by Yana Guleva
Chapter Four – Revealed
The next morning I woke up late. Kierce hasn’t called and my mother hasn’t bothered to talk to me. I walked downstairs to get some company and maybe have some breakfast. She never fails to make any for my father and I. Especially on the weekends when he’s home and not working.
“Good morning.” I said. My parents were already sitting at the breakfast table eating.
“Good morning Amabel.” My mother said. She looked a little disappointed. “Come eat.” She added. I sat down and grabbed some eggs.
“I have to talk to you guys about something.” I said. “I went over Kierce’s house yesterday to meet him aunt, and it didn’t go so well.” I said. I knew I didn’t want to tell them, but if something happens, they need to know why. “His aunt Elizabeth was nice at first and invited me in for some breakfast, but then, something happened. Her and Kierce stepped aside to talk and I heard her say something.” I didn’t want to tell them what. “Then Kierce just told me to run, and I ran home.
“Yes, I see.” My mother said. She didn’t seem surprised by what I just told her. Oddly, she was still calm eating her food. “I decided this with your father last night, you are no longer allowed to see Kierce.” She said. I can’t see him? This is outrageous!
“What? Mothers, what are you talking about?” I asked.
“You’re school called and told me you have missed a couple of days, and.. I know who Kierce is.’ My mother said. She knows who he is? So what, everyone in my class knows who he is too.
“I don’t understand, why?” I asked again.
“Listen Amabel! I need you out of danger. You are very special, and you cannot get involved with Kierce!” She know yelled more than spoke.
“If you think that I am going to listen to you right now, you’re wrong.” I said, feeling horrible about it. I loved my mother and I never disobeyed her. This though, I cannot go through. With anger filled in me, I stood up, ran upstairs and threw some warm clothes on. I grabbed the warmest jacket, and headed for the front door.
“Amabel Fowler! Where do you think you’re going?” My father stepped in.
“Out of here.” I said, slamming the door. I couldn’t believe they wanted me to stay away from the one person that understood me. Kierce was different than anyone I’ve met. How could I possibly give him up without a reason.
I walked down the street trying to find the walkway to the lake and the glaciers, but I couldn’t.
“Amabel.” Someone called out to me. It was Kierce, coming from the forest.
“Kierce!” I yelled in excitement, running to him and throwing my arms around him. “What happened yesterday?” I needed to know.
“I know Amabel, I left you clueless again, come walk with me.” He said. I agreed by nodding and followed him. We walked back into the forest. Even though it was only the end of winter, the trees were filled with green. Something I never quiet noticed, but it’s oddly strange.
We came up to the lake and the hills, which past them were the beautiful glaciers.
“What are we doing here again?” I asked kind of curiously. He turned to me, looked me straight in the eyes, and leaned for a kiss. I was starting to get used to his lips. They were so soft and just kept luring me in. I felt the sudden urge to dig into his skin. I went to put my arm up his shirt but he stopped me.
“Amabel, will you join me?” He asked, but such a strange question to ask me.
“What do you mean join you Kierce?” I asked back.
“I am Kierce Pence, the one you will love, the one you will come to and join forces. You are Amabel Fowler, the Last Watcher left on the face of this planet. You will join forces with me, and by that action, my kind, and all hunters, will be free on this Earth, and no longer need to hide”. Either he’s crazy or my mother missed more than a little this morning.
“Hunters? You mean vampires? You’re a vampire?” In some weird way, I believe him. He had such beauty in his face, his eyes, which I couldn’t possibly explain. The thought of him just lured me in. This couldn’t be. This couldn’t possibly be.
“Yes, I am the youngest and the last hunter alive. My duty is to have you join us.” He said. I don’t understand why I need to join him.
“Do you hurt people? Why would I join you? You’re beautiful, yes, but how could I possibly love you?” I started screaming more than talking now.
“Amabel, I will never hurt you, but only protect you. I want to be with you my love. Your heard my aunt talking, I know, but the hunters will kill you if you do not join. I will protect you until death Amabel.” He said. “And what do you mean how can you love me? How can you love that creature!” He pointed at a man running towards us. I didn’t know whether to run, or stay and watch. That man, that tan body, I knew from somewhere.
“Amabel! Don’t Amabel!” The man screamed as he is starting to approach us. I know that voice. He didn’t come just from my dreams, or the visions I had. He is real, and the pain is starting to come. The pain in my heart, the unbearable pain came back. I felt it in my throat, the love this stranger had for me. Why did he have such love, and how can I feel this?
“Stay away you lycan!” Kierce screamed. He looks paler then before, and his teeth looked like daggers. It was true, he was a hunter, a vampire. I looked at the man almost near us, and I can see his veins, I can hear his beating heart. I can feel the love more than ever. It didn’t compare to anything, not to the gleaming glaciers, or the snow brilliant with colors. It is at the pit of my stomach, he is the one I have been missing. The one I have had in my visions all my life.
“I am Kierce Pence and I have every right to be here! I have every right to ask Amabel to join me!” He screamed louder than before. I looked back at the oncoming man, and he is now right in front of me, almost guarding me from Kierce, angry, veins showing more than before.
“You are Kierce Pence? Oh yah? And why do I give a damn?! You stay away from her!” This man was no man, he was not much older than I was. His familiar voice almost made me feel safer. I feel like I have known him all my life. Stay back Amabel, stay back my love. How could this be? Was he talking to me before? Can I read his mind?
“I.. don’t understand.” I spoke.
“Honey, you won’t.” Kierce spoke angrily. “You won’t be able to enhance your powers, you’ll join me way before that even happens!” Kierce spoke fiercely. I am falling for someone who is evil, and how can he possibly call the man from my dreams a creature? He’s noting but a strong, beautiful man, standing in front of me, keeping me away from the hunter.
“You shut up Kierce!” The man spoke back.
“You lycan, how dare you! You cannot speak to me in such tone!” Kierce said.
“I laugh at the thought of your kind. Your scent makes me want to tear all that’s kind. As my hands turn to claws, and my body fills with fur, my razor teeth seek revenge and it will all soon occur. You will not have the watcher, nor my true love. Now watch my body transform , as I am a man, the wolf, the lycan!” I gasped in fear as my protector turned, to a beast I have seen before, the one that has howled in pain before.
“I am Tae McCully, and I have every honor on behalf of Amabel to speak to you, and to tear you to shreds. I suggest you leave before I ruin your pretty face!” The lycan scowled. As I look at him, he is no beast at all. Yes, I may be confused, but he’s no beast. He was Tae, the one from my dreams. The secret true love I never knew existed.
“This is not over yet, lycan, I promise you that!” Kierce screamed, as he turned away from Tae’s growling, and disappeared. I’m not much afraid, but I feel fear from Tae, the lycan. How can I feel such things? How can any of this be happening? As I watch him transform into the guy I saw before, my eyes are now drowned in awe. I can’t breathe, the aching, the love. Everything went black.
Chapter Five – Explanation
I see the glaciers, I see Tae. He comes close and says “You may be just a child, but as long as the blood sucking hunters are around, I will foreve
r wait for you to grow, I will keep watching over you until I can no longer. You are my love, my true and only one. I have failed to protect your father, but I will never leave your side. I love you Amabel, please don’t fall in love with anyone before me. If you wish to not love me, I will let you go, yet forever stand watching over you from the side. You have such powers my love. You need to be protected.” I looked up at him, as he kissed me on the forehead. “I am forever in your honor” He said. And everything faded. I felt so much love.
“Amabel, you’re awake!” I can hear my mother saying, but she wasn’t alone. My father was in the room. I wonder where is Tae, or Kierce. As much as I didn’t want to, I couldn’t stop thinking about either one of them.
“Good morning mother.” I said quietly.
“Honey, it’s time.” I got up, looking at my parents standing there with such fear in their eyes.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Honey, this is Tae McCulley.” As Tae, the one I felt so much for, walked in. “He is your age, and he has been your age for a very long time. He cannot get any older because of the hunters being around.” My mother paused as she looked at him, hoping he’d continue. He didn’t. “When you were a little girl, the hunters killed your father and Tae’s parents. They have attacked Tae’s entire family, but we never knew whether they came out alive. Ever since then, Tae has been watching over you, protecting you and slowly trying to bring back your memory as a little girl. I suppose you have had dreams, well they are real honey.” She paused again, and I took the chance.
“What do you mean my father? He’s standing right there.” I didn’t know how to respond to the anything else.
“Yes honey, he’s standing right here, because this is the man that raised you along with me, but he is not your real father. Your real father has died trying to protect you. Tae tried to help, but he could not help us and protect you, and we have told him to take you away for a little while. Thankfully, I came out alive, as well as Tae.” My mother paused again, looking at Tae to continue, and this time he did.
“Amabel, we tried to protect you because your father was a watcher, and the hunters had killed him and now they are after you. Kierce is one of them, the son of the highest hunters, and he came to lure you in. If you went with him, they would have made you one of them, and you would no longer be a watcher.” He paused for a moment, and I saw sadness in his eyes. “This means, you would lose your ability to control the piece on this Earth. The hunters want to take over, and for them to do that, they need to get rid of the last watcher, and that is you. They might not want to kill you because they think you might be useful to them, but they will not hesitate to make you one of them.” He spoke with such pain in his eyes. I closed my mouth, trying to take all the information in, but it is too much.
“Amabel honey, is this making any sense to you?” My mother asked, I nodded, completely lying.
“Since you are the last watcher, this means you have powers no one could possibly imagine. You have not discovered them yet because you haven’t had a chance. Now that there is a hunter near you, you started to slowly gain them. The bloody nose and the headaches were signs. You are able to feel what others are feelings and you are able to read anyone’s mind, it just takes a lot to do so and does not come easy. You have other powers as well, but I do not know of them, since I am not a watcher.” He hesitated to continue. “I am a lycan, which is half man and half wolf. The only reason I am this way is because of the hunters, and I will continue turning this way because it is the only way I can protect you and myself from them. Are you following me Amabel?” He asked like I would actually say yes.
“How can all this just form from nothing into something? I don’t understand. Why am I a watcher and if Kierce is a hunter, then why do I feel such attraction for him, almost love. I don’t understand any of this Tae. I feel like I also have known you all my life and my love for you is unbearable. The pain I feel when you are around. How can I love someone so wrong and someone who I barely know? I don’t understand any of this!” Not do I only not understand, but I also don’t know if I want to.
“Amabel, my love. I have been with you all your life. I have chosen to stay with you no matter what. I have bonded with you in ways I can never do so with anyone else. Amabel, you cannot love a hunter, you cannot become one of them! I will not allow this!” He spoke with such urge to get this through my head, but it did no good.
“How can you allow me something if you just came into my life Tae? You barged this upon me with no warning!” I was furious none of this was told to me sooner.
“Amabel, how could I tell you any of this? I couldn’t just pop in your life anytime and say Hey! I’m Tae, I have bonded with you when you were a baby, but stayed on the side to watch you grow up. It couldn’t work like that Amabel!” He yelled back with such pain. I can feel it again at the pit of my throat. It was enough for the day, or better so, for the year.
“Honey. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier, but I could not bear the thought of you getting into all of this. This is why we have left Alaska for so long. We moved to Massachusetts for a while to stay away from all of this, but I missed my home, I missed my life. Although, moving back here was the worst mistake I have made. I’m so sorry honey.” My mother rose with tears. “Tae has told me a few days ago that Kierce is a hunter, but you wouldn’t listen to me when I have told you to stay away. I knew you wouldn’t without an explanation, but I couldn’t bare myself to tell you. Also, when you heard me talking about the lycan coming back, I knew that something was going to be wrong. Tae promised me that he will not make himself shown unless something was coming.” She finished and walked out of the room. My father, well, Richard, followed her trying to comfort her I’m guessing.
“Tae, why do I feel so much inside me? I can’t stand this.” I looked up at him hopelessly. Even knowing him for a couple of hours, I know he meant it when he said I’ve known him my whole life. I always felt his pain, his love. His wanting to have something he couldn’t. Now I was torn. I know Kierce won’t hurt me, but I also know I feel love for him as well.
“My love, I wish you no pain. I have never done anything but love you. I will stand by your side no matter what.” Tae said. It was even harder with him being so nice. The two men in my life are enemies, and the one I love is an enemy towards me as well.
“Would you like to spend the rest of the day with me?” I asked Tae. It seemed like the right thing to do. He gave up his life for me, I at least owed him this much.
“Oh, yes, that sounds amazing.” He said, looking kind of surprised and excited at the same time. “Would you like to see where I live now? It’s nothing special, but there’s something I want to give if you’d like to go.” He said. I didn’t know if it was too soon to already go to his house when I just met him. I then remembered, I’ve known him all my life.
“Yeah, sure. I’d love to see it.” I answered, and we headed downstairs and out the front door. As we were walking, I had to ask.
“Have you lived by yourself all your life?” I was hoping he’d say no. It must be so lonely not having anyone to talk to.
“Well, yes and no. I physically had no one, but I’ve always had you in my heart, my Amabel.” He answered, and my heart melted. “We’re almost there.” He added. I realized we were now at the lake, the popular place to be I guess. This time though, we walked past the hills and into the wood. Before leaving the woods and having a full view of the glaciers, we stopped. “This is it.” He said.
We take a walkway of on the left, which lead right to his house. It’s an all wooden one floor home. Looks pretty cozy from out here. We walked up to the front door, and as he opened it, he put his arm out for me to go in first. The inside was nice. There was enough living space for about four people. It was nicely designed and extremely warm. There was a small fire place that kept the whole house warm.
“Like I said, it’s not much.” He slightly giggled. He’s really handsome now that I can finally ta
ke a look at him. He’s about twenty years old or so, tan and muscular that’s for sure. His hair was rich brown yet shaved almost to his head.
“It’s really nice here Tae.” I said. I wouldn’t mind living here. Out in the middle of the woods with everything needed right here.
“Thank you my love, but anyways, I have something for you.” As he said that, he went into one of the rooms and came back out. He held out a small black bag and as he started to untie it, he said to me.
“I have made this a few years back, and couldn’t wait to give it to you. I didn’t think I’d ever have a chance.” He said, taking out a small box. He opened the box and in it was a handmade necklace. It was made out of brown string, and the charm was wooden carved. It was a werewolf standing tall with a female on the side of, looking in awe. It was absolutely beautiful.
“It’s kind of.. perfect Tae. Thank you. Thank you so much.” I went to take it out of his hands, but he pulled back and went behind me. He put the necklace around my neck, slowly lifted my hair, and buckled it. The attraction in the air was too strong between us, I couldn’t resist. Before he went anywhere, I turned around facing him. He looked me in the eye, slowly stoke my cheek, and kissed it. Before I could do anything, he stepped back.
“I think your mother would want you home sweetheart. Do you want to head back?” He asked. Unwillingly, I shook my head. He kissed my cheek once more, and we left to go back. The walk was silent, but the feelings weren’t. I could feel everything he was. For some odd reason, I feel like I can feel his feelings more than anyone else’s. He was right when he said he bonded to him. I wonder if I needed to decide soon whether to bond with him as well.
We walked into the house, and my mother greeted us with hugs. I could tell she knew that Tae wouldn’t let anything happen to me, but she also know I loved Kierce, and who knows if he had any tricks behind him.