The Legacy of Kilkenny (5 page)

Their curiosity has nothing on my mom and dad.
 
Mom will make little comments, “
So
, Pru and you are going to the movies?
 
Do you want to have her over for dinner?”
 
Day in, day out, until they got bored with my answer and quit pressuring me about it.

It’s already
been a month and I still have no idea if she likes me or not.
  
We’d decided to go to the movies and see the latest vampire love story.
 
I hate to admit it but I read those books and I really liked them, nothing like a little blood, and violence with a hot girl to boot.

Pru pulls in the driveway, I watch as her long legs emphasized by the skinny jeans and Chucks come strolling to the front door.
 
I don’t think she ever wears all that war paint girls put all over their face.
 
It would be a shame if she covers that pretty skin with all that
goo
.

 
“Hey Abel, you ready to get scared by the vampires?” she grabs me by the shoulders pulling me in like she was about to bite my neck.

“Yeah, be careful or I’ll bite you and we’ll see who’s scared.”
 
I nudge her shoulder with mine.
 
Ah oh, she smells good.
 

We pulled up to Quail Springs Mall with its fancy restaurants and name brand stores. A perfect example of the cookie cutter life.
 
Its huge movie theatre is incredible with the fancy sound system and stadium rocking seats. Walking dogs keeps cash in my pocket to pay for things like movies and popcorn.
 
It drives me crazy Pru won’t let me buy her ticket, I’ve tried a few times but she refused to accept.
 
My stomach rumbling from the smell of buttery popcorn I tell her to grab us a seat and I’ll get the drinks and popcorn.

After the movie, Pru is really quiet.
 
I can’t help but wonder if I’d done something to make her mad.
 

“Hey, is everything okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, I just have a little bit of a headache.
 
Do you think we could go over to the lake and just walk around?
 
I can use some fresh air, as a matter of fact if you
wanna
drive, that’s cool with me,” she says as she tosses me the keys.

PRU

All the way over to pick Abe up for the movie, I was thinking how exactly I’m going to tell him what I am.
 
What
he
is.
 
Going to see a vampire movie is probably a corny way to tell him but it was all I could come up with. What would happen if he didn’t believe me?
 
What if he laughs at me?
 
What if he gets mad and becomes unhinged?
 
I’m not afraid of him physically, not yet at least. I know that when some
weres
are stressed out, they can shift without warning.
 
I’m crossing my fingers it doesn’t go down like that.

I’m so glad they didn’t depict werewolves as big ugly creatures.
 
I’d die and probably chicken out before telling him.
 
Thankfully, I didn’t lose my nerve.
 
I pretended to have a headache so I could get him alone.
 
I’d been practicing with my mom and Josie to make sure I’d be able to get it right.
 
It was a good thing I didn’t really have a headache, I’d let him drive my car and he tested every corner without braking.
 
There was a secluded area with a bench that overlooked the water.
 
What we call a lake, others would call a pond, so I’ve been told.
 
Since sailboats were the only kind allowed on the ‘lake’, we were in luck it was too windy for sailing. Okay, here goes nothing.
  
I took a deep breath and prayed for the best.
 
“Abel, you and I’ve become pretty good friends
dontcha
think?”
 
I wondered if he could sense how nervous I am.

“Yeah, you’re pretty cool.
 
What’s wrong?
 
Did I do something wrong?” he asked.

“Oh, no!
 
No, everything is fine,” I said shaking my head back and forth.
 
I know he wants to know if I’m interested in him.
 
The other night I dreamt about it and I don’t want to hurt his feelings, I like someone else.
 
Not just anyone, Oakley, my bodyguard.
 
“I need to talk to you, I want to explain some things you’ll probably find really odd.
 
Is that cool?”
 
I mentally crossed my fingers for luck.

 
“Sure,” he said as he shifted on the bench to face me, “you’re not going to tell me we can’t hang out anymore are you?”
 

He looked like a big little boy; his big brown eyes wide and alert. Oh this is going to be harder than I expected.

“What did you think of the movie?” I asked.

He looked confused and said, “Huh?
 
You’re all serious and wanting to talk to me about the movies?”

He has a point…
that
is a stupid way of starting off.

“No, I do want to know how you feel about vampires.”
 
I was trying to sound nonchalant.

He said he really didn’t have any feelings about vampires.
 
Why would he?

“Do you believe in vampires?
 
Or even werewolves?”
 
I asked, sensing the confusion in him.

“Uh, I don’t know.
 
I mean, I’ve read a few vampire books and I’ve wondered about if they were based on anything real or not.
 
I
Googled
it a couple of times, and know it is based on a lot of lore from the old days.
 
I don’t know much about werewolves, I figure it’s something Hollywood came up with to freak out movie goers.
 
What do you think about them?”
 

I shifted around to look at him “Well, I think anything is possible.
 
Look, I’m not crazy and I need you to just trust me.
 
Okay?” I was so nervous I wasn’t sure if it was the right time or not, it was do or die.
 
“Abel, what I’m going to tell you sounds a little nutty, maybe more like
I’m
nuts but you have to believe me.
 
Can you just be open-minded and hear me out?
 
Trust me, it’s all I ask.”

I keep expecting him to stand up and walk away, thankfully he doesn’t.
 

“It will probably be easier if I show you, so if you will give me your hand I will.” I see he is uncomfortable, I can smell his nervousness and I
know
he is afraid to take my hands.
 
“Trust me; I won’t hurt you, not yet at least, ha
ha
.
 
No, seriously just take my hands, okay.”
 
I could hear his heart rate speed up so I focused on calming him.
 
He put his hand in mine; I could feel the intense stress he was feeling.
 
I started drawing the stress from him.

“Just relax okay, if you take deep breaths in and exhale slowly, it will calm you down, like yoga.”
 
He did what I said, I channeled my powers to him, I pulled at his soul just to relax him a little.
 
From my training I know the feeling is slightly euphoric, like when you go to the dentist and they give you laughing gas.
 
I don’t like to pull on the soul too long because it becomes hard for the person to focus.
 
His hands became slack in my hands and I knew he was ready to ‘see’ the truth.

“Just keep your eyes closed. I only need one of your hands.
 
No matter what happens, don’t let go,” he shakes his head in agreement.
 
“Keep taking those breaths.
 
Just relax,” I said.
 
 
“Abel, are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he said as he sat perfectly still, completely relaxed.

It sounded like he was in a trance; I needed to make one part of him grounded, while the other side of him communicated with me.

I called out to the spirits.
 

“I visualize the
Triquetra
, Abel, I share with you my vision.”
 
I flicked my left wrist three times while grasping his hand slightly tighter, he winced but was still relaxed.
 
“With this vision, I see life, death, and the rebirth of the soul.
 
I have faith in the holy trinity as The Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost, as in both meanings for one symbol do evoke my belief.
 
I call together my brothers of my Pack, I call to you spirits and for your shift so I can share with Abel the Truth.
 
The Truth of what has been, as what is, and as what will be.
 
I call to the spirits of life and my vision will be shown through both of our eyes.”
 
I flicked my left wrist three times, and I could ‘see’ Abel flick his right wrist along with me.

I stayed aware of our surroundings since we were in a public place.

“Abel, I want you to take three breaths, all deep and relaxing.
 
Just feel your spirit and trust in the
truth
.
 
I want you to keep your eyes closed, but see my vision.
 
Look around, what do you see?”

“I see the woods,” his voice was deep and sleepy but I knew he was keenly aware.

“Great, I want you to explore.
 
Just walk around and tell me what you see.
 
You are okay, we are in my vision.
 
I need you to keep your faith in the
Triquetra
, as we are protected in the physical plane and within the vision.”
 
I stayed calm but I was worried about how he was going to react.
 
If I keep myself calm he will stay calm.
 
I had him connected to me and to my spirit.

“I see a huge home with dark brick, it has a large porch, it must be the biggest home I’ve ever seen in person, or even in a dream.
 
Why don’t I see you?”

“You’re using my eyes to see, this is my vision but I’m letting you see it.
 
Don’t worry, I’m with you,”
 
I said.

“There is a dog on the front porch,
is
that a dog?
 
It is really big; it must be some type of mastiff of something.”

“He’s an Irish Wolfhound, his name is
Alistar
.
  
You don’t need to worry about him, he has been waiting for you.”

“Everything smells really strange to me.
 
I don’t know what it is.
 
I’ve grown up surrounded by farms and it doesn’t smell like them.
 
The air is a little sweet, but I can smell animals and the ground.
 
I don’t ever remember smelling the ground this strong before.
 
I smell your perfume, or whatever it is that makes you smell like cotton candy.
 
Man, the woods are everywhere.
 
What the hell is that?
 
Pru!
 
What is this?
 
Oh, damn!
 
There are wolves!
 
Why are there so many wolves?
 
We better be careful, we’ll get hurt.”
 
His voice was a little panicked.

I took some deep breaths in and calmed him down.

“Dolly, will you please step forward,”
 
I said.

“Dolly, I submit my will to you, please come forward.
 
This is my friend Abel,” I said.
  
For a brief second Abel’s hand trembled but he held on and didn’t let go.
 
Dolly walked up to us and stood erect and alert.

“Abel, this is the hard part, and I need you to really relax, just let it flow.
 
I want you to breath deep.
 
It’s okay,” I turned to Dolly and said “my Alpha female, please reveal.”

I focused on Abel’s heart rate trying to keep him calm.
 
I couldn’t let him get too excited or the vision would end, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to bring him back to the visional state.
 
I’ve grown up with the knowledge of what we were and that it is a secret, we don’t reveal ourselves to outsiders unless they are connected to us.
 
The danger for the gifted that live amongst humans is so intense, those that accidentally discover us rarely live to tell the tale.
 
A
were
that exposes us will meet the same fate.
 
We are black and white; very rarely do we have shades of gray.
 
The Alpha male and Alpha female are the most protected of the Pack.
 
We survive on instinct, guts, and knowledge.
 
The first reveal to an outsider can be traumatic for us both.
 
The wolf can sense the fear and feels shy because we are not out to kill humans, actually we are here to protect the humans from the supernaturals.