by Lynn Veevers
“What happens when the authorities find their bodies?” Kaya asked.
“They won’t. Kenneth will drag that one back into the woods. Afflicted Lycans are unnatural creatures, so their bodies in death do not maintain physical consistency long. After the air has permeated into the body through the death wounds, their bodies simply go through an accelerated decaying process. Rather than taking months to deteriorate like natural creatures, it literally takes minutes. Once the flesh and blood has melted away, the bones descend into the ground and the earth integrates them into soil. No trace is left behind.”
They entered the long shadow cast by the garage , and within a few seconds of walking, the girls could hear the light padding and scratching of a large dog catching up to them. He nudged Anissa in the back and she spun around to face him. In his massive mouth was the sai she had dispatched on the head of the Afflicted and the bag that had been left with the wheelchair when the attack began.
Anissa pocketed her yo-yo again and took the items from his mouth. Rather than saying thank you, she opted to criticize Kenneth instead. “You know you shouldn’t be in Pure Form in broad daylight.”
He didn’t bother paying her any mind but instead nudged Kaya gently and whined as he lay down.
“Stop it, Kenneth! I told you before I am not interested in a pony ride…doggy ride… wolf walk… Whatever!” Kaya said, almost shouting.
“Actually, it’s a great idea. You should not be walking in your condition,” Anissa said.
She reached over, picked up Kaya, and deposited her on Kenneth’s back as if she weighed no more than two pounds. Kaya crossed her arms over her chest and hunkered down with a pout that would make a four-year-old proud. Kenneth got back to his paws and walked carefully to his waiting truck. He slowly rounded the bed and lay down once again next to the passenger side.
Anissa materialized at his side, lifted Kaya off his back, then took a step back. Kenneth resumed his Human Form and Anissa handed Kaya to him. He opened the door, placed her gently on the bench seat, buckled her in, brushed a soft kiss across her lips, and closed the door. Anissa was already heading up to her car when Kenneth rounded the truck, opened the driver’s door, and slid inside the cab. As Kenneth closed the driver’s door, Kaya’s thoughts took on a resentful scorn at their treatment of her.
All this delicate treatment as if I had been a helpless girl in the fight we just finished! Where was all their delicate concern when I was making it rain with the Afflicted I dropped from the sky? she thought to herself.
Kenneth just sat and stared at Kaya for just a moment, then exhaled deeply before he spoke. “Kays, I think there is something you need to know,” Kenneth said, taking a deep, nervous breath as he contemplated his next words.
Kaya could feel the tension building in his anxious body language, a caged tiger pacing within the bars of its confinement. The nervous bouncing of his leg shook the entire truck and Kaya’s heart began to race, because there was not much that would put Kenneth on edge like he was just then. A sense of dread crept over Kaya and the absolute worst possible scenarios of what he could possibly want to tell her began to play out in her head. She knew that she’d caused trouble because she’d run off half-cocked the night of his party. She didn’t think she could handle Kenneth deciding that she wasn’t worth his time, but that’s exactly what she expected him to say now that they were out of the woods and she was going to live.
Kenneth opened his mouth to speak and Kaya held her breath.
“After everything that has happened over the last few days, I have come to the realization that you are my one, Kaya. I had my suspicions before, but now I am positive.”
She was taken completely off guard and didn’t know what to say. She wanted to say those three little words to him, but just couldn’t, so instead she changed the subject.
“Kenneth, how are you going to get us home without a license?” she asked, feeling stupid for asking a question she clearly knew the answer to.
He gawked at her, confused for a moment. He fitted his key to the ignition, agitated, and with a twist of his wrist, the truck started up.
“I’ll be taking my driver’s test tomorrow at nine a.m. As long as I don’t break any laws, we should be fine,” he said dryly.
Silence fell over of the truck and it remained with them all the way back to Tangent. The tension was thick and she could feel the raw emotion bouncing off him.
It was dark out when he pulled up in front of her aunt’s house. Without a word, he got out, walked around to her side, opened the door, and lifted her into his arms. He walked down the walkway, up the stairs, and to the door, which opened right before they got there. Diana, hovering in the door way, stepped aside to let Kenneth pass. He carried Kaya up to her room and lowered her to the bed. When he started to straighten, she locked her fingers behind his neck. He brought his gaze to her’s and she could see the hurt in his eyes. Her heart broke because she knew she had put it there.
“It’s not that I don’t want to say those words to you, Kenneth, I’m just scared. I don’t know why,” she said, just as honest as she was desperate. She couldn’t let him leave with this strife between them. Kaya searched his eyes for a sign for anything, but she couldn’t read him no matter how hard she tried.
“OK, Kays,” he said and then tried to straighten again.
She tugged him closer to her and said, “Please don’t leave me here alone.”
“You aren’t alone,” he started to say, and she cut him off by kissing him.
He made a strangled sound and tried to pull away, but Kaya tightened her hold and pulled him down on top of her. He growled in his throat and deepened the kiss. Kaya’s emotions became unhinged, wild, and completely unbridled. She felt her heart racing. He was lying fully on top of her with one hand tangled in her hair and the other on her upper thigh. He pulled back just far enough to look down at her, eyes blazing yellow. She touched his face, gently ran her fingers down his jaw line, and everything in that moment locked into place. Kaya’s heart, body, and soul ached for him.
It was out of her mouth before she realized she was saying it. “I love you, Kenneth, and I need you more than I’ve ever needed anything in my life.”
He didn’t say a word, but kissed her again with raw need and desire. Then he broke the kiss reluctantly.
“I love you too, Kays.”
She ran her fingers through his hair and arched beneath him.
“I know, but I mean I want you,” she said quietly.
Realization dawned in his eyes and she could feel his desire growing at an alarming rate. He exhaled in frustration and grudgingly pulled away from her. Kaya didn’t know what she’d done wrong. He was on cue with her one second, and then putting some space between them the next. The hurt must have been evident because he gently kissed her again.
“I won’t disrespect your aunt and uncle by making love with you in their house. Believe me, I would love nothing more than to become one with you and seal our bond right here and right now, but it is not the time or the place.”
Kaya whimpered in disappointment.
“But…” was all she got out when he put his finger to her lips.
“When we make love for the first time, it will be in my bed after my father has given us his blessing, and after I am sure you are certain this is what you want. When you are sure you are ready to part with your innocence.”
Di’s uncharacteristic clearing of her throat had them skittering to opposite ends of the bed. She stood propped up against the door frame, arms crossed over her chest, trying to look completely disapproving through her poorly hidden smirk. Kaya stole a glance at Kenneth and noticed he was beet red and looked positively sheepish.
“Well Kenny, I appreciate the amount of regard you hold Jed and I in when it comes to respecting our home, but what followed is not something I didn’t need to hear,” she said, sighing in defeat.
“I’m sorry, Miss Diana,” he said as he hurriedly scrambled off Kaya’s bed
and dutifully stared at a spot on the floor in front of his feet. Diana sighed again.
“I can tell you until I am blue in the face that this is not going to happen and it would be in vain. I don’t condone you two having…being intimate. But I am no fool and know I can’t stop you, even if I want to. You’d better take precautions when it does happen. Do you two hear me?” she said with a healthy amount of threat in her tone. She looked at Kenneth. “Kenneth, I think you’d better be heading home.”
“Yes ma’am.”
She made a dramatic show of exiting the room. Kenneth crossed to Kaya, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her senseless.
“Can I come get you tomorrow for dinner with my family?” he asked.
“Of course you can.”
He traced her cheek with the back of his hand.
“I will be here at six to pick you up.”
Kaya nodded in agreement. Then without another word, he walked out the door, leaving her needy and very much in love.
Kaya felt exhausted and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep. That, however, was not going to happen. She felt gross and needed a shower. She was thinking about the comfort a warm shower would give her when she heard the engine of Kenneth’s truck turn over and fade as he drove off. She missed him already, but would see him tomorrow for dinner. She rifled through her dresser and retrieved the items she needed to be comfortable after her shower. Kaya walked out of her bedroom door and was crossing the hall to the bathroom when the sound of sighing had her looking to where Aunt Di stood in her bedroom doorway.
“Kaya, do we need to talk, dear,” she asked.
Kaya stopped but didn’t move to face her.
“Mom and you already gave me the birds and bees speech a long time ago, Di. I don’t care to hear it again,” Kaya said quietly.
Diana started laughing. “I am not going to give you the talk. If you have any questions or concerns about…well, you know, I am here to help,” she said. Kaya was pretty sure she had never seen Di sport such a fierce blush or look so uncomfortable.
“Thanks, Di. I just might take you up on the offer.”
While walking to the bathroom to take her shower, she realized Aunt Diana was more than just her aunt; she was her best friend. Kaya smiled because she knew her mom would be happy.
Kaya didn’t bother eating anything after her forty-five minute shower, but instead went straight to bed. Or she tried to. Princess was having none of that. Kaya was lying in bed when the kitten jumped up and landed square in the middle of her chest. She peered up at Kaya with those golden eyes. She lay down where she was, still regarding her human. Kaya noted she had grown in her absence. Princess softly kneaded Kaya’s collar bone and set in on a rolling purr of contentment. Before long, she was asleep and Kaya decided to follow her lead.
The light from outside seemed to wane ever so slightly, telling Kaya it was early evening. She glanced at her alarm clock and read four p.m. She was surprised to find she’d slept all day.
Knowing Kenneth would arrive in a couple hours, Kaya flipped through the clothes in her closet trying to decide what to wear. Her body was still sore from the attack so riding on his bike was not an option and she sincerely hoped he had done well on his driver’s test. Pulling out an off-white summer dress, she smiled, because it had been one of her mother’s favorite dresses with its thick cotton straps and square mid-cut neckline. The dress wasn’t exactly conservative but it wasn’t revealing either. A blue satin sash that matched the trim along the skirt’s hem line completed the almost vintage feel of the fitted bodice that extended to her waist and then flared with a full, knee length skirt. Holding the dress out at an arm’s length she examined it and her mother’s face played back in her mind. Shopping in mom’s closet had begun earlier in that year because Kaya had finally caught up to her size. Her mother hadn’t minded Kaya picking through her clothes and had actually seen it as a compliment, but the dress was one of few items deemed completely off limits.
When Kaya’s parents died and Di had come to rescue her from her very own horror movie, Kaya had decided the childhood memory would come with her. This was a piece of her mother she had so many fond memories of. Tonight, Kaya would wear this dress to have dinner with the man she loved and her mother would be with her in every step she took. Kaya stared at her reflection in the mirror and saw her mother looking back at her.
“I guess I do look like Mom,” Kaya whispered to herself.
Kaya’s hair was jet black and when the sun hit it just right, her dad’s blueish highlights could be seen intermingling with her mother’s red ones. She went over to her bed where she had gently placed the royal blue satin sash, with its tapered edges of lace. She was not capable of tying the sash in a perfect bow at her back like her mother had.
Kaya plucked the sash from the mattress and walked out of her room and down the hall to Diana’s room. Kaya stood in the doorway and watched Di as she stood there with her back to Kaya. She loved to sneak up and watch her aunt when she was like this. There Di stood in the middle of her sizable bedroom, playing a beautiful piece of music on her violin. Every time Di played, she seemed to be in another world that was all her own.
Kaya stepped into the room and Di must have sensed her presence because the bow paused on the strings. A look of stunned shock crossed her features and she slowly set the violin on the stand and walked toward Kaya in an almost mesmerized way.
“What’s wrong?” Kaya wanted to know.
Di smiled. “Not a thing, Kaya. It is just…in that dress, you are a dead ringer for your mother when she was your age. She even would have worn her hair down, just like you have chosen to.”
Kaya smiled at Di and went right into what had brought her there...
“Di, can you help me with this sash? Mom used to tie it in this perfect bow in the back. Do you know how?”
“Sure can! I was the one who taught your mom how to tie a bow like that.”
Di took the sash and turned her around. A second later a pretty strip of blue passed in front of Kaya’s face as it descended to settle at her waist. Pulling it tight Di went to work on the bow at the back of the dress. Walking over to her mirrored closet door, she saw the bow in the mirror, and then raised her eyes to her aunt’s reflection.
“Thank you, Di. It’s perfect!”
Her mirror image gave Kaya’s an easy smile, then dropped her gaze to Kaya’s feet.
“What shoes are you going to wear?” Di asked inquisitively.
Footwear had not entered Kaya’s mind because, frankly, she couldn't give two hoots about coordination; well, under normal circumstances. She shrugged in her typical devil-may-care manner and got a sharp, critical look from Di in response. Di crossed the few feet between her and the closet door, then slid it open. She walked toward the shoe section.
“Really Kaya, you can’t wear a dress like this and not give a single thought to the type of shoes you are going to wear. Now, with it being a classic style, you need classic shoes.”
She returned with a box from her ample supply of shoes. They were the exact shade of off-white as the dress.
“These are Mary Jane style heels with petite little bows on the ankle straps. They are four inch heels, so you need to be careful how you step.”
Kaya warily eyeballed the shoes. She had never worn heels before and they were just the slightest bit intimidating.
“Well, go on and give them a try!”
Kaya took the box from Di, walked to the bed, and sat down on the foot of it. She put on the shoes and stood up. The height difference reminded her of wearing roller skates. She carefully took a step and found it was not as hard as she assumed it would be. It was awkward for sure, but hard, not so much. Just different. She practiced walking back and forth between the closet and the bed.
“Well, look at that. You’re a natural, Kay!”
Kaya couldn’t help but smile, and Di immediately chastised her for being smug. Laughing, she engulfed her aunt in a loving hug. It startled Di at
first, which was fine by Kaya because it effectively shut Di up. As she released her, Di sighed in a way that told Kaya she was dropping it...
“Do you want to browse through my perfumes?”
“No, I think perfume would be overwhelming for Kenneth’s sense of smell and, well, everyone else in the house for that matter,” Kaya said.
“Yeah, that is true, I suppose.”
Kaya decided she would head downstairs to wait for Kenneth to arrive. When she reached the bottom of the steps, she was greeted with a loud, high-pitched whistle. The sound made her jump and her eyes locked with her uncle’s. He was standing at the island cook top in the center of the kitchen wearing his favorite apron over the dress shirt and slacks he had worn to work. A tailored suit jacket was thrown neatly over the back of the country style kitchen chair that sat at their little oval, oak table. With a whisk in his right hand he waved Kaya over with his left, and was grinning like he belonged in a mad house. Jed was of average height at five feet, eleven inches. He weighed around 185 pounds and was physically fit. He had blond hair that was truly more of a light brown with golden highlights, and dark brown eyes. Due to the level of professionalism his job required, he insisted on being clean-cut, which made him look five to eight years younger than he actually was. Kaya just stood there in a stupor because this laid-back, easygoing air Jed had about him was about as strange as a 112-degree day in December. Di had tried to tell her he had this carefree side to him, but honestly, Kaya thought she had made it up.
“Well, don’t just stand there. Come on over here and give me a turnaround, girl!”
Stepping onto the light brown tiles with their white and black patterned trim, she walked into the Spanish-style kitchen and stopped on the opposite side of the island. With her arms extended, she gave a dramatic turn. Putting his whisk into his pan he rounded the island and stood directly in front of her. Lowering her arms she waited expectantly. He just cocked his head to one side for a moment before speaking.