Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Tides of Wine ❯ Elliott ( Chapter 5 )

Lysanthy

~Elliott~

 

I really did not know how very strange a human girl could be in the mornings. I knew that, as far as appearances go, she had every right to be staring at me. On the first night of lost immortality, I was surprised to learn that I still changed in the moonlight. I was not nearly as powerful as I had been with my immortality, but I still had vague traces of my abilities. But did she really have to keep staring?

It was driving me to insanity. We were up and moving now. I walked aimlessly down the dark city streets with her trailing close behind. I had no idea where I was going, and maybe I would have scared if she would just stop looking at me. Her gaze would move from my claws to my face and back again. I had dearly to resist the urge to pull my cloak over my face and hide.

It was not that I was scared of her or anything. My nervous reaction was far beyond fear. It was my confusion of her that made me want to run and hide in a deep dark corner of the universe. It took me forever to realize that she would not complain, but simply follow my lead, where ever I wanted to go. It was odd. I had expected her to be more wary of me.

Three hours passed before she finally said anything. Then she was looking somewhat tired again and was only throwing brief glances at my person. The rest of her concentration was placed on the dark stone buildings we passed, the drying lines flung across alleyways, the stair cases that led up to old attics, the sand upon which she tread, the streets that we traveled, and anything else that tickled her fancy.

The words she said made me laugh quietly. "Where are we going?"

I turned and smiled gently at her. "Well, um, I was hoping that eventually you might take up the lead and tell me."

Her sleepy confusion fell into more sleepy confusion, until realization dawned. Blankly, she mumbled. "That explains why we walked down that street four times." She turned her attention back to me. "I'm sorry. I forgot that I was suppose to be leading, but I'm so tired now that I doubt I would be doing any better."

I grinned, my fangs making her flinch. "Then I shall continue?"

She yawned and walked ahead of me. "Nope."

I felt something in me twist and looked to the skies. The sun was coming. My appearance was changing back to its more human form. I grimaced. The changing was uncomfortable, far more uncomfortable now that I was mostly human.

I hated not having my immortality.

If I walked a mile, I was exhausted. If I stepped on a rock, it hurt. If I walked for a day, my feet fell like they were going to fall off. Being human was hard. I constantly felt like I was being watched. I was never sure of my surroundings. No longer could I sense the creatures around me, not in my normal way.

I was helpless, defenseless, and weak. Weak. I growled, but it was not nearly as much a growl as used to be. I wanted to kill something, to rip it apart, but I would not have been surprised if I could not break a slighty thickened branch.

My brother had always told me that I was the weak one, that I would end up ruining our family name. "You will be the end of the Lysanthy line." He promised. "I have begun to realize it lately that if we don't do something about you now, it could be the end of our futures."

At the time, I had argued. I had told him what a fool he was, to think that anyone could put down our family in such a way. Also, I had protested that there was no way to end us. We were immortal. We would live forever.

He did not listen to me. Instead, Lysander wandered off to tend to something that he thought was far more important than me and my "silly opinions", as he so charmingly put it. Lost in my own past, it took me a while to register the human girl pulling on my sleeve.

The sun was up now, making the sky glow orange. Still lost in my anger, I treated her as I did my human servants back home. "What?" I snapped, eyes glowing dangerously.

Unfortunately, the human girl was well awake now. Amelia glared. "What was that for? God, all I did was ask you what was wrong and then you went off on me! I'll remember not to care next time." She crossed her arms and jogged ahead. "We're leaving the city now. Since I have no idea where you want me to lead you, I'll just make up a route of my own. Come on, snob face. Let's get moving."

I had not thought I was capable of tolerating such an annoyance lately. I found myself running blindly at her and shoving her into a wall. She screamed when I pulled her arms behind her where she could not get loose. I whispered in her ear, unaware of the people who were already beginning to refill the streets.

"Let us get one thing straight, Amelia. I am not here for your entertainment or for you to insult. I am paying you to live and lead me around."

She muttered something I could not hear. "What?" I demanded to know.

"I said YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" She snatched her arms out of my pathetic grasp. I was shaking with anger. She whirled around and continued yelling at me. "You insulted me first! GOD, I have never seen anyone lose their temper that fast and over nothing!"

She stomped off. "Wait!" I had a headache. "Where are you going?"

"AWAY!" She snapped without turning around. I sighed. GREAT. Now I had to follow her again. I started apologizing, repeatedly. "I'm sorry. I really am!" I told her. She ignored me. We sounded like an old married couple, the way we went on at eachother. For every excuse I had, she had a better defense.

Finally, I gave up trying to be nice. I rushed to stand in front of her, and with what little greater-than-human strength I had left, I snatched her legs out from under her, making her fall over my right shoulder. Amelia squealed, dignity forgotten, and began to beat violently at my back. It was annoying really. I could actually feel her weight on my shoulders. I actually thought that I might do anything to get my immortality back at this point. I could not stand how pathetic I felt. Deep in thought, I blanked out her violent attempts to make me release her and continued walking.

We left the town in a direction that I thought was north. It was not, as I found out later, but it was the correct road that would lead to the closest city. As she struggled uselessly on my shoulder, I watched the buildings on the street get smaller and spread further apart. We were leaving the city, even if one us went unwillingly. I was happy to be out of there.

Perhaps with this girl on my shoulder, my journey would not be so bad after all. Grinning at the people who watched in awe at us, I decided to play a game with Amelia. It would be a game that she would not know she was playing, of course, but it would be greatly entertaining to me.

Now smirking, I took in a deep breath and the game begin.