The Mouse and The Wolf - Chapter 46: Chapter 46

-Oliver-
"Okay, ask away."
I stared at Jaden for a moment, trying to choose where to start. We were sitting on the couch, at opposite ends, sitting sideways so we could talk face-to-face. I had a thick blanket around my shoulders and an empty cup in my hands. The hot chocolate really did the trick, and I was feeling much better now. Arch was sleeping in the bedroom with Tilly taking care of him, and Aurora was in her wolf form, lying on the ground in the middle of the house, keeping guard.
"Okay," I finally said and put the cup away, pulling the blanket tighter around my shoulders. "I'm a... Spirit Walker," I said, and he nodded. "I can see spirits and talk to them and... travel into their realm."
"Yes, that is correct," he said stiffly.
"Is it like an ability or...?" I trailed off.
"It's a race," Jaden said. "You're not human."
"But you said I am human. One hundred percent," I frowned.
"Well... It's because you technically are," he said with a short chuckle. "I mean... uhh... Arch would be better at explaining this, but... You are like an advanced version of human. The basics are the same, but there's differences in minor details, like you guys are pretty short."
"And I can phase out of this realm," I said.
"And that," he smirked.
"So why not just call it an ability? A human with an ability to see spirits."
He grimaced at my words. "Don't say that out loud when your people are around."
"Why not?" I laughed.
"You saw the old guy when I called him a dwarf," he smirked. "Besides, like I said, the basics may be the same, but you're too different to be called a human."
"All right," I nodded. "There's still so much I don't understand..."
"We have time," Jaden said quietly.
"Okay so... There's Spirit Walkers, and Shadow Walkers," I paused for a moment, and Jaden nodded. "Shadow Walkers used to be Spirit Walkers, but they turned bad. Can I turn bad?"
"Do you want to turn bad?" he laughed. "No, I don't think you can."
"Why not?"
Jaden's laughter died away, and he took a deep breath. "From what I've understood, shadows are hard to control. Shadows – or wraiths as some people call them – used to be spirits. Bad spirits. When they were still alive, they were horrible people. They enjoyed causing pain and misery. When a person like that dies, and his spirit stays in this realm, it turns into a shadow, gathering all the negativity and evilness around the world. Most of them can't be controlled at all, and some will only make deals with Shadow Walkers in order to gain what they want."
"And what do shadows want?" I asked.
"Death," he said quietly. "Death and destruction. They want to see this world burn."
"I see..." I muttered, feeling chills going down my spine.
"They are the manifestation of the evil side of humans," Jaden added. "That's why a good person like you could never control them."
I nodded slowly. "How do I control spirits?" I asked. "I have never done anything like that before."
"I think all you have to do is ask," Jaden shrugged. "They like helping out."
"Ask?" I repeated, looking around in the room. "Like how?"
"Just call them," he said.
"Okay... uh... spirits?" I said timidly.
"Not all of them!" Jaden hurried to say, but it was too late.
The house was suddenly filled with spirits. I could only stare at the hundreds of blue lights around me. They all seemed to wait for me to speak.
"That went well," Jaden chuckled.
"Can you see them?" I asked. I couldn't see him behind the sea of blue light.
"No, but I can feel them," Jaden spoke. "You really went and summoned them all."
"I didn't mean to," I said apologetically. "Uhm... Spirits? You can go back now. I'm sorry I wasted your time... I just wanted to see what would happen – I'm... I'm new," I added the last part in hopes they would understand. "Sorry!"
Once the house was empty of spirits, I turned to look at Jaden again. He had an amused gleam in his eyes when he watched me. I started to feel a bit shy under his eyes, but I had to admit that I... I liked being watched by him.
"So... you said you're not completely straight," I spoke, trying not to sound too awkward. Sadly, I had completely forgotten that we weren't the only living beings in the house. Aurora lifted her head and turned to look at us, and a second later, I saw her daughter peeking her head out of the bedroom.
"Yes, I'm not completely straight," Jaden spoke loudly and squinted his eyes first at Tilly, then at Aurora, and they both turned their heads away.
"Sorry..." I muttered.
Jaden let out a deep breath, and shook his head. "There's no need for that. I never really thought about it, until... Well, until I was forced to think about it."
"Forced...?" I repeated and looked down.
I heard him sigh again, and the couch shifted when he moved closer to me.
"Oliver..." he breathed out quietly, and I looked up at him. "I'm sorry about everything. I didn't want to make things worse for you. I just..."
I waited patiently while he was recollecting his thoughts. I leaned against the backrest and rested my arm on top of it, and he turned to look at my hand. A short moment later, he leaned against the backrest as well, and touched my hand lightly with his fingertips.
"My father... He was a human when he met my mother," he spoke, tracing his finger across my hand slowly. "He said he had never met a girl more beautiful than her. He watched her from afar, trying to build up the courage to ask her out for weeks. Long story short, it took them two months to find out he was her mate. Their eyes never met, you see. Not until he finally went to talk to her."
"That sounds romantic," I told him.
"Yeah... I guess... I wanted to have that," he said slowly. "I wanted to find my mate on my own."
"I understand," I said, and gave him a smile when he looked at me. "I understand perfectly."
He looked at our hands again and rested his on top of my own. "But I may have been just a stubborn idiot."
"Don't say that," I said. "We all have the right to choose for ourselves."
A crooked smile appeared on his lips. "You're nothing like I thought you'd be."
"Is that a good thing?" I asked.
"Yeah, definitely," he muttered. "It's so easy to be around you, and..." he trailed off and his cheeks turned slightly red.
"What?" I asked, leaning closer to him, but when he didn't continue, I backed away. "It's fine, you don't have to tell me," I said as reassuringly as I could.
He chuckled shortly. "Now that you said that, I really want to tell you."
"Really?" I asked, and he shrugged. "Why?"
"I'm not telling you my secrets!" he said with a dramatic snort.
"Okay," I said, and he squinted his eyes at me.
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Making me want to talk," he said, looking at me like I was doing something suspicious.
"I... didn't want to make you want to talk," I said in amusement.
"But you are."
"I am truly sorry about it."
"...no, you're not."
"Yes, I am," I said, trying so hard not to start laughing. "And you're weird."
"Is that a good thing?" he asked.
"Yes, definitely," I said, and looked at our hands. His was still resting on top of mine on the backrest. "You have warm hands," I noted quietly.
"Yours are just cold," he said, and wrapped his fingers around mine.
I didn't say anything. It felt wrong to break the silence between us. It was so comfortable when he was sitting right in front of me, our knees almost touching. We stayed like that for a long time without saying a word, and I enjoyed it very much.
"There's... something about you..." he muttered, and I didn't even flinch while waiting for him to continue. "It makes me calm," he finally said. "That's what I wanted to say."
"I feel strong when you're around," I told him. "And safe."
He looked at me in the eyes, and I saw sadness on his face. "I wish you weren't dragged into this. Jack, or whoever it is who's pulling the strings, is after me. They attacked you because of me."
"It'll be over soon," I said sternly. "Your father and Mrs. Bundt... Natalie... they will deal with them. Then everything can go back to normal."
"No. Not to normal," Jaden said. "You belong with us now. I'm making sure no one will hurt you ever again."
I suddenly felt warm and bubbly inside, and I couldn't stop myself from smiling. "I'd like that," I said quietly.
"Then so be it," he said. "But there is something I want you to understand. The people in this town think we're some kind of mafia or something, so it will be harder for you to interact with them. They might even spread bad rumors about you, like they do about us."
"Last time I checked, no one was willing to talk with me anyway," I said. "Although it seems to have something to do with me not actually being there so they could talk to me."
He laughed at my words, but quickly bit his tongue. "Sorry – I shouldn't have laughed..."
"Don't worry, I think it's funny as well," I smirked. "I just have no idea how I did it without noticing. The whole thing sounds so ridiculous... I mean... How did no one notice me disappearing into thin air? And how is it possible I didn't notice I was being invisible?"
"Sorry, I don't know the answer for that. Maybe it was just coincidence that you didn't get spotted?" Jaden suggested.
"Apparently," I shrugged. "That or there's kids my age in a mental hospital right now."
He laughed again. "But what I've understood about the realms is that they are exactly alike. In here, living and dead and spirits and shadows exists together. In the spirit realm, you can only see those who have spirits in them. To you, they would look like normal humans. The only difference is that you can't see creatures who don't have spirits, like vampires. They wouldn't be in the spirit realm."
I stared at him for a moment, while this new information was slowly making its way into my head. "I... think I understand."
"Okay. So, if you'd get into shadow realm instead, you would only see the creatures who had a shadow in them. You wouldn't be able to see me or Tilly or Arch, since we don't have shadows in us," Jaden continued explaining.
"Oh, so that was why Jack needed my help. I got a bit lost about that," I said.
"And to make things confusing again, all these three realms, and a couple of others, exist at the same time, in the same place, like thin layers of paint. There's plenty of more, but they exist in different places and in different times," he said.
"Please stop talking," I laughed lightly. "My poor head..."
"Sorry," he chuckled. "I know it's confusing, but you will understand eventually."
"I doubt it," I smirked. "But how am I supposed to know which realm is which, if they're all exactly alike?"
"Well –" Jaden began speaking, but he was interrupted, when Aurora's phone started to ring.
I watched her changing her form into a human, suddenly feeling worried. She answered the phone with a hasty hello, and fell silent to hear what the caller had to say. I couldn't hear it, so I turned to look at Jaden to see his expression.
And I could immediately tell it was bad news.
"What?" I whispered.
"They're not there," he said with a dark voice. "There's no one in Thorn's territory."
I turned to look at Aurora, who was now looking at me with a worried gleam in her eyes.
"They can't find the Shadow Walker," Jaden added in anger.