Jungsoo babied me until I had to fake tiredness to get away from him. He was thankfully now at Hankyung’s home in Baliene, probably talking the poor man’s ear off about today’s events.

                “Well that was terribly embarrassing” the new voice in my room almost makes me jump out of my skin. I leap from the bed, the book I was reading falling on the floor from my slack fingers. Top sneers at me, his dark eyes sparkling with mischief.

He has a new hairdo and it’s an improvement from the previous one. However, what I’m wondering is how he managed to grow out his hair in a matter of hours? He is now sporting a white Mohawk, the strands long and gelled to stand in the air. The sides of the Mohawk are still buzzed, giving him a douchebag look. He’s wearing a silver jacket, with diamond studs running down the sleeves forming several patterns. The front of the jacket is a nice white leather, with swirls of inky black symbols etched into it. He’s wearing the jacket open and underneath of it is a pink, yes I said pink, vest.

Oh my….this is just an Epic lol moment. And he’s trying to look so hardcore.

I burst out laughing not caring if it hurt my face, because yeah, he looks totally stupid. I mean come….

I find myself flung out of my bedroom window.

…

….

….

HOLY ON A STICK! I don’t even have time to scream, the shock causing me to become choked up in fright.

Top catches me before I hit the ground, a firm grip on the back of my shirt that keeps me hovering horizontally in the air. However, right after he saves me, he drops me suddenly and I land heavily despite the short distance of the fall.

                “Well you’re about as useless as a yellow snow”

Pushing myself up off the ground, I end up on all fours, my stomach paining me a little.

                “THE , ARE YOU CRAZY!?” I scream at him, my hands going to examine my body and face. My swollen jaw is throbbing painfully seeing that I landed on that specific side of my face.

What an !

                “Stand up. It’s time for your first training lesson”

                “ you! Don’t…” A warm palm slaps itself on my injured cheek, the stinging pain causing me to snap back my head away the sudden assault. “WHAT THE IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!?”

It’s only after Top’s raised eyebrow that I come to realize that my face and body no longer hurts.  However, Top does not give me sufficient time to appreciate this miraculous healing because he’s once again talking.

                “I witnessed that fight today and I have to say that I am quite embarrassed to have you as a charge. You lack skill, cannot execute a simple direct punch and you get caught off guard too easily”

                “Hey wait…”

                “SHUT UP!” He barks commandingly, glaring at me until I snap my mouth closed.

                “Now, it’s up to me and me alone to get you up to standard. Your Oritalis magic is still hibernating and that just will not do. You need to expel the energy…”

What energy?

                “But for now I will teach you the basic techniques. Such as….dodging”

Dodging?

What the is that? Some of kind of dodge-ball move? I scoff, it sounds absolutely unnecessary.

                “Dodge this” is all he says. I don’t react quickly enough and something hits me in the chest, stinging on impact. He seems to be throwing metal at me? I look down at the object; it looks like a feather that was soaked in silver paint and left to dry. I go to pick it up but it begins to spark fire, making a soft hissing sound before it burns away, vanishing into the dirt, just like that dead beast had.

                “Why do they it do that? Just like that creature, the gaga whatever, after it died it began to sizzle and then just disappeared. Why does that happen?”

                “Well, in the case of the Gragamol, right?” he corrects, “The magic within all creatures of the supernatural world is something that doesn’t mix well with the Earth’s own natural gases. Because these creatures are basically existing outside of the Earth’s reality, when they die their bodies disappear from this realm, the earthly plane, because they should not exist here when they are lifeless they become unwanted and can easily be taken away because they never should have been here in the first place. Do you understand that?”

Oh wow. He actually sounds like he’s really trying to help me comprehend the matter.

                “I guess. So what you’re saying is that basically these creatures are from a different reality, one that does not comply with human reality and therefore when they die they disappear because they shouldn’t even be here”

Top nods, “Basically yes. When they cross over they are real enough to do damage, but once dead it’s like it was never here. I guess you could say that they clean up after themselves.”

Was that a joke?

I laugh.

Top continues to look serious.

I stop laughing.

                “The fey-blade is the same thing.” He indicates to the spot the feather had been, “It’s a magical weapon and therefore should not exist. When I discard it, it disappears the instant it touches earthly soil”

Oh! I see.

                “So if you, if you die, then do you disappear?”

                “Pureblood guardians do not die that easily. Half human guardians who are recruited at a young age can die but will only be stripped of their wings; their mortal body will remain on earth because that is where it originally came from.”

I glance down at the spot where weapon had been,

                “Well, it looks like you’re out of things to throw at me. Guess training is over. Thanks Top. I learned a lot today. Is Hyukjae alright? Can I talk to…”

The guardian’s wings make an appearance. They are definitely larger than Hyukjae’s. In the afternoon light I can now see that the feathers on them are a shiny metallic grey and I wonder if all Guardian’s have different colored wings.

They look so cool but before I could admire them further, Top flaps his left wing inwardly once. The force of the breeze it creates sends my hair flying and my chills over my flesh, my eyes squinting close to prevent the wind from affecting them. When I manage to open my eyes again I see that the complete left wing is now completely metallic and silver.

They look so be made out of steel or at least metal and I can see the sharp gleam at each of their darkened tips, warning of how sharp they must be.

                “Now. Dodge”

His warning is followed by another flap of the left wing and I go to cover my face with my arms against the breeze when I notice at least seven random feathers’ flying straight at me. The pointed tips are aimed directly at my body and I tense up shortly.

This seems to be the wrong thing to do because Top yells angrily and I watch as the feathers stop in midair just inches from my neck and body before dropping to the ground.

When the hissing sounds starts, I don’t have to look to know that they are gone.

                “Okay. You are either really retarded or want to die?” he sounds frustrated and I’m about to scream at him for being stupid enough to launch spikey feathers at me, when his left wing rears back again and he releases a growl, flapping it forward to send another splash of metal feathers at me again. They whoosh through the air like glass shards, intent and dangerous as they draw nearer to their target, me.

I duck to the side to avoid the first few but end up dropping unto my stomach as they seem to follow my body movements. I roll away quickly, dodging 5 of them as they stab at the ground where I was just lying. I roll again until I’m on my back and look up to see a couple more of them hovering over me before they slam down on me.

!

I cringe up, arms over to cover my face. When they hit me they don’t penetrate my body like I expected too, instead they fall hard on me, hitting my forehead, arms and torso with their density before bouncing off to sizzle on the ground.

                “That was an improvement” Top is speaking again and I hear the telltale whoosh of his wing. Immediately I roll onto my knees, crawl forward until I’m able to get to my feet. By that time Top has already launched a new set of feather shards at me. They come at me in one straight line this time instead of the scattered form they had taken before. After confirming that they are moving at one direct point, I merely step aside, hoping to just let it go right past me. It does!

                “HA!” I mock at Top. He smiles, his hand curving up and I hear the powerful whistle in the air and jump around to look. The army of shards has changed their direction and is currently heading straight for me. I duck and manage to avoid them again.  When I glance around again they are making a U-turn in the air and heading for me once more.

‘UNFAIR!’

They chase me around the front lawn like an evil swarm of bees. I have confirmed that he is controlling them somehow and that the only way to stop them is to take down Top. He doesn’t hurt me with them but I hurt myself trying to escape from them.  I have got to work on my cardio. Oakville is going to whip me into better shape than I’ve ever been.

Tiring quickly, my air defused brain tells me to run toward Top and I don’t bother to question it. I cut a sharp angle, pulling back quickly before the shards could twist around again and take off towards Top. He sees me coming and smirks.

                “Finally caught on have you?”

                “I’ve had enough!” I charge at him, trying to ignore the buzz of the shards as they get closer.

Top walks forward, his wings vanishing with ease as if they were never there and then he is shorting the distance between us.

I almost falter in my plan but refuse to let him mislead me.

                “You think you’re so smart?” the buzzing behind me disappears, Top’s hand goes flying about crazily and before I know what he’s up too, the shards are in front of him, in front of me!

I skid to a halt and promptly fall on my . Top keeps the shards aimed at me, ready to strike.

                “This is a fae-arrow. I control it using my hand. It goes where I direct it to go and yes, one of the ways you can stop it is by taking out the puppet master.”

                “Okay, okay. I get it.” I reply testily, feeling sweaty and pitiful.

With a wave of his hand the shards slam down hard. On reflex I spread my legs and can only stare in shock as the full blunt force of the plunge causes the shards to embed themselves deeply into the dirt. That er is trying to kill me!

The shards go up in a hiss of blue fire and I crawl away from it.

                “You dodge like an idiot, but your instincts are…not as poor as I thought. Now…”

                “No, no! Not now, Now I’m tired, and you have to leave. My dad will be home soon” it’s not a lie. I really am tired and Jungsoo is probably on his way home.

                “I will sense him when he draws near. Until then, you will stop your whining”

His voice is booming and I clench my fists at my sides, unable to react the way I want to because I know how unpredictable this guy could be.

                “Standup”

I do as he says.

                “Feet shoulder width a part and put your palm out”

Reluctantly I do this.

                “I know  this is hard for you to do, but you must concentrate. I am going to show you how to conjure a fire ball”

A WHAT?

If I wasn’t so tired and scared less that would have me rejoicing.

How cool is that!???

                “Now don’t disappoint me”  he gives me a look that says, ‘Like you always do’

                “Repeat after me.” He takes the stance as well, putting out his hand, palm up, and looking at it intently, “Fioere”

The moment is made magical as sparks fly from his palm and ultimately combusts into a fiery red flame, but not a ball. Top doesn’t seem to be in pain but his poker face is too good for me to trust. He moves his free hand over it and I watch in amazement as he circles the top of the flame with it and the flame dances beneath the palm. He presses on it, squeezing both palms together and when he lifts them a part slowly I hear a low hissing sound before I’m staring wide eyed at the larger expanse of fire. By the time he completely lifts his upper hand the ball is formed and giving off real heat.

It’s not fake but…

Oh my God it looks unreal. Hell, everything that happens in Oakville is unreal!

The fire is swirling inside the ball, causing it to pulse captivatingly.

                “Fireballs are usually just a distraction for something bigger, but you need to learn how to do something other than what you’re doing now”

                “You mean run and scream”

                “And piss yourself” he adds. I glare at him.

He drops the ball. It makes the low booming sound before vanishing in a small haze of smoke.

                “Now faster” he says, and goes about the same movements. This time he does it at a quicker pace that I think might be normal pace you need to make the fireball while in the battle. It takes 10 seconds before another fireball is formed in his palm and he did not even use the magic word, ‘Fioere’.

I ask him why.

                “Most persons who use the word or spells are new to magic. But there are some who use Fioere because they are not powerful and need word to help decrease the amount of time it takes to create the ball” he drops the one he currently holding and we both don’t bother looking at it while it hisses on the ground.

“Some people just summon the ball, like this”

Top spreads the fires on his outstretched palm and I see the twitching in his fingers as he concentrates. There is a vein popping in his neck before the fireball finally appears. It takes about 5 seconds but had seemed longer.

                “Wow. Can I do that?”

                “Maybe in the next 3 years. Let’s just stick to the basics”

It turns out the basics are pretty hard because on the first 20 attempts,  I somehow manage to fail to produce a fireball. At some point during the 25^th try, I’m sweating profusely and Top is looking agitated when the flame appears. It’s just a tiny flame about the size of one on a matchstick but it’s more than I’ve had before.

There really is magic in me!???

                “OH MY GOD! I did it!” I rejoice.

                “DON’T TOUCH IT!” Top shouts and I move my finger from the flame, looking at Top with a pout.

                “It’ll burn you, you idiot. It’s still fire, even if it’s coming from your hand. You have to be careful. I know many people who have burned themselves badly being foolish with their own fireball”

I sulk but decide to obey him.

                “Now, time to form the ball. To prevent yourself from being burnt, press the heels of your palms together and concentrate on imagining yourself wielding fire confidently. Just be confident!”

Confident?

After the days I’ve had, I sure my confidence is hiding somewhere between my rectum and my spleen.

I give it a try and end up feeling the strong burn instantly and pull my hand away. Top folds his arms, looking at me intensely.

Closing my eyes I take a deep breath, breathing out to clear my mind. I hear Top scoff and when I open my eyes I see that the flame is gone. I look for it, inspecting my palm and the bottom of my hand.

                “The are you doing? Create another one! They were right to assign Hyukjae to you. You are both pretty useless”

It takes me another 4 tries before I get back a flame. Angry at Top for his insult to Hyukjae and just plain angry for Hyukjae leaving me, for leaving me in the hands of this , for the empire taking him away, at Amber for kicking the crud out of me. These past two days have been strenuous and I hate it!

I don’t want this.

                “Stop focusing on the bad things you .” He tells me and I don’t have to look to see that flame is gone again. I give a shout in frustration.

                “Look just concentrate on being as powerful, proving everyone who doubts your strengths wrong. To everyone to think you’re incompetent. Be that confident fire wielder who will put everyone in their place”

I nod, and go about trying to make a flame. It comes on the first try and instead of being captivated by it like I did the last time I just straight into making it into a fireball. My free hand is able to cover the flame without being burnt because in my mind I’m doing this easily; I want to see that fireball forming in my palm.

The moment I lift my palm, I close my eyes, not wanting to be disappointed.

                “BE CONFIDENT!” Top barks at me and I snap one eye open to peer at my hands. 

Nothing is happening yet my hand feels tingly like I have a million ants in it. I frown. The flame is obviously gone again. I lift my palms further, slowly just in case, but nothing is there so far. I bend further, peeping into the empty space, then go to catch at my palm, hoping to stop the weird sensation.

                “HOLY !” I scream when the flame erupts out of my palm. I barely pull back in time to avoid my eyebrows from being scorched off. The fireball I’m holding is larger than Top’s had been and I feel triumphant, grinning like I just won the world cup series.

It falls off my palm, plopping to the ground and hissing.

Top makes a sound in the back of his throat.

                “Your hands are too small” he gives a chuckle. “You…” he breaks off to laugh and it’s the weirdest sound I’ve ever heard him make, “You, oh my Zeus, only you, only you would create such a large fireball only to have it fall off your palm”

I pout sadly, looking at my hands as if they offended me.

He suggests that we train repeatedly for another half an hour and by that time I’m overly energetic despite being cold, sweaty and bruised. I form 6 more fireballs, 4 of which were overly large and awkward but Top showed me how to throw at a target and all of them missed except for one lucky devil that managed to hit the flower pot in my dad’s porch, shattering it to pieces.

Hell yeah!

Then I thought about the cleanup I had to do later and my excitement deflated.  I think that Top might actually help me with the mess since he’s been less of a douchebag this afternoon but he shrugs off my offer to help and vanishes with the promise of retuning tomorrow for another lesson.

I had asked him to heal my injuries first so that was one problem I didn’t have to worry about now. I had just swept up the pile of broken clay from the porch when I spot someone, a shadow through the bushes, rounding the corner. We lived to the end of the lane so it couldn’t be one of our 4 neighbors that I’ve never met. My dad had taken the car so I assumed it wasn’t him, but just in case I swept the pieces of clay into one corner of the porch hurriedly.

                “Oh my god. The world must be ending if Kim Jongwoon is tidying up his home”

My movements with the broom come to a halt. Siwon is here.

                “Well, it’s a good thing I have this broom seeing that I might need it to defend myself from a sudden intruder”

Siwon smirks “The only thing I’ll steal is your ity” he pokes out his tongue childishly.

                “Gross. Kid, you need to slow your roll. Aren’t you too young to be robbing people of their cherries?”

Siwon scoffs, waving a hand, “I’ve been getting tail since I turned 14”

Hm. Speaking of tail….

I had had a breathing moment right after training this afternoon to ask Top about the wolves we met back in the woods. He had said that the one who had had spoken too in the forest had said that they were just patrolling their territory, trying to ward off unknown creatures who might be harmful to their people. It made me think of Siwon’s tale about the treaty and the separation between Baliene and La-Dev. Were the wolves the ones who guarded the boundaries to ensure that no one intruded on their land? But if the wolves were really human then did that make Siwon a wolf also?

Top had said that the wolf gene is strong in the family lines of the Baliene people and I think it’s fair for me to be a little suspicious about Siwon. The wolves back in the forest had reacted angrily to my scent, thinking I was an intruder rather than the great protector, so why didn’t Siwon think I smell funny when he first met me.

Let’s settle this once and for all.

                “Siwon, can I speak with you for a moment?”

He gives me an inquiring glance, but begins jogging up the walkway shortly after, his long ponytail flying wildly behind him.

He leaps unto the porch wall, taking a seat for himself comfortably,         “What’s up?”

A bit stunned by his agile youthful energy I stare at him stunned. Now I really wanted to know if he was a wolf.

                “You, you had said your ancestors were like superstitious right?”

His brown eyes narrow a bit clearly wondering where I was going with this, “Yeah” he draws the word out.

                “Well, I remember asking you who was making sure the people from the La-Dev do not intrude on your land? Who, who did your people put in charge to take of care of that?”

He scratches at his head causing some shorter strands to come loose, he flushes red, especially around the cheeks but it’s so subtle beneath his tan that you really have to look for the difference in color.

                “Hm, well. As I said, my, my people are, well idiots and like super, super, super out of their mind and they believe in all this magical mumbo jumbo…”

                “Would you just answer the question!”

                “Werewolves” he coughs, his voice low. He pretends to look around.

                “Werewolves?” I ask in dramatic disbelief because one, I wanted to see how he would react and two, those things I saw were not werewolves, they were wolves that’s turned into humans but other than that they were not Werewolves. Werewolves were supposed to be like walking on their hind legs and…be all Underworld looking. Those things were just big dogs.

Then again…

                “Yes Werewolfs!” he shouts, “I know. I know it sounds crazy, but yeah, my ‘people’ say that we have werewolves who guard our land for us” he scoffs again, rolling his eyes. He obviously did not agree with them.

                “Are you a wolf?” I ask boldly.

Siwon’s eyes widen and he looks at him a little funnily before bursting out in laughter, almost falling over the wall.

                “Don’t tell me you actually believe that . It’s all crazy talk that the elderly in my village speak of to entertain the kids” He smirks, “And no I’m not a wolf”

                “So, you’ve never seen any of these wolves?”

He shakes his head, “If I did, I don’t think I would be alive” he laughs.

But how…

Then a Twilight reference hits me. Maybe he was too young? ing hell, how did New Moon go again? I would look it up but I have no internet connection! CURSES!

I give Siwon a once over. He has the long hair like Jacob, is well built and very handsome.

One plus one equals two and yes, he is going to be wolf!

I grin knowingly at him, confusing him further. Stephanie Myers you are like the encyclopedia of Oakville.

                “Why are you here so late?” I question since it’s already after six and by the time the clock strikes 5:30 Oakville’s nights were quickly approaching and were like pitch black, especially where we live. Moving away from Siwon I place the broom to lean against the wall before walking halfway inside to flick at the switch. Siwon reminds me offhandedly that the switch for the porch is the third one to the right and I flick it on.

When I come back outside he’s standing, looking exceptionally tall and tanned like the wolf – man had when I saw him back in the woods. 

                “Oh, I saw your dad at my house and, he said you were hurt in school today. I uh, tried to call but your dad said you had lost your phone. But, but you look fine, how badly hurt were you?” he reaches out and scraps his knuckles against my cheek, which was unnecessary because I was sure the swelling was gone. I step back a little so I’m out of his personal space and he’s out of mine. He jerks back his arm when he sees me shift away.

                “Sorry.”

I wave him off, “It’s no problem. And yes, yes I got into a fight and well, got like black eye”

                “Really?” Siwon sounds genuinely shocked, his eyes roaming over my face, “It doesn’t look that way”

Oops. My bad.

                “Yeah, well, it wasn’t that, that bad. Dad gave me some ice and it went right down and poof I’m all better”

Siwon seems to lack respect for someone’s personal space because he gets in mine again, his gaze heavy on my face. He cups my left cheek, tilting my head,

                “If you want someone to help you plot and execute revenge, I’ll be glad to help”

I hate that he’s so ing tall. He’s looking down at me with those seductive brown eyes and I’m ashamed to say that I find his interest in me rather flattering.

But I’m just not that kind of boy…well, I’m gay, but I’m not easy…

Or am I?

I rub my face against his callused palm, before pushing it away. I stare up at him challengingly,

                “Why waste your time on something as boring as revenge?”

Siwon gulps visibly and I smirk inwardly. This was fun…and y and I haven’t felt y in days.

Don’t you judge me!

                “Well if you had something else in mind….”

The sound of a vehicle is the only warning we get before Jungsoo’s headlights flash on us and blind me.

                “Yeye!” Jungsoo yells happily before he even parks the car properly. Eventually the lights go off and the engine shuts down and I hear the telltale signs of him getting out of the car and locking up.

                “Wonnie Horse, I didn’t know you’d still be here” My dad says curiously, swinging his keys around on his finger. “And Yesung, I thought you were resting. You shouldn’t be out of bed” Jungsoo scolds lamely, his tone soft and pampering.

                “Dad, I’m feeling much better. So much better I think I’m going back to SM High tomorrow”

Siwon rounds on me, “You were planning on quitting school here?”

Before I can answer my dad as already rushed up the stairs toward us,

                “Yesung! You’re face! What? How?”

                “The ice?” is all I can think of to say but Jungsoo is so easily distracted by the sight of me being healed that he accepts the answer anyway, pulling me close to squeeze the living daylight out of me. He pushes me backwards, his hands going to the hem of my shirt before lifting it up. I squeak as the cool night’s air hits my bare torso and try to force my shirt back down.

                “Checking for boo boos” Jungsoo states seriously.

This man has got be kidding me? And in front of Siwon of all people.

Siwon doesn’t seem to mind the view and if he his lips anymore it’d look like he just ate a tub of grease.

Geez, I know I’m hot and all.

*goofy laugh*

                “But YeYe, why would you want to go back to that horrid place?”

I had to go back. There was no doubt in my mind that I could not just abandon SM high. If I was going to fully accept this role of being the Oritalis I was going to have to stop running from my problems. I decided to just take it one step at a time and see how it all plays out. I made the biggest mistake of my young life the last time I had a mental and emotional breakdown against this new birthright and because of my stupidity and lack of confidence Hyukjae was taken from me and Amber.

I had to take a step in the right direction. After I formed the fireball today for the first time I knew that this was a part of me. And I had to learn to accept it.

                “I have to be brave dad. I can’t keep shying away from all the difficulties life throws me, I need to learn how to face them and deal with them”

                “But not on your own though?” Siwon asks. And I think about the prophecy that Kyuhyun had mentioned, it had said that I would be protected by many and as I look from Jungsoo to Siwon and Top, maybe even Amber and Kyuhyun, I was slowly building an army here in Oakville, an army of reliable people whom I could depend on, so yeah, I don’t think I’m on my own.

Am I?

Nah….

(*)(*)(*)(*)

Siwon ends up staying for dinner and idle chitchat. We don’t get to be alone together at any point during that time and I’m thankful because wow, did I really just myself up in the front porch with him.

Desperate much?

What do you mean desperate? Haven’t you seen how hot he is?

Still, he’s only 14 and obviously has a crush on you. You are just taking advantage of him? That poor misguided boy.

Hey you’re supposed to be on my side. Stupid conscience.

Oh now I’m stupid.

Yes, yes you are. You didn’t even know the answer to number 12 on that pop quiz today.

I told you it was ing ‘Germany’!

THAT WAS WRONG!

…Well, I was half right…

….

…

…

Having internal battles with my conscience is fun.

Dad offered to drive Siwon home and although Siwon made some protests, nothing stops my father from going through with his offers and promises. So now they were gone and I was all alone in this empty house, with no wifi and nothing good showing on television. I did not even have my cell-phone to call Jensen and Nia. I expect Top to show up again but he doesn’t make an appearance.

Moving to my room I go about looking at that I had downloaded and saved on my laptop, it was mostly of straight since most of it was Jensen’s secret stash but the few gay ones were hot.

 I began to rub myself off through my jeans, my eyes intensely focused on the imagery taking place on the screen. There was deep penetration going on, and it was quite…holy that’s hot. I my jeans, shimming them down under a little until I was able to allow my hardening to spring free.

Something heavy and loud came tumbling through the window, and I leap off the bed in fright, kicking my laptop onto the ground. The person is in pain as they wince and rub at their torso. They are also in all black and wearing a hoodie that covers their face from me.

                “Who the hell are you?!”

The person finally seems to notice I’m there and lowers the hoodie from their head. Amber’s serious face pops into view. Her hair was shorter, cut in a different style with a long bangs hanging over one side of her face, a style similar to the one Skyler had and it was a darker brown than it used to be but it was definitely Amber’s face staring back at me.

                “What…” I say dumbly, gesturing with my hands toward her hair.

                “I cried” is all the explanation she gives. “Oh my god would you cover up” she looks disgusted but otherwise than that does not stop staring at my now flaccid . I tuck myself in quickly, turning away from her to do so.

                “WHAT THE FUC K ARE YOU DOING HERE? And what do you mean, you cried?”

She points a finger at me so suddenly that I flinch, mistaking it for a knife or something.

So much for feeling confident…

                “Listen here, could you turn that off please?”

I stare at her in question, my heart pounding in my ears. She gestures with her head toward my laptop and I manage to calm my heart just enough to realize that the movie was still running despite the laptop’s fall.

“ my …”

“Yeah, you like that big , don’t you?”

There’s the sound of solid fleshy pounding of powerful thighs hitting against the other man’s cheeks.

“ my . Breed me”

“You want this you er, oh yeah” a loud grunt, “you want, uh, it?”

                “He obviously wants it” Amber scoffs just as I slam the laptop shut. The sounds keep coming.

                “Idiot” Amber mocks, rolling her eyes. “Okay. So I know you are the Oritalis”

Say what?

How does she know that?

                “Hyukjae was your guardian and he, he was sent here to wait for you. We waited a year for you to arrive and Hyukkie, he was, he was my friend you er! My best friend! He trained so hard to make himself worthy for this role, and you, you just waltz right in here with your sulk and, and I know it couldn’t have been easy for you to find all this out but, HOW COULD YOU JUST SEND HIM AWAY!? That was so heartless of you and you didn’t even consider how stressful …”

                “That’s damn right! It is stressful for me!” I shout back, frustrated once more because she had interrupted my only form of relief for the past two days and it’s overbearing how much people just expect things from me to be perfect and well thought out now that I’m this Oritalis. I’m willing to give it a chance but ! They’ve got to understand that I’m just 16 and I will sulk and I will protest against it because I never wanted it in the first place.

                “I’m sorry about Hyukjae, I’m sorry okay! I can’t take it back, I tried to take it back but they’ve already assigned me a new guardian…”

                “What? What, what? You mean the Empire has already replaced him?” she sounds heartbroken and I really hate myself enough already without her making me feels so much guiltier.

                “Yeah, but…”

She holds up a hand.

                “So that’s it then” she bows her head, and when she looks back up again she’s biting her lip and looking torn, “He’s not coming back, huh?”

I step forward cautiously but she either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care so I continue moving toward her until I’m standing close enough to touch.

                “Amber, I’m sorry…”

                “Stop! Just, just stop ing apologizing. It’s no use to me” she glares at me, all sadden and grief gone from her face, “He saved my life you know. Broke the rules, lost some of the respect of his fellow guardians, he was mocked, scolded and stripped of his original wings…just, just for me, you know. And then, and that’s why it hurts so much to accept that he’s just gone. I know we only spent a year together but he’s grows on you and he was like my brother…”

My stomach is in a chaos of knots and I’m pretty sure I’m trying not to tear up but as each word stabs at my heart I bite the lower lip just to keep it from wobbling. A whimper escapes me, followed by a sniff and I’m beyond embarrassed for crying.

                “I don’t- I really don’t know what to say other than I’m sorry. I know! I know you don’t want to hear it but I am truly sorry for taking your friend from you…”

                “You know Yesung? Hyukjae might have been a bit flawed when it came to being your guardian but he would’ve made a truly awesome friend and he would’ve gone out of his way to protect you even with his life” she shoots me a hard look that clearly states, ‘Now on that!’ before moving to climb out of the window.

She’s gone by the time my eyes start blurring and just fall face first into my bed. Curling into a ball and getting lost in thought. I truly did not mean to send him away. And Hyukjae if you could hear me now, I’m honestly and truly sorry and I didn’t mean anything I had said. I didn’t even give you a chance; I never considered how difficult this must’ve been for you. I expected too much too soon and see now that I allowed my own selfish needs to blind me of your genuine concern and deafen me to your pleas f reasoning. I’m thankful for getting the chance to meet you and I hope to see you again soon, if not for my sake then for Amber….please.

Thank you, thank you so much for saving me yesterday and even if I never said it your face, I am most appreciative that you were my first friend at SM High and my guardian.

I must have fallen asleep because when I wake up again it’s early in the morning. I lazily check the watch that is still on my wrist and see that it is 5 minutes past 4. Jungsoo had probably checked on me because I was just covered with a blanket. I slip from under it, noticing that my jeans had been removed as well.

I sigh in irritation. I swear that man would bathe me, try to put a diaper on me and feed me with a bottle if he could.

                “Ah good”

I spin around to see Top standing in my room.

                “I see you’re up early.”

My sleep fogged brain struggles slightly to comprehend what he might be doing here but all I end up saying is,

                “Hammerhead”

Top’s serious expression does not change.

                “I thought you would like to know that your friend Amber was killed last night”

Now that snaps me out of my sleep and sends the blood in my body running cold. My skin becomes alive with goose bumps and the blood drains out of my face. “What?” I ask hoarsely, unable to shout because oh my god the shock is still making its way through my body.

                “Well, technically she’s not dead, not yet per se. She was attacked by a Grim on her way home. They seem to be in mating season and are out to collect female souls to impress potential mates. We must investigate the matter immediately before more people are harmed”

What?

                “Amber, what about Amber? Is she alright? Where is she? I have, I have to go check on her! What do grims do?” while I slam him with question after question I am jumping into my jeans from yesterday, rubbing my t-shirt over my teeth and ignoring my morning breath. I just need to get to Amber,

I catch Top rolling his eyes and I would punch if I didn’t know he would just beat the out of me.

                “Amber is at the hospital. She’s being treated by Doctor Wellington.”

Kyuhyun’s father?

                “Grims souls out of mortals, usually they do this to people who are already dying and basically put them out their misery. However, because it is mating season they seem to think its fit to bring a living person’s soul as a gift to potential love interests. The empire is trusting that we solve this quickly so I am here as your guardian to ensure your success”

                “I have to check on Amber” I state strongly, not willing to back down. She didn’t deserve this!

                “The mortal will live…well, hopefully, but we have no time for that”

                “She’s more than just some mortal she’s my friend”

Top sneers at me, “From what I heard last night she doesn’t want anything to do with you, not since you sent her Hyukjae away”

I glare hatefully at him,  “You peeping tom!”

                “I’m your guardian you imp; it’s my job to look over you”

                “Well look over me as I visit Amber” I stride out of the room, not waiting for him. I grab the car keys, intent on driving myself to the hospital. Then I pause, realizing I have no idea where it was. I think about calling Siwon by using the house phone but a tight grip has clasped itself onto my arm.

                “I don’t have time to waste on you boy. Get your in gear; we need to start tracking these Grims”

I wrench my arm away, “You start tracking and I’ll catch up with you after I visit Amber” I hiss, trying to keep my voice quiet so I didn’t wake Jungsoo. Top does not look pleased but I can’t find in my heart to care. He might stronger than me but I was stubborn and I will not be bossed around. Amber was my friend and it was sort of my fault that she was out last night. If I hadn’t made the Empire take Hyukjae away and if she hadn’t had to come here to…

Top sighs loudly, and grabs my wrist securely.

                “We’re going after the Grims. You have no say and I will drag you kicking and screaming. You have a job as an Oritalis to protect Oakville and its people, when there’s trouble you solve it immediately, no matter who falls along the way, once you still have breath in your body you will do everything in your power to protect Oakville.” He doesn’t give me a chance to reply and I notice the exact moment when his wings come out. They scale the living room, brushing against objects and furniture. They are obviously too big but Top doesn’t expand them fully before he’s closing them around us.

He’s just going to take out without my permission. Are you kidding me? If being an Oritalis means being pushed around and practically a puppet then I ing quit.

 I just want to see Amber dammit!

It’s dark and I realize my eyes are closed. There’s a faint beeping sound, familiar to something I’ve heard before. When I slowly open my eyes I see that I’m in a room, a hospital room. Top is nowhere near me and he doesn’t have to be because the next thing I see is Amber’s pale body lying on a bed to the opposite side of the room.

 I rush towards her, the faint beeping is her heart monitor and I sigh gratefully that I have seen with my own eyes that she’s alive. She’s cold to the touch and I jerk away from her, afraid that I might screw something up. Her face is paler than usual and I can see the green lines of her veins etched into her turned cheek. She looks peaceful, and I speak to her quietly but she never responds.

How did I even get here? And where was Top?

                “Oh. Hello” a new voice greets me. The person looks surprised to see me and I shrink under her curious gaze but stay close to Amber. The lady is flawless. She looks professional but had the face and body of someone who could’ve been a Victoria secret model.

                “Mom, there seems to…” Kyuhyun surprises me by walking into the room, he stares me sharply in return, clearly pondering what I was doing here so early. His eyes flash towards Amber and I move protectively in front of her, trying to block his view.

                “I see you two know each other” the woman comments coyly. I glance back and forth between her and Kyuhyun. I did not already know he was adopted I would say Kyuhyun inherited her beauty.

She takes long strides toward me, extending a hand,

                “Hello, I’m Ji-Hyun Wellington, Kyuhyun’s mother”

______________

Done.

Listen to Big booty es

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRXdTsMbqC8