The Window to the Soul

Chapter 21: What did you do?

I was 17 for god's sake. I hadn't even finished my junior year of high school. I was too young to be having these problems.

I rolled down my window, letting the wind whisp away any uneasiness I had.

"Iris, can I ask you a kind of...personal question?"

"Yeah," she replied. Her voice was weak and exhausted.

"Uh, what are you? You're obviously not human. I can smell the difference," I inquired.

"I'm fae," she muttered against the window she rested her head against.

"Like..faeries and stuff?"

"Yeah."

I laughed a little. "No offense, but I keep getting Tinkerbell stuck in my head," I smiled.

She laughed, punching me in the arm. I turned up the radio, blasting AC/DC.

~

Three hours later I stopped the truck off the highway by a rest stop. Iris and I unloaded the horses, making sure they were in good condition before we went riding. I didn't feel like riding in a saddle, and neither did Iris, so we put the horses' bridles on and hopped on. I tapped Cap'n with my spurs and he took of at a canter into the horizon.  Iris trailed behind me on Indy. We came across an old fallen tree, and he cleared it with easy, supporting me with no problem. Indy on the other hand, seemed a little hesitant. He pranced before the tree, swishing his tail and snorting. I jumped back over the log to help Iris, who was a little uneasy. I smacked Indy on his butt, but he backed up.

"Here, hop off and get on Cap'n. I will try Indy," I said, hopping off and handing my horse to Iris. I trusted Cap'n not to do anything-he always took good care of his rider. After I was on Indy, I reined him in, calming him down. I nudged him forward with my spurs, giving him some rein. He was hesitant at first, but finally he lifted his legs and cleared the log.

"That a boy," I said, patting his short muscular neck. He snorted in approval. Iris smiled at me and we high-fived to celebrate our victory.

~

The sun was setting, the sky streaked with blue, pink, orange and red, a slight breeze blowing dust through the canyon. Iris and I sat around a small fire, the horses grazing next to us.

"So...what's going on between you and the boys?" Iris broke the silence.

I had to stop and think. What actually was going on?

"I..I honestly don't know. I'm terrified..I don't know what to think," I replied honestly.

"I would be too," she said, putting an arm on my shoulder. "Hopefully this weird thing they are going through will blow over soon."

"Yeah," I glanced down at my dusty cowboy boots. I pulled out my phone to check my messages. I don't know what I was thinking-we were in the middle of nowhere in a canyon. There was no way I was getting cell service here.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath.

"What's wrong?" Iris questioned.

"Nothing..I was just stupid and expected my phone to work out here," I leaned against the rock.

"Well, we are pretty safe out here. Besides, we needed to get away from there."

"Yeah, I hope everything is okay," I sighed.

I dusted my flannel and jeans.

"Well, you're wrong," a deep voice said.

Iris and I shot up from the ground, startling the horses. Dante walked out from behind a large rock, stroking Cap'n's neck, calming him. He needs to get his filthy hands off of my horse. If looks could kill, the one I just gave Dante could have killed a whole village. He got the idea and moved away from him.

"How the f-" I began to speak.

"What's wrong?" She interrupted me. She didn't seem too pleased he was here either, but she was just as curious as I.

"Gabriel did something real bad," he looked at me. "Because of her...and I." Iris shot me an 'oh really?' look. She crossed her arms and stared at the both of us. I dug a hole in the dirt with my boot. I really didn't want to talk right now. Especially with him. Iris finished staring at us.

"What's going on between you two? I'm fae, you can't lie to me- I will know."

She tossed her auburn hair over her side, placing her hands on her hips. Dante put his hands in his jean pockets, looking back up at me through his dark lashes. Stupid puppy dog faces...

"Look, I really don't want to talk about it. Can we just find out what Gabriel did already? I feel like I'm in some sort of living hell and you guys are giving me a headache," I said, rubbing my temples. Iris turned to face Dante, and I noticed how small she really was. That could also be because Dante and I happen to look like dinosaurs. He sighed, running a hand through his thick black hair.

"You're not going to like it," he muttered. I noticed he had a couple bruises and scabs down his neck and arms.

"Look, can you cut the crap and just tell us what we need to know? I feel like this is some stupid horror movie where you keep trying to build the suspense. Get to the point already," I exclaimed.

"Wow, someone's clearly denying what happened earlier between us," Dante scoffed.

He did not just do that. Infuriated, I bent down and picked up a branch that was halfway ablaze from the fire, walking towards him with it. He smirked at me. What a cocky little bitch. I continued to walk towards him, but Iris stopped me, grabbing the branch from my hands and throwing it back in the fire.

"Look, I don't know what's going on between you two..but you need to calm down," Iris spoke to the both of us.

I shrugged her grip from my arm. Dante spoke again.

"Gabriel went a little too far...and he attacked a human," Dante blurted out. My eyes went big. It's not like he didn't attack a human before. Me, duh. Hypocrite. Just when I thought life was fine...when I was sane. I was going to kick his ass when I got home. I went and untied Cap'n from the tree, and hopped on him. Iris got on Indy next to me, and Dante stared at us.

"I'm not riding double with you. Neither is Iris. It's bad for the horses."

He crossed his arms.

"How did you get here in the first place?"

"I was in the horse trailer," he replied.

I checked the car. Obviously, I didn't check the trailer.

"First of all, if you touched my horse, I'm going to cut your dick off. Second, since you snuck your ass in my truck, you can walk back," I said, galloping off, Iris trailing behind me.

~

Once we had the horses loaded, I got in the driver's seat.

Dante ran up behind us when we were loading the horses, sweat making his shirt cling to his muscular body.

"Shotgun," he said, exhausted from walking so far. I put my arm across the passenger seat.

"No way. Get in the back," I said as Iris got in next to me. He opened the backseat door.

"No, the way back. The truck bed."

He glared at me, slamming the door and climbing in the back. Wow, I'm surprised he listened. Iris giggled next to me. I pulled onto the main highway, kicking up a dust cloud in the process, which just so happened to rain down on Dante. He became covered in dust, except for his blue eyes which blazed in the dark. I smiled to myself.

~

The whole car ride Dante stared at me. Finally, I looked up at my rear view mirror, flipping him the bird. Cocky asshole. Maybe I need anger management lessons. Nah, he has done so much to me he deserves it.

A couple hours later I pulled into the driveway of the farmhouse. Dante hopped out and so did Iris. I was the last to get out, unloading the horses quickly before running inside. I threw open the door, finding everyone crowded around a slumped figure. Pushing past them, I found a girl curled up in a ball on the hardwood floor, blood seeping from her neck and from scratch marks on her arm.

~