Healed (5 page)

I was expecting a slap with his rough,
almost growl tone but instead his lower half shoved into mine. God
I had never felt anything like it. My entire body reacted. A
delightful shiver ran from the base of my neck to my spine, along
with a longing in places I had never felt before. I was dry
mouthed, dry lipped and when I moved to moisten my lips, he
watched.

“
You are quite the torturer yourself.” He
looked at me again. His eyes were a beautiful jade color. Those
beautiful green eyes didn’t belong on the dark black haired Wraith
I knew. I enjoyed them all the same. “Now my little light, tell
me…” He moved his head to my neck. I didn’t know what he was going
to do until I felt the tight pressure of his hand pressing down on
my slim column. His lips touched the exposed skin that wasn’t being
held prisoner by his hand. His tongue moved out. I felt myself
holding back a whimper.

“
I-I-I don’t know.” I stuttered, not sure
I could even make a full sentence. His other hand was holding my
hips tightly as it reminded me I was in his hold. I was at his
command.

“
I know that you do. Now,” He pulled back
and looked at me. His eyes were back to the completely black I knew
them to be. He was right next to my lips. I tried to move forward
to capture his lips with mine but he held me back. “Tell
me.”

He was so close…too close. I knew that these
feelings were not how I truly felt. I was scared of this man but I
couldn’t force my body to listen to my mind. He tsk-ed me. “None of
that now.” He ground his hips into mine again and my brain got lost
in a fog.

“
New…”

“Val, wake the fuck up! What the hell are
you doing?” Ami was looking at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was. My
fingers were moving a little too high on my thigh. I had never been
so horrified in my life. I pulled my hand away and straightened the
dress that I had put on when we left the house. Ami looked at me
sideways.

“What?” I whispered.

“You were making fucking sex noises. Well at
least you were all moany. Fucking sick. I didn’t even think you
thought about that shit.”

I flushed, my face burning with
embarrassment.

“If we have to stop, I will make sure to get
two beds so that I don’t find you trying to have your way with me.
Oh for fuck sakes! That is just too funny.” She slapped the
steering wheel which caused me to jump slightly. I rubbed the last
bit of sleep out of my eyes.

“Where are we?” I asked, looking out the
window.

“Look, Mom and Dad kept things from you.
They thought they were protecting you and I agree. But where we’re
going…there are some things you need to know.” Ami looked like she
was about to gear up to tell a long, painful story.

“Why did they keep this from me? All things
paranormal?” I asked looking away feeling bad for asking. I felt
like I was dishonoring their memory for even questioning their
reasons.

“Val, Mom didn’t leave the paranormal world
under good circumstances. She taught me everything when I was a
child because she wasn’t certain of our future. Dad was my
biological dad, but he was human. There is a lot of hate for humans
in the paranormal world. We didn’t know what you were, if you are
half human or what. Mom and Dad decided since you didn’t grow up in
our world originally; it would be safer for you to know as little
as they could get away with.” Ami almost seemed ashamed of what she
was telling me. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

“It’s okay.” I smiled. “So tell me
more.”

“So I told you how there are paranormals,
like all kinds from all different origins. The way Mom and Dad
explained it to me was that this battle caused quite a few elder
races to become killed off. They were targeted, I guess. I don’t
really know for sure but, either way, they were killed off. A lot
of the elder races held positions on the council’s table.”

“How long ago was this?” I asked, twisting
my hands in my lap trying to keep my mind off the dream I had just
come out of. Filling my mind with new information about our history
was what I needed. I loved history. If I wasn’t so passionate about
saving lives I would have probably been a librarian or
historian.

“Fuck. I don’t know like over two hundred
years ago.” Ami rolled her eyes as she grabbed her iPod to change
the song. She started to belt out the song she was listening to and
I knew that she needed a break. Thinking about Mom and Dad did that
to her. She didn’t express emotions like I did. She always told me
I didn’t just wear my heart on my sleeve but I held it in my hands
and forced it into people’s faces. Of course that was the less Ami
version. Hers was much more graphic and contained a lot more swear
words. About three songs later I was getting anxious.

“What was this council then?” I asked biting
my lip and fidgeting.

“The council was the government of sorts for
the paranormals because when we ‘came out of the closet’ so to
speak,” She did the air quotes, taking her hands off the wheel and
forcing me to almost hurtle over her and hold it in place, “Jeez
Val, I had it under control. Anyways, we came out of the closet and
when humans attacked, at least that’s what Mom told me, paranormals
had to go back into hiding. I guess that’s when the council was
formed. To keep the peace, whatever that fuck that means.”

“So when the council was destroyed, I guess
our world was in chaos. So these fucking powerful families became
clans. You would swear your loyalty to them or something stupid
like that. I don’t fucking know. Either way there are families like
ours that try to resist this Neanderthal way of thinking. The damn
problem with being clan-less is well, sort of what is happening to
us right now. We have no fucking protection. There are the top
families, there are like ten or so of them, I think. You know I am
shit with numbers. The point is that Wraith said he is from the
York clan which is one of the most powerful clans. They fucking own
land in each country and from what I understand, they cannot be
trusted. Mom had this thing against them. Them and the Russian
clan, the damn, Vedenin.” Ami was fuming now, her eyes narrowed and
the twitch in her right eye told me she was really geared up. I had
so many more questions but I didn’t want to upset her anymore. When
she put on one of her “angry songs”, as I liked to call them, I
waited until she calmed down a bit.

“So where are we headed?”

“The Long Clan. They are sort of neutral but
Mom never cared for their sort of elitism. They don’t like half
humans, they don’t like anyone really outside of their heritage. I
mean they have expanded to all of Asia, but still. The point is,
hopefully, Ichiro will be able to point us in some direction to
hide out for a bit. I don’t know what you could have done to piss
off a fucking York clan member, but whatever.”

I stared out the window thinking about all
the information that she had given me. There was a lot to take in.
I kept going over what she said last though. If the Long Clan
didn’t like humans, how would they react to me? I knew that I
wasn’t completely human, but there was a huge part of me that
couldn’t accept me being anything but that. I could just be an
anomaly. A human with extraordinary powers. It was about another
hour or two before Ami talked but when she did, she jarred me out
of my thoughts about this mysterious council.

“There is something you need to know about
me. Well about me being a Djinn. Mom told me never to tell anyone.
Well shit, she told me I could tell you, but on a need to know
basis. So if that stupid ass Wraith captures me, like lays one
fucking hand on me and pulls me in his direction, he can say
‘Memberikan saya tiga’, which means, grant me three. Oh fuck, I
don’t even want to say it. Goddammit this is so damn degrading.
Fuck it!” She shook her head, “He will become my so-called
‘master’. He gets three wishes and until the fucker uses them I am
stuck with him. The damn curse of being a Djinn.”

“Oh.” I was trying to process all this.

“Oh? That is all you have to say is, oh?”
She looked over at me and I think she saw the shell-shocked look in
my eyes. “Sorry, Val.”

I didn’t look at her, knowing she would only
have pity in her eyes. I was the fragile little one that needed to
be protected from this sort of things. I knew that is what they
thought about me. I was sensitive yeah, but I wanted them to know
that I could handle these things. I had brought this down on
her.

“No, I will be fine. I guess I just wish I
had known sooner.” About everything. I didn’t say it out loud
because I didn’t want to offend her. I knew she kept things from me
because her parents had asked her to. How could I be upset with her
for something her parents had asked of her. I would have done
anything for them as well. I thought back to my dreams. If Elijah,
the Wraith, was really after me then Ami was getting caught in the
crossfire. “Maybe I had offended Elijah when I saved Mr. Miller’s
life.”

“First off who the hell is Elijah? Second,
you would have saved him no matter what, I know you. You did the
right thing. There is nothing wrong with what you did. I am not
even going to bother asking if you think you did the wrong thing. I
already know your answer.” Ami wasn’t looking at me but I could
tell that she was quite upset.

“Elijah is the Wraith.”

Ami snorted.

“You’re fucking with me, right?” She looked
at me sideways. Before I could answer she continued on. “Not only
do you know his name, but his name means Lord be my savior or some
shit like that? That is rich!” We lapsed into silence once again,
but this time I didn’t fall asleep. Ami kept the music at medium
level, even though I knew she liked it louder than loud. I always
told her that she was going to destroy her eardrums but she didn’t
care. I was glad for once she was being considerate of my
eardrums.

“Do you think we will be able to go home?” I
didn’t look at Ami. I was scared of what I would see. Staring down
at my hands seemed like the only option, or at least the safest
one.

“Fuck yes; I left my best boots at the
house. We are going home but a few detours to get that Wraith –
Elijah out of our hair. It will be fine, you’ll see.” It was the
last thing she said for a very long time.

We ended up having to stay at a hotel, well
it was more of a motel, but I tried not to think about it too much.
The outside scared me enough that I didn’t even want to think about
the inside of the building. Since the house was paid off, Ami and I
split the bills of everything else and we both kept a nice amount
tucked away. I think Ami hid more than she said she did but I could
never be sure. Money wasn’t too much of a problem now, but I
couldn’t help but think about our jobs. There was no way we would
be able to get them back after disappearing for God knew how long.
Quite frankly, I hadn’t wanted to think of it either, because I
knew if I did I would only upset myself.

While Ami paid in cash, I waited out in the
car. It wasn’t the first time I had been out of our home in
Georgia. I hadn’t even originally been born there. I wasn’t sure
where I was from originally but, from what I knew of my past, I was
put in the system while I was living in Georgia with whoever was my
guardian at the time. I couldn’t remember much from the time before
I was put into the system. So even though I knew I had been out of
the state, even lived out of it, the world outside of Georgia felt
totally new and different. When driving, I was awake and I wanted
to take it all in. We weren’t too close to the coast but I was
hoping to see the ocean, even if I was slightly afraid of
water.

Ami came back with a key in her hand and a
smile on her face. I didn’t want to ask because I knew I wouldn’t
like the answer, especially when I saw the creepy looking employee
watching us through the front door as he licked his lips. I
shuddered hoping that image wouldn’t haunt my dreams tonight. Well,
it might be better than the dream that I had earlier. I bit my lip
trying to forget that.

“What did you do to him?” I asked trying not
to look back at the employee.

“A little hoodoo.” Ami winked as she snapped
her fingers and purple smoke floated around before dissipating.

As we started to head for our room I could
hear a strange noise coming from the side of the building. Ami had
already headed into the room ignoring it but I couldn’t. Something
inside of me was pulling me in that direction. I didn’t know what
it was, but I had to go.

The building was on the edge of a small
wood. Getting closer, I realized what the sound was. I had heard
about how rabbits scream if they are hurt and now that I heard the
sound I knew I would never be able to forget it. I moved farther
in, following the sound and the feeling. When I found the rabbit,
the scream went down to a whimper. I could feel death wrapping its
way around its body ready to take it under.

I rushed forward ignoring everything else.
Placing my hands on the small creature I felt the familiar tugs and
pulls. The healing energy I used flowed into the bunny, it quieted
down right away. As soon as it finished healing, it started to
squirm in my hands. I let it go. I sat with my knees pressed into
the soft, moist ground. I couldn’t stand yet, the bunny was on the
verge of death and even a small animal like that would make sleep
come, fast and soundless. Gathering all my energy, I managed to
stand up. I was a little wobbly walking back to the motel room but
made it back just in time for Ami to come to the door.

“Fuck! I was about to send out a damn search
party. Come on, I covered the bed with our sheets and shit, so that
your beautiful virgin skin will be safe.” I rolled my eyes and
headed in the room. I slept in the dress I had on, too tired to
even get undressed and into my night clothes. We left early in the
morning and I was still feeling slightly drained, so Ami drove
first.