Ash
All he could do was stare, into those icy blue eyes.
Though he also studied the face, devouring every little detail.
It was Emma, but that was where the similarity ended. Emma aired an aura of self-control, elegance and sensitivity, this other woman, exuded recklessness and chaos, with an undeniable aggressive glint in her eye.
The woman in front of him always got what she wanted; if she didn't, she would do whatever it took to get it. Even her clothes reeked of anti-establishment. Thick-soled black Dr Martin boots with ripped faded jeans and a tightly cut t-shirt with the rock band Alter Bridge printed on the front, the neckline cut low to reveal ample cleavage. At her wrists were interwoven black and brown leather bracelets and a single earring in her left ear, the only sign of glamour, a deep blue Sapphire set in a thin silver setting.
"You know it's rude to stare...but I don't mind, as long as I can stare back," she said, her smirk switching to a full-blown smile as she studied him, openly looking him up and down. Ash's cheeks burned and he lost the courage and dropped her gaze.
How can she make me feel so naked...
"What's his problem, have these two House Gabriel bitch's damaged him?" she added, standing up and turning to Anna and Jayne, placing her hands on her hips. Her voice was alluring, deep, with a soft husk, nothing like Emma's musical melodies.
He glanced over his shoulder at Emma and back at her twin, completely bewildered by what was real and what wasn't again.
This is a real mind fuck...
The crystal flared up against his skin forcing Ash to spin towards Aimee who raised an eyebrow at a scowling Jayne. Anna gaped from Emma's sister to Jayne, unsure of what to do, moving from one foot to the other. Jayne's eyes flickered and changed to blue fire as she edged forwards to attack Aimee.
"Oh...please...don't bother, unless you're after another beating little one!" Retorted Aimee rolling her eyes at Ash, oddly including him in the performance about to unfold.
One moment she smirked at him the next Ash filched from the sudden sound of a bone-crunching thud and a strangling cry cutting through the silence.
Emma stood up tense and poised, her eyes changing to green fire as she focused her gaze towards the sound. Ash twisted to his left to gasp in shock as her raven-haired sister pinned Jayne against the wall, by the throat.
"Don't you dare threaten me, girl! Drop it! Drop it or will I end you!" she growled into Jayne's face, whose dreadlocks had fallen forwards to hide her eyes, leaving an unnatural blue shadow of light. She openly trembled, her large lips snarling, exposing teeth in defiance, stubbornly refusing to release the handle of her glowing knife. Anna lunged at Aimee but doubled over with a groan when she met a boot in her stomach.
"And for you...you should know better Anna! I trained you to be true to the Order and yourself, to always respect your superiors...and you repay me with this!"
Anna staggered away, holding her stomach and an expression of guilt and shame on her face. She reached over her shoulder for her sword and came away with an empty hand.
"After this?" said Aimee, flicking her wrist, a pale white dagger thud into the carpet floor between Anna's feet.
"Please Aimee, I'm sorry, but you're killing her! Please...we were only following orders!" pleaded Anna.
"Who's...Who's orders!?" snapped Aimee.
"Please let her go!" pleaded Anna, looking at Emma for help.
Emma narrowed her Emerald gaze at Jayne and crossed her arms under her breasts, uninterested in Anna's desperation.
"Answer the question!" she commanded instead.
"I-I can't," she replied.
"Tell me or she dies!" said Emma, a green glow flared around her.
In horror, Ash shifted away from Emma, the uncharacteristic change churned his insides, as he openly shook, flinching when Leon lay an arm around his shoulders. Ash glanced at the big man and found him grinning from ear to ear, that trademark mischievous glint in his eye.
How can he enjoy this?
Anna looked stricken with doubt; her face tightening up as if in agony.
"It was-" She paused with her mouth open. "It was-I can't say it!" This time her grey eyes bulged out as if they were going to pop out of her skull. She moaned and pointed to her mouth, her face turning purple, as her eyes darted everywhere in a panic.
To Ash, she looked to be choking, but Emma was at her side in a blink of an eye, a hand on her forehead as she closed her eyes for a moment. She nodded to herself as if in confirmation.
"No, she can't tell us...a silent lament has been placed on her. If she continues to try, what is forbidden, she will suffocate and die." She peered at Ash as if the explanation was for him.
Anna trembled, head down and Ash wondered if she was crying.
Emma looked over her shoulder to Aimee who pulled away and let Jayne crumple to a heap on the floor.
"Go to her," Emma commanded Anna, who jumped up to help Jayne over to the spare armchair, to fuss over the tiny girl.
Neither looks so tough now. How the mighty fall...
"This is all your fault sister, if you hadn't waited so long, and done what I said, these two imbeciles would have missed Ashley...and Father Thomas wouldn't have caught wind of our operation."
Jayne and Anna snapped their eyes towards Aimee, in shock.
"Oh – come on you idiots. We were not born yesterday. You two couldn't organize a Daemon party in hell if you tried. We know Father Thomas pulls all the strings. His hairless fingers are all over your actions."
"Enough!" snapped Emma, staring daggers at her twin, who to Ash's surprise, closed her mouth and pressed her lips into a thin line of displeasure.
Emma walked over to Aimee and stared defiantly into her face, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Well you remember, sister...you're not in charge anymore and if I need your advice I will ask for it!" Aimee lowered her gaze and nodded, her mouth twitching in a nervous smirk, though her hands were clenched tightly into pale white fists.
Emma spun around and gave Anna and Jayne a hard stare.
"Both of you are out of line and have abused your positions, breaking the Holy Order's code of conduct. I should report you to the Holy Council...but it is obvious that you are not fully to blame." Jayne and Anna breathed a sigh of relief and grinned at each other like two naughty children.
"But that doesn't mean you are clear of my anger and my punishment"
"But you have no authority over us or the Order of Gabriel!" Jayne spoke up defiantly.
"But I do," stepped up Aimee to stand next to Emma.
Anna laughed, appearing to regain some of her courage.
"You? You are a disgrace, an exile, Father Thomas only keeps you around because of the friends your sister has within the Holy Council. You should be the one reporting to me!"
"Ah, how short your memory is my dear. Would like another lesson on manners and respect?"
Emma stepped in front of her sister and frowned at Anna.
"You both know as well as I do, that I can overrule any command or change your mission objectives at a whim. It is my right and rank as a High Priestess of the Order of Raphael. So I suggest you shut that vile mouth of yours Anna and behave!"
Ash glanced at Leon who was humming a tune softly to himself, watching the confrontation, a grin on his face. He caught Ash's eye and leaned forwards to whisper in his ear.
"I love it when the girls get all worked up, it's great fun."
I disagree, it terrifies me...
Ash glanced around his destroyed apartment for a moment to remind himself why, then looked back at Leon, whose eyes blinked for a moment and changed to an unnatural golden glow. The reality of his situation hammered home to him.
Yes, I must not forget you are one of them too...
He pulled away from the big man, suddenly uncomfortable in his presence and stepped over a stray plastic part of his television stand, to see if anything in his ruined apartment was salvable. The television and wooden unit was completely snapped in two, and a bookcase shattered into pieces, leaving wood and books littering the floor.
Peaking out from under a stray part of what was his Xbox, laying at his feet, was a single piece of paper, he picked it up.
The picture of his family, though badly creased with a small rip in the middle, he could still see their faces. His eyes stung as his throat clenched with overwhelming emotions.
Why?
He looked up suddenly, all those unnatural fire-burning eyes studying him. He squirmed under their scrutiny, nervously dropping his gaze back to the picture, his hands shaking, the avalanche of grief and loneliness beginning to overwhelm his composure in front of these strange unnatural people.
The magenta crystal burst into life, its warmth trickling into him as it attempted to ease the pain he felt in his heart. He snatch the crystal into his hand and held it in his clenched fist, turning his back from their eyes, feeling the sudden need to be away and alone.
Help me...I just want to be me again...
Emma was suddenly next to him, guiltily looking at the picture in his hands and up at him, her eyes winking back to a natural human shade.
Your guilt is too late...
"I'm sorry. So sorry Ashley. Let me help you."
That was all she said to him, placing an arm around his waist. Giving him a warm squeeze. He peered into those deep emerald eyes searching for the truth, and hope, but today he just could not see it, Ash was beyond all reasoning.
He wiped the fresh tears from his eyes and tore the picture in two, dropping it to the floor. The two pieces floated like leaves on a cold autumn day, floating to his feet to decompose and turn black like his heart.
Emma reached out, but he had already stepped away and stormed towards his bedroom, slamming his door. He continued into the bathroom, shutting the door, locking it - as a precaution, if the little bitch, Jayne had any intention of disrupting him again - and moved into the shower and switched it on.
The icy water hit him, but he was too numb to notice and slid down the tiled wall, to sit with his head between his knees and cried, his tears mixing in with the water as it washed away his pain.
The crystal remained cold against his chest, allowing him to grieve alone.