Right Side Up, But Still Turned Around

Everything begins to swim into view as slip back into consciousness and attempt to rouse myself from my dreamless slumber. UGH! My head pounds when I try to sit up and I feel nauseous. After I regain my composure, I begin to survey my tense, sore, aching body. As I flip back the covers… Wait. I’m in a bed... In a house... How? Where? Since when?!

            The overwhelming sense of confusion I now feel makes me feel even sicker. I cast all questions and thoughts aside and focus on taking full body inventory. There are slight scratches and bruises. There are bandages and gauze covering the more major wounds and…is that a neck brace? I reach up and touch the padded brace entrapping my neck. Yep. That’s a neck brace. Bloody brilliant. I roll my eyes at the thought and try to get out of bed, only to be pushed back down again by the mystery boy who rescued me.  ‘How long has he been here?!’ I didn’t see him a second ago…

            “That’s because I wasn’t here before.” I gasp and stare at him in shock. How the hell did he know what I was thinking?! “Because I am just that talented.” My mouth drops open and the boy laughs. “You should see your face.” I prepare a ripe insult and open my mouth to speak only to be confronted by agony and a very hoarse choking cough. “Easy there.” The boy hands me a cup of water off of the bedside table as I struggle to regain my breath. “A shard of glass was lodged in your throat. I patched you up to the best of my abilities but I have no way of knowing if you’ll ever be able to speak again.” Brilliant. A scowl replaces the shocked look that was plastered on my face. Fan-bloody-tastic! I pull the covers over my eyes and groan. “Hey, come on. It’s not too bad. You’ve still got your…umm…looks.” I groan again and sink deeper into the bed as he boy tries to pull the covers down. The boy chuckles and I insist on moving deeper and deeper into the covers, hiding under the blankets and pillows. “What is your name?” I peer out at him from under my blankets and he pauses, staring into my hazel green eyes. He then passes me a pad of paper and a pen from the bed side table so I can write my name. I write my nickname slightly large and hand it back to the boy. “Sam…” he reads aloud. My heart soars as I hear him say my name. “Short for Samantha, I assume?” He smiles a dazzling smile as I mouth the word ‘yes’ before drinking some more water and slipping back under the covers. “Will you come out of there?” I can hear the sweet teasing tone in his voice and my heart beats even faster. I slip down farther into the covers. “Ok fine don’t look at me…” There is a pause then I hear him sigh, exasperated. Even though I feel slightly bad, I don’t budge. I will not give in to this gorgeous stranger- I can’t talk but I can still take control of this conversation. “Well my name is Kaolin,” his words break my train of thought. “And I am going to kill you.”

            “WHAT!?” I shoot out of bed and grab the lamp off of the bed side table to defend myself. “I KNEW you were too cute to be true! You’re a…” I pause and watch a small smile spread across his face. The lamp slips from my grasp and clatters on the floor as I raise a bandaged hand to my mouth and look at him in disbelief. “You…you…LIAR!” I rip my neck brace off and chuck it at him as he begins to laugh. I feel around my neck. I’m fine? Kaolin continues to laugh hysterically. “I’m fine?!”I scream at him.

            “I’m sorry,” he tries to speak through his boisterous laughter and he has to wait a moment before he can speak without laughing. I roll my eyes and crawl back into bed, burying myself among the pillows as if it is my own little protective world. If I had my way I would never leave this cushy warm sanctuary. “Hey.” His voice becomes worried and more serious. “I’m sorry. I was just messing around…” I begin to sob and shake as I lay cowering under the covers. “It was just a joke…”

            “I am not amused!” I sob. “It was a horrible, heartless joke.” I wait a moment to see if he has any remarks before I add, “And for you to be amused by that is just sick and demonic.” The room falls silent. Dead silent. Such an eerie and awkward silence that I think he’s left. I shift uncomfortably under the covers before poking my head out from under my blankets. Kaolin’s eyes are closed, his head hung in remorse and shame.

            “I apologize,” his voice is so soft it’s barely audible. “As you can tell I have a slightly dark sense of humor. I don’t get out much or talk to humans on a regular…”

            “Wait.” He pauses and looks at me with those magical eyes. “You said that you don’t speak to humans,” he flinches at my words. I assume that’s due to the fact that he slipped up or perhaps it’s because he was hoping I hadn’t caught that statement. Ignoring his discomfort I sit up and press on. “Who and what ARE you?” he flinches at the word ‘what’ but regains his composure quickly. He looks back at me and I focus on his eyes.

            “My name is Kaolin Cameron. You may call me KC for short.” His voice is serious and hollow. He looks and sounds like�"like an adult�"like he is past his time. I stare him down, willing him to continue. But he doesn’t. Instead he falls silent and walks out of the room without another word. I sit in bed, stunned and silent. I realize that I had been holding my breath and my breathing becomes deep and labored. All I can do is try to regulate my breathing and wonder: who am I dealing with? And what have I gotten myself into?

***

            I awaken to the sight of KC standing at the door, leaning against the door jam. I must have dosed off…

“I apologize once again for my behavior…” I raise my hand and silence him.

“You still have some explaining to do.” He steps into the room and stands there, completely emotionless and expressionless. He’s stares into my eyes.

“Yes?” There is no emotion in his voice. No quizzical tone. In fact, it was more of a statement than a question. I ignore this sarcastic tone and push on.

“Tell me,” I say demanding. “Tell me everything.” As he looks at me his features soften.

“You must understand I am not a bad individual,” he begins. “I am not…” He falls silent for a moment. “I am, what is now referred to as, an Immortal.” He pauses for a moment to see my reaction before he continues. “I realize this is hard to believe. As a matter of fact, I realize that you probably don’t believe…”

“Of course I believe you!” I cut him off abruptly. “It makes perfect sense… it explains so much,” The wheels begin to churn as I put everything together. “The speed, you’re knowledge, you’re ability to read minds, you’re unease and inexperience with human interaction… it all fits.” Kaolin watches me with a slight smile upon his lips. God he’s gorgeous. I slip down into the bed and shade my face with the covers in order to hide the fact that I am blushing furiously. All the sudden I hear him heave a sigh. He sounds…sad? Frustrated? Relieved? It’s impossible to read. I poke my head out from under the covers only to find Kaolin’s head hung, yet again. But not from remorse, this time. No. this time his head is hung in shame.

“I never should have intervened,” he whispers, barely audible. He looks up at me with sorrow filled eyes. “I’m just an old soul who…” he stops mid-sentence and looks away. “I should not be telling you all of this. It is against my way of life,” Suddenly, his expression changes and his features are stiff and serious. “I shall take you home, if that is what you desire. I do not want to burden you with things that truly don’t concern you. This world is not you own. You may leave at any time you wish.” While he speaks every cell in my body screams, ‘NO! Don’t bring me back there! I owe you my life. You are not a burden!’…

I keep my thoughts in my mind and do not vocalize my fears.  But I know he can hear me. He looks at me with smiling eyes; his gaze is so knowing…so pure. I think thoughts of me staying and I know he can see and hear them. A smile spreads across his face as his mind reads my thoughts and those eyes look deeply into my own, as if he can read my soul.  “You can stay for as long as you please.” A small smile spreads across my face. “Due to my foolishness, our lives are now one. Our fates are intertwined…” He looks at me and his smile widens. “In any case, I would love to have some company here. Especially company as gorgeous as you.” He winks as he says this and I feel my heart soar. Looking into his brilliant blue eyes is the closest I have come to having a holy experience. Sad but true. I have never really been devout in my religious studies; I believe but I just have not truly been compelled…until now. I have found a fallen angel. I have found my religion… it’s called Kaolin…

My thoughts are broken by the sound of him chuckling. “Well, I am no god. Nor am I an angel. I’m quite the opposite actually.” He pauses for a moment and leans in close to my face. My heart begins to race like thousands of cars speeding around a NASCARR track, and my breathing becomes labored. I can smell his musky, yes sexy scent combined with his warm, sweet breath. The smell is so maddening, so intoxicating, that I become dizzy. “What if I said I was the bad guy?” my knees become weak, and yet…I feel as if I have seen this scene before…

“Well, I…” And that’s when it dawns on me. Kaolin tries, without success to stop himself from smiling. “YOU JERK!” Kaolin erupts into laughter as I scowl at him. No wonder I recognized this scene…this all reminds me of Twilight…He’s copying lines from the movie! He must have heard when me comparing his immortal unveiling to twilight and discovered how much I truly hate those movies. I chuck a pillow at Kaolin and his laughter gains volume when I am way off target.

“You even throw like Bella!” I try and smack him but miss by a long shot, causing Kaolin to literally ROFL. Despite the fact that I am completely pissed, I can’t help but smile. I’m sort and young and I, technically, brought a 6 foot God down to his knees without breaking a sweat. Plus all of the ironies of this moment make it even funnier. Soon we are both doubled over due to each other’s infectious laughter. As we laugh and continue to egg each other on, I can’t help but realize how happy we are… how happy I am. This is the happiest I have ever felt. I was once told that home is where you are happiest. With Kaolin I am home…I’m Home!