Chapter 54

February 21, 2002 – 20:43

Just before she reached the ground, she stabilized herself and circled the field, barely a meter above the ground. Frank didn't realize he was holding his breath until he released it.

"Did you really think she was going to hit the ground?" said Victoria.

"Yeah, I really thought that," he said, in a shaky voice.

"Blue is too good for that. Oleandro, the Spanish captain, is a very strong and aggressive player. He is often butting with Blue, but she is just as ferocious as he is and knows how to fool him and his team. She drops low enough so that the defenders won't pay attention to her, and will pop back up where no one is expecting her. Blue and Lydia are pros at these tricks," said Hector.

"I see what you mean," said Frank, as he watched her rise back up at high speed like an arrow, and catch the ball thrown by Lydia above everyone's head, just to send it straight through their opponent's net.

The Northerners won the game 15 to 13. After the game, they wanted to go to The Wooded Tavern for drinks. Stephanie explained to her brother why they enjoyed going to that bar as they walked out of the stadium to wait for the team members.

Frank saw Lydia and Steven approaching them. He then saw Coralis and Sebastian behind them. When she got next to him, he pulled her into his arms.

"I enjoyed it, I'm glad I listened to my sister, but don't repeat that to her," he whispered into her left ear.

"Don't worry, there is no one else around, coach is probably still entertaining the journalists," said Sebastian, looking at them.

"Let's go before they try to corner us," said Coralis.

Coralis and Steven followed Victoria to her car, while Sebastian and Lydia went to Stephanie's. The bar was a short distance away and during the entire ride, Stephanie and Frank commented on the game.

"I really thought you were going to hit the ground when Oleandro bumped you," said Frank, which made Steven laugh.

"Ah nah! The game is violent, yes, and sometimes we do fall but very rarely do we splash on the ground. When we do, it doesn't kill us. Well, 99% of the time I'd say."

When they arrived at their meeting place, Coralis pulled Frank to the forest behind it. She wanted to talk to him alone before going in.

"What did you truly think about the game? About your experience at the flyball stadium?"

"I loved it. Despite my sister explaining it all in detail, it wasn't how I thought it would be. I told Vic I wanted to come again and she offered me to come with her when she goes to her parents to watch the game."

"You want to come again?"

Coralis was relieved to hear that. She was hoping that Frank would come to accept her and her world, so she took it as a positive sign.

"Yes, I really enjoyed it. I have two questions, well three actually, and please, be honest with me."

"I told you, I will answer any questions you have. I might not be forthcoming with stories and stuff, but to a direct question from you, I will answer without dodging it."

Frank looked at her. He wanted to ask her about her eyes, why he saw silver in them the night she came to his place after work, and if he imagined it that night she had a nightmare and he woke her up, but decided that it would be a question for a different time, as he told her he only had three.

"Why did you decide to make telling me about this a condition for moving in with me, after all this time we've been together?"

She thought about his question for a minute, deciding on the best way to explain it to him.

"Three reasons. First, while it felt great to be able to escape my world with you, trusting that you didn't have any ulterior motive because you were clueless about what I represented for many people, it was difficult to hide continually what I was from you. If I were going to live with you and continue to hide myself and my world from you, it would add a level of stress and exhaustion that I don't need."

She paused for a moment, thinking about how to phrase the next part of her answer.

"Second, I have a phone book thick of enemies. Sebastian thinks that my other employer, the EBEE, is one of them and he is probably right. A lot of my enemies come from my parents. They were involved with shady people and most of the people they worked with were expecting me to follow in their footsteps, or use me as a weapon, which I refused and fought hard against. If we take our relationship to the next level and get any closer, a lot of my enemies could potentially go after you, just to use you as leverage against me, so you do need to know what you would be signing up for if you want to continue further with me."

She took a deep breath.

"Lastly, Sebastian was right. It was time to tell you about it. I didn't tell you sooner because we kept fighting about my lack of time for you, so I honestly thought that it was a matter of time before you dumped me. Plus, you want to get into journalism. I'll admit, that cooled me off from telling you. I was worried that you'd expose us all, even if you didn't mean to, so I had to be sure that I could absolutely trust you on that front."

Frank thought about what she said. It made sense to him. He wished she'd have told him sooner, but understood why she didn't.

"I want to get into entertainment journalism, not current affairs or politics, but thinking about it, I guess it could also be seen as a potential risk, in case I decide to go on to compare a movie like The Avengers to the truth."

"Right, so I guess it's better to reveal that world to you while you're still a student, so you can fully understand why human folks can't know the truth. Besides, a good work of fiction doesn't hurt anyone."

"How many enemies are we talking about? I mean, given what I heard so far about your reputation, I don't think that you'd willingly put me in danger, but if something were to happen to me, how bad would that be?"

"Was that your second question?" said Coralis, teasing him. "I told you that I'd answer them all, so it doesn't matter. My known ones would probably try to capture you to make me do something I don't want to do, but some enemies out for revenge for whatever reason, might want to take it out on you just because you're close to me. Truthfully, I don't know how many enemies I have… but I have a lot."

"Fair warning. And no, that wasn't actually my second question, but thanks for answering it anyway."

He paused and took a deep breath, his eyes still on her.

"Second question. Tell me a story that if someone else would come to me with it, it would paint you evil enough that it would make me want to leave you, without listening to your version of it, but that if you'd tell me first, I wouldn't pay much attention to what they're telling me and stand by you anyway."