Thanks to my Reviewers:
shortsandshirts: you should really watch some more Charmed! It's an awesome show, though a bit confusing if you don't know what's going on. Yes, and I love the LOTR fandom too. Legolas is my fave character, not so much Haldir though.
Songbreeze1125: Our spring break was about 2-3 weeks ago, and yes it was awesome.
Latin4ever93: Too bad, this chapter is below average length, but I had fun writing it. Thank you for the suggestion, but I have decided that this will be neither a Legolas or Haldir romance. 'Tis still gonna be a romance though.
Roos: I should do more cliffies if they are this much fun! Yes, evil author. Gollum: she'ssss wickedsss. We hatesssss her. . . stranglessss her, yesss, wringssss her neck, yess. We hatessss cliffiessss. . . Well, thanks for reading as always. You are awesum!!!
Lady Light: blushes thank you! Since you're willing to read anything I write, maybe you'll be willing to read an original kind of romance.
Alandra: Oh c'mon, did you really think I'd give up after only 11 chapters? "I love the way that you manage to go between the two worlds and still have the story making sense." blushes then bows thank you! It's something I picked up from reading Brian Jacques' Redwall series. It's a very useful tactic though. Lol. Also, Alandra, as you know, I named an OC after you, so I hope you don't mind being Adrian's girlfriend. And one last thing, what channel is the next whole day of Charmed on? I don't have cable though, but if it's on WB20 like it normally is, then I might get to watch it! :)
Lady Fae: Thank you very much for the college information! It'll help with my next few scenes!!
Xoulblade: Oh, I see. . . you mean flirting! What /will/ Haldir say to Angel's wildfire? Too bad she's physically unable to answer his questions. Convenient, isn't it? Borri's fate is already decided, all that's left to do is for me to write it out. But thanks for reading and reviewing! I was starting to think you had stopped reading.
Soccer-Bitch: Thank you for your luvly review as always. As you will find out soon enough, Haldir didn't see quite as much as Angel feared.
Salem: If Mr. McKenzie is boring in real life, I could make him a boring teacher in this story! Lol. I have a lot in store for Jazz. I'd like to tell you now, but that would be giving it away too soon, wouldn't it?
Nikki: Thank you for the tips! I don't quite understand number three though, so if you could explain a bit, that would be great. This shall (I've been dying for a chance to use that word) be neither a Legomance or a Haldir romance. But chances are good that it will be a romance of some kind.
ElvenWitch13: Uh yeah, maybe I'll ask Audrey to ask her sister about college over AIM or something. Mr. Platinum Blonde is hot, but nothing like Legolas. swoon Thanks for the review! BTW, does your Elven name mean 'jewel of silver' or something close to that?
Z21: Thanks for the e-mail. It will help me lots writing some of the next scenes! hugs Uh. . . could you clarify some of the things that you said that don't make sense? I do plan on explaining some stuff later on, but maybe I overlooked something. Thanks for reviewing!
Crecy: You and Dakota will show up sooner or later. Dakota will play a pretty important role in the story (mainly cuz I think he's hott!). "If people flame you I beat them with a phone." Thanks for the offer, but so far there's no need to do so. But flames will come sooner or later (I'm a very optimistic person.), and I might need you then.
Mia: Dangerous, definitely. Sweet, maybe. Innocent. . . well. . . she /has/ murdered hundreds of demons. And Angel is 18. I would have made her older, but then she would have been in college and I didn't want that.
"There is a fell voice on the air."
-Legolas from the FOTR movie.
Ch. 12
Angel's mouth went completely dry at the sight of Haldir. The knowing look in his crystal blue eyes terrified her even more than Belthazor had. How the hell would she explain this without revealing that she was a witch? How much had he seen? Enough to draw the conclusion that she was a witch without needing to ask?
The elf studied her, his keen gaze noting everything from the faint streak of dirt across her jawline to the scrapes on her palms and the cuts and minor burns on her hands and arms. He had been on patrol that day, not part of the search sent out to find her, but keeping an eye out in any case. He had been drawn to this area by the sharp scent of smoke and the crackling of fire. By the time he arrived at the scene, the fire had been quenched by the downpour and Angel was getting up from her defensive crouch. He was puzzled, to say the least. How could a fire have started in this rain? And where had she been for the last few days?
Haldir took a few steps forward, a frown creasing his brow. His eyes locked with hers for a moment, searching them as if doing so would uncover the answers he wanted to know. Angel tried to hold his gaze to show that she wasn't afraid, but she couldn't stop herself from turning away from his penetrating stare. Those crystal eyes seemed to see right through her, rendering her vulnerable and exposed. She braced herself for the inevitable questions.
"How did this fire start?" demanded Haldir, none too kindly.
Angel winced inwardly at the harshness in his voice. But now she knew that if he hadn't seen how the fire started, then he hadn't seen her fight with Belthazor either. The thought sent a wave of relief through her, but she cautioned herself that she wasn't completely off the hook yet. She reasoned that pleading ignorance would be her best chance at avoiding questions about the fire, so she said – or, more precisely – tried to say, "I don't know." But the words never made it out of her mouth. What came out was dry rasp, followed by a fresh bout of coughing. When that had subsided, she straightened up again and tried to speak again. Her throat itched and burned as she managed to get the three words out, barely intelligible. Breathing all that ash and smoke had scorched her throat badly enough that she could barely speak.
But Haldir seemed to get the message and cocked a skeptical eyebrow. Angel knew that he had seen right through her, and that made her almost glad that she was physically unable to speak.
Haldir's glare deepened. "Where have you been?" he demanded. Angel avoided his eyes, but it was easy to read her emotions. Fear, worry, and uncertainty. It was obvious to the elf that she was shielding something from him – and probably from everyone in the Fellowship as well. He sighed and beckoned for her to follow before turning to leave. Angel looked back at the destruction that she had caused and followed silently after him.
After Angel left and the portal had been closed, Kendall, Adrian, and Wyatt said their goodbyes as well and orbed back to New York so that Kendall and Adrian could pack for college. Piper and Paige would search for Comet and give word if the dog was found. Even so, Kendall and Adrian were both troubled by the pet's sudden disappearance, though Adrian would not admit it and Kendall was sure she was jumping to conclusions.
Wyatt seemed confident that Comet would show up sooner or later, and that worrying over it was unnecessary. But that was the nature of his personality, and nothing ever seemed to change it. Live each day as it comes, never worry for doing so accomplished nothing. That was his attitude toward life, but it was one that Kendall and Adrian found difficult to adopt as he did.
Kendall placed a thick textbook into the suitcase then sat down on her bed with a sigh. The trunk was half full already with books, so all that was left to get packed were clothes and some other miscellaneous items. She shifted to face her wardrobe then swung open the closet door. She flipped through the clothes, pausing every now and again to chose something to lay out on her bed. She folded them and placed them inside the suitcase, and carefully placed the charm she had made inside her pocket, where it would be close enough to offer some protection when the time came. She then used her telekinesis to bring a toothbrush and toothpaste to herself from the bathroom across the hallway. They came gliding in midair towards her, but when she flipped her wrist to bring them into the trunk, the toothbrush split cleanly into two pieces through the middle.
Kendall's hand jerked back as she realized what she had unintentionally done. Controlling her new molecular manipulation power was not going to be a simple task. She would have to remember to try not to use her magic carelessly at college, or she could easily slice off someone's head.
She gingerly crossed the room and picked up the broken toothbrush and toothpaste. After returning with a new toothbrush from the bathroom and packing the rest of her things, she zipped up the trunk and hurried downstairs for the evening meal.
When they had gotten home from San Francisco, it was nearly eight o'clock, too late to cook anything for dinner. Since she and Adrian were both busy packing, and Wyatt's culinary abilities were virtually nonexistent, she had asked Wyatt to order pizza and to bake some ready-to-bake cookie dough, a task that could not spell out "bonfire in the kitchen", not even for him.
Kendall coughed on a strong sharp scent in the air. . . and recognized it as. . . 'Smoke?' she wondered curiously. She could hear the sound of Adrian laughing downstairs and Wyatt moaning. Intrigued, she went to investigate.
The sight that met her rendered her at a loss of words. Adrian and Wyatt stood in the kitchen, with the oven door open and spewing thin tendrils of smoke. Adrian was nearly bent double with bouts of laughter, while Wyatt was standing nearby with his head in his hands.
Apparently, Wyatt's cooking skills did not even stretch far enough to setting the timer right on the oven.
Kendall fanned the smoke from her face. "Wyatt, for someone who loves food as much as you do, you can't cook to save your life."
"Who knew baking cookies would be so complicated?" he asked sullenly.
Kendall rolled her eyes and said in exasperation, "I understand that baking ready-to-bake cookies is an extremely complex process, but you see, that's why there are directions on the box." She picked up the package and shoved it at her cousin.
Wyatt squinted at the small type on the narrow side of the box and threw his hands up. "The instructions are in tiny print. How was I supposed to see them? Why didn't the makers have the sense to put them in large font?"
"The makers assumed that their consumers would be advanced and intelligent enough to look for directions when they didn't know what to set the time to." Kendall put on an oven glove and tilted the burnt cookies into the trash can.
The doorbell rang, and Adrian straightened up to get it. "Well at least we still have pizza!" he called over his shoulder.
The morning Kendall and Adrian were scheduled to return to college was a overcast and melancholy one. They waited wordlessly for the bus to arrive, their moods mirroring the weather. The city square was filled with throngs of college students and their luggage, but despite their numbers, the area was relatively silent. Everyone felt moody in the despondent weather. Adrian tilted his head skywards and gazed at the milky grey sky. 'I hope you're alright, Angelyn,' he thought bleakly. As the oldest of his siblings, he felt responsible for his sisters, and allowing Angel to leave for the second time went against his sense of duty as an older brother.
Adrian absorbed himself in memories of the past, his physical self still standing beside Kendall beneath an indifferent grey sky, but his mind wandered back in time.
It was summer in San Francisco, and Adrian remembered the day clearly. He was six, with his seventh birthday only months away. Matthew had called his son to him after dinner. Kendall, Angel, and Wyatt played with Comet outside in the backyard, and though Adrian was impatient to join them, he waited to hear what his father had to say.
Matthew's face lacked its usual smile as he addressed the boy gravely. "Adrian," he said, and the child looked up at his father questioningly. "I need you to promise me something."
"What?"
"Promise me that you'll look after your sisters if the time ever comes that your mother and I aren't around to take care of you."
"But you and Mom will always be around!" Adrian protested instantly. In his six-year-old mind, not having his parents with him forever was an unthinkable and impossible thing.
Matthew silenced him with a finger to his lips. "No, son. We may be with you for a long time yet, but if something happens to us, I need to know that you, Angelyn, and Kendall will be taken care of." Matthew faltered, rethinking what he was asking of his son. "Promise me that you'll protect your sisters when we're gone."
Adrian complied solemnly and without hesitation, as a boy who trusted his father with his life. Matthew let on a faint flicker of his old smile and clapped Adrian on the back. "That's my boy," he said before letting Adrian leave to play.
Adrian never forgot his promise, and he honored it on the memory of his father. In retrospect, he could see that his father realized the danger he and his mother were in, demon-hunting constantly.
This was his solemn vow, one he had never told anyone, not even his sisters. Perhaps Kendall had suspected something from time to time, but she did not know of it, not even with her empathy power.
Adrian felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to find himself face to face with his best friend, Dakota.
Dakota was the first person he had met since he came to New York, about three years ago. They had met on the bus to college for their freshman year, and since then, had become closer than brothers. There were times when Adrian had come to the verge of telling Dakota about being a witch, only to stop himself with the thought that the burden was his to bear, and his alone.
Dakota was physically imposing, with his height of six feet four. He had shoulder-length brown hair and matching eyes. He kept his face casually indifferent most of the time, but always with a quick smile hidden beneath the outward show. All in all, he was handsome, and drew more attention from girls than any other man Adrian had ever known. With his charming stance and looks, Dakota was easily the most sought after guy at the college. But in spite of it, Dakota hadn't been dating for almost half a year, though Adrian knew where his interests lay.
"Hey Adrian," he said in his deep voice, clapping a hand over Adrian's shoulder. But Adrian could see that even as he said this, Dakota was looking in Kendall's direction, who was waving to her friend, Jasmine. A smile tugged at the corners of Adrian's mouth and Dakota caught it.
"What?" he asked sulkily, knowing what the answer would be.
"Admit it, Dakota. You like her," Adrian said, as he pulled his friend away from the girls.
Dakota tore his gaze away, then cried indignantly, "No I don't!"
Adrian thought it was amusing to see his friend deny it, and he pressed on. "Oh, come on. You know it and I do too. Quit denying it and just do something about it."
Dakota blushed – something that he did when only Kendall was being mentioned. "Okay, fine. Supposing that I do – and I don't – but just theoretically, for argument's sake – what should I do about it? Ask her out?" he suggested, as if that were the most ridiculous thing in the world.
"Well. . . /if/ you do like Kendall – which you don't – I'd say that yes, you should ask her out – even though you wouldn't, given that you don't like her, but since you're only asking me this 'for argument's sake' – "
Dakota clamped a hand over Adrian's mouth, thus cutting off any further sarcastic remarks. "Shut up, you jackass! Not so loud!"
Adrian snickered and threw his hand off. "Admit it."
Dakota glared at him venomously. "I /don't/!" he growled.
"It's obvious."
"It is?" Dakota asked quickly, unable to disguise his concern.
Adrian laughed at him even harder when Dakota glared at his best friend and snarled, "Dammit, shut up!"
Adrian continued teasing his friend as they boarded the bus, though Dakota stubbornly denied everything about his feelings towards Kendall. Dakota breathed a sigh of relief as Adrian abandoned further joking when his girlfriend came over to their seat.
Alandra was a junior, almost a year younger than Dakota and Adrian. Long locks framed a narrow face with green-grey eyes. Her hair was a sunkist mix of red and gold, making her neither a redhead or a blonde, but somewhere in between. Her friends thought that she was closer to a redhead, because of her quick temper. Alandra was a gymnast, as well as a runner in their track and field team. She was slightly below average height, almost half a head shorter than Adrian.
She hugged Adrian and kissed him briefly before joining her friends Kendall and Jasmine in the back of the bus.
Only a few moments after she disappeared, her older brother Damon suddenly emerged from the crowd of boisterous college students. The resemblances between Damon and Alandra were unmistakable. They shared the same pale emerald eyes and the narrow features, although Damon's hair was more blonde than red. He caught Dakota in a good-natured headlock until Dakota threw him off and he dropped down into the seat in front of them.
Adrian watched as more people he knew got on. His friend William slapped him on the back in manner of greeting and settled in the seat across them. The cheerleader twins Lori and Crecy, with their identical platinum blonde hair and dimpled smiles, said their hellos as well and shoved through the rowdy melee toward Kendall and the other girls in the back of the bus.
The driver hollered over the raucous clamor of students for everyone to settle down, but in response, the din seemed to only get louder in mockery of his command. The engine started and the bus pulled out of the parking lot and out onto the highway.
Adrian felt relieved at returning to the university. He looked forward to spending Saturday nights hanging out with his friends, even dragging himself up every morning to go to classes. Perhaps it was because he felt that his life was returning to normal, no matter how much he knew that it was far from the truth. His fingers strayed to the jeans pocket in which the charm that Kendall had made resided. Hopefully, it might be sufficient to ward off enough demons for him to live as close to a normal life as possible, though he doubted that any kind of protection would grant him that much.
Sometimes he wished that he wasn't a witch, that he was like everyone else and didn't so much as believe in magic. Kendall, too, often wished the same thing, though both of them were long past dreaming of leading normal lives. Wyatt took magic as his destiny, for that was what it was. And Angelyn. . . she was hardly bothered by the responsibility of protecting innocents and demon-hunting. She didn't think too much of the issue, and accepted it into her life more easily than either of her siblings.
Adrian looked at his friends talking animatedly and felt a surge of envy for what they didn't know. They were oblivious to everything that Adrian had been exposed to; the demons and warlocks that prowled the earth, his obligation to protect innocents like themselves, the toll that magic took on his social life. They were happy not knowing. 'Ignorance is bliss,' he thought morosely.
"What?" asked Dakota suddenly. The others regarded him curiously.
"What's up man?" asked Marcus.
Dakota seemed taken aback for a moment, then said, "Nothing. . .just that I thought I heard something." His voice sank into a barely audible whisper at the end.
Adrian inhaled a sharp intake of air as he realized that Dakota had heard his thought. He needed to learn to keep in check his new telepathy power quickly and be more cautious about his thoughts. Dakota's eyes found his and held them there for a moment before turning away. Yes, magic could certainly be a terrible burden.
This chapter was pretty pointless, but it was mostly to introduce some new characters. I'm sorry that it isn't as well written as it should be (and no, I do not have any excuse other than laziness for that), but I'll revise and edit it over as soon as I get the chance.
One more important point is that this story will not be a Legomance anymore. I will cut out all scenes that hint and suggest it. However, this will still be a romance, though not with Haldir or any other elf.
I'd like to thank my muse Roos for giving me ideas for this chapter. She wards me against the terrible disease commonly known and feared by authors everywhere as writer's block. So the part with Haldir finding Angel and becoming all suspicious came from Roos's inspiration magic.
Additional thanks to Lady Fae and Z21 for teaching me about college life so that I could be better equipped to write about it!
You guys rock!
Luv ya all,
-Gil