The Nocturnals

Chapter Twenty-Five: A Whole New World

The ground came quickly and Eliora braced for impact, but it never came. She found herself hovering above the ground, "I'm doing it?"

"Nah. I am. We'll try to get you to control the air later," Josh yelled down at Eliora. He slowly brought her up to his level and she got mad at him teasingly.

"Don't tease me like that! I thought I was actually going to do it like you, SuperJosh," Eliora put her hands on her hips.

Josh laughs and grabs one of her hands to lead her over the garden. They sit next to each other and stare at the pond while the moon shines right into it. Josh kept taking long looks at Eliora, making her blush.

"Hey, do you want to go for a swim?"

Eliora shakes her head, "What? Here?"

Josh puts his hands behind his head and smirks, "Unless you're too chicken. It's fine, not like it's anything special or anything."

At that Eliora stood up and threw her dress over her head and onto the bench. Standing in only her breezy undergarments she shoved Josh and then dove into the water. When she looked up she saw the luminescent figures of glowing fish swimming away from her. Despite thinking she caught him off guard, Josh was floating there just smiling, his bare chest reflecting the light the fish shined. It was breath takingly beautiful and for some reason Eliora couldn't keep herself from looking at Josh and thinking the same thought. Why did all the best looking men have to be douches? Even after the vampires took over?

Eliora tore her gaze with Josh's dark blue eyes and suddenly swam to the surface. Josh followed suit. "Impressed?"

'By more than just the fish,' the sincere pickup line came into her head before she could stop it. Before saying anything, Eliora took a deep breath, "Fish that glow? Hardly logical."

Josh chuckled, "Have you looked in the mirror lately? We're not exactly logical creatures either, but if you want an explanation I guess you can have one. These fish are from the depths of the Atlantic ocean. They are harmless but they are used to attracting things to eat them by using their glow in the dark quality. It's a hiding in plain sight kind of thing. They lure and eat."

"I heard of those once in my Science class. Seeing them in the pictures is a whole lot different than seeing them in person!" Eliora watches the lights fade in and out of sight from below. "Why all of this, Josh?"

"Because I like you, I really do. I just want to change your opinion about me. I know you think I'm vile, but I'm the same person in the gazebo. I laughed with you all the same," Josh smiled at her as they swam. Eliora's hair piled behind her as she furrowed her brows, sincerely trying to understand what he just said. Before she could say anything, Josh grabbed her hand and pulled her back under the water. 'I want to show you something Blayne invented. A new type of fish.' Josh spoke in her mind, scaring the breath out of Eliora. He pulled her down to the darkest depths of the pond. They stopped at a hole in the wall of the mud. A small figure of a fish slowly made it's way out as Josh waves a piece of Tuna in front of the hole. 'Scare it.' Eliora gives a confused glance towards Josh who nods in affirmation. She sits there then springs forward, jerking her fangs to it. Suddenly the fish pulls back in fear and a moment passes before it comes out again. Eliora raises her brow to Josh and he gives her the wait sign. When the fish slowly approaches, the shape of its face had changed. Eliora watched as the fish swam out again, but its face was not its own. Eliora saw her face with black hair over her piercing blue eyes and fangs protruding.

'Whoa! What the hell?' Eliora swims back two inches. Josh grabs her hand to pull her back towards the fish.

Their eyes meet as Josh explains, 'See, the fish can shape shift, but it isn't bright enough on how to use it. So it captures the moment it's scared and reflects its predator on its face. Brilliant, eh?'

Eliora sat there just gawking and watching her face change back into the fish's, 'That's crazy. But what purpose would Blayne have to make it?"

'Just for entertainment. It's pretty fun to mess with, watch,' Josh makes a face at her, then turns and jerks towards the fish. It pulls back and when it comes back from hiding it shows Josh crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue. Eliora bursts out laughing and Josh joins in, but she puts her hand on her mouth and swims to the surface. They swam to the shore and a man with a fishing pole pays them no attention.

Josh just watches Eliora as she strings out her black hair, pulling out the water with it. 'She's so beautiful.' Eliora stops and turns to Josh who perks in a shocked manner. "Sorry, I've been trying to control my thoughts, but one or two slip through sometimes."

"Don't apologize, I know I'm hot," Eliora teases him, not missing a beat and throwing her shirt back on. He laughs, helping her to stand up.

Josh walks with her up the hill and it takes him a moment before he says, "I'm confused..."

"Why?"

Josh rubs the back of his neck and tugs his shirt he just put on over his stomach, "You like me, but you don't. You've called me evil, yet your thoughts are like sexy side comments, as if you actually desire to be with me, to be my bride."

"Sexy comments?" Eliora laughs.

He smirks and gently pushes her shoulder with his, "It was the only word I could think of. Huh, should've thought about that one, eh? But still," his tone turns serious, "What's the deal?"

"The deal is that I haven't figured out how I feel about you yet," and it was truthful, too, she didn't know. When she kissed him, the touch tingled for the whole day, and it still does, but at the same time, she knew the truth about him. She knows he wants to enslave the humans or kill them all and she knows that there's still that Eligit issue that Eliora knows Josh is involved in. It was just too complicated.