Chapter 13 – A Moment of Shame

Aurora could feel the water surround her, covering her from Aaron’s eyes. She stared at him from the water, trying to figure out why he was here. With his hands in his pockets, he stared at the surface of the water.

It didn’t bother her that he might have seen her naked. Zachary had often stressed the importance of her looks, and she knew there was nothing wrong with her shape—especially after all that training at Haw Tech. Never mind the fact that she was often put on display for the good of Zach’s shop—she was used to it by now.

However, she could feel her cheeks heat up with the possibility that Aaron might not have liked what he saw. It was shame that made her panic—not embarrassment.

Treading waters, she faced him, waiting for him to say something. He didn’t move or say anything, and she cleared her throat. The noise seemed to snap him out of his trance, and he looked up to meet her confused stared.

Aurora cocked an eyebrow. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“Errh…” Aaron scratched his head, looking around the area until he finally settled on his shoes. “I… ehm… I think that we need to talk.”

“About what?” She started to swim towards him.

“About my…” He hesitated, a pained expression showing on his face. “About Shani.”

“Oh.” In a way, Aurora had expected something like this. There was no way he’d simply forget about her knowledge of his past. “Well… talk then,” she said.

“Do you mind coming up from there?” His hands found his pockets again.

She nodded before grabbing onto the shore. As she looked up at him, the sun seemed to form a halo behind his head. “Do you mind turning around? I’m kinda sorta naked here.”

His face became a beetroot red color right before he turned around. Aurora smiled gently to herself before using her arms to pull her body up on the grass-covered ground. Grabbing her clothes, she quickly dressed and sat down on the shore. “I’m decent now,” she said.

Aaron’s hands were in his pockets as he glanced around, before taking a seat beside her. He didn’t say anything for a while. Aurora quickly lost patience, and after another agonizingly long moment, she sighed. “What is it?”

He snorted. “It’s funny…” he started, turning his head to look at her, “I’ve always thought that nobody knew about my relationship with Shani.”

“Weren’t you public at Haw Tech?” Aurora asked.

“No.” Aaron rubbed his face. “I mean… Could you imagine? An Immortalia with privileges of marriage?”

Right. She’d forgotten about the laws put on the shoulders of Immortalias. Personally, Aurora didn’t mind the fact that she couldn’t marry—she’d been used to it for so long. However, she’d seen humanity go down this path too many times. Interspecies relationships were simply unheard of—it’d been so through generations.

“How come you proposed to her then?”

He shrugged. “There’s a fraction of captains with the license to wed. We were thinking of going upstate to find one of them. Plenty of Immortalias’ married their owners up there.” He looked at his hands, fumbling with them. “Shani and I… Well… We had it all planned out. We’d go up there, and come back as a couple. Once married, Haw Tech couldn’t do much to keep us apart.”

“Why would Haw Tech keep you apart?” Aurora frowned.

“Shani was technically their property. We were working on a way to free her from her contract, so she could get married.” He glanced over to her, meeting her eyes shortly. “She’d go to Hawkings and make a deal for her to work there but without them owning her.”

“Would they have agreed to that?”

“She was one of the leading scientists at Haw Tech, of course they would have agreed. She was far too valuable for the corporation.”

“What happened with her?” Aurora remembered the horrible death she’d pictured before.

“She was the leader of the last mission here—accompanied by Daniel himself.” Aaron scratched his neck. “Before that, Haw Tech experimented with her.”

“Experimented?”

“They made her like you. Except, her powers weren’t in her hands, but in her eyes.” He gulped. “They evolved over time, and it didn’t take long before her body was fighting everything off.”

He stopped speaking, and Aurora sat quietly beside him. She didn’t want to be the one to ask if that’s what killed her—it was already implied. Staring at the surface of the water, she was at a loss for words.

She remembered Daniel’s panic when she’d been pulled from her memories. He’d yelled that it couldn’t happen again. Now she wondered if this were what he’d been referring to.

“She died in my arms,” Aaron whispered. The pain in his voice was evident, and she glanced up to see a moist trail on his right cheek.

“I know,” she muttered. She’d already seen that part—lived that part.

“How?” he croaked. Clearing his throat, he dried his cheeks and looked into her eyes. “How do you know of this? How do you know her?”

“I…” she started but stopped herself. What was she going to tell him? That she’d been tapping into his fiancé’s mind, in order to escape the pain of the world. She cringed inwardly. That wouldn’t go over exceedingly well. “I don’t know,” she said at last.

“You’re lying.”

“No,” she argued. “I honestly don’t know how. It’s in my mind, but I don’t know how.”

“Bullshit.” He narrowed his eyes. “Stop lying to me. You know something.”

“I really don’t!” Panic started to rise inside her, and she had to look away from him. She saw him turn away out of the corner of her eyes.

“Please leave,” he pleaded, his voice cracking.

She hesitated.

“Leave!” he repeated in a shout. The sound startled a couple of birds, and their high-pitched squeal echoed around them shortly after.

Aurora stood up promptly, walking away from the lake. She could hear the roar from the waterfall behind her as she walked towards the amazon warriors. With her mind deep in thoughts, she trudged slowly along the path.

She wanted to tell Aaron—she truly did. However, the sheer embarrassment was enough to make her want to keep it a secret, as well. How do you tell someone that you’ve been in a relationship with him for a long time—without him knowing?

Biting her lip, she tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. A dull pain started to spread in her head, and she shook her head from side to side, hoping to clear her mind.

“What are you doing?”

Aurora averted her eyes from the ground to find Allegra staring at her with a tilted head. The female had furrowed eyebrows, and the blond ponytail was snaked across her shoulder.

“I have a headache,” Aurora muttered.

“Immortalias don’t get headaches.”

“Well…” She ran a hand through her wet hair, feeling a knot entangled around her fingers. Jerking her hand away, she stood up straight. “This Immortalia does,” she said and started to walk away.

“You shouldn’t let it get into your head,” Allegra called after her.

Aurora halted. “Excuse me?” Slowly, she turned around to face the military female.

“That they were together, I mean.” Allegra started to pick her nails. “She was the love of his life, or something utterly depressing like that.”

“How’d you know?”

“Everybody knew.” Allegra shrugged. “It was just a matter of time before they would run away. I know they said they wanted to stay at Haw Tech, but they were obviously lying.”

“I’m really not following here.”

“I know you aren’t.” She smirked. “It’s a side effect from being too involved with Aaron Reed.”

Aurora walked closer. “Do you have some sort of problem with me?”

Scoffing, Allegra turned away. “Of course, I do.”

“Then tell me so I can solve it.” Aurora reached out a hand, grabbing Allegra’s arm. “Please.”

“There’s nothing to solve,” Allegra muttered and jerked her arm free.

Aurora stared after the woman; she was unable to speak a word. Turning around, she trudged back to the camp, wanting to check on Zachary. While she found him despicable over ninety percent of the time, there was still the fact that they’d spent so much time together.

She didn’t believe that she cared for him on a personal level. But if something where to happen to him, then it wouldn’t be beneficial for her contract. She stopped in front of the tent, exhaling loudly before she went inside.

“Zachary?” she said.

A low moan came from the ground, and she looked down to find him half covered by a sleeping bag. She kneeled beside him. “You shouldn’t uncover yourself.”

“But I am so hot,” he muttered. “I don’t want to be covered.”

Aurora reached out and covered him in a swift movement. “Don’t argue. The warriors decide here.”

“They are so scary.”

She laughed. “I know.”

“How come you’re drenched?” he asked. “Did you go swimming?”

The question made her think of Aaron and their conversation. She gave Zachary a small nod before leaning to the side, placing herself flat on the ground. She sighed and rubbed her head. “I’ve gotten a headache.”

Zachary chuckled. “Immortalias don’t get headaches.”

“That’s what Allegra said too.” Aurora pouted. “But why does my forehead hurt then?”

“Maybe you’ve hit it on something?”

“I haven’t.”

Zachary shrugged and pulled his sleeping bag tighter. “I don’t know then.”

“Never mind then. Just go to sleep.” Aurora hugged her knees. “I’ll stay here for a while.”

“Thank you.”

It didn’t take long for Zachary’s snoring to sound throughout the small tent. Aurora didn’t mind the noise; she was too worried about her head. Maybe her body would reject the change, as well. Would she end up like Shani?

She sat there for quite some time before she dared to move. A breeze wafted through the opening of the tent, and she decided to walk out to get some air. It wouldn’t do any good to stay alone with her thoughts. There was no point in worrying about her death when there was nothing she could do anyway.

A/N: Please vote.