Chapter 4: NATALIA

"Nat, are you alright? You seem a little pale."

"I'm fine Patrice, as you three reminded me earlier, it's almost that time of the month that's all."

I hate lying to them but there is no way I'm going to put a damper on their carefree days. For all that they're as old as I, inside they're little more than the eighteen year olds they appear to be. With their heads in the clouds and nothing more stressing on their minds than what to wear to the next school dance.

I wish for them always to remain that way, that they never lose that light and laughter. No, I will carry this burden alone, whatever it is. Or maybe I will put a call in to my mom later and get her thoughts on the subject. Though opening that can of worms may very well bring the elders running.

I thought of nothing else all day and wished by the end of it that I could put it all down to just premenstrual distress, but I knew better. There's definitely something more at work here, and the stress of having to keep it hidden is beginning to wear on me.

***

That night I went to bed a little earlier than usual and I cast a spell over my sisters so that they too would feel tired enough to retire. This way I wouldn't have to worry about them getting up to mischief while I was upstairs asleep leaving them unattended.

I blamed my tiredness on my coming period, and they bought it, since I do tend to have a miserable time with this human malady that is part of my cross to bear while living in this realm. It was someone's sick joke I think, but none of the elders has ever shared the story behind it.

Probably penance for something one of my female ancestors had done in the past. I made the rounds and fed Patrick who was looking perturbed at being left alone all night. The ornery bird had a look on his face like he knew the real truth behind my sudden ennui but thank goodness he kept his thoughts to himself this time. Who knows what he'd bribe me for if he does find out.

After the house was settled, I was the last one to make it to my bed, grateful once again that I was able to hide my unrest from the others. It's not the easiest thing in the world to do, not with the powers they have, and I've found it a bit more than straining trying to keep up the charade to keep things hidden from them.

I won't be able to hide it for much longer though I'm sure, not feeling the way I do. Still, I won't feel comfortable sharing with them until I figure out this new malady myself. But I have no words, no explanation for the strange feelings that have been plaguing me more and more here of late.

I looked up at the ceiling restlessly as my mind searched for something, anything. It wasn't so much a sense of danger I felt, as it was some strange kind of excitement that simmered just beneath the surface.

I didn't get the feeling that it had anything to do with my sisters either, or I'd have packed them up and left the first time I felt it. It's my responsibility to look out for them in every way after all, and maybe that's why this thing has been bothering me as much as it has.

For someone like me, not knowing something, or getting a handle on it can be quite bothersome as it's not a situation one with my power and capabilities face very often. In fact, I can't remember ever feeling like this in my many years of life.

So I stayed awake long into the night; worrying and hoping that this elusive feeling wasn't a harbinger of something more sinister, and that it didn't have anything to do with the other three young women now asleep in the house.

I rolled over in bed and looked at the photograph in the antique gilded frame. It must be three hundred years old; the frame that is, the picture is more recent.

Every so often we have to change the image inside to keep up with the times. I felt warmth invade me as I always do when I look at our beautiful, smiling faces.

So young and carefree, so full of life and joy, my beautiful sisters, my friends. We are four. Brought together by something stronger than blood, a bond that can never be broken.

Together we are strong, stronger even than the ones who bore us. Generations of power flow through our blood! The ancient ones whisper in our ears. What we are have existed since before time and will be here long after.

My mother is of nymph and human blood; my father, a fairie and elf prince mix. I am indeed a rare breed among my people, and the strongest one born in the last two thousand years, as I bear the mark of the seal.

Though I'm considered a mere babe by my kind's standards, fate has seen fit to make me the heir to my people's rule; something that I hope will not come to pass for a very long time.

I'm having a hard enough time running herd on these three, I can't imagine being responsible for the hundreds of thousands of our kind who roam the many kingdoms of the earth and skies.

At present my only duty is to guide and protect my sisters as we four watch over the people of our little town. Something our ancestors have been doing since this little Island was settled a little more than four hundred years ago.

It's still rather untamed, barbaric even in some of its practices, like this business of unprovoked violence and a prolonged hate for some of its own citizens.

Something that has been going on for the past four centuries according to the many journals and diaries of our ancestors who once lived here, and in other places around the island known as America; and the stories they still tell when we all get together.

But as far back as this land has been inhabited, there have been us here, looking, watching, protecting. And though they can have no idea of what we truly are, and as heartbreaking as it is to see the birth and deaths of those we have drawn close to, it's a responsibility we cannot shirk.

They do not see, they cannot know what danger moves among them, these humans with their short life spans. Had we, and others like us not been here throughout time, I'm afraid they would not have survived as a species, this thing they call humanity, as there are things, those things they cannot see or sense that would've done away with them long before now.

But my ancestors have taken up the gauntlet, placed themselves between men and their natural predators to see that their lives go on unhindered and with as little disturbance as possible.

There's only one thing stronger than us, the only thing we fear and for centuries we've stayed out of their way. Hidden away in small towns and villages was our best cover, since our enemy prefers the bright lights and hustle and bustle of a thriving city.

As my eyes drifted closed, I saw a face, the same one I've been seeing for the better part of half a year now. Who are you? And why do you seem so familiar when I know without a doubt that we've never met?

The warmth that always follow the vision of his amazingly gorgeous face engulfed me as I fell into the darkness of slumber. A name echoed in the recesses of my mind just before I lost consciousness...Lucien...

***

Outside the wind blew in a strange way as if heralding something to come and in the distance one who as yet did not know of her felt her in the deepest part of himself. "What the fuck?"