Chapter 4: An Untold Revelation.

"I can't believe you guy's are really here. What made you change your mind?" He was sill hyped that these stranger's were here. They looked at each other as if to deliberate whether they should tell him the truth.

"We just missed you, that's all." Said the girl.
"Oh, I've forgotten my manners. Family, this is Mia Laine." He gestured to me. "Mia, this is Sophie Cale." He gestured to the girl. "This is Sophie's brother, Bryant Cale" He slapped the other blonde's arm. "They are my cousin's. And this is my twin brother, Lexer. Also known as Lex." He playfully punched his brothers arm. That explains why they look so much alike but there were so many differences. Lucas' hair was more of a sandy brown colour than chocolate brown and his eye's were much brighter shade of blue, it was almost silver. Surprisingly, Lexer looked stronger than Lucas but it was probably because of how different each individual took to me.

"Hello." I said with a polite smile.

"Ohmigod. New student's!" The bimbo's were back. In the corner of my eye, I could swear I saw Lucas roll his eye's.

The class passed by in a blur. I kept staring at the four of them. I was mostly staring at Lexer and Bryant. Their lean, muscular physique could definitely take me down easily even if they attacked me one at a time, but I could definitely take Sophie if it came to it.

I was hoping that Lucas would offer to walk me to my next class but he didn't instead, he just said goodbye, his family members followed. That was good enough for me. I returned their greeting and walked out of the room. As usual, Heath was there waiting for me.

"What's new?" He asked. I giggled at his remark.
"My day's have become much brighter and much shorter at the same time."
"A translation will be much appreciated." He looked a little worried now.
"He knows me now. I spoke to him today, well technically he spoke to me first."
"What happened to our deal?" He looked appalled.
"He spoke to me first, what do you want me to do?! And, he isn't in an of our classes together, the deal didn't cover that." I said with more volume than I should have.
"Okay, okay... I'm sorry I asked. What did you mean by your day's have been made shorter?" He looked very worried and confused. I told him everything including the three bimbo's, he had a huge laugh about that. I rushed through everything because we had to get to our class. I had to stop when we reached our class. I promised to meet up with him after school and tell him everything.

School wasn't as long as it was yesterday, instead it passed rather swiftly, it was over before I knew it. I was supposed to wait for Heath by the school's gymnasium.

"Hi, Mia. What are you doing here." I heard a voice behind me enquire. I turned around quickly.
"Oh. Hey. I'm waiting for a friend. What about you?"
"I just finished gym class." He gestured to the gymnasium.
"I see. Then you should know Heath, he just finished gym class too, he should be in your class then."
"Em... No. I'm sorry. Who is he?" He said with a smile.

"Mia. Hi. Shall we go?" Heath's eye's kept flickering between Lucas and I. He seemed a little edgy and nervous.
"Hey, Heath. Lucas, meet-"
"I think that we should go now, Mia. We don't want to get caught in traffic now do we? No. So, let's go." Heath tugged my arm. Tugged is putting it gently, he basically wrenched me from where I stood. I could have been stuck under a boulder and he could have pulled me out from it with the strength he used. He was dragging me away whether I liked it or not. I almost tripped but Heath's hand was too strong and firm for that. With all the strength I had, I tried to stop but I was still moving. Tripping to be exact. At least I was moving slower now.

"Lucas I'm really sorry, I have to go now. I'll talk to you tomorrow in English kay?" I almost yelled. I hoped that he could hear me considering the distance between us.

"There is no school tomorrow. It's a Saturday." He said with a laugh.
"Oh... Right. I'll talk to you soon then." Then I was out the school door. "Woah!" I almost tripped again on the step. As I was being dragged away, I could see that his brother had joined him and he didn't look very happy.

When we reached Heath's car, he threw me into the passenger seat. "Ow." My knee hit the glove box. "Okay, is there something wrong?"

"Was it that obvious?"
"Well, no... But maybe the part when you violently dragged me down the school hallway with hundreds of students witnessing to it, was a little too much. Other than that, it was okay." Heath narrowed his eye's at me.

"Be serious please, Mia."
"Sorry. Seriously, what's wrong? Normally, you would tell me about it before you act weird."
"I don't want to talk about it. Anyway, you owe me a story. So, start talking."

***

Telling Heath what happened was difficult, he would always interrupt me with various questions and remarks. Some of them were incredibly irrelevant.

"...And when you were dragging me away, I could see Lexer beside Lucas. He was glaring at me. I have no idea what she told him to make him dislike me so much."
"Hmm... Well, honestly it has happened before, I guess she's just trying to protect her nephew from something that she thinks will happen again, but it still doesn't make it right. I think you should take her seriously, Mia."
"If you didn't gather enough from what I just told you, she doesn't age either. So, are you saying that I should stay away from him for the rest of my existence?" I could feel my face harden and my frown deepen. How could he suggest such an impossible conclusion to me?

He took in a deep breath. "Yes, that's what I am saying."
"I can't do it. I would rather be killed by my own kind than be killed by me." His expression completely changed, I was shocked with his expression. He look angry and frustrated.

"Mia, her assassins are already planned and ready. She is placing them right in front of you, in between Lucas and you. Do you really think that for one second they would let you get to know him or even spend more than a day with him? That they will wait for something to happen to actually take action? They wont' Mia." Tears started to roll down my face. Thank God that we were in my apartment.

Heath didn't look at my face until he finished speaking. His eyes widened and he sighed.

"I am really sorry, Mia. I wasn't thinking. I shouldn't have said that." He gently rubbed my arm in comfort. I shook my head stubbornly and pushed his hand away.

"It would be easier to be taken away from the pain than to live with it. It will be worth it." My voice was shaky. I wiped away my pouring tears with my sleeve and tried to toughen up but I had a feeling that it wasn't working. I refused to look at Heath.

"Hey, think of how Lucas would react to this if he remembers."
"He would admire my persistence."
"No, he would be very angry and would want you to live."
"What do you know about how Lucas will react?"
"I 'was' his best friend so I think that I would know a thing or two."
"So? What's your point?"
"Okay, okay, grumpy. Let's change the topic before you flood the house with your tears." I giggled.
"There is something that I have been meaning to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"Why were you so nervous around Lucas today? You were so eager to get a mile away from him." I saw Heath flinch.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yes."

Chapter 3: Just Breathe....

"Mrs. Gerino, what are you doing here?" I asked her as nice and as evenly-voiced as I could.

She was sitting on my couch, still watching my TV. The nerve.

"I need to speak with you."
"Uh huh... Evidently. What do you want?" I said repressing myself from actually yelling at her and ordering her to leave my apartment immediately or maybe even reaching for my cell phone to dial nine-one-one.

"I want you to stay away from my nephew." Suddenly her eye's looked different beneath her frameless glasses.
"Em...Okay. Subtlety must be one of your many traits I see... I don't even know who your nephew is."
"Your Beloved." She looked up at me and I saw her brown eye's had turned silver. I gasped.
"Your..." But, she couldn't be....
"Yes I'm one of you."
"How did you know that I am?"
"We do have some extra senses you know... And, his mother told me."
"Right.....Did she tell you to do this?"
"No, actually, she thinks quite highly of you. I don't say I blame her, you shine brighter than anyone I've ever seen." She said it as if it were a good thing.
"It comes with it's down point's too..." I mumbled.
"That's exactly why I am here. His mother may like you or your ability but I definitely don't and you are obviously dangerous, so just stay away. I think that is what's best. And he is already seeing someone else, they are very happy together, so I suggest you leave them alone. That is if you want to live a normal life... Or live at all."

I was still in shock when she got up and left. There were so many questions running through my head.

Why didn't Erin -his mother- tell him about me?
Who was his new girlfriend?
Was he really happy? If he was, what would I do? Would I be able to handle it?

I didn't know how long I stood by the door. When I got out of my reverie, I got out of the apartment again, locked the door, ran to my car and started driving. I needed to clear my head.

I think I drove for over an hour until I got my head straightened out. I guessed I needed to feed myself but oddly, I just couldn't bring myself to eat even though I had to. If I went hungry, I would start craving for another food supplement's that would finally make me a cannibal. An inhumane finality I do not want to reach. I shuddered at the thought. Food doesn't look too bad now. But cooking was beyond my abilities right now. I'd probably end up burning down the whole building in the state that I am in, so I decided to eat something simple.

Daisy's diner proved to be a better choice than expected. They serve the best pancake's around. It wasn't exactly a healthy everyday dinner but food nonetheless.

Satisfied with my dinner, I headed back to my apartment. If I remembered correctly, I had some homework to finish. It should take my mind off thing's.

The essay that the she-devil asked us to finish by tomorrow was about what we as student's saw in school, like what did the student's, the programme, the arrangement of it all, looked in our eye's. I finished it in half an hour, not bothering to really make something special out of it.

I then retreated to my room and got ready for bed. My bed didn't look very welcoming anymore seeing as the nightmare would most probably get worse tonight so, instead of sleeping, I decided to continue reading The Savage Garden. A new book that I had just bought from the second hand bookstore. So far, in the book, the mystery of the Villa Docci and it's memorial garden was not yet solved. So many question's that are yet to be answered. The story of my life.

* * *

*Gasp*,"AHHHHHHHHHhhhh!!!!!!..." An everyday affair. Definitely much worse, but I tried not to think about it. I got up from my bed and regretted it instantly. My neck felt stiff and sore. Probably because I slept with my body faced downwards and my face twisted to the side. I sat on my bed and gently massaged my neck. I looked down at my pillow and saw my book on top of it, opened to the page which I last stopped. I must have slept when I was reading.

I looked at my clock on the bedside table to my right and saw that I was exactly on time, just like every other day.

I wasn't late for school today so, I sat in my car and prepared myself for what I was about to face. Him...

I got out of my car and started walking to my first class, English. Both, the bane of my existence and the epitome of my existence was in that class so, it was the best and the worse class of the day. I was at least half an hour early today. Skipping breakfast has it's perk's.

The small window on the class door looked oddly menacing as I peered through it to see who is and isn't in the class. There were only four student's in the class, three girl's and only one boy and the girl's were surrounding the boy with much flirtation and obvious bimboticness so, I couldn't see who he was. After a while, I realised I forgot to breathe.

"Breathe, just breathe..." I mumble to myself. I prayed fervently that the boy I saw in the class wasn't him as I entered.

"So, Lucas... Do you have a girlfriend back home?" Bimbo one asked. Shoot... It was him... I started walking to my seat.

"Actually, I do, and I love her with all the fervency in my heart." He replied bimbo one with much satisfaction and pride in his voice. Must my timing be so bloody impeccable? It was like getting punched in the gut, and a well deserved punch it was.

"Oh...." Said bimbo one, bimbo two and bimbo three in unison. "But she's not as pretty as us right?" Bimbo two asked while flipping her surprisingly brunette hair.

"No." Bimbo two's smile got wider and more excited. "She's a whole class above you girl's." He said with a smile. Her smile completely faded. He was obviously already slightly annoyed by all the attention he was getting. "That's like totally impossible." Said bimbo three with disbelief.

"I'm afraid it's true." He was still smiling. The triplets walked out of the room, stomping their stiletto heals every step making loud clicking noises. I giggled. They are probably heading to the toilet to see what was or is wrong with their face's.

"Do they do that to every new guy?" Is he speaking to me? I was the only one there so he probably is. I couldn't believe it. I didn't even want to think that he noticed me coming in and give myself hope.

"I... I don't think so. You should be the only one." I managed to say after a few seconds. I smiled at him. I could feel myself blush.

"I see... I'm Lucas by the way, Lucas Cale. You're the girl who came in late yesterday right?"
"Yeah.. That's me. Mrs. Geniro was really... nice about it. I'm Mia, Mia Laine. Nice to finally meet you." He got up from his seat and walked toward me. He extended his hand to me. I looked at it for a second and then shook it.

"It's nice to meet you too. And don't mind Mrs. Geniro and her egregious behaviour, she's normally like that."
"Oh... Really? I don't notice." We laughed. I was amazed that I could make jokes now.

"Yeah, she is. I would know"
"Why is that?" I didn't think that he would be very friendly after he knew that his aunt disapproved of me.
"Well... Let's just say that I knew her even before coming here."
"Okay."
"So, how long have you been in this school?"
"A year."
"Why did-" That's when Mrs. Geniro came in.

"Good morning, student's." She said.
"Morning, Mrs. Geniro. You're early."
"My roommate woke me up early." She said it like in a hidden message that only both of them knew. So selfish.

"Mr. Cale, would you mind helping me with some of my things in my car?"
"I was actually talking to Ms. Laine but, if she doesn't mind me abandoning our conversation..." He trailed off. Must he be so formal?
"Oh.. Please abandon. I don't mind. And please, call me Mia." I said with a smile.

As they left, I could see Mrs. Geniro glaring at me. Live without him or die knowing him. I chose the path of lesser pain. I would die knowing him if that's what it takes. Whatever it takes.

Three people came into the class a few minutes after Lucas and Mrs. Gerino left. I looked up expecting the three bimbo's but instead it was three new student's. Almost immediately, I noticed that they were no ordinary student's. Their killer good looks gave them away and the way they took in the room, it was as if they were memorising it. They were one of us and they didn't look friendly.

I closed my eye's and put my extra senses to good use just to make sure. I was surprised by how bright they shone, I guess Mrs. Geniro was serious about killing me.

By the time I opened my eye's-which was only around two seconds-they were already in their seat's and staring at me. They didn't glare but they were definitely assessing me. Who are they? More importantly, who are they to him?

I looked at each of their faces one by one, all beautiful in their own way. I would probably be better if I acted innocent and ignorant. And friendly.

"Hello, are you guy's new?" I said with a smile.
"Yes, we are." Said the girl in a polite tone. She had a very nice, raspy voice that suited her tall and feminine physique. Her golden blond curls and green eye's didn't fool me, she was dangerous.

"I see, welcome then."
"Thank you. You must be Mia Laine." Wow, she really doesn't know the word subtle but she was still as polite.

"Yes, I am. How did you know?" Even though I already knew the answer I had to keep up the innocent fascade until another student came in.

"I'm sure you know, Ms. Laine." One of the boy's spoke now, he wasn't as polite as the girl. He was tall with chocolate brown hair and liquid blue eye's.

"Please enlighten me, dear stranger." Keeping a smile on my face was relatively easy seeing as he looked just like Lucas but there were many differences.

"Playing innocent will not make our wrath any gentler, Ms. Laine." He said with a smile. Lucas was definately much nicer.

"Lexer, remember your manner's. Being rude never solves anything, my dear." The girl spoke now.

"Very well. But I will not lie. Maybe she should do the same."

Just then the door opened but I didn't bother to check, I was just relieved that another company had joined us.

"Lex? Bryant? Sophie? What are you guy's doing here?" He said in evident joy. He crossed the room and hugged them. I looked at Mrs. Gerino, she had a smug smile on her face as if she had won a battle.

Chapter 2: A brighter day. But a more painful one.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I couldn't believe that he was really here. The only thing that was keeping me from walking over and touching his face to see if he was real was that;

One: I caught him glancing at me and he didn't seem to know me so it would have freaked him out. And...

Two: Mrs. Geniro was still in the classroom so she would send me to the principle's office or to the nurse if I did and risk him avoiding me the rest of his learning experience here or even get a restraining order.

So, instead of making a fool out of myself, with almost all of the restraint that I have, I walked over to his table.

But just as I reach his table, he walks off, not even noticing my approach. I let out a sigh and dropped my head. "Right... I'm an idiot..." I mumbled to myself. "Not entirely." I snapped my head up and saw Mrs. Geniro looking at me. "Thanks... I think." I turn and walk toward the door.

"Mia." She was shuffling the homework that we passed up today when she spoke to me. So, maybe she wants to talk to me about my essay. But my essay's are never outstanding nor are they bad. They were just average.

"Yes?" I asked curiously. She doesn't normally talk to me after school.
"Please try not to scare that boy out of this school."

I was shocked at her random remark, but I recovered quickly. Why is she speaking to me this way?

"I've never done that before but I'll try." I smiled a fake smile at my caring teacher.
"I saw the way you were looking at him. It worried me. Imagine how he would feel if he was the one to see it." She didn't even bother to see my expression at what she just had said, she was still looking at her paper's.

Anger spread through me like a wildfire. Who did she think she is? Did she not care about offending me?

"He didn't even notice me. So I think you can sleep with ease tonight." I said with a little too much anger that would fuel her 'concern'. I knew that my anger was unnecessary and a tad bit juvenile, but I couldn't help it. I regretted it as soon as I said it. I heard her take in a breath of air. Obviously, she had much more to say. So, before she could say anything else, I quickly walked out of the wretched room that they call a class.

The hall felt oddly comfortable compared to Mrs. Geniro's class. I took in a deep breath to smooth out the tenseness of my face after the conversation that I just had. I'm surprised that I didn't just punch her in her pretty, nosy face. I was proud with my tolerance.

"Mia, are you alright?"
I look up at the concerned voice.
"Hey, Heath. Yeah, I'm alright." I could tell that there was a bit of tenseness left in my voice.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Why?" I frowned and wondered. What was wrong with me?
"Because your arm's are shaking." As he spoke, his big brown eye's looked at my hand's and then he looked behind me.

Up until he mentioned it, I didn't notice that my hands were clenched into fists and that they were shaking. I released my fists and shook my hands, up and down.

"Ah..." he said as realisation hit him when he saw what class I've walked out from with repressed anger.
"Mrs. Geniro giving you a hard time?"
"Hard time doesn't even cut it" I said as we walked to one of the classes that we have together.
"What evil unforgivable deed did she do?"
"She was basically saying that I scare her students away until they have to move to another school."
"Well, you do have your moments," he chuckled.
"Shut up. What kind of best friend are you? You are supposed to make me feel better not tell me I'm scary." I hit his arm playfully.
"Hey, an honest friend is a loyal one. And it's true. Don't deny it."
"Fine, I have my rage blackouts but it doesn't mean that I'm a scary person. And they don't happen often."
"Uh huh...Why does it matter so much anyway?"
"Well... Cuz... I saw... Him." I felt myself blush and look down. My hands started to tremble again.
"Oh...." He said as realisation hit him again.
"Does he recognise you? Did you talk to him?"
"No. He just glanced at me. He didn't even notice me." I could hear the pain in my voice.
"I'm really sorry." He said as he gently rubbed my arm soothingly.
"Yeah." I said in a whisper.
"Well. Look at it this way, you get a new start in his life. All the things that you regret telling him is all erased. A blank white sheet of paper. It might be a good thing."
"But what if he doesn't want to talk to me. Like what if we thinks that I'm weird or something?" I stopped walking and turned to him.
"You wouldn't know if you didn't try right? Tell you what, if he is in any of our classes that we have together, I'll go with you to introduce ourselves, but you cannot chicken out or choke in the last minute because if you do, I will not do it again. Deal?"
"Kay. Deal. Thanks. But you cannot introduce yourself alone if he is in any of your classes which you don't have with me. I have to be there with you."
"Okay. Now can we go? I don't want us to be late." He gestured his hand for me to walk.
"Oh, right... Sorry. Let's go."

My heart was pounding in my ear's and my throat felt dry by the time we reached our class. I kept thinking that he might be inside. He might be just a few seats away from me. But what would I say?

"Wait." I gripped onto Heath's sleeve."Can you check if he's inside. I cannot go into that room unprepared and I don't want to go in expecting and looking around the room like an idiot for someone who may or may not be there."
Heath gave an exasperated sigh. "Sure." He said as he pulled my hand away from his sleeve. "Thanks." All I could manage was a whisper. I imagined how I would be acting if I was actually talking to him and shuddered. It did not look pretty.

Heath's back was facing me as he approached the door, then suddenly, he turned to me and said to me, "You know, you are not the only one who misses him and is scared to meet him again. You may be the one who misses him the most and is the most scared but not the only one." Then he turned back towards the door.

A slight movement caught my eye. Heath's hands were shaking. Not the only one. He's in pain too. He misses him too.

"Is he there?" My voice was shaky. Even if he was, i am still not ready.

Heath looks back at me and says,"No. He isn't. Sorry." I let out a breath of repressed air that I didn't notice I held in. A mix of emotions passed through me. Realisation, relief, disappointment, uneasiness and worry. I had to face him later if he was in any other of my classes. Shoot.

I didn't pay much attention to all of my classes. I was too busy wondering and thinking.

The bell announced that school was finally over. The mere hours felt like long week's. I felt exhausted. I must have looked exhausted and worried because most of my teachers asked if I was alright or if I needed to see the school nurse.

I was always tempted to say this; "Well, do I look fine? NO. That's because the person I dream about every night, the person who I haven't seen in more than a year, the person who I love most in my sad existence has suddenly turned up again in my life and he doesn't even remember me. Bloody screwed up right?" But I thought better of it.

It turns out that he isn't in any of my classes except English. Luck must hate me.

Today, hope is returned to me but good things come with consequences, and mine are brand new worries. The worries seem to be piling on top each other. I didn't know whether to laugh with joy or cry with pain.

I drive myself home, debating with my feeling's. I park my car in my usual spot in my apartment's parking lot.

I lock my car and walk to my apartment while I took out my house key's. As I put my key into it's key hole, I felt disquieted but I put it in the back of my mind.

The door was already unlocked. That's odd. I lock the door every time I leave the apartment. I listen carefully and if I wasn't mistaken, my television is on. Someone is in my house. My eye's widened in surprise. i took an instinctive step toward the possible danger then I stepped back. "Don't be stupid," I thought to myself.

I was about to run back to my car and drive to Heath's house when a familiar ladylike voice spoke to me,"Miss Mia, please come in." I froze. "What in the world is she doing in my apartment? And how did she get in?"

I reluctantly turned and opened my door.

"Mrs.Geniro, what are you doing here?"

Chapter 1: A Brand New Year.

"...One...Zero! Happy New Year!!!" The crowd surrounding the building of the rooftop that we stood on cheered as they welcomed in the new year but i couldn't hear them. All that I could hear was the audible crack of my beloveds head.

I woke up with a gasp and a loud scream. An everyday affair. The new year has brought no comfort to my tortured soul. No matter how many sleeping pill's I took to give me a dreamless sleep, the same dream would haunt me every night.

Why should I bother? If one year has brought no difference, what should any other night be any different? And why would it stop when I didn't want it to stop? A morbid need, but a need nevertheless.

Getting ready for school was never an easy task. My long wavy hair would never be the same after a night's sleep. I always had a habit of tossing violently in my sleep when I had a nightmare, which was every night. I dressed myself in a daze like I always do.

"Morning family." I greeted cheerfully. But only silence greeted me."Right, I live alone..." I mumbled to myself. But it wasn't the company of my own family that I craved.

As I reached the school parking lot, I realised that the parking lot was already full. I looked at the clock and saw that I was late. I cussed silently and looked for a parking spot but all I found was an illegal parking spot, I took it anyway.

I quickly grabbed my things from the backseat and ran to class.


Something felt different as I ran swiftly to class but I didn't bother to check even though I was sure that no one would notice. My senses were often wrong. And whatever that was different wouldn't make my daily pain's ease.

"Miss Mia, please take your seat before I drag you there myself." Mrs.Geniro said as I entered. She was always belligerent when I was late. "Excuse me?" I asked not understanding her harsh words. "I am guessing your speed has nothing to do with your consecutive lateness. Now sit."

Embarrassed, I quickly took my seat with my head down in the back of the class. Mrs.Geniro continued her lesson as if I've never interrupted. As she taught, I wondered how she could have gotten married with her feisty composure. Perhaps some men like that in a woman.

I was relieved when Mrs.Geniro announced the end of class. I got up to clear up my table and suddenly, a glimpse of something familiar caught my eye.

I looked up and saw the epitome of my nightmares.

The reason for my existence.

The person I would die for; My beloved.

Preface

I never imagined that life would be so easy to change sometimes. It's as if it is a huge book about yourself and God is the author.

All the book's are different .
The cover of a book according to a personality.
What would mine look like? Would it be in the colour gray? Or maybe lavender.
What would his look like? Probably in gold or silver. Would I be in his book? He is definitely in mine.

Maybe I can just write myself on the pages, but I'm not God. Pray as hard as I may, it might not be answered.

It is depressing to know that the one that you would willingly jump in front of a raging, blood-thirsty creature for, would never remember or even notice you. I shouldn't let him meet my family then.

Nevertheless, I would do it. As much as it hurts me. I. Would. Do. It.