Forbidden Fruit (22 page)

“
Does anyone smell something burning?” Lizzy asked.

I uncovered my nose and smelled it myself. “Is someone smoking?” I asked. I saw a bunch of heads shake. The two girls left the bathroom, one slumped against the other’s shoulders. When the door opened, thick rolls of black smoke poured into the room.

I heard a few screams around me, someone shoved into my side, and then I heard my mom…

She was screaming for me to run, to get out of the house. I was back in my parents’ house, trying desperately to lift the heavy board that pinned my mother to the floor. I could hardly see anything, and my lungs stung with thick ash, making my every breath come out as a choke.

She was crying, begging me to save myself. I didn’t listen. How could I? My mom was alive, and I wasn’t leaving her inside a burning house. My heart was pounding in my ears and adrenaline was racing through my veins…until the smoke took over. I fought the blackness with every ounce of strength I had in me, but it wasn’t enough. I lost the battle. And I lost my parents.

I felt strong arms scoop me up and press me into a hard chest. As the man moved through the house, I felt the heat of the fire licking my skin and choked on the smoky air.

Fresh air hit my face like a cold rag. It felt nice to have the heat replaced by coolness, but I was still suffocating. I felt my body being placed on something soft, and I tried to open my eyes. Blurry shapes of people running around franticly had my mind reeling back to reality. I wasn’t at my old house. I was at Bailey’s party. I should have known. I never tried to save my parents from the fire, I was peacefully oblivious, deep in sleep, while they burned alive.

I tried to sit up. Two warm hands eased me back down. “It’s okay, you’re okay.” It was Michael.

I blinked several times more to try to clear the funk from my eyes. I was able to make out his face close up. He brushed my hair out of my eyes and kissed my forehead. “You’re okay,” he repeated.

“
Wait,” I had a sudden realization. “You pulled me out of the pool house?”

“
Yes,” he affirmed.

“
What about the others?” I asked.

“
What?” he looked confused.

“
There were others inside! We have to help them.” I tried to sit up again, and he pushed me back down, this time more sternly.

“
Lily…” he trailed off, not saying what was written on his face.

Why would he not want to save the others? He had special abilities that I knew would help.

“
Michael, please,” I pleaded with him. “Please help them if you can.”

He gave me a long hard look and then grimaced. “Don’t move!” he warned then took off in the direction of the blazing pool house.

I sat up against his orders, still choking on every other breath. I watched with every nerve in my body on edge as he surfaced carrying two bodies, one over each shoulder. When he placed those limp bodies on the grass, he went back for more. I heard the sound of heavy wood falling inside and screamed. The building was collapsing with him inside.

Then I saw him surface once more with two more bodies. He did that three more times until he finally came out with one large form slumped over his shoulder. He then returned to me without giving them another thought. His clothes were tattered and his shirt was almost gone, only a few shreds of cloth remained unburned. But his skin was perfectly smooth, not a burn on him.

He scooped me up and whispered in my ear, “We have to get out of here.” There was urgency in his voice that I didn’t comprehend. Shouldn’t we stay to help the others?

I heard the fire trucks approaching. “Bailey?” I asked, needing to know she was okay.

“
She wasn’t inside. She’s fine.”

I just nodded, giving up the fight and sinking into his arms.

I felt very strange then, like the air around me was moving a thousand miles per hour, yet none touched my skin. My stomach flipped, and my head swam instantly. When I opened my eyes again, we were in my bedroom. I gasped, the quick breath causing me to choke again.

“
You need to lay down. Your lungs will clear with some time. Here,” he set me in the bed and grabbed an extra blanket from the rocking chair.

I snuggled underneath it and lay back with him, still disoriented from everything that happened. “How did we get here?” I asked. Wondering if I had mistaken some smoke induced hallucination for the car ride home.

“
Just relax, I will explain everything after you rest.” He looked like a worried mother bear over her cub.

Whether I wanted to relax or not, I did. He began to continually stroke my hair and hum a beautiful melody in that deep voice of his. I drifted into what I could only describe as a coma without any dreaming.

I woke in the warmth of Michael’s arms. A smile immediately crossed my face as it registered that he had spent the entire night. Never before had he stayed until I woke the next morning. It felt incredibly natural. My heart nearly exploded with love.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, sounding wide awake. His breath in my hair sent shivers down my spine.

“Yes, can you stay every night?” I rolled into his chest and snuggled in tighter.

His chest jerked with his chuckle, and then he planted a kiss on my forehead. “I was worried about you last night.”

“Last night?” The previous night’s events slammed back into my mind, jerking me fully awake. “Oh god. I need to call Bailey.” I scrambled across my bed and grappled random objects on my nightstand until I found my phone.

“
She’s okay,” he told me, placing a hand on my back.

“
How do you know?” I asked. Then I remembered his strange, super abilities. Maybe he did know.

He just grinned.

“
I still need to talk to her,” I insisted.

Her cell phone rang three times before someone picked up. “Hello?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

“
Hello, may I speak with Bailey please?”

“
I’m sorry, she is not receiving phone calls at this time,” the older gentleman said very properly. It had to be the butler.

I sighed, “Okay thanks.” He bid me farewell, and I hung up frustrated.

“
She got her phone taken away,” I explained. “Which means her dad is really pissed. She may be grounded for a month this time,” I sulked.

He gave me a sorrowful look. Then he suggested, “Can I take you to brunch? Will that cheer you up?”

I glanced at my phone again, “Wow, I slept until ten?”

He chuckled again. “Here, I will give you some privacy.” He stood up, leaving the nest we had made in the bed. “Your house keeper is here, so I will slip out and then ring the door bell in say twenty minutes?”

I smiled at his cunningness. I had no idea how he managed to slip in and out of the house undetected, but kudos to him for being so slick, it made up for my lack thereof.

Then he did something I will never forget. He winked at me and then vanished. He disappeared right before my very eyes. One second he was standing in my bedroom with his exotically sexy form, smiling at me, and the next second he was gone. There was no sign or trace of him whatsoever. It was impossible. Surely that defied all laws of physics. He was so going to have to explain how he did that.

A memory of last night tickled my mind, the one where he and I were magically in my bedroom a second after I felt that strange, dry-wind feeling by the pool. Did he vanish with me? That would be awesome. My mind raced with what else he may be able to do.

As soon as we were seated at the quaint little café named Toast and ordered our food, I grilled him about the vanishing act.

“
So how did you do that?”

“
Do what?” he asked, unable to hide his humored smile.

“
You know what I mean.” I looked around us, making sure no one was listening before I spoke again. “You disappeared into thin air,” I said, noting how ridiculous the words sounded. “Where did you go?” I asked eagerly.

“
To get my car,” he said matter-of-factly.

“
You went to Bailey’s?”

“
Yes.”

“
How?” I asked, no longer caring that I looked like an owl, in my amazement. It was unbelievable, and I needed answers.

He laughed, “It’s called Porting. It’s very similar to what you have been taught about teleporting. It’s traveling from one place to the next using the mind.”

“
You say that like it’s nothing special.”

“
It’s just one of many ways of traveling. You can drive, fly, walk, run, port…”

“
Is that how we got home last night?” I blurted out.

“
You remember that?” he looked surprised.

“
Parts of it,” I admitted.

“
I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to get you home.”

“
Thank you by the way, for saving my life.” I didn’t think I would have gotten out of the pool house if he hadn’t come to rescue me.

He reached up and caressed my cheek, “Don’t mention it.” Then he tilted his head to the side, “You don’t wear the necklace.” There was hurt in his eyes.

“
Oh,” my hand went to my neck of its own accord. “I haven’t had anywhere to wear it.”

“
There doesn’t need to be a special occasion. I wish you would wear it all the time,” he said, absently stirring his coffee.

My heart ached at hurting his feelings. “Its just so beautiful, I thought I could only wear it somewhere fancy.”

He nodded, appearing deep in thought. “I could have it made into a ring or a bracelet if you would prefer.”

“
No,” I stumbled over my words. “I--It’s perfect, I will wear it more, I promise.”

His entire demeanor lifted with that promise. His face turned from a sunken frown to a bright, heart throbbing smile.

“
Here we are,” our server placed two hot plates in front of us.

We enjoyed the cheesy omelets in quiet solitude. My mind was going over all the amazing possibilities and places I could travel if I could port like he could. I had no idea what he was thinking, but he looked content, smiling at me frequently.

As we walked back to the car, I asked him the question that I knew would really send my mind reeling. “So, can you port anywhere?

“
Yes,” he confirmed.

“
Can you take me with you?” I asked eagerly.

He chuckled, “What did you have in mind?”

“
I don’t know. Italy, Spain, Ireland, England. I’ve always wanted to see the world, but then I would have to take time off of school, and then I would have to fly and what not, but you-you can just snap your fingers and viola, you’re in China. No need for passports, or even money. You could just go see the Louve for the day and be back home before anyone knows you’re gone.”

While I was rambling on, Michael had stopped in front of a hotel. I spun around to see what was so interesting and saw him glued to the screen of a little black television that was set up on top of the bellhop’s stand. I backpedaled to stand beside him.

There was a picture of a burning building and people scattered all around. A heavily made up newswoman reported, “Late last night, a fire broke out at a Mount Pleasant residence, in what appears to be a large gathering of people at an event hosted by the well-known local attorney, Barry Brown. Significant damage was reported to the pool house on his residence though miraculously, no one was seriously injured. Mr. Brown would like to offer a reward to the man who courageously pulled several people out of the burning building. There seems to be no more information about the hero than his first name, Michael. Security footage taken of the residence shows the brave young man fighting through flames to rescue the unfortunate individuals inside.”

The footage changed to a video of Michael, carrying two bodies through the smoke, laying them on the ground and then turning toward the building again. It stopped as the news woman asked for more information from viewers about the mysterious hero. I leaned closer to the screen and saw that a large part of Michael’s back was visible through his tattered shirt. I tried to make out the pattern of black lines that curved diagonally down his back.

“
Is that a tattoo?” I asked curiously.

“
Let’s go,” he ordered.

The tone of his voice sent chills down my spine. He was angry. I spun around, a little shocked at the abrupt change in mood, and met the darkest eyes I had ever seen. He looked everywhere but at me.

I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong and then thought better of it. He looked on the verge of snapping.

“
Let’s go,” he repeated.

Without arguing, I slid into his Porsche and stayed quiet until we got to the house. The walk up to the porch was unnerving. There was an electric current in the air, and not the kind I so craved when he was near. I noticed he hesitated at the front door, not wanting to come inside. I didn’t know what to say or what to do.

He broke the silence. “I have to go.” His voice was laced with a tortured fury I couldn’t understand.

“
Okay…”

“
I’m so sorry Lily,” he managed to sound sincere even through the seething expression, jaw clenched, eyes hard.