Hidden Powers

Chapter 8: Hope

               It’s been a few days since Mark arrived with Ava and James. He refused to stay in a separate room down the halls and convinced my parents that it would be safer for me and my mind if he slept next to me. Although they gave him a hard time at first, they were happy to give in to that plan. They understood that we were mates and needed to be next to each other, so they would have allowed him to stay with me anyways, but since he prepared a speech, they listened and had some fun.

                It was late evening and I was laying next to Mark watching him sleep. The blood he drank from Ava had worn off already so he had to stay indoors until night fall. I placed a spell on all the windows in the house so the sun couldn’t hurt him so he didn’t need to hide out all day if he didn’t want to. We spend most of our time talking about how we grew up. I told him about what I could remember from my childhood, and he told me about his. He was an only child and his parents weren’t really hands on until he became of age. That’s one of the reasons why he was going to release Lacey when he found out she was his mate. Apart from not feeling anything towards her, he felt she wasn’t mature enough for him, since he had to grow up a little faster then at a regular rate. We got to our high school years last night and I knew he wanted to hear more about Jack, but I’m not ready to reveal what happened with him that night all those years ago.

                “Stop watching me.” Mark said with a smile forming on his face.

                “Never.” I replied chuckling at him. He reached out and pulled me against him and wrapped his arms around my waist. He snuggled his face into my neck and took deep breaths. “What’s wrong?”

                “Why would you think something’s wrong?”

                “I know the way you’re breathing; I’ve done it a few times in my lifetime, specially after having bad dreams. What happened?” I placed my hands on his face so he would look at me in the eyes.

                “Just a restless sleep, that’s all.” He told me.

                “Don’t lie to me Mark, please.” I begged him.

                He sighed and told me what happened in his dream. “I was running through an unknown forest, following the sound of your screams. There was a man laughing, I know the laugh from another dream I had before I met you. He was taunting me. Making me think I was getting close enough to save you, then you would be in the distance again. I felt helpless.”

                “The dream were we first came face to face.” I stated. He nodded his head and looked guilty, probably because he felt like he won’t be able to save me if something were to happen. “Jack is playing games with your mind since he can’t get to mine.”

                “I’ll deal with these dreams if that means he won’t bother you.”

                “You shouldn’t have to though.”

                “We’re mates Hope. I would do anything for you.” Since my hands were still holding onto his face, he leaned in and gave me a kiss. It was our first real kiss, and everything melted away. What started off soft, turned into something more passionate. It felt like I was floating on clouds being in his arms and kissing him. We eventually pulled apart for air, and there was a purple mist around us.

                “What is this?” I asked surprised.

                “Your skin is glowing purple.” Mark said. “You look beautiful.”

                “This has never happened before. What do you think it means?”

                “I’m not sure. It might be something you have to ask your mom about.”

                “Ugh, I’d rather not ask her about something like this. She would get too giddy knowing we had our first kiss.” He chuckled at my response.

                “We can wait to see if it happens again before asking. It could have been because it was our first kiss.” He shrugged. He had a good point. It might be nothing. My senses could be off since it was a shock to be kissed like that. The more my body started to calm down, the purple haze went away.

                “I’ll wait to ask. I’m not ready for that yet.” He nodded and brought me back in for a quick kiss before turning over and getting out of bed. I watched as he went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Holton’s door was already closed since he’s in bed already for the night. Benefits of being with a vampire, sleeping through the day and up all night.

                Once we were both done doing our regular waking up routine, we went over to Ava and James’s room to see if they needed anything. Ava was sound asleep while James was up reading a book.

                “Is everything good?” Mark asked him quietly.

                “She sleeps more now that the pregnancy is advancing. All I can hope is that the kids are out and safe before Michael even finds out about them.” Even with being a vampire, James looked exhausted and had dark circles under his eyes. He was stressing over Ava instead of taking care of himself.

                “James, you should be resting too.” I told him. “When Ava wakes up, and sees your face, she’ll stress over you, and that isn’t good her the babies. By taking care of yourself, you’re taking care of her.”

                “She’s right buddy, Ava would be yelling at you right now if she saw what shape you’re in. She’s already in mom mode.” Mark reached for the bookmark, then slowly grabbed the book out of his hands. He marked the spot and placed the book on the shelf nearby. “I’m awake, and there if she needs anything. We’ll do some patrols around the magic lines if that will help you relax.”

                “It might actually.” James said as he laid down in his back and pulling the covers over himself. “Text me if there’s anything strange out there.”

                “Of course, now have a good sleep.” We both left the room and closed the door behind us. We waited a moment while Mark stayed listening until James fell into a deep sleep. “We’re good.” He finally said and grabbed my hand to lead me downstairs.

                “Would you like anything to eat?” I asked him as I pushed him into a chair at the kitchen table.

                “Do you know how to make French toast?”

                “Of course.” I told him as I grabbed the bread and a frying pan. After getting all the ingredients, I got to work on our breakfast. It was odd thinking of having breakfast in the middle of the night, but it’s something I can get used to. When I was done, I placed our plates on the table then grabbed some glasses of chocolate milk for us to drink.

                “This is amazing.” Mark told me after taking a few bites.

                “Thank you.” I smiled at him. “There wasn’t much to do around here once we went into hiding, so mom taught me how to cook and bake.”

                “What did you do when you had to leave the bubble?”

                “We had our disguises and our spells were powerful enough for others not to sense we were fake. Dad went to work, mom stayed home and looked after the farm. Holton and I went to high school then came home. Our close friends knew the truth, but no one else.”

                “Doesn’t sound like much of a life.” He said more to himself then to me. He looked up from his plate and looked me right in the eye, “I’m going to take you to see the world when this is all over. You deserve to experience the world Hope.”

                I was speechless at his thoughtfulness. I would love to see the world and visit many of the historian locations where witches and warlocks have made an impact. Could that actually be in my future though? Right now, I couldn’t see it. I’m supposed to have visions, but I can’t see that far into the future yet. Only small glimpses, and I haven’t seen anything past Michael’s face. I smiled at Mark and let a twinkle shine in my eyes.

                “I would love that. Thank you.” I leaned over and gave him a kiss. There was a look of concern in his eyes when we pulled apart. He probably senses something is wrong, but I ignore it for now and grab the plates and clear the table. When I got the sink, he used his vampire speed and beat me there. He took the plates from my hands and started filling up the sink to hand wash them. “We have a dishwasher you know.”

                “I don’t mind helping out since it’s only us two eating this late.”

                “My mom is going to love you.” I chuckled.

                “That’s my plan.” He smirked and winked at me.

                Mark was washing the dishes and I dried them afterwards. Once I got them put away in their regular spots, we headed out the back door and started our perimeter walk. I was sure we weren’t going to come across anything suspicious, but Mark took his role very seriously.

                “Ava believed in me when I told them I wanted to become a warrior instead of working retail. Don’t get me wrong, I loved working in a gaming store, but after being around Ava and James more, I knew I was meant to for more.” He told me when I asked him why we were doing this. “Right now, Ava is in danger from Jack, even if he doesn’t know the truth at the moment, he will learn of it one day, and I want to know this area like the back of my hand so I can be there to stop him before he gets close to her.”

                “She’s lucky to have you.” I grabbed his hand and we walked in silence enjoying being next to each other. We were halfway around the forest line when I saw something flash from the corner of my eye. I stopped abruptly and looked towards the trees.

                “What’s wrong?” Mark was on alert from my actions and his eyes were starting to glow blue as he prepared for an attack. I placed my hand on his shoulder to calm the beast within.

                “I’m not sure what I saw, but there was a flash of light. We have many campers in the area, so it was probably someone putting out a campfire.” I almost believed my own words, and I don’t think Mark fully believed me either since he started sniffing the air.

                “I don’t smell smoke.” He said.

                “I’ll wait until morning and go check it out. It might not be safe to leave the bubble this late if anyone is out there.”

                “I can see if Ava will share some blood again and I can go with you.”

                “If we don’t need to drain her, we don’t have to. I’ll take Holton with me. We’re stronger together since we’re twins.”

                “Are you sure?” He sounded hurt that I didn’t want him to come with me. I kissed his cheek and lingered a moment snuggling into his neck.

                “I’m sorry. I know you would probably worry about me the whole time, but if it’s Jack out there, I don’t want him to have a reason to attack you. I’m sure he’s angry enough as it is knowing I’m meant for someone else.”

                “Jack doesn’t scare me.” He said with confidence.

                “He scares me though, and I don’t think I will survive if anything happens to you Mark. Please, let me and my brother check it out for now. If we’re unsure of what happened, I’ll take you to the spot afterwards.”

                “Fine, but I’ll be waiting up until you get back.”

                “Thank you.” This time I placed a kiss on his lips and then we started walking again. I looked behind me to try and find a point to remember so I can come back in daylight. I noticed a heart carved out in a tree with Holly written inside. Has that always been there? I thought I knew these trees better then that since I’ve been surrounded by them for years. Who is Holly?