10A/N: Hello Again! I must apologize about this chapter being so late. My darn charger went to electronics heaven and it was hell trying to get another one...that only cost 60 cents *_*...anyway hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1
It had truly been a while since he had left his home and entered into what most deemed as reality. Everything here seemed so dull, nothing vibrant or magnificent at all.
He had to get out more. Maybe all of this wouldn't be as much of a shock.
Nonetheless, despite the visual disappointment, he was somewhat fascinated in the differences between home, and this place. They weren't too far apart and in a way they were one in the same, but here everything had been corrupted and destroyed by human nature. Maybe that's why he rarely ever left.
"Nicholas, sir, Kira asked that you call him when you arrive." Nicholas turned his attention to the large screen positioned between the air vents and the radio that showed a young woman with bright auburn hair. She knew his answer to that.
Damon reclined in his seat. "What are we twelve?"
She smiled. "No, but I think he just wants to make sure everything is ok."
He saw where this was going way before it began. He was beginning to blame himself for all of the interruptions. They had been calling him constantly since he and his brothers had started their trip. It was time to end it before things became too annoying. "Amina, let everyone know that I do not want to hear anything else from anyone unless it is an emergency. We do not need any more distractions."
She looked a bit shocked but she nodded anyway. "Ok."
"That means you too."
She nodded again and wrote something down on a notebook. "Is that all?"
"Tell Kira that we'll be in touch. Don't say anything more than that."
"Yes sir."
"Goodbye Amina."
"Goodbye Nicholas. Goodbye Damon."
"Goodbye sweetheart," Damon bit his bottom lip and sent her a wink. Nicholas raised an eyebrow. Damon was the only person he knew that believed that every woman in the world wanted him. His brother leaned forward to cut the screen off and plopped backwards again. "I'd say another three months and I'll have her in my bed."
Nicholas glanced at the fuel meter. They were almost on empty. They would have to get off on the exit before the one they wanted to find gas. After traveling so much and finding that this place may be the final destination before heading back home, Nicholas found himself pushing every resource to its limit just so they wouldn't have to stop too many times. "Damon, she was in the room when our mother gave birth to you and Dorian."
"Your point? I know she wants me. It's just a matter of time before she's begging…"
"Stop." There was way too many things wrong with that statement. He pulled into the first gas station that he saw.
Damon crossed his arms. "I'm just saying. A girl can only resist me for so…"
"Shut up and pump the gas." Nicholas climbed out of the car and it all hit him at once, the overdramatic beats reverberating through nearby cars, the strong scent of gasoline, the chilling tingling mist left over from the light rain landing over his skin. He took a quick relaxing breath of the fresh air, ignoring his brother's request for a soda.
The place looked more like a mini supermarket packed with snacks full of salt and sugar, enough to quiet screaming toddlers or give a small energy boost for a long drive. There was a counter meant for ordering simple sandwiches, but he wasn't interested in food. He chose to leisurely rummage through the highly overpriced and extremely corny novelty items that caught his eye. One by one he glanced at each and then threw them back into their piles. Why someone would want a novelty item from here he would never know, but it was the American way to try to milk as much money out of people as anyone could.
He had to admit though, he was hoping for something interesting enough for his niece and nephew. He'd have to search elsewhere.
As soon as he was sure where to go he headed between the aisles, straight for the refrigerators for a drink.
"Is this ok?" Her voice seemed to linger as an afterthought. Oddly enough, it was her fragrance and brief touch that caught his attention first. She pushed past him in the middle of the aisle and mumbled a small, almost inaudible apology, as she held a soda bottle in the air. His eyes immediately attached themselves to her, following her so closely that he wasn't sure how she didn't feel them.
So that's what it's like.
He had heard stories about it, witnessed even the most intelligent try to describe it but they always failed. They just settled on calling it an indescribable experience…and he honestly had to agree.
The initial shock of that indescribable feeling had him wondering if he would be able to keep his composure. He was trapped in a whirlwind of possible actions, some of which might get him into more trouble than he'd like, so he settled on remaining still, only allowing himself to look.
She eased past him again and he almost reached out and grabbed her. Luckily, for him time had been set to slow. She was moving much faster than he could register. He didn't think that he had given the command, but his feet began to step in route to follow her. He had just lost the short lived battle to remain where he was, but somehow commands to follow her around the store came from somewhere deep within, somewhere that the conscious mind had no sovereignty. It wasn't as if he cared anymore anyway.
He was in shock, absorbed by an induced drug like euphoria. The only thing he was able to do was focus on the feeling that he was receiving, this pulsating vibe he felt from her. It was as if he were drawn to her, like how bugs are drawn to light. It was the pure epitome of extreme lust, addiction to something that he had never had a chance to experience, and so much more all wrapped up into one emotion that he couldn't name.
He swallowed hard.
Colored mocha, she was the perfect contrast to him. She was shorter than he'd like and accompanied by the most annoying thoughts, but who was he to argue with fate? She had other qualities that made up for those minor setbacks.
She turned around quicker than he had anticipated, and for an agonizingly brief moment, their eyes met. If he wasn't so sure that she didn't know what was happening, he'd think that she was doing it on purpose. Her eyes, which reminded him of deep sea coral splashed with random bursts of dark and light brown, immediately grabbed him and constricted his entire being as if an anaconda had coiled around him, squeezing every last bit of air from his lungs.
And then they were gone.
She walked away from him, hips swaying in a smooth rhythm. They danced around his field of vision demanding to be the center of attention. It all seemed like a tease. He could feel his mouth water a bit in sheer hunger the moment he took the initiative of allowing his eyes to slowly travel down the course of her body. It was a terrible mistake on his part.
He needed a distraction. Grabbing the first drink his hands could find, he shook himself out of a daze by downing the entire bottle. He stopped himself from gagging. Seltzer water. Whoever invented it should have been destroyed. He continued to gulp it down anyway. When he finished, she was gone.
Yes, that was what he needed.
He quickly paid for the gas and his drink and made his way back to the car. Damon was in the driver's seat nodding his head to some random song on the radio. Nicholas climbed into the car and buckled his seatbelt, something he never had to do or had even thought about doing before. "Let's go."
Damon continued to ignore him, a little too into the song, but sped off anyway. Even though he made a note to keep his eyes forward, he still caught a glimpse of her coiled brown hair disappearing into another car, reminding him of what he was giving up. "Um...Where is my drink?" Damon elevated his voice over the booming music. Nicholas tossed him the empty bottle of seltzer water. "Seriously!?" Damon shouted. He rolled his window down and tossed the empty bottle out. "Selfish...just...selfish."
They sped down a back road, whipping past old homes and clustered trees. Nicholas waited until he was almost completely down from his high before he spoke. "I met her."
Damon frowned and turned the music down slightly. "You met who?" Nicholas almost answered but instead he paused. He shouldn't have to explain. He waited a moment for it to register and then watched as his brother's face suddenly lit up. "What the hell Nicholas! What are we doing driving away? Why aren't you…"
"Calm down. Right now is not the time. It's way too dangerous. When everything settles down I'll come back for her. As of now we have other things to do."
Damon shook his head. "If you say so." He gave him a side glance and then opened the glove compartment, pulling out a handful of tissues. "Meanwhile, wipe all of that sweat off of yourself. That's disgusting."
Nicholas frowned, but snatched the tissues from his hand. "Just drive."
"It was so boooorrrrring," Jace groaned as he childishly swiped an empty paper plate back and forth across the table. He looked like a five year old.
I gave a playful sigh as I plopped two slices of cheese pizza on a plate for him. "I agree. We finished early so we should have been able to leave, but she insisted on keeping us there."
It was routine on class days. We either suffered through horrendously boring classes or flew through exciting curriculum that dealt either with our major or some side interest, then the rest of the day was spent talking about it.
Angela shook her head and took another huge bite of her own slice. "If I were you guys I would have just left."
Jace had immediately focused on pizza the moment I placed it in front of him. "Leaving means we're absent. Stupid rules. I bet she made them like that because she knows no one willingly wants to be around her."
I giggled as I scooted my chair back to its original place. It was true. My math teacher was a bitch, and for no real reason except that she had the power to be that way. "Well thirty more minutes didn't hurt us, although I do think I managed to give myself a one hand manicure." I stretched my arm out to show off my extremely short and uneven fingernails.
We usually didn't get so restless, but we had been working on the same type of problems for over a week and so of course we were ready to move on. Repetition of the same work, not to mention my professor's incredibly annoying monotonous voice, had everyone squirming around in their seats like preschoolers ready to be unleashed for playtime.
The moment our professor gave us the ok to leave, everyone rushed out of the room as if we were in a competition to see who could escape the fastest. Jace and I grabbed our bags and scurried back to my dorm, relieved to be away from blackboard covered walls.
Despite the occasional boring classes, college was fun and I happened to be attending my favorite one of all. Bourne University. I had dreamed of attending the university for years, I just didn't know that everyone else had the same dream. I knew a good amount of people from my hometown that decided on the same school, and that was probably the only thing that I had a problem with.
Sometimes I would stare at my friends, wondering if they had secretly copied my school of choice. Especially after Briseida had slipped up and said she chose the university for their colors...black and white. Sure. If that wasn't an eyebrow raiser I don't know what is. The campus' beauty, broad accreditations, and excellent football team made up for it though. I guess the fact that I didn't really have to worry about finding completely brand new friends was also a plus.
"So what's the plan for the rest of the day?" Jace asked.
He had just started hanging out with us heavily so I let him slide, but he asked that question everyday as if he didn't already know the answer. We all had at least one other class, so anything that was fun and worth getting to didn't involve us…or at least me. I usually chose to keep my weekdays simple, leave all the fun till the weekend. Either way, I chose to give him the least obvious answer. "Nap."
My roommate wiped her mouth. "Well, while she's being lazy, I'm off to class and then Briseida wanted to go to that free art symposium in Mendel Hall."
Jace managed to finish his three slices of pizza in just a few bites whereas I was still working on the first slice. Standing up to stretch, he released a loud burp from the pit of his diaphragm. "Well, I'm off. I have to meet up with my advisor about some things. I'll catch you guys later."
Angela and I replied with our goodbyes, following him out of the room with our eyes and then proceeded to finish our pizza in silence. It was the only ounce of silence that we could expect on a daily basis, so we embraced it. It wasn't as if we hated noise or anything. It was just that most of the time, if Briseida wasn't livening up the place, we had plenty of others drop in to chat or spend the night or do something else random and sometimes it was nice to have a break. There was no reason to think that this day was any different.
"I meant to tell you earlier, Ariel," Angela readjusted in her seat while she broke the silence. "Me and Briseida are going to try out that new sandwich place after the symposium, so we won't be joining you for dinner."
I wrapped my dirty plate and napkins up and threw them in the trash. "Ok, more time to sleep then. I'll see you when I come back from dreamland," I mumbled as I hopped in bed.
Right before I closed my eyes, my eyes flew up to the sky through my un-shaded window and I thought about how God was an amazing artist. Honestly, he does some pretty decent work. A confused rainy day mixed with scattered, oddly shaped clouds covering just the right shade of a taupe gray sky is beautiful enough to inspire me. Sometimes I filter through ideas for a poem or recount the details of my day. Most of the time, with the help of a song from my mp3 player, I just end of thinking about my life. Regardless, I'm safe in my mind, content with its flow wherever it may take me...
And that is when I realized that I was full of shit.
Even with an epiphany like that, my day had been a good day...until my phone started screaming at me. It stopped mid-song and then began ringing once again. I didn't need to look at it to know that it was Dad.
I promise his main goal in life was to drive me crazy, but it was partly my fault. I gained some sort of pleasure out of driving him crazy too, and little issues that could be solved quickly either never got resolved or lingered for days before anything was attempted.
This week's issue: Dad wants to plan a 'family trip' somewhere on random weekend, just so everyone could spend time together since we were all in different locations for the majority of the year.
Call me bitter or an asshole, whichever suits, but I wasn't up for a full weekend of pretending to be a happy family of three when four should have always been intended.
And I was quick to make that known.
There was always a thought somewhere hidden all the way in the back of my mind that maybe I should have been a little more understanding and cut my father some slack over the years, but we all knew that my mother's disappearance was completely his fault. Maybe not completely, but he had a substantial amount of fault in it.
And at every chance I was happy to remind him of that in some way, whether it be subtle or loud and rude, and at every chance he tried his best to make it right somehow.
I was suddenly feeling guilty. Someone my age should be done with acting like a child. I picked up my phone to dial my missed call and instead sent him a text message saying that I'd call him in two hours. That would be enough time for me to nap and possibly think of some way to stomach a excited "yes" to his brilliant family trip.
I mentally patted myself on the back for a job well done and drifted off into blissful sleep. It seemed like little time had passed and I was trying to maintain a deep sleep despite Angela's annoying poking and screams for me to wake up. She may have managed to pull me out of REM but she wasn't going to make me open my eyes.
Yep, any moment now…
Her finger had to wear out soon, but she was still going at it. I don't think I had ever been so annoyed.
"What!" I sat straight up, my eyes immediately landing on Angela's tall form hovering directly over me. She had a nerve to be laughing at me.
I plopped back onto my bed. "I don't get what's so funny. I was trying to get some rest."
She took a huge deep breathe. "You look like you just rose from the dead."
"Ugh, I feel like it." I groaned as I listened to her shuffle busily around the room, my eyes held shut. "Do you have a point or can I go back to sleep?"
"Um, no…not unless you want to be late the class that starts in…um…two minutes."
My eyes immediately shot open and I jumped out of bed tripping over the sheet that was tangled around my ankle. I let out a grunt and began peeling my face off of the floor. "Oh shit! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I grabbed my black shirt off of the floor and tried to put it on while I worked my foot into a sneaker.
"Well, I just got in. You're lucky I woke you up at all. I was just going to let you sleep. You have a history of fighting in your sleep. I didn't want you to bite me or something. You might turn me into a zombie like you."
"I hate you." I muttered as I lost my balance while trying to put on the other shoe.
"Yea, I love you too. Wipe some of the drool from your face and get going. You are officially late…again."
I snatched the wet wipe she handed me and darted out of the room, but just as I reached the end of the hall I heard Angela screaming from out room. "ARIEL! YOU FORGOT TO PUT ON YOUR JEANS!"
Immediately I iced over, trying not to notice looks I received from the people in the hallway with me. "Damn it…"
I had promised myself not to be late for another class, but that was three weeks ago. I had been late to every class since then and so I had to suffer through the evil stares I received from every single one of my professors as I tried to casually enter their class. No one ever said that promptness was one of my strong points.
My feet pounded against the carpeted floor of Westwood Hall as I quickly made my way to the auditorium where my history class was held. I hated the fact that it was a night class because it took away from all the lovely and more interesting things I could be doing rather than learning about Caesar and Marie Antoinette for the 50th time.
I paused when I noticed a girl stop right at the door and straighten her clothes.
Another one...
It was something about the young graduate student teacher that I was about to walk into the presence of that made most females, regardless of status, perfect themselves before making such a daring move. Even if it was just to walk past him. It was all in hopes that maybe one day, the right combination of makeup, outfits, and funky hairdos would grab his attention in just the right way.
I thought he was...average.
Well, maybe a tad bit above average, but I wasn't about to go all googly eyed for someone I didn't have a chance in hell with. I would also have to add that I wasn't into following too many trends. I'm not saying that every girl on campus was in love with him, but there were quite a few that didn't have a problem expressing their…desires in the rows around me. Even better than that, graduate student or not, he was my instructor and I would rather keep my thoughts about him strictly professional.
Yea…I sucked at lying to even myself.
I thought about doing the same thing as the young women, taking a second to make sure I was...presentable. Not for the student teacher but just...
Like anyone would notice anyway. No one ever noticed. I was fine the way I was.
The girl had walked past the auditorium, probably headed for one of the professors' offices. I took a deep breath and pushed my way into the auditorium, which was oddly vacant, save for the three figures conversing with each other in the front, one of which I immediately recognized. They all turned and looked at me at the same time, making me feel as if I had did something wrong.
How awkward.
"Ah, Ariel…" Mr. Piras finally said after a few moments, "Class was canceled tonight. I sent everyone an email about it. Did I not send you one also?"
I blinked twice. "Oh…um, sorry. I forgot to check it."
"What did I tell you about that? You need to check your email every day, a few times a day. You never know what will come up."
I blinked again and glanced at his friends.
"Uh…yea. I'll try to do better." Clearing my throat, I couldn't release my eyes from the men heavily staring me down. I was beyond intimidated. I swallowed hard and rubbed my arm. Compared to my small five foot three inch frame, they stood like giant football players. Scratch that. They were colossal-man-beast-football-playing-ancient-mini-dinosaur…things. Not that my teacher was small or anything, I just wasn't too comfortable with packs. I didn't have time for this. Class was dismissed, I didn't need to be here, so I swiftly turned my heel and began to walk away.
There was an pause and then he spoke again. "Wait, Ariel. I want you to meet my brothers." I hesitated.
Brothers?
That explained a lot, like the resemblance that I was just noticing.
I had an excuse though. I was trying to figure out why they were still looking as me, and without blinking. My eyes started to water. What was with them? I had never felt so small in my life. These men looked at me with an emotion I had yet to discover. It made me want to jump out of my skin, if that was indeed the quickest way to escape their eyes.
I sighed softly. "Um…hi, I'm Ariel. Nice meeting you," I mumbled and once again I tried to escape.
Piras chuckled. "No, no. Come here Ariel. Don't be so nervous. I'm sure they won't bite." He gestured for me to come closer and I did, but not before chuckling nervously. It was a terrible attempt to try to remain normal. When I settled before them, Piras spoke again. "Ariel, this is Damon, my twin."
I observed him, taking in his full appearance as he seemed to be doing the same to me. He did indeed look just like Piras in the face, same eye color and everything. The only differences was that he had short, spiked, silver hair with jet black tips and piercing in his chin, nose, and eyebrow. I got the look he was trying to obtain but it was borderline excessive.
Damon gently grabbed my hand and kissed it. "It's nice to meet you Ariel."
Did I mention he had a tongue ring?
"Yea, same here."
Dorian's smile grew wider. "And, this is Nicholas, the eldest of us."
I wanted to laugh but of course that would be rude.
I just couldn't remember the last time I saw a man with a ponytail. It didn't help that I had always associated men with ponytails with the men on the cover of goofy romance novels. Regardless of my preconceived notions, I had to admit it suited him.
His eyes helped to redeem him. Deep crystallized blue orbs, I had never witnessed such beautiful, demanding eyes. They were absolutely captivating. I was sure that he could pick up anyone that he wanted…
I couldn't find anything else to be nit picky about. Slightly angular face, straight nose, smooth, olive skin…he was…handsome.
After swiping the few idle strands of hair hanging in my eyes, I reached my hand out to Nicholas for a hand shake. As soon as our hands touched I received the oddest shock. It wasn't painful at all, but it left a tingling sensation behind that I couldn't ignore.I brushed it off and waited for the awkwardness to subside.
I was beginning to get tired of the staring game that I was playing with these strangers. Nicholas' face was set to somber, and only his eyes held any sense of emotion. He watched my face before lowering his eyes elsewhere in a slight hungrily matter, as Dorian and Damon watched him in what seemed like amusement. I felt my dignity slip from me at that very instant.
"Uh, I gotta go." These guys were weird. I mean really weird. I had to get out of there. I turned my heel and exited as quickly as I possibly could.
The door shut and Dorian immediately burst into laughter. "Scaring my students off already. What was that about?"
Who knew that a simple meeting with his brothers about Michail could lead to this? He tried his best to shield the thoughts that accompanied her, but it didn't seem to be in his nature to do so. In the end it didn't really matter anyway. After all she was it.
He took a deep breath. He had to see her again. That night. Alone.
There was a small touch of unwanted excitement inside that contradicted the serious façade on his face when he turned to his brothers. "She's the one."
Dorian turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I just said." Nicholas replied, his eyes lingering on the door where the girl had just been.
Damon chuckled softly. "That's her? Looks like that bit about waiting just went out of the window. This should be fun."