Chapter 6

 

Jade stepped outside the house. It was early dawn, the sun barely starting to rise. Joshua, Timmy, Gabriel, and Francesca were all still asleep. She hadn't told anyone that she was going out; Joshua would try to talk her out of it, Timmy and Francesca would follow her, and Gabriel... she didn't want him concerned with her in his state. He didn't need to be.

The grass glittered with dew, the air was fresh. It had been a couple weeks since Blaise had... been killed. Jade still had nightmares of her blodd-stained body, her horrifying new figure that had piqued Timmy's interest. For the first time in her life, Jade had been disgusted with Timmy.

She decided to go to the garden. The garden was located by the small house, and was quite large in comparison. It was built as a maze, from tall green bushes cut into box-like shapes. Flowers blossomed from these bushes, and Jade's favorite were the lavenders located in the center. She made her way there slowly, and when she got there, a sad look crossed her face. Some of them were dying. She knelt by one, touching its fragile petal. It seemed to wilt more at her light touch, and she closed her eyes. *Such beauty shouldn't die,* she thought, her heart's doors opening more just thinking such thoughts.

When she opened her eyes, she was immediatly startled and frightened.

A little boy was crouching by the dying lavenders. He had blonde hair, but so blond, it was almost white. It looked feather-soft and she had a sudden urge to stroke his hair. It hung in his eyes, so she couldn't see the color of the irises well.

"Little boy?" she asked softly. "Are you lost?"

He didn't seem to hear her. With one hand, he reached out and gently cupped a flower's petals. The dying plant seemed to tremble, and then it burst into silver flames. Jade gasped, becoming more and more scared. The boy kept staring at the flower. "Please stop," she pleaded. Again, he didn't even move to look at her.

Then the flames died down, and she gasped again, this time in shock. The lavender's petals were full of its soft color, and it seemed to sing with renewed life. The little boy then looked up at her, and she saw that his eyes were a pale blue.

"That's amazing," she breathed.

He spoke. His voice was quiet, full of sadness. The sound made her throat close. "Even nature's creations deserve another chance at life. It's not their fault one forgets to tend to them."

This surprised Jade. He sounded very wise for a kid. "May I ask you name?"

He looked down. "My name is Kyle. I know who you are. You're Jade, destined to either destroy the world or save it from the Stokars. You're sixteen, very powerful, but you still don't know the full extent of your powers. They can travel so much deeper, be so stirring. You just have to learn to reach for them, grasp them, then pull them out."

"You're so smart," she said admiringly. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

This took her aback. "What? That's not possible. You look only-"

"Only eight. I know. I'm in the body of an eight-year old. I'm cursed to remain this age until my master dies... which, he never will," he added in a whisper. He looked her straight in the eye, and it was then she was hit with the full blow and extent of his age, all in his eyes, his pale blue child's eyes.

"How sad," she whispered. "You're such a sweet boy."

He shook his head. "No. No, I'm damned. I'm a vampire." This wasn't much of a shock. Jade knew there still were some out there. "I should be able to age, but... let's just say I made a deal with the wrong person. Now I'm his servent until the day he or I die. It'll be quite awhile; he's eternal. He's even more damned than I am."

"Wow."

He nodded. "Yes. I know."

"But... why aren't you with him now?"

He smiled almost sadly. "I can't stand it there. I ran away. Jade... Miss Jade, please let me join you and Silver Blood. I want to help. I HAVE to." He looked so sad, so pleading, Jade's heart bled for him.

Somehow, she found herself embracing the child. "Of course. Please do help," she murmured.

"Thank you, Miss Jade," the boy said, and suddenly he became detached, and pushed away slightly. Jade looked over her shoulder, and saw Gabriel standing there. His dark bleached hair was tousled like it always was when he woke up, and his dark blue eyes watched the child. He was frowning.

"Jade, Joshua's looking for you," he said softly. She looked panicked, and noticed Kyle sitting on the paved ground. "Come on," she said gently, holding her hand out to him. He refused to take it until Joshua showed up.

He immediatly pulled out his gun, aiming it at the child. "Damned vampire scum!" he yelled, pulling the trigger.

Kyle shot up, shoving Jade away from the bullet. Joshua had miss-fired and it would have hit Jade had the boy not pushed her away. There was a cracking sound as the bullet passed through his arm, and blood spurted from the wound. Jade screamed, but the boy didn't even flinch as the bullet ricocheted off the cement and through a bush. The flesh around the wound quivered, and Jade thought she would be sick.

Then it started to heal. The flesh seemed to curl up, and there was a soft melding sound of bone joining bone. Even after the wound was completely healed, blood still stained his arm. He looked up, his eyes still so sad.

Jade stood, her eyes blazing. She turned to Joshua, and he stepped back. Jade was NEVER angry. At least, she never showed it. A sharp slap sounded in the air, and Joshua flinched.

"Look what you did!" she cried. "You SHOT a little boy! You could have hurt him if he wasn't human! Badly! You probably DID hurt him! You know what your problem is? You never looked past the surface! Kyle wanted to HELP us, not kill us!"

The boy stood to the side behind the enraged Jade, not saying a word. He turned his sad eyes up to Joshua. The older man was silent. He wasn't sorry he had shot the child, he was sorry he wasn't able to kill him.

Jade gestured to the revived lavender. "See that? He has the power to renew life. He wants to help us! I want him to join us. If you refuse... I... I..." she shook her head, unable to say anything.

Joshua narrowed his eyes at the little boy. "He can join," he said shortly. *But I'm keeping my eye on him,* he added silently. *I'm not letting him hurt you, Jade.*

"Thank you," she said softly, her anger fading.

**





Sorry this is so short, but it's just a quick idea I put down. I should be working on "Jade" a bit more now. I have a fabulous idea for it! Please review!

AN: I got Kyle from a dream I had. If you want me to explain it, I'll do so in the next chapter. Bye!