The Awakened Ones

I laid in my bed half awake after the fight. Lights flashed past my closed eyes and I opened them to look at my clock. The numbers registered in my head as 1:30AM. The fight lasted for almost twelve hours and I had only been asleep for not even an hour. I closed my eyes again, wanting to fall back asleep. So much had gone on yesterday and now it was over. I just wanted to sleep and forget. The sound of heavy breathing didn’t allow to do that though. My eyes opened again and I turned on the light on my nightstand. When the light flickered on and my eyes adjusted to it, I looked over my shoulder and saw Quint laying there. Bruises and cuts were all over his body. I smiled and decided that I would clean his wounds. I slid off my bed and went to the door. I reached for the handle, but it turned at the same time as I turned it.

“Mom?!” I said, startled to see her standing at my door.

“Jilly!” she pulled me into a hug, “I thought you would be sleeping, I’m home.”

I smiled, happy to see her, but knew I had to keep her out of my bed’s sight. “Yeah,” I began, “I was just getting up to use the bathroom.”

“Alright, honey. Go do that. I’m tired and you have school in a few hours,” she said and pulled my head to her. She kissed my forehead and said goodnight.

I watched her go to her bedroom in a daze. My mother was home a week early. Sure I was psyched to see her, but more like around the time I’d get home from school. When her door shut and her light turned off, I continued on with my quest. But this time I had to be extra quiet. I quickly made my way into the kitchen to get a bowl of water. After that I got a towel and bandages and went back to my room. I sat next to Quint and looked at his cuts again. His arm where Dee stabbed him seemed to be healing rather quickly, it only bled like a flesh wound. I put the warm towel on his arm first.

His eyes opened and he slightly smiled at me, ignoring the pain that shot up his arm. He brought his hand to my cheek and asked, “How are you doing?”

“Better,” I answered, smirking at him. I put my hand on his and asked, “How are you?”

“My back is killing me,” he began to answer, then dropped his hand from my cheek to lay on his stomach, “but otherwise, I’m alright.”

He looked at his bandaged arm then back at me. I held my towel up, hinting that I would take care of his back for him. He rolled onto his stomach and I gasped at the sight. The whip marks were deep from Dee’s anger and I began to hope that wrapping these would be enough to actually help him out. I dipped the towel back into the warm water and placed it on his back. He flinched, making me pull away and apologize.

“Don’t worry about it…” he told me, closing his eyes.

I nodded and carefully placed the towel back on his wounds to finish cleaning the blood off. We sat in silence as I cleaned. Quint broke it after a few minutes by thanking me. I chuckled to myself and told him it was alright.

“I’m just repaying you,” I added.

“Not just for this,” he said after a few moments. I looked down at him, confused. “I want to thank you for bringing me to my senses.”

“With Xi?” I asked, “Wasn’t it always like that though?”

“I suppose… Xi came to me in eighth grade. It was like I was chained to him through every life – there was no way he could find me in every rebirth. I searched for the awakened ones for years and once Dru was found, Xi urged me to bring you and Sarah to him. I fought so hard to keep Dru safe, but I failed. It was then that I was given my first whip marks on my arm. By the time I told him that I wouldn’t bring you and Sarah to him, I was considered a traitor but still treated like his slave. You and I were friends by then and once I heard your soul song, I knew I couldn’t help Xi any longer.” He chuckled, “After I kissed you I knew that I had fallen for you and I knew you had a crush on me for a while. I thought our feelings would make that fight hard, but look, I think we did pretty good.”

I smiled at him and agreed. I put the towel back in the bowl, satisfied at how his back looked. Well the best it could look. “Sit up,” I said, holding up the bandages. I helped him sit up and began to wrap his chest. “So since Xi’s gone… does that mean-”

“If you still want to,” he answered.

My answer was a smile. I really wanted to throw myself into his arms, but I knew that wouldn’t be the best idea. He pulled me into a hug and I gently embraced him. When we pulled away, he cupped my cheek and our eyes locked. He leaned forward and kissed me, pulling me closer.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” I managed to say, just as he picked his lips off mine, wanting to kiss deeper.

He chuckled and kept his face close to mine, saying, “You like to interrupt us, don’t you?”

I laughed and leaned into him, stating that I was happy the whole Xi thing was over. “The only bad thing about it is that Dru’s still gone… for good now…” I said. Quint just held me, not knowing what to say. There was nothing we could do about Dru. “It would be great to see her again…” I sighed, then said, “We should sleep. I’ll take the floor.”

He shook his head, “I won’t allow that. Sleep on the bed with me,” he smirked, “Nothing will happen, I promise.” He smirked at me. “So-?”

I laughed, hoping my mom wouldn’t walk in later that morning, then agreed to staying in my own bed for the night. I moved everything to my nightstand and turned out the light. Back in my bed, I turned to face Quint and put my head on his shoulder. My hands were near his hips and as I drifted off, I felt him take my hand.

When my alarm went off, Quint was gone. I went downstairs to see if he was there but he wasn’t. So I went back upstairs to my room and got ready for school. Still no sign of Quint. The day was boring and I know it’s bad to say but it was even more boring without Dee drilling holes. Not to mention, I kind of missed Xi lurking in the corners. Even when I astral projected in AIS, I felt no thrill in it. Sarah invited me to sit with her in the cafeteria after school and this time was actually talking with me. We mentioned the fight yesterday only once. While we sat and talked, Sarah tapped my arm. I looked up at her and she pointed behind me at Quint.

A grin appeared across my face and I got up to rush over to him. I wrapped my arms around him then asked, “Where have you been?”

“Making a deal with Piez,” he answered.

“What deal?”

“The crystal for-” he then motioned someone to step out from behind the wall.

It was Dru!

I exclaimed her name and ran to her, embracing her as tight as I could. I needed to know she was really there. Sarah heard me and right away sprinted over to us, screeching. We were in a huddle of smiles and tears. As we jumped about, I turned to face Quint and thanked him.

THE END