by J. B. Garcia
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 an
d 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.”
