Gasoline

Between Angels & Demons

Anneliese entered the stronghold in complete silence, an aura of depression almost seeming to surround her body. She wasn't able to make it to the ladder when Laurance suddenly stepped out in front of her. "Alright," she said with a sigh, throwing her arms in the air. "I don't have time with your 'You have red eyes!' shit."

"I didn't come to you for that," Laurance stated. "Though... Now that you mention it... Really? I would have thought you were better than that."

"Oh for the love of... Laurance, shut it."

He frowned. "What's wrong, Anneliese? You're never like this. The last time I saw you like this was when you saw Zenix after he turned you."

"You have no idea..."

"Is it a guy?"

She scoffed, smacking him hard across the face. "No! Well... Sort of. Just not in the way you think. It... It's my brother... Aaron..."

"Huh?"

"You know that guy with you? The one that never seems to wear a shirt, and had a blindfold on?"

"Him? Yeah, but he doesn't exactly talk much."

"That's Aaron, Laurance. That's my brother. I ran into him an hour or so ago and... He saw my eyes. He /hates/ me..." She shook her head with a forced laugh. "After all these years of searching, and that was the hello I got..."

"Wait... What!"

Anne gasped as Laurance suddenly grabbed her by the arm, dragging her up the ladder behind him, and over to where she could see Aaron leaning against the trunk of the tree. "Laurance, please.. Don-"

She was cut off with a squeak as Laurance shoved her forward. "You have got to be kidding!"

Aaron, to her surprise, jumped off of his little ledge to catch her in his arms before she could fall to the ground. He didn't let go, watching Laurance.

"Give her a chance! She's spent her entire life trying to find you. I know you have to have a heart in there somewhere."

Aaron didn't say anything at first. Anneliese could feel his grip around her tighten. She was shaking, afraid of what was going on. Finally, he spoke. His voice was nearly a low growl. "She killed a man she loved."

"She's powerful. The only reason I could think for her to do that is if she had the choice between that or getting dragged back down there. She struggled more than I did not to lose her memories... And you don't know that pain unless you feel it yourself. She was down there so much longer than I was... She was raised in the Nether. If Gene and Zenix get a hold of her... It would mean the end of everything we know."

"L-Laurance," Anne murmured shakily. "Don't... It's fine..."

"No!" Laurance exclaimed, causing her to flinch. "I'm not going to sit by and watch a misunderstanding tear apart two siblings!"

"Leave."

Anne widened her eyes, looking up towards Aaron in shock as he picked her up in his arms.

Laurance grumbled to himself for a moment. "Just... Don't make a decision you'll come to regret," he said with a sigh before turning and walking away to his bunk.

Slowly, Aaron and Anne descended the immense tree and made their way from the stronghold. He carried her into the forest, walking a ways, before setting her down against the rocky back of a small overhanging cliff. It looked out across a lake, and with it was a small campfire. A sleeping bag was laid across the stone, which she was sitting on. Aaron set to work starting up a small fire and she looked out across the lake. Eventually, he came and sat beside her on the sleeping bag with a faint sigh, holding his head in his hands.

"I understand if-"

"No," he cut her off. "I... I lost control. I was blinded by pain and shock. I didn't even give you much of a chance to explain your situation. I'm sorry, Anne... I just... I should have known better, considering the fact you were kidnapped by shadow souls, but there was some part of me that wanted to fight the idea that you had been turned into one of... Them."

Anneliese nodded, wiping away a silent tear that had slid down her cheek. "They raised me up in the Nether until I was of age. I spent most of my life in a small little cell... I was there when Laurance died. That was why he defended me... I was only about eight or nine when he was brought in. The woman named Aphmau... She was the one he held onto to keep his memories. That was what I did, only it was the thought of finding you again... Of finding our family." She sniffed quietly, wiping another tear.

"Anne, our family-"

"I know, Aaron... I found the ruins of Falcon claw a while ago when I heard something about the son of the old lord going mad and killing everybody."

He fell silent, and she could feel the sudden tension and anger radiating from him. His fists had clenched tightly.

"I know you wouldn't do that... What happened? Was it this Zane that Dante mentioned?"

"He gave my son an amulet and when I took it from my son, it cursed me... It... It killed the entire village..."

Desperate to change the subject somewhat, Anne looked towards him. "Wait, son? With who!"

He cracked a small smile. "Lilith."

"Called it!" she squealed with a giggle. She paused, before shifting and reaching over, pulling down his hood and tugging off his blindfold, holding the fabric in her hands as she turned it over. "Wh-Aaron? Is this..."

He was watching her as he inspected it. "The fabric that was wrapped around the handle of your bow? Yeah, it is. I also kept this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small little charm. It was a leather strip tied around a feather.

He went to hand it to her, but she stopped him and curled his fingers around it, placing the blindfold in his palm as well. "You have got to be kidding me... You kept the charm from my bow, too?" A sad smile overcame her lips as she looked up to him.

"Yeah..."

She gasped as he reached over, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close in a tight hug. "I missed you," she whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut to block any tears from flowing down her cheeks.

"I still miss you."

She pulled away, sniffling, confused. "What? But... I'm right here..."

"You're not the little innocent Anneliese I used to know. Not only have you grown up, but... You're technically dead, Anne. Not only that but you've killed people. The Anne I knew could never hurt even a squirrel. You always shot at trees and such, and even then you would apologize to the trees afterwords. You were so young and innocent, and now that I look at you... You've literally gone to Hell and back. I don't know this woman that I'm sitting here looking at."

Anne parted her lips in shock, shaking slightly. Aaron suddenly let her go and stood up. "You should go back before the others start wondering where you went." He pulled his hood up, bandanna once more back around his eyes. She let out a quiet breath, looking down at her hands, before slowly standing up. She watched him for a moment and eventually made a hesitant approach, placing a hand on his shoulder as she reached over and gingerly kissed his cheek. She didn't say a thing, however, and quickly turned to walk away back to the village, leaving Aaron with his head lowered. One couldn't see it due to the concealing clothing, but the man was actually silently crying beneath his blindfold.