Sweet Burden (11 page)

“Why?”

“I don’t have a car. And if you haven’t noticed, this town has nothing to do.”

“True,” he agreed with a nod. “If you could go one place, where would you go?”

“Honestly?” She dropped her head and fidgeted with her hands. “The beach. I’ve always wanted to go to the beach. I’ve never seen the ocean. I’ve seen photos of the most beautiful waves rolling in on white sands.”

Obi continued to fire questions at her. She ended up telling him anything he wanted to know. She sat there talking about her favorite foods, books, and movies. She talked about photography for what felt like an hour, while he patiently sat across from her watching every word flow from her mouth. The topic eventually turned to how she wanted to move to California and go to college (something she had never told anyone). Then she slowly drifted into her mother. She talked of how she wished her mother had married so she could have siblings and a father.

The entire time, Obi sat gazing at her. His eyes never breaking from her face. A few times she eyed his hand lazily resting along the back of the couch. She wanted to rest her arm as he was and gently brush her hand against his. Then she wondered if her hand was there with his if he would try to touch her. She pondered if he longed to touch her the way that she wished to touch him. She kept her fingers tightly intertwined in her lap trying to occupy her mind with more conversation.

It had been awhile since she had reached over and turned on a side lamp. Hitomi glanced down at the clock under the television and realized she had practically been talking non-stop for almost four hours. Her stomach let out a loud protest to lack of food. She quickly put her hand over her stomach.

“I’m sorry. I’m keeping you from your dinner,” Obi commented.

“I’m alright.”

“No, I should go,” he rose from the couch. “I’ve taken up enough of your time.”

“That’s okay. It’s not like I have plans or anything. You don’t have to go.” She jumped up from the couch immediately losing her balance. Hitomi felt herself moving in slow motion as her body plunged towards him. Her hands moved in front of her to brace her fall, but quickly Obi was catching her by the shoulders. Her feet stumbled to get their balance as she stood back up straight. She felt utterly ridiculous and her cheeks instantly began burning red.

Obi’s hands felt hot on her shoulders and he slowly smoothed them down to her upper arms. “You’re very accident prone,” he remarked.

“Yah. I always have been.”

“How is your hand?” His fingers slipped from her arms and down to her hand. He cradled it within his and pulled back the tape and gauze. She looked up at him as he stared down at her hand. He was not hiding his shock well. “It’s practically healed.”

“I told you I heal fast.”

He peered back up at her and dropped her hand. “I’m going to go.” Obi suddenly started for the door.

“But…” Hitomi walked after him not wanting him to leave.

He spun back around to her when he reached the door. “I
have
to go.” He grabbed his jacket and rested it over his arm.

“When will I see you again?”

Obi twisted the door knob and opened the door, moving backwards through the frame. He eyed her and she was dying to know what he was thinking. He leaned down and forward bringing his face severely close to hers. From watching romance movies, she almost thought he was about to kiss her but instead he gazed deeply into her eyes. If she hadn’t been so stunned, she would have taken the opportunity to study his eyes more carefully. She rocked back on her heels feeling probed by his intensity.

“Your eyes,” Obi said as he stood back upright. “They are the color of those oceans you wish to see.” He took a few more steps back. “Meet me at the bench tomorrow morning.” He turned and hurriedly disappeared down the street.

Obsidian pulled his hood up over his head and lowered his face as he stalked down the corridor. It was one of the first times he was thankful for the dim lighting. The few torches lit along the hallway cast an orange brilliance over the rock walls and created dancing shadows. It made him uncomfortable not knowing who might be lurking around that he was unable to notice, but he didn’t smell anyone in hiding. He stopped at one of the caverns attached to the hallway and threw back the thick fabric stepping inside.

Guri sat on his bed with his legs tucked up reading a book. He glanced up as Obi entered. “Hey…”

Obi was across the room in a second and had his hand over Guri’s mouth. “Shh.” He removed his hand and stepped away from him.

“What’s going on?”

“What do you know about that girl?”

“I already told you. Nothing.” Guri dropped his feet to the ground and laid his book aside. “But I need to tell you…”

“You need to tell me about
her
.” Obi had crossed the room and pulled Guri up from the cot. He held Guri by the collar and pushed him back against the wall. “Who is she?”

“Obi, calm down.” Guri stared at him.

Obsidian shook his head and let go of him. Taking a few steps away, he rubbed his forehead and peered at Guri. “Don’t do that to me. Stay out of my head.”

“Sorry but you needed to be calmed. Tell me what happened.”

Obi moved over and sat down on the floor against the opposite wall. He had no idea where to begin. His head was overloaded and Guri’s intrusion was not helping matters. “Guri, I can’t get her out of my mind. Something is drawing me to her. Something I can’t explain. My stomach pains when I am not near her. When I am around her I want nothing more than to just touch her. I find myself intoxicated with her scent. It completely encompasses me.” His speech became more frantic. “She does something to me. What is she doing to me?”

“I don’t know.”

“You do know. You’ve been keeping something from me.”

“Obi, the council knows. You are to go before them tomorrow.”

Obi dropped his head back against the cool rock. “But Hitomi…” He thought of the plans he had made to meet her. After talking to Guri he had planned to return to her house and wait until she went to bed to see her again. Then he would be waiting for her in the morning. “Even now I feel the pain rising. I just left her minutes ago.”

“This would all go away if you finished your list,” Guri whispered.

Obsidian sucked in a staggered deep breath. He rubbed his fingertips together. If he hadn’t touched her that first night, none of this would be happening now. All these things he was feeling and thinking would not be present. He wouldn’t be worrying about punishment from the council. He’d be sitting alone in his cavern awaiting the next list. Alone. He’d been nothing but alone for the past 17 years.

“I can’t,” he mumbled. “I can’t let anything happen to her.” He looked back up to Guri who had a smile on his face. “Why are you smiling?”

“You have so much confusion swirling around in your head. It’s making me dizzy.”

“You weren’t able to feel anything coming from her when you marked her?”

“No,” Guri shook his head. “It was like she had some sort of barrier.”

Obi brushed his hair from his face. “And she heals fast. I mean, fast like us. How can she heal like us?” Guri shrugged in response. “I need to go back and see her.” Obi pulled himself up from the ground and Guri quickly moved in front of him.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Guri…”

“I’ll have someone else watch over her. Just stay here so we can figure out what you need to tell the council.”

“Who?”

“Don’t worry about it. You can trust him.”

“You know something more, don’t you Guri?” Obi narrowed his eyes.

“Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to talk about it yet.” He flashed another smile. “Stay here.” Guri hurried out of the room. Obi began pacing the room. He didn’t like leaving Hitomi unprotected. If the council knew his list was incomplete, anything could happen. But he was taking his chances trusting Guri and trusting the fact that the council never did anything without a meeting.

****

Hitomi woke up early Saturday morning. She jumped out of bed and rushed over to the window. The bench sat empty. It really didn’t surprise her that he wasn’t there yet. The rain was pouring down and the street lamps were still on. The sky was practically as black as night time. The street glistened from the yellow lights and Hitomi turned her face up to the sky.

Her body shuddered as she felt the cold wash over her. Someone was watching her again and she knew it wasn’t Obi. She swiftly closed the drapes and hugged her arms around herself. She stepped back from the window and started getting clothes from her dresser.

After a hot quick shower, she got dressed in a pair of hip-hugging jeans and a navy turtleneck sweater. She couldn’t decide whether to leave her hair down or put it up, but considering the weather she opted on a ponytail. She heard her mother banging around in the kitchen as she walked downstairs.

“What are you doing mom?” she asked walking into the kitchen.

Regina was kneeling on the ground with half of her body poking out from one of the lower cabinets. “I’m looking for something.”

“I kind of figured that. What are you looking for?”

“Have you seen our crock pot? I wanted to start something this morning so it will be ready when we get back.” Regina’s head appeared and she pushed her hair back from her face. “Oh, you’re all dressed and ready to go.”

“The crock pot is above the refrigerator. And where are we going?”

Regina let out a ‘hmph’ as she stood up and eyed the refrigerator. “Shopping. Did you forget about getting your dress?”

“Oh,” Hitomi’s shoulders slumped.

“Don’t sound so excited,” her mother glanced back to her and grinned.

“No, I am,” Hitomi tried to convince her. “I just have to go do something first.”

“Go do something?” Regina stood from the ground and adjusted the belt on her robe. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Mother, I go to school every day. I get straight A’s, except for gym. I’ve never snuck out of the house, I don’t do drugs or drink. Can you give me a little slack here?”

“Hitomi, it has nothing to do with you. I just want you to be safe.”