast. I thought about how we were probably all late for school. "We're not going."
So you are reading my thoughts.
"Not on purpose." I smirked and brought a pillow to my head.
Why don't you have anything? Is the entire house empty? This time she chose to answer me telepathically.
Every room besides ours. I thought about all the questions I had wanted to ask Jake and figured Ailani would know just as much.
Do you sleep?
In the beginning. The older a phixie becomes the less sleep it needs. About two decades from now, you won't need any sleep at all. I thought about that. No sleep. What would I do with all the extra time?
I suggest you take up a hobby. A question stuck out, driving my curiosity wild.
What abilities do you possess? The possibilities are limitless. Does that apply to me to?Especially you.
