chapter SIX
Ian is walking to his next class when someone grabs him, and pulls him into the bathroom. He gets shoved against the back of the door, and he looks into bluish gray eyes. Ian can feel the darkness creeping into his very core.
“You kissed her! We made a deal!” Sean yells at him.
“I had too.” Ian wanted to say more, but his words are cut off by Sean's arm pushing against his throat.
“You had to! Ian, you’re a jerk! You have almost everyone fooled with your good boy act. I can see what you are becoming. I’ve been there, and it is a dangerous road, Brother.” Sean moves his arm away from Ian's throat. Now, Ian can feel the darkness taking over him, also. He watched his brother go through this, and he was hoping he wouldn’t get what his mother has. Too bad he isn't more like his dad. Ian shoves Sean away. There used to be a time when Ian couldn't move Sean away. Now he is stronger; it's his mother’s genes.
“Kallos met Aphrodite last night!” Sean's eyes widen; he knows what that means; her time is coming. The last time Aphrodite showed herself, Acidalia was taken within days.
“We haven't had any time with her yet. I thought we would be with her longer,” Sean looks at the ground. Ian can see the sadness in his eyes. He is feeling the same; he wanted more time with Kallos before she changes.
“You never know; she might make it. Aphrodite said that there is a way that Kallos won’t feel all the pain.” Ian can remember how painful the change is and how he thought his insides were being torn out. He thought he was dying and even prayed that he would. He wouldn’t even wish that on his worst enemy.
“Well, whatever it is, then we’ll do it,” Sean says and moves away from Ian.
“She has to find her soul mate, and I think she already did,” Ian says, knowing that Sean isn't going to be too happy about it. But the truth is Ian is terrified. Ian has never felt so much in one kiss, and when he kissed Kallos, he thought the earth was shattering around them.
“She hasn’t kissed him yet.” Sean asks and winks at Ian.
“We'll see, Brother, we will see,” Ian says and walks out of the bathroom.
****
Kallos walks into Mr. Nelson’s class on cloud nine. She looks around and sees Kellee and Karissa sitting in the back. There is a desk open, so she goes to it. As she is sitting down, both girls look at her and grin.
“What?” she asks.
“So you and Ian are a couple now?” Kellee asks and Karissa doesn't give her anytime to answer.
“You sure don’t waste any time do you?” Karissa mumbles.
“Hmm…Obviously not.” Kallos still needs to kiss Sean, and the thought of that makes her blood boil.
“We saw you two kissing this morning before school. It looked pretty intense.” Kellee says and Karissa is nodding her head in agreement. Great, Kallos wonders who else saw.
“It’s all over the school now?” Kallos looks at the two girls and narrows her eyes.
“We didn’t say anything. Gosh, Ian is my best friend, and I would never gossip about him no matter what. I want to know if you are going to hurt him?” That explains why Karissa is always talking to him.
“I don’t want to hurt Ian. He’s a sweetie,” Kallos says.
“Good” Karissa says as the Mr. Nelson tells them to stop talking. Kallos opens up her math book and tries to listen to what he is saying, but her brain is somewhere else. She can't stop thinking about her and Ian's kiss. What if Sean's kiss really did set her on fire?
When lunch comes, Kallos is a little happy but mostly scared. Yesterday, the boys brought her to part of the cafeteria where no one else was sitting. More posters plaster the light blue walls. She wonders if they are going to do that again, or will it be just Sean? She is just about to walk into the cafeteria when she sees him. His gray eyes meet hers, as he smiles warmly at her approach.
“Hey, Babe!” She smiles back at Sean. “Ian had to go home, so it’s just us” he says and winks. She knows that this will be the time when she will kiss him. He doesn’t take her hand instead he puts his hand on the middle of her back to escort her in. As they walk through the cafeteria, she notices that most of the kids are looking at them. She keeps her head up and walks to the lunch line.
They walk to the isolated part of the cafeteria. Sean leads Kallos to the same table they were at yesterday. She sits first and he sits to her left. She isn't really hungry, so she pushes her food away. She has way too much on her mind. She has been feeling the dull pain, but now it is completely gone. This confuses her. How can her pain disappear around each of them? Kallos thought her soul mate was the only one that can dissolve her pain. She looks over at him and can see that he isn’t eating either; he is staring at her. She is past being nervous; now she is scared to death.
“Ian told me that you spoke to your goddess.”
“What else did he say?” He smiles at her and moves closer.
“That’s all.” She can see something pass though his eyes, but she can’t tell what. “What did your goddess want?”
“She told me that I needed to find my soul mate so he could relieve some of my pain when the change comes.” Sean moves a little closer to her and now their legs are touching.
“That is actually good news. How do you know if you find him?” Kallos isn't going through this again; besides, she has a strong feeling he already knows. She reaches down deep for a courage she didn’t realize she had and gently brushes her lips against his. Sean groans with pleasure then puts his hands on her back lightly to hold her to him tighter. Her mark is doing the same thing as it did with Sean. Her body heats and she can feel all the butterflies fluttering in her stomach as if they are trying to escape. She wraps her arms around him and pulls him to her. She needed to feel him closer to her. Her whole body feels like it may really catch on fire. The kiss seems to last forever until she pulls away but not far. She doesn't think she can handle anymore. Kallos leans in and places her forehead on his. Yeah, she is more confused now then she was five minutes ago. She really needs to talk to Aphrodite to find out if she can have two soul mates. Sean clears his voice, so she opens her eyes and sees grays eyes staring at her.
“Did you feel that?” He asks with a huge grin on his face. “It was magical and breath taking.” He is right. It was magical, but she felt the exact thing with Ian. She moves away and drops her head into her hands. She has no clue what she is going to do. When she is around both of them, she can barely feel any pain. She can feel the tears starting to form in her eyes. Sean moves closer and puts his arm around her. “Hey,” he whispers, “Babe, what’s wrong? Did I do something?” She lifts her head to meet his worried gaze. She shakes her head.
“You did nothing. I just had one of the best kisses of my life.” That got his smile back. “But…” she looks down at her hands; she has in her lap. She should have known that he would want more. “… But, I felt the same thing with Ian,” she says, still not looking at him, but she can feel him stiffen beside her.
“What about the pain?” He sounds like he is in agony. She looks up at him then and finds him staring at her.
“I feel nothing when I’m around either of you.” Sean’s one eyebrow goes up like he just figured something out.
“That’s good. When is the pain the worst?” He moves his hand and puts it on top of Kallos’. She smiles at him.
“I guess at home,” she answers, and he nods.
“Then it’s settled. Ian and I are staying with you at all times.” She scrunches her eyebrows together.
“What do you mean that you guy will be staying with me at all times?” He gives her his enormous bright smile. “I know that my parents won’t be up for that.”
“Babe, we are going to be moving in. You need to talk to your dad and tell him how much you need us.” Her mouth falls open. There is no way her parents will let two teenage boys live with them.
“They won’t go for that!” She says again as she shakes her head.
“They will if they don’t want to see you in pain. You should also have one of us in every class. I’ll talk to our parents. They won’t mind.” Kallos looked really confused, and Sean starts to laugh. “You know that we are brothers, right?” She shakes her head. “Your soul mate is one of us.” Kallos looks even more confused. Great, just what she needs. “Well, we thought you knew. Babe, you should go and talk to your dad. You can tell him that we will be there at six.” He turns around and walks toward the door.
****
Sean grabs his phone and calls his mom. She will understand that Kallos needs him and Ian. Even though he wishes it was just him, if they both can take away her pain, then that is better.
“Mom?” Sean says into the phone.
“Sean, what's wrong?” He smiles, his mother loves him and his brother more than words can say. Some people think that her kind cannot love, but they’re wrong.
“It’s Kallos. She needs Ian and me to stay with her. She is starting the change, and Aphrodite said that her soul mate is the only one that can help.” He already knows she is going to say, “Yes.” She has already thought of Kallos as her daughter.
“You both need to be there?” Sean smiles.
“Yeah, Mom. It looks like things are going to get crazy.” He doesn't trust Ian to be alone with Kallos, not when Ian’s other side is about to come out at any minute.
“Please be nice to Ian. You’re brothers, and I know you love him.” Sean does love his brother. They may fight, but they are brothers. “Just come home after school and get your things.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“You should tell your brother.”
“I will. I love you.”
“I love you too Sean.” She hangs up and he smiles. His mom is the best. He doesn't feel like talking to his brother right now, so he texts him:
Hey we are staying at Kallos’ house until she changes. I will tell you more later.
Then, he grabs some paper to write Kallos a love letter. If he has to compete with his brother, he is going to fight dirty.
****
As Kallos walks through the cafeteria, she notices that every person she walks by would stop what they were doing and stare at her. She rushes to the doors. When she is out, she takes a deep breath. She walks straight into her dad’s office; his secretary smiles at her. She walks right in and sees her dad on his computer; he’s just looking at the screen. He must have not heard her come in. “Dad?” She asks as he looks up at her and smiles.
“Hey, Sweetie,” he says; then his face changes and he stands up. “Is everything all right?” She smiles and nods. He always did worry about her.
“Dad, please sit back down. I’m fine.” He sits back down at his desk, and she sits in the chair in front of him. “I just have a favor to ask.”
His eyebrows scrunch together. “A favor? Okay, ask.”
“Well, last night I meet Aphrodite.” His eyes widen. She notices that his face is pale.
“She came to you? That means that it is almost…” She cuts him off before he can finish.
“Time, I know. She told me that there was a way for me to ease the pain.”
“How?” He looks at her as if she was lying.
“I need to find my soul mate.” She bites her lip because she really doesn't know how he is going to take this. He starts to laugh.
“Your soul mate? You’re sixteen. How will you know he is your soul mate?”
“She told me that it’s in the kiss and I would know.” She glances up and sees his face turn red, so she decides to finish before he can speak. “But there are two boys that take away my pain, and I think they should be with me all the time.” She just told her dad that she just kissed two boys and his face is crimson now.
“What do you mean all the time?” He says and puts his head in his hands.
“Well, I need one of them in every class.” She pauses and waits for him to answer. He slowly lifts his head and looks at Kallos.
“Fine. Who are the boys?” His color is starting to go back to his normal shade.
“Ian and Sean Hunter.” He nods and writes down their names. Now that the easy part is done, she has to go on. She takes another deep breath and looks straight at him. “There’s more, Dad. They need to be with me ALL the time, and that means at home too.” She notices that his face is turning red again and his eyes narrow.
“You want them to live with us?”
“We do have the spare room, and they would just be there to make sure what happened this morning won’t happen again. I know it was hard on you and Mom, but Dad they are the only ones who can take away my pain. I need them. Please Dad?” He doesn’t say anything for a few minutes; he just typed on his computer.
“You will have one of them in every class.” He looks away from the computer screen and looks at me. “I don't want to see you in pain again, Sweetie. It was so hard to watch you and not be able to do anything. I guess they will just have to stay with us.” She tells herself not to smile even though she wants to. She can tell that he isn’t happy about this, but he knows that it is the only way to relieve her pain.
“Thank you, Dad.” She stands to leave; when she gets to the door, she stops. “By the way, Sean said that they would be there at six.” As she is walking out of the door, she can hear him swear.
Kallos begins walking to her next class when she sees Karissa heading towards her, and Karissa doesn't look happy. Kallos isn't in the mood to deal with drama, so she tells herself to look at the ground and keep walking. Too bad, Karissa stops right in front of Kallos, blocking her path. Kallos slowly looks up her body to meet her hazel eyes.
“So, do you mind telling me what happened at lunch today?” Karissa asks. Kallos knows that living in a small town means that everyone knows your business, but she is not going to tell her. What happened between her and Sean is none of her business.
“I do mind. I need to get to class.” Kallos tries to move around Karissa, but she is faster than Kallos and grabs her arm.
“I told you that Ian is my best friend. I will do anything to protect him. He has had his heart torn out before, and I won’t let it happen again. You're running off with his brother is not a good idea.” Her hold on Kallos tightens. Kallos gasps between the pain and Karissa’s hold on her; she doesn't think she can handle much more. “I want to like you, I really do. But you see you are starting to get this reputation, and it’s not a good one,” Karissa’s face is inches from Kallos'. Looking into Karissa's eyes, Kallos can see that she doesn't think of Ian as a friend. She is in love with him.
“Kallos!” She looks ahead to see Ian coming toward her, and Karissa just turns her head to the side. Karissa is still holding onto her arm tightly when Ian is only a few feet from them. His face shows no emotions. “Kris, what’s going on?” Karissa glares back at Kallos and lets go, but she doesn't step away. Karissa turns around to face him.
“We were having a little girl talk,” she says, sounding sweet as ever. Kallos shakes her head in disgust and looks at Ian. His beautiful sky blue eyes are staring at her.
“Kallos, I’m going to walk you to our class.” He walks to her and holds out his hand. She places hers in his; she feels his heat and calmness pass through her. She can feel Karissa’s eyes on them as they walk to their classroom. Ian teases, “Well, I see that you’re making friends.” Kallos looks over at him and sees that he is grinning.
“I guess you can say that,” she smiles back at him; then, she remembers that Sean told her that Ian had gone home early. “I thought you left.” He stops and looks at her.
“I did, but one of us has to be with you at all times. Your dad caught me right before I found you. He gave me Sean’s and my new class schedule. He also told me that he spoke with each teacher and made sure that we are sitting next to you.” His other hand comes up and caresses her face. “We better get to class before we’re late. I’m pretty sure that would make your dad really mad.” He smiles at her and continues to walk to English class.
The last three hours of the day went by pretty fast. Kallos just opened her locker when a paper with her name falls out. She quickly grabs it, opens it, and smiles when she sees whom it’s from.
My Beauty
I had to head home and grab some things. Please call me if you need me sooner, but I will be there at six. See you soon! Sean
She folds the note back up and puts it in her pocket. The two boys are completely different, but they can both take away her pain. She is going to try to contact Aphrodite and ask her about the soul mates. She has always heard of having one, but maybe she’s special. She closes her locker and heads to her dad’s car. He is already waiting for her, and he’s on the phone. The whole way home he doesn’t say anything, which is weird. When the car stops, his voice surprises her.
“Kallos, your mother wasn’t too happy about two teenage boys living with us. She knows that it has to be this way for you. We don’t want you in pain.” He pauses for a minute and looks at the house. “You don’t know how hard it was seeing you in pain and not being able to do anything. I know it killed your mother.” He looks back at Kallos. “Your mother and I wanted to tell you about being adopted, but we wanted to wait until you were a little older. You are our daughter and that won’t change anything. You know that right?” She nods and can feel the tears burning in her eyes. “Good, now let’s go inside.” They walk to the house, and she notices that her mom isn’t waiting for them. She finally looks at her dad, and he gives me a little smile. She can see the tears in his eyes.
“Dad, I’m going to take a nap.” I start to walk towards the stairs.
“Kallos,” she turns to look at him. “When the boys get here, we all need to talk.” She nods at him and continues to her bedroom. She walks in and closes the door. She places her bag by her desk and walks over to her bed. She lies down and tells herself she has to sleep. It doesn't happen right away; she closes her eyes and remembers what Aphrodite told her.
Kallos thinks about the perfect blue sky, bright green grass, and the beautiful waterfall. She thinks about all the flowers and how they smell so wonderful. The last thing she thinks of is Aphrodite. Kallos pictures Aphrodite in her white dress and her long beautiful hair. Kallos can smell Aphrodite, and she grins. She can feel a cool breeze on her face. She slowly opens her eyes and smiles. She did it. Kallos turns around and is amazed. It seems more beautiful than the last time. She can see Aphrodite sitting by the water. Kallos walks over to Aphrodite who turns her head to Kallos and smiles. Kallos walks over to her and sits next to her.