Okaay, I didn't expect too many reviews for my first attempt, but please do R&R people!
Chapter 2: Humans
For some reason, humans always scare me. Though it's technically their planet we souls inhabit, they are still considered marauders. On their own planet. I try not to dwell on how wrong this seems to me sometimes, influenced as I am by Nina's heated arguments.
I get up and go to check the locks on all the windows, and doors. For the first time, I don't like the idea of living in an open, airy house with multiple exits and panels of glass serving as doors. I know Nina is smiling as I do it. I also know that she's aware about what I'm thinking right now. If she'd bothered, she would have said in her loud, sing-song voice of hers- "I told you so."
Okay, so she's always right. Fine. - I think, grumbling inwardly. Her silence seems to taunt me. With a sudden swift move I reach for the light switches. "I'm going to bed," I say shortly, without looking at her.
Nina squeals as the room plunges into darkness. I smirk. Let her sit in the dark for all I care.
"What?"- I gasp, shooting upright on my bed. A slight tinkle, the delicate sound of glass breaking has woken me up. I glance at the glowing digital interface of the clock next to me. It's a quarter past midnight. A thrill of fear shoots through me. Is it the humans?
Slowly, soundlessly, I get out of bed, looking around for some sort of weapon. The only solid thing at hand is a thin book. I snatch and roll it up, trying to make it into more of a useful weapon. But I know that a simple rolled-up booklet would do nothing to a bunch of desperate, angry, hungry humans.
Very carefully, trying not to make a single sound, I sweep through the rooms in my house.
Empty. All of them.
I return to the kitchen shakily and pour myself a glass of water. Then I see it. The sliding glass panels of the large picture window are ajar. And right next to the window, on the counter- a broken glass.
Did I leave it open?
"You must have left it open." Nina's voice interrupts the calm silence.
Look who's awake.
"I can't sleep," I say, mostly to myself. It's so hard to know when Nina tries to care. As rare as it is.
"There's a lovely breeze…"- Nina whispers.
I look up, and turn to her. Her eyes are longing, she is staring back at me with the softest expression I have seen on her since months.
I hesitate, wondering if I'm vengeful enough to thwart Nina's wishes. But I can't. I'm a Soul, after all. I fiery one, but a Soul nonetheless.
"Let's go outside."
Nina's smile makes me want to smile, too. All things said, Nina has a nice smile. If only she didn't use it as a sarcastic smirk so often.
Outside, it is deliciously cool. I take a deep breath and sigh softly, the wind fanning my long hair, making the tiny hairs on my arm stiffen tantalizingly. "What bliss," I murmur to myself, my slight whisper carried away by the wind. Bliss indeed. I close my eyes, remembering all the colours from the planet of the Flowers, my favourite one. No wonder I became a Gardener…
Crash!
The sound of breaking glass jars me into the present. Not a delicate tinkle, but a harsh crescendo of shattering sounds which cuts through the silence like a jagged knife.
Even as I whip around, I hear a gasp. I turn to see a human standing there, right at my backdoor.
Before I can react, a bright light flashes behind the human. I know what it is. A flashlight beam, directed towards my eyes, blinding me. As proof of my existence casts glimmering shadows on the back wall of my house, I hear the human gasp again.
"I thought you said this place was empty!"- a loud male voice echoes from the darkness inside my home. I flinch at the harshness, at the desperation edging the voice.
"I thought it was."- a small, tiny female voice answers him defensively. A child?
"You should have been more certain." -the man retorts, finally stepping into my view. He is tall, and heavily sun-tanned, which shows he grew up in this region. His long, matted, platinum-blonde hair whips like a mane around his roughly shaven face. A good-looking human, but not the type I admire.
Nina does, though. I can tell by the way her eyes widen and her lips part. Though that's probably because she hasn't seen an actual male human since years.
As my eyes finally adjust to the beam of light still shining into them, I realize the human in front of me is the one with the tiny voice.
"It really seemed empty-" she says softly, but is interrupted by another male voice from inside.
"Give it a rest, Jared." The other man steps into view. He looks more calm, and is definitely more handsome than the man he calls Jared. He has grave, aquiline features, and a long, lean, strong frame which appeals to me more than Jared's raw masculinity.
"It isn't her fault."- he continues, winding a strong arm around the delicate little human's waist. Then he turns to me. "What is your name?"
His soft velvety voice sends shivers down my spine. I know Nina likes him better, too.
I hesitate, wondering which name to give.
The tiny female human suddenly steps forward, gently breaking from the handsome man's hold, laying a hand softly on Jared's arm, and drawing him a step back. Which move surprises me. For all her tiny, angelic appearance, she must be braver than I imagined.
"Don't worry," she says softly, her voice reassuring. "We won't harm you. Look." She grabs the flashlight in Jared's hand and points it at her own eyes.
Silver.
"Why is this thing with you! How could you-" Nina's sudden shouts are eloquent in their incredulity.
The tiny human- no, the tiny Soul- stiffens up, and stares at Nina.
"Mel?"-she whispers, and another human, a woman this time, steps into view. She is also pretty, with tall, dark, athletic features. "Did you see that?"- the angelic Soul continues.
The woman, Mel, doesn't respond. She is staring, wide eyed, at Nina. Two words tumble out of her mouth.
"Nina Charpentier."- she says.