Persona (42 page)

It is all so much to take in, that she was in ‘the zone’ and completely missed what Raven was just saying to her. As it is, the other girl practically had to step in front of her and give her a ridiculously mocking glare.

One which Moira returns a little too seriously, and then her persona get a mind of its own, and she barely feels the hum of it before her vision becomes crystal clear. Knowing her eyes have changed, Moira looks away from Raven, and pretends to still be gazing outside at everything, which is really believable.

“Clearly you don’t notice everything, if you don’t see why I really do hate Liam. It’s more than just leaving and not giving us a chance to fight.”

“What do you-?”

Moira can hear the confusion in her voice, but she doesn’t give her the chance to finish before cutting her off.

“Just forget it Raven. It doesn’t matter now anyways, it’s not like I can change the past.”

Facing her fully, Raven places her hands on her hips and fixes Moira with a serious glare.

“I know for certain that the past is never just in the past. Whatever you’re holding onto Moira, it’s going to get out. I just hope you’re ready to admit it when it does.”

“I don’t know if I can or ever could. Can we change the subject please?”

Practically pleading now, her persona makes her skin tingle as it tries to escape from her. Not knowing what her expression is, but it must have been either hostile or frightened, because Raven simply shrugs and glances back to the open veranda.

“You know, Ray and Daisy have already taken to contributing around here. They got right up this morning and offered to help with morning chores; in the barn.”

Moira just grunts out a response, it’s not really a surprise that Ray and Daisy would automatically want to help out around here. It’s just who they are; ever the helpful and caring types. Just like she and Raven are the recluse keeping to their self types. And Marty is the jumping into the fight type, no matter of the outcome.

Her chest constricts suddenly, causing her to literally gasp from the shock of it; and she realizes her mistake. She thought about Marty, something she figured quickly after leaving the hideout of her room, was that she had to not think about him.

She can feel her persona reacting to her new worked up feeling, as a sob forms in the pit of her stomach and starts to work its way upward. Before it can reach its destination though, Raven grabs her by both arms and forces her to stop and look at her. She does with wide eyes, and the other girls own pair also widen at seeing Moira’s obviously changed to a green emerald color from the change.

This doesn’t make her move away though, and if anything, Raven grips her tighter and forces Moira to focus on her.

“You need to snap out of this Moira. I miss Marty too, we all do, but there is nothing we can do right now.”

Moira knows that, and she doesn’t like having it repeated to her like this. But she won’t tell Raven that, no sense and hurting her friends feelings; not now anyway. So she does all that she can, she lies.

“I know and I’m fine.”

Raven gives her a look that says otherwise, and Mora thinks she needs to practice lying or something because she seriously sucks at it. Bu then Moira has a thought, maybe should be honest. What good are friends if you can’t even let them in on what is going on? And lord knows she could use a good natured talking. She is about to tell her how her persona is making her feel lately, when Raven’s eyes catch something over her shoulder out the windows.

Moira turns to look, and sees an older dark haired boy watching them from out there. He is standing amongst the apple trees and looks for all the world a wood nymph. Raven waves at him and he smiles, so she garbs Moira’s hand and quickly leads her for the door before she can even tell her not to.

She thinks that maybe it’s good she was stopped before saying anything though, because if it’s not said out loud, then maybe it is all just her imagination.

***

Just leaving his father’s study, Liam pauses outside the door and has to catch his breath before walking away. Clearly, overnight is not the appropriate time frame to deal with having a girl you kiss tell you, and then have her say she hates you. With a jerking movement, Liam runs his hands through his hair, forcing the now too long bangs out of his eyes. Apparently he needs a trim, can’t go saving the world if he can’t see it.

He only wishes it was so easy to forgive and forget enough to save anyone; but has a feeling it’ll be a while for anything to happen at all. He knows one thing though; he needs to stop acting like such a pansy and he needs to like yesterday. There is only one person that can possibly help him with this little subjecting problem of his, and that would be his friend William. All he has to do now is to find him.

The boy could be anywhere, and they haven’t exactly kept in touch lately, so Liam doesn’t even have a clue to where to find him. At least in the time it’ll take to find his friend, he’ll have ample time to come up with what to say so he doesn’t come off like the loser he knows he’s turning into. William would understand, he’s almost positive anyway, the two of them used to share things like this all the time.

Which is unusual for two boys to do; but not with them. Their fathers are close and work together often, so it was only natural that the boys would pair off as friends early on. That, and it’s always wise for people like then to have someone close that will always have your back; it’s safer. Realizing he’s stalling, and still acting like a loser, Liam finally walks away from his father’s office door.

He only gets two steps down the hallway, when he remembers that he was supposed to get in touch with Charles. As he passes the open door of the library, he digs into his jeans pocket and fishes out his cellphone, not even pausing in his movements. By the time Liam is reaching the back of the house with the too exposed porch, the phone is already at his ear and ringing. It doesn’t take long for Charles to answer, and he’s only just passing through the open door leading out onto the porch, when he does.

“Liam please tell me there isn’t another emergency?” Charles says quickly, in his familiar tenor voice.

This makes Liam chuckle slightly; he supposes he has only been calling when he needed help out of a jam. At least this time it’s only for a warning before he can get into a jam.

“Well hello to you to sunshine.”

Charles snorts out an almost laugh, and Liam regrets that he didn’t get to stay as long as he’d like at the man’s house. They all had to leave pretty quickly and it had been a while since he last saw him, not to mention Charlie’s wife and sons. But no matter, Liam forces himself to focus, as he walks over to one of the many chairs out here and deftly plops into one of them.

“Don’t get cute with me Kid. It’s too early for that.”

Liam highly doubts that, he can clearly hear all the activity going on the other end of the line. By the sound of things, it would seem that Casden and Kai are fighting. And by the high pitched yelling over the boys, it would seem that Jo is having a hard time controlling them.

It makes him laugh that Charles isn’t even attempting to intervene; which goes to show how often that happens. He just shakes his head though, and relaxes in the over cushioned porch chair and gazes out across his family’s property; at the same time not really seeing anything at all.

“Rough morning Charlie?” He asks being serious.

Charles just sighs, and then lets out a loud ricocheting whistle that causes Liam to take the phone away from his ear. The yelling and fighting on the other end quiet instantly, and then Charles is back to sighing.

“Let me guess, you want a damage report right?”

Not even reacting to the activity in his home, Charles voice remains calm. Liam wishes he could be so, unyielding, he’s been anything but the last couple of weeks. It’s a change he’s not sure that he likes yet; but then only time will tell and just maybe it’s telling him to move on.

“Basically yeah, just need to what the news is saying about or strays getting caught.” Liam says warily.

“I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing yet, but there hasn’t been anything on the news. Not even a bleep about the warehouse raid.”

This makes Liam sit up straight in surprise; nothing has been said? That can’t be a good thing at all, he realizes. But then, maybe it is. Just maybe, Gordon and Marty weren’t taken by Fletcher. This sparks a hope in him, he didn’t even know he needed; unfortunately it doesn’t last. Only because he knows that when his mother was taken; she too disappeared with a trace of her going anywhere.

And he knows for a fact that she is in Fletchers custody, so the same could be said for the others. So much for hope, he thinks.

“What do you think it means?” Liam asks in all honesty wanting to know.

“It just might be too early Liam, but I’ll keep an ear out for anything just in case.”

He has another horrible thought, and it’s what if they did get caught; and simply got terminated for their knowledge. That is something he doesn’t even want to think about, so he dismisses it before it drives him to insanity. Liam is about to relay his worries to Charles, when he spies a familiar face out amongst the mini orchard they have. It’s William, and he’s not alone.

Beside his dark haired friend, are two girls that are all too familiar to him. He realizes then, that he is so screwed if the worst happens to Marty; there is one little red head that might have his tail if he lets her down any more than he already has. He realizes something else too; in order to get to his friend he’ll have to go through the wall of highly pissed off girls.

So much for his avoidance plan.

“Thanks Charles; just keep in touch yeah?”

Liam gets to his feet then and is already starting for the porch door, not even listing to Charlie’s response. Which is probably just a reassuring word that, he will keep him posted. He just grunts in response to this and closes the phone, putting it back into his hiding spot in him jeans.

How he makes it out the door and down the steps into the yard; he doesn’t know. As soon as he does though, his senses pick up on the scent of freshly sliced apples. And he has the feeling that it’s not the many apple trees around the place that he smells. No, he isn’t so lucky; it has to be her.

Like all the other times when he is in the barest vicinity of Moira, his persona reacts. It comes to life with a vibrating hum, which causes him to use more control than he really has, to keep it reined in. Clearly, his skills aren’t all that up to par, because a pair of startling hazel eyes glance up at him the closer he gets.

So much for being known for his stealth; he really needs a vacation.

The apple scent changes suddenly, and he realizes that it was in fact coming from her; because the closer he gets to her, the more it changes from sweet to spicy and then to sour. He wonders if the scent change has to do with her apparent mood change.

That would be something new; very curious. If he wasn’t on her most hated list, he’d ask her about it, but since he is; he’ll just keep his trap shut. It’s a good thing he has someone on his side near her, because he feels like he is suddenly walking into enemy territory.

***

Leaning against one of the most beautiful full bloomed apple trees, Moira doesn’t even care that she is only out here as backup for Raven. Who by the way, is currently batting her over long eyelashes at the good looking older boy, named William but call me Will. He doesn’t seem to mind the attention though, and is no longer adding apples to a cart, which was apparently his morning chore, or so he explained to them when they approached him.

She tries to not really pay them that much attention and it’s actually pretty easy with everything else to look at. It’s almost relaxing to see all the residents of the ranch going about their day as if there is nothing to worry about. Moira only wishes she could join in on the non-worrying, but has the feeling it’ll be a while before that’ll happen.

“What is it like to live in the open like this?” Raven asks William.

His soft smiling laughter fills the space around them, as she none to slyly inches closer to him in the row of apple trees. It only adds to the tranquil feeling for Moira. Almost like it’s alright to be happy in the here and now.

“What is it like to not live in the open like this?”

Now Raven is the one to laugh, but Moira doesn’t miss the way hers sounds more flirtatious and embarrassed at the same time. Not that her friend should be nervous, from the way his sparkling hazel eyes watch her, it’s obvious he’s already way into her.

“I tell you, if you tell me?” Raven purrs.

She invades his personal space, making Moira glance away from them with a snicker.

“You’re kind of intense aren’t you?” Will says with a squeak in his voice.

Smirking, Moira peeks at them behind the curtain of her hair and sees that Raven is practically leaning into him with a huge grin now.

“Sweetie you have no idea!”

Smiling, Moira glances away and back to her surroundings feeling something close to peaceful. She lets the back and forth bantering fade from her senses and lets out a sigh. Enjoying the late morning sun and light brushing of a breeze, she is about to close her eyes and be taken away by it all; when a scent is blown in her direction.

She isn’t all zoned out enough, to not recognize this scent unfortunately, and the cinnamon leads her eyes right to the culprit. Her body tenses, as she watches Liam walk over to her, and it takes everything she has to not let out a banshee scream while running at him with her nails extended. It’s a fantasy that she knows she can’t really let come true; even she has her standards.

And by the look on his face, one that is kind of haunted, she gets the feeling that maybe he knows what she is thinking. Maybe he does, stranger things have happened. She wonders though if he knows that his lingering cinnamon scent is fueling her persona with a fiery rush of anger so strong, that it takes everything in her reserve back-ups to not change.

Sometimes she really hates what she is, and this is a feeling that is coming forward more often than not lately. His presence takes her out of her welcome reverie and Raven and Williams voices come back to her ears. As a way to ground herself from her persona, Moira’s eyes flick from Liam and back to the two of them.