Of Light And Shadows

Chapter Three...

"You don't have to be such a jerk about it," Jia muttered, elbowing Evander in the ribs. He laughed and held his hands up in surrender before reclining back on her bed and linking his fingers behind his head.

He'd turned up on her doorstep and insisted she let him in. She couldn't tell him that if she did she'd get punched, so she'd stepped aside and let him pass.

"Relax, I'm just teasing. I know your nerves got the best of you."

"Honestly, the only reason we're friends is because I failed that exam." She grabbed her pillow and hugged it to her chest. Evander propped himself up on his elbows and grinned at her, oblivious to her nerves. If her father came back while he was there she'd be in for another beating.

"Must have been my lucky day."

"Doofus," she chuckled.

"Have you ever thought about taking it again? You could still be an Empath if you wanted to, you know."

"Nah," she frowned. "I failed the prelims so badly that taking the actual exam would've been a waste of time. When I got the results back I decided to forget about the whole thing and move on with my life."

"So you drowned your sorrows in the nearest bar and took my beautiful ass home with you," he winked. "I'd say that was a fair trade off."

"Something like that," she answered, rolling her eyes. "Although you are the most annoying human I know. Sometimes I wonder how you haven't been eaten yet."

"I'm too handsome to eat." He sat up properly and shot her a crooked smile. "And I know that if anyone did try to eat me you'd jump in with your mind control stuff and stop them."

"It's not mind control, idiot. It's cognitive recalibration. I make them think they don't want to do something anymore and they walk away."

"If you can do that why did you choose to study as an Empath?" Evander asked.

"I dunno," she shrugged. "The money, I guess. Supernatural counselling pays well."

"If you ask me, it's a good thing you didn't do the exam. You could do so much more than listen to a bunch of people's problems all day and guess how they're feeling about it." He smiled. "You ever thought about law enforcement? Witches are really sought after in that line of work."

"I'm not a Witch. I'm Lotura. More specifically I'm a sub-species of human with a massively increased cognitive ability. I use a higher percentage of my brain than a normal human due to a random mutation that created our species. I'm faster, stronger and smarter than any Witch."

"You don't have to give me the lecture, Jia," he grinned. "I've heard it all before." Evander was the only person in her life that used that name. He didn't know about the Demonic Realm, but he did know that when she disappeared she'd been found by kind people that had given her a name. He knew she considered them family and that Lisbeth felt like wearing a dress that didn't quite fit.

"Stop calling me a Witch then. I don't need enchantments or sigils to use my gifts." She scowled at him and his smile grew wider.

"Aww come on, don't look at me like that. Alright, I'm sorry. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" He cocked his head to the side, watching her innocently. She sighed.

"I suppose I can."

"Awesome. Now what's for dinner? I'm starving."

"I swear you only come to my house to eat my food and get on my nerves."

"You love it." He stood up and stretched before he shrugged on his jacket. "Come on, we're going out to eat."

"I don't have the money to go out to eat."