Creatures

Talon stole a peek at Karen. She had not said a word since she had entered the kitchen, but she was radiating anger and she was not trying to hide it like she usually did. He had thought he had prepared himself for this, but it still hurt to know that she was rejecting his feelings. He could only hope that she would wait until they left the room before letting loose on him. He turned back to the conversation at hand. He would just have to accept her rejection like a man and do what he could to change it over time.

After a bit, he took another look at her as she had grown quiet.

“Seems she was a bit worn out,” Evan commented as they looked at Karen, asleep with her head next to her plate.

“I will take her to bed.” Talon stood.

“I will take care of everything here. Make sure you get some sleep yourself.” Emerald stood and took their plates to the sink.

Talon picked Karen up and headed for her bedroom, laying her down and sitting next to her, watching her sleep for a while. He brushed her hair from her face, sitting like that for a long time, content to see her face soften and her body relax. He finally stood and headed to his room.

She felt the panic rise as he came closer. She fought against the embrace, trying to break his hold, but it was useless. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound would come out.

“... Karen... Karen!”

Karen opened her eyes to see Talon above her. He had her by her arms and was trying to get her wake up.

Talon let out a sigh of relief. He had just headed to bed when he had felt the panic rolling from her and had hurried back to her room.

“What happened? Are you all right?” Talon asked gently, not sure if Karen could even register what was going on at the moment. Her eyes were unfocused and she was shaking.

Karen blinked at him, not sure what was going on herself. She was still in the nightmare. Without thought she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight, shaking from the fear.

Talon held her awkwardly, stroking her hair, not saying anything. He felt Karen’s body slowly relax and her breathing return to normal.

“Better?”

Karen was so tired. The dreams had become regular events over the past week and they would not let her sleep. Being held in Talon’s arms, though, made her feel like she could sleep.

She nodded sleepily at Talon’s question, not knowing if her voice would work yet. Talon started to lower her onto the bed, but the panic flared back up and she refused to let him go. She was so tired of the dreams and she wondered if, with Talon here, she might actually get some sleep. It was worth a try.

“Please...Not yet. I do not want it to come back.” She mumbled.

“What?”

“Dreams...” She mumbled as she fell back to sleep.

Talon was leaning over her as she laid on the bed with her arms around his neck fast asleep. He let out a sigh. What to do now? He supposed he could just lay next to her for a bit until she let go of him and then head to his room.

With a little prayer sent upwards that she would not wake up and murder him for doing this, he gently laid down next to her and she immediately curled into the warmth of his body. He laid there and held her, feeling her body’s warmth and softness and was pretty sure this was as close to heaven and hell, as he was going to get. He knew that, come morning, they would go back the coldness, but for now, he could enjoy her without the walls. Those were his last thoughts as he too fell into a deep sleep.

Karen groaned and rolled over. Someone was shaking her and she was not happy. “Come on honey, wake up... you are going to be late.”

Karen pulled open her eyes and looked at the clock, realizing that the voice was right, she was going to be late if she did not get up. What had happened to her alarm?

“Sorry. I shut off the alarm when I got up. Now get up please.” Karen sat up in bed and looked over to see Talon standing there in a robe. She stared at him blankly as he turned and left the room. Memories of the tub and later on surfaced and she turned bright red. She jumped out of bed and hurried to the bath. She had to get ready for school, she would have to deal with him later.

She entered the kitchen ten minutes later and pointedly ignored Talon as she ate. Two could play the cold game and since he obviously did not think much of her feelings, she did not have to think much of his.

Still, she could not help but wonder if he had meant what he had said. She could not believe that he was serious about it and since he knew her past, it made it that much harder on her. As if he could love her... but... what if he did? And what about her, what did she feel for him?

She snuck a peek at him, wondering what he was thinking. Like her, he had put a wall up around his emotions and she could not tell what he was feeling. It had to have been all for show, after all, he had said that they were being watched. She went back to her breakfast, quickly finishing her meal and heading for the door.

“I will see everyone later. Bye.”

“Wait! Karen!” Emerald called after her. “Do not forget that Talon and I are gone for a field trip and will be late getting home. Can you grab Evan after school for us...please?”

Karen turned back, completely ignoring Talon.

“Of course honey, have a good trip.” She turned to Evan. “Anything you want to do this afternoon?” It was common knowledge now that she lived in the same building as these three, so it would not be suspicious if they hung out after school together.

“Nay.”

“Then I will meet you at your locker after school.” She left, not saying a word to Talon.

Emerald and Evan turned to Talon.

“What did you do?” Emerald asked.

“Obviously he pissed her off something fierce,” Evan commented.

“Shut up,” Talon grumbled. They were right though, she was pissed. What should he do? He could not change his feelings and it was obvious that she was not happy with him about them.

“Do not use such vulgar words,” Talon told Evan as he stood and headed for the door. “I will see you at school.”

“Try talking to her. I am sure that she will listen.”

Talon stopped at the door and sighed.

“Not if she does not want to hear what you have to say.”

“Then show her you mean what you say.” Emerald stood, her emotions starting to boil over at the man. “Don’t you get it. You cannot confess to a girl and then act all cool and cold about it, she will never believe you are serious if you pull that kind of stunt on her.”

“I knew you were listening.” Talon turned and strolled out of the room without another word.

“He is in trouble,” Evan commented.

“Yup.”

The bell rang and Karen fell into her chair. Finally, a break. She was tired even though she had finally gotten some uninterrupted sleep thanks to Talon. However, it did not make up for the past couple of weeks though. Not to mention the little episode in the tub, she was still seething over that one. You do not confess love, kiss the hell out of someone and walk away like that as a joke or a show for some peeping toms without warning the person. Though, he did say something about giving them a show, not that that was an excuse.

It was obvious that he was not serious about her and it hurt even more because some part of her had wanted him to feel that way. Wait, what? Karen sat up at her thoughts, she had wanted him to...

Evan appeared before her, out of breath. He grabbed her hand and hauled her out of the room at a dead run.

“Come on. We have to go.”

“What is going on?”

“Beings, in the nearby playground. Can you not feel them?” Karen stopped and focused. She had been so focused on Talon that she had not been paying attention to her surroundings and she had been working so hard to feel out the beings in the last week.

She focused and sure enough, it was faint, but it was there.

“I told the principal what was going on. He will cover until we get back.” Evan explained as they took off.

Her first day at school the principal and she had sat down and had a little chat about her other work. He was aware of what they did, even if he could not see them. Thank you God for small favors, She thought as they came upon the playground.

There were a half a dozen small beings creating terror. Evan and Karen assessed the situation before Karen stepped up behind the nearest one and sliced it in half as Evan took the head off of another one as he created a barrier to protect the nearby humans.

A group of three started towards them. “Shall we combine forces?” Karen asked. She had only tried this with Talon but now seemed to be as good a time as any to see if it worked with others as well.

Evan nodded and Karen gathered a ball of electricity in her palm and released it as Even sent spears of ice in front to slice into the bodies. Two went down and Karen finished off the third as its claw grazed her arm.

“Sorry, guess I am not strong enough yet,” Evan commented, taking a quick look at her arm.

“It is all right. I am not hurt.”

Two more came at them and were soon dispatched. Once they were finished there, they turned to where the others were staring at them. Karen took a running start and jumped into the fray and within minutes the rest were disappearing and Karen and Evan headed back to the school.

“I am sorry. I am not very good in battle yet. I got you hurt and I could not stop it from happening.” Evan lamented as they walked.

“Let it go. It is no big deal. You did very well hon.”

“No. I am not as good as the rest of you. Especially you and Talon.”

“You should not compare yourself to us. You are strong on your own, do not doubt that for a moment.” Karen gave him a quizzical look as she spoke. What was up with this? She had seen Emerald berate him after the other battle, but he had just shrugged it off and now he was acting like the world was going to end with her.

“No. I am no good. Emerald says that I will get her killed one day with my lack of skills.”

Karen stopped. She was not going to put up with this any longer.

“Evan.” She stopped him. “You are a very good fighter and a very strong person. You need to stop listening to others and do what you do best. You were wonderful today and I would not have been able to do it without you. Now, let’s get some clean clothes, a shower and head back to class.”

Evan gave her a smile and they were soon back at school.

Karen met Evan at his locker after school.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Yup.” They climbed into Karen’s car and took off.

“Huh, where are we going?” Evan asked as they turned the opposite way as the house.

“I thought we could go out and do something. No one is at home and you did well today. My treat.”

“Really? Cool.”

Karen smiled. “What would you like to do?”

“Uh, how about the local bookstore and arcade and then supper? Or is that too much?” Evan asked sheepishly.

“Nope. That sounds perfect. Let’s go.”

They spent the next several hours roaming the bookstore and Evan taught Karen how to play the arcade games. They eventually found a Chinese buffet and ate before heading back to the house.

“Feeling better?” Karen asked.

“Yeah. Thanks. I guess that I have been listening to Emerald too much lately.”

“It is all right. It seems all of us have issues to work out. Yours just decided to pick today to assert itself.”

“Is that what you are doing with Talon?”

“Uh? Why would you ask that?”

“I know that you are upset with him.” Evan looked out the window as they headed towards the house.

“Please be patient with him, he has not had much experience with other people or expressing his emotions, but I do not think that he would play with your emotions like that. He really does love you. He just does not know how to handle it since he has been alone for a very long time.”

Karen blushed. So they had heard. Damn it, she knew he was playing with her.

“I doubt that. I think that was just for your benefit. We are here.” She let him out at the door and put the car away. So she had been right. She rubbed the back of her neck. She was suddenly tired and just wanted her bed.

She stepped into the house to hear Emerald’s raised voice. “... where have you been? How can you just disappear like that?”

“Shut up Emerald.”

Karen stepped into the door and walked past them towards her room. An early night was becoming a must for her. Her emotions were raw and her stress level was too high.

“He was with me and he was safe. Leave it at that. We needed some time out of this house and its... issues.”

Talon watched Karen walk up the stairs. She had not once acknowledged his presence today. She must be tired too because she had not hidden her emotions very well and he could feel a great sense of sadness and confusion coming from her.

“Karen...” he called after her, wanting some kind of interaction.

“Leave me be Talon. I cannot handle you playing with my emotions right now. Good night.”

Emerald looked at Evan and he shrugged as Talon followed Karen up the stairs.

“They need to work it out between them.”

Karen headed for the shower as soon as she entered her rooms. She felt sweaty and dirty from the fight earlier and she needed to put some warmth back into her body.

She climbed into the shower and stood under the hot spray, letting the emotions out that she had been holding in all day. She stood there long after the water had run cold, finally stepping out when she started to shiver. She wrapped a big warm towel around her before heading to the bedroom for some clothing.

She stopped short as Talon stood there, looking out the window of her bedroom.

“What are you doing here?” She asked. “I did not invite you in.”

“Long day?” He asked, not turning around.

He knew that he was not welcomed, but they had to talk about this. She was obviously unhappy and he was the cause of it. Not one to beat around the bush, he jumped headlong into the source of their problems.

“I am sorry.” He spoke, still not looking at her. “I did not know that my comment in the tub would cause you such discomfort that you would avoid me like this.”

He continued. “If I had known that you would hate me for it I would not have said anything.” He lied. He knew that if he could go back, he would still do the same thing. He was not strong enough to hide it from her and he did not want to hide these emotions, to begin with.

“I do not hate you for that.” Karen finally spoke up. “I am upset that you would use them for the benefit of others. If you did not know my past, I would have understood. But to pull a stunt like that, using my feelings for your enjoyment, that was uncalled for and cruel.”

“What stunt?” He finally turned towards her.

She immediately noticed that his coat and tie were flung over a chair and he had unbuttoned the top couple buttons of his shirt. He looked strong and sexy and she took a deep breath to get her emotions under control.

Talon stepped towards her and then stopped, leaning against the bedpost instead. She was in nothing but a towel and he did not trust himself to get too close to her. He was going to have to approach this gradually. She was clearly upset over the other night and he wanted to move forward, not backward... if there was a backward to this situation.

“The one where you used me to tease those two kids. I do not appreciate being used without my permission.”

“How did I use you? All I did was tell you the truth.” Talon watched as she walked over to her closet and pulled out a shirt, pulling it on and started working on buttoning it up.

“Please... You treat me like I do not exist except to torture your peace of mind and then you suddenly tell me that you love me? What a joke.” She reached into the top drawer and pulled out that little red thong that he dreamed about nightly and slipped it on underneath the towel and shirt.

Damn, he thought, a lady getting undressed was sexy, but she made getting dressed even sexier. He just wanted to walk over there and slowly remove every article of clothing that she was putting on. She was making him hard getting dressed.

He brought his mind out of the gutter and back to her words. “Wait... You are upset because you think that I was joking?”

“Duh!” She rolled her eyes and pulled out a sheer lace bra and slipped it on underneath the shirt and put it on, not once giving him even a glimpse of the smooth skin he knew lay underneath. How the hell was she able to do that, he thought, losing focus again.

He strolled forward as she let the towel fall down around her ankles. the shirt just long enough to hide her nice derriere.

“Does this look like I am joking?” He growled as he took her in his arms and hauled her up against his hard body, pushing his erejection up against her sweet spot before claiming her mouth in a hard kiss.

Karen gasped as their lips met and he pushed his tongue deep into her mouth, stroking her tongue with his own and tasting the sweetness of her mouth. She smelled and tasted better than any food that he ever eaten and he wanted more.

Karen tore her mouth out from under his. “That is just lust due to seeing me undressed.” She retaliated.

“Like hell it is.” Talon spate out, before claiming her mouth for another kiss. He was in trouble here. He did not want to let her go and his control was slipping more and more every passing second he continued to kiss her.

This time Karen allowed herself a moment of pure pleasure before pushing him away. Noting that he went easily.

“Stop.” She turned away and pulled a wrap around skirt out of the closet, wrapping it around her and quickly buttoning it closed. “Go away.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I will not leave until you understand that I am serious.”

“What has happened to you?” Karen finally losing her cool with him.

“What do you mean?”

“One moment you are hot, the next cold, the next...” Karen wrapped her arms around her waist and walked towards the sitting room. Staying in the bedroom was not a good idea at the moment. Her body was hot and tingly and she could still feel his erejection pressing against her.

“...I do not know what to expect from you and I cannot trust what you say. Your actions contradict your words.” She explained quietly, heading for the door.

Talon could only stare as she started to walk away from him. He reached out and stopped her.

“I am sorry.” she did not turn, but she did stop. “I do not... do not communicate well and I have never had someone that I have cared for. I am doing my best.” He replied honestly. He was new to this game, couldn’t she give him a little bit of a break.

Karen brushed his hand off her arm.

“Whatever. Just go. I need time to think through this.”

“Does that mean that you are not... rejecting me?” Talon asked, holding his breath.

“It means...” Karen let out a long sigh. “...It means that I do not know what I want or how I feel. I suggest you leave it at that for now.”

Talon nodded. “Understood.”

He turned her around and this time pulled her up against him carefully, placing a kiss gently on her cheek before stepping around her and heading for the door himself. When he reached it, he turned and looked at her.

“I will prove to you that I am serious and I promise you, one day you will return my feelings.” He left her there to think on that.