Bloodlines: Everything That Glitters Read online

  “So you know about the powers too, huh? This all just seems too random. Does everyone I meet have them? How many other people do you know with them? Where the hell are all of the regular people?”

  My voice was unintentionally raised as the questions kept flying from my mouth. I couldn’t stop them because they needed to be answered. “Give me answers or give me death,” I continued, looking up into the trees.

  “My brother and I both have them. Maybe you’ve seen him around school, his name is Nikko.”

  My heart stopped. “Nikko?”

  “Yeah, you’ve seen him?”

  “Once,” I answered, my day suddenly looking up.

  The hard graphite eyes that’d stunned me that day at the market, I dreamed of them frequently. I sat quietly on the bench slowly processing the things he was trying to tell me; by now I should have been used to hearing strange information, but his delivery was different, it was as if he was almost embarrassed for me and just amazed. “You learned everything in two seconds?” I responded after an unhealthy amount of awkward silence.

  “Yeah, it flashes by pretty fast but it all makes perfect sense. You don’t have to mumble anymore either, let me help you.” He lifted both of his hands and shook them loose.

  “Don’t get too personal,” I said, giving him a warning eye.

  “Don’t worry; I’m not going to touch you.”

  With both of his hands on the two sides of my forehead, just barely bushing the skin he closed his eyes and began concentrating. A high-pitched siren swept through my ears, the thoughts that had accumulated from the last couple of weeks rambled through my brain, forcing me to relive the horror as it scrambled around. I shut my eyes and fought against the madness, I could handle this.

  “You can open your eyes now, try it out.”

  I blinked the park back into focus; Ash was walking toward us now because there was no use of him hiding when Wade already knew he was here.

  There was a soft ringing in my ears, I felt strangely different. “What do I do?”

  “Look into Ash’s eyes, they say the eyes are the window to the soul, now in your case you can literally see through it. He can do the same to you.” He smiled at his reference and turned to look at my brother as he stepped up onto the platform.

  I looked into his eyes, immediately I heard more than just thoughts; I saw visions and heard sounds, almost seeing the world as Ash viewed it.

  “I can feel that,” Ash said, pulling away from my gaze.

  “Yeah anyone that has any type of power usually will feel when someone is using their power on them. Just ask my brother.”

  “What do I do when I can’t look into someone’s eyes?”

  The rain had finally started to come down with the cold immediately following it. I folded my arms together and looked at Wade, he was prepared with a jacket of his own and gloves.

  “Just focus on anything else of theirs, it’s not limited to the eyes but it’s the best way not to creep someone completely out.”

  I shrugged then got up from the bench, the wind was blowing the rain directly into the gazebo now and I would be soaking wet in no time. “Thank you so much Wade, you have no idea what this means to me.” I wanted to reach out and give him a hug but he didn’t need to know any more than he already did about me. “Who taught you?”

  “My mother and grandmother. They could probably help you way more than I ever could, sorry Ash, I don’t know how to help you,” he replied.

  Ash’s eyebrows rose in question then softened. Obviously he’d intended to ask Wade for help.

  “Forget about Ash, take me to your mom and grandma.”

  He shrugged then got up from the bench. “My grandmother usually just comes out of nowhere and my mother is out of this world.”

  “She’s that weird, huh?”

  Wade laughed. “No, literally, she’s out of this world. Her and my brother took the portal to Polythias a few days ago.”

  Fuck! Was there every going to be a successful trail to follow?

  “Could you please let me know when they return?” I asked sweetly. It didn’t matter to me that he’d just said his mom and brother had left this world; there’d be another day when I could inquire about them. I might even just ask Corey just to see the confused look on her face as she realizes I can do this without her stinking help.

  “Hey if you’re not busy and if the weather allows, would you like to go out sometime?”

  I smiled, surprised that someone would want to date me knowing as much as they did about me; I was flattered. “With so much going on in my life right now, I really don’t think that would be the best thing for me to do. You understand right?”

  “Yes, I totally understand. This is still new to you, I’m sorry.”

  A depressing smile spread across his face and I quickly wanted to look into his mind, but didn’t want to offend him. I smiled in return and left him with my number before running to my car. Ash was right behind me. I slid into the seat squishing the water out of my shoes. “Gotta love this weather,” I said sarcastically.

  The rain beat down loudly on the windshield as I started the car; Wade was running to his car as I was backing out of the grass and onto the gravel roadways. “I feel so different, I think I understand you a little more now. The sounds you hear and the things you see, its mind blowing.” I reached over and rubbed his arm, he was being brave for me and I appreciated it.

  “Maybe his relatives can help me get some of this under control?” He reached into the glove compartment and grabbed a few napkins out and wiped his face with them.

  “If you use all of my napkins, you’re replacing them,” I said as I stared at the road, trying to find my way home through the heavy rain.

  My concentration gradually left me as I let the mystery man from the store overtake me, what was it about this guy? All I remembered were his eyes now, but that was just enough to keep my focus going back to them.

  The blaring sound of a truck horn rang in my ears and Ash yelled in fear- I had veered off into the other lane. Was I losing my competency to drive nowadays? I quickly got back into the correct lane and focused more clearly on the road.

  “Sorry,” I said apologetically.

  “Pull over, I’m driving.” Ash replied angrily as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Saturday September 4, 2010

  It was still raining when I woke up the next morning; tiny pats hit the window as I lay in bed not quite ready to get the day started. It was always something about the rain that made me want to stay in bed and sleep for hours. I curled in my covers- the room temperature wasn’t too hot or cold.

  “Don’t forget that you have to go and check out that job lead Bethany sent you,” Ash said through the door.

  I rolled my eyes and turned over in the bed; I didn’t feel like doing much of anything at the moment but I pushed the covers down and forced myself to get up. I needed a job more than I needed sleep- at least it would make my dad proud.

  I slid my feet as I walked to the door; before I opened it I glanced at my appearance in the mirror that hung on the back of it. My hair was matted on the right side and the eyeliner I had on yesterday was smudged. “An unmade bed,” I mumbled to myself, and then noticed a slight twinkle in my eyes.

  Moving closer to the mirror, I looked closer into them- something was different, strangely different. Somehow they seemed lighter but not even the same shade of brown, almost orange. I got as close to the mirror as I could; they were orange, and what seemed like golden flames danced within the pupil.

  “Hey Ash, could you come up here for a minute?” I whispered into the air. A minute later Ash was tapping on the door, I twisted the knob and let him in. “Do you notice anything weird?”

  He looked me up and down before finally settling on my eyes. “Whoa, that is creepily awesome,” he replied, amazed.

  I closed the door and gazed back into the mirror. “How do I explain this away?”

  �
��It looks too realistic to be called contacts,” Ash said answering my question.

  “It really is awesome,” I responded looking up, “and contacts are getting more realistic looking every day, this is just a new technology in contact breakthrough.” I walked over to the bed and flopped down, burying my head in both palms.

  “Aliza, your eyes are flaming with golden fire, that’s not even mentioning the red-orange color of the iris. The flames are dancing, like literally swaying in your eye.”

  I got up from the bed and examined my new eye color one last time in the mirror before opening the door and heading downstairs. “Just another thing to prove how un-human I really am,” I responded, fearful that tears at this point wouldn’t merely be made of water.

  Corey was just opening her room door as I passed. “What happened to your eyes?” she whispered softly while following behind me as I trotted down the stairs.

  “I’m not sure, but to my parents they’re contacts.”

  I walked into the kitchen expecting to see both of my parents sitting at the table but they were not there. “Where did mom and dad go? Aren’t they off on weekends?”

  Ash was the next to step into the kitchen. “They left earlier before the rain started back this morning, they went out to get groceries I believe.”

  I shrugged and went to the refrigerator- it was practically empty. The only thing that remained was a celery stick and a small jar of ranch dip. “Well here’s to eating healthy,” I breathed while pulling out the celery and ranch.

  “I just realized something,” Ash pulled out a chair and sat at the island counter. “Alizarin is another name for red-orange.”

  Before I’d had a chance to reply, the door in the living room opened just as I sat down with my breakfast snack. “We have food!” my dad called.

  Luckily the rain had let up for a few minutes so it wasn’t a problem going outside and bringing the rest of the bags in.

  My dad walked into the kitchen and sat a few bags down; I smiled brightly as he walked over to kiss the top of my forehead. “What’s going on with your eyes Rah?” he said, staring into them. “You know Rah was the Egyptian god of the sun, right? Was also a man too, just saying,” I looked away from his gaze and out of the kitchen window, trying to change the subject.

  “That still doesn’t explain what’s going on with those eyes.”

  “Cosmetic contacts, all the cool people are wearing them.”

  “They look amazingly realistic, how much did you pay for those?”

  My mom shuffled in with more bags as dad still stared into my eyes. “There are still more bags,” she said.

  “They were awesomely priced, only fifteen dollars.” I smiled and blinked my eyes with confidence. I got up from the table and threw the rest of the ranch dip in the trash; a small smirk stole its way onto my face as I turned and unintentionally bumped into Corey, knocking her to the floor, “Are you alright?”

  I held out my hand to help her up but she pushed it away. “I’m fine thank you.” She picked up the bags she was holding and sat them on the island counter.

  An unusual pressure built up in my head as I left the kitchen and walked up the stairs. Are you going to wear real contacts to your interview? It was Ash.

  I looked down at the bottom of the stairs and searched for him.

  I have super sight remember? I can see you from my room.

  I shrugged and continued up the stairs. “Yeah I might have too, I don’t want them thinking I’m some sort of creep when they meet me. Where would you buy those things anyway?” I walked down the hallway past my room and stepped into Ash’s room, he was sitting at his desk looking directly at me. “That’s kind of creeping me out,” I said, flopping down on his bed.

  “What time did you plan on leaving today?”

  “Might as well get ready now. Maybe I should just own the new eye color? It definitely sets me a cut above the rest.” I got up from the bed and walked closer to Ash’s desk mirror to look at my eyes some more; they were growing on me and I liked it. Suddenly realizing what I was allowing myself to do, I shook off the feeling. No human had red-orange eyes and just like everything else, it was all a part of a vividly played, ongoing imaginative dream.

  “But maybe not in the best way,” he responded. “What the hell is that?”

  I quickly turned around, bracing myself for whatever Ash had seen. “What’s what?” The room was empty. The sun beamed brightly through the room despite the grayness outside and cast our shadows on the royal blue of his walls.

  “Your skin!” He got up from the desk chair and walked up to me, “There’s something different about it, it’s crystallizing. I can see it, moving fast.” Running a finger down my arm, he continued looking in amazement. “It looks as smooth as marble but the touch is as rough as scales. At least for me.”

  I looked into the mirror again- I could see it too. Slowly rising from my arms and up to my face. The movements were as if a thousand tiny feet were crawling up my body. My fingers wondered up to my cheeks, feeling the crystallized skin. It was as smooth as it looked for me. “I don’t feel any scales, but I do have a burning itch on my back. Could you scratch it for me?” After partially lifting my shirt I turned my back to him.

  “This just keeps getting better and better,” he replied. But instead of scratching the itch he rubbed it, like he was trying to wipe something from it.

  “Why are you rubbing my back? I didn’t ask for a massage, pervert.”

  “It’s not even like that. You have a patch here, growing up your back.” He still rubbed it.

  “What does it look like?”

  He picked up his phone from the desk and stood back for a moment and took a picture then handed me the phone. “Look for yourself.”

  I stared at the illuminated phone screen. A broad metallic ring lye in the center of my back, right where the irritating itch was. “There’s a glare on your phone, what color is it?”

  “It’s silver. By the way, when did you get a tattoo?”

  I pulled my shirt down and walked away from him. “Guess you don’t know everything about me, do you?” After walking out of his room, I headed across the hall to my own and closed the door.

  Ash surprisingly followed me, tapping on the door then walking in. “What are we going to do?”

  I shrugged lightly then rummaged around in my closet, looking for something to wear. “I don’t know. No use asking your girlfriend Corey, since she’s as useless as a human. Do you want to go with me to find a pair of contacts close enough to my old eye color or were you staying here?”

  “We don’t have to go everywhere together; I have other things to do. If you find yourself just really needing me, call me,” he spun around and left out of the room.

  I continued going through the closet without a reply and after failing to find something that matched, walked out of the room and went into the bathroom to run the water. I felt like an old-fashioned bath rather than a shower this morning. Walking back into my room I sorted through the clothes I had in my dresser and found a nice pair of brown pinstriped slacks then found the matching jacket hanging in the closet.

  The beeper tone on my phone went off and I picked it up off of the bed and looked at the message; my heart nearly stopped when I read that May and Lee were on their way here. I hit the send button on my phone then held it to my ear and waited for May to answer.

  “Hey girl, where are you now?” I heard the music booming loudly in the background as I struggled to hear her response.

  “We’re right around the corner. Surprise!”

  I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at it; it was a surprise indeed, I didn’t even think they remembered the address. “See you when you get then,” I replied, hanging up the phone, then laying my outfit down on the bed. I hurried to the bathroom and shut off the water; This should be an interesting weekend. I thought to myself as I stripped my clothes off.

  The itch on my back spread, which could only mean so was my new me
tallic skin. “Stay on my back and we won’t have a problem.” I whispered as I allowed myself to soak in the bubble bath. It was the end of tank tops as I knew it. My mind went crazy as I tried to think of the things that were happening to me, I now had physical evidence that I’m no longer human, making it hard to pretend that I was. Keeping the thoughts out of my mind was helpful in my denial but now that my body was slowly changing, it was time to crack down about finding answers.

  I slid down in the tub and submerge my head into the water, too many things were happening way to fast and I wasn’t sure if I’d mentally be able to keep up anymore. I ran my hands slowly down my body, feeling its softness and slightly turning myself on as I imagined Nikko tenderly squeezing my breast. What is it with this guy? I’ve only seen him once.

  Although my bath was brief I was still refreshed and ready for the day. I saw Lee first as I stepped down the stairs, he randomly paced the room like he was looking for something. May leapt from the couch and ran over with her arms extended. “It feels like forever!” she shrieked, slightly crushing my ribcage. Lee stood behind May waiting for his hug next. I was excited to see them; I just wasn’t prepared in the least bit. When May finally let me go I made the hug with Lee short and sweet.

  “So what’s been going on Aliza? You never return messages anymore, I’m sure you’re not that busy in this little town.” Lee looked around the house, half admiration, and the other half jealousy.

  “I’ve been finding things to do,” I said casually, surprised that neither of them had asked me about my eyes or skin yet.

  “So are you going to give us the grand tour?”

  “Sure, why not.” I turned around and led them first to the kitchen, mimicking a game show bimbo I pointed out the area. “This is the kitchen and if you look to your right you will see that there is a stove, an oven and an open island. To your left is the dining area and that door there leads to the backyard. If you care to follow me, I will show you the upstairs area.” I walked out of the kitchen and ran up the stairs in the living room; there really wasn’t much else to see.

  Ash was coming out of his room as I entered the hallway. “Hey May, sup Lee,” he said walking past us and down the stairs, his keys dangled loosely on his belt loop.