CHAPTER 9
LOVE
Are you going to get rid of her or do you want me to get rid of her? What a choice! I knew that the best thing to do was get rid of Analee but the problem was I do not know how! I had tried everything!
Maybe I had to talk to Athrun again. I hope he had more plans because I cannot let my father kill Analee. The idea of protecting Analee from my father sounded so stupid but I cannot help myself but worry about Analee's safety. I just know that I had to protect her.
She was... special... a special friend.
I drew a long breath and walked a little closer to Analee. She was now wearing a clean white dress that has blue laces on the hem. Her hair was splayed on her pillow and both her hands were resting on her stomach. She looked too small and too fragile to be a demon... I think she was only 5'4". Most of the demons here like me, were 6'2".
I took the wooden chair, which was near her half opened window and placed it near her bed. She had not moved an inch since I arrived in her room. I had been watching her sleep for almost an hour. She was already sleeping when I arrived here and as expected Lachlan was not here waiting for Analee to wake up. I do not know what I could do to Lachlan if I found him here watching Analee as she sleeps.
Weren't I supposed to help Lachlan to get closer to Analee. It was part of my original plan in getting rid of Analee so why the hell was I being so stupid and kept on pushing Lachlan away from Analee? It was Lachlan who should be here and not me!
But I can't stand the idea of Lachlan sitting here beside Analee and making her feel comfortable! I do not know why but the idea really pissed me off! I wanted to rip off Lachlan's head when I saw him put his arm around Analee's waist and every time I see him with Analee I get so angry that I do things that I wasn't supposed to do or say things that were too obnoxious to say!
Analee suddenly yawned, stretched her arms and made a face when she tired to extend her arms. There were still purple marks on her body and few scratches on her legs but they were not too visible now. The wound on the corner of her mouth had gone too. She looked better now though she was still a little pale.
I think Lachlan healed Analee while I was gone talking to my father. He does not want me to see him as he healed Analee's wounds. He does not want witnesses. He wanted to be discreet because he does not want anyone to suspect him that he was a frontterra.
Maybe he was really planning to kill the current archdemon so that he will be the new archdemon. I know that Lachlan was hungry for power just like Ashtar. But why wasn't he doing anything? I mean, he could kill the archdemon anytime he wanted so why did he keep on pretending that he was just a normal demon like me?
Analee rolled to one side so that she could face me. "Kira, is that you?"
"Yes," I answered and when she tried to sit up I gently pushed her down. "You need more rest... you look like hell..."
She frowned and ran a hand through her hair. She also touched the wounds on her face and said, "Do I look so wretched?"
"You still look beautiful." The words slipped out from my mouth before I could stop them.
Well hell, I was just saying the truth! Though her deep blue eyes were covered with pain and her face covered with purple marks, she still looked as stunning as she could be. I know that there were many girls who were more stunning than Analee but I'd rather spend my whole time looking at Analee's 'wretched' face than look at the other girls' 'unmarked' faces. There was something in Analee's face that made me... smile.
"Really?" she asked sheepishly.
"No, I was just kidding." I snapped.
She pouted her lips and then grunted. "What are you doing here in the first place? I still haven't forgiven you for the things you have said to me yesterday. Are you here to apologize or to thank me for helping you earlier?"
"Well, I am not here to apologize to you," I mocked. "You deserved it because you kept on annoying me."
"What did I do that annoys you?" she demanded eagerly.
I looked at her in disbelief... and amazement. All this time she doesn't know what I hate about her? "Honestly Analee, you do not know?"
Her frown deepened and shook her head.
I rolled my eyes and pressed the bridge of my nose to calm myself. "The stalking - thing annoys the hell out of me! I hate being stalked! I do not want anyone to follow me wherever I go! I need space!"
"If you need space you should have went to outer space," she murmured.
"I heard that," I hissed.
She smiled and shrugged. "It's just my opinion."
"I am serious!" I stood up and at the same time, she sat up. "Why can't you just leave me alone? Have it occurred to you that maybe if you will stop stalking me I'd stop pushing you away?"
"The thought of staying away from you have occurred to me..."
"And?" I pushed on.
"I just can't..."
I gripped the back of the chair to stop myself from shaking Analee. "Why?"
She slightly bowed her head. "I heard that Ashtar will do anything just to kill you. He wants your sword, he wants to be the leader of the army here in Phillox and the only thing that he had to do to have those two is to kill you."
"So?" I asked when she stopped talking.
Her head snapped up at me. "He wants to kill you!"
"There are lots of demons and angels who want to kill me," I said in a matter - of - fact tone.
"But not as desperate as Ashtar!"
"It still doesn't make sense!" I yelled in exasperation. "So what if Ashtar wants to kill me? What does it have to do with the stalking - thing?"
"I just want to protect you!" she yelled back, clutching her dress tightly. "I just want to be there if ever Ashtar finally decided to attack you! I want to protect you and fight with you! Every time you are not here in the demons' castle, I cannot help myself but worry about your safety! The thought of you being attacked by Ashtar and the other demons kills me, Kira! That's how much I love you!"
That left me speechless.
All this time I thought that, the reason why she kept on stalking me is because it was part of her plan to make me fall in love with her. It never occurred to me that she did that to protect me.
All this time I thought that she was being so selfish.
She cleared her throat and then added, "This afternoon, when Lachlan told me that you were waiting for me near the lake because you thought that I sent a letter to you to meet me there I really panicked. I thought Lachlan and I would be late to help you."
"I don't need help in the first place..." I mused.
"I know that you are very powerful," she admitted. "But I don't think you are powerful enough to stop Ashtar if he successfully convinced the twelve powerful zoa - demons to attack you. Ashtar had successfully convinced eight... Lachlan said no so Ashtar had three more to convince."
The twelve zoa - demons? Ashtar was really desperate then! The twelve zoa - demons were good at fighting so they were always placed in front of the battle line every time we attacked the angels. They had incredible strength and large amount of dark energy. I could kill two or three zoa - demons in a fight but eight would be impossible.
I was really in grave danger.
I ran a hand through my tousled bronze hair and sat back on my chair. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I know that you already have lots of problem so I decided to keep it secret. Lachlan promised that he'll help me to solve this problem."
"Don't ask for Lachlan's help anymore!" I said it too loud that Analee gasped. Urgh! Here I go again! I was pushing Lachlan away from Analee again and saying abhorrent things! "Let me solve this problem ALONE."
"Let me help you," she begged and moved closer to me. "I want to help... I know I could be a big help..."
"You have already helped me by telling me about Ashtar's plan." Now that she moved a little closer to me, I got the chance to see her face clearer. It took me a second before I realized that there were no more purple marks on her face or wounds.
"Why are you looking at me that way?" she asked and blushed a little.
"N - nothing..." I leaned back on my chair and studied her arms and legs and there were no more wounds too. She was completely healed... all because of Lachlan.
"What's wrong?" Analee took a pillow with tulips design and hugged it tightly. "Why are you looking at me that way?"
"I was just wondering..."
"What?"
No, I can't ask her something about Lachlan or the frontterra. Zed will kill both of us if he found out so I changed my question. "What were you doing outside the church when the archdemon found you?"
"Praying," she said simply.
I felt my mouth pop open. She said it in a way as if it was something common for a demon to do! "Why?"
"I prayed for the souls of the victim in the plane crash..."
"You should have just prayed in your room!" I bellowed. "You were lucky the archdemon did not kill you!"
She smiled impishly. "I got away before he got the chance to kill me. I wanted to fight back but I don't think you'll be grateful if you found out that I tried to hurt your father so I just let him hurt me until I could get the chance to escape."
So, my father really tried to kill her! And damn, she did not fought back because she thought I would hate her if she do that! If she only knew how much I detest my father I was sure she'd regret what she did not fight back.
She did all these ridiculous things because she loved me!
"Thank you," I stood up and turned off the lampshade, which was our only source of light. "Thank you for loving me but I'm sorry... I can't love you back."
"You can't say that!" she said stubbornly. "I won't give up."
"You have to." And before she could answer I was already gone.