The Darkness

Chapter 3: Bonding

CHAPTER 3

BONDING

JULI

We ended up at the waterfalls. The rushing water always managed to calm me when I was upset. The other twins had joined us as well. They were all staring at Jules with open fascination. He was dead after all and as Ana informed me he looked pretty hot for a dead dude. Jules looked uncomfortable as he gestured at us to sit down. It occurred to me he had been dead for over nineteen years so this had to be different. He also had a total bad boy image going on. His brown hair was spiked and had on a leather jacket over his wife beater along with leather pants. My attention snapped to his face as he started to speak. He sounded wary. 

"There is a reason I'm here. Fighting demon's is one thing but Raven....Raven is another story." Gabe spoke up then and his words shocked me to my core. 

"He's your brother isn't he? That's why he looked so familiar. I have his hair color." Everyone stared, shocked, at Gabe as Jules answered. 

"Yes, he is my younger brother." I spoke up then. 

"So what does that mean for our fight?" Jules eyes met mine and when he spoke, he sounded sad. 

"It means this fight just got a lot more complicated. Raven has a personal vendetta against your mom and dad and the only way you're going to stop him is to know everything about him. Unfortunately the only person that can give you a good picture is me." So for several hours we discussed the horrors of Raven. As the sun rose high in the sky I stood and stopped Jules. He looked up but didn't speak. 

"That's enough for now. We have supplies to gather and we can't live only for the fight. We have to have a getaway or we'll explode. Sorry Jules." He shrugged smiling the same sheepish smile that I'd seen on Gabe's face so many times.  

"Actually I got carried away. I tend to focus on what needs to be done and forget everything else." I laughed at that.

"Yea I have the same problem." Throwing his arm around me he gestured at the rest of the twins to follow us. 

"Well I was supposed to have already started you guys on a treasure hunt. For early birthday presents. Your mom and dad need to finish up stuff for the party tomorrow so I volunteered to lead you on a treasure hunt/sleepover." Ana squealed and even Jared and Alex look interested. Sara grinned as Gabe rubbed his hands together.  

"Well who am I to hold up on presents. Lead us to it Jules." 

"The first clue says, 'A game of sport held by the Rock leads you to your next clue." I sighed dramatically and looked over at the twins. She knew where are secret spot is. It just figures. Alex sidled up to me and frogged me in the arm. 

"It's your mom Juli. What did you expect? She knows everything. You should just be glad we didn't get in trouble for freeze tag." Jules glanced over at us. 

"Why would you get in trouble for freeze tag?" Horror struck I grabbed for Alex's arm that had reached over me to touch Jules arm. 

"Don't you dare." But it was too late he had already froze him. Shoving him back I placed me arm on Jules allowing the fire to course through me and into him. Within seconds he was soaking wet but no longer frozen. He glared at Alex as he shuddered. 

"There is no way I would play that game with you." Alex, not knowing when to shut up, spoke. 

"Cause you don't have any powers, huh? Finally a normal person to play with." Stepping back from me Jules eyes turned from green to fire red. He took one step closer to Alex as his body began to glow red as well and his clothes dried like they had just come out of the drier. Then he smiled and snapped he fingers. Lightning struck two inches in front of Alex, who gasped and stumbled back, falling to the ground. Lightning struck again this time in between Alex's legs. He gasped and jerked back as he stared at the spot where his nuts had almost got zapped. Then he looked up at Jules who had a shit-eating grin on his face. 

"Never underestimate someone just because they don't seem to be as strong as you. It could get you killed." Alex, his face a pasty white, gulped and nodded. I looked over at the twins to see they were all struggling not to laugh so I helped them along. Throwing my head back I laughed out loud at as Alex struggled to his feet. I turned to Jules as he cleared his throat.  

"Want to play freeze tag?" Frogging him on the arm I placed my hand in his and tugged him toward the Rock. 

"Not happening Captain. We have presents to find." Glancing at Alex's still pale face I giggled. 

"Maybe later on." This time Alex was the one who shuddered.

...................

Several hours later we were in a cave that had been hidden by the waterfall. I was covered in mud from digging at the beach and my hair had stuff in it that I didn't even want to think about and the presents had been behind the waterfall we had started out at. It was so like Mom to do something like this. The mud had been Dad though and I was so going to get him back. Trudging up behind me Gabe looked worse than I did. His black hair was white with little shells in it from the booby trap at the entrance of the cave. Yes, a booby trap for crap's sake, that was so Adam. Flour and eggs in my poor brother's hair. Patting his arm sympathetically I stepped forward to look at the chest in the center of the room. The rest of the twins and Jules filed in as I finished my inspection of it. Glancing up I looked at Jules. 

"This better not be booby trapped like Lee's trap." Lee stood to my left, covered in blue paint, looking miserable. That was so her Mom's prank. Jules interrupted my thoughts as he reached passed me and popped open the chest. Looking down I gasped at the presents that sat wrapped inside. 

"Presents. Give us Jules." Smiling mischievously he looked over at me. 

"Bath first." The wind in the room began to rise as we were picked up and thrown from the room down the tunnel and into the lagoon where the waterfall was. Coming up I glared at Jules, who levitated above my head as I treaded water. 

"You suck." 

"But you love me." 

"Not right now I don't."

................

Twenty minutes later I sat staring at me present unsure of what to do with it. It so wasn't me and I had no idea why I'd even gotten it. I looked up from my scrutiny as Jules sat sown beside me.

"It's the all-seeing mirror."  

"What?" Puzzled I glanced up at him in confusion. 

"Close your eyes and think of you Mom." I felt the twins gather around as I opened my eyes to see my Mom in the mirror. Shrieking in horror I yelped and tossed the mirror at Jules trying to burn the image from my retina. 

"Eww. My Mom has sex. Eww, I just saw my Mom having sex. My eyes, the pain. Oh, there are no words." Jules eyes twinkled with amusement as he looked at me. 

"That's the drawback of the mirror. What people could be doing when you think of them. As long as the other person has a mirror you can find them and talk to them through the mirror. You can even give it a ring tone. Just tell your Mom to move her mirror away from her bed. That way you might hear sounds but..." I clapped my hands over my head as I shouted at him to stop. Finally he threw his hands up.  

"Okay I'll stop. Now twins set up the room while I go get dinner. I'll be back." With that he teleported out of the room. Crossing my arms I glanced over at Jared. 

"He is way to bossy." Chucking my chin Jared spoke. 

"Chin up he's never got to see you before. It's got to be hard for him." 

"Yea I guess."

....................

After everyone fell asleep I rolled over to look at Jules to see if he was still awake. He was. He raised his brow as I gestured for him to go outside. After we had settled onto the ground at the entrance to the cave I spoke up without looking him in the eye. He didn't try to interrupt, just placed his hand on my shoulder. 

"I wanted you to know that I love you. And I know that you're my Dad but I can't call you my Dad. You'll leave and go back to your afterlife once you teach us what we need to know. Daddy has been good to us all of us and I don't want you to hate him or me."  

"I could never hate you. You are my daughter but Luke... I'm jealous he has my life and I...I can't make any promises other than I'll try. Hugging him I spoke. 

"Deal. Now let's get some sleep."