by LC Taylor
Hidden behind mirrored waters, I climaxed calling out Haven’s name. I couldn’t believe I had been so brazen, but the desire I felt, the hunger for Haven – was irresistible and called to me like the oceans siren.
Under the spray of the water, I couldn’t fight back the tears as they spilled. Pulling myself together, I pushed off the rocky bottom and swam to shore. Heaving myself out of the water I dressed back in my clothes. Without a towel, I would have to dry as I walked.
Unsure of the direction to travel, I decided to take a path that led opposite of the cabin. Glancing around at the serene water, I picked up the backpack and began my journey. I didn’t know if I would be back – hell, I didn’t know if I would survive this place much longer. Stef had warned me the longer one stays trapped here, the likely hood of fading all together was high.
Chapter 35: Haven
Waking next to Tessa, I immediately knew something was wrong. Her breathing was erratic and there was a small amount of blood on the linens. Jumping from the bed I yanked on some shorts and bolted into the hallway.
It was late, and most everyone had gone to bed. “Roxy? Dylan?!” Hearing noises from Dylan’s room, I busted in the door. “DYLAN!”
“What the fuck, Haven?” Jensen was trying to cover Dylan’s naked form, they were obviously too busy to hear me screaming for help.
“Sorry – But… something's wrong.”
“What is it, Haven?”
Dylan was untangling herself from Jensen and pulling a sheet over herself. As she stood, Jensen covered himself with his hand. “Haven what happened?”
“I… I don’t know. I woke to her breathing weird and there is blood on the sheets. Can you get Haley? Dylan, can you come with me? Help me look her over?” I ran my hand through my hair, frustrated I couldn’t do more for Tessa. I was a powerful warlock – yet I couldn’t help her myself.
“Yeah… let me get dressed. I’ll be in, in a sec,” turning to Jensen, “Honey, after you cover up – find Haley.”
Dylan smacked him on the butt as she walked towards the bathroom. “Oh… and don’t worry – we'll finish this later.” Winking at him as she closed the door behind her.
“Jensen – I'm sorry I busted in here like that… Tessa… I didn’t know what to do.” Embarrassed I’d interrupted his time with Dylan – they were doing more than sleeping when I barged into their room.
“Don’t, Haven. I get it – but unless you want to see me naked, you’re going to have to meet us in there. I kind of need to find my clothes,” smirking as he spoke to me.
“Yes, sorry. I’ll just wait with Tessa. Hurry please.” I looked towards the bathroom door.
“Don’t worry – you kind of killed the mood. Dylan will want to be there now.”
I left Jensen to get dressed and went back to the bedroom I shared with Tessa. She was writhing on the bed, moaning in her sleep.
“Tessa,” I ran to her, touching her forehead. She was sweaty, and her color was even paler than before.
“Baby – please wake up,” I brushed her hair out of her face. She was unresponsive and soaking wet.
Dylan rushed through the door, “Haven – what the hell?” She grabbed Tessa’s hand, “Jensen, please find Haley… or Roxy – anyone. PLEASE!”
Jensen left, disappearing down the hallway. I could hear him calling out to Roxy to hurry in to Tessa. Hearing his footsteps run down the stairs, calling out for Carter. I could hear Carter and Jensen hollering back and forth – they had likely woken the whole house. I didn’t care – someone needed to find help for Tessa. My magic wasn’t letting me reach her or see what was wrong.
Roxy rushed in to Tessa’s side, “Dylan,” turning her head in Dylan’s direction, “go to the kitchen and call Stef NOW. Dad – I need you to focus… grab some towels. Something’s wrong, Tessa’s bleeding.” Pulling the covers back the sight of blood sent me into a tizzy.
“What in the HELL – What is happening?” I fell to my knees crying.
“DAD – PLEASE Get up and get the GOD DAMN towels.” Roxy was screaming at me – snapping me from my moment of weakness. I stood – running into the bathroom and returning with several towels.
Tessa was bleeding. It wasn’t enough to indicate she’d lost the baby, but it was enough that it had everyone worried – me especially. “Roxy – why is she bleeding?”
Roxy’s magic pulsated through the room, “I don’t know. My magic isn’t strong enough.”
Pushing past Jensen, Dylan stepped up to the bed. “Here, let me try.” Dylan was more powerful than the two of us combined. With her shifter blood and witch blood – she could wield magic far more intense than anyone. Dylan stood with her palms above Tessa’s form. A brilliant blue light shown from her hands, as her eyes glowed silver she began chanting. An explosive flash engulfed the room and Dylan collapsed – nearly landing on the floor if Jensen hadn’t reacted so fast catching her beforehand.
“Roxy – What happened? Dylan… baby can you hear me? Jesus – she shouldn’t have tried; her magic is still so unpredictable.” Jensen cradled her in his arms, kissing her forehead trying to rouse her from her unconscious state.
As she slowly came too, “Jensen…” blinking trying to focus her eyes. Dylan rubbed her head and sat up, still cradled in Jensen’s embrace.
“Wow – take it easy, Dylan. You collapsed.” Standing with Jensen’s help Dylan turned and faced me.
“I can’t explain it, but the magic hiding the baby is too strong – I can’t get through. Even pushing all I could at the barrier – it rejected my magic and pushed back at me. I’m so sorry, Haven.” Dylan broke down in sobs.
“Dylan, please don’t cry. This is not your fault – it’s mine. I did this to her” I shook my head, feeling the tears as they rolled down my cheeks.
“Dad, please don’t blame yourself. We couldn’t have known this would happen -Tessa wouldn’t want you taking the responsibility of her situation.” Roxy’s words might have been true, but the guilt of her current state was killing me inside.
Standing beside her, I placed my hands on her body. Trying to for my essence into her I was thrown back – landing with a resounding thump on my ass.
“Now Haven – come on, that wasn’t smart.” Stef walked into the room, grabbing me by the arm she hoisted me up. “You can’t give her your magic or life essence. If it were that simple, you would’ve woken her up by now.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t just kill yourself trying.” Stef checked Tessa over, “The blood is nothing to worry about. It’s likely she came in contact with the baby there and didn’t know. The effects of encountering the missing part of your soul can be quite painful. When she does find the child’s soul, she will likely deliver here in reality. It is not certain if she will wake first - I could be wrong about it all though. We don’t know what to expect. It would be best to let her sleep and find her way back to us. Haven – it will be hard, but you just need ensure she keeps breathing.”
Stef nodded towards Roxy and Dylan, “Can you ladies meet me in the kitchen? I would like to discuss the plan for when she does wakeup – we’ll need two contingencies. One for delivering her baby alive, the other – well you get the point.”
The girls left the room, Jensen placed his hand on my shoulder, “Look, you need to take care of yourself. Come down stairs and eat. I can sit with Tessa for a while.”
Smiling I shook my head no, “Thanks, but I will not leave her side. If you could, can you bring me something up? I don’t care what – but I am not leaving this room.”
Jensen patted me before leaving the room, “Sure, I’ll have something sent up. Haven, we’re all here for you. Let us help you – you are family now, she is too.”
Giving him a half grin I thanked him for his kind words. He was right, we were family – I wasn’t the only one who needed Tessa to wake up. Struggling with myself, I vowed to never give up hope. I needed Tessa, just as much as she needed me.
Chapter 36: Tessa
Walking
for what felt like days, although it had only been several hours, I found myself standing in the middle of a field. The land was riddles in hues of pinks, blues, and reds. The floral scent was intoxicating, and the way the sun kissed the tips of the flowers left me breathless. It was a remarkable sight.
Surveying the area, I noticed Hope skipping through the flowers opposite of where I was standing. “Hope!” calling out to her, she turned and ran towards me.
“Tessa, you found me! I knew you could do it!” jumping into me, Hope wrapped her tiny hands around my waist and hugged me.
“Hope, what do you mean you knew I could? Why did you run off? You scared me.”
Peeling her off me, I sat down with her in the flowers.
“Because, I heard something calling to me. I got lost searching, you have to help me. There’s something scary out here, Tessa.” Her innocence was astonishing.
She spoke as though I could fix anything for her, “Aw honey, I’ll help you – I will. But I don’t understand why you are here. How can I help you when I can't even help myself? What do you mean there’s something scary out here – did you see something?”
“I don’t know… I just heard someone calling me. I got lost and then something scared me.” She reached up taking my hand, “I’m afraid, Tessa.”
Tears streamed down my cheeks, staining the front of my shirt. “Don’t be afraid. We will figure this out together. I know you want to go home – I want to go home too. My baby shouldn’t be here – Heck, I shouldn’t be here. There’s someone waiting for us, he must be going crazy without me.”
“Haven? Is that who you are talking about?”
Taken back by her question, “How did you know his name?”
Twirling a strand of her hair around her finger, “I don’t know. It just popped into my head.” This situation was getting stranger by the minute.
“Ok – Hope, we need to figure out why you're here. Do you remember anything that happened before I found you in the woods? Maybe, if we walk back that way, something will jog your memory.”
“Hum, ok. I don’t think so. I just remember you finding me. That’s it. But I want to play in the water – so can we go now?” Hope stood, grabbing a handful of the colorful flowers, she thrusted them towards me, “Here, these are for you.”
Taking them, I inhaled their delicious scent. “Hope – I meant to ask you, what’s your last name?”
Her face squished up like she was trying to think hard, “I don’t think I have one yet – only Hope. Let’s go… this place is creepy.” Looking around at the woods surrounding us, she hurried off down the path towards the waterfall.
“Hey – wait up. What do you mean you don’t have one? That’s silly. Everyone has a last name. Try and remember ok? It may help me get you out of here.” Catching up to her I took her by the hand, “Please don’t run away from me again… I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Unable to fight off the shiver that ran down my body, I worried about what we were up againstShe was right, even though the flowers were beautiful, this place was beginning to creep me out. An odd sensation of being watched plagued me, glancing over my shoulder as the trees obscured the field from my vision, I worried that something was coming.
“Tessa, will you swim with me?” Squeezing her hand,
“Of course, Did your mommy teach you?” She was only four – or at least that’s what I thought, “Hey how old are you anyway?”
“I don’t know. And I don’t think I have a mom yet.” She seemed confused.
“You don’t know if you have a mom?” When we reached the water’s edge I became worried something could happen to her in the water, “Are you sure you want to get in? We can just put our feet in for now if you’d rather. I don’t want you to drown and it gets pretty deep in the middle.”
“I think I’ll be fine if you come with me. You’ll get in, right?”
Her sweet smile melted my soul, “Yes – just be careful, ok?”
“Yes – you're really nice.” She giggled and jumped in fully clothed. Looking at her splash around in the water, I found myself thinking about my baby. Instinctively my hand came to rest on the slight bump. I could only pray that he or she would be as kind and lovable as Hope was. This little girl gave me the courage to survive… she gave me hope.
“Tessa… come swim with me!” She splashed water at me. Taking a deep breath, I dove toward her in the cool waters. We swam and played together until the sun began to set.
“Hey, we should get out and go back to the cabin. It’s going to get dark soon.” I headed towards the shore line, Hope close behind me. Ensuring she got out safely, I pulled her by the hand to stand. “We’ll have to dry as we walk. Kinda sucks not having towels.”
“Yeah, but swimming was fun.” Hope skipped along side of me, humming as we went. She was so happy, I was glad to have her company – being with her made this hell-hole bearable.
Chapter 37: Tessa
We made it back to the cabin just at the sun set. The orange ambers of light kissed the horizon as it disappeared over the edge. “Are you hungry?” Hope had to be starving – I was.
“Yes – can you cook?” The laughter bubbled up from my gut – she was worried about whether or not I could cook. Not that she was stuck in some alternant place of limbo…
“Well, usually – unfortunately there’s not much to work with. Just some canned soups. But, it’s good enough… we won’t go hungry.”
Dripping wet, Hope sat at the table. She taped her feet on the floor, anxiously waiting for me to feed her. “Alright, here ya go.” Smiling as I placed the bowl in front of her. Scarfing the food down before I even had a chance to sit and join her, “Wow, you were really hungry.”
“Uh-huh,” her eyes were sparkling as she spoke, “do you like wolves?” startled by her question I dropped my spoon onto the table.
“That’s a weird question. Why are you asking about wolves?”
Shrugging her shoulders, “I dunno, I dream about them a lot. They talk to me in my dreams. I even pretend to be a wolf sometimes – I like being a wolf, it’s fun.”
The longing to share my wolf with my own child, brought a sadness to me. I thought about telling Hope my secret, but being unable to shift – I didn’t want her to think I was lying. “Yes, I like wolves – very much. They are nurturing creatures, pack animals… Wolves believe in surrounding themselves with a lot of other wolves. Kind of like a big family of sorts.”
“I’d like a family. Lots of brothers and sisters to play with – or at least a mom and dad. I don’t think I have those.” Her brow furrowed as she thought hard. Twisting her still wet hair, “Tessa, can you be my mom?” Her look of innocence stole my breath.
“Oh honey… surely your mom or dad wants you back. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have you as my child – but that would be unfair to them… Don’t you think?”
“But what if I never leave here? Would you be my mom then?”
Placing my hand on her shoulder as I kneeled in front of her, “Hope – as much as I would love to be your mom, I am going to figure out why you're here and get you home. So, let’s not think like that. WE have to get out of here.”
Nodding she smiled at me and stretching as she stood from the table. “I’m really sleepy.”
Hope yawned as she walked towards the bed, “Hope, you’ll have to strip down to your t-shirt and undies. You're still pretty wet, and we certainly don’t want the bed to become soaked.” I rummaged through the closet and found an oversized shirt, “Actually, use this. It’s dry and would be better.”
Hope caught the shirt as I tossed it at her, “Ok.” Stripping down she slipped the huge top over her head. It swallowed her whole, but at least she would be dry.
It didn’t take her long to drift off to sleep once she crawled into the bed. Watching her as I sat in the chair, I longed to be home with Haven. This little girl deserved more than this horrid place.
Startling awake to the sound of movement outside, I
jumped from my chair. My neck was sore from the awkward sleeping position being in the chair. Rushing to the window I peered outside, the sky still dark as the sun had not yet risen, I could see the outline of something moving along the tree line.
Snatching the door open I rushed onto the porch, “Hello?” Calling out to the darkness. “Who’s there?” Squinting my eyes as they adjusted to the darkness, gasping as I saw a figure looming against the thicket. “I see you… what do you want? Show yourself!” Walking down the steps towards the mysterious being.
“You show no fear… a mistake if you're not careful.” The creatures voice was raspy, the sound of it causing me to stop in my tracks.
“What are you?” not getting closer, I tried to see what or who it was.
“You are running out of time. Soon, you will both become mine.”
“I WILL ASK YOU AGAIN… What the hell are you? And what do you mean running out of time?” My fingers curled into fists as I clenched them by my side. My wolf was whimpering, unable to shift still. Whatever this was – it had her cowering in the depths of my soul.
“Teeesssssa,” It hissed, “I am the keeper of the in-between. AND soon you will be mine forever. You and your little girl. You’ve overstayed, soon enough, it will be permanent. This place will become forever – your souls doomed to eternity with me.”
“YOU will NEVER keep me here! ME OR HOPE. WE will go home!!” Seething anger, I ran towards the creature. As if some force stopped me, I froze in place before as I got near. Taking in the hideous creature’s appearance, I gasped. It was man, but more creature-like than human. Tall, with defined muscles, the creature was the color of darkness. He had two horns protruding from the front of his head, his legs were covered in hair, almost like pants. Where his feet should’ve been, were hooves. He was half man, half monster.