"No. in fact, she is in the elevator right now," he said. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Aaron got up and strolled over, with all the confidence of a millionaire. He opened it and said, "Are you Ella Mason?"
"Yes. You aren't Kara Carver, are you?" said a sweet, high-pitched voice.
He chuckled, "No, I'm not. But, I assume you would like to meet her? Come on in." I heard the door swish over the carpet as he opened the door wider. A tall, tan, blonde girl walked through the door and smiled at me. I stood up and walked over and stuck out my hand. She gave me a hug.
"I'm so excited to be here!" She said with an accent. Sounded Australian, but I wasn't sure. I stood stiff as a board, eyes open wide and eventually managed to wrap my arms around this green-silk-clad stranger. I stepped back and looked her in the eye. She was a bit smaller than me, although she was older.
"Hello. My name is Kara Carver, and I'm your Tracker. Please, have a seat," I said with a wave of my arm. She took a seat right in the middle of the sofa and crossed her legs. "Tell me about yourself."
"Well, my name is Ella Mason and I'm twenty years old. My favorite color is light blue. Like the color of your eyes! They're so pretty, you know. I love them. Anyway, I grew up in a small town in Australia and moved here when I was eighteen to start my career in sales. I love clothes and baby animals, especially kitties and puppies. Oh, and this is my necklace. I assume you'll want to see it," she said as she passed over her necklace. It was a pink teardrop with a diamond in the thickest part. It was half of a Yin and Yang. Extending from the sides, there were sparkly prongs that clasped in a heart shape at the top. "It looks like you've already met your match! What's he like?"
My eyes widened. I looked down at the spot where my necklace was. I had totally forgotten about it. Right where the dove was supposed to be was a red, ugly burn. I heard a sharp intake of breath. I looked up to see Aaron holding my necklace! I looked back down at my neck. I saw my necklace there. What was going on? I looked up and saw Aaron move part of his Polo shirt to reveal a burn, just like mine. I stared. I met his gorgeous green eyes and stared at him for a long second. I got up and walked over to him. I took his half of the necklace and slid it into place next to mine. I immediately felt a cold grasp on my neck. I looked down and saw my burn shimmering. Aaron's was too. I gaped at it with wide eyes until they eventually faded out of existence. I glanced at my necklace and stared. There was a faint sparkle around it. There was metal appearing out of nowhere that was completing my necklace. The gemstones appeared immediately after. I looked at Aaron and saw that his necklace was exactly the same as mine now. His eyes were as wide as mine, too.
Around us was a swirling, thin golden line that sparkled and shimmered, bending around us, emanating from the two necklaces. It enclosed us in golden light, and I immediately felt the kind of love that can't be broken, it consumes you, it gives you a passion unlike any other. It was amazing. I'd never felt so happy in my life. I reached up to kiss him, just as he leaned down to kiss me. Our lips connected and a burst of sparks flew around us like a firecracker. The light faded into little sparkles around us that fell to the floor and disappeared. As soon as they were gone, the love was as well. I broke our kiss and stepped back, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
I heard a small sigh behind me, and turned to find Ella with hands over her heart, gazing at us. I could tell she wanted that. I turned back to a dazed Aaron and pushed him out the door. I couldn't handle this right now.
"Ella, can we do this tomorrow? Would you mind? I'm so sorry," I said, also in a daze, hand on my forehead.
"Of course!" she winked and left the room. I sat down heavily in my new chair. Mia stumbled out of the kitchen and stared at me, mouth open.
"Please tell me you didn't just do that," she gasped.
"What's your problem?" I managed to reply through my own stares and open mouth.
"That... was... just...um..." she was at a loss for words, which was probably a first.
"I know what you mean," I said, still staring at her.
"So, um... yeah," she said, still trying to focus on the world around her. I suddenly felt something that overpowered me, and it wasn't that burning passion I had felt before. I slumped down in my chair and started crying. I wasn't supposed to fall in love with this guy! I was supposed to hate this guy! Why am I falling in love with him? I had a serious problem. I was bawling at this point, and Mia was walking over me and awkwardly, patting my head. It was more like tapping my head. I was letting it all out, now. I was mortified! I know that as soon as I found my Soul Mate, I wouldn't be able to leave him, without heartache. But, leaving Aaron didn't seem so hard. I didn't like him at all. Did i? I wasn't sure, but if I did, I was determined to be able to do my job.
After about half an hour, the last of my sniffles died away. I looked around for some tissues, but I didn't see any.
"Mia, will you go get me some tissues from the front desk?" I asked.
"Yeah, sure," she seemed excited at the idea of leaving me and my tears to go do something. She got up slowly and headed for the door. I heard the swish of the door and then a clunk.
"What was that?" I asked with sudden alarm.
"Umm... It definitely wasn't your new boyfriend about to knock on the door..." she said sheepishly. She turned to me. "I didn't do it on purpose! He scared me, so I pressure pointed him. He'll only be out for a few hours..." she mumbled. I gave her a look that said exactly what I was thinking: Are you kidding me?! She pulled him inside and hauled him onto my sofa, and inched towards the door.
"Okay, let's see. I'm going to need ice and a towel, hot tea for the headache when he wakes up," I glared at her then. "and maybe some Aspirin. Mia, you need to get the Aspirin."
"Okay... but, I'm not promising that it won't be poisoned," she joked, back to normal now that she had almost killed someone. She stepped outside, and closed the door. I looked at Aaron for a while, then got up to go get some ice. The left side of his neck looked pretty swollen. When I came back, he had turned to his side, with the massive bruise hidden from view. My shoulders fell in disbelief. Just my luck.
I set the ice on my desk and tried to roll him over. He was a lot heavier than I'd expected. I tried pushing against the couch with my feet while pulling on his shoulder, pushing from the other side of the couch (which made me fall on top of him. He smelled nice), shaking him, slapping his face repeatedly (well, I needed more ice anyway), and even trying to lift the bottom of the couch. This last attempt and all my grunting no doubt woke him up.
"Wh-what's going on?"
"You got knocked out. I'm surprised you woke up. You were supposed to be out for a few more hours," I said astonished. He tried to sit up, but fell backwards again with an "ow". "Don't move! Well, you actually should turn on your back."
He slowly turned over and lay, face towards me. "How much is this going to sting?" he asked.
"Well... a lot," I said.The ice needs direct contact to work, and I couldn't get to the bruise because his shirt was in the way. "Um... I need you to take off your shirt so I can get to your bruise." I said awkwardly. He smirked and started pulling it off. He moaned, so I went to go help him. I pulled the shirt off his arms and laid it on the edge of my desk. His back was smooth and muscular, and when I pressed the ice onto his shoulder, you could see his tense muscles start to relax. He sighed. After about fifteen minutes of the ice, I asked, "I'll bet you have a headache, don't you?"
"Yeah, actually," he whispered. I went into the kitchen and started to boil some water for tea. I grabbed a cup from the cupboard and poured the hot water into the mug. I put in a tea bag and headed back to him. He was sitting up now, and I handed him the cup and sat down in my chair. He took a long sip with his eyes closed, and I took that opportunity to gaze at his abs. Wow. He had a six pack and his arms were very muscular, but just enough that he could probably lift four-hundred pounds and no more. He wasn't pale, but he wasn't tan. Which is okay, because his abs totally make up for it.
"This is really good tea. Thank you," he said.
"Sure. It's citrus," I managed to reply.
"So what happened? All I know was I came to your door, and was about to knock when the door opened. The next thing I knew, I was waking up to extreme pain in my left shoulder blade."
"Mia saw you and thought you had come to hurt me, so she pressure pointed you. Sorry, but you scared her," I said sheepishly. I was looking at the floor now and blushing.
"I should be the one apologizing. I feel bad for not have noticing the burn earlier, or even mentioning yours. I had seen it before, but thought nothing of it. And, I also want to apologize for insulting your family and your school. I was only joking, and I hadn't thought much of it. I'm sorry," he said. I stared at him, mouth open.
"How could you have known what the burn had meant? I didn't even notice it until Ella said something. It wasn't your fault. I was being totally oblivious. And on the insulting thing, I forgive you," I said. He looked totally relieved. "And, now we come to the Soul Mate thing..." I didn't want to bring it up, but I had figured I should get it over with.
"Yeah. So it seems," he said cautiously. I guess he didn't want to talk about it either.
"So, I've read that when you meet your Soul Mate, you can't leave them for a month without crushing heartbreak every day your more than ten miles apart. How am I going to do my job when that happens?" I asked.
"Well, I was thinking the same thing, and I figured we should both take a month off to get to know each other," he suggested.
"Well, I don't want to hold Ella when she's was obviously dying to meet her Soul Mate, and I couldn't do that to you. You need to run a business, which means that you need to focus on that," I argued.
"Well, if you think that's best, then alright. Speaking of which, where's Ella?"
"I asked her to come in tomorrow because I had a lot of thinking to do."
He nodded. I sat there reminded of the kiss that was going to change my life. I was thinking about how perfect it was, how perfect he was. Well, he is. His eyes were boring into mine, and I couldn't help but stare into his gemstones of eyes. We sat there for a while when we were interrupted by a knock on the door. Mia's voice came from the other side.
"I have returned with your tear-soaker-uppers and the poisoned Aspirin, m'lady," she called cheerily. My cheeks flamed red as she mentioned my tears. I went to the door as I mumbled in Aaron's direction, "I had her go get some Aspirin for your headache. I was assuming you'd have one when you woke up."
I flung the door open, glared at Mia for a few seconds, and let her inside. She looked at me in confusion, then stepped into the mini hallway and peered around the corner. When she saw Aaron, she dropped the tissue box in the hallway and proceeded to the kitchen. I followed her and got a glass and filled it with water while I continued to stare her down.
"Where have you been?" I hissed.
"Getting your tear-soaker-uppers and poisoned Aspirin, duh," she rolled her eyes.
"Well, I know that, but why did it take so long?"
"Well, I definitely wasn't standing outside the door listening to you and Aaron talking, if that's what you're saying," she said with a smirk. I stared at her. I shook my head, took the glass and the Aspirin and went to sit by Aaron. As I sat down he smiled at me, and my heart stuttered. I tried to keep a straight face, but I couldn't help but smile back.
"Hey," he said after he took the meds.
"Hi?" what was he getting at?
"I just feel like we should start over?"
"No. There is no 'start over' now. What you said, you said. What just happened a few hours ago happened, and we can't take any of that back," I said with a smile, anger boiling inside me again as I thought of the insults he said. He just smiled sadly and nodded. We sat there in silence for a while, me thinking and him just lying there. After a while, he finally fell asleep. Mia came out of the kitchen then, holding two cups of coffee. She handed one to me.
"You might need this," she said.
"Yeah, probably. When should I wake him up?"
She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Beats me."
I looked back at Aaron's sleeping form and a thought suddenly came into my mind. "Mia, do you have your necklace with you?"
"Yeah." She pulled a black chain out from underneath her shirt. She unhooked it from her neck and passed it to me. On the end was a blood red ruby. Well, half of a ruby anyway. But, it wasn't round. It had small rays, like a sun. It was even glowing! Then I noticed that it had small orange flames coming from the inside, flickering and expanding, bending and twisting. I tilted the jewel and the flames reached towards what was now the top. I was captured in the moment as the flames flickered in my eyes. As I stared at the flickers, I saw a beat to them. Amongst all the chaos, was a pulse. A pulse much like a heartbeat. I stared in amazement at the little gem, wondering at the meaning the Maker put in the necklace.
"It's beautiful, Mia," I whispered.
"Whatever."
"Why haven't you had a Tracker help you yet?"
"I don't need help."
"I think that this is more than just pride."
"Whatever," she snarled and walked back to the kitchen. Aaron was still sleeping, but I'd decided that it was time to find out where I'd be sleeping. I shook Aaron until he opened his eyes and stared at me groggily.
"Huh? What?" he said as he moved into a sitting position. He groaned.
"Evenin'. You fell asleep, and I need to know about this apartment deal," I said.
"Oh. Right. Will you help me get up?" he asked. I grabbed his hands and pulled him up. He stood and stretched. Then he walked to my bookcase and pulled on one. It was titled 'Home Decorating by Clara Barson'. Good to know. I'd have to remember that. My bookcase split down the middle and moved apart. He turned to me with a smile and raised his eyebrows. I stared at the little doorway that was now in my view. He pulled out a little key that was in my pocket and tossed it to me. I snatched out of the air and stepped forward and put the key in the lock. I turned it and heard a click. I turned the silver knob and pushed forward. It pushed forward easily over the beige carpet. I stepped inside and gasped. It had to have been a whole new building! Upon entering there was a full kitchen right there, with its own breakfast table, off to the side. The appliances were stainless steel, there were big cabinets, and there was even a little island! There was color everywhere, unlike Aaron's apartment. The walls in the kitchen were a nice mocha, brown, and white combination. It felt very nice and homey.
Then, the space opened into the living room. This looked very much like Aaron's, with big white sofas and couches spread across the space, all facing the massive stone fireplace. On the mantle was the picture of my family and me. I walked over to it and snatched it off the cove that it was settled in. I whirled around and walked straight to Aaron, who was standing in the doorway, and growled, "Where did you get this?"
"When Ashlee sent your bags up, the picture frame was on top. So, I thought you might like a little piece of home in your new home!" he said cheerily. He looked so proud of himself. I looked at the picture again and started crying. I sank to the floor and silent tears ran down my face.
"My God," I whispered.
"What? Are you okay?" he sat next to me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."
Intrude... intruder... murderer.
"Mommy your home!" I called out, ecstatic to see my mother. I ran up to her and hugged her leg. I looked up at her, and saw a dark spot on her shirt. "Mommy, are you okay?"
"Don't worry, my baby. I'm fine. Go get your father, please, Kara," she said with a distant, haunted look. I let go and ran to get Daddy, a smile still graced my face. This was the first time I had seen her in a week. I grabbed his hand and ran him to the hallway.
"Kara, honey bear, go to bed please!" Daddy ordered.
"But Daddy! Mommy just got home," I whined.
"Do as your father says, Kara," Mommy said. I felt betrayed, because she always backed me up. I was her baby. But, I went to my room anyway. I stood just behind the door and listened to what Mommy and Daddy were saying.
"Did you do it?" there was no response. "Lara, did you kill him?"
"It is done. He was traveling, but I got him. I just barely escaped."
"Thank God that tyrant is gone. He would have ruined us!"
"I agree. This will be the best sleep I've had in months! I'm glad I killed him. now, I just need to take out his son. Kara can help us with this part."
"Oh. My. God. It was my mom, Aaron. Oh, my God, I'm so sorry," I whispered and broke down into tears again.
"What? What's going on? Kara?"
"My mom... she killed your... she killed your dad," I said. He stared at me, eyes open wide.
"How do you know this?" he practically shouted.
"I remember her and my dad talking about it years ago. And she said she wants you dead too!" I sobbed. I didn't tell him the part about my mom wanting me to kill him, though. He stood up and walked out the doorway without so much as a goodbye. I was still on the floor when I fell asleep.
******
A/N: Surprise!!! *Everyone gasps*
Cray-cray, right? Plot-twists are fun... There were a few in here, in my opinion.
SO.
Don't forget to comment and vote!