Chapter 1

 

Summer is finally here. Everything is green and alive. The summer breeze is warm and comforting to my skin. My senior year of High School is over and I am so thrilled to be out of that place. Every day I felt suffocated by its walls that seemed to tower over me. Unfortunately, now that school is over and summer has begun, my parents will be dragging me to the Lake House once again. When I was younger I enjoyed the Lake House, playing for hours in the sun running along the sandy shore. I didn’t have a care in the world. But being 17 now, I would rather stay at home and spend my summer with my friends. Being alone for two months with just my parents is not something that I look forward to.

 

My mother and I have become distant, so being along with her for 2 months at the Lake House is going to be hard. I actually noticed the distance growing more and more which each passing year. I don’t understand what I have done to push her so far from me. I used to be able to tell her anything and everything. Now it seems that she is always too busy to even speak with me. It has made me distance myself from having any emotion towards the matter. I don’t want to feel the pain anymore of being rejected by my own mother. I have closed off my heart and I don’t plan on letting anyone else in. I have become especially cold after my break up with Derek. I will never be the same. The hole that he has burned into my heart will never be filled. I won’t allow it. The case that has formed over my heart is never to be broken. I keep the memory of the pain to remind myself that there is no such thing as love. It isn’t real. I have felt the cold stab of betrayal from Derek and being pushed away by my own Mother. I keep the pain in my memory so my heart doesn’t forget.

 

The cherry on top is no cable, phone or internet. The only way to use my cell phone is by getting in our boat and paddling to the island in the middle of the lake. For some strange reason there is service there. If you go anywhere else around the lake your cell phone will be useless, but on this tiny island there is hope for communication to the outside world. My parents never allow me to bring any friends to ease my boredom. According to my Mother, Michelle, family time is the only thing that keeps our "bond" strong; allowing my friends to come would be a distraction.I have no idea how would she know, she doesn’t have any friends. She has pushed me so far from her so I don’t understand what “bond” she could be referring to. I sometimes feel like she is jealous at the fact that I have friends and she doesn't. She is constantly on my ass when I go out with them. Telling me that I don’t spend enough time with my family and friends are not as important. She barley speaks 5-6 words when I am home with her. I am a 17 year old girl, it’s impossible for me not to have friends. I may not have many but I do have a few that I would like to spend my summers with. My father, James, stays out of the arguments when they arise. I guess it’s easier not to fight with mom, then to endure the tongue lashing he would get for disagreeing.

                                                                ***

            Three days until we leave for the Lake House and mom is running around the house packing. I have already packed by bags and I refuse to help pack for a trip I don’t want to go on. As I am sitting in the kitchen eating a steaming hot bowl of chicken soup and I get the strong smell of dust and dirt. Oh no...The camping gear. When the camping gear is brought out it means she is almost done packing and the trip is right around the corner. Nausea hits my stomach as I think of the two months I have ahead of me. I turn my head and peek over my shoulder watching her pull out the oil lamps and outdoor cooking gear. Then she pulls out the two air mattresses that we use when my Grandparents come to visit. She throws them on our white couches and continues to dig in the closet under the stairs. Why would she want to take those? Were we going to be dragged on another "Outdoor Adventure", as if going to the Lake House wasn't enough.

"Mom" glaring with concern "Why are you bringing those?" dropping what she is doing, she put her hands on her hips and takes a deep breath.

"Because, Niki, this year we are going to have company". I can feel my eyes growing larger. I can’t believe what I am hearing. We are going to be bringing someone else to the Lake House. Our precious “bonding” time is going to be interrupted by company. This has never happened before. Maybe she is letting me invite my friends...finally. I turn my body to face my mother and raise my eyebrows "Really and who would you allow to come?" sarcasm dripping from each word. I knew the moment the words left my lips that I was in for one of moms famous ass chewing’s. "Well Niki, it just so happens that an old friend of mine will be joining us with her Son, is that ok with you?" she snaps back at me. "No it isn't, mom, it’s not ok!" anger filling my chest "Every damn year I am drug on this stupid trip and every time I ask if I can bring a friend and you say no, but now you get to bring someone we don't even know! How is that fair?!" yelling every word with frustration. I can feel my nails digging into my palms and stinging pain trailing up my wrist. I can’t believe that this is happening right now. She has been ignoring me for so long and now she is going to bring some random woman and her son to the Lake House. Is she trying to find a way to have no contact with me at all? Her face grows bright red "For one thing, don't raise your voice at me Niki, I am your mother and I won’t be spoken to that way! And another thing, I don’t have to ask your permission to bring one of my friends on a trip." she almost screams the words "I just so happens that I haven't seen this woman in almost 18 years and she is going through a rough time, so I am helping her get away for a few months." I throw my arms in the air and storm out of the kitchen and race outside. There is no point arguing with her right now. It's not like she is going to change her mind, it's already been done.

 

            I step out the front door and slam it shut behind me. I close my eyes and let the sun warm my face. I can’t help but absorb every inch of it. I walk over to the freshly mowed lawn and lay down under the willow tree. As I stare up into the hanging branches I begin to relax and forget the pain of fighting with my mother. The limps are swinging back and forth. Its leaves fall all around me. I can’t help but feel like there is something watching me. I don’t know why but all of a sudden I feel hot eyes on me. I sit up and look around. All I can see is the limp limbs of the willow tree shifting from side to side as the breeze blows, making circle around me, blinding me from seeing past it. I feel the breeze push through the willows protective barrier and my name is whispered on the wind “Niki”. Fear runs up and down the spine. “Hello, Is there someone there?” Silence is the only answer I receive. I close my eyes and try to focus on all the noise around me. I can hear the willow limbs leaves’ shaking in the wind, birds chirping in the trees but the whispering voice is nowhere to be found. I still have the uncomfortable feeling of eyes on my back. I place my hands on my side and feel the prickling of the grass on my palms. I open my eyes and turn around quickly to see if I can someone but there is nothing there. The breeze stops; the limbs are no longer swaying, the leaves are still and the birds song has become silent. Fear is swelling up and panic sets in. There is something near me I can feel it. I move up to my knees but fear is slowing me. CRACK. The sound of a twig breaking seems to echo in the dome of the willow tree. I jump to my feet and plant my back against the willow trees trunk. My breathing quickens and I feel hot breath on the side of my neck and then the soft whisper I heard before floating in the breeze “Niki come to me.” I break the restraint that fear has bound me in and run out of the willows dome of weeping limbs. I stop abruptly and turn to see who is around the tree. There is no one. Not even cars passing on the road. I am completely alone. Who was calling to me? All I know is that it was a woman’s voice. There was something about the voice that pulsed fear and warning through me but at the same time I felt curious to find out who is calling me and where they want me to go. My heart beat begins to slow as I collect myself. I don’t feel safe staying outside, in the open. I start to walk up the cobble stone walk way back to the house still harboring the feeling of curiosity. I want to know who that was. I can’t shake the feeling that there is something out there that is waiting for me. Maybe I am losing my mind.

 

            I open the door and take a step onto the hardwood. The cold shock on my feet of the floor reminds me of the argument that prompted me to storm outside. Fights with my mother normally went this way. We would scream at each other and I would run away from the issue, retreating to my favorite spot under the willow tree. I don’t know if I can return to that spot after the terrifying whisper.

 

My father is always waiting for me in the foyer when I return back inside from an argument. It was always the same. I take two more steps into the foyer with my eyes to the ground and I could feel the regret climbing into my throat. I shouldn't have yelled at her and now I am going to pay for it. I slowly raise my eyes waiting to see my father, but he isn't there. There is no way that I am getting away with this. Maybe he is too busy packing to even realize that we had a fight.

 

            I walk to the living room and sink into the large white couch that is facing the large Bay window. The window looks across the bright green lawn with the willow right in the middle of it. I rest my head against the back of the couch and close my eyes. I can feel myself drifting into sleep.

 

            “Niki…Niki…come with me” the whispering voice is luring me. I open my eyes and I find myself in a dark forest. Everything is a grey and the trees are towering over me so tall I cannot see the where they end. “Niki come with me” the whisper continues to call for me. For some reason I am not afraid. I take a step forward and the dead leaves crack and crunch. The cool breeze is kissing my cheeks blowing around the fresh smell of flowers and dirt. I call out “Hello? Is there someone there?” I get no response. I walk deeper into the forest trying to find the woman who calls for me. The forest is getting darker the further I walk. Fear starts to well up in my throat and I begin to feel danger all around me. The warm feeling and comfort I felt is long gone and panic is controlling my actions. I begin to run as fast as I can and I get the feeling that someone is following me. I turn my head and see two sets of glowing green eyes and they are gaining on me. I push my legs as fast as they will carry me and I feel them begin to burn. If I stop now whatever is chasing me will have me. My knees begin to buckle and down I fall. I hit the hard cold soil, leaves sticking to the sweat on my face. I roll over to my back and look for the green eyes. They are nowhere to be found. There is something in this forest and it’s toying with me. I frantically get to my knees trying to force my eyes to acclimate to the dark. I rub them fiercely and open them again only to find the bright green eyes inches from my face. I scream and fall back onto my butt scooting fiercely trying to put space between us. The eyes match my moves and continue to stay inches from my face. “What do you want from me? Who are you?” I scream towards the eyes but I get no answer. The eyes begin move back and fade into the darkness. I am alone in the dark depths of this unfamiliar forest. I rise to me feet slowly. I am so confused. Why am I being taunted? I catch a glittering white light from the corner of my eye. It looks to be far in the distance. “Niki come to me” The whisper returns right as I see the light. I finally regain the strength to walk towards the light. It’s sparkling and alluring. There is something that is reassuring me that this light has the answers. The cool breeze has stopped and I can no longer smell the freshness of nature. The sparkling light is getting closer and closer with every step I take. My foot steps are loud in the silent forest. The crunch of dead leaves seem to echo. The terrain suddenly changes. I look to my feet and I don’t see the forest floor. I bend down and touch the new surface I have walked on and realize it’s…sand. I look out into the distant and the sparkling light is still gleaming under a full moon. The moon begins to shine like never before and all around me becomes bathed in light. I’m at a lake. I know this place. I am at the Lake we visit every summer. I look to my left and there is the Lake house. It’s standing silently in the dark. The moss on the roof is over grown and covers it completely. Its log cabin siding is covered in over grown grass and bushes as it looks every year before we arrive in the summer. I look out for the gleaming white light and it’s gone. “Niki” a screaming voice shocks me out of my skin and I jolt awake.

            It was a dream? But it felt so real. The voice in my dream is the same voice I heard under the willow. Something is going on but I don’t know what it is. I sit up from the couch and the room is dark. Night has fallen. How long was I sleeping for? The dream felt like minutes and yet I have been out for hours. I am left with only wonder and confusion. What was the white light and why do I feel the need to get to it? It wasn’t like a normal dream. It felt so real.

 

            I still feel so drained even after sleeping for so long on the couch. I stand up and walk into the Foyer and down the hall to the kitchen. The hardwood is squeaking with every step. This house is impossible to sneak around in. I try to step as lightly as I can as not to make too much noise. A light flicks on in the kitchen illuminating the room in a soft yellow light. I hear voices whispering and I stop moving and slow my breathing. I try to listen as closely as I can. It’s my mother and father. I try to shift my weight from my left to right foot and the floor lets out a loud creek. “Niki, are you in the hall” Dam it “Yes I just woke up.” I walk into the kitchen with guilt written all over my face. My mother crosses her arms “Were you eavesdropping young lady?” I hate when she calls me that. I put my hands on my hips and shake my head at her”No mother I was not. I was coming to get something to eat. Is that ok with you?” My father snaps “Niki, don’t talk to your mother like that and another thing what is this I hear about you yelling at your mother this afternoon. I don’t understand why you feel it’s ok to make your mother feel that way. You really hurt her feelings when you yell at her.!” Anger fills my face and my hands ball up into fists. “I make HER feel bad? Really dad!? All she does is yell at me we never have normal conversations anymore. I can’t help but yell she frustrates me and she never listens. Don’t you think that it hurts me also? Does anyone care how I feel anymore?!” He throws his hands in the air “Jeez Niki you’re being so dramatic.” My mother folds her arms and turns away from me. “Ok well I am going to bed now.” I turn on my heels and I can hear my father yelling for me as I walk down the hall and head for the stairs. I tune him out as I walk up the stairs.

 

            I walk into my room and don’t even bother turning on the lights. I jump on my white feather comforter and lay back on the pillow. I close my eyes and try to relax. For some reason I feel drained. I don’t know why because I just slept on the couch for a few hours. The whisper replays in my mind over and over. What could I possibly want with me? I am not special in anyway, at least I don’t think I am. My eyes begin to get heavy and I can tell that sleep isn’t far off. It takes no time at all for me to fall back into a deep sleep.

            Almost instantly I am on the edge of the Lake again. The water looks as black as the night sky and still as glass. I search around for the glimmering light. It’s not where to be found. I walk through the deep cold sand towards the clearing in front of the lake house. A flashing light catches my right eye over the water. I squint my eyes, trying to see where it is coming from. The moon begins to shine as brightly as it was before and I can see it’s on the island. The glimmering light is over a woman in a white long dress. She has long hair but at this distance I can’t tell what color or what her face looks like. There is something about her. Why do I feel like I know her or I have seen her before? She raises one hand and with her index finger she points to the sky. I look in the direction she is pointing and it seems that she is pointing to the moon. Green mist begins to come from her finger and floats up to the moon. It’s beautiful and I can’t take my eyes away as it floats higher and higher. As it meets it destination, the moon begins to turn red. I hear a whisper in my ear again and hot breath on my neck “The Blood Moon is your Time Niki, you are the chosen one.” I am frozen where I stand. Not wanting to move. “What is the Blood Moon?” there is a long silence. There are no birds or rustling of branches and leaves. “The Blood Moon is the birth of your true self.” I turn around to see who it is that I am talking to. I jump back in fear; it’s the woman in the white dress. She has long black hair and fair features. Her skin is perfectly tanned. Her dress is covered is clear jewels and there is a crown that rests upon her head made of sliver and covered is diamonds. This must have been the glimmering that I saw, the moon reflecting off her crown. I take a step forward and she steps back disappearing into the darkness. “Please come back!” I run forward, frantically trying to find her in the forest. “Please don’t leave! Who are you?” The brush scratches my legs as I speed through the forest frantically moving branches out of my path. I don’t know how far I ran before I gave up my search. My legs burn and I collapse to my knees. Sitting back on my heels, frustration begins to take me over. All I can do is let out a horrifying scream filled with anger and confusion. Why am I being taunted by this woman? What does she want from me? I don’t want to keep entering this dream with the disappointment of no resolution or answers to explain what is happening to me.

I wake up the loud buzzing of my alarm. Slapping the snooze, I stare up into the dark not wanting to leave the safety and warmth of my bed. Today is the day...the dreaded Lake trip. I roll to my side pulling my covers over my head wishing to disappear. Maybe if I am really quiet they will forget me. Wishful thinking I guess. The warmth of my quilt covers my body and slowly I begin to drift back to sleep. I hear my door slide across my carpet and the light flick on. I rip the covers down and my eyes meet with my father. With a serious look on his face he sits on the edge of my bed. I knew I wasn't going to get away with yelling at my mom. Here it comes.

 

"Niki, I know you don't want to go to the Lake House, but this is really important to your mother." I can feel a knot of regret building in my throat for being so rude to her. "I know dad, I'm sorry." His face softens and he gives me a playful slap on the leg. "Come on, get up we are leaving in 20 minutes."

 

            I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed and feel the coldness of the hard wood floor. I glance at the clock... 5 am. Why in the hell do we have to leave at 5am? The Lake house isn't going anywhere, why can’t we leave at 10am. I slowly stand, stretching my arms up to the ceiling and my back pops. I walk into the bathroom at flick on the light. I stand in front of the sink and staring at my reflection in the mirror. My blue eyes staring straight back me, looking over every flaw. What am I going to do with this hair? My long black hair that flows to the middle of my back has been struck with a disease most commonly referred to as bed head. I pull my straighter out of the drawer and plug it in. As I wait for it to heat, I grab my make up bag putting on foundation and mascara. No reason to add eye shadow or blush it’s not like there is anyone to impress. The straighter is finally heated and I run it through my thick wavy hair.

 

After adding the finishing hair spray, I brush my teeth and I’m done. I go to my closet throw on my brown shorts and a white t-shirt. After I slip on my socks and tennis shoes I grab my bag. Before I turn to walk out my door, I hear my Dad talking to my mom in the other room. Normally I can't hear them in their room but the house is dead silent and there are no cars driving past our house that at this hour.

I hear my dad say with concern,

“Do you really think that this is a good idea Michelle?" my father asks very concerned.

 "What was I supposed to do James? We need help. There is no one that can help us more than her." I can hear the worry and stress in her voice. I hear my father take a deep breath “Honey, I know you mean well, but she didn’t take it very well when you left, are you sure that she isn't still harboring anger towards you? Do you think that she is really going to help us? Plus do you think it's safe to have her 18 year old son around Niki. We don’t know anything about him."

" Jeez James, it has been 18 years I highly doubt that she is still holding a grudge. It will be fine honey I promise. I have faith in her, she will help her."

"But what about all those things she said? She had the whole town turned against you two. Can you really trust her?" I hear a long pause and a deep sigh from my mother.

“James, she used to say that she had vision of events before they would happen. She really thought what she was seeing was real. Sometimes she was right. This is something that she told me would happen when I got pregnant. That is why I ran away. I thought she was crazy but I never forgot what she said. She was right. We need to find out how to stop it."

 

            Silence falls and the house is quiet. Mom ran away from home? How could she have never told me this? What was so wrong that she felt like she had to run away? What do they need help with? Denise is crazy? She has visions? So many questions were running through my mind. Though I could get answers for none of them without getting in trouble for eavesdropping. I opened my door and walked down the soft carpeted stairs and made my way to the kitchen. I grab a bagel from the cabinet and pop it in the toaster. I pull the cold steel of the fridge handle to get the cream cheese. As I close the door I see a shape of a person out of the corner of my eye. I jump back and see my Mother staring at me.

"Kind of jumpy this morning aren’t you?" she wraps her arms around my shoulder and gives he a hug. I can feel her energy as she takes me in her arms and she is worried about something. She always squeezes he a little too hard when she is scared our nervous. She almost broke my hand on my 13th birthday when we rode our first roller coaster together.

 

 "What’s up Mom, are we leaving?" I respond, trying to slow my heart rate after the scare she gave me.

 "Yes we are, get your bagel and come out to the car." She turns on her heels and begins to walk away as I call out to her "Mom!" she turns with a confused look on her face. "What is it Niki?" I dropped my head down looking at my black and white shoes and then back up at her, "I’m sorry I yelled at you yesterday." A small smile lightens her face "It’s ok Niki, now come on hurry up. We have a 4 hour drive and I want to get it over with." She gives me a playful wink and walks to the front door. I grab my bagel and head for the door.

 

            As I walk down the stone path to the car I can feel the dread in my stomach begin to rise. I really don’t want to go on this "Family Adventure" especially since there has been two surprise guests added that apparently my mother had a falling out with. Hearing my Mom take about this mystery woman is really starting to make me wonder. Why do you need her help? Is there something going on that I am not being told about? I climb in the car and put my ears buds in. Letting the music drown out the world and put me at ease. After about an hour of driving I dose off.

 

            I am back walking through the dark forest; no one is around and panic in running through my veins. I look around for the woman in white and she is still nowhere to be found. I have no idea why I am hear but I know that I am in danger. The trees are tall and towering over me. The whipping wind throws my hair around my shoulders and face. I feel the dry leaves crunching under my feet as a walk through the night. The breeze is cool and blowing mist through my hair and across my face. Again, I get the scent of nature running through my nose. All of a sudden there is a loud CRACK. I stop in my tracks afraid to move. Again there is a loud CRACK. "Is there someone there!?"I yell my voice squeaks from fear. There is no response so I begin to walk deeper into the forest. Where am I? There is the same twinkle off to my left that catches my eye. I begin to walk towards it hoping that the woman in white is at the end of the light. There is something about the light that is drawing me towards it. I almost feel like it’s for me. I get the feeling that the soft light is guiding me to where I need to be. Trumping through the brush the twinkle starts to get brighter. I get to the edge of the forest and reach a shore to a large lake. Suddenly there are foot steps behind me. Fear makes me freeze right where I stand. I can’t move, I can’t speak I am paralyzed. I feel a hand on my shoulder and my voice comes to life and I scream. I snap out of my dream and I am in the car. It was a dream, the same dream I had earlier. God I feel like such an idiot. My Mom turns in her seat "Niki are you ok? What’s wrong?" she asks, staring at me with concern and worry. "I'm fine Mom it was just a bad dream."

 

"Do you want to tell me about it? You haven’t had nightmares in a long time." she looks at me concerned.

"No Mom it was nothing." I roll over to my side and try to relax. I can feel her eyes on me wanting more information. I am not in the mood to get into a deep conversation with her. She will want to know what it was about every detail I saw. She thinks that she can determine what my dreams mean.

 

            I look at my watch and realize that we have only been driving for 2 hours. Damn, I was hoping I would be able to sleep through it. I don’t want to try and sleep again. I don’t want to re-enter that dream. I have a tendency of starting where I left when it comes to nightmares. I used to get them all the time when I was in the Hospital. My Dad would shake and shake me as I screamed in my bed. Why are they coming back now? Who touched my shoulder in my dream? The thought was burning in my mind. I could still feel the warmth of the hand on my shoulder. How could that be possible? It was just a dream...right? There was something familiar about the person that touched me. I can’t put my finger on it. Although I was afraid when the hand came down on my shoulder I also felt some sense of safety. I try to wipe the thought out of my mind and turn my headphones out trying to forget the dream.

 

            Driving to the lake is a long boring drive. It’s a two way road all the way up to the lake. By car, there is only one way in and one way out. Normally during this time of year there a lot of people coming and going. We have been driving for three hours and I have only seen one other car. I look at my mom who is passed out in the front seat and then look to my father who has his eyes glued to the road.

"Dad are we almost there?" I asked with annoyance.

"Yes Princess Niki we are almost there, about 45 more minutes." He says with a chuckle.

"Why did we have to leave so early this year?" Rubbing my eyes I’m feeling so tired, but not wanting to sleep with fear of returning into the dark forest.

"Your mom wants to clean up the Cabin before Denise and Travis arrive."

"Travis? Is that her son's name? How old is he anyways I really don’t want to be a built in babysitter for 2 months." I don’t know why I even ask how old he is. I already know.

"Cool your jets brat; he is 18 so I’m sure he can wipe his own ass." I burst out laughing my dad always knew how to cheer me up when I was down.

 

            Finally we pull into the driveway for the Lake House. Brown leaves covered the ground. The car roles to a stop and I let out a deep breath. There is no point of being a brat the whole time; I would only ruin things for myself. I get out of the car and the wilderness air hits my nose. The fresh smell of dirt and flowers; I love that smell. I take a long stretch and walk around the front of the SUV. I stop in front of the grill and look towards the cabin. I do love the one story log cabin style. The moss has taken over the roof and the grass has grown to the bottom of the windows. The cabin is dark inside and looks like a haunted house from the outside. No one has been in for months and leaves cover the wooden porch. The porch swing is swaying and creaking in the warm breeze. I walk up the three steps and get to the front door. I place my hand on the knob and suddenly I feel woozy. Vision of people running out of the cabin in fear rips through my mind. I release the knob and step backing almost falling down the stairs. My Dad notices the fear on my face; "Niki are you ok?" concern is draped over his face. "Ya Dad, I just got... lightheaded." I have to lie to him. The last time I told them I had a vision I ended up in a Mental Hospital being tested, poked and prodded. I haven’t had visions since I was 13 or 14. Honestly I was glad they were gone because that is when the testing stopped. I still have to take medication but at least there is no more testing.

 

"Ok well go in the house and lay down for a bit your Mom is going to need your help in a little." I turn on my heels and make my may through the large living room with a stone fire place. The sectional couches are still covered in white sheets, just the way we left them. Dust has claimed every inch of the house. I can see now why my mom wanted to clean before our guests arrive. There is no television; just a pool table by the front windows and bookshelves lined the back wall. I love to read. My father filled that case for me with all of his favorite books that he has read over his lifetime. I love to sit for hour’s just absorbing story after story, trying to loss myself in the fantasy novels. I wish it was real sometimes. I feel like to would fit in better.

 

The cabin is musty since the windows and doors have not been opened in sometime. I walk to the front windows and open them as wide as they go and fresh air pours into the living room. I left the front door open to air out the house. I walk down the hall way passing the guest bedroom on my right, which isn’t much of a room since there isn't a bed. We have never had company in the Lake House so there was never a need to have a bed in there. When I was younger the guest bedroom was my safe haven from my parents. They watched me like a hawk all the time. The spare bedroom is the only place they would let me be alone. I would pretend I was a great actress and I was acting on Broadway or a princess in one of my father’s Fantasy books. I giggle to myself as the memories flood back to me.

 

The second guest room is technically my Dads office. When we come to the Lake House he still needs to work on his Novels. He seemed to get more work done here then at home. I guess the solitude helped. No phones ringing or T.V. in the background to distract him. I would sit in his office for hours as he read new chapters of his Novel asking my opinion. Even though most of the time he didn't use my ideas, I didn’t care though I just loved hearing my dad’s work.

 

I looked down the hall to my parents’ room and then take a left to my room. Opening the door I see my queen size bed and run to it. Jumping on, I lay down looking out the window that is directly in the middle of my bed. I would stare out this window at night looking at the stars and wishing for my special someone to come rescue me. I have given up on that thought. Derek has ruined my faith in love and especially men. There is no way that I want to feel that sting of love ever again. It’s a cruel joke and no one gets the punch line. My desk is covered in dust and my small love seat still has a large white sheet covering it. I sit up on the bed and walk over to the love seat. I love this chair, perfect for two even though there has only ever been me in it. Which I have come to realize is even better. I tear away the white sheet and dust fills the air making me cough. I sit down laying my head back on the arm throwing my legs over the other arm. Instantly I relax and I can feel my eyes begin to close.

 

I drift off into a relaxing nap. I feel a cold chill so I open my eyes and I am back in the dark forest...not again. I am still standing by the edge of the lake looking at the island. I have never seen the lake so still before. It almost looks like glass. Staring over the lake I feel the fear melt away as I get lost in the beauty of the water. Looking out, I see the island about a half mile off the coast. It looks different then it normally does, it’s almost…glowing. Soft white light flows off the tree tops and the shore. There are people standing on the shore staring in my direction. Are they looking at me? There is the bright light I saw earlier and it is right in the middle of all the people staring at me. It’s just hovering above their heads staying in place. It almost looks like a star. For some reason I get the feeling that they are waiting for me. I start to walk down the shore staring at the island. Something is drawing me to it. I have the desire to get to the island. There is something there and it’s for me. I see someone in standing on my side of the lake, on the edge of the shore with their arm stretched out towards me. I begin to walk towards them. As I get closer I can tell that it is a man. He is very tall and I get a scent of cologne wafting into my nose as the breeze swirls around me. I feel the sense of desire building inside me. The feeling takes me over and I continue to walk to him. The full moon casts light down on his face. He has golden brown hair and emerald green eyes. I can’t focus on his face to see what he looks like. It’s just his green eyes burning into my memory and marking my soul. He looks as if he has been waiting for someone. I have never seen a man like this before. There is something about him that draws me to him and I want nothing more than to be his. I want to be in his arms forever. I stop walking towards him and he reaches out his hand. I reach back towards him. Our finger tips touch and I feel the hot pulse of desire. The back of my neck begins to burn and…"Niki, Where are you?" I am snapped awake by my Mom yelling down the hall. "What Mom? I am in my room."

 

"Can you please come out; I need help cleaning the house before our guests arrive." I let out an annoyed sigh. I hate cleaning. Especially for people in don’t even know.

Who was the man by the shore? I couldn’t see his face but I knew that he was gorgeous and I wanted him for myself. His smell was intoxicating. I have never been able to smell in a dream before. This dream has become more than a nightmare. It has become my own personal fantasy.

I get up from my love seat and walk out my room, down the hall where I see my mother frantically ripping the white sheets off the couch and other furniture. "Mom relax, you look like you are going to have a panic attack." She turns to me, with an unhappy look on her face. She doesn’t like jokes when they are about her. "Will you please stop the jokes and just sweep the deck off" she snaps back. "Ok jeez". I grab the broom from the cleaning closet in the kitchen. I walk out on the deck and begin to sweep. Hundreds of dried leaves have covered the worn wood. I can't help but think about the man and island in my dream. Why would the island be glowing? There is something about that dream that is confusing me. It seems so real when I am in it and at the same time I know it’s not. I could feel the breeze on my face and smell the scent of fresh flowers and the man by the shore. I felt drawn to the island, like I needed to get to be on it and he was going to take me there. There is something for me there...I know it.

 

I look off the deck over to the island. It’s covered with a grove of redwoods. Its looks like it normally does. There are no people on it and there is no soft glow. There never is anyone on the island. I don’t think that anyone cares what is on that island. I am the only one that I know that has been there. You have to either swim or paddle there. I swam one summer and sat on the shore. I looked out to the lake house and watched my mother and father search for me frantically for an hour. They didn’t think it was funny and I was grounded for 3 months. But there was nothing on the island. I explored it and all there was were trees and rocks.

 

            I come back into the house after sweeping the deck and my mother snatches the broom from me and begins to sweep the living room floors and kitchen. Why is she so nervous about seeing this woman? I know it has been and long time, and it seems that they had a falling out of some kind, but she is acting like these are her last days and everything must be perfect.

"Is there something else you need help with, Mom?"

“Yes, get the air mattresses and blow them up. Put one in the spare bedroom and one in dad’s office please." Her words are straight and to the point. She doesn’t take her eyes off her task of sweeping. I can see the sweat begin to bead up on her forehead.

"Alright" I turn and head out the front door to get them out of the back of the SUV. I open the tail gate and grab the mattresses. As I walk back into the house I get the overwhelming feeling of fear and hate. I take a deep breath shove these feelings to the back of my mind. I don’t know why I keep getting this feeling. I am starting to get the feeling that this is a warning.

 

I go into my dad’s office first throwing one of the mattresses in and then the other into the spare room. I take the mattress out of the box and it smells of brand new plastic. I don't think that these have ever been used more than two times. I plug in the electric pump then the nozzle into the mattress. It begins to inflate slowly. I look around my dad’s office at the pictures hanging on the wall. There is one photo that I have never noticed before. It’s of two little girls about 10 years old with their arms over each other’s shoulders. One has black hair that stops at the top of her shoulders that is dead straight with bright green eyes and the other red wavy hair with similar length and creamy brown eyes. Big smiles are across their faces and both have one or two missing teeth. I don’t recognize the red head but I swear the little girl with the black hair is my mother. I wonder if this little red headed girl is Denise. Why would there be a picture in my dad’s office?

 

            The mattress is full so I unplug the pump and start for the spare bedroom. Opening the door, I can hear my mother through the wall in the kitchen talking to my father. It's muffled so I place my ear on the way hoping to hear well.

"James, I am nervous to see Denise." I can hear the worry in her voice.

"Oh Honey it's going to be fine. I am sure that after all these years it will feel as if nothing has changed."

"I guess your right..."

They stop talking and I go about fill the air mattress. As I sit on the floor, looking around the room, I remember the dramatic plays I would make up. For no one’s eyes but my own of course. I never wanted my parents to see what I was doing. I was too embarrassed. "Niki!" I hear my mom yelling down the hall and it snaps me out of memory lane.

"What Mom?"

"Come out here they are here!" she yells excitedly down the hall. I feel butterflies fluttering in my stomach. The moment my mom has been waiting for. I hope this lady isn’t crazy anymore.

Chapter 2

 

 

The moment I have been dreading has arrived. I get up from the floor and walk to the hallway. I see the front door wide open and there is a black SUV in the driveway. It looks like a very expensive car. I walk down the hallway and I see my mother speed walking to the driver side of the car. The windows are so heavily tented that I can't see anyone in the car. The passenger door swings open and all I see are two black boots step down from the car. Staring at the owners’ shoe's I can’t help but think they belong to…what’s his name… oh ya, Travis. The boots walk around the door. I look up from the bottom. He is wearing dark jeans with a black t-shirt. We make eye contact and I feel burning in my chest. It’s not painful thought, is almost enjoyable. His piercing emerald green eyes are burning into my soul. Golden brown hair perfectly slicked back. His face looks as if he was created after a Greek god. His body is muscular and perfect. Perfectly tan skin and a devilish smile. What is happening to me? I never get this spun off a guy. I don’t like letting a man dictate the way I feel specially one that I have only seen for two seconds.. What is this almost desirable burn in my chest? I have never felt this way before and it’s scaring me. Wait…Is that the man from my dreams that is standing by the shore. They have the same hair and eyes. If only I could see his face in my dream. I shake the thought from my head. It’s impossible that I dreamt of Travis. I don’t even know the guy.

 

"Niki, are you just going to stare at Travis or are you going to say hello?" My Fathers voice snaps me out of my trance. 

"I wasn’t staring!" I snap back. My cheeks are burning red. I turn back to face Travis and he is right in front of me. How did he move to me so quickly? His scent is flooding my scenes. His cologne is familiar. It’s something that I have smelled before but I don’t know where. Its drawing me in and all I want to do is lean in on his chest and breathe deeply.

"Hi, I’m Travis." God even his voice was seducing me. What the hell is going on? I realize that I haven't answered him back yet and his eyebrows begin to rise due to the lack of response and the stupid look on my face. “And you are?...”

"Sorry, Hi I’m Niki." My words are shaking as I say them.

"Nice to meet you, Niki." Turning away from me he walks to the back of the car I to get this bags. His scent fills my nose. His Cologne makes me lightheaded from desire. What is happening to me? I need to get away from this man.

"Niki, come here" I hear my mom call me from the other side of the car. I walk over to the driver’s side of the car.

"This is Denise, my oldest friend from my hometown." She is just as beautiful as her son. She has long red hair with the same emerald green eyes. Denise couldn’t have been the girl from the photo in my dad’s office, they have different colored eyes. She is slender, tall and perfectly tanned skin. Jeez this family is really...well put together.

"Hello Denise, I'm Niki, it's nice to meet you." She looks me up and down almost like she is inspecting me. Then she throws me a dazzling smile.

"It’s nice to finally meet you Niki. I have heard so much about you" She turns to my mother and gives her another long hug. "I have missed you so much Michelle!" I see tears filling my mother eyes "So have I Denise."

"Niki" my dad calls from behind me. I turn around to find him talking to Travis. Again I feel warm embarrassment fill my cheeks. God why I acting this way. I feel drawn to him and I don’t even know him. The burning in my chest has not gone away since I looked into his emerald eyes and for some reason I don’t want it to stop.

 

"Why don’t you show Travis to his room and help him settled in." My eyes grow wide. I don't want to be stuck in a room with this guy. He is already having a strange effect on me; I don’t want to be anywhere near him. "Umm sure dad." I walk slowly over to Travis and my dad "Which room do you want me to put him in, the spare bedroom or the office?" My father’s thinks for a moment "Put him in the spare." I look at Travis who hasn’t taken his eyes off me since he came here. What is he staring at? Do I have something on my face? "C-come on Travis." I hate when I stutter. It only happens when I am really nervous and this man is making me more nervous then I have ever been in my life. I hear him let out a chuckle and its melts my heart. "Lead the way Miss Niki." I start to walk quickly away from him to get some distance. I start to walk up the stairs and my foot catches on the last step. My body is falling to the ground and right before I hit the deck everything stops. I open my eyes and see the deck inches from my face. I feel my skin burning with a strange sensation that I have never felt before. It’s not painful...it’s desirable. "You’re clumsy aren’t you?" I realize that Travis has one arm over and shoulder holding my chest and one around my waist. How in the hell did he catch me. I put distance between us on purpose to avoid touching him. But thank god he did because I would have face planted on the deck and died from embarrassment. There was something about being in his arms that felt right like I was supposed to be there. I hear him chuckle in my ear and feel his hot breath on the back of my neck. "Thanks for catching me, can you left me go now?" He lifts me to my feet with such ease. I guess that is where his muscles come in handy. He takes his arms off me and I feel the burning stop and disappointment takes it place. I need to snap out of it. I am not going to let this man take over my feelings. I don’t even know him. I am not going to get my heart broken again especially since I am only going to be around him for 2 months. The last guy I was with...ruined me. I don’t like to think about him...ever.

 

 I take Travis inside the house and start to show him around. "That is the living room; there is no T.V., phone or internet. Sorry, no cell service either. It can get pretty boring here sometimes." I look back at him and he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Letting it out slowly he re-opens his eyes and finds that I am again...staring. I snap my head the other way and start to walk across the room to the kitchen. "This is the kitchen; feel free to eat whatever you want." I turn around and Travis is staring at my ass. "Travis! Eyes off the merchandise." He lets out another heart melting chuckle. "Sorry Niki." Anger fills me. I hate when men do that. They their mind clocks out and they just stare at your goods. It’s really rude. "Rude, how is that rude?" Travis blurts out. "What did you say?" My eyes snap to him. I know for a fact that I didn’t say that out loud. "Nothing, sorry continue with the grand tour." I look into his eyes and he seems to be nervous, like I caught him lying. "Whatever, follow me." I led him down the hall and he looks into the spare bedroom and I can hear him chuckling. I turn on my heels to face him "What is so funny?" He looks at me with silly grin on his face, "Nothing, Niki". "Whatever, that is your room anyways." I spit back. He goes to say something but I speed walk down the hallway and right into my room. I need to get away from him. Somewhere that I can decompress and figure out what the hell just happened to me. The last time I felt anything like this was when I was with Derek. Even with the feelings that I had for Derek, I never felt this uncontrollable desire for a man especially one I have never seen before. There is something familiar about him. His hair, the way he smells and the way he makes me feel when our skin makes contact. I can’t but believe that this is the same man I saw from the dream. Is that even possible…

 

I have been laying on my bed for an hour and Finally I can breathe. The desire Travis has cursed me with has released its hold from me. What is it about Travis that makes me feel this way? I don’t even know him or anything about him. Why do I feel so much desire towards him? Remembering how his arms felt around my chest and waist gives my shivers. I feel my body begin to warm and all I want is to feel his touch. I don't want to feel this way about him. I am not going to fall for him...I can't. It would be absurd. I am not going to let this happen. There is no way that I am going to let this stranger turn me into a love sick idiot. I have already let a man turn me into mush and I already promised myself that it wouldn’t happen again.

 

            There is a knock on my door that startles me. "Who is it?" there is a short silence. "It’s Travis." My heart begins pounding in my chest. Oh my god, what does he want? "What do you need?" my voice shaking "Can I come in, our parents are catching up and I would like to get to know you." Get to know me? Why? "Umm I guess." I stand up, look in the mirror fix my hair and make sure my make up isn't smeared. I don’t know why I care what he thinks he is a total stranger. I grab the clothes that I scattered on the floor and push them under my bed. I walk to the door and take a deep breath and turn the knob. The door opens and our eyes meet. Right away the sparks begin to fly. My body heat is rising and my palms begin to sweat. My heart begins to beat loud and my mouth dries. I long for him to touch my skin again and feel the desire once more. I shove these thoughts out of my mind and try to control myself. All I want to do is grab this man that I don't know and kiss him with all the passion I have growing inside me. I don’t know why I want him so badly but I feel like I am going to lose control of myself.

 

 He turns away from me and heads for the love seat. He gestures to the chair asking if he can sit. I nod slowly not removing my eyes from him. Sitting down he turns to me and says "So, do you know my mom?" he asked. "No I have never met her before and I had never heard of her before. Why should I know who she is?" my words dripping with sarcasm. He gave me a sideways grin "You’re feisty aren't you? I am not saying you should know her I was just wondering because I have never heard of any of you." There is a long silence between us and then I blurt out "So what made you guys want to come here?" He looks up the ceiling and ran his hands through his golden hair "Well, I guess your mom wanted to see mine. I don’t really know she didn’t tell me much. All I know is that I was being forced to come up here. No offense." I look away “None taken, I didn’t want to come here either. I don’t like coming up here anymore. Its gets old after 17 years of spending every summer here.” He nods his head in agreement.

“Your Dad didn’t want to join you guys?” He looks to the floor and his expression changed instantly to sadness. I made a grave mistake asking him this question and I regretted it. I made him sad and now I feel horrible. Why do I always put my foot in my mouth?

“My Dad… is working, he didn’t have time.” For some reason I feel like he is lying to me. I am not going to keep asking. I don’t want him to know that I care. The last thing I want is Travis to find out how I am feeling towards him so he can use me like Derek did.

 "So, Niki, how old are you?" He lets out a sigh. I can tell that he is trying hard to change to topic of our conversation.

 "I will be 18 in 2 weeks" Trying to relax I lay down on my bed looking up at the ceiling. Maybe if I don't make eye contact with him the desire will fade. 

"Nice, I’m 18 as well. So what are we going to do for your birthday? You know that it’s going to be during the Blood Moon?" His face changes expressions and I can tell that he regrets asking me that.

"I don’t know my parents to the same thing every year, cake and ice cream. I don’t get to see my friends nor do anything fun because my parent don't let them come to the Lake House. Every year since I was 13 I have been forced to come here. I used to enjoy it but it gets old after a while. So what the hell is a Blood Moon" I can feel him become uncomfortable. So I change the subject, "So Travis where are you from?"

 “We live in Oregon. It rains a lot. There are a lot of things to do and lots of different types of people. I like it there. Where do you guys live?" He leans forward and I catch the scent of his cologne. I breathe in deeply and feel my emotions take over my whole body. Desire is running through me and I can hardly hold myself on the bed. I hope that he doesn’t notice and think I am creepy. I try to regain focus and answer his question.

“We live in New York, well, the countryside of it. I have been to the city a lot but I prefer the country." I roll on my side and attempt to make eye contact with Travis without be totally taken over. He just stares at me. For a second I get lost in his emerald eyes and let out a sigh. He smiles out of the corner of his mouth and says “You like the way I smell don’t you?” Oh my god! I don’t know how he could have known that. My face turns tomato red, “What would make you think that?” I lay flat on my back trying to mask my embarrassment.

He sits back in the love seat and crosses his legs, “Well, when I leaned forward you took a deep breath in and then smiled. I assume you smelled me. It’s ok Niki you smell sweet too.” I sit up quickly and he winks at me. Anger is now heating my chest and moving though my whole body.

“You’re really conceded aren’t you?” I snap at him. He lets out a loud chuckle. “Am I wrong?” There is a silence between us as I try to figure out an excuse.

 "Niki, Travis, come here please." Thank god, saved by my mother. There is no way I was clever enough to talk my way out of that situation.

"Ok we're coming" Travis yells back. "To be continued" he winks at me sending butterflies through my whole body. I force myself to keep my emotions in check no wanting him to see the effect that he has over me. He extends his hand to help me off my bed. Everything inside me wanted to grab his hand but instead I say "I got it, I’m a big girl, I can get up on my own."

"Yes ma'am" he says with a wink. God this man is making me crazy.

 Walking down the hall I can feel his eyes on my back and then his hand on my shoulder. I suddenly get a vision of the dream I had when I was in the forest and I felt someone grab my shoulder. I gasp and turn around and put my back against the wall "What’s wrong?" he whispers "Nothing...sorry". I start to walk down the hall trying to collect myself and put distance between us. We both walk into the living room and sit on the couch. He sits right next to me and I wish he would move. The last thing I want is to lose control of myself and jump him in front of our parents. I move down a little just so we are not touching and I can control myself. “So what's up?" I ask my Mom. “Well we were talking about dinner and we have to go into town to shop. Did you want to come with us?" Travis says no so I immediately agree to go. Anything to get away from him would be great right now. Even a trip stuck with my mother and the crazy lady. I need a break for this over coming feeling I have when I am around him. My mom grabs her purse and we are out the door.

Walking through the grocery store is calming. Finally I am getting a break from the uncontrollable desire I am feeling for Travis. What is wrong with me? I don’t want to fall in love with his man. God I can't believe I even thought the L-word. After my last heartbreak I don't think that I want to feel love again. It’s too painful. Nothing ever is...forever.

***

My Jr. year of high school is when my crush on Derek started. He was a football player and of course I was in love with him. I was Captain of the swimming team so obviously I was invisible to him. We had almost every class together and I would sit as close to him as I could without him noticing, which wasn't hard. I didn’t have the courage to talk to him nor did I think he wanted to talk to me.

One day I turned around to pass some papers back to the other students in my row and I caught him staring at me. My face flashed red and he noticed it. This happened in almost every class for the rest of the day. In our last class, when the bell rang and school was out, I jump out of my seat and out the door. I was walking down the hall trying to get away as fast as I could. As much as I wanted to talk with him, I was too embarrassed to say a word. I made it outside and was to my car when I hear "Hey Niki." Oh my god he is right behind me. I must have looked like an idiot trying to get away from him and he was right behind me the whole time. "Hi D-Derek" God I hate when I stutter.

"Where are you going?" he comes inches from me and then leans against my car with his arms crossed."Umm I have swim practice." I motion over to the school pool."No anymore you don't." He smiled at me with a grin that could turn a nun red in the face. "I think that we should go get something to eat. Don't you?" Before I could answer he takes my hand and leads me over to his lifted bright blue truck. He opens my door and helps me into the cab. He gets in, starts the truck and we are off. For a while we didn’t say anything to each other. Finally I squeaked out "Where are we going?"

"Well I thought that we would go to Betties. You know the diner at the end of town?" He gives me a sideways smile that makes me blush again.

"Ya I know the place. Why did you want to eat with me Derek? You have never talked to me before?" I see him look at me out of the corner of his eye with disappointment.

"Well, Niki, I have liked you for a long time and I thought that it was finally time to talk to you and make you my girl."

"Make me your girl? You don’t even know me." I almost shout it. "Yea Niki" he giggles "I want you to be mine. I have plenty of time to get to know you but I don’t want someone else to snatch you up." He says every word so confidently I fall for his charm. The grin on my face won't come off and it just seems to get bigger at hearing this. I am smiling so much my face is starting to hurt. "Well maybe we should just eat first and see what happens from there." My voice is shaking.

"Whatever you want Niki." He puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me to him.

After that day we were never apart. We sat in every class together and every day after school and practice we were together. I fell madly in love with him. I thought that his feels were the same, but I was wrong. We were together for 8 months and the Spring Fling was coming up in 2 days. Obviously we were going together. I was so excited to be going with Derek. I had never gone to a dance at school before. I never was asked by anyone at our school. It’s not like I am homely or ugly I just kept to myself and stayed in my books. Now I got to go with the man I loved and it was going to be a night to remember. The night of the dance was going to be the first time that we slept together. I wanted everything to be perfect. I had spent hours and hours shopping for the right dress to make his head spin.

 

            The day before the dance there was a new girl that was enrolled in our school. She was beautiful. Long tan legs, long wavy blonde hair and baby blue eyes. Derek had two classes with her but I didn't have any. Derek had been very distant all day long and I thought that I had done something wrong. After school I asked Derek what was bothering him and why he was so distant, he said "There isn't anything wrong Niki stop being so clingy." My heart shattered and he walked away from me. As he walked down the hall I see Blondie come up and walk beside him. Jealousy ripped through my veins. I could feel the biting pain of my nails digging into my palms. I wanted to trust Derek because I loved him but there was something going on with Blondie, I could feel it in my bones.

 

He didn't call me that night and I wasn't going to call him after he said I was being clingy. I don’t know what happened. One day we are in love and nothing to change that and the next day I am “to clingy”. The image if Blondie keeps flashing in my head making impossible for me to get over this issue. I know that there is something going on. I mean come on, the day she comes to school Derek acts like I am a disease and then they are walking together after school. What does she have that I don’t? I treat Derek like a prince and we get along together so well. It might be the fact that she is beautiful, tall, has long legs and a southern draw that would set your heart on fire. We have been together for 8 months and in one day he has turned cold to me. There is nothing that I can do but wait and see what happened. Tomorrow is the dance and I wanted to have everything be prefect so I decided to blow it off and try to focus on the dance.

 

            The dance had finally come. I bought a new floor length red sparkle dress. It was backless and had a small train behind it. It was a beautiful dress. When I put the dress on I felt like a totally different person. I was confident for the first time in my life. I was hoping that this would catch Derek's attention and hopefully he would stop acting so distant. I spent the whole day getting my hair and makeup done. My long black hair was curled and flowing down my back. My makeup was perfect, not too much but just enough to notice. There was no way the Blondie was going to out shine me tonight. I was so excited, especially for Derek to see me. The plan was for Derek to pick me up at 8pm in the Limo and we would both go to the dance together.

 

            When 8pm came and he didn't show I called his cell phone and it went to voicemail. I left so many messages. I could feel hot tears stinging my cheeks as my heart began to break. Then anger set in. How can stand me up? We have been together for months and he stands me up!? This is all because of that slut Blondie. I feel my whole body become hot and my face red with anger. My mother see's me sitting at the bottom of the stairs and asks, "Where is Derek, Niki? Is everything ok?" The last thing that I wanted is my Mom to know what was going on. She would make a huge deal about it and I don't want to talk about it right now. I just want to know what is going on and where my boyfriend is. My suspicions are coming true. I know it. He has to be with that slut. Anger has taken over every part of me and I am seeing red. I need to know for sure if my suspicions are true. I am going to dance…now.

 

 I look at my mom realizing that I haven’t answered her question yet "Ya, Mom I guess the Limo broke down and we are going to meet there." I hate lying to her but I don’t want her to know what just happened because she would not approve of what I was going to do. I don’t want to argue with her right now because I tend to say things I don’t mean when I am upset.

 

She looks at me with a concerned face, "Do you want me to drive you, Niki?"

"No thanks Mom, I am going to drive. It would be kind of embarrassing having my mom drive me to the Spring Fling." I try to force a smile and restrain the tears that are fighting to get out. I need to hold myself together. I don’t want to fall apart and look weak in front of Derek. I went through a thousand things that I want to say if he is at the dance. I am going to tear him apart. I knew just what I was going to do. I was going to drive to the dance and confront Derek. There is no way I am going to let him treat me this way. I am not going to be walked all over. I jumped in my car and pulled out of the driveway as slowly as I could as not to draw attention to my mother. I knew she would be watching through the window. Once I get out of her sight I step on the gas and race to the school. The trees and homes are ripping past. I pay no attention to my speed. Ripping around corners, running stop signs, I am unstoppable.

 

            I finally get to the school parking lot. There are lines of Limo stretched around the school. I speed to the front of the Gym and parked my car in the fire lane. I wasn't planning on staying very long. I marched into the Gym I could feel piercing pain in my palms from my nails, but I didn't care. I started walking around the herds of dancing teens all enjoying themselves and laughing. I couldn't help but hate all of them. This was supposed to be a special night for Derek and I and he has ruined it. I feel like I have been looking for him for hours. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe something happened at home and he wasn’t able to get me. I was starting to feel guilty for thinking such things about Derek. How could I be so stupid? But finally out of the corner of my eye I see Derek. My heart is breaking and falling to the ground. I step over the pieces running on pure anger. He is standing leaning against the wall with a drink in his hand. He hasn't seen me yet. I begin to walk over to him from the other side of the gym. Then Blondie walks up to Derek and kisses him. I lose my mind and run over to him. I slap his drink into his face and yell “What the fuck do you think you are doing?! Derek how could you! You’re a fucking bastard! Why would you do this to me?! If you didn't want to be with me anymore then you should have just broke up with me like a man and not cheat on me!" I could no longer hold back the tears from my eyes. My face is covered in wetness and my makeup running down my face. I cock my hand back and slap him as hard as I can in the face. The music was blasting but everyone in the Gym was staring at us.

 

Derek’s face turns white. People are starting to gather around us and he begins to realize that his popularity is at stake. Then the Blondie decides to open her mouth and let her southern draw roll out . “I don't know who you think you are but Derek is my boyfriend. Derek told me that you are obsessed with him and pretend that you are his girl. Stop embarrassing yourself. Have some class." She Flips her hair and grabs Derek's arm and kisses him on the cheek. "This is my Boyfriend so why don't you run along." Anger takes over and I lung at her ripping out pieces of her hair and scratching her face. Derek grabs my waist, "Niki stop please! I’m sorry, please stop!" Rage has taken over as my scratches turn into a closed fist and I am punching her anywhere that will connect on her. My father always told me that if I ever got in a fight the key to coming out on top was being aggressive. I was swinging as hard as I could keeping my eyes open to make sure I was making contact and making sure it was painful. I know that she didn’t know that we had actually been together for 8 months and Derek had told her an awful lie to get her, but the rage inside me was taking over. I finally stop beating his new prize and look him in the eyes” Derek, you are a waist of space and you will fuck regret the day you fucked with me. Enjoy this little slut because I guarantee you that she will leave you when she finds something better just like you did to me. She doesn’t give a shit about you. I cared about you Derek! I hope she fucks you over like you did to me!" Derek looks down to the floor at the bloody mess that used to be Blondie and back up into my eyes. His eyes are filled with tears and it seems that he a realized what a grave mistake he has made but it’s too late. The love I had for him is gone. He opens his mouth to talk but before he can say a word I turn on my heels and walk toward the exit. “Niki! Niki! I’m sorry please don’t go!” I can hear Derek yelling from behind me. Blondie is crying on the ground. I get to the door and push both of the heavy metal doors open feeling the cold night air on my face.

 

            I let the cool air fill my lungs and tried to stop the tears from falling down my cheeks. I look down at my knuckles and see blood, cuts and bruising. What did I do to her? I can barely remember what happened after I jumped on her. I don’t feel regret, she deserved it. I need to get home before I get caught. I start to walk to my car...wait…where is my car? Shit! That is what happens when you park in the Fire Lane I guess. This night has turned into such a nightmare. The last thing that I want to do is call my mom and tell her my car was towed. Especially since my face is wet with tears and my fits are cut and bruised. She doesn’t approve of violence so I would be grounded forever. I decide that walking home is the best idea right now. I would rather sneak back into the house and clean myself up before I break the news to my parents that my car was towed. Hopefully they never find out about the fight, I would never hear the end of it.  

 

It’s about 12 at night now and it’s a 2 mile walk home. In a car it’s a short drive but on foot in heels, it’s a lot longer. Walking through town alone at night always creeps me out. I hate it. I avoid walking around at night at any cost. For some reason it makes me feel uneasy. I turn around to see if there is anyone around. There is one person walking about 500 feet behind me. I pay no mind to them and keep walking. I can feel the blisters on my feet growing large so I slip my heels off and carry them. Anger is fueling me and keeping me from being affected by the night breeze. I replay the image in my mind of Blondie kissing Derek and it makes me sick to my stomach. I will never let a man control my feelings again. I am done with love forever it’s not worth it. Walking down the street in my red dress probably isn’t the best idea. I turn around and the person I saw before is still there, but now they are closer. I quicken my pace and they quicken. They have a black sweatshirt on with the hood pulled over their head. I cant see their face or if it is a man or not. My nerves are beginning to tingle and my stomach is turning. Something bad is going to happen I can feel it. I start to speed walk and they match my speed and begin to gain on me. The realization that this person is chasing me sets in, so I start to run for my life. They follow suit and run after me.

 

            Panic sets in. How far can I run before I can't run anymore? Being a swimmer for 4 years has helped me keep my distance from the person chasing me. I am running as fast as I can down the pitch black road and I can’t see the person chasing me any long but I can hear their footsteps and they are getting closer. This is it, I am going to die.

 

 "Help me! Help Me!" I scream at the top of my lungs as I run for my life. I have no idea what this person wants but it can't be a hug. I turn around and they are gaining on me. Runner faster than I have ever seen someone run before. Fear gives me my last boost of energy and I am pushing my body further than I ever have before. My legs are burning and my lungs feel as if they are going to collapse. Now I can see the person closely, it’s a woman. I have been sprinting for almost 5mins and I am running out of energy. This woman doesn’t even look tired. Her face is covered with determination. Is she toying with me? Letting me think that I am going to get away but in reality I never had a chance. There is not one person that is out outside their home. I am screwed. I turn around to check how close she is and she jumps into the air and lets out and terrifying scream that morphs into a howl. This can’t be happening! I trip and fall onto my face and stomach. My dress rips and the concrete tears skin from my cheek. I roll over to my back and see a large wolf standing over me. This is impossible. Her two large paws are on either side of my head. There is one black spot over her right eye the rest of her body was a white as snow. If I wasn't so terrified I would say she was beautiful. Her growling me brings me back into reality. She lowers her snout down to my face and I let out a terrifying scream. “Please leave me alone! Please don’t hurt me!”I beg her but she never backs down. She just looks deep into my eyes never breaking eye contact. I am going to die, this is the end. I am going to be ripped apart by a giant wolf thing. Paralyzed with fear I stare into the eyes of my death begging for mercy. The wolf places her paw on my chest and the weight crushes me. I begin to black out. Trying to hold on to my consciousness, I fight back thrashing around on the ground. The wolf keeps her eyes locked on mine eyes and they begin to shine like emeralds. Her eyes begin to release a green mist. The green mist flows into my eyes and I feel an overwhelming sense of calm. I stop thrashing and it takes over my whole body. The weight on my chest is removed and I feel the burn of oxygen return into my lungs. I gulp in air trying to sooth the burn. The back of my neck begins to burn and then…nothing. My consciousness is lost.

 

            I wake up in a Hospital screaming in terror. My Mom and Dad were both there waiting for me to wake up. They run to my side trying to console me. Nothing they say is calming me at all. I need to get out of this room and I begin to fight harder. They begin holding me down to the bed by my arms and legs. I can hear my mother panicking and my father yells “NURSE! NURSE HELP!” The nurse runs in and injects me with something and my whole body begins to relax. Finally I stop thrashing as the medication takes over my body. My mother has never looked so worried in her life. I can see the pain in her eyes as she strokes her hand through my hair. My mother looks into my eyes and says “Niki, what happened after you left the dance?” He face starts to look hazy and I can tell the drugs are in full affect. I manage to form a sentence. “Mom… How did I get here mom.”She picks up my hand and clasps it in hers.“Derek found you on the road at sunrise. He had been driving around looking for you all night after the fight.” Oh my god he told what happened at the dance. Why was he looking for me? God he is such an idiot. My Mom is still staring at me waiting for an answer. “Well Niki, what happened?” I lose consciousness and fall into a deep sleep. I must have been out for hours because when I finally woke up my parents were in different clothes. My mom’s head is resting at my side on the mattress of the hospital bed. I lift my arm and place my hand on the back of her head. She gasps “James she’s awake!” She almost shouts at my father waking him from the chair in the corner of the room. He races to my side dragging his chair with him. My mother grabs my hand “NIki, Honey, can you please tell us what happened?” I lean my head back onto the pillow. I don’t even know where to start with this story. I don’t think that she is going to believe me. I mean I wouldn’t if I heard it. I take a deep breath and try to explain my story. “Mom…well… I was walking home last night after everything and there was someone following me. I didn’t think anything of it until later when they started to chase me. I ran for as long as I could.” My mom cuts me off “Who was chasing you did you see their face?”

 

“It was a woman.” She looks surprised and even more worried at this. “Well do you know what she looks like? What was the color of her hair?” She starts to drill me with question after question. “MOM STOP! Please I will tell you everything I remember but please calm down.” She takes a deep breath leans back into her chair and lets me continue. “So, when I was walking home from the dance there was someone following me. They started to chase me. I realized that it was a woman but I didn’t see anything distinct about her face. She had a black pull over sweatshirt and black pants. She had her hood pulled over her head so I could see what color her hair was.” I can tell my mom is starting to get angry at the fact that I was attacked by some random woman. I continue to tell her what happened “So when I was about to run out of energy when I looked back and she jumped in the air and let out a sort of scream-howl. She turned into a wolf Mom! She turned into huge white wolf with a black spot on her eye. I fell down and she stood over the top of me. She put her giant paw on my chest and pressed me to the ground. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t do anything. It brought its huge head to mine and stared right into my eyes. This green mist, that was the same color as her eyes, flowed out of hers and into mine. It made me feel calm and it took over my entire body. The mist stopped she took her paw off my chest and then the back of my neck started to burn. That is all I remember.”

 

My Mom just stared at me for a while. Her mouth was slightly open and her eye wide. She must think that I am crazy. Even I thought that I had gone off the deep end. I know what I saw, it was real. She looked down at the ground and took a deep breath, “ Niki are you sure that is what happened? Maybe you hit your head to hard and had a nightmare that felt real.” My mouth drops open. I begin to feel angry tear well up in my eyes. “No Mom it happened I swear! Please believe me!” She starts to shake her head and tears well up in her eyes. “Niki, it’s impossible! People don’t change into animals. Please, think about what you’re saying!” I don’t know how else to convince her. My father just sits in his chair staring at the two of us arguing. He looks like he has seen a ghost. “Mom I know it sounds crazy but I am not lying I swear to you that I am telling the truth!” She stands from her chair next to my bed and walks to the door. I look to my father for help. He will believe me, he always does! “Dad please you believe me done you?” “NIki it’s impossible.” There is a tone in his voice that leads me to think that there is something that I am missing. They know something that I don’t.

 

“Mom, Dad, what is going on?” Both their heads whip back to me. At the same time they both shout “Nothing!” What is going on here? They are keeping something from me. They both leave the room and I am alone. This cannot be happening. I should and lied and said that I got wasted and passed out on the road. At least I would be able to get out of this hospital and go home. I hate being here.

 

As I lay in my bed I look towards the small glass window on the door. My parents haven’t returned for an hour. I guess my story has frightened them more than I thought. I am staring to feel like a freak and very alone. Watching the faces passing by the glass there is one that I recognize, Derek. He is just staring at me through the small window. I turn on my side away from him I don’t want to see his face right now. I can’t believe that he has the nerve to come here. I hear the door knob turn and he walks into the room. I get the smell of fresh roses. I can’t believe that he thinks that roses are going to fix this. “Niki… are you awake?” his voice is shaking and I can tell he is nervous. Which he should be “What do you want Derek?” I snap at him. “I want to apologies for everything that I put you through last night. I was an asshole and I am so sorry. I should have never of taken that girl to the dance. I made a mistake and I am so sorry.” I roll over to look at him and I can see that he has been crying for hours. I feel nothing for him anymore. All I want is for him to get out of my room. “Derek, I don’t forgive you and I never will. Now get the fuck out of my room before I call my dad in here and explain to him what you did. I am sure that he will not appreciate how you have been treating his daughter. He never really liked you anyway and now I know why.” He looks to the floor and I can see tears falling to the ground. He tosses the roses on a table and comes to kneel by my bed. “Niki please, please forgive me. I can’t live my life without you.” Begging me he reaches to touch my hand and I lose control “GET THE FUCK OUT! DON’T TOUCH ME! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! DAD! DAD! DAD!” screaming at the top of my lungs Derek’s face turns white and he tried to calm me down. I hear the heavy foot step of my father and he bursts in the door. “Derek what did you do! We told you to stay the fuck away from her!” He grabs Derek by the back of the neck and throws him out of my room. I can’t control myself anymore. I keep screaming and thrashing in my bed. “Nurse!” I hear my dad scream out and the nurses run into the room. I can’t stop. Rage has taken over every part of my body. Something has taken over me and I feel the back of my neck begin to burn again. Four nurses are attempting to restrain me, one on each arm and leg. I continue to break free from them. My mother is watching in the corner with tears falling like rain. Finally I feel a sting on my arm and my whole body starts to feel warm. The rage retreats and the burning on the back of my neck subside. The dose they have given me must me much stronger then the last because I fall into an uncontrollable sleep.

 

            I hear the faint sound of my mother whispering to my father. I can’t open my eyes and my body is limp. I guess the drugs are starting to wear off.

“James, how the hell did she find her? We have spent her entire life protecting her from this and now it’s too late. What the hell are we going to do now? There has to be a way to reverse this.” My father lets out a worried sigh. “We have no choice James, we have to call her.” I lose consciousness again and fall back into a deep sleep.

 

I explained myself over and over but still no one believed my story. They all thought I was crazy. I was starting to believe I was. How could it have possibly seen a werewolf? I wanted out of the hospital and I realized I was going to have to lie to get out. The last meeting I had with my Doctor I said that it must have been a dream and told him what happened with Derek. He decided that the 'dream' was created due to the emotional stress I encountered that night. I didn't care what he thought I just wanted out of there. I kept having the faint memory of my mother and father talking in my room. I can’t remember what they were talking about, but I do remember that Mother was worried and something was wrong. If they hadn’t pumped me with so much medication I would be able to remember.

Chapter 3

 

We got what we needed from the Grocery store and started to head back to the Lake House. The thoughts of Derek were running through my mind and my heart began to feel the breaking pain again. I don't want to ever be in love again. Love isn’t real. There is no such thing as true love and after Derek I never looked again. My mother always tried to tell me that I was young and heart breaks are going to come and go. She wanted me to give it time before I wrote off being in love forever. I know I am young but if this is how love it, why would anyone want to do it? I don’t understand.

 

We pull back into the driveway and then I remember that Travis is there. Not wanting to feel anything for him. I rush into the house and into my room and lock the door. I don’t want to think about Derek anymore. It just makes me angry and hurt. I have given enough thought to what happened and I don’t it doesn’t deserve anymore. I lay down on my stomach and burry my face into my pillow. I can feel wetness on the pillow and I realize I am crying. Anger fills me from top to bottom. Why am I still letting what Derek did affect me? It’s not like he cares what happened. I hear footsteps coming down the hall and they are getting closer to my room. I am hoping that they stop and turn around. I don’t want to talk to anyone right now. I just want to be alone.

 

            I hear a soft knock on the door. "Who is it?" I respond annoyed "Its Mom. Can I come in please?" I really don't want to talk with her right now. "Mom I am really not feeling well. I am trying to go to sleep."

"Ok Honey, well dinner is in an hour I’ll come and get you when it's done." I can hear the disappointment in her voice. I wait to hear her footsteps get further from my door. I roll over to my back and let out a long sigh. I don’t like to hurt her feelings but every time she wants to talk to me she always brings up my mental break down in the hospital. She can tell when I am thinking about it. It seems like every time I do she is at my side begging me to open up to her. I have tried to tell her things before and it always ends badly. I looked over to my window and see the trees swaying in the breeze. Leaves are dancing down from the trees and landing gently on the ground. Birds are flying from branch to branch singing their sweat songs to one another. Everything looks so beautiful and calm. I need to get out of here. Throwing the window open I grab my jacket and jump out the window. I love to hear the crunching of the leaves under my feet. I need to calm my mind and recharge my soul. The memories are haunting me and making me relive the pain of that night. I don’t know why Derek’s actions are still affecting me. I have tried so many times to remind my heart that it’s not broken anymore but even my heart knows better. Not only was that the night that Derek broke my heart and my ridiculous obsession with love, but it’s the night I was attacked. That night is the most confusing memory I have. I don’t know whether I should continue to believe what I saw or believe that I made it up. Maybe the doctor was right. Maybe it was just a dream. Could it really have been something that I made up to deal with what happened with Derek? It felt so real though. I can still remember the crushing weight of her paw on my chest and the emerald mist filling my soul. I try to focus on the cool breeze that is running through my hair. The smell of sweet flowers and fresh grass fill my nose. I take a deep breath and let it fill my senses. I love the outdoors. It’s so calming to me. I start to walk out of the forest and towards the shoreline. I need to feel some sand between my toes. I make it to the shore and slip my tennis shoes off. I toss them to the side and feel the cold sand my feet and it feels divine. I lay flat on my back, close my eyes and let the sun warm my face. Breathing in deeply trying to calm my mind and find some peace from these haunting memories. I run my hands through the sand feeling the small pieces of leaves that have fallen from the trees. Travis enters my mind and finally I feel the sweep of relief through my body. For some reason I miss him. I haven’t seen him in a few hours and I have been avoiding him at all cost. Maybe I need to stop fighting these feelings for him. I don’t want to be in love with him but I can at least accept him as a friend. I could use one right now. He has been nothing but nice to me, even though his cockiness is annoying. The sun is suddenly blocked from my face and I get the sweet smell of Travis.

 

“Speak of the devil” I say under my breath low enough so he can’t hear me. I hear him sit by me on the soft sand. “Were you thinking about me?” he says sarcastically. “No, why would I be thinking of you?” I snap back.

 

“Well I heard you say ‘speak of the devil’, so I was assuming you were thinking about me. I have been thinking of you all day.” My stomach starts doing flips after hearing this. He was thinking about me? I can’t stop my face from turning tomato red. “How could you have possibly heard me say that? I whispered it.” I place my hand over my eyes to block the sun and see his face. He gives me his classic wink and says “Babe I have great hearing.” I take my hand down and close my eyes “Don’t call me Babe, I’m not your Babe.” He giggles “Not yet but you will be.” I sit up instantly “What is that supposed to mean? You think that you can just make me your just cause you want to? I am not that kind of girl Travis.” He puts his hand over mine and I feel the familiar pulse of desire. “Relax Niki you need to loosen up.” I rip my hand out from under his the last think I want is to have any desire for him. I don’t know why I thought I wanted to be around this man he is so obnoxious. I give him an annoyed huff and lay back down on the sand. I can feel him lay right next to me and the electricity between us is pulsing through my body.

 

“Niki, can you feel that?” I look over at him “Feel what Travis?” He lies on his side facing me, lifts his hand and touches some bare skin on my hip where my shirt has rolled up. “That. Can you feel that…pulse of… I don’t know how to explain it other than electricity.” The air is taken from my lungs as I absorb and pulsing desire I am getting from his gentle touch. I close my eyes and let it take over me. I feel his hand lift off my hip and he places it on my cheek. “You can feel it can’t you. I can’t believe this is happening. Bonding at 18 is so rare.” My eyes snap open “Bonding what the hell does that mean?” he takes his hand off my face and sits up quickly. “Nothing Niki forget what I said.”

“No Travis, tell me what that means. Please” He runs his hands through his golden hair. “Niki I can’t tell you. Not yet anyway. You wouldn’t believe me.” Titling my head to the side I say, “Try me.” There is a long silence and he lets out a sign “No Niki. I don’t want to talk about this. It’s not the time.” I am not going to argue with him. This is just annoying. All those feelings of desire have by snubbed out by annoyance, at least for the time being.

 

***

 

            I hear my mom calling us for dinner from the front porch. Travis and I are still sitting by the lake in silence. He refuses to tell me what “bonding means” so I am refusing to talk to him. I know it is childish but I can’t help it. I want to know.

 

“Niki, come on its time for dinner.” He nudges my shoulder trying to get me off the shore. I am really not that hungry but I know my mom would have a cow if I didn’t have dinner with everyone on the first night that we are here. I stand up and brush the sand off of my pants. I start to walk past Travis and he grabs my arm. Passion is pulsing through his touch and my knees get weak. He pulls me gently to him and puts his hand on my back. God I want to lose control on him but there is no way that I can allow it. I don’t love him and I am not going to fall for his tricks. Every man is the same. They say that they love you and then they leave you with a broken heart. He starts to brush my back. “You have sand on your back.” I try to wiggle out of his grip and he tightens “Just stand still Niki your being a pain in the ass.” My mouth drops open “What the hell makes you think that you can talk to me like that? Let go of me!” He looks at me with annoyance grabs the side of my face with both his hands and tries to kiss me. I pull out of his grip and slap him as hard as I can in the face. As soon as my hand touches his face I get a quick vision. I see the island from my dream, glowing and alluring. I am floating towards it and I see Travis on the shore waiting for me. I don’t why but he is there for me. The vision ends.

 

“What was that?” I shout at him. “Why are you trying to kiss me? Do you know how rude and creepy that is? I have known you for one day and you think that you can try and kiss me.” He is not phased by anything that I say or the slap that I laid across his face. He is just looking into my eyes. “What are you staring at!” He runs his hand through his golden hair and lets out a gentle sigh. “Niki, did you see something?” How does he know that? I am not going to play this game. There is no way that I am going to tell him anything about myself. I turn on my heels and walk towards the house. My curiosity gets the better of me and turn back around to Travis “Why would you think I saw something Travis? How would you possibly know something like that without me telling you? Will you please tell me what is going on?!” He takes a step towards me and puts his hand on my mouth. “Shh, please stop yelling I don’t want them to hear us!” I stop screaming at him and let him explain. “Niki…you are special. My mom says that you have a…gift. It’s a gift that is important to our culture. You were destined to become the most powerful Mystic of our realm and race.” All I can think is he is crazy but there is something in his eyes that is making me believe him. His hands are still on my shoulders and I am in shock at what I am hearing. I am a Mystic? What the hell is that? “Niki, if you want to know everything then we need to go somewhere else where I can tell you. But for now we need to go inside and eat. If my mom knows that I am telling you this she is going to freak out. Will you please come inside and just wait a while? I promise I will tell you everything that you need to know.” I look at him in his beautiful emerald eyes and for some reason I find myself trusting him. I nod my head and he puts his arm around my shoulder and starts to walk me to the house. I push his arm off; he is making staying away from him very hard when he touches me.

            We get up to the house and Denise is standing on the porch staring at Travis an evil glare. Her arms are crossed and her fingers are tapping on her arm. “Well what were you two up to?” Travis looks at her then the ground. “Nothing mom, just hanging out and talking.” He shoves his hands in his pockets and pushes past Denise walking into the house. Her evil gaze turns to me her emerald eyes stare right into mine. No words are spoken but I get the message that she doesn’t want Travis to be alone with me. That just makes me want to more. She turns on her heels and walks into the house with her nose turned up. I walk up the stairs with an uneasy feeling building in my stomach.

 

Travis is sitting at the dinner table and his leg is bouncing under the table. There is something that is making him uneasy. I walk to the table and pull out the log style chair. I sit right next to him and place my hand on his leg under the table. Immediately it stops bouncing. He looks at me and his eyes seem to sparkle. I lean into his to whisper into his ear and I catch that alluring cologne of his. God it drives me nuts. “Travis, Relax.” I move away from him and we again catch eyes. He gives me a playful wink and places his hand on top of mine under the table. What am I doing? Why am I being so nice to him? Remembering myself, I rip my hand out from under his and place it on the table. He does the same. I can see his face out of the corner of my eye and sadness is written all over it. I look at my mom “Mom, what’s for dinner?” she pulls out her chair and sits down. “Well we have steaks, baked potatoes and salad.” I am so hungry I can hear my stomach growling. “That sounds good.”

 

My dad brings the food out setting everything in the middle of the table. “Dig in!” He says with excitement. We all begin to grab food and place it on out plates. Travis grabs a steak and so does Denise. Denise doesn’t look like a woman who can finish a whole steak. She is so thin and dainty. I grab some steak, a potato and salad and begin to eat. “So Niki how is school?” Denise is starting a conversation with me for the first time since she has been here. “Umm it was ok. I graduated so I’m done for now.” She takes a bite of her steak and chews. Then looking at me again she asks “So are you seeing anyone?” I feel the stab of heart break in my chest. I see Travis in the corner of my glaring at his mother with anger. “No Denise I am not seeing anyone.” I throw a glare to my mother hoping that she would get the hint to change the subject. She gets it and jumps in “So Niki, are you going to show Travis around the forest tomorrow, maybe go for a swim?” I look over at Travis who is staring at his plate eating with a smirk on his face. “Well Mom I haven’t really thought about it” I throw a smile at Denise “but yes I am going to show him everything.” I hear Travis contain his laughter. He knows that his mother doesn’t want me around him and watching her squirm is something he enjoys…clearly. Denise gives me a fake smile “That’s nice dear.” How can she not like me she doesn’t even know me? Her son is the one that is following me around and throwing moves on me. She is acting like I am going to steal him from her. I don’t understand mothers sometimes. The rest of dinner was silent. The only sound was forks and knives on plates.

 

Dinner was over and there was a sigh of relief from everyone. I stand up from the table and stretch my arms up to the ceiling. My shirt lifts and I can hear Travis let out a quiet grown. I like having this effect on him. It gives me a feeling of…power. I turn around and begin to head down the hall when I hear Denise “Niki what is on the back of your neck?” I instantly begin rubbing the back of my neck feeling for a bug. “What is it! Is it a bug!? Get it off!” Travis gets up from his chair and moves my ponytail away from my neck. He whispers under his breath “Oh my god.” I turn and make eye contact with him and he shakes his head and whispers “Don’t ask here, not now.” I look past him to Denise and she is beginning to stand from her chair and walk over to me. “Let me see it.” She pulls me so hard I almost fall over. “Oh my god. How long have you had this?” she turns me around holding my shoulders so tightly it hurts. “ I have no idea what you’re talking about. What is on the back of my neck? Will someone please fill me in?”

 

My mother stands and walks over to me looking at my neck. I feel her fingers running over my skin and a chill runs through my body. “Mom please tell me what it is.” She turns me around and brushes a loose piece of hair behind my ear. “Well Honey I don’t really know how to explain it. It looks like a crest of some kind.” I have never been more confused in my life. “Well do you know what it means?” Denise cuts me off and stands between us “I need to talk to you Michelle, now!” I push her shoulder and rage begins to fill me “I am talking to MY mother right now, so if you wouldn’t mind backing off that would be great.” Her eyes become wide and she takes a step back. “Mom please tell me what it looks like.” She clasps her hands together and looks to the floor and then back at me “Well Niki, it’s two large wolves rearing up, facing each other with a throne in the middle and a crown sitting in the seat of it. There are decorative carvings in the thrown and long branches with leaves that curl from the bottom of the throw, around the wolves and all the way to the top of the throne making it a perfect circle.” I don’t even know what I am supposed to think. Where would this of come from. I have no memory of going to a tattoo shop and this isn’t something that I would get on my neck anyways. I don’t think that I just appeared. I run to the kitchen and try to wash it off with hot water. Scrubbing the back on my neck with all my might, I feel Travis grab my hand and his touch instantly calms me. “Niki lets go to your room. You need to lie down.” I push his hand off me “No Travis I want to know what is going on! It’s like everyone but me knows!” He gets a towel and starts to dry the water on my neck. He whispers in my ear “I am trying to get you away from everyone. I will tell you whatever you want to know please just say you’re going to your room.”

 

I rip the towel from his hands and walk out of the kitchen to my mother and Denise. “Mom this is too much for me right now. I am going to lay down for a bit.” She puts both her hands on my face “Are you sure honey? We can stay up and talk as long as you want.” I feel bad lying to her but this isn’t really a conversation I want to have with her. She tends to get emotional and leave parts of the story out when she doesn’t want me to know. Since there seems to be so much that I don’t know about myself I would rather have someone tell me everything I need to know. “Ya mom I am sure. Don’t worry I am fine. I just want to lay down for a bit.” I turn and walk down the hall.

 

Trying to avoid my mother’s glare as I walk down the hall is a hard task. I can feel her frustration with me heating the back of my neck. She wants me to stay with her and listen to everything that she has lied to me about for so many years. I don’t think that I can handle that right now. I am still trying to process the fast that I am some sort of Mystic. What the fuck is a Mystic? Why would I have not been told a long time ago? Like when everyone was trying to convince me that I was crazy in that Hospital.

 

***

When I was 6 I started to have visions…or at least that is what the therapist told they were. I would see…things happen before they were supposed to. It started small like seeing the light turn red before we got to the light. Or you see yourself step off the side walk and get hit by a bike. I was never afraid of them. I thought that everyone had them. It got stronger as I got older. At its strongest ever, I could touch a part of your skin and tell you anything that you wanted to know about your future. I told my mother one day that she was going to break her favorite Vase today. She turned away and laughed at me. I just thought that she understood what I meant. When I got home from school she was sitting in the kitchen staring at the floor. Her face was white and her hangs rested on her lap. “Mom are you ok?” a singles breath escapes her and she turns her head to the side looking at me “How did you know that I was going to break this?” She extends her index finger towards the shattered Vase on the floor. I take a step back becoming afraid of what she might do. “I told you this morning that you would break for favorite vase.” She lets her arm fall in-between her legs. “That isn’t what I asked you. How did you know that was going to happen?” I clasp my hands together and rub them nervously. “Well I was walking down the stairs and had a picture in my mind.” She stands from her chair and walks over to me. At this point I have figured that my mom has lost her mind. Being 6 years old I stayed right where I was. She comes to me and places both hands on my shoulder. She looks into my eyes and says “I’m sorry honey I never wanted this for you.” She kneeled down and hugged me. I didn’t know what to do so I just wrapped my arms around her as tight as I could. I thought to myself maybe if I squeeze tight enough she won’t fall apart.

 

            I next day I was in a doctor’s office. Dr. Lauren, She was a smug bitch who was unhappy with her life. She told my mother that I was basically psychotic, that I needed to be placed in a facility and on medication. My mother wouldn’t have it. She said that there was no way that she was going to ruin my life by admitting me in a Mental Facility. She looked Dr. Lauren right in the eye and said “There are people that really need the help in a Mental Facility but then there are the people who doctors don’t want to try other alternatives. Now I brought my daughter in to get her help but you are not going to admit a 6 year old to a Mental Facility.” Dr. Lauren sat shocked. She didn’t say a word for 2 minutes or so. She looked turned back to her computer that swiveled from the wall and said “Well there is always Therapy.” My mom leaned back into her chair and said “Thank you that’s much better.” I have never seen my mom talk to anyone like that and never have again.

 

            Needless to say the Therapy was not much help. The more they had me try to meditate and be a calm state, the more I had visions. The first therapy session that I had alone was when I was 13. The therapist asked my mom to leave the room and right after I heard the click of the lock he turned to me and said “So. You’re a psychic right?” My mouth dropped open. I was so shocked. I didn’t know what to say. I have never been called a psychic. The only terms for what I was told that I had her medical. “Well I guess so.” He waved his hand at me “Ok so you can see the future right” and shrugged my shoulders and said “I guess so.” He rubbed huis hand on his chin. “Alright can you tell me when I am going to die?” I snapped back “What are you serious!? I don’t that!” He puts his hands up “Shhhh please stop. I have a reason for wanting to know. Please hear me out. I know that you have done it for other people.” I stand up from my chair “Ya I have done it for my friends and help them cheat on tests but I have never told someone that!” I look at him in the eyes and I can see that there is something going on that he needs help with. “Ok why do you want to know?” He looks to his palms and says “I have been given 1 year to live. I have terminal pancreas cancer. I cannot live a year not knowing if today is going to be the day I die. I need to know. I have things I need to plan for and make up lost time I have with my kids. Now normally I don’t believe in thins like this but I am willing to try anything right now. Please tell me.” I looked down to my palms and took a deep breath “Ok ill do it. But you cannot tell my mother that I am doing this. She told me that the more I use the power the stronger it gets.” He looks at me relieved “Of course I won’t. I promise. Plus there is always doctor patient confidentiality.” He lets out small chuckle and I do the same. I was over to the red velvet chair where he is sitting and reach my hand out. He takes a deep breath and holds its. “Does it hurt?” I looked down to him and say “I don’t know I have never done it to myself. But I have not had anyone complain.” He looks down and lets out his breath. “I bring my arm back to my side. “Are you sure that you want me to do this?” He looks up quickly “Yes I am sure.” I reach my hand out again and touch the side of his cheek. I flash of images are flying by my eyes like birthdays, Christmas everything that is going to happen in this man’s life. All I have to do to find is think of what I need to know. I’ll think to myself ‘Death’ and imedentally the flashing images stop. I see the therapist sitting on his porch swing with an older woman. He leans in and gives her a tender kiss on her cheek. She gives him the biggest smile and all you can see is the love that they have for each other. They are watching the sun go down and the therapists’ head falls on her shoulder. His wife begins to cry and then the vision goes away.

 

            I take my hand off of his cheek and he looks up at me. “Well what did you see? Please tell me.” I gave him a slight smile and tell him “You are going to die on August 15th next year. You will be on your porch sitting with your wife enjoying the sunset. You will feel no pain and just drift off sitting with your wife.” His eyes begin to well up with tears and he grabs my hand. “Thank you very much.”

 

            He was by far my best Therapist of all. But when my mom found out that he was encouraging my “disorder” I never say him again. I was then given medication and made to believe that there is something wrong with me. Eventually after months of shock therapy and crazy amounts of different pill…I stopped seeing. There were no more visions. I don’t know if the horrible things I went through really stopped the visions or if my body couldn’t withstand the treatments. Making me numb to everything and everyone around me.

 

            One night while laying in my bed I could hear my mother and father talking down the hall. “James she isn’t having the visions anymore.”

“Well that is what you wanted right? You didn’t want her to turn into…well you know”

“Yes I know this is what I wanted…but why do I feel so horrible about doing it. I mean I feel like we just changed who she is.”

“Oh Michelle only time will tell if we made the right choice.”

That was the last time that my visions were ever discussed. I stopped trying to have them and forgot all about them. My mother acted like it never happened. It started to feel that way to me.

 

***

I lay in my room looking up at the ceiling. Trying to understand what is going on. I grab a blanket from my love set and wrap it around myself. The chill in my room is awful. I sit myself down in the love set and pull my knees to my chest wrapping my arms around them. I stare out the window into the dark. The moon is so bright here. It makes the forest look like a fairytale. Lightening bugs fly all around the tall redwoods, it’s really quite beautiful. I see a head peering through my window. I sit up and walk closer. Then Travis pops into view and scares me half to death. I fall back and land on my ass. Thankfully my mother didn’t hear it because she would have burst through the door trying to find out if I was ok or not. Travis open the window and I can hear him laughing “I am so sorry are you ok? I told you that I was going to come get you.” I look up at him from the ground extending my hand for help “Ya well that was like an hour ago I thought that you forgot or something.”

 

“How the hell could I forget something so beautiful?” Our eyes are locked on each other and electrify is running through my body. There is something that is drawing me into him. It’s a power in my chest that I have never felt before. Uncontrollable passion surges through me. Our fingers tips touch and I feel a BUZZ that wakes me up out of the trace. I rip my hand back and he picks me up at my shoulders as if I am a feather. “Do you feel it Niki, please tell me that you felt it!” I shook myself out of his grip and said “Felt what?” His face is covered in sadness and disappointment. Why do I insist on hurting this man? I don’t know why I cannot accept him. It is wrong. I am not going to become dependent on this man. I am strong and no one will ever take that away from me. He looks to the ground “Well what do you want to know Niki. I said that I would tell you everything. We cannot talk here though let’s go for a walk.” I nod my head and climb out the window and over a bush.

 

“Ok tell me what a Mystic is.” I charge out with the first question. “A Mystic is someone who can see the future. They are valuable to us. Female Mystics are among the most valuable. There have only ever been 3 female Mystics that have been accepted to the Royal Court and only one that can morph but she is the Queen. If you are accepted to the court you will make the fourth. Mystic are always rulers of our world but only if you are chosen by the previous King or Queen. They can see the future so they protect our race from being discovered and attacked. Of course there are Mystic’s that are not ruling over the race and they make up the important members of the Royal Court. When our race is ruled by a Male Mystic, the years are dark and the race become vicious. They kill for no reason and can only morph when the moon is full. When men rule over the race it’s dangerous and we risk being discovered. ” I cut him off “Wait, what the fuck are you are talking about. Morphing? Race? How are you guys so different from regular people?” He runs his hand through his hair and says “Well because we are not regular people we are Werewolves. There are other types of races that we coincide with like Shifters, Pyros and many others. The werewolves are larger in number so we rule over all. ” My mouth drops open. “I was told that I was fucking insane because of what happened that night.” I start to scream and my eyes well up with tears. I fall to my knees and start to rock back and forth. Travis kneels down and wraps him arms around me. I fell so comforted in his arms. I accept him and rest my head on his chest. “Niki, what happened? What are you talking about?” I shake my head back and forth. “Niki if you let me, I can find out without you having to tell me anything.” I look up at him, “How?”

 

“Well, you can see the future, I can see the past, memories and hear thoughts.” I nod my head up and down and he puts his hand on my cheek and closes his eyes. It seems like they are only closed for a second when he pushed himself off me and takes gasps for air. “You’re…you’re… chosen! It’s already been done there is no stopping this!” I get up to my knees recovering from my break down. “What are you talking about? Chosen for what?” He sits up and grabs my hands. He looks me dead in the eye and calmly says “Niki, the large white wolf that attacked you, you know the one with the black spot on its eye.” I nod my head yes. “Ok babe that was an Royal. Her name is Renee and she is the most powerful female Mystic of our history. She also is a born werewolf. She was over 500 years old. The green mist from her eyes was her life essence. It means that you absorb her Mystic power into what you already possessed and it makes you that much stronger. Not only did she give you her powers she gave you the ability of morphing. She is Queen over our race. Since you were not bite by a werewolf and you were given the gift from Queen Renee, you will become a pure blood. ” My eyes grow wide. I can’t process all this information. I am learning about a totally new world that I thought only existed in a fairytale. He continues, “Your awakening is on your 18th birthday and yours just so happens to land on the Blood Moon. You are going to get all the power of the Blood Moon on top if Renee’s power and your own that you were born with. You are going to be the most powerful Queen that our world has ever seen.” Travis begins to look concerned and puts his hand on the side of my face and says “Hey Niki are you ok? Are you sticking with me?” I nod my head again unable to speak. There are no words to explain how I am feeling right now. I motion for him to continue, “OK so when she gave it to you, she died. Mystics and Werewolves are immortal but when you are Queen or King you have the choice to leave this world and travel to the after world when you are 500 years old. Not counting the time that you were a human.”

 

I begin to loss what mind I have left and my head begins spinning like a top. I don’t know what I am supposed to think. I mean how could I believe all this. For my whole life I have been told that I crazy and nothing that I was seeing was real. Now I have Travis telling me that I was not only right, but now I there is a whole world out there that no one knows about and I am about to take over. Why am I so important why couldn’t they pick someone else? I am sure that there are other Mystics in the world that welcome this sort of gift. I on the other hand, do not. I don’t want this. I don’t want to be chosen to rule over a world I know nothing about. This world has nothing to do with me and I want to keep it that way. Sweat begins to bead up on my forehead. Panic sets in and I need to get away from this. I stand up slowly without saying a word and start to run down the shore. My feet beat against the wet sand and my hair whips behind me. I hear Travis shooting after me “Niki wait! Where are you going? Please come back it’s not safe!” I ignore him and keep running down the shore. The sand is flicking up my back and the wind is throwing my hair around in knots. I run until my legs cannot carry my any longer and I collapse on the sand. The cold sand makes my pants damp and squishes between my fingers. I breathe deeply in and out trying to calm my racing heart and stop my spinning head. “NIki?” I look up and Travis is in front of me. “What Travis! Can’t you tell that I am trying to get away from you! I need space!” He falls to his knees, grabs me by my shoulders and pulls me into his chest. I hear his heart beating in my ear and it calms me. I feel safe and warm in his arms. This is something that I haven’t felt for anyone in a very long time. “NIki, if you want me to leave tell me and I will.” I feel passion rush through my body and I desperately want to tell him to get off me and stay away but the words won’t come. I can’t open my mouth to say the words I need to. But I don’t want him to go. I want to stay in his arms. I want to feel his embrace and stay with him forever. Where are these thoughts coming from? What hold does he have over me that I cannot escape? He puts his index finger under my chin and pulls my face up to his. I look deep into his eyes and I see sadness and worry. He is waiting for my answer and I can’t give it to him. I don’t want to surrender myself to him. He brushes my tangled hair behind my ears “Niki tell me you want me. Tell me you need me. I need to hear it and I know that you feel it.” I can’t fight it anymore. I have to let go. I feel like I will perish right now if I don’t tell him. “Yes Travis. I need you. Stay with me.” He grabs my face with both of my hands and brings his face inches from his. I can feel the heat grow between us and the desire is burning through my body and I don’t think that I can contain myself any longer. He looks into my eyes and whispers “Kiss me Niki.” I drawn back a moment and his hands tighten around my face. “Niki don’t fight it. It will only make your body burn more.” How does he know that I feel this way? There is something that he is not telling me but right now I don’t care. Right now all that matters is this Greek god that kneels before me begging for a kiss. I lean forward and my lips brush against his. Passion is pulsing through every part of my skin like sparks of electricity and I feel his love for me. He deepens the kiss and wraps his arm around my neck and dips me to his side. I feel my world open and everything becomes clear. He runs his hand down the front of my shirt and to the top of my shorts. Lifting my shirt he places his hand on my bare skin. My stomach retracts at the electricity he sends through my body. I don’t know what I can do. I don’t want him to stop, I want him to take me. I throw my hands around his neck and pull him on top of me. We fall onto the shore and the cold sand sticks to my back cooling me slightly. “Niki, I love you.” He whispers the words that I dread into my ear. But instead of feeling fear and pulling away I respond “Travis I love you.” What is wrong with me? What am I doing? How can I give into this him? He releases out kiss and looks into my eyes. “Niki I need to tell you something.” I sit up on my elbows yearning for more. I don’t want to talk anymore. I don’t want to know anymore about what I am supposed to me or what my future is. “Please Travis I don’t want to know not now. Can’t this wait?” He pulls away from me and sits on the back of his heels looking to the ground. He runs his hand through his golden hair making it stand on end. I can tell there is a serious in his voice. I sit up from my back and sit Indian style in front of him.

 

“Niki you need to know this. We are bonded.” He had said something about that earlier today on the shore before my I realized that my life has been hidden from me for so many years. I totally forgot about it. “What does that mean Travis?” He sits back further onto the sand and runs his fingers through his hair. I can tell that this is a conversation that he really doesn’t want to have. “Well it means that we are bonded together for life. In the human species they call them soul mates. We are meant to be together and we will love each other forever. There is no getting away from it. Death is the only way to stop it.” Now realizing that this feeling I have had for him is a “bond” I don’t know if I want it anymore. I thought that this was something real and special but instead it’s not. “So why did you ask me if I loved you if we are already bonded.” I can feel tears begin to well up in my eyes and I blink them away.

 

“Because Niki I wanted to hear you say that you loved me without knowing that we were bonded.” I can see his point but I still don’t want this. I want to be on my own like I originally planned. My whole world has been changed in a matter of hours. “You know the mark that you have on the back of your neck.” I look up at him wondering what else there could be to tell about it. “The thrown means that you are going to rule over the race. Renee gave you that mark. It’s the only proof that you need to take over. But the two werewolves that are rearing up facing each other on either side of the thrown are you and I. You only get them when you have bonded. I have them also now but I don’t have the thrown because I was not chosen to rule. Unless we were married then I would get the same one.” I clap my hands together and throw them in the air. “Well that isn’t going to happen. We are not going to be married and we are not going to be bonded.” He grabs my shoulders and pulls me to his face. “Why are you fighting this Niki there is no getting away from your destiny. This is what you were born for. My mother told your parents while your mother was pregnant with that someone would be coming for you and she didn’t want to listen to her. She decided that she could protect you from this. She cannot protect you from this anymore, only I can. I love you Niki please don’t shut me out.” Anger pulses through every part of my soul and I rip my shoulders out of his grip. “How dare you tell me what I am going to be and who I am going to love.” I slap him hard across the face. “You’re not going to tell me how my life is going to go. No one is. If I don’t want to be bonded with you I don’t have to! What do you mean that your mother knew about this, is she a Mystic also?” He stands up anger is pulsing through his body and I can feel his emotions run through me like a train speeding down the tracks. Heat is pulsing from his body as the red hand print begins to fade away from his face. “Niki my mother is a Mystic by birth and a werewolf, but not by choice. She was bite during her awakening on her 18th birthday. My father is just a werewolf. He bonded with her and then they had me.”

 

“Why wasn’t she chosen to rule if she is half and half? Why does it have to be me?” he looks into my eyes with utter disappointment. I doesn’t understand why someone would want to throw away the gift I have been given. “Renee chose you. My mother was not accepted into the Royal Court when she was awakened. Something happened and she was not a loud to join the court. I don’t know what it was, she won’t talk about it. You have to accept what the Queen has chosen you for because there is no going back and her word is final.” All he wants is to help me. He turns his back to me and looks out over the glass like lake. The moon is casting its creamy light down onto us and I realize that there is no fighting this. I love this man and he is the only one that I want in my life. I stand from the cold sand brushing it off my shirt and pants. Slowly I take one step at a time until my chest is against his back and his scent envelopes me. I can feel his breathing sharpen as he feels my touch him. Slowly I take both hands and place them on his waist and run them under his shirt. He lets out a seductive grown. I wrap both my arms around him and put my head on his back. “Im sorry Travis.” He turns his body and looks down into my eyes and presses a gentle kiss on my lips. “Please don’t push me away Niki. I love you and I am here to protect you. I didn’t know that this was going to happen I swear. I didn’t expect it to. But I am glad it is. You’re the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen and I want to spend of the rest of my life with you” How can I say no to this man? I finally let go. I let my feelings take over. Passion surges through me and I can no longer hide or contain my desire for him. I grab the back of his hair and pull is forcefully down to my face. Kissing him hard I let out a grown of pleasure. “NIki don’t make that noise, you’re making it hard to keep my composure.” I pull his head back to me again “Then don’t Travis, don’t hold back.” I he lets out a small giggle “Are you sure about that?” I can’t help but smile “Yes, Travis.” I feel my body quivering as he picks me up by my waist and throws me over his shoulder. He starts to run. Not just run, but whip through the trees everything is moving so fast I can’t tell what is what. The colors blur together into grays, greens and black. I feel the wind blowing through my hair and then we stop suddenly. He put me down and I hear the sound of crunching leaves. I look into his eyes and he turns me around to. We are standing in front of my window. “What are we doing back here?” He opens the window and motions me to go inside. “It’s cold out here and it’s getting late. You should get some rest.” I am so confused. Is he blowing me off? After everything he just said and now he is going to take me home? “I don’t understand.” He puts his hand in the small of my back and leads me to the window. “Goodnight Niki, I’ll see you in the morning we have a lot more to talk about.” I jump into the window and pull myself onto my bed. I can’t help but feel rejected and hurt. I shut the window before he can say another word. I don’t know what to think after everything that just happened. So I am chosen to lead over a race that I know nothing about. If you ask me, Renee made a bad choice. Why couldn’t Denise be the one that she chooses? She wants to rule anyways. I throw my legs off the bed stepping down onto the cold hardwood and walk over to my dresser. I pull out my black Pj’s and throw them on the bed. God my clothes stink like dirt. I pull them off and pull on my Pj’s. I really don’t feel like getting in the shower right now, even though I clearly need one. I get back into to bed and pull the covers all the way up to my shoulders. What am I going to do? I have never felt important a day in my life and now I am supposed to rule over an entire race. Even though I am alone in my room I get the feel like someone is watching me. I look out my window to see if Travis is still there but he is nowhere to be found. There is only darkness and trees as far as I can see. The only light is from the moon pouring through the leaves. How am I supposed to fall asleep after hearing all of this? I still want to be with Travis. I want him to at least be in my bed. I don’t feel right without him anymore. I don’t want to have all these feelings but there is nothing that I can do to stop them. The worst part is that he is right down the hall and I can’t be with him. My mother would skin me alive if she knew that I was sleeping with him. Why do I even care what she thinks anymore after everything Travis just told me? She kept all these secrets from me my whole life and I had to find out in the worst way. After everything that she put me through, the treatments and the medication all because she didn’t want this life for me. How much does she actually know about it anyways? I still am getting the feeling that someone is watching me in my room. I can’t shake it. There is something that is in this room that is making me feel unsafe. I don’t know what it is but I need to get out. A sudden rush of adrenaline powers my courage and I throw my covers off and swing my legs over the bed. I try to tip toe to my door because the hard wood floor creeks with every step. I don’t know if anyone is still awake but they have to be sleeping by now. I open my door just a crack to see if any lights are still on. It’s totally dark so I open it more and see that there is no one up. I come out of my room and shut the door and softly as I can. The hallway is pitch black and I can’t see a thing. I extend my arms out trying to feel for anything in front of me. I know this house like the back of my hand so I begin to walk down the hall to where Travis is sleeping. Each step is like waiting for a bomb to explode, each step may wake someone in the house and I don’t want to be seen sneaking around in the dark. I don’t know how I would explain that. I finally make it to Travis door and place my hand on the knob. Turning it slowly I begin to open the door. Travis is already passed out on his air mattress. I walk over to his bed and kneel down. God he is gorgeous. I run his hair through my fingers and the passion burn that I am used to doesn’t come. It’s a different feeling. It’s…love. I do love him. I don’t want to admit it but I do. I love this man. He begins to stir and rolls over on my hand. I am stuck sitting up staring at him. Oh god please don’t wake up right now. This is going to look really creepy. I try to pull my hand out and he grabs my wrist. Not even opening his eyes “What are you doing in here Niki?” I tug my arm back from him rubbing my wrist. “I don’t want to be alone Travis…I want to be…with you.” He eyes open and he looks at me with a small grin. He lifts the covers inviting me and I get in bed with him. This is the first time that I have touched him that I haven’t wanted to rip his clothes off. I want to lay with him and feel his heart beat in my ear. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his chest. God he smells good. He kisses my forehead and says “Goodnight Niki, tomorrow is going to be a long day get some sleep.” I get comfortable in his arm, which isn’t hard, and drift off into a calming sleep.

 

***

 

            I am back in my never ending dream. This time I know a little more and I am going to get some answers if I see the lady in white. Standing on the shore I can still see the island glowing in the distance. I look for bright light that shown off the crown of the lady in white but its nowhere to be found. I am not going to stand here and wait anymore. I walk to the edge of the shore and down our dock. There is a small row boat at the end and I decide to row to the island to get some answers. I untie the damp rope and jump into the boat. I have rowed this boat all around this lake every summer. I begin to row towards the island pulling the ores as hard as I can, splashing the cool water into the air. The boat is gliding across the still water sending ripples in every direction. My arms begin to burn as I get closer to the island but I pay no mind to it and keep pulling. Finally the boat stops on the sand of the island. I jump out in calf deep water and pull the boat onto shore. “Hello! Is there anyone here?” I call out into the darkness hoping that someone is here. “Renee, are you here! I need to speak with you! I need to know why you gave me all your power! Why me damit?!” The wind begins to blow fiercely, throwing my hair straight back. A bright light begins to shine and it blinds me for a moment. I throw my arm in front of my eyes to block the light. It begins to die down and I lower my arm to see what it is. The lady is white is standing in front of me with a look of poise and honor on her face. She is so beautiful I can’t believe that she is real. She extends her hand to me and with no hesitation I take it in mine. We stand face to face for a moment in silence. “Niki, do you know who I am.” She finally speaks and her voice is so soft and comforting. I nod my head yes “You’re Renee right?” She releases my hand and begins to walk into the redwoods. “Yes, I am. Do you know why you’re here?” I start to walk after her. “All I know is that I am a Mystic and you chose me to rule over the whole Realm.” She keeps walking deeper into the redwoods and then we come to a clearing. There is a large flat stone in the middle. She stands motionless and silently staring at the stone. “Niki, that much is true but there is much more that you don’t know. I gave you my life essence and power because I need you to eliminate the current King. He is power hungry and has become mad. A human murdered our daughter and now he is out for revenge on the entire human race. He will succeed if you do not stop him.” This hits me like a runaway train. How I am going to defeat a King. I had no idea that this world even existed and now I have to defeat the King. I am beginning to panic. I can feel nausea building in my throat. “I don’t know what I am supposed to do! I don’t know how to defeat a King. Why didn’t you do it? You’re supposed to be a Queen aren’t you? Why did you give me all your power when the King is about the wipe out the entire human race? I have no idea how to use it!” She walks to me and places her hands on my shoulders. “NIki there are many things that you still need to learn about our world.” She takes my hand and leads me to the large flat rock. She motions for me to sit and I oblige. “Niki, when you bond to someone it is for life. You cannot be with only else for the rest of your life and you would die if you tried. The King is who I bonded with.” Great I guess I am really stuck with Travis forever. “You also are unable to cause physical harm to them. Since I am bonded to the King and he is stronger than I, I cannot stop him from what he is about to do. He knows what I have done. The grief he has for the loss of our daughter is a great pain that will never be at ease and now that he knows I ended my life and gave it to you, he has gone mad. The fate of the Human race is in your hands. You may choose to give up the gift I have given you and the role of Queen, but the human race will fall and the King Khan will still come for you.” Anger is taking over every part of my body and my hands become fists. I snap “So basically what you’re telling me is that I don’t have a choice. Because I might die if I do accept, but I don’t accept I am guaranteed to die and so will the rest of the human race.” Renee sits down next to me and takes my hands. “Niki, I know that this doesn’t seem fair but I wouldn’t have given you this gift if I didn’t think you could succeed. King Khan is a wise man but he also lets his emotions get the best of him. He will come for you on your 18th birthday. He thrives for the thrill of war and he will want to kill you at your most powerful. He will want to set an example of you so his subjects will never rebel. It is a sick addiction. Travis will protect you but you need to beware of Denise. She doesn’t want you to succeed and she wants all humans to perish just as Khan. She also despises you because you were chosen for this role and she was not. She hates humans because of the way she was treated before she was awakened. She was not accepted into the Royal Court and she is looking to find a way back in. Khan has given her this chance. He is willing to accept her into the court if she murders you. If I were still alive he would not be able to overrule my decision to keep her out, but now he has all power, and he needs a spy. You must not let Denise know that you are aware of what she is doing. You will need to make Travis aware of this. If she finds out that you know her plan, she will contact Khan and he will come sooner than he has planned. If that happens then all hope is going to be lost.” I try to obsorb all this information and it makes my head throb. I have never felt so much fear in my life. I look at her and ask “Well if she can see the future how am I going to hide that I know what she is planning to do?” Renee replies with a short simple answer “Because you’re royalty now. She cannot read your future. It’s blocked from her view. That’s why Khan needs her to be around you, so she can report what is going on. Once you become Royal no Mystic can read your future, not even another Royal.” I feel the darkness creeping in around me and the feeling of being alone starts to grip me heart. Is this even a war I can win?

 

“So what happens on my 18th birthday?” She stands from the stone before me. “The Blood Moon is on your birthday. This only comes once every 1,000 years. It’s very rare to have a newborn Mystic Queen awaken on this day especially now that you have the ability to morph into a wolf. You have already been given my powers and the Blood Moon with triple them. You are going to become the most powerful Mystic, Morpher and Queen our race has ever had.” I don’t know how to absorb all this. I am becoming more and more afraid with every word. I don’t know what to think anymore. What if I cannot defeat Khan? This is too much pressure for me. I was just a normal girl and now my life is changed forever. Renee reaches her hand up and touches my face. I lean into her hand trying to feel some sort of comfort. “Niki, on your birthday you will come here to the island. When the Blood Moon is highest in the sky it will shine down its crimson light onto this stone. You need to lie on the stone and let the light cover your whole body. If any part of your body is not in the light the awakening will not be completed and it will fail. The blood moon will turn on you and instead of awakening you it will make you sleep for all eternity. Travis knows what needs to be done and he will guide you through it.” I stand from the stone and begin to pace back and forth carving the ground with each step. How am I going to be able to do this? I don’t think that I have the strength. I look into her eyes “If I am a Mystic then why did I not see this coming?” She looks at me annoyed and turns her back on me. “Your mother tried to stop your Mystic abilities because she was afraid. Denise told her that I would come to you when she was pregnant. Denise tried to share her gift and was made an outcast. Michelle was afraid that you would suffer the same fate. Humans fear what they don’t understand and they cannot just accept things for what they are. She numbed your ability with medications and you began to believe that it wasn’t real. If you don’t believe in yourself your ability will slowly die. Fortunately for you, I found you before it left you completely. You need to stop taking the pills that she forces on you. You need to learn to control your gift again. Once the medication is stopped it will take a few days to leave your system and then the visions with return to you. At first you will not be able to control them and then slowly you can make then appear when you want them to.” She turns back to me giving me a reassuring smile.

 

My head is beginning to throb. For so many years I have been told that I was crazy and now the realization that I was right is making my head spin. I start to feel dizzy and sit back down on the flat rock. Renee grabs both my hands and kneels in front of me. “Niki this is the last time that I will be able to talk with you. You will not longer have this vision. Travis knows what to do and he will help you but you need to trust him and let him into your heart.” She is leaving me now? There is no much that I want to know. “You can’t just leave me Renee I need you!” She stands and the white light that blinded me when she arrived begins to illuminate. “Niki, Trust in your ability and trust in Travis he is your protector now.” The light becomes bright and I block my eyes. “Please Renee don’t leave!” I scream into the darkness that she has abandoned me in. Uncontrollable tears fall from my eyes and I collapse to the ground. There is nothing that I can do but scream over and over. I sink my fingers into the ground grabbing grass, ripping it from the ground and throwing it with all my might. I feel like a child throwing a tantrum but it’s all I can do to release all the anger and fear I have inside. My voice is becoming hoarse and I feel my body beginning to shake fiercely. I snap awake. I am back in the guest room with Travis and he is shaking my shoulders trying to wake me. I had been screaming so loud that my mother and Denise woke up and are standing in his room. Travis looks into my eyes with tear streaming down my face and my heart is racing. I look around the room trying to catch my breath and my mother is kneeling by the side of the mattress paralyzed in fear. Denise is standing in the doorway leaning again the frame trying not to look at me. I can tell that she doesn’t care what is happening. I look back at Travis and wrap my arms around his neck desperately trying to feel the comfort his touch provides me. I hold him as tightly as I can and he wraps his arms around me and trying to comfort me “It’s ok Niki your safe with me. Just relax. Take some deep breaths.” I start to breathe in and out trying to slow my heart. The beats begin to come down to a normal pace and my arms loosen around his neck. I lean back onto the pillow and look at Travis. “Are you ok now, babe?” I run my fingers through my hair which is now covered in sweat. “Yes, I’m fine.” My mother frowns and scrunches her eyebrow and looks at Travis “Babe? What the hell does that mean? Speaking of which why the hell are you in his bed Niki?” I turn over to my side and look at her. “Mom, there is too much to explain. Basically Travis and I are bonded. It’s not a voluntary thing and you can’t control when it happens or who it happens with. He is pretty much my soul mate.” Denise is still in the door frame and she lets out an annoyed sign. “I tried to tell you that last night Michelle but Niki pushed me out of the way before I could. They are bonded for life. That is why there are two wolves in the crest on the back of her neck and not just the thrown. They are going to be together FOREVER.” My mother’s eyes grow wide and she looks back to me and Travis. “I don’t know what to say.” She keeps staring at me not breaking her gaze. “Mom there is nothing to say. This is how it is now. It’s something that you are going to have to deal with.” He face becomes filled with anger. She stands up and stomps out of the room. Denise moves out of the way so she can pass. Denise turns back to me and throws me an evil glare and walks down the hall towards the living room.

 

I lay my head back down on the pillow and let out a sigh. Travis lies down next to me and looks at me worriedly. “Niki, did you have another nightmare?” I roll over to face him. “I wouldn’t say that it was a nightmare. I talked to Renee. She explained to me more about King Khan and the Blood Moon.” He puts one arm around me and pulls me closer to his body. I need this right now. I need to feel the comfort he provides me. He knows when I need and I love him for that. I can’t believe it, I love him. I love someone again. “She also told me some disturbing information about your mother.” He looks shocked. “What?” Distress covers his face. This is going to be difficult to tell. I don’t want him to turn against me now when I need him the most. I wonder how deep this bond will go with it comes to his mother.

 

“Well basically she is going to trying to help Khan kill me and if she finds out that I know then she will alert Khan.” He lays flat on his back and stares blankly at the ceiling. There is a long silence so I decide to snap him out of his trance. “Travis, Please talk to me.” He keeps staring at the ceiling for a moment and rolls on his side and looks at me. “What am I supposed to say Niki. She is my mother. I didn’t know that she was going to try and help Khan. She told me that we were coming to help Michelle with her daughter. I didn’t ask a lot of questions.”

“I’m sorry Travis.” We lay silently for a few hours just enjoying each other’s company.

 

***

“Are you guys going to come out of that room? It’s almost lunch time!” My mother screams down the hall. She is not taking this new relationship very well. I don’t blame her. I have known Travis for almost a month and we are already bond for life on the first day we met. This new world is so strange to me and I don’t know how I am going to overcome my fear of it. I have a powerful King that is trying to kill me before I become Queen and Denise is aiding him in doing it. I don’t know why Renee thought that I was the best choice for this. Travis rolls over and pushes me out of the bed and onto the floor. “Time to get up!” I giggle lying on the floor. “You need to get up too!” I grab his foot that is hanging over the bed and pull him down onto the floor. He lands with a loud thud on his butt. “Ouch! Feisty today?” I grab his shirt and pull him inches from lips “Your breath smells bad, Travis.” He bursts out laughing “Well you don’t smell like a basket of roses either. You smell like dirt from last night and bad breath.” I pull my shirt to my nose and smell it. “Touché Travis. I am going to take a shower.” He gives me a playful wink and pulls me by the collar of my shirt. “Can I come?” I let out a playful gasp of surprise. “I don’t think know so Travis. We may be bound for life but you are not going to see me naked that easily. Plus I don’t want to give my mom a heart attack. She needs to get used to the idea of us before we start taking showers together.” He begins to pout his bottom lip and look to the ground. “Don’t be such a baby Travis. We can go swimming later.” He lets out a sigh “Oh alright fine. Swimming it is.” I get up from the floor and open the door. Denise is standing right in my face as I open the door. “Good morning you’re Highness.” I push past her and walk down the hall “Don’t call me that, Denise.”

“Why not Niki, you are going to be Queen you know.” I turn around and give her a sarcastic smile. “Yes Denise I know, and your son is going to with me for the rest of his life in the lap of luxury. Lucky him huh?” I hear Travis in his room burst out laughing. She turns around angry and walks down the hall.

 

***

            The hot shower feels so good on my skin. I can feel it melting the stress in my shoulders away. Since the day we got to the lake house it has been nothing but stress. I just want to stay in the shower and never come out. I don’t want to face what is coming. There is a knock at the door and I can tell by the urgency it’s my mother “Yes mom.”

 

“You are going to have lunch with us?” I turn off the shower and step out grabbing my town from the hanger. “Ya I’ll be right out.” I wrap the towel around myself and walk out of the bathroom. Chills run up and down my spine, this house is so cold sometimes. Once in my room I drop my towel and thrown on my bathing suit, shorts and a white t-shirt. I come out of my room and walk down the hall and into the dining room. Denise, my mother, father and Travis are already sitting at the table waiting for me. I pull out my chair next to Travis and sit down. The tension in the room is so thick I could cut it with a knife. Denise is sending Travis and I evil glares and my mother staring at me worriedly. “Niki did you take your medication this morning?” I look up at my mom and know what I am about to say is going to upset her. “No mom. I am not going to take that medication anymore. Renee says that it numbs my ability and I need to stop taking it.” Denise’s eyes lock onto me. “You spoke with Renee? She is dead how could you have talked to her?” I cross my arms and stare right back at Denise. “Well Renee came to me last night in my dream and explained what I need to do and who I really am.” She arches her eyebrows “Did she now and what is it that you need to do?” I lean forward “Denise it doesn’t concern you.” My mother snaps at me “Niki why are you being so rude?” If mom only knew that she is helping Khan trying to kill me. I don’t want to upset her more than she already is so I reply “Sorry mom, I’m just tired I guess.” She gets up from her chair and walks over to the kitchen. Here we go again, she is shutting me out when things get uncomfortable. Thank god I have Travis to support me. My father has no idea what is going on and he stares at me with his mouth open. “Niki do you want to explain to me what is going on. I go to sleep early one night and it seems I have missed something rather important.” He folds his arms and continues to stare at me. Travis grabs my leg under the table and shakes his head slightly no. I look back at my dad and he is still waiting for an answer. I have no idea what to tell him. I have never lied to my father before and frankly I don’t want to. “Dad do you remember what Denise told you when mom was pregnant?” His face starts to lose a little color. “Yes, How do you know what she told us?” I let out a small sigh “Because it’s true dad. I am a Mystic.” His mouth drops open and he looks to my mother. “I told you, we should have never of put her through all those tests.” She face turns bright red with anger and she screams at him. “You told me!? How the hell did YOU tell me? You were all for what we did. You agreed with everything. You thought that that it was the best thing for her.” He hits the table with the side of his fist. “Michelle just relax. What is so bad about it anyway? It’s pretty cool to be able to see the future.” My dad looks back at me and winks. Denise decides to respond to the question from my father “James, Your daughter has been chosen to lead the Realm Werewolves. On her 18th birthday she we be awakened as a Mystic and Morpher. Then she will rule over us forever. Oh ya, Travis is her soul mate and they will be together for the rest of their lives.” She says each word ‘matter of fact’. I can feel the anger building in Travis. “Mom, why don’t you shut the fuck up!? This is not your business to tell.” He yells and her face turns white. The whole room goes quiet and my dad is staring off into thin air. Finally there is some life in his eyes “Wait so Travis is your boyfriend? You have known him for like a day! How is that possible?” I giggle and look at my dad “Out of all the crap Denise just told you, the part about Travis is all that concerns you?”He shrugs his shoulders “Well Denise has always been full of shit so I don’t know what to believe. But if you are with Travis already I am going to have to kill him” He looks as Travis and punches him on the shoulder. Travis tries not to laugh and looks at my dad “Sir, I wasn’t expecting this to happen. I mean, hell, I honestly didn’t want to come on this trip. I am sorry that you had to find out this way but yes I am with Niki now and there is no separating us. I would die for her.” My father’s eyes widen and he looks back at me. “Well I guess there is nothing that I can say to change this?” I shake my head no. He turns to my mother “Alright then everyone, let’s eat. I don’t want to talk about this subject anymore until we are done eating. It’s giving me heartburn.” My mother looks at him with disgust “How can you be so calm about this James? This is a very big deal or do you not care?” He turns to her and I can tell that she has pushed him over the edge. “Michelle what would you like me to do? Please tell me because I don’t know.” She turns on her heels stomps around the table, down the hall and slams her door shut. My father shakes his head and continues to eat.

 

            After lunch Travis asked me to show him around the Lake. I am only assuming he asks me this because he wants to get away from his mother. We get up from the table and start to walk out the door when I hear my father “Where are you guys going?” I keep walking out the door and down the steps “We are going swimming.” I can feel my dad’s eyes locked on me as I walk down the steps from the porch and make my way to the lake. “Travis, do you know how to swim?” He looks at me confused “Ya why?”

 

“Can you swim far, you like are you a strong swimmer?” he maintains the look on confusion on his face. I can tell that he has no idea where I am going with this. He shrugs his shoulders and says “Ya I can swim well why did you want to swim somewhere.” I extend my arm and point out towards the island. “Oh no we are not going there Niki. Not yet at least.” I drop my hand to my side “And why the hell not?” He runs his hand through his golden hair and says “Well it’s not safe right now. We don’t know if Khan is waiting there. They will be expecting you to go to the island before the awakening. The island will call for you when we get closer to your birthday.” I turn my back to him and start to walk towards the shore. I stop at the sands edge and look back at Travis “Niki, don’t you do it.” I turn to face him and grab the bottom of my t-shirt. I give him a devilish smile and start to pull my shirt up my stomach and over my head. I drop it to the ground and look back at Travis. He shakes his finger at me and starts to walk towards the shore. I can tell that he is going to try and stop me so I pull my shorts and slip my shoes off. I run towards the water and jump in. I can hear Travis behind me “Damit Niki you don’t listen.” I swim out till my feet can’t touch the bottom and I turn to the shore and begin to tread water. Travis is standing on the shore staring at me and I wave for him to follow. He removes his shirt and shoes and throws them on the ground. He wades into the water and then begins to swim toward me. I turn back towards the shore and start to swim for it. I miss the feeling of water rushing over me as I swim. It’s so calming and relaxing. There is nothing that can stop me once I start swimming. The cool water rolls over the back of my head as I speed towards the island. I turn my head to take a breath and I hear Travis splashing behind me. I stop swimming and begin to tread water waiting for him to catch up to me. He reaches me and stops. “Why do you do this, Niki? I told you that it’s not safe to come to the island right now.” I swim towards him and wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around this waist. “Because I want to see the flat rock that I saw in my dream. I want to know what is going on and I need to see if for myself.” He wraps his arms around me and gives me a tight hug. “Fine Niki, but we are not staying long.” I give him a wink “Sure babe.”

 

            We finally get to the edge of the shore and decide to lie on the hot sand for a moment. The lake is freezing and the hot sand is slowly breaking through the freezing shield that is on my skin. I look over at Travis and I can tell that he is enjoying this as much as I am. He looks over at me and says “Yes I am enjoying this.” I sit up quickly “Ok how do you do that?” He looks at me confused “Do what?” I slap his arm “You know what I am talking about. I think about something and then you respond. Can you read minds or something?” He looks back up into the sky putting his arms behind his head and closes his eyes “Yes I can actually” So he can just read my thoughts whenever he wants. That is not only rude but an invasion of my privacy. I don’t think I like his so called gift. “I don’t think that I like you reading my mind whenever you want to. I can’t have any thought to myself.” He sits up and puts his arms on his knees. “Niki I didn’t get my gift until after I was awakened. I haven’t learned how to control it. I have known my whole life what I would become but I never knew what gift would be given. I can’t help but hear thoughts and see memories. See memories? What does that mean? “What do you mean see memories?” He brushes some of the dry sand off his legs. “Well, for instance when I first came here and you showed me the spare bedroom and I saw a small girl playing in the room. It seemed like she was pretending to be a princess or something. It was the most adorable thing that I have ever seen.” My face begins to turn tomato red. “That is really embarrassing. I never wanted anyone to know that I used to do that. He starts to laugh “Well, I know now and I thought it was a great memory.” I stand up and brush the sand from my legs and back. Travis gets up and does the same. I walk to the edge of the sand and then I freeze. A vision disrupts my steps and can’t move. My senses are tingling all over my body and I begin to see Travis standing over the large flat rock staring down at me lying on it. The Blood Moon shines down is crimson light over my entire body. I snap back into reality and I realize that Travis is standing next to me looking confused. “Are we going in there or are you just going to stare at the trees.” For a moment I don’t know what to say. I stand there motionless and finally I shake my head yes. We begin to walk into the redwoods and I don’t see the flat rock. “Travis where is the rock I am supposed to be on?” He points his finger into the darkest part of the trees. “It’s in there. But if you are not of our world, you can’t see it. It’s a way of protecting our secrets.” I look at him with a smirk on my face “I am sure that if a Human sees a rock they are not going to automatically know that your race exists. It’s just a rock Travis.” He shakes his head and walks ahead of me into the trees. For some reason I have the feeling of dread in my stomach. There is something wrong here, or something that is going to happen. I ignore my instincts and follow him. Its pitch black and I can’t see a thing. All I can hear is Travis steps in front of me. “Travis please come back here and walk with me I can’t see anything.” Before I can finish my sentence I feel his hand in mine guiding me thought the darkness. “How can you see its pitch black in here?” He lets out a chuckle “Werewolf…duh” Laugh and slap his arm. “Don’t be an ass.” He stops walking suddenly “What is it Travis?” and lets go of my hand. My eyes are slowly adjusting to the darkness and I can see the flat stone right in front of my feet. I bend down and run my hand over the top of the rock. It surface is as soft as a river beat stone. I move my hand down the side of the rock and I feel groves in the rock. It seems to be that there are carvings in the sides of the rock. I move around the rock to see of the carvings are consistent around it and they are. “What are the groves in the rock Travis?” I smell his sweet cologne and realize that he is kneeling next to me. “These are the markings of every King or Queen that has been awakened here. Soon your mark will be here.” I wish that I could actually see the stone. I want to see what the markings look like. “Can you see them yet Niki?” I let out a disappointed sigh “No, I can only feel them” He takes my hand and says “Soon Niki you will be able to see them. You have to be fully awakened before you can see through darkness.” We both stand and he leads me out of the pitch black trees and into the bright forest. My eyes sting for a moment as I try to adjust to the sun’s rays. Travis stops dead in his tracks and yanks on my arm “Travis!” His face has totally changed. He is no longer the lover Travis that I have come to love. His eyes are black and anger covers every inch of his face. “Travis what is wrong?” He gives he a glare “Shh!” Fear has taken me over and I freeze. There is something on this island and Travis knows it’s here. I should have listened to him. Now I have put us both in danger. He pulls me behind his back and starts to take slow steps back towards the pitch black area of trees. Once we enter the darkness he stops moving and everything is silent. I feels like hours have gone by and nothing has happened. No breeze, no birds singing, there is no noise other then the lake crawling up the sand and then pulling its self back in. Then a CRACK rings out and breaks the gentle silence. Travis crouches to the ground and pulls me down with him. He looks around and starts to move away from me and back into the light. “Khan!” he yells out. “Khan I know you’re here! Show yourself!” there is still no response. Khan is here? He is already trying to kill me. I have another week until my birthday and I doubt that we can hind from him that long. The silence is broken “Travis.” A gentle man’s voice responds that almost seems reassuring. Travis gasps “Oh my god! Dad!”

 

 

Chapter 4

 

How did you get here? How did you know we were here?” Travis’s father is here? I thought that he was working or something? What is going on? “Son there is not much time for me to tell you what is going on. If you mother knows that I am here she will alert Khan. You need to protect the young Queen. She is the most important thing right now.” I stand up in the darkness and step into the light. Both Travis and his father whip their heads towards me. I look at Travis and ask “Travis what is going on?” Travis’s father bows to me and says “I’m sorry your excellence I did not know you were here.” I walk to him and touch his shoulder “You don’t have to bow I am not Queen yet.” He lets out a small chuckle and rises. “What is going on? I need to know.” He puts his hand on my shoulder and says “I am a part of the Royal Council. My title is secret. I run information between the Royals. Before Denise and Travis came here I was given a message by Queen Renee. She informed me of what was going to happen and what I needed to do.

 

I took Denise out on what I told her was a hunt. I knew that if I told her I had a message she would want to know what it was. Renee informed me of Denise’s plan and that she needed to be stopped.” He takes his hand off and looks to his son. “Travis there is Imperial Scouts coming to watch your every move, for some reason King Khan has doesn’t fully trust you mother. They are going to take the information they collect back to Khan and if he they see anything that even remotely shows that your aware of his plan he will come earlier than planned. If you can catch the scouts and prevent them from getting back to Khan it will delay his coming early.” Travis nods his head and accepts his new task. I can’t help but feel like I have changed Travis life forever and now he can possibly die trying to protect me. This world is so strange to me.

 

I look and Travis’s father and say “For argument sake, what happens after I awaken?” He runs his hand through his hair, just as Travis does, and says “When you are awakened then you will be Queen. Since you will be more powerful than Khan you will rule over the race. Khan is not going to let that happen so he will challenge you for the thrown. If you win, and you become Queen, our morphing will no longer will be determined by the full moon. We will once again have control over ourselves and the race will again become peaceful.” My head is starting to spin, all this information is too much for me right now, but I have to know more. I want to know everything I can before I awaken.

 

“Why didn’t Renee rule when she was Queen? Why did she let Khan take over? What do you mean I need to challenge him?” Travis father raises his arm and motions to the direction of the shore and we all begin to walk towards it. He responds, “Renee is the most powerful Queen we had ever had, but Khan was more powerful than she. So therefore he was granted control. Renee has control of choosing the Mystics for the Royal Court but Khan has the last word on everything else that has to do with our Realm. He has a lust for power and it has taken over him and with the death of his only child he has gone mad. As you know when a male has total control over our race, all werewolves become unstable. Their anger is hard to control and they can only morph when the full moon is out. That is when the danger of being discovered is at its highest. That’s why the only stories of werewolves are horror stories. Whole villages and towns were being destroyed because the wolf could not control their morphing or what they did after they changed. We need to have a strong Queen to over throw Khan and bring peace to us all. When you challenge Khan you both will be put to a test that will prove who is more worthy to rule.” This is all so confusing to me. It’s hard to believe that in 500 years of Renee being Queen there was never one woman that could do this. Why am I so important? I really don’t understand.

 

I look to Travis’ father “What is your name so I don’t have to refer to you as Travis’s dad?” He chuckles and says “My name is Charles.” The forest is quiet as we crunch dry leaves under our feet walking to the shore. There is a silence that seems to last forever. I don’t know how to react to all of this. Should I be excited that I finally know that I mean something to someone, or should I continue to hold my pain and resentment for being lied to for so many years? I decide to ask the question that has been burning in my brain. “Ok Charles, I really don’t understand why I am the one that has to do all this. There was not one person in 500 years that could have over thrown Khan? After all this, what happens to Travis since we are bonded?” Travis grabs my arm and we stop walking. Charles looks back at us and his face turns ghost white. He takes a few strong steps and he is face to face with Travis. “Travis why didn’t you tell me that you bonded with the future Queen. Don’t you think that would be something that I need to know?” Travis drops his head “Dad I didn’t expect this to happen and I had no idea what happened to you after we left Oregon, how could I have told you anything?” He raises his head back to Charles “But it did, and I love her. I am going to do everything I can to protect her.” Charles looks at me and gives me half a smile. He puts his hand on Travis’s shoulder “Son, I don’t think you understand what is going to happen now.” Travis looks back at Charles and seems to be very confused. “I don’t understand, what do you mean?”

 

We have finally reached the shore and we sit on the ground behind the tree line so Denise doesn’t see Charles. He begins to try and explain “Travis, since you are bonded to her, you have to be King. Before, all Niki had to do was over-throw Khan. The challenge would be between Niki and Khan only which would result in the overthrowing of Khan or the death Niki and the rest of the human race. But now you have to kill Khan to take his thrown next to Niki.” Hearing this stops my heart and I scream out “Wait WHAT! I can die if I lose?!” Charles takes my hand and says “Niki you won’t have to do it anymore. Travis has to now. If he wants to be with you then he has to be King and to be King he has to kill Khan. It’s the only way, I’m sorry.” I am so confused now. “I don’t get it. What is the difference between overthrowing and killing Khan I thought it was the same thing.” I can tell that Charles is becoming nervous. He told us that he couldn’t stay long but now he is sitting on the island with us trying to explain every detail.

“Niki with you challenging Khan, it’s a test of strength, wisdom and leadership. Whoever loses must be placed in exile. The reason I said that you would die is because Khan would kill you instead of sending you to exile. He does not take kindly to being challenged. It has happened before and he never sent the challenger to Exile. He killed him right after the match. He has lost his mind and all rational thinking has gone out the window.” My palms begin to sweat and my heart rate starts to race. I don’t want Travis risking his life for me. I don’t want him to die. He has not been a werewolf that long, how can he be strong enough to beat Khan? My stomach begins to turn and I feel vomit rise in my throat. I jump up from where I am sitting and run back as far as I can into the forest and throw up all over a bush. I can hear Travis and Charles shouting for me to stop and chasing after me. My head begins to spin and then I see nothing but black.

 

***

 

I can hear a muffled voice and my body is being shaken, “Niki please wake up!” I am stuck in blackness and I cannot move any part of my body. I want to get back to Travis. I can hear him frantic yelling. My heart starts to beat quicker just hearing his voice. My fingers begin to tingling and sensation moves up my arms to my shoulders, chest, stomach and down my legs. Finally I take a deep breath in and sit straight up. My eyes rip open and the sun burns them making me squint them closed and throw my hand in front of my face.

 

“What happened?” I can smell Travis cologne and feel him rush to my side. “Niki you freaked out. I think you had an extreme panic attack or something. How are you feeling now?” I blink my eyes over and over until they adjust to the light. We are still on the island and it’s starting to get dark. The trees are casting shadows across the forest floor. “I am alright. I just feel really tired. We need to get back to the house before they come looking for us.” He puts my arm around his shoulders and pulls me to his feet. I collect myself and feel all the blood rush from my head. We stand for a moment until the dizziness passes.

 

“Where is Charles?” Travis brushes some loss hair out of my eyes and says “He had to leave. He doesn’t want my mother to see him. Niki are you sure that you are going to be able to swim all the way back?” I take my arm off his shoulder and walk ahead of him. “I’m fine Travis. I bet you I can beat you there.” He laughs and jogs a few steps to catch up to me. “I highly doubt that babe.” I look back and he winks. God that devilish wink kills me every time. I swear he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it just by winking. I give him a smile “You wanna bet?” He lets out a laugh and claps his hands together. “You’re messing with fire your highness.” He bows his head. He is such a smartass. “So what would you like to bet on, Queen Niki?” I fold arms and stare straight back at him. “If I win you have to go skinny dipping at 3am. It’s the coldest time of night here and the lake is freezing ass cold.” He tilts his head to the side and says “And If I win? What do I get?” I put my hands on my hips “Well what do you want?” He rubs his fingers across his chin “I want you to tell me who Derek is.” My heart stops and the heat from my body rushes out of me pulling all my air from my lungs. How does he know about Derek? I have never talked about him before. Is this one of his mind reading tricks? Anger begins to fill me and I clench my fists. I begin to scream at him “How do you know about Derek? Are you reading my thoughts again?” He rushes to me and grabs my arms with a force I have never felt before, how is he so strong? I try to wriggle out of his grip but it only makes him hold me tighter. “Niki calm down, I hear you saying his name in your sleep sometimes and I just wanted to know who it was.” The rage inside me begins to calm. I don’t know why I still let his name upset me. I have a man now that loves me and would do anything for me. Why am I still so scared of talking about Derek? I really don’t want to tell Travis anything about him. I don’t want to relive the Derek incident again. If Travis is really the person that I am going to spend the rest of my life with I guess I need to be honest with him. I let out a deep breath and say “Alright Travis if you win I will tell you who Derek is.” He jogs past me and stands at the edge of the lake and says, “Are you ready?” I walk over to him and we both get into the water until we are waist deep. The sun is almost down and the water is starting to chill. It’s so cold that it takes my breath away the minute it touches my stomach. My body begins to shake all over and I instantly wish that I wasn’t wearing this two piece bathing suit. I look over to Travis and he doesn’t even look cold. He just looks back and me a laughs, “What’s wrong Sugar? Is it cold?” I smile back at him and splash him as hard as I can. The water flies over his head and drenches him. I can’t stop the giggles that are rising up and I burst out laughing. I jump into the water before he can splash me back.

 

My body begins to adjust to the freezing water and Travis swims up next to be splashing me in my face. “Are you ready to lose Travis” I give him a wink and push off from the bottom of the lake. I can feel the sand squish between my toes. We are both racing as fast as we can towards the shore. I keep my face is the water and free style all the way. I am sure that I have won.

 

I get out of the water and stand up on the shore. I see Travis sitting on the edge of the sand, “Jeez Niki I didn’t think you would ever make it.” My mouth drops open. I have never been beat before. I was State swimming Champion 4 years in a row. “How in the hell did you get here so fast.” He brushes imaginary dust from his shoulders says “I am a werewolf remember. I am way stronger and faster than you.” I walk up to him and slap his arm “So you knew that you were going to win! You cheated!” He grabs his arm where a red hand print is starting to form. “I didn’t cheat. I can’t help it if I am stronger then you. Don’t be a sore loser brat.” I extend my hand and help him up from the sand. “Come on lets go into the house. I am starving.”

 

We grab our clothes from where we dropped them earlier this morning. As I bend over to slip on my shorts I begin to feel dizzy again and my ears start ringing. My body loses its strength and I collapse to the ground onto my knees. I look straight ahead trying to focus on something still to stop my head from spinning. I get an overwhelming feeling of anxiety that surges through my whole body and my heart races. I look over to the house and there is a cloudy figure that is walking out of the house. I can’t tell who it is. It starts to walk down the stairs and loses their footing falling down the three steps and landing on its front. The dizziness begins to fade and my hearing returns. I look over to Travis who is kneeling next to me trying to figure out what is going on.

 

This is the second time that I have felt this way and I am not enjoying it. For some reason this time it feels different. Like my body is forcing itself to adjust. I look back to the house to see who feel down the stairs and there is no one there. How is that possible? I know that I saw something come out of the house and fall down the porch stairs. I look back to Travis and hear him say “Did you see something?” I rub my temples with my index fingers and try to stand up. I get to my feet and finally get the strength to respond, “I saw someone come out of the house and fall down the stairs. Who was it?” He looks at me confused “Niki no one came out of the house. It’s just us out here.”

 

The door to the house swings open and my mother walks to the edge of the stairs. “MOM STOP!” She looks out towards me and ignores my warning. She goes to take a step down and she loses her footing. Travis rushes over to her before she hits the ground and catches her midair. I have never seen someone move so quickly before. His whole body seemed to blur as he ran towards her. “Are you alright Michelle?” Travis stands her up on the dirt and she looks over to me. “Niki did you know that was going to happen? Did you see it?” I don’t know what to say to her. The last time I told her about my visions she locked me in the crazy house. Now that she knows the truth about what I am going to become, I guess it doesn’t matter. There is nothing that she could do to convince me that I am crazy ever again. I take a deep breath and walk over to her. “Yes mom. I saw a cloudy figure fall down the stairs. For some reason I couldn’t see your face so I didn’t know who it was. From what I can remember from my visions, is that they were always clear. I’ve never had to guess who the person is that was going to be affected.” I look to the ground with disappointment and worry. “Maybe I am not meant to be the chosen one like everyone thinks I am. My visions are broken and blurry now.” She walks over to me and puts her hands on my shoulders “Niki you have been on medication for the visions for a long time. It’s going to take few days to get all of the medication out of your system. That is probably why they are blurry.” She kisses me on the forehead and walks back into the house. She shouts over her shoulder “It’s almost dinner time by the way. It’s getting dark come inside kids.” I turn to Travis and he shrugs his shoulders.

 

Why is she being so supportive now? I don’t understand how she can go from being so against my gift and trying to change me, to being supportive and helping me get them back. She confuses me. I don’t really want to think about this right now. My head is still hurting from passing out on the island. I must have hit my head on something on the way down. I run my fingers through my wet hair and feel a small bump on the side of my head. I pull my hand out of hair and check for blood. Thank god there isn’t any. Travis takes my hand and we walk up the porch and into the house. Denise is sitting on the couch starting into darkness and my parents are busy in the kitchen preparing dinner. It smells so good. I forgot that I haven’t eaten since breakfast. The smell of Garlic, chicken, and veggies fill my nose and my stomach lets out a growl. Travis looks to me “Hungry Fella?” I giggle and let go of his hand “Yes I am starving. I didn’t realize that we haven’t eaten all day. Swimming always takes a lot out of me.” I walk into the kitchen and wrap my arms around my dad’s back and squeeze him. He lets out a grown from me pushing all the air out of him. “Jeez honey you have got quite a grip.” I laugh and say “Sorry I just missed you.” He turns around and wraps his arms around me head and says, “Miss me? I just saw you this morning. Are you ok?” I look up to him and my eyes begin to well up with tears. I don’t know why I am crying and it’s becoming uncontrollable. I bury my head into his chest and he squeezes me a little lighter. “Niki, Honey what is going on?” I look back up into his eyes and his sadness is overwhelming. I don’t want him to feel bad for me. I am so scared about everything. My entire life has changed in a matter of days and I don’t know how to feel about it. I don’t have anyone other than Travis to talk to about it but sometimes I want to talk to my dad. I don’t know how much I can tell him. He knows a portion of the story but I don’t want to tell him very much more. He tends to worry about me and I don’t want him putting himself in harm’s way for me. I already have Travis doing that and it makes me sick to my stomach thinking about him getting hurt and adding my father to the mix would make me a nervous wreck. I let out a breath and begin to respond but my mother cuts in “James she is fine. It’s withdrawals from stopping the medication. She will be ok in a few days.” He looks down at me and says, “Oh thank god. I was scared that you were going to tell me that you’re pregnant or something” I slap his arm “Jeez Dad!” He laughs and shrugs his shoulders “Sorry honey but things have been pretty crazy around here I don’t know what to think anymore.” He leans down and gives me and kiss on the forehead. For some reason I feel my anxiety melt away. I can finally take a deep breath and relax. “Oh Niki! You smell like the lake go take a shower before dinner.” I giggle as I rub my head all over his shirt “Eww gross stinky girl get out of here! Now I have to change my shirt you brat!” He pushes me out of the kitchen and kicks my butt as I walk down the hall. “Alright I’m going, I’m going.”

 

As I walk down the dark hall I finally realize how tired I am. I don’t really want to do anything other than get in bed. I walk to my room and open my door only to find that my window is open and the wind is blowing my curtains over my bed. I know that I didn’t open my window before I left this morning. Fear strikes me hard and I begin to step back slowly. Someone was in my room and I am terrified to think that they still might be in there. I call out for Travis “Travis! Can you come here please?” As soon as the words leave my lips he is standing next to me, his cologne filling my nose and giving me a jolt of desire. I try to control my emotions and get to the issue at hand. “What is it Niki?” I don’t say a word and point into my window. He grabs my arm gently and pushes me behind. His hands are hot and I can tell that he is starting to change into the Travis I don’t know, the hard, mean wolf inside him. Charles said that werewolves have a hard time controlling their anger when a male rules and I can tell that Travis is trying to hold it back with all his might.

 

Although he cannot morph until the full moon is out, he can still cause a lot of damage with his strength. I hear a low growl come from Travis and I take a few more steps back. He takes a step into my room and breaths deeply through his nose. He stands frozen for a moment and I stay silent. He turns to my closet and walks towards it. The door is in the way so I cannot see what he is doing. But I can hear him rustling around and moving old boxes. I assume that he is trying to find someone hiding in my room. He walks back into my line of slight and he gets down on the floor and looks under the bed. He shoves his arm under the bed and starts to thrash and pull. “TRAVIS! What is it?” He doesn’t respond to me and just keeps fighting with something under the bed. Finally I hear a squeal and the thrashing stops.

 

Travis rests his head on the box spring and lets out a breath. He pulls his arm out from under the bed and a lifeless rat is in his hand. All of that fighting for a damn rat? “Travis why in the hell did you kill that rat? You could have caught it and let it go outside!” He looks at me and throws the lifeless rat out the window. “It’s not a rat Niki.” As soon as the rat touches the forest floor it turns into a small man. Small burst of light start to break through the small man’s body and he disintegrates into ash. The ashes begin to swirl around in a circle dancing in the summer breeze. They begin to rise into the air and disappear from sight. I can’t believe my eyes. I look back at Travis and say “I don’t understand. What the hell was that?” He gets up from the floor and sits on the edge of the bed. He runs his hand through his hair and looks at me “That is an Imperial Scout. He must have climbed through your window, shifted and hid in your room. He would have brought any information that he heard or saw back to Khan. I had to kill him, I don’t like doing it but I had to. I have to keep you safe.” I walk over to him and I can see the pain in his eyes. I feel awful that he has to do it for me. This is not going to be the last person’s life he has to end. “Travis I thought that the race couldn’t morph until the full moon? How was the scout able to change into a rat?”

 

“He is a shifter Niki. Shifters can change into whatever they want whenever they want. That is why they are used as scouts. They only have human strength, but because they can change into whatever they want, they are invaluable to the King as spies.”

 

How can I ask him to keep doing this for me? This feels so wrong. I don’t want him to hurt anymore, but I also don’t want to die. The whole weight of the human race is on my shoulders and its beginning to weigh on me. How do I even know that I am going to be a good Queen? I have to lead a race that I know nothing about. How do I know that anyone is even going to follow me? I have no idea how to rule. Travis grabs my hand and pulls me down to sit next to him. “Niki I can hear your thoughts and you need to stop. I know what needs to happen to be with you and I have come to terms with my duty. I love you. I don’t want to be with anyone else in the world. I would rather die.” I can’t help but cry after hearing him say that he loves me. The hot tears burn my cheeks as they roll down and land on my chest. “Niki, why are you crying?” I can’t look him in the eyes. I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t want to reveal all my fears of love. Derek burned me so badly that I never wanted to love again. Now I have a man that is willing to lay down his life for me just to keep me safe. Its one extreme to another and I don’t know how to handle it. I take my hands out of Travis’s and I feel the shell around my heart harden. I turn to walk out of the room and Travis grabs my wrist. “Niki, please don’t shut me out. I know that something is hurting you. You know I can read your memories if I really wanted to, but I would rather have you to tell me what happened. I know that Derek was someone to you so please tell me what happened.” I rip my hand out of his grip, grab my towel from the door knob and walk towards the bathroom. I don’t look back at him. I don’t want him to see the flood of tears that has drenched my face. How can I love one man but still be affected by another?

 

The hardwood floor is cold on my feet as I make my way into the bathroom and close the door. I turn to the sink placing both hands on either side. Staring at the drain, I take a deep breath and try to calm my mind and erase my memories. I raise my head and look into the mirror. I scream when I see something behind me in my reflection. The two red terrifying eyes from my nightmare are staring back at me in the mirrors reflection. I am frozen with fear. I grip the sides of the sink as hard as I can, trying to command my body to move. There is a banging on the door and I can hear Travis yelling. Footsteps hurry down the hall and my father is at the door banging and yanking on the knob. The red eyes are locked into mine and I cannot look away. Everything in the room becomes dark and it’s just the eyes and me. Silence is the only thing that I can hear now. The sound of banging on the door and screaming has gone. I feel my body being turned without my doing and now I am face to face with the terrifying red eyes. I try to close my eyes to get away but my body is not mine to control any longer. A low, deep, gravelly voice echo’s through the darkness, “Are you the chosen one?” The question leaves my ears ringing but fear prevents me from answering. The voice screams “YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE?” Silence falls again and I let out a squeak “Yes.” The voice begins to let out a sinister laugh and it echo’s louder and louder, “You are the one that is to defeat the great Khan. HAHAHAHA You’re worthless! The night of your awakening I will come for you! I will be the one to end you!” Anger begins to rise from my stomach and I get the courage to speak. I straighten up and scream back “I AM NOT WORTHLESS! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!” The laughter turns to a growl. Whatever this thing is, it doesn’t like that I am standing up for myself. The voice returns “You will know who I am soon enough. Not even your precious guardian can protect you from me. Khan will forever rule and I will make sure of it. Sleep well young Queen.” The darkness is instantly lifted and I am alone in the bathroom. The door bursts open and Travis is standing with my father staring at me. My dad is the first to speak “Niki! What the hell is going on? Are you ok? Who were you talking to?” I don’t know how to respond to any of his questions. My answers would give no comfort, only confusion. “Dad I am fine. I…I…” Travis can see that there is something more to the story and he turns to my dad, “James I will take care of this. Don’t worry she will be fine. I won’t let her out of my sight.” He looks to Travis and look back at me. I give him a nod and he turns reluctantly and walks down the hall. Travis rushes to my side and shuts the door. “Niki what happened? You need to start talking to me. I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me.” I look to the ground and tears begin to flow again. I hate crying and I wipe my face as fast as I can hoping that he doesn’t notice. He lifts my chin up with his hand and kisses me gently on the lips. The fear melts away and is replaced by love and the pulsing warmth of desire. I wrap my arms around his neck and deepen the kiss. He lets out a grown and pleasure and then pulls away from me. “Niki please don’t change the subject. You need to tell me what happened.” I drop my arms and sit down on the toilet. “I walked into the bathroom and stood over the sink. When I looked into my reflection there were two large red eyes staring back at me. I screamed and then I heard you and Dad trying to get in. I couldn’t move or say anything. The whole room went black and then I couldn’t hear anything. There was a voice that told me that I was worthless and he would make sure that I would never be Queen.” Travis’s face turns white and I can tell that he knows exactly who the red eyes belong to. He turns away from me and puts his hands on his hips looking down to the ground. “Travis, do you know who it was?” He doesn’t answer me. Instead he turns to the door, opens it and walks out. I sit alone in the bathroom not knowing what to so. Should I go after him or give him space. I want to know who the red eyes belong to. I decide to give him some space. I get up and turn the shower on. I untie my bathing suit and let it fall to the floor. I step in the shower and let the hot water run over my body. I don’t want to move or think. The heat begins to losen my stress and washes it away. I wish I could just stay in here away from all the stress and obligation that waits for me on the other side of the door. I finish my shower and step out.

 

Dinner is quiet and Travis hasn’t said a word to me since I told him about the red eyes. He has barley looked at me. Denise is staring at me with her normal evil glare and my father keeps glancing over at me. I finally decide to break the silence, “So are we just going to sit here or are we going to talk to each other?” I look back to Denise and she is holding her glare on me. “What Denise? You have been staring at me since I sat down. Do you have something to say or ask me?” Her mouth drops open and he turns her nose up at me “No Niki, I have nothing to say to you.” My mother looks over to her with an annoyed look on her face, “What is wrong with you Denise? Is there a reason you are being so rude and vile to Niki? She has done nothing to you. You said that you were coming here to help and so far you have done nothing. So please tell me why you have such a problem with her?” Denise takes the napkin from her lap, drops it on her plate and leaves the table. Mom watches her as she walks away and down the hall. “Really Denise? You are just going to walk away?” Denise turns on her heels, stomps back to the table and begins to scream at mom, “Michelle you should not be commenting on people walking away! You left me alone on the night of the Festival! The day when I needed you the most and you were not there for me! Why Michelle?!” I don’t know how the conversation got turned so quickly. I have a feeling that Denise was just waiting for an opportunity to bring up old baggage. Mom stands from her chair and calmly says “Denise, this is not the time or the place for us to discuss this issue.” Denise cuts her off “No I think it’s a perfect time! How about you tell Niki what really happened that night?” I whip my head to mom and ask “Mom what is she talking about?” I can see a vale of worry and sadness comes over her. She sits down, giving Denise an evil glare, and calmly explains. “Niki, when I was younger I also had a gift. It’s not like yours though. Once I saw how Denise was treated after she shared her gift with our town, I knew that I had to keep mine a secret. I didn’t want to have the gift. My mother did the same thing that I did with you. I was on medications and ignored my gift until it slowly died.” I am in shock. I don’t know how to process this new information. I still am having a hard time digesting the fact that all this time she knew that I was telling the truth and now come to find out, she also had a gift. She didn’t want her gift and that’s fine, but I did. I was forced to go through all the testing and medications. I hated it and she knew it. I try to stay calm as I respond, “Ok, What does that have to do with a Festival.” Denise walks back over to her chair and sits down, “I have to hear this.” I give her a sharp look and yell, “Shut up Denise. This isn’t about you right now, ok. If you want to stay in the room you have to shut the hell up.” Travis chuckles next to me. This is the first time that I have heard him make a noise since the bathroom incident. For some reason he loves to see his mom get her ass chewed. I look back to my mom and motion for her to continue. She takes a deep breath “When I was 18, I meet your father. He was traveling across the US after he graduated college. I fell in love with him instantly there was nothing that could tear us apart. He was leaving my town in a week when I found out that I was pregnant with you.” My mouth drops open and I’m in shock. My mom was pregnant with me when she was 18? I guess I never did the math. So she isn’t as sweet and innocent as she portrays. “I told Denise that I was pregnant. She was so excited and wanted to tell me what the sex of the baby would be. She placed her hand on my stomach and what she told me was shocking. She said that that you would become a Mystic, like her but much more powerful and because of this, one day a half woman half wolf would come and take you away from me. I didn’t want to believe her because it sounds ridiculous but Denise has never been wrong before.”

 

The night that we decided to leave was awful. Your father and I were in Town Square for the Full Moon Summer Festival. Everyone was dancing and having a great time.” Denise cut her off “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Please stop.” I look over to Denise and say “Denise you stop. I need to know what happened.” Denise fires back at me, “It really doesn’t have anything to do with you anymore. You know what I told your mother when she was pregnant with you; the rest of the story is not hers to tell. ” Travis steps in “Mom shut up!” Her eyes begin to well up with tears and she closes her mouth. I look back to my mom, “Ok mom, please tell me the rest.” She looks at Denise who is shaking her head no and then back at me, “Well we were supposed to meet Denise at the Festival because it was her 18th birthday and we were planning on celebrating together. She was nowhere to be found. We searched for hours. Finally we got desperate and started looking outside of town. We finally found her lying in the middle of a field. The moon was so bright that night but it seemed to be casting a white soft glow over her body. The grass around her was covered in dew and it was sparking in the moon light.” Her voice begins to crack and I can tell that this is still a painful memory. “She was lifeless. I didn’t know what to do. She had some sort of injury or cut mark on the side of her hip and there was blood all around her. I grabbed her shoulders and was shaking her as hard as I could, trying to wake her up.” The room becomes so tense that you can feel it in the air. Denise’s hands are in clenched fist on top of the table and her knee is bouncing violently under it. She clearly doesn’t want to relive this story, just as much as I don’t want to talk about Derek. Mom continues her story, “I was leaning over her hugging her as tightly as I could. Then I felt her chest rise and fall. I realized that she was alive. I sat up and looked down at her face. She skin had changed color to a light brown, her hair was longer and her eyes to a cobalt blue color. I jumped back and she sat up as if nothing had happened. The mark on her side was gone and her face was blank.”

 

Denise stands up and pushes the table violently shoving it against the wall. It rang out with a loud bang and my father comes running from his office and into the dining room shouting, “Michelle what is going on in here?!” Denise runs to him and throws her arms around his neck. Dad face is covered in confusion and Mom gets up and walks over to them. “Denise I am sorry but she needs to know.” Denise rips her arms off Dad and turns to my mother. Her face has changed. She looks evil and sadistic. Almost the way that Travis looks when he changes. Denise starts to walk towards her and Mom begins to back up. She pushes her so far that Denise has her pinned against the back wall. Travis springs into action and tried to rip Denise away from her, “Mom please stop! Don’t do this!” She throws Travis off her and grabs my mom by the throat sliding her up the wall until her arm is fully extended. My mother’s feet are kicking violently as she scratches at Denise’s arm trying to escape from her death grip. Dad runs to Denise and tries to pull her off as Mom violently fights trying to get oxygen. Denise flings my father across the room with just one swipe of her arm. Travis grabs Denise by the back of her neck and throws her to the ground. Mom falls to the ground with a loud THUD, coughing and gasping for air. I rush to her side, falling to my knees to check on her. There is a large red mark across her neck that is already starting to bruise. Anger takes me over and I stand up turning to Denise who is on the floor being wrangled by Travis. She is screaming and clawing at his arms trying to get away. I stomp over to them with my fists clenched and stand over her, staring at this woman who tried to kill my mother. Dad runs to mom and tries to get her to her feet.

 

I drop down to my knees and start striking Denise with my fists over and over on any piece of her body I can get to. Time has slowed. I hear nothing but my own breathing and my fists connecting on Denise. Anger has taken over my body and I can no longer control my actions. I feel pain shot up both of my wrist and skin being torn from my knuckles. I look at Travis and I can see his mouth moving in slow motion but I can’t hear any words. I feel an arm wrap around my chest and then I am ripped back into reality. Everyone in the room is screaming and yelling. I look around at my mother who is crying with her hands over her mouth staring at me. Travis has placed Denise on the ground, slapping the sides of her face trying to get her to wake up. She is covered in blood. It’s running from her nose and corners of her mouth. My father is squeezing me so tightly that I can’t breathe. I rip away from him and bolt for the front door jumping over Travis and Denise who are still on the floor. Whipping the door open, I run as fast as I can down the porch and around the side of the house to the back where the forest begins. I feel like I can’t run fast enough to escape what I had just done. How will Travis ever forgive me for beating his mother to a pulp? I speed past trees and jump over bushes. I feel branches scratching my legs and dirt being flung onto my back from the bottom of my shoes. The summer air is warm on my face but the smell of flowers and dirt brings me no comfort. The forest is black with only small beams of light from the moon breaking through the branches and leaves. My legs begin to burn from pushing myself as fast as they will carry me. A stick catches my foot sending me flying through the air and I smash my face against a tree. I feel only an instance of pain and warm liquid flow from my forehead. Then blackness...

 

***

 

The sun is warming my face through the window and I realize that I am in my bed. How did I get here? The last thing I remember is hitting my head in the forest. My head is throbbing with pain. I try to open my eyes and the sun stings them making my head pain worse. I shut them instantly and try to roll over to my side. My whole body feels sore. I feel like I have been hit by a train. I reach my right arm over my body and grab the edge of the mattress, pulling myself over to my side trying to get the sun out of my face. Once my face is shaded I open my eyes and see that Travis is sleeping on the floor next to my bed. I can’t believe that even after beating his mother he is still taking care of me. I don’t know I got so lucky. He looks so peaceful laying there that I don’t want to wake him. I reach up to my head to feel where I hit the tree. I feel some gauze that is taped to my skin. I put some pressure on the gauze and pain rips through my head and makes me yelp, “Ouch, FUCK!” Travis instantly wakes, sit ups and kneels in front of me. “Niki are you ok? Thank god you are awake!” He wraps his arms around me and gives me a gentle hung. It hurts my body but I don’t want him to let go. His touch is so calming. He lets me go and leans back looking over my face with concern. “How are you feeling?” My mouth is dry and sticks ask I try to respond, “My head hurts and my body is sore. What happened last night? I remember everything up until I fell.” He sits back onto the hardwood floor and says, “Well for one thing it wasn’t last night. You hit your head the day before yesterday and you have been out ever since.” I am shocked to hear this and ask, “Why wasn’t I taken to the Hospital?”

 

“We can’t have you going into public places. It’s too dangerous. We had a doctor come here to the house. He stitched up your head and has been checking on you every day.” I move onto my back and look up at the ceiling. Travis stands up and sits on the edge of the bed. I want to ask him what happened to Denise but I don’t know how he feels about the situation. I remember my mother being choked by her and my anger starts to surface. My eyes begin to well up with tears and I wipe them away before Travis can see them. I finally gather the courage to ask about Denise “What happened to Denise.” Travis turns away from me and runs his hand through his golden hair. The sun catches his hair and it shimmers in the light. He looks back and places his hand on my leg, “Niki she is fine. Remember she is immortal and her body heals itself. All werewolves can. She was beaten pretty badly but It only took her about 30 minutes to totally heal. She is in the other room.” I can’t help but feel bad for what I did. I know that she can heal herself and the only reason I did it was because of what she did to my mom, but I still feel guilty. I am supposed to be Queen next week and I doubt that is how they are supposed to deal with conflicts. I look back to Travis and put my hand atop of his, “I am sorry for what I did to her.” I climbs over me and lies in the spot beside me on my bed, “Niki, don’t worry about it. I am sure if your dad tried to kill mine I would act the same way.” He leans forward and kisses me on the forehead. My headache seems to lessen with his kiss. I lift my hand and touch his face gently. He places his hand atop of him, turns his head and kisses my palm. My stomach lets out a growl and Travis looks at me and chuckles, “Hungry Fella?” I nod my head and he sits up and climbs back over me. “Do you want to try and get up or do you want me to bring you something?” I put my elbows underneath myself and try to sit up. The pain in my shoulders is so intense that it makes my arms shake. I look back at Travis and say “I want to get up can you help me please.” He moves to the edge of the bed and puts one arm around my back and the other under my knees. He lifts me up in an instant as if I was as light as a feather. He sets me down slowly on the hardwood floor holding all my weights incase my legs giveaway. Surprisingly my legs are not as sore as my upper body.

 

I walk slowly to door with Travis at my side and he takes me down the hall. As we pass my father office I see Denise sitting in his office chair facing the door holding a picture in her hands. She hears us walking past the door and she looks up and stares. She holds her glare until we pass the door. Once we pass, I hear the door slam shut. My mother comes around the corner from the living room and lets out a squeal of excitement when she sees me. “Oh my goodness thank god you are ok! I have been so worried about you.” She hugs me tight and I yelp in pain, “Ahh, please mom, gently.” She releases me and says, “I’m sorry honey I am just happy to see you up.”

 

I look at her neck and there is some faint bruising left around her neck. She runs her hand down the side of my face, “Niki don’t worry, I am ok.” I look around the living room for my father but he is nowhere to be found. I look back to my mother, “Mom where is Dad?” The smile on her face fades immediately, “Well Honey he isn’t here.” My mouth drops open. I can’t believe he left. “What do you mean he is gone? Where did he go?” She starts to rub her hands together, “Well…Travis…Umm” She can’t finish her sentence so I look to Travis and say, “Where is he Travis.” He looks to the ground and is silent. I start to feel rage pulse through my veins “Travis tell me where he went and why.” He lifts his head takes a deep breath and looks into my eyes, “I sent him away.” I snap back “You did what! Why did you send him away?” I can see the beads of sweat starting to form his forehead, “Because Niki, it’s not safe for him anymore. After you ran out of the house he went out looking for you. I was trying to take care of my mom and Michelle was helping me.” Travis starts to pull me towards the living room and sets me down on the couch. The plush cushion feels heavily on my sore body. He sits next to and turns his body towards me.

 

“So about 30 minutes after he left I heard screaming in the forest. It was far away from the house so I couldn’t tell who it was. I ran out of the house and searched the forest. I searched for an hour but the screams just kept getting further away the closer I came. When I finally got close I realized it was your father that had been screaming.” My eyes grow wide and my anxiety level is higher than it has even been. I am so close with my Dad and now to hear that something happened to him is making my heart break into a thousand pieces. Travis continues, “He was lying under a tree unconscious covered in blood and cuts. I picked him up and raced him back to the house as fast as I could. Michelle and my mom took him to the hospital to have his wounds treated.” I cannot control the tears that are flowing from my eyes. I place my face in my hands cry harder than I have in a long time. Travis puts his hand on my back trying to console me. I look at Travis and say, “Wait, that doesn’t explain why he didn’t come back?” Travis removes his hand from my back and places it in his lap. “After I took him into the house I went back out to find you. As I was looking, I smelled the scent of James blood and followed it. It led me to a Scout. It was hiding in a tree just watching us run around looking for you. It attacked your father, tortured him for information and left him for dead. It would be safer if your father didn’t return to the Lake House. If he does it would make him an easy target for the Scouts and for Khan. I thought that it would be better if he didn’t come back. I’m sorry Niki I should have told you but this is the first time that you have been awake since it happened.”

 

I look out the window in the living room. I can see the lake glittering in the sun. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. “Travis is he alive? Is he ok?” He pulls me into his chest and hugs me, “Yes Babe he is fine. A few cuts and bruises but he is going to make a full recovery. It was hard keeping him away from the Lake House he wanted to come back and be with you. He loves you so much. I am sorry I made him stay away but it’s for the best I swear.” I know that Travis is trying to help but I can’t help but feel angry that he made my father leave. I need him here. I am stuck with crazy Denise and mother needs just as much protection as I do. This is my entire fault. If I hadn’t of run out of the house he would have never came looking for me. How can I ever forgive myself for putting my father in that situation? I can’t imagine the fear and pain he went through. My mind stops, my mother, why didn’t he have my mother leave. I look back at Travis, “Why didn’t you send my mom away? Isn’t she is danger by being here?” Travis looks to my mother and motions her to come into the living room, “Do you want to tell her Michelle?”

 

She looks to me and walks back into the dining room. She grabs a chair that was broken in tussle the other night and places it in front of me. She says nothing and raises her hand at the chair. Her glare is locked on it. I try to speak to her but she lifts her other hand signally me to be quiet. I think at this point that she has lost her mind. I look at Travis he grins at me and looks back at my mom. Turn my head back to her and the chair is beginning to smoke. Her face begins to turn red and the chair bursts into flames. I jump back and push myself down the couch, “Oh my god mom! How did you do that?” She closes her hand and the flames disappear. She looks as me and smiles “I thought that I lost my gift. But last night after Denise…well you know…tried to kill me, It felt the old sensation I used to get when I would start a fire. I thought that it was just because I was angry but it wasn’t.” Travis looks over to me and says, “When the gifted ignore their ability they loss it and can never get it back under normal circumstances, you know that. But since you were made the next heir to the throne, your parents will be given gifts for the great sacrifice of losing their child. Your mothers’ gift was the return of her Pyros gift. She is being given the chance to learn how to control it and embrace who she really is. I think that it’s fantastic.” He looks to my mom and then back at me. I really don’t know how to react to this. “Well what about my Dad? What gift was he given?” Travis looks to my mom, “You know… I don’t know. We took him to the hospital and that is the last time that I saw him.” I look to my mom and say, “Mom, how do you feel about this? You hated your gift and now you have it back.” She comes and kneels in front of me placing her hands on my knees, “Niki, for so long I was afraid of what people would think about me if they found out about my gift, but seeing you embrace your gift and responsibilities has shown me that I don’t need to be afraid of who I am or what I can do. I am so sorry for the hell I put you through when you were younger. Can you ever forgive me?” Everything that I have ever wanted her to say to me was crammed together in one sentence. Over whelming joy fills my heart and tears of joy flow down my face. She reaches up and wipes them away with her thumbs.

 

“Of course I forgive you mom. I love you.” She takes me in her arms and gives me a hug. I don’t mind the pain that it causes me because this is the first time in a long time that I have felt close to her. I wish that it was under different circumstances but I will take it. I feel her love envelope me and I accept it with open arms. She lets me go and the tears falling from her eyes and land on my knees. I take Travis hand and say, “So if I am a mystic and she is my mother, does that mean that I have some of her power too?” He thinks for a moment and replies, “You know I am not sure but my dad would know.” He immediately stops talking realizing that Denise is in the other room and Charles doesn’t want her to know, that he knows they’re here. Footsteps ring through the house and Denise comes into the living room. My anxiety and anger immediately returns.

 

Denise is a lot stronger than I am and I am sure that she isn’t happy about me beating her the other night. Denise looks at my mother and fear covers her face. Is there something that I missed? Why would she be scared of us? She came to this Lake House with the intent to murder me and now she is scared of us? She takes a step towards me and Mom springs to her feet standing between us. Denise looks up to my mother and says, “Don’t worry Michelle I am not going to hurt her. I just want to talk.” Denise takes another step forward and Mom puts her hand in the middle of her chest, “You can talk from there.” Denise takes a breath and steps back. “Niki, I am sorry about the other night. The story of how I was awakened is not pleasant and I don’t like to talk about it. There is a lot about that night that Michelle doesn’t know about and when it gets brought up I cannot control my temper.” Mom turns back and looks down at me. I motion her to move from between us. I place my hands to my sides and push myself up from the couch. The pain in my shoulders is almost too much to bear. I try and keep the look of pain out my eyes. The last thing that I want is for her to know that I am weak. I straighten up and take a few steps to her until we are inches apart. “Denise, I forgive you but if you ever put your hands on my mother or anyone else in this house there will be no stopping what I do to you.” She gives me a sadistic half smile and replies, “Yes your highness.” She turns away from me and walks out of the house. I don’t know why she would even apologies when she is trying to kill me, maybe to keep the illusion that she is here to help me through the awakening. Remembering that the Blood Moon is less than 5 days away sends shivers through my body. I am really ready for this?

Chapter 5

 

-Denise-

 

            “Denise hurry up we are going to be late for the Full Moon Festival!” My mother yells up the stairs. She is always trying to rush me. It’s my birthday, it’s the most important night of my life and all she can worry about is the damn festival. Tonight is the night I become my true self. A woman came to me in a vision and made everything so clear. It wasn’t like the normal visions I have where I am basically a spectator watching someone else’s life unfold. This woman looked into my eyes and told me my purpose. Her name was Katarina and she was just like me. She told me that she was a guide. Katarina explained the secrets of the Mystic’s and that we are valuable to the Werewolf race. She told me that after I awakened my abilities would be assessed and then my duty would be assigned to me. After she explained everything to me she gave me a warning, “Beware child, if you have a dark heart and your intentions for life are not honorable then our great Queen Renee will not have you. King Khan has given her the power to choose which Mystic’s are accepted into our race and her word is final. If you are not chosen, you will keep your gift, as it is your birth right and will be immortal, but you will never ascend to the Royal Court and you will live in the human realm forever. Immortality is a gift but when you are banned from our world immortality can be a curse. Watching loved ones grow old and die over and over can cause one to turn mad.” I take her warning into consideration. I believe that my intentions in life are good, but there is so much anger I have towards everyone that has caused me pain. I hope that it doesn’t affect the Queens decision.

 

I finally have a name for my gift, I am a Mystic. The years of being called crazy and being treated like garbage are over and now it’s time for everyone to see that I am not a liar or crazy. My gift is real and I am going to prove it. I will finally be around other people like me and my life will have meaning and purpose.

 

I walk to the bathroom and look into the mirror. My red hair is so frizzy and untamable. I run a brush through it trying to get it as flat as I can and apply what little make up my mother allows me to wear. I can’t stop the feeling of excitement that is growing inside me. It’s going to feel so wonderful to finally be accepted. My whole life while be changed forever. After looking myself over once more in the mirror, I walk out of the bathroom and head down stairs. My mother is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs tapping her foot with her arms crossed. “Finally! Are you ready?” I nod my head yes and we head out the front door. We load up into the car and drive to the Town Square. Night has already fallen and the full moon is out. The whole town is in the square celebrating. It’s an age old tradition that was started when the town was founded. It’s the celebration of the beginning of summer. My mother parks the car and we step out. Everyone walking to the Festival from the parking lot turns back and stares at me. Whispers break out in the crowd. Ever since I shared my visions I have been treated as an outsider and a freak. There is no one in this town that accepts me. All but one, my friend Michelle. She has been my best friends since I can remember. We are together almost every day and it’s almost impossible to keep us apart but since she met James I have been seeing less and less of her. I can’t help but feel the sting if jealousy. I am glad that she has found someone to make her happy but since she found out she was pregnant everything has changed. I offered to tell her the sex of the baby but the vision I got was not what I expected. I was shown that she was like me, a Mystic, and that she would be taken from Michelle by a woman who was half wolf. I had never seen anything like it before in my life. I didn’t understand it until Katarina came to me and explained their world. Michelle’s child was destined for something great. Of course she doesn’t believe what I told her but after tonight I think she will come to terms with it. How could she not? I walk through town square looking for her but Michelle and James are nowhere to be found. I wanted to tell her everything and have her with me for the awakening. I was told to find a place where I would not be disturbed. I had to be in the location of my choice before midnight. At the strike of 12 the full moon would cast down its light and I would finally be awakened. The only problem was getting away from my mother. Because the whole town turned against me, she won’t let me out of her sight for more than an hour. I look down at my watch and see that its 11:15pm. I need to find a way to get away from her. I still have not seen Michelle or James anywhere. I can’t believe that she isn’t here yet. She is so consumed with James that she doesn’t even think of me. It’s my birthday and she doesn’t even care to be with me. Anger starts to fill my heart and radiate through my whole body. I look to my mother who is talking to one of her friends, “Mom, I am going to find Michelle.” I have to lie to her to get away. I don’t have much time and I have a long way to walk to get to a secluded location. She looks down to me and says, “Alright but don’t be gone long. I don’t want to loss you in the crowd.” I nod my head yes and turn around and walk slowly away. Once I get out of her sight I begin to run.

 

There is a field that is just out of town where no one ever goes to. Unless there is a high school party or something like that but since the Festival is going on, it will be empty. I feel like I have been running forever when I finally reach the field. There is no one here. The moon is so large tonight. It’s casting down a blue haze over the field. The field is covered with green grass as far as I can see with one large tree in the center. I looked down at my watch and see that it is 11:55pm. It’s almost time. I find a spot and lie down in the soft grass and stare up at the white moon. This moment is going to change my life forever and my excitement is overwhelming. As I lie in the dew soaked grass I think of Michelle. Tears begin to pool in my eyes. I can’t understand why she wouldn’t be with me tonight. It’s all James fault. He has poisoned her mind and made her turn against me. I know it’s him…

 

My thoughts are broken by the sound of a low growl. I look down at my watch and its 11:58pm. If I move now, I risk my awakening. The growl is getting louder and louder. Finally I sit up and turn around. A huge black wolf is towering over me. Its eyes are a piecing cobalt blue; lips are drawn up showing his blood stained teeth and his ears are pinned back. I am pierced with fear and cannot move. This is supposed to be my night to become who I truly am and now I am staring death in the face. I have never seen a wolf this large before. It walks around me never breaking its gaze. Once it is directly in front of me it pounces on top of me. I let out a terrifying scream of pain as it sinks its teeth into my hip. The pain is over whelming. Fire is flowing through me and my skin feels as if it is being ripped from my body. The moon casts down a soft white light over my body. The wolf immediately releases my flesh ripping pieces of skin away with its teeth. I scream out in pain but unable to move. He throws his head back dripping blood on my face and releases a deafening howl and its rips across the silent field. It lowers it huge head and looks into my eyes. I can’t move, the burning sensation is still ripping through my body. I just stare back and hope he will be done with me. He leaps over my body and runs off into the night. I look up to the moon and the soft light is covering my entire body. I feel the warmth of my blood pooling around my back. My vision becomes blurry and I close my eyes. I feel the cool light of the moon caress my body and absorb into my skin. The burning from the wolf bite begins to lessen then I hear Michelle scream, “Denise Oh my god, what happened!” She begins shaking my body but I have no strength to respond or move. I have lost too much blood and I can feel my body failing. I feel the warm summer breeze kiss my skin and I fear that this is the last time I will ever feel it. All I can think about is my once chance to live in a place where I would be accepted is being taken away from me. Anger fills my heart and I slip into darkness.

 

***

 

There is a small white light illuminating in the distance. Darkness surrounds me and all I can see is the small white light. It begins to float closer and grow large in size. For some reason I am not afraid. I remember the wolf and my awakening. I must have died. What other explanation could there be. The light comes closer and closer until I see the outline of a person. The light is so bright that I cover my eyes. A soft voice calls out my name, “Denise…Denise uncover your eyes child.” I lower my hand from my face and see it’s a woman. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She has long black raven hair, an elegant floor length white dress and a crown that is covered in diamonds. I muster the courage to speak, “Who are you.” She smiles and says, “I am Queen Renee and I have come to determine your place in our world.” My heart begins to race, “So I am not dead?” She lets out a gentle laugh, “No child you’re not dead. The awakening was successful but you were bite by a werewolf. I will not affect my decision today but it is something that you will need to learn about and control. There will be a guide sent to you to teach you how to control it.” My stomach begins to turn after hearing this. “What is going to happen now?” She walks towards me and places her hand on my chest. “Now we will see if you’re worthy to join the Royal Court.” She closed her eyes and I do the same.

 

It is silent for a long moment and I begin to think of Michelle. If she would have been there with me then I would have never of been attacked. I don’t want to be a werewolf. This is all her fault. Rage begins to boil inside me and the Queen pulls her hand away from me. I open my and she does the same. She clasps her hands together and says, “I’m sorry Denise. You will not be joining the Royal Court. You have hate in your heart.” My mouth drops open and tears begin to fall from my eyes, “What does that mean!? I don’t have hate! This was my one chance to live happy and be accepted and you’re going to take that from me!?” Renee’s face changes to annoyance and she replies, “Although you accepted your gift and tried to share it, you hate it in your heart. You blame the fact that you were turned on by your own people because of it. You have vengeance building inside you with no chance for forgiveness to grow. This shows me that you’re not worthy to be on my Royal Court. I am sorry Denise. Goodbye.” She begins to illuminate and float back into the darkness. I scream out to her, “Please you can’t do this to me. Don’t leave me here!” The light has faded from site and I feel my body being pulled down. I still can’t see anything. I struggle to stay where I am but the force is to strong. I feel the sensation of falling and then I hit the flat of my back on a hard surface.

 

I open my eyes and see Michelle staring down at me. I sit straight up and feel my hip where I was bite by the wolf. The wetness of blood is all over me but the wound is gone. I look to Michelle and she scoots away from me. “Denise what happened to you?” I feel my heart grow cold and rage fill every inch of my soul. I open my mouth and scream at her, “Where were you?! I almost died because of you! I was denied the only home I have ever wanted because of you!” Michelle looks back at me confused and hurt. She has no idea what has happened but I cannot bring myself to explain anything to her. I have so much anger inside me that I just want to get away. I stand up and begin to sprint back to town. I feel my body going faster than I have ever gone before. The world around me has seemed to slow down as I speed through the field.

I make it back to town in minutes. Everyone is still celebrating and this only fuels the fire to my rage. I see my mother in the crowd dancing and enjoying herself. The moment that she sees me she stops and stares. One by one people in the crowd turn and face me. Everyone is staring at me whispering. I can’t take it anymore and I yell out, “Why is every staring at me?! You haven’t tortured me enough! Stop staring!” My mother starts to speed walk towards me. She has a scowl on her face am I know that I am going to get the ‘your embarrassing me’ speech. Once she reaches me she grabs my arm and starts pulling me away from the crowd. I don’t resist and follow her. She takes away to alley by town square. “Denise what happened you!? You’re covered in blood!” I look down at the clothes and they are covered in my own blood. I had totally forgotten about it. I remember the drips of blood that landed on my face from the wolf’s mouth. I reach up and feel wetness on my cheeks. I look at my mother and she is terrified of me. I am sure that she thinks that I murdered someone. Before I can say anything to her, the alley begins illuminated. We look up to the sky at the same time and see full moon is directly above us and I feel my body begin to burn. The pain is getting stronger and stronger until I collapse to the ground. I hear the blood curdling scream of my mother ring in my ears. I lie on the ground and start to convulse uncontrollably. She tries to hold me in her arms but my body is thrashing too violently for her to hang on. She starts to scream, “Someone help me please! Please Help!” No one can hear us because the festival music is so loud. She lays me on the ground and runs to find help, “Hang in there Denise I am going to get someone to help you!” He hear her footsteps pounding the ground as she runs out of the alley.

 

The pain that is surging through my body is unbearable. I feel my back contort and then hear a loud CRACK. I scream out as pain pulses through me. My elbows twist around and snap. Some sort of hair begins to grow all over my body. Every bone in my body is breaking, moving and healing back together. My body thrashes and I pull my clothes ripping them piece by piece trying to stop whatever is happening to me. After what it feels like hours of pain, my body becomes still and I lie in the alley alone trying to catch my breath. I feel emptiness in my abdomen and then my mouth begins to water. I have the overwhelming feeling to eat. My throat begins to burn and I realize that I need to get something in my system and fast. I try and get to my feet but I cannot stand straight up. I feel as if I am walking on my hands and feet at the same time. I look down to my hands and see two large furry gray paws in their place. My heart stops. I have changed into a werewolf already? I have no idea what I am supposed to do. Where is my guide? My mother is going to be coming back to the alley any second and if she sees me like this she is going to lose her mind. The hunger that I feel has taken over every inch of my body. My legs start to move forward without my command. I try to stop them from moving but I am not in control of my own body. This werewolf shell is now forcing me out of the alley and towards the Festival. I try with all my might to stop it but the closer I get to the festival the stronger my hunger grows. I continue down the dark abandoned street towards the square passing vacant stores. I catch my reflection in shop window and I can’t believe my eyes. My body is now covered in a coat of fur. It’s grey with a black marking on my right hip. It looks like an arrow broken in half. I have no idea what this can possibly mean. I turn my head away from my reflection. I can’t look anymore. This is not what I wanted for myself. My shoulders rise and fall and I creep towards the Square. I can hear the music getting louder and louder as I get closer. Voices begin to ring out in my ears of laughing children and adults. My legs begin to sprint towards the noise and once I reach the light screams break out in the crowd.

 

My eyes lock on one woman who stands frozen in fear. I try to stop my legs from moving but it’s pointless. I slowly walk towards her as the towns people run away screaming in terror. My back legs launch me into the air and I land on top of the woman sinking my teeth into her shoulder. The moment the blood touches my tongue I am overwhelmed by the satisfaction it provides. The warmth of her blood runs down my throat and I want more. I clench down on the woman’s shoulder and ignore the screams of pain she lets out. There is nothing that I want more then to keep feeding the hunger I feel. I rip my head to the side and remove her arm casting it to the side. The screams soon die down from the woman and I realize that she is dead from the loss of her blood. I don’t feel anything for what I have done. No sadness or regret. All I know is that I need more and I need it now.

 

After I finish with her I continue my hunt. There are still flocks of people running around the town square screaming. I lock eyes on another woman…Michelle. Anger pulses through my body and I charge. This woman has taken everything from me and now I will take everything from her. I have adopted my new power and I decide to us it to the full extent. If Renee thinks that I have a black heart, then I will show her just how black it can get. I start to get a buzzing sensation in my throat. I throw my head back and let out a terrifying howl. Michelle turns and tries to run but the crowd of people panicking are making it difficult to get anywhere. This is too easy! I lunge towards her and I feel the fur that runs down my spine rise. She runs down the dark streets screaming in fright, “Please someone help me! James Help!” I can’t help but laugh inside. She is the reason that I have been cursed and I feel that it’s only fitting to return the favor.

 

Michelle trips and falls to the pavement. She rolls over to her back sitting up immediately scooting backwards trying to escape. Tears are pouring from her eyes and I can smell the sweet stench of fear. My paws pound the ground as I come closer to her. I can hear her heart racing in my ears and then I hear…a second heart beat. The baby pops into my mind. I forgot about her. If I kill Michelle then the baby will also die…oh well…an eye for an eye. She took away my only chance of happiness so I will take hers away. I come inches from her and the screaming stops. Everyone is gone from the square and it is just Michelle and I. There is no help coming for her. Her precious James is not here to save her. By the time anyone finds her she will be in pieces. The thought of it fuels my rage and it burns through my body. With each step I take forward she is moving back until she is backed into an empty shops door. There is nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. This is my moment of revenge. I lower my head and rock my shoulders from side to side.

 

Michelle raises her hand towards me and smoke begins to flow from her palm. A red glow begins to swirl and her fingers curl. Before I can think or move, fire shoots from her palm engulfing me in flames. I thrash and roll trying to extinguish the flames. I can smell my flesh burning and the pain in unbearable. I let out howling screams and cries. I start to loss my vision then slowly start to black out. I try to hold on and put the flames out but I am losing my strength…I’m dying. The only sense that I still have is my hearing. The sound of my flesh popping and breaking open seems to echo. Then another Howl, but it’s not my own. For some reason its sounds familiar. Then I hear the sound of pounding paws running in my direction. I cannot hold on any longer and I stop fighting the darkness. It envelopes me and the pain is no more.

 

***

 

My eyes rip open and I sit up. I don’t know where I am. It looks as if I am some sort of abounded warehouse. I look down at my hands and they are no longer paws. I feel the rest of my body and realize that I am human again. I scan my surroundings and there seems to be no one around. I get to my feet and begin to walk around the large open space trying to find a way out. I am in an over sized black sweatshirt and men’s boxer shorts. Who put me in these clothes? Was last night all a dream? I look at my skin and there are no burns or scares. The last thing I remember is the pain I was in before I blacked out. The warehouse is dark, musty and all the walls are covered in spider webs. It doesn’t seem that people have been in the building for years. I turn around and look towards the back wall of the building. There is a small room that looks to be an abandoned office. There are two small broken out windows and the door is cracked open. I start to walk towards it. Maybe there is some evidence of where I am still left behind from the owners. I walk towards the building. The concrete floor is freezing on my feet. A small light illuminates one of the broken out windows in the office. I dash behind one of the large metal pillars that hold the ceiling. There is someone in there… Who could it be? Maybe they brought me here. I try and steady my heart and breathing. I male voice calls out, “I know you are out there. I saw you wake up. You can come out I am not going to hurt you.” I don’t respond and try to stay perfectly still behind the pillar. I can hear a chuckle echo through the empty room. “I can see you behind that pillar.” I let out the air I was holding and turn around. The pillar isn’t even wide enough to cover one leg let alone my whole body. God, now I look like a damn idiot. I was so terrified I didn’t even realize how tiny the pillar was. I turn around my and face is beat red with embarrassment. I can’t believe how ridiculous I must have just looked. There is a tall man standing in the door way leaning against the frame. He has golden hair, athletic body and he is so handsome it takes my breath away. I have never seen someone so prefect in my life. It doesn’t help that he doesn’t have his shirt on. My embarrassment is holding my tongue from forming any words. He motions to the office, “Do you want to come in?” I nod my head yes and walk over the cold floor to where he is. I get about a foot from him and a vision flashes in front of my eyes.

 

I see the beam above his head give way and the doorway crumble on top of him. I rush to him as fast as I can and pull his arm moving him out of the doorway. Seconds after the beam breaks and the doorway collapses. Dust fills the air and we both choke on it. I let go of his arm and grabs both my shoulders with force and turns me to face him, “Are you a Mystic?” I don’t know if I should respond to him or not. The last time I told someone about my gift I was branded a psycho and a liar. I stay silent and he shakes my shoulders and asks again, “Tell me! Are you a Mystic!?” I scream back at him, “YES!” He lets me go and turns around paces back and forth. He looks back at me, “But I saw you! You were a werewolf!” I suddenly realize that he must know of the world I was turned away from. Maybe he can help me. I grab his arm and stop his pacing, “Who are you? Where did you find me and where are we now?” He turns away from me and walks to the doorway of the office that has turned to rubble. He starts to pull the rubble out piece by piece throwing it behind him. I stand watching him drag pieces of rotten wood out of the way. “What are you doing?” Bended on one knee, turns his head over his shoulder and says, “I’m trying to get my stuff we need to leave.” I am taken back by this and respond, “We? I don’t even know you?” He ignores my response crawls through an opening he made and grabs a bag. He opens the bag and pulls a clean shirt out and pulls it over his head. He looks to me and says, “My name is Charles and your name is?” I fold my arms and respond, “Where are we and Why did you bring me here?”

 

“We are in small town outside of Portland, Oregon.” My mouth drops open, “Oregon! Why the fuck did you bring me here? My mother must be looking for me. You took me to another state are you crazy!?” He looks like he is beginning to get annoyed but I don’t care. He kidnapped me!

 

“I am your guide and when I found you, you were on fire dying in the middle of a street. You must have been attacked by a Pyros. They were gone by the time I got there. I put out the fire and took you away from the town.” What the hell is a Pyros? Is he talking about Michelle? I shake my head and respond, “I still don’t understand why we’re in Oregon.”

 

“I brought you here because you needed to heal without being disturbed. I needed to bring you where no one knows you. You can never go back to that town.” Rage starts to course through my veins. “You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do! Who do you think you are?” He starts to yell back, “You killed people in that town and they think that you were eaten by huge wolf when they found your ripped up bloodied clothes in an alley! So we need to maintain the image that you are still dead. We have to protect the secrecy of our race. So you are going to stay with me until I can find somewhere for you to live! Do you understand me?” His voice is frightening and forceful. I nod my head yes. He turns away from me and keeps digging in his bag. He turns back around, “Why are you not with the Royal Court anyway?” My face turns red with anger and I clench my fists. I can feel my nails biting into my skin. “She denied me. She would not accept me into the Court.” He looks to the ground and lets out a sigh, “I’m sorry. Well I am here to help you with your new ability” He turns back to his bag and pulls out a pair of shoes and throws them to me. “They are going to be too big but they will do for now.” I slip them on my freezing dirty feet, “Thank you.” He looks back at me and gives me half a smile. “You never told me your name.” I can’t help but smile back and say, “Its Denise. It’s nice to meet you.”

Chapter 6

 

 

            “Travis I can’t do it! We have been standing out here for hours and I haven’t got any closer to controlling my visions!” I am so frustrated with myself. I don’t understand how I cannot get control of this. Travis told me that if I fully accepted my gift and welcomed it that I would get control of it. We having been standing outside the lake house for so long that I am starting to lose faith in myself. The breeze whips around us swirling dirt and leaves around our feet. Travis can tell that I am losing my faith in this task and walks over to me, “Niki you have to believe in yourself. I think that you are trying too hard. Don’t force it you have to let it flow.” I know that he is trying to help but I cannot help but get angry and yell, “I have been letting it flow, for the last 2 hours. It’s not working!” I throw my hands in the air and stomp back to the lake house. After I get up the steps my heart sinks. I hate when I hurt his feelings just because I am angry. This really is not his fault that I cannot control my gift. I turn around and see him standing alone looking to the ground with one hand in his pocket. I let take a deep breath and say, “Travis I’m sorry. Why don’t we take a break for a little bit?” He nods his head yes and starts to walk towards me. Then I happens, a vision comes to me. A small brown dog runs from the shore towards Travis. It looks lost and harmless. It gets about 5 feet from his before Travis notices that it’s even there. It lunges into the air and shifts into a woman. She has long white hair, black shoes, shirt and pants. The vision begins to slow and I see that she is holding a dagger in her hand. He plunges it into Travis neck, dragging it to the back of his head separating his head from his body. His headless body collapses to the ground.

 

            I snap back into reality and rush down the stairs to Travis. Before I can tell him anything the small brown dog from my vision begins rushing towards us from the shore. Travis thinks nothing of it until I scream the only things that could come to mind, “It’s not a real dog! It’s a woman!” Travis grabs my arm and pushes me behind him. I fall to my back and land on a rake that breaks in half. The dog lunges to the air and Travis crouches down preparing for a fight. I look to my side and pick up the broken half of the rake. As soon as the woman shifts I jump forward and stab the broken rake into her stomach. She lets out a paralyzing scream of pain and hits the ground hard. Crimson blood begins to flow from her stomach and stain the ground around her. I expect for her body to turn to ash and float into the sky like all the other shifters have, but it doesn’t happen. Travis has been staring at me ever since I struck her with the broken rake. I look to him and say, “What? I had a vision. What was I supposed to do let her kill?” He gives me a half smile and shakes his head from side to side. Coughing breaks the silence between us. We both look down to the woman and she is coughing up blood. She opens her eyes and looks around. Travis rips the broken rake from her stomach and she lets out another scream grabbing her wound in pain. Travis jumps on top of her with his hand around her throat. He leans forward and screams into her face, “How many more are here!?” She turns her head to the side spitting out blood onto the dirt. She looks back to Travis with tears of pain streaming from her eyes, “I will tell you nothing.” Travis face becomes filled with anger and leans back punching her wound. Her scream rips through the quiet trees. He hits her again and again and again. My stomach begins to turn seeing all the blood flowing from her body. I look to my feet and its all around me. I don’t know how she is still alive. Travis grabs her blood soaked shirt and pulls her to his face, “You can either tell me now and I will save you or you can choose to have a painful death.” She looks to me and then back to Travis. There is a silence and she looks up to the sky and extends her hand as if she is reaching for something. Travis looks to where she is pointing and there is a large owl sitting on a branch staring down at bloody scene. Travis drops the shifter and stands never breaking eye contact with the owl. “You are going to hide like a coward behind that disguise.” The owl turns its head to the side as if he is intrigued by the question. It extends its large gray wings and floats down to the forest floor. Before his claws touch the dirt it turns into a man. I don’t know how Travis can tell which animal is a shifter. This man looks different than the others. He is tall, handsome and has slicked back black hair. His black suit makes him look almost approachable. He walks to Travis and there are no words spoken. He looks to me and says, “You must be the young Queen.” I don’t know if I should answer that or not. I look to Travis and he is holding his gaze on this strange man. I look back to him and he raises his eyebrows waiting for an answer. Finally I respond, “Who are you?” He gives me a half smile and responds, “Oh little Queen, I am your demise.” There is something that is familiar about his voice. I have heard it before but I can remember where. Travis takes a step forward anger pulsing through his veins, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that Ares.” Ares? The Greek God of War. How can that be true? I step forward and ask, “Ares? You are not the Greek God of War.” He lets out an evil chuckles and it clicks in my mind. He is the red eyes that have been haunting me. Fear surges through me and I take a few small steps back. This man has been tormenting me and I don’t want to be anywhere near him. Ares responds, “No I am not a Greek God you stupid little girl. I was gifted the name by King Khan for my exceptional skills.”

 

“What kind of exceptional skills?” Ares looks to Travis and starts laughing in his face. Travis clenches his fists but stands still. He looks back to me and takes a few steps forward, “Well I guess you could say I specialize in…death, war and the art of pain. I am Khans General and right hand. I lead the Army of wolves and shifts that should be here any day now to watch you fall.” My palms begin to sweat and I want feel the urge to get away. I feel the breeze that was once swirling around me playfully, die down and lie still. The dirt and leaves that were twirling on the ground have now frozen in midair. Ares and Travis stand motionless with their eyes locked on one another. I feel a tingle up my spine and then a vision comes to me.

 

I am looking down on myself sleeping peacefully in my bed with Travis at my side. His arm wrapped around me and he has one leg draped over mine. Ares is standing outside my bedroom staring at me while I sleep. He walks around the side of the house and into the front door. The house is so dark that it’s hard to see anything that is happening. He walks down the hall like a ghost making no sound as he steps along the hardwood floor. He looks to my father’s office and Denise is sitting in his office chair awake and waiting. She points down the hall and I can only assume that she is pointing him in the direction of my room. He nods his head and gives her a devilish grin. He continues to walk down the hall and he turns to my door. He turns the knob and pushes it open. Travis and I are both still sleeping. Fear is gripping me and I cant believe that I am going to watch my own death or worse…Travis’. He walks into my room and stands over us as we sleep. He pulls a long dagger out of his belt and holds it above my throat. He raises his arms and before he hand thrust the cold steel into my neck a red burst of color engulfs his body. Screams ripe out through the house and I realize that it’s not color…its fire. My vision ends and I am sucked back into reality. Time resumes its normal pace.

 

            I look to Ares and Travis who have not moved. Although my visions can last for about 5 minutes in reality I lose no time. To everyone around me it’s a mere second. I walk over to Travis and grab his clenched fist. My confidence is growing with the knowledge that Ares will die before he can accomplish his task. I look to the young woman who is lying on the ground and notice that she is starting to fade. Her body is beginning to turn to ash and the breeze begins to whirl her remains into the air. I look to Ares and he looks down to where she was lying and lets out an annoyed scoff. He cares for no one, not even his own soldiers. Travis can no longer contain his anger and he lunges for Ares. They both fall back and hit the ground. Dirt flies into the air as they roll around fighting. Ares gets both of his feet under Travis and launches him into the air. Travis flies back landing on his feet and sliding back further on the dirt. Lifting his head up, he looks to Ares and lets out a terrifying roar. It sends chills through my body and stands the hair on neck. He launches back towards and Ares begins to run towards him. He connects with a blur of punching and kicking. They are moving so quickly that I cannot tell what is going on. Growls and roars are ripping through that quiet forest. Denise and Mom run out from the house when they realize what is going on. Denise stands at the stop of the porch just watching the scene with her arms crossed. My mother runs to my side holding me tight. I can feel heat growing between us and I can tell that her emotions are activating her Pyros ability. I push her off and yell, “Mom…Your fire…throw it now!” She looks to Travis and Ares battling in the dirt driveway and she lifts her hand. The red glow begins to swirl in her hand and she motions her hand side to side trying to aim at Ares. She stands for a moment with sweat beading on her forehead. “Mom please! What are you waiting for!? THROW IT!” She screams back at me, “I can’t, they are moving too quickly! I don’t want to hit Travis!” Ares looks to Mom and see’s that she is summoning her Pyros and is at the ready to strike. He jumps into the air and shifts back into an owl and flies high into the tree tops. I watch him until I lose sight and look back down to Travis. He is kneeling on one knee trying to catch his breath. Blood is flowing from his nose and mouth. He has cuts all over his body and they are bleeding profusely. I rush to his side, kneel to the ground and touch his arm. He lets out a roar and pushes me with his arm throwing me across the yard. I feel my back crunch onto the steps of the porch and I cannot move. It feels like a thousand knifes are running up and down my spine cutting all my skin and muscles. Travis looks to me and hasn’t realized what he has just done. He snaps out of his rage and runs to my side. I let my head fall back and I open my eyes. Denise is standing over me grinning. She leans forward and whispers in my ear, “I guess we won’t have to kill you after all. It looks like Travis has done that for us.” All I hear is a roar from Travis and then I fade into blackness.

 

***

 

There is a warm breeze caressing my body. I can smell the scent of fresh cut grass filling the air. I feel the warm sun on my face and grass under my body. I run my hands back and forth through the soft blades and open my eyes. I see my willow tree from home hanging above me with his halo of limbs draped around me. The soft leaves are twirling in the wind. I realize that I am in a dream. I miss my spot under that willow so much that I don’t want to wake up right now. I extend my arms and grab the limp limbs that hang to the ground. I twirl them around in my fingers enjoying the feeling of the soft leaves as they run through my hands. This is the first time that I have been alone in so long. I feel safe and at ease. I roll to my side and run my hands through the grass and watch the leaves dance in the wind. “Niki…” I hear a whisper on the wind. “Niki…” Again the soft voice rings through the leaves. I almost wish that there was no one here. I want to be alone right now. I have been surrounded by people ever since I left this spot to come to the lake house. I have not had a moment of peace. I roll onto my back and try to ignore the voice calling for me. I roll to my opposite side and there is a woman lying next to me. I gasp and scoot back, “Who are you!” She had golden hair that is sparkling in the sun, fair skin, bright red lips and emerald eyes. She smiles at me and reaches out for me, “You’re hurt.” He voice sounds young and excited for life. I look up and down my body and I don’t see any blood or cuts. She begins to giggle pushes my shoulder “You can’t feel pain in your dreams silly.” I let out a small chuckle but I can’t help but wonder who she is. “Umm I’m sorry I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you?” She looks to me and brushes a loss piece of hair from my eyes, “Well I am Asclepius.” This girl is so strange. She seems so carefree. Her answers sound so ‘matter of fact’. I respond, “That is a strange name.” She gives me a large smile, “Thank you, Queen Renee gave me the name. It’s after the Greek God of healing.” There seems to be a trend with the names. I am so tired of being in the dark when it comes to the knowledge of this world so I decide to just ask her, “Why do the Queen and King name people after Gods?” She takes a breath and lets it out, “Well I guess it’s because they like us the best and you cannot get any better than a God. We are important to them and stay with them at all times. Ares is Khan’s war dog and I am Renee’s Healer. I will heal anyone that she requests me to. She told me before she left the kingdom that she would not be returning and you would take her place. She said that I was to heal you whenever you were hurt and serve you as I served her.” She runs her fingers through her hair waiting for me to respond.

 

Asclepius’ explanation of her duties is the first time that I have felt like I have understood anything about this world. Maybe it’s because she explained it like a child would explain their day at school, It was short and to the point. “Asclepius, how are you in my dream?”

 

“You have a lot of questions don’t you Queen.” She giggles and rolls closer to me, “Well I can heal mind, body and soul. So When I need to heal someone’s soul or mind I have to find out what is broken and fix it. So I jump in their dreams.” I am confused on why she is in my dream. There is nothing wrong with my mind or soul. I ask, “Ok well the last thing I remember is hitting my back against the stairs, I don’t think that there is anything wrong with my mind or soul.” She responds, “Well Queen, you have been knocked out for a while and I wanted to talk to you, so I came in your dream. It’s a good thing that I did because I found something broken.” Confusion fills me. I don’t understand why she would find something broken. “What did you find?” She holds out a closed fist and says, “I found this. It’s a part of your soul. There are lots of parts to a soul and when one part breaks the whole soul doesn’t work right. Most humans have to find out what it is on their own to fix it. But you are lucky because I can fix it for you.” A large heartwarming smile spreads across her face. She points down with her other hand to her closed fist. Light begins to illuminate from her fist and it shakes uncontrollably. Asclepius never takes her eyes off her hands. The light begins to die down and the shaking stops. I look into her eyes and she points back down her closed fist. She opens her hand and there is a small silver band with a little diamond sparkling at the top. I can’t believe it. It’s the promise ring that Derek gave me. I threw it in our fireplace after the incident. I look back at her “I don’t understand.” She presses both palms together pressing on the ring. She opens her hands and it has disappeared. She looks back and me and responds, “You let Derek take a piece of your soul when you threw the ring into the fire. Because you don’t forgive him he holds power over you. You may think that he doesn’t deserve forgiveness but it’s not for him, it’s for you. Letting go of the anger will help you become who you were ment to be.” She lies down onto her back and folds her arms behind your head. “So what did fixing the ring do?” She closes her eyes and lets out a sigh, “I healed the anger inside it so it doesn’t make your soul sick anymore.” I feel a rush of comfort and relief flood over me and it takes the breath out of me. I lay back and try to catch my breath. Asclepius sit ups and scoots towards me grabbing both my hands with an excited grin on her face, “Did you feel it?” I open my eyes and look up to her, “I think so.” She smiles down at me and says, “It’s time to go back now. If you ever need me call my name and I will come to you. If you are hurt and cannot call to me, don’t worry, I will know.” She places her hand on my forehead and I feel by body being pulled back into reality. I snap awake and Travis is leaning over me with tears running down his face.

 

            “Where is Asclepius?” Travis scoops me into his arms and squeezes me so tight that it pushes that air out of my lungs. “Oh god Niki I thought I lost you! I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to hit you. Can you ever forgive me?” I sit up and realize I don’t have any of the pain that I once felt. I actually feel better than before like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can breathe easier. I didn’t realize how much Derek was truly affecting me. But I no longer have to deal with the anger or the pain he caused me. I look around for Asclepius but I don’t see her anywhere. My mother is still standing next to Travis wiping tears away from her eyes. She kneels down and cups both sides of my face with her hands kissing every part of my face. She pulls my face away and says, “oh honey thank goodness you are ok. We thought that we lost you.” I give her a hug and turn to look at Denise. The look on her face is priceless. Not only has she just given her secret away, but watching me come back to life was just to much to handle. “What Denise? Are you disappointed?” She turns on her heels and stomps back into the house. I can’t help but laugh, although my mother doesn’t find it very funny. I turn Travis and he has his hands over his face still crying. I move back to him and wrap my arms around him feel his warmth envelope my body. He lets out a sigh and says, “Please forgive me Niki. It was an accident.” I remember what Asclepius told me about forgiveness. I know that he did not mean to hurt me even if he did break my back and almost kill me. “Of course I forgive you Travis I know that you didn’t mean it.” He looks up at me his and his eyes are red from crying. “I love you Niki.” I kiss him on the cheek “I love you.”

 

            I release Travis, stand up and look around for Asclepius. I haven’t seen her since I woke up. Travis can tell that I am searching for something and asks, “Niki, are you looking for something?” I place my hands in my hips and turn from side to side, scanning the forest trying to find her. “I’m looking for Asclepius.” Travis lets out a chuckle still wiping the wetness of tears from his face. “You will not find her.” I turn my head to the side, struck by confusion. “What is that supposed to mean? I thought she stayed with Queen Renee at all times. Now that she is gone, isn’t she supposed to stay with me?” He stands up brushing the dirt that covers his shirt and pants from rolling around with Ares, “Well technically you’re not the Queen yet. She did come and help you but she doesn’t have to stay with you at all times until you are Queen. Trust me she is still around and she will be watching over you.” I can help but feel disappointed. I loved how care free she was. It gave me a sense of relief with all the stress that I have been dealing with. I can’t help but think about Renee’s child… why was she not saved by Asclepius?

 

***

 

            Although Asclepius healed me, she did not heal Travis, most likely because I didn’t ask her too. He can heal on his own anyways. He has been lying on my bed for the last hour motionless. Although most of the small cuts and bruises have faded, the larger lacerations are still bleeding a little. I use a wet wash cloth to soak up the extra blood that is trickling from his wounds. The smell of his cologne is strong in my room. I don’t know how he can smell so nice and look like shit. He is covered is dirt and his clothes are torn apart. Travis finally opens his eyes and looks up at me, “You know that you don’t have to clean the wounds. They are going to heal on their own.” I giggle and slap his leg, “I don’t want blood on my bed.” He grabs my hand and tires to pull me down to him but I resist. “Travis you are filthy. Before I lay with you, you need to take a shower.” He lets go of my hand and tries to sit up, “You want to jump in with me.” I give him a wink and say, “Nice try.” He laughs at me as he sits up so he can swing his legs over the edge of the bed. I look where he was lying on and there is a dirt outline of his body, “Oh Damit, now I have to wash my sheets.” He gets to his feet and hobbles to the door. “Do you need help Travis?” He lets out a grown and ignores my question. I hate seeing him in pain. I thought that I was going to save him from the female shifter that planned on stabbing him in the neck and removing his head, but instead he was beaten by Ares. I am grateful he is alive. I hear the bathroom door open, close and the shower turn on. I ripe my now dirt covered sheets off my bed and lay down on the bare mattress.

 

I can’t help but think about Asclepius. She healed my anger and hate towards Derek and I have never felt more free. I didn’t realize how much energy I was giving up, feeding into the hate. Maybe I can use my Mystic ability now without such a fight. I need to learn to summon it when I need to before my awakening. I close my eyes and relax by whole body. I try to relax all the muscles in my toes, feet, claves, and thighs all the way up to my head. I can feel a tingling all over my body and a sense of total relaxation. I try to visualize what I want to see. All I can think of is Travis. Images start to flash in my mind and they are moving so fast that I can’t tell what is happening. I try to focus on one thing but the images are moving too quickly. I can’t take it anymore and I shout “STOP” in my mind. The images stop. There is only one left and all I can see is smoke. I look around trying to see Travis but there is nothing but smoke. All of a sudden the smoke begins to dissipate and I see the shower in the lake house, it’s not smoke, its steam but there is no one in it. I turn around and Travis is standing looking in the mirror at his injuries. I can’t believe it; I am watching Travis before he gets into the shower…this feel wrong. I need to get out of here, but my curiosity is killing me and I stay. He is as handsome as ever. He runs both hands through his golden hair and small pieces of dirt fall from his locks and land in the sink. He starts to talk to himself, “How am I going to do this. I was beat by Ares, Khan’s fucking war dog. How the hell am I supposed to beat Khan?” I can see the worry that is covering his face and all I want to do is reach out to him. He turns around and rips his shirt off. I guess there is no point in trying to save it since it has so many tears in it. My breath is taken away when I see his body. I have never seen someone so defined in my life. His pecks and 6-pack are to die for. He looks like he was plucked out of a magazine of Men’s Fitness. Although there isn’t very much, he has chest hair from his pecks and down his abs. For some reason I love it and I just want to rub my hands all over him. I saw him without his shirt when he went swimming but I guess I just wasn’t paying attention. Now that I have really seen him I can take my eyes off him. He opens the shower door and more steam flows out. He unbuckles his pants and begins to pull them down. I become so embarrassed that I pull myself out of my vision. I couldn’t stand there and watch him shower like a pervert.

 

            I open my eyes and I am back in my room. The house is silent and I hear the click of the shower door closing down the hall. I instantly feel the heat of embarrassment rush to my cheeks. I can’t believe that I stayed and watched him. I have been ignoring the desire that I have been feeling for him since he arrived. I don’t want to get intimate with him just yet. I know that we are bonded for life but that doesn’t mean that I have to give up…everything right away. Passion is pulsing through my veins to the point where it’s almost painful. I hold my breath and close my eyes trying to stop the sensation and slowly it lessens. I let out my breath and open my eyes. I look over to my door and my mom is standing there staring at me.

 

“Niki, are you alright?” The desire and passion that was pulsing through me has now ceased…thank god. I sit up and swing my legs over the bed feeling the cold floor on my feet. “Ya I am fine, Why?” She comes into my room and sits across from me in my love seat. She has a large smile on her face and says, “OK…I have been playing with…my power… I guess that is what it’s called but anyways look what I can do.” She leans forward and lifts one hand with her palm facing up and fingers lying flat. The red glow begins to illuminate and twirl. I look back at her face and I have never seen her so excited about something before. I look back to her hand and see a small flam start to rise from her palm. It begins to twist and twirl and then it turns into a small dancing woman about the size of an orange. She dances and spins around like a ballerina; I have never seen something so beautiful. The colors of orange, red and yellow seem to form a Tutu. I look up at my mom and say, “Mom that is amazing! How are you doing that?” She smiles at me and raises her other hand the same way, palm flat and facing up. Another red glow begins to twirl in her hand and a Man illuminates from the flames. She places her hands side by side and the figures begin to dance together. I can’t believe what I am seeing. I don’t know what to say, I am so memorized by it. She closes her hands and the figures disappear into a puff of smoke. She looks back to me and puts her hands over her mouth and taps her feet on the ground with excitement. She removes her hands from her mouth and says, “Isn’t that amazing! I have been playing around with it all day.” I put my hand over my chest and say, “Mom that is incredible! How did you do that?” She takes a breath and says, “Well I just started to think about what I wanted to do. I can now summon the fire whenever I want but I thought What if I could make things out of it. I mean if I can control it why couldn’t I make objects? Ballet dancers popped into my head so I tried to make them come to life. I was surprised how easy it was.” I am so amazed with my mother right now. She went from being terrified of her gift to embracing it totally and finding new ways to use it. I wish that I had as much control of my gift as she does. Even though the whole shower incident showed me that I am getting better at summoning it. The images of the vision popped into my head and make my face turns beat red. I look back to my mother and say, “Can you make them any bigger?” She giggles and says, “I don’t know yet I haven’t tried. I am a little afraid to; I don’t want to catch anything on fire.” I look down at my palms, “I wonder if I have any Proys in me?” She comes and sits next to me on the bed. “Well I don’t know. You want to try?” I turn to face her and say, “Ya I do! Ok…How do you summon yours?” She gets both my hands and turns them face up, “Ok now just close your eyes and see the flame growing bigger and bigger.” I close my eyes and try to concentrate on building fire in my palms. I can hear my mother breathing in and out slowly so I do the same. I am not able to summon any fire. I can’t help but feel a little disappointed but I guess you can have every gift. I sit with her for what feels like hours trying to get this fire to conjure. I hear someone clear their throat and my mom and I both open our eyes. Travis is standing in the doorway with wet hair and fresh clothes. His cologne fills my room and I take a deep breath through my nose. My mom looks back to me and places her hand on my leg, “Well I guess that is my cue.” She stands up and walks out of the room yelling down the hall, “Just keep practicing honey!” Travis looks at me and asks, “What are you practicing?” I start to fire back at him, “Oh my god Travis you should have seen it. My mom came in my room and she make little fire people in her hands and they were dancing together. It was amazing. We tried to see if I had any Pyros but I don’t think that I do.” He lets out a laugh and for some reason I the shower incident flashes through my mind. My face again turns tomato red and Travis turns his head to the side in confusion. “Why are you blushing?” I shake my head no but he knows that I am lying. “Niki, you know I can just read your thoughts and find out on my own so just tell me.” I lay back on my bed letting out a sigh of frustration, “Nothing Travis, really, please drop it.” There is nothing more irritating than being around someone that can read your thoughts. There is no way that I could ever keep anything from him. I hear the dull creek of the hardwood floor as he walks over to my bed. There is a moment of silence and then he jumps into the air landing on my hips straddling me. He gets one my wrists in each one of his hands and pins me to the bed. I struggle against him but he is much too strong for me to resist. Laughing he says, “Niki you can either tell me or I will just look on my own”. I try to buck him off with my hips but there is no use. “There is nothing to tell you Travis.” He pulls both of my hands over my head and places both of my wrists in one of his hands and the other on my cheek. I try to wriggle away but it just makes his grip tighter. I start to uncontrollably laugh and he starts to giggle with me. He looks down at me devilishly and says, “Last chance baby.” I know that he is going to find out anyways but I am far too embarrassed to say it out loud. I shake my head no while still laughing and he closes his eyes. My stomach sinks and I know exactly what he is about to see. I want to disappear right now. He is never going to let me live this down. He keeps them closed for a brief moment with a small grin growing from his mouth. Then he whips his eyes open staring straight into my soul. I look away as my face heats with embarrassment. I cannot make eye contact with him right now. He releases my hands and lets the back of his hand glide down the side of my face. “So you’re spying on me in the shower?” I try to sit up and he places his hand on my chest preventing me from moving anywhere. I look up at him and say, “It was an accident I swear I was trying to practice summoning a vision on my own but you were the only person that I could think about. I had no choice in the matter.” He nods his head, “Well that sounds like a good excuse but that doesn’t explain why you stayed in the vision.” He gives me a wink and leans into my face, inches from my lips whispering, “Niki, you want me don’t you?” I get my hands under his chest and push him off me. “No!” He giggles as he falls back onto the end of the bed, “Whatever you say you’re Highness!” I sit up and slap the side of his leg and it just makes him laugh harder.

Chapter 7

 

King Khan

 

“Where is my Queen Ares?” Khan’s deep English voice booms as he shouts down the great hall to his General. Ares slowly walks towards Khan with his eyes to the floor. The Great Hall used to be the most beautiful room in the whole castle but now that Renee has not returned from her journey it has turned into Khans dark dwelling. The large stain glass windows of our ancestors no longer cast down comforting light across the red carpets. I find no joy in this home without my child and now my Queen has disappeared. I feel as if my hearts beat has slowed and every beat is painful. He watches Ares from his throne as he walks down the black carpet runner to the foot of the throne steps. He kneels before Khan keeping his eyes to the floor. This behavior is giving me the sense that he is hiding something from me. “Ares I will ask one last time, where is my Queen?” He looks to Khan who motions for him to rise from the floor. “King Khan… Our great Queen is…dead.” Pain rips through his body and his throat begins to burn. He can’t help but raise his head and scream into the air. My one love, my bond has been broken. Whoever has murdered her will pay dearly. He look down to Ares, “Who has done this?” Khan slowly rises from his throne and walks down the three steps to where Ares is standing and screams in his face, “WHO HAS KILLED MY QUEEN!?” Ares closes his eyes for a brief moment and then opens them reluctantly. He pulls back his shoulder to shake the fear off his back. “No one has killed her King Khan. She has released to essence to a young girl.” I don’t understand why she would do this to me. Why would she pass on her essence and not tell me that she is doing so? Why would she leave me in this world alone? I have lost my daughter to the disgusting hands of a human and now my own wife has willing left my side. I gave that woman everything she could have wanted and now she lied to me and passed through to the afterlife without me. Anger is pulsing through his veins and he begins pacing back and forth in front of his throne. He turns to Ares who has a look of dread on his face, “Ares do you know who this girl is?” Khan clasps his hands behind his back and stands erect, “Yes my King, She is the Mystic that Queen Renee spoke of many years ago.” Khan tries to rack his memory for the name of the Mystic. It was many years ago when she spoke of a Mystic that was to be born with more power than ever. She had high hopes for her in the Royal Court. Why can’t I remember her name… “Ares, what is the name of the Mystic?”

 

“Niki, my King.” Just hearing the name makes my anger rise beyond all comprehension. There is no way that I will let this girl live. She will be made an example of. Just the thought of holding her neck between my hands gives me great joy.

 

“Orders my King?” Ares patiently awaits his decision. “Ares, how close to the awaking is this girl?” Ares turns his head to the side in confusion. “Less than 3 weeks my King.” A deep sadistic laugh burrows in Khans throat. “We will wait until she has awakened before we…visit her.” Ares drops his hands to his side and steps closer to Khan, “But my King the Blood Moon is on her awakening.” Khan throws his hand up demanding silence. “Do you not believe that I am stronger than she? Do you not have faith in your King?” He swallows deeply and sweat beads upon his forehead, “Of course you are stronger than she, but why not cut her down before she awakens.” Khans laughs into the air, “What would my subjects think if I killed the girl my Queen released her essence to without a fair fight?” giving Ares a sarcastic smile, “Ares the glory of war is all that is remember when we are gone, and this General…will be remembered.” Ares bows his head to Khan and turns on his heels leaving the Great Hall. He steps echo off the high ceilings and walls reminding Khan that he is utterly alone now. How could she do this to me? I loved her more than words could ever explain and now I am without her and my young daughter. How can life be so cruel to me? I have suffered more pain in the last 2 years than all the 500 years I have lived. Renee was to ride into battle with me against the Human Race. She did not agree with slaughtering the humans but I do not care. They will pay for their ignorance and hatred. The full moon is approaching and I can feel my inner wolf beginning me for war, blood and pain. I will oblige completely.

 

***

 

“Ares!” Khan shouts down the East Wing corridor as Ares walks ahead of him with two armed guards. Ares turns immediately jogging back to Khan, “Yes My King.” Khan runs his hands through his jet black hair letting a few small pieces fall in front of his piercing blue eyes. “Where is Asclepius?” Ares looks to the two guards who have stopped and are looking back towards him. “We have not been able to locate her since the passing of the Queen and she only answers to her.” Khan begins to walk towards Ares, making him back into the wall. His step become louder and louder as his anger intensifies. He pushes Ares against the wall, “I am King of the Realm and she will come when she is ordered.” Ares tries to remain still and responds, “My King, perhaps if you call for her and not I, she will come.” Khan backs away from Ares releasing him from the stone wall. The torches that line the corridor flicker as Khan looks up and down the hall. He shouts into the air “Asclepius, I order you to report to me now!” His voice is booming and intense and it echoes down the hallway. At the end of the corridor that leads to the foyer, Asclepius peaks her head around the corner. Khan sees her and turns towards her pointing to the ground in front of him, “Asclepius… come here.” He talks to her like she is his own child. The way the she presents herself and how she speaks show that she is like a child carefree and full of love but in the body of a grown Healer. She walks to Khan as if he is her father and she is about to be scolded. She looks to the ground and stops in front of Khan. She clasps her hands in front of her waist and draws circles on the ground with her foot, “Yes my King?” Khan clenches his hands into fists and places them on his hips. “Why did you not come when Ares called you? I have been looking for you.” She looks to Ares and squints her eyes with anger, “I do not come to Ares. He has no authority over me.” Khan throws his head back laughs sadistically. He looks back down to Asclepius and gives her a half a smile. He then reaches down violently and grabs her by the throat with one hand lifting her off her feet into the air. He begins to shout in her face, “Listen here girl! You come when you’re called whether it is I or Ares. Your Queen has left you and now you are mine. Do as I bid or I will end you!” Asclepius eyes begin to well up with tears and one by one they begin falling down her cheeks and land onto Khans arm. She looks him straight in the eye fearlessly, “You do not own me my King. I am loyal to the Queen. Renee may be gone but there is a new Queen and I answer only to her!” Khan begins to lose himself in rage and his grip tightens around her neck. Asclepius begins to claw at his hand and arm ripping back flesh as she runs out of air. Kicking her legs as hard as she can; Khan throws her to the ground and she hits her head on wall making a small cut above her eye. She takes a deep breath in and her lungs burn as the much needed oxygen flows into her. Blood begins to seep through a cut and run down her eye brow. She runs her hand over the laceration and it begins to heal. Khan stares down to her as if she is nothing to him, just another servant in his home. “Child you must watch the way to speak to me. This is just a sample of what I will do to you if you run to that wench. Your Queen is dead, you are mine now.” She looks away from him and refuses to acknowledge him any further. She shakily rises to her feet and turns back towards to foyer. Slowly she walks back down the hall and out if sight. Khan looks to Ares, “What ignorance!” Ares nods his head. “Ares, how many scouts are out right now? What information have they brought back?”

 

“There are 10 scouts out right now and 2 have returned. The child and her family are traveling to a vacation home they have.” Khan runs his over his chiseled jaw line, “Where is their vacation home?” Ares clears his throat nervously, “Royals Peak.” Khan looks to Ares, eyes crazed with anger. “Royals Peak! Not only is she turning with Renee’s power on top of the ones she was born with, but she is going to be at the strongest location that the most powerful rulers have descended from with the Blood Moon.” The tension in the room has risen and the guards begin to back away from the situation. Khan is fuming with anger he grabs a burning torch from the wall and throws it to the ground throwing sparks into the air. It lights the bright red carpet that runs the entire length of the hall, on fire. The two guards rush to the small flames stomping them out. The smell of smoke is thick in the air and Khan chokes on the smell, turns and walks out of the hall into the sun lite foyer. The large double doors to the front of the castle stand taller than any man. At least 10 feet into the air, they are beautifully carved in the language of the ancestors, spells and blessings to keep the royal family safe. There are stain glass windows on every wall of previous rulers. Khan looks around the foyer at all the past leaders of the Realm. He glances to the last window closets to the back wall to see that Renee’s image has been added to the foyer windows. She is so beautiful and his heart begins to ache for her. He replaces this feeling of grief with anger and hate. Ares walks up behind Khan and speaks in a hushed tone, “My King, this will be the last time that I ask and please remember that I ask only for my concern towards you, don’t you think that we should eliminate the young Queen before she gains all her power?” Khan rests his open palm on Ares face. Ares straightens up thinking that he has pleased his King. He leans forward and whispers in his ear, “Ares, suggest that again and I will slit your throat where you stand.” He drops his hand to his side and turns away from Ares. “Yes my King.”

 

***

 

The days have become longer as Khan awaits his day of glory when he finally gets his revenge on the young queen. The curtains are drawn in the Great Hall and the only light is from burning candles that line the stone walls. He sits in his thrown stewing in his anger and fanaticizing how he will murder Niki. The large doors creek open and Ares steps through. He walks towards Khan and his steps echo is the eerie silence. He reaches the thrown steps and bows. Khan does not acknowledge his presence. “My King, there is a Mystic and werewolf with the young queen at Royals Peak.” Khan looks down to Ares. His face looks as if he hasn’t slept in days and his voice is deeper than normally, “Who is the Mystic?” Ares takes a step forward and Khan raises his hand, signaling for him to stay where he is. “Her name is Denise. She was denied by Renee to join the Royal Court after she was awakened many years ago; also she was bitten during her awakening so she is also werewolf. She may be of some use to us…you my King. Her son Travis is with her also. He is a werewolf.” Khan sits up slightly at hearing that she was denied by Renee. This may be helpfully to me. He runs his hands through his now tangled and greasy hair. “Ares, do you know anything else about this woman?” Ares shakes his head from side to side, “Not very much sir. She is married to Charles the messenger and she has been trying to get in the Realm for years with no success. Renee insisted that she was not to be a part of the Court.” Khan places his hands together and closes his eyes. How can I use this woman to my advantage? Khan claps his hands together as an idea pops into his mind. He jumps from his throne and quickly walks down the three steps to where Ares is standing. “It’s so simple! You go to Denise and tell her that if she aids us she will be accepted into the court. Tell her that we need her to give us any and all information about Niki.” Ares smiles and bows to Khan. “Yes, My King and when she completes the task where do you want her to be placed in the court?” Khan turns his back to Ares and begins to walk back up to his throne, “Ares there is no place for her. After she does what I bid…kill her and anyone else in your way.” Ares takes his orders, turns on his heels and leaves the great hall.

 

***

 

It has been a few days since Ares left to try and convince Denise to work for them. Since he got word of Renee’s death he has not left the Great Hall. He eats and sleeps sitting in his throne rarely leaving the room for anything other than to bathe. He keeps his servants out and the curtains drawn both day and night. Darkness has flooded his heart and it has consumed him entirely. He has convinced himself that he will be avenging Renee by killing Niki. He sits in his throne with his head tilted down and eyes closed. He hears the door creek open and pays no attention to it. Ares steps through the door and sees his King sitting slumped slightly over. He walks down the carpet runner trying not to make too much noise. He kneels and Khan raises his head, “My King, we have a new development.” Khan whips his head up rubbing his face, “Tell me Ares.” He motions for Ares to rise and he follows. “The girl has been bonded…to the son of Denise.” Khan’s eyes widen and he stands erect from his throne. “What do you mean she has been bonded?! Is Denise conspiring against me!?” He stomps down from his throne and heads towards the front door. He rushes out and Ares chases after him down the long corridor. “My King, Denise did not know that this would happen. She did not plan for this. I have spoken with her and I do believe that this was unplanned.” Khan stops in his tracks and turns to Ares. “So you take the word of this wench!? She is a Mystic you idiot she can read the future! You have gathered no other evidence?!” He starts to take steps towards Ares and he back away from him slowly, “My King, I spoke with Niki’s father…well I used my talents and made him talk.” Khan begins to smile and throws back his head laughing, “Oh Ares you never fail me! What did the Father have to say?”

 

“Between his screams, he gave me all the information he had. Humans are so weak. He is totally unaware of our world. He knew nothing. The Mother and father not only hide the child’s ability from the world, but had her believing that he she was insane. There is no way that this could have been planned. Their bonding was coincidence. Denise has some sort of grudge against Niki and her whole family. She swore that she would never read their futures again. She wanted nothing to do with their family until Niki’s mother requested her help.” Khan rubs his chin and starts to pace from one side of the hall to the other. He stops suddenly turning his head slowly to Ares with a sinister smile. “The boy must over throw me…” Ares tilts his head in confusion, “Sir?” Khan clasps his hands together and it echoes through the silent stone hallway. “Ares you know nothing of our laws! Since the boy has bonded with the wench, if he wants to be with her, he must take my throne!” Khan turns away from Ares and begins to walk down the corridor towards his Chambers. Servants scurry past Khan trying not to gain his attention. They know the rage he has inside and the best thing is to be invisible to him. A young girl carrying fresh towels and sheets doesn’t hear or see Khan coming up behind her as she opens the large redwood double doors that lead into his chambers. Ares tries to run ahead to move the girl from their path but Khan stops him. “Girl!” Her black hair runs down her back in playful waves. She turns her head to see Khan and Ares briskly towards her. He green eyes glitter from the flames of the torches and her face is just as beautiful as the morning sun. She drops to her knees with her linen clutched to her chest. “Yes my King.” Khan stops in front of her with his hands balled into fists resting them his hips, “What is your name girl?” She doesn’t raise her head and her thick Scottish accent cracks as she responds, “Grizel my King.” She turns her head to Ares and looks him in the eye with worry covering her face. He shakes his head no to her and she whips her head back to the ground. Khan continues, “Ahh Grizel, Scottish for Grey Battle Maid. Am I correct?” He motions for her to rise and she pushes herself from the hard cold stone floors and stands erect still clutching onto the clean linen “Yes my King you are correct.”

 

“So Grizel what is your purpose here?” She looks to Khan confused and then to Ares. Ares widens his eyes at her and motions her to answer Khan. “I replace and wash the linens my King.” Khan walks over to the large chamber doors and pushes them open further. “Well then Battle Maid, return to your duties.” She curtsies to Khan and runs into his room. Khan turns to Ares and begins to walk slowly towards him, “Ares…do you know that girl?” Ares swallows deeply and clears his throat, “Yes my King.” Khan stops in front of Ares with his legs apart and his arms crossed. “And how do you know the grey battle madien?” Ares takes a step back his it echoes down the hall. He looks past Khan and into his chambers to Grizel ripping the old sheets off the enormous bed. Her beauty is so breath taking that Ares lets out a gentle sigh and cracks half a smile. Khan interrupts his silent moment, “God Lord Ares, have you bonded with that servant?” Ares snaps out of his trance and looks back to Khan. For a moment he stays silent, unsure what to say. Finally he summons the courage to respond, “Yes my King.” Jealously rips through Khan and he is overwhelmed with rage. If he cannot have his Renee, then he wants other to suffer just as much as he. He turns back towards Grizel and starts towards her. Ares runs and places himself between Grizel and Khan. “Please Khan don’t do this!” His shrieks are heard down the corridor and passing servants begin to run down the hall towards all three of them. Grizel begins to scream as Khan and Ares collide. Servants try to save Grizel from the fight that has erupted in front of her but they cannot get around Area and Khan. They fall to the ground in the doorway and begin to roll around, wrestling each other, trying to subdue one another. “My King! Please stop!” Ares screams from underneath Khan as he is struggling to break free. Grizel tries to rush around them but Khan catches her by the ankle making her fall to the ground. Her head slams on the stone and a loud crack rings through the air. Her body becomes motionless. Warm crimson liquid begins to stain the floor. Ares stop struggling when he sees the body of his lifeless mate lying on the ground face down. Khan releases Ares and gets to his feet. Ares rushes to Grizel cradling her in his arms. A large laceration extends from her forehead down to her right eye. Blood pours from the wound as Ares clutches her to his chest. “Grizel…please my Love… don’t leave me.?” The servants stand motionless in the doorway staring down at the heart breaking scene before them. Khan is motionless behind them with a grin from ear to ear. His grief has blinded him and nothing is left but the shell of the man he used to be. He looks to his servants as they stare down at Ares and Grizel. “Don’t you have work!?” He shoots at them breaking their trance. They all bow to Khan and scurry away back down the hall. Ares remains on the stone floor rocking back and forth with Grizel cradled in his arms. “Ares are you going to whimper like a woman or are you going to get that bloody mess out of my chambers?” Ares body heats with rage and he turns to Khan who has folded his arms waiting for his response. There are no words that Ares can express that would not anger Khan which would lead to his own death as well. There is nothing to do but take his mate to the burial grounds to lay her to rest. Ares silently rises from the ground with Grizels lifeless body in his arms. His grey uniform coat is now soaked with the blood of Grizel. He does not turn back to Khan as he carries her down the corridor. As Ares gets half way down the hallway, Khan yells after him, “Send someone to clean up this mess!” Ares heart begins to crumble in his chest. There is nothing that he would rather do then battle Khan till he falls to the ground. What he has done to Grizel is unforgivable, but the fact that he is King makes it very difficult to get revenge. Ares has no choice but to follow Khans orders. “Yes my King.” He approaches the end of the corridor that forks into two different directions. To the left leads to the west wing of the castle that opens up the royal garden or to the right that leads to the kitchen. Servants have gathered at the fork. They all are weeping for the loss of their friend. Ares tries to keep his composure as he walks through the swarm of servants trying to say goodbye to Grizel. “Step back! Don’t touch her! One of you go to the King and clean up the mess he made.” The weeping stops and whispers break out. One young girl with flowing red curls steps forward to Ares bows her head and walks past him to Khans chamber. Ares turns his head back and whispers, “Thank you girl.” She turns her head slightly back with tears rolling down her freckled cheeks to him giving him a reassuring nod.

 

Ares carries Grizel through the dark corridor that leads to the royal garden. The flames are licking the stone walls as his heavy boots send echoes of pain down the hall. A small sliver of light begins to illuminate at the end of the hall. The musty smell of the damp corridor envelopes his senses. He approaches the large wooden door that leads to the garden and the small sliver of light that he saw before is coming from the small gab under the door. He raises his right floor and plunges it into the middle of the door. It rips open letting the sunlight flood the hall. He closes his eyes trying to protect them from the bright sun. The smell of flowers and fresh cut grass looms in the air. He keeps his eyes closed trying to soak up the warm sun on his face. This used to be their favorite place to go together. It was the one place that they could be alone. Memories flood him and he can no longer hold back his grief and pain. Tears begin to flow silently down his cheek. He opens his eyes and steps down onto the narrow stone path that is lined with flowers leading to the large fountain in the middle of the garden. He sets Grizel down on the stone wall that holds the fountains pool of water. He cups his hands and scoops out the cool water from the fountain, drizzling on Grizel’s forehead. The blood begins to wash away leaving only her beautiful face. He runs the back of her hand down his face. She looks to peaceful, almost as if she is going to wake from slumber but the coldness of her skin reminds him that she is gone forever. His one true love and mate has been ripped from him and he can feel hate invading his heart with every second that goes by. “My dear Grizel your death will not be in vain.” He leans forward and kisses her forehead gently and her cold skin stings his lips. He puts his arms under her knees and around the back of her neck lifting her from the wall. He starts to make the long walk to the burial grounds to lay Grizel to her final resting place. With every step he can feel his heart growing colder and colder. The only thing that he can think of now is revenge…

Chapter 8

 

 

Niki

 

 

The wind rips through the darkness making the tree sway and creek. Leaves are swirling around the forest floor dancing delicately in the gusts. The moon is shining brightly down on lake making it glitter in the darkness. There is a storm coming and it could have come at a worse time. There are two days left until the Blood Moon and the small sliver of moon that has not yet illuminated reminds me of how much time I have left until my world changes forever. Travis has been on edge and every day he seems to get worse. I don’t blame him. The responsibilities that he has been given are way more than he ever expected. He didn’t even want to come on this trip and now he is bonded for life and has to overthrow Khan in order to stay at my side. Any reasonable person would crack under the pressure. We have stopped trying to subdue Denise since there are only two days left there is nothing that she could tell Khan that would affect us now. The only thing that might change things would be my mother. Her having the Pyros ability is a huge problem for any immortal. She could be the deciding factor in this whole ordeal. Other than Travis, she is the one I am most worried about. Losing her would change my whole life and I don’t think it would change for the better. The distance that we once battled with is gone and I have the loving relationship that I always wanted with her. I wish that it could have been under different circumstances but nevertheless it happened and I am grateful.

 

I lay in my bed with Travis asleep at my side. His warmth is so comforting to my skin. I look up to my ceiling silently trying to organize my thoughts. It’s impossible for me to sleep with the level of stress I am holding in. I roll to my right side and stare out the window into the darkness. Beams of moonlight break through the swaying branches giving me my own personal light show. I try to enjoy the site in front of me but I can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching me. I should be used to it now since these woods are full of Scouts.  Travis stopped trying to hunt them because we really don’t see the point anymore. We are just trying to enjoy each other’s company before the awakening. My mother has especially been on edge especially with the signs of a storm coming. The last thing we need is rain. We have been trying to keep her distracted but nothing is helping. She knows what is about to happen but I don’t think she is ready to see the battle. I don’t want to cause my mother anymore trauma than what she has already endured but I need her for this, not only for my protection but for support. Not having my dad here has added more stress on her. She has no idea if he is ok, how his hospital stay went, nothing. Since our phones don’t work here she can’t call him and he can’t reach her. The only way to use our cell phones is to swim or take the boat to the island. She is terrified of the island, now that she knows what it’s for. She doesn’t want to go there until it is absolutely necessary.

 

The window is starting to collect condensation from me lying so close to it. As I wipe the water droplets I see someone out in the woods hiding behind a tree. For some reason I don’t feel threatened. It almost feels…welcoming. I sit up slowly trying not to wake Travis. I put my face close to the window pane cupping my hands around the sides of my eyes. I search the woods for the dark figure I saw before but there is no one to be found. I lean back, away from the window and let out a sigh. As I lye back down on the bed I turn head towards the Travis to check if he is still slepping. I jump out of my skin when I see the dark figure standing in my room.  I sit up quickly and scoot into the wall screaming, “TRAVIS!! WAKE UP!” Travis rips awake and places his body in front of me. “What’s wrong Niki!?” I point to the figure standing in the room and Travis jumps to his feet ready to attack. The figure moves to the door and turns the lights on in the room. “Wait! Please just wait!” Her thick Scottish accent rings out in my silent room. She has short brown hair that stops at the top of her shoulders and crystal blue eyes. She is not a very tall person and thin as a rail. She doesn’t look like much of a threat to me but I have not been able to trust anyone through this whole ordeal. Travis is still on edge standing inches from her face. “Who are you and why are you here? Did Khan send you?” She takes a few steps back and looks toward me as I sit with my knees to my chest at the corner of the bed. “Please, I will explain myself.” She looks to Travis and then back to me. I can tell that she is terrified of him and would love nothing more than for him to back away from her. I move to the edge of the bed and grab Travis’s wrist. His skin is on fire and he flinches at my touch, “Travis, sit down with me. Let her explain.” He reluctantly looks back to the young girl and then slowly backs towards the bed sitting on the very edge. She lets out a sigh of relief. She motions to the love seat in the corner of the room, “May I my Queen?” I nod my head yes, “You can call me Niki, I’m not Queen yet.” She looks at me surprised and sits down in the love seat. It’s as if she floats down into the chair, she is so elegant and proper. She crosses her legs and places her hands, one atop the other, on her knee. There is a silence in the room and its starting to agitate Travis. He finally breaks it and practically shouts at her, “Ok who are you?” His deep booming voice makes her jump and she begins to explain, “My Name is Aaren, I am a Porter for the King and everyone in the Royal Court.” I stop her mid sentence, “Aaren I don’t know very much about your world. What is a Porter?” Travis doesn’t allow her to answer and jumps into the conversation, “A Porter, is someone who can Teleport, all she has to do is hold onto you or your clothing and she can take you wherever you need to go. She would be the way that Khan would get here after your awakening. Porters are mainly picked for their devoted loyalty. Porting is very dangerous for the other person because they can take you any where they want. They can leave you in the middle of the ocean to drown if they wanted to. They must be trusted above all other subjects, so the fact that she is sitting in this room is not the most comforting.” Aaren keeps her eyes locked on Travis as has he finishes explaining her duties. At this moment, I don’t trust her. There is a reason that she is here and I don’t feel like I can believe anyone right now. She looks towards me and removes her hands from her knee letting them rest in her lap. “Everything Travis has explained is the truth but there is one element that no longer applies to me. Loyalty…” Travis sits up and turns to look at me slightly shrugging his shoulders. I scoot away from the wall pulling the thick white comforter out from under me. I sit with Travis on the edge of the bed placing my feet on the cold hardwood floor. My room is freezing so I inch closer to Travis and pull my comforter over my shoulders and wrap it around myself. Aaren patiently waits for me to get situated and then continues, “King Khan has lost his mind. He has always had a thrust for the glory of war but he has gone too far. He has brought down his anger and wrath onto everyone in palace. Since Renee has been gone no one is safe and I don’t want to be part of it.” He voice cracks and her eyes begin to well up with tears. She blinks them away and continues. “He has murdered my sister, Grizel. She was a servant in the palace and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. I watched from the palace steps at her mate carried her to the burial grounds.” She can no longer control the tear rolling down her cheeks. I can’t help but sympathize with her, but how do I know that she is not lying. I look to Travis and he already has his eye closed and I can tell that he is reading her memories. The room is silent for a few brief seconds and then he opens his eyes slowly, he looks to me and nods confirming that she is telling the truth. Travis clears his throat and relaxes for a moment, “Aaren if this is true and you no longer wish to serve Khan why not just teleport him somewhere and leave him for dead.” Her response rips from her lips as if it takes no thought, “Because he deserves a painful death. There are so many subjects in the Realm that agree Khan has lost his mind. They want to change to happen. Those who are werewolf, want to reclaim their control over shifting. Of course there are those who will follow Khan to the end of time and they will be a problem, but they will not fight without Khan. They are mindless warriors that need orders for every aspect of their life. If there are not orders, there is no war.” All of this information has its valid points but it still doesn’t explain why she has come here. “I am sorry for the loss of your sister, but this still doesn’t explain why you’re here.” She stands from the chair and looks down to me, “Yes my Que… Niki, you are correct. There is no reason for me to be here but I know how stressful the awakening can be, but the added pressure that has been placed on your shoulders is enough for anyone to fall to pieces. I wanted our future Queen to know that she is not alone in this battle. I have to go now before Khan gets suspicious. Stand strong Niki, Renee would not have given you this gift if she did not believe you could accomplish it. You need to have faith in yourself.” Before I could even respond she disappears in a black cloud of smoke.

 

I look to Travis who is still staring in the area she was last standing. I put my hand on his leg and he looks to me. He raises his arm and places it around my shoulder pulling me in close. The smell of his cologne sucks me in and I finally feel like I am able to relax. I lay back down on the bed onto my side and Travis lies behind me. Feeling his body so close to mine sends a rush of burning passion through my body. My heart begins to race and my palms start sweating. I thought that I gained control over these feelings but once again I am wrong. Just his touch can make me lose all sense of control. These very well might be my last days so I don’t see the reason to hold back any longer. I roll over and face him. Our noses are so close they are almost touching. I can feel the heat between us rising. I run my hands down his side and grip his hip pulling him closer to me. A low groan escapes him and he grabs my wrist. “Niki…this is not the time.” Anger pulses through me and I realize that every time I try to get closer to this man he pushes me away. I don’t know why I let him call the shots in every aspect of our relationship. “Travis we have two days left until the awakening and there is no way to know what will happen. If these are our last days..” He cuts me off, grabs my arm pulling me into his chest and presses a passionate kiss on my lips. I return the kiss and my lips begin to burn. He slips his hand under my tank top and gently runs his finger down my stomach and grips the top of my pajama shorts. It sends shivers up my spine and then he pushes me to my back and straddles me. I can’t help but giggle with excitement. Travis face begins to turn red and he leans in kissing me gently. He pulls back biting my lip and another surge of passion rips through me. He looks deep into my eyes and whispers “Are you sure?” I grab him by the back of the hair pulling him into me again and kissing him hard. He squeals like a little girl and begins to laugh. I kiss his neck all the way up to his ear and he groans. I softly whisper into his ear “Yes Travis I am ready.” He jumps off the bed and runs over to the lights turning them off. He turns back to face me and leaps back onto the bed. We both start giggling excitedly pulling the covers over our heads.

 

***

 

The sun is peeking through my bedroom window gently waking me from the most restful sleep that I have had since we came to the Lake House. My head is still resting on Travis’s chest and his heart is beating in my ear. His arm is wrapped around me and my leg his resting across his pelvis. This is where I want to be, in his arms forever. Memories of last night rush back into my mind and I can feel my cheeks heat up with embarrassment. I never knew that was how sex would be. So much passion and energy…it was utterly intense. Travis has no idea, but that was my first time. I can’t help but see the romance in it…my first time with the one person I knew I would be spending the rest of my life with. That is how it is supposed to be and I feel bad for anyone who doesn’t get to experience what I just had. Travis begins to move and I realize that he is waking up. I roll back over to my side of the bed and let him wake up. I roll over to face the window, although the sun is warm on my face, there are dark clouds far in the horizon. The storm… I just hope that it doesn’t come until after everything is over. I feel Travis roll to his side and wrap his arm around my waist, “Good morning” He says mid yawn. I roll back to face him and kiss him on the end of the nose, “Morning.” Last night was amazing and I all I want to do is talk about it but for some reason I feel too embarrassed to bring it up. I look down in between us and realize that we are both still naked. “Oh my gosh!” I pull the blankets over me and lay flat on my back. Having him seen me naked for the first time was much easier when it was the heat of the moment in the dark. Now I feel exposed and embarrassed. He starts to laugh at me and his chuckle makes my heart melt. “So I can’t look at you now because its day time?” I look over to him and my cheeks are red as a tomato. “I don’t know this is all new to me. I just forgot that I was completely naked still.” He looks at me confused, “What do you mean this is new to you?” I pull my covers over my head. God this is so embarrassing, now I have to explain that fact that I am a vir… was a virgin. “Well…that was my…first time.” He lifts his head from his pillow and sits up onto his elbow. His face lights up in a way that I have never seen it before. He almost shouts in excitement, “You were a VIRGIN!” I rip the covers down from my face and whisper urgently to him. “Shhh, do you want to announce to my mother that you just deflowered me!” He puts his hand over his mouth and starts to giggle. He moves his hand from his mouth and whispers, “Sorry, Why didn’t you tell me that before last night?”

“Would it have made a difference?” He looks down and shakes his head from side to side. “Of course it would have been different. I would have made things a little more memorable and romantic.”

“Trust me Travis, I will never forget that.” I look down at his body and I still can’t believe that he is mine. His abs and pecs are so defined he looks as if he was drawn. I have seen him without his shirt before but now it’s like I am seeing him in a whole different light. I cant help but get butterflies in my stomach looking at him completely naked. I realize that I have just been staring at his body no saying a word and I am sure that he can tell. I look back up at him and he is smiling like he has won the lottery, “Soak it in little lady” I hit his shoulder and he rolls onto his side laughing. He can be so cocky sometimes. There is a knock at the door that makes us both jump. “Hey… are you guys getting up.” My mom calls for us behind the door. We holler back at her at the same time, “Yes.” He looks to me and pulls me in for a kiss. “I guess play time is over. Come on let’s get up before she get suspicious.” He chuckles and gets out of bed. He slides on his boxes and then sweatpants. I follow and put my Pajamas back on.

 

We both walk down the hallway holding hands and giggling. We get to the dining table and it is covered with every sort of breakfast food you could imagine. Pancakes, sausages, bacon, hash browns, eggs the list is endless. I breathe in deeply through my nose and the smell is heavily, it almost warms my soul. I turn and walk into the kitchen where my mother is standing, washing the pots and pans she used. “Wow mom, everything looks amazing! What is the occasion?” She turns to me smiling, “Think of it as a pre-birthday celebration. I just thought since your day is going to be full on the actual day that we should celebrate early.” I feel the stings of tears fighting their way to the surface. “Thanks Mom.” She realizes that I am fighting back tears and she rushes over to me squeezing me tightly. I feel a wet spot growing on my shoulder and I realize that she is still holding the sponge. I could care less at this moment. She lets me go just far enough to look me in the face, “Everything is going to be fine. Travis is going to be fine, I am going to be fine and you are going to do great things once this is all over. I try to take her comforting words into consideration but its hard to accept them. All i can i do for now is hug her tightly. She releases me, kisses me on the forehead and finishes up her washing. I look to Travis who has already starting eating breakfast. “Um Travis, don't you think you should wait for us?” He looks up at me with a mouth filled with food. He tries to respond and small bits of pancake fall from his mouth. “Ew, just keep eating” I walk over the to the table pulling out the chair directly across from him and start to fill my plate. I hear the water being turned off in the kitchen and my mom walks out wiping her hands off on a grey dish towel. She pulls the chair out the at head of the table and joins us. This is the first time in almost two weeks that we have sat down for a meal together, ever since the night Denise attack my mom. We haven’t seen very much of Denise. SHe has been staying in her room most of the time doing God knows what, and to be completely honest I don’t care what she is doing. There is a creaking sound coming from down the hall and it makes us all stop what we are doing and stare towards the hall. For a moment there is nothing, then the sound of barefeet walking on hardwood floors breaks the silence. Denise steps into the room, her hair rated and clothes are disheveled, It looks as if she has been wearing the same thing for a week. She doesn't look like her normal self. She looks at all the delicious food and a low grumbling escapes her stomach. “Denise if you are hungry you can sit down.” She looks at me surprised. I know that feeding someone that is helping the one person that is trying to kill me doesn't sound like a good idea but I have always been told to keep my friends closer but my enemies closer. “Niki, why is it that you continue to be kind to me? I swear you do it just to irritate me” I don’t really have an answer for that and frankly the question catches me off guard. Travis looks to me and shakes his head trying to persuade me not to answer her. This, obviously, makes me want to continue the conversation with her more. “Denise, to be honest, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re my mates mother or maybe because I feel sorry for you.” He eyes grow wide and her face becomes red with anger, “Feel sorry for me? Why on earth would you feel sorry for me?” She shifts her weight onto her left hip and crosses her arms across her chest. I have a feeling that if I tell her what I am really thinking things are going to become ugly. I take a deep breath and begin to explain myself, “Well for one thing you think that your whole life has been sabotaged by my mom and that is not true. The night of your awakening was not her fault and deep down you know that. All these years you have needed someone to blame for all the pain and regret that you have in your heart. She was the easiest person to blame. Renee didn’t take you into the Royal Court and that made you bitter. Instead of accepting it and moving on you have harbored the anger.” She stares at me harshly as she listens to everything that I have to say. I can tell that her anger is rising not because I am wrong, but because she agrees with me. Its hard for people to confess their deepest fears and finally taking responsibility for the way her life has turned out, seems to be her biggest fear. “You don’t look at all the blessing that came from not being taken into the Royal Court.” She cuts me off, “Oh ya, since you know so much, why don’t you tell me the great blessings that I have been given?”I pause for a moment and look at Travis who is trying to stay out of this argument. My mom is eating silently like nothing is happening. “Well for one...Travis. If you had been accepted into the court you may not of had him. You spend so much time thinking about the negative things in your life that you’re missing out on all the positives.” Her face begins to soften and her eyes well up with tears. Travis has now stopped eating and is staring at me angrily, “Please don’t bring me into this.” Denise chimes in, her voice cracking, “No Travis she is right. I have spent my whole life hating her mother and Renee that I missed out on the joy that was right in front of me.” Travis turns slowly in his chair and looks at Denise. The room is dead silent and the tension could be cut with a knife. I turn my gaze to my mother who has stopped eating and is also staring intently at Denise waiting for someone to say something. Could this be the end of her terror? Denise starts to walk towards Travis. The hardwood floor creaks with every step and then she stops in front of him, staring down at him like he is newborn baby. She runs her hand through his hair and Travis closes his eyes for a moment. She leans down and whispers in his ear so softly that no one else can hear. A small tear rolls down both their cheeks. She sits back up and kisses him on the forehead. She looks to me and for the first time since I have meet her, she smiles at me...genuinely. “Why don’t you sit down and eat something.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly and then pulls out the next to Travis and sits down. She pills food onto her plate. I have never seen a woman eat that much before. I dont even know the last time that I saw her eat something at all. Although there were no words spoken for the rest of breakfast it was the first time and we all were enjoying each others company.  

 

Although I am happy that Travis and his mother had some sort of break through in their relationship, I have no idea how to feel about her now. Is she still trying to kill me? Should I be afraid of her? Is this all and act? With tomorrow being the awakening, there no room for error. I keep thinking about Renee and her words. I would give anything to speak with her one last time. She gave me a sense of security for the short time she was still with me. I lay on a fluffy beach towel on the warm sand in front of the lake house. I can hear my mother swinging back and forth on the porch swing, her glass of ice clinking and she swings forward and back. The dark clouds are still looming in the horizon but they are much closer than yesterday. The wind has a chill to it now that gives me chills and it kisses my skin gently. I close my eyes trying to relax and think of something other than the awakening and Khan. Asclepius pops into mind, I wonder where she is. I havent seen her since the incident with Ares. She told me to call her where ever I needed her. I don’t really know what that means cause she didnt give me a number. I hear footsteps crunching in the sand and I look behind me to see Travis approaching with two glasses of ice tea. He plops down beside me handing me the ice cold glass. The condensation on the glass makes my hands wet and I wipe them off one by one on Travis cargo shorts. “Hey brat! I bring you something to drink and you wipe your dirty hands on me. Not cool” I can’t help but laugh at his tantrum, “Oh don’t be such a baby it’s just water. Hey do you know what Asclepius meant by if I need her call her? I don’t have a phone number for her.” Travis looks at me as I have asked the most retarded question he has ever heard. He begins to laugh hysterically at me. “What I don’t get it? Did i say something stupid?” He runs his hand through his hair as he finishes laughing, “No, you just call her.” I squint my eyes at him, “That doesn’t answer my question.”

“LIke just yell it into the air...that is the only way that I know how to explain it.” I lay my head back down on my towel. It can’t be that easy...can it? “I have said her name numerous times just sitting here with you, why didn’t she come then.”

“Because you’re talking about her you’re not calling her. Why don’t you try it she must he around here somewhere.”

“But what if she isn't here, will she still hear me?”

“It doesn’t matter she can hear you from where ever she is.” I feel kind of stupid just yelling to the air. But I really want to see if it works. I sit up onto my elbows and lay my head back yelling into the air, “Asclepius!” We both wait for a moment but there is nothing but the sound of the branches swaying in the wind and the small lakes waves rolling on the shore. I looked to Travis, “It didn’t work. So I guess you were wrong.” Travis begins to laugh loudly at me. “What? Why are you laughing now?” A small soft voice breaks into the conversation, “Did I miss a joke? I love jokes! Please tell it again!” Low and behold there is Asclepius sitting right next to me. I didn't even see her and now I look like a jackass. “Asclepius!” She smiles widely at me and responds, “Hello young Queen are you hurt?” I shake my head no, “No nothing like that I just wanted to see you. Travis said that if I just called your name you would come but I didn't believe him. I can't believe it worked! Where were you?” She lays in the sand with her white summer dress and puts her hands behind her head, “I was in the palace, that is where I live you know.” I don’t understand, how she could be here in the blink of an eye if she was in the Realm. “How do you get here so quickly?” she keeps her eyes closed enjoying the rays from the sun. “I can port.” That doesn't surprise me. That was almost a dumb question to ask. How else would she get here is she cannot teleport. She chimes in again “But I cannot take anyone with me. I can only port myself. Only the ones that were born with the ability can take others along with them. Renee gifted it to me so that I could be where ever she needed me to be. When you are Queen you can give anyone any gift you want to but never yourself. Renee always said that it was dangerous to give away gifts, but she trusted me.” That makes sense… We lay in silence just enjoying each others company. Travis had long since left us. Tomorrow is a big day for him and he went in the house to sleep a few hours.

 

“Asclepius, do you know what is going to happen tomorrow?” She rolls over to face me, “Yes I do.” I start to pick my nails as my nerves surface. “What is it going to be like...the awakening I mean.” She lets out a sigh and tries to explain, “Well it is different for everyone. It all depends on what your gift is. Since you’re a Mystic, werewolf and a Royal, your awakening is going to be painful. The less power you have the easier the transition. Plus you’re at Royals Peak and on the Blood Moon...it’s going to be a difficult change for you.” I don't know why thought she would try and reassure me that everything would be fine. She still holds that childlike honesty. She has no idea that what she is telling me is scaring the shit out me. I asked her a question and she was giving me the facts. She continues, “Don’t worry Queen, it doesn't last very long. Once the moon is at it highest spot in the sky, that it when it will begin and it only lasts for about 1 minute. That is why it is so painful because all the power that is awakening inside you. It only has 1 minute to manifest and become permanent. You must remember to keep every part of you body in the light or it will not work. I have never seen it not work...so I don’t know what happens. I try to mentally prepare myself for what is about to happen. One thing has been running through my mind and asking her is probably my best bet, “Since werewolves cannot control their shifting because of a male ruling, what is going to happen to Travis when the full moon shifts him? Is he going to remeber me at all and what needs to be done?” She sits up and stares at me, “You have very good questions Queen.” She places her index finger on her chin and begins to think. There is silence for a moment and then she snaps out of it, “Now that you bring that up, I remember Renee telling me something about the Blood Moon and shifting...but I just cannot remember.” I start to get anxious, “Please try it is very important.”

 

“AH yes, she told me that because of the Blood Moon and the fact that you will be ascending to the throne, no werewolf can shift until you have been fully awakened. Renee said that is why Khan wants to wait until after your awakening, so that he can shift. Khan has told everyone that it is for the ‘glory of war’, but he is really scared to fight in his human figure. He always has been. He always would wait for a full moon before waging any wars.” she covers her mouth and laughs. After she finishes her giggle fit she continues, “So after you awaken you will be stronger than Khan and gain control over the race, so in turn, werewolfs will again be able to shift on their own and control themselves after shifting.” She claps her hands together and gently punches my shoulder with excitement, “I knew I could remember it! Renee told me that I was to give you all that information but I forgot all about it. Good thing you brought it up!” I can't help but get a little angry with her. This is important information and her not telling me would have been a large mistake. “I still don’t understand something, if I gain control over the race automatically then why does a battle need to happen at all. Why cant I just tell him that he is not king anymore?”

 

“That would be much easier wouldn’t it...But that is not the way. The universe will recognize you as Queen, but Khan will not and either will the subjects that are under his rule. The Realm was created by the Universe for the creatures it holds, for their safety. When the Realm was created thousands and thousands of years ago, the Universe chose the strongest of all to guide us. Well the first leaders turned it into a monarchy and made the laws that we all must follow. That is  just the way it is.” The more I learn about this world, the more unfair and unjust it sounds. If i do become Queen I think that there will be some changes. I look to her and respond, “Do you ever wish that things were different?” She looks back to me and responds immediately, “Never!” She almost shouts it at me. “Why not?” She shakes her head and closes her eyes. “Because, our world is not like the humans world. There are creatures that can never see reason, can never think on their own, or be trusted. We have a monarchy so that all control is in the hands of the wisest and strongest. Although you get rulers like Khan who lose their mind with power, you also get rulers like Renee who have more compassion than Khan could ever have. There is a reason for everything in our world and you will learn them soon enough.” I can tell that she is getting annoyed with all my questions  but I cant help it. She looks back to me, “Queen, I cannot return to the palace, may I stay here with you?” I can't help but be confused by this, “Why can’t you return to the palace you said that you lived there?” She sits all the way up from the same brushing the dry sand from her body, “I do live there, but Khan told me that if I were to ever come to you when you called me would kill me. This forest is filled with Scouts and I am sure that he already knows by now. So can I stay here with you?” I place my arm around her shoulder and give her a gentle squeeze. “Of course you can stay here.” She giggles with excitement and gets up from the shore. “Well what should we do?” I tilt my head to the side, “What do you mean?” She puts her hands on her hips and responds, “What do you mean what should we do!? This is your last day of freedom before you have to become Royalty and there is nothing that you have planned to do?” I shake my head no at her and she throws her hands in the air. “Where is Travis?” I point towards the house and she storms of towards it. I get up and chase after her, “Wait please! He is sleeping!” She ignores my calls and stomps up the stairs. I jump up the three steps and into the front door. Asclepius is standing in the entryway staring at my mother, “You never told me that your mother is a Pyros!” She runs to my mother and grabs her wrists gently, running her fingers down the palms of her hands. She has no fear of anyone I swear. My mother is speechless and she stares at me confused. “Ummm Niki, who is your friend?” Asclepius drops her hand and takes a step back. “I’m sorry, I lost my manors in all this excitement. My name is Asclepius I am the Queens Healer.”

 

“Its nice to meet you dear.” Asclepius turns back to me and whispers, “Ask her to make the fire!” I look to my mother who could clearly hear what she said. She turns her palms face up and Asclepius was drawn in like a moth. “Mom do the dancers!” I holler over to her. She rubs her fingertips together and them the smoke begins to rise. Small flakes of red and orange flames pop and spark. Within seconds the two tiny fire dancers are floating across her palms. Asclepius gasps with excitement, “You can make fire people! This amazing! I have never seen this before!” My mom looks down to her as she stares at the flames,  “You seem very young dear, how old are you?” Without missing a beat she responds, “I know, I am very young, only 230 years.” She looks up to my mom and gives her a smile. “I know what everyone thinks of me. They think because of the way I talk I am stupid or I am a very young but what people don’t understand, is the reason why grown ups are no longer carefree and speak as though they no longer have fun in their lives is because they have had situations that have wounded their hearts and made them that way. That is why they are so sensible and no longer any fun. But I am a healer, so when my heart gets hurt in those situations, it heals to its original state and I get to keep my spirit. Does that make any sense?” She looks down to her, “More than you know.” I never thought of her childish behavior that way but now it all makes sense. When she removed all the pain that I had from Derek, I felt like a different person. There are situations in life that change us forever, but she never has that. She doesn't have to deal with heartache, disappointment or any of the other harsh things that this world has to offer. Every Time that something like that happens she just healers herself. Like rebooting a computer. She remembers the event, but doesn't experience the pain that goes along with it. I dont know if I would want to have that ability. I would rather grow into who I am supposed to be then to stay carefree forever.

 

Asclepius is entranced by what my mother has created. “How did you hide from Khan all these years?” Mom looks down to her confused by the question. “What do you mean? I thought that Renee only wanted Niki?” She extinguishes the flames to get the full attention Asclepius. She looks at her almost annoyed that she stopped the show. “Well many years ago Khan told everyone that all the Pyros were to report to his Army. This is a huge honor for anyone in the Realm. Of course they all flocked to him to join.” Both my mother and I listen closely, anything that Khan comes up usually ends in death or there is something that benefits him in the end. She continues, “Before all the Pyros were summoned to join, there were only a select few that actually knew what he was doing and Renee was one of them. SHe told me that Khan was terrified by all Pyros because they held the power to end an immortal. He believed that none of them could be trusted.” It seems like he would want to banish them instead of welcome them into his Army. “Khan rounded them all up in the Great Hall.” I interrupt her, “Wait, what is the Great Hall?”

 

“The Great Hall Is where the king and queens thrones are. It’s also the room where all the Monarchy makes their decisions in regards to the Realm. Anyone who needs help in the Realm can come to the Great Hall on select days to consult with the them. The room is so beautiful. Its great stone walls seem to never end, the walls are lined with gold candlesticks that never go out and never burn down. Its a little spell that an elder placed on them long ago. You will see it for yourself after all of this is over.” This palace sound more like a castle. I dont know if i want to live in a castle. I mean as a girl I always wanted to live in one and be a princess but now I am old and things have changed. She looks to me with wide eyes, “Oh sorry go ahead.”

 

“Well, He rounded them up in the Great Hall and murdered them all. Men, women and he even went to their homes where their children were and murdered them also. It was an awful day and the whole Realm mourned. He had most of the subject convinced that it was for the greater good and that they had a plan to overthrow him. I never believe it and Renee had a hard time being around him after that. She told that is when she knew that she had to give up her life the save the lives of billions of people. Not only the people in our Realm but the Human Race as well.” I look to my mother whose face has drained of all its color. She swallows deeply, “Does Khan know that I am a Pyros?” She squints her eyes and looks up the the ceiling racking her brain, “I really don’t know. Since Renee has been gone I don’t get to hear very much monarchy dirt.” She looks around the room and then down the hall, “Where is Travis we must get him.” I point down the hall and she runs down it. I can’t believe that Khan killed all those people just for his own security. He has gone mad with power and now I feel compelled to stop him. “Travis why are you sleeping in the middle of the day!” I hear Asclepius yelling at him in my room. I don’t hear Travis respond just the door closing and both of them walking down the hall. He is trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes and Asclepius is skipping behind him. “Now that we are all awake I think that we do something together.” Denise’s bedroom door opens and she walks out. Asclepius turns and sees Denise standing in the hallway and spits venom in her direction, “What are you doing here traitor? The woman who would defile her own Queens wishes just to be on the Court.” Denise starts to back away from all of us. Denise still has no idea that we already know that she was trading information with Khan to gain a spot with the Royal Court, Denise looks to Travis with dread on her face. She just made progress with him after all this crap started and now she thinks that everything is going to be ruined. “Travis please I can explain..!” Travis raises his hand to her, “Mom stop. We already know. You were helping Khan we have known the whole time.” She looks so confused its almost amusing. “How could you possibly know that?” Travis lets out a deep breath, “Dad was here and he told us...” She begins to get angry at hearing this. “I can’t believe he knew too...Well if it is any consolation I do not plan to aid him any further.” Asclepius chimes in, “Well it doesn't make much of a difference anyways you know the awakening is tomorrow. It is a good thing that you changed your mind because Khan was not going to let you live past tomorrow anyways.” The air goes stiff and everyone stands still waiting for Denise to respond. She looks to the ground and rubs her hands together. “I dont know why I thought he would have mercy on me. I have been such a fool...Travis can you ever forgive me?”  

 

Travis walks to her placing his arms gently around her and hugging her tightly. A sob escapes her lip and she looks up to me with tears in her eyes. “I am sorry Niki. for so many years I have thought of only myself and it is time that I change.” She lets go of Travis who has also began to cry. I can’t stand to see him like this but at the same time I feel joy for him. I know what it feels like to have to a difficult relationship with your mother and the moment I am watching in front of me reminds me of the changes my mom and I had. I am happy that he gets to have this reconnection. Denise starts to walk towards me. Fear jumps through me out if instinct. I really don't know if I can trust her but at this point I have no choice. The floor creak as she stops in front of me. “I hope that you believe when I say that I am truly sorry and for this moment forward I stand with you, not against.” Slowly I feel the fear dissipate and I get the burning sensation of tears welling up in my eyes. I quickly wrap my arms around her shoulder and for a moment she is still. I feel her arms slowly reach up around my waist and then the quick stab of cold steel through the back of my rib cage. Pain rips through me and my body crumbles. She holds onto me whispering in my ear, “Long live the Queen.” I can hear my mother screaming as I drop to the floor. Warm liquid puddles around my back and I quickly realize that it’s my own blood. Time seems to be running in slow motion as Travis runs towards me and my mother falls to her knees. Asclepius in at my side before Travis can even reach me. All I can hear is the chants from Asclepius but the words mean nothing to me. Travis sits, sobing in front of me as my vision begins to blur. Then...complete darkness.

 

I feel nothing, no pain, no fear...nothing. I stretch my arms out trying to feel anything at all but all I can feel is emptiness. slowly I begin to move my legs and the same sensation coats my whole body. I realize that I am floating in midair. I couldn't be dead could I? Could Denise of really done such a thing. She has a soul that is past saving. A bright light begins to illuminated in the distance. As it gets brighter it changes from a silvery haze to an emerald green. I reach out towards it and the light burst into a glittery explosion. Every color of green has covered my body and I begin to hear a far off cry. The sounds begins to get louder and my chest begins to pull towards it. The voice comes into to focus for a brief moment and I realize that its the voice of Asclepius and within seconds I am back lying on the entryway floor. Everyone one around me is silent. Travis begins to reach towards me. His hands shaking and his face covered with tears. “Niki, are you with us?” I nod my head yes and my mother sobs break through the silence. Travis grabs my arm and pulls me into his chest. I wrap my arms around him and the tears begin to fall down my cheeks. I feel pressure on my back and Asclepius has hurried over and wrapped her arms around us both. My mother is right after her, flailing her arms around us and we all just sit enjoying the relief.

 

I am the first to pull away, looking around the room for Denise. I see a bloody heap of what was onceDenise.Her body lies on it side and her face is turned away from me. Her grey tank top is ripped and bloodied down the back. I see a huge gash up her back and it’s pouring blood all over the floor. There is a heavy metallic taste in the air and my stomach begins to turn. This is not something that I am accustomed to seeing and honestly it’s too much for me to handle. I scrambled to my feet and turn, running out the front down and into the woods. My feet beat against the forest floor as I get further from the house. I hear Travis in the distance calling for me to stop. I need to be alone right now. I thought that I would be able to handle this sort if thing since I have no choice but to watch as Khan and Travis battle for the throne, but seeing it in real time was much more than I expected. How am I going to be able to do this. My legs begin to burn as I whip past redwoods and fallen bratchen scratch my legs. A small twig catches the top and my foot and I come to a crashing stop. I hit the ground like a freight train smashing a truck stuck on the tracks. Pain shoots through my ankle and my wrist snaps on the dirt as I try to catch myself. I scream out in pain and try not to move.

 

I look up into the trees and see an owl sitting on a high branch directly above me. Ares? The moment I think this, it extends its wings and flys off into the distant trees. I lie there trying to figure out what I am going to do when I hear in the distant, sounds of breaking twigs and bushes being crushed. “Niki!! Where are you!” Travis comes racing through the woods faster than I have ever seen anyone move. The air has been knocked out of me so severely that I cannot yell. I raise my arm into the air and he catches sight of it instantly. He turns towards me and in a split second he is at my side. He slides his arms under the back of my neck and legs carrying me bridal style. He begins to speed through the forest and the trees being to blur together into a brown-green painting. If I wasn't in so much pain, I would be enjoying it.

 

He gets me back to the house in no time at all. Asclepius is standing on the porch with her hands on her hips and tapping her toe on the deck. “What was that all about!? Now I have to heal you all over again and i'm tired!” I can’t help but giggle at her anger. Travis walks up the steps and places me on the porch swing, Asclepius stomps over to me and kneels down at my side. She looks to my face as she rubs her hands together, “I can tell and you are going to need me a lot.” I smile down to her and she looks away. She opens her hands and the same emerald green is pulsing in her palms. She places one hand on my wrist and the other on my ankle. I get instant relief and the pain slowly begins to subside. She looks down to me and says, “Here comes the painful part are you ready.” I look up at her, “Wait? What?” She makes a quick flick of both her wrists and  my bone snap back into place. An instance of the most intense pain I have ever felt rushes through me and then dissipates. She removes her hand and gets to her feet,”Please be more careful Queen. Now please explain what happened?!” I catch my breath and push by self up. I look to Travis who is standing with a blank expression on his face. “I saw...her laying on the ground… there was blood every where. I just couldn’t handle it.” I look to the ground feeling ashamed of saying this in front of Travis. I can't believe how selfish I am being. Travis just killed his own mother and I freak out over just seeing her in a bloodied mess on the ground. I get up and walk to Travis. I place my hands on his biceps and feel his muscles tense up. “Are you ok?” He looks to the ground and then back to me. “I will be ok.” I release him and give him some space. I turn to Asclepius and ask, “What happened after I blacked out?” She looks to my mother who is standing in the doorway of the house. I look to her and she looks as if she is going to vomit. “Mom are you ok?” She brings her hand from behind her back and its covered in blood. “Mom...is that from Denise.” She looks to her hand and back to me.”I couldn't let Travis do it...I couldn’t.” I run to her and wrap my arms around her tightly. There are no tears...no words...just silence. I look over my mother's shoulder and I see Denise beginning to stir as her body begins to heal itself. “Travis...she is moving!” My mother releases me and rushes to Denise. Grabbing her by the arm she begins to drag her from the house. A thick trail of crimson follows them out of the house and down the deck steps. Her head bangs on the step as mom drags her to the front of the cars. She drops Denises arm to the ground and turns to us, “Go inside! All of you!” We all stay where we are trying to let her know that she doesn't have to be alone during this. She turns her palms up and smoke begins to pour out from them. With a flick of her wrist a ball of flames ignites. She thrusts the the flame towards us and it hits just in front of our feet. “Move! NOW!” We all turn and rush into the house slamming the door. All three of us rush to the front window watching my mom circle Denise as she lays beaten on the ground. The flames ignite in her palms again but this time and flames travel up her arms, and to her shoulders. Her mouth is moving but we cannot hear what she is saying. She lifts her hands into the air thrusting them down towards Denise with force. The flames change from a orangish red to a cobalt blue. She raised her head to the sky and screams out. It only last for a few seconds and then she falls to the ground. We rush out to her and pull her away from Denise’s burning corpse. The smell is enough to make anyone vomit and I get mighty close to it. Travis picks my mom up bridal style and carries her into the house. We all follow him back up the steps. I turn back to look at Denise and there is nothing to be found but a pile of ashes. A strong gust of wind rips through the woods and spreads her ashes across the sand. I wish that it didn't have to come to this. I was really hoping that the moment we all had with her would last. But it just goes to show that there was really nothing that we could do to save her. I just hope that Travis can recover from watching his mother go up in flames.

 

The storm we all were dreading looms over the lake. The sun has began to set, the sky is painted with purples and pinks. I sit on the large rocks on the edge of the lake just listening to the water lap against the stones. The summer breeze is no longer warm on the skin and the fear that is climbing up my back is giving me chills. I am not ready for this… i haven't seen Travis since everything happened. I can’t imagine what he must be feeling. Asclepius has been inside with my mother trying to convince her to let her remove the anguish and guilt she is feeling but she will not budge. I wind blows my hair around my neck and across my face. I pull my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them. I get the faint scent of cologne, I turn my head and see Travis walking from the house towards me. He looks as if he has been crying for hours. He walks over to me taking a set on the large rock next to me. For a moment he says nothing and just stares out at the sunset. I look down to him and reach out my hand to touch his shoulder. THe moment my hand touches him and turns his head to me. The pain in his eyes breaks my soul and i can’t help but cry. He gets up and sits behind me wrapping his ares around my shoulders. “Travis… are you ok?” He lets out a deep sigh and plants a gentle kiss on my neck. “I will be.” I look up to him wiping my eyes, “I am sorry...I feel like this is all my fault.” He takes his hand and places it on my cheek, “I don't ever want you to think that this was your fault. She made her choices on her own and made her own mistakes. You have to understand Niki, you’re my mate and there is nothing in this world that would make me stop loving you.” My heart begins to flutter and he leans in kissing my lips softly.” This time I feel no passion but an overwhelming feeling of...love. In any other circumstances this man would have left me, but this new world bonds people for life where no situation can change how you feel about each other. It’s something that no human will ever be able to experience and for that...I am grateful. I never wanted to have love again, but Travis has shown me that love is worth fighting for. I heard once that the greatest thing that you can ever do is just to love and be loved in return and being with Travis has finally made me realize its true meaning. This experience has been hard and painful, but I wouldn't change it for anything else and i just hope that Travis feels the same.

Chapter 9

 

The Awakening

 

 

Thunder rolls through the silent woods. I lie on my back in my bed awake as Travis lies sleeping beside me. It must be around 7am and I feel as if I have been awake all night long. I have fear growing inside me and my thoughts are racing so quickly that I cannot stop them. This is the day that we have all been dreading and I am not ready. Travis begins to stir next to me and I try to lie still as not to wake him. He rolls over and faces me, “Are you awake?” I look over to him and nod yes and then look back out the window. He scoots up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist breathing in deeply on the back of my neck. Today his touch brings no comfort. The sun is blocked from the dark grey clouds that completely cover the sky and the warm summer breeze has turned freezing and the house cold. “Niki, are you worried?” I roll over to face Travis and I can’t help but get annoyed at his question, “Of course I am worried aren’t you?” He rubs the sleep from his eyes and looks back at me. “Of course I am Niki but I am not going to let it ruin our day. There is nothing that we can do now other than wait for the the awakening.” How can he be so calm about everything? I feel like my skin is crawling and the only thing I want to do right now is run far away. He begins to runs his hand through my hair and then places his open palm on the side of my face. “Happy Birthday Baby.” He smiles at me and I return with the best smile that I can produce, although it probably seems fake. The smell of bacon begins to fill the air and we both take a deep breath in. “That smells good, I guess my mom decided to cook again.” Travis looks to me shrugging his shoulders. There is a knock on the door that makes me jump. “Who is it?” There is a moment of silence and then an answer, “It me...Mom.” I sigh of relief escapes by lips and I respond, “Come in.” The door knob turns slowly and the door creaks open. “Are you guys making breakfast?” Travis and I look at each other confused, “No we thought that you were, we are just now getting up.” I realize that it must be Asclepius. I crawl over Travis and swing my legs of the bed and onto the cold hardwood floor. I push myself up from the bed and walk over to the closet grabbing my purple slippers. Slipping them on, I turn to Travis, “Are you going to get up?” He doesn't respond and throws his legs over the bed. I start for the door and he grabs my wrist pulling me to him. He holds me in his arms and presses my body against his chest. I look up to him and he kisses me gently on the lips. I can’t help but melt into him and I press my lips deeper into his. He rips his lips from mine, “We don't have time for that little lady.” I giggle and turn away from him walking out of the room and down the hall. I can hear his steps following me as we make our way to the dining room.

 

The table is covered with the traditional breakfast items, bacon, eggs, potatoes and juices. I turn and look into the kitchen seeing a man standing in front of the sink washing the dishes. “Dad…” He turns and his face could not make me feel more at ease. “Hey baby girl, happy birthday!” I run to him and wrap my arms around him. Tears begin to fall down my cheeks wetting his shirt. “I am so happy you're here! How did you get here?” His embrace is the one thing that I have been longing for. I finally feel my fear melt away and try to focus on the comfort that he is providing me. “Well I got out of the hospital and went home for a few days. I couldn't stand the thought of missing your birthday so I had a Taxi bring me. I thought that I would whip up some breakfast. I have something for you. Its in the living room on the coffee table.” I get on my tippy toes and give him a kiss on the cheek. I let him go and turn to walk out of the kitchen to see what he has brought for me and Travis is standing in the doorway with a worried look on his face. “What is the matter?” His gaze doesn't leave my father and he doesn't answer me. I wave my hand in front of his face trying to break his trace. He finally snaps out of it and looks down to me. He moves out of my way so I can pass. I grab his wrist and drag him to the living room with me. “What is wrong with you.” He looks around as if someone is watching him. “It is really not a good idea that he is here you know. They can use him against you.” I look to the gorund and the once happy feeling I was having is gone. “Well there is nothing that we can do now. He is here and I need him right now. If you want to convince him to leave then you go ahead.” I walk away from him and look towards the coffee table that is inbetween the fireplace and the couch. I see my mother sitting in front of the fireplace setting up logs to make a fire. There is a small box on the table with pink wrapping and a tiny silver bow. I pick up the box and it is no bigger than the palm of my hand. I pull off the pink wrapping and it revealed a little black ring box. I open the lid and a small sliver ring sparkles. It is so beautiful and I take it from the box placing it on my finger. I notice that there is an engraving on the outside, “I love you more than life itself” Tears of happiness being to well up in my eyes and I rush back to the kitchen. My dad is wiping his hands off on a dish towel and I rush to him wrapping my arms around him squeezing him as hard as I can, “Thank you Dad, I love it!” He tries to catch his breath and says, “Your welcome honey.” He pulls me away and kisses me on the forehead, “Now go eat.” I turn to walk away and he hollers out, “Come on everyone lets eat.” The front door opens and in walks Asclepius. My dad turns his head as he pulls out the chair at the head of the table. “Who is this young lady?” Asclepius looks to him and curtsies, “My name is Asclepius. I am the Queens Healer and you are?” He is taken back at her bow and responds, “I am the Queens father.” She rushes to him and grabs his hand shaking it vigorously, “It is nice to meet you! I never thought that I would get the chance. Are you also a Pyros?” He looks at her confused and then looks back to me, “What is a Pyros.” Before I can answer she points to my mother who is still kneeling in front of the fireplace, “She is a Pyros.” My mother whips her head around and sees my father and Asclepius staring at her, “What?” My father folds his arms and continues to stare at her, “Why are you a Pyros?” I realize that my father still has no idea that she has regained her gift. He never really knew much about it in the first place. My mom turns around with fire glowing in her hand. My father jumps and rushes to her trying to extinguish the flames. My mom begins to laugh and we all follow, “Honey relax it doesn't hurt.” He sits back onto the floor and begins to rub his head. “I am confused.” She closes her hand and the flame dissipates. “Well it guess the easiest way to explain it is I can control fire and conjure it on command.” He looks around the room and we all nod yes to him. He gets up from the floor and wipes off the seat of his pants. “Well I guess crazier things have happened to this family.” He walks back towards the table and mom follows him.

 

As I look around the table at everyone sitting and enjoying each others company, I realize that this is the last time that we will all be together. Sadness hits me suddenly and tears begin to fall from my eyes and hit my plate. Travis turns to me and places his hand atop mine. “What is the matter, why are you crying?” I turn to him and try to smile, “This is the last time I will have breakfast with my parents.” Asclepius turns her gaze to me, “Who told you that you couldn't see your family anymore.” I look confused at her and whip my tears away from my eyes, “Renee.” She looks up into the air and scoffs,”It is your choice. You can either bring them with you or they can keep their mortal lives. Renee prefers to have them keep their mortal lives, I think that is why she didn't give you the option.” I don't fully understand why it matters if they choose to come with me or not. “Why would she not want them to come with me?”

“Well humans are not allowed in our world. You have the choice to bring them or not, but they will have to give up the life they have now completely and they can never return, just as you cannot return. Since humans are not allowed in our world, there will be subjects that don’t condone you bringing them. They might try to...eliminate them.” I guess that Renee has a good reason for everything but I think that in this case the risk isn’t outweighed by the benefits. There would be nothing that is more amazing than to continue to have my parents in my life. I could not imagine not being able to see them ever again. I look to my mother who is listening closely. “Mom, would you want to come with us?” She looks to my father and I also turn to look at him. “What do you think honey?” He finishes chewing his mouth full of food and swallows, “Well I dont know. Give up everything? That is a lot. Are you sure that you could never come and visit, Renee came to Niki didn’t she?” Asclepius jumps in, “She came to the human world with the intent of never returning to her own. The only reason that a Royal would come to the human world is for emergencies that involve our own kind. Traveling back and forth isn’t recommended because of danger. Of course a majority of our kind lives in the human world, but the Royals must stay in the Realm for their safety. Just like in the Human world, back in the days of old, your Kings and Queens would stay mainly in the castles.” I think that this is too large of a decision to make over breakfast. I can see my fathers anxiety level rising and I decide to end the conversation. “Why don't we discuss this later.” Mom and dad both look to me and nod their heads in agreeance.

 

The rest of breakfast is spent in silence, but as the day grew towards the afternoon the mood changed. Ascelpius can’t stand to stay quiet. She was the first to start, “So are we just going to sit around all day or can we do something now?” My mother glances to my father and giggles. We all have been lounging in the living room in silence and I agree that it is time to change the tone. This is my last day as just Niki and this is not how I plan on spending it. I look over to Travis who is leaned back in the black recliner in the corner of the room. His arms folded on his chest and I can’t help but to get a small butterfly in my stomach. It almost makes me mad the way he can change my feelings in an instant. That is one thing that I never thought would happen to me. I think the main reason it upsets me is because I love it so much. Sometimes I forget to remember how amazing it is that I found that one person in the world that I was ment to be with. So I cannot be too upset about the hand I have been delt. I begin to sneak over to him, tiptoeing past the coffee table. I look to my mom and dad that are sitting on the couch, and motion for them to be quiet. My mom winks at me and I move closer to Travis. I get to the arm of his chair and take a breath in. I lean over the chair and I glance up to the window above his head only to see Ares and two other large men and one girl...Aaren. I jump back and Travis sits up qucikly grabbing my shoulders, “What is it!?” He pushes me back and I lose sight of Aaren and the three men she was with. Travis puts his hand to the side of my face gently turning my head to face him, “Niki… what is it?” I stay silent for the moment and just try to slow my heart beat. If Aaren and Ares are here again and now there are two men with her, one must be Khan. It’s not even night yet, I have not even awakened. Renee told me that he wouldn’t come until after the awakening. Fear begins to crawl up my spine. Travis waits patiently staring down at me. “Niki please say something.” I take a breath and respond as calmly as I can. “I saw Aaren, Ares and two men standing outside.” Travis drops his arms to his side and I can see his anger growing stronger. He looks to my mother and father on the couch and practically screams at them, “Get up and move to the bedroom! NOW!” They don’t ask question and hurry from the living room. As much as I see the pain in my fathers eyes to leave me with Travis, he knows nothing of this world and until we can find out why they have come early and where they are, its best he stay hidden. He cannot help me if he is beaten or dead.

 

The room is so quiet and Asclepius is sitting quietly in the kitchen. Travis stomps over to her, “Why is he here early?” She looks up to him and her cheeks begin to turn red with anger, “How would I know that Travis when I have been here with you guys.” He begins to pace back and forth in the entryway, “I know I am sorry. What are we going to do?” She looks around the room and then back to Travis, “Well why don’t you look out the window and see if they are still standing there?” He scoffs and walks over to the window. He the floors creek with every stomp. He stands in front of the window motionless for a moment and then looks back to me. “There is no one there.” I rush over the the window and look out to where I saw them standing and there is no one there. I stiffen up and look to Travis he isn’t looking at me, just staring out the window. For a moment I really think he has lost his mind. He looks down to me and smiles. “Your an idiot. Did you really see people of was it that group of bushes over there.” I can’t help and crack a grin and slap the side of his arm. “I really saw them you ass.” He rolls his eyes and turn around to where Asclepius was sitting in the kitchen. She is still sitting with her chin resting on her palms as her elbow sit on the table. I begin to walk towards her and head for the front door. I am not going to sit in this house anymore. I must be starting to lose my mind since I thought that a pair of bushes were people.

 

I forget that my parents are still hiding in their room. I turn on my heels and walk towards the end of the hall, “Hey, you guys can come out now.” The door at the end of the hall creaks open and my mom walks out with tears streaming down her face. “Is it over already?” She speed walks towards me and wraps her arms around my shoulders. “Mom it’s alright I think I was just seeing things.” She pulls herself away from me looking into my eyes, “Was it a vision?” I am taken back by this. I can’t believe that I didn’t even think of that. “I have no idea. I didn’t summon it and I could of swore that they were real.” My mom walks past me and heads for the front door. She says nothing and walks out sitting on the porch swing. I follow her out and she is staring out towards the island with a solemn mask glued to her face. “Mom are you alright.” She looks to me and tries to smile. She taps the seat next to her beckoning for me to join her. I take a few steps over to the swing and then sit down next to her. She finally speaks, “I used to love watching the the sun set behind that island, but now its doesn't look the same.” I let out a sigh because I know exactly what she is talking about. This whole house doesn't hold the same warmth that it used to. The grey clouds begin to let out a low grumble and I look up to the sky not being able to see the sun. I feel a drop in the middle of my forehead and I reach up wiping it away. I look down to my hand and it realize that it is rain. It could not have come at a worse time. Hopefully it will stay away long enough for the awakening to be over. I glance down to my moms hand and grab it with mine. She looks to me with tears welling up in her eyes, “Mom everything is going to be fine. We are going to make it through this.” She squeezes my hand and then releases it, standing from the swing she walks back into the house.

 

I try to shake off the fear that is crawling up my spine and stand from the swing. I head towards the shore, the steps of the porch creaking under my feet. Each steps takes me further from the house and out towards the shore. The freezing breeze rips through the trees and chills me to the bone. I wrap my arms around my chest trying to keep some heat in. I stop at the sandy shore and the water is no longer still as glass. The wind has changed it from a glass like calm to rippling fury. I don’t know how we are going to get to the island with the water being so choppy. We can’t swim and the boat we have is on its last leg. I guess that it’s about mid afternoon but I cannot tell since the sun is no where to be seen. I close my eyes trying to relax my nerves. I take a deep breath through my nose and the smell of nature no longer brings me comfort. The freezing wind is making it hard to stay outside but I don’t want to be in the house right now. I need some fresh air. The wind blows through my hair and I hear a whisper riding on the breeze, “Be brave young queen.” I look around to see if there is someone, but of course I am alone. The voice brought me a feeling a relief. I can’t help but think it was Renee. It sounded just like her. I feel better knowing that she is here with me. Although she might not be able to help me during this struggle, knowing that she is watching over me is enough. Twigs begin to crack behind me and I turn quickly to see Travis walking towards me from the house. I start towards him and stop a few feet in front of him. “What are you doing out here Niki, it’s going to storm soon.” Tears begin to well up in my eyes and I rush into him enveloping myself into his strong embrace. “I am scared Travis.” He pulls me away from him and looks into my eyes with determination, “I am not going to let anything happen to you. You need to believe me when I say that.” I nod my head yes and sink into his chest. He releases me and turns back to the house wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pulls me towards the porch.

 

Everyone is silent in the house just watching the clock. The suspense is killing all of us. Something is changing inside me and my blood is starting to burn my veins. I look to Travis as he sits in the recliner staring out the window. There is a voice in my head that I have never heard before, The time has come and we will be one. It sounds like me but for some reason I don’t recognize it. I don’t know what to think and look to Asclepius who is sitting at the kitchen table playing with her long hair, twirling it between her fingers. I try to call her in a whisper, “Asclepius...come here.” She turns to me and slowly gets from her set and walks over to the couch and sits with me. “What is wrong My Queen.” I can’t stop the anger that is building inside me and it’s more powerful than I have ever felt. I look to her with fire in my eyes and almost shout in her face, “I have told you over and over not to call me that!” Travis looks to me and my parents come around the corner with a worried look on their faces. Travis gets up from the recliner and walks over to me. “Niki are you ok?” The anger is growing stronger and I stand from the couch not being able to control my actions. Something is taking over me and I cannot stop it. Travis grabs my shoulders and looks down to Asclepius, “She is on fire, it’s trying to take over.” She springs from her seat and stands next to me, “Niki…” Just saying my name makes her uncomfortable, “Your inner wolf is trying to take over. The night is coming and its getting stronger. Khan is still ruler of the Realm so your inner wolf is full of anger and hate. You have to control it.” I hear my dads foot steps creak on the hardwood floor as he walks up behind me. Travis raises his hand to him, trying to keep him away. He hits his hand down and I feel his presence behind me, “Travis, no offense but this is my child and I know her better than anyone in the world.” I feel Travis’s body heat rise as his anger increases. When it comes to me, Travis doesn't want anyone to interfere. He releases me and takes two steps back. I feel my fathers arms wrap around my back and around my chest. He leans in a whispers in my ear, “Niki don’t let it control you.” There is part of me that is calmed by his words but at the same time I can’t control the anger my inner wolf is feeling. I try to push her back into my mind but she continues to hiss in my ear, He wants to control you, but I want to free you Niki. Don’t believe their lies. For a moment I believe her and try to break from my fathers embrace. His arms tighten around me and I flex harder trying to break free. The harder I push out the more force he pulls me in with. I try to wriggle away from him but he is much too strong for me to break free from. I look around the room and Travis is staring wide eyed at my father. I close my eyes and try to get control of myself. I try to control my breathing and listen for the voice. Finally she speaks again,”You are weak Niki, I can set you free. We can take over all!” I try to ignore her words but for some reason they are tempting me. I need to hold on to my true self so I decide to answer her. “You do not control me and you never will. Return to where to came from until I call you myself.” My words are more powerful and I feel my inner wolf shiver with fear. I start to become dizzy and my knees get weak. I begin to black out and my knees give out. I feel my fathers arms grip me tighter than they ever have before and I become weightless. Blackness is surrounding me as I battle my inner wolf for control. I can feel sweat building on the forehead and then like a wave sweeping away the sand I fall into blackness. The last thing that I hear is Travis shouting my name and then I fade into nothingness.

 

For some reason I feel comfortable in the darkness. I no longer hear my inner wolf and the anger she was radiating has subsided. My chest begins to burn as I try to take a deep breath. I fight for a breath and then all at once I am shot back into consciousness. I see everyone standing around me. I realize that my feet are not touching the ground and my fathers arms are crushing me. I fight to get words out, “Dad...Please you're crushing me.” He immediately releases me and before I hit the floor Travis cradles me in his arms. “Are you alright?” I try to catch my breath as my lungs burn with much needed oxygen. “I think so. I thought that I would be able to change until after the awakening.” He raises me to my feet and I try to get my bearings. He runs his hand through my hair and relief floods me. He looks to me and takes a breath, “It happens to every werewolf before the full moon. Because of Khan, your inner wolf takes control once the full moon shows itself. Before the that time, its anger and hate can be felt.” There is so much to this world that is unfair and doesn't make sense. The only thing I can do it take it in and accept it. I turn around to see my father and all the color has drained from his face. “Dad are you ok?” He looks up to me and tries to talk, “Something happened to me when I was holding on to you.” He looks past me to Travis searching for an answering. Travis walks around me and stands in front of my father.  “When Niki was chose as the next Queen both you and Tracy were given a gift. Tracy was given back her Pyros ability and it looks like you were given the gift of strength.” He turns his head slightly and I can tell that is he confused. “What does that mean?”I giggles slightly and remember that he has not been aroung us at all and knows nothing about this world. I shrug my shoulders, “I have learned just to go with it. There are not enough words to explain all the Realm has.” He looks around the room and tries to wrap his mind around what has just happened. Travis walks to him and puts his hands on his shoulders, “To sum it up you have limitless strength now.” There is a rumbling outside and the thunder is getting louder and louder. A crack of green lightning lights up the sky and everyone jumps. The wind increases in speed and sends a low howling through the redwoods. Fear climbs up my spine and I shiver. I look to the clock and it is 6:30pm. I look back to Travis and he nods his head. “Its time to go to the island.” My heart begins to beat rapidly and I can feel everyone eyes glues to me. I am not ready for this…

 

Rain is pouring down from the sky and every drop that hits me beats me further into fear. My inner wolf is stronger than ever and it’s becoming hard and hard to ignore her. Travis stays by side as we all stand on the dock staring out towards the island. No one wants to get in the boat. Asclepius is the first to step in. “Come on we have to get over there soon.” The lake is so choppy that it almost throws her out of the boat. My father is the next to jump in, then my mom and Travis. They all hold on to the edge of the boat trying to steady it. Travis extends his hand to me and I am frozen in fear. You are nothing without me. You fear your own destiny. I hear my wolf taunting me and it snaps me out my trance. I reach to Travis and grab his hand. He pulls me onto the boat and it rocks back and forth. This boat was not meant for five people and trying to row it across this lake is going to be a challenge. The freezing gust pushes us all to the side and we try to sit down without flipping the little boat. Travis and my dad both grab an orre and dip them into the water. My mom unties the rope holding the dock and I feel like the last shred of my old life has just been severed. Panic rushes through me and the only thing I want right now is to get off this boat and run as far away as I can. Asclepius wraps her arms around me and tries to calm me, “I can take away the fear if you want me too.” She practically has to shout just to get her voice over the wind. I look at her and shake my head no. This is the not the time to not feel fear. The moment that I don’t feel the fear is the moment that I lose, stay alert stay alive. I repeat in this over and over in my head trying to keep myself held together. With every pull of the orres the boat inches closer to the island and my inner wolfs voice is getting louder and louder. Its my time! Time to give yourself over to me! I will make you stronger than you could ever imagine.” I cover my ears trying to ignore her words but they just keep getting louder.

 

The wind is ripping across the lake pushing the small boat back with every gust. My father and Travis have been pulling for over 30 minutes and we still are only half way. The sun has completed set and darkness has enveloped everything, The only light is the striking of green and pink lightning. I look out towards the island as white lightning cracks across the sky revealing the dark woods and sandy shore. I look up to the sky and let the showers of rain fall on my face. I feel a hand on my shoulder and look to see my mother trying to bring me back into reality. Steam is pouring off her as the rain beats against her body. “Mom...are you ok?” I try to shout over the wind and she tries to answer, “Yes honey! I am trying to summon fire through the rain so we can see.” FInally the boat crashes against the sand and both Travis and my father try to catch their breath. One by one we jump out of the boat and into the shallows of the lake. The has rain has drenched us completely. We all jump out of the boat and the water is all the way up to our knees. We all grip onto the edge of the boat begin to pull it out of the lake and up onto the shore. The freezing water from the lake and the freezing rain falling from the sky chills me to the bone. I feel as if my bones are creaking with every step. Travis rushes to me and wraps his arms around me. His warmth envelopes me and me pulls me into the woods. I turn to see my mother, father and Asclepius jogging after us. Once in the woods, the rain seems to lessen as it fights to get through the tree tops. Finally the wind isn’t beating against and we can hear each other talk. The first to speak is my mom, “So where are we supposed to go?” Travis releases me and points towards where the group of redwoods that conceal the flat stone. We all jog over and as soon as I get close to the grouping of trees the ground begins to shake. We all stop and hold on to each other. The ground rumbles and the leaves begin to fall all around us. The trees are shaking and as the lightning cracks again I look to see the roots of the trees are ripping up from the earth. I can’t believe what I am seeing. The trees begin to pull themselves from the ground. Once they are above ground the roots wriggle and the trees pull away from each other. Everyone stands still as we watch these trees move away from the flat stone and form a perfect circle. It leaves a clearing about 50 feet all the way around the stone. One by one the redwoods drop back down to the ground and the roots dig into the earth. The middle of every tree begins to bend and the huge tops of the trees create a canopy over us leaving a circle in the middle directly above the flat stone. The rain has stopped falling on us accept for the hole above the stone. Rain pours onto the stone and there is nothing I can do to get my body to move. Travis finally grabs my shoulder, “Are you ready? Its time.” Nausea begins to crawl up into my throat and I try to swallow it away. He wraps his arm around my shoulder and leads me to the flat stone. The closer I get to the stone, I can see the engravings around the stone begins to illuminated in a bright red. The markings of the rulers who have come before me.

 

I look back to everyone behind me and my mother holds out both her hands conjuring fire in her palms. The small amount of light that it produces gives me some comfort. At least we can see our surroundings. I look back to the flat stone and the rain is still pouring down on it. Travis leans over the stone and looks up into the small circle clearing. He looks back down to me and grabs my hand. “It’s time Niki you need to lie on the stone. Remember when the red glows comes down every part of your body needs to be covered. Once it starts, we cannot help you.” Hearing that makes my heart quicken. I slowly walk over to the stone. I touch it with my hand and its warm. I begin to hear whispers though I cannot understand what they are saying, I can tell that its not my inner wolf. It must be coming from the stone. I turn and to see my mother and father standing close to me. THey both rush to me wrapping their arms around me and give me a tight hug and kiss me on either cheek. They release me and i sit down on the stone. My body begins to warm slightly and i swing my legs over onto the stone and lay down flat on my back. THe rain is beating down on me and i shield my eyes trying to look into the sky. There it is.... the Blood Moon. It has covered half of the small circle clearing and every second it inches closer to filling it completely. I look to the side to see Travis, mom, dad and Asclepius standing close by. Having them with me gives me some comfort but fear has enveloped me and the anticipation is killing me slowly. I look back to the sky and the moon has almost completely covered the small opening. The rain abruptly stops and everything is silent. No wind, no birds...nothing. My breathing quickens as I watch the moon move, covering the clearing completely. A crimson glow begins to illuminated from the moon and drifts slowly down from the sky. It creeps through the clearing and it is only a few feet from from my body. My blood begins to boil, it stops inches from my face. I can smell a metallic tinge to the crimson mist and tears begin to stream from my eyes. I am so scared and there is nothing I can do but wait. The mist floats above me and I hear my mom talking to Travis, “WHat is going on why is it just hovering?” I can’t move any part of my body and then i hear Travis respond, “It’s looking into her soul. There is a mark on the soul that it ment to determine royal blood from everyone else. If she were not royal the blood moon would turn on her.” RIght after his words stop the mist pushes aggressively down onto my body. Pain ripes through my body and it feels as if a thousand knives are ripping into my flesh. I scream out in pain and try to lie still but it is becoming increasing difficult. Images of my life flash through before my eyes. Everything that has ever happened to me is running through my mind. My skin is burning and my bones contort.  I can hear my mother screams and I fight to turn my head towards them. Its as is my bones has been fused together and the force I have to apply just to get my head to turn emits the worst pain that I have ever felt. Tears are streaming down my face and  finally my head moves to see my family. My dad has his arms wrapped around my mom as she fights him trying to get to me. “Something is wrong! Why is she is in pain?! We have to stop this its killing her!” I feel warm liquid run from the nose and down the side of my cheek. Travis is trying to help my father contain my mother but her anger and fear is making her body steam and small sparks begin to fly from every part of her body. Travis shouts at her, “If you stop it now, you will kill her for sure!” Every slows down. It seems as if everyone is moving in slow motion. I watch as my mom falls to her knees reaching out for me screaming out into the darkness. Her entire body bursts into flames and I see my father try to console her but Travis is now trying to hold him back. Asclepius is staring at me without blinking. Travis falls to the ground releasing my father and begin to contort on the ground. My heart best begins to slow and everything start to fade into blackness. The last thing I see before I pass out completely is TRavis change completed into a midnight black wolf. He raises his head and a deafening howl rips through the screams from my mother. THe pain that was crippling me slowly subsides. I look up and the crimson light begins to release me and i fade I submit to the darkness.

 

“Awaken Queen.” I hear a soft familiar voice and my eyes flutter up. I look up to see Renee leaning over me. I sit up to see a group of people dressed in the most elegant clothes I have ever seen. I seems like each one has been plucked from a different time period. Each one has a grown glittering on there heads. I sit up and try to get to my feet. Renee grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet. “Welcome Queen Niki.” All at once each male bows and every woman curties. I look to Renee, “Am i dead?” She laughs and everyone else joins in. “No darling you body is trying to accept everything that the Blood Moon has gifted to you. You are unconscious.” I look around and then down to my feet. There is a pair of glittering silver heels on my feet and a floor length silver dress covers my body. I run my hands over the dress and feel and the diamonds and are sewn onto it. My hair is now past my breast and silky to the touch and perfectly curled. I reach up to my head and feel a metal object on my head. I grip it and remove it placing it in front of me. It is the most glorious crown that I have ever seen. It sparkles like nothing I have ever seen. Even more than Renees. Its the purest silver with diamonds and rubies.“Renee what happened?” She walks over to the strangers that have circled me. “You have been awakened Queen. You are now a royal. Everyone that has come before you is here to welcome you. Shortly you will be taken back and you will have to face Khan. We will be watching over you, be brave Queen.” Before I can respond they all seem to be drifting away from me into darkness and I am ripped back into the forest. I flutter my eyes open and see the small opening where the moon was. The storm has dissipated and there is nothing but bright stars twinkling in the midnight sky. Slowly the trees bend back to their erect stance and the sky opens completely. If I wasn't so terrified I would enjoy the view that is before me. I slowly move my arms and regain feeling in the rest of my body. My hearing returns and I sit up. I hear the cries of my mother and father. I look to the where they were before I passed out and see them hugging each other tightly on the ground. “Mom…” She whips her head up and when she see’s she tears of joy fall from her eyes. “Oh my god Niki, Are you alright?” She rushes to me and then stops in her tracks. “Honey you look...amazing.” I look down and realize that I am still wearing the diamond dress. I feel the top of my head and feel the crown is still sitting on my head. My mom walks towards me and I can’t help by cry. SHe runs her hands through my hair and wraps her arms around me. She pulls me back and i See Travis laying in a motionless lump on the ground. I rush over to him and fall to the ground. He is not moving and I look to Asclepius, “Come here now!” She rushes to me and places her hands on top of his body. She looks to me and smiles, “He is fine. He shifted during the awakening and you dad had to put him down. “Now that you're stronger than Khan you control the race and he shifted back. He can control it now!” He begins to stir on the ground and rolls to his back letting out a grown. He opens his eyes looking straight up to the sky. He sees that the trees have opened back up and he sits up, “Niki!” I put my hand on his chest and he realises that I am sitting right next to him. He looks to me and I have never seen a man look at me the way he did. “Niki, you look...amazing.” I begin to blush and look towards the ground.

 

“Well isnt this just a picture perfect family.” There is a deep booming english voice coming from the darkness that surrounds us. We both get to our feet quickly and look around searching for Khan. We all group together and then from the deeps of the darkest part of the forest Ares, Aaren and the two men I saw from earlier in the day step into the clearing. My mother rolls her hands over and ignites flames in her palms giving us some light. I look up to the sky and the moon is finally uncovered by the clouds and it’s bright white light illuminates the clearing. I can clearly see the two men that I dont know. There is one man that is dressed in tight fitting black pants and long sleeved shirt with a red silk robe that drags across the floor. The wind blows back his robe and I see a dagger tucked in his belt. He walks slowly to me and I stand erect, this must be Khan. The last thing that I want is for him to know that that I fear him. “Well Well Well.” he bows sarcastically, “Royalty suits you well Queen.” I nod my head back at him. “We have been expecting you King Khan.” He throws his head back laughing. “Oh my Queen I am sure that you have. I am sorry to say that your royalty will be short lived so enjoy it while it lasts.” I look to my side and see my family standing strong beside me. My mother has flames illuminated in her palms ready to strike. I look back to Khan, “King Khan step down from your throne and I will spare your life.” He smug grin fades and he takes a few aggressive steps towards me. “How dare you speak to me that way.” I feel my palms burning and without hesitation I raise my hands and a white pulse of energy pushes from my palms. Khan is knocked back a few steps and his subjects who stand behind him fly back and hit the trees crashing into the ground with a loud thud. As they slowly get to their feet Khan holds his glare on me. “Well Queen you have gained some new talents.” I had no idea that I could do that. Its like my body knew what to do before my mind. I have no idea the level of power that I have and this must be a small sample of it. For Khan to only move back a few steps but everyone else fly through the air must prove how strong he is. Travis takes a step forward and stands close to me. Khans glare ripes towards him. “This must be your mate. He is very protective of you, I can smell anger radiating off of him.” Travis tries to take a step forward but I raise my hand motioning for him to stay where he is. “Khan this is your last chance to step down. I know what you're planning to do and I cannot let that happen.” He crosses his arms and looks around. “Is that so Queen and what is it that I am going to do?” I let my arms hang delicately in front of my body with my hands gently placed one atop the other. “After you murder myself and everyone I love, you plan on destroying the entire human race and I cannot let that happen.” He walks towards me circling me with anger. I never let my back face him and I turn with him. “You think you’re smart Queen. I am sure that Renee told you everything. She never understood my vision.” He stops in front of Asclepius. “Well once this is over, you will die with them traitor.” She takes a step away from him and moves towards my mother standing behind her. He turns his gaze to my mom and his face loses some color. “You have a Pyros for a mother. You are very lucky to have hidden her for all these years. I should have killed you along with the rest of your race.” Her body begins to steam with anger and flames illuminate from her shoulders. He backs away from her and walks back to his group. “Queen, you already know Ares my General.” He points to the second man he is with, “This is Troy he is...how do I explain it…” Asclepius interrupts, “Your assassin!” He points to her, “Thank you girl! That was the word I was looking for.” Anger is building inside of me and it takes everything that I have just to keep me standing where I am. I want nothing more than to run to him and kill him where he stands. I have never felt this type of anger or confidence before and I have to say that I am enjoying my new power. He walks to Aaren, “And lastly this is Aaren, my transporter.” I cut him off, “Khan cut the pleasantries let's get down to business.” He turns to me and smile sadistically “As you wish my Queen. Where is Denise?” He looks around our group and realizes that she is no where to be found. “She is dead Khan.” My words are broken as the wound is still fresh in my mind, He puts his hand over his mouth to stop his laugh from escaping. “Well I am glad you did it for me, one less thing for me to do.” Travis is starting to lose control of his anger and his body heat is rising next to me. I grab his hand and I can feel his heart beat in his palms.

 

“Well Queen, If you want me to step down you must take it by force, but since you have taken a mate, your mate must take my place.” He looks to Travis and runs his hand through his dark hair. I bring the attention back to myself, “Yes Khan we are aware of the rules. Is there somewhere more formal that this should be happening or just out here in the darkness.” He looks arounds, “I think that this is good enough Queen. That way the animals can pick at your bones once you’re dead.” I nod my head and move to the side. Travis is fully ready for this battle and I can hear him growling deeply in his throat.

 

Khan stands at one end of the circle of trees with his subjects behind him. We stand on the adjacent end of him with my family behind Travis and I. “Stand aside Queen, this is between me and your mate.” I look to Travis and pull him into me kissing him passionately on the lips and he wraps his arms around me and deepens it. I can hear Khans disgust and it only makes me want the kiss to last longer. Travis pulls himself away from me and gives me a playful wink. He turns to Khan and pushes me behind him. Khan removes his robe and throws it on Ares. Khan looks at us in disgust and takes a step forward. Travis does the same until they meet in the middle of the woods.

 

“Are you ready boy?” Khan threaten Travis, “I am old man.” Travis sends him a sarcastic smile. My mother comes to me grabbing my hand and I rip it away from her as her skin burns mine. “Your hands are on fire.” She looks at me and I cannot help but giggle for a moment, then I remember where I am. I look out to Travis and Khan but they continue just to stare at each other. At the same time they bow and then crouch to the floor both shifting at the same time. Travis is a large black and sleek wolf, but Khan is at least three times his size and he is as white as snow. His fur looks as if it was made of silk.

 

They begin to circle each other and the growls are echoing through the woods. Travis launches at Khan rearing into the air and they collide. My stomach turns as I watch them battle. Khan opens his huge jaws and latches onto Travis’s neck. He howls out in pain and I almost collapsed onto the ground. “Travis! No!” Khan rips him back and forth and Travis becomes lifeless. He drops him to the ground and blood begins to pour from his neck. Khan turns his gaze towards to me and begins to prowl towards me. He shoulders rise and fall as he gets closer and closer. I can’t help but be afraid of him. I have no idea how to shift and I have no idea what powers I have or how to control them. I feel heat rising next to me and I look to my side and my mothers entire body burst into flames. Before she can make a move Travis flies through the air sinking his fangs into the back of his neck. Khan howls out in pain and he bucks vigorously trying to get Travis off. He hangs on with all his might thrashing back and forth ripping pieces of flesh from his neck. Khan finally throws him back to the ground and before he can attack him, a ball of flames flies from my mother's palm and crashes against the side of Khans ribs. He yelps in pain and stumbles onto his opposite side rolling vigorously trying to extinguish the flame burning off all his fur and melting his flesh.

 

Troy runs to Khans side removing his grey jacket and hitting the flames. Troy finally puts them out and he looks to my mother with hate burning in his eyes. He takes a few steps towards her and before I can react, she pushes me away from her and throws flames towards him. He dodges them and lunges into the air. Before he reaches her my father jumps in the air connecting with him and slamming him into the ground. He quickly gets up from the ground leaving Troy in a painful mess on the ground. His nose is pouring out blood as he looks up to the sky rolling onto his back. He tries to stand but before he can, mom is standing over him. She thrusts her hands down towards him enveloping him in flames. He screams out in pain and rolls around the forest floor. He tries to roll away from her and she takes steps towards him never letting the flames die down. He stops moving and once his screams die down she stops. She collapses to her knee exhausted and my father rushes to her side picking her up. I look to Khan as he shifts back into his human form and walks over to Travis gripping onto his ribs in pain. I rush over to him and stand in between then both. I look back to Travis and he has shifted back into himself. He lies motionless on the floor and my heart begins to break. I look around for Asclepius but she is already tending to my mother. I turn back to Khan and before I know it, he raises his hand and back hands me to the ground. I quickly get to my feet and hear my inner wolf screaming in my head. Let me be free! Let me out! Give me control! I ignore her and keep my composure. Blood is seeping from the corner of my mouth. I feel the pain begin to subside and realize that my body is healing itself. Khan shakes off his pain and I look to where he was burned and it has completely healed.

 

“Well Queen it looks like you have lost. Your mate lies dead on the ground. Now it is your turn.” I get ready for the fight of my life and before I can attack Khan disappears in a cloud of black smoke. I look to my father who is looking around for Khan. I turn and fall to my knees grabbing Travis’s hand, “Baby please wake up!” I turn my head to Asclepius who is tending to my mother, “Get over her now Asclepius!” She turns and sees Travis lying on the ground and she rushes over to us. She holds her hands over him and begins to chant. I get up from the ground looking around for Khan. He is no where to be found. I look for Ares and Aaren and they are also gone. Something is going on… it seems that we look around for hours but only minutes go by. Aaren and Khan appear again in the block smoke in the middle of the circle of the trees. She grabs the back of his shirt and pulls him down onto the flat stone. His body lands with a loud thud, “What are you doing!?” Khan screams. Out of the darkness Ares rushes and jumps through the air landing on Khan head with his knee. Smashing it against the stone. We all stand silently in shock. Ares turns to my mother and screams at her, “Burn him now!” My mother sits dazed on the ground, “Get up NOW! Before he heals! Burn him!” She gets up and rushes over to Aaren and Ares. She looks down at the bloody mess on the stone and looks away as she thrusts her hands down enveloping his entire body in flames. Once his body steadily burning she begins to step back away from the stink of burning flesh.

 

Everyone is silent and watching Khan burn and I cannot believe that its over. Aaren and Ares are staring down at Khan as he turns into a pile of ash. At the same time they say, “For Grizel.” I recognize the name but I cannot place it. I look to Travis who is still laying on the ground as Asclepius chants over the top of him, green mist seeping from her hands and into his body. I look back to Ares and Aaren and they begin to walk towards me. Before they can speak I remember Grizel. She was the sister Aaren spoke of and her mate must has been...Ares. They stop feet in front of me, Ares bows and Aaren curtsies. In unison, “My Queen.” Ares takes a step forward and speaks, “My Queen, I cannot express how sorry I am for everything that you and your mate had to go through. Once my own mate was murdered...for no reason...I realized the pain I was inflicting on others and I could not follow Khan for another moment.” Although forgiveness is not on my mind, he did just murder his King so that must prove something. I bow to Ares and he returns it.

 

I turn back to Travis and rush to his side. Asclepius is still working on him and I kneel down next to him and I cannot fight the tears that are rushing down my face. He lies motionless on the ground with blood covering his body. The smell of metal is so strong that I make my stomach turn and I can taste it on my tongue. My mother and father slowly walk and kneel down beside me. My gaze stays on him waiting for any sign of life. “Travis...please come back to me. Don’t leave me alone...please.” Time has seemed to stop as we all stare down at him waiting for something. I look to where Khan ripped his throat and it has completely healed. Every wound has closed and yet he still has not stirred. I look to Asclepius who has stopped chanting, “What is going on? Why isn’t he waking up?” She looks away from me with tears running down her face. She says nothing and I can’t help but scream as loud as I can. It echos in the silence and I throw my body atop of his sobbing harder than I ever have before. My one true love is gone and there is nothing that I can do to bring him back. My mother places her hand on my back and I push it away. “Don’t touch me!” I lie back down on him and then there is a beat. It fades and a few moments later there is another beat. It quickens and then I feel warmth caress my back. “Are you crying for me baby?” I look up and Travis’s eyes are open. I grab his shirt and pull him up squeezing him close to my body. “I thought you were dead!” He wraps his arms around me, “I was… I heard your voice and followed it back to you.” I kiss him harder than I ever have before and revel in this moment.

 

We sit for a moment just absorbing everything that just happened. He pulls me away and looks into my eyes, “Where is Khan?” I look over to the flat stone where nothing remains but a pile of ashes. He looks over and then back to me, “What happened?” I look to Ares and Aaren. “It was them.” Travis stands and walks to Ares. He extends his hand to him,”Thank you Ares for saving my mate.” Ares looks surprised at him and then shakes his hand. “Our Queen could have done it herself but he took something that was very precious to us and my life would be meaningless if I could not return the favor to him.” Travis nods his head and then turns back to me helping me up from the ground. Aaren chimes in, “We have to go now my Queen. We must return to the Realm your subjects are waiting to meet you.” I look back to my mother and father. I walk over to them and throw my arms around both of them. “Please come with me. I don’t think I can do this without you.” My mother breaks down sobbing and my father pulls away. “I don’t think that we could go back knowing what we know now.” Happiness floods through my body, “So you’re coming with me?!” They both nod yes. I turn back to Travis and walk towards him. “Are you ready?” He nods yes.

 

I turn to Aaren and Ares, “What do we do now?” He looks to Aaren and smiles. “Take each others hands.” Travis grabs my hand and my mom grabs the other with my father gripping on tightly to her other hand. Ares takes hold of Travis’s arm and Aaren takes hold of him. Aaren looks to me, “Are you ready to leave my Queen?” I nod yes and in the blink of an eye we are out of the woods and standing in front of a enormous castle on a cobblestone road. Ares is the first to break the silence, “There it is my Queen. Your new home.” We all look at each other with the bright sun beating down on our faces. For some reason I feel at ease. Like this is where I should have been my entire life. The coble road leads straight to the steps of the castle and green fields line both sides of the road with bright flowers of every color.

 

We take our first steps down the road and The front doors of the castle open. There is a sea of people that come rushing from the castle. They are dressed as if we are in an updated version the renaissance. Every step we take my heart begins to beat faster and faster. This is the moment that I have been dreading and yet I couldn't be happier. The wind blows through my hair and I hear Renee’s whisper Welcome home my darling, your life has just begun. I can’t help but smile just hearing her voice. I look to Travis who clothes are torn and blood stained. “I guess this is it.” He looks confused and giggles, “Oh baby this is just the beginning, you still have to learn everything that the Blood Moon gifted to you. We have a long road ahead of us.” I grab his hand and stop him, “As long we are together.” He kisses me deeply and I return it with all the love I feel for him. He pulls away and looks deeply into my eyes moving lose pieces of hair away from my eyes as the wind twirls around us. This is a moment that I will never forget. I turn to face the castle and we start towards it again. The people that rushed from the castle stop about fifteen feet in front of us and as if they practiced it, they bow. Its completely silent and as they rise, a cheer breaks out. We keep walking towards them and they make a path right down the middle of the crowd. The clapping and cheering continues and I look to my mother who has a smile plastered across her face and she is gripping onto my father.

 

The threat against the Human race is over...but my life has just begun...

Thank you for Reading

I appreciate you reading my book. I hoped that you enjoed it. This is going to become a series so stay tuned to my page for updates. 

 

Copyright All rights resesrved 2015

 

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Texte: Jenny Garcia
Bildmaterialien: Jenny Garcia
Lektorat: Jenny Garcia
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 08.01.2015

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Widmung:
For my daughter Autumn, whose imagination is endless.