by Jenna Aileen
“Why not?” She threw her hand up in the air and continued to glare at me.
“He’s a dangerous werewolf, Kathryn.”
“So are you, and I trust you.” That statement took me aback.
Trust me? She…trusts me? What is she crazy? I did my best to ignore the guilt that had become my constant companion these past few days.
You’re not doing anything wrong Conan, just following orders. I tried to tell myself.
“Well, it’s different with him Kathryn,” I said evasively.
“How is he different?” she asked. I sighed. Part of me wanted to prepare her for what could happen, but if I did that then she would balk at following me anywhere and I really didn’t feel like dragging her kicking and screaming the rest of the way there. She could put up one hell of a fight. Not that I couldn’t overpower her and drag her there, it would just be very annoying. Besides the fact that Vladimir, or anyone else from my pack, could be scouting around this area.
“It’s hard to explain. You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Why do you do that to me?” She said exasperatedly, standing up and putting her hands on her hips.
“Do what?’
“You start talking about things then just drop them! It’s so frustrating! Either finish what you were telling more or stop talking about things you can’t tell me!”
“Alright, I’m sorry, no need to throw a hissy fit.”
“I am not throwing a hissy fit! Gosh, you’re impossible.” She huffed and sat down hard next to me. After a few minutes of silence she sighed and looked over at me. “I’m sorry Conan…I’m just…I guess I’m just not good at getting along with people. And…I’m… I’m really scared.”
“We should keep moving.” I said, trying to ignore the tears in her eyes.
*~*~*
Kathryn had another nightmare that night. She didn’t scream or cry or anything, but I could sense her distress. I got up and shook her awake. She was completely curled up and shaking like a leaf, her eyes squeezed shut. She jumped and gasped when she woke up and saw me kneeling beside her.
“It’s okay Kathryn, it wasn’t real, you were only dreaming.” She took a deep breath and nodded.
“Was it—”
“I’m okay,” she said, sounding as if she was trying to convince herself as much as me.
Her teeth were chattering from the cold. I had tried to convince her to sleep closer to me for warmth but she had refused. I could sense that she kind of wanted to now, but I knew she would never ask something like that.
She bit her lip and took a deep breath before lying back down. I went back over to where my sleeping bag was and laid down. I heard Kathryn sigh again and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
That girl was like an open book.
I knew she would never come over and lie next to me no matter how much insisted on it, so I crawled over there, dragging my sleeping bag along with me.
“What are you doing?” she asked, gritting her teeth. I assumed that so they wouldn’t chatter, but you never know with her, she gets irritated by the stupidest things.
“I’m cold,” I lied, scooting right up next to her.
“You’re such a weirdo. Stop, that’s close enough,” she said, now scooting farther away from me.
“Oh come on Kathryn, we both know you’re cold even with a sleeping bag. It’s just for warmth, it’s not like—”
“I know it’s not—”
“Besides, you’ve fallen asleep next to me before.”
“On accident! Completely on accident…and it was after I had a bad dream.” A cold wind blew and she started shivering even harder.
“Fine,” she huffed. “But only because its cold, and only because there are sleeping bags separating us.” I smiled and shook my head.
The next morning, the snow began to fall. It started out slow at first, but soon it was almost blizzard-like.
“Stay close.” I told Kathryn. Just to be safe, I grabbed her arm. It wasn’t worth it making it this far only to lose her in a blizzard.
“Just like old times,” she muttered sarcastically.
The snow wasn’t terribly deep, but I could tell that Kathryn was fading fast. She slowly drug her feet, trying to step in my footprints. I knew we couldn’t stop or she’d freeze to death. She had a puffy green winter coat on, and I think she had leggings on under her jeans, but it still wasn’t enough to fight back the cold or the wet.
I stopped and looked back at her. She glared at me, but she didn’t look well.
“Don’t you even dare think about trying to carry me,” she stuttered. “I can m-make it.” Her eyes were glassy and her skin almost as pale as the snow that fell around us.
“I’m not making any promises,” I chuckled, turning around to see her glaring at me.
Amidst the hostile presence she was trying to give off, I could tell she was ready to drop. Just as I was about turn and pick her up despite her protests, I heard someone
approaching. My heart sunk. I knew exactly who it was.
Chapter Twenty-One, Kathryn
“Hello, Conan.” That voice...where have I heard that voice before? I looked up to see a tall, dark figure walking towards us.
“Vladimir!” Conan called out, stopping dead in his tracks. Snow swirled around me, making it hard to really see anything except silhouettes and shadows.
My body continued to tremble in the freezing cold air, and I started to feel light-headed. All of my strength suddenly gone, and my legs gave out from under me. The world started spinning, and stars danced before my eyes.
“Are you alright?” Conan asked, helping me back to my feet.
“I don’t…I think…” My head was pounding, and I again started to fall. This time, Conan caught me and scooped me up into his arms.
“What happened to her?” I heard Vladimir ask Conan.
“That’s a long story,” I managed to croak. My vision blurred. I recognized the voice that I was hearing, but my brain was too foggy to connect it with any of my memories.
“She was beat up pretty badly by Desmond and the rogues,” Conan spoke, ignoring my sarcasm.
“Oh, so it was Desmond?”
“Yeah.”
“That explains a lot. Well come on, we’re not that far from the town.” Vladimir picked up my backpack, and started trekking back in the direction he came from. Conan followed, still carrying me in his arms.
My heart was racing. I had been waiting so long for this meeting; now that the moment had come, I didn’t have the strength to walk, let alone speak. I was stuck with nothing but time to observe, and reflect.
I wanted desperately to hear Vladimir's voice again. It had triggered something inside of my brain that made my entire body feel distant and unearthly. Something was clawing its way into the back of my mind. Some sort of distant memory; I couldn’t put my finger on what it was exactly.
“Hang in there, Kathryn, we’re almost there,” Conan whispered to me, holding me closer as I started shaking even harder. My vision faded in and out, while purple and green blotches danced before my eyes. Nausea got a good grip on my stomach, and I came very close to puking all over Conan. The half-healed wounds on my stomach burned my body was curled in a different position than usual.
“You feel really warm,” Conan mumbled as his cold fingers found their way to my forehead.
“Your hands are freezing,” I said, my teeth chattering uncontrollably.
“We’re almost there,” Vladimir called back to us. My slender fingers clutched Conan’s coat tightly as I fought desperately to stay awake. And as hard as I tried, it was impossible to keep my eyes open. I could still hear everything going on around me, but my eyelids felt too heavy to lift and whatever sunlight that shone through the snow clouds hurt my eyes. I thought my head was going to float away from my body. Everything seemed so distant, but at the same time I felt this sense of doom breathing down my neck.
“Relax, Kathy, it’s going to be alright.” I heard Conan
say to me, though his voice sounded muffled. Fear dug its sharp claws around my heart as I felt him lay me down and then leave. An unfamiliar hand clasped mine, and I flinched away. My vision was blurred when I tried to open my eyes again. Valko came over to the bed that I was in and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Oh good, you’re not dead,” was the last thing I remember saying before the world went black.
*~*~*
I was alone when I woke up, lying in a strange room. Sweat beaded on my brow, and dampened the fuzzy blankets covering my body. Without any hesitation, I threw my blankets off, and was shocked to find myself in nothing but my underwear.
White, cotton bandages were wrapped around my entire torso, covering my wounds. That must have been Valko’s doing. My face grew warm at the thought. Who else was in the room when he stripped me down? I shuddered at the thought of an audience.
I slowly rolled out of bed, hating how exposed I felt. I searched the large chest of drawers that sat on the left side of the bed, but found nothing but of a bunch of men’s clothing. The backpack which had the few items of clothing Conan had bought me was nowhere in sight.
I heard the floorboards creaking outside my door, and I hastily grabbed a T-shirt from the open drawer and pulled it over my head. The door opened slowly, and Vladimir walked in just as I was stepping into a pair of sweatpants. Embarrassed, I felt myself blushing as I pulled the drawstrings of the pants tighter, so they would stay up.
“You’re awake,” Vladimir stated, his dark blue eyes looking deeply into mine as if he could find my entire life story in them. Maybe he could.
I bit my lip and stared down at my toes, unable to maintain eye contact. His voice sent chills down my spine as I finally connected the dots.
He was the man from my dream. Not the one that always touched me, I don’t think, but the voice that was always telling me it was going to be okay.
I looked up at his face for a brief moment, studying it carefully.
His lips twisted into a crooked smirk. “Long time no see, Kathy, sweetheart.”
“I know you. But from where?” My voice was barely a whisper, as I racked my brain trying to find some sort of memory connected with him.
“Don’t you remember?” He chuckled, his eyes sparkling with amusement. I shook my head in frustration. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t.” His eyes grew dark again with what seemed to be anger and his eyebrows knit together. I took in every inch of him now, desperate to find something that would trigger even the most distant thought stored in the back of my mind.
He was taller than I was, but didn’t seem to tower over me as much as Conan did.
Think, Kathryn! Think! I rubbed my forehead in irritation, unable to remember anything.
“Don’t hurt yourself,” Vladimir chuckled. “You’ve had a bit of an eventful trip. Just calm down. I have no doubt that you will remember me eventually.”
“Can’t you tell me?” I asked, feeling frustrated.
“No. Not yet.”
“But why not?”
He ignored my question and reached out to touch my forehead with the back of his hand. I flinched away and he looked at me with an unreadable expression. My heart flew up in my chest.
“Looks like your fever broke. How’s about you get yourself washed up. Maybe we can talk about it over lunch.” He studied my face for a brief moment before finally leaving the room.
Disconcerted, I sat down on the bed and held my head in my hands.
I have no doubt you will remember me eventually. His gravelly voice rang through my mind, and a sense of déjà vu washed over me.
I growled and stumbled into the en-suite bathroom. My head continued pounding as I slowly took off my shirt and peeled the bandages off of my skin. The wounds were definitely healing, but they were leaving behind dark pink streaks that I was sure would never fade. My jaw clenched, and anger burned in my chest as I stared at my reflection. My body was ruined. Who would ever look at this and think it’s beautiful?
Get a grip, Kathryn, there’s more important things going on right now.
With a shaky breath, I stepped into the shower and turned the hot water on. A pain-filled yelp escaped my lips as the hot water burned the few cuts on my back that were having a harder time healing. I held back the tears and then suddenly heard a knock on the door.
“Are you alright?” Vladimir called, opening the door a little.
“Yes, I…uh…I’m fine. The water was hot and, I’m fine,” I stuttered, seeing his silhouette through the shower curtain. I wondered if he could see mine.
“Okay.” He shut the door. I did my best to hastily wash up, but my body was extremely sore from the weeks of travel and it was hard to move around too quickly.
When I finally turned off the water and got out, I realized that the only thing that I had to wear was the T-shirt and oversized sweatpants I had stolen from Vladimir’s drawer. At least they were comfortable.
I towel-dried my hair and raked my fingers through it a few times before finally going to find Vladimir. I followed a long hallway, which led me to a small kitchen where Vladimir sat. We just stared at each other for a moment, me still trying to figure out where I knew him from, and him just drinking me in. After a little while, his gaze started to make me uncomfortable. I was the first to break eye contact, trying to find something else to look at besides him.
“So, are you going to tell me now?” I asked him, glancing back up for a brief second.
“Tell you what?” he asked, feigning innocence.
“I don’t know, you’re the one who is supposed to know.”
“Supposed to know what?”
“Oh my gosh!” I threw up my hands, completely exasperated. Vladimir just started to laugh as he pulled cigarette out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth.
“Conan was right, you are easily flustered.” My mouth dropped open, causing him to laugh even harder.
“I am—he said—argh!” I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down when I realized that I was just proving his point by getting upset.
“You always were a little spitfire though.” Vladimir’s voice took on a more serious tone.
“How do you know?” I asked him quietly, taking a seat across from him at the table.
“Think, Kathryn. Think really hard. You’re smart—I know you’re smart— you can figure this out.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Put all of the pieces together.”
“What pieces! I have absolutely nothing to go on! I don’t know who you are, I mean, I don’t think I do—and I have absolutely no freaking clue why you kidnapped me. Or why any of this happened!” I stood up and started to pace, my head buzzing with questions.
“Calm down, Kathryn,” Vladimir cautioned composedly.
“No! I can’t calm down, this is all too confusing! I can’t—”
“Hey, hey, hey, calm down.” He stood up and grabbed my shoulders, turning me towards him. And that was when it hit me.
“Oh my gosh,” I breathed, covering my mouth before quickly pulling him into a hug. “How could I have forgotten?”
“You were really young,” he said, offering a small smile.
“Yes, I know, but…” I rubbed my forehead in frustration. The memories weren’t completely clear in my mind. “You’re a werewolf?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yeah,” he nodded his head slowly.
“Since when? Were you always a werewolf?” His jaw tightened, and he looked away.
“No.” His eyes darkened, and he looked back over at me.
“What…what happened?” I asked after a moment of awkward silence.
“You don’t remember that part?” he chuckled mirthlessly, his tone of voice so cold it sent chills down my spine. It was then that I realized the Vladimir standing before me, was not the same Vladimir I had grown up with. I took a small step back, as goose bumps covered my body.
“Dad never told us why we couldn’t see you anymore,” I spoke softly.
When I mentioned my father, he turned his back on me and slammed his fist on the table. I heard a loud crack as the wood split apart.
“Maybe because it was his fault,” Vladimir countered, his voice low with anger. I stood there silently, too afraid to move or speak.
“He’s going to pay for it. I’m stronger now than he could have ever imagined.”
Chapter Twenty-Two, Conan
“You can lay her down in here,” Vladimir told me, shoving the bedroom door open. Kathryn moaned as I gently lay her shivering body down on the bed. Her complexion was pale, save for her rosy cheeks. She felt warm to me, but her body continued to tremble even after Vladimir covered her in a blanket.
“Go find Valko,” he barked at me. I quickly nodded and dashed out of the room. There was only one slight problem with him sending me to do that: Vladimir had relocated the pack, and I was completely unfamiliar with the abandoned city we had taken over.
Letting out a frustrated growl, I ran up and down the streets, trying to determine which buildings were vacant and which housed my fellow pack members.
After what seemed like hours of searching, I found Valko engaged in a game of poker.
“Conan! Come join us!” he exclaimed, chewing on his cigar.
“Valko, Kathryn needs you—” I panted, leaning against the door frame.
“Where is she?” he asked, his eyes growing wide.
“With Vladimir, come on.”
Valko threw his cards on the table, and spat out the cigar in his mouth.
The snow was turning over to sleet by the time we had grabbed Valko’s medical supplies and returned to find Kathryn still passed out on the bed, looking rather worse for wear.
“She’s still sleeping,” Vladimir stated, gazing at her intently.
“Has she woken up at all?” Valko asked, rushing to Kathryn’s side.
“Only once. She cursed at me then passed out again,” Vladimir chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “She keeps groaning about someone named Abel?” Valko and I shot each other a look, but said nothing.
“How badly was she wounded by the rogues?” Valko asked me, placing a hand on her forehead.