Wet Eyes, Callie Catherine Brice [popular books to read txt] 📗

was?”
“The trees. They are dead.” This proves that she knows everything about me. I don’t reply. I am almost scared to reply.
We keep walking, hand in hand.
Eleven

After a while of walking we take a break. I sit against a cold tree with her in my arms. We look up both wishing there were stars in sky. I believe we were above that… or so below that we can’t even see the stars. I have yet to figure it out because she won’t speak.
“Charlie, what are you making me wait for?”
“Shhh you will see, just be patient.”
“You are killing me.”
“Come on. The more breaks we take the longer it will take us to get there and trust me, you want to get there.”
We walk throughout the woods. Different shapes of trees passing us and the darkness all around us. I’ve gotten used to the ribbon of light bouncing about. My eyes focus on it-
“Ray.”
I turn my head from my surroundings and look at her. She is looking at me with a smile on her face and with one motion of her hand she lets out the stream of light. I feel her grab my hand and guide me. Suddenly the dead feeling stops and the forest around us end. Looking left and right the brief clearing went on for miles. Everything was shinning with light. She stops, her fingers still interlocking with mine.
An owl is perched in the middle of the clearing. Looking straight at us, with bright blue eyes. There is a mark on its right ear, it curves and travels down to its eye. The scar was glowing; the glow matched the wonderful blue color of the eye.
“Ah, Charlie. I thought you would arrive sooner.” The owl speaks to Charlie is such a steady, single toned voice. It makes me feel relaxed and very calm. It is very confused, and very surprised that this owl is talking. They can probably see my reaction on my face.
“He is still human Nohrinn. He needs rest, water and food. So let’s hurry this up, he hasn’t eaten in almost two days.”
“You are going to get in a lot of trouble if they catch you Charlie.”
“Yes. I know, I have heard. No one else knows but you and the others. So keep your mouth shut.” Charlie walks towards the owl pulling me with her. I know she won’t let anything hurt me so I don’t hold back.
The owl looks up with closed eyes and an open beak. Suddenly a ribbon of blue light curves around the owl as its wings start to spread. Around the blue band are strings of white light spinning, swirling, and twisting all around the owl until the owl disappeared. The lights start to fade and a human stands where the owl once was. The man has the same blue eyes and the same glowing scar on his face. He is tall, and thin, with silk blue hair.
“Ray, this is Nohrinn, he is a Warden. Wardens work for the Eternal World to help the humans. They aren’t like me or the other people who die; they are made by the Eternal World.” She looks at me. “There are a ton of them. One for every human and some are made to work. You can tell them apart from the humans from the glowing birthmark. It usually matches the eyes and hair.”
“Hello Ray, nice to meet you.” He walks towards me. “I have heard a lot about you. She talks so highly of you I already know the perfect Eternal Form for you.” I watch him. “Are you afraid of me?” He says. Charlie smiles at him then to me finding this much more fun than I do.
“So this is where you get what you turn into? Like you’re a sphere of light.” I say to Charlie. She smiles and nods.
Nohrinn speaks. “Correct. It is my job to give you what best represents who you are.”
“How do you do this for everyone? Aren’t there people dying every day?” Looking him straight in the eye should have been terrifying but it made me feel just as relaxed as his voice does.
“I get that question a lot. Yes, it is hard for us to get to every single human but we get the job done. There are about five Eternalists. When we show up the human finally finds what they are looking for in The Mass. It takes some time for the human to find us but wouldn’t take so long if we were there the entire time. Once we show up the human usually see’s the light and fallows to find us waiting. There is that rare occasion where we could sit here waiting for the human for two days straight and they still can’t find us.” He looks at Charlie. She looks down.
“Nohrinn, that was different.” She looks at me. “It took me so long because I didn’t understand that there was more to it. I would stay at one place for a long amount of time. Like the creek I stayed there for weeks before I moved. I was so close, but too far away to see the light. At one point, I thought I could die again and go somewhere else. So I moved away from the creek, and tried to not drink. I try to die from dehydration, which made me so worn out that I had trouble walking and seeing.”
“We had to find her.” Nohrinn says.
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to come back to you, Ray, but then they found me. I was so weak and not in the right state of mind that they couldn’t figure out what Form to give me. So I ended up not being an animal. Animals have personalities and can relate to humans, but they couldn’t tell what I was like so they gave me the smallest possible form. That’s why I have told them so much about you. So they can give you your perfect form.” She says, as I watch her with disbelief.
“You tried to kill yourself again?” I ask determined to here an excuse.
“Ray, thinking that I could never see you again, and thinking that I could die again was-”
“No Charlie. I don’t even want to hear what you have to say. You- I just can’t believe that.” She looks at me with sad eyes. I can’t stand the smallest amount of pain in her body. So I pulled her into me and wrap my arms around her waist. She looks up at me, with love in her eyes, and kisses my cheek. I look at Nohrinn “What form are you going to give me?”
“It was a difficult decision. I watched you for a few days and you are very hard to read. Your mood changes a lot, but no matter what, you know how to deal with the things around you. No matter how you feel or what your attitude is you stay wise. Sometimes your emotions get out of control but your train of thought never leaves you. I knew it wouldn’t be long until Charlie would find you so I was rushing. I couldn’t find the right animal for you until I saw you with Charlie. I saw how you acted with her and how you looked at her. I noticed the way you change around her. Everything changes, the way you move, speak, and think. Everything changes. You are very protective of her. This is what made me realize your Eternal Form. A tiger, but not just a tiger a Bengal tiger.”
We both look at him blankly.
“A white tiger.”
“Oh!” Charlie said. She smiles at him then looks at me still in my arms. “I like it!”
“How do I relate to a white tiger?” I asked. I felt almost offended. Tigers kill other animals; they hunt just to hurt others. They use violence, with their fangs and their claws.
“Tigers generally travel alone but are still very protective of the ones they love.” He looks at Charlie as he says this. “They are known for their power and strength. Tigers have a good sense of smell. These are aspects of you. The motion and attitude of the tiger fits yours.”
I look at him with shock. “I truly don’t think I fit a tig-
“Trust me, Ray. You will find out things about your eternal form that you didn’t even know you had or could do. I’ve been keeping an eye on you Ray. This is perfect for you.”
Charlie kisses me on the cheek, releases my hand, and steps back. I look at Nohrinn. He stands facing me then suddenly he lifts up his right hand and a bolt of light shoots from it, hitting me within seconds. I feel a sharp pain go throughout my body but I can’t move or take my eyes off the light connecting my body to his hand. Then everything stops. Only about 10 seconds of shear pain. Still standing, I look at my hands and feel my chest. Absolutely nothing was different.
My legs were shaking of pain. Although he stopped I can still feel the electric torture throughout my body. I feel the agony bolting through the veins in my brain and creeping down my spine. I cant put in words the amount of misery I am feeling. I turn my head to look at Charlie; I knew the sight of her would make me calm. I see her beautiful hair draped around her face. As I take in her beauty she starts to blur, everything around me starts spinning and my head starts to throb. Suddenly, everything is black. I can feel myself falling so I try to catch myself with my left hand; I feel the spiky texture of the woods ground hit my hand. My body is heavier than it has ever felt. My sides hit the ground and then I feel my cheek on the ground, dirt all over my face and then-

twelve

“How could you be so stupid!?” I yell at Nohrinn as he places Ray on the pile of leaves. “He is passed out cold… damn it Nohrinn.”
“I