Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Final Chance ❯ Chapter Four: A Soul's Binds ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Same, so look back if you must!

 

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Chapter Four: A Soul's Binds

 

Ryleigh was in a miserable mood by the time Friday, her next day of class, rolled around. Not only had her parents randomly phoned (she'd had Kayley say she wasn't home), and then continued to phone in a vain attempt to talk to her, but Nathaniel had been pestering her about her little fainting spell the day it had happened, and…

 

She'd only dreamt once that week. Normally, she would have a dream every night, always centered on the blonde elf. But this week, for the first time that she could remember, she'd only dreamt once out of three nights. Waking up Wednesday and Thursday, she'd been alarmed to find that she could not remember having any dreams the night before. This, coupled with Nathaniel's bothersome worrying and her parents annoying attempts at forcing her to talk to them, made for a very moody Ryleigh.

 

Waking up that morning, despite the fact that she was relieved to remember dreaming, Ryleigh was still in a bad mood. Why? The dream had been… incomplete, was the only word she could think of to describe it. The elf and her neko-jin companion (whom Ryleigh had stared at once more due to her new visions) had arrived in the country named Gaia, the elder of the two heading off to find an inn while the younger stayed in the town square.

 

That was it. That was the whole dream. As soon as the neko-jin had been out of sight, Ryleigh's surroundings had faded into darkness before she was once more met with the sight of her white, stucco ceiling. Sitting up, Ryleigh groaned in irritation and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, standing and literally shuffling towards her closet. She dug through it and grabbed a random shirt and pair of jeans before grabbing some underwear and a bra from her dresser, moving slowly into the bathroom.

 

Dropping the garments onto the scale and closing the door, Ryleigh shed her pajama's and started the water, holding her hand under it while gazing absently in the mirror opposite her. Her eyes drifted down, settling on the mark just under her left breast; just under her heart. The brownish mark looked like some sort of symbol; in truth, after looking it up, her child hood doctor had told her that it was actually shaped like the Japanese symbol for light. Placing her left hand just over the mark, Ryleigh sighed, feeling a small tingle run through her fingers and calm her slightly.

 

The mark had always been a source of comfort for Ryleigh, strange as that may have sounded. It reminded her that she was unique; herself and no one else. How many people in the world had a marking under their heart that was a symbol for something? Noticing the water temperature, Ryleigh stood and hit the shower switch, stepping in and letting the water run over her body. She washed her body first, sure to get all the oils off her face. Then moved on to her hair, using a large amount of her honey scented shampoo.

 

Ryleigh cracked a small grin, feeling a bit better. Nathaniel had been the first to buy her this type of shampoo, getting her hooked to it so that it was now the only one she used. Rinsing her hair off then conditioning it, Ryleigh turned the water off and stepped out of the shower stall, grabbing the nearby towel and drying herself off with it. Rolling her hair up in it, Ryleigh grabbed the clean undies she'd brought in with her and slipped them on, next pulling her bra over her arms and managing to latch the hooks together.

 

Sighing as she felt the warm air of the bathroom beginning to disperse, Ryleigh pulled on her pair of denim capris and pulled her deep blue blouse over her arms, buttoning it up as she walked back into her bedroom, hair still up in the towel. Finishing with the buttons, she pulled on the end of the towel and let her hair fall around her shoulders, grabbing her blow dryer and aiming it at her hair.

 

Kayley walked in when she was roughly half way done, laughing quietly when Ryleigh simply continued to move the dryer around her head without brushing it.

 

“Nathaniel isn't walking with us today; he said he wanted to walk Kaelyn to her class,” she informed her friend, who snorted and rolled her eyes.

 

“Already?” she asked, pulling her hair back into a large clip and staring at her appearance in the mirror, criticizing the look, “Not even a week and he's already making moves on her; not surprised.” Frowning and yanking the clip from her hair, Ryleigh tossed it back onto the dresser and nodded at her once more messy hair, turning and flashing Kayley a lopsided grin before heading past her into the kitchen, snatching her carrier from where it sat on the table and shrugging it onto her shoulder.

 

“Ryleigh, wait!” Kayley ran into the kitchen, staring at her friend paused in the doorway, “don't you want to go to Tim Hortens to get an Ice Cap like usual?”

 

“No thanks,” she looked back at Kayley, the blue eyed girl staring at her in shock, “My stomach doesn't feel too great currently, so not today,” waving, she closed the door and headed down the stairs, mind in utter confusion. What was wrong with her lately? She was suddenly getting visions during the day, passing out… and that dream… why had it ended so suddenly?

 

Ryleigh sighed, glancing at the park as she walked by it. Spotting a couple cuddling on the bench, she felt a tug at her heart so suddenly that Ryleigh immediately looked forwards again, cheeks red as she hurried her pace and rushed towards the university campus. Finally reaching it, she hurried into her class room and plopped onto one of the stools, once more perching her feet on the bar and her hands on the sides of the seat, rocking slightly.

 

Ok Ryleigh, just calm down, she told herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, you're just stressed out because of the calls from your parents… no big deal, you can get through this… breath in, breath out… breath in, breath out… breath in-

 

Her silent mantra was cut off by sudden giggling, and Ryleigh cracked one eye open to see what was going on. A gaggle of girls from the class stood around a single stool, whispering and giggling excitedly. Ryleigh blinked, her right eyebrow rising automatically. What on earth had them so excited?

 

A few of the girls left the group to find a seat for themselves, leaving Ryleigh a gap to see through. Leaning forwards, she blinked once, then rolled her eyes. Oh, of course, they'd been fawning over a guy.

 

Though I can see why they're fawning… she admitted mentally, scanning over the new guy briefly. His short, messy hair was a deep red, his eyes a beautiful honey brown. He was dressed smartly, and Ryleigh could tell that he was well built even through the material of his jacket. She watched as he smiled charmingly at his group of admirers, then froze with a surprised gasp when he turned and pinned her with his gaze, as though he had sensed her watching him.

 

Neither moved for a long while, locked in an electric staring contest. Ryleigh watched his eyes scan her own, widening briefly then narrowing again. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Ryleigh was able to tear her eyes from his, immediately facing front wards, her cheeks flushing bright red.

 

Ryleigh didn't know what was happening to her; normally she could stare a guy down in ten seconds and feel nothing, but this guy… he… she hadn't been able to look away! It was like she was hypnotized or something, unable to remove her gaze from those gorgeous, honey brown, eyes…

 

Ryleigh shook her head violently, cheeks flushing an even deeper red. She chanced a glance at the male, squeaking and staring forwards once more when she saw he was still staring at her.

 

Stop looking at me… stop looking at me… stop looking at me… Ryleigh looked up when a cough sent the new guys groupies running to their seats, letting out a sigh of relief when she spotted an amused looking Deveau standing at the front of the classroom, tapping her foot.

 

“I see you've all met the new student already.” Giggles began, then shushed as Deveau gazed around the room, “Mr. Zade Winterbourne, stand please.”

 

The red head stood silently, looking for all the world like a prince who had just graced his citizens with his presence. Ryleigh kept her eyes averted.

 

“Mr. Winterbourne will be joining our class from now on, so treat him as one of your own,” the entire class shared a small laugh, even Zade cracking a small grin. Ryleigh felt his eyes settle on her once more, and kept her gaze elsewhere, staring at a tile on the ground as though it were the most interesting thing in the world. Zade frowned slightly, then took his seat when Deveau moved back to the front of the room, awaiting instructions like the rest of the class. The professor smiled, then ran a finger along her schedule, tapping on the square for Friday.

 

“Alright, today, your topic is…” she paused, looking up at her students, “Fate. Begin,” Ryleigh shook the thoughts of the new guy from her head, once more clearing her mind and focusing on that word, that one word, fate. She felt the usual calm take over her body, lifting her brush as her eyes both became dull, both emerald green.

 

Already in her trance, Ryleigh didn't notice Zade go into a similar trance, his own eyes turning blood red.

 

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Ryleigh looked around, recognizing the area where she stood as the same she had been at in her dream the night before. Searching for the blonde elf, she found her fairly easily, and moved slightly closer. She noticed the girl hastily pick up the jewel that hung on a chain around her neck, then drop it hastily, shaking her hand as though it had been burned. Ryleigh followed the girl as she moved cautiously towards the corner of the nearby building; hand on her swords hilt as though she were ready for an attack…

 

Suddenly, the elf was knocked over by a form with ebony hair, both following to the ground. The male (Ryleigh guessed it was a male) managed to save himself and the elf from hitting the ground, pulling the girl into a safe embrace to keep her from getting hurt. Ryleigh blinked, frowning and moving slightly closer, frowning more when she still couldn't see the mans face. It was almost as though it were being blurred out…

 

“Ryleigh…” Ryleigh spun, looking around for the one who had called her name.

 

“Ryleigh…” the scenery went black once more, leaving her alone with the elf and the faceless man. She staggered back, gasping when even the two forms disappeared.

 

“Ryleigh!”

 

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“Another job well done, Ryleigh!” the blonde jumped when her professor patted her on the shoulder, snapping fully out of her trance and blinking un-matching eyes at the older woman.

 

“Uh… thanks?” she managed, turning back to her painting when Deveau leaned closer and frowned slightly.

 

“Though… it seems you forgot something…” she motioned to the painting, and Ryleigh gasped, eyes widening.

 

Just like in the dream, the blonde elf was being cradled in the arms of an ebony haired male, blushing as she stared up at his face… or at least, where his face should have been. It was blank.

 

“I… I couldn't see it…” she muttered in shock, bringing a hand to her forehead when Deveau moved on, staring at the blank face. Why hadn't she been able to see his face?

 

“Ryleigh, come look at this!” the sudden shout jerked Ryleigh from her thoughts once more, the blonde almost falling off her stool. Looking to where Deveau was waving at her frantically from beside Zade, Ryleigh paused, then unwillingly walked over.

 

“What is it- WHAT THE HELL?!” Ryleigh gaped at the painting, not believing what she was seeing. It was her painting! The one she had just completed! Only…

 

“Their faces…” she whispered, reaching out with a shaky hand, “they're… opposite…”

 

Where in her painting the male's face was blank, in Zade's, it was the elf's face that was blank, the male gazing down at her with surprised ruby eyes.

 

She was vaguely aware of two of the other students bringing her own painting over and setting it beside Zade's, the two identical except for the slight difference in style and the opposite faces.

 

Deveau looked first at the surprised Zade, then at a shocked Ryleigh.

 

“Ryleigh?” she questioned softly, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. The touch seemed to snap her out of her daze, and Ryleigh immediately shrugged off her hand, dashing out of the room.

 

“Ryleigh!” Deveau called after her, but the girl didn't hear her. Zade stared after her for a while, eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

 

Something about that girl seemed oddly familiar…

 

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“Prof. Deveau?” Ryleigh called, poking her head into the classroom. She felt like an idiot for her little scene earlier on, and had intended on apologizing to the professor after class had ended; however, it looked as though she had missed her.

 

Sighing, Ryleigh moved towards where she had left her carrier in her rush to get away. I'll have to wait till Monday to apologize, I suppose…she thought, reaching out to grab the bags strap. She froze when foot steps sounded behind her, eyes narrowing. Those weren't the clicks of high heals…

 

“Who's there-!” she spun, then gasped when she was suddenly pinned against the wall, Zade's hand's holding her arms against the surface on either side of her head.

 

“What are you doing?!” she demanded, doing her best to keep the red from rising to her cheeks as she stared at him defiantly, failing horribly as he stared back at her with his own intense gaze.

 

“Who are you?” he breathed, his deep voice causing shivers to run up Ryleigh's spine.

 

“What are you talking about?!” she hissed, pressing her head back against the wall when he leaned in closer.

 

“Why do you seem so familiar?” Zade asked huskily, then, his grip on her arms tightening, he demanded “Why do I feel like I know you?!”

 

“Let me go!” Ryleigh growled, struggling to free her wrists from his grasp, her sleeves saving her from what could possibly have been nasty bruises. Zade didn't answer, though his eyelids drooped slightly, and Ryleigh gasped when they suddenly took on a reddish glint as he leaned in closer, his lips moving towards hers.

 

Ryleigh bit her lip, bringing her knee up hard at the juncture of his legs. Zade groaned, releasing her and curling away, Ryleigh panting and taking the opportunity to grab her carrier and run. When the pain had lessened, Zade looked towards the doorway, frowning.

 

What had come over him?

 

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I'm not saying ANYTHING. I don't want to give the story away, so you'll just have to wait and see what happens to next. X3

 

Amariahellcat

 

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That was… intense. *stares in shock* Amazing.

 

And, as you've noticed… I'm back. :)

 

-Snowy