The Heir

Helpless

"What in the world do you suppose this is?" I turned to Noah to see him holding up a large, wooden box. It had beautifully carved grapes on the front and delicate brass handles, one one each of the two doors. The two doors were taped shut with silver duct tape, and written in black sharpie marker across the tape were the words; "DO NOT OPEN, EVER."

"Um…I have no idea. But I really don't think we're supposed to open it." Noah and I both laughed as I picked at the corner of the tape.

"You're going to open it?" His brow furrowed in confusion.

"Maybe. I'm curious to know what it is and why we aren't supposed to open it."

"Maybe we should do some research first." Noah pulled the box away from me. "I'm going to put this in the keep pile, for now."

I couldn't help but laugh as I watched Noah leave the room, carefully holding the box at arms length. We had been meeting here on the weekends for the last two weeks, sorting through Dale's things. We were almost finished with the first room. So far we had discovered some gemstones, a couple of computers, statues of Egyptian gods, jewelry, random dishes and an odd little box, along with other random objects. It was difficult to distinguish between valuable and important things, and just junk that Dale had accumulated. I wanted to keep a lot of it. It was a good thing I had Noah to help me sort through it all, otherwise I'd be as much a hoarder as Dale.

We had turned the living area into our sorting space. There was a keep pile, a donation pile, a maybe pile and a sell pile. The maybe pile was for things we weren't sure we wanted to keep or not. Noah had chosen a bunch of things he wanted to keep, some things to remind him of Dale, and some things just because he thought they were cool.

"You're a party pooper." I said, sipping from my wine glass as I sat on the floor in the now almost empty room.

"Why?" Noah snickered as he returned to the room.

"For not opening the box." I smiled.

"It clearly says not to open, ever. There's movies about that sort of thing."

I stared at Noah with a giant grin on my face as he searched through the pile of books on the floor. I was really enjoying his company as we rifled through Dale's things. I was discovering him to be smart, sweet and incredibly sexy. He had this look he made when he was concentrating, his brow furrows, and his tongue sticks ever so slightly out of the corner of his mouth. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen. My body heat rose when I watched his hair fall over his eyes. I imagined running my fingers through it often. More often than I should. I couldn't help the attraction I had developed towards Noah. It began upon first sight, but was only growing as we spent more time together.

Noah seemed to be quite indifferent to me, however. Normally it would be a woman who puts a man in the friend zone, but I was beginning to find myself just Noah's friend. He seemed anything but interested in me. I wasn't sure how to climb out of that zone.

"Well, this room is done. Do you want to begin the next?" Noah pulled me from my dirty thoughts.

"Yeah. Do you have the time? I don't want to keep you if you have better places to be." I stood up, tugging the bottom of my shorts down to cover my slightly exposed butt.

"I don't have anything better. I'm thoroughly enjoying this. Dale has so many exquisite things. I'm curious as to how he acquired it all."

I followed Noah out of the now empty room and into the next. My eyes fell on the crystal orb at the back of the room. The sunlight from the window bounced off its transparent roundness, reflecting small rainbows upon the walls. I heard Noah speaking from behind me, but his words were a jumbled mess I was unable to comprehend. My mind could only focus on the orb. I don't know why, but it seemed to consume my attention. I stepped towards the orb, unintentionally ignoring Noah. For the love of me I could not seem to break the hold the orb held over me.

I watched helplessly as my hand reached out for the orb. I felt a jolt of electricity pulse through my body upon contact. I desperately tried to pull my hand away, but I could not. It was plastered to the orb, which was now glowing a brilliant gold color. My fingertips burned as the energy continued to flow through my body. My head snapped back, my eyes glued to the ceiling. I felt powerful, and in immense pain at the same time. I heard a horrid scream escape my lips, yet I had no control over my body. I couldn't control my scream, nor my limbs. My body was completely rigid, tensed under the strain of the energy coursing through my veins. I felt fingers wrap around my arms. I tried to look down at them but my head defied the commands I gave it. A bright white light suddenly encompassed the entirety of the room. My eyes were blinded by the intensity. I felt myself fall backwards, cushioned by some unknown object, before my world went black.

Noah

I led the way into the next room. I was worried if she wanted me to stay or not. Was her question about me having something better to do, an invitation to leave? I had thought we were having a good time rummaging through Dale's things together. I had stopped to admire her many times throughout the day. I loved how her long, dark brown locks fell delicately over her shoulder as she bent down to examine different objects.

Her bright green eyes captivated me. I found it hard to look away from her soft features, and those lips. Her bright red, luscious lips. It made me melt every time she licked them. I felt a slight bulge in my shorts and quickly turned to face the book case. Shielding my arousal from her. I turned my attention to the trinkets on the shelf to pull my mind free of the thought of caressing her naked body. I longed to hold her in my arms. The sound of her laugh brought a smile to my lips. Her eyes sparkled with excitement every time she found something she loved, or that intrigued her. She was absolutely adorable and I wanted to make her mine.

"Sophie, look at this." I turned to show her a small dog statue I had found on the shelf. I turned to see her staring at a crystal ball on a table in the back. The same one that had shocked her a few weeks ago. I had examined it for a cord, but saw none. It didn't seem to be one of those electricity gag balls you could purchase in the gift stores. We both chalked it up to static from the carpet and her shoes.

"Sophie?" I called out again. She seemed to not be able to hear me. I stepped behind her as I saw her reach out for the orb.

"I wouldn't do that." I warned her.

Her fingers connected with the orb before I could stop her. I watched as her body went rigid. One arm glued to the orb, the other tensely rigid at her side. Her back arched as her body absorbed whatever the orb contained. Her curls spilled down her back. Fear crept up over me as I watched helplessly behind her. Her head whipped back, her bright green eyes attached to the ceiling. I watched as her jaw dropped and a terrible scream escaped through her plump red lips.

"SOPHIE!" I shouted, seeing her body consumed in pain. I grabbed her arms and instantly a blinding white light surrounded her. I closed my eyes tightly as I pulled her free of the orb. She collapsed into my arms as I stumbled backwards, her body melting into mine.

"Sophie!" I shook her shoulders as I propped her beautiful face in my lap. I gently tapped her cheek, begging for her to wake up.

"Sophie…wake up." I pleaded, shaking her shoulders again. I jumped with her in my lap as her eyes suddenly shot open. The once green emeralds were now a bright purple. A purple which seemed to glow. Her head whipped to face mine, our eyes locked onto each other before they closed again, and her body fell limp in my arms.