The Pendant

With Ken out of commission for the last leg of the trip, James had switched from working the day shift on the boat to the evening/night shift. The transition had not been that hard. The cargo area below the deck was very dark and he had no problem sleeping during the day. Working nights also meant more time with Jade.

He could not even start to understand what it is like to be her. He did not know if he really wanted to. Her un-life had been nothing but pain and struggling. Then the one thing in her un-life that brought her happiness and pleasure was ripped away from her a week ago. Yet here she was on a boat in the middle of the ocean heading off to save a world that had been so cruel to her.

“Would you please stop thinking so loud, it’s keeping me up.”

“Sorry. I can’t turn my brain off.”

“I can tell.” Jade rolled onto her side and glanced at the man before closing her eyes again.

James sighed then rolled then sighed again then rolled again. Jade jumped up from her spot and glared at him. She reached down and grabbed her duster that she had been using as a pillow. She walked past James heading for the other end of cargo hold.

“Jade can I ask you something?”

“What?” She stopped, slowly turned, and looked at him before sitting down next to him.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you putting yourself at risk to save people that you don’t even know?”

Jade sat quietly for a while thinking of the answer. There had been a time when she had not wanted to save herself, let alone the world. She had hated herself. She had been so lost and so confused that her entire existence seemed like it did not matter. She had thought about ending her own life taking what she had and throwing it away. The pain of knowing that she was lost without any sort of direction had brought her nothing but utter blackness. Her soul was cold and her heart refused to bring it any warmth at all. To her the joys of life were nothing but emptiness. But that had all changed.

¥

He walked into the class a few minutes late and he said hello to the teacher. His blue eyes standing out against his brown hair and he had the most unbelievable sideburns she had ever seen. His body build was thick but he lacked the typical flab of the body type. His voice was almost as amazing as his sideburns. It had a slight country twang to it but it was filled with a youthfulness that was generally reserved for those who still lacked a greater understanding of the world. He seemed to be to pretty to be even attended college let alone a class on the psychological and neurological understanding of schizophrenia.

He scanned the room and smiled in her direction. A deep flush danced on her cheeks when she realized she had been caught staring. She quickly adverted her eyes to the suddenly very interesting blank notebook paper in front of her. She heard the chair next to her move and felt him sit now.

“Hey, I’m Chris.” He extended his hand to her. When she finally looked up he have her a lopsided grin.

“Purity, nice to meet you.” She took his and she realized that he was worth living for.

¥

“I’m doing this for Chris.”

“That’s the man from your apartment right?”

“Yes.”

“You loved him didn’t you?”

“I did but that didn’t matter. He was leaving me.” Jade growled her eyes flashed red before settling in to her human features.

“What?”

“He said he was going to go to Nashville with his band and he would be gone by the time I got back.”

“That’s not really leaving you, that’s doing his job.”

“You don’t understand. There was sadness in his eyes and tone of his voice. I think for the first time since this happened he realized that last night he was alive that no matter how much you love someone it does not always make the life you are living ok. He may have been going to Nashville this time but sooner or later that nagging feeling in his gut would have won. I could smell the confusion on him and I could smell the relief when I told him to find a girlfriend with a pulse. I know he loved me, he loved me more than life itself which is a good thing since I’m dead.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“For everything that has happened I guess.”

“Well you didn’t kill him. Why are you here?”

“Well it was go on this trip or go to jail.”

“Those are two pretty good options I guess. If you don’t mind what did you do?”

“I killed something. I was walking back to my tent after a dig and I heard something in the bushes. I started to silently curse myself because I had to be the last one at the site and I had to try and figure out the hieroglyphics in the temple instead of taking pictures and working on them from my tent. So that left me alone in the jungle at night. I pulled my machete and slowed my pace trying to make as little noise as possible. I must have been spooked from the day because when the thing jumped out at me I could have sworn it wasn’t human.”

“What was it?”

“I’m not sure it had thick brows with scales and yellow eyes, not normal yellow that could you know be seen as hazel but yellow like neon or like a bright gold. It looked like a big frigging snake with legs and arms. It looked like a Naga. I panicked and stabbed it. I must have stabbed it a few times because once the panic wore off I was covered in blood and the Naga was pretty mangled. I ran to the camp and called to the workers to come look and when we got there the body was human. It changed the Naga looked like a man.”

“I’m assuming that didn’t go over real well with the camp?”

“No they had me arrested. I mean could you blame them? I killed a man and to this day I swear I thought it was a Naga.”

“I’m learning more and more that the stranger something is the more likely it is true.”

“Yeah. Well I knew my career was over. No one is going to fund an archaeologist who specialized in demonology and kills people on the side. So I was sitting in my cell really just hoping they would hang me or something and get it over with when Liam comes by. He made me a deal. Said he would clear my record and my name if I went on a mission to find the Necklace of Aello. He said I would find my company to be very interesting and that it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss. He was right as it turns out.”

“So what am I going to end up the topic of your next thesis or whatever?”

“No but you are interesting. There is enough stuff out here that I can write about to keep me happy for years. And if this necklace really exists can you imagine the possibilities? How many truths this would uncover just by holding this necklace it would prove the existence of the Harpies and it would prove the existence of the Old Ones and the list would just keep going!”

“Settle down killer. I don’t know that I really want to find this piece of junk. I mean if it’s real it could mean the end of the world as we know it and it will have to be destroyed. Sorry to ruining your wet dream over there but you and I both know that is what has to be done.”

“I know but I can dream can’t I?”

“You know that is a really good idea. Go run along to dream land. We have to get up soon.”

Jade slid down on the hard floor and closed her eyes. She could feel sleep tugging at the ends of her mind tempting her to come and play. She took a deep unneeded breath in and relaxed her body. She listened to James for a while. She did not want to get comfortable until she was sure he was asleep. Moments later she heard his breathing even out and his heartbeat slowed. She knew sleep finally claimed him. She could feel herself slip into the nothingness of sleep when James shifted. His arm flung over her small waist. Her eyes shot open and she stared at his arm.

Light brown hairs covered his muscular forearm answering the question of his hair color. She quietly snorted to herself; she couldn’t wait until her teammate realized there was no hair dye in the bags of supplies. He had thin yet masculine hands. His fingers had dirt under the nails and calluses all over the fleshy palms. You could see the veins and muscles in his hands.

Her mind focused on the body that was laying flush with hers. She could feel the light breath of sleep on the back of her neck. She could feel him pulling her closer like a child pulls a security blanket close for slumber. The tighter against his body she became the more she could feel the well toned body of the man behind her. His thin frame was well build. His body seemed to be chiseled from marble. There was not an inch of him she could feel that was not solid with the compact muscular design of a man not afraid to work. He had the body of a cyclist or a swimmer, it was such a sharp contradiction to Chris’s thick frame and yet even with the memory of his death Jade felt more at home in James’s tight embrace than she had in Chris’s.

She quickly pushed that thought from her mind. It was too soon to feel for this man. She felt guilty and sick for turning away from Chris. She had just lost him how could she allow herself to feel anything for James when Chris was the one that had saved her in the first place. Chris had kept saving her and now she felt like she was cheating on him.

She took several deep breaths trying to calm herself. If she had a heart beat it would have shattered her rib cage the thoughts of James. She could feel James rub his cheek against the cool skin of her neck and shiver.

She slipped from his arms, grabbed her coat, and walked silently to the other side of the cargo hold. Jade sat cross-legged and closed her eyes. It was time for her to send her praise to Gaia. This was going to be a long trip if Gaia did not find it in her to help Jade restrain from such hurtful thoughts betrayal. She needed to ask forgiveness and strength and hoped that her Goddess had not turned on her since her change.

Up until now she had been too scared to speak to her Goddess. She was not a human anymore and lacked many of the qualities that made her a demon. She was not sure she understood where she fit in this world and the next. She had turned her back on her loving Goddess when she had been changed and now after all of this time she wanted so badly to ask for her Goddess’s help. She took several calming breaths. She forced all thoughts from her mind and focused only on her blessed mother.

“Blessed Mother Gaia I am your wayward daughter and I call to you. I beg you for forgiveness. I turned my back on you when you were the only one who reached out for me. Please Guide me Blessed Mother Gaia for I am lost, my path unclear. Please hold me for I am afraid. I ask that you teach me kindness and how to love myself. Help me to see through the fog that has become my life and to understand that with time my wounds will heal. Please fill me with your silence when I am struggling to be patient. Show me how to live with compassion and forgiveness when they are the furthest from my reach. Blessed Mother Gaia please acknowledge me when the world has turned from its misbegotten child. This is my plea to you Blessed Mother and as you will it so shall it be.”

Jade hoped that her plea was heard, her life was spiraling out of control and she knew that. She could feel her humanity slipping. Her demon was become harder to suppress with each passing day. She hoped she could find away to bring her life together before she was too far gone to care. The one thing she feared most was happening and she did not know how much longer she had.

*A/N Thank you for all of you who are still sticking with me on this. Please feel free to review the story and tell me what you think. It helps me grow as a writer*