“Now or never Max,” I tried to encourage myself. Nervously, I browsed my map and realized that it wasn’t helping me at all. The paper crinkled within my sweaty, hot fingers. I glanced up at the angry sky. A couple of locals watched me closely from afar. They didn’t seem to want me here. I couldn’t really blame them though; the last stranger brought nothing but misfortune to their lives.
“Hola,” I said quietly with a polite wave as the three men walked up to me. They said nothing at first and watched me carefully. One of the men could not take his eyes from my shiny black guitar slung around my back, and my hands heated up cautiously around the loop of my bag. I quickly removed my earbuds and the music softly echoed into the air. The other two men positioned themselves on my sides and offered their hands to shake. As I reluctantly did, the wind rushed through the streets, startling us. It was sweet and familiar. My blood ran hot.
“Asia…” I almost shouted as that first scent of her hit me. Cherry blossoms. I had missed that smell every day that it had been gone. When I spoke her name the three men took a small step back and watched me carefully again. It made me very uneasy, but I was excited that I wasn’t far from the end of my journey.
I smiled and softly spoke, “Cherry blossoms.” My eyes pointed to the sky. The men looked at each other quickly. Three pairs of bulging eyes locked onto me as they all pointed to the end of the road we were on. The oldest spoke sternly, speaking words I only half recognized. I nodded, not knowing exactly what he said, and slowly pushed past them down the road. They watched my every step. Later I would learn what he had said…“the crying girl is on the beach.” In a matter of minutes I could hear the crashing waves of the ocean and my pace quickened.
I pushed my way through some brush and thick vegetation before my feet hit the cool sand. As my wide, brown eyes tried to take in the view of the beach, her scent hit me again like a sledgehammer. My legs felt weak but my chest filled with excited fire. My core still burned for her. She still called to me on an instinctual level. It’s hard to describe just how powerful that feeling was. The blood in my veins sped up and filled with heat, causing my skin to steam. It slid from my pores like thin smoke. Quickly, I scanned my surroundings and tossed my gear to the soft sand. I filled with nervous relief at the barren landscape, only to overheat when I found a small audience at the end of the beach.
“Uh oh,” I laughed nervously as two young girls spotted me. They looked like teenagers, and not shocked by my smoky first impression. They watched with smiles as the first drops of rain peppered me lightly. I waved at them, slowly walking forward in the sand. One of the girls smiled back and hid her face behind her thick black hair. The other girl stood up quietly and pointed to the rolling waves. Her posture was determined and still. Her black curls of hair flickered around her serious face. I followed her finger to the black waves and my head began to spin.
“Asia.”
She was lying along her back on her red and black surfboard with her arms caressing the rolling water. Storm clouds swirled around the sky, spinning back and forth in front of the yellow sun, making its rays dance along the water and her body, which was covered in a tiny black and blue wetsuit. Her hair trailed along behind her in the water as the waves built themselves up back and forth. She looked amazing. She looked beautiful. She looked…broken.
My body overheated instantly and my feet began to burn. I quickly kicked of my shoes and buried my toes in the cool sand as I walked forward. It didn’t help though, as my body filled with fire. My feet felt as if they were walking on hot Jell-O. When I looked down, I found that I was so hot, the crystals of sand were melting beneath me.
“Hmmm…that’s a new one,” I joked. My powers were still growing, but this was just plain weird. It gave me an idea though and I reached down and scooped up a large handful of sand in front of me. The two girls looked on with their mouths open in shock as my hands filled with white and blue light. I was lost in my own little world now and didn’t give them much more thought as I pushed the heat inside my hands harder. I focused my powers and squeezed as hard as I could. Light pulsated from my arms as the rain fell a little harder.
“It’s working,” I gasped. Inside my hands a sparkling shard of glass winked at me. It didn’t have a particular shape but reminded me of an ice sculpture shaped like a dull flame. Steam twisted from it softly. I held it in front of me so the light from the sun might catch within its walls, but the thickening clouds would only tease it with bright light. It caused a soft strobe effect and gave me another idea. I heated my hands again, this time concentrating only on the white and blue light I could generate. The hot piece of glass filled with a prism of colors and flashed like a sparkly disco ball in my hands.
“See me,” I spoke to the waves.
Asia didn’t budge from her board as the brilliant colors flickered over her and the waves. My head filled with a dull ache and I called to her as loud as I could, but the waves were much too loud. I looked over to the two girls but they were gone now. The rain began to fall harder and I tried my trick again. With fading patience I pushed even harder but it didn’t work. Slowly, I let my head fall in disappointment. As I did, Asia caught a quick flicker from the corner of her eye. She quickly turned on top of her board filled with anger, and rose to her feet even quicker when she saw my outline in the falling rain.
“Max?”
Time slowed as her brain tried to wrap itself around what her eyes were showing her. From behind my wet bangs I could feel the waves grow bigger, and thunder shook everywhere. I raised my eyes to hers out on the ocean and froze under the weight of the moment. Her crystal blue eyes stared through me as if I were a ghost. Pain filled her face, and her hair dripped down the sides of her shoulders. I stood motionless holding the piece of hand shaped glass, not sure what to do next. Time had frozen both of us, just like the first time we met.
The rain fell cold and strong as the waves rumbled all around her, making me grow scared for her safety. If she were to be hurt again like last time, I wouldn’t be able to help her again. The thought of my failing powers made me angry for a second before the rush of seeing Asia again silenced my famous temper. I reached out my hands with the piece of twinkling glass. She furrowed her brow slightly and let her body fall from the board. The dark mass of water engulfed her completely. Waves fizzled and fuzzed before starting to settle. The uneasy sea fell to a sullen hush in one short moment. No sound but the wind and my collapsing heart.
“Not again.”
Ghosts - 03
~Little Toy Gun: honeyhoney~
Slowly, the wind spun my dizzying head into a panic. Dark blue waves rolled heavy, crashing all around me. My flames disappeared as I ran to the waters edge. I was terrified. Thunder rattled the clouds above me, hurting my ears for a moment.
“She’s fine,” I told myself as calm as I could manage, but the horrifying thought of losing her after my long search, tore at my guts, making it hard to stay on my feet. I stepped forward, letting the rushing waves swallow my legs, chilling my hot core instantly. Instinctively my body heated itself, causing fresh billows of steam to twist all around me. My temper flared at the thought of Asia being crushed by the power of the sea. That’s when the wind changed direction and became an unnatural vacuum.
It pulled away from my lungs, leaving me gasping slightly while the water receded quickly. The growl of the waves turned to a rumbling hiss as they began to stand up and push themselves from my feet. The wet beach glistened lightly in the fading sun, leaving trails of twinkling sand as the water rose above my head.
“What the…?” I gasped. As I stepped back from this mind bending vision, the water stood up even higher above my head. At least 15-foot walls of twisting blue liquid. The thunder rolled long and low in the background letting in a half dozen rays of blinding sunshine through the grey skies. The light washed over the fresh sand and the waves pulled back even farther. Ripples of foam seemed to curse this new shape, as the waves grew silent, locked in their new prison.
I shook my wet bangs, trying to clear my eyes as Asia stepped from the angry blue wall. She moved steady and carefully with a strength I’d never seen. Thousands of water droplets flickered along her skin.
Her long black hair pulled back behind her like a blade as her head slid from the swirling water. It fell straight along her back as her silvery blue eyes drilled into mine. Time stopped, and I felt my heart push from my chest. The fire inside of me literally reached out for her as she took a couple of slow steps toward me. The air ran from my lungs as the flames slid through my every pore. Her face was filled with confusion, as if she were in some nightmare. She was more beautiful than I remembered. Long and lean, with her deadly pout. As her undamaged body stepped toward mine the walls of ocean reached even higher for the sky, but now they made hardly any sound.
Asia stopped inches from my face and slowly placed her cold hands upon my temples. Her fingertips traced every line and detail before stopping on my lips and chin. There we stayed, staring at each other for an eternity. Two ghost’s locked in a dream. Ghost’s…the thought brought a smile to the corner of my mouth.
“Boo,” I said smiling. Her eyes filled with tears, making her hands shake softly against my skin.
“Max?”
The waves crashed down behind her, smashing with a sound I can’t quite explain. Her wet body slammed into mine sending the piece of glass I was holding into the sand. I was barely able to stay on my feet as she began to squeeze my last breath from me. I held her as tight as I could, even though I could no longer breathe. She felt amazing, and my body burned hot in her embrace. It had found its long lost counterpart. She pulled from me just enough to slide her hands along my pounding warm chest and dug her nails into the warming skin. Lightning flickered above us followed by a full crash of thunder. We were one again, and I was happy.
I leaned in to kiss her pouting lips as they fell to a frown and she shoved me with all her might. I flew backwards off my feet to the cool sand; shocked by her reaction and the sheer amount of strength she did it with. Rain fell down like a blanket and covered my steaming body in a split second. Her eyes filled with rage as mine filled with confusion. Shaking the pouring water from my eyes I began to get up, but she stepped forward and shoved her hands in front of her. A torrent of wind and rain sliced into me, sending me along my back again, gasping for air. She was so strong now.
“Ouch…” I grumbled from the beach.
“Nine months Max! Nine months!” she screamed. I tried to get up again and she pushed another wave of storm into me. Now I was beginning to lose my temper. Slowly I stood up against her tantrum, quickly igniting into a dark blue and green flame, which filled the falling rain with thick black smoke. It rolled off of me, making it hard to see her, but I pushed even hotter, making myself burn even brighter. She wanted to show off…well two can play that game.
“Please calm down,” I warned as I stepped forward. She shoved again even harder, forcing my flames to almost flicker out.
“I’ve cried myself to sleep every night…all this time…” her face broke a little. “And you’re still alive!” she cursed. My flames intensified and seared any raindrop that dared to touch it.
“You once told me that you could never lose me…lose us.” I stepped closer to her. She looked as if she wanted to run from my words. “Well, you didn’t lose me. I'm here. I found you,” The rain started to fade. My burning hand reached for her face. “I found us.”
She stepped toward my touch as I let my flames fall away again and I slid my hand along her cheek and down her neck. I pulled her to me as her walls crumbled, and she broke down in my arms.
“Asia, I hate that I left you alone for so long…” I began to say when she stopped me with a kiss. As her lips paralyzed me, her body slid along mine fitting like a glove. There was so much to say, but I crumbled under the weight of her touch. Her will was undeniable. I fell into her completely, and at that moment I loved her more than I ever thought possible.
After what felt like hours in our safe familiar heaven, I begrudgingly pulled away from her wonderful touch to catch my breath. As I did, her hands held onto me even tighter and thunder rolled over the waves. I smiled at how much I had missed her moods, especially her temper.
“Asia, I don’t even know where to start…” I trailed off. Her cool hands caressed my chin before running along my warm hair.
“Let’s start with dinner,” she purred. I hadn’t realized that I was even hungry until she said those words. My stomach tightened in nervousness and softly rumbled. She smiled even wider as my cheeks flushed from my embarrassment.
“Alright,” I agreed. She kissed my cheek and turned me around to walk when I remembered my guitar and bag. Before I could ask about them, I found my tongue in a knot as I realized we were no longer alone.
“Hola Max,” the two young girls from the other end of the beach said in unison. I blinked in confusion and Asia let a small giggle escape her lips before stepping toward the young women. One of them had my guitar case in her hands and the most welcoming smile I had ever seen before. The other girl gently held my bag against her chest with her head tilted down. She barely made eye contact with me.
“Max I’d like you to meet Anna and Maria Villa.” Asia offered calmly. I just looked at her, still unsure of them.
“Hola,” I barely said. They exchanged a worried glance and then softly began to laugh.
“These are my newest sisters.” Asia said as she gently touched each one on their cheeks with the back of her hand.
“Sisters?”
“They helped me through the worst of times,” Asia paused, looking at me in pain. Her expression hurt me inside and I felt my breath grow weaker.
“They are my angels,” she whispered. I felt my chest fill with heat again, and before I could say another word, the two girls turned and started walking toward the end of the beach. As my eyes followed them I noticed more of the local townspeople slowly filling in the beach. They looked stunned, and stared straight into the sky.
“Come on,” Asia said with a firm pull of my arm. I stuttered forward in the sand with a quick glance up to the sky. The dark clouds had almost completely disappeared now, and the sun’s setting rays lit the wet sand in an amber glow. The faces of the people lit up even brighter at the sight of the new sky, and a few people even waved to me as I walked slowly behind Asia’s footprints in the sand. A little boy even blew me a friendly kiss from the side of his mother’s hip as I walked on in a daze.
“Angels?” I whispered to myself and Asia turned and looked at me from over her shoulder. Her dark hair spider webbed across her face, making my pace speed up slightly.
We walked to a medium sized, bungalow house about a quarter mile from the beach. It was surrounded by trees and almost totally hidden by them. As I slowly walked through the door hand in hand with Asia, my palms filled with steam.
“This place is beautiful,” I said. Asia smiled and turned to me and winked. When she did, a strong breeze swirled through the open windows and doors, carrying her beautiful smell into my chest. With a flip of her hair the rush of wind slipped away again as quickly as it had appeared. I ran my hand through my hair nervously.
“I see you’ve been practicing,” I smirked. She just rolled her eyes playfully and slithered up to me. Anna and Maria settled my gear onto a big chair in the middle of the room. Anna smiled graciously at me as her sister shuffled nervously in place.
“Gracias,” I smiled. Anna laughed softly and ran out of the room. Maria took one small step forward.
“It’s nice to finally meet you Mr. Valentine,” she whispered.
“Call me Max,” I said as I stepped toward her. “It’s good to meet you too.”
“Dinner will be ready soon Asia Lyn,” she said a little calmer.
“Sounds perfect Maria,” Asia grinned. Maria scooted out of the room and my eyes found Asia’s again. They were even bluer than I remembered.
“So I take it they know…everything?” I asked.
>
“Not everything.” Her hands found mine. They were soft and cool.
“After you died, I wandered this world in a daze. I don’t even remember how I came to be in this little forgotten town. It’s one of the many hideaways that my family had accumulated over the years, but I had never been here before. Anna and her little sister found me sobbing on the beach one morning.” Asia hid her eyes from me as she spoke. I didn’t like that.
“They took care of me for about a week before I came back to my senses. With my suffering came the worst storm the town had ever seen.” She gritted her teeth together.
“Asia…” I interrupted.
“It took them 4 days to even get me to eat anything. I didn’t speak, I didn’t move. I was dying. I only cried. And every once in awhile I would sleep. Apparently I’ve taken up the nasty habit of talking in my sleep.” She watched me with worried eyes. “One day I found the will to talk again, and when I did they had many questions…especially about the burning boy from my nightmares.”
“Oh…” I felt horrible. Her suffering was my fault. As she finished, the wind fell back into the room.
“So I told them about my story. Our story.” She paused.
“Our story,” I repeated between tight lips.
“About the amazing boy who healed me. About the amazing boy who left me.” She paused again and inhaled a long breath.
“Asia…”
“About the greatest feeling I had ever known.” A tear slid down her cheek.
“I’m sorry…” I started to say but she ignored my guilt and pushed herself into me.