Authors: Jessica Burnett
“I have no clue! I really don’t.” She simply shook her head as she gets up to leave the room. As she opens the door she turns to look at me, “Don’t be too harsh on Derek, okay? He’s been through a lot.”
The door slams behind her. I lie down and try to sleep but instead, I drive myself crazy thinking about all that just went down. Maybe I was too harsh… Maybe I shouldn’t have said those things.
I get up and start pacing the room, clutching my stomach all the way. Suddenly, the door swings open. I jump from the sound. Derek is standing in front of me, fuming. “Derek…”
“No, I get to speak this time!” he interrupts. “I have had enough of your mouth for one night.” He glares at me as he says this. His whole body is shaking.
I gulp, “Derek, please. Calm down.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” His voice has risen, but not quite to a yell yet. “How can you say you don’t trust me? You haven’t exactly been honest yourself, you know.”
“What have I not told you? I mean, really. There’s nothing you have on me and you know it.” I retort, shocked.
“You lied about how your son was conceived! Didn’t you?”
My eyes grow wide, “What?” I whisper.
“Anytime someone asks you how it happened you say it was a typical teenage pregnancy story. But that’s not the case, is it? I don’t know the whole story, but anytime the subject is brought up you go cold. What could be so bad that you can’t share what happened, huh?”
I can’t speak. “I don’t remember saying anything to you about that.” I manage to whisper, stepping back once more.
“Not to me. I overheard you talking to Damien about it and once more with Lachlan soon after we found you.” He says, exasperated.
I start crying, uncontrollable sobs are escaping my throat. There has been too much stress in my life and I can no longer deal with it all.
“Ember, what is it? What did I say?” His voice softens to the point where I almost can’t hear him.
“You know what? You’re right. I have been lying this whole time about how it happened.” I huff.
“See. I knew it. So, what was it? Did you bail on the guy? Did you never tell him you were pregnant? Did you lie and say it wasn’t his?” He smirks.
“No.” I yell, aggravated and trying to hold back the tears.
“Then what was it??” He yells back.
“I was raped. Are you happy now?” I sob.
He looks at me in complete shock, obviously not expecting that at all. “Ember… I... I…”
“I don’t tell people that because I don’t want them to judge me.”
“Why would anyone judge you for that, honey?” He asked as he reached his hand out to me. I smack his hand away.
“Don’t. Most people don’t believe me when I tell them what happened, especially those that knew the guy. In fact, most people think it’s weird that I wanted to keep the baby after that. I went through hell because of this and I am no longer the same person I was before. “
“Why
did
you keep the baby? Not that I don’t agree with how you did things. Kai’s amazing. I couldn’t imagine life without him. I’m sure you feel the same way.” Derek sputtered out.
“For one, I don’t believe in abortion. Adoption was definitely out of the question. How could I live with myself knowing I had a kid out there somewhere? Not knowing whether he was safe, or warm, or loved.” I sobbed. “And lastly, I have known since I was fifteen years old that I was meant to have a baby boy. Years of meditation taught me that. I knew of his existence before it was even tangible... How could I possibly give that up after waiting so long for it to happen?”
“I can understand that…” He said sympathetically.
“No. No, you can’t. You’re such an ass, Derek.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” He said as he reached for me again. I back up a few steps.
“Don’t. Just don’t. Get out! I don’t want to see you anymore.”
He lowers his head, turns around, and leaves the room. I collapse to my bed in a fit of sobs. I didn’t get any sleep that night and the crying never ceased.
Derek and I haven’t spoken in over a month. I can’t stand to even be in the same room as him anymore… partly because I am still mad at him. But, mostly because I am mad at myself for being so weak. I doubt he will ever see me the same way again.
Any time he looks at me now his face is covered in shame. He keeps trying to apologize, but I refuse to listen. I can’t deal just yet. I just can’t.
I have been keeping pretty busy with Lachlan and Damien in order to distract myself; working out even harder than usual. Lachlan hasn’t been able to figure out how I ignited my latent abilities when fighting off the feline beast.
On the bright side of things, I have now mastered the art of teleporting and telekinesis. These are my new favorite tricks. It took a while to get the hang of it but with Lachlan’s help I feel I can do just about anything. I have been working with Kai as well to see what he can do. He’s already mastered the technique of reading minds. That is actually getting annoying though. Sometimes, he is relaying stuff he really shouldn’t be listening to in the first place…
We’re currently packing to leave the werewolf territory and head up to my original home, Land of the Elves. I have to get out of here. Everywhere I go is a reminder of what was said between Derek and me. Not to mention, I keep having nightmares and I am beginning to think it’s because I am here that they keep reoccurring. It’s the same dream, over and over again. In the dream I am a different person, in a different life, at a different time… and I die. I die a horrible, tragic death. Damien’s face pops up in the dream at random moments. I wonder if it’s relevant to him or if I am just latching onto Damien in order to forget Derek… In any case because of the dreams I feel myself more and more drawn to Damien, which pisses Derek off. This only makes me want to be around Damien even more though. I want to piss Derek off. As long as he is mad at me, and ashamed of himself, he will leave me alone. I don’t know if this makes me a bad person or not… At the moment I don’t care.
Lachlan said if the dreams don’t go away on their own, he’d help me find the cause so that hopefully I may rid myself of them. In the meantime, we have to work on bringing out the blue flames again, we haven’t quite figured out what that was, and bringing out the sword embedded in my arm. We’re hoping to visit with some other witches on the way out of here. Lachlan is getting frustrated with his inability to force them out of my body. If you ask me, he’s a little too obsessed with it all. It’s giving me the creeps.
“Are you ready?” Damien asks as he peers around the door to Derek’s bedroom. I take one last look around, realizing how much I will miss this place.
“Sure. Do you have Kai all set?”
“Yes ma’am, I do. Let’s get a move on. We want to leave before the sun rises.” Damien smiles at me as he walks in, grabs hold of my bag for me, kisses me on the cheek, and laces his arm with mine to lead me out
“I’m in too deep
I just can’t sleep
My aching heart yearns for you
I can’t go on like I used to
Maybe now I understand
What before I couldn’t comprehend
To lose you would be like losing me
Unrecognizable to the point where I cannot see
If all else fails
Where will we be?
If one of us bails
How will we see?
This nightmare of a dream-come true
I can’t be me without you!”
Sixth Chapter: Derek’s Story
Derek Black is my name. I was born August 16, 1990 in Black Territory, a secret werewolf reservation. On the outside, it seems like we’re just a really close family living on our inherited land. In reality, the Blacks are werewolf royalty governing over any other werewolf that wishes to live here.
I am next in line to take over as Alpha. It is my job to ensure the longevity of our species. We’re slowly running out of room; being encroached by humans and their nature-swallowing cities.
For years we have been trying to find a way to spread out our community. My father, Robert Black, came to a solution after I was born…
The Elven King had a daughter soon after my birth. The Elves have been trying to create an alliance with us for quite some time. My father agreed to conform to whatever deal the Elves wished as long as we could have one half of their land to move our people to and that we would all be equals. The deal consisted of my marriage to Ember, the Elven princess. The Elven King also wanted werewolf soldiers added to his army for him to control, and that all resources would be shared equally. My father complied.
When I first learned of this truce I was eleven years old. It was the first time I had ever been to the Land of the Elves. They introduced me to Ember before explaining to us why I had come there. She was tall for her age… taller than I was at the time. She had dark blonde hair with eyes of mud, and enjoyed playing with the boys over playing dolls and acting like the princess she was. She was a complete tomboy at the time; liked wrestling, climbing trees, swimming in the creek, eating with her hands, and running around topless.
At dinner one night they sat us down and explained the truce. I was completely disgusted… The first thing that popped out of my mouth was, “You want me to marry
her
? She’s UGLY!” My father smacked me right then and there and Ember ran off crying. While rubbing my face my father and the King demanded I go make amends while they straightened things out.
I found her in the garden behind the castle, swinging on the tire swing hanging off the great oak tree in the middle. I remember that I was surprised to find that I didn’t even have to apologize to her. The second I walked out she jumped up smiling and asked me to play with her. I later realized that she was covering up her true feelings about the matter. I spent the rest of that evening and the next week hanging out with only her.
On our last day there I made her a flower wreath from the garden she had been working on with her mother. I placed it upon her head and promised to marry her when we came of age. She beamed up at me, kissed me on the cheek and told me that she loved me. It filled me with so much hope and dread at the same time. I never got the chance to see her again after that... not until now. The Elves were in trouble and her father sent her away. To where, nobody knew at the time.
I spent the next six years of my life training to take over for my father. In those six years, I never once got a break from my lessons. I never complained, but my mother constantly did. She and my father got into constant fights over my need to experience being a kid for once in my life…
She snuck me away one day, took me shopping and to the fair that was going on in the next town over. I had a blast. It was the most fun I had ever had.
It ended tragically. I have never been the same since.
On our way home a semi veered off its side of the road, colliding with our vehicle. I came out with nary a scratch on me, werewolves are extremely resilient. My mother, however, was human and not so lucky. She was badly injured and put into a coma. Her name was Kristie Nightingale.
After two years of her being in the hospital, my father pulled the plug. Soon after, he remarried. I never forgave him for that. I never will. I love Laura and her daughter. They’re amazing women. But, what my father did and how he went about it is unacceptable in my eyes.
I took off for quite some time, needing to escape my treacherous world. When I did rejoin the werewolves it wasn’t with my father. I went to the Land of the Elves and joined the army there. That was how I got the mission of fetching the King’s daughter, my fiancée.
I teamed up with a couple other good men and headed out. Seeing Ember in the alley I could hardly believe my eyes. She looked completely different; dark red hair instead of blonde, rolling in waves down her back, eyes so dark they were nearly black. She stood about 5’7 or 5’8 with an amazing set of curves in
all
the right places. The ugly duckling story ran through my head. There before me stood a beautiful swan… a beautiful swan with a child.
I was never informed of Ember having a child over the years. It was hard to acknowledge. A part of me was extremely jealous. Werewolves mate for life, you see. They choose one person and have no other. The thought of Ember being with another man drove me wild, even if I was never too happy about our engagement.
But, turns out I got along better with her son, Kai, than I did with her. I spent many hours with him; teaching him how to carve out wood, playing with his make-shift toys, and helping him with his words. Mostly, he talked about his mother and how much he loved her. I got to know her better through him.
As I got to know Ember again I realized she wasn’t the same person as before either, not by far. She is hard-headed, strong-willed, sarcastic, beautiful, passionate, and ruined. Something about her suggested she had a hard life and that it wasn’t going to simply disappear. I knew I would have to work hard to earn her love this time. None of this would be easy.