Chapter Seven
Brenton
Brenton loved the dramatics. He was a bit of a show off, but he couldn't help it. He surely wished he could have seen the look on Marie's face when he vanished into thin air. Though that wasn't really the case, he could just run that fast; but he loved making people believe he could disappear.
He laughed again when he thought about being in the woods, the winds picking up and circling them, him staring in the distance. The truth was, it was a fellow angel, Micheal, doing some wind tricks. Brenton was trying extra hard to show off for Marie and even though Micheal didn't want him talking to her, he was inadvertently helping him show off even more.
He was such an idiot though. She had been shielded since birth and now he would have to start from scratch. This was going to be much harder than he expected.
He wondered who would risk blocking her powers, in a time where they needed them most. He felt an aura from her mom, but he couldn't be sure. It could be Marie's powers growing and clouding the house. But for some reason he knew better. Her mom had the blood, he could sense it, almost smell it. He had to figure out if she was aware of him as well.
He circled back around the block and with one leap, he was perched in the tree outside of Marie's house. He already knew what room belonged to her. He visited her often after he found out she had blacked out.He blamed himself for that. He shouldn't have tried to gauge her. Why was he so stupid, trying to impress and scare her all at once; mad that he found her and she was a neutral. He was hoping this one time, his luck had changed. All he could think about now, was how Micheal and the others kept saying they told him so. Even his dad was skeptical about the whole situation, telling him it was the only possible reason he couldn't see her like the others saw their other half.
He had planned on this being the last time he looked for her; and was almost certain his dad was going to be against him leaving again anyway. He had been going out on his own since he was twelve. After four years, he was tired of searching; but something lead him to this small town and he felt like it was fate. They needed to be together.
Still, she was complacent in this human lifestyle and it would be a challenge to get her up to speed in time. Especially since she wasn't connected to him. Not yet anyway. Her hands should have at least caught fire when he grabbed her wrist or she should have felt something, but there was no spark at all.
He had only been around her for a few days and already his strength was increasing. He could do tricks he wasn't able to do before, like shadow travel; which made it easier for him to check on her and protect her if he needed to. Either way, he wasn't leaving without her. He couldn't. This was the only way they would make it.
He watched as Marie's mother followed her into her room and closed the door behind her. Marie was right when she said they looked exactly alike. There was no mistaken that. The only differences were the worry lines her mom had, the fact that she was taller by a few inches and her hair was longer. Other than that, they were a match.
Brenton closed his eyes and imagined he was in the room as a shadow on the wall and he was there, seeing the conversation up close.
“Mom, I was fine. I just wanted to get some air and think about things. Nothing was going to happen,” Marie said.
“I asked you not to do this, not to make me have a heart attack and you know what,” her mom grabbed her chest, “I think I'm about to have a heart attack.”
Brenton smiled. He knew this exaggeration bit all too well; she was baiting Marie. He had to admit, she was good.
“Seriously? A little over the top, don't you think?” Marie said with a snort.
“Okay, look,” her mom said, composing herself. “It was over the top, but it is a possibility that I could, at my age, have a heart attack. If you leave the house and not call me, I will have...”
“A heart attack. I heard you the first time,” Marie finished her sentence.
“This is serious Marie, I am worried about you.”
Brenton knew this could go on for hours. He honestly didn't want to intrude on their mommy and me time. He wanted to see if he could pick up on signs of Marie's mom being a descendant.
His eyes glazed over as he searched her mind and looked into her past. He pushed his feelers out trying to tap into her soul, anything that would give him a clue. He kept hitting a brick wall and stumbling back.
He tried once again, with more force this time and still came up empty. He saw nothing, just darkness. He pulled back and settled back into his shadow on the wall.
Marie was looking around the room. She must have felt him reaching out. Marie's mom was concentrating on something in front of her. She finally snapped out of it and searched the room as well. They both felt it, he was sure. Her mom was intentionally blocking him.
“Mom,” Marie broke the silence, “did you feel that?”
“Feel what?”
Brenton eased back. Marie could sense something and he didn't want her to know he was there. That would be creepy with a capital C. She would never trust him again and he needed things to fall into place.
He closed his eyes once more and was back outside on the tree branch. Through the window, he watched as Marie put her head in her hands. He wanted to talk to her tonight. He wanted to explain what was going on and comfort her, too.
“ Marie, this is important. We need to talk ,” he said out loud, certain she would hear it only in her mind.
He saw her look around the room. She said something to her mom and she walked her to the door. Her mom left, but she stood outside the door with her hand on it. She had to know that something was changing in Marie and the only way for her to survive what was coming, was if she knew the truth.
Marie reached out to him mentally and asked where he was. He didn't want to just appear in her room and scare her, especially with her mom on the other side of the door.
“ I'm going to do something and I don't want you to freak out, okay ?” he said.
“Okay.”
He eased back into his shadow on her wall and waited. He felt her mom's presence walking away. He wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but it was too important for them to wait.
“ Look at the wall next to your closet ,” he said.
She slowly turned, waiting for something to happen. Brenton finally appeared through the shadow, hands up, in defense mode. Marie's hands quickly covered her mouth to stifle the scream that he was waiting on.
“Please don't,” he said.
She shook her head up and down, her hands still covering her mouth. She eased back on her bed, chest heaving. She was trying her best to calm down.
Once again, he felt like he was doing too much, too soon. How was he ever going to get her to come with him if she didn't want to be apart of this craziness? He wasn't doing a good job of selling the dream.
He inched closer. Surprisingly, Marie didn't flinch. Her eyes were wide, but she didn't budge. He sat down on the bed next to her and waited. He was already fast tracking her, though at that moment, he didn't want to rush.
“You don't do that often, do you?” she finally spoke.
Brenton looked away. It wasn't in his nature to blatantly lie. Sure, a few jokes and overly produced antics, but flat out lying was a no-no. If angels could blush, he probably would be a bright red. He was relieved his body didn't betray him.
“You know what, I don't want to know,” Marie said. “What's going on?”
He dove right in, trying to forget the awkwardness that just took place. He didn't know why he was so nervous; to the point of shaking. That had never happened to him before. “Remember when we were wondering if one of your parents was a descendant?”
She nodded and he blew out a long, deep breath.
“Well, I believe your mom is,” he said.
“My mom? How can you be so sure?”
“I feel her aura. Don't you? I mean, I know you're new at this, but if you could feel mine then you should sense her's, too. She is blocking right now, but I know what she is. She is definitely an Elyos,” he said matter-of-factly. “She has to be really skilled to be able to keep that block up all the time. It takes constant concentration to be able to do that.”
“But if she was, then why wouldn't she tell me about it?” Marie was confused.
“I don't know, but we need to talk to her and find out.”
Marie looked him over. Her eyebrows were creased and he could tell she was biting the inside of her mouth; something he found himself doing often.
He was amazed by how much they were alike. Even the birthmark on the side of her head was exactly like his. He knew it would be, that was how it was supposed to be. But just the thought of being able to reach out and touch her made him feel giddy. He had been searching for her for a very long time. Now, he couldn't stop gaping at her; thankful he finally found her, neutral or not.
“What are you not telling me?” she asked.
He didn't quite know how this twin thing worked, being that he had no use for it all these years, but he didn't want her to know what he was thinking. He wasn't ready for her to know his sappy side yet.
Before he could try to explain, her mom burst through the door with a scowl on her face.
“Brenton, I presume,” she said and slammed the door behind her.