Immortal Love Affair (pt 3)

Corey knelt beside her daughter, a small still hand nestled in hers. The next few minutes passed in slow motion. Time seemed to progress as if they moved through quick sand. Langdon's hands moved across Alison's leg, straightening it from its unnatural resting place. Corey was acutely aware of every motion around her. All noises surrounding them were mumbled and unintelligible. Even the breeze that had cooled her moved eerily across her skin like a snake's underbelly.

Corey dragged her head up to look at Langdon and found she couldn't. There was an unearthly glow around him, bright enough she had to look away for fear of burning her retina. Tears burned her eyes as she looked back at her daughter. Who was this man? What was he?

Just as quickly as reality paused, it started again.

"There we go. Just a sprain." replied Langdon as if nothing supernatural had occured.

Corey looked around at the others surrounding them. She must have been imagining things. Shock! That must be it. How else could you explain the way everyone acted as if nothing happened? She must be losing her mind. Shaking her head, she smiled at her overactive imagination.

"Are you sure she's okay?" she asked even as Alison pushed herself to sitting.

"I'm okay, Mom, geesh." She pushed against her mothers arm intent on proving her independance. Although she favored her left leg, she managed to maintain her upright position. Corey stood with her intent on helping her to the bench.

Corey settled her onto the bench so she could watch the rest of the game. She watched Alison sipping from her water bottle, her left leg propped on the bench with an ice pack laying haphazardly across it, forgotten.

"What did you to?" Corey whispered to her silent companion. His intense gaze tickled her spine, the tiny hairs on her neck rustling in anticipation.

"I healed her leg. No one is the wiser."

Corey was grateful he didn't try to play dumb. She knew what she had seen even if she didn't understand it. But there was no way she was going to ignore it any longer. Something about Langdon spoke to her on an elemental level. She wasn't afraid although she knew she should be. Everything she had seen so far painted a picture of an amazing being far beyond anyone she had ever known.

"What amazes me," He continued. "Is that you were aware of the healing. Most mortals are so self-consumed that their brains accept everything they see as reality, even if their souls cry out the discrepency."

Corey turned to face him, her voice low. "Come home with me." She blurted.

Immortal Love Affair (cont)

Corey relaxed, releasing his hand. She reluctantly returned her gaze to the game proceeding before her. She was vaguely aware of the motion of the children and the noise around her. The man beside her still maintained his hold on her concentration. She couldn’t piece together what just happened. The natural distrust she felt around anybody, had evaporated after a few simple words. The feel of his skin against hers made her ache in a way she had never felt before. More intense. It didn’t seem real as if she fallen through the looking glass and found herself in some alternate reality.

“Mom, where’s my water bottle?” A small voice piped up, muffled by the canvas of her equipment bag.

Corey shook herself realizing that some how it was half time and the kids had stopped playing for a moment.

“Oh, here you go, Alli.” Corey reached around the over sized hot pink bag to grab the matching water bottle. Handing it to her daughter she tried hiding her confusion. “Are you having fun? You’re doing great out there.”

“Yeah, it’s okay. Can we get ice cream on the way home?” She asked with casual indifference. It was as if a switch had been flipped and she was detached from the activity she would be returning to in a few minutes.

“We’ll see, honey.” A shrill whistle interrupted her break and Allison set her drink aside. Without a backward glance she ran out on the field and back into the fray.

Corey tried concentrating on the game. Her small daughter stealing the ball, running across the grass, her thin legs pumping. But she couldn't ignore the tingling along her spine. He was staring at her.

"Do you make it a habit to stare at women at soccer games?" she asked her back still turned to him. There was something different about this man.

"Not really. I guess I am more of a people watcher." Came his soft reply. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck lifted causing her to shiver.

A scream yanked her attention back to the field. "Oh, mygod." Corey sprinted to the crowd surrounding the prone figure of her daughter lying on the ground. "What happened? Baby, are you okay?"

Corey dropped beside her daughter, her hands hovering over her body as if she could heal her just by will alone. Alison's left leg was bent at an unnatural angle, her face pale and clammy.

"Let me help." Langdon's warm breath caressed her ear. Her shoulders relaxed as she moved aside for him to kneel beside her daughter.

"Are you a doctor?" She asked, dazed.

"I am many things." came his cryptic reply.

Immortal Love Affair

The warm sun felt good against her wind chilled face as she watched her daughter sprint across the kelly green soccer field. Corey Francis stood transfixed, watching Alison enthusiastically take off after the flying ball. Her slender leg slid between the uncoordinated youths fighting for the ball, effectively stealing it and passing it to her teammate.

"Woohoo, Alli! Good job." She called, pumping her arm above her head. Corey was amazed her daughter played so fiercely. The shrill whistle paused the game signalling the goal scored.

"She's good." commented a quiet voice beside her.

Corey turned expecting another team parent and met a pair of cool gray eyes assessing her. Her initial appraisal was way off base, they weren't cool at all. Combining the light gray eyes with the dark eyebrows and long eyelashes framing his slightly slanted eyes, she felt herself drowning in their warmth.

Heat flooded her cheeks as she realized she was staring dumbly at this stranger. She jerked her attention back to the game.

"Thank you." she murmurred. 'Brilliant, now he thinks your a moron.' Belatedly, she realized she ahd never seen him before. He must be a father from the other team, she concluded. "Uhm, which one is yours?" she asked tentatively. Something about this stranger captivated her. She peeked at him from the corner of her eye, only to discover he was watching her and not the field.

"Which what?" he asked as if stirred from his own thoughts. "Oh, I don't have any children."

"Then why are you watching kids you don't know?" she asked her mother's warning system finally kicking in. Who in their right mind would spend a beautiful, albeit chilly Saturday, watching a bunch of strange children mangle a sport?

"I find their innocence refreshing. It's nice to see what we once were and what we can be again." he replied cryptically. He smiled showing even white teeth. His skin an unseasonable beige but lacked that orangey color to be from a tanning bed. He stood maybe five foot eight to her five-two, his shoulders broad like a swimmers, covered by a gray Tampa Bay Buccaneers sweatshirt, gave him a comfortable feel.

"You're not some pervert are you? Because if you are you may as well leave right now." She warned. Corey didn't get the feeling that he was nefarious but one couldn't be too careful. After all, wasn't Ted Bundy supposed to be charming and normal looking?

Her companion laughed, softly, the corners of his eyes crinkling with humor. "You are a wonder." He held his hand out. "I'm Langdon Collins."

She grasped his hand in a firm shake. She was only being polite after all, right? As soon as she felt his smooth, warm skin against hers all her worries evaporated. She smiled warmly. "Corey Francis."

"Nice to meet you, Corey Francis."

To be continued....