When I woke up, it was almost 11. When Alex tried to wake me before, I had groaned and told her I was sick and needed to sleep in. After last night's commotion, I had forgotten what I had going on for Saturday. Alex and Carli had managed to do a few badges already. "You feeling better?" Alex asked when I walked out of the tent. I can't tell them about Keith. There was nothing normal about him. They wouldn't take his smoky appearance well. They might even urge me to tell my parents. "Yeah, I'm fine." I kept things short so I don't have to lie to them as much. I looked back towards the forest, where he was last night. He wasn't there, but I remembered how he looked, his posture was of a strong, proud man. I wondered if he had taken the baby bear into the barn. I missed the gentle neighs of Raven. Suddenly, I felt like I missed him. I missed laughing and giggling with him. I could almost feel his eerie cold smoke on my skin. I took a shower before I started any badges. The day went by slower than I expected. I looked forward to the night. Every 5 minutes, my watch reminded me to stop looking at it. Alex, Carli, and Julia continued to laugh and banter about John, the new guy. They kept pestering me about my encounter with him but I managed to keep some things to myself. Like how he thanked us for helping with Noah. I think I may have imagined that he said thank you, there's no way he knew that we did anything. There's no reason to get Carli excited. She seemed to like John. She has completely and utterly fallen in love with his eyes. I don't blame her. Half the school has fallen in love with his eyes. The day was beautiful and sunny. Every now and then, a cool breeze flew through and it was refreshing. We sat around the fire pit and talked for a while. For a moment, I forgot about all my worries. My parents, Keith, John, everything. In that moment, I appreciated my friends, that I had them at all. In a few months, I'd be moving to college and may not see them after that. I was selfishly choosing some of the colleges that they were applying to, just so I could have a soul I knew around. I leaned back and looked up at the cloudless sky. It was the most peaceful I've felt in a while. Miss Pickett came by and reminded us to start making dinner early so we can pack away our things to be sent out. Little did they know, the bear they feared did in fact attack one of them. The thought filled my mind with images of the attack. I remember feeling so terrified that I wasn't sure if I was alive or dead. My body started shivering lightly. I missed Keith and Raven. I spent so little time with them yet I felt so connected to them. "I'm going to go collect some wood," I told them and headed towards the woods. "I'll come with you" Alex wanted to join. "No, I got it. You should help get the veggies ready" I told her in a hurry. I didn't want her to follow me because the shaking seemed to have taken a turn for the worst. "Oh... ok" a confused Alex watched me walk towards the woods, arms crossed, almost like I was cold. I walked as fast as I could until I came to the spot that I feared the most. I stood there looking at the tree. It looked different in daylight. I couldn't picture where the bear was. The tents were visible from this spot but our made-up kitchen was covered by leaves of the trees below, so I couldn't see the girls. I kneeled in front of the tree, my knees feeling weak from shaking. My breaths were shallow, and I felt light-headed. I shouldn't have come alone. If Alex had come with me, she would have questioned my weak legs. I tried to breathe fast, but it only made things worse. Suddenly, I heard a familiar sound. It was a horse, and it sounded very much like Raven. I looked around, hoping it was him. I couldn't see anything at first, but suddenly, a beautiful black-skinned horse appeared by the tree. Taken aback, I stood up wondering how he got there in the first place. He made a friendly noise. Was this raven? He nodded as if to agree with me. "Raven?" I asked him, and he walked towards me and kissed me on the cheek. I forgot about my shaking and the bear, and for once, I felt loved. The love of an animal is none other than pure and loyal. I walked under him and hugged his neck. He was beautiful. His fur was so shiny, I've never seen anything like it before. It almost had a blue hue to it. I wondered where Keith was. "I'm here" I heard a whisper behind me. I turned around at once, excited to hear his voice. There was no one there. "You can't see me." his normal voice said coming from what felt like right in front of me. "Why not?" I asked... awkwardly looking forward. "Then you'd know who I am," he said playfully, and I imagined a smile on his face. My imagination only drew a smoky picture of him, but I liked it more because that's the Keith I knew. "I'm not going to tell anyone," I told him, hoping to convince him to come out of the shadows. He laughed, making me smile. "No one would believe you anyway." He was enjoying this. "Plus you haven't made any guesses""I can guess?" I asked, giving in. I honestly haven't a clue. "Sure." He laughed. "I don't know. How can I not see you?" I asked, my arm still around Raven. "During the day, we can be invisible but can't fly. When the sun goes down, we can both be invisible and fly but we turn into... well... you saw..." he trailed on. "So you're like a normal person during the day and turn all smoky at night?" I asked, trying to repeat my understanding of it. "And you can go invisible like 24/7?"He laughed and agreed, "yes""That's cool!" I told him. "Raven is beautiful, his fir is so shiny" and he whinnied. "He says thank you" I smiled at Raven. His hair looked like it's been ironed. It seriously looked better than any human hair I've ever seen. "Your friend is wondering about you," he told me. I petted Raven as I talked to him mostly because it was awkward to talk to.. nothing..."They think you're acting weird since you woke up"I'm not so sure I like the mind-reading abilities. I like my privacy. "Sorry, I'm just trying to help. Your heart has calmed down. Wait here, I'll get you some firewood." "Ok." I said, but I had a feeling he had already gone. I continued to pet Raven. He keeps nudging me with his nose. It is just so easy to fall in love with a horse, and Raven with his English skills just makes it even better. I missed Keith, for the few minutes that he left. A pile of wood appeared behind Raven. "I can't fly, so I did my best," he told me, almost in a pant and I wondered what he looked like, panting. "Thank you," I told him, but I gave all my attention to Raven. "Are you going to be ok? You started shaking when they mentioned bears..."He said, sounding concerned. "How do you know?" I asked, realizing he had been here the whole time. "I wanted to make sure you make it through the day," he said quietly. "Meaning, make sure I don't tell anyone?" "Jasmine, I don't care if you tell anyone. Like I said, they won't believe you. But you have to understand, you went through a traumatic experience and your body is going to react to it. It's risky that you haven't told anyone. I think you need to see a doctor" he said, again with a concerned voice. I wanted to argue with him, but he was right. "I can't tell anyone. It's a lot more than you. My parents would never let me go anywhere ever again. I can't risk that. This is the first time they let me out of the house alone."I petted Raven through an awkward pause. "I'm sorry you have such a hard time at home. Sounds like it affects you, your heart races when you talk about home.""Privacy... I'd like a little privacy here" I told him laughing. "Sorry" he apologized, seriously. "I can't help myself" he explained. "Your friends are starting to get worried. You should go""Ok. How's the bear?" I asked walking over to pick up the wood. "He's doing great. We can feed him tonight." He told me. "Ok sounds good," I said trying not to look in any one direction when I talked. "Come out when you know your friend is asleep. I'll be waiting where we dropped you off last night." He said as I started heading back. I smiled thinking about last night. My stomach suddenly turned into a thousand knots. "Ok. See you then. Bye Raven" I kissed him on the nose. "You're beautiful" and he nudged his nose against me. I headed back down the hill. When I got back to the kitchen, they had already prepared all the veggies. "We thought the bears got you or something," Caro said laughing. I smiled nervously, wishing she had not brought up the bears. Too soon Carli, too soon. I thought about Raven and Keith. Their caring voices echoed in my head. I've managed to calm myself down every time, with their help, this being no exception. Cooking was fun, once we got through the bear talk. Tonight, we made our special stir fry again and Ms. Pickett joined us with her friends. It was a fun dinner time conversation of talking about the teachers at school. None of us dared bring up John when she was there. I was thankful because I was getting tired of talking about John. The stir fry was delicious and it was nice and chilly again around the fire pit. When the sun was still out and bright, Miss Picket had us pack all our perishables except the s'mores things. Alex volunteered to go get some more firewood and I wondered if he was still there. "I can get it" I stood up. I'll take another chance to chat with him if he happens to be there. "No, you got it last time. I can get it" she forced her way into it. I didn't have a good enough shareable reason to throw a comeback, so I settled back down wishing I had taken the initiative in the first place. I looked towards the forest and didn't see anything out of place. I'm sure they'd be fine, surely, this is not their first time. Alex returned, not screaming, so clearly, she didn't see anything. Carli lit the fire when we got back from the quick shower. I put my PJs on, but this time, I used the mirror in the restrooms to fix my hair. I pulled the tops up to a small messy bun and let the rest hang over my shoulders. Should at least look fairly decent if I'm going to see him tonight. Darkness soon swallowed the trees around us and all the silhouettes returned from last night. I looked towards the trees behind me and obviously, Raven and Keith were not there. The darker it got, the worst I felt, a feeling of fear washing over me. My friends were right next to me, laughing about but I was afraid. Afraid of the darkness around me. I wouldn't see Keith and Raven for a few more hours, and I have to just hold my thoughts until then. My mind kept drawing vivid images of things with claws popping out of the dark and grabbing me and I wanted to jump and scream. My head was starting to scream inside. My heart was racing and my breaths started to get shallow. I rested my elbows on my knees and stared down, trying not to look up into the darkness. Alex, Carli, and Julia were talking about John again. They seemed to have fun. I tried to focus in on their conversation but my body refused to be distracted from its fears. I was afraid of closing my eyes, even though I wanted to close them and try to relax.I was now having to purposely breathe because I felt as though I wasn't getting enough air. Suddenly, the skin on my left arm felt a cold touch and I heard Keith's voice whisper in my ear "I'm here"His touch made me jump just slightly but hearing his voice was already calming my brain. I laid back looking up, breathing fast, purposely trying to get air in my lungs. "It's going to be okay, I'm right here"I closed my eyes. He was still holding my arm. Alex and Carli haven't noticed me yet, and I'm so thankful. I tried to keep my breathing under my shirt so they wouldn't see me struggling to breathe. He was petting my arm, with cold, soft and gentle strokes. I opened my eyes and looked up at the sky. It was beautiful. There were lots of stars but I could tell the fire ruined my chances of seeing most of them. He was like a drug to my brain. He was the drug to my brain's bear attack fear addiction. When I thought about him, I forgot all about my fears. He was the one thing about the darkness that I wasn't afraid of. He was the darkness. I closed my eyes and pictured him sitting by me, smoke pouring off of him. If my friends saw him, they would have all had heart attacks. There would be screaming. But I wasn't afraid of him. He represents the kind and gentle side of darkness though he didn't look the part. I opened my eyes and sighed. My heart was back to normal. The drug, his new nickname, was working. He was still petting my arm and I had knots in my stomach again. I loved feeling his cool gentle touch. "What's up? Are you tired?" Alex asked me. "Yeah, I'm getting tired" I closed my eyes and lied. He stopped petting when he heard Alex's voice. "Wake up and tell us more about John" Julia giggled. "You know more about him than I do," I told her, not wanting to go over my encounter with John. I didn't want to sound interested in another guy when Keith was around, and I'm not sure why I felt that. "Well, I've never really talked to him. I need to get my sister to find out some more info. Like where he lives and all that.""Right. They only moved here recently... surely that's easy to find" Carli joined in. I shifted in m chair uncomfortably. Although I knew Keith could already read everyone's mind, it felt uncomfortable knowing that he was there when my friends didn't know he was. Plus, he said I knew him, which means they know him and we could be passing around inappropriate information. Wait a minute though, he could read their minds anyway so why does it matter? "What they don't know won't hurt them. Stop worrying" I heard his calm whisper in my ear. He was so close that I could feel his cold smoke on my neck. The knots in my stomach only tightened further. It's not fair that I can't talk to him but he can talk to me. "Sure you can. Just talk, I can hear what you're thinking."Ok, that's kind of creepy. I thought to myself. "Sorry" it was an apologetic whisper. I smiled. His touch felt colder and colder on my arm. "You're cold," I thought and he immediately shifted his hand to a few inches lower. I smiled again looking up at the sky. Miss Pickett came by to collect the last of our perishables. She reminded us about bears, and this time I paid attention. We were to always stay in pairs, and call her if we heard anything suspicious. Keith squeezed my arm when my heart rate started racing again. I tried hard not to think about the bear. We stayed out about another hour, Keith still holding my arm. He didn't even let go for a second. With him right next to me, sometimes petting my hand, I felt secure, more secure than I've felt... ever. I didn't want him to know what I was thinking about, so I pictured him on Raven, watching us from the distance in daylight. They were there the entire time. They even watched Alex collect wood. If I knew them enough, they would have helped Alex if she got in trouble.Alex, Carli, and Julia had a great time around the fire. They mentioned a couple times that I was quiet, but I was listening. I didn't engage in conversations about John because I was merely not interested in him. I didn't even talk about Terry. I couldn't tell them about Keith, so all I could do was keep things to myself. I realized I had talked to Keith more than I had talked to Terry at this point. I've only exchanged a few words with Terry. Liking Keith is problematic, however. The smoke, the mind-reading, the smoky horse... everything about him was out of the ordinary. In my mind, I didn't voice any of this. I've learned, in a very short time how not to get detected by his radar. He can only hear if I say things in my mind. When we finally went to our tents, I didn't want him to let go. I thought of how my body reacted to darkness and I felt a quick shiver. "I'll be sitting right next to you outside the tent" he whispered in my ear. I embraced his cold breath. "Stay by the edge and you'll know I'm there" he whispered and let go of my arm. I did as I was told. I got in my sleeping bag but I placed myself at the very edge. It felt like I was up against a wall, just like my bed at home except my bed was rock hard ground. It was dark but knowing that he was around, helped me keep my thoughts calm and collected. I wasn't calm enough to fall asleep, so I let my mind run with it, but I was restricted to imagery. I was very careful not to think in words. It was slightly embarrassing to admit that I may have growing feelings towards someone that I have yet to see. In a way, this is the best way to get to know someone. Appearance has very little to do with personality and I hold kindness and love in the highest regard. It's important to me that I love a kind and gentle person that loves me back and is loyal to me. He is that and more. He stirred beside me and I jumped out of my train of thought. "You're quiet" I heard a faint whisper. I've done well training my mind to escape the radar, I thought, not in words, but with an image of me smiling. And then I thought of something. "Is Alex asleep?" I used words to think. Maybe I can talk to him. "Yes, everyone is in deep sleep" he whispered back. It made me smile. "This is cool!" I thought hoping he'd hear me. The most surprising thing followed. "If you say so" I heard his voice, but this time it wasn't a whisper. It was similar to my mind's voice but it wasn't mine. He can talk to me, or my thoughts. It was a little creepy, to be honest, but at the same time, it was really neat. I didn't know what to think. I didn't have enough control to just think in imagery. "Oh my god, is that you?" Is all I could think of, to say to him. "Yes, I didn't want to creep you out more than needed, so I didn't tell you. No more surprises I promise. It was really hard not to talk to you like this, things would have been much easier. But I thought this would be kind of a new thing for you and I wasn't sure if you'd be ready for it. You kind of went through some trauma there, the last thing you need is more things to deal with.""Well, you're a great distraction from it, really. I can't seem to stop myself from reacting the way I do and I hate it. Thank you for being there, I honestly appreciate it.""I can't help but feel like you can't tell your parents because of me""No, really, I don't want to lose the little freedom I have. I've loved camping, apart from the incident of course. It's great to hang out with Alex and Carli. I never get to hang out with them you know. My parents are really strict.""They don't want you to hang out with them?""Nope""I'm sure they have a reason?""No, they're crazy." My answer was quick. Even as a thought, it expressed my sincere disgust towards the attitudes of my parents. I heard a light chuckle. "You want to get out of here?" He asked in a playful tone. Hearing his voice inside my head completely closed the gaping hole of loneliness that I felt only a few days ago. I felt as though I've found a friend, a friend I share my life so deeply with, a friend that I couldn't imagine a life without. I slowly slipped out of my sleeping bag, trying not to wake Alex up. The zip on the tent did make a ruckus but of course, it wouldn't wake Alex up. I doubt anything can wake her up at this point, she's in a deep sleep. I'd bet that she would be rather cross with me if I did manage to wake her up. I grabbed my flashlight again, just in case I need it. He may see through the darkness but I can't...When I zipped the tent back up, I looked around to see if he had made himself visible. "I'm here, let's walk to Raven," he told me and I spotted Raven in the distance. He wasn't the regular shiny furred horse that I saw this morning, he was a magnificent smoky apparition of himself. His eyes glowed blue and he stood there, proud as we walked towards him. "Hello Jasmine" I heard a voice in my head, and it sounded like a friendly old man with a British accent. As I realized whose voice it was, I came to a complete pause and stood with my mouth open staring at the origin of the sound. Obscene and utter respect towards him dawned on me just then, now that I've associated a voice, a much older and wise voice with Raven, the horse that so lovingly took care of me last night. I didn't think of an animal as being wiser than man, but his voice, the few words he had spoken so far was wrapped in a level of wisdom that conveyed his years of experience living in this world. "I told you he can understand English," Keith said, out loud this time, laughing. "His accent is a bit of a shocker there, but you'll get used to it. We lived in England for a number of years, and he refused to change his ways when we moved. Not that it matters you know, he can't really go around talking to other people" he chuckled some more."Come" he wrapped his arm around me, quietly taking my breath away and gently nudged towards Raven. Now I could see him, his silky black smoke falling down my shoulders. I walked, not all that comfortably because butterflies had promptly returned to my innards when his cold skin touched me. Raven was still awaiting his response. I couldn't think of anything to say other than "Hi" back at him. I didn't dare pet him this time around. It would be awkward, petting a nice old man. "It's good to talk to someone other than him and his family" his voice came with his usual friendly neigh."Right," I said aloud, forgetting to think instead. "Maybe you can tell me who he really is," I told Raven aloud, only half-joking. Keith laughed, his laugh made me smile. I didn't make it a secret that I was actively trying to figure out who he is and how he knows me. Plus I think it genuinely amused him. If I could hear him laugh more often, I'll play along. "Sorry M'lady, I couldn't possibly reveal his true identity. After all, I have to live with him." Raven conveyed most politely and apologetically possible. I smiled. "It's.. okay..." I told him, not showing my disappointment. "Are we ready to go see the cub?" Keith asked, after giving me an awkward pause of silence. "Sure," I told both of them but wondered how they were planning on taking me there. I was skeptical about flying. "Are you ok with flying?" Keith asked sounding curious. I so wish I could see his face. I hesitated and my thoughts made a skeptical groaning sound. "Let's try it. I'll sit right behind you. It's a beautiful night. We could see the city lights and the stars." He tried to make it sound appealing. I caved, only because he said he'd be right behind me and I was hoping that meant he'd sit with me, not fly behind us. The man can fly at night, after all, if it was me, I'd be using and abusing my powers. "Are you afraid of heights?" He asked me as he helped me get on Raven. Of course, he flew me up there. "A little bit. I guess I'm afraid of falling" I told him. "Well, Raven is the smoothest horse I've ever ridden, and he's very gentle, you won't even feel us moving. Plus, I won't let you go, I promise" he tried to reassure me, tugging away at my heartstrings. The things he says about keeping me safe just added to my butterfly problem. I was careful not to think in words, now that there are two very intriguing ears listening. "Are you ready, Jasmine?" His voice sounded as excited as an old man's voice with a British accent can sound. I feel as though his voice would better fit in a Disney character rather than in a slick black horse. "Yeah, I think so," I told him and I felt a cold arm around my stomach. Everything around me, even my thighs were covered in black smoke. I saw the trees around me move and realized that we were no longer on the ground. Treetops slowly moved below us and I felt my muscles tense. "Relax, I got you" he whispered and tightened his arm around me. Thank you, Keith, now he's made things worse as I pictured guts churning inside me because that is exactly how I felt right now. I could even feel his coldness on my back and I assumed that he was very close, but I'm never going to be able to tell because of the smoke. It was dense. We have come up a substantial distance because, before us, I could see the city lights lighting up the night sky. It was beautiful, but I couldn't say that I hadn't seen that before. We fly every year to see my grandparents and I always get a window seat. The air felt crisp up here above the trees and I realized that is the only difference in the view from the plane. Fresh air from a beautiful summer night did bring forth a feeling of enlightenment. Keith didn't loosen his grip until we landed next to what looked like a big metal barn. The shape of it looked like it was made in the 1900s but when we got closer it looked like a modern structure with metal and fancy glass windows."Welcome to my humble abode," Raven said as he landed softly right outside what looked like the front barn doors. Keith helped me down and we walked towards the doors. "I must leave, make sure your friends don't wake up and think you're missing." His British accent reverberated in my head. "Yes, Raven will keep an eye out for your friends. He can let us know if they wake up."Keith said aloud. "Okay..." I didn't know what else to say. I realize I'm often tongue-tied when I'm with these two. "Oh.." Keith turned around. "Raven, I forgot the meat in the fridge" he was talking to Raven. They started at each other a while and I figured they were talking to each other. "Jasmine, would you mind coming with me to go get the food out of the fridge? My house is just down the hill and there's no one else at home right now. You don't have to come in if you don't want to" he tried to appeal to my senses. His attempts are useless on me as I'm more than willing to go with him. "Sure," I told him confidently. "Okay. Raven has to go back to the campground now. Let's start heading towards the house." And he turned towards the left and started heading over. "So long, Jasmine" I heard the familiar accented voice in my head. I waved at him and he took off gracefully, leaving a trail of black smoke behind him."I can fly you there" he suggested when Raven left. "How?" I asked, curious. "Put your arm around me," he said and he put his arm around me. He was cool under my skin. Suddenly my feet wasn't touching the ground anymore. "You okay?" He asked. "Yeah I think so," I said, unsure how long I can keep this up. He stayed only about a foot off the ground but we floated pretty fast towards the bottom of the hill. The woods were quite dark and I was thankful for his navigating skills. We rushed past trees and shrubbery. This part of the woods was not cleared and there were bushes here and there under the trees. However, the trees in this area were different. They were older and much taller. The trunks were huge, almost reminded me of the Californian redwoods. The tall trees created odd shadows and silhouettes between the trunks. Suddenly, what I thought was ground turned into what looked like a flat industrial rooftop. Fans and AC units popped out of the shadows. The trees were however still there, seemingly popping out of the roof. It was a confusing sight. He was quiet, letting me absorb the night. "We're here. The fridge is in my mom's apartment. Let's go there first." He took a sharp turn and we were going downhill, fast. It felt like falling off the edge and I closed my eyes and tensed up. "Oh sorry" he apologized when he felt me tense. "I forgot you're afraid of falling," he said quietly, slowing down. Glass walls came into view beneath the sea rooftops and trees. He landed on the outside of the wall where a huge space created a porch balcony. Right now, I saw nothing through the balcony except darkness and silhouettes of trees but I'm sure the view is beautiful during the day. He let me go and walked up to the wall as if he was going to open a door. He pressed the edge of a panel and it opened up. He took a step in and held his hand out, making a path for me. The house, his mom's apartment rather, was a very spacious and eloquent room, a proper rectangle surrounded by glass. There was no connection between the apartments but they looked like they were square boxes stacked on each other. The entrance to each square was from the roof. He turned the lights on. "Will you wait here till I hide my things?" He asked playfully. "Hide your things?""Yes, I have a few identifying things in my apartment, I want to hide it so you don't see it."I laughed. "At least you're honest. Sure""Ok be right back"He flew out, fast. I looked around the room. His mom sure lives a frugal life. None of the furniture had any wear and tear on it. It looked like it was set up for a show. The weirdest thing I should think of is the tree trunks that act as pillars around the room. She had set up a table around one. A flight of stairs revolved around one, and I assumed that was the main entrance to the house. Everything in the room was either a shade of blue or gray. Keith was literally back in a minute. "Ok my apartment is ready if you want to come visit," he told me walking to the kitchen. "Sure," I told him, curious to see how the smoky man lived his other life. I wondered about his mother. "Yes, my mom is just like me. We all share the same powers" he told me. He's quick to remind me that he can hear my thoughts. "Where is she," I asked. "They're... out hunting..."I would have never guessed that. "Hunting?""Yes. We don't eat regular food. We... feed off of life. Not necessarily life of a healthy being. We hunt for dying animals, never kill anything. We can sense the fear of dying, and we use the energy but comfort the animal." He said quietly, still holding the handle of the fridge. "You... you're not disturbed by any of this..." he said looking away. "May I ask why?""Why should I be disturbed?" I asked, trying to make a point. "Jasmine, I just told you that I suck the life out of dying animals. That's not necessarily a page out of Jasmine's journal, is it?" He was sarcastic. "People do worse things to make a living Keith," I said in a serious tone. "There are people that kill and chop animals up for a living. You're not like that. You helped me, you saved a bear cub. Your intentions are what matters. If you think I'm going to be scared of you, you're going to be disappointed." I said in the same dry tone. "Maybe you should be. Look at me. I look like death itself." His voice sounded angry but low. "Well, I think you look cool" I took a step towards him. "Can we go see your apartment now?" I asked smiling, hoping it'd cheer him up. "Yes, let's go" he grabbed the package from the fridge and walked towards the makeshift porch door. I followed him there. He held me again and flew to another similar looking porch on the highest square. There were two others in between and I assumed those belonged to people in his family. "Is everyone in your family...""Yep""Siblings?""Yeah, two... well... three. Long story. You?""I have no siblings.""Must be nice.""No actually, it's not. Everything falls on me""Right I guess so."We walked into his apartment. His lights were already on and the smoke coming off of him looked odd under the light. His apartment was equally spacious with 3 tree trunks spread out in the room, one is a staircase to the entrance. He had no kitchen, only a couch, two big TVs, a table and a bed. With glass walls and beautiful views, no one would need furniture!I walked over and sat on the bed because the tv was above the bed on the ceiling facing down. He can lay on the bed and watch tv looking up. I put together real fast that his family was rich. "I like this TV!" I told him. "Yeah, it's really neat. I don't sleep but it's nice to lay down and watch tv.""You don't sleep? Like ever?" I asked, my mouth open in surprise. "No..." he chuckled. "That's a surprise to you? Not that I can read minds or fly or that I suck the life out of living things?" I'm happy to see that it amuses him. The last time he brought that up, he wasn't so happy. "I like sleep..." I told him. "Sleep is good," he said in a smiling voice and I wished so terribly that I could see his face. "Are you going to tell me who you are?" I asked, desperately wanting to know how he knows me. "No..." he laughed "I've come this far, you'll figure it out soon" he chuckled. We hung out in his apartment for more than an hour. His mood gradually changed for the better. I was increasingly getting curious about the origins of his powers but I think that's a story for another time. I avoided talking about it at all costs. I can only imagine what feelings he had towards it, knowing that he is not pleased with his current situation. We used the entrance around a tree trunk to walk up and out of the apartment. He flew us back to the barn, gracefully flying a foot high off the ground. The inside of the barn was a surprise, to say the least. Raven is not a regular horse for sure. His bedroom was on the second floor, accessible through a ramp. The first floor looked like an area for family gatherings. There was, of course, a big TV and lots of couches. The back walls were stable stalls, one of which housed the bear cub. "This is an awesome looking barn!" I finally voiced my thoughts."Raven loves his TV," he told me, bringing the bear cub out. The cub was making growling noises but it was as cute as can be. I pet him while Keith fed him bits of the food he had prepared. "He's adorable," I told him. The cub didn't seem to be afraid of the misty smoke covered man feeding him bits of meat. "He is!" His silky voice agreed. "I hope this is not the last time I get to see him," I told him, my heart fluttering because I'm not sure that I will get to see him after tomorrow either. "Why do you say that?" He asked, confused. "Well, my camping trip kind of ends tomorrow. I'm going home." "You know I can fly, right?" He asked sarcastically. I could sense a smile in his voice. "Well, my parents are strict. They don't even let me go out with friends, much less strangers.""Well, we can do what we're doing right now." He sounded confident. "I don't know... what if my parents wake up?" He quietly walked over to me. "If you're worried about it, then we won't do it." He put his arm around me and the butterflies returned to make my life uneasy. He continued, "look, I want to keep an eye on you since you won't tell your parents. You are experiencing some stress and anxiety over it, so it's not safe for you to be alone in the dark." My heart tugged at the feeling of being protected. "Thank you." My voice crackled. I was thankful for his kindness. It's not often that I feel loved, certainly not at home. It may very well be a drug since I couldn't help but want more. "I... want you to be safe..." he said, his voice puzzled. "I care about you..." his quiet but deep voice pulled my heartstrings. I felt my knees going numb and I shifted on my seat. "Thank you for saving my life..." the numbness must be getting to my brain because all I could think of, was to thank him yet again. His cold arms still rested on my shoulders. "I've never felt this way before... I've never wanted to protect anyone so strongly..." he laid his head back, deep in thought. Just then, a thought struck me. "So then you're going to tell me who you are, right?" I looked at him excited like. It may not have been the most creative answer, but I managed to distract him from his thoughts. He looked away, smiling, I think. "Oh my god," he said laughing. "What if you won't hang out with me if you know who I am?" He asked, back to his serious voice. "How can I protect you then?""Why would you think I wouldn't hang out with you?"He looked away. "I don't know..." he said quietly. I so desperately want to have the cheerful Keith back. I closed my eyes and embraced his cold arms around my neck. Suddenly, I felt tired. My brain has been through quite a lot lately and it longed for some rest."Do you want me to take you back to the tent?" He asked lovingly. "No... I want to stay up." I was determined to spend every last second with him. "You need sleep," he said quietly. "I can get sleep any time. I want to know more about you." I pulled my legs up and turned towards him. "Tell me about you" I pleaded. He chuckled "umm... I am what you see.." he said playfully. "So what other powers do you have?" I asked eagerly. "You've seen all of them" he was quick to answer. "So... you are... this ..." I pointed to all of him, "then, you can hear thoughts and you can talk back... oh and you can be invisible..." I tried to gather everything. "I'm... this.... only at night. When the sun sets, this starts" he used "this" in a sarcastic way to mock me. "But I can be invisible and read minds any time of day. I'm useless during the day. I can't fly.""I wouldn't call mind-reading and being invisible useless..." I called him out. "I guess so...." he wasn't amused. "It's really cool what you can do," I told him trying to cheer him up. "It's not a cool thing Jasmine. It's a curse. A curse that was put on our family a long time ago." His voice sounded painful. I decided to let him vent and see if I can find some positivity within his thoughts and reasonings. "How long is a long time ago?"He laughed quietly. "500 years ago..." my eyes nearly popped out of my face. "That's à long time!" I exclaimed. "Yes, it's all because of me" He looked away."How is it your fault if it happened 500 years ago?" I asked confused. "I was born in the sixteenth century, Jasmine. I am.. 500 years old...." he said quietly. "Wow... that's... crazy... you don't sound... 500 years old..." I told him, mesmerized by his age. He laughed. "Right. I stopped aging when I was cursed. Everyone in my family did." "So your family is also 500 years old?" I asked curiously. "Yes and no... anyone that joins the family by marriage is also cursed. A few of us have married and those people are not 500 years old. "Are you married?" I asked, with big eyes. He laughed. "No, I was never married. I've cursed my fair share of people." He looked into my eyes. I could see the faint blue glow of his eyes through the smoke. "Plus I've never met someone that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, someone that I want to share every second with. 500 years is a long time to be alone Jasmine."Although painful, those words were calculated and intentional. He opened his mouth like he wanted to continue but stopped and looked away. A quiet thud distracted us. The bear cub fell backward from his couch and landed on the floor. We both rushed to it at once. There were no visible implications from the fall.He picked him up. "I think he's fine. We should name him" he said, walking back to the stables. "I'm not good with names" I walked with him. "I'm not either. That's great" Sarcasm suits him. "Should we even name him? Aren't we going to release him eventually?" I asked, not wanting to get attached to the ball of cuteness that is attempting to climb back up his arms. "We are..." He seemed skeptical about letting him go already. "Are you getting attached already???" I asked as if he'd done a terrible thing. He laughed. It makes me happy that he gets my humor. "I think I am. He's a needy little guy. Although I don't think Raven wants him here for too long.""Right. I don't think that this is entirely legal anyway. People shouldn't be raising bears on their own" "Well, I'm not people..." he said playfully. "That, you are not..." I laughed. We spent the whole night talking about his family and what we're going to do with the bear. I found out that his family is indeed rich, that he has 7 brothers that he has not been in touch with for the last couple hundred years, that his brother and sister living with them are born recently when his mother re-married, and lots of other tidbits that kept curiosity in me fed and content. I found out that he didn't always live in the US. He was born on a small island south of India. When his family was cursed (I still didn't know why), he fled to Portugal with his family. It wasn't until the 17th century that they moved to England. Before the wars started, he moved to the US with his mother and have been here ever since. The brothers split up in Portugal after a family dispute. He had explained that even though they were wealthy, they've always had to live as though they were not because they didn't want to bring attention to themselves. They moved every few years to keep their identity fresh. Even after all this, I still felt like I didn't know who he was, or rather, that this wasn't everything there is to know about him. There was something that was missing in all the details, something that defines who he is. All in all, he was a great storyteller, although I could tell that he was just outlining things that he thought I should know. I figured there was more to his story that he can tell me in one night. 500 years is a long story!
YOU ARE READING
Midnight's Shadow: The Black Prince
RomanceThis romantic novel brings a south Asian mythical creature to a modern day American high school girl in a blood curling fantasy filled with love and passion that seems too good to be true.
