Relight the skies,
touch the dawn,
anything is possible,
hope is home
Eternity's hand resting lightly on the edge of her chair turned white with the excess energy of gripping. The gripping was to keep her in the reality, which at the time was battling for her like a black hole. She closed her eyes to the fantasy in front of her, her soul could not stand to lose him again.
-*-
Valerio cautiously took another step into the small house. A floorboard creaked beneath him and he hastily retracted his foot from its protection. Stepping over it he proceeded forward into the hallway, the kitchen being directly ahead. Carefully he opened the door to the once alive kitchen. It was no very dead.
There may have been living people in the room but they may as well have been statues. None were breathing, none were moving. No one even looked up to see him. They all remained frozen in their various positions. Except Carthage who was staring with an evident amount of pain on his face at Valerio. The pain confused Valerio for a second but then he noted a slight flicker in the lips and noticed a small balling of hand into fist. He could see clearly now that Carthage was suffering from some internal battle of emotions and instincts.
Before Carthage however could move Starkers to his right looked up at Valerio from where his eyes had been fixed to the floor. His face showed only showed amazement, Valerio could not tell weather his return was welcome or not. Next to him Wellies with an arm in a cast was mimicing the expression.
Eternity. Valerio swept his gaze searching for her in the occupants of the room and found her sitting very much cut off from the others in a corner. But it was his Etty. This girl was pale, drawn. Her wonderful alive eyes were dazed and unfocused staring mutely at the corner of the cupboard where Carthage stood. Her legs were drawn up to her body in a protective gesture, her hands were gripping the sides of the chair. Her blonde hair was loosely tied at the back, no effort had been made to make it anything attractive.
She looked a ghost of the girl she was before. She looked almost dead. He crossed the room to her, kneeling down on the dirty floor infront of her, crossing her vision, but she merely looked through him to the same spot. He took, detached, one of her hands which tightly clamped onto the chair arm and rubbed it between his own, they were numb and cold. Her eyes flickered then.
To his eyes. They were grey eyes. They had changed colour over the time from an alive blue green to this dull faded eyes. She swallowed before leaning forward to touch his face. She ran a finger over his cheek, her hand grazing the stubble on his chin. She blinked again and looked to the floor, her body coming forwards to his.
-*-
"Oh Etty." He whispered in her ear as they came to hug. She could do nothing but let out a little shriek and begin to cry. She could not have talked, although she tried, for her mouth elicited only sounds of ecstasy at having him back in her arms. He stood, keeping her body level with his, so her feet only touched the floor if she stretched.
Her breathing was rushed and ragged and it was all she could do not to hold him so tightly and to touch him again and again. He was back. Everything would be alright. He held her so tight against him that it was almost as if she could melt into him, become one person. She stroked his hair as he touched her's. Her arms held him as tightly as she could almost wishing she could hurt him for all the hurt he had done her.
But the damage had been done. No words were spoken as he lifted her up and took her out the kitchen. He took her up to their room where he lay her flat on the bed as carefully as if she were glass. Tears still streaked her cheeks but the wells had dried up. Her hair lay undone from the messy style it had held before spread over the cream duvet, her eyes lay fixed on his unbearably passionate.
She shivered before reaching up to his face to run a hand along the light stubble of his cheek before rising higher to take in every aspect of his face. She was no longer content to be without his touch for a second. Every moment was coveted by another always touching his skin, he was always there. Valerio never moved instead enjoying the gentleness of her touch and reassuring her with every move of his controlled body.
Valerio pushed her off gently with the tips of his fingers. She looked reproachful but lay back onto the bed waiting. He forced a tiny smile to his lips, making her arise in alarm, but he put his hand out again to stop her. His hands pulled the bottom of his t-shirt up over his head, revealing his once so familiar chest. In the time they had spent apart it had changed.
New was a increased size slug trail up from where his flesh disappeared behind trousers to just below his belly button. Valerio had always been somewhat of a late developer. New also was the scar above his heart. It was not a clean scar but jagged in a sort of star with spikes upon the tips. It was obscure for it was white against the slight olive skin his heritage gave him.
Eternity's mind returned to the night, Ollie's face and words. 'Stabbed'. Confused she ran her hands along the wound, familiarising herself with the new. Her eyes searched his and he ignored them, instead preferring to breath in her scent. She persisted looking at him with wide eyes. He sighed and settle down on the bed taking her head upon his lap.
"That night Hellfire was not alone. Eris, my cousin by my mother's side, was dating a member of Hellfire's groupies. She's a Night World fanatic like all my mother's family and my mother. While the rest of us were joining daybreak they were conspiring how to kill the Crone and replace her with my grandmother. When I saw her and Hellfire in the same room I immediately ordered you all to get out as quickly as possible."
"Eris saw me however and confronted me. I won't tell you what happened next but I woke up in my grandmother's old house in the country. I had received a stab wound to the heart but Eris had had the grace to save me with a little magick. They kept me weak whilst beginning the process of re-education."
Valerio suddenly let out a real grin to his face. For a second Eternity could do nothing but reach up and kiss the mouth she so longed to touch. He looked down slightly surprised. As she pulled back down onto his lap He strengthened his grip around her waist smiling down on her and kissing her head.
"At the beginning of last week they began telling me things. Or at least my naive cousin Pandora took charge of my care. She told me things about what they were up to. She told me that my family were dealing in plenty of weapons from Hellfire, she also told me that there was a delay on the latest shipment as some big deal was happening in this city next week."
He looked down at her a slight glow to his dark warm eyes. "And she told me about you. She told me that my little girlfriend had been spotted. She told me my little girlfriend was looking lonely without me. Did you know you were being watched?" Eternity nodded remembering Carthage's orders to go out shopping and look happy. However her shopping partner had been Holly. The tarty vampire had led her round the rabbit run just for the benefit of their followers and Holly's already extensive wardrobe.
"You being lonely I just knew I had to get out. So I broke out. Nifty little tricks Ollie knows. Lock picking is not a skill any witches know anything about." Eternity nodded still slightly confused but understanding vaguely what had happened. She sat upright looking deep into his wonderful eyes.
And everything was alright.
In his eyes there was concern for her, there was passion for her and there was still love for her. He was still to be there for her. She was still his and he still hers.
From the exaltation she laughed aloud. Use to her random burst of laughter when she was happy, he held her tightly to him before kissing her lightly on her lips, face and neck. She stopped laughing then and looked at him deeply.
His hand crept down her top, causing her to take a sharp breath in. He stopped and kept her gaze before continuing further down. His hands found the hem of the garment and pulled it up over her head. Mutely she looked back at him, smiling very slightly.
From her voice issued a small hum. The theme to Titanic swam throughout the air as he lay her back on the bed. It continued for the next hours...
-*-
Sounds woke Eternity up. They were sound from a far off land to which she did not belong. Her mind was too pleasantly occupied elsewhere. She was in heaven. The soft feel of the clouds below her, the light hum of music around her, the complacent feel of life. This type of perfection was so rare that, when achieved, it should be held and carried within the heart and soul, like a smooth river winding through a small valley. A place for peace.
But it does not last forever. And that is why what you have of it should be so sacred.
Valerio's raised voice woke her from her blissful state. It was countered by the raised voice of Carthage. A feeling, that later would cause her embarrassment, became apparent. "Not again....." She moaned to herself as she crossed the border between heaven and reality. She landed hard, forcing herself up from the bed and crossing the room to where some shorts of her's and one of Valerio's t-shirts lay. Both had been untouched for six months.
Hesitatingly opening the door she dived out and downstairs. The argument was hailing from the sitting room as both doors were shut and both boys were standing ears pressed against the door listening. It was hardly necessary. Eternity could hear everything from where she was standing halfway up the stairs.
"You think you can just-"
"Unless you didn't notice I never died, you were never in cha-"
"I did your job for-"
The voices hushed instantly. Eternity looked confused at the two boys, Wellies who had noticed her presence smiled at her attire before waving her over. "They keep going quiet. We don't know what's going-"
"Will you stop eavesdropping?" A double shout came from the room. Starkers and Eternity both let out chuckles before creeping off into the kitchen. Wellies followed in a second.
When the reached the safety of the kitchen they were able to talk safely. "Valerio said he'd been at his family's home for six months." Starkers said staring intently at her as if she'd know any different. Reading this thought he turned away rather hastily.
"Carthage would like to keep leadership. But I don't know." Eternity's mind hand wandered: i love valerio, i love valerio.
"I don't know who to side with. I mean Val's got a good sense of leadership and equality but Carthage is really more into the whole fighting and winning side of things." Starkers helpfully commented. I love valerio, i love valerio. "I'd go for Val though cos he's got more of a rep with the Las Vegas guys."
Wellies did not agree or disagree. Eternity suddenly realised the meaning of their words. What if Carthage did remain leader? That would be so awfu-"Eternity." Carthage's voice from an inch away from her right ear shocked her. "keep your thoughts to yourself." She lowered her eyes as she flushed. His voice had been dangerous. Valerio's arms pulled her backwards into him and she relaxed trying to forget the pain.
"Where's Holly and that boy?" Valerio asked looking at Carthage. Eternity jumped as the phone rang by her ear. Valerio picked it up, still holding her by the waist with the other hand. "Hello? It's Valerio. Thank you. Ahh." Silence rang for twenty seconds as the male voice at the other end of the telephone talked. "When? Right." Valerio let out a sigh and his grip on Eternity loosened. He rang off.
"Do you want the bad news?" He asked smiling like hell. "Or the even worse news?"
-*-
Review.............. It helps......... just a little........ or a big one...... I'm not a sizest..... please?
Bex Drake: Thank you so much. I'm so glad you liked it!
Thade182: *backs away* okay then... someone's got passionate about the boy. And I wouldn't thank any god too soon... In my stories I try to make sure death is never as far away as it seems...
Redaura: I'm so glad your guys are straight. Them being bent is always slightly awkward when one's passionately attached to them. I can assure that the review including an entry in the thesaurus will need no looking back upon for recall of the subject. That is much as ever stuck.
Practikal Magik: but I did end it there. Wellies and Wellington happen to be very close naturally but there's a bit of extra spice in there. *coughs* Carthage's cool but a twisted bastard. Knowing what I know I'm extraordinarily sorry for him. Starker's is straight *shakes head in disgust*
REVIEW!!!!