Forever

Eyes Of The Beholder

     The rain pounded heavily on the car windows, running down in a thousand different streams. The night sky was continuously lit up from the crackle of lighting. A bolt of light followed by the booming thunder. Though it was impossible to see out the windows between the rain and the darkness, the car shook from the wind. It howled and blew the rain even harder against the glass, as if something was trying to break in. 

     Hazel sat huddled in the backseat, eyes closed in an attempt to make it through the storm. She hated them, always had. There was something evil in the winds that blew, a scream of agony to her ears. Trapped in the confines of the car only worsened her growing anxiety. Cornered by her fears with no escape. Like the endless nights spent curled in a ball on her bed, covers pulled up to her chin like a small child. Every strike of lightning she was sure would shatter the glass to her window, leaving her exposed to the horror.

     Jayden watched her cautiously from the front mirror, glancing back every so often as they drove silently through places Hazel did not recognize. Ever since her visit from the green eyed boy she'd been distant. He had planted a deep paranoia inside of her, distrust swirling through her heart. She wanted to tell him, wanted to calm the wave of fear that washed over her. But she couldn't bring herself to reveal what may be the only advantage she had over him. 

     So they drove on in deafening silence, the storm cutting through it like knifes. Only he and Hazel occupied the car, a slightly less inconspicuous ride than his usual attendance to school. They were traveling by night in the hope that they would not be seen. That none of the dangers after her would learn of the adventure. Though Hazel herself did not completely understand half of what Jayden had told her.

     Apparently there were other seers, much older and more experienced that she. Less powerful, but they had full control. Yet there was one, so old people stopped counting the years. She was a vampire hybrid. Half seer and half vampire. She had hidden herself away long ago, with almost no contact save a few she trusted. The Moore family was one of those trusted few. She was to look inside Hazel, really look at what she was. Maybe help her control what she was.

     At first Hazel had resisted, hesitant at the idea of trying to trust anyone else. Yet ultimately Jayden's argument won out, insisting her visions would only get worse from here. She had not yet told him about her vision in the field, her neck aching every time she remembered it. The feelings bloomed harsher from it the longer she kept it inside, refusing even to draw it out of her mind for fear of someone finding it.

     It was like an itch she couldn't scratch, begging for attention the more she tried to ignore it. Yet even with the proof right in front of her she couldn't help but wonder if there was a way to change it. Maybe it wasn't what it seemed. Or maybe it was exactly what it seemed, with Jayden sucking the life out of her. Literally.

     The car came to a sudden halt, interrupting her thoughts. He had parked them beside a huge lake, spanning out much farther than Hazel could see in this weather. As far as she could see, there was nothing else around them but a few trees dancing in the wind. The lake lighting up in a sparkling flash every time lightning decided to strike. Even the water danced from the droplets bouncing off it's surface. It was beautiful chaos.

     "What are we doing here?" Hazel spoke for the first time, shuddering as the car shook.

     Jayden ran a hand through his hair, staring warily out at the water. "Unfortunately we have to go on foot now."

     If she wasn't using every ounce of self control to hide her fear she would have laughed. "On foot? Jayden, we're in the middle of no where in the middle of a storm."

     Sighing, he pulled the keys out of the ignition, stuffing them deep into the pocket of his jeans. "I know."

     Hiding her emotions behind her wall of hair, she shoved her glasses higher up her nose. Somehow, amidst the chaos of the removal at her house, the boy had managed to snatch her glasses and her book of nightmares. The only things to come back out of that house. Humans couldn't be allowed to see the damage caused there, so it was removed. In what way Hazel did not know, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to.