A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 147

I backed up a few steps to slowly sit on a log where I would be less noticeable. My jaw dropped as Diane reached up and put her hands on Ace's shoulders. Most people couldn't even approach someone who was out of control. Ace didn't even look at her or acknowledge her though.

I guess I had asked Ace to protect Diane and he had agreed. Perhaps his subconscious remembered somewhere deep down. Or perhaps he didn't react since he knew her so well. He had been with us almost all day for almost a year now and that didn't include their frequent sparring practices. Such practices seemed to build a strong bond between any fighters.

Diane spoke quietly, "Ace. Can you look at me please?"

Ace slowly turned his head to look at her. I still couldn't get over his glowing turquoise eyes. When he had donated blood, his eyes had turned that color, but they hadn't glowed then. Ace seemed distracted by Diane's eyes.

I saw what Diane was trying to do now. She was trying to calm him down so he could regain control. Her body language was completely relaxed, and she was blinking slowly like a calm cat. Seconds ticked by and neither of them moved as they looked at each other. It was so bizarre.

Diane spoke again, "You can relax. The fight is over. They are gone. Just friends remain."

Ace didn't respond to her words. He just kept looking into her eyes as if he was entranced. Diane stood still and waited for him to regain control, but his eyes still glowed a bright turquoise color. It was really pretty, but it also showed how dangerous he was.

I saw Julian hovering some distance away as he looked at us. I shook my head no at him. He nodded and backed up before heading back to the battlefield. All of the bandits were dead. People were grouping up to try and figure out how to deal with the aftermath of the battle.

Most of the out of control people had regained control, but a few were still guarding someone. People gave those ones a lot of room and tried to avoid them. I glanced back, but Ace was still distracted by Diane's eyes. I wondered if Diane had somehow caught his eyes like she had done to me a few times.

I knew from experience that it was hard to free yourself if she did that. It was an accident on her part, but it was still startling. Her eyes were always bright and there had been times when cuddling that I simply looked deep into her blue eyes and got lost in their depths.

I suspected that Ace had never looked this deeply into any fired person's eyes before. It really wasn't something you could prepare yourself for. Like the fog at night, it was almost magical. Ace's breathing was finally slowing down from his fighting, but his eyes still glowed. The amount of blood splatter on his clothing told me that I didn't want to know how many bandits he had killed.

Diane seemed confused as to why he was not regaining control. She whispered, "Ace, if you don't come back to me I am going to kiss you."

What?! Where had that come from? Words like that made Ace run for cover, what was she thinking? Wait! She was trying to get him to snap out of it. Or at least get him off the battlefield where so many people were currently gathered. If there was ever a time he needed to pull a disappearing act, this was the one.

Ace didn't react though. He was definitely still out of it. He still seemed fascinated by Diane's eyes. He had been staring into her eyes for almost five minutes now. It was getting kind of uncomfortable to watch.

Diane realized that her words did not have the intended affect and continued speaking softly, "Your eyes are pretty. Too bad you can't see them; they are a nice turquoise color. I wonder how well you can see in the dark with them like that."

I bet he could see better than we could since his Heartfire was so high in this state. Ace seemed much more interested in Diane's eyes than in his own. I wasn't sure why he found them so fascinating, sure they were really pretty, but he had been looking into them for an awfully long time.

I looked around, but I didn't see any other out of control people. The others had all regained control, although one or two might be further in the forest and I couldn't see them.

Diane kept talking, "Thank you for taking out that shooter. Thankfully it was just a graze and it will be healed by sunset."

Oh, that was a relief. I had been worried that the injury had been worse. Diane grinned and sounded amused, "It is almost like having my own personal guard dog. I always did like dogs, but they were never that fond of my cooking before the collapse. Probably a good thing I had cooking classes as a Forager."

I tilted my head, did she just compare Ace to a dog? Perhaps it was a good thing that Ace was still ignoring her as he gazed into her eyes. Nothing seemed to be getting through to him. I thought most people regained control within ten minutes after they stopped fighting or attacking something? It had been about that long already.

"Some fear that it is possible to lose control forever, but I am not giving up on you that easily. Even if I have to take you back to Wainwright and have Nancy pull you onto the dance floor." Apparently Diane's mind was in the same area mine was. I really hoped that Ace didn't remain out of control. He didn't seem to mind Diane or me, but he had snarled at Roland, so he probably wouldn't let anyone else come close.

Ace growled very faintly at that comment. Apparently he wasn't so far gone that the mention of dancing didn't go amiss. His breathing had slowed to something close to mine, but his eyes were still glowing. He was clearly able to focus on Diane's eyes, but there didn't seem to be any actual thoughts in his head. Just like the zombies.

I checked my keychain watch, it had been about fifteen minutes now. I really hoped he snapped out of it soon. Ace just kept staring into Diane's eyes as if entranced. I knew that her eyes couldn't be unintentionally holding his for this long. He was looking into her eyes by choice.

I really had no idea what he was looking at either. By now he should have managed to memorize every speck in her eyes and count her eyelashes. Then again, the slight glow of the Heartfire in our eyes meant that our eyes really seemed bottomless, like looking at the swirling blue fog.

Diane's arm shifted a bit, but her hands remained on Ace's shoulders. Her shoulder injury must be paining her. She also looked a bit tired, as if she had used the burning heat in her blood for too long.

Diane started talking again, "For once I am looking forward to the snow. It will hide this battlefield with a blanket of white. Perhaps the spring flowers will cover the pain and dark memories that remain. Spring seems a long time away right now though. First we have to get through the winter. What are your plans for this winter?"

Winter was close once again. Summer always seemed far too short. I took a closer look at Ace. He seemed a bit confused by something that Diane had said. He started blinking rapidly and I could see the faint hints of blue reappearing by his pupils. Suddenly he lowered his head a bit and shook his head from side to side hard several times.

His body stance changed a bit as he took a deep breath and looked up with blue eyes. He seemed very confused. Diane smiled as she saw that he had finally regained control, "Welcome back Ace, welcome back."

Her words only served to confuse him more. He blinked a few more times and started to look around. He looked a bit shocked as he saw the battlefield. Diane dropped her arms to her sides and backed up to sit on the log beside me tiredly.