The Awakening - (Evian) - Chapter Eighteen
by lala02
Chapter XVIII
The following morning, Max summoned everyone to the kitchen for breakfast.
The mood in the kitchen seemed too upbeat for the most part…and Eve wasn’t
buying it. Last night, she couldn’t stop thinking about Max or his scent
and because of that she couldn’t sleep. Every nerve in her body seemed to
be on edge. He was related to Arianna somehow, that she knew for a fact. And
then there was their plan…something about it was just wrong.
Julian watched as Eve picked at her eggs with her fork. Something was
bothering her. Ever since she told him that Max was somehow related to Arianna,
she hadn’t said another word to him about it. Sighing, he hated it when
she kept things to herself. He knew it was hard for her to open up, but
dang it, weren’t they suppose to be over that!
The sound of silverware hitting the plate below startled Julian out of
his thoughts, as Eve excused herself then walked out of the kitchen.
‘Oh no you don’t!’ Julian nearly growled as he excused himself too, leaving
Joseph, Gabriel and Max totaled confused.
Eve was standing out back on the patio staring straight ahead at the wooded
area in front of her. She couldn’t think with all those people around her.
“Eve…” she heard Julian call out to her and scowled.
“Do you mind?” she nearly snapped.
“Talk to me. You’re keeping something from me, I know it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She huffed and folded her arms.
“It’s about last night. About Max being related to Arianna, isn’t it?”
“Among other things.” She muttered.
“Other things? What other things?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“I thought we were over hiding things from each other.” Julian frowned.
“We are!”
“Then talk to me.”
“I just needed sometime to think to myself without everyone around me.”
Was it too much to ask for a little bit of privacy, Eve frowned on the inside.
“What are you hiding?” Julian blurted out.
“Nothing,”
“Eve…”
“Dang it Julian!” Eve finally snapped. Then without warning, took off
from the patio and ran towards the wooded area up ahead.
“What the hell?” Julian muttered in shock and disbelief before his eyes
flashed light blue and a growl escaped his lips.
Max heard Eve shouting and immediately went to see if everything was all
right. The minute he got to the patio door, he saw Eve headed towards the
wooded area and Julian right behind her.
“Well, I guess those two are going to be gone for a while.” He sighed,
then turned back and headed towards the den to meet up with Joseph and Gabriel.
Eve could feel Julian gaining on her as she jumped from branch to branch.
Ok, so maybe she overreacted a bit. Taking the chance to glance over her
shoulder, Eve saw Julian following her exact path before suddenly jumping
out of sight. Turning back ahead, she continued on her way before the smell
of water hit her nose. Landing on a thick branch to the right, she then redirected
her footing and jumped down to the ground below before following the scent
of the water all the way to its source.
The moment she stepped into the clearing, her breath hitched in her throat
and she thought she had found paradise. The area surrounding the little lake
she found was beautiful. The scent of wildflowers hovered in the air and
the only noise heard was the faint sound of birds chirping in the distance.
Suddenly, the sound of branches crunching brought Eve out of her daydream
as Julian jumped out of the tree from behind her and landed in front of her,
his light blue eyes staring into her light brown ones. Yep, she definitely
overreacted a bit too much.
“Julian, I’m not hiding anything from you I swear it.” Eve held her hands
up.
“Then why’d you run from me? Why couldn’t you just answer me back then?”
Julian frowned.
Eve sighed, “I don’t know...” then lowered her head. “Something isn’t
right. The plan…”
“What about the plan?” Julian asked as he moved closer to stand in front
of her.
“I’ve been wracking my brain for days trying to figure it out. Julian,
all I know is that it isn’t going to work.”
Julian nodded then pulled her into a hug.
“Now was that so hard to tell me?” he smirked.
Eve just rolled her eyes. “Ok, so I overreacted a bit.”
“A bit?” he raised a brow.
“Oh alright a lot then, hap…” Eve tried to finish but Julian’s lips met
hers in a warm sensuous kiss.
It has to be a sin for his lips to taste this good, Eve thought to herself
as she took her time thoroughly inspecting his mouth. A small moan then escaped
her lips when she felt Julian’s hands caressing her bare back. How he got
her shirt off without her consciously knowing it was a mystery in itself,
but nevertheless, the act alone heightened the scent of her arousal more…and
she knew that he knew it too because he suddenly gripped her back a little
tighter and groaned.
“Why can’t I seem to get enough of you?” Julian muttered against her lips.
“I could ask you the same question.” Eve smirked evilly before ripping
off his shirt.
Julian pulled back a bit and frowned. “I really liked that shirt.” He
pouted.
“Well that’s too bad because it was blocking my view.” Eve looked him
up and down seductively.
Julian smirked again before claiming her lips once more.
Joseph was sitting down on the couch in the den reading the book that
he took off of the bookshelf earlier. The title of the book had peaked his
interest when he walked pass. Gabriel had gone into town with Max to pick
up some things and Eve and Julian weren’t back yet, so that just left him
alone.
After reading the first few pages, Joseph realized that he read some of
this before. Flipping through a few more pages, his eyes grew huge and his
breathing began to quicken. How in the hell did Max get possession of this?!
Scrambling to his feet with the book still in his hand, he exited the den
and ran out to the back of the house.
“EVE!!!”
Eve had been resting comfortably against Julian’s bare chest as they sat
quietly high up on a tree branch staring out straight ahead. She didn’t understand
it one bit. Every time the two of them made love, something bad always happened.
Maybe it was a sign. Hell, it had to be a sign that was telling them to
wait until the threat of Dante was gone. But as usual, they just didn’t
listen. She sighed and shook her head. As she got ready to dose off, she
heard someone screaming her name.
“EVE!!!”
She turned around in Julian’s arm to look at his face and found he staring
down at her. Nodding his head, he removed his arms from around her waist
and watched as she jumped down and landed at the base of the tree before doing
the same. Since they had been up in the tree naked, they really didn’t have
time to get dressed, so they ran through the woods stumbling to make themselves
look decent. When they finally came into the clearing, Eve saw Joseph running
their way.
“Joseph…” Eve said.
“I…found…this…” Joseph said, struggling to catch his breath and handed
her the book he had been reading.
A puzzled look spread across Eve’s features.
Joseph noticed this, then took a deep breath before saying, “It’s a copy
of the original book of legends.”
“A copy?” Julian muttered.
“Where did you find this?” Eve asked.
“On the bookshelf in the den.”
What the hell was Max doing with a copy of the book of legends, Eve thought
to herself as she walked pass Joseph and entered the house.
Gabriel and Max returned a few hours later carrying boxes into the den.
When Max sat one of the boxes down, he looked up and found Eve staring at
with a puzzled look on her face.
“I see you and Julian are back. Is everything between you alright?” he
asked.
“Fine…just peachy.” Julian mumbled as he continued reading the book before
him.
“What are reading?” Gabriel asked as he walked over to where Julian sat.
“You’ll know soon enough.” Julian said, but never once looked up at him.
Gabriel turned a confused face to Joseph, but Joseph just shook his head
and told him to wait.
Max noticed that Eve hadn’t said a word.
“Eve…”
“You are related to Arianna, aren’t you?” she asked then watched, as Max’s
eyes grew huge before he quickly recovered.
“Who is this Arianna person?” Max tried to play it off.
“Don’t play dumb with me. How could you do this to me? Why didn’t you
just tell me when we first met all those months ago?” Eve whispered then
frowned.
Max sighed and lowered his head. He knew he was busted.
“I didn’t know how. I’m sorry.”
“So you don’t deny who you are?” Julian asked.
“No.” Max muttered.
Gabriel still didn’t know what the hell was going on…
“All these years…” Eve whispered.
“Yeah.” Max sighed.
“You don’t look the same.” She said as she continued to stare at his face.
He shrugged his shoulders, “I had to blend in with the times. I couldn’t
stay looking the same way for too long.”
Silence-
“So what do you really look like Max?” Julian suddenly asked. Max had
always looked like this, even when he was little.
“Not that much older than you.”
Eve sighed. “Your voice sounds so weird coming from that face. And your
scent hasn’t changed that much either, it’s just older.”
“For so many years, I’ve tried to come up with a cure for this disease.
I never wanted to be like this, just like you didn’t. But somehow you’ve
managed to adapt much better. When I first heard Julian mention your name,
I thought that there was no way it could really be you. I thought he was
on drugs, but when I saw you…you haven’t changed that much either.”
Eve smiled somberly.
“Well,” Max sighed and shrugged his shoulders again. “I guess I won’t
be needing this disguise anymore. I’ve used it for so long, that I don’t
even remember what I look like.” He mumbled before turning his back to everyone.
Slowly he removed his glasses then he removed his gray wig and facemask.
His short five foot four frame suddenly grew a few more inches and dark unruly
hair appeared on top of his head. Once he was finished with everything, he
turned back around and everyone in the room gasped in shock…except for Eve.
“Better now?” he smiled wryly.
“Yeah. It’s good to see you again…Sylvester…”