Devin Greigh: Testimony

It was eleven in the morning by the time we returned. Casrial was still overzealous as she pranced along the walkway leading to the front door of the house. Nichelle and I both shuffled to the house like zombies, and Tess was still fast asleep; Othello wound up carrying Tess back inside. Devin, Anna, and Aaron headed for the house, but Mr. Goldstein called Devin back over to the van to talk. I turned around to listen in, but Devin turned to look at me, and then shut the door. I let out a sigh, and then headed back inside.

I spent the afternoon with Cas, Tess, and Nichelle; we had our own girls’ day out at the abandoned park where Cas had taught me the basics of being a medium. Casrial continued to discuss the importance of our roles, and introduced to me the small organization that they were a part of; paranormal investigation. “Our roles are simple: investigate paranormal activity, uncover the cause, and close the case before the situation escalates to an uncontrollable level. The difficult task is how we go about solving each case. Everything you hear in the news, or may experience in everyday life…from car accidents, blackouts, oil spills, random people suddenly snapping and attack public areas with firearms, to missing people, random ghost sightings, and planes suddenly disappearing off of the globe…are all linked to paranormal activity…all of them. However, we have a more important job than to investigate these happenings; helping the wayward wraiths cross over to the other side.

“As of late, the rate of waywards spawned has increased dramatically. This is something that Alexander has been trying to investigate well before Devin’s era, as well as my era. There have been premonitions of a rapid increase, caused by an unattainable source, and we’ve been trying to investigate the source ever since.”

“What happened to the people who had the premonitions of this happening?” I asked.

“They all died,” Casrial answered, “your father, my mother, Nichelle’s father, Tess’ grandmother…Othello’s parents, Aaron’s, Anna’s, all of our families who possessed the gift of premonition…The gheists sought them out and eliminated them.”

“You know what’s funny?” Nichelle started. “Your typical gheist doesn’t act so decisively; they’re like magnets, only attracted to residual energy closest to it…These gheists acted as though they were specifically seeking.”

“That’s because they were,” Casrial explained. “What Alex had learned, was that gheists evolve after a certain amount of years of remaining in the living world…They relearn, and turn into dangerous demonic spirits.” They look like normal waywards, only their presence is colder than the average gheist, and some even say they possess powers similar to a clairvoyant’s.”

“Powers similar to us!?” I shrieked.

“Maybe even stronger,” Casrial added, “but Alexander discovered their existence years ago, and found a lead which revealed that certain demons possess the power to control the gheists…we believe that they have stumbled across something.”

“Or working for an even greater demon,” Nichelle added.

“Possibly,” Casrial agreed, “but our purpose falls right in line with this issue…We need to rebalance the order of life and death, by classifying each wayward, and lessening the gheists into a passive state, so we could help them all cross over. The more threats we could prevent, the better chance we have at finding more leads, and uncovering the demons that are controlling the gheists and discover their motive so we could put an end to it.”

“So we are pretty much superhuman detectives?” I asked.

“I like to call ourselves super-sleuths, yes,” Cas said with a smile, “but now you know the gist of what we are, what we do, and why.”

It was impossible to believe that I was part of a close-knit adopted family of paranormal investigators. How were they organized? How did they just simply agree to this? Was it as easy as was for me when I agreed to it? I didn’t even think I had agreed to come aboard; all I did was follow my father’s instructions, and I wanted to know the truth…the truth was something that sounded as real as Santa Claus actually coming down the chimney and leaving me everything I’ve listed for Christmas…Or the Easter Bunny leaving a basket of egg-shaped chocolates on my doorstep…or even the tooth fairy leaving money under my pillow; a quarter for my incisor, a dollar for my molar. I clutched my head, tangling my fingers with the locks of my bright-red hair as I tugged it with frustration.

“This is so surreal,” I sighed. “It’s almost insane! I mean…my family was taken away from crazy ghosts called gheists…twelve years later, I find out I can do this…”

I raised my hand at the stone climbing dome anchored to the earth and sand in the sandpit. I didn’t think about much, just that I wanted to lift it to prove my point. The moment I lifted my hand up, the dome rose from the sand with a small island of earth hanging from the base of it. Oceans of sand poured from every opening and crevice as I held it there, suspended ten-feet off of the ground. I finally lowered my hand, letting it drop to my side, and the stone climbing dome instantly plummeted back to the sand; a muffled slam was heard, and the ground pounded under our feet, followed by a wave of sand rising from the impact of the dome when it had touched down before I continued on with my rant. “My eyes turn black and I can see and talk to waywards, listen to their stories, and then, by touching the translucent contours of what looks like a hologram of their head, I could see the last few seconds of their life. I watched my favorite cousin in the world, die, and then five years later I saw her again as a wayward, watched the last few moments of her crying for her mom, and then told her I would see her again…I never will! Instead, I carry a camera, name it after her, and find myself carrying it everywhere with me, because not only is it powered by my own spiritual energy-infused, five-year-old-looking body, but it also serves as a weapon against the gheists. Somewhere in the midst of all of this, I’ve fallen for a complete stranger, who possibly could care two craps about my existence, because he is stuck having to make sure I’m safe, because…get this…I am somehow a major part in stopping what might turn out to be the apocalypse, because some powerful demons are controlling countless numbers of gheists to hunt everyone down and kill them from the inside out for some undisclosed reason unbeknownst to any of us!?”

I gasp for air, having realized that I had not stopped once to do so as I went on my verbal tirade. I then suddenly let out one of the most unexpected and uncontrolled howl, screaming at the top of my lungs as I gripped the bright-red tendrils of my hair. I felt a lot better after letting everything out, in front of a now bug-eyed Cas and Nichelle.

“You have the hots for Devin?” Nichelle gasped, “Talk about your supernatural romance, Lolita!” My face was now as red as my hair, and I stood there in silence, in the triangle that was now formed from the three of us.

“Wow,” Cas started, “that was a lot of pent-up thoughts held in. I know it’s gotta be tough, Evvy…None of us asked for this at all. Most of us are really running off of vengeance…and judging from your aura, you are as well. Don’t let yourself drift, Evvy…You’re more than just some key to preserving mankind.”

“Yeah,” Nichelle agreed, “and to be fair, you look like you have the body of a ten-year-old, Lolita.” I stared at them momentarily, and then exploded into an uncontrollable laughter. Tears rolled down my face as I clutched my head again, this time out of embarrassment. “My lord, Cassie,” Nichelle muttered, “the poor girl’s losing her mind!”

“No,” Cas disagreed, “she’s just feeling stupid right now.”

“Wow guys,” I finally stopped laughing, and started sniffling instead, “I really need some more sleep.”

“Yeah I’m surprised you were still able to use your psychokinesis to be honest with you,” Cas said.

The three of us arrived home, and I immediately fell lifeless onto the bed in my temporary room. Casrial joined me moments after so we could go over whatever homework we had left before tomorrow. After we were done, she finished telling me about their roles in preserving the order of life and the afterlife so I would understand both worlds easier. I was able to understand more while laying down and feeling every muscle in my body finally relaxing and finished with schoolwork for one weekend. I understood our roles as mediums, and how our job was the most difficult. We had the sole duty to communicate completely with the waywards—to see them, talk to them, and sense their presence—to help them cross over. In order to be more efficient in doing so, I had to understand that every living thing has a soul, and every soul possesses residual energy which could be passed along any object, room, or person. Auditors had the ability to spot the residual energy, and to purge the object, area, or person of the residual energy by performing a task known as clearing. Agents had the ability to sense gheists, and to fight them off by using various techniques which manipulated their spirit aura. Devin was the only exception of the average agent, as he had abilities that a normal agent could not acquire. I also found out that agents had one flaw; a disease known as psychi melancholia. I heard Cas mention it to Nichelle when we were at the park, but had no idea what it was.

“Psychi melancholia affects the agent’s nervous system, and more importantly, their brain, by attacking their spirit directly; it causes their brain to overwork itself, which in turn leaves them in a berserk state. The only way to relieve them from it is to sleep.”

“But what causes it?” I asked.

“No one really knows every known cause, but the main symptom is hysteria. This is still a new epidemic which started to come about when the gheists started acting like marionettes, controlled to hunt specific forms of residual energy. A lot of clairvoyants were killed before our time, and the agents having to suffer the loss, began to be fueled with hate. Hate, despair, and chaos, causes the soul to suffer hysteria, the main reason why waywards drift and become gheists.”

“So it’s like the agent’s soul drifts and becomes a demi-gheist?”

“Exactly.”

“Why is it that it’s only the agents, and not the other classes that suffer psychi melancholia?” I asked.

“Because the agent’s spirit aura can be manipulated,” Cas explained, “it’s one of their skills as a clairvoyant. The downside to this skill is that the spirit can be molded, leaving it open to be corrupted. This is why it is important that a new agent should never return to the home they had left…It forces them to have memories…forces them to mourn again, thus creating rage, hate, despair, all of the ingredients to cause them to drift. Drifting, or hysteria, is one of the ingredients to contracting psychi melancholia…the other ingredient is unknown, but we believe that it has to be something more physical than spiritual. Alexander has been looking into it for future knowledge.”

It was crazy to think that a spirit could contract a disease; it almost sounded worse than having cancer. I couldn’t help but to picture Devin walking around with a cane due to an unknown paralysis that doctors cannot determine a case for, and wondered if Devin was susceptible to this disease and has already contracted it.

“Does…,” I started, “does Devin—?”

“Devin?” Casrial repeated. “No. Devin was fortunately trained very well, and at a very young age. Take that, coupled with the fact that Devin has no real memories of any family known to him but those you have met this weekend, and I would say he’s had his ‘shots’ for some time now.

I sighed with relief for a brief moment, but then the fact that Devin had been reduced to walking with a cane his whole life once again tweaked my interest.

“Do you have any idea why or how Devin was born paralyzed in his left leg?”

“Evvy, sweety,” Casrial started, “I’m not an oracle; I know just as much about Devin’s past as Devin…And Devin hardly has any idea about his past. He is only learning about everything, just like we are all learning about ourselves.”

She ran her fingers through tufts of my hair; I sighed, hoping Cas would have more of an idea about Devin than I’d thought.

“And speaking of Devin,” Casrial said suddenly, “he wanted to get you home early, so your folks didn’t worry. Is that okay, Evvy?”

“I was having fun here!” I whined.

It was true; I enjoyed being here with Devin, Casrial, and everyone else this weekend. I had found out much more than I was expecting, and when I started to pack my things to go home I started realizing a few things. For one, my father was a medium…a much more powerful medium than I was, and gheists were sent by unknown demonic spirits to slaughter my family. When I grew older, more gheists started to sniff me out; they claimed I had a stolen spirit. Then today, in the woods, Tess brought up the fact of capturing a gheist using her parasight, Monroe. I pulled the locket which rested snug between my chest, and then snapped it open. I saw the picture of the younger me, and the gheist hiding behind the Majestic Forest backdrop. Then it dawned on me. These gheists weren’t after my spirit; these gheists were after specific spirits. What if this gheist in the picture of my locket, was the spirit of someone or something powerful? What if these demons wanted it for some maniacal purpose? What if my father and Mr. Goldstein actually entrusted me with this spirit’s safety? With all of these questions flowing through my head, I sought more answers as I dropped the rest of my clothes in my bag and left the bedroom. I walked through the hallway, passing Othello and Tess, both who greeted me with a hello; I greeted them back swiftly and then continued my search.

It wasn’t long before I found myself within an area of the house I had never been; the conservatory. I looked around, seeing nothing but glass walls and ceilings. The conservatory was drowned with fragrances of exotic flowers and miscellaneous greenery. My nose caught the scent of sunflowers, and I inhaled deeply. I walked deeper into the heart of the conservatory until I smelled another familiar fragrance; orchids. The heavy, but aromatic therapy was like a chemical romance to my senses, reacting both with my body and my soul. It was then when I found the person of interest.

“Mr. Goldstein?” I called out. The tall, lanky middle-aged man spun around as if he were a child in the midst of getting caught stealing from the cookie jar.

“Oh, Evenfleu!” he sang. “It’s about time you get ready to return home, Beatrice and Ben are both probably worried by now. I just gave them a call and told them everything was alright. I should have informed you that you should have called them. If you need to do so now—,”

“That’s alright,” I ensured him, “they’re always the type to worry about me.”

“And with good reason,” Mr. Goldstein started, “after all you’ve gone through since you were a baby. Not to mention when you were nine-years-old…They still hold on to that day. They don’t know much, but they know that something is eerie…something linking to you and your family. They don’t want to see you suffer the same fate.”

“Do they know why I’m here?” I asked.

“They only know that you’re visiting for the weekend, and that you’re in perfect hands,” Mr. Goldstein replied.

“Mr. Goldstein,” I started. “This locket…,” I held the locket up to him, walking closer so he could see the picture within it. “This photo…How long did you know—,”

“That there is an apparition captured within it?” Mr. Goldstein cut me off. I nodded, and then he continued. “Evenfleu, I promised your father that I would not give you the complete story until it was time for you to know…but I will tell you this much…That spirit, is to never…ever…be released. To do so will trigger the events causing the very rupture of both the living world and the other side.”

Although it was a good answer, Mr. Goldstein’s reply was not good enough for me. I was beginning to grow bored of the time-sensitive knowledge gathering that my father had laid out for me to know only during certain circumstances. I walked closer to Mr. Goldstein, looking up at his darkened eyes, and frowned.

“Mr. Goldstein,” I started, “I need a straight answer. Why would you and my father leave me with such a burden? I’m sixteen-years-old now, and I’ll be graduating in a year. I need to know everything in order to further be of any help. How could I prepare myself if I leave everything up to you while I stand here, kept in the dark?”

Mr. Goldstein hesitated, but then he cupped his chin with a curled index finger as if he was deep in thought, and cleared his throat. “Well one thing about you is you have your father’s persistence!” Mr. Goldstein joked. I smiled, but then he turned away, looking up at the glass confines of the conservatory before he continued. “Do you remember your last two gheist encounters recently?” he asked me. I nodded, and then he proceeded. “Devin had traces of their residual energy when he had returned. I had tried to link them to a possible root in order to find out if they were indeed being controlled by a—,”

“Demonic spirit,” I finished his sentence.

“Yes,” he answered with a look of bewilderment, “…it took awhile, but with the help of Anna, I managed to link their residual energy to a root. A society of demons known as the Perfect Cirqule.”

“The Perfect Cirqule?” I asked.

“These are ancient demonic spirits, dating back far beyond any of our times combined. Let me get back to them at a later time…” Mr. Goldstein began tending to the orchids I had smelled just before I noticed him. He picked a stem of a beautiful violet-tinted dendrobium orchid and began potting it.

“There are demons who continue to roam this earth, in hopes of gaining powers, so that one day they could acquire the ability to control the order of life and the afterlife.”

“But why?” I asked. “What purpose would one want with controlling life and death?”

“Think about it, Evenfleu,” Mr. Goldstein said, “what greater power could one want more than to have the ability to bring to life their own army, and slaughtering every being willing to oppose them? There are certain spirits out there, spirits like the one you hold in your possession right now, that have those powers. All it takes is for the right demon to consume it, taking all of its powers and making them stronger, granting them that very ability. The Perfect Cirqule has been seeking those very same spirits.”

“So they could control the order?” I asked.

“Or further upset the order,” Mr. Goldstein added.

I watched as Mr. Goldstein hesitated before continuing, “The Perfect Cirqule was once a network of gheists aiding clairvoyants in the process of maintaining the order. Now, as the network stretched out to other countries, newer demons with more evil motives look to change the Perfect Cirqule’s mission statement. These new members have since then launched a campaign against clairvoyants, as we are the only beings with the ability to stop them.”

“So we must find these members of the Perfect Cirqule and stop them before they can succeed with their plans!” I shouted.

“In due time,” Mr. Goldstein said calmly. “As long as we stop them from acquiring these special spirits, their plans won’t go on as desired. In the meantime, you should finish getting ready to return home.”

I nodded, and then turned around to leave, learning much more than I had desired. I had a lot more to think about now that I knew more about what has been going on. Gheists that grew too powerful from stayin in the living world for too long became demons. These demons somehow grew more intelligent than the average gheist, and even formed their own network known as The Perfect Cirqule. Mr. Goldstein had found a lead which labeled The Perfect Cirqule as the potential cause of the growing threat of waywards and gheists. I also knew now that it was because of the spirit trapped within the locket Mr. Goldstein had given me that gheists and demons were now after me. The demon known as Setzer was also tied with the Perfect Cirqule, and Devin knew him somehow. If there were members more dangerous than Setzer, then we had to be ready. I had to be ready. I felt a bit better knowing more than I had bargained for. The only question that had not been answered—which I would let go for the time being—was the reason for me to be the one to protect the spirit I wore around my neck.

“Oh, before you go Evenfleu,” Mr. Goldstein called out to me. I turned around, and noticed that Mr. Goldstein was holding out the orchid he was potting as he was explaining everything to me; the orchid was much more beautiful up close, and the aroma was more alluring as it overwhelmed my nose.

“A little bird told me that you liked orchids,” he sang. I gasped as he handed me the terracotta pot containing the elegant violet orchid earthed within the pot’s soil. I cupped it with my hands, holding it close to me, and with a free arm, gave Mr. Goldstein a heavily appreciated hug.

“Thank you!” I cheered. “I love it!”

“Take good care of it!” Mr. Goldstein informed me.

“Will do!” I saluted him. “I’ll see you next week!”

“See you next week, Evenfleu! And keep safe!”

I waved to him before trotting down the isle of the conservatory, listening to my heels clatter against the solid floor. As I exited the conservatory, Devin was standing beside the door, and he nearly startled me that I had almost dropped my newly prized orchid.

“I’m gonna tell Mr. Goldstein that you’re stealing his plants!” Devin teased.

“He gave this to me,” I teased back, “so you would only be wasting your time!”

Devin just shrugged and glared at me.

“You’re ready already?” I asked curiously.

“You say that as though I’m supposed to pack,” he snapped.

“You know what I mean,” I replied.

“I’m waiting on you to finish packing,” Devin said, “I’ll be damned before you start leaving your underwear in my room…people would start thinking things.”

“Then let them,” I said teasingly. Devin just shook his head and shuffled down the hall leading back to the main area of the house. I scurried after him as he entered the main hallway leading to the den room.

“By the way,” I started, “thanks for lying to me about going to my school.”

“I never said I went to your school,” Devin countered.

“A-hah,” I chanted. “You lie again!”

“What are you talking about!?” he asked with a mortified look stretched across his face.

“On the day we first ran into each other—,” I started.

“Literally,” Devin added.

“You said I made you late for class, and would have to go to detention!”

“I don’t recall saying being late for class, just being late in general,” Devin defended himself, “and I had to go to detention because I had to talk to Cas to make sure that the clumsy fool who had just ran into me ogling me like I’m some centerfold for girlie magazines was actually the person I was supposed to be protecting.”

“Why did Cas have to go to detention?” I asked.

“She didn’t,” Devin started, “but you should know more than either one of us that your detention room isn’t occupied until the end of school…all students who are detained during school are sent to the principal’s small study room.”

“Well it may come to a surprise to you, but I have never been in trouble in school, so I wouldn’t even know what the inside of the detention room would look like.”

“That’s impossible,” Devin scoffed, “you can’t be the typical goody-two-shoes who does no wrong and is made up of sugar and spice, loves puppies and frolics through an open field like it’s the 1970’s!”

“Yep,” I answered, “unfortunately I am!”

“You haven’t even pulled a prank once?”

“Not even a stink bomb…”

“Never farted in class?”

“EW! I’m a lady!!”

“Could have fooled me with that squeaky voice.”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t find my voice cute!”

“I never said it wasn’t cute…only implicating that your voice makes you sound like I need to change your diaper every twelve hours.”

“There’s that charming side I enjoy so much!” I sang sarcastically.

At the rate of our back and forth bickering, we were already out of Devin’s house, and out in the middle of the street. I was so wrapped up in conversing with Devin that I hadn’t realized it was already dark outside; I didn’t even realize that I had packed everything that had belonged to me while in the middle of our frenzied repartee. My orchid rested in the protection of my kung-fu grip. Scarlett hugged my waist like a happy toddler hugging an amusement park staff member dressed up in a giant animal suit, while my bag was weighed down a lot more than it was when I had first arrived at Devin’s house; the mass shopping spree had my Giant Bag o’ Horrific Death inflated like a hot-air balloon.

“What’s it like…?” I asked. “Whenever you travel the way you do?”

Devin stopped, and then turned around to face me; my ears twitched like a cat’s to the sound of the click clacking of his cane as it struck the cobblestoned street. I could see his breath flow from his nose and mouth like silk blowing in a heavy wind. He looked at me with his lustrous, ocean-blue eyes, and then gave me a smirk.

“Natural,” he answered in his usual raspy, baritone voice.

Holding out his hand, Devin motioned for me to come closer. He knew exactly what I was going to do, and let his arm raise so I was able to duck under it and hold him snug against my body. Handing him my orchid, my arms wrapped tightly against his firm waist, and my head pressed against his solid frame. His arm pressed me more closely against his body; I sighed from the comforting feeling that this gave me, albeit knowing he held me closer only as a fair warning that he was about to take off. I felt his aura surrounding me as I closed my eyes. I then felt my body blending in with his aura, as though I was a spoonful of sugar dissolving in a cup of hot herbal tea. I felt a bit of pressure, and then a surge as though gravity shifted and hurled me forward, and then I heard the wind singing in my ears. I opened my eyes, and could see everything blurring past me. I saw the smoky trail of both Devin’s aura as well as my own as we barrel-rolled, flipped, tumbled, and launched through the air; if I wasn’t a flowing dispersion of evaporation at the moment, I would have thrown my arms up in the air as if I was riding a roller coaster to compliment my ecstatic howls of “woo hoo!” as we soared through the skies. I felt Devin’s connection opening, and I allowed him to chime in.

“Enjoying yourself?” he chimed.

“Immensely!” I chimed back.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Do you ever do this just to enjoy yourself? You know, just get out and fly around, taking in life as everything whizzes by you in one massively-epic blur?”

Devin was quiet for a moment, but then I felt his aura chime back in.

“I used to do it a lot…just pick up and fly around. I once flew all the way to London.”

“To London!?” I chimed in loudly. “That’s insane! How was it?”

“It was different. Big Ben was the typical cliché spot to land, but I mostly went for the art exhibits. It was a big mistake, however.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because at the time, I didn’t know the limits of my residual energy. The gheists were stronger there…mostly demons reside in London. I was nearly exhausted, and if it wasn’t for Alexander finding out where I was, I would have been a goner.”

“My gosh!” I shouted. “You must be more careful, Devin!”

“I’m a guy,” Devin joked. “Though we’re not known to be as big of risk takers as females, we do seek excitement and spontaneous enlightenment.”

“I’m serious,” I murmured, “you mean way too much to me. I can’t even think of where I would be if you did not exist before I had the chance to meet you.”

“Well for one, I wouldn’t have had to nurse my back from hitting the ground after you had taken the hinges off of your school’s doors and me with it,” Devin teased.

Devin had a way of lightening the mood, even when it was apparent that my tone had been serious. At that moment I was convinced that even if I had not met Devin that day at school—or at all—I would have felt disconnected; I would have felt that something was missing in my life. Devin was the one thing that gave me that connection; a connection that no other person or thing could ever be able to make up for if he did not exist…the definition of me.

When we had finally touched solid ground, I stumbled for a moment; my equilibrium was completely shifted, so I took deep breaths while attempting to remain still so that I had not vomited all over the curb right outside my house. When I had finally gathered my bearings, I turned to Devin and smiled.

“Thank you for an amazing weekend,” I said softly.

“You spent more time with Casrial than you did with me,” Devin pouted. “You should be thanking her.”

“Well next time I will spend more time with you,” I ensured him.

“Ew,” Devin teased. “Don’t spend too much time with me…I don’t want you cramping my style.”

He handed me my orchid—which amazingly had survived the trip back in one piece. I adjusted the straps of my Giant Bag o’ Heinous Proportions so that they rested back over my small shoulders.

“You and I both know that I don’t cramp your style,” I teased, “I amplify it!”

I gave him a wink, and, to my surprise, he gave me a genuinely full-blown smile in return. I then began to think to myself how that smile meant so much to me; his full lips stretched upward, his cheeks bulging outward to expose his deeply-embossed dimples, and the icing to top it off—his eyes. Girls would say that such a guy like this should not exist outside of fantasy…others, like myself, would disagree. My smile relaxed into an indifferent expression as I had remembered that the weekend was over, and my time over at Devin’s house has ended…for now. But it did not defeat the fact that I had to see him leave me for the night.

I then began to think about how stupid he probably felt I was for having such strong feelings for him. Maybe I was over thinking everything; maybe he did care about me, but not the way I had thought…the way I wanted him to. If only I had some way to know for certain—without raising the subject again—how he had felt about me. I knew that astral communications was out of the question; Devin would just block the connection when I felt me prying.

I finally surrendered with a disappointed sigh, and then tugged on my shoulder strap with my free hand, forcing a smile for him.

“Well,” I started—“This is usually the point when the boy kisses his girl good-night after their date…But I know this wasn’t a date…”

I lifted my hand holding my potted orchid—my form of waving, and took a couple of steps back.

“I’ll see you later,” I murmured.

I spun around clumsily without waiting for Devin to say goodbye, and then suddenly felt a surprise brush of wind pass me. My hair blew in front of my face, shrouding my eyes, and temporarily impairing my vision. When my hair finally fell from in front of my eyes, I looked back to tell Devin, “it’s windy out, no?” but he wasn’t there. I spun back around, and then a couple of things happened before I had time to react. The first thing was, Devin was standing right in front of me, and I had run right into him; his body did not budge at all, and it felt like I had walked directly into a brick-layered wall. Second, as soon as I ran into him, his hands found my tiny shoulders, and grasped them firmly. I felt his fingers squeeze my shoulders—his cane pressing into one of my shoulders—through my hooded sweater, and then relax gradually. I then looked into his glowing-blue eyes as the auras faded from his irises; his expression was serious…urgent. I had thought a gheist was close by from the way he was holding me still. I gasped as soon as I had time to react to everything that has happened.

“Devin, what’s wrong?”

“I need you to tell me,” Devin began—“I need you to tell me…to promise you.”

“P-promise me what?” I stuttered. Devin was startling me as he glared into my eyes. I tried to look around to see if any form of danger was rushing out way, but Devin’s hand clutched the side of my face, pulling my head back so that my eyes met his once again.

“Make me promise to protect you,” he answered.

Devin’s voice sounded as though he was out of breath. At first, I thought that we were in a danger far worse than what Devin could handle. My hand holding my shoulder straps found his waist and squeezed it. At this point I was scared for what was coming. And then I sensed it. His aura chimed in suddenly, and I felt its relaxing wave of reassurance that I had felt the moment I had met him for the first time. It was that moment when I finally realized that I was not in danger, but my heart did not stop pounding against the prison that my chest had encaged it in. My eyes were piercing into his, taking in every feeling he had felt, and I made the connection. Everything he had felt for me was finally coming to light as the harmonic resonance of his aura told the tale in melodies of its orchestrated string ensemble. Everything he had wanted to do, and everything he had wanted to say, were flashes through my mind, body, and spirit, as if it was a music video of an alternative rock song. When it was finally over, the connection closed, and without blinking, I responded.

“Promise me you’ll protect me,” I nearly whispered—“Because I promise to protect you.”

The moment those words escaped my lips, Devin cupped my face in his hands and then tilted my head up, making my lips an easy target for his. My eyes grew heavy and started to close as the last glimpse I captured was Devin’s own eyes closing as his face lunged towards mine. Everything became black, and the feeling of soft, lively lips pressed against mine. Our lips began to move in sync with each other, and I sighed with each kiss taken. At that moment, all of my fears and doubts were over; Devin was officially mine, and I would protect him with my life as he would with his. Together we were practically invincible…unstoppable…unbreakable. As I felt his aura overwhelm me, I finally knew one thing: Devin Greigh was truly the complete definition of me.