Fated

Dante

As we walk through the doors into her room I can feel her body tense as she suddenly stops moving forward.

“Eve? Are you okay?”I ask feeling very concerned as I cannot get through to hear her thoughts…the words being muffled by a storm, but it is not the storm that has manifested outside…it is a storm…inside her. I pull her face toward me to see her eyes are clouded over and closely resemble the clouds that have swallowed the night sky. Without warning she collapses with me barely being fast enough to catch her before her body can hit the floor. Her blanket falls to the floor in the chaos and I pull her naked body into me and adjust her so that I can lift her bridal style and carry her to her bed. Once she is laid down I pull out my cell phone from my pocket and call Martha insisting that she bring Blankets and a carafe of ice water immediately.

“Yes master Shay.” her words are filled with concern as she quickly hangs up the phone. She wastes no time and enters the room without even knocking as she pulls in a cart with a first aid kit, several blankets, the requested carafe and a clean glass. She pulls a blanket off the cart and rushes it over to Eves lifeless naked body and covers her with the utmost care.

“Thank you Martha. I am sorry if I woke you.” I don’t even meet her gaze as I speak to her.

“What happened sir? Will she be alright?” the concern in her voice making me realize that she has grown quite fond of Eve in such a short time.

“I don’t know…we were talking on the balcony and then it started raining so I brought her inside and she just…fainted.” I know how frantic my words are, but they flow out uncontrollably.

Martha slowly pulls away from Eve with a puzzled look on her face as she walks around the bed and makes her way to the glass doors, peering at the balcony in confusion. “But master Shay…the skies have been clear today.” her voice is full of confusion and concern.

I rise from the bed and peer out the doors where I see the balcony is dry as bone and the stars shine brightly in the sky with the half moon hanging among them. Were it not for the fact that Eve and I were both sopping wet, I would have believed I was going mad. As a realization hits me I whip back around and stare at Eve. “It was you?”

I sat at Eve’s side the entire night watching her in her dreamless slumber. I had tried many times to try reaching her mind, but all I could hear was the wind and thunder of the storm that was still raging inside her.

“How is this possible? I saw them bind you. I have watched as you used everything you could to strengthen your powers only to feel your heartbreak when everytime it resulted in failure. So how is this possible?” I speak to her wishing she could answer me.

The morning comes and goes with no change in Eve’s condition. It is after 2pm now and I stand at the large glass door staring at the tree line lost in my thoughts when I suddenly hear movement behind me. I turn abruptly to see the most beautiful pale blue gray eyes staring back at me.

“D-dante? What…where..” she seems more confused by the moment as she tries to sit up. I rush to her side helping her sit upright and place pillows behind her for comfort.

“You fainted and have been out for more than 12 hours now. I was beginning to worry.” my concern for her evident in not only my words, but it is also written clearly on my face.

“I…I remember being on the balcony and I remember you coming out. You said…” she pauses as our conversation comes back to her. “You said you wanted…” she pauses with an indiscernible look on her face as I decide to fill in the blanks.

“I said I want you to be mine, but I want it on your terms and your terms alone Eve.” I take her hand in mine as I look deep in her eyes while wishing her storm would calm so I could hear her. Should I tell her about what she did last night? Should I tell her that her sorrow and heartbreak created a storm that only she and I could see? I decide to wait until she is feeling better before discussing it.

“What do you mean Dante? I don’t understand.” her confusion evident by her head cocked to the side and her furrowed brows.

“When the goddess came to me all those years ago, I had no idea what she had planned for me with this arrangement. I agreed to it out of my trust in her…but the moment I felt you take your first breath…something in me awakened. It drew me to you instantly and I have not been able to shake it.” I feel an onslaught of emotions taking over as I lay my confession before her.

“I…are you saying you wanted me to BE with you…when i was only a baby?!” I screech out at him.

“Eve, it is not like that. I felt a strong emotional pull toward you from the moment you were born, yes. It was never a romantic pull. It is an unrelenting need to protect you and watch over you, but due to the terms of our arrangement, I was forced to watch from afar.” I search her face to see if this makes any sense to her. After a moment a smile takes hold of her lips as she looks me in the eyes.

“So…you are like a guardian angel then?” Her words are much lighter and almost bubbly.

“I guess you could say that.” I chuckle as I respond to her inquiry.

“So what about now? Is it still just a need to protect and serve, or…?” the end of her sentence trailing off as she searches my eyes for the answer.

“Well, in this moment my only wish is to take care of you. What the future holds, not even I can see.” with this I rise from the bed and walk to the cart to pour her a glass of water. I bring it to her and she takes it in her hands with a smile.

“Thank you Dante.” she takes a sip of the water and lowers the glass to her lap staring into it. There is a shift in the air as she stares into the water within her glass. I struggle to understand what my eyes are witnessing as the water begins to freeze in her hands. I gently grab her chin and raise her head to see that her eyes are filled with storm clouds once again as she lets out a breath. “Dante..” the only word to escape her lips is my name before her eyes roll into the back of her head and she once again falls unconscious with the glass slipping from her fingers and rolling off the bed before crashing to the floor, sending shards of glass shooting all over the room.

“Eve!” I shout her name as I pull her to my chest and move the pillows so I can ease her back down on the bed.