Demigods (10 page)

"They made my bones nearly as strong as steel, and my muscles do not bruise so easily," she told him, as he stood there, entrapped by her beauty and charm. "The only way you can hurt me is by not trying."

He put his hands upon her lower back, overcome by his desire for her, but she softly patted his cheek, and withdrew.

Grabbing a few wet towels, and the box cutter that she had picked out, she sat on the floor with her legs stretched forward, and took a deep breath. This was when he noticed that she, too, was feeling the fear of the moment.

It was a brief moment, however, as she reached behind herself with the blade in hand, and a damp towel clenched between her pinky and ring fingers in the other, and began to make the incision. The wincing of her face made it clear that she had cut deeply into herself, and it became obvious that she was searching for something.

At one moment, her face would be blank, and in the next, she would express pain, while shortly after that, there was contentment again. This happened a few times before she looked up at his horrified face, with her own beautiful expression.

"I've got it," she said with that same smile that now enslaved him. "Are you ready?"

Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward, and before he could actually ready himself, she pulled it from her back, and then fell the rest of herself to the floor.

She had left him no time to think about it, and as he pounced upon her, he figured that she had done so on purpose. He was learning that she was smarter than he was, and he should have come to terms with that already.

Now she lay dead before him, and he was the only one that had a chance at bringing her back.

First, he put his lips to her own, and breathed his breath into her, and then he began the compressions. Repeatedly, he continued this as best he could remember from what he had learned, and repeatedly, he worried that it was not working.

"Come back," he screamed as she remained motionless on the floor, though his shouting was helping nothing.

Tirelessly he tried for what the clock told him had been eight minutes, before he realized that he had failed. The brain begins to die after five, but he had hoped that she was different enough that he could make a difference.

One last time, he placed his lips to hers, yet this time it was not to breathe life into them. This time it was to kiss a woman that had loved him, and although he had not known her very long, he felt as though he should have loved her more. She deserved it.

Slowly he stood up from her, and went over to sit back on the bed. This time it was not fear that consumed him, but rather guilt. He had hoped to help her right down to the core of his being, but in the end he failed her. Perhaps it was to be as much sorrow as was told by Shakespeare, and no different from Ryan and Mirage.

Then he heard a great gasp, as Viper sat back up in an instant, and he could not help but to launch himself from where he sat, and position himself in front of her.

"Are you alright?" he questioned as he placed his hands upon her cheeks, though her eyes seemed distant, and her attention was not there.

Quickly he reached forth, and pressed his lips against hers, but there was no response at first, though suddenly she began to softly kiss him back.

He had no desire to break the kiss, and slightly fought its end, yet she eventually pulled herself away, and stared up at him.

"Is it ok, if I might find one more reason to love you?" she whispered, but the euphoria of the moment did not allow him a response, and he pulled her lips back to his own, insistently.

When he finally found his heart beating at a rate that aloud him closure, she asked him one more question.

"Does it please you," she asked with eyes of longing, as her hands softly caressed his cheeks, "that your lips are the only ones to have ever touched my own?"

Certainly it did!

Resting on the large cushion, Ryan began to think about life before the island. He could not seem to remember anything other than a handful of things that did not seem to help any, and though he rather enjoyed what he was currently going through, he was still bothered by not knowing.

Closing his eyes, he tried to imagine anything he could about what would have been his home, though nothing seemed familiar. There were no memories of his own bedroom, or his own living room, or any other room for that matter.

Opening his eyes, he looked down at his hands, and wondered again, what he might do for a living, yet nothing came to mind. His hands were not rough and calloused, but did not appear to be manicured either. Sadly, they offered no clues.

Staring out at the jungle through the front opening, he tried again to imagine any familiar faces, but still could only envision the beautiful woman that he was growing quite fond of.

For a while, he simply lay there, and thought about her. Although he could not remember much about himself, the memory of her was about as vivid as though she was standing in front of him, and without realizing it, the corners of his mouth began to curl upward.

Physically she was an angel, and a devil, both at the same time, the likes of which would make a Greek goddess envious.

Mentally she seemed as intelligent as she was mysterious, all while retaining an aura of innocence. He may not remember any other woman, but he still understood this to be a rare trait indeed.

He wondered for a moment what she would be like in the real world. Certainly all the men would be eating out of her hand, while nearly every woman would hate her, if only behind her back. The rest of them would simply be jealous.

"I need to gather some fresh herbs for dinner," she told him as she entered from the back. "Would you care to join me?"

"Of course I would," he replied as he stood to follow her, and when she stepped back out, he determined that this trip down would be the smoothest yet.

When he dropped down the hole in the patio without touching an edge, she threw him a glance that seemed to indicate that she was impressed, and then she began down the steep embankment.

This time down, however, she showed more agility than she did grace. The first step was more of a hop as she cleared about five yards, and landed with her right foot against the bottom of a small tree. This was only the beginning of one continuous motion as she quickly leaped to another tree, and swung around it as if it was a playground pole. A few more interesting moves, and she was out of sight, and all he could do was to stand there at the top with his mouth open.

"I don't think so," he thought aloud, and then began to take a more cautious approach to his descent. One step at a time he figured, and he meant it both literally and figuratively.

Finally reaching the riverbank, he glanced around, but could see her nowhere. He had not taken that long, so she could not be far, though he had no idea which way she had gone.

Looking around more carefully, he found a clue that gave away her location. Draped over a branch he saw her fur strap, and wraparound skirt, and when he turned back around, there she was rising up out of the water.

"I have the first ones," she said as she walked ashore with a handful of long leaves, and the sun glistening off her slender, naked body.

For only a quick second he stared at her before turning away to blush. He had absolutely no idea how he should respond, and figured that even if he could find the words, he would simply stutter them out.

"Take off your shirt," she told him as she approached him from behind, and he immediately did as she asked.

Without thinking, he turned to face her, though what she did next he had not been expecting.

"You wouldn't want to stain it," she said as she draped the long leaves over his shoulder, and then walked past him, back to her fur clothing.

Putting them back on, she then began to walk the path that ran along the riverbank, leaving him speechless where he stood.

For a moment he did not move at all, and then finally found the strength to follow her. He figured she would make any outfit look stunning as she walked gracefully ahead of him.

"Have you ever wanted to leave the island?" he asked her, which caused her to stop, and pause for a moment.

Turning, she walked up to him, and placed her soft hands on his cheeks, caressing them ever so slightly.

"The island is who I am," she told him with a sincere smile. "How could I ever leave myself?"

How could he ever have believed that he would get a simple answer, but that was part of her mystique, and he would not change it if he could.

Turning back up the path, she began to walk again, and he was content with simply following her. Somehow, he just could not believe that she would be happy in his world. His world did not even deserve such beauty.

For a short while, they made their way up the river in silence until she stopped, and turned toward the jungle. Looking around, she plucked a small plant from the ground, and then walked up to him.

"They are quite rare, and I call them Happiness," she said as she handed it to him. "You have to look carefully to find them."

Glancing down at it, he saw that it was a small bunch of thin leaves attached to a thin root that was about three inches in length. Raising it to his nose, he was delighted by the scent. It was sweet, yet earthy, and had the slightest hint of a vanilla smell to it. Now he found himself looking forward to dinner even more. She certainly seemed to know what she was doing.

"It won't just come to you," she said with a playful grin as she continued to search around. "You have to find it yourself."

He smiled back at her, wondering if she was teaching him how to gather herbs, or teaching him Zen. Either way, he was quite impressed, and joined her in the search.

All around the jungle surface there were many types of plants, and none of them looked the least bit familiar. He supposed that this was the first jungle he had ever been in, but it was nothing like he would have imagined.

He thought that there would have been insects everywhere, but he could not recall seeing a single one. When he did find one, he had no doubt that it would be a beautiful butterfly. That is just the way that this island seemed to work, as if it were a place of fantasy come to life.

"I found one," he said excitedly, finally spotting one of the small plants, and quickly he plucked it from the ground.

"Very good," she told him as she approached with a handful. "We should have enough now."

Handing her the two that were in his hands, he began to follow her back. He was sure that she was correct about having enough, but he wished that he could have been more helpful. It would seem that she was much better at finding happiness than he was.

Reaching the spot where they came down, she reached into the water, and pulled out a basket. It was the same basket that had the crabs in them the night before, and he assumed that they were still in there.

When they reached the top, she set the basket down beside a large stone with a flat surface, and then pulled out one of the lifeless crabs. Then she placed it upside down on the stone, and pulled off the triangle-shaped belly flap before flipping it upright.

"You do like crab, don't you?" she asked as she shoved her hand inside of it, and pulled off the top of the shell.

"When it's cooked," he replied, noticing that it did not look too appetizing at this stage. "I think I'll just wait upstairs."

"Very well," she said with laughter in her voice, and then went back to dressing the crab.

Relaxing in one of the chairs, he stared out the front, and once again tried to remember anything that might be familiar. At this point, he did not care what it was. He simply wanted to remember something, but nothing was presenting itself.

"Dinner is ready," she said, interrupting his line of thought, yet he was quite happy to see her.

"And what do you call it?" he asked as she handed him the crab shell that was being used to serve the dish.

"I call it Euphoria," she said, and then sat down in the chair beside him. "I hope that you like it."

"I'm sure that I'll love it," he replied with a smile that provoked one from her as well. "It certainly smells good."

Poking at it with his wooden spoon, the savory aroma delighted his senses, and he could swear that he tasted it from the scent alone. It was crabmeat with mushrooms, and what looked like fried potatoes off to the side, and though he could not see the little leaves from the Happiness plant, he could definitely smell their presence.

He first lifted one of the mushrooms to his lips, and as he began to chew it, he swore that it tasted more like steak than it did a mushroom. He could not believe how good it was, and though he wanted to go right for another one, he then spooned up a chunk of crabmeat.

"
Oh, my,"
he thought as he began to chew the second bite. Even though it didn't taste like steak, it was every bit as good, bursting flavor throughout his mouth as though his taste buds where everywhere. Euphoria, he thought, was the perfect name for it.

"I have never tasted anything so good," he told her, and was delighted by the full, bright smile that she threw his way. "You are a master chef."

"I am so happy that you like it," she said, and then began to eat from her own shell.

Glancing her way between bites, he admired how gracefully she ate. Certainly, it did not matter what she did, because the result would always be the same.

Once they had finished their dinner, she took his shell, and set them both on the floor beside her. When she did, Playful came out of nowhere, and scurried them out the back.

"She likes to lick the bowls," she told him, leaning back in the chair to relax.

"I can understand why," he replied as he leaned back with her. "I was tempted to lick it myself."

Having sat there for about the space of thirty minutes, making idle conversation about the jungle, the beach, and the ocean, he began to feel strangely odd. His head began to feel light, and his body tingled all over with a sensation that filled him with delight.

"I want to show you something," she said as she stood, and grabbed a sack of something that had been against the wall, before walking out the front.

Standing up to follow her, the feelings intensified. It was not as though he was dizzy, and they were not unpleasant feelings at all. In fact, it was a rather euphoric feeling, like walking on clouds, and everything around him seemed a bit more interesting than they had before.

"What was in the food?" he asked, wearing a perpetual grin as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Happiness," she answered smiling back at him, while never breaking her stride.

"
Happiness, indeed
," he thought as she led him out into the thickness of the jungle.

Passing by trees, he put his hands on them, feeling the rough bark. They felt like they usually did, yet the feeling was intensified, as if it were the first time, he had ever touched anything.

Making his way through the foliage did not seem to be a bit of a problem either, as he seemed as light-footed as ever. He almost felt as though it was where he belonged.

What an unusual feeling it was; Like being intoxicated, while perfectly aware and nimble at the same time, and he accepted it as not an unpleasant thing.

Watching her as she walked ahead of him, he found that her beauty was also enhanced by the effect, and as if she knew this, she would occasionally smile back at him. Either that, or she was playfully laughing at him.

"So where are you taking me this time?"

"It is a place I call Contentment," she answered as she sat on an old, fallen tree, and swung her legs in an elegant fashion to the other side. "I think you will like it."

Taking a more direct approach, he placed one hand on the log, and hopped over, and as he did, he began to notice the sound of rushing water.

Gradually as he followed her, the noise grew louder, and it soon became apparent that it was more than a casual river. He thought that it might be the sound of rapids, until a little way further he stepped out into a clearing, and saw it in all its splendor.

It was the most beautiful waterfall imaginable, as the clear water crept down the side of the mountain, and then gently fell in three different places into the waiting pool below.

"Wow," was about all he could say as he looked up at it, and he decided right then that the island, as real as it was, was also a place of fantasy.

"So you like it?" she asked as she pinned half of her hair back with a bright red flower, and he felt his knees getting weak. Sure, she knew what it did to him, but it seemed to tickle her so.

Lying on the ground, he rested on one elbow, and took in the sight. There were flowers of all kinds and colors blooming in various places, as if the falling water drew them there, and a rainbow in the fine mist smiled down on them.

Gracefully, a butterfly fluttered by as if to complete the perfect picture.