Revelation: Trinity Part 1 Page 12

  “You are the only mortal to ever know when their Guardian is near.” He seemed proud.

  Rose was oddly pleased, before she remembered their conversation at the library – when she’d thought he’d been nothing more than her professor.

  “Hey, you knew I was talking about you,” she accused.

  Christian winced, not needing to clarify what she meant. “I did,” he said. “And I’m glad. That you know I’m there,” he clarified, at her questioning look. “That it makes you feel safe. That … I make you feel safe.”

  He held her gaze for a long moment, and there was something in his eyes she couldn’t figure out, a warmth she’d not seen before. Like a barrier had been knocked down between them.

  “Why do you do it?” she asked, to break the silence. “I mean, why do you watch at particular times?”

  Christian considered for a moment. “I watch,” he began, using her terminology, “When I feel you react strongly to something.”

  Rose’s eyes widened in comprehension. “You can read my mind?” she asked, in horror.

  “No, not your thoughts,” he was quick to reassure her. “Just your strongest reactions, feelings. It makes it easier for me to know if you’re in trouble.”

  Rose thought about her strongest reactions recently and groaned, her eyes fluttering closed. “What do I react strongly to?” she asked in resignation.

  “Fear is the emotion I pick up on the most,” he said. “Like just now – you saw Nathaniel and your adrenalin spiked, your heart rate sped up. But you react to other things too. Shock, for example, I felt it when I made you jump at the bridge the other morning.” He shrugged. “It’s much the same bodily reaction, but I’ve learned to tell the difference.”

  Rose smiled at his almost-smug expression, before the realisation of what it meant hit her. She took a breath, quickly running through the times she’d felt him around. It had always been at moments in her life when she’d experienced something, and had been fizzing with a need to tell him about it. Or at times she’d cried.

  She was pleased to realise she’d never sensed him at any point where she might have been uncomfortable to have an audience, and was grateful he seemed to know when to draw the line.

  “It’s comforting,” she said, eventually. “I’m a little bit weirded out,” she warned, “which might be the understatement of the century, but… it’s nice to know you’ll be there, if I need you.”

  He smiled, relief shining in his eyes.

  “I’m not sure I love the appearing in my room bit though,” she added.

  Christian thought for a moment. “Do you want me to… call first?”

  “That would work,” she smiled at his confusion. “Or you could text. Or even an old-fashioned knock on the door would be nice.”

  He grinned sheepishly, and reached for her mobile, on top of her bag. “May I?”

  Surprised, she nodded her permission, considering what she’d learned as he added his number.

  “So,” she began, getting back to the topic at hand, “I react when I’m around Nate?”

  “Not usually,” he said, putting her phone back on the table. “Well,” he amended, “Not in a way that’s unusual. Only today.”

  “What’s considered usual?”

  Christian shrugged. “The way anyone reacts around… a person they like.”

  Rose thought about this. “Do I react around you?” she asked, unable to help herself.

  Christian looked uncomfortable. “Sometimes,” he said, eventually.

  Rose shut her eyes in mortification, not needing to ask how. “How do you watch me?” she asked, to distract herself.

  Christian relaxed at the change of subject. “Ana didn’t tell you that?”

  “We didn’t get that far.”

  “Well,” he frowned as he considered how best to answer the question. “There are different Planes – dimensions – that exist outside of this one,” he began. “Aside from the Mortal Plane – your universe – there are four more,” he said. “You know them as Heaven, Hell Purgatory and Limbo, With Heaven and Hell being split into different… spheres, I suppose? It’s hard to explain.” He shrugged, moving from the desk, to sit beside her on the bed. “Purgatory is the closest plane to this one. We call it the Shroud. It acts like a separate layer, moulding itself around the physical structure of the earth like a blanket. It looks and feels more or less exactly the same. The only difference being that it can’t be seen from the mortal plane.”

  Rose frowned as she tried to picture his description. “So,” she said, having reached a conclusion. “When you appeared already leaning on the desk, it’s because you were actually leaning on the desk? I just couldn’t see you because you were in the … the Shroud?”

  “Exactly,” Christian smiled and she returned it, pleased to have understood.

  “What’s it for?”

  “It’s a kind of transition stage,” he said. “When mortals die, their spirits move to the Shroud as they no longer have a physical existence. They can hang around until they are ready to begin their afterlife. It looks the same to allow them to acclimatise to their new state.”

  Rose glanced around uneasily at the thought of being watched by a bunch of dead people.

  “Most move on straight away,” Christian offered, seeing her reaction. But occasionally some will stay – that’s where you get ghost stories from,” he added. “It’s rare, but sometimes a reflection of purgatory can be seen here on the Mortal Plane. Usually because someone is unable to accept that their time on Earth is done and seeks a way back.”

  “So,” Rose asked as she pondered this, “can you influence the Mortal Plane from the Shroud?”

  “No,” he said. “The majority can only observe. You have to be very powerful to have any kind of effect – I’m talking old celestial power not known to mortals – and even then it’s limited.”

  “So you just watched from there?” she asked, “my whole life?”

  He nodded.

  Rose thought how she would feel, standing in a room full of people but being unable to interact with them. Not even being seen. “It must have been very lonely.”

  “It’s my job,” he shrugged.

  Rose thought back to all the times she’s begged for him to show up, realising that he would have been effectively there all that time. The image made her sad. She reached out and touched the back of his hand. “You’re here now,” she said. “That’s all that matters.”

  He smiled, seeming to gather his thoughts, before he turned his hand over and squeezed her fingers, so gently she almost couldn’t feel it.

  “I’m here,” he agreed. They stayed silent for a moment, each lost in their thoughts.

  Eventually, Rose yawned, the stress of the last few days catching up with her.

  Christian grinned and stood up. “Get some sleep,” he said. “You’ve had a long day.”

  “Are you going to disappear?” Rose teased, with a smile. He returned it, a calculating look in his eye – and was suddenly gone.

  Rose blinked in shock, looking around for some sign that he was still there, before her heart returned to its normal rhythm. Realising she couldn’t feel him here, she reached for her phone, scrolling through her contacts before finding his newly added number, a silly thrill running through her at finding the simple name Christian in her phone book.

  That’s too weird. Good night.

  The reply came through instantly.

  Sleep well Rose.

  11

  Rose marched up the steps to her seat the following morning, determined to get this over with as quickly as possible. She knew she owed Nate an explanation for the way she’d run from him, knew she had to find a way to be normal around him, but she had no clue what to say.

  “Hi,” Nate greeted warily, as she sat down next to him.

  Rose took a deep breath. “Hi.” She paused and he watched her intently, making no move to touch her. Nervous, she fidgeted. “I’m sorry about yesterday,” she began.
“I had a lot on my mind.”

  He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s okay,” he said. “I shouldn’t have pushed you.” He leaned forward, slow enough for Rose to control the urge she had to back away. “Are we okay?” he asked, his eyes searching.

  Rose, feeling her heart pound, looked to the floor to get out from under his penetrating stare. Christian was setting up his desk, shuffling papers, but he turned and shot her a small, reassuring smile.

  Nate leaned back in his chair, taking his answer from her silence. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked, calmly.

  “No,” she said, turning to face him, “It’s not you.”

  She winced as he raised a sceptical eyebrow, knowing there was nothing she could say without admitting that she knew what he was. The thought of what he might do if he found out made her heart skip again, and she took a breath, more for Christian’s benefit than hers.

  “I had a great time on Saturday,” she told him, as honest as she could be. “But…” She was unable to finish, her mind conjured images of demons and monsters from films and nightmares; evil, scaly creatures with sharp teeth and claws.

  Nate nodded, like he’d been expecting as much. His gaze flickered to the floor below, his eyes flashing in annoyance for a brief second – so brief Rose wondered if she’d imagined it. He sighed, tapping his finger on his laptop as he thought.

  “Could we start again?” he asked.

  Rose, relieved that she’d managed to get through this, nodded. “Sure,” she said, quietly.

  He looked away for a moment, before turning back, smiling his crooked smile. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing in a stuffy class like this?” he asked, his tone light, despite the sadness in his eyes.

  Rose met his gaze, smiling faintly as she remembered that line, that smile, and how she’d thought it had been all for her. Her smile faltered as she realised how much had changed in just a few short days.

  Nate’s expression turned to defeat as she didn’t reply, and he turned back to his laptop, sighing in quiet frustration. Sitting back in her chair, Rose wondered if she should move seats, before deciding against it for now, at least. He couldn’t do anything in class – her Guardian was here if he decided to try.

  Rose glanced down at the thought and caught Christian’s eye. His expression was kind, his quick smile reassuring. Wanting to thank him, as he turned away, she focused, letting the warm feeling of his protection shine through her. She was rewarded with the bright flash of his smile before he turned away. When he turned back, the smile was gone, but there was contentment in his eyes, and Rose knew he’d understood.

  Letting his voice wash over her as he began the lecture, she took a deep breath before opening her laptop.

  ***

  Rose glanced over the crowded Trinity bar to the pool table for the third time that evening, her eyes seeking out Nate as he took his shot.

  “Stop watching him,” Ana said, as she spotted it.

  Rose sighed and took a long sip of her drink. “I can’t help it,” she mumbled into her glass. “I keep thinking he’s going to turn into a bat or something.”

  Ana grinned as Rose shuddered involuntarily. “I can’t believe you let him kiss me,” she accused across the small table, shifting on her stool. “What if he’d bitten me or something?”

  “First things first, I never, at any point, let him kiss you.” Ana argued. “In fact, if you’ll recall, I was very adamant that you not.”

  Rose huffed into her glass.

  “And secondly,” Ana continued, ignoring her, “he’s a demon – not a vampire,” she giggled. “I doubt they bite.”

  Rose’s face twitched into an unwilling smile. “Whatever,” she said, relenting as she rolled the remains of her drink around in her glass.

  A cheer went up from the pool table and Rose sighed, reaching for her mobile in the hope that Ben had text her back.

  “Where is Ben anyway?” she asked. “I need him here to tell me that it’s all okay and I haven’t just resigned myself to a life of singledom and cats.”

  “I haven’t seen him,” Ana said, dropping her gaze to her glass. Rose shot her a look and she shrugged. “Maybe he’s in the lab? He’s got that Chemistry assignment…” she trailed off. “Besides,” she added, a little too brightly. “You don’t need him to tell you that. I already have.” She grinned as her eyes fixed on a point across the room. “And I can tell you this for certain: you won’t be single for long.”

  Rose looked up from her mobile to see Christian chatting to a couple of girls at a different table, handing them a flyer.

  “You’re delusional,” she informed Ana, with a shake of her head.

  Ana just grinned, taking another sip of her drink.

  Rose watched as Christian moved from table to table. He looked comfortable, fitting right in to the crowd of students around him. He laughed at something one of the girls said, before turning to see her watching him. He shot her a grin, making his excuses to the table and heading over.

  “Hey,” he greeted, coming to stand between the two stools. Rose’s heart warmed at his open smile, returning it shyly.

  Ana plucked a flyer from the stack in his hand. “What are you up to?” she asked, scanning it. “Open air cinema?”

  “Just helping out,” he said.

  Rose thought back to Nate’s invitation, sneaking another glance over to the pool table. He was watching her, she realised in shock. He waved, his half-hearted smile turning into a frown as Christian glanced in his direction. She shrugged it off as a barman scooped up the empty glasses on their table, piling them on to a tray already half full.

  Christian got his attention, pulling a twenty-pound note out of his pocket. “Can I get another three of those, please?” he asked.

  “Sure,” the barman shrugged, accepting the money and returning to the bar to fix their drinks.

  “Drinking, Professor?” Rose grinned.

  “Consider it bribery,” he said, smiling at her term. The barman returned, depositing drinks and change, and Christian handed Rose a glass. She clinked it against his before taking a long sip.

  “I was hoping you’d to come along to the cinema night,” he said, raising his own glass to his lips. “No one seems interested.”

  “You’re handing out the flyers and no one’s interested?” Ana lifted a playful eyebrow at Rose. “I doubt that.”

  Rose swiped the flyer from Ana, reading the list of movies – mostly educational in some shape or form. “It sounds okay,” she admitted. “Besides,” she said, with a smile at Ana, “It’s not like we’ve got anything better to do?”

  “Is there booze?” Ana asked, hopefully, already draining her drink.

  “Cider and cheap wine,” Christian offered. “On me if you come along.”

  “Deal.” Ana grinned, hopping up from her chair and hoisting Rose off her stool. She grabbed her bag whilst Christian tipped back his own drink.

  They wove through the throng of people to the door, and Christian held it open for them. Rose walked through and out into the night, feeling the weight of Nate’s gaze the whole way.

  ***

  The courtyard was already busy when they got there, couples and groups laying on blankets spread haphazardly across the ground. People lounged on deck chairs, cushions and beanbags, pulling snacks from the picnic hampers they’d arranged in front of them.

  A large projector screen had been fixed to the back wall, and a table had been stacked with buckets of popcorn and coolers filled with drinks. Blankets and cushions had been piled underneath, for people to use.

  There were fairy lights strung from trees and looped over the walls, giving the whole area a twinkling glow, and everyone was milling from group to group, filling the air with the low hum of conversation.

  Rose spotted Louise and Toni as they waved, already settled on a blanket at the back with drinks in hand, and a large bucket of popcorn between them.

  She looked for Christian as Ana dragged her over to join
them, but he had disappeared.

  “Hey,” Ana greeted, and they shuffled over to make room as she flopped down between them, chorusing their hellos. “Tell that man to grab another blanket,” she directed at Rose. “This one won’t hold all of us.”

  “Is Nate joining us then?” asked Toni, as Louise poured Ana a drink.

  Rose opened her mouth to reply, but stopped as the other girls went quiet. Smiling ruefully, she turned to Christian. He had returned with a blanket looped over one arm, two large bottles of organic cider and a bottle of rosé.

  “Evening ladies,” he greeted, despite their stupefied looks. “Do you mind if I join you?” He handed Rose the bottles and began spreading the blanket out next to them, not waiting for an answer.

  Louise and Toni shared a weighted look, before turning to Rose with an accusing stare. She bit back a nervous smile as she put the bottles on the ground, sitting on the freshly laid blanket, her arms wrapped around her knees. Christian sat by her side and twisted the lid off a bottle of cider, pouring three fresh glasses before topping up the girls’ drinks.

  He handed one to Rose, seemingly oblivious to the stares around him as he leaned back on his elbows.

  Toni look over with interest. “So how come you’re slumming it with us tonight Professor?” she asked, archly.

  “None of that,” he chuckled, easily. “I’m not your professor this evening.”

  Toni smiled appraisingly and Rose felt a twinge of jealousy as he smiled back. She fought it, but Christian turned, his eyes searching briefly over her expression. She looked away, turning to gaze at the people as they set up the projector.

  “It appears there are more people here than I thought,” Christian commented, idly running a hand through his hair. “Perhaps the bribery wasn’t required after all.”

  “Guess we can leave then, Ana,” Rose teased.

  Christian quirked his eyebrow in amusement, his smile easy as Ana crawled over, grabbing a handful of popcorn on her way.

  “Nah,” she shrugged, reaching for the bottle of wine. “Christian promised me a drink.” She tapped her plastic cup against Rose’s. “Budge up,” she commanded, and Rose edged slightly closer to Christian, rolling her eyes at Ana’s concept of subtlety.