by Anna Collins
Sarah disconnected the call and looked at Kurt with sadness filled eyes.
“What happened babe?” Kurt asked.
“Jeremy has asked me to go to Florida tomorrow itself. Babe, I really wanted to go with you. Why does he need to leave tomorrow itself? How are we going to plan our vacation now?” she asked, looking extremely sad.
Kurt kissed her on the lips and said, “Darling, we have all the time we need. Go to Florida tomorrow and we will have a weekend gateway. Trust me, it will be the best weekend you have ever had and you will scream my name so loud that it will echo in your own ears.”
Sarah looked at Kurt and realized that he was flawless, perfect and she could spend the rest of her life simply staring at this man and her love for him was endless.
“Did I ever tell you that you are the best thing to have happened to me and you are way too perfect?” Sarah asked.
“You’ve told me too many times, but it never hurts to hear again” he smiled.
“I love you, darling. I can’t imagine living without you.”
“Then, don’t because I am not going anywhere.”
Sarah decided to pack her stuff and Kurt planned to have the house completely ready before Sarah came back so they could move in right after their weekend gateway.
“I am going to miss you so much Kurt. Ever since I have met you, we have never spent a day apart. I will miss you so much.”
“Babe, don’t worry. Come soon and I swear, I will make up for all the times we will be apart.”
Sarah kissed him again and then set out to pack her stuff and get the pending tasks done before leaving. The next morning she woke up early and got ready to leave. She had an early morning flight and knowing that she had always hated getting up early, she knew she had to rush.
Even after getting all her stuff packed, he knew she was running late. “Honey, don’t worry, you will reach on time. Stop panicking, Sarah. You will be there. Take care of yourself. Call me when you check in at your hotel. Come soon and I will have our new house ready.”
She looked at Kurt and knew that she had been lucky to find him. She kissed him and something stirred inside her. She didn’t want to leave him, not now, not ever. “Can I not skip my flight? I don’t want to go.”
“Honey, it is not a goodbye. You are coming back and the next time we will go together. Now, get going before you get late.”
She locked her apartment and Kurt moved to his new home, thinking of the different ways he could jazz the space.
Sarah couldn’t quite believe her luck. There was a part of her that had never wanted to go to Florida. She had planned every detail of what she would do with Kurt and having her plans shattered felt terribly bad.
When she was halfway through to the airport, she had received a call from her boss. Her boss had called in to tell that the trip had been called off as he had another urgent meeting to attend. She could take a few days off and this meant that she had all the time to steal a vacation with Kurt.
She had excitedly asked the driver to take her back to her home. She thought of calling Kurt on the way, but decided to surprise him. Wouldn’t that be a better option, she wondered!
She came back home and immediately headed to Kurt’s new place. Little did she know that her whole life was about to be turned upside down and all her dreams was going to be shattered in a myriad of pieces.
As she was about to unlock the door, she couldn’t believe her own eyes as she stood there outside the window, staring ahead. Right in front of her own eyes, she saw Kurt and in the next instant, he changed into a bird.
There was no rule of science that could define what she saw. She rubbed her eyes and she was sure that this was one of those dreams wherein you wake up and laugh at how far-fetched your imagination can be.
There was no feasible way a man could turn into a bird, she was definitely dreaming. She pinched her hands and closed her eyes shut tightly. When she opened it, she saw the bird roaming around freely in that open expanse in the apartment.
Was it really possible for Kurt to change into a bird? If yes, wasn’t he someone extraordinary? Why did he keep the information to himself? She felt like she had been betrayed and there was nothing she could do to keep her heart from breaking. Her bad luck in men had continued. She didn’t quite know the things to believe and the ones to doubt! The world looked like a tainted glass and she could feel her legs slipping. She was about to fall but would the ground be strong enough to hold her?
She moved to the door and pushed it open. She looked at the flying bird and there were tears in her eyes. She stared at the huge bird. The bird was red in color and had a bright tuft. She had seen him change into a bird as his body had contracted and his arms had taken the shape of a wing.
It wasn’t the usual bird you would see and the size was so enormous that it could shock anyone. She stared at the bird even when she was shivering with fear. This was a beast she had fallen in love with. Could she possibly fall out of love with him or worse still could she continue loving this beast?
“Who are you?” she screamed in the open air.
The huge bird turned around and slowly stopped on the ground. It sat on the floor and spread its huge wings and slowly closed it. Even in that enormously gigantic structure, Sarah could see the same hazel eyes which Kurt had. It was just the eyes which were the same and the rest of the structure was nothing like a human.
Sarah could see the change in expression as Kurt realized that he had been caught and his identity was revealed. Kurt knew that there was no turning back. He had to unveil his secret and the look on Sarah’s face wasn’t just of horror and fear. It was the look of someone who had been betrayed, someone whose heart had been broken; someone whose faith had been broken! Kurt realized the gravity of the situation and what a mess he had made.
He knew he had to transition. He took two steps backward and gave in a loud cry. Sarah ran and hid behind the pillar and Kurt was hurt to see her so scared. He had expected Sarah, of all people to understand him. This isn’t something he chose to be with. This was who he was.
He realized he should have trusted Sarah and told her about the whole shifter thing. His wings started retracting and it took the shape of his arms. He then shed off the tuft and it took the shape of his hair. His feathers on the chest were then replaced and his body structure changed as he transitioned back to his human form.
Sarah stood there- crying endlessly; staring at the one man she had fallen in love with and bruised her heart.
“Babe, I can explain” Kurt stuttered.
“What are you going to explain? Will you explain that you have been lying to me all the time? Will you explain what I saw isn’t normal, isn’t human? Will you explain why you have been betraying me? Will you explain why you have kept me in the dark? Will you explain why did you break my heart or were you just using me for my body?” Sarah said all of this in one breath and cried inconsolably.
It broke Kurt’s heart to know that he was the reason for all this pain. “I am sorry babe. You need to know that I didn’t do this purposely. This isn't a choice I grew up with. This is what I was born with. I will tell you everything. I love you, is that not enough darling?”
“No, you don’t love me. You are not a human, you are a beast. I don’t even know what to tell or what to talk to you. Your presence scares me. I can’t trust you. I am scared of you Kurt. I can’t be with you. I am afraid that I will die, you will hurt me.”
“Sarah, how can I ever hurt you? We have been making love. You have seen me, you know me, darling. How could you say that you are scared of me?”
“You are a beast Kurt. I don’t know who you are. I can't be with you anymore. I don’t love you. You are a beast. I can’t be in love with a monster,” she said and ran away to her home.
Kurt couldn’t even move. There was nothing left in him to try and keep her. The words echoed in his ears as he sat down and contemplated how his life was tossed away in such a small moment.
Wa
s it so hard to understand his condition? Didn’t Sarah love him enough to trust him to hear his side of the story? Kurt could see his life flashback in front of his eyes. He could remember the time he first relaxed that he wasn’t one of the regular guys. He was different, the bad kind of different.
Kurt was seven years of age when he had first had the real big fight with his friend at school. He could find his anger shoot out of control. Kurt couldn’t quite explain what he had felt. He felt like something had shifted in him and his rage was shooting very high. He tried to gain composure but to no avail.
He ran away from the school campus and found himself reaching the woods. He was a little kid, but the kind of agility which he had when he was running was incredible. He felt like he could converse with the wind and he had the urge to fly. He wanted to touch the sky and he felt a rush of adrenaline in him. As he kept running, he suddenly fund his arms taking the shape of the wing and even before he could process what was happening, he converted into the shape of a bird as his face protruded like birds and his nose took the form of a beak.
His legs were arched and his wings were spread. He started elevating form the ground and in the next few minutes, he was flying in the air and was a bird. He was confused, shocked and excited. He could feel a different kind of power ooze in his body and he was amazed by himself. He didn’t quite know what to make of this power.
He kept flying as if there was a superior power that was controlling him. He didn't want to stop. He didn’t have to learn how to fly. It came very easily to him. He kept soaring in the air and he loved how vast and powerful he felt. There was a thrill he had never experienced before and he wanted to fly higher and touch the sky. Was it possible to climb higher?
He vented out his anger by arching his wings and climbing as high as he could. He had no idea of the time he kept flying but he kept going on and on until he could finally be at peace again.
When he no longer had the desire to fly, he perched down on the ground. He slowly started converting back to his human form. Once he was in the shape of a human, he looked petrified. Reality dawned upon him and for a few moments, he couldn’t believe what had happened. Was it really possible for such things to happen?
He headed home and hugged him mom and started crying inconsolably. She couldn’t understand what had happened and Kurt was afraid to ask the reason. He didn’t know what to explain and how to narrate the events. Was there even a way any of this could be true|?
After an hour of crying, he told everything to his mom and she made him sit on her lap. She kissed him on the cheeks and told him about his father.
“Your father was one of the best shifters and he hailed from the royal lineage. Their family had all pure breeds. A shifter is a person who can change his form into anything he likes. They can be a bird when they want to fly, a tiger when they want to hunt, a horse when they want to run or absolutely anything. They are extremely evolved species and come with a lot of different powers. The royal family is believed to be of very rich lineage and as per their tradition; people in the royal lineage cannot marry outside their gene pool.
However, your dad met me first when I was still in my college. He fell in love with me and so did I. We had a whirlwind romance, but it wasn’t until your dad had knocked me that he told me about his lineage and royal shifter blood. I was shattered beyond belief. There was a part of me that hated your dad for putting me through this, but in the end, I knew I loved him. When you love a person, you accept them for who they are not who you want them to be.
It took me some time to realize it, but I eventually did. Your dad agreed to fight with the whole clan for me, but the shifters are very rigid with the rules. They threw your dad out of the clan and put a curse on him. At the same time, they said that my son will also be a shifter and you will not have controls over who you turn into. The time has come son. You are a shifter but don’t be ashamed of it. This is who your dad was and until you don’t hurt someone, you can live a normal life.
Your dad taught me a lot of skills and I will help you become a pro at these skills. Promise me son, you will never harm someone because of these skills.”
It was his mom that helped him cope with the changes. However, as Sarah walked on him because he was a shifter, he had never regretted his life more. What wouldn’t he give up to get a life like a regular guy? However, he knew that if Sarah’s love was so weak, maybe, they weren’t meant to be.
He tried knocking on Sarah’s door, but she didn’t open the lock. Go away and never show me your face again” she screamed and he could hear how much she was crying. He wanted to explain, but he realized that maybe she was better off without him.
There was no way he would be able to make her understand and maybe she was better off with another human because he didn't know what living with a half-blood shifter would culminate into.
He made an exit from the pathway and came back to his home and stared at his house. What use will it be to decorate this house when his dream of living it and decorating it with memories was no longer with him? Will he ever be happy in this house? He decided to make it perfect, just the way they had a vision and then leave this neighborhood.
He would never be able to forget Sarah, but he knew that he would watch over her from a distance, loving her silently. A shifter falls in love just once. They can never fall out of love because their heart gets chained to the people they are with.
He looked at all the old pictures and remembered the times they had kissed each other. He wanted to hold her in his arms and make love to her. He wanted to feel the softness of her flesh and kiss her POSEIDONately on the inside. He wanted to leave his bites on her soft body and he wanted to hear her scream his name.
He wanted to go on a vacation with her and he wanted to be the reason for the glittering smile in her eyes. He realized that none of these things would happen and that he would spend the rest of his life in solitude and not doing a thing.
He went back to the room and sat on the bed, hugging an old picture of the two of them. He could feel the ache in his heart that occurred because of the longing to meet Sarah. He tried to steal a look at her home, but she had firmly closed all the windows shut.
Three weeks passed and Kurt still didn’t hear anything from Sarah. It was time for Kurt to finally let go of the old chapter and start new. But he didn’t want to do so. Fort him life had halted the day when Sarah had walked out of his life and no matter how hard he tried, there was no way he could continue and pretend like all was normal.
Every day looked like a struggle and he fought to make it count. He wanted so hard to look at things in a different way but to no avail. Was it really possible for someone to become so important in such a span of time? Even before he asked a question, he knew the answer.
Sarah too was feeling the pull to go back to Kurt. She hadn't even given a chance to explain, but what would he even say. The more she thought about it, the worse she felt. It was the same loop all over again. She would stop dating men and stop falling in love. She didn’t want to be a part of all the melodrama that came packed in the shape of love.
She still remembered the way he had kissed her and left her asking for more. She wanted to kiss his luscious lips and touch his well crafted Greek body. She wanted to put her hands on his bare chest and let them roam freely on his sculpted muscles. She wanted to lie over him and let her soft flesh touch his hardness.
She found herself crying. It has been quite some time since she had left Kurt but the pain of the heartbreak seemed fresh as ever. She debated many times as to if she should talk to Kurt once, but the burden of betrayal was a bit too much for her. Maybe, if she hadn’t sneaked on him transitioning into a bird, she would have tried to hear his side of the story but Kurt had intentionally hidden the information from her.
She had looked up on the internet as the whole scene had intrigued her and left her puzzled. What was the logic behind it? Was Kurt some kind of a magician? She found a lot of different theories on the interne
t. Some of them claimed that these men were a warlock and could kill someone with their magic. There was another theory that these people were shifters as they could magically change themselves into whatever for they feel like. They are believed to be possessed and they could control the emotions of other people and turn them into their slaves.
She didn’t quite know what was true and the history of Kurt’s life. She wanted to know, but she knew that once she allowed him in, she won’t be able to lock the doors again. If this is what was in their destiny, they had to accept it.
She thought of taking a job somewhere else and leaving the city because it was too hard to live here. She knew that Kurt often visited the home across from her place, but he had never shifted there. She knew he was hurt, but wasn’t he the one responsible for it?
She decided to stop thinking about the old lanes and lock it tight and start a new chapter. This was the only solution left for her. She decided to apply for a job and move away from the city. There was no way she would be able to live in the house where they had together dreamed of a life.
She wore a red skirt and paired it with a white shirt and dabbed a little makeup to look professional enough. As she headed out from her home, she could feel that there was something different. She couldn’t quite pin her hand on what was amiss, but there was something that just didn’t feel right.
She thought that it might be because of the uneasy feeling because of trying a new job. As she headed out, she heard the sound of a child. She turned around and found that there was a little kid who was loitering on the street. The child seemed to be lost and she was crying. Sarah rushed to help the kid, but the kid was crying inconsolably.
As she tried to coax the kid to move sideways so that they could head to the pavement, Sarah spotted a bike racing towards them. The biker seemed to be drunk and paid no notice to Sarah and the little kid.
In that instant, Sarah knew that she was about to die! She could see her life flash in front of her eyes. She saw Kurt and she knew that despite everything that had happened and the betrayal, she loved him. She wanted to kiss him one last time. She wanted to see her parents and let them know that she was happy for the life they had given. There were so many things left to be done, so many memories to be lived, a hundred places to visit! She had wanted three babies and two dogs along with a black cat that would be by her side when she grew old. She wanted to meet Kurt and let him know that she still loved him.