Bewitched

I’m standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down at the small river running between the sides of earth. The wind pushes my hair, so that it sticks to my lips. I look over the edge; waiting for my heart to pound like crazy. It doesn’t happen though. Maybe my body trusts my mind more than I thought. The sun is setting in front of me, changing the colors of the sky. I wish I had something to capture the beautiful moment, but this is much to pretty to be reality. I finger the heart shaped stone that dangles between my breasts. If I could get rid of this damn thing, I would. It causes me nothing but pain.

I hear shuffling behind me that brings me back. Of course it’s him; egotistical bastard. Nathaniel is always in my dreams. It’s easy for him to take control of me because; I don’t pay attention in reality.

“I need my heart. Time is running out for you, sweetheart.”

My hair stops moving, when I turn around to face him. He can be a very handsome man, but not at this moment. His eyes are set on me, with a form on hatred in them. His body movements are stiff.

“I told you. I am not going to do your bidding. If you want a heart, you’ll have to do it yourself. You don’t deserve anyone’s heart.”

In an instant, he has his fingers wrapped tightly around my throat. When I tell him no, his usual angelic face turns demonic. His teeth are what scare me the most. The sharpened ends could easily pierce through a person’s skin. I can’t show him my fear, though. He would think he won. “You have one more day to complete this task, and that is your final warning, Alexandra.” Using less than half of his strength, he pushes me over the edge of the cliff.

My alarm begins to go off, allowing me to wake up before I smash into the rock. There is not one night that I can sleep without him entering my dreams. He is always threatening me, so I never take him seriously. Nathaniel is not the greatest person to become friends with. He is a demon, who is stuck in the in between. He’s told me numerous times that he needs to collect enough human hearts to be able to pass through and enter Hell. The one that has to collect the hearts is the one who is wearing the necklace. That would be me now. I had my heart taken from the one who wore it before me. That asshole stole my heart from me. I thought we had a connection, but apparently I meant nothing to him. He ran off to never be seen again. Once you have your heart taken away, you can’t have it back. Someone already has it; therefore, you aren’t able to give it to someone else. The necklace’s holders are not allowed to love a person after they return the next stolen heart to Nathaniel. We may seem fine to the naked eye, but on the inside we’re dying.

I need to quit whining about this fate and get in the shower, so that I don’t stink at school. It doesn’t really matter to me, whether I do or not. I guess I’m just trying to be nice to those around me. The warmth from the water also relaxes me. My mind is in need of the relaxation more than my body. I take as much time as I can in the confines of the shower tub. My bathroom steams up quickly, because I didn’t turn on the fan or open the window. I’m always forgetting to do simple stuff like that. As I step out of the shower, the little heat I had from the shower goes away instantly. I hate it when that happens. Most often, I take showers in the morning to warm myself up. Nothing likes to cooperate with me in the mornings.

My stomach rumbles, telling me that it needs food. “You’re so demanding.” I mumble to my stomach. I walk down the stairs and to the kitchen to open a cabinet and get a slice of bagel to eat. I don’t usually eat breakfast, but I suppose I should. Apparently, when people need to use their brain more than usual, they need to eat a good hearty breakfast. A bagel will do just fine for me. I eat the food, and glance at the clock on the microwave. It’s just about time for me to leave. As I was heading out the door, I hear the home phone ring. It’s probably my mother calling to make sure I’m awake. I don’t usually like talking to her when she’s here, so why would I talk to her over the phone? It’s not that difficult to understand.

I reach the top step of my school, as the tardy bell rings. And to make matters worse, I have my math class first thing this morning. I mumble profanities quietly, as I walk into the classroom. I choose the farthest desk away from the front. The other students don’t like sitting near me, because I’m not a sociable person. I have no idea what they’re talking about. The teacher walks in and gives his usual hellos, and the students grumble back. He does something different this morning though; he introduces the new kid. His name is Nickolas Kain and he transferred here from California. The name jolts something in my brain. It sounds really familiar, but I can’t place it. The slouched over teenager slinked back to an open chair. Unfortunately, the only open chair was next to me. I don’t like meeting new people, nor do I like talking to people in general. He turns to me, and whispers, “Hello.”

I completely ignore him. I don’t want to give him the wrong idea. From the corner of my eye, I can see him lean back in his seat and cross his arms over his chest. Good, he is one of the few men at this school that will take a hint. Next thing I know, he throws a ball of paper at me. I turn toward him, and glare. “Do you mind?”

“No, of course not.” He replies with confidence.

The teacher calls out my name. “Alex, I know that the new boy is very attractive, but could you please keep quiet.”

Not even ten minutes into the class and this kid was already causing me trouble. I straighten my back and stare forward, trying to pay attention to the teacher. During the entire hour, the new guy wouldn’t stop trying to get my attention. I even whisper back to him to shut up. He may be new, but others still need to concentrate on the new information. The bell rings signaling the end of the period. I quickly gather my school materials, and dash out the door. I turn a few corners and find my locker. I look behind me to see if Nickolas followed me. He is the new kid, so there is a possibility that he got lost. I grin at my success, as I gather books for the next class. I close the door to my locker, and find him standing behind it. I jump away from him, and drop the books in the process.

“Honestly, can you not take a hint?”

He tilts his head to the side, and lets a piece of his bangs fall over his emerald green eyes. I was going to say some other rude comment, but his eyes have me stumbling for words.

“You’re staring at me.” He added a smirk to the end of the sentence. I tried to get a reply out, but nothing came. He had me speechless. No one can do that to me.

“I am not. You just have a ridiculous amount of confidence.” I lean down to retrieve my books, as the same time as Nickolas. Unfortunately, our heads collide. He pulls away with one hand on his head and the other holding onto the few books he managed to get.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to head butt you.” He said.

I rub the spot where we collided, and couldn’t think of anything to say other than, “I’m fine.”

He puts my materials into my hands, and then he opens up his backpack to pull out my math notebook. “You left this when you tried to beat me out of the classroom.” I quickly grab it from his grasp and mutter a thank you. I turn away, but he stops me with his voice. “Wait, do you want to show me around or something. It’s been a while since I’ve been back.”

I raise one eyebrow at him, and tilt my head slightly.

“I used to live here, back in middle school.”

My eyes widen, as I finally realized why his name sounded so familiar. “Nicki?”

“It’s about time you remembered me! I didn’t want to push you too hard.” He smirks at him again, showing off the dimple on his right cheek. I’d love to show him around. It’d also feel good to get out of school for the rest of the day. I just never have an excuse to leave. He was definitely a good enough reason to skip. A real smile appears on my face for the first time in while.

“You should smile more often, Al. You have a great smile.” He gives me a tight bear hug. We were the best of friends in middle school. We were practically inseparable. That is, until he had to move away with him parents. His mom got a job out in California, and had to move immediately. I don’t know what happened to his dad. He never mentioned much on him. We pull apart, and start toward the front doors of the school. The high school wasn’t up to date with how teenagers are these days, so it was easy for us to escape.

“So, where are we going to sightsee first?”

I shake my head at him. “You better remember this place.” We stop in front of the only ice cream shop in town.

“We always came here after school. I don’t know how we could afford it all the time.”

“I know right. I guess parents are necessary after all.”

Nickolas held the door open for me, and even offered to pay for my ice cream. I’ll just have to try and remember that I’ll buy next time. I don’t want to depend on people too much. Never know when they might just leave you to defend for yourself.

“Alex, are you okay?” Nickolas asks me in a concerned tone, as he hands me a chocolate chip mint ice cream cone. His voice brings me back to reality.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

We ate our ice cream slowly. We didn’t want to get home too early, or maybe it was because we didn’t want to leave each other so soon. He still licks his ice cream cone in the oddest fashion, I’ve seen. I didn’t want our conversations to get too awkward, so I asked, “Why did you move back?”

“My mother and I weren’t getting along too well. So she kicked me out. The only place I knew was my hometown. I’m living with my grandparents now.” He answers, and goes back to eating his ice cream without adding any more to it.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Glad you’re back though.” I don’t mention any more of it, because it seems that he doesn’t talk about it. We begin to reminisce about our times as children, and all of the trouble we would get into. One time, for Halloween we decided to sneak into the school and bubble wrap Principal Weinmen’s office. We got a month worth of after school and lunch detention. Nickolas and I were told that we could do our homework for the classes we weren’t doing too well in. Of course we didn’t. We were young, and didn’t know the meaning on responsibility. We definitely got in a lot of laughs. Next thing I know, the sun is down and the late night staff is shooing us away. Nickolas keeps apologizing, as we walk away. He’s such a great guy. I didn’t realize how much I missed him.

We’re almost to the end of his driveway, when I notice that we are walking close enough to each other that I can feel the heat from his body. He steps in front of me, and stares directly into my eyes. His deep emerald eyes still get my heart beating faster than normal. I’ve always had mini crush on him, but this is different. I don’t know how, but it is. I’m pretty sure he feels it too, because he closes the gap that was left between us.

“Alex, I’ve missed you. I missed all of the great times we had, when we hung out when we were younger. You were my best friend.” Nickolas places a hand on my neck to pull my face closer to his. The heat from my body rushes to my cheeks. He leans down, and presses his lips to mine. All of the sudden, his grip tightens around my body. I can hear his breathing slow, and his heartbeat come to a stop. I quickly pull away from him; to try and stop it from happening.

There isn’t anything I could do. The blue light illuminates the space between us, as my necklace raises to collect his heart. Off to the side, I could see Nathaniel grinning from ear to ear.

“I warned you, Alexandra.”