Ink and Flowers - 16. 16: Emmett

The rain poured down mercilessly on the cottage and when looking out of the window, it appeared like a gray wall. Perfectly suiting my mood.

The cottage I had retreated to sat on a huge plot of land, half former orchard, half forest; we had rented it from the Millers, just like our apartment and the business space. A good way out of town, it was the perfect place to be Me. And I had done that.

Tony had assisted with a cleansing ritual, then I had spent several days meditating and living in my true form. I had spoken to nature and nature had responded. I was pure. But my head was swamped. Because I wanted to give myself a few more days of peace and serenity, I stayed, and it was probably both good and bad luck.

Dom came to visit me. This surprised me deeply, but after we had talked for several hours, about everything and nothing, I felt a very similar connection to him as I had to Dex before. His explanation of how he had instinctively wanted to protect his herd - including his friends - from me, a stranger he didn't know what he was, touched me. As we talked like this, clearing up little misunderstandings, letting out our non-humanness in ways I couldn't put into words, eating cake he'd brought from his mom, I struggled with myself about revealing my true nature to him. It would have been really comforting to have someone who knew the truth.

But then, after many detours, we came to the topic named Dex and my opinion tipped radically in the other direction. Because the way Dom spoke about his little brother left me speechless. Arrogant, condescending, disinterested. He spoke of a rebel who had exaggerated his rebelliousness to such an extent that he couldn't find his way out. He called him silly and childish and yes, even weak, because he had felt closer to the humans than to the deer shifters.

And of course Dom would have seen where Dex' lifestyle would lead to, but really, the self-tainting was all Dex' fault, even though I could have made an effort to save my boyfriend from himself. If I was already luring such a weak character with my aura, I should have handled things properly.

The fact that Dom put some of the blame on me was the last straw and it was only with great difficulty that I was able to stop myself from throwing him out. And oh how complicated Dom's life was, as Alpha, as future leader, in the middle of wedding planning (After only four months? Really?), and of course Dex had always been cross-firing and not wanting to fit in and anyway- I would come to the wedding including a plus one?

It was a mystery to me how I managed to nod and smile and feign enthusiasm. The man who should have been my plus one was dead. Forcibly executed by his father. But I pushed the thoughts far away, said goodbye to Dom and only then burst into tears.

Dom was so full of himself, it seemed a miracle that he didn't explode. With his eyes open, he had allowed his brother to succumb to self-tainting and become a danger.

I felt dirtied, felt the house had been contaminated and while I prepared a cleansing ritual, crying and disgusted, I asked myself to what extent I was actually allowed to trust my feelings. After all, I obviously managed to surround myself with the wrong people time and time again.

After that, I just existed. For weeks. I got groceries from Tony and messages from Jake to keep me up to date, but I only skimmed through them. My inner being was depressed and my human side couldn't stand up to it. Part of me was waiting for someone to come and kick my ass, but time didn't matter much, it just passed.

And now it was raining. Last night it had started as a fine drizzle, catching me by surprise on my evening walk, and overnight it had turned into a steady stream. The clouds didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon.

The message tone on my phone made me sigh. Get up and check? But I wasn't in the mood for advertisement SMS or any newsletters or updates from social media, which I didn't look at anyway. What if it was Jake? Or Tony? No, Tony would call directly.

As if the thought had conjured it up, the phone now rang. With another sigh, I got up and fished it off the kitchen counter, but saw Jake's name before I put it to my ear.

“Hey...”

“Hey, Ems...”

“You sound as depressed as I feel,” I remarked critically, and Jake responded first in the form of a long loud exhale.

“Well.” He sighed. “What can I say. Did you look at the picture?”

“What picture?”

“I just sent it to you.”

“Ah. No. Second.” I switched to loudspeaker and then opened the chat to download the picture. And was quite taken aback. “Is that Mo?” Jake had written about Mo, what had happened at the steakhouse and how he had completely withdrawn afterwards. He had unfriended us all, unfollowed us or whatever you call it depending on social media, and only made one public post with an Arabic greeting since then.

“Yes. Mo and his dad next to him,” Jake confirmed as I scrutinized the photo. Mo, in traditional Muslim attire, stood surrounded by several men in a garden or park, with a young woman in colorful clothing sitting on a stool at his feet.

“I don't know anything about Muslim traditions, but this looks a bit like a wedding photo,” I said slowly. Except that neither Mo nor the young woman looked happy; only his father and a few of the other men were smiling. “Where did you get this?”

“Mo apparently forgot to kick one of our old classmates off his lists. He saw the picture, wondered why none of us reacted, and wrote me. The picture is tagged with Tehran as the location,” Jake replied slowly.

“Tehran... Iran?”

“His dad is originally from there.”

We were silent for a moment. I had no idea what to say to that. No alcohol, no pork, yes- but Mo's sister didn't even wear a hijab.

“You know,” Jake started, ”I talked to the others. Mike and Ben and Dom.”

“And?” I asked when he didn't continue. I closed the picture and put the phone back to my ear, heading back to the couch.

Jake let out an almost agonized sigh. “By now I think Mo said that shit to - how do you say it - cut all ties.”

I let that sink in for a moment and then shook my head to myself. “He could have just told the truth.”

“At the risk of us laughing at him for being married off? Not saying no?”

“Would you have laughed at him?”

“No, of course not. But seriously doubted why he was going through with it. And you know Mike, he certainly wouldn't have put his two cents in tactfully.”

“But that's very crass, don't you think?” I didn't think it was a bad idea in itself, but I would have expected Mo to be more honest.

“I don't know, Ems, I really don't know.” Jake's sigh sounded hurt.

Again we were silent for a moment, but this time I interrupted the pause.

“Since we're talking... explain to me in full what's going on with Ben.”

“I wish I knew,” Jake replied, snorting a humorless laugh. “He flirts shamelessly with everyone and everything, makes inappropriate sexual remarks and when you call him on it, he's shocked at himself. And it's not fake, believe me. Mike has been joking around that Ben is possessed, and honestly, sometimes it really does seem that way.”

“Oh my goodness,” I muttered, rubbing my face. “That sounds horrible.”

Jake made a strange sound. “Well, it sounded worse than it is. I'm just not sure how long Fin will leave it standing like this.”

“What do you mean?”

This time Jake's voice sounded a little tortured. “Ben's flirting with Fin. Or he's provoking him by talking about wanting to go out with you.”

“Ah.” I made somewhat confused. Why would that provoke Finley?

“Anyway... has Fin contacted you?” Jake then wanted to know, taking a turn in the conversation I hadn't expected. Especially as his tone of voice seemed conspicuously unobtrusive.

“No.” I answered slowly. After the admittedly intense hours following the incident with Dex, I'd almost expected Finley to reach out, but he hadn't. “Probably doesn't want to seem intrusive.”

“Hmm.”, Jake made, still very noticeably inconspicuous.

“Why?” I adapted the tone and Jake gave a suppressed chuckle. “Come on, spit it out, Jake.”

“Fin's got a badass crush on you, Ems. And I'm not just saying that, he's admitted it.”

With a sigh, I rolled my eyes.

“Do you want me to send you a screenshot?” he asked, slightly amused, before I could say anything.

“No.” I mean, that there was some interest had not escaped me, but I really had other things to worry about. But it could be embarrassing in the future.

Jake cleared his throat and became serious again. “Sorry. But that's what I meant. With Ben, I mean. And... I'd better not ask how you are, but it would be nice if you came back. We miss you.”

That was the kick in the ass I'd been waiting for, wasn't it?

“And if you hide any longer, Fin will organize a search party.”

“Jake...”

He chuckled. “Sorry. It's just... he's this big non-human ex-soldier who you totally believe can throw a full-grown man out of a bar with just one hand, but when we talked about it in private, he was like a teenager who doesn't know what to do with his hormones.”

I squinted out into the rain. Probably my mood was just too bad to understand why Jake thought it was funny.

“Sorry.” Jake cleared his throat. “That wasn't fair. Not to you, not to Dex... um... sorry.”

“It's okay,” I mumbled, changing the subject. “How's Noah?”

The answer was silence.

“Ah, well, forget I asked.”

“No, no.” said Jake hurriedly, giving a shaky sigh. “It's just... I feel like everything's blowing up in my face right now. My friends, my family, at church...”

“I'm sorry about that,” I said softly and would have liked to hug him. Unfortunately, auras can't be transmitted through the phone, so I couldn't help even a little bit.

“Noah had... he had... He's in a psychiatric ward now. Alternatively, he should have been pumped full of drugs and that's when our parents intervened.”

“Oh gods, Jake, what-” I stopped myself, taking a deep breath. “They'll be able to help him there, won't they?” I forced an encouraging tone into my voice.

“Yeah.” But Jake sounded a little too hopeful and not convinced enough to my ears.

I was still searching for words when Jake let out a harsh exhale.

“Okay, I just wanted to- Think about coming with us on Saturday, yes?”

“Yeah, I'll... I'll consider it.”

“Okay. See you soon.” Jake hung up.

I lowered my phone and sighed, watching again the rain. Actually, I had wanted to talk to Jake about Dom, but Jake obviously had enough on his plate already.

~

Mike was laughing at something Finley had said; Jake was standing next to them, staring intently at his phone.

“Hey.” I greeted, much more tonelessly than I'd intended. Getting to the Tempest had proven to be more of a challenge than I'd anticipated; Jake's ass-kicking hadn't had enough power to give me the momentum I needed.

But Finley's cigarette caught in mid-air, a smile and subtle blush lighting up his face. “Hey, Emmett.”

“Good to see you, man.” Mike hugged me enthusiastically, then- presumably to make the gesture seem less unmanly- he punched me in the shoulder. “Your uncle said you were meditating. Can you levitate now?”

I looked at him, puzzled, while Jake and Finley each snorted in amusement.

“Sure he can,” Jake said dryly, patting Mike on the head. “Let's get inside before we freeze something off out here. Ben texted he'll be in later.”

We nodded, Finley flicked the cigarette butt into the big ashtray and gave me another separate nod, but then I paused because my phone rang. It was Ben.

“Go ahead,” I said and then answered the call, shooing Jake, who looked at me questioningly, away with my hand. I had the feeling Ben wanted to talk only to me; maybe he didn't even realize I'd come to the Tempest, too. “What's going on?”

“Can you wait for me outside?”

Puzzled, I turned and surveyed my surroundings. So much for my pondering. “Sure,” I replied slightly delayed.

Instead of an answer, Ben hung up and before I could get over my surprise, he came around a corner. “Hey...” He looked rushed.

“You seem a bit paranoid,” I greeted skeptically and looked at him scrutinizingly.

He pulled up the corners of his mouth, but the grimace wasn't anything like a smile. “I've been reading up. What if Mike's stupid joke is true and I'm possessed? Or I'm cursed? What if Mo cursed me? Don't look at me like that, it started that very night!”

I blinked caught off guard, then grabbed his shoulders, giving my aura a nudge. When he had calmed down considerably two breaths later, I asked cautiously, “What exactly do you want me to do, huh?”

Ben looked at me, downright stared, and for a moment I felt like a drop of ice-cold water was dropping down the back of my neck and running off. “I know you're not a witch, but you have magic. Can you...” He took a step back, making me let go of him, and then pointed at himself. “... check?”

I sighed. Not wanting to waste time, I said, “I'm not trained for this. I can look for other people's magic on you, but firstly, only a real exorcist can tell whether you're really possessed, which I can't imagine, and secondly, I have absolutely no idea about curses. Why would you even think that?” Then I closed my eyes and extended my magical senses to him.

“There are djinn in the Arab world. And ifrits and the like. They're known for curses. What if Mo has djinni blood in him?” Ben muttered, almost frightened.

“Even if he does, why would he curse you?”

“How should I know?”

I sighed again. And then paused. There was magic residue on the back of his left shoulder, as if someone had wiped their hand on him. I withdrew my senses and then tapped the spot. “There's something there. But it looks more like a random smear, a transfer from somewhere else.”

Ben looked puzzled, extended a hand as if he wanted to touch the spot, but then stopped. “You mean that's... a coincidence?”

Shrugging, I nodded. “Looks like it.”

Silently, he looked at me as if there was more to read in my face, then his head jerked as if he was actually going to shake his head. “Do you think your uncle can tell me more?”

“I'm sure he can read more from this bit than I can. But will that do you any good?” I shrugged again.

“If what's there is doing these weird things to me, I want to get rid of it, Emmett.” A certain edge crept into Ben's voice.

“You could try a cleansing ritual to start with,” I suggested calmly, and although he looked like he wanted to protest at first, he changed his mind and finally nodded.

“Thank you,” he said simply after we had looked at each other silently for a moment.

“Let's go inside, it's getting cold out here,” I returned with a nod and was quite relieved when he smiled in reply. I mean, it was just a residual of some magic; if he had directly performed a cleansing ritual, as is recommended and explained everywhere, he would certainly have been able to solve the problem, or at least alleviate it. But perhaps I was simply expecting too much from humans who have otherwise not much to do with the magical world.