Cesar Salters's Story

he was half blinded by the sun's critical glare as he walked barefooted along a thin metal beam.The scorching hot metal beneath his feet made it feel like he was walking right on top of a grill whose flames never seemed to retire. Despite it being an extremely hot day in the middle of nowhere, the beam ahead of him was always covered with fog. It seemed as if it was going to go on forever and ever so Cesar just closed his eyes and continued walking whilst whistling a tune of his own. How he kept so calm and balamced when his feet felt like they were being cooked was a mystery to him. However, he Cesar suddenly felt the need to jump.

And jump indeed he did.

Oddly enough, he didn't scream like most would when falling to their deaths. Somehow, he felt as if he werewaiting forthe right time to do the impossible: to open his nonexistent wings and just fly off to who knows where. He opened his eyes and saw a figure with long flowing hair on the beam, looking down and reaching out to him. He tried to reach back towards her but he suddenly found himself hurried in a pile of feathers as everything faded to black.

Cesar awoke in short quick breaths as if he just ran a marathon. He found it quite puzzling and ironic since he felt very calm and relaxed in his dream. Taking a deep breath and counting to ten, Cesar got up from his bed and got ready for whatever lay ahead of him. He didn't have much of jetlag since he was starting to get used to traveling during weekdays. He had just gotten back yesterday from the Philippines to help out those who were affected by the typhoon.

Donning a grey long sleeved button up shirt and black fitting-- not skinny-- jeans, Cesar grabbed his satchel and walked out the door, locking it once he was in the hallway. He then made his way to a little cafe not too far from campus. He entered the care feeling a lot of emotions at once. He patiently stood there, waiting for two familiar girls in front of him to get a move on forward. He felt relaxed yet annoyed at the same time. But no more than a few seconds later, he could feel his cheeks heatinh up, a subtle shade of pink grazing his cheeks. He felt anxious and embarrased. He instantly turned to a booth not too far away from where he stood. He saw a girl with long midnight blue hair and simply could not keep his gaze away from her as if she was an old forgotten friend. Then again, he could never forget a face like that! It just felt so refreshing to see her. He knew very well that there were plenty other females he had encountered that were drop dead georgous from other countries, but he felt like he could just keep looking at her. He also knew that it was too late to care if he got caught staring. She was blushing and was equipped with a violin. Judging from the girl's expression, Cesar could tell that he had just missed a performance. It also seemed that she was waiting for some type pf reaction or reply from the red-head in front of her.

It wasn't too long until Cesar identified who those red locks belonged to. He wasn't surprised at all to see Danny talking with people he didn't even know. He talked to the girl and went out the door, talking about shopping. Just as he left, another person he recognized very well, Charlotte, exited as well. He made sure to step to the side, careful as to not block any of their paths, going by unnoticed.

Demetra was startled when the phone was passed to her, but she listened hastily to the English passing through the phones. When he hung up, as did she and she returned the phone to him. She didn't really understand what she had just heard, other than the fact that he was apparently rich and that his parents were coming and it was some sort of big secret that he had money. She flipped out her iPhone, which had finally save up enough money for, and sat back down in the booth as Daniel and Charlotte left. She thought it funny how Charlotte had left immediately after Daniel, and a small grin played across her lips as the though crossed her mind. She slid on her phone, sent a quick text to Daniel saying she couldn't go anywhere with him and apologizing in the process, then stretched a little as her Belgian Waffle was set before her.

However, the smirk disappeared as a soft tingling sensation slid over her neck, causing the hair to rise up and goosebumps to appear across her skin. She turned slightly as her breakfast was set before her, and as soon as her eyes fell on one person standing near the door, she froze.

A boy stood there, who wasn't even a boy at all, he was more of a man than a boyish child. He looked only slightly older than she was, but that wasn't the thing that made her go still. No, there were two other reasons entirely.

It was the familiar look to him. She swore she recognized him, which was odd because she knew absolutely no one from America as of yet. His hair was a bleach-blond color that one didn't commonly associate it with a person. He was tall, but not uncomfortably so, and had muscle that was obvious but not sickening. And his face. His face was angular, seeming to be perfectly sculpted by the Gods.

There was also the fact that a man stood directly behind him. He looked like a slightly older version of the man who was staring at her. He had a similar build and facial structure, along with similar coloring. Only, he was different.

He was a spirit.

Her heart hammering in her chest and her cheeks flushing a bright red, Demetra quickly turned her gaze to the man who was alive, then back to the shimmering, blue-white spirit. After several moments of staring at the two, she whipped back around to her waffle. "Smettere di fissarmi... Non guardare a lui... " she muttered, hunching her shoulders a little. She wrapped her fingers around the oval, bronze locket that hung between her breasts, closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, then turned back to her food. She released her locket and plucked up her fork, itching to turn around and stare back at the man. It was disconcerting to say the least to have someone she didn't know staring at her. It was entirely different if she was performing or playing a game for one of her sports; it was just ... Weird when she was in public and not doing anything to attract attention to herself.

Finally, she turned and gave him a nervous, almost embarrassed look, but not at all mean.

"Posso aiutare lei, Signore?" she asked. She flushed as she realized he more than likely didn't speak English. She cleared her throat. "Can I help you, Sir?" she asked, her voice laced with her accent.

((Smettere di fissarmi... Non guardare a lui... - Stop staring at me ... Do not look at him ...
Posso aiutare lei, Signore? - Can I help you, Sir?))

((Edited to add this))~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The calming, beautiful serenity of the forest engulfed him as he lay back in the gently swaying, perfectly green grass. His eyes were closed and he could see the sun against his eyelids, feel the heat as it bathed over his skin, smell the sweet scents of the trees, the honeysuckle, the freshly cut grass.

The sound of a swishing through the forest floor caused him to open his eyes. He looked up at the bright, gorgeous blue sky, and then slowly sat up, his brows drawn together and his legs splayed out before him. His hands were braced behind him to hold himself up, and his eyes locked on the dark trees before him.

Suddenly, something dashed by the trees, an odd, sparkling glow that moved too fast for his eyes to follow. He shot up and took off towards the trees, his curiosity driving him to follow the odd light.

He was gaining on the glowing object. He was only a few feet away and quickly catching up to what he could now tell was a female. His hand reached out with a mind of its own to grab the girl, just a little further and his fingers will have touched her shoulder …

Orion’s eyes opened and he looked at the dark ceiling of his room. Dull light splayed through the curtained window, and he stifled a yawn, the dream already just a dim memory. He never could remember his dreams and nightmares well.

Slipping from his bed, he rose and stretched, his joints cracking, and groaned slightly. “Damn,” he muttered as his head began to throb. He slowly showered and dressed, skipped breakfast, then dashed from his small apartment and to his small Toyota truck.

He quickly arrived at the school and rushed with his bag to the restaurant that connected to the campus café, nodding and saying hello to the people that called out to him.

“Hey Daniella,” he called as he dashed behind the counter of the restaurant. He stashed his bag under the counter and pulled on his apron, tying it behind his neck and waist, then flipped out his notebook and pen and jumped over the counter, managing to make it to a customer’s table just as they were sitting down. He smiled politely at the customer and proceeded to take their order – they were a regular, so it wasn’t hard – and immediately got to work.

Alec looked up as Orion came in and shook his head. Orion tend to run late from time to time, but at least he didn't mess around and got straight to work. It was a good thing the manager was a bit lenient when it came to her workers for most of the workers were college students. In the meantime, he continued his work because their seem to be so many people in the cafe that made his senses on edge. One in particular gave him goosebumps. It was coming from one of two girls that came in before Orion came in. It was someone with dark hair that was almost black but was just a dark blue-violet color. It actually took all his composure to act normal. Something was up for sure. Deciding to see what would happen, he walked over to the duo.

"Good morning ladies, what would you like?" he asked in a friendly voice.

((That's your cue Vice.))

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Things seemed to be progressing smoothly for Craig. He had been keeping tabs on all the current chosen and was right now tracking down the new ones. He wasn't surprise to see most of the chosen at the cafe. The area itself was a focal point of energy and those with great amounts of positive energy would be drawn to it, especially the 16 charges he'd been assigned to watch over. He was already familiar with a few of them. Currently he was finishing his daily coffee and bagel as he watched Alec address two girls. He pulled out his notepad and jotted things down. Perfect! Looks like a few of the couples were already meeting! Craig couldn't help but feel excited. One of Craig's abilities was to 'see' a person's true form and to 'see' the connection between soul mates. It was one reason why he was chosen to do this. Now if only he could find a way to get others to meet.

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Minerva sighed as she finished her first class. She had just gotten out of college algebra and now had some free time. So she decided she would use this time to go to the gym. Minerva's thoughts though weren't on her daily plan. No, they were centered around the dream she had last night. Stopping under a tree, she though about it.

Trees were everywhere and as tall as the sky. Flowers were all around her too. Minerva felt at peace with herself for she never seen anything so beautiful. Walking along, she didn't notice how the flora around her grew. Suddenly she felt something. Looking up, she saw a figure in the trees that seemed to be looking down at her. Who was that? The figure giggled and jumped from tree to tree around her before jumping down. Minerva stood transfixed and saw it was a female elf and a gorgeous one at that. Oh, to be as lovely as this one, Minerva thought. The elf pointed behind her and Minerva turned to see another figure. Her ankle heated up as she saw a male figure. Before she could do anything else though, fog rolled in and she fainted.

Thinking about it now made Minerva's heart beat faster. Who was the other figure? Minerva never had a dream like that before. Normally she would forget them, but this time she remembered it clearly. Shaking her head, she continued walking towards the gymnasium. When she got there, she went to the girls' locker room and changed. Deciding she would use the weight room first, she came in a felt a sensation go up her spine. What was going on here? Ignoring it, she decided to do some leg curls first.

Cesar was somewhat embarrassed once he was caught staring but his face did not betray him as he kept a calm demeanor. However the corner of his lips tugged upwards forming an amused yet polite grin. The girl, or should he say woman, looked so nervous and timid. He just couldn't help but mentally chuckle to himself on how adorable she was.

[B]"Posso. Aiutere lei, Signor?"[\b] Cesar raised a brow. She was speaking in a foreign language but he understood every single word she said. [I]Italian? How... cute.[\i] How he managed to understood different languages was a mystery to him. Ever since he was little he was wondering how one could receive such talent. As far as he knew his parents held no interest in other languages except for his father who learned Spanish, long before he was even conceieved. When he was younger, he too did not have much interest in other languages until he came upon his 'talent'. Only then did he bother learning different languages and dialects so he could engage in a proper conversation with any foreigner. It also proved to be great help when visiting different countries. Sadly, Ceasar only started with Asian languages first so he is completely ignorant when it comes to Italian, unlike his brother who actually was an expert in European languages.

Ah, Cole. Cesar knew his late brother did not possess such talent or gift as his but he could not help but feel like his parents were still comparing them even until this day on. That is why Cesar wanted to learn Asian languages first so he could not be compared by how much his brother knew, but his father was always trying to make him feel like dirt, one way or another when it came to similar interests with Cole. His mother often told him that it was just to motivate him to try harder. [B]"Can I help you, Sir?"[\b] Too caught up in his own thoughts, he didn't even realize he was still staring despite the fact that he was completely thinking about something else.

Finally noticing the woman [I]glaring[\i] at him, Cesar couldn't help but mentally facepalm himself. [I]Crap! Now she probably thinks I'm some type of perverted creep.[\i] Cesar did not often have panic attacks or embarrassing moments but he couldn't help but ramble into endless possibilities of what the she may think of him now inside his head. He could feel anger radiating off of her. Said female slapped some money on the table and hurried past him. [B]"Coglione..."[\b]

[I]Jerk?[\i] Cesar felt a flash of fury before the woman exited and could not help but feel a bit heated as well although the she was much more open about it. His finger twitched as he stood there quite offended. He was the exact opposite of a jerk. He didn't do any wrong to anyone and he helped the needy! He couldn't help but feel confused as to why her opinion of him mattered to him so much. It's not like they even knew each other. The woman obviously didn't know him if she called him a jerk. Of course he partially blamed himself because he knew that staring was rude. He was very much aware that it was his fault for giving off a bad first impression but she shouldn't have judged so easily either. Shrugging the thought off to calm down, he patiently waited for the two other females up front to get their orders.

He then decided he owed the woman an apology the next time they see each other. [I]If[\i] there was even a next time.

Cesar grinned. Somehow, he had a feeling there would be another encounter with her, and [I]plenty[\i] of them.