Erin The Fire Goddess: The Beginning (10 page)

"
Then I saw you that day........... Murdering that orange." We both laughed. Then he stopped, turning serious once again, "You took my breath away."”

I pondered this for a moment, continuing to trace the lines of water on his chest.

"Are you happy?" I suddenly asked thoughtfully, and before I knew it, he had pulled me further up his body, so our lips were nearly touching.

"
I am now.” He smiled, raising his head to kiss me.

We eventually came up for air, as he reached his hand to stroke my cheek.

"Fancy a drink?”

I nodded as he pulled me up and led me to the kitchen.

The kitchen was lovely, all oak cabinets with a breakfast bar and an oak table, which held a bowl of fruit in the centre. On one wall there were sliding doors that led into a conservatory and beyond that was the garden, which looked the size of a football pitch.

Whilst Sean went to pull out two glasses, I sat down at the breakfast bar.

Whilst I sat looking outside, Sean pulled out a carton of pure orange juice from the fridge.

"
Orange okay?" I turned to look at him as he raised the carton.

"
Yes, that fine!” I smiled, as I looked down at my hands, then back up to him, as he handed me my glass. “What do your parents do?” I asked as I moved the glass around in my hands before taking a drink.

"
You know Peak Physique?” He asked as he took a mouthful of orange juice, and then turned to put the carton back in the fridge.

"
That's the gym on Main Street, right?” He nodded as he leant on the other side of the breakfast bar, in front of me.

"
My parents own that.” He smiled at the shock in my face. “My mum does all the accountancy side and deals with the memberships. My dad does everything else, and me and Kelly help out after school and weekends.” He finished his drink and went to put it in the dishwasher.

"Wow!” I was lost for words, I finished my drink. He shrugged and laughed as he took my glass. “"Explains why you're so sporty."” Which made him laugh more.

"
Having a gym does have its advantages. I get free membership for a start.” He went back to leaning in front of me. This time he reached out to hold my hands. Probably to stop me from fidgeting, as now I didn't have a glass to play with. “I'll give you a tour if you like?” I nodded at this offer.

“Sure, visiting a gym wasn't something I would normally do, or ever have done, and if he'd asked Kasey-Ray, she would have probably bitten his arm off in acceptance.

"My dad would like to open another gym." He told me thoughtfully. “"And he would like me to run one of them."

"
What would you like to do?” I asked with interest.

He didn
't answer me straight away. He moved round to where I sat and put his arms around me.

"
I'm still undecided!” He leaned down to kiss me. Nearly distracting me from what we were talking about. "I'm studying sport's science. Something I applied for before I realised what I was.” We both laughed at this. It did sound odd. “"I still do like sports and keeping fit, but my heart isn't in it like it used to be.” He looked past me, like his mind was wondering off to another world.

"
Where is your heart?” My voice trembled, both at the thought of his heart and the fact I was having such an intimate conversation with this gorgeous boy. To me he was more of a man than a boy; he acted a lot older than all the 17 year old boys I'd seen.

He turned back to me and smiled at me for a
while, and then he raised his hand and stroked my cheek.

"I don't know.” He shook his head and looked away again. “All my life I wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps. But when things changed, I was left feeling incomplete, like something was missing, like I had a bigger purpose in life. Does that sound wrong?” He turned to look at me for reassurance.

"
No,” I barely got out. He leaned down to kiss me again.

"
Only one thing has become clearer though!" I looked at him puzzled, making him smile and kiss me. “I don't feel like there's something missing anymore."” He laughed this time as I still looked at him in bewilderment, unsure by what he was meaning. “I found you!” He said each word clearly as he slowly started kissing me again, this time more passionately, and when he pulled away something caught his eye.

"
Damn, we better get going.” I followed his gaze and realised he was looking at the clock. "We'll take my car.” He told me as I watched him longingly, as he pulled his t-shirt on. He laughed as he caught me looking, making me turn deep red as I looked away.

"
Don't be embarrassed." He had stopped laughing as he pulled me off the stool and into his arms. “I like it when you look at me like that.” My head was buried in his chest, not wanting to show my face. "It's nice to know that you feel the same way for me, as I feel for you.”

I felt like I was dying here from embarrassment, then he comes out with a comment like that. I didn
't think it was funny to joke like that. There was no way on earth that he could feel for me as I felt for him.

He bent his head down as he cupped my chin and slightly stepped away so I couldn
't bury my face.

"
Don't you believe me?” He sounded hurt. I slowly shook my head as I bit my lip, guilty for causing the pain in those beautiful eyes. “Then I'll just have to prove it to you.” He kissed me again, pulling me close to his body. “Come on we better go.” He said as he still had a tight hold of me, and he kept me there for a few more minutes, as he rested his head on the top of mine. Then he leant down and kissed me again, but this time when he pulled away he took my hand and walked me outside, grabbing his car keys on the way.

We eventually got back to the cottage, just after 4pm. My mum was busy in the kitchen, making dinner. Whatever it was, it smelt delicious. I stayed in the kitchen to help her, whilst Sean went into the other room.

As I was laying the table something dawned on me
, “Kasey-Ray!” I said out loud, freezing where I stood.

My mum looked over, understanding exactly what I meant.

"No, she doesn't know.” She turned back to the pot. "And no, we have no idea if she has any gifts. We are hoping it may pass her by.”

I nodded at this thoughtfully.

"When is she coming home? Is she coming here?"

"
Your dad's going to collect her just before Dr Hammersmith gets here, but he's taking her home first, to pack an overnight bag."

"
How are we going to explain why we are here?" I finished laying the table and went to stand next to her.

"
Not sure yet, but I'm sure she'll be more preoccupied with you and Sean.” She laughed warmly, making me blush.

She carried on cooking, as I went into the other room. I walked up to the sofa, where Sean sat and leaned down to slide my hands down his chest.

"Hey you!” I whispered in his ear, as I kissed his cheek.

He smiled happily as he placed a hand on mine and the other he stretched up to slide his fingers through my hair and kiss me tenderly on the lips.

At 7pm sharp, there was a knock on the door. I was cuddled on the sofa with Sean, with one hand running though his hair. I paused as a tall man with long grey hair, tied into a pony-tail, wearing a grey suit and carrying a briefcase, stepped into the middle of the room and stared at me carefully. A slow smile spread across his face as he reached over to shake my free hand.

"
You must be Erin!"” It wasn't a question and he went to sit down in the arm chair, next to the fire, without taking his eyes off me. “"I've waited a long time to finally meet you!" He saw my puzzled expression and raised his hands up, as he placed his briefcase at his feet. “All in good time."

He slowly looked at Sean, then back to me.

"It's wonderful that you two have finally found each other."”

Sean moved uneasily in his seat and pulled me closer to him, protectively.

"It's okay, I'm not going to run any tests today." I looked at Sean and back to Dr Hammersmith, who eventually turned to look at me. "We will be running tests on you, like Sean said."
I hadn't heard Sean speak
, I thought, making Dr Hammersmith laugh.

He composed himself before continuing
. "I'll need to test your strength. Your powers, so to speak.”

I didn
't like the sound of that, and feeling my unease, Sean reached up to gently stroke my left cheek.

Ignoring my unease, Dr Hammersmith continued to talk.

"Every century, one force dies and takes hold in another vessel, – body." His face was very serious as he leaned forward “"The day that each of Sean's great grandparents died, you were both born, possessing their unique gifts.”

Sean looked at me and I could tell he didn
't realise this. He had told me that he had never gotten the chance to meet his great grandfather, as he had died when he was a baby, and his great grandmother had died a couple of years after. I could see the pain in his eyes as the velocity of this hit him and now we were being told that I was born on the day his great grandmother died. Bittersweet.

We looked at each other, and it was my turn to stroke his face. His eyes closed, as he placed my hand over his mouth to kiss it.

Dr Hammersmith was still talking. I'd heard him mention something about only children who were descendants of Galladale can possess the powers, and they all end up returning, which made me think of my parents.

"
You will find it hard communicating with regular people from now on.”

I laughed as soon as he said this. I
'd always found it hard to communicate with regular people.

Then what he said next stopped me in my tracks.

"Especially now there are eight of you and in time there will be more.”

"
Eight?” I said out loud.

This time Dr Hammersmith was the one who looked puzzled.

“Yes Eight." He thought for a moment, as if he were counting. “You, Sean, Kate, John, Justin, Paul, James and Kelly. Yes that's definitely Eight.”

I looked at Sean, who sheepishly looked away.

“Ahhhh” Dr Hammersmith said, with understanding. “No one has told you about the other four and their powers.” He chuckled to himself. “Let me briefly explain.” he said, looking at his watch, “Paul and James are magnets, north and south, so to speak. Kelly is..... Hmmmm, how can I say this? She is an EMP. Electrical magnetic pulse, and she is the glue that holds Paul and James together. Very special and powerful force them three.” He smiled to himself, as he thought about them. “"Justin is a trainer, and well you know what your parents are."

"
Trainer?" I wanted to know what a trainer was, but Dr Hammersmith was ignoring me, and rooting in his briefcase.

“I would like to see you both next week
.” He told us and he pulled something from his briefcase. “Here is your I.D card, to get in.” He handed me a plastic card with my name on. Then he closed his briefcase and stood up. “"I look forward to seeing you both.” Then he was gone.

I sat there for a few minutes, staring after him, as I tried to get my head around what had just been said. I was about to turn and ask Sean when Kasey-
Ray came bounding in.

“Well ain
't this a quaint place!” She grimaced, as she fell back on the sofa, next to me.

I did
n't speak, but watched her carefully as she lay there with her eyes closed.

Slowly, she opened one eye
to look at me, then the other as she spotted Sean's arm around me, and slowly she sat up to look at Sean.

“Hey I know you,
don’t I?” She asked as she looked from his face, to mine, and then back to his, “Jacko isn’t it?"

Sean smiled and
nodded, "That's right!"

“Sean, his name is Sean
.” I corrected her.

“Touchy
.” She laughed and raised her eyebrows at Sean. “So what are you doing here?”

Anger slowly started to build up inside me. Sensing this, Sean looked at Kasey-
Ray and squeezed my hand.

“Cos I'm in love with your sister!” I froze.
We were still on day one. How could he love me?
Of course I felt like I was in love with him too. I'd never felt like this about anyone before.

I hadn
't realised they were both watching me. Had they asked me something?

“Well?
" Kasey-Ray pressed.

“Sorry what?” I shook my head and looked at my sister. She sighed and shook her head.

“Do you love him?” She pointed from me to Sean. “Duh!"

I looked at Sean, who was staring intently into my eyes, like I had his heart in my hands and I could squash it at any time.

I nodded and touched his face, “Yes!"

The relief in his face was unreal. I am sure that, one day, I would get my head around how this beautiful person could love me so much. But I doubted that.

I was still smiling when he kissed me. When he pulled away he sat there staring into my eyes, as Kasey-Ray started talking about her date.

Apparently, everything had gone well, but she wasn
't sure if she was into him as much as she thought.

“Anyway,
where are the bedrooms in this place?”

That night I shared a double bed with Kasey-Ray, whilst Sean stayed in one of the single beds, on the side of the room where I was.

After Kasey-
Ray had talked my ears off, I rolled over to face Sean, as he lay there watching me.

He reached over to hold one of my hands, and we stayed like that until we fell asleep.

The sun was shining brightly, pulling me from my sleep. I was lying on my back, staring at the ceiling when someone's arms smacked across my face.

“Ow
,” I cried in pain, pushing my sister's arm back, which didn't even wake her. I sat up and looked around the room and at the empty bed, where Sean had slept.

I walked sleepily out of the room, and after a detour to the bathroom, I trudged to the kitchen, where I had heard voices coming from.

Sean, who was sat eating a bowl of cereal, looked up when I got to the doorway. He smiled and reached out to pull me onto his lap, and after a quick kiss he continued eating, even offering me a bite.

“We
're going to head home after lunch." My mum said, without looking up from her own breakfast.

“Okay
!” I nodded, as I slid off Sean's lap to go make myself some toast.

After lunch, Kasey-Ray, my mum and I climbed into my parent's car, as my dad went to make sure that everything was locked up.

Sean was at my window, stroking my face.

“I'll pop over after dinner, if that’s okay?” He leaned over and kissed me. I just nodded.

We hadn
't been apart for the whole two days and I felt like my heart was being pulled out. I didn't want to feel needy or clingy. I just wanted him to be there when I got home.

He stood staring after me as we pulled away.

***

It was only a few hours, but time seemed to drag. I stayed in my room the whole time, sitting on my window seat, staring out of the window waiting for him. I didn't eat my dinner, even when my dad brought it up to me. He had told me that he was keeping Kasey-Ray out of my room, in case I set her on fire. This made me laugh.

At 5:58pm, I saw his orange Ford Focus ST, pull into the drive and I almost flew down the stairs and into his arms. I smothered him in kisses, making him laugh as he kissed me back, whilst keeping a tight grip of me.

“You want to go grab something to eat?” He pointed at his car. I wasn't sure if my stomach rumbling had given me away or not.

“Uh
-huh” I happily said, as he carried me round to the passenger seat. I wasn't sure where he was taking me, but as long as I was with him, I didn't care.

I didn
't have to wait long to find out, as we pulled into the car park at his family's gym.

“I thought we were going for something to eat?” I asked puzzled.

“We are.” He laughed as he climbed out the car and came round to hold my hand. “I thought we could eat here.” I raised one eyebrow at him.
Was there something he wasn't telling me?
“We have a nice little cafe here you know!” He smiled as he led the way.
Ahhh well that would explain it
. “Also, I thought you could meet my parents." I stopped dead, panic spreading across my face. “They don't bite." He tried to assure me, as he stepped in front of me to stroke my face.

“I couldn
't find the right words to say, but before I could he was already talking.

“They know everything, and they
've wanted to meet you for a long time."”

“But..."

“But
nothing.” He ran his fingers across my lips. I was so scared.
What if they didn't like me? What if they took one look at my birthmark and were repulsed by me and wondered what their son saw in someone like me?
I could feel the panic rising even more at all the questions that were spinning around my head.

“Come on
, for me please?” He leaned down to kiss me softly. “I promise everything will be fine.” How could I refuse him? I sighed as I pulled away, and looked at him seriously.

“I am only doing this cos you asked me to
!" A huge smile crossed his face as he took my hand again. Taking a deep breath I let him guide me into the building.

“Hi Samantha
.” He smiled and nodded at the girl at the reception desk.

“Hi S
ean." She giggled. Even the way she said it she oozed, 'I want you', out of every pore, making me want to slap her, as I moved to grab his hand, I was already holding, with my other.

“My mum in the office?
" He asked, not stopping as he walked past.

“Yes
, she sure is.” I couldn't blame her for acting that way, I probably would be too, or probably was and didn't realise it, but didn't she see me holding his hand? Probably not either, I was just some plain Jane, who she probably thought was lost and he was helping me out.

She was attractive. Her brown hair was tied in a neat ponytail, her make up perfectly applied, and her body did look amazing, even in the tracksuit she was wearing.

She'd probably thrown herself at him many times and he had probably even dated her. I shivered at this thought, trying to shake it out of my head