Avalee was panting. She had been running. A total of three miles to be exact. She leaned against a tree to rest for a moment. These runs had become part of her routine now. She glanced at the watch she wore around her wrist. 5:37 am.
She wasn't cold, although she wore only a black tshirt and long athletic pants. Her hair was messy and slightly damp from the light early morning mist in the forest.
She sat on the wet ground, smiling to herself. It felt like she was racing, although no one else was there.
She waited there. For what? She did not know.
The great snow leopard prowled through the trees, not making the slightest sound as she progressed. She knew these trees better than anyone, if you excluded a couple people. This was her forest. Okay, not technically, but she felt like part of it was just for her. It had been her safe-haven, her friend, and her ally. She owed it her life for a couple of incidents, and she made sure that she took care of it when she was under the cool cover of the massive trees.
But this large cat knew that someone else was here. There was something on her mental radar that told her something was here. It was a human, and not all too powerful. It was most likely a wandering student who thought it would be cool to dash into the Forbidden Forest.
The cat`s pace qickened, and she was soon dashing towards the thing, when suddenly, she stopped. She knew who was here, she could smell the girl. The scent hit her like a train through her powerful nose that had been amplified by magic.
Avalee. She thought. She instantly crouched down, teeth barred. Avalee. The little girl who had tried to tear Aiden away from her. The little trickster. Yes, the cat had pretended to play nice, but she knew how to lie. Aiden was probably the only one who knew how she really felt, and even he didn`t know the full extent of it all. She hadn`t wanted to make him feel bad, and she knew he already felt terrible.
The snow leopard inched forward silently until the scent of human burned in her nose. She was just on the other side of the tree, she knew. In the next instant, Stacey was crounched where the cat had been. She stood up slowly, as silent in human form as in cat. Her eyes were blood red, but she forced them down to black. She had to restrain herself from pulling one of her sharp knives out from under her long-sleeved grey shirt, or one of the longer short swords from under her jeans. She smiled plainly, all hatred being pushed away, and stepped out from behind her tree, pretending that she hadn`t seen the girl who tried to steal her love out from under her.
Avalee suddenly sensed something. Hatred. Anger. Loathing. She knew who it was. The only person who truly despised her. The only person who would weigh her options before calling an ambulance if Avalee was run over by a truck. Stacey
She felt bad about all that had happened with them. She knew that they might even be friends if all that happened with Aiden hadn't. She now knew that it wasn't worth it. Aiden wasn't worth all of that hurt. None if it was. He wasn't meant for her. She wasn't meant for him.
She saw Staceys smile and saw right through it. Sure Stacey would act civilized with Aiden there, but he wasn't, was he? She was not going to be scared. She would not be a coward. She wanted a fresh start, and Stacey must have known that. Her breathing became faster, and her eyes grew wide.
Would they act civilized. She decided to not be a coward and to make the first move.
"Hello Stacey"
((Just a heads up, she wouldn`t have been able to see through Stacey`s facade unless she had really, really strong meantal powers, which Avalee`s wouldn`t be more powerful than Stacey`s. And I`m going to tell you, Stacey`s going to be pissed. I`m not mad at you though, please don`t think that. I`m glad that somebody returned and didn`t just forget about this place.))
Stacey could feel right through Avalee`s petty mind. There was no way that a simple student from Hogwarts could have more power than her. Impossible.
"Oh, hi." She said, slowly turning around, her arms floating next to her sides. "I didn`t see you there." She added, tilting her head just slightly to the side. It was an old habit she had gotten from Aiden.
"What are you doing way out here. Students usually don`t come out here. Not only is it forbidden, but there can be scary things out here." Her tone was drippingly sweet, but she knew that Avalee would hear the sting in it.
She didn`t mean to be mean, honestly. Yeah, she kind of hated the girl, but she wasn`t going to kill the poor child. She had been really stressed out lately. Her work hours were late and she had Jonathan to deal with. How would you feel if someone was trying to hack open your mind every second of the day?
((Sorry I misunderstood your post, And thanks, I feel like I have learned a great deal from you))
Avalee knew the terror was shown in her eyes, no matter how she tried to hide it.
"Its the only place I can find peace" She answered Stacey. She wanted to badly to make everything ok, but she just needed time.
((Your welcome. I`m glad you came back.))
Stacey had to hold herself back from smiling. She was raised as a predator. She knew that she had Avalee trapped. Wait, but she didn`y want to trap Avalee.
The teen shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
"I`m sorry." She said, hoping that Avalee would understand. "Yes. This is a good place for peace. Not many people are brave enough to come here." She said softly and slowly. Everything just seemed so hard recently.
As Stacey pulled back on her anger a little, the terror in Avalee retreated, a little. "Peace is hard to find." She thought that it must be easier for Stacey to find peace. She had someone she loved and who loved her back. She wasn't jealous at all, she knew it was good that Aiden and herself weren't together. It would have killed Stacey, and it wouldn't have been the best in the long run. "So why are you here?" She asked Stacey in as innocent as a tone as she could manage. She was still sitting on the ground, in a disadvantaged position.
Stacey took a slow, deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Avalee didn`t know how hard her life was. She could read it through the girl`s mind. She was too young to know how hard things were. She just knew heartbreak. Well, Stacey herself had know that since she was eight. There were different kinds of hearbreak.
"Well, since I graduated, I can`t exactly come onto the grouds anymore. So I come in the early morning. Usually after I finish my night shift." She explained softly.
"Night shift?" She asked.
She was sick of this small talk already, and she knew that Stacey was reading her d**n mind anyway. Which made her just a little aggravated. They both knew it was just small talk, they both knew it was mindless.
((Sorry for the short post. And I'm glad your glad I'm back.))
Stacey sighed heavily, her eyes drifting to meet Avalee`s.
"I work at The Three Broomsticks. Usually the night shift." She said. She wanted to leave, she really did. She didn`t want to hurt Avalee, so what else was she going to do?
She nodded, she knew that, she just was so absentminded.
"Listen Stacey, you have to pretended about liking me, being here, being ok with...me.." She just didn't like the facade they were both hiding behind. She needed to be honest. "I messed up everything. And you didn't deserve it. The blame is mine." She said. She silently knew it was Aidens too, just a little bit, but she didn't need to.
"I know and I were not meant to be. I know now that my love for him was a shallow crush, and nothing more. I'm sorry for screwing up everything." She said, apologizing, the best she could.
Stacey clenched her teeth and closed her eyes before Avalee could see them flame red again.
"Avalee, I`m not mad at you anymore. What happened, it`s over now, so there`s nothing to be mad about. It`s just... somewhere deep inside me, I feel like I still need to do something." She opened her eyes and shook her head, making sure that her irises stayed black. "You have no idea how everything is for me now. You don`t know how power runs through my veins." Hell, she didn`t even know where her power came from.
"Explain then" She said in a neutral tone. She was shocked how already her peaceful morning run, had become this heavy on her shoulders.
Stacey ground her teeth together, closing her eyes again, unable to stop them from flaming red once more. She lifted her hands and a blue flames swirled between her palms. The fire was not colored by magic, it was just hotter than a normal flam would be. Much hotter.
"I don`t know, Avalee." She replied. Her voice had been cold and rude, but she couldn`t manage to take the tone out of it. "I have an uncle, right? But he`s immortal and trying to split my mind open to use me for his own little killing machine. I`ve killed before, okay? And I`ll probably do it again, especially if someone threatens me or Aiden. I don`t hanlde stress well. Never have. It`s a result of a difficult childhood. Somehow the combination of late nights and someone trying to posess me makes me a little stressed out. I see you here, and I`m not going to lie, when I see you, I feel hatred. You tried to take Aiden from me. I guess I am my father`s daughter after all, because I`m very big on the ways of the wolf. Unfortunatly that means a big grudge and revenge." The words just spilled out of her. She didn`t even think about what she was saying, she just said it. The flame in her hand grew and slowly turned white, the heat rolling from it in waves.
"When I see you, I feel like there`s something I haven`t taken care of yet. Something I need to destroy. And I can`t figure out if it`s you, or my anger towards you. Yes, I know which choice is the right one, but I can`t seem to make the rest of me agree." She opened her eyes, not trying to hide their terrible color. It was frightening to see her powerful figure plus red eyes and a white flame that could easily blister the skin of anyone within a foot. At least Stacey was fire-proof, but that didn`t help her anger.
Avalee looked at the ground. She felt very threatened by Stacey, but did not run, although her instincts told her to. She wished that this could have just been a peaceful morning. "Stacey, I would do anything to take it back." She paused, looking up, meeting Staceys eyes, that burned red hot. She was not surprised by their color. "But I can't."
She paused again, taking a deep breath, she had been working very hard on not letting her anxiety get to her.
"I understand that your life has been hard, and mine hasn't been quite that hard, but it hasn't been a walk in the park either."
She closed her eyes, keeping her emotions in check.
"We all have our demons and we work our hardest all our life to get rid of them. But we have to be positive. We have to try...to not let them get to us."
She opened her eyes again, standing up.
"Now, I'm sure you want to rip out my throat right now. And believe me, after I kissed Aiden and had realized what I had done, I wanted to run away and hide."
She stared Stacey straight in the eye, looking deep into them. The red burned hatred.
"But, I can't run away from all my problems, I have to confront them. And I won't run away if you threaten me, I won't run away if he threatens me. I will not run away from this school. And I won't let anyone chase me out."
Avalee said her last with confidence, in an earnest tone, waiting for Stacey to react. Avalee would hold her ground, as she said, no more running.
Stacey listened calmly, her jaw clenching tightly. The flame disappeared and her hands curled into fists, nails digging into her palms. Avalee was right, a part of her did want to rip out the girl`s throat. Badly, and with a passion. It wouldn`t hurt for long. She woulnd`t be alive long enough to feel much pain.
No. Stacey forced the thought into her mind. This was not the person she was. She was kind to people. It was Jonathan who was making her feel this way. He must be putting flase thoughts into her mind. Threading things to her to make it easier for him to destroy her. D@mn. She thought.
"Avalee, I am sorry. You have no idea how much I mean that. I`m not usually like this, and it`s not my fault." She clenched her teeth together for a moment, testing her words carefully. "I don`t care anymore about you and Aiden, truely. It`s over between you two, and I know that. He`s my husband, and I know that he loves me. I`m not saying that he didn`t love you, but it was different. I hope you know that. I don`t mean to sound mean to you, but I really can`t help the truth." She stared right back at Avalee, not blinking. No matter what, she couldn`t not be the dominant figure here. Her instinct demanded it.
"So what now?"
So much had happened. So much emotional stuff weighing her down. It felt good for even if only some of it was lifted. It felt like a heavy coat was taken off when your too hot.
She knew it was over with Aiden, of course she knew that. She loved him like a close friend. A different kind of love. Strange how it had all worked out. She silently wondered if her and someone would ever have what Stacey and Aiden had. Her pesimistic side took over on that topic, and the anxiety kicked in. She was on her feet.
"Is this some sort of resolution? Or is there more?" She asked in as earnest tone as she could muster. She looked at the ground.
Of course, Stacey could feel every tiny change in Avalee. She could feel her breathing, along with who-knows-how-many other effect. She could especially feel the tension and weight that seemed to be thrust upon Avalee then.
"Av, I don`t know. I truely don`t. And you shouldn`t worry. Some day, you will find someone that you think is truely the best person on earth. You won`t be able to lie without them. I know this because it happened to me. It happens to those people who deserve it, and I think you do. I don`t know if this ends here. I can`t tell you that right now with what`s going on with me. If I had the choice, this would be the end, and we would be fine with each other. But I can`t say that. I`m sorry." The second time she had said those words to this girl in such a short time.
She nodded. Listening to every word Stacey said. It was important to her, to find someone. Some one who could calm her down when she woke up from a nightmare, on the verge of an anxiety attack. Someone who told her everything would be ok, even when it wouldn't be. But if she knew that person was out there. She could wait.
She decide to change topics, so they could both digest what had happened. "So you come out here every morning?" She asked looking at the ground.
Stacey nodded slowly to herself. She knew that Avalee really didn`t want to talk about the situation anymore, she could feel down in her bones. it was one of those feelings that are hard to realize.
"Not every morning, but some. If I`ve had a bad night or something I`ll come out here. It`s calming, and there`s usually no one out here. I don`t come that often, really. When I get off, I mostly want to get home." She did`t add that she wanted to get home so she could be with Aiden. Things had a kind of tension at home, but that`s to be expected, after all. They were newlyweds in their own house. Things couldn`t exactly be stress-free.
((Is your signature in refrance to me?))
((Huh? Oh, nope. All me.))
"So..." She started, waiting for Stacey, breaking the awkward silence. She was thinking. Moving on would take sometime, but it would be painless, at least for Avalee, she didn't love him the way she did that night, not at all, but what they did was wrong.