SEBASTIAN
After Jezzy stormed away from me, I wanted to give him some space, because what I said was pretty fucked up. So I didn't run after him, I didn't even look into his mind to see what was going on inside of it, I just wanted him to cool down.
I've known that guy since I was a kid, and I know that sometimes he wants space when he's feeling moody or sad, so I decided to just give it to him. But it wasn't until I felt that tingly sense. The sense nytheris feels when they know that something is wrong. I turned around to find out where that was coming from. I thought I was about to be attacked.
But then I realised that sense wasn't coming from me and I wasn't the one in danger, but the person in danger was Jezzy. I decided to read his mind, see where he was, but something different happened. I couldn't just read his mind; I could see what he was seeing. It was so strange, like I had my mind and my body, but it felt like I had gotten into Jezzy's body.
That's when I saw the dybbuk, a demon that steals people's souls. He was attacking Jezzy, but Jezzy was handling it like a pro. I still had to get to the cemetery, though, so I called my sister and I got into my car and drove off to go help him.
As soon as we arrive at the cemetery, we see the dybbuk attempting to steal Jezzy's soul. I was about to launch on that dumb demon, but my sister stopped me because she noticed something. I tried to argue with her that the demon was going to kill him, and we had to do something about it, but she told me to calm down and just observe.
She had her eyes straight on the demon, and I decided to look at the demon as well. Turns out, the demon was reacting to Jezzy's soul. It was like he was allergic to it. It even killed him. I was shocked.
Nytheris are skilled creatures who have killed a lot of dybbuks, but dybbuks are tricky creatures who have killed a lot of nytheris. They stole their souls with ease. So I'm confused as to how Jezzy wasn't affected by the soul-stealing demon.
Is it because he's a nytherkin? He has one leg in the land of the dead and the other in the land of the living. Is it because he died and he cheated death? I don't know.
Maybe the council can tell us. But I doubt they want to just tell us what's going on; they want to punish me for bringing a human back to life.
These middle-aged nytheris stand with their head held high in their luxurious cloaks, their jewels and their aura farming. They annoy me sometimes, but they also impress me.
My eyes are on Vanessa Dickson, my mom's best friend, and her eyes are on me, too. She has long red hair, massive blue eyes, lips shaped like a heart and painted with red lipstick. She's the same age as my mother, in her forties, but she looks like she's in her thirties, just like my mom.
She's one of the white people who age wonderfully.
"Victor, I can explain," I say to Victor Volatair, the head of the council. He's the biggest aura farmer of them all. He always acts like he's the King of New Orleans or Louisiana in general. I used to be afraid of him when I was a kid, because his punishments for those who break the law are extreme.
I stopped being afraid of him for a while, until now, because he's going to punish me for bringing Jezzy back to life, and he's going to kill Jezzy.
No, I will not let him do that. I'm going to fight him until the end, even if it means dying in the process.
He lifts his hand and looks straight at me with those icy blue eyes of his and that wicked smile. His hair is extremely long, and it's white as snow, and unlike every other Nytheri, he doesn't hide his claws; he keeps them visible.
"Sebastian dear, you don't have to explain anything. Your friend got killed, and you broke the rules by bringing him back from the dead. You should be punished," he says, and I can sense the fear creeping in. But then I realise, it's not my fear I feel. I'm feeling someone else's fear.
I look backwards at Jezzy, and he is shaking, not for himself, but for me. I can't just hear his thoughts; I can see what he sees, and I can feel his emotion. Another new thing.
"But you will not be punished by us." He says, and I whip my head toward him in a state of shock.
"Wait, what?" the other council says in disbelief, walking over to Victor. "Victor, he broke the law, he should be beheaded." Beheading, another way to kill a Nytheri once and for all.
"Yes, I know, but it is pretty obvious, Maximus, that there is something different about him," Victor says, gesturing to Jezzy. "Not different in a way that is the fact that he went from human to nytheri, but he's special." his eyes stay glued on Jezzy, and Jezzy feels awkward.
He did let out a sigh of relief after he heard Victor say that he's not going to punish me. Wow, he really does care about me, huh. I try hard not to blush.
"You cannot be serious, Victor." Our boy, Maximus, says. "He's going to go rogue and cause a commotion. We have to kill him now before it's too late."
The fear comes back to him.
"Calm your horses, Maximus, no one is killing anyone," Victor says patiently, and he still has that smile on his face. He then turns to m,e but his eyes go back and forth from me to Jezzy.
"His soul killed the dybbuk, that's fascinating to me," Victor says, and honestly, I agree because what the fuck, Maximus. Do you love seeing people get beheaded? Do you get a hard-on when you see someone's head disconnect from their body?
Geez, you're scary.
"You can hear his thoughts, right?" He asks me.
"Yep, I do. It's kind of strange, but I'm not complaining." I look over to Jezzy and I wink, he and my sister roll their eyes at the same time. I can basically feel the annoyance coming out of Jezzy.
Haha, he's so cute.
"Interesting. What is he thinking right now, and do not lie to me?" Victor asks me; he genuinely wants to know.
"He's- He's kinda scared, this is all new territory for him. So I don't blame him."
"Why, my dear child?" Victor regally walks toward him and then places his hands on Jezzy's bony cheeks, his claws grazing Jezzy's face. "You don't know how special you are."
"I can see it, he is different from the other Nytherkins," Vanessa says, and I look at her, and I mouth a thank you to her.
"Yes," Victor says, still looking deep into Jezzy's eyes. "Everyone knows this, Maximus just has his brain up his ass."
I snort, and Maximus shoots daggers with his eyes at me. I look away from him, closing my mouth.
"We will let the nyterkin live, for now. If we sense any rogue behaviour, you will be killed. I'm sure the three of you understand."
Jezzy and Pilar both nod, but I don't. I just fold my arms.
"You also know he's different." He says to me, not as a question.
"Yes, of course. I don't know, but I believe he's destined to be one of us."
Victor giggles. "Oh, Sebastian, do not let your relationship with your friend cloud your judgment."
"I understand. But I'm being serious right now. He's supposed to be one of us, I can feel it."
"Hmm." Victor looks straight at Jezzy. "You are right. But you're the one who has a deeper connection to him, so I'm going to take your word for it. Welcome to our world, young man. You will be allowed to live freely, and there will be no punishment. Now that you are a Nytheri, you are going to have to learn our rules, our ways and what we do. Got it."
"Yes, got it," Jezzy says confidently.
"Good, I'm glad to know we're on the same page," he caresses Jezzy's cheek, and I feel hella awkward and jealous right now. I should be the one doing that.
Victor does a spin, and he dramatically walks away.
"We have our eye on you." He says and then gestures for the other council to move forward, and they do as they're told. But Maximus still won't let it go. While he follows Victor out of the cemetery, he has harsh eyes on Jezzy, and I have harsh eyes on him. He's not going to intimidate my friend.
Mother fucker.
When he sees me giving him a harsh look, he immediately looks away, and I smile at how easy it was to intimidate him.
"We have to go help that help lady," Jezzy says after they're gone. And my guess is he's referring to the woman on the floor who looks like she drowned in a pool of liquor.
We run to help her immediately.