Ever since Laurel left Tamani, Tamani life had no meaning. He felt lost, empty and miserable. He missed Laurel and he wanted to see her again, even if she didn't

He remembered her words exactly when he was saw her the last time.

Flashback

"David!" Laurel called, lifting her foot to run. Tamani's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her around and before she could protest, his lips came down hard against hers, his kiss urgent and demanding and full of a heat that swept laurel up for two seconds before she pushed him violently away.

She looked toward David, hoping he had missed it.

He was staring right at them

David's and Tamani's eyes met and locked.

Tamani still had a hold of Laurel's wrist. She yanked it away. "Go away" she said. "I want you to just go!" Her voice was starting to tremble. "I mean it!" she yelled. "Go!"

Tamani stared at her, searching for a sprinkle of hope knowing that she didn't meant it but her eyes said nothing just anger. He turned without a word and walked silently into the trees, disappearing before her eyes.

Flashback ends

Now that she didn't want to see him, Tamani had nothing to do anymore. His duty was to protect Laurel but now that she didn't want him, Tamani decided to leave the post and be a part of the human world.

Flashback

"So are we agreed on what needs to be done next?"

Shar nodded.

Tamani smiled.

"It'll take months, Tamani. This is a huge endeavor you're undertaking."

"I know"

"And she did come to say good-bye"

"I know." He said, his voice soft. He turned now, to look at Shar. "But you'll watch over her? You'll make sure she's safe?"

"I promise." He paused. "I'll assign more sentries to her house. If Barnes could get the whole crew away from her house last night, then there weren't enough. I'll make sure there's enough next time."

"Will there be a next time?"

Shar nodded. "I'm sure of it. Barnes was a twig, maybe a branch, but weeds like this grow from the roots. I'm not too proud to admit that I'm afraid of what we're not seeing."

He glanced at Tamani.

"If I weren't so sure, I wouldn't let you do this at all."

They gazed up the path, toward the empty cabin with its overgrown yard and aging exterior.

"You ready for this?" Shar asked.

"Yeah," Tamani said, a grin spreading across his face. "Oh, yeah

Flashback ends.

Tamani smiled at the memory, he talked with his friend Shar every day since he took up residence at the house Laurel left.

But Tamani rarely stared there; he always stayed near the tree line. He would only go in the house to change.

Nothing else.

He sighed as he felt empty inside as he listened to Shar drone on about what was going on.

Then, Shar stopped abruptly and got into the defensive.

Tamani quickly followed but couldn't see where he was looking.

"Shar, what is it?" Tamani said, his training kicking in.

"A car."

A car, he thought, could it be Laurel? He filled himself with hope but it sank as quickly as it came when he thought about their last encounter.

They saw a black sentra drive into the parking and the engine cut off. Shar and Tamani had gotten closer to the tree line to see what was going on.

The car just stopped and nothing moved or came out of it. After what felt like a good 15 minutes, a car door opened and a girl came out.

"A human." Shar whispered as he paid close attention to the girl. Tamani said nothing but looked at the girl.

The girl looked sad and seemed to be limping for some reason or maybe it was his imagination. However, Tamani couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her.

There was something about her that enticed him, much like how Laurel enticed him.

The girl had straight, long light brown colored hair pulled in a ponytail and a skin tone that matched Tamani's.

As the girl got closer, Shar and Tamani hid themselves deeper into the trees so she wouldn't spot them.

The girl was walking through hallowed ground, the ruins of some great cathedral. She smiled when she saw a moss-clad branch illuminated by a thin beam of sunshine and rubbed her hand across it so the drops of water feel from her fingers and caught the light as they fell to the ground.

Tamani saw that the girl had her eyes poofy, probably from crying and she looked hurt or tense but he noticed the change in her body as she got closer and closer to nature.

He noticed that she limped slightly when she pressed pressure on her right foot as she walked but she grimaced slightly at the pain.

She continued down the leaf-strewn path. She heard the gurgle of a large stream and picked her way around the plants and bushed that blocked her path. Soon, she found the stream in a few minutes and sat down on a rock at its edge, grimacing.

Tamani noticed a couple of bruises on her arms and when she raised her pants up to her knee, he saw her kneecap was swollen, bruised and bleeding.

This girl was hurt and yet she wasn't in a hospital to be tended at. Laurel had told Tamani that sick people go to hospitals, so why wasn't this girl at the hospital?

"She shouldn't be here. She has to go." Shar whispered sharply.

Suddenly, Tamani felt defensive and reeled on him. "You can't do that! She's hurt, can't you see? She needs help!" his felt angry for no reason, at least he knew he had some emotion.

"Hello?" The girl yelled out as she lowered her pants leg and looked around.

"Tamani, she's a human. Humans can't be here. She needs to leave."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"Wipe her memory"

"What!" Tamani was furious; he didn't know why he wanted this girl to have her memory wiped. She looked miserable and wiping her memory seemed awful. Normally, he would've gone with Shar and done it already, but this was different.

"Is someone there?" The girl had stood up and looked warily around her, her face showing fear and uncertainty

"Tamani, if she leaves, she'll tell people about this place and soon trolls are going ot hear and come looking over here."

"Laurel didn't."

"Laurel isn't a human. She is a Faerie." Shar said, enunciating the word faerie. "This girl is a human. I'm going to wipe her memory."

Tamani stepped between Shar and the girl.

"No, you're not." Tamani said as he looked over his shoulder to see the girl looking around.

"Fine, if you won't let me, then you should do it."

Before he could protest, Shar pushed him out of the trees and Tamani stumbled out of the forest and right into the girl's view.