SPOILER: fic set after ep 8 (I think)...the one where Maya is introduced...
DISCLAIMER: i own none of the characters, although new characters may be introduced and will therefore be my own. r&r!
Hex – What The Future Holds
Chapter One – More than A Simple Yes Or No
Ella Dee stared thoughtfully at the necklace in front of her. It was still in its display box, untouched. Unwanted, she thought.
Unloved.
No, she thought to herself, with a slight hint of a smile, not unloved. Confused, maybe. As in…oh, I don't know, falling in love with your sworn enemy.
Things were not good for Ella at the moment. Of course, she knew without even looking at the letter wrapped around the box of the necklace that it was a present from Malachi. This didn't help her confusion at all, as it should be noted that, above all things, the last thing she needed was the emotional torture she was going through right now.
What can you do when the one you love is the one that you're sworn to kill?
This question kept coursing through Ella's mind like a cat after a mouse. She didn't know what to do. If she did, she wouldn't be sitting on her bed contemplating whether or not to open her present. If her vision was not so clouded, she would have no qualms about doing what she was born to do. Almost five hundred years was a long time to wait to kill someone. She should want to do it. To fulfil her destiny. She should want to kill Malachi, even if it was just to end it all.
But she didn't.
She continued staring at her necklace desolately until Thelma soundlessly entered her room. She was alone again, although it confused Ella a little that for once Thelma seemed quite happy about it. In the past week, the ghost's mood had picked up incredibly. Either she had a girlfriend (how this was possible, Ella did not know), or she'd taken to haunting the nearest Ann Summers. The latter seemed more likely to Ella, although she knew how much Thelma wanted some company.
Thelma's happiness did little to bother Ella any further. If anything, she was glad to have someone to help take her mind off Malachi.
Even if her means of distraction came in the form of a lesbian ghost.
"What are you looking so miserable about?" Thelma quipped, with what seemed like half a packet of Monster Munch in her mouth at the same time.
"You know, the usual. Contemplating on how to save humanity…"
"Without getting emotionally involved?"
Ella was going to protest to this, but she was in no mood for arguing with anybody. She decided against any sort of response, causing Thelma to walk aimlessly around the room.
"Where's Leon?" the ghost said, her mouth still full of crisps. These were fresh ones, French Fries this time. Ella sometimes wondered how even a ghost could eat so much.
"I don't know." Ella mumbled in reply. It was true; she had no idea where Leon was. Since her 1920's date with Malachi, she hadn't seen him anywhere.
And she knew why, too.
"Hasn't been around much lately, has he?" Thelma asked rhetorically, voicing Ella's thoughts for her.
"I hadn't noticed."
"You mean you don't miss him then? I take it that means you have better things to think about. Like Malachi, for example."
"What do you mean?" Ella retorted defensively, rising from her position on the bed and walking over to where her friend stood in front of the mirror.
"I meant killing him," Thelma answered, hurt by Ella's sudden hostility, "Though I'm beginning to think you had something else in mind."
"Spare me the accusations, Thelma."
"Fair enough," Thelma said flatly, moving over to the position on the bed where Ella had previously been sat. She thought nothing of the necklace in front of her. It was all too obvious who it came from, "I still think you've got some weird indecisive mojo going on. You obviously feel something for him."
"No," Ella said through gritted teeth. She was not angry with Thelma, but angry with herself for the way she felt, " I don't."
Finishing off the last of her crisps, Thelma smiled, trying to bring a little humour into the conversation, "At this rate, the only way he's going to die is if you shag him to death."
"That was not funny."
"You're right," Thelma agreed, suddenly seeing the seriousness of the situation, "It wasn't."
What becomes of the broken hearted?
Leon Taylor hated that song, but he was now left wondering if it might actually be relevant to his life at the moment. What would become of him, since that day a week ago or, more accurately, eighty-odd years ago, had more or less ruined his life?
He loved Ella. He still did, in fact. But how was he meant to feel when he had seen her doing the dirty with Malachi? He knew what his girlfriend was supposed to do, and it certainly wasn't what he had seen her doing.
He didn't even know if 'girlfriend' was an accurate enough reference anymore. Ella, it seemed, had been drifting farther and farther away from him lately, and he had Malachi to thank for it.
For Leon, a thank-you was certainly not on the agenda.
Still, he did not know what to do. He had lost everybody. Not that he was particularly bothered about losing Roxanne as a friend, if he ever could have called her that in the first place. He would have packed her bags for her given the chance. It would not have done much to help his situation though. How could he love who he loved if she had betrayed him?
He kicked an empty can of Pepsi as he walked down the dark street, which happened to be a good place for the thoughts he had been having lately. He had nowhere to go. He could go to Medenham. It was where he got educated, after all. But he was not going to go back there, that much was for sure. He was in fear of what he might do. He was too angry to be around Ella or Malachi, which meant the only person he could stand to be around was Thelma and, if he was going to be honest, she still freaked him out a little.
It was raining, another perfect element to reflect Leon's mood. He was more than drenched through (it was a heavy shower) but matters weren't helped when a mini-cab flew by him, completely covering him in a new layer of dirty water. The cab stopped as the driver seemed to realise what they had done, and reversed slowly back to the point where Leon was still standing. The window lowered, revealing a rather sinister looking man on the other side. Leon recognised him a little as the person who had helped him see what Ella and Malachi were up to.
"Sorry about that." he said indifferently, clearly not that bothered about Leon's wetness at all.
"It's alright." the teenager replied, also masking what he really thought.
"Get in," the driver said with a little force in his voice, "I'll take you wherever you want to go, free of charge. Call it an apology for the puddle."
"Really, I'm fine." Leon protested. He would normally have been grateful for a free ride, but he sensed that something was not right about the cabbie that sat in the car in front of him. This sense had truth to it; Leon knew that this guy was of the supernatural variety, but he still had a gut feeling that it wasn't the good type of supernatural. He stared at the man, trying to figure him out. What's his name? Leon thought, Where does he come from?
"Raphael. The higher tiers of Heaven. Now, get in the car." the driver said with more force than last time, making it clear to Leon that he had to get in the cab.
Even though he had nowhere to go, Leon knew that the cab he was about to get into had nothing to do with going anywhere.
"What is it with this machine that you always get your money eaten?" Thelma kicked the vending machine in Medenham's dining hall with frustration. It was just past midnight, Ella had gone to sleep and the school, save for the students in their dorms, was empty. A perfect situation if a ghost wants to spend time with someone without anyone else finding out.
"Leave it," came the Irish voice of Maya, who was standing behind Thelma, "I've got a fun size Cadbury's goodie-bag right here."
"Tempting," Thelma smiled, "But now you mention it, I can think of something much better…"
The pair shared a tender kiss, which became decidedly more than a kiss as they discovered a new use for one of the tables…
Knock knock.
"Go away." Ella semi-shouted, She was in no mood to speak to anybody now, least of all the person that she knew was on the other side of her door.
Knock knock.
"Did you not here me the first time?" she shouted, in full force now.
"That's really not very polite." Malachi smiled, entering the room regardless of Ella's protest.
"How many times do I have to repeat myself to you before you get it through your thick head that I don't want you here?"
"Ah, but you do," he replied flippantly, "You know it and so do I."
"What I want to do and what I was born to do are two different things, Malachi." Ella refused to look at who was meant to be her adversary as she spoke.
"So you admit that you're not fond of your birthright, hm?"
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to," said Malachi, seeing the unopened necklace in mid speech, "You don't like it?"
"I don't want it." Ella said coldly, still refusing to look in any direction but the pillow at the side of her face.
"Fine," Malachi said. He hid successfully the fact that he was actually hurt by Ella's comment.
"Are you going to leave?"
"Not before I ask you something:
"D'you want to go on another date?"
Ella couldn't believe what she had just heard, "Are you stupid enough to think that I'll actually say yes?"
"You don't have to say yes. Turn me down if you want to. But if you do turn me down, I can't guarantee that the results will be pretty."
"Meaning?" Ella asked, actually intrigued.
The answer came softly and simply out of Malachi's mouth, "Come with me, and I can show you."