Chapter 123 - Fall Or Dive In-III
Elise in fear watched his hand, the beckoning sign and his devilish smile tempt her to take her steps forward. But she would fall! Elise wasn't yet to the edge as there was still couple more steps but with the ground that was thin she was afraid that with two people's weight the ground would break and they would fall.
Her blue eyes that stared at his hand that he stretched for her moved toward his eyes that felt with a mischief intent but she felt safer with the gaze he had that was calm to the soft spot of her heart.
Elise hadn't made up her mind yet but her shoes slowly padded toward him and her right hand she settled on the side reached up to take Ian's hand he offered for her. Her fingers slowly touched his skin that felt cold and when her hand fit to his large palm, the coldness turn warmer.
Ian was pleased to see Elise's compliance toward him. How killingly adorable thought Ian to himself. His tongue ran down to his upper teeth to feel the sharpness of it.
Elise was like a lamb and the girl didn't know how much it effected Ian's evil side whenever he saw her naiveness at him. His sweet girl had believed into him too much and although that was what he aimed for, Ian thought he should warn her that the evilness in him wasn't pretty for her to look at and she should be careful of it.
Elise lifted her eyes when she reached close to him. She didn't want to see the ground that were fall bellow her. Elise didn't have a strong heart to do so. She looked at him, only to be captivated by his red intense gaze that made her shudder. The shuddering feeling was different than a shudder of fear and Elise couldn't describe what she was feeling. But her body felt hot.
"If we keep standing here, wouldn't we fall?" She asked to see his smile grew.
"We would." He affirmed her words to see her eyes questioning and he said to her, "Don't worry if we fall we could climb up back. I've fallen from this place more than a thousand time if my memory does not fail me."
Using magic? asked Elise to herself without vocalizing the question.
"Why are we here?" Elise asked her question to keep her heart calm and Ian saw how Elise's eyes darting from seeing the ground and at him. To look at the ground gave her feel but to stare back at Ian's eyes gave her an indescribable overwhelming feeling.
Elise closed her right eye when she felt his hand moved to brush the back of her ears. His movement was gentle and somewhat sensual when he slide his finger from the back of her shell bellow to her neck.
"Your punishment, sweetheart and I have something I want you to see." His whispers fall on her lips and Elise quickly curl her lips inside.
"Is this not what you want me to see?" she asked him, still feeling the shivers that make her skin tingling. It was odd there was fear she had in her heart as they were standing on the edge of the cliff but her breath huffed for a different reason than fear.
Ian smiled his finger slowly retracting from Elise's neck and he spread his arm, "Of course not this. It's to simple don't you think?" Was it? Elise questioned her heart. "Don't you have question for me Elise?" He asked her, his voice playful and he lowered his voice to say, "You were staring at me intensely in the courtroom."
Ian saw her blue eyes startled as if she didn't notice what she was feeling. "I..." Elise was unable to look at him and her eyes looked at the clouds if she could as all she could see was his chest when her chin lowered down.
She gulped, bravening her lips to carefully ask, "Is the immortal being, you, Master Ian?"
Elise watched his hair that were disheveled by the wind, the long straight strand falling over his forehead falling slightly to cover his red eyes that glimmered almost too bright for her. The silence swell and all Elise could hear was the wind and her quick pulse rate until his lips opened to say,
"Yes." Ian confirmed her, an answer that was clear without riddles or puzzle for her.
It took Elise a moment to process the one word he said. Her loose fists tightened and she didn't know what she should say. Ian was the immortal being. It was why the words he said that day in the gallery resonated to her very much.
"Surprised?" asked Ian to her, his lips had never fail to smile like now when seeing her expression lost in bewilderment, like the book of a girl who fall into a very different world whose name was almost similar sounding to Elise.
"I am... surprised." replied Elise somewhere she knew that Ian was the immortal they talked about but she wasn't sure of it and with how calm Ian admitted the fact surprised her. "How old are you, Master Ian?" asked Elise, her question was jumbling inside her mind that she didn't know where to begin.
Ian hummed in a tune and his eyes slightly narrowed to think, "Since I stopped aging it would be more than nine hundred years. It's hard to keep the exact age as I don't count the years I passed. Years turn into numbers and they become trifling to keep a note on when you know that nothing would change even with the numbers adding up."
Elise blinked under his gaze. Once. Twice. Nine hundred years, she repeated in her mind. Since then how many events had happened to Ian? Was it why he was never effected by anything?
"That's a lot." said Elise and Ian could tell that the words she said came out from her lips because she didn't know what to say.
Elise didn't know until where she could ask but Ian didn't tell her to stop yet, "Do you have a family?"
She witness Ian's eyes were cool as he replied, "I did." Did as in the past, Elise thought. They had died which mean not all in his family could live as long as him. Or perhaps, not being able to die.
Ian continued, "Not everyone's life is ever peaceful. Just like you, sweetie, I did have relatives who were irritating enough to kill. It was worse before in the past." Ian's finger played with the ribbon of her cloak, her earlobe looks red from the cold that he want to take a bite on. "I made sure they meet their best end and repay whatever they owed me. It was fun." He remarked.
From the words, it was clear Ian's relationship with his family wasn't peaceful. She wondered Ian's past and was curious to know but before that there was one question she had to ask. "What are immortal beings? Are they-" Elise inquiry stopped when his finger that were with gloves pressed her pink lips, a sigh for her to stop.
"That question will be answered later." Ian smiled at her, his lips smiling to see that now the only thing and person occupying Elise's mind was him. There goes Elise curious gaze. Since the first time they met, she always use the same gaze at him curious, wanting to know and it only make her fall for him.
"Let's get to the main action shall we?" Ian smiled and his hand took both of her wrist, "Elise do you know what would happen once someone fall from this cliff?"
Unsure why Ian asked, she reply, "They die?"
"I've seen once who was thrown here it is a good place to throw someone who isn't smart enough to abide by the rules and edicts, like the late Verve, or Vervor?" Ian's eyes moved down for Elise to also look down. "If the person is alive they would scream for help but when they fall the sound of screaming disappeared very slowly but fast. Then soon you would hear nothing at all to look down and see that the person had met its dead end.
There was an on point wordings Ian said as if he had watched or thrown someone here but maybe he did seeing his words from earlier.
"We should test it out." Ian suggested the craziest idea from his lips.
"Test?" Will she has to fall from here? Elise believe and put her faith entirely to Ian. She knew Master Ian wouldn't push her down to the cliff after all, he was the person who save her here. Then who? Don't tell her Master Ian had brought a person to be thrown only to show her death?
Questions ran on her mind and Ian knew. He smiled, his wickedness making him feel alive than ever. "We will not be pushing anyone here." He spoke as if he knew what was in her mind.
Master Ian and his unique ways. What he mean by show if no one would to fall from the cliff? But hearing no one would have her heart in piece that was short lived when Ian say, "After all I have prepared one."
"What?" Elise gasped, her brows furrows. Was it her? Was he joking? Elise steeled her heart to faithfully believe Master Ian wouldn't push her down. She had no wings.
"Elise." Ian called her and she looked at him, her eyes still with mixed emotions, and he instructed her, "Keep your eyes on me."
Elise did what he asked her to, watch. Her eyes looked at him, seeing Ian spreading his hand and with a single tap, he pushed himself back as if to fall from the cliff and he did.
In the split of second, the man who stood in front of her fell backward. Fall wasn't the right word as Ian voluntarily took his steps back to turn his body to the place where there was no surface for his feet to walk on.
Elise felt her heart stopped even though it was clear they were thundering in her chest. All sounds disappear from her ears as if she had grown numb. Her heart that was elated with him around know had fall from the highest cloud to the lowest ground.
Everything went slow motion to her eyes. She saw his smile, the grin, and then his hand that was on her holding slipped from her as Ian flung backward. Elise in haste reached her hand forward, both of her hands to take Ian's but her reflex was too slow to be able to catch him as she never expected Ian would dive into the cliff.
At that time, she thought it was not possible for him to dive but he did and Elise who saw him fall, stepped her shoes forward to dive in together with him from the cliff.
A/N: Don't forget to vote to 1000 powerstone, we are near the goal! ^^