Chapter 255
The setting sun set the skyline ablaze.
I stared up at the fiery sky through the cracks in the tree canopy. Rayne and I were both sprawled across a fallen mossy fallen, laying side by side. The man had saved me from a very nasty situation with those wasps, and now I felt obliged to feed him. Like all creatures, demons required a kind of sustenance to survive in the mortal world, but unlike all creatures, demons devoured emotional energy. To put it bluntly, demons ate human auras. An aura was the emotional energy field that surrounded a living creatures. Na-ked to human eye, with the rare exception of those fortunate enough to be blessed with the second sight, the aura was a strange invisible phenomena. Needless to say, that the thought of Rayne nomming on my aura was a bit awkward and weird. Really, I should be horrified, but I wasn't. In this brief period of exposure to Rayne's charming personality and light gray eyes, the fear I had felt earlier on, was melting away.
A dragon fly hovered above me showing off its iridescent wings and violent blue green body before a butterfly fluttered past. In the distance I could hear the steady thumping of hooves as the deer made their way home for the night. The forest was alive, and its rapture sang out to me... I wanted to be enveloped by its perfect harmony and forget about Rayne entirely... but how could I, when I was so acutely aware of the tiny gap between my shoulder and his. The little voice in my head, or rather the romantically oppressed inner teen voice in my head, fired dizzying thoughts:
Wouldn't it be amazing if Rayne was a human?
He could be your boyfriend.
What would it be like to kiss him...
'For goodness sake Skyler, he's a demon!' I snapped at myself.
What's the harm in imagining?
The voice replied.
I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling uncomfortable heat burning my skin.
God he was too close!
"Rayne are you finished?" I blurted out suddenly.
This was a mistake.
Rayne rolled over onto his side, closing that tiny gap to virtually a millimeter. He propped himself up on his elbow, leaning over me slightly. I lay flat against the log, staring straight up into those gray eyes.
"I know you're nervous of me," He said softly, "I can sense it in your aura."
"Well," I replied, feeling my mouth run dry, "That's not exactly surprising. You are a demon after all."
Rayne didn't move. It was strange because he wasn't touching me, but I could feel the shadow of his body bearing down on me.
He was too intense.
It felt like I couldn't breathe.
My experience with men was limited, even non-existent. Boys intimidated me and I didn't know how to act around them, which really annoys me because I sound like such a teenager!
"You're treating me like a stranger, when I am your slave." Rayne replied.
"You are not my 'slave' and one day I will find away to separate and free us."
"I don't want to be free."
"I will free you."
"Then I will have to stop you."
"How?"
"Imprisonment, confinement. I would steal your voice if I had to."
"Why?"
"Because that is the clause of the contract between us. My whole existence is to serve you. Without you there is no me."
"I can survive without you."
"But I can't." Rayne whispered.
There was a kind of pain in his voice that touched me deep inside, creating an awful sense of guilt that wrapped around my heart, gently squeezing it. I had only known Rayne a matter of hours yet I could feel that magnetic pull towards him. Inch by inch, I could feel Rayne crawling underneathe my skin, making me itch with strange emotions.
This had to stop. Sitting up, I moved off the log, pretending to have just noticed the time.
"It's getting dark," I said, "We need to go home."
Rayne didn't move. He continued to stare back up to the pink sky that was dissolving into purple night. "I know you are scared," he said. "And I know you want to run."
I didn't deny the accusation.
"Don't try to run Skyler," He warned me. "I will always find you." He said.
I lifted my chin up and said, "I do not run away from my problems."
A smirk of admiration lightened Rayne's face, "I think I'm going to teach you 'proper' magic." He changing the topic.
The change in topic threw me off balance, "What do you mean 'proper' magic," I snapped. "Proper? What's wrong with the spells I use at the moment?"
Rayne pushed himself off the log and strode towards me, "Asking nicely is not the same as commanding the elements." He replied with a arrogant smile that pulled more at one side of his mouth. Defensively I folded my arms and replied,
"All nature and its deities should be feared and respected."
"And have you ever wondered why they don't answer your prayers." Rayne shrugged.
"Rayne I'm happy with the work I do. I realize that working with the earth energies may not be exciting as other forms of magic but it's what I enjoy." I said firmly.
"Wouldn't you want the power to control the elements? To conjure fire, wield wind, manipulate nature and command the waters." Rayne lifted his eyebrow.
"No." I pipped walking away.
"No..." Rayne parroted lifting an eyebrow, following me.
By the time we got home the sun had firmly tucked itself away behind the mountains, giving up the heavens to the silver moon and stars. The wind was gradually growing restless, heralding more stormy weather. Hurrying inside, I firmly closed the front door, bolting it and shutting out the bad weather. Rayne brushed his hands over my shoulders gently tugging my cloak off.
"What a gentleman!" Grandma sang from the kitchen. She was fiddling with a brightly colored centrepiece surrounded by perfectly laid out dinner set I had never seen before.
"Grandma, what's with the fancy table setting and decorations." I asked.
Grandma looked at me like a mad woman and snapped, "Whatever are you talking about young lady. We always eat dinner like this."
"No we don't." I muttered.
"Don't listen to her Rayne," Grandma said giving me a black look, "She'd have you believe we live up here in these mountains like a pair of old hermits."
"We do." I said bluntly.
"Now so hurry up and sit down, I'll be down in a moment." Grandma said disappearing upstairs.
Rayne and I walked into the kitchen, that now looked drastically different from a few hours ago. Grandma in her eagerness to impress Rayne, had attempted to tidy our bombsite of a kitchen. Usually clutter and mess crawled out of cupboards and drawers, sprawling onto the table tops. But tonight, Grandma had organized the clutter into neat piles and draped colorful cloths over each pile to disguise it.
Embarrassed, I sank down into a chair, while Rayne sat opposite me.
"The table looks nice." Rayne commented.
"Don't." I said raising a hand.
"Okay, well I can't wait to see your room." He smiled.
My head snapped upwards, "You are not sleeping in my room." I hissed quietly so Grandma wouldn't hear.
"I have to have my dinner too." Rayne said softly leaning over the table.
"That log thing earlier on was your dinner!" I whispered.
"That was a snack." He replied.
"You're not laying next to me while I sleep."
"Skyler there is no need to be embarrassed. I will not judge you if you dribble or snore."
"I do not dribble or snore!" I yelled.
Rayne placed his finger over his lip and pointed upwards, to Grandma's bedroom.
'She might hear you' he mouthed.
My eyes narrowed onto him, and he quickly smiled, "I am sure you look very pretty when you're asleep."
"Your charm doesn't work on me."
"Really?" Rayne smiled.
I jumped as underneath the table his foot lightly brushed the outside of my leg.
"Stop that!" I snapped.
"I think my charm offensive does work on you Skyler." Rayne smiled confidently.
I opened my mouth to protest but Grandmother reappeared with a bright shade of lipstick on, she looked at me and said, "Goodness me Skyler, your face is as red as a beet."
"Grandma be quiet." I snapped as Rayne gloated.
"Oh relax Skyler!" she said, opening the oven and pulling out a put of stew.
"I'm sure if I had drunk as much sherry as you I would be very relaxed." I said pointing at the empty bottle of sherry on the side.
Grandma flung her hands in the air, "For love of St. Peter! At my age I'm allowed to treat myself!"
"In moderation, a glass or two. Not a whole bottle." I scalded.
"Oh fiddlesticks, the sherry helps my cough."
"Then go to the doctor! I keep nagging you to go see him."
"Doctors aren't interested in old people."
"I give up." I sighed.
Rayne sat politely at the table pretending he wasn't listening to our bickering. "The food is divine." He said.
"There's seconds in the pan! My dear sweet boy." Grandma cooed.
"I've had enough to eat. I'm to my room." I said picking up my plate and putting it in the sink.
"What about dessert!" Grandma yelled after me.
"I'm not hungry." I sighed.
I ran up the stairs into the sanctuary of my room, having had enough of the both of them. Kicking off my shoes, I listened to the howling wind outside and the rain hammering against my window. Crawling into my bed I snuggled down into a nest of blankets and pillows, too exhausted to think, let alone agonize over the fact I had a demon in my house. Tired and weary, my eyes became heavy and limp. Closing my eyes I listened to rain and wind serenade me to sleep.