Quest for Immortality

by Celeste Raye

  Denise got into the car next to her and looked at her little strangely.

  “What the hell was that?”

  Connie did not have an answer. But she could still feel the warmth in her fingertips from where the fire had come out.

  “I don't know. Some freak thing. Let's just get out of here.”

  Connie was in the driver seat, even though it wasn’t her car. She had taken control of the situation, because Denise was still going on and on about what they have just seen. Connie just wanted to forget the whole thing. The questions that came into her mind were hard even to imagine, let alone answer. What the hell had just happened?

  When they got back to Connie’s house, the two of them sat in the car for quite some time, just looking at each other. Denise was still crying, and her arms and hands were shaking.

  It was Connie’s turn to tell her again that it was going to be alright. It felt like a lie as soon as it left her lips, but she had no other choice. She didn't want to come out with the whole truth. Connie didn’t even know what the truth was. She had no idea what had just happened and her mind was full of the same questions her friend was spouting.

  “I swear, if you tell me to calm down one more time, I am going to do anything but calm down. You have to tell me what just happened. I think I'm losing my mind. Did that really just happen?”

  “I have no idea what happened. Maybe it was spontaneous combustion or something.”

  Her friend scoffed. “That was not what that was, and you know it.”

  “Then what is your suggestion?”

  The two women had known each other for years, and nobody knew Connie better than her friend Denise. It was certainly something that had never happened before, so Denise’s guess would be as good as hers.

  “Honestly?”

  Connie agreed and waited for her answer. Considering that she had no idea what was going on, she really did want someone to tell her. Something that made sense, so she would be able to deal with it.

  “Honestly, I think you have powers or something. You know, like a superhero. If I hadn’t been so freaked out, it would have been badass, Connie. You should have seen yourself.”

  Now it was Connie’s turn to scoff because that was just ridiculous.

  “If that were the case, I feel like I would have known about it before. We have lived together for the last three years, and if I had powers, I think I would have burned up Billy a long time ago.”

  Billy was an ex that had completely humiliated Connie when they broke up. If Connie had been able to, she knew that at some point, she would have done it. Especially when Billy dumped her in front of all of their friends. Or the time a few months later when he begged her to come back to him, again embarrassing her by doing it in front of everyone.

  As bad as her answer was about powers, she also considered how upset she was. She had been devastated, and if powers were going to magically manifest, Connie was certain that it would have been at that point.

  Then though, Connie reasoned that it might not have been just any raw emotion that could jump-start her powers; maybe it had to be fear. She had never been so afraid in all of her life.

  “So, is there something you want to tell me, Connie? Some deep, dark secret that is dying to come out?”

  “Huh?”

  “You know, about the powers.”

  Connie just kind of shook her head because her friend was being ridiculous.

  “Don't you think I would have known by now that I had powers?”

  “Maybe you do but you don't want to tell me.”

  Connie sighed because none of it sounded right. She would know something like that about herself. “If I had powers and I knew about it, you would be the first one to know.”

  That made her smile, but it was short-lived. Denise’s mind was in the same place hers was. They were in trouble; it was clear to see.

  “I don't know what happened, Denise, I really don't, but I'm glad that we're both okay. I don't think those two guys had good intentions.”

  That seemed to be an understatement, and she looked at her a little grim. “That would explain the doom I felt in the end there, when Dan had me in the car.”

  “Let's go get a drink. Then we won't have to think about this anymore.”

  She agreed, but she looked at Connie a little differently, and it bothered her. She’d known Denise her whole life, and now something had changed. It was almost like Denise was suddenly afraid of her.

  Chapter Five

  As soon as there was a flash in the woman's blue eyes, Frank knew that he had to get away from her. He had seen that look before. She was able to blow him back several yards. Fire came out of her hands, and he saw a look of surprise on her face like she didn’t know that would happen.

  That was the last thing he remembered before he woke up and was surrounded by people. It took him a minute to realize that he was in his human form, and Frank was thankful for that. The last thing that he needed was for everybody to see him in his true form. Then he would have to deal with the council, or he would have to take out everybody that had seen him. That could be a problem, especially considering how many people were around him, gawking. It would have been a massacre just to keep it quiet.

  “Sir, can you tell me your name?”

  There was a cop standing over him with a flashlight in his eyes, and he covered his face. What was the answer that they were looking for? What was his name? It took Frank some time to figure it out in his mind.

  He shook his head, and after a moment, it finally came to him. “Franklin Evo.”

  “What happened here, Frank?”

  Frank looked around. There were burn marks on the street, and there were two dead men not too far from him. The fact that he had sustained massive injuries detoured them from thinking that he had something to do with it, but he didn't have any answers.

  “You've been through quite an ordeal, and you probably are in shock. We're going to put you in the ambulance to get you down to the hospital. I will be down there later to talk to you and get your statement.”

  Frank just nodded like he was still out of it, but his mind was working a mile a minute. The last place he needed to be was the hospital. His kind healed way too fast, and even though every single part of him hurt more than he could have imagined possible, he knew he had to keep on. Frank had to get better enough to run away. He couldn't be caught in a hospital. The council would not let that stand.

  He started out helping someone else. Now it was his life that was hanging in the balance. Something had to give, and his mind was trying to find out what that was.

  He left the scene, telling the cop that he would talk to him later. He took the card and hoped that he never saw the police officer again. He was afraid that the police would figure out that he killed the two men. It had been a very stupid move on Frank’s part, and he couldn't believe that he had done it. Frank knew better.

  Frank was limping away when the same police officer from before pulled up beside him. Frank groaned inwardly and wondered if he was going to have to get rid of another person. It wouldn’t be advised of course, but it might be what Frank needed to do, to keep the situation under wraps. The cop was not helping him walk away without hurting anyone else.

  “I thought you were going to the hospital?”

  “It's only a few more blocks.”

  Officer Tristan shook his head in bewilderment.

  “I don't even know how you're walking right now. Let me give you a ride if you don't want to ride in the ambulance. I don't much care for them either. I had to take one after a car accident.”

  Frank wasn't sure if he should get in the car or not. He knew that he really didn't have a choice. If he didn't go, it would make the cop look harder.

  The officer had a sturdy look to him. His dark green eyes looked honest when he looked at him. Frank couldn’t feel anything off with him, so he decided to take the chance. It was the officer’s life on the line, not Frank’s.

  Frank
already thought that he suspected him of something, and he did not want to make it worse. His healing could be rather quick, and sometimes scratches would be gone in minutes. Hopefully, they’d arrive at their destination before it was noticeable.

  He got in but worried that he would somehow give himself away. Tristan asked a lot of questions. He made it seem like they were just having a conversation, but he knew better.

  “Are you sure you didn't see anything? I mean, you should see the other guys. Whatever attacked you three wasn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before. It almost looks like there are claw marks on one of the men, but so much bigger than it is supposed to be. I used to live near Chattanooga, and there were a few bear attacks. Nothing like this though. Especially not in downtown Chicago. None of it makes sense.”

  Frank looked over at the cop staring off into the distance while waiting for the light to turn green. He was kicking himself for letting the cop see his handy work. The body would be studied, and Frank knew that it would put a him and his people in jeopardy.

  “I wish I could remember something, Officer Tristan. My head is hurting something fierce, so I can only imagine that I hit it pretty hard. I will get my memory back though, won’t I?”

  He shrugged and told Frank that the brain could be complicated.

  “I'm not going to say that it will or won’t come back. I've seen it go either way. If anything does come through before I see you again, let me know.”

  “Do you want to ask me some more questions?”

  The cop had been looking at his phone for the last minute, and it was beeping and flashing. Frank figured that he had somewhere else to be and was quite thankful when he said that he would be back later.

  “As messed up as you are, I can't imagine them letting you go in the next hour or two. I will come back up before you leave and check on you. Then you can tell me if you remember anything else. Take some time, though Frank; don't worry about it. We're going to find out who did this to you.”

  Frank thanked him and got out of the car before he changed his mind. He waited until the patrol car was out of sight and walked away from the hospital. His body was already starting to feel better, and he wiped some blood off of his arm, but there was no wound underneath it. Frank was thankful that it was a little dark in the cab of the car or the officer would have had a lot more questions he wouldn't have had answers to.

  Frank was able to walk away without breaking more rules. In the current scenario, that was as good as it was going to get.

  When he got back to the clan house, there were several members that were waiting for him. The look on their faces was questioning, but it wasn't something to be alarmed about. They had all come in with their clothes a little torn up and blood all over them at least once in their lives. For Frank the Alpha, it happened more than he would like to admit. Most of the time, it wasn’t his blood, though. This time it was, and it was a witch that had bested him. That part, he would happily leave out.

  “What happened? I thought we were supposed to meet at Devlin’s earlier?”

  Frank had forgotten all about it. He had left for his walk and most likely would have made it back in time. Devlin was a close clan that wanted to talk about some trading. Considering what they sold, Frank wasn't all that interested. While many shifters had gotten into all kinds of illicit sales, Frank never thought that was necessary for their clan. They didn't need the money, because his family was filthy rich and left more than enough to him, and he didn't need to seem tough because he had already proven himself. He was the Alpha, after all. There was no reason for him to go whatsoever.

  “As you can see, Josh, I got sidetracked.”

  “By what? It looks like you ran into a shovel a few times. Is that your blood splatter, or is it somebody else’s?”

  Frank looked down at his arms and shrugged. It was probably a mixture of both, and that's what he said. Josh wanted to know more, but Frank didn't want to discuss it.

  “I have a few things I need to take care of, Josh. Did you go to Devlin’s?”

  “Yeah, but he was a little pissed that you weren't there.”

  “I'm sure that he'll get over it. Did you guys have a discussion, or did he just bitch?”

  That brought a smile to Josh's face because they both knew that the man was exactly like that. He would throw temper tantrums if he didn't get his way and that was part of the reason that Frank would not do business with him. He did not want to deal with people that could not control their own emotions. It was a weakness.

  “He went on for about twenty minutes straight, but he finally settled in and wanted to talk about trade.”

  “And let me guess: he wants to sell us a white powder?”

  Frank said it in a scoffing manner because there was no way that he was going to deal with such nonsense. His clan was not going to be in the drug trade; there was no need for it. The last thing that any of the clans needed after such a public killing in Chicago was to add drugs to the mix.

  “You know that's what he wanted, Frank.”

  “And what did you tell him?”

  “I told him that I couldn't speak for you, but I was under the impression that you would not take the deal. He went into how much money we could make, and I tried to tell him a couple of times that it wasn't going to matter. I knew that you weren't going to go for it.”

  Frank was happy that Josh understood the situation.

  “Good. Now you need to find out who the new witch is in town.”

  “Is that who did that to you?”

  Frank didn't answer because he didn't want to. The witch had been far more powerful than anyone he had met before, but she had acted like she didn't even know what she was doing. She had been surprised by her magic, unless she was faking it.

  If Frank were honest, he would have considered that the only reason he was going to find her was to see her again. And it had nothing to do with anything official. He just couldn’t get her sparkling blue eyes out of his mind. and the draw that had brought him to her in the first place.

  Chapter Six

  Connie and Denise made it home safe, but neither one of them could sleep that night. There was far too much going on, and Denise finally came into Connie's room. She wanted to talk, but Connie didn't want to. She was being asked questions she didn't know the answer to, and it was frustrating her.

  “Come on, be serious now, Connie.”

  “I am being serious. I have no idea what that was. You think that I would be able to keep something like that secret?”

  Denise thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. “Probably not. You've never been good at keeping a secret. Not from me anyway.”

  “Well, there you go.”

  “And how do you explain what happened?”

  Connie told her that she had no idea. It was all a mystery to her, and a lot more than her brain could handle at one time.

  “Maybe we imagined it.”

  Denise scoffed. “How is that?”

  “I don't know. Maybe it was a gas leak or something. I mean, there's no way that this could be what really happened.”

  “You mean it can't be that you had fire shooting out of your hands?”

  “Exactly and I mean, it just doesn't make sense, does it?”

  “Of course, it doesn't make sense, but that's what happened. I know that you're in denial right now, but that is exactly what happened. I don't know how you did it, but you blew that bear back. And where the hell did that bear come from?”

  Connie had a whole lot of questions, just as many as her friend was rattling off, but she didn't see how she was ever going to find the answers.

  “Are you staying in here tonight? I don't want to be alone.”

  “Are you kidding me? If that thing comes back, I'm going to be glad you're here. You can just burn him alive or something, and you know, whatever it is you do.”

  Her friend said it jokingly, but it didn't feel funny for Connie right then. All she could think about was the hea
t that she could feel running through her body out of her hands. She also thought about the beast that had saved her and Denise but then scared her in the end. Had she gone too far?

  Connie didn't get to sleep very long before Denise was waking her up.

  “There is somebody at the door, Connie.”

  Connie wasn’t sure why her friend was so upset. It took her a minute to remember the night before, and it wasn't hard to imagine what Denise was thinking about.

  “Are you sure you're going to answer it?”

  Whoever it was, was knocking again and Connie groaned. She just wanted to go back to sleep. She was having a really good dream, a sexual dream that she wanted to get back to. It wasn't something she usually dreamed about, but it was that guy that she had seen at the club before she had gotten nervous from the way he looked at her and made her feel.

  “It's going to be fine, Denise. If you want to go in the other room, that's fine. I got this.”

  Connie wasn’t usually so strong-willed and unafraid, but after what happened and taking down a bear so big, she started to realize that maybe she was stronger than she gave herself credit for. She would never have imagined that she would have been able to face off with such a thing, let alone get it to leave them alone. It had been a win for her, so she was still reeling from it. She couldn't make sense of it, but it had undoubtedly given her a confidence boost. Not because someone was going to save her, but because she could save herself.

  When she got to the door and saw who was knocking, all of those newfound feelings of safety and strength were gone. It was the guy. The man from the club and the man from her dreams. He was standing right in front of her, and she was speechless for a moment.

  His eyes were running up and down her body, and it took Connie a minute to realize that she was not quite dressed. She had answered the door in her tank top and underwear. It wasn’t in her nature to be so forthcoming. She was usually pretty modest.