7 Happy Birthday

Alissa woke up the next morning feeling like a truck hit her. Her throat was parched, her head felt like it might explode from swelling behind her eyes, and her entire body felt was in an aching pain. She opened her yes to Rosita staring worriedly down at her.

"You have a fever, my lady. We should get you to your room."

Alissa attempted to stand up and but felt the floor come crashing to her as an arm stopped her fall.

"Bring cool water, tea, and soup to the guest room on the first floor, Rosita."

"The guest room? But, my lord-"

"Don't ask questions, just do as I say."

Alissa felt gravity defy her as she was lifted from the ground. She was carried and laid onto a bed that wasn't her own. Confused she opened her eyes to look around but was met with blue fire staring back at her.

"I'm fine. You can go."

"You are not. Be quiet and lay down." His voice held so much authority but there was a lilt she hadn't heard before. Not from anyone other than Rosita. And that woman in the summer.

"I'm fine. I'll go to my own room."

"All day yesterday you listened obediently, with your head down. It infuriated me and I have no idea why. But right now you need to listen to me. Be obedient for today, alone." His words made him seem like he cared but his tone made it seem like he was a spoiled angry brat.

Conceding to her fate, she lay down and shut up like a good little wife.

Rosita came in with the items he had asked for, laying a cool rag on Alissa's head.

"You may leave." Elijah dismissed her. How cold could you be to someone who clearly cared more about me than you did, Alissa thought.

"Rosita." She croaked.

Rosita turned, worry burning bright in her almond colored eyes.

"I'm ok. Really."

"I know. I'm just sorry." Confused, Alissa glanced to the woman. Sorry about what? But Elijah gave the maid a look of warning making her rush out of the room.

"Close your eyes and rest." His voice grunted from a chair near the bed.

Alissa did as suggested, not to blindly obey but because she needed to. Her vision had begun to get blurry and her eyelids felt heavy.

As she rested, Elijah watched he chest rise and fall quietly for a moment. He wanted to help her and it aggravated him that he couldn't do anything but sit by and watch. He had hoped that at least his being there might bring her some comfort. This is all he had wished for in the nights when he lay in the dark room as his wounds heal, blood staining the floor as the moon shone in the sticky red pools.

She kicked the blankets off in her sleep, making her nightgown rise up on her thighs. He swallowed the heat he felt at the sight down, squashing it in anger. He got up, silently walked over to the girl and pulled her gown back down, over her legs. He left the blankets off figuring she was burning up, right now. He picked up the cloth off her face and dipped it in the cool water. Reapplying it, he could feel the raw heat coming from her body and worried that she may die. Hazazel had warned him that humans who witnessed the change would think this way. He sat on the bedside near her, as he used another cloth to try and cool her down, trying to make her feel more comfortable.

Her hand lazily glided up, gripping his arm. He looked at her face but she was still asleep, her chest steadily rising and falling with breaths of slumber. He picked her hand up to replace it on the bed but as he did so her nails dug into him.

His mind became a blur as his vision changed. He was no longer in the room, sitting next to her. He was now inside a humble house that looked oddly familiar. He realized then that he had just been here about a week ago. It was Alissa's former home. He went to leave but his hand went straight through the door as if he were a ghost.

Confused, he began to walk through the door when he heard crying. He followed the sound through the home, searching for its source. It sounded like a child's cry. As it became louder he found the girl, knelt on the ground in front of a large man. She must have been about seven. Her bronze hair had fallen into her face as she cried, staring at the ground.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed.

The man who Elijah realized was Alissa's adopted father walked closer to her. This must be young Alissa, then.

"Lay on the ground. If you can't hold you arms steady enough when washing dishes, maybe you shouldn't gave use of it."

The girl jerked her head up, fear dominating her eyes as she choked on her sobs.

"No! Please!" The small frame shook as she begged.

The man pulled Alissa's hair until she fell back against the hard ground.

"Don't make this worse for yourself, girl. Put your arm out or I'll break them both."

Tears rained down her face as she slowly move her arm out from under her. She looked in the opposite direction as a boot came down, crushing her forearm. A scream so shrill Elijah was sure it would break glass pierced his ears as the girl screamed in pain.

Then everything stopped, the sounds, the images, everything flooded away and there he still sat on the bed near her.

He looked up at her and realized she was no longer asleep. Her eyes held so much fear as she stared into his and he wasn't sure if it was because of him or the memory.

"How?"

"What?" Her voice was small with a quiver.

He shook his head. He couldn't ask her such a question. He had wanted to know how she had kept such a fire in her up until recently. How she went through living in that childhood and not winding up like him. Angry at everything.

"Eat some of the soup. I'll return shortly."

In his study, he called Hazazel, hoping he would have the answers.

"How is she?" A tired and cracked voice answer on the other end.

"Sick. But I've called to ask are there mind abilities?"

"Yes, telepathy, controlling another's thoughts, reading another's thoughts. There are many."

"Her hand was in mine and I saw a memory of hers."

"Ah, yes." The old man chuckled through the phone. "Sounds like she'll be able to read minds. You may be immune to being killed by us but you aren't immune to being harmed. Which means she'll most likely be able to read your mind."

Dammit, he thought silently.

"It will have to strengthen as all of her abilities will. She may have more than one. It will start with only working when touching. But as time passes she will be able to hear your thoughts clear as day. You'll have no secrets from her, Elijah. You'll need to reveal all before she finds out in a way she'll never forgive you for."

"Okay. Thank you for the help, Hazazel." Elijah ended the call and headed back to the room where his wife rested. She was his wife. The word sounded strange in his head.

Entering the room he saw her staring at her injure hand, the brace still there.

"What is it?" He asked. Was he concerned? He hadn't felt concern for a very long time. Not since that summer a lifetime ago.

"It doesn't hurt." She looked confused at her hand. She took the brace off and wiggled her fingers around like playing with a marionette puppet. "It's healed. That's strange. The doctor said it would be weeks."

Hearing thoughts and regeneration. She now had two abilities.

"I'm glad." He said, taking her hand in his to examine it.

Time stood still for a fraction of a second. She drew her hand back, shaking. He looked up at her and her brilliant green eyes were glossy with tears.

"Does it hurt again? Why are you crying?" He wished he could make his voice show his concern but all he could hear was anger in his ears.

"Lijah?" She said his name differently this time. Had she remembered? Did she know it was him?

"Yes."

"It's you. The boy with the strawberry blond hair. You're the boy in the garden."

Her tears rained down her face in waves of emotion. He worried for her health. Crying like this in the state she was in couldn't be helpful.

"How did you finally realize?" He asked, confusion in his voice.

"When we touched just now. I saw you as boy. In a dark room. There was blood. I only saw an image but I've never seen that before. I don't remember that happening during the summer." The confusion was overwhelming her. He could tell by the way she began to shake.

"It was my memory." His voice finally held emotion other than anger, hate, and agrivation.

"How did I see that? I don't understand."

"Shh." He tried to console her. "We'll talk when you're well." He stood up from the bed and began walking back to the chair when her hand gripped his arm, frail fingers digging into his flesh.

She stood up, frantically grabbing for him. "What happened to you? What was going on in that room? Is that why you're like this? Angry, rude, and demon like?"

"You need to calm down." He tried so hard to make his tone soothing but it still came out irritated.

"Tell me!" She pleaded before collapsing, nearly hitting her head on the bedside table. He had caught her and could feel the heat from her body in his hands as thought she would burst into flames.

Seeing her like this was bad enough. In two days he would watch her die. He knew she was going to be okay but that didn't change the ache he felt.

"Oh, Lissa. I wish I could be better at this." He set her frail body down on the bed, covering her with a sheet, not knowing whether she was hot or cold.

He dipped the cloth back into the water to cool it off and replaced it on her head. He stared at her for a moment more before retreating back to his chair, gripping the book of fairy tales he had told Rosita to get from Alissa's room. He began to read out loud, unaware of if she could hear or not.

Alissa woke up with a searing pain behind her eyes. Her body felt frozen solid and she wanted blankets but she couldn't move because of the pain in every limb. What was wrong with her? This felt so much worse than a flu or a cold.

Then she heard it. A voice, rich as molasses, telling her of a prince and princess running away together. She wanted to open her eyes to make sure it wasn't a dream but the pain made her afraid. She listened, wanting to melt into his voice even if it was a dream.

"The prince dashed through the forest on his horse with his princess gripping his waist tight to hold on."

She listened as his breath moved in and out of his mouth, his heartbeat slow and steady.

His heartbeat? How could she hear that? But she could. She listened harder to see if she could hear other things.

"Mommy, I want to go see Alissa!" She heard Layla's voice whine somewhere near.

"No, sweetheart. She is ill and with the lord."

"No fair! Why does someone as mean as him get to be with her?"

Alissa smiled through her pain at the little girls voice.

"It's okay Rosita, let her come."

"Rosita isn't in here. She's making dinner." The molasses in his voice had an edge, again and it made her frown.

"Does knowing I'm here make you that upset?"

"No, Lijah. But hearing your voice change from soft to hard does."

"You haven't opened your eyes. Are you alright?"

The pain roared in her ears.

"No. Pain. So much pain."

She heard the chair creaking signaling he must have stood up. She could hear his heartbeat in his chest, no longer slow and steady. It had become erratic.

He took the cloth from her head, rinsing it in cool water and setting it back. It didn't take the pain away but it felt nice.

"I can hear everything."

"What do you mean?" His tone was quizzical like he wasn't surprised at all.

"I hear your heartbeat in your chest. Layla in the kitchen with Rosita says your mean. Samuel is back in the car. I hear the birds outside. There's so many sounds. Its overwhelming and it hurts. What is happening to me?" She was afraid but she wasn't sure of what. She had seen his memories earlier and now she could hear frighteningly far away sounds.

"Don't worry. We will talk once it's over. Is there anything I can do to ease this at all?" His voice had returned to the rich soothing tone he used when he read.

"Use that voice to read to me. It keeps my ears focused on one sound."

He began to read again, soothing her back to sleep. As she began to fall back into oblivion the loud sound of the door banging open startled her and sent a jolt of pain from her head to her spine. Her eyes popped open, increasing the pain ten fold and let out a blood curdling scream.

Elijah startled at the door opening and immediately fell back into the fire filled rage he had worked an hour to dull. Seeing a tiny figure with bouncing curls as the culprit he felt disgusted with himself for nearly wanting to strangle a small child.

Before he could tell Layla to go back to the kitchen he heard a piercing sound that made him feel as though his head was going to pop from pressure.

The door slammed shut, small splinters jetting from the edges. He knelt to the ground in pain as liquid poured from his ears and eyes. Blood began to pool at the ground beneath him. The screaming raged on and he looked up to see Alissa, eyes bulging from her head, veins protruding at her temples, as the sound belted from her lungs.

He crawled over to her, not knowing what to do to make it stop. He pulled her from the bed into his arms as blood continued to poor from his ears. Slowly the screaming grew quiet until all he heard was ringing in his ears from the shrill sound. He looked down at her to see she had fallen asleep.

His blood stopped pouring as he knew it would. She could hurt him, but she couldn't kill him.

He lay her back down on the bed and tried to silently walk out of the room to find Layla. He found her in the den, sitting on the couch in tears with her mom.

"What on earth happened? She said the door was slammed on her." Rosita looked confused as she questioned him.

"Layla didn't close it?"

Layla shook her head as her wet eyes continued to rain drops.

Elijah sat down on the chair that sat to the left of the couch they were sitting on.

"Layla you can't see Alissa for a few days, okay? I know you miss her and I promise you she is going to be okay. But for now, everyone has to stay away from her. I'm sorry this is scaring you but its how it has to be." Rosita tried to make her daughter understand without telling too much.

Layla nodded her head when she finished speaking.

"I'm sorry." She still had tears coming from her eyes but they had slowed and she rubbed her face with her sleeves.

"Sweet heart, could you go to your room for a minute? I'll be right up, I promise." Rosita smiled at her daughter, patting her head for comfort. Layla left, bounding up the stairs to follow Amelia to her room.

"Telekinesis?" Rosita looked down at the floor. Elijah was used to this as no one looked into his eyes save for Alissa.

"Yes. And telepathy, increased hearing, rapid healing, and more may come up. This is only the first day."