/ ZHASK /
“No, your name is Greya. And you’re a werewolf,” I told her with my serious face but what came out of her mouth was a sarcastic laugh.
“So what about you? A vampire?” she said and then burst out laughing again.
“No, vampires live farther north. We have no business with them.”
“So you’re a werewolf too?”
“Yes but not here. In this world, we’re mere mortals.”
She laughed again, the same laugh I remembered when I used to tell her jokes. I miss that laugh. I miss her so much.
“Look here, mister werewolf, I don’t know what your game is, whether you escape from a mental facility or high on drugs, but because I saw something weird last night and also because you have almost the same tattoo as mine, I won’t report you to the police. But I need to get you back to where you came from…”
“My tattoo?” I asked, cutting her off.
“Yes. Apparently, we could be related.”
“It’s my pack’s symbol,” I told her while looking at the mark of the moon on my chest. “You have one too. It’s your pack’s symbol and you’re my mate.”
Again, she laughed. “This is unbelievable!”
But I stood up despite the pain all over my body and went close to her. Now she was inches from me and I planned to get even closer.
“W-what are you doing?” She asked but she had her eyes locked on my body. She didn’t move back from her place.
I was trying to mark my territory so she would know she still belonged to me despite not being able to remember me, and I think it worked.
I could kiss her right here… I really wanted to kiss her or even embraced her. I could still feel our deep connection and I wished she could feel it too. I locked my hands with hers and pressed my forehead against hers. She was looking down and but she didn’t stop me yet.
“Once upon a time, we mated and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” I told her. Our lips were so close but I didn’t want to kiss her without her permission. I could feel her heartbeat. “I’ve been looking for you for four years. And now that I found you, I’m not going to let you go again. Whether you like it or not, I’m taking you back and you will have to marry me.”
She still seemed a little confused, which was good because I think her inner wolf recognized mine. They were communicating through our emotions. They were bonding after a very long time of being apart
“What did you do to me?” she asked and kept shaking her head, but she didn’t let go of my hands.
“It’s okay,” I reassured her and planted a kiss on her forehead. “It’s me, Greya. You’re safe now.”
The connection was too strong and too intimate that I was almost sure it would make her remember the memories she had lost.
However, the sound of a car pulling up in their driveway startled her and she broke from my embrace, losing our connection.
“Shit! It’s my parents,” she cursed, alarmed. “I didn’t know they would be back too soon. Stay here and don’t make a sound. I’ll be back later.”
And then, there she went, out the door and vanishing out of my sight.
I was so close! I could have made her remember. Doesn’t matter, she will remember me eventually.
I sat back on the bed and contemplate about what happened. My broken limbs still hurt like hell but it was only because the power of my inner wolf could not be felt in this world. I couldn’t shift here but I could still communicate with Fenrer, my inner worlf.
“You lost your chance in taking her back home…” he was telling me in my head.
“It’s okay, we’ll wait for the next full moon,” I reassured him. I could feel how angry and impatient he was to take his mate back to our world, but he needed to wait a little longer.
“We can’t know for sure if another portal could still be open… that was our last chance!”
“I know, alright! But things just don’t go according to plan! Don’t worry, I got this!”
“You better!”
My relationship with Fenrer had never been okay since we lost our mate four years ago. He thought it was my fault, because I was careless. But now that I found her, I would make sure that mistake would never happen again.
“It’s okay,” I told him. “We’ll take her home soon.”
***
/ABBY’S POV/
“Mom! Dad! Why are you back so early?” I greeted them with a kiss.
“Your dad suddenly has arthritis and forgot his medicine. One way to ruin our trip!” Mom said in exasperation.
“It’s okay, we can still go next week!” Dad replied while he took his medicine and sat on the couch, trying to relax.
“And why are you not in school?” Mom asked me.
I thought of all the ways I could explain to her about the man I kept in the basement but I decided to just keep it to myself for now.
“I wasn’t feeling well,” I lied and sat next to her.
“You should be in your dorm,” she said.
“I forgot something here,” I lied again.
Suddenly, in my peripheral vision, I noticed some movement outside the house. I looked through the window, and there! The man I kept in the basement was outside in the sun! He was wearing his black robe which made him too visible in broad daylight and he seemed to be holding a….. cat?
I cursed in my head. I told him to wait inside!
“Darling, who’s that man over there? Do we have a new neighbour?” mom asked when she noticed him too.
I sat up, feeling alarmed. They can’t know about him.
“Where?” my dad answered and his eyes drifted through the window too. “Who’s that? A priest?”
“Priests don’t wear black, Dad,” I replied, trying to calm myself. I need to distract them.
The man sat down on the ground and played with the cat in his hands. The animal seemed to like him as it licked his face.
“Probably just a visitor dad. You know what, why don’t you guys eat something? I know you’re tired. Come, I’ll make you a sandwich.”
“Good idea, ‘cause I’m starving,” dad said.
I led them into the kitchen. But I kept my eyes focus on the man outside. He didn’t seem to be escaping any time soon, though I would be happy if he would escape. But I still had a lot of questions to ask him. I couldn’t lose him yet.
I made my parents their favourite sandwiches and even served them some orange juice. And now that they were distracted, I slipped out of their sight and went over to the man outside.
“Hey!” I called him from the porch but being careful my parents wouldn’t hear.
He looked over to me.
“I told you to wait inside!”
“Sorry, I got distracted by this cat,” he said.
“Get back to the basement now!”
“Can I take the cat?”
“Leave the cat! Our neighbour will not be happy if their cat disappears.”
“Here you go, buddy.” He stood up and set cat the free. “I’m deeply hurt by how you addressed me but I understand!”
“Oh please, are we going to argue again? Hurry up before my parents see!”
He hesitated for a moment. He looked so innocent like a child, yet very charming at the same time. There was something in him that really intimidated me in a way that I felt so powerless and small in his presence. Some sort of deep connection. Something I just felt earlier when he stood close to me in the basement. Who was he? And why was he making me feel some emotions I didn’t know I had?
That’s why I need to keep him for the meantime. He could be a link to my past, to the life I could no longer remember.
He followed me back to the basement. I realized he could have been hungry since he had not eaten since last night so I went back to the kitchen and sneaked some sandwiches and orange juice. I also took some medicine with me.
“I usually eat meat, but this is fine,” he said.
“Let me see your wounds.”
He took off his robe and the upper part of his body laid bare. Again, I had this weird urged to wrap my arms around him.
“Turn around,” told him.
He had some serious cuts on his back and I applied some medicine on it.
He winced in pain. “Does it hurt a lot?”
But it seemed like the pain was too much because he suddenly groaned and hold his head.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, worried.
“Ahhhh,” he groaned again. Then before I could hold him, he collapsed to the floor and went unconscious.
“Hey! Wake up!”
/ ABBY /The woman who saved Zhask and me took us both to her house a little further away from where she found us.She treated our wounds and gave us water and a proper meal. She even gave me clothes to wear and made Zhask lay down on one of their beds to rest.Her house was small but it was spacious, with big windows which remained open for the rest of the day. It was located in what seemed to be a small village with people whose main source of food was farming. The village was surrounded by fields of crops and small green hills, and little streams. It reminded me of the island where Adam and I used to live, except this village was even more traditional than that place. There was no car, no technology, nothing that the modern human world ever owned. Or maybe we were just too far from the mainland?The portal had sucked us up and brought us out into the open field near a river. That's where the little kid found us. Now, I had to adjust my state of being before I could decide what to d
/ ABBY / It took me a few minutes to recover from the impact. I bit off my shirt and tore some fabric to wrap around my wound.Things were all over the place in the kitchen. All that stuff Elvon owned was scattered on the floor, it felt like an earthquake happened.But there was no earthquake. I looked around and found a glowing and pulsing white light where the counter once was.I saw Genebeth standing up, gushes on her face as well, as she shook off dust and broken shards of wood and glass off her.Mark and Elvon were in the corner, all over each other, struggling to stand up. Mark was still holding a piece of chicken in his hands, his face looked like he had seen a ghost."What the hell was that!" he yelled in panic.Elvon finally gathered his strength and stared at the white glowing light in the corner. It looked exactly like the light I had seen back in the woods when I first met Zhask. "It can't be...." I muttered and stared in wonder."It seems like someone has opened a porta
/ ABBY /Elvon and Mark gathered weird stuff in the kitchen. Stuff we barely recognized, some of them were amulets, pearls, potions, and other witchcraft stuff. The scent of smoke was heavier than usual and the whole room just felt so weird and dark and moist.We sat in the living room for ours, just letting them do whatever thing they were doing and just waiting until something would happen. So far, nothing happened yet and we were bored to death.It was already evening and we were starving. We couldn't cook our meals there because they had transformed the kitchen into some sort of magical room or whatever. So Genebeth decided to just eat outside.We didn't want to disturb the two magicians in there so we left them behind, promising we'd come back with food later. There was a small fast-food restaurant down there near the apartment building and we all went there to eat. They served us some chicken and some soup and ramen. I didn't realize I was hungry when I finally tasted food."S
/ ABBY /"You're taking me to where?" the man asked, clearly confused about what madness we just brought him into."To our apartment. To meet our friend," Shade replied, trying to convince him to come.We were standing just outside his house, making a deal with a man who possibly had no idea what he was about to do. "I guess this is too quick for you, isn't it?" Genebeth muttered beside me. "Why don't we introduce ourselves first? I'm Genebeth, for a start."Genebeth nudged at me, urging me to say something. "I'm Abby," I said, extending my hand to him."And I'm Shade. You are?"The man shook my hand first, "I'm Mark."Then he shook Genebeth's and Shade's after."Done with the introductions. Let's get to the point now," Shade said, pulling out her wallet. "Here take it. It's all yours.""I can't possibly...""Just take it," Shade cut him off. "Take it and get in the car. We won't ask you anything more."Mark took the wallet and his eyes widened upon seeing how much money was inside.
/ ABBY /The car slowed down as we drove back to the blue house by the river. We took it as a chance to listen to what excuse Shade had to say."I stole some money from my parents and ran away from home," she explained to us. I could sense the desperation in her voice. There was also a look of disappointment on her face.Now it made sense where she got all that money. There was no way someone like Shade, a student without even a job, could pay for all our living expenses. There was no way.Genebeth gasped and we both went silent. "Oh my God, Shade," Genebeth muttered, reaching a hand to Shade's shoulder to empathize with her. "No big deal, I've done it a few times before, they always let me come back," she added, trying to be nonchalant about it but I could sense her worry. "Yeah, you're right. Probably this time, they're going to abandon me. I stole a lot. Like a lot. Enough to sustain my independence, including the bail money I got Adam and Zhask out of prison, and yeah, the money
/ ABBY /"Are you seriously going to pay him?" I asked Shade as we got back into her car. "Yeah," she replied nonchalantly, starting the car up and pulling into the driveway."How much?" I asked again, not sure if I would agree with this one."Not for you to worry about, girl. Let's just get back and tell Elvon about him," she told me as drove our car back to our apartment."What if he's not the one we're looking for?" Genebeth asked, leaving over from the back seat to get closer to us."Then we'll keep looking," Shade answered. We got back to the apartment and rushed upstairs to the rooftop.We found Lylion sitting on a bench by the floor, eyes closed and snoring."Lylion!" Genebeth called out to his surprise. He stood up and alerted himself."What's the matter?" He asked, his hands already on his sword, probably thinking we were in danger."Where's Elvon? We found the man in his dreams!" Shade muttered out loud."He's inside," Lylion replied and opened the door for us.Elvon was