Chapter 6
Sunday
"Taking a life is not something to be taken lightly. Life is more than a pulse, a heartbeat. It is the people in our lives, it is the choices and mistakes we make. It is our loves and journeys, our fortunes and follies. And to end a life is not just to remove a soul from a body, it is to end their journey and end each and every possibility that lies before them."
Jasmine Dubroff
It has been a week since I ended my relationship with Aaron. It has not been as difficult as I expected it to be. Yes, I still do feel guilty for hurting Aaron, but I also feel... free, like a weight has been lifted off of me, one that I could not have known how long I held. I know it was the right thing to do, I feel it. I still see Aaron in class, but I am keeping my distance, giving him the space he told me he needs.
In this time, I have not seen Ariston outside of class, not even at the stables when I find myself constantly, though hopefully discretely, watching for him. He seems to be trying to keep his distance; he still greets me from time to time, but nothing more. I cannot understand why he does this, why it seems he is trying to not look at me; he still does look at me though, and oh how I treasure those moments and the feeling when our eyes meet and I am embraced by the sky blue of his eyes and that slight smile appears on his lips.
"I have an idea you are going to love." I said to Margret as we sat in our living room doing homework.
"What do you have in mind?" She asked, reading her Physics Book even though she has already read it, twice.
"Since we missed our shopping day because of me," I began. "Why don't we go to New York this weekend and shop until we drop?" Her eyes lit up at the suggestion.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yes, I think I could use some time away from this place." I admitted. Staying in this dorm was beginning to wear on my already fragile sanity. I had to get away.
"Oh thank you, thank you!" Margret said to me as she threw her arms around me, and I laughed. "I can hardly wait, we can stay at my parents' penthouse and go out to dinner, and shop of course! Oh this is going to be so much fun!" I smiled. Her excitement is catching.
"You should invite Jack to come with us to the Morilana tonight." I said.
Margret has barely seen Jack since I broke up with Aaron, she has been with me the whole time. She says she does not mind, but I know that she misses him. Almost as much as I miss... I tried my best not to think of that man, knowing how my head would spin if I allowed any further thoughts of him within my heart, and it was not as if his face, sky blue eyes and crooked smile were not already occupying my every thought.
"Are you sure?" Margret asked. "It could be just the two of us." I shook my head.
"I know that you miss him. Call him." I told her and she smiled as she took out her phone at once.
The club was enjoyable, but the whole time my thoughts were on Ariston. I wondered what he has been doing, if he thought of me at all. If the way he looks at me is any indication, perhaps I occupy his every thought as he does mine... That one idea made this incredible surge of emotions go through me, something akin to excitement, or elation, which quickly morphed into wistfulness which made me wish I could just curl up in my bed. Everything within me all came down to one simple truth: I missed Ariston, greatly, to the point where it hurts. Even though I see him every day in class, I have not been able to be with him, to talk and laugh with him freely. So many things ran through my mind, all the questions I had for him, everything I wanted to learn about him, and all the parts of my mind I wanted to tell him.
When a man has a mind such as his, how could one not wish to discover everything about him? I was no fool, it was far more than an intellectual longing for him within me, and it only seemed to get stronger, which drove me nearer and nearer to insanity for each and every moment we did not see each other. I worry about his sadness as well, I have a feeling it is harder for him when he is alone and that worries me greatly. Jack's voice brought me forth from my thoughts, I looked at him and nearly laughed, thinking that it was a good thing he lost the goth look when he began dating Margret, and did not go the other extreme known for some reason as "swag" a look which only made me laugh.
"Are you sure you're alright getting home?" Jack asked, he wanted to leave early to get some sleep. I nodded and he looked at Margret, he was always protective of her.
"We'll be fine Jack, I'll see you tomorrow." Margret said.
"Alright, call me if you need me." He said.
"I always need you." She said, I smiled.
"In that case..." He said, leaning in to kiss her. I looked away to give them some privacy. "See you later, Mera." Jack said a few minutes later.
"See you." I said with a wave.
Margret and I danced for another hour, letting loose and laughing as we moved to the music.
"Come on, we should go. We'll be tired as it is tomorrow." Margret said.
I agreed and slid my coat on, the same dull ache within my chest. I wanted to be with Ariston, just talk to him for a few minutes, that was all I was asking for but I was not bold enough to tell him. I tried to strike up a conversation once but he was clearly not very interested in it because he did not say much. What changed since last week when he danced with me in the Stables and held me in the hayloft? When he looked into my eyes with an unexplainable intensity which caused a yearning for a kiss? It was a question that kept me up at night, wondering, hoping that he would start a conversation with me the next day.
I know Margret has sensed the change within me, I am rarely in the best of moods lately. I think she believes it is because I broke up with Aaron and I did not want to prove her wrong, to tell her that it was another man making me feel this way.
We made our way outside to the relative silence of the night. The leaves blew in the cool autumn wind and danced on the pavement on our way to the parking lot, the air felt odd. Something felt wrong, it had me on edge. I glanced around the parking lot. There were students walking to their cars, most laughing and joking around.
My whole body screamed danger, my hands felt hot. The warrior was showing herself again and two words echoed though my mind, protect them. I felt the light growing stronger within me, almost like adrenalin. Unlike adrenalin this light did not make me edgy, it made me more aware, expanding my senses, as a deep calm came over me. I felt my mind reaching out, searching, and suddenly there it was.
I could feel its... essence, it felt muddied. It was not the darkness I felt before, this was something else. But it was still dangerous, a predator. I looked around at the students as they went on their way, unaware of the danger afoot. Protect them at all cost.
I felt the other light, the one that chased the darkness away on the first day of school, it was right next to me. Feeling the light brought me a kind of peace even though I was still alert. I also felt that the light would not help me this time, this was my fight. I looked around the parking lot and saw nothing, but soon we would walk by an alley where the muddied essence was. I have to get Margret to safety. I grabbed her arm and pulled her tight next to me as we walked along.
"Margret, when I tell you, you need to run to the car." I said in a low voice.
"What?" She looked at me with a confused smile, which slid from her face when she looked at me. It was as if she did not know the face she was looking upon.
There was no time to explain and, truth be told, I myself did not completely understand. All I knew was that I was in for a fight and that I would get Margret to safety at all cost. We were nearing the alley.
"This is important." I said, all she could do was nod. "Keep walking."
From the corner of my eye, I glanced down the alley and in the dark I saw the outline of a man. Margret and I passed the alleyway and I did not need to look behind me to know that the low life was following us, I could feel him and I could hear his foot steps as he drew closer, an uneven sound that told me that he had a limp in one leg. My mind was running through what I would do. Ten seconds later, I felt the cold metal barrel of a pistol pressed against the back of my head, and I stopped and prepared.
"Get your hands up." A rough, raspy voice said. He was a smoker, I made note. Meaning his lung capacity was less than mine, he would tire out sooner than I would.
I heard Margret gasp, she looked at me with fear in her eyes and I put my hands up, I knew what I would do. Every protective instinct I have within me was coming into play, I would not let this man hurt Margret, I would die first.
"Give me your purses and there won't be any trouble." The raspy voice said.
In one swift movement I spun around to face the low life and did a quick circle block, grabbing the man's wrist I gave it a jerk to throw him off balance as I hit his temple with a hammer fist. The mans grip on the gun loosened, and as it dropped from his fingers I caught it. I quickly slid back and kicked him in the gut, sending him flying three feet back from the force of my kick and knocking him off his feet.
"Run!" I said to Margret as I fell into a fighting stance. She stood in shock for a moment before doing as I told her. I moved back, putting distance between myself and the mugger.
Somehow I knew that the gun in my hand was a Glock 23 and I could tell by the weight that it was unloaded, not even one in the chamber. I threw it to the side, it was of no use to me. The man was clutching his stomach but he would not be down for long. I threw my purse and quickly took my coat off, it would constrict my movements, and left my heels on, they can be quite a weapon.
He got to his feet, I could see in his mismatched eyes that he was angry that I had been able to do what I did.
"You're gonna pay for that." He said.
He took out a knife, a long k-bar, the kind Marines use. I knew that there was no way this man was a Marine, Marines have honor, something a low life like him will never understand.
"Come on then, what are you waiting for?" I said, my tone dark.
He gritted his yellowed teeth and charged me, I could smell the alcohol on him. In one movement I moved out of the way, put my right arm inside his wrist while using my left forearm to deliver a strong blow to his elbow while at the same time pulling his arm towards me, effectively breaking his arm and causing him to drop the knife and scream out in pain. I used my foot to slide the knife ten feet away so he would not be able to get it, while I spun around and put distance between myself and the mugger again.
He hollered obscenities at me while clutching his broken arm. He came at me again with his left arm, the one that was not broken, and I blocked it to the outside, grabbing his wrist at the end of the block, opening him up for a swift front kick to his groin. He fell to his knees, clutching whatever was left. I glanced at the knife, then at him, and saw fear in his eyes. He stumbled to his feet and ran away; I went to go after him, I wanted to end him, to make sure he would never prey on the weak again. I stopped myself then. What am I doing? I wondered.
Just like that the warrior left me and I was left standing there in a moment of shock. Was that truly me who fought like that? Who egged on a man who held a knife against me?
I looked around to see that a crowd had gathered at the entrance of the alleyway and was now cheering me on. I heard sirens then, and soon red and blue lights shined and flashed as the car approached. I was still somewhat in shock when tires squealed to a stop; I looked up to see two Police Officers rushing over to me. One was about my height with a salt and pepper mustache and the other was taller and clean-shaven.
"Miss, are you alright?" The short one asked me. Just like that I came out of my shock.
"I am fine." I said in a calm voice. I felt oddly calm about the whole ordeal.
"Where is the man who attacked you?" The tall one asked.
"He ran down the alley less than a minute ago." I told them, trying to get my bearings and realizing they would need a description of the man. "He was wearing dark ragged clothing. He is caucasian, approximately 5'9 and 180 pounds with a slight limp in his right leg, a now broken left arm and a slight concussion." I was not sure why I was speaking in such a way, it simply felt like the right manner in which to describe him. The tall one drew his handgun and ran down the alley after the low life.
"Where is Margret?" I asked the shorter policeman, his name tag said Kendrickson.
"Ms. Petrova is safe, she called us a few minutes ago. She is at her car with Officer Branston." Officer Kendrickson informed me. I nodded and picked up my jacket and slid it onto my frame, then grabbed my purse.
"The low life had an empty Glock 23 which I threw over there," I pointed to where it was as I spoke to the officer. "And a K-Bar which is over there." I pointed.
"How did you fight him off?" Officer Kendrickson asked me in amazement.
"Instinct." I said, I had no other explanation for it. He looked at the weapons and shook his head.
"Some instinct." He muttered in amazement.
I went quickly over to find Margret, she stood by an ambulance near her car talking to a policewoman. When Margret saw me, she ran to me and threw her arms around me as she cried.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
"I'm fine, I was so worried about you." She said.
"I am not harmed." I assured her, we still held each other in a death grip.
"Ms. Vandenberg?" The policewoman asked, walking up to us, Margret and I let go of each other then.
"I am." I answered, glancing away from her just in time for a reason I only understood when I caught sight of it.
A midnight blue car that was a cross between a Rolls Royce and a Lamborghini came speeding to a stop just then, and Ariston Crete climbed out. Such relief washed over me at the sight of him. I smiled slightly as he ran over to us.
"What happened? Are you two alright?" Ariston asked, looking at me. There was something in his eyes, an emotion I did not understand.
"We're fine." I said to him, gazing into those entrancing eyes.
"Sir, who are you?" The officer asked.
"Ariston Crete, their History Professor." He answered, not taking his eyes off of me.
"Mr. Crete, I am Officer Branston. The girls are fine, a mugger attacked them but somehow Ms. Vandenberg fought him off." She said. Ariston simply nodded, he did not look surprised in the least.
"I will take them back to their dorm when you are done speaking with them." Ariston stated.
The officer turned to him, I could see she was going to argue, however when he looked into her eyes, she looked entranced, then she nodded.
"Of course." She answered, looking back at her notepad where are statements would be taken down. Ariston looked at me and I looked into his ancient, sky blue eyes, wondering how he had gotten her to agree.
We spent the next fifteen minutes answering questions. They caught the man who attacked Margret and I, we watched the officers put him in the back of the Squad Car. Ariston held the back door open for Margret as I stood next to him, he then proceeded to walk around the car as the gentleman he is and held the passenger side door open for me before getting into the front seat next to me. Margret called Jack and told him what happened, I could hear him freaking out. She told him that we are fine and that 'Mr. Crete' was driving us back, while Ariston and I were transfixed upon each other. He glanced down and his eyes widened.
"Mera." Ariston said with worry upon his face, within that wondrous voice of his, as he stared at my shoulder.
I looked down, blood was soaking through my coat on my shoulder. I winced as I pulled the jacket off of my shoulder and moved the silk cap of my sleeve to see a wound that was about two inches long and decently deep on my shoulder, my jaw dropping, Margret gasped in fear.
"I guess he got me." I said half to myself, it was only then that it truly began to hurt.
I heard a ripping sound and looked at Ariston to see that he had ripped the bottom of his silk shirt. He took the piece of silk and gently and carefully put it over my wound to stop the bleeding.
"Margret, there is a small bag in the pouch behind my seat, will you get it for me?" Ariston asked.
"Of course." Margret said, quickly finding and handing it to him.
"Hold this here, Mera." Ariston told me.
He took my hand and placed it over the piece of cloth on my wound, the brief and gentle contact making me melt. He unzipped the bag, it was the size of a makeup purse. It was filled with vials and spray bottles on one side and on the other were a few different types of bandages. Ariston took out a spray bottle then moved my hand, which still held the silk scrap, out of the way for him to work. I was too distracted by him holding my hand to notice if what he sprayed on the wound hurt. He took the cloth from my hand and grabbed another spray bottle, he sprayed a liquid that smelled strongly of lavender on the scrap of his shirt which was not stained with my blood, and began gently cleaning the wound. I felt a tingling on the wound, but I could not have said if that was because of the medicine or his touch. Afterwards, when the wound was cleaned, he wiped away at the laceration then he took out a small tube, and unscrewed the cap. Ariston gently pulled the wound together and squeezed what I guessed was some kind of liquid stitches onto the wound, then blew on the wound to dry it, his hot breath on my skin giving me goosebumps, the good kind. A few moments later, he inspected the wound and then took a rectangular piece of bandage from the bag, and gently smoothed the adhesive side over the wound, keeping any dirt from entering from the edges of the bandage and the wound sanitary. Ariston looked up at me.
"All done." Ariston said. I looked into his eyes for a time.
"Thank you." I said, he nodded. A moment later he put his things back, I gave Margret a smile and reassured her I would be fine as we drove away.
We were silent for a while afterwards, I could not take my eyes off of him as he drove. I had missed him, more than I could possibly hope to explain, and wondered what he was feeling right now.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Ariston asked, bringing me back to what I had done. I looked to the back seat to see that Margret was sound asleep. I looked down at my hands as I spoke, needing someone to talk to about this. I could not keep it in any longer and Ariston was the one I needed to share it with.
"I nearly killed him, the mugger." I told Ariston, my voice just a hair away from a whisper. "I am not... normal, I do not know if I have ever been normal, and recently... so many things are happening, I am changing. I felt there was a threat before there was any evidence with which to prove it true and tangible. The way I fought," I shook my head. "The skills I have take years to hone, but I have not had any kind of true, formal training except for some self defense classes. It is not just the skills, I felt no fear, I felt as if I had been training for this my whole life. I do not even know who I am anymore, everything has changed and continues to transform in ways I do not understand.
"I do not know what is happening to me, or even how this is happening. Since the day we met... when I felt this darkness stocking me, I have known everything is different. Whenever I feel danger, this... entity within me takes over. I am worried about who I am becoming and that I could become hopelessly lost, not knowing what to do." I said, feeling tears prickle in my eyes.
"You are transforming," Ariston told me, causing me to look at him as he watched the road. "You should not fear it."
"I was going to murder that man," I told him. "I wanted to finish him so he could not harm anyone again." I thought he might finally understand who I was becoming, perhaps scold me for having such thoughts, yet he did not, he tried to comfort me.
"That man you fought was far from innocent, anyone whom would try to harm you..." Ariston said, his grip on the steering wheel tightening as lightning flashed across the sky. He gritted his jaw as the thunder followed and took a deep breath. "You were not only protecting yourself, but your closest friend. Your actions were more than justified, as was anything you could have done to him." I knew in his voice that he meant his words, that was how he saw it, and yet I could not.
"It is not for me to play god, Ariston, to choose who lives and who dies, and that is what I almost did tonight." I said with tears blinding my sight. "I know that I have it in me, to kill, and that scares me. I do not want this... I do not want to be a killer."
"You are not a killer Mera, you stopped yourself." Ariston reminded me gently, his calm returned.
"What if something like this happens again?" I asked, looking up to him while he watched the road as it began to downpour. "What if I do kill someone because I cannot stop myself? I do not know if I could live with that. Whatever this is within me, I do not want it." I said as tears rolled down my cheeks.
I have never felt so helpless in my life. I do not know how to control whatever this is. I worry about when it could take over, what if I hurt someone I love? What if that darkness that I felt weeks ago comes back? Ariston seemed to be contemplating something for a moment in time. He pulled the car to a stop on the shoulder of the road and looked at me, so many emotions within his eyes. I was somewhat taken by surprise by what Ariston did next, he took my hand from my lap and held it in his while looking into my eyes.
"It will not happen again unless you wish it to." Ariston said. I was too stunned to speak for a moment. What is he saying?
"How can you be so certain that I will not have to defend myself again?" I asked him. He looked deep into my eyes.
"Because I will protect you," He said with such intensity. "I will do everything in my power to keep you safe Mera, I swear this to you. You do not have to be this if you do not want what comes with it." His voice was filled with determination, and protectiveness, I knew in that moment that he would protect me, and also that he knew far more about what I was than I did.
"How?" I asked, he smiled with warmth shining from his eyes.
"You will simply have to trust me on this. I can and will keep you safe, no matter what it takes." The intensity in his eyes took my breath away.
In that moment, it felt as though his main purpose in life was to protect me, and I felt safe with him, more than safe. It was a deep understanding between us, he would protect me. And even though he did not know it, I would help him with his pain, somehow. I realized then how much I truly trust this amazing man.
"I believe you." I said in a low voice.
I was so lost in his eyes that I was unsure if I had said those words out loud or not, but the small smile on his lips said that he heard my words. Ariston smiled then looked back to the road, we drove away as I sat there deep in thought, going over the strange occurrences of this night as I listened to the rain coming down and the soft music on the radio. Ariston still held my hand, his fingers interlaced with mine.
I yawned and before I could think to stop myself, I laid my head on his shoulder as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Once I did, I could not bring myself to move, he felt too good and we had been apart for far too long. Ariston did not move away, he seemed to lean into me a bit, relaxing, as if he had longed for this as much as I have.
"Mera, we are here." Ariston's voice was soft in my ear.
I opened my eyes, I had not realized I had fallen asleep, a peaceful drowsiness had settled into the depths of my soul as I yawned, a smile upon my lips. My head was still laying on Ariston's shoulder, our fingers and hands still intertwined except for now that my right hand was clutched around his arm, holding it close to me as I leaned against him. I moved a bit and looked up into Ariston's eyes as he watched me; soon we heard a frantic knock on my widow and turned to see Jack, who appeared a complete mess. I sat up and pointed to the back. Jack quickly opened the door as he climbed in and tried to wake Margret.
"Margret, Margret." Jack said, taking her face between his hands; he sounded frantic. She opened her brown eyes and threw her arms around him.
"Oh, Jack." She cried.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there," Jack Apologized, holding her close. "I shouldn't have left, I was stupid, so stupid."
"It's alright, I'm fine, thanks to Mera." Margret said through her tears. Jack kissed her deeply then looked at me. The depth of the gratitude in his eyes was immeasurable.
"Thank you Mera, I don't know how you did it, but thank you for protecting her. I owe you everything." He said to me, his eyes and his voice were intense. I nodded. What do you say to that?
Jack helped Margret get out of the car and I got out as well. I looked over to see Ariston getting out of his car and closing the door behind him.
"I will walk you inside." Ariston said to me.
I was glad he was not going just yet, I did not want to be away from him, I could not take it with all the emotions going on within me. Ariston and I walked side by side behind Jack and Margret and decided to take the elevator. We stood near Margret and Jack, with them standing a ways in front of us as things turned out in the decently sized elevator box. Margret had her head resting on Jack's shoulder, and all I wished for beyond everything was to rest my head on Ariston's shoulder again, and to feel the warmth and comfort of his arms around me as I had in the hayloft.
Ariston was close to me in the elevator as we stood side by side, to the point where when I moved my arm an inch his hand was right there. He caressed my hand once then gently held it. I closed my eyes and smiled at the feeling and glanced up to see that Ariston was looking at me with that look that I had been longing to see. I realized in that moment that nothing had changed between us. I sighed in relief and smiled to him, caressing his thumb with my own and watching his smile grow as his eyes somehow became far more soft, caring.
When we reached the third floor we all went out and down the halls to Margret and I's apartment. Margret unlocked the door with her key, we all went inside and Ariston closed the door behind us. Jack brought Margret into her bedroom as I stood there with Ariston, then he came out a minute later and looked down at my hand intertwined with Ariston's; I let go of it and blushed. I had forgotten I had been holding Ariston's hand, the energy felt so much a part of me.
"I am going to stay with Margret tonight." Jack said to me.
"Of course." I said with a nod. It would not be the first time he spent the night during the last seven or eight months.
He looked between Ariston and I with a suspicious look on his face before walking back into Margret's bedroom and closing the door. I sat down on the couch feeling completely exhausted, I put my head in my hands and sighed. I was exhausted, tonight too intense to take. And how I was going to get through the rest of the night, to calm these emotions down enough for sleep to come, was a mystery to me.
"Do you want me to stay with you tonight?" Ariston asked, his voice kind.
I looked up to where he stood a few feet from the couch and saw in his eyes that he did not mean anything beyond sleep. A small smile came to my lips, relief filling me anew as a wonderful warm happiness coursed through my soul. He was offering to stay with me, to be here for me tonight, I could not explain to him how much that meant.
"Please do." I replied and he nodded. "Thank you so much." I waved him over.
He came without a moments hesitation and sat next to me, I sighed as I laid my head in the crook of his neck on his shoulder while he wrapped his arm around me and caressed my arm in a comforting way. I yawned again as I brought my legs to the couch and leaned into him as his warmth and very essence seemed seeped into my being. Ariston moved, lying down on the couch with me on his chest as he wrapped his left arm around me. This did not bother me at all, it felt unbelievably good. His hold on me was light, an offer to get up if I wished. I wrapped my arm around his torso and up around his shoulder, holding him snugly within my arms, he relaxed and pulled the blanket on the back of the couch over us.
His body was as hard muscled as a marble sculpture but I have never been so comfortable in my life; his great warmth seemed to seep into my very bones, bringing me such comfort and peace. He felt so very good, so very right.
"Sleep, Mera." He whispered so softly in my ear then kissed my forehead lightly, I held him a bit closer for a moment before I settled and sighed as I just treasured having this unbelievably incredible man in my arms. I drifted off to sleep in this daze of happiness; a tender smile upon my lips and a kind bliss within my soul.
Author's Note: I love the ending 3 I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 6! Leave me a review if you have time! I adore hearing from my fans!
I will hopefully get Chapter 7 out sooner than I did this one! So many things kept getting in the way this past week and a half or so, but things are good!
