Immortal Tales #Wattys2020

Chapter Fifteen

Marine

Marine had rarely felt so full of life and hopeful as when she was dancing with the sailor.

His hands on her waist were careful and sweet, but his eyes betrayed that he was looking for much more. She should have been more careful, but she couldn't care less about danger in that moment.

Twenty years. For twenty years they had been stuck in the same city.

No immortal was found, no baby disappeared, no trace of the mist people. She had used that time to learn more science, languages... attempted to use some magic, but more she stayed still, the more she felt like she was wasting time.

Now she was finally moving forward.

New York might have not been a solution, but she felt it was right in her heart. They didn't called it the land of opportunity for nothing. The centre of western culture had moved away from Europe, and if the path-changers were there to change the course of history... they must follow.

The sailor, his name was Sam, twisted her to allow a piroette. She fell right back into his strong arms and left him a kiss on his cheek. His smile was contagious and she genuinely laughed with him.

-Tell me Marine, are all French girls so beautiful or is it just you? - he whispered to her ears. His hands exploring the back of her dress.

They were in the middle of the dance floor, but no one paid them any attention, all busy with their own partners. Marine spotted Jane, her sailor's tongue deep in her throat. She did not seem to be faking any pleasure involved with the kiss.

-I love your hair - he said putting a hand through her blonde curls. That move was enough to wake her up from her dream.

She was wearing a mask. They had a plan. Jane could have her fun, but she would not get distracted. What if the sailors took what they wanted from them and then left them in Paris? No, she would string them along for a little while longer.

She smiled at him. -Do you like it? Thanks, I grow it myself. - she used an old joke. Sam hadn't heard it before and laughed with her.

She pulled his white shirt close and opened her lips to his. The twisting sound of the music cocooned their kiss.

Marine hadn't been kissed in a long time, and she hadn't realised how she missed the proximity of another warm body next to hers until that very moment. In that instant, it didn't matter that she was immortal, or that she could never truly love another mortal soul. The sailor wasn't looking for love. He was young and she was desirable, and was all that mattered.

His hands held her tighter to his body as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

She wished she could just let loose in that kiss, but she had mission.

She released Sam from her embrace and he unwilling let her go.

-Something wrong beautiful? - he whispered, red cheeks highlighting the blue in his eyes.

Marine faked modesty. -I just ... I usually don't do this, my sister is the ... wild one. - she said. The fact that Jane and the other sailor were no where to be seen helped her lie. - I should probably go back to my brothers before they start to worry, but I will see you tomorrow at the harbour? -

Sam bit his lip where she had licked just a second before. -Of course beautiful, and maybe then we can continue that kiss? - he offered as she had hoped.

Her smile was genuine. -I wish nothing else. -

She left him a kiss on the lips and walked away holding her dress. The fresh night air cleaned her face from the sweat of dancing. She turned around feeling a fire burning in her heart and run into the night to her house.

She quietly opened the door, not wanting to wake up Andre and Isaac. Their suitcases were all packed with the bare minimum, leaving the house empty and soulless. No one would have ever been able they had lived there for over twenty years, never aging, never changing.

Andre and Isaac were asleep on the couch, as if they had suddenly fell there after finishing packing. Their legs and hands were intertwined, and Marine smiled. Maybe the had finally made up.

She dropped her body on the bed in her room and closed her eyes, her heart still burning. She searched for the sparkle of magic and jolted wide awake when she felt a burning fire where she usually saw a faint light.

She focused again and leaned into the fire, getting as close as possible without burning herself.

The fire was so beautiful, so pure. She was drawn to it.

A part of her was screaming in fear: she should have not touched a burning flame. The pain would have been the same as the burning mark of exile on her skin. But another part wondered if she could even feel pain in this form. She was not physically thouching any fire. Isaac had told her that they way people perceived magic changed from soul to soul. The flame was her representation of a concept.

She leaned in.

Marine was confused as to what she saw.

She was back on the dance floor, her body in Sam's arms, and yet she wasn't. She was an external observer to a past memory. All of a sudden, stripes of bright lights darted from each person in the room, like strings of an unfinished painting. Some of the lines locked with each other, most avoided any contact. She saw herself pulling Sam close and kissing him. The string coming out of him moved and wrapped around her like a spiderweb. When she released him, the web dissolved, but her own string was now attached to his.

She felt as if she was witnessing to something she shouldn't have, something not meant for human eyes.

A word was forming in her mind when she felt pushed out of her own vision, far from the fire in heart.

The jolted awake and opened her eyes at the smell of smoke.

Marine's dress was no longer, in its stance a pinch of cinder.

Her hands stand unburned, but on top of her fingers small fires were bright in the dark night.