Chapter 8: Teeth, fading, fire…and all that jazz

A/N: I really love this chapter and I hope all those who read it love it too. Lots of cool and important stuff happen. I'm kind of 7 chapters ahead of myself, so this is sort of weird. This chapter is dedicated to those who reviewed last chapter; anime-obssesed:p , phoebe turner and JadeAlmasy, the reviewers for last chapter. Please read and review. Enjoy!

Never, in 13 years of knowing him, had I realized just how annoying Aidan really was. Since the moment we had gotten stuck in this cave, he hadn't stopped complaining. It wasn't that bad really, perhaps a little cold, but whatever. Judging by the way Aidan was talking, he was being tortured alive in Siberia. He was such a wimp. An immature, juvenile wimp…who just happened to have nice eyes.

"I'm cold", he whined. I sighed and walked as far away from him as I could possibly be.

"You told me this, ten times", I reminded him. I really just wanted to get out of this cave, right now. I was begging to become claustrophobic. I paced, round and around. Aidan was doing nothing to help us out of here. He was mumbling to himself in the corner, and I was a nervous wreck.

Finally, I was fed up. "Do something please Aidan", I ranted. He looked up at me, looking just as angry with me as I was with him. He opened his mouth to reply with what I could only assume was a witty retort. I held up a hand to stop him. "Shhh", I whispered. I heard deep muttering, just outside the cave. The demons that had captured us were having some sort of meeting.

"The ritual's almost ready", a low voice whispered. "Soon we shall sacrifice the half breed." The voices moved farther away, and they became almost impossible to hear. For once, since the first time we had gotten into this wretched cave, Aidan was silent. The voices had left, but I knew I was the one to whom they had referred. I was frightened. In fact, I was more afraid than I had been in a long while. Sacrifice was not a good word.

I shivered, not from cold, but from fear. "Aidan", I whispered, "I'm scared." I felt really stupid to admit that to him, but I knew he wouldn't laugh. He would be kind, and he would try to make me feel better. No matter how annoying he was being at the moment that was just the type of person he was. Aidan was a truly good friend.

"We'll be fine, I promise", he said earnestly. It wasn't much, but strangely, it made me feel better. Truthfully, Aidan's promise meant nothing whatsoever. It still made me feel better that he was in my corner. We really would get through this. We could get through anything. I was about to say something…but just then…the ground began to shake.

It was an earthquake. I hated earthquakes because of the Woogyman. But wait, how could there be an earthquake in the underworld? We were already far underground. It was impossible. The demons must have done something. Occasionally, very powerful spells had some effect over the elements. The ritual of which they spoke must be complete.

A deep voice confirmed my worse suspicions. "The ritual is complete", it growled. That simple statement was enough to make my blood run cold. I wasn't just scared now; I was petrified. I felt all of the blood drain from my face. I must have been paler than a ghost. Having seen many ghosts in my life, which was saying something.

Aidan must have noticed my increased fear. He did what he usually did in crisis situations; make jokes. "This sure is a sucky suckfest, but you have to admit, we've been in suckier suckfests", he said laughing. That was so unfunny, that it ended up being funny. I smiled, despite my heightened state of nervousness.

"OW!" I yelled indignantly. I felt something slam into my front teeth. I realized what must have happened. Aidan had tried to kiss me, but in the dark, and because I was smiling, he had hit my teeth. I wasn't as angry as I thought I might be. Suddenly, the cave was filled with dazzling light, as a roaring fire sprung up around us. I could now see that Aidan's face was bright red. He looked like he would like nothing more than to crawl in a hole and die.

I don't know what made me do it. Perhaps I had gone temporarily insane. Maybe I did it because I thought the world was going to come to an end. In the firelight, Aidan had never looked so beautiful. I moved my head forward, as did Aidan, his cheeks slowly returning to their normal colour. The moment our lips met, I experience the most beautiful kind of magic there is.

Aidan ran his fingers through my hair and pulled me closer. Our passionate embrace lasted mere minutes but it felt to me like a lifetime. Kissing Aidan just felt so right. If we could, we would have made our first kiss last forever. I wrapped my arms around Aidan's waist, our lips still joined. The fire around us burned even more brightly. It was not a fire of fear, but one of beauty. The smoke rose in heart shaped puffs. The bright fire was just mesmerizing. It was truly magic.

"Patience?" a familiar voice asked from somewhere to my left. Aidan and I broke apart very reluctantly. We were both blushing. Standing in the cave in which we had been imprisoned was my older, extremely protective cousin Chris. Now we both looked as if we wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Chris was the worst person who could have walked in on that. For a first kiss, it was a pretty passionate one.

"Patience…Aidan…w…what?" Chris stammered. He seemed to have difficulty stringing to words together. Aidan and I blushed deeper and looked at each other. It would be much easier to think if the fire wasn't still roaring in the background. It was roaring more loudly now. Chris was rubbing his emerald green eyes in disbelief. There was the most awkward silence I had ever experienced.

"Chris, are you okay?" I asked softly. It wasn't like any version of him to be quiet. Aidan still hadn't said anything. He was looking at my older cousin in fear. I didn't blame him. Chris could be a little scary at times, especially when he was being over-protective. This was one of these times.

Chris was as white as a sheet. I was afraid he was going to pass out. "You", he said pointing at Aidan, "you kissed her". His eyes were wide, as if he couldn't even believe his own words.

I nearly burst out laughing. Chris was so stupid. "Um…ya…we kissed…so what?" I asked matter-of-factly. This really pushed Chris off the edge. He rushed to Aidan, and pushed him against the stone wall. Aidan was too stunned to move. Neither of us knew Chris to ever react like that. "Chris, stop!" I yelled. Chris acted as though I didn't exist. Unexpectedly, Aidan stood his ground.

"What seems to be the problem?" Aidan asked pleasantly. I was utterly shocked. I had never seen Aidan this calm cool and collected. That boy was full of surprises.

Chris reddened slightly. "You know what the problem is!" He yelled. "You were kissing my baby cousin. Now, I know she's growing up, and personally, I had a girlfriend at her age. The point is, you have a certain responsibility now. What you say or do will affect Patience's happiness. If you hurt her, I will kill you."

Chris stopped, apparently finished. Oh my god, he was so embarrassing. He was only my cousin; he wasn't aloud to be that protective. It was just a kiss, one measly little kiss. It wasn't like we were going steady or anything. He needed to lighten up. I was about to throw a snappy retort Chris' way, but Aidan beat me to it. It was one surprise after another with him.

"I'd never hurt her, and if you're not careful, you're going to embarrass her to death", he said calmly. I blushed more furiously. Chris opened his mouth, and then closed it again. He didn't know what to say; another first. He didn't have a chance to reply, for there was a loud blast just outside the cave. In the heat of the moment, I had actually forgotten that we were being held prisoner by unknown demons. Funny how kissing can do that to you.

With Aidan and Chris, it was all back to business. They rushed out of the cave in tandem, first looking left and than right. There were many more demons than I had originally believed. There were about 25 of them, all standing around a stone cauldron filled with an unknown liquid. Chris flicked his wrists, and one of the demons flew through the air and hit the wall. That's when the battle began.

The demons were formidable opponents. I kicked boxed three at once, dodging every fire ball they threw at me. I could have used my newly discovered demonic powers, but that thought frightened me. I didn't want to feel that evil ever again. I was holding my own against the demons, but I wasn't making much leeway. To my left, Chris was telekinetically throwing demons around. To my right, Aidan was incinerating them at a frantic pace. The more we vanquished, the more there seemed to be.

I was doing well against the demons…but I couldn't handle all of them at once. My concentration was on the three demons directly attacking me. I didn't notice the demon creeping up behind me with a fireball, but Chris did. "Patience!" Chris called out in warning. I turned around in time to see the demon, and duck as it threw a fireball. The momentary lapse in attention was a big mistake on Chris' part.

The demon he was currently fighting took advantage of his distraction as only demons do. When Chris' back was turned, the demon threw a fireball at his back. Unfortunately, it had perfect aim. Chris flew forward, his face registered his surprise. No…this couldn't be happening…not again. Chris didn't die…at least I think he didn't. Instead he disappeared; faded into nothingness.

I felt raw surging anger, transforming me faster than before. Those demons would pay. I let loose a wall of fire that rushed towards the demons. In a matter of moments, it reduced them to nothing more that piles of ash. They were gone. It was over. I reverted to my human form almost instantly. Tears stung my chocolate brown eyes. Chris was gone, and there really was nothing I could do about it.

"That version of Chris isn't the one you know. He was brought here for a purpose, because of a spell, and he must have fulfilled his purpose. The Chris you know is alive and well in the future; I promise", he said comfortingly. That made me feel a lot better. I was able to wipe my tears, and manage a small smile. I loved how much Aidan's words made me feel better. I pulled him close and kissed him passionately on the lips.

To Aidan's credit, nothing burst into flames. A slight blushed appeared on both of our cheeks. However, when we broke apart, neither of us could look happier. Neither of us knew what to say. We may have become more comfortable around each other, but it was still pretty awkward. Finally, Aidan realized we were still in a dark cave. "How are we going to get home?" he asked.

"I can shimmer us both, but you need to hold me", I replied. Hesitantly, he put his arms around my waist. I was about to shimmer out when I involuntarily imagined Grams' or Melinda's reaction if they saw us kissing. As we began to shimmer off, I told Aidan something very important.

Matter-of-factly, I said, "Let us never speak of this again."

TBC…