Rouge (32 page)

Hunter sat up, shook away
the pain throbbing in her head and swung her legs onto the cool padded floors.
Jack turned and did a double take, his eyes drifting to the melted metal cuffs
and the dying glow of orange light under her skin.

“Wow,” he muttered. “How did
you do that?”

Hunter ignored him. “Can I
have your jacket?”

Jack hurriedly shrugged out
of his loose black hoodie. Hunter shoved it on and tucked all of her hair under
the hood. Joshua said the news crews were everywhere. God only knows how they
were going to get out without anyone seeing.

“They’ll be coming back any
minute now,” said Jack. “So we have to hurry. I know a way out the back.”

“Jack?” She took his hand
and squeezed it. “Thanks.”

Jack blushed redder than her
hair. “It’s nothing. You’d do the same for me.”

Nurses, doctors and patients
alike glanced back at the two of them as they snuck down the busy corridors.
Hunter kept her head down and Jack kept his hand on the small of her back,
guiding her to the stairs. There was no sign of Joshua anywhere.

Once they made it to the
ground floor and skidded through the reception, they headed to the back exit
and snuck into the parking lot. Outside, the weather was cool and humid, the
sun having just vanished for the night. Jack’s jumper was thin and smelled of
junk food.

Hunter had no money for a
taxi, and there was no way she could ask anyone for a ride. People would think
she was crazy.

What the hell am I going
to do now?

“Jack, would I be totally
out of line if I asked for cab money?”

His confused expression
hardened. “Where are you gonna go? Home?”

“No,” she snapped.
Does
he think I’m an idiot?
“I’m going to Eli’s.”

“Oh.” His gaze dropped to
the gum-stained concrete below. “Right, of course. Eli’s.”

“Jack,” she pressed gently,
“is something wrong?”

“No I just… I always knew
there was something special about you. The fire with Miss Smart was proof
enough. Then I saw the news and Eli called earlier-”

Hunter sucked in a breath. “He
called you? Is he okay? Was he mad?”

Jack shrugged again, and
this time she saw the sadness in his expression. “He’s fine. A little shaken
up, but fine. Look... when you’re ready to talk about it and you’re not running
from Joshua or sorting out your boyfriend issues… I’d really love it if you
could tell me about your powers. I’m a massive comic book fan, and to know
someone with actual real powers is… basically the coolest thing that’s ever
happened to me. Only when you’re ready though.”

Jack’s brown eyes were
gleaming with the kind of hope a child has when asking Santa for a Christmas
present. Hunter couldn’t resist nodding. “Sure. Later, I’ll explain everything.
I owe you, remember?”

Jack grinned and walked her
to the roadside. There, he stood by the path and watched her hail a taxi,
waving goodbye. In the passenger seat, Hunter wrapped his jumper tighter over
her chest, gave the driver the address to Eli’s house and prayed that he would
be as understanding as Jack when she begged him to forgive her.

Eli’s magnificent white house looked
utterly terrifying when Hunter climbed out of the taxi that night. Perhaps it
was the thought of actually going inside to face Eli that scared her rather
than the house itself. Nevertheless, a sweat broke out on Hunter’s skin and she
took a few deep breaths before climbing the stairs to the great front doors. It
was unlocked, so she crept inside.

Everything was dark and
empty. As she closed the door behind her, the only sound that met her ears was
her own bare feet padding on the tiles. Then, when she came to the bottom of
the staircase, a beautifully haunting melody met her ears.

Hunter was transfixed. The
music was obviously a violin. Eli’s violin. She climbed the carpeted stairs in
a trance as the eerie music filled her. The fire inside her was lulled back to
the dark place and all her nerves were washed away, as if the music was a wave
of cool air to douse the flames. Hunter didn’t realize she was already at his
door staring in upon the bedroom until the music stopped and Eli turned around.

He stood by the window, his
violin in one hand and bow in the other. His eyes were weary and red. His
flannelette shirt was undone, his blonde curls ruffled. He looked as if he’d
just crawled out of bed.

But the green glow in his
eyes hadn’t changed at all. It was still filled with betrayal and pain and awe
and love all mixed together in a poisonous emotion that struck her like a slap
in the face.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered.
Tears brimmed in her eyes.

Eli let out a sigh, crossed
to the other side of his room and gently placed the violin back on its stand.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he
said in a hard tone. “You should be in hospital resting.”

She could feel the anger
radiating from his body, even though he didn’t shout or glare or throw things
at her. He just looked broken.

“I had to get out of there.
It was like a prison.”

Eli looked up at her and
trapped her in his gaze. “You still have ash in your hair.”

“I…” A sob got stuck in her
throat.

Eli breathed a harsh laugh
and looked up at the ceiling. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Eli-” He stalked past her
into the hallway and she followed him downstairs to the laundry. “Eli, please,
can you just listen to me for a second?”

He ignored her, and she
hated that he didn’t shout. She wanted him to yell everything that was on his
mind because she deserved it. But anger wasn’t one of Eli’s traits. 

“I can explain, can you
just-” She stopped abruptly when Eli appeared with a sheet in his hand. Her
heart shrinking, Hunter stared at the scorched
holes
she’d made a week ago.

“Explain this to me Hunter,”
he said. “Ever since that night I’ve been puzzling over how my bed suddenly
burst on fire in the exact place your hands were, and never had it occurred to
me that-” he shook his head, unable to find words or voice what he was
thinking.

Hunter stepped towards him,
eager to touch him, to wrap her arms around him and ensure him that nothing
about her had changed, that she was still Hunter, but Eli stepped back. It was
as if her whole world shattered. He’d never shied away from her before.

“Eli,” she uttered, a tear
escaping and running down her cheek.

“Hunter…” he whispered,
“what
are
you?”

She choked on a sob, feeling
as though he’d just stabbed her in the chest. “I’m me!” she urged. “I’m Hunter,
I haven’t changed at all!”

“How can you walk through
fire then, huh? Don’t give me that look Hunter, I’m not stupid. How many girls
have hair as red as yours? How many go running into burning buildings and come
out with an injured girl draped across their shoulder?”

“Eli-”

He strode past her and
climbed the stairs again. She ran after him, wishing he would stop moving, but
Eli seemed determined not to remain still. He whirled in the middle of his room
and she halted in the doorway.

“You rescued Miss Smart from
that fire, didn’t you?”

She nodded.

“You set this on fire,
didn’t you?” He threw the sheet on the ground beside his bed.

Tell him the truth
Hunter. He already knows.

“Yes.”

Eli sat down on the edge of his
bed and put his head in his hands. “I can’t process this... it’s just too
much.”

“Then take time,” she urged,
even though she wished she could explain everything, even though she knew she
couldn’t be patient any longer. “Take all the time you want, just know-” she
bravely stepped closer to him until they were a foot apart, “-that I did it to
keep you safe, to protect you.”

Eli looked up from the floor
into her eyes and shook his head. “Don’t say that Hunter, it’s so cliché. You
kept it from me because I’m a liability, a nobody.”

Hunter backed away suddenly.
“
Wh
-what? Eli you’re not a
nobody,
you’re the
best thing that’s ever happened to me!”

“Then why don’t you trust
me?!” He leapt suddenly to his feet, anger flooding out of him as if he’d tried
all along to keep it inside. Hunter stood frozen in shock, wishing she could
erase time and end this before it started. “How could you keep something like
this from me? Is it because I don’t have superpowers? Is it because I can’t
compare
to you?”

“Eli please, stop saying
things you don’t understand-”

“Oh, right, because I don’t
know what it’s like to be different.” He laughed bitterly, his eyes were
burning with hurt. “I knew it, I knew this wouldn’t work.” He looked her up and
down, almost in disgust. “I’m just a geeky freedom-fighter, and you’re… you’re
so beautiful and unique and special. Why would someone like you want to be with
someone so normal and insignificant as me?”

“Eli,” Hunter began,
swallowing more tears in order to get this out. “I d-didn’t tell you about what
I can do for a whole lot of reasons, m-most of which involved locking me up in
an institution or something stupid like what happens in the movies... but most
of all, it was because I thought that you would see me differently… as some
sort of freak or something.”

Eli sat down against his
wall, staring at the carpet beside him. Hunter sat herself gingerly down on the
edge of the bed, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

They were silent for a long
time. Eli looked everywhere but directly at her. Hunter’s foot tapped on the
soft carpet, thudding like the fast-paced beating of her heart.

“Say something,” she said in
a quiet, hollow voice.

Eli sighed. “Of course I see
you differently Hunter. You can make fire shoot out of your hands, you can walk
through flames without getting burnt and God knows what else. You’re now
this... this
amazing
person with impossible powers that I can’t compare
to anymore. I’m just a normal guy. Why would you want to be with someone like
me?”

“Eli.” She stood and knelt
down in front of him. A shaky hand reached up to rest against his cheek. The
touch was electric. “Why
wouldn’t
I want to be with someone like you? Do
you honestly think that I have spent so long getting to know you, falling
in
love
with you, because you have superpowers? Eli if that’s what I wanted,
I’d still be waiting for Superman. I want
you.
No one else.” Eli’s eyes
were sparkling behind his glasses, glimmering with innocence again. He wasn’t
angry anymore. “You make me feel normal Eli. When I’m around you, I forget my
weaknesses. I forget the terrible things in my past or what I fear is coming.
When I’m with you I have control over this… this burning desire within me that
always threatens to explode. When I’m with you, there’s hope for me.”

Eli brushed a red curl out
of her eyes and smiled. His fingers left a line of tingling sensations as he
ran them down her chin and behind her ear and neck, exploring her as though she
were a brand new person.

“It’s going to take me a while
to get used to this,” he whispered, and Hunter opened her eyes that were closed
at his gentle touch.

“I understand.”

“But I still can’t be
without you. My feelings haven’t changed.”

Hunter’s entire body filled
with warmth.
He’s forgiven me.
She reached up and placed her hand behind
his neck, drawing his lips to hers. It was more than enough time to back out,
but Eli didn’t resist. He put his hands around her waist and forced her onto
his lap where she sat comfortably and kissed him. That kiss sparked fresh
memories of the intimate feelings they shared with each other. It was the
beginning of a new level in their relationship. Finally, all secrets were out
and Hunter didn’t feel the need to hide anything from him anymore.

She couldn’t believe how
lucky she was to have someone so forgiving and so loving. After everything that
had happened - Miss Smart’s death, Joshua’s promise to keep her prisoner for
the remainder of her life and then the pain of feeling like she’d lost Eli - it
was as though a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Relief could
not even describe the feeling of knowing that Eli had forgiven her, that they
were past all the drama she’d feared for so long. In just a night, they were
whole again. It was everything she’d dreamed of.

“Well I don’t know about
you,” said Eli. “But I think I need a drink.”

“That sounds like the best
idea I’ve ever heard.”

The empty house welcomed she and Eli. As
the two of them ran downstairs, Hunter tried to relax and forget their fight.
She tried to forget Joshua’s betrayal and even the fact that the world was
starting to discover her secret. She let go of everything to enjoy a peaceful
night with the man she loved, for as long as it would last.