Erin The Fire Goddess: The Beginning (9 page)

I knew I was probably being stupid. Here was this gorgeous guy, who seemed to want to be with me, and now I was rejecting it. But how could I continue to move forward with anything in my life, when I didn
't know what was even happening to me.

Sean sighed and stepped forward. This time I didn
't move away and stayed frozen as he reached for my hand.

He raised my hand to his cheek. I hadn
't noticed that flames were coming from my hands. As my hand touched his face, the flames fizzled out.

He left my hand on his cheek, as he slowly moved his hand up my arm, from my wrist to my shoulder. As his hand moved over my body, the flames dispersed.

“W-w-w-what a-a-are y-y-youuu?” I stuttered.

He didn
't answer me. He just slowly stepped closer, until eventually I was in his arms.

Without another word, he leaned down and gently kissed my lips.

When he pulled away he reached his hands to my cheeks.

“
You are not a monster!” He paused to look at me, before he continued. “And I don't want just any girl. I want you!” I was about to say something when he kissed me again. When he moved away, he placed a finger back to my lips. “I've always wanted you, and as corny as it may sound, you complete me.” He paused for a moment, like he was trying to find the right words. “And in answer to your question, I can only tell you the basics. I am sure Dr Hammersmith can explain, in more detail, when he gets here later.”

He didn
't let me interrupt as he continued talking, like I knew exactly who Dr Hammersmith was and that he was coming.

“
You are my fire and I am your water!”

This comment actually made more sense than it should have.

We stood there in silence for a long time, just staring into each other's eyes.

“
Come on, let's go get something to eat.” He said as he pulled me towards the kitchen.

As we walked into the kitchen, my dad was standing looking out of the window, with a cup in his hands.

“
Hi sweetie,” He smiled my favourite smile.

“
Hey dad!” I slowly walked towards him and gave him a hug. He hugged me back so tightly I thought I was going to burst. Realising this, he quickly released me and stepped back to examine me.

“
Sorry sweetie, I don't know my own strength half the time."” He smiled at me weakly. “You should eat something.”

I hadn
't actually realised how hungry I was until he said that and my stomach growled in reply, making me laugh.

My dad turned to grab two plates of full English breakfast and placed them on the kitchen table, in front of Sean and me.

“Where's mum?” I enquired with my mouth full of egg and bacon.

“
Gone for a walk!"” My dad replied as he sat down at the table with his cup in his hands.

We sat in silence for a
while as Sean and I continued to eat.

“
I'm sorry your mum and I didn't explain things sooner.” I continued to eat as I listened to what my dad had to say. “You see we had hoped it would skip a generation, but you started to show sign's early on.”

My hand gripped my knife tightly, as Sean placed his hand on top of mine and stroked it gently.

My dad didn't seem to notice this, or refused to acknowledge my discomfort.

“
From birth we knew you were special. Your birthmark was always hotter than the rest of your body, and when you were upset, it would burn fiercely.”

He stood up from his seat and walked towards the kitchen sink and stared out the window thoughtfully for a moment or two.

When he turned back his face was suddenly very serious.

“
Your mum and I were also born with unique gifts, like you and Sean."” He nodded from each of us as he said our names. “I possess the ability to make thunder.” He looked back out the window, “and your mum can make lightening.” He turned back to face us again and walked towards the table. “You see alone we are dangerous and powerless to control our abilities. But together..."

"
Together, we are powerful and have the most calming effect on the other.” My mum finished my dad's sentence, as she came to stand next to him and smiled at me apologetically and mouthed ‘'sorry'’ to me.

I stood up from my seat and walked quickly over to her, giving her a hug, just as she started to cry.

"I'm so, so, so sorry." She continued to repeat over and over again.

I held her there for a long time, not sure what to say, and before I knew it, she was in my dad
's arms as he pointed to the kitchen counter where my toiletry bag and a pile of clothes sat.

I stood examining myself, in a tall mirror, in one of the bedrooms, in the cottage. My dad had brought me over a pair of pale blue cropped trouser, a white vest and a pair of black sandals.

I pulled my favourite silver headband from the toiletry bag and gently slid it onto my head. Normally I would have spent ages adjusting my hair, so it would cover my birthmark, but for the first time I pushed the headband back, so my hair was off my face.

I smiled at my reflection. I don
't think I'd ever felt this happy or self-assured before in my life.

I still had a million and one questions, but I
'd been assured that Dr Hammersmith would explain everything, later today. He was coming at 7pm. It was only 10:30am now, so I had the rest of the day to, hopefully, get to know Sean, better.

After I neatly folded my pyjamas and placed them on one of the single beds, I checked and re
-checked my appearance before heading out of the room.

I walked through the back door and out into the garden, which was surrounded by lots of trees. To me, it was more like a forest and a picturesque cottage sat in the middle, with the sun shining straight down, making everything glisten.

My dad was playing football with Sean, Paul, James, Kelly and Justin, whilst my mum was pottering around in the flowerbeds.

I sat down on an old wooden bench underneath the kitchen window, with my head slightly tilted up towards the sun, whilst keeping one eye on the game.

Justin stood between two trees, that were being used as make shift goal posts. The twins and Kelly were on one team and my dad and Sean on the other. I wasn't sure who was winning, I was just happy to watch.

They continued playing for another 30 minutes, when my dad started complaining that he was too old and tired to keep up with the youngsters. Probably because he was only use
d to playing with me and my sister, I knew I wasn't any good. A two year old had better ball control than me.

"
I'm going to go home to take a shower and change my clothes.” I heard Sean tell the others as my dad sat next to me on the bench.

"
You're getting old." I playfully teased my dad, as Sean walked over to where we both sat.

"
I'm a teenager at heart.” My dad smiled back at me, and then turned to face Sean, who was standing in front of us.

"
I'm heading home for a bit." He pointed over his shoulder, as if he were pointing to a house that wasn't there. “You fancy coming?” he asked me as he held his hand out.

I looked at m
y dad to see if it was okay.

"
Sure, go ahead." He smiled as I reached up to take Sean's hand. “"Just make sure you're back for dinner at 5pm."

We walked, hand in hand, towards the trees, at the edge of the clearing, where Justin still stood between the makeshift goal posts. I had no idea where Sean
's house was or how far, it was just nice to take a walk alone with him.

All my life I
'd dreamt that I would have a boyfriend. I still wasn't sure if Sean was my boyfriend or not. I hoped so. To be honest, I didn't feel I would ever get a boyfriend, but right now, whether or not he was, I felt I had hit the jackpot. I wasn't sure what would happen from now on, but I would be happy to spend my life in his arms, kissing his lips and him stroking my cheek. I wish I was more spontaneous to make a move to kiss him. I felt nervous and swallowed hard as I remembered his warm lips pressing against mine. Without realising, my hand had reached up to touch my lips. Quickly, I pulled my hand down as we reached a fence to a field that was full of baby's breath.

"
Wow!” I gasped, "It's beautiful.”

Without realising, Sean had released my hand and was standing with his back to me, leaning against the fence.

"Are we allowed to walk through here?” I asked nervously, as I started to climb the stile, he had used to get into the field. He waited on the other side, ready to catch me if I fell.

“I know the owner
's very well.” He smiled with a shrug, as I stepped past him, to start walking through the flowers, with my arms stretched out on either side, with my palms facing forward, to catch the flowers as they brushed my fingertips.

I hadn
't realised I was walking alone, until I looked around in panic, searching for Sean. By this time, I was a third of the way across the field. He was still leaning with his back against the fence watching me. I started to walk back towards him and stopped when I saw him start to hurry towards me. He wasn't smiling and I wasn't sure if I'd done something wrong. I looked at him confused and wanted to apologise for whatever I'd done. I felt sick with nerves, by the time he reached me, and he didn't stop moving.

He grabbed my face and started to kiss me fiercely. At first I just stood there, frozen. Then I started to kiss him back more urgently. One of my hands ran my fingers through his hair, as my other started to slowly run up and down his back.

To my embarrassment, I groaned as he pulled my head back by my hair and starting kissing my neck. My hand slipped to his bum and I heard and felt him laughing. His lips vibrating on my neck, sending a shiver down my spine.

He laughed again, as he felt me tremble, then pulled away to look at me, with a smile I was falling in love with. I chastised myself for thinking that last thought. It was too soon for me to be feeling this way. Wasn
't it? I hardly knew him. He was surely going to break my heart. Hadn't I heard he used to have a different girl every week? What was this? Day one or day two? I decided yesterday didn't really count.

"
Come on let's go.” He started pulling me through the field. To me I felt like I was floating more than walking.

We walked for a
while. Not talking, as he led me to the end of the field and this time through a gate. We carried on walking, hand in hand, until we reached a row of houses.

"
This is us.” He pointed to the end house. “Not much, but its home and has been my whole life.”

"
It's lovely.” I smiled, squeezing his hand, as he led me through the front door and into a spacious living room.

"
My parents are at work. Just make yourself at home." He waved his hand around the room as he released my hand and gave me a quick kiss, “I'm going to take a quick shower. Won't be long.” He said as he headed up the stairs.

I stood there for a few moments, looking at where he
'd gone. Then I headed to the huge sofa and sat down, switching the TV onto the music channels.

I wasn
't really paying attention to the TV, as my eyes scanned the room, focusing on pictures on the far wall. I got up and walked slowly over to have a closer look.

They were all family pictures, spreading over decades. Lots of school pictures, pictures of Sean and Kelly holding various trophies, and a picture of........ I think it was Kelly, ice skating, another of her riding a horse, a picture of Sean, in a football kit, sitting on his team mate
's shoulders, lifting a trophy.

In between them all, was a giant picture of Sean and Kelly with their parents. One of those you get done in a professional studio.

My eyes fell on a picture, to the right of the large one. It was a picture of an old couple, maybe Sean's grandparents, but that wasn't what pulled me to the picture. I reached up to touch the face of the woman in the picture, at the same time touching my own cheek. I gasped and stepped back. The woman in the picture had a birthmark just like mine.

"
My great grandparents." Sean spoke quietly, breaking my trance.

"
But she’s ........" My voice trailed off, as I looked back at the picture.

“
She was like you." He said, stepping closer.

He was wearing only a pair of jeans and was towel drying his hair, but he threw the towel on a chair, along with the top he was holding.

He stepped behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"
And my great grandfather.” He pointed to the man in the picture, “was like me.” I didn’t understand. There had been someone else like me? Just like Sean? How was that possible?

Sensing my confusion he t
urned me to face him. His muscly chest was still damp and perfect in every way.

"
I don't know much." He started to tell me as I moved my hands up to place them on his chest. “But I was told that my great grandfather could make it rain and manipulate water. I wasn't told any of this until I started to show the signs." He told me, as an afterthought. I used my eyes to tell him to go on “It started half way through the last year of high school. Up to that point I thought I was happy.” He pulled me onto the sofa, as he continued to talk. “I played every sport going and girls." He looked into my eyes, as he lay on his back, with me lying on top, with my chin resting on top of my hands, on his chest. “Well you know.” He reached out to stroke my cheek, reassuringly. "But I started to sweat a lot, more than usual. I mean, I could run around a field and my clothes would be soaking. My parents even took me to the doctors, but they weren't sure why this was happening either, and it didn't even smell like sweat. ”One day my parents took us to visit our grandparents, and it was there we found out what was wrong with me."” He looked down at me, to see if I was bored yet, and I nodded at him to continue. “Well, I was in the garden with Kelly, when we heard something smash. We looked up to see Poppa shaking in shock, as he looked right at me. Apparently his dad, my great grandfather was the exact same.” He looked thoughtfully back to the picture, hanging on the wall. "He went on to tell me, that eventually I would find my soul mate.” He looked at me seriously, as he placed a finger on my left cheek “"And that she would have the same mark as my great Nan." He gave me a quirky smile. He even looked slightly embarrassed.

"
And that would be me, I suppose?” He laughed, and then nodded.

"
To be honest, I thought it was a load of mumbo jumbo.” He laughed. “He kept telling me that as soon as I saw her everything would change and no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn't be able to keep away from her." He sighed then and rested his head back to look at the ceiling.

He didn
't say anything for a while, as I ran my fingers around his chest, tracing the lines of water that were now drying up. Then he looked back at me, his face serious again.