I forced my eyes opened, convinced I was sleepwalking once again. It would explain such strange feelings if I had still been caught in between dream and reality but as I opened my eyes, cold, dark fear enveloped me further, causing a sob to tear from my throat.
I found myself kneeling on a patch of grass in the middle of a vast forest. Large, gnarled roots surrounded me in an almost perfect circle. Beyond the trees was a darkness so thick that no light could penetrate it.
I knew my worst fear had come. Hadn’t I feared this very thing just the night before? I trembled as the sounds of owls hooting blended with the wind whipping through the trees. I closed my eyes trying to force the images of what could happen to me from my mind. I whimpered as my fear increased. I bowed my head and looked down with the intention to pray but for some reason, I opened my eyes.
I frowned as my eyes focused, finding myself in a dress as black as my hair. My confusion worsened as I looked at it. Not only did I not know how I had come to be there, I didn’t know where I had gotten the dress. I had not been wearing it when I fell asleep. I frowned wondering if I even owned anything like it. I didn’t think so.
“Aurora,” my name whipped through the air nearly as quickly as the wind, causing me to tense. In a moment, I forgot my confusion over the dress or how I had come to be in the middle of a forest. There was only fear.
I closed my eyes pushing the fear back and concentrated on the voice. The owner of the voice was definitely male and sounded as if he stood directly behind me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up in awareness.
I turned my head and found nothing but the dark and the shadows of the trees in the forest. My heart beat hard within my chest as I trembled repeatedly, still feeling the danger that I was in.
I stood trying to control my rasping breaths. My bones clamped down upon each other in fear. In that moment, I realized I was going to run. I looked around, waiting to find out the direction the voice was coming from.
“You can’t run from me, Aurora,” the voice said as if reading my mind. I began to spin around in circles listening for the direction the man was speaking from. I still did not find him even though he continued to speak, “I will always find you.”
“Why won’t you leave me alone?” I asked, sobbing. Tears burned paths down my cheeks as I continued to look into the darkness, “Why do you keep coming for me?”
“Because you are mine, Aurora,” the voice said, cold and ominous, “You…are…mine.”
“No, I’m not!” I cried, shaking my head vigorously and then, raised my head and screamed, “I’m not!”
I stopped when I seen red eyes peering at me from the darkness. They were the eyes of a predator and they were watching me like prey. I pressed my lips together to prevent myself from screaming as they moved closer, stalking me though I had stopped moving. My gaze moved downward and I shivered. I thought I had seen an evil grin beneath the glowing red orbs but as the eyes got closer, I realized my mistake.
A great gray and black wolf stood in front of me. Its eyes glowed ominous and threatening. Its teeth were sharp enough to cut through flesh and bone. As it walked, powerful muscles moved graceful but ready to tense into attack. I wanted to move but fear glued my feet in place even though I knew that if I could not escape, I would die. A growl burst from the wolf’s throat as it took two more menacing steps toward me. It tilted its head as it studied me for just a moment. The growl rose in intensity until it echoed through the woods. I gained my ability to move and took a step back but it was too late. It sprang with teeth bared. A scream ripped from my throat.
Pain lashed through my shoulder an instant later, burning as if a fire had been lit there. I continued to scream and scream and scream as the teeth of the wolf came at me again and again.
Over my screams I began to hear someone shouting my name, rising until their voice overlapped the sound of my screams. Concern and anger lashed through this voice making me listen...making me realize I dreamed.
Relief flooded me as I pulled open my eyelids and looked into wide hazel eyes the color of caramel with striations of sea green around the pupils. Long, curving lashes surrounded them. I would have thought they were beautiful if anger did not pulse from them, confusing and frightening me. Who was this person and why were they angry with me?
I continued to blink up at the man who held me and trembled as I realized that these beautiful angry eyes belonged to the owner of the second voice that had pulled me from my nightmare. I frowned as I looked into his eyes realizing again a stranger held me. Still, I did not move from him because he was safer than the dream.
Instead, I continued to stare into his angry, beautiful eyes. He frowned and finally, I blinked able to move my eyes down his long straight nose to his full lips. His long, brown and black hair was cut so it was even with his squared chin. His look was dark and handsome in a way that made me shiver. It made me afraid. Anger rolled off of him, making the darkness more evident and I shivered again.
I sank further into the seat that had been my bed for the night, trying to get away from him and from the strange feeling that had settled in the pit of my stomach and made my heart race. Pain sliced through my shoulder yet again and I looked down to see he gripped it tightly, increasing the pressure with one olive toned hand. I looked up at him frightened because he had yet to let go and I could not tell if he posed a threat.
He must have realized my fear because he released me quickly and then sat back on the driver’s seat as if ready to flee himself. I sat up quickly, nearly strangling myself on the seatbelt. He reached over and pushed the button allowing the seatbelt to retract. Slowly, I sat up and looked at him with a frown marking my brow. Again I wondered, Why is he so angry?
“Where’s my mother?” I asked, cautiously. After all, this man could be a serial killer and I wouldn‘t know it.
A muscle twitched beneath his eye and he glanced toward the door and then, back at me as if trying to decide what to say. Finally, he narrowed his eyes, “She’s outside talking to my mother.”
I struggled to understand his answer and his temper. I could not make sense of it. He seemed as if he were angry at me but I had just met him. What could I have done to cause his wrath? I rubbed my forehead as it began to ache and then, looked up at him beneath the hood of my fingers.
“Your mother?” I asked, frowning. If he would answer that question, maybe I could understand what was happening.
“My mother…Sophia,” he said, rolling his eyes and making me shift uneasily for not knowing. Still, I relaxed dropping my hand from my forehead as the familiar name pierced my memory. Sophia, the woman who had taken my mother in and made her family. Sophia who had been the only person who had truly helped her when she was fifteen and pregnant with me. She was kind and good. She had to be…but if she was, there was one thing that didn’t make sense.
“You’re Sophia’s son?” I asked, tilting my head as I studied him.
He nodded his head in one clipped move and then, looked into my eyes, relaxing only for a moment. He seemed confused as he spoke again, “I’m Andre Brazil.”
He stared at me for a few moments more as if trying to determine something. His eyes burned into mine as if trying to see my soul and for a moment I believed he was able to and nothing was hidden from him. I shifted uncomfortably once again and searched for something to say.
“It’s nice to meet you Andre,” I whispered, after a few moments. He continued to stare at me. The look of confusion slowly bled back into anger.
He leaned forward, putting his face an inch from mine and looked directly into my eyes. I blinked surprised at his closeness. I had never been close to any male. My mother wouldn’t allow it.
His eyes continued to burn into mine becoming more and more angry and I trembled. He smiled when I leaned back away from him but malice shined in his eyes, “You won’t think it’s so nice to meet me later.”
Then, he leaned back, standing as he did and walked out of the door, slamming it behind him
. I stared after him frowning and very near tears. What had I done to deserve his hate? My eyes burned and I buried my face in my hands. Suddenly, I wished we had never come to Timbly Mountain.
Chapter Two
Secrets
It had taken a long while before I rose from my seat. When I finally did, I felt unsteady and confused. Tears burned my eyes threatening to spill over and down my cheeks before I managed to fight them back.
I clutched my stomach as I trembled, hating I wasn’t able to ignore what Andre had done. Worse, I knew that most of my reaction was due to the fact I had never been good with confrontations. I always cried…even if I was angry and that made me feel weak. As I stood there I felt weaker than ever. I felt ready to break down.
I swallowed hard as I stood beside my seat, feeling ashamed. I was eighteen years old but like a child, I still wanted my mother. Sadly, I could not shake the need and I quickly decided to go in search of her.
I walked slowly toward the door with shaky legs, only stopping when I heard my mother’s voice. I frowned. She sounded worried and angry. I had rarely heard those emotions drip from her voice. It caused my stomach to flip in nervousness. I reached forward but my hand hovered over the doorknob. Even though I had wanted my mother only a few seconds before, I couldn’t make myself turn the knob. I couldn’t go to her. Sadly, I knew the reason.
If I did, I would not know why my mother seemed so upset. It had to be more than the man from the night before. It had to be. Still, I knew that she would never tell me. She wouldn’t want me to worry. The problem was that I felt a gnawing in the pit of my stomach telling me that her worries had something to do with me. I needed to know if that was true. So, even though I knew it was wrong, I leaned against the door, listening for secrets my mother would never reveal any other way.
“I don’t know what to do about any of this, Sophia,” her voice broke through the door. I could tell that she had been crying again and my heart lurched. Even through the tears, her anger burst from her, “He won’t give up. He’ll just keep coming for her.”
I frowned. Was she talking about the man…Emilian? Was she saying that he would keep coming for me? I frowned as I looked at the door. That didn’t make any sense…unless…I shook my head of the thought. I did not want to believe that my mother had lied to me. Instead, I leaned closer to the door and listened more intently.
A rich and sultry voice twisted through the air next, caressing my ears. It was seductive and calming in a way I could not explain. I assumed it belonged to the woman who my mother had spoken of…Sophia…Andre’s mother.
“I just can not believe that you haven’t told her, Fiona,” Sophia said with disapproval clearly in her voice, “Why would you spring something like this on the girl?”
Spring what on what girl? Was it me? I strained to hear more but it was silent for a few moments. The silence stretched so long I feared they had moved away from the motor home. Thankfully my mother‘s sigh floated softly through the door. I pressed my ear closer, straining to hear.
“We weren’t due back until December,” she said, defensively. I heard my mother sigh again, “I thought that I’d have a few months.”
Sophia’s scoff reached my ears a moment later, “That’s still a bit close, don’t you think? You should have given her time to adjust. She should have been warned about everything.”
“It’s hard to tell her. She‘ll hate me,” My mother said with tears in her voice. My heart clenched as she sobbed. I didn’t know what the big secret was and I didn’t care as long as my mother would stop crying…stop being angry and most of all stop being afraid.
I reached for the handle just as Sophia spoke again, “You have to tell her,” she said, gently as I turned the knob, “You have to tell Aurora.”
I gripped the handle as I took everything in. So, the secrets did have something to do with me. Eventually, I would have to know what they were. My mother would have to tell me.
I let the door swing open. My mother looked up and the woman she had been speaking to turned. I looked into eyes the same color as Andre’s. Shock radiated through me when I seen them attached to a young woman who looked only a little older than my mother. I frowned wondering if I had been mistaken. How could this be Sophia when her son was at least twenty years old?
The woman’s eyes widened so wide her long, curving lashes nearly met her perfectly arched brows. Her hair glistened in the sun as black as mine and blew back from her wrinkle free face in wild, wavy tendrils. Her very full lips opened in an o of surprise. She reached up one olive toned hand to cover those lips. My eyes scanned over her…studying this woman in hopes of gaining an idea of who she was. I seen that she wore a white blouse that hugged her curves and small waist and a skirt of many colors blended together that reached nearly to her ankles. Black thong sandals clung to her perfectly pedicured feet.
My eyes met hers again, raising my eyebrows in question, “What does my mother need to tell me?” I asked, blinking rapidly as I looked from her to my mother and back again.
The woman lowered her hand as she studied me. A slow but gentle smile stretched across her face, “I’m so sorry for gawking,” She said, stepping forward studying me in a way that made me shift uncomfortably from foot to foot, “It’s just been so long since I’ve seen you. You were a baby.”
I frowned as I looked at her still confused, “You were around me as a baby?” I asked still unsure this woman was Sophia though there was no one else around.
She turned wide eyes back to my mother, “Fiona Anderson, you haven’t told her anything, have you?” She asked, shaking her head as she turned back to me with an exasperated sigh, “I helped your mother as her midwife while she was pregnant and when she gave birth. I was the first to hold you after your birth. I cared for you and it broke my heart when you left. I missed you as much as if you were my own child. The last time I seen you, you were a little over a year old. Now you are a beautiful young woman.”
I frowned. I had assumed we had left Sophia and her family shortly after my birth but I had been with them for a full year. This woman had bonded with me. As ridiculous as it was, part of me felt ashamed that I could not remember her, “I’m sorry,” she said with the smile still planted on her lips. I was sure that she seen how uncomfortable I was and was trying to relieve me from feeling that way, “I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Sophia Brazil. I‘m your godmother and I also own this motor home park.”
I looked around, seeing my surroundings for the first time. I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed before but I had been so deep in the conversation with Sophia that I had not looked beyond her and my mother.
I looked around noticing that I stood in a large motor home park which seemed more like a small community than a temporary home. We were parked next to a field that was shaped like a large circle . A large pile of wood which would soon become a bonfire stood in the center. Children played within the field and laughter and music floated through the air. Picnic tables sat around the bonfire area. Many held people talking and eating. I looked beyond the field and saw that a vast forest surrounded it, traveling upward toward an unseen mountain top. There was something quaint about this place…something calming. I smiled as I turned back to Sophia, feeling very at ease.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, wincing and waited for her response. All of the relaxation from a moment before faded as I hoped that her answer would not be the same one that I had gotten from her son. She frowned and then as if she understood what had happened, looked toward another motor home with narrowed eyes. Andre leaned against it watching his mother with fury reddening his face. My eyes widened as I turned back to Sophia wondering why he hated me so much.
“Andre was rude to you, wasn’t he?” She asked and I blanched in response, looking down.
“No,” I lied but when I looked back up at her, she was shaking her head.
“You must excuse my son,” Sophia said, looking at me apologetically, “Sometimes, he is rude though he hasn
’t been raised that way.”
“It’s okay, Sophia,” I said, glancing back at Andre before looking back into her eyes. She smiled and patted my shoulder.
“No, it’s not,” she said and then, shrugged, “But it will be.”
Sophia turned to my mother and smiled, “I’m glad to have you both back but you should speak to your daughter alone,” she said with a pointed look and then, looked toward Andre, “And I will speak to my son.”
My mother nodded as she shifted nervously, “I will, Sophia.”
Sophia patted my mother’s cheek gently and then, walked toward Andre with a determination that made me jealous. How could she face her son’s steely gaze without cowering down?
“Aurora,” My mother said, causing me to turn to look at her. The look on her face was tortured, “We need to talk.”
Suddenly, my fear of Andre didn‘t seem so bad. The secrets trapped within my mother’s mind terrified me more.
*********
Tears had already begun to brim in my mother’s eyes before she had even sat down. A lump formed in my throat as I watched her, warily. I had never seen my mother cry as much as she had in the last couple of days and those tears only frightened me worse about the secrets that she was keeping.
She looked at me tortured as she finally sat across from me at the little table in the dining area of our home. She took a deep breath, clasping her hands in front of her on the table top as she did and looked into my eyes.
“Do you believe I love you?” She asked almost desperately.
I smiled at such a ridiculous question, “Of course, Momma,” I said, reaching forward and taking her hand. I hoped the action would comfort her but in that moment, I realized nothing would. She was too tense…too frightened and anything that I did would go unnoticed. I kept my smile in place as I continued, “Nothing you tell me will convince me you don’t.”
She looked at me doubtful and shook her head. The tears that she had held back fell down her pale cheeks, “You shouldn’t promise anything yet.”
Beckoned (The Brazil Werewolf Series) Page 2
