Eutopia ran her hands through her long, loose hair to push it out of her eyes. She sat perched on the edge of Theresa’s bed in her small and neat bedroom. Theresa had insisted Eutopia take a shower and change into one of her dresses, since the two women were fairly close in size, after she had stormed up the stairs, shaking with anger and almost fit to burst. Eutopia smoothed the a-line skirt of the deep blue fabric over her knees. The light cotton dress fitted her better than Jinn’s clothes had, but she had to admit she missed the warmth and scent of him that had permeated the folds of his hoodie and joggers he’d given her to wear back at his house.
The hot, heavy spray of the shower had beaten most of the tension out of her muscles and Eutopia had felt the hurt and confusion trickle out of her body with every rivulet of water that snaked a path down her skin to run away down the drain, leaving her empty of all emotion. It was a nice way to feel for the moment, a welcome break from the cocktail of feeling that had swirled non-stop inside her since she had first found herself semi-conscious on Jinn’s sofa.
Theresa’s room had at some point, perhaps in an effort to create the illusion of space, been painted a soft sunny yellow that reminded Eutopia of summer. The bedspread was white and embroidered with little daisies around the hem that matched the curtains swept back at the small window. Various family photos; ranging from a young Theresa O’Malley with very long red hair and a short green dress, clinging to the arm of a dark and extremely handsome Thomas O’Malley, to a cherubic rust-haired toddler that could only have been Mike, lined up in front of an oval mirror set upon the top of a spindly dressing table. Overall the bedroom felt warm and comforting, scented faintly with perfumed talc.
What the hell was Will doing with Nephilim? Hadn’t Jinn previously told her that they were generally loners? Now that the initial euphoria at having finally laid eyes on her brother, after all these years of hoping and wishing had faded, Eutopia couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something haunting about Will. Perhaps it was just her memory recall now the adrenaline that had initially flooded her system had abated, but there was something she found uncomfortable in that photo of her beloved brother. What she was sure of though was that she had to meet him. A gentle tap at the door made her start with a little gasp.
‘Come in,’ she called, feeling a bit stupid as it wasn’t her bedroom to permit or deny entry to anyway. Jinn appeared in all his angelic beauty. The early afternoon sun flooded the bright room, diffused gently by the fine mesh of the net curtains at the little window and enhanced the subtle glow that seemed, almost imperceptibly, to surround him.
‘I know you want to see him,’ he said, immediately taking up most of the room as the space practically shrank around him to accommodate his inhuman size. ‘I won’t let you.’ Eutopia stood up quickly, her long hair tumbling and swinging over one shoulder as she smoothed the skirt of her borrowed dress around her legs self-consciously. Although she and Theresa were the same dress-size Eutopia’s legs were longer, which meant that the fabric skimmed her thigh a little higher than she was comfortable with. ‘Wow, that colour really suits you,’ Jinn added, blinking appreciatively as he completely ignored the frown she wore. ‘It matches your eyes.’
‘You won’t let me?’ she practically spluttered, incredulously. ‘Last time I checked I didn’t need your permission to do anything. You don’t own me! Not in this lifetime anyway.’ Jinn pulled the door closed behind him. Eutopia’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright with anger, her small fists clenched in that all too familiar gesture of frustration. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, Jinn, you’re the reason I’m in this mess. I never asked you to get involved, you took that upon yourself. But that still doesn’t give you the right to let or not let me do anything.’
Jinn rolled his dark eyes and lounged back against the door in such a way that Eutopia was reminded of the day she woke up half-naked on his sofa, which caused the blush in her cheeks to deepen. ‘Don’t start that again,’ he growled in a low tone. ‘I saved your life. End of.’ Eutopia turned from him, her dress flaring out in a whirl of sapphire as she crossed to the window and peered out at the street below. When she spun around to face him again determination had replaced the spark of anger in her eyes.
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Eutopia (First version)
Fantasy'You knew, all this time, you knew and you never told me.' 'Yes,' he bowed his dark head, black hair dishevelled as it fell into his eyes that were beginning to shed their own tears. 'I wanted to protect you. I thought if you never knew then this co...
