Sinful Instincts (Woodland Creek)

by J. D. Hollyfield

Right through the fucking mat.

  “That—that did not just happen,” I stutter.

  “Like I said, wizards are very particular on who visits them.” Just as he finishes his comment, the door flings open and the tiniest old man appears in the doorway. I jump into Sin, and his primal side shoves me behind him.

  “The girl comes in only,” the wizard speaks sternly.

  “Not a chance,” Sin argues.

  The wizard shrugs at Sin’s remark and steps away to close the door.

  “Wait!” I jump forward. “Wait, please. We came a long way to see if you can help us. My—um— my friend here needs your help. Please, we’re here on good faith.”

  He takes in my words, looking back from me to Sin. After a moment, he speaks. “Only you.”

  “No way!” Sin goes to toss me back behind his body.

  This time, I duck and shove him off. “Sin, just wait!” I turn back to the wizard. “Why just me? It’s him you want to speak with.”

  “And it is you whom I must speak with first.”

  We all remain still, staring at one another. If it’s only me he will see and I can help Sin, I will do it. “Fine,” I agree.

  Sin, in complete attack mode, grabs for my arm. “To hell you will. You’re not leaving my sight, Emma.”

  “And this also might be the only way he’ll help us. Don’t worry. He won’t hurt me.” At least, I don’t think he will. I give Sin my most reassuring look and wait for him to release his hard grip on my arm. Slowly, but reluctantly, he does and I return a kind smile. “I won’t be long,” I promise, as I quickly spring on my tippy toes and place a small kiss to his lips. I pull away just as fast and turn, stepping inside the wizard’s mystical home.

  Emma

  Since I’ve never been in a wizard’s home, I really didn’t know what to expect. But a flat-screen and some sports memorabilia was definitely not it. “You like basketball?” I ask, bewildered.

  “Of course I do. It’s Indiana, isn’t it? Who doesn’t like the Hoosiers? How do you think they won in ‘76?” He wiggles his bushy eyebrows.

  “You?”

  “They needed a little help. I just gave them the spark they needed. Great season, too.”

  What in the heck? I watch him walk over to a table, placing his Hoosiers mug next to, go figure, his crystal ball. At least they keep it somewhat true to the storybooks. “Come, child, and sit.” He gestures for me to seat myself at his table. I oblige and walk more into his home to take a seat across from him.

  “So, are you here to find out who you are?” he starts off.

  “What? No, why would you think that?” I reply, shocked. “I’m sorry, but that’s where you’re confused. We should bring my friend in. Sin, he’s the one who needs your help, not me.”

  He observes some more, making me feel like I’m in the spotlight. “Child, may I see your hand?” He brings his tiny arm across the table to wait for mine. I see no harm, so I take the hand I had placed in my lap and stretch it to the center of the table. He wraps his fingers around mine, and the second my skin touches his, the crystal ball goes bonkers, shooting a spectrum of colors like a disco ball around the room. I freak out, pulling my hand from his grasp and at the same time, the ball goes back to black.

  “What the hell was that?” I shake.

  “That was you, my child.”

  Yeah, okay. “So, I’m really not into all this magical stuff. If you can please just talk to my friend, so we can be—”

  “I see her—your mother,” he cuts me off. He also shuts me up, and fast.

  “Wh-what did you just say to me?”

  “Your mother, I can see her. The one you also yearn to see, am I correct?”

  This is no longer amusing. Just mentioning my mother causes my lower lip to quiver. “What is this, some sort of joke? How do you know about my mother?” I question.

  “Because she is the one in your dreams. She is the one who sent you to me. The one who finally wants you to know who you are.”

  He reaches back to the center of the table, indicating for me to place my shaking hand back into his. I fight it at first. I should run like hell out of here. Tell Sin this guy is off his damn rocker and that we’re going to have to find a plan B. But the look in his eyes shines with truth. Without words, he is telling me he has answers for me. I don’t know where the power comes from, but my hand on its own accord shifts and lands into his. Again, the crystal ball gleams, causing me to shut my eyes until I’m able to adjust to the brightness. “Why is it doing that?” I ask, watching him stare into the ball.

  “It’s you who is doing it. It’s the powers inside you. I am just your portal, my sweet child.”

  I shake my head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.” And it’s the truth; I am so confused and honestly scared out of my mind.

  “Ahh, there it is. Emma. Birth name Emma Fairchild. Born to Charles and Felicia Fairchild. Descendants of the ancient Sirian Race.”

  “The—the what?” I stutter. He is so calmly spilling information about names, descendants, and my family. I can’t even process what he’s telling me.

  “Of mermaids, sweet child. You are the— ahh, now I see!” He swirls his finger across the ball, colored lights flashing across his small face. “You are the last of your kind, Emma. Ahh, look—yes, here it is. You are a very special creature. Being the last of your kind, you were given away to a safe home for your protection. Away from anyone who would hunt and kill you.”

  His words are almost foreign to me. Mermaid? Protection? “I’m not following, sir,” I whisper, feeling the first tear fall from my face.

  “Here, look.” He turns the crystal ball for me to view. The moment my vision connects, a gasp leaves my throat. In the ball is me. It’s my dream. The woman who holds me has turned, and I can see her face! And she is beautiful. I see all my features in her. Our resemblance is frightening.

  My tears are now pouring down my cheeks. “How is this happening? I don’t understand,” I cry. I pick up my hand, gently touching the ball as my fingers brush over the face of my mother. “Why did she leave me?” I begin to sob.

  “Child, she gave you life. She is protecting you. You are a special creature in this world.”

  Protect me? She didn’t protect me. She stuck me in a world of loneliness and confusion. She allowed me to grow up not understanding who I was, with no love and a lifetime of nightmares.

  “Those dreams were to protect you. If you were ever to connect water with your heritage, it would risk being exposed. She always wanted to be with you, but she needed to make sure you stayed away from anything that would lead you to the truth,” he explains.

  “So, she thought by dumping me in the system, I would have a better life? Fuck that,” I spit. I stand up quickly, but his words stop me from leaving.

  “Your life would have ended at age five if you were kept with your parents. Your death would have been by an animal shifter. Your parents saw your destiny. They knew your time was limited. They chose to spare your life and send you into a world that may not be perfect, but it was a living world.”

  I don’t know how to react to that. I should have died? “How did they know I would survive wherever they sent me?” They couldn’t have known I would have been any better off here.

  He doesn’t make an effort to answer my question, but he does turn the ball again, so more images come to life. I see her again. My mother. And she is with a man. My hands cover my mouth as a small gasp leaves my throat. “Is that my father?” I question.

  “It is,” he replies.

  “Are— are they still alive?” I fear the answer, but I need to know.

  “No, child, I’m sorry. That was another choice they had to make. They tried to figure out a way to run with you at first. They thought if they went further into hiding, they could run from the hunters searching for you and still stay a family. The visions of you dying never went away. And the longer they ran with you, the more the visions showed you all at your deathbed. They
knew their destiny was death. They chose to spare you. Their only daughter.”

  I stare into this ball, like I’m watching an old family video. My father turning me in circles as my mother and I laugh. The gut-wrenching feeling of betrayal and loss hit me at once. I fall to my knees, holding my chest, and I cry out for the parents I never knew but miss so terribly, and for all the lies and unknowns that my life held.

  I don’t acknowledge the moment where Sin busts through the cottage door, coming to my aid. I tune out the threats he makes to the wizard if any harm had come my way. And I go numb to the petting and soothing sound of his voice as he tries to calm my wretched cries.

  “What did you do to her?” Sin barks out, picking me up in his arms. “I will kill you if you have done anything to hurt her!” His threat blares through the room. His body heat is spiking, so I know he’s urging to shift. Probably to rip the poor wizard in two.

  I pull my head from his shielding embrace. “Sin, please,” I whisper.

  He instantly turns his attention from the wizard onto me. “Emma, are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

  “No, Sin, he didn’t. Please, do not threaten him anymore, okay?”

  He looks into my eyes, a small frown creasing his brow. “Okay, if you say so, Emma.”

  “Put me down, please,” I request, and he hesitates but places my shaky legs on the ground.

  Once I am able to stand on my own, I turn to the wizard. “Thank you. For what you have shown me. I hope to one day understand, and maybe I will, but for right now, for what I saw, thank you,” I finish, fighting the tears from flowing over.

  “Be well, my child. And she is going to be beautiful.” I’m not completely sure of his meaning, but I’m so weary at this point, I wait to figure it out later. I turn back to Sin. “Let him help you. He is truly magical. I’m going to step outside, I need some fresh air.”

  “Are you sure?” he urges, not wanting to leave my sight.

  “Yes, get what you need. I need to be alone for a minute. I’ll be fine, I promise. And I’ll stay off the mat, pinky promise.” I offer a weak smile. I hear the wizard softly chuckle at that one. I turn toward him and smile, and without another word, I exit the cottage.

  Sin

  I swear if he did anything to hurt her, I’m going to slit his throat. I watch Emma exit the cottage and the moment the door is shut, I turn, my eyes blazing fire. “What happened in here? What did you say to her?” I demand.

  “Calm yourself. I did nothing but show her what she has been destined to see. She will be fine,” he notes, walking behind his dingy table and taking a seat. “Sit, Roxsin. We have a lot to discuss.”

  “How the hell did you know my name,” I demand, forgetting Emma could have easily given this information.

  “I have been waiting for you,” he answers.

  His words taunt me, like my past is returning in full circle. The last time I met with a wizard, he spoke those same words. “Now sit, please.” He kindly gestures for me to take a seat. The animal inside me wants to forget this whole plan and rip his jugular out for how upset Emma looked, but I also know he might be my only chance of catching Zander and destroying the last item. I take a seat, giving this wizard a short amount of time before I pull out and leave.

  “Good, good. Now, what do you know of your quest?” he inquires.

  I’m thrown off by his direct question, but time is of essence so I get to the point. “I know my brother—that Zander is close to retrieving all the items from a scroll. If he accomplishes that, he succeeds in bringing much evil to this world, and I lose my mission of setting a soul free. It is in everyone’s interest that I find him or that last item on that scroll before he does.”

  The wizard nods, bringing his hands upon his crystal ball, caressing the glass as if it were a pet. “Roxsin, I ask you what your intentions are with the scroll. What happens if the outcome that you foresee is not what is best? Will you sacrifice wrong to make a right?”

  His question confuses me, but in any manner, I know the answer. “I will do anything that needs to be done to abide by my promise,” I state.

  “And if this outcome will cause more pain for you?”

  “There is no pain worse than the pain I have caused Gabriella. Even once I release her soul, that pain will not subside. It will forever live inside me. What I do know is that I made a promise, and there is nothing that will change that. I am sure of it.”

  The wizard takes in my response and again nods. Silence washes over the room as he inspects his ball, an array of colors spreading across his aged face. “All right then.” He sits back. “Zander is close, but has yet to find the last remaining item. He is not a hundred percent sure what he is looking for. The scroll, if I see correctly, is written in the language of Arda. Only someone like myself would understand it. The wizard who created it would be one of the few people to decode it. It would have been his intentions to read off all the items before he sent either of you on your journey. Unfortunately, he was unable to do that. Your brother was unaware of this and took his life before figuring out the key. He has been lucky, I must say, in figuring out each item. But you see, the last item, it is a great treasure. And it would take him vocally telling you the item. The scroll is unreadable to a human, even a shifter for that matter.”

  “Then how does he know what it is? What brought him to Woodland Creek?” I question.

  “Many things. As you know, the land is very powerful. He may have an idea of what he is looking for, but I also think Zander is just traveling, wasting time. He knows he holds the power, and feels like he is so close that he is already cashing the check before it is even signed, as humans say.” He laughs at his own joke.

  “So, I don’t get it. How do you know what it is?” This back and forth riddle bullshit is starting to grate on my nerves.

  “Because I am a wizard, Roxsin, and we look out for our own. That item is not something that will be taken from this world lightly. You may save one soul by destroying it, but it will be yours you are damning in the process,” he confesses.

  I slam my fist on the table, causing the wood to crack. “I am not worried about myself here. I just want the item. I can burn in Hell for all I care. It’s not me I am concerned about.” My anger is building quickly. “If you are able to help me then do so, but don’t waste my time,” I seethe.

  Getting my drift, he stands slowly and walks over to a shelf, picking out a book. He rummages through some pages until an old, stained piece of paper falls from them. Bending to retrieve it, he returns to the table. I watch as he sits and in front of him opens the sheet, so worn it threatens to dissolve in the old man’s hands as he unfolds it. Taking his time, he starts to recite the foreign scroll, and it sends the ball into a blasting ray of white.

  “In lue for megn tow sea trus lewa,” he chants three times before the lights pop, sending sparks from his fireplace shooting out of their cage. He finally turns his attention to me. “It is the heart of the Sirian Sea you will need. That is your final item.”

  I have been chasing after this item for the last two years of my life. That’s how long Zander has been trying to figure out what that item was. And now it is being told to me, and I am completely clueless. “What the fuck does that mean? Like a fish? A sea creature?” The thought that it could be that angers me. I’m nowhere near the goddamn ocean, which means Zander has led me on a scavenger hunt to nothing.

  “Rosxin, trust in your knowledge. The heart of the sea. Flawless beauty lies in the sea. It is in that which you will find the item you are in such dire need to destroy. At that point, it will be up to you if you decide to abolish it.”

  I’ve had enough of his bullshit. He thinks his petty words will convey me to change my plan? Nothing ever has and nothing ever will. Except for Emma. I can’t think about her right now. I made a promise out there I can’t keep. Another reason why I deserve to burn in Hell. I stand quickly from my chair, knocking it to the ground. The wizard, showing no bother for my actions, slowly stand
s, as well.

  “If this is another goose chase, I’m coming back here and I’m ending your life,” I threaten as I make my way to the door. Just as I whip the door open, I hear his frail voice. “Good luck in your journey, son. I shall pray that your course leads you to the atonement you deserve.”

  I take in his words, finding them unsettling. Saying no more, I slam the door behind me. I see Emma in the distance sitting on a rock. She hears me coming and jumps up, wiping at her puffy face. I don’t stop but walk straight to her, taking her into my arms. Her warmth, her scent, her touch—they consume me. They make me feel like my life can actually mean something. But then my mission and Gabriella come flooding into the front of my brain, and I remember my true purpose. I pull her away from me, hating the distance I am now placing between us.

  “I need to shift. Grab my clothes. Don’t let go until I stop, you understand?” I order.

  She quickly nods. “Yes, Sin, I know what to do.”

  God, her voice. It sounds so fragile. I will head out first thing in the morning and it crushes me, knowing I am going to hurt her. But it’s what I do. I hurt people I love. I rip my eyes away from hers and embrace the pull of my skin. Exploding into my animal, I roar at the buildup of rage I have flowing through my system. I watch as Emma cautiously picks up my clothes and wraps them around her forearm. She’s watching me, unsure if it’s safe to climb on. I coach myself to relax. The last thing I want is for Emma to fear me.

  Feeling my anger subside, she carefully climbs on, her arms tightly enclosing my neck. With the comfort of her touch, I take off, darting through the forest. We make it to the outskirts just before dawn. I can sense Emma’s about to collapse; her hold has been loosening since the last mile. I stop right behind the bookstore and allow her to climb down. I shift instantly, knowing she is going to be unsteady on her feet. I catch her fatigued body in my arms and carry her up the back of the bookstore stairs that lead to her friend’s apartment.

  “Sin, you have to put your clothes back on before someone sees you,” she murmurs, her voice weak.