Heart Thief

Chapter 10: Beacons and Markers

Caleb stared at Night with a fierce and stern look, refusing to give away any sign of his true thoughts or emotions. The information he'd just provided her with was something he didn't anticipate he would have to tell her. Ever. She looked back at him with the same emotionless look but the redhead believed the girl to be thinking horrible thoughts of him. He felt panic within his chest where his heart would have been, trying to stop his nerves from boiling up inside of him.

"W-Well?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from coming out as a hoarse whisper, "Aren't you going to say something?"

The girl only remained standing where she was, putting her hands behind her back and observing him as if she didn't believe him. She circled around him like she was hunting him, looking high and low for any sign of validity to his statement. When she finished her circle, she stood where she was just a few moments ago and let out a very faint hum, thinking to herself.

Caleb straightened his posture, putting his hands in his pockets, expecting her voice to come through. In a way, he was attempting to protect his image and his pride, fearing she would say something terribly critical of him. Some part of him hoped that it wouldn't be that way, but he thought about it as logically as possible, distancing his emotions from his thoughts as if they didn't matter.

"Interesting," was all the black-haired female said.

The boy held back an irritated scoff at her response, finding it somewhat lacking. He gave her a look that demanded a further explanation, ensuring that she noticed it. She took out a rune and observed it, tracing it silently. Caleb watched as she did so, only tilting his head slightly down to watch what she was doing.

"That makes sense," Night said, narrowing her eyes.

"What?" he said, giving a "tch" at her lack of emotion, "You hear that and you give that kind of reaction?"

"Well," she paused, "How did you do it? Manage to attain immortality, I mean?"

Caleb hissed in irritation, and his hand moved to his neck, seemingly by someone else's will.

"The mark. My curse. And it's not immortality, per se, but more of a sort of stasis that dramatically reduces the speed at which my body ages. My birthday was three days ago, meaning...yeah, that means I'm over 1000 for sure." Caleb muttered.

Night let out a disinterested hum, and Caleb sighed once more, rubbing his neck.

Caleb's mark flared, and the boy snarled in pain. The smell of burning flesh filled Night's nose, and she whirled around, watching the mark burn itself into Caleb's skin as the boy watched in amazement. Caleb's eyes locked on Night, wide in surprise, and a small hint of fear.

"You are the one," Caleb whispered. Night stared at the boy, who was muttering to himself.

Night blinked, and suddenly Caleb was surrounded by 35 dark figures, each with a small, white flame floating beside them. All had a mark of some kind, but most were small, unlike Caleb's mark, which stretched from his fingertips to his jawline.

"We have found our Beacons. Is this one yours?" A figure asked, his voice warbling in a dark manner. Caleb looked at Night hesitantly.

"I don't think so," Caleb mumbled, looking away. Night looked at the boy curiously while he avoided her gaze. The figures vanished, and left Caleb and Night alone.

"What was the 'Beacon' they spoke of?" Night inquired. Caleb shook his head and began the long walk back to town. Night walked up to Caleb and grabbed his arm, pulling the boy backward.

"What were they talking about?" Night demanded. Caleb began to shake, and a tear slipped from his right eye. Night shook Caleb, and made her demand once more, with more force.