Fan Fiction ❯ Humanity Reborn ❯ Discovery ( Chapter 2 )

ChapterTwo \ The Group Comes Together/Discovery

 

 

The sharp, blustery wind swirled around a tall blonde boy in a bitter embrace. Unaffected, he walked almost lazily forward. Paying little attention to the small, sharp snowflakes biting into his bare face and arms, he hefted the armful of wood higher upon his chest. Reaching out with a free hand, he opened the door to his cabin, revealing a smallish, one-room establishment with a fireplace situated in the corner.

 

A noisy 'thump' and the wood was strewn carelessly over the hearth and floor. A glance toward the glowing fireplace told him it would take little effort to make the small room warm again. Picking up a relatively dry piece, he tossed it into the coals. One would think he would be a mite more careful, seeing as he needed fire to live. Not to mention, he'd been living like this…since the Incident... and really, simple human instincts should move him to care...but...he just didn't. Besides, it wasn't much effort to rebuild a new one if he killed this one.

 

He was encouraging the fire to flare when he heard a faint scream coming from directly outside his door. With an inborn hunter's agility he jumped up, grabbed his bow and arrows from their resting place beside the hearth, and flung open the door. Outside was a slender, dark form not too far from the doorway. Warily he set his arrow against his bow, ready to shoot if the need arose.

 

Looking around for the source of the scream, he belatedly realized it had come from the figure whose details were concealed in the wild flurries-turned-blizzard storm. Seeing as a panther didn't usually stand upright on their hind paws unsupported, he realized it for what it only could be: a human.

 

Flinging his bow back into the room carelessly, he hastened over to the slowly swaying apparition. As he approached details came into focus: a slender, brown-haired, brown-eyed young woman. Rather, a teenage girl, about his own age, maybe a year younger or so...it was rather hard to tell with the assortment of cuts, scrapes, and patches of dirt upon her face. As he evaluated her, however, she unexpectedly moaned and collapsed at his feet. A single word could be heard through the winds of the blizzard as he bent to pick her up.

 

 

"Evil..."

 

***

 

The tall, blonde, archer boy called Hugh sat in the chair opposite the bed nervously glancing at the girl sprawled there. Not everyday a girl his age popped up on his doorstep like that...

 

'What am I going to do with her? She's obviously been through some sort of trauma, with the marks on her face and not to mention the way she screamed...she must really have some lungs on her if she was able to make herself heard through that storm...'

 

He glanced out the single window at the pure whiteness of the still-raging blizzard.

 

'How am I going to ask her what happened without being completely tactless? It's not like my people skills are exactly up to par…what did she mean by evil?'

 

His thoughts were interrupted as the girl on the bed let out a slight groan. He tensed, waiting for what she would do or say, once she found herself in a strange bed.

 

"Matt! Matt! Wake up! Talk to me, Matt, please, wake up, we have to get away before another one comes...please wake up!"

 

His eyes widened at the sudden outburst, then narrowed thoughtfully as he peered over at her.

 

'Another one comes? Matt...that name...'

 

He remembered his dream the previous night.

 

`I was floating, above a small town, and I reached out my glowing hand and...little black shapes flowed out of it…wait…shapes?! Glowing hand?!...Uh-oh... civilians...dying...could that mean...? What the hell...'

 

Did he foresee this? Or see it as it was happening? When was there a village even close to his little cabin?

 

Hugh jumped, startled out of his thoughts as the girl sat up with a start, breathing heavily, now fully awake.

 

"Wha..? Who the hell are you? And why..." she looked around her surroundings, taking in the boy in front of her and the numerous blankets piled around her.

 

'Well. This explains why I was so warm...'

 

And then her memory came flooding back to her in a heartbreaking rush. She bent over in emotional pain, her hands pressed tightly to the sides of her head as she remembered waking up mysteriously---she suspected she had blacked out for some reason--- to her village in surreal blue-flames, and Matt....oh, Matt, lying there, his soul ripped out through his heart, pale and dead and blue and...she...remembered going around asking what could possibly have happened to her village and her beloved...beloved...she couldn't even...she couldn't do the very thing she knew she had to… purify the evil black forms that swamped her little village...her...because they weren't even…really there!

 

And, forgetting the archer looking on in timid concern, she moaned and collapsed once again, with one last word imprinted on her brain.

 

'No...'

***

 

Hugh was contemplating the pros and cons of letting the fainting girl stay once she woke up when he heard a loud, impatient knock on the door. He grabbed his bow and arrow from the spot he had flung it earlier and opened the door quickly, bow pointed forward. He found a pair of humans. Or at least, to his mind, they looked like humans. Little did he know, they were anything but. Shocked slightly, but wary nevertheless, he set the bow down and stepped aside to let them in.

 

'Jeez. People practically falling out of the sky these days...'

 

One of them spoke. It was a man, appearing to be about Hugh's age, but radiating an extreme charisma such that it nearly overwhelmed Hugh. `This guy seems like he's 25 or something…' The commanding voice didn't help dissuade the illusion either.

 

"We have a matter to speak to you about,"

 

Instantly Hugh put his defenses up. Someone knew where he was? Worse, who he was?

 

"Do not overreact. You're in no danger, we didn't come here for you. As much as I hate to admit it, we need your help,"

 

"Help. What kind?" Hugh said shortly, eyes narrowed, still suspicious.

 

Now the girl spoke. "You have knowledge of these woods, I believe. That will help us. We're following a dark-haired girl, about my age. We believe she has stumbled across your cabin in her wanderings. Do you know of her?”

 

`Wow. Could I sound anymore like Alleio? He's rubbing off me already…' Mariame shrugged mentally and kept her attention on the archer in front of her.

 

'The girl...' Hugh thought.

 

He crossed his arms in front of his chest. He felt strangely protective of the figure sprawled unconscious on his bed.

 

"What do you want with her?"

 

"Same as you. Her help. You see, she is an extremely powerful Sanctimon."

 

"Sanctimon? Want to explain that?"

 

Frowning, slightly impatient at Hugh's questioning, she replied,

 

"A spellcaster. A woman of power. Completely pure of heart and can't kill. Purifies evil into oblivion. We really don't have time to discuss this."

 

Standing on tiptoes to peer over his shoulder, she murmured,

 

“So you do have her.” She walked briskly over to the dark haired girl lying on one of the few pieces of furniture in the room. Pulling a small bottle out of her bag, she uncorked it and waved it under the girl's nose.

 

"She's sleeping, not knocked out." Hugh pointed out.

 

"She dreams differently. Like me, it takes a lot more than usual to wake her from the state she's currently in."

 

"So you use smelling salts. Or rather…” He said, catching sight of the bottle label, “…Peppermint oil. And what do you mean, like you? What are your names, anyway?"

 

She waved the first question away like a bug to be swatted and answered the second. "I'm Mariame. The dark haired dude over there is Alleio." She gestured briefly towards the still-open door.

 

Said dark-haired `dude' shut the door soundly behind him and paced across the room to the bed. He nodded shortly to Hugh in way of greeting and put his hand gently on the girl's forehead, closing his eyes. Hugh narrowed his own eyes at the contact.

 

`Why is he touching her?' He growled slightly. Despite deciding not to make an issue of it, he glared at Alleio. Hugh could see his eyes twitching quickly beneath his eyelids as he shook his head.

 

"She's still dreaming. We need water."

 

Mariame nodded quickly and withdrew a small bottle of water from the pack she had set down earlier. She grimaced when she saw the thin layer of frost on the outside.

 

"It's frozen."

 

“Hmm. Well that won't work, Sanctimon have an aversion to ice. It will only make her sink deeper into unconsciousness." He turned to Hugh.

 

Hugh started as he realized what Alleio wanted.

 

“Oh. I have some water…” he reached for the kettle of water sitting on the table behind him.

 

Mariame took the kettle and dumped a bit on the girl's face. The girl on the bed stiffened in her sleep. With his hand still on her forehead, Alleio closed his eyes again.

 

"Good, she is waking up." And he withdrew his hand from her forehead.

 

'So she can't touch ice…it makes her unconscious? Is that why she fell over with no injuries outside? Because of the snow?' Hugh thought. 'How strange...'

 

Blinking, the girl on the bed sat up slowly, regaining her balance. Eyes focusing, she saw the three people peering at her curiously, no doubt waiting for what she would say.

 

"Oh... I'm here again. I don't know you two, though. Although I think...I've seen you in the halls at my school," she said, pointing to Mariame, who nodded.

 

"Yeah. Do you remember the assembly?"

 

"Assembly...oh. That…"

 

Hugh was quite confused by this exchange and said as much.

 

Mariame sighed. "Do you want to explain, or shall I?" she asked of Alleio.

 

"I will," Everyone turned in surprise to see who voiced it. The girl on the bed sighed, resigned to telling her story. "..well, as much as I can remember..."

 

***

 

Aurore yawned. Assemblies were so annoying- but at least they got her out of class. On the other hand, she could have spent this time sleeping...It didn't really help that the assembly was to watch a hypnotist put people to sleep. Maybe nobody would mind if she just fell asleep...they'd think she was hypnotized, after all.

 

When he started swaying the glowing wand he brought, she lazily followed it with sleepy half-closed eyes. She didn't realize her eyelids were slowly getting heavier, or that her hand on her leg was going slack. The glowing light held her attention as it blurred, becoming the only thing she saw. The hypnotic music to accompany it started, making her sway gently to its soft rhythm.

 

Her palms lay face up on her knees, relaxed, though she didn't remember putting them that way. They pulsed and tingled with a power that extended up through her arms. She fought against her tired mind and its willingness to relax into the performance, trying to remember random details of this morning. She failed utterly. Her mind was like mush, a blur, her eyes glazed and limbs completely limp. She was so out, she didn't much realize when her head was thrown back against the chair back. Soon she fell into a deep and unreachable state of mind.

 

 

***

 

"...That's all I remember. Then, I woke up here."

 

'Wait...didn't she say something about a Matt person? And her village? Why doesn't she remember that? And she doesn't remember how she got here...?' Hugh pondered.

 

Alleio and Mariame exchanged glances.

 

`She doesn't remember us dropping her off, obviously, but what about her trip here? And what about her brother?' Mariame thought at Alleio. He blinked once, saying mentally,

 

`She doesn't want to talk about it. Obviously.' He looked at the others and spoke out loud, then.

 

“I shall have the honor of continuing the story, then. Since Aurore here doesn't remember."

 

Aurore stared at him. `How'd he know my name?'

 

 

***

 

 

 

Mariame sat on the bed listening to Alleio's explanation of the assembly. She stretched a hand out in front of her distractedly. Having experienced this particular incident, she didn't feel a need for paying attention, and so continued practicing retreating and extending her claws. She had discovered she could make them appear to be normal human fingernails, but still beyond razor sharp. She could extend them well beyond the tips of her fingers to create deadly talons, or keep them to normal claw proportions. Alleio paused in his verbal reminiscing and noticed her fascination. He smiled. To have blades on the ends of your fingers capable of cutting through any substance… they were a convenient weapon.

 

Now she let them grow into long, sharp, scythe-like blades. She was hungry. Her instincts, for she was getting used to them now, were telling her just what to do about that predicament. She stood up suddenly, gaining the attention of the rest of the people in the small room. Deciding not to acknowledge them and their questioning glances, she walked out the door into the still raging storm.

 

Brushing aside ice and snow-covered branches, she made her way deeper into the forest. Her heightened sense of smell and instincts showed her the way. They soon told her there was a live, pulsing animal nearby. She pinpointed the spot and lunged for it, claws extended. She smirked. The poor thing, it never had a chance. She grasped it in both hands and snapped its neck, ending its bleeding misery.

 

Mariame made her way back to the cabin, and ignoring the curious looks sent her way upon her entrance, set the rather bloody rabbit on the table. Sitting down where she previously was, she went on to clean her bloody claws. Aurore swallowed hard and grimaced at this, but let it go. Obviously the strange girl-wolf-dog-cat-whatever creature was strange. Alleio raised an eyebrow at Mariame. However, he understood what was going on. She was simply getting used to the primal animal side of her.

 

`Besides,' He thought, eyeing the rabbit, `When there's food involved…'

 

“You know, I could have gotten that.” Hugh spoke, referring to skinning the animal.

 

“It's no problem,” Mariame replied calmly. “I know how to do it.”

 

`Although I wouldn't have a few days ago…' she finished silently.

 

“Whatever. Here.” Hugh leaned over and rummaged in a small trunk at the foot of the bed, coming up with a small skillet. Handing it to Mariame, who then placed the rabbit inside it, he turned to Aurore.

 

“So what happen---ah…” he trailed off, having caught a sharp glance from Alleio out of the corner of his eye. The voice in his head was hard to miss.

 

`Don't ask her about it just yet. She isn't ready to tell us. I imagine we'll find out later, however...' Hugh shook his head violently to clear it of Alleio's intruding voice, and let his own mind speak. `I'll never get used to his weirdo powers…' For in his telling of the story, Alleio hadn't failed to mention his heritage.

 

Alleio stared blankly at Hugh. “On the contrary. You'll have to.”

 

Mariame looked up sharply as she heard Alleio's emotionless voice from the corner. `Have to what…?' She mused. Then she shrugged and continued on the rabbit. It was taking on a nice golden crispy color. `Probably they're conversing telepathically.' She concentrated on not burning the food.

 

 

`What was he going to say to me? Oh, he wanted to know about…about…' Aurore sighed deeply, and then spoke.

 

“So, umm…what now?” `Now that my home is destroyed,' she thought bitterly.

 

Alleio made a small noise similar to a grunt in his throat and replied,

 

“Now…we go back to the city. From there, we…” He was temporarily out of explanations.

 

“We hang out for a bit, get to know each-other.” Mariame said promptly, finishing his sentence, as she sliced up the now-fried rabbit and placing the pieces on the table. “Aurore can stay with me, and Hugh with Alleio.”

 

“How about we stay with the first people we met.” Hugh muttered.

 

“Why?” Mariame asked.

 

Hugh crossed his arms defiantly. “Because.”

 

`I don't trust you people around the girl.'

 

Mariame shrugged. “So long as nobody else has any problems with co-ed boarding…”

 

Aurore opened her mouth to protest, but Hugh interrupted her unsaid comment.

 

“So I have to leave here?”

 

“For the time being…” Alleio murmured. He shut his mind to the others' thoughts, as he needed to think a bit. He absently picked up a piece of rabbit-meat off the table and bit into it delicately. `All we need now do is…wait…'

 

“Right. So,” Aurore pointed at the rabbit meat, deciding to let the co-ed issue go for now. “Could we maybe use plates?”

 

***

 

 

They were driving back to the city when Alleio brought up an important point.

 

“We need to stay in a group. Unfortunate, as I like to work alone, but in this case it is unavoidable. I will rent a couple hotel rooms in whatever city we're in. You, Mariame…” He said, nodding to her. “…you need to inform your parents about your…'trip', shall we say? Tell them you're on a road trip with some good friends and that you'll keep in touch. Don't worry about them consenting, I'll take care of that. Alleio and Aurore will not have a problem, and certainly I don't need to contact anyone.”

 

“So we're going to be traveling…” Mariame pondered, tilting her head to one side as she relaxed in the front seat.

 

“All over the realms, mortal, and immortal.” He finished for her.

 

“Why?” Hugh asked from the back seat, his voice sounding slightly muffled because of the hat covering his face. He was trying to block out the light from the street lamps coming in through the windows.

 

“How did you think we were going to get rid of the Manifestation?” Alleio asked, glancing back at him through the rear-view mirror.

 

“Umm… wasn't she gonna purify him into oblivion?” Hugh said, jerking a thumb towards the girl on the other side of the back seat.

 

Alleio shook his head. “Unfortunately, that's not possible. It took a lot of her energy just to purify one bit of evil in one man---one human, no less---even trying to sanctify such a great evil as the Manifestation would kill her.”

 

Aurore squeaked in alarm. Alleio continued just as calmly as before.

 

“As it is, she needs to train a bit, get used to the Energy. If we had a group of oh, say, one-thousand sanctifiers or so it would be different, but we only have Aurore here, as she's the last of her race.”

 

“So then what?” Mariame demanded bluntly.

 

“We travel the worlds, looking for the weapons that are ours alone.”

 

“Er…” The group surrounding him expressed confusion. Alleio sighed impatiently.

 

“Meaning, we must find the weapons we need to defeat the manifestation and his minions. I should mention there are different entities in other worlds none of you are used to, having lived in the mortal human-world for so long. We will need protection from them as well. It also wouldn't hurt to sanctify a few mildly evil people along the way, to just lessen the evil in the world…” He went on to discuss weaponry, then.

 

“Hugh, your weapon will be some sort of bow and arrow, and yours, Mariame, will be a sword, or a dagger. Slightly contradictory with your claws, but it's better to have solid steel between you and an enemy. Mine, I will find out soon enough, and Aurore, yours we don't need to find. Your energy will be weapon and shield enough.”

 

“Find…weapons. Right. Number `zillion on our miles-long to-do list…” Mariame yawned. “So if that's it, can we stop driving now and get into that hotel right there?” She asked, pointing to a Best Western just ahead of them. “It's been a rather long day, if you don't mind.”

 

Alleio nodded once and turned into the driveway of said hotel.

 

 

***

 

“What do you mean, he didn't book four rooms?!”

 

“Just what I said! He booked two! He figured we could share!”

 

“SHARE?! What the hell? With you? I'm a GIRL, dammit!”

 

Apparently the issue of co-ed rooms was still a problem with Aurore.

 

“Point being?” Hugh tapped his foot impatiently on the tiled floor.

 

“I can't sleep in the same ROOM as you!!” Aurore exclaimed, eyes snapping with frustration and embarrassment.

 

“I didn't think it would be that big of a deal,” He said, annoyed. He turned to Alleio. “Help?”

 

Alleio simply smirked and walked into the room next to the one Hugh was currently trying to persuade Aurore into entering.

 

“Hummph. Alrighty then! Look. Aurore, I'm going to unlock this room right now and you are going to follow me. There's two beds, at least,” Hugh pointed impatiently at the numbered door.

 

“Oh, why, thank you, you sweet, kind, dear gentleman!” Aurore snarled sarcastically.

 

 

Mariame approached, grasping four Hershey bars and a cup of coffee. Having heard the two's argument from the stairs, she spoke up.

 

“Here,” she said, handing a chocolate bar to each of them. “Why's it such a big deal? We kinda have to make it look like we're two couples going on a road trip anyway…”

 

“Oh.” Aurore looked down at the chocolate now in her hand. A faint tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks as she mumbled, “Thanks. Because I'm not…I wouldn't even CONSIDER…being a…a…couple with…with…”

 

Aurore sputtered and trailed off, muttering incoherently. Hugh clutched his own chocolate, sighed, and unlocked the door to his room. He said a goodbye to Mariame and shuffled inside, beckoning to Aurore. She followed, albeit a bit reluctantly.

 

“This is so not over…'night, Mariame…” she muttered, waving a hand, and shut the door behind her.

 

Mariame stopped trying to hold in the laughter that was bubbling out of her. Consequently, her loud giggling must have been audible. She stopped abruptly, however, when the door in front of her snapped open once more and Aurore glared stonily at her. Mariame smiled sweetly and chirped,

 

“Enjoy your chocolate!”

 

Aurore just muttered something unintelligible and slammed the door shut once more. Holding back giggles, Mariame turned and walked to the room next door. Unlocking it, she murmured to herself.

 

“Those two are so cute…”

 

Alleio heard the door shut behind her and stuck his head out from the bathroom, toweling his hair dry.

 

“Lover's spat next door?” He asked, walking over to his nightstand.

 

Mariame gaped in surprise. He was wearing a towel.

 

A towel. And that was it. Just a towel. A fuzzy length of cloth…

 

Around his waist. A freaking towel. It was white, she noticed dazedly. Belatedly, she realized he was waiting for a response. She shook herself mentally and composed herself.

 

“Uh...yeah…you took a shower already?”

 

He shot her a lopsided grin and sat down on the bed. Though the impassive, blank façade gone from his face, the cocky arrogance was still there. Apparently she wasn't used to running into males with only a towel on. Mariame just stared ahead blankly. He dropped the towel he was drying his hair with onto the floor and reached for a nearby brush to get the tangles out of his long ebony hair.

 

“That high school got to me. Too much dust, especially on the floor.”

 

“Do I want to know why you were lying on the floor?” Mariame replied, giving him a look, and went to her own side of the room. She flopped down on the bed backwards, utterly exhausted.

 

“I was sitting, actually, and I only had to because it was the center of the flow of Energy and lost thoughts.”

 

Mariame looked sideways at him, arms outstretched beside her, and blinked.

 

`Lost thoughts? Eh…whatever. Man, I love his hair when it's wet…you know, he's so normal now…is his stern, formal behavior only a façade?'

 

Alleio smiled wryly, having caught her thoughts. He decided not to comment on the hair part.

 

“Hell, yeah. I'm supposed to be the formal Ruler of the Psychic Realm, and I can't be acting like a dense and carefree 17-year old. Besides, when you can read other's minds, you see the emotions that come with their feelings…you realize your own face is just as expressive. It's protection, in a way.”

 

Mariame blushed slightly. She had forgotten he could hear her thoughts.

 

“Oh. I suppose that makes sense,” She sat up on the bed, gathered the pile of nightclothes from the edge of it, and trotted into the bathroom. He could get dressed in here, she decided. Just as she was about to shut the door, however, she heard a faint crash coming from the adjacent room.

 

“What the…” she muttered and started to walk over to the door connecting the two rooms. However, Alleio got there first. He flung open the door, a slight look of concern on his face. Mariame ran behind him to peer over his shoulder at the commotion. The look of worry Alleio sported disappeared when he saw the cause of the crash. He ducked quickly to avoid a flying pillow coming his way. The shriek, however, clearly reached his ears.

 

“GET OUT! THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ONLY WEARING A TOWEL!”

 

However, Mariame didn't see it coming. A rather muffled `oof' came from behind him and he turned around quickly to see her falling over onto his bed from the momentum of the pillow, a surprised look on her face. A smile fought a winning battle on his face and he swung back around to inspect the damage of the other room. A broken vase, that was all. Although…the corner of his mouth twitched as he saw Hugh cowering behind a chair and a furious, raging, glowing Aurore threatening him with another pillow. He snickered, and ignoring the pleading look Hugh was sending his way, shut the connecting door. Turning around, he found he had his own rather angry room-occupant to deal with. Blinking twice at the close contact of her glaring face, he backtracked a step. She pointed a finger at him and prodded him in the chest a couple times while demanding,

 

“What. The hell. Was that!”

 

“A pillow.” He said promptly, shifting to the side to escape from her sharp claws that were just now making their presence known.

 

“And just why did a PILLOW come in contact with my FACE?”

 

He tried to keep from laughing but the urge was sadly just too great. Of course, this did not bode well with Mariame. He watched as a multitude of expressions graced her face. Anger and embarrassment, however, did not hold up against amusement. She soon found herself laughing along with him.

 

“So what…why was there…a pillow…flying at great speed…toward us? Not to mention that screech at you?” She gasped in-between deep breaths.

 

“I imagine Aurore did not like the… interruption.”

 

Mariame sputtered indignantly. “Inter…interruption!”

 

“She was in the middle of killing Hugh for making her share a room with him, I assume.”

 

“Oh. Yes of course. You had me thinking for a moment there…”

 

Alleio turned to her abruptly.

 

“Thinking what?”

 

Mariame blinked. His voice had changed, quite quickly, from amused…to very low, and slightly…soft. The transition made her stutter and her face turn slightly pink. She WAS in a room. Alone. With a very, VERY beautiful specimen of the male species. Did she mention there was a bed, no, two beds behind her! And he happened to be wearing only a towel. `AGH!' she shook her head to rid herself of the naughty thoughts.

 

“N-n-nothing…hey…why ARE you only wearing a towel? You could have at least-”

 

He grinned slowly, almost seductively, taking a step forward. This, of course, brought him face-to-face with the slightly flushed girl. She stopped mid-sentence, flustered at his nearness. He heard all sorts of confused things in her mind, and his smirk deepened. He bent forward, his lips very close to her ear.

 

“It makes you nervous,” he whispered. The tone was definitely seductive.

 

Seductive? What the hell? She'd known him not even a day! This wasn't right.

 

`What's going on? He's a totally different SPECIES for goodness sake! Ahh! He's too close…and WEARING A TOWEL! And…he…wet…hair…aaah!'

 

He chuckled lightly and nipped at her ear gently. He heard her gasp in response; the confused, shaken, and utterly aroused thoughts running through her mind. It was obvious she wanted him. It was time to take this a step further. He placed his hands gently on her arms and pulled her closer. She stumbled slightly, putting her hands up to his bare chest for balance.

 

`Oh God…now what? This-is-too-fast-I-don't-want-this-oh-god-yes-I-do-stop!! I can't be this hormone driven to make out with the first guy who…who…ohmigosh!' Her thoughts turned to mush as she felt his mouth claim hers in a sudden move. She stiffened in shock, her eyes blinking in surprise. A small `mmph!' escaped her as his lips pressed gently against her own. She closed her eyes, relaxing, and leaned into him, fingernails slowly turning into claws as countless emotions ran rampant through her.

 

`Soft…' He deepened the kiss somewhat, willing her to respond to him. She did, finally, hesitantly, and her lips parted slightly as he bit and sucked at her lower lip, then kissed down her chin to the soft skin of her neck. She moaned faintly in answer, and he moved his way back up, showering little pecks across her hot flesh. Her hands moved, slowly, tentatively up and across his chest to clasp his neck. A line from a song flashed through Mariame's mind, and she agreed with it wholly, feeling the tensed muscles under her sensitive fingers.

 

`I know I don't know you…but I want you, so bad…'

 

Alleio's hands moved then, one tracing up her arm to grip her shoulder in a possessive clench as he traced her mouth with his tongue softly. The other arm wrapped around her slender waist; he pulled her closer still, so she was nearly flush against his bare chest. Every nerve in her body was on fire; every stroke of his tongue on her lips was defined by sparking electricity. She opened her mouth to him, and he tasted her then, plundering her mouth with his tongue. She responded fiercely, fighting for dominance as her hands tangled themselves in his long ebony hair. Alleio growled, pleased. He felt the sharp, transformed fangs as his tongue brushed them; her claws at the back of his neck sent exciting shivers all over his body. Yes, definitely a creature with instincts of the body…a few choice instincts were taking over her body now… She broke free of his mouth and traced a wet trail down his neck, biting tantalizingly at his pulse. He shuddered, his body over taken by chills. His breathing grew heavier, and his voice was husky as he murmured,

 

“You see now…” his breath hitched, and he struggled for control as her tongue swirled over a nerve, “…just why I didn't object to…” he found himself unable to finish; he let go of her shoulder in favor of her chin and forced her face to meet his. He brought his mouth down against hers again, not asking permission as he met her tongue in a battle of wills. She broke free almost immediately, though, and said, her voice now a low purr, driving him nearly to insanity,

 

“…object to what?” blue eyes with icy white flames met darkened orange; they both caught their breath as he remembered what he was to say.

 

“…sharing a room with you,” he said, breathlessly, and moved to capture her mouth again, grasping her arms again in a fierce grip and pulling her towards him once more, almost roughly. Stunned by his answer, she tripped and collapsed neatly onto his chest. He, startled by the impact, stepped backwards, and consequently, fell into the not-quite-shut door. A startled `eep' from Mariame told Alleio that they had just fallen, in each other's arms, into the other connected room, where Aurore and Hugh were currently sitting on the floor and calmly talking. The previously conversing couple was now staring at the intruders. Mariame disentangled herself from Alleio, her face crimson. Hugh smirked, remarking,

 

“Oh, `Get to know each other,' is it now?”

 

If it was possible, Mariame turned a deeper shade of red and stumbled back into the other room, slamming the connecting door.

 

Aurore sighed and slapped Hugh lightly on the arm. “Honestly.”

 

Alleio, his face once more an impassive mask, nodded shortly to the both of them and followed Mariame's example. He found her lying spread-eagled on her bed, still blushing furiously. He coughed lightly, and she turned her head towards him. She noticed he was still wearing only a towel, though it was slightly loosened now, from their actions. She wondered, briefly, how it could stay cinched through the pillow-ducking, making-out, and falling-through-the-door. He caught the thought and replied mildly, walking into the adjoined bathroom,

 

“Right now, the only thing keeping this towel up…” he paused, looking back over his shoulder at her with those fiery orange orbs,

 

“…is telekinesis,” He grinned mischievously at her, turned back around, and waltzed back into the bathroom to change.

 

Mariame felt her face heating up yet again. She snorted, turned away from the bathroom door, and reached over the side of her bed for her backpack, where her mp3 player currently rested.

 

`What in hell was that…he practically seduces me…I've only known him for barely a day! And yet…such passion…' She blushed at her thoughts. `Enough, May! No need to dwell on it, so you had a little make-out session……you know, from his cold façade, one wouldn't think he's such a good kisser…ARGH!' Resolved not to think about it anymore, she snuggled under the covers with her headphones clamped firmly to her ears.

 

Consequently, she did not hear a certain ebony-haired man walk out of the bathroom, now fully clothed, and walk to his own bed. She also missed completely the three words he whispered to the black night…

 

“Good night, May…”