Grithim

CHAPTER 2

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The boy felt his chest go up and down with rhythmic beating, as if dancing to a beat that the rest of his body couldn't hear. It traveled through every vein, seemingly making him buzz with electricity, causing every cell of his body to feel as if it were trapped in the middle of an electric storm. The feeling struck his very core and the boy felt every hair on him raise. As jolts wracked his body the boy felt as though he was floating only to be jerked downward, like a young child holding a balloon on a string. Eventually, the feeling faded and he slowly opened his eyes, squinting to get his vision to focus in the light. His eyes needed to adjust as they had been in the dark for so long. After a minute or two, his eyelashes stopped acting as a shield against the sun and he opened his eyes fully to take in his surroundings for a second time. What began as a dark silhouette hovering above him began to focus.

It was a girl.

She hovered above him, her brow furrowed in concentration. The first thing the boy noticed was how beautiful and kind she looked, her skin was the color of creamed coffee with plump lips twisted in determination. Her brows were perfectly sculpted, as was her forehead, her heart shaped face was surrounded by a head of frizzy curls that spiked in the humidity. Sweat pooled at the edges of her hair line then dripped down her cheek and off her body. The boy followed the sweat, watching as it traced a line of dirt in her dark skin then fell onto her hands.

That's when he noticed what her hands were doing. They were pushing on his chest, causing his chest to thump upward, his movements out of his control. No, that wasn't it, her hands weren't just pushing in his chest they were shooting electricity into it. Perhaps she was using a defibrillator? He squinted his eyes looking for the device lodged in her tightly clasped hands but found none.

At that moment an uncomfortable feeling lodged in his throat and a cough burst forth through his lips. The harsh movement grated against his throat like sand, making him wince in pain. The girl, who had previously been looking down so he was unable to clearly make out her eyes, looked up. A brilliant green color met his own vibrant blue, both sets watching each other. For what seemed like a small eternity, each set of eyes simply held each other's gaze, then whatever softness the girl's eyes held disappeared.

"Can you walk?" She demanded and the boy watched the features he had just admired dissolve.

Her brows, although well shaped, were raised in annoyance, her eyes became hooded as she glared at him and her lips twisted in distaste. Her cheekbones seemed sharp enough to cut paper.

"Uhhh... Yes?" The boy answered although it came out somewhat garbled, his throat ached from not talking for so long. He was confused, moments ago the girl seemed kind, after all it was obvious she was saving his life! Now as she turned her head in any direction besides his, it was obvious she didn't even want to look at him.

"Well, come along then." The girl stood up and dusted off her knees, motioning forward.

The boy pushed himself into a sitting position, trying to ignore the ache in his side and looked around at the beach he only vaguely remembered from earlier.

"Hey, maybe you should give him a minute, he only just woke up," a boy said to the girl as placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked about the girl's age and the boy found himself wondering if they were together.

This theory was disproven when she shrugged off his hand with an eyeroll while shaking her head in disapproval. "He has to set his own limits Asher, let him."

The boy, Asher, as he now knew him, just shook his head and retreated back into the small crowd of people watching him. A crowd the boy hadn't previously noticed. There were about ten people gathered to the right of the boy all whispering, staring with curiosity. "A new one, maybe he's powerful," one with dirty blonde hair suggested loudly. What she meant by that, the boy didn't know.