by J. B. Garcia
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.
