“You’ve been out for a few hours.” She handed him his clothes. His jeans were there, and his shirt too.
He took them gratefully, and brought them over his waist. “What time is it?” He looked from her and back out into the room around him. He must be in Kenny’s bedroom. His mind felt like nothing but a haze. He felt almost hung-over. He felt bewildered. He didn’t feel like himself. He always felt this way, either from the dream or from being the wolf, but he always felt bewildered and out of touch after the change. He could have sworn he would never get used to the feeling.
“It’s a little after six. It’s morning.” She smiled. She turned around, feeling his discomfort with her seeing him naked, and left the bedroom and stepped out into the hallway in front of him. She understood the modesty. She felt it some herself, back when she first became what she now was, but now she didn’t. It was a human instinct only. She knew that he would grow out of it one day. All wolves did. Being human would become nothing more than just an afterthought to him eventually.
He felt thankful that she did turn around. He brought his feet over to the side of the bed, stood up, and quickly put on his jeans. When he finished with fastening them with the button and the zipper, he found his t-shirt and likewise pulled it back on. “What happened last night?” he asked when he was fully dressed again.
“Not much really. You—Kalima and Kenny—hung out for a while. It was like watching magic. It was the most beautiful thing that I‘ve ever seen before in my whole life.”
Jimmy nodded. He did remember seeing Kenny. He did remember feeling the excitement that he felt when the wolf saw him again, but that was all that he could remember. Everything else felt like nothing but a deep and heavy fog covering over his mind. “Where is Kenny?”
Sasha turned back around and faced him, but stayed out in the hallway. “He’s waiting for you in the front room.” She smiled.
He returned the look, and nodded. He stepped away from the side of the bed and the eagle statue and came over towards her.
She left the doorway and both of them walked back out into the living room, following the hallway that led to the front of the house.
Kenny heard them come in while he sat on the sofa. He looked overly calm and peaceful sitting there as he waited for them. Feeling the two of them return to him, he looked their way. “I thought you were going to sleep all day.” He smiled.
Sasha was the first in the room with Jimmy one-step behind her.
“Good to feel you well rested.” Kenny stood up and faced both of them.
“I must have been tired.” Jimmy smiled. He felt thankful that Kenny was still there. Part of him didn’t expect it much, but another part of him knew better than that. He had no idea what Kalima would do with him there. Seeing that he looked fine, only added to the feeling that he already knew.
Kenny nodded. He of course felt the dream. He of course felt the pain that the dream caused his new friend. He understood it. He heard about it before. “You shouldn’t fear what he did. You know that right?” He winced, heavy and strong.
Jimmy stared deeply into the old man’s eyes, and could see that there was more there going on behind them, then what Kenny was. He knew the look. Kenny knows something. He knows more than what I thought of before. “What is it?” A part of him wanted to jump right into the dream. A part of him wanted to know what it all meant. He knew the pain that the wolf felt. He could feel the way Kalima felt about what he did. A part of him understood it. He felt bad for killing a child, but another part of it never made any sense to him. He was an animal after all. He was used to killing people. Why would a child make any difference? He couldn’t understand that, and figured that he never would.
“The dream you have. You wonder why you have it. You wonder what it means.” Kenny’s smile vanished, as the look of concern crossed his face.
Jimmy nodded with the words. “Why? Why does it hurt him so much?” He felt afraid. He felt hurt. What he did with the woman seems to haunt the wolf’s soul, and by its extension his as well.
Kenny kept his hands between his knees. He folded them together and held them within each other. “When he was new, he had a wife. He had a child. When Kalima was human, he knew what that meant.” A gasp of air exploded from his lungs, so much so, it seemed to echo around the small living room like a gust of wind.
Jimmy listened. “What do you mean new?” He looked down towards the front of the sofa, but saw nothing at all. All he felt was shame. All he felt was pity. Am I feeling this way, or is it the wolf? He couldn’t be sure, but he could only guess that it wasn’t him. He felt nothing of the sort for himself.
“When Kalima was a man, he was a powerful man at that. He had a very special gift. When he became what he became, he lost not only his humanity but also his life. He lost his loves. He lost his family.”
Jimmy could understand that. Who wouldn’t? “How did he become this?” he now felt that he needed to ask.
“That was a long time ago. I know that he was born human. He was born with something that was very special about him. Something that was so special, that others coveted him. They fought for him. They wanted him for what he could do, and unfortunately, the Walkers won him. In the process, his family was stolen away from him because of it. They were killed to get to him.” Kenny bowed his eyes some. He tried to think. “I don’t know the entire story, he never really discussed it with me, but I do know that it hurt him so much.” He looked back up. “That’s why it hurt him so much to do what he did back then. Why it hurt him to do what he did. He hated himself after that.”
Jimmy nodded. “He had a family?”
Kenny nodded. “Like I said, he really didn’t talk all that much about it. Collins was a lot like you. He knew only so much. He knew only what Kalima was willing to tell him—to show him. He kept the past what it was—the past. But you see, emotions of the past have a habit of trying to show themselves again, and again. They have a habit and a strength of all their own. He could forget many things, but emotions—well they never forget.”
Again, that all made some amount of sense. He couldn’t remember it, himself, but he did remember reading it in one of Collins’ journals, about why he went where he did. That’s why he left Samuel and the others. That’s why he went up to Redford Forge and went with Mister Ross. Killing the couple and the child made him have to redeem himself by helping humanity with the only thing that he could ever give them. He could remember what Ross told him about that. He was there to help them find a cure for illness. He was there to give back his own immortality to the human race. He of course could remember the dream. That pain felt real. It all made complete and total sense, so he nodded again with everything he heard.
Kenny turned and stared Jimmy down. He could feel his mind turn over to making sense. It made him happy to feel it. Answers were sometimes very hard to find, but when they were found, it brought clarity to the soul in ways no one ever could have imagined how it felt. “Shall we begin now?” His smile never once left his face.
Jimmy became confused. “What now?” he had to ask.
Kenny laughed some. “Last night was Kalima’s night.” Sasha passed him and headed over to the kitchen. “Today it’s your turn.”
Jimmy now felt more confused than ever. He had no idea what he meant to do now. “I don’t understand.”
Kenny laughed again, sounding like a subtle chuckle. “He had the chance to see you, and now it’s your turn to see him.” He turned his left hand towards the television that was still set up across from the sofa.
Jimmy followed his arm to the box. His thoughts turned over in his mind. The idea of seeing Kalima brought an instant feeling of trepidation into his heart. Am I ready to do this? How am I going to react to seeing him? Right then, he wasn’t all that sure. He thought about doing this, when Sasha told him about going up there to see Kenny, but now, with it all about to happen, he wasn’t sure of what to think about it. He figured that the only thing he could do was to just go ahead an
d do it. “All right.” He left the entrance to the hallway and joined Kenny by his side.
“Good.” Kenny welcomed him with his right arm draped over his shoulders. “Before we start, you have to know that this might affect you in a way that you’re not prepared for.” He smiled. “Expect nothing more than this—you are human Jimmy—but so was he once. You have more in common with each other than you’ll ever truly know.”
Jimmy nodded, and took a deep, refreshing breath. How will this affect me? Why would it? He couldn’t imagine that it would do more than just stun him by seeing it. How else would he feel, other than that?
“Some never know how they will react. Some break down, watching it. Watching themselves for the first time can be somewhat overwhelming.” Kenny knew what he was thinking. He knew what Jimmy would do. It was only fair to get him to understand all of it before they started.
“I don’t know how I’m going to react.” Jimmy swallowed, feeling the trepidation only grow stronger over his chest.
Kenny now nodded. He agreed. “Just remember to breathe. Just remember to remain calm. Remember that it is you, you are seeing. Remember that it is still you.” He turned from his new friend and looked back to Sasha. “You may turn it on anytime my dear.” He smiled to her with a nod.
She nodded back, walked back over to the television, and turned it on. She then went to the camera that was now sitting on top of the television, and prepared it to play. Finished, she held her breath. She couldn’t wait to see how Jimmy was going to react, but she did have an idea of how he would. When she did this for the first time, she remembered how she felt. She remembered how she cried. She couldn’t help herself. Kenny said it would happen. She felt overwhelmed by all of it. Back then, she had Collins there to help her through it. He was there and she was thankful that he was. Now, it was her turn to repay him for everything he did for her. It was her turn to help Jimmy, and repay that debt.
Jimmy watched her do everything with a seamlessly endless fascination. He took the time to try to listen to what Kenny said to him. He took a deep breath. He had no idea what to expect. He watched the television screen carefully, and when it came on, he saw his own face. He could see that he was sitting on the sofa. He looked naked. He could see his own bare shoulders. Watching it all, he could remember sitting there, looking at the camera wondering what to do next. It all seemed so clear. His mind turned over again and remembered what he now watched.
On the screen, he watched as the change came and his memories fade at that point. He could remember nothing after that, and with it, he held his breath.
His face turned black. His skin bubbled over his skull. His eyes flared with a bright yellow that seemed to blare out to the screen. His mouth opened up revealing sharp and pointed teeth. He could hear himself beginning to moan. The hair flared over his face. His ears pointed up high, reaching up along the sides of his head. His nose bulged out, forming out into a snout. It took only a minute. With it all, he could do nothing but gasp.
Oh my fucking God! It felt incredible. It felt awe-inspiring. He watched the wolf look to the screen. He watched it stand up as the camera’s view went up with him. The wolf turned towards Kenny. He could hear it breathing. It sounded hoarse. It sounded powerful. He watched Kenny hold out his arms to the beast.
“Hello my old friend.”
The wolf wined, almost sounding like a whimper. It reached out with both of its arms and took Kenny by the forearms, and draped them with what looked like a gentle grip. He watched with awe as the beast and the old man embraced.
“It’s been far too long my old friend.” Kenny smiled. He looked to be beaming. He looked to be crying.
Jimmy turned from the screen and looked to Kenny, who was still standing to his left.
Kenny had tears in his eyes as he smiled down towards him. He of course couldn’t see the television. He was blind after all, but he still cried. He couldn’t help himself. He could feel it come from Jimmy. The rawness of what he watched, stole his breaths away like fire burns through the wood of a log.
“He loves you?” Jimmy heard himself state. He almost couldn’t believe what he just said.
Kenny nodded.
Jimmy turned back to the screen.
Kenny now had his right arm around the beast’s waist. With them standing next to each other, the animal looked huge. Kenny’s arm had to be raised somewhat just to get it around the thing firmly. “I know my friend. I know.” Kenny turned the wolf towards the camera. “I want to show you him Kalima. I want to show you Jimmy.”
The wolf almost sounded like it was purring. He sounded so gentle. He sounded so much like any other pet would sound when they came across their master after a long time away from them.
Jimmy couldn’t believe what he saw. He couldn’t believe how gentle the animal actually looked. He watched the wolf walk over to the television, watched the camera shake some, as Sasha had obviously moved it towards the far side of the room, but kept it trained on the beast. The view flowed over to where the television was sitting. She focused on it. The view of Jimmy sitting on the sofa and talking to the camera was on the screen.
The wolf saw him and bent down towards the box. Its wining intensified, as it obviously looked right at him.
Kalima knows who I am. Jimmy watched the beast start to caress the screen. It looked almost like he was petting it—petting him. Watching this, all fascination now left from his thoughts as he began to feel himself beginning to sob. He could feel his eyes beginning to water some. He could feel his breaths continue to bounce and fade. He felt blown away. He absolutely felt flabbergasted by all of it.
The wolf looked up from the screen and turned back towards the camera.
Jimmy could almost look directly into his eyes. To him, it almost looked like he stared directly into his very own soul. “That’s me?” He stood up from the sofa and walked over to the television screen. He knelt down in front of it and fell to his knees. He sat there, looking into Kalima’s face and eyes. “This is me.” He turned around to Sasha and Kenny now behind him. Tears were now streaming down both sides of his face. His heart felt like it was aching. His mind began to flow, almost like it was nothing more than just rain flowing over the glass of a window as you stared off at a storm. He couldn’t believe it. He felt like he would never doubt what he felt again. How could he? How dare he doubt himself?
“I told you.” Kenny smiled down to him. He could feel the emotion oozing out of his newfound friend like a flood. “You will now never be the same again.”
Jimmy smiled and turned back to the screen. He continued to watch. He continued to love everything he saw, if not more than that.
15
Rachel took her shower as Brandon waited in the living room. It felt like hours before she finally finished. Waiting for her only made him grow more and more impatient. They had to get going, and soon. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could fight the urges he felt. He wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to contain the anxiousness in his heart and mind to do what he knew he had to do.
When she finished packing a few things, she was ready to go.
He watched her come back into the living room. “Can we go now?” he asked. He felt more than just rushed. In all actuality, he felt like a bundle of nerves. He felt completely taken aback by those feelings.
“We are.” She brought her bag to the front door, passing him by the sofa, and opened the door.
He felt his heart skip a beat. It was time to get going. He had trouble in conforming himself to the idea. He left the sofa and headed to the front door.
She stepped aside and let him go out first. “Are you bringing anything?” she asked him, seeing that he had nothing in his hands.
“I already have it in your car.” He smiled, putting both of his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. He could feel the sun just starting to rise towards his left. The heat of it felt strong on his bare arms. He could even feel it through his t-shirt and even through his jeans. It surpri
sed him some. It felt magnificent. It felt overly hot. He could almost feel every beam—every essence of its overwhelming heat against him. Feeling it, it felt like the strangest feeling he ever had. He felt almost like he was a turkey roasting on Thanksgiving morning.
She nodded. His unusual personality just made her shrug her shoulders with his response. She walked outside and joined him on her front porch. She brought her bag with her and set it down beside him. She then turned back to the door and locked the deadbolt just above the knob with the key in her right hand. With her home secured, she turned, retook her duffle bag and headed to the steps. She walked down them and made her way to the driveway to her right. She reached her car just as Brandon made it down the steps and joined her on the passenger side of her car.
“How long will it take us to get there?” He reached for the door handle and opened the door.
She left the side of the car and went to the back door. She opened it and placed the bag to the back seat. A single duffle bag was already lying there, it must have been Brandon’s things, so she set hers right beside his. “It should only take us a few hours.” She closed the door.
“Good.” He climbed onto the seat and closed the door back shut.
Again, she just shrugged her shoulders. She left the back door, walked around the trunk, and headed to the driver’s side. She opened the door and climbed in behind the wheel.
They said nothing else as she started the engine and backed out of her driveway and headed off. She knew the trip would be short. She knew it would be the late afternoon, when they finally reached Jimmy again. The thought comforted her some, but not much. The thoughts she had the night before were still heavy on her mind. Was he going to let her do what she had to do was still there and it felt like a heavy weight weighing her down? She didn’t tell Brandon what she felt. She kept her thoughts to herself.
A Werewolf's Saga Books 1, 2, & 3 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets) Page 65