The Tali

Chapter 19 - The Truth

EZEKIAL

Four days had passed with no change. There was the circle on her chest, but nothing else. She must be struggling with whatever she has to do. I sighed and walked into the spare room that we had put her in. "Andrian," He didn't reply.

"Get your nasty ass up and go shower. It's been four days." He turned and glared at me. "I'm not leaving her side." He turned his gaze back to Lailah's face. I couldn't stop the growl that passed my lips. "Nothing has happened, if the mark starts to grow I'll holler for you. Now go shower, Lailah would be pissed if she woke up to your stench." I wrinkled my nose for dramatic effect.

He sighed loudly, quickly jumping to his feet and practically running to the shower. "I won't be long," He yelled as the bathroom door slammed shut. I ran a hand through my chestnut hair. If I could age, I'd have grey hairs from all this. 

I took Andrian's spot and grabbed Lailah's hand. She was warm but didn't breathe, had no heartbeat, and her eyes were dull and unfocused. It was by far the weirdest thing I had ever seen. I listened to make sure the shower was still running and leaned down to her ear and whispered, "Lailah, I don't know if you can hear me, but I need you to fight. I don't know what you have to do to come back but please fight as hard as you can. I miss my best friend." I couldn't keep my voice from cracking. "Please, we're waiting for you to return." 

LAILAH

Lailah.... need you...to fight....miss my best frie....we....waiting...you to return....

My eyes flew open with a gasp at Zeke's voice, and I frantically looked around. When I found no one, but the empty bedroom I was in, I dropped my head into my hands. There was a knock on the door and my mother's sweet voice followed, "Lailah, honey are you okay?" I didn't move, I didn't want her to see me crying. 

"I-I had a dream. It was about Zeke, he was telling me to fight and that he missed me." I finally looked up after wiping at the falling tears. Her smile was tight. "People don't dream here." She sat on the edge of the bed and patted my knee. 

"More than likely, you actually heard Zeke talking. Your soul is still connected to your body, though the connection is faint. I'm guessing he was talking to your body and through that small connection you heard it." She pushed the hair out of my face. "Zeke loves you, honey. You're the sister he never had." 

"H-How do you know?" She laughed, light and airy. "He has been your protector since the day before we died, although we ordered him to stay out of your sight until you got to college and to never tell you that he had been there your whole life. He watched you grow up from afar, and slowly grew to love you like the kid sister he always wished for but never had." She wiped away a stray tear that rolled down my cheek.

"I know because I've always kept an eye on my little girl. I left you way too early and I didn't cross over until Zeke became your friend. I knew then you were going to be safe with him. You need to forgive him." I hugged her tightly, ignoring the slight burn over my still heart.

"I already have, mom. I forgave him without even realizing it when you told me he really was talking to me." Mom pulled my t-shirt over to look at the diagonal line that had formed in the circle. "Now you just have to forgive yourself and Andrian."  

EZEKIAL

"Andrian! Get your ugly ass in here! The mark-" I had barely stood up before Andrian burst in the room, a towel wrapped around his waist and hair dripping water. "You didn't even bother to get dressed?" I asked as he made his way to Lailah's side. "You started yelling and I couldn't waste any time." His finger traced over the half-formed mark. 

"Whatever she has to do, she's halfway there." A small smile broke out on his face. "Andrian," I whispered. "We need to talk, go get dressed." The smile quickly disappeared from his face and he left to get dressed. I took another glance at Lailah before shutting the door behind me and making my way to my living room.

---------

Andrian sat across from me, his eyes glaring daggers at me. "I already know what this is about, so say it." He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. "Well," I mused, leaning back and stretching my arms over the back of the couch. "Why are you a Kamatayan?" 

"What do you mean why? As if I had a choice." He scoffed and ran a hand through his wet hair, slicking it back. "I was drowning in debt, work for the Kamatayans for a couple of hundred years and that debt goes away. I only had ten years left on my contract when word spread that the Athenos girl was still alive. They promised that if I found her, I could forget about the last ten years and have my freedom early, so I threw myself into trying to find her." His eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn't place. 

"That's when I met Lailah. I knew the first time we touched, but I refused to believe that the Gods fated me with a human. A weak pathetic human that would die in 60 or 70 years. So I figured I'd mess with her a bit, then reject her, leave town and go on my way searching for my target. But that didn't happen," He paused and looked down at his hands. 

"I became addicted to her, her laugh, the way her nose scrunches up when she's angry, that look she gets every time I touch her. I knew I was screwed, I was gonna tell her - a human - about myself and see if she'd accept me. I'd spend the rest of her life with her, then move on with my life. So I told her, and she took it so well, she even accepted me, so I figured 'Let's make the most of her short life', I'll find and kill the Athenos girl, present her to the head of the Kamatayans and we could run away together. But then she caught us fighting, heard me yell what I was really here for and then I found out she was who I was searching for. This lowly pathetic human turned out to be from the most powerful Tali bloodline only she was unchanged. I didn't believe it, not for a second, then her eye started to glow blue and I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I had a choice to make, kill her and end it here, or wait out the ten years, knowing I couldn't see her once during those ten years, and knowing she'd be hunted by the people I was serving. So, I chose to kill her. I had told them that I was the only one allowed to kill her, I'd show her mercy and make it quick and painless. Then I'd live with that pain and guilt for the rest of my life." He finally came to a stop.

"So you decided to kill your mate, earn your freedom, then carry the weight of that decision the rest of your immortal life?" He nodded. "And you came to that choice without consulting me or her." He laughed humorlessly. "She wouldn't let me near her, and you pretty much ended our friendship when you found out who I worked for." 

Guilt stabbed at me, now that I knew the truth. "Andrian, you've been my friend for as long as I can remember and that's not going to change now. I'll help you out with this situation. We'll figure something out, we always have."