Behind My Blue Eyes

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Knock! Knock!

          I was sitting at home, alone, reading Memoirs of a Geisha for the third time.  My mom and dad were at work so I pretty much had nothing to do. My other siblings were out including my brother who was the oldest and married.  I felt sleepy in the middle part of  the book where Sayuri gained her name.  Books and words were things I easily memorized.  By now I basically knew three quarters of the book by heart.

A loud, sharp knock sounded at the front door and jumped me right out of my skin.  Taking the lord’s name in vain I got up to answer the call.  I straightened my over sized t-shirt and shorts and ran a hand through my hair.  I was dressed strictly for staying at home doing nothing.  I opened the door after glancing at my watch- ten o’clock.  Too late for a business visit; too early for one of my friends to drop by.  I opened the door and held up a hand to my eyes to shield them from the sun.   The person standing in the doorway was tall.  That was all I could see because the sun was too blinding.

“Hello.” He had a very deep voice.

“Um hi.”  I squinted up at him.   He had very dark hair and a deep tan, for a Caucasian that is. 

“Are you Isabel?”  He asked looking down at me.  I felt exceptionally short at that moment.

“What do you want with her?” I asked.

“Nothing.  I just wanted to know if she got the locket.”  I think he smiled then turned to walk away. I couldn’t see it but I sensed the expression coming from him.  He was the one who left the locket?

“Wait!” I yelled stepping onto the veranda.  He stopped but didn’t turn around.  “Are...Are you L.K?”

He turned to look at me then.  He looked like he was in his thirties and had dark eyes to match his hair.  “Yes.  I am the Light Keeper.”

I sat across from him at the kitchen table.  After inviting, him inside I offered tea and he accepted.  He looked around for a few minutes then sat sipping the ginger tea. There was a stillness about him that made even my family kitchen seem reverend and humbled.  It was the kind of stillness you were aware of around much older people, who had lived full, long lives.

“What’s your name?”  That seemed the safest place to start the questions.

“Michael.”

“One who is most like god.” I muttered the meaning for his name under my breath.

“Yes.”  He smiled.  “You are the Priestess.”

“I have no powers.”

“What do you know of powers human?  I would have expected you to reject the claim that you are the priestess.”  His eyebrows were arched in disbelief.

I scoffed at the human remark. Generally I didn’t mind humans but I disliked being called something that was nowhere near my true nature.  “I only smell human to be protected.”

“Hmm.”  Whether this intrigued him, or he had expected it I could not tell as far as his face went.  It was like a mask.  I did however catch the subtle change in posture.

“My mother is half demon and half Sharoudain,  Lady Riley.  And my father is an immortal.”  I watched as amazement crossed his face for the briefest moment.  I was ready to see that amazement disappear.  “But, like I said, I have no powers.”  I smiled though it felt bitter on my lips.

“How can you be sure?”  He asked frowning.

“I’ve had sixteen years to be sure.”  My voice was monotonic.  I grew up in a house where even my little brother, who was three years younger than me, could levitate at five.  My sister-in-law Alexis said that I had magic in me I just needed a little push.  I thought she was just being nice.  Not that she is mean.  She bonded with my brother when I was four. 

The only thing I had to look forward to was finding my Isarayo and bonding with him.  That could take forever though.  Good thing I technically have forever. 

“This makes you sad.”  He was not asking. He stated it.  I don’t hide my emotions because I see no point in that but it felt nice to have my feelings acknowledged.

I nodded.

He perked up and looked towards the hallway.  I sat up and looked too wondering what was happening.  Alexis rounded the corner.  She was carrying groceries and I got up to help her.  She said nothing about Michael until the groceries were put away.

“Where’s Nick?” I asked as she got a glass of water.

“On an errand.”  She said simply.  Then she turned and faced Michael.

After a few minutes of intense staring, she sighed and took a seat at the table.  I sat next to her feel more comfortable than before.  I’ve known her almost all of my life. Her familiarity helped me feel more at ease around the stranger.

“Did he tell you that he is a Light Wing?” she asked suddenly. 

“Nope.” I said slowly wondering how she knew.

“Izzy,” she cooed my nickname, “You forget that I am Light Wing too.  We can read each other’s mind.”

“Oh, I didn’t remember that.” 

She smiled lighting up her face.  She was always so sweet to me and it warmed me from the inside out. I relished kindness.  “I don’t expect you to always remember.”

“I see what you mean.”  Michael grumbled.  Light Wings are the direct descendants of angels who lived on our planet.  They are wondrous creatures and shockingly beautiful when they were not hiding their true nature.  Michael was old if he was a Light Wing.  They only ever seem to age under massive amounts of stress.  They were not Nephalem’s. Those were children born of angel and human parents.

I heard my brother enter the house.  He was never to quiet about that.  Well Nick was really my half-brother but that did not matter.  He yawned when he walked into the kitchen then made a dead stop.  His green grey eyes went from Alex, to me, to Michael, then back to Alex.  Then he strode over and placed both hands on Alex’s shoulders.  A clear sign of ownership.   His wolf instincts ran deeper then he realised sometimes. 

“Nick this is Michael.  He has some news about Izzy.”  Alex said in a sober tone.

Nick nodded at Michael then looked at me.  “Are you in trouble?”

I almost shrugged but shook my head instead.  “I don’t think so.”

He nodded looking just like grandfather, serious, authorative and subtly dangerous.  He turned that look back to Michael.  “Would you mind returning at six?  My mother and step-father will be home then and anything you have to say then will be paid the attention required.”  He said it with the diplomacy and etiquette of a prince.  That was what he was technically.  My grandfather is the demon king of a kingdom in another dimension.  It is a bit much to take in but I have known this all of my life so it was nothing to me.  

Michael stood taking in my brother’s stance and attitude then replied, “I would appreciate that.”  He turned his dark eyes on me and I saw a deep feeling I could not name in them.  “Take care Priestess.”

For some reason being called Priestess... it just made me feel like something that had been missing for a long time fell into place with the complicated puzzle of my life. After he left I put my head on the table.

“Isabel,”  my brother started but I knew Alex stopped him from speaking.  I heard them move out of the kitchen leaving me alone.