6 Acceptance

"What? Excuse me?" I asked, confused because no one has asked me that since I was in the ward.

"What do you see when you look at me?" She asked, determined to get an answer from me.

I could feel my cheeks start to burn as I started to chew my lip nervously and avoided eye contact with her.

"If you want my help, tell me." She was poised and staring at me. I had no clue what she expected me to say to that.

I cleared my throat and tried not to stutter, "I see a very attractive woman." I was still avoiding eye contact because I'd never told a woman she was attractive, especially since many of the women I've been with probably don't even remember they slept with another woman.

I saw her aura flutter a little but her expression didn't change. "Is that all you see?" She asked, as if she already knew the answer.

Before I could stop myself I blurted out, "No, actually." Juat as i said it, i couldn't believe I actually told a completely sober woman it wasnt just her looks I was seeing.

She was now merely inches from me. "What else do you see?" She practically whispered the words to me but I heard them as if they were in my head just as I had last night.

Without even thinking, I whispered back, "I see your aura." I felt as if I knew I could trust her with the truth.

She took my hand and led, more like dragged, me to the back of the room where a door was open to the office. I wasn't too sure about this and I instinctively grabbed my dagger in my pocket, just in case I needed it. I pulled my hand from hers, even though I didn't really want to.

"What the hell is going on? Why were you wanting to know if I could see your aura?" I had to know if she was a threat, a monster, or whatever. I really wanted the answer to be no.

She turned around and seemed to be searching my eyes, "You don't have any idea who you are, do you? and the answer to your real question, no, I'm not one of those beasts you were hunting last night."

"I know who I am I'm Jazlyn Raine. I see the auras of all people and kill the beasts, as you call them. Have since j was 13." I was seriously starting to think this woman knew more about me than I did.

"That it? You have no idea as to why you see a person's aura? Why you seem to have found your way to me?" By the look on her face, she knew she was asking questions i couldn't answer.

I looked at her for a moment then sighed as if the truth had finally found it's way out and relief would follow.

"Look, I dont know anything about why I see what I see, obviously. I just know I see it." I run my fingers through my hair, agitated. "I was adopted at birth, my parents freaked and had me committed when I told them what I was seeing, so I eventually lied about seeing peoples auras so I could get out." After vomiting all that out to her I searched her face for any signs of sympathy or even acceptance because at this point I couldn't tell anything from her aura.

She nodded and just stood there looking at me. "By the way, thank you." She said with a slight hint of a smile.

Bewildered by her words I crunched up my nose. "For what? Bumping into you twice in less than 24 hours and somehow still manage to have no idea if I should run for my life or trust you because I can't read a damn thing from your aura?" As the words tumbled out, I felt my face start to burn up again, I couldn't help but be honest with her.

She smiled a little more, "No silly, for the compliment earlier. For telling me I'm attractive."

My face got even hotter and I tried so hard to hide it. "Oh. You're welcome, uh. So, I just realized, I have no idea what your name is." I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck. I was hoping to change the subject to anything other than how attractive I think she is.

She smiled as she extended her delicate, feminine hand to me. "E'Lara, nice to meet you. I own and run 'Books or Mystery and Magic'." I swear, my heart melted seeing her smile.

"It's, uh, nice to meet you too, E'Lara." I could barely breathe properly, my heart was beating so hard.

"You seem a little less, composed, than you were last night. Any reason why?" She smirked and looked at me as if she already knew why I was acting like a damned fool.

I didn't think it was humanly possible to get any redder than I already was but I was wrong. "Well, I uh, um," I took a deep breath and thought why not tell her everything? Maybe she will help me make sense of all this or perhaps she will just kill me. Either way seems better than hiding it from her.

"You remember when we bumped into each other last night? What you said? W-well, I-I haven't been, uh, able to g-get your voice out of my head since." I manage to get out while fidgeting with the pockets of my coat and staring at the floor nervously.

She shifted her weight a little before she walked even closer to me so she could see my face, "That all, Jazlyn?" She smiled as she emphasized my name.

My heart cannot take much more of this, of her. "Your aura," I paused to get my bearings and decide how much I should tell her. "I, well, I've never actually seen one like it. Especially since it looks like mine now does. Honestly though, wasn't until this morning, after our encounter, that it changed."