by Archer, Tia
“Andrew, I can see that you’re angry and I don’t know why. I don’t remember what happened. I would really like to know what happened, and, why Sean is handcuffed to a pipe.” Trying to move, I heard the jangling of the chains and look down to see that both of my wrists were encased in steel, with links of chain. This wouldn’t be able to hold me; the shock of Andrew doing this to me, could. The pained look on his face only proved to me that he was struggling with what to do, no doubt, out of his element and fighting every instinct to call the authorities.
“I can’t believe that you don’t know what you did, because you certainly looked like you knew what you were doing. That is not something that I would think you would be able to forget. Let’s say for argument sake that you didn’t know what you were doing, but I can say with a degree of certainty that Sean certainly did. I had no choice but to sedate the both of you, till I could figure this out.” He looked sober, as if I was some foreign thing, and not the love of his life.
“I can’t believe it would be so bad that you would have to tie us both up with chains.” I tried putting a little bit of weight against the chains, but they were very well put together and I could only move as far as they would allow me to. “Like you said before, we can’t stay here, because they’ll be back. If they find us like this, we’ll be unable to fight back, and that will mean you’ll probably die right along with us.” I did remember standing toe to toe with my sister, but then everything became hazy. It was possible that I was blocking the memory out, but if that were true, then it would have to be something so mind altering.
“I still can’t get over what I saw, and your transformation … I didn’t even recognize you. When I woke up in the freezer, I came out to find you having…having sex with Sean.” The words were like a sledgehammer to my face, and I was stunned into silence for the first time in my life. “It was a shock to the system when I saw you as the panther, only I’m still not sure how it’s possible that you could’ve turned into a damn panther. However, the thing I saw on top of Sean was not a panther: I could see parts of your body… and your eyes were yellow. You didn’t even know that I was in the room. In fact, I would say that you didn’t care about anything but your own carnal desires.” His recollection was eye opening, and, I knew he was telling the truth.
“I told you…that no human has ever seen us….like that before. There is a reason why it is forbidden for us to be seen…Humans tend to lash out at things that they don’t understand. I think…that you are making that point abundantly clear.” Sean was now awake, obviously in a little bit of discomfort, as he continually checked the strength of the chains. I couldn’t control her…and I don’t think I would want to, even if I could. That was purely primal…and is something that you can’t fully understand…unless you experience that kind of raw animal hunger yourself. Seeing that she didn’t remember who she was… I’m actually pretty lucky that she didn’t tear me apart.” I wasn’t sure if Andrew was buying any of it, but at least he was listening to what Sean had to say.
This was a revelation to me, although something was still nagging at me, like the beast still lingering inside me. “I’m still not completely sure whether it’s real or not, but either way, it’s not safe here anymore. We have to find somewhere more secure. For the time being, it looks like I am perfectly human again and something tells me that only intense emotion brings on the change.” I was looking at both of these men, seeing a caring and compassionate lover in Andrew, and a raw animal magnetism from Sean. My heartstrings were being pulled in both directions.
“I will let you go but don’t think for second this is over. We have to talk about what happened, and what this means for you and me. I, for one, still love you, but the image of you having that kind of sex with Sean will forever be burned into my brain. You didn’t even look like yourself, act like yourself, and if I didn’t know any better, I would think that it wasn’t even you. I know it’s not who you are, no matter what is inside you; I know you’re a good person.” I think he was trying to justify what happened.
Andrew reluctantly unlocked the chains, going over to Sean and standing over him with a look of disgust. “I know that I’m not exactly your favorite person at the moment, but you must know that you’re in over your head. I’m not saying this to deter you from you Gail, but to protect you. You have witnessed something rare, first-hand. Tina is part of a great tradition, something that goes back to the cavemen. Her heritage is one of immense power and prestige, something she shouldn’t hide from, but instead, embrace.” Sean explained.
“I don’t care what you have to say, and if it wasn’t for Gail, I’m not sure exactly what I would do. All I know is that you have a connection, and maybe that is the one thing that will get us out of this in one piece.”
I went over to where they were both standing, touching Andrew’s shoulder with my hand, only to have him shrug it away, as if he was appalled to have me near him. He did take the handcuffs off of Sean, though, turning his back and walking over to the other side of the room. It appeared that he didn’t want to have anything to do with either of us. The very thought of putting my hands on Sean in the manner that Andrew had spoken about, made me instinctively think I had missed out on something very important. There was a part of me that wanted to reach out and pull Sean into a kiss that would curl his toes.
“I can help you unlock the feral part of your mind, Tina, but if I do, I can’t be sure how you’ll react. I’ll awaken something that has lain dormant for too long, which might open both sides of who you are.” I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to know, or if it was better to be left in the dark.
“If I did agree, what do I have to do?” I was kind of thinking that it was going to take meditation, drugs, or some kind of torturous pain (I was in therapy) that would leave me a husk of my former self.
“All you have to do is look into my eyes, concentrate with your entire being. Between the two of us, I should be able to open up your eyes to the truth. I won’t do this if you are having any doubts at all. Unfortunately, I don’t think we have any other choice, because we’re going to need you at full strength to thwart whatever they’ve planned for us.”
Nodding my head, I looked to Andrew for support, but all I saw was his back. He couldn’t even look at me, which made me want to go to him and hold him close to me.
Sean put both hands on either side of my face, turning me so that I could look into his eyes that were bloodshot and tired. I continued to stare, doing what I could to concentrate, and at first, nothing happened. All of a sudden, his eyes began to glow this magnificent red color. Flashes of memory that had caused me to fall to my knees in front of my sister in the park came flooding back, but this time, I was able to hold onto them. I tried in vain to pull away from his grasp, but he was way too strong for me and eventually, he wrapped his arms around me in a loving embrace.
I saw an image of us running through the forest together, and I turned to see that he was now a white Bengal tiger. I felt at peace with nature and everything around me. It was as if I was home for the first time, in my natural form of a black panther, with a lover that made me feel like I was a princess. Everything came back, but even though I was now see, I also remembered my deep emotional connection to Andrew. My life this past year was still a part of me, but now I had other memories that made me feel whole and a complete person.
Sean leaned forward, until both of our foreheads were touching. I reach up to put my hands on the side of his face.
“I remember, but I can’t forget what happened this past year. I don’t know if it’s possible to love two people at the same time, only I can’t think of my life without either one of you. I know this is not fair, but I am only trying to be honest with my emotions. Hurting you or Andrew is not something I would relish. You both have a piece of my heart.”
“If it helps, I give you my blessing to be with him, because I don’t know if I could even look you in the face anymore.” I heard Andrew say. “My head is all turned around,
and I think it might be best that we left this for now.” Feeling bad, I reached for his hand, grazing along his fingertips, before he finally pulled away. “Just don’t… I need time.”
“You can’t seriously be thinking about staying here, because your place is with your people and with me. Nobody from either of our clans has ever left for this long. There’s a reason why we don’t mingle with the human population. If we tried, we would only have half-breed children. There’s no way that humans could possibly understand us, our situation, especially once they realized just what we were.” Sean said while gently turning my face to his, “This isn’t a curse, but a privilege, and for you to callously turn your back on it would be an affront to everything that we are.” Sean was passionate about our race of people, but so far I had only seen death and destruction.
“I haven’t decided anything,” I say, “and I don’t think this is the place or time to think about this. Remember what she said before she escaped; I don’t think this time she’s coming after only me.”
Chapter6
I could see that Andrew was tense, but I knew better than to try to touch him. We got into his car, with me in the front seat with Andrew, and Sean sitting in the back seat. “I’m a little lost, and since you guys know her better than I do, what exactly do we have to do to get her off our tail?” He was directing the question to both of us.
“I’m starting to remember my sister,” I say as the images that flashed before Sean’s eyes, have stayed and permeated in my own mind, “and without a shadow of a doubt, she will be unforgiving and will literally become our worst enemy. She’s driven by what she believes to be an unforgivable betrayal. Her erratic animalistic passions will prove her defeat. We’re stronger than she; I have your animal instincts, Sean, but your rationality and kindness, Andrew. As long as we stand together, I can’t see any reason why we can’t be the victor.” The one thing I do remember about my sister is that she is ruthless, and like an animal, unpredictable.
“We have to head west,” says Sean a moment later. “Tina and I will know when we have gone far enough.” Andrew definitely didn’t look very happy but I was relieved to finally have my memories back.
Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation trickling along my skin. We had gone far enough. It felt wrong to run from a fight. This time, she wouldn’t find somebody cowering away from her; instead, it would be the exact opposite. She thought that I betrayed her, but for coming after me the way that she did, it was her betrayal that cut me deeply. How could she possibly think that I could be an enemy, when we had stood in battle together so often?
It appeared that blood wasn’t thicker than water, and her blood lust to see me dead was making me angrier by the second. It didn’t surprise me when the beast from within began rise from its dormancy, but I was able to corral it with a few deep, cleansing breaths. With the help of both my therapist and Sean, I was able to bring forth the change whenever I desired..
If I had my memories back then, I would never have revealed that hidden part of myself. This was something that was mine alone, and I felt special to be able to transform at will.
I suddenly slammed my hands on top of the dashboard, making both Andrew and Sean look at me with concern. “I have to get in touch with my therapist, her life is in danger. My sister will be going after the only person she can. She’s the only person that I have ever made any kind of connection with, aside from Andrew. I fear that it might be too late for my therapist, but I have to know for sure.” Both were quiet, as I dialed
The voice that greeted me was not my therapist, and I knew immediately I was too late. “You surprise me, sister. I thought for sure that you would come here. It looks to me like I have underestimated you; maybe your connection to this woman isn’t as strong as I imagined. No matter, her death is on your hands. I am coming for you, but I am bringing her with me. I’ve already sent a message. She’s very intrigued by what I had to tell her about you.” I was afraid that might happen, Adrienne wasn’t known for being subtle.
“This was between you and me, no one else.” I knew my words were going in one ear and out the other. I had been avoiding telling anybody about my newly formed powers, basically because I knew that Adrienne would take a personal interest in this. There has never been anybody like me, except for that one rare occasion a few hundred years ago that ended with the entire Clan being slaughtered by that persons’ hand. From that moment on, anybody who was considered different was killed or neutered of the powers.
“You brought this on yourself. I don’t even know who you are any more. No matter, your fate is already sealed, and your newly found powers aren’t going to save you from which Adrienne has in store for you. In the meantime, I’m coming for Sean and your human man-bitch. Once I have their hearts in my hand, your despair will weaken you. Adrienne will use this weakness to her advantage because their deaths will send you into an emotional tailspin preventing you from grasping control of that power.”
“I won’t let you do that. I will put my own life on the line for both of them. Listen to my voice; you know this will be the final conversation between the two of us. One way or another, this ends.” My anger was seeping into every word, and I was grinding my teeth together, while digging my fingernails into the dashboard.
I didn’t allow her to get the last word, turning off the phone and dragging my claws all the way down the dashboard, I left behind tell tale scratches that would never come out.
“She is just trying to get to you. You can’t allow her to have that kind of power. You need to keep your cool, even if it is your sister.” Sean wasn’t helping; he was only making me see how fruitless all of this was. Laying back against the seat and closing my eyes, I centered myself, drawing from the strength of the meditation to keep me in control of my own faculties.
I found myself on a distant beach, the cool wind blowing through my hair and the sound of the ocean crashing up against the shore. This is my safe place. I think deep down even when I wasn’t myself, I always knew that I could come back to this location in my mind. The soothing calmness of nature surrounds me.
Smiling, I knew that my sister had no idea I was able to control my emotions and that I also have control over the very thing that she thought I didn’t. I also knew Adrienne would come, because she wouldn’t want to risk anyone finding out that they were capable of what I could do. She would need to stop me before I could reach the others, as if I could even impart on them what I had deep down inside. I had to believe my mother had the same affliction, but had done the prudent course and not told anybody.
Now that I think about it, it would explain why she had taken it upon herself to teach me the ways of the Clan. She must’ve known this was a possibility, but unfortunately she died before realizing my true nature.
She showed me how to hunt, with calm and precision, never allowing any outside interference or internal struggle to get in the way. This was her way of trying to keep me from showing my true self, and I imagine that I would’ve gone all of my life without knowing, had it not been for my forbidden love with Sean and the unfortunate attack afterward
*
I remember feeling like I was being watched after I came back from a clandestine meeting with Sean; feeling like my entire body was tingling from the top of my head all way down to my toes. We just had a marathon sex session, then for a run to burn off the excess energy.
As I was walking through the woods, I began to feel strange, like there was a shift in the air that meant danger was approaching. I thought it was some kind of animal trying to get the upper hand but I was ready for just about anything.
I heard the crunching of gravel, and the sound of footsteps approaching, I knew now I wasn’t dealing with any ordinary animal.
“I can’t tell you how much it hurts me to know that I was right about you all along. My own sister was shacking up with a lion! And, for you to even think that you could get away with something like that, only shows how deluded you are.”
“Shei
la, do you really think you could do anything to stop me, because, we both know I am a much better fighter than you. If you really want to do this, know that I will not hold back. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you, but I will make you think twice about doing this again. This is your only warning.” I tried a different tactic. “We are still sisters, and no matter how much you find yourself getting jealous over my status in the clan, doesn’t mean that you should try to assert your authority.”
“My dear sister, I have been suspicious about you for some time, and this isn’t the first time I have spied on you from afar. I’m not stupid, we have done this before, only this time, it’s going to be different. Your betrayal wasn’t just witnessed by me. This time, I brought others for proof. Now, we might be sisters, but this is beyond any familial connection that we have.”
“Blood is thicker than water. Have you forgotten those times we have saved each other’s lives. Think about what that means, and how stupid it is for us to fight like children. We might not have the same mother, but if our father was still alive, I could only imagine what he would be thinking.” I think I had struck a nerve, because she suddenly put her finger into my chest and made me back away.
“How dare you use the memory of my father against me. If I had any reservations about doing this before, then that’s all changed now.” Out of the shadows came four other shifters with a distasteful look of their faces, no doubt thinking that fighting my own sister would destroy the gene pool of the shifters. “They didn’t believe me, I had to show them the truth. You can imagine how it affected them to see you rolling around with one of them. Now, I think I have an alliance that is more than enough to deal with the likes of you.
