Immortals (ON HOLD)

Chapter 22

Dimitri

            The day was oddly boring without Ariel. Her spontaneous moods and unpredictable behavior had me looking over my shoulder all day, waiting for something weird to happen. But we just sat and talked about what Kellan had said, and I had to sweep up his ashes and clothes. Leikos was on edge all day, moping around like he was dying. I had never seen one of our wolves do that before. It made the atmosphere depressed and melancholy, and I found myself frowning throughout the evening. Tasha amused me for a little while, and we played around and chased each other after the wolves ate. I hadn’t been drinking my elixir as much, and felt the fatigue when it came time to go to sleep. Kat came in the main hall as I was petting Leikos and listening to my ipod. Even though I could’ve heard her perfectly, I took out an ear bud anyway, out of courtesy. “You’re going to apologize tomorrow…right?” I snorted, rolling my eyes.

I shut off my ipod and wrapped my head phones around it, stuffing it in my pocket. “D! C’mon!” “Why the hell should I  apologize?? She was the one out of line!!” Kat sighed, sitting on the chair beside me. “Just apologize to her anyway.” “No! When she wants to talk again, she can say that she was wrong.” “You’re not going to get anywhere with that girl if you act like this,” she muttered, winking at me. I furrowed my eyebrows, but my face grew hot. If I was turning red, so help me God… “I don’t want to ‘get’ anywhere with her!!!” I retorted, quickly turning to Leikos. Kat giggled, crossing her legs. We were quiet for a few minutes, but the air around us suddenly turned serious. I looked over to see Kat’s expression straight and solid, and not her usually giggly, bubbly self. “Are you upset because of what was said?” I rolled my eyes.

“What are you talking about?” “She’s strong, Dimitri. Stronger than any of us. Does that make you jealous??” I jumped to my feet, Leikos looking more alive than he had all day. “Why the hell would I be jealous?! I don’t care how strong she’ll be; I’ve never been hungry over power!!!” “I know, it’s just…she’s different. I know you’ve seen the way Emrick looks at her…like she can do no wrong.” I stood up straight, cooling down. It was creepy the way Rick gazed at her. It was like he was in love with her, or something. It made me uncomfortable from day one, but I thought I was just seeing things. “We consider Rick like our father, and with Ariel coming, it’s almost like she’s his favorite.” “I’m sorry you feel that way…” I murmured, grabbing my thermos. She sighed, rolling her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, D. I absolutely adore Ariel, and this is in no way her fault it’s just…I’m worried about you.”

I turned to her, shaking my head. “All this over not apologizing to her?? Geez, if it’ll get you to shut up, I’ll call her right now.” “D, I’m serious. If you’re harboring feelings for her, I think it’s important to recognize them.” I glared at her, inching closer to her. “I don’t like her, okay? She’s stubborn, and moody, and way too hot-headed. A minute ago, you were giggling and teasing me. Now you’re all dark and gloomy. What the hell??” Kat looked around slowly, shrugging. “I…I think Emrick would have a problem with it,” she whispered, though I knew he was probably listening in on us. He was older than any of us knew…If he wanted to hear us, he would. He probably had the place bugged, anyway. “Look, even if I did like her, which I don’t, I would tell Emrick to shove it. Guardians are allowed to be involved…all of our parents, were.” “I think it’s different with her though, D. She’s different. If she were just another Immortal, I don’t think he would care so much…” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “Look, let’s just drop it, alright? I don’t like her anyway, so this isn’t an issue. Night,” I muttered, stalking to my room. “And for the record, I’m not apologizing!” I called, looking over my shoulder. Kat suddenly smiled and snickered. “That’s what you think!” She whispered, petting Leikos’ head. I raised an eyebrow at her, but decided not to think into it as I went to sleep, Kat’s warnings about Emrick echoing through my head.