Marked

by A.N. Meade

it, and the way the air felt in her lungs. She loved the sounds of the animals and the environment around her. There was very little that she did not like about hiking.

  It was sunny, but late winter’s chill lingered in the air, the wind blew against her back. They were surrounded by trees. Several paths wound in and out of the forest and countryside. She hadn’t been here before, but somehow she knew where she was going. She continued on ahead of Liam and Marc, who were following close behind her. It felt familiar. She knew that she was nearly home. Pictures flashed in her mind. It looked different now, than she remembered, but many of the landmarks remained the same. She had walked for nearly an hour. IT felt like only a few moments. The flashes came faster now, the closer that she got. She could see it. She could feel it.

  When she closed her eyes, it was spring, and the trees were dense and full. She loved the green surrounding her. Birds flew overhead. She liked the sound that their babies made, newly hatched. The ground even felt different as it kicked up around her toes. It was rich and brown, and damp with fertility. The trees bore fruit, almost looking overburdened with the weight of it. There was nothing better than contemplating the cycle of things. She kept walking faster now. She was approaching a river. She could hear the sound of rushing water. There was a cool mist in the air. Marc and Liam had to work hard to keep pace with her.

  Liam asked, “Why is she walking so fast?”

  “We’re almost home, the earth calls to her.” Marc smiled as he focused his strength on traversing the thick undergrowth. He hadn’t been back for such a long time. Revisiting now, did not sting as much. She was here with him this time. Thoughts pressed at him. “If only I could go back and make the right choices, I would never have caused her so much pain.”

  Nothing that Liam could have said would alleviate the guilt that Marc felt, so he said nothing. He kept walking, pressing forward with Marc.

  The flashes kept drawing Aimee deeper and deeper into the forest. Even following a small animal trail, it was hard to push through the branches and the vines. She pressed herself forward one more time, and broke free at last of the forest, and onto a sandy bank. She had made it to the river. The sound was soothing and peaceful. The water rushed over the rocks and around the bend. She had been there before, this very spot. She remembered standing here and looking out, waiting. She was still standing there thinking, when Marc and Liam caught up with her. Marc looked at her from the edge of the wilderness. They had been there before. She knew it.

  In her mind’s eye she could see him. He had come to meet her here. They were not supposed to see each other today, but they couldn’t wait until nightfall. He had come over and wrapped his arms around her.

  “They’ll be angry if they find us here,” she teased him

  “I needed to see you.” He pulled her in closer, pressing her back against his chest, and kissed a line gently down the side of her face.

  “And what of superstition?”

  “I am not guided by old wives tales.”

  She smiled in satisfaction with his answer. “No future leader should be.”

  “I am only a servant.” His voice was a soft whisper in her ear.

  The mention of the word servant provoked her. “We bow to no one.” Aimee spoke proudly. Their clans were strong, full of valor and courage. To them servitude was slavery. Life was not worth living if you were not free.

  Marc knelt in the mud as he turned Aimee to face him. “I am yours. Whatever you ask of me it is done.”

  She took his face in her hands and knelt down beside him. “What more could I need but your love? I am not complete without you. Promise me that you will never leave me.”

  “I promise you, I will never leave you. How could I survive without my other half?” Mark kissed her softly, and full of passion.

  Today was the happiest day of their lives. The ceremony would begin at sunset, and tonight they would be married. Their union, as powerful and meaningful as it was to them, was also important to their clans. It marked an alliance between their fathers to stand, unified together against outsiders and trespassers.

  Their marriage had been foretold when they were still in their mothers’ wombs. Marc’s grandmother, a seer, had been impressed with it months before Marc was born. She was respected within her clan, as well as among their neighbors. They had never before had much occasion for contact with one another, but their mothers being themselves believers, saw this as an opportunity to strengthen their territories.

  Liam just stood there, watching Marc as he saw Aimee go through this odd trance. It was like some kind of time warp. There was so much passion and love in the way that Marc looked at her. He had never noticed the strength of that bond until that moment. Marc was already vampire by the time that he and Liam met. He did remember hearing Marc talk about his life together with Aimee. There was much more power in their connection than Marc’s words could ever have expressed.

  The sound of his footsteps approaching brought Aimee back to the present. Marc took her hand, “Come, the village is not far.”

  Together they walked from the river bank, through a field, and into a wooded area at the base of the foot hills. They walked along the path up to the circle of trees where their village had once stood. Aimee stopped. She knelt low to the ground and ran her hand along the thick, green moss. She felt so connected with this place. In a way it was strange to come here to a place that she had never been to before in this lifetime and feel so at home. Another part of her though, found it very freeing to validate all the random dreams that she had become so familiar with since childhood.

  Marc knelt down beside her and took some dirt in his hands. He let it run between his fingers. “Amazing isn’t it?”

  “What?”

  “How much things change. How much that they still stay the same.”

  “Our lives were so simple, so innocent.” Aimee longed for that time. She liked who she was in those memories.

  “If I could go back and change what happened I would.” Marc would never forgive himself for hurting her, for breaking his promise.

  “And what could you change? You had no choice but to fight when the fight came to us. A man cannot choose his enemy. There was no way to know what we fought against.”

  “I should have killed him.” Anger ripped through Marc, tightening his expression, and turning his voice to a deep, low growl.

  “He is not mortal.”

  “I should have tried.” A single tear rolled down his cheek. He wound his hands around each other. His jaw was clenched. “I should have been returned to this earth. I was meant to die with my brothers.”

  “You were trying to keep your promise to me. I should never have asked it of you.” Aimee wrapped herself around his shoulders, trying to comfort him as they knelt in the dirt.

  “Time was stolen from us.”

  “But you have taken it back, we are together now.”

  He ran his hand along her face, his thumb lingering at the corner of her mouth. “At what price? Look what I’ve done. Look what I’ve asked of you.”

  She kissed the palm of his hand softly. “You vex your spirit for nothing. We are together now and that is all that matters. You assume that you cheated destiny, but what if this was our destiny all along? What happened in our mortal lives was tragic, but we must forgive ourselves and live in the present.”

  Marc made an effort to smile at her. She was trying so hard to comfort him, and to reassure him. “I thought it would be a while longer yet before I was learning from you, my love.”

  “Well, I have experienced many perspectives it seems. I have apparently been everything from a tribeswoman to a queen.” Aimee turned her head slightly to the side and batted her eyes flirtatiously. She knew if nothing else that this would begin to turn his thoughts away from his past regrets.

  Marc laughed at her boldness. It was nice to laugh together. He had followed her through so many lifetimes. There had been so much pain and heartbreak along th
e journey. Now, with her here in his arms, it all seemed unimportant. She was right. They were together, and that is all that really mattered.

  They stayed there, sitting on the hilltop and watched the sun set together. It was beautiful. Orange and gold was splashed across the painted sky. Aimee could not remember the last time that she sat and watched the sun set. It felt good. Still, as pleased as she was that her connection with Marc was deepening, she knew that there was so much more to their story than she was aware of. His silence spoke volumes. It was dark by the time that they began heading back to the car.

  Marc and Aimee walked ahead of Liam. “Wait up you two. We’re not all vampire you know.”

  His comment caught Marc off guard and he started to laugh, “Very funny Liam.” Marc didn’t slow down. He actually picked up his pace a little. Way out in the hills, there were no signs or street lights to help guide their way, only moonlight, and their instincts. It really was hard to see, and hard to sense direction. Marc and Aimee moved quickly, winding through the grass and trees with little effort. Vampires were made to live in the darkness. Their eyes flashed, perfectly suited to the low light.

  Liam just continued, playfully. “I see, I spend my entire day helping you and you treat me like we’re in grade school.”

  “Don’t be such a hard ass Liam. I’m just having a little fun.”

  This was becoming more of a challenge