by J. B. Garcia
“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.
