The One With Violet Eyes

           I squeezed the warm coffee mug between my palms, allowing the comfort of the moment to overtake me. As I adjusted myself on the couch, the painful reminder of what horrors faced us all no less than an hour ago echoed in my aching body. I turned and looked at Roane, Jasper, and Jade who sat around me in the living room. Simon was lying on the ground next to my feet; his now miniature frame freckled with newly formed scars and a cast on one of his back legs. Jade, having healed numerous injuries from the attack including many on her own body, was starring at her stone within her hands. Every few seconds she would rub her thumb against the smooth surface of the stone, her palms still blooded with the unforgettable events. Roane was sitting in a wooden chair a few feet away from the couch where Jasper, Jade and I sat. His face remained swollen and bruised even after Jade healed him, but the large gash across his chest now appeared to be a soft pink souvenir of his efforts. His shirt and jeans were stained dark with blood, most of which is unidentifiable. He sipped his coffee and took a moment to grimace as his reset jaw ached from the movement.

            I sat my coffee mug down on the table and felt a soft, warm pressure on my lower back. The familiar touch of Jasper’s palm on my bare skin caused my body to erupt in goose bumps. I had avoided making direct eye contact since the chaos began because I was afraid to witness the color drain from his copper eyes. I couldn’t have survived it. I lifted my eyes and allowed myself to meet his gaze. His nose had been broken in the madness and reset by Jade earlier but still appeared to be painfully swollen. Beside a few other bruises and cuts on his face; he seemed to be perfectly unharmed. His lips formed a smile and his eyes twinkled, which caused such a gush of joy to pulse through my body it was as if the last few hours had never occurred. I felt his hand slowly rise from my lower back to my shoulder, down my arm and close upon my hand. The burn on my arm aggressively throbbed, even after Jade healed the tissue the rosy-pink flesh of new skin could not fully heal from the level of damage. I was thankful Jade had wrapped my arm in bandages; I didn’t want Jasper to see my healing disfigurement. As if reading my mind, Jasper’s hand traveled from my hand onto my arm, delicately examining my battle wound. I grimaced slightly as the pressure rekindled the pain in my arm.