Stalker Story Ch. 02

"Dang it!" I said as I looked through he archives. I couldn't find a file on the strange elf that saved me. I had been looking all day for anything on him. The bright sun overhead shone down through the branches of the tree, casting odd shadows across the floor with bright spots of light throughout.

I've searched through the archives for any male elf from the age 265 through 365. There was no way he could have been and older or younger than that. I was almost 300, Will was almost 301, and the stranger looked about the same age as Will.

I sighed in dismay, and pushed my brown hair back behind my ears. So much for finding answers in the archives. The only things I had found were more questions.

I walked over to the desk stationed in the corner of the archives tree, and set another box on it. Dust flew up everywhere when I plopped it down, and I waved it away from my face. I took off the lid to the box and flipped through papers there. Nothing. Why couldn't I find anything on him? All I wanted to know was his name. Why couldn't he just tell me? Now, because of him, Will and I were still in the elvish city, and I was almost killed for nothing!

This was making me mad; I set my jaw and stomped my foot on the ground. I place the lid back on the box and slid it back onto it's spot on the shelf, and I pushed open the door and walked outside.

I took each of the forty steps that led down the tree slowly, one had resting on the railing, and the other swinging freely at my side as my mind wandered. What could his name be? There were so many possibilities that I couldn't even begin to say them all.

Suddenly I was up in the air, unaware of what snatched me up. I let out a muffled scream, believing that it was the mashante, but then I realized that it was mid-day, and the pack would be asleep at this time. I looked down at my snatcher, and blinked in surprise.

Will's dark brown eyes shone in delight as he looked up at my face. A smile broke out over his lips, and he began laughing. I glared down at him from were I was held, my glare locking onto his smile. Slowly his smile faded, but my glare held steady until he finally put me down.

"That was not funny," I said, crossing my arms and turning my back on him.

"I'm sorry, you're right. That wasn't funny," Will admitted in defeat. He walked around me and stopped in front of me. "Forgive me?" he asked pleadingly, his tall form bending down to pull me closer to him. I set my jaw and turned my head away from him.

"Go away, Will," I said angrily.

"Jaina, what's wrong?" he asked me, gently grabbing my shoulder as he did so. I looked over at him, and shrugged my shoulder out of his grasp.

"Leave me alone," I snapped at him and walked off towards my house.

"Jaina," he called after me. "Don't be like this. Just tell me what's wrong!"

I ignored him and walked even faster, hoping he would just go away.

"Jaina, I want to know! Just stop," he continued, easily keeping pace with me.

I looked over my shoulder at him, and began to jog. Why couldn't he take a hint?

"I don't know what's wrong, but I think you may be over reacting just a little bit."

"No, I'm not," I snapped at him, and ran for it. My tree house was in sight now, so if I could just get up there before Will did...but too late. Will sprinted ahead of me, turned around, and swept me up into his arms in one swift movement.

"God damn it Will! Put me down!" I hollered, and beat on his chest with my fists.

"Jaina, just calm down and tell me what happened," he said calmly.

" I will not calm down," I said through clenched teeth, and tried to push myself out of his grasp. I was acting like a little kid, but I didn't care. I just wanted to be left alone right now.

"Don't be so immature," he said, and pulled me closer to him. "Just tell me what you want and I'll do it."

I could hardly move, I was so close to him, so I stopped struggling and glared up at him.

"Put me down," I commanded. "And stop following me."

"Ok, I'll do anything but that," he said, and looked pleadingly down at me. "Please?" he asked. "Tell me?"

"Fine," I said angrily. "If I tell you will you set me down, Will?"

He looked up for a few seconds, and then looked back down at me.

"Yes," he answered. "Yes I will."

"I'm angry, that's the problem," I said. "Now put me down."

"Well, surprise surprise surprise! She's angry! I never would have guessed!" he exclaimed sarcastically. "What made you mad?"

I glared down at him again.

"I held my end of the bargain, now you hold yours. I told you what yo asked about, so put me down."

He looked down at me, rolled his eyes, and set me down on the ground. He couldn't argue with my logic, which is exactly what I intended.

"Thank you," I said, and stormed off towards my house. I was almost to my stairs when I noticed Will was following me still. I spun on my heel to face him. "What are you doing?" I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Following you," he said, staring into my cerise colored eyes.

"I said to leave me alone. It was part of the deal," I said slowly. "You have to uphold your part of the deal."

"I did," Will replied automatically. "I put you down. That's all you asked for."

Damn it! I forgot about that. Stupid technicalities. I bit down on my lip, trying to come up with a plan to get into my house without him following me.

He was starting to irritate me, following me everywhere since my near death experience with the mashante.

"Can't you just leave me alone for five seconds?" I asked through clenched teeth. He was beyond irritating me at this point. Now he was downright frustrating me. I wasn't even going to wait for an answer. I turned away from him and stormed up the stairs tony door. God damn it! Doesn't he understand 'leave me alone?' He was still following me. I walked through the thresh hold and turned around, grabbing the handle and facing Will. His solemn eyes looked at me longingly, and he walked up the last three steps slowly, giving me time to decide. What would I do? What could I do?

"Go away Will," I said one last time in a fruitless attempt to shoo him away without upsetting him or myself.

"I just want to talk to you Jaina," he said, reaching out a hand, and pressing it against the open door, keeping it propped open.

A lump formed in my throat, and tears brimmed in my eyes as I stood there. I wanted to press myself deep into his chest and let him wrap his strong arms around me as I bawled my eyes out, but at the same time I wanted to shove him away from me, and sit by myself inside, figuring out what to do next. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"I don't want to talk to you," I said as I blinked back the tears. I was going to go inside, sit in a corner, curl up into a ball, and cry until I could think straight. Then I would figure out what I would do about the stranger. "And I don't care what you want to do, Will," I continued. "You could go jump off a cliff for all I care. You don't always get what you want in life. You should know that from the 300 years of experience you've had."

"I know you better than that, Jaina," Will replied. "You don't want me to jump off a cliff." He looked at me calmly, unaffected by my statement.

How could he be so calm? Any time my temper flared he stayed just as calm as he was before anything happened. It just wasn't fair. The world wasn't fair. The two things I wanted most right now were completely opposite, and it wasn't fair!

"Ok, you're right. I don't want you to jump off a cliff," I said sweetly.

Will's head perked up, and his eyes brightened.

"You might survive that way," I spat at him angrily.

He rolled his eyes, and looked me in the eye.

"Nothing could keep me away from you. Not even death itself," he said dreamily.

"Cut the crap Will. Sweet talking me won't help you any," I said straight forward to him.

He recoiled in surprise, but regained his composure quickly. He reached out his free hand, and placed it lightly against one of my cheeks.

"You know that I love you," he said softly, bending his head down towards my own.

The inevitable kiss ... he just can't leave good enough alone. I rolled my eyes and bit down on my tongue.

"Well, I do," he said when he saw me roll my eyes.

I took a step back, hoping it would throw him off balance, but it didn't work. He just leaned in even closer to me. His other hand, the one that held the door open, came up to my other cheek, and touched it lightly.

Everything was perfect. Now all I had to do was wait for the right moment and I could be alone. The step I had taken backwards put me inside the house, leaving Will outside, and since he had moved his hand I could close the door. Now all everything came down to was timing.

His face was so close to me now that I could feel his warm breath on my skin, but I was getting the chills as he proceeded. No, I wouldn't let my feeling make decisions for me. I was going to be run by my mind.

His eyes closed as he prepared himself to cover the short distance between us. As he closed his eyes, I stepped back, gripped the door handle in my hand, and slammed it shut. Will fell forward into the closed door, and I clicked the lock into place with a satisfied grin. Not today, Will. That would have been our first kiss too ... not very good timing on his behalf.

"Jaina!" Will called from outside.

I looked out of the small window in my door. He had one hand held up against his head where it hit on the door, and was knocking on the door with the other.

"Go. Away!" I yelled out at him.

He stopped knocking on the door and jiggled the door nob. Lucky for me I had locked it.

"God damn it Jaina! Just tell me what's wrong!"

I was taken aback. I had never heard him curse, and I had never ever seen him angry.

"I just want to know what to do so I can help you," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You can help by going away and leaving me alone," I replied angrily. No way his stupid pity voice was going to make me give into his every whim.

He sighed and leaned against the door covering his face with his hand.

"Jaina," he persisted.

"Just go away!" I screamed back at him, balling my hands up into fists and pounding them on the door. The windows shook violently in their frames as my fists fell ruthlessly against the door..

"I will not just 'go away,'" Will retorted. "Not when you're this upset about," he paused a moment and sighed. "About whatever it is you're upset about."

I stopped pounding on the door. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to. I couldn't feel my hands anymore. They were throbbing and turning a shade of red too. I took in a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

"Do you know what privacy is?" I yelled out finally. So much for calming myself down.

"Yes I know what it is, but why does that matter?"

"It matters because that's what I need right now!" I exclaimed, my temper flying sky high.

"Why?" Will inquired after a long pause.

Why? You've got to be kidding me! Just because I almost got killed doesn't mean I need another mother. If I didn't find a way to vent my anger soon, my head was going to explode. I needed something to throw.

I reached for the closest throwable object near me, a glass vase. That would do. I extended my arm behind me and wound up. I'd go give him a piece of my mind if that stupid door wasn't in the way, and if he wasn't so much bigger and stronger than me.

"Step. Away. From. My. Door," I said, punctuating each word with a punch on the door. by my free hand. I would count to five in my head with my eyes closed, and if he wasn't gone- well, he'd see. I took in a deep breath and squeezed my eyes closed tightly.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. My eyes popped open and I looked out the window. He was still there. My body shook with fury and I flung the vase at the door. It hit just below the inset window and shattered into a million tiny fragments. At the same time I let out a blood curdling scream and threw myself down onto the floor with the glass.

"Jaina!" Will hollered outside. "Jaina are you ok?" His voice was thick with fear, and I could just imagine what his face looked like. He jerked on the handle and wiggled it fiercely. When that didn't work he hit the door again with his hand. "Jaina talk to me!" he called, pushing against the door. "Say something! Do something! Let me know that you're ok!"

Not gonna happen pal. I smiled and refrained myself from laughing at how much this freaked him out.

"Jaina open up the door! Let me see you!" he continued, banging on the door and jiggling the handle when I refused to answer his pleas. "Jaina," he said after a while. His voice was thick with pain, an emotion he rarely ever had.

Had he been crying? I started to get up quickly to see if he had been crying, but stopped myself before I could get completely up. If I got up without him hearing me, which was unlikely, there would be no way for me to see him without him seeing me, which would ruin my whole previous effort.

My right hand was crossed over my body, holding part of my weight up off of the floor.

"Jaina?" Will called as I paused. He must have heard me when I started to get up and stopped myself. I must have moved some of the glass on the floor.

"Jaina, is that you?"

I froze where I was, afraid to even breath. Something cold and sharp dug into the palm of my hand, sending out pain through my arm. Dang it, the glass!

Warm red blood gushed out from under my hand onto the floor. I wish I would use my brain more. Just go away Will. Go away so I can take care of my wounded hand.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I heard people walking up my stairs. Who would come to my house? Maybe I'd get lucky and it would be the police.

"Will, what's the matter?" a deep voice asked, Aelicke.

"It's Jaina. I think she's hurt," Will answered.

"Are you sure?" another voice asked. It was softer and sing-songish, Quixzton.

"Yes I'm positive. I heard glass shatter, and her. I heard her scream. And then nothing. Silence," Will replied softly. It was quiet for a minute outside as the group took in Will's words.

"Maybe she just wants some space," someone else suggested, definitely Yzflon. It was like him to suggest the most obvious answer, but it usually turned out to be right.

"No, she would have told me if she needed some space. I'm sure she's hurt," Will argued.

I really think someone should just punch him in the face. I told him that I needed space, and he wouldn't listen.

"Watch, I'll knock on the door and ask her myself," Yzflon suggested.

I could hear Will shifting his weight around as Yzflon walked up to the door. Silence. What were they waiting for? I let out the breath I had been holding, and slowly sucked in another. My arm began shaking under the weight of my body, and probably from the loss of blood.

There was a large pool of it beside me, wide enough that I could put my hand in it with my fingers spread out, and they wouldn't touch the edges. There was a loud knocking on my door finally, and Yzflon called out from the other side.

"Jaina, can you hear me?"

I didn't answer. I was becoming dizzy, and it was hard to concentrate on anything but the sting in my hand.

"Jaina if you can hear me please answer the question I'm going to ask you," Yzflon continued after a short pause.

The walls in my living room were becoming fuzzy around the edges, and seemed to be closing in on me.

"Jaina, are you ok?" he asked finally.

I lifted my head and was overcome with a wave of nausea.

"Yes," I whispered, hanging my head back down.

"Did you hear her Will?" Aelicke asked, clapping Will on the shoulder.

"Yes, I heard her," Will answered, and walked up to the door. "Jaina, if you wanted space why didn't you just tell me?" he asked.

I looked up at the door once again, this time ready for the wave of nausea that washed over me.

"I did," I said through clenched teeth. Without thinking I clenched both of my hands into fists. A burst of pain shot up my right arm like fire spreading out across a dried plain of grass. I yelled out and unclenched my hands quickly.

"Jaina are you ok?" Will asked through the door.

"Go away. I don't want to talk to you. Any of you," I replied angrily.

The scent fo blood had filled the room and was beginning to suffocate me.

Come on Will, let's go down to the tavern and talk over some hot herbal tea and maybe a pint or a quart," Quixzton suggested.

I waited until they were down the stairs to get up. The loss of blood effected me more than I thought it would. As I slowly made my way to the bathroom I hung onto furniture to support me. I reached my bedroom door, and everything around me started to spin. I opened the door and made my way through my room to the bathroom door with my head down.

When I reached that door I grabbed the handle and flung it open with more force than necessary. I blindly reached out a had for the faucet and turned on the water. I thrust my cut right hand in the cold water to rinse it off, letting the water help clear my head and allow me to focus on the task at hand. Th water ran red with my blood as if poured down the drain. just the thought of having lost so much blood made my knees buckle, and I had to grab the edge of the sink to keep myself from falling. I closed my eyes and took in several deep breaths to clear my head before venturing to look at the water again.

I turned the water off and grabbed the hand towel, dabbing it against my right hand. The glass was still stuck in my hand, so I couldn't apply pressure to the wound until it was removed.

My stomach twisted itself up in knots as my nimble fingers felt around the inside of my palm for the glass. I could always go to the healer, but why waste my time? Sisktro would do the same thing I was doing. Aha! There it was. My thumb and forefinger grasped the piece of glass from inside my hand and slowly pulled it out.

If Will would have just listened to me for once this wouldn't have happened. Will. That was another reason I didn't want to go the healer's. Sisktro had set his house up right across the way from the tavern. If I went to Sisktro I was pushing my luck. Will would more than likely be sitting outside the tavern and would see me.

I threw the shard of glass into the trash can I had beside the sink, and applied pressure to my wound with the towel. As I did this I broke down the walls in my mind that held back my magic. The pink energy rushed through my body down to my left where it conglomerated and formed a ball. Lightly I reached out a shaky finger and touched my open wound.

Instantly the torn flesh shimmered and began to grow back, and as the wound grew smaller the pain and flow of blood lessened. I ran the water again to wash off all of the extra blood that had crusted there on my hand. As I did so I looked up in the mirror attached above my sink.

Eeewww. My hair looked disgusting. It was frizzy around my face, sticking out every which way at every angle imaginable. I turned off the faucet, and attempted to straighten out my hair before I grabbed a fresh hand towel off the towel rack and dried my hands. I ran my fingers through my hair once more in and attempt to flatten it out, and when I looked back into my mirror I saw something I never would have expected to see. A man was sitting on my bed.

I froze for a second in fear as I stared at the image in the mirror. Jaina, calm yourself and act natural. Don't let him know you know he's here until you know what to do about it. I unfroze, and continued to mess with my hair, looking up at the mirror every few seconds, hoping it was just my overactive imagination, but at this point I know it wasn't.