Way Down We Go

Chapter 8

"You remember?" Asa's voice was strange. Like he was just as unsure about it as she was and trying to hide it.

"Yeah," She twisted her hands in her lap. They were silent for a moment.

"Rory?" He asked, and it made her jump.

"Hm?"

"What do you remember?"

"I, uh," She stared at her fingers and took a deep breath.

This is stupid, She thought, He knows what this is. He knows what he can do. And he kissed you first. So just fucking tell him and quit being a coward about it.

She forced herself to meet his eyes.

"It felt like I could relax, really relax, like everything was perfect in the universe and why should I trouble myself with anything outside of that moment, and you. I couldn't think about anything outside of you. I couldn't do anything except give in to you. And, quite honestly, it felt good. It was like nothing I've ever felt before."

She ignored the way his jaw twitched at her words before continuing, "But, then it felt like you were taking...something from me. It was like a nervousness I didn't know I had. And I was glad to see it go, but then it felt like you were taking something more. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't make it stop. It was like my mind and my body weren't wanting to work together. I just wanted to go back to that peaceful feeling and ignore it."

Asa kept looking at her, expectantly.

"That was it," she finished, lamely. She didn't want to look at him, and instead, picked a spot on his shoe.

Asa let out a whistle, which made her look up, surprised. He lay back on his elbows again.

"It's times like this I wish I still smoked," It was like he was restraining a laugh.

"You smoke?"

"Used to, quit...I don't know. Years back. It doesn't really do anything to me, but I picked it up spending time in the human realm." He let the silence hang for a while. "Rory, you are probably one of the most interesting people I've met in a very, very long time."

"Um, thank you." She thought that was flattering, but at the same time, it didn't really answer her questions.

"While the trance was happening," Asa said, still staring up at the sky. "You should have felt an overwhelming sense of pleasure. It keeps the subject pliable and willing. There are different forms of the trance, that one felt the easiest at the time."

"The easiest for who?" she questioned.

"Well, I could have terrified you, horrified you. Shown you visions that would have tormented you. That didn't seem like a better option," Asa said bluntly, forcing himself back up to face her. Rory opened her mouth and closed it again. He had a good point.

"And, as we've discussed, you were not supposed to remember any of it. You may have felt more amiable to me, as a side effect, but on the whole. No. But, what intrigues me more, is that you felt me taking not only my mana away but yours. The kid's mana has intertwined with your own, similar to how demons and mages absorb more mana. I can't call it the kid's anymore. It really is yours now. You were not only aware, but a part of you wanted to fight me when you felt your mana was in danger. You had a reaction you simply should not have had - a reaction only those with the strength to fully combat the trance should have had, and that does not include humankind.

"I didn't plan on telling you this until I knew for sure, but, Rory, I know someone who can help explain what you are. You have to believe by now when I say you are not fully human. There is some other part of you, another part to you, and I don't know what it is. But, I want to. Do you?"