Chapter 144 – Rain

[2009 – September]

Right behind the Hellion Mansion, there was a small garden with a fountain, flowerbeds, bushes with wild berries, and winding cobblestone paths. It was beautifully arranged and fit the classic french style of the mansion.

Crouching low before one of these flowerbeds, I gently plucked a small lilac lily with my right hand.

Arya sat on my wrist, her tiny claws anchoring her in place as she hooted curiously, leaning forward to smell the flower that I had just plucked.

"It's called a lily and it's Jean's favorite type of flower.", I explained to her with a quiet smile, causing her to turn her little head to me and stare at me with her glowing amber eyes before hooting softly in understanding and climbing back up my arm with little hops and flaps of her wings.

I, on the other hand, continued to gaze at the small flower that was grasped in between my fingers, feeling the life within it pulsing and flickering.

A moment later fine black mist flowed out from the tips of my fingers, softly dancing around the petals and the stem of the lilac flower, causing it to wilt in a matter of seconds.

And shortly after that when the black mist had dispersed, the dry and dead flower slowly began to regain its vitality, blooming once more and showing off its beauty under the effects of the ethereal shield that surrounded it.

This cycle continued to repeat itself a few more times as I controlled the life and death of this innocent little flower with but a thought.

It wasn't a novel experience and neither was it a humbling one. In fact, I did this because I tried to understand how I had changed.

And my feelings were indeed rather convoluted as I watched on.

Seeing the flower bloom caused me to feel a spark of joy, its simple yet lively beauty striking a cord in my heart.

Seeing it wilt, on the other hand, did not cause me to feel sad. Instead, there was a strange sense of satisfaction that welled up from the depths of my soul, the act of devouring life being one that seemingly brought me pleasure.

It was strange, and I was apprehensive about this rather drastic change.

The way Darkforce devoured life and light was similar to a natural law, as this was just the way this type of energy behaved.

This 'natural law' had transformed into an instinct of mine after my soul had fused with the nexus core of the Darkforce Dimension, and like it was for every living being, following one's instincts was usually rewarded with pleasure. For humans, this mostly happened in the form of hormones that were released by glands in the brain.

The satisfaction and joy that I felt though had nothing to do with my physical body but were emotions that originated from my soul, which made them much more persistent and profound.

Feeling pleasure while devouring life, I had indeed become something monstrous.

Still, I wasn't just going to turn into an abomination that solely lived to consume life and light.

My mind and spirit were still human, and while humans were flawed beings most of the time, who often easily succumbed to their baser instincts, the beautiful thing about them was that they lived their lives by making their own choices.

Similarly, I could choose to be more than just the living incarnation of the Darkforce Dimension. To be more than just a monster that parents had to warn their children about.

And I would, as I chose to be Elijah Frost.

Stopping the Darkforce from once again devouring the lily's vitality, I rose back up from my crouched position and turned around with the small flower still in my hand, looking at Jean who had arrived behind me a few moments ago.

She wore a formfitting black dress, black tights and heels, and a long black mantle with her flaming hair tied in a loose braid so that it still allowed her locks to frame her beautiful features, while the look in her eyes was gentle and warm.

"Are you ready to go?", she asked with a faint smile.

Nodding and walking up to her, I reached out and placed the small flower in her hand, feeling her fingers gently caress mine as I did so.

Jean smiled beautifully in response before she tiptoed and placed a soft kiss on my cheek, her free hand moving up to cradle my cheek for a moment, tenderly caressing my cheekbone with her thumb.

She had undoubtedly noticed my earlier actions and sensed that there were some things that troubled me due to the fact that the very nature of my existence had changed with my most recent increase in power.

Jean was very sensitive like that, even though there were no outward signs of my distress.

Still, the beautiful part was that she didn't push for me to tell her what was on my mind, but instead, was waiting for me to be ready to talk to her about the things that weighed on me. And in the meantime, she just stayed by my side, being the lovely redhead that she was.

Taking her hand into my own, I gave her a slight smile before I brought us to New York in a cloud of black mist.

More specifically, I brought us to a quiet alley next to the New York Headquarters of Frost International, which was the place where a car was waiting to take us to the small cemetery where the funeral of Gwen's father was going to take place.

Emma had helped arrange for the car through the company, which reminded me to find a way to thank her for her assistance.

It was raining heavily and we were quick to step into the large office building, which was a skyscraper with a modern-looking glass front.

Though we had barely set foot in the building when a well-dressed beautiful young brunette walked up to us with two security guards that followed her at a small distance, both wearing matching black suits.

"Mr. Frost, Ms. Grey.", she greeted politely, a welcoming smile on her lips, "Welcome to the New York Headquarters, my name is Amber. Director Hedley instructed me to greet you and apologize on his behalf since he can't personally welcome you."

'Director Hedley' was the chairperson of the New York Headquarters and most likely the one Emma had instructed to make arrangements for us.

Nodding in acknowledgment, I simply replied: "It's not a problem. Is the car ready?"

"Yes, the car and driver are both ready for you.", the young woman answered without losing her smile, before turning halfway and gesturing to the elevators, "Let me escort you down to the underground garage."

Nodding again, the young brunette took the lead to walk Jean and me to the elevators while the security guards followed behind silently. She didn't try to make small talk and I mentally congratulated her for picking up so quickly on the fact that I wasn't the type for it in the first place.

Jean stayed quiet too while she pressed herself against my side. She seemed a bit blindsided by such respectful treatment, though I myself wasn't surprised by the polite welcome and the escort.

I may have been a high-school student and a teenager most of the time but my identity as Emma's younger brother wasn't to be taken lightly just because it didn't affect my normal life most of the time.

A few minutes later, we sat in the back of a short black limousine as we left the underground parking lot. The driver was a buff, well-shaven, caucasian middle-aged man in a suit with a buzz cut, who obviously also doubled as a bodyguard.

I sat behind the passenger seat with Jean right next to me, her head resting on my shoulder. My left hand rested in her lap with the fingers of her right hand entwined with mine.

My other hand rested on the door, pressed against the window, with Arya sitting on the back of my hand, her gaze fixed on the rainy scenery beyond the car window.

It took us less than twenty minutes to arrive at the small cemetery while the ride itself passed mostly in silence.

Our driver didn't hesitate to open his door and come around the car to open mine while shielding me from the rain with a large black umbrella.

Stepping out of the car, I turned around and helped Jean exit as well.

"Should I follow behind, Mr. Frost?", our driver asked as he offered me the umbrella.

"No, but you can find a nearby cafe or diner to wait. That should be more comfortable than waiting in the car.", I replied as I took hold of the offered umbrella.

Shaking his head slightly, the man answered politely: "I shall wait by the car then."

I didn't try to convince him otherwise, seeing as he had chosen not to accept my offer. Still, his attitude made me respect him more for his work ethic and I promised myself to leave him a bigger tip than I had initially planned.

Taking Jean's hand, we walked towards the chapel while our driver hurriedly moved back into the car to avoid getting any wetter.

There were a lot of people with umbrellas hurrying in the same direction, which wasn't a surprise considering that Gwen's father was a Police Captain.

The reason Jean and I were here, was that Jean wanted us to come here as she empathized with Gwen's loss and to show our respect for the sacrifice that Gwen's father had made for the people of this city.