Torn

by Shelli Bowers

  “Ok,” Alex said. “I’m just going to go to the restroom first. I’ll meet you down stairs.”

  “Ok,” Devin said but stayed where he was just staring at Alex. She smiled at him and ducked her head as her cheeks flushed red again as she thought about what just happened. Devin grinned back at her. Again, Camille interrupted with a very loud throat clearing.

  “Sorry” they both said at the same time.

  Devin got up to leave and just as soon as he was out the door, Camille shut it.

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I had no idea you’d be up here making out.”

  “We weren’t making out,” Alex protested but not with much effort considering the huge grin spread across her face.

  “Yeah right! That’s why you both looked like you got caught robbing a bank when I walked in.”

  “Oh Camille, I had no idea how good it could feel to kiss him like that.” Alex blurted out giving up on trying to deny it any longer. She just wanted to find out if it was always like that.

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you” Camille barked. “Why do you think I’m always sucking face with Mike?”

  Alex whirled around and landed flat on the bed. “I think I’m in love with him.”

  “According to Mike, you don’t have any choice but to be in love with him.”

  “Huh?”

  “You know, with being his mate and all” Camille said with air quotes around mate.

  “Oh, so I guess you know all about it?”

  “Yeah, Mike told me earlier.”

  “You freaked on him, then felt guilty about it. That’s why you told him you loved him.”

  “No, Yes. I mean I did freak on him, but I didn’t tell him I loved him out of guilt but because I meant it. I saw the hurt in his eyes when he thought I was going to kick him to the curb. I guess we’ll be tribe babes together,” Camille laughed.

  “Hey, that’s why all the wise cracks earlier.” Alex accused remembering all the little innuendo’s Camille shot at her earlier. Camille just laughed knowing she couldn’t deny it, Alex threw a pillow at her and said. “Come on, Let’s go before our boys start chewing on the furniture.”

  49

  ALEX

  It was only about a 20 minute drive to the town, but it seemed like it would take forever. I couldn’t help but feel the pressure of meeting these people. The very people that have been waiting on me. Knowing that they would know who I was when I showed up with Devin.

  “Hey, don’t worry” Devin told me.” Nobody’s going to bite you.”

  “Do you make jokes like that all the time?” I asked

  “Not really, but I’ve had to hide it from you for so long it’s nice not to have to pretend anymore.”

  I really didn’t care, I snuggled in closer to Devin.

  “I was kinda hoping that Mike did bite”, Camille chimed in from the front seat.

  “You would,” I replied.

  “Hey, don't knock it till you try it. Just wait till Devin sinks his teeth into you and then you can come tell me that I was right.”

  I just rolled my eyes at her and glanced over at Devin who had a huge grin on his face. “What?” I asked him

  He startled, “Nothing! Nothing at all.”

  “I thought we weren't going to have any more secrets” I protested.

  Devin studied her expression for a minute and then he leaned in close to her ear and said. "I don’t bite, just dibble.” His breath was hot on my neck and I got all tingly again. Devin slid his nose along my neck to behind my ear and dibbled. I closed my eyes and enjoyed every second of it. Every little press of his teeth sent chills over me. He dibbled his way back up to my mouth and then we were locked together. It felt like the skin was going to melt off my bones.

  “I don't mean to interrupt back there”, Mike said from the front, “but were here and your dad is watching you guys.”

  I jerked away in complete embarrassment. “Oh my gosh, so much for first impressions.”

  Devin chuckled. “Come on, he doesn’t care. I told you how he and my mom are. This is practically rated G compared to them two.”

  We stepped out of the car to meet Devin's dad.

  “Hey Dad, this is Alex.”

  I reached out to shake his hand. “Hello, it's very nice to meet you.”

  “It's a pleasure, and please call me Arthur.”

  “Mr. Howell this is Camille” Mike said.

  “Nice to meet you too” Arthur said. “I’m glad to see my boys finding proper women for them. You two make a good pair. Beautiful offspring,” he mumbled. They glanced at each other and shrugged it off.

  Chad and Collin came over to greet Devin first then Mike.

  “Well, let’s go over to see if Old Man Crow can help us,” Arthur said.

  “Your last name is Howell?” I whispered to Devin. He nodded in response, but added “H O W E L L not H O W L.”

  “How appropriate”, I giggled. “Do you howl often?” I asked with entirely too much amusement showing on my face. Devin scowled at me and for a moment I thought I had hurt his feelings, but he grinned and leaned into me and said "Sometimes" while wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

  “So, I guess they have filled you in on most of our secrets?” Arthur asked me pulling my attention back to the matter at hand instead of Devin’s lips.

  “Umm, Yes sir, I think I have most of it.” I replied

  Arthur glanced over his shoulder to where Mike and Camille were playing kissy face with each other. “I guess she knows too?”

  “Sorry, Mr. Howell, but I'm in love with her and I want her to be my mate, and she is best friends with Alex. It's not like she wouldn't have found out anyway. Sir” Mike added on the end.

  “It's alright Mike, I'm happy for you. Maybe you will stay out of trouble now.”

  “I doubt that” Devin replied.

  Old Man Crow was sitting Indian style underneath a tiki hut with a small fire built in the middle. He was poking a stick in the fire to get it hot enough to light the pipe he had in his mouth. He would let the stick get bright red and then put it in the end of the pipe and puff away. By the time he finished, smoke was boiling out of his mouth and nose in every direction. He closed his eyes and leaned back to enjoy his accomplishment. We waited in silence during the whole process. As the smoke began to die down, he opened his eyes and greeted Arthur.

  “Arthur, old friend, what can I do for you today? I see you have brought me some company. The future leader it appears.” The old man was squinting his eyes trying to see better. Clearly his vision wasn't that good anymore.

  “We seek guidance on an important matter Old Man Crow.” Arthur spoke.

  I guess it's normal for people to call him this.

  “I have with me my son Devin and his mate Alex. Also with us is Mike and his mate Camille. Chad, Brian, and Collin.”

  “What matter is of so much importance that it requires so many visitors?”

  “May we come in?” Arthur asked.

  “Please take a seat around the fire.” The old man replied.

  We really didn't need a fire, seeing how even in November it's still hot here. 80 degrees today, and Camille’s going to freak about setting in the dirt. I thought to myself. Regardless, we all took a seat around the fire.

  “Now, what's this about Arthur? It worries me when you have to seek my guidance. You are a very capable man on your own.”

  “Thank you for your compliment, but I'm afraid this is a bit out of my realm of understanding.” You could tell that both men had high regards for each other. Arthur continued to tell Old Man Crow about the dreams and about his suspicions of Stephen dreamwalking. The old man sat in silence for a long time. Finally when he spoke.

  “Eagle eye has always had a longing for the darker arts of our ancestors. He could never accept that some things are better left alone. The spirits are very powerful and don't like to be played with. If what you tell me is true, it has to be stopped. This kind of dark magic will turn the
soul black. The boy using it is in terrible danger. I'm sure Eagle Eye has told him nothing of it. The spirit that allows the travel between the dream worlds belonged to a very evil man. He appeared to be good, but in private, when no one could see, he was pure evil.”

  He killed and raped and inflicted terrible things on people. He got away with it for years before someone dared to speak of it. When the villagers found out all the atrocities that he had committed they issued punishment to be carried out. They decided that to simply kill him would be too merciful. They gathered together any of his victims that still survived, though there wasn’t many, the vengeance was great. They beat him into unconsciousness, and then buried him alive. But they provided air and water to him through a tube, to prolong his suffering. After about 16 days he fell into a deep sleep. He still lived, but never woke. He stayed in that state for almost a month before he was finally killed. His spirit haunted his victims during that month, invading their dreams. The torture was so great that one of the young men dug him up and cut his head off.

  His spirit was trapped. An evil spirit has no right to transfer to any other living creature. It is stuck in nothing and nowhere. It is very dangerous to mess with such an evil. I can’t believe that Eagle Eye has allowed such a thing. Perhaps he has no knowledge of the evil he plays with.”

  “Young lady, do you physically bring back things from your dreams?” Old Man Crow asked me.

  “Sometimes, I come back dirty or my clothes will be torn. I have bruises too.”

  The old man stared into the fire. “Hummm. This is even more dangerous. When the boy is traveling between spirit planes he is open to the dark spirits. Sometimes they will attach themselves to passing spirits. These dark spirits can cause much ciaos when attached to a host. Have you noticed anything unusual about the boy lately?”

  “We've been avoiding him lately.” Devin said.

  “Humm,” Old Man Crow said, “I would advise that you stay clear of him for now. I will talk to Eagle Eye and I would suggest that you Arthur talk to the boys’ father. See if you can reason with him. I will make you a dream catcher and some medicine bags for you to place around your bed. I'm not sure how much it will help, but it should make it more difficult for Stephen to invade your dreams. If you could have someone with you when you sleep it would be wise. That way when you started showing signs of dreaming they could wake you. I will have these items done for you tonight. Then I will work on stopping Stephen. Leave me be now.”

  We all thanked Old Man Crow and left him to his work.

  “I'm going to take Alex home and then I will come back later and get the stuff for her.” Devin told his dad.

  “Ok, call before you come to make sure it's ready.” Arthur told Devin.

  We were all loading up in the car when Arthur asked to speak to Devin. They went about 100 yards from the car to talk.

  “Why did they go so far away to talk?” I asked Mike.

  “Super hearing” Mike answered pointing to his ears.

  “Oh,.........What are they talking about?” Alex asked

  “Too far away for me to hear from inside the car.” Mike said. “But my guess is he's getting the sex talk.”

  “What? The sex talk. Surely they had that talk a few years back.” I said

  “You don't understand Alex, It's different for us. I'm not talking about the birds and the bee's talk.”

  “Then what are you talking about?”

  “Well, the way you two were playing kissy face in the back seat when we pulled up, my guess is he's reminding him that there is to be no sex until the bonding.”

  Camille and I both turned to glare at Mike with open mouths. “What?” We both said in unison

  “Is that why you haven't”…… Camille started to ask Mike and then stopped. Mike nodded in response to the unspoken question.

  “The Alpha isn't suppose to be with a girl until he finds his mate and has the bonding ceremony. The same rule is expected of the second and third also,” Mike explained. “That's what makes our pack stronger than Stephens. They don't follow this belief. We believe that is shows control and respect. Qualities that make strong leaders.”

  “Okay, I get that. A lot of people believe in waiting till their married, but what is a bonding ceremony?” I asked

  “Well, a bonding ceremony is equivalent to getting married. It's a tribe thing. It's not a legal ceremony, but more of a spiritual ceremony. We encourage our couples to follow with the legal ceremony, but first comes the bonding. It's a whole lot like a wedding. You pronounce your love and dedication to each other in front of the entire tribe and then you are blessed by the medicine man. There's lots of chanting, eating, and dancing.

  “Oh,” I said. A little bit of panic rose in my mind. They were already talking about them getting married. We just kissed for the first time today. We still have to finish high school and then there's college.

  Mike must have noticed the panic in my face. “You can have the bonding ceremony now and then after you finish school then you can plan a real wedding. You can do it after high school or after college. They only care about the bonding.”

  Camille and I stared at each other, then at Mike, then back to each other. We were completely speechless. Thoughts flying through both of our minds. When Devin opened the door, it startled both of us and we both jumped in surprise.

  “What's the matter with you two?” Devin asked

  “Nothing, nothing at all.” I answered.

  “So, what did your dad have to say?” I asked Devin as he slid into the seat next to me.

  “Ah, just dad stuff. He thinks that the medicine bags will help with the dreams.”

  “What did he say about me?”

  “Huh?”

  “Didn’t he say anything about me? After all I’m supposed to be your future wife, right?” I said.

  Devin turned his attention to Mike, “What did you tell her?”

  “What?” Mike stammered out. “She asked what you two were talking about. I can’t lie to the future wife of the Alpha.” Mike said with a shrug. Devin sort of growled at him.

  “I will explain all of this to you when we have some privacy.” Devin told me. He pulled me close to him and wrapped me in his arms. “This is what’s important, the rest is just ritual.”

  I didn’t argue, all I could think about was how great it felt to be in his arms. There in his arms I drifted back to sleep. Sweet, peaceful sleep.

  50

  DEVIN

  Alex was sound asleep when we arrived back at her house, so I carried her up and put her in the bed. I left her there to go out in the hall to talk to Mike and Camille. “She’s sleeping for now”

  “Good, lord knows she needs it. I think I need it after the day I’ve had” Camille said. “Do you think they can help her?”

  “Yeah, we will do whatever we can to make sure she’s protected. She’s the future of my people. She’s my future and I’m hers.” I answered.

  “Hello, anyone here?” Came from downstairs.

  “That’s Alex’s mom,” Camille said.

  “Up here Mrs. Monroe,” Camille called back.

  “Hey Camille,” Mrs. Monroe said as she topped the stairs. “Where’s Alex, how is she?”

  “She’s asleep right now. She’s totally exhausted but she’s at least been able to sleep today without any dreams.”

  “Good, Good. I’ve been so worried,” Mrs. Monroe said glancing around at all the faces that now crowded the hallway.

  “Mrs. Monroe these are our new friends.” Camille said. “This is Mike, he’s my boyfriend,” Camille said with a big smile on her face, and this is Brian, Chad, and Collin, and of course this is Devin.”

  “Well, it’s nice to finally meet you.” Mrs. Monroe said as she took his hand. “So tell me what’s going on and how can you help her.”

  “It’s very nice to meet you Mrs. Monroe, and I’m going to do everything I can to help her. I have a lot of information to throw at you and some of it’s going to be h
ard to take in.”

  “Oh, I think I’m more open minded than you know. My grand dad was born in your village. He chose to leave for the love of a woman that wasn’t of royal decent. He passed stories down to my father who in return passed them to me and to Alex. When she told me about the dreams she’d been having, well, I thought then that maybe it was all connected.”

  “She told you about the dreams?” Devin asked her.

  “Alex tells her mother everything.” Camille explained. “She probably knew about the dreams before I did.”

  “I did” was Mrs. Monroe’s response.

  “She will no doubt tell her about your make out session in the back seat today” Camille said.

  A look of pure shock went across Devin’s face. “It’s not what you think” he quickly tried to explain to Mrs. Monroe. “I only kissed her. I would never do anything to disrespect her.”

  “Calm down, Devin. I believe if I remember correctly that’s about all you’re allowed to do until the bonding ceremony.”

  “You know about that?” Devin asked with surprise.

  “Like I said before, I know more than you think.”

  “Oh”. Devin paused. “Do you know the original legend of our tribe?”

  “Yes, and I know about the wolves, if that’s what your getting at.”

  “Oh, well this is going better than I pictured it.” Mike said

  . “Me too” Camille said.

  “What I really want to know is what’s going on with her now. Why have the dreams not stopped, and why have they become so dangerous?” Mrs. Monroe asked

  “Well, we spoke to the medicine man today at the reservation and his theory is that Stephan has figured out how to dream walk. No one has practiced it for generations. We thought maybe the information had been lost. But apparently not. Our medicine man is working on some dream catchers and some medicine bags for protection. He’s not sure if that will work or not. If that doesn’t work then I will have no choice but to try and dream walk myself and deal with Stephen there. My father is speaking to Stephan’s father, but we think that he’s well aware of what Stephan’s doing and approves. They don’t know how dangerous it is. He probably doesn’t realize that he’s harming Alex. The plain between reality and spirit blurs. He’s different when he crosses over into the spirit plain. All his emotions are amplified. His hatred for me is coming through the dreams when he kills me there. He feels powerful and thinks no one can stop him.