Remember You
"Okay Hope, just this one time. That's all you get do you understand me?" Dr. Saltzman was using that face that he thinks says that he's right and you're wrong but in all reality it's just an act. I nod before crossing my chest, my thoughts already running away with the weekend. "You can't drive." He stated harshly as to challenge my determination to get where I need to be. I raise an eyebrow to challenge his statement.
"Come on Dr. S." I ask in a snarky way, staring at this man I realized how truly tired he looks. He looks weathered and torn, his eyes are dark with dark circles forming beneath them and his hair was askew and shaggy. For the first time in a really long time he needed to shave but he's holding himself together in the best way he knows how I guess. He scoffs at me like the sentence out of my mouth was the dumbest thing he had ever heard.
"There are two things wrong with your logic right now." He holds a finger up and laughs, "you can't drive." He raises the other finger and pauses waiting for me to protest. "Also, you're not driving MY car. What happens if I need to come get you or something." The seriousness fades from his face a little as he takes in a larger than normal breath.
"You don't have to worry about me." I can't help it but a coy smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. "You've been training me my entire life. What's the worst that could happen?" He rolls his eyes and lets out a soft laugh. "If I find another way there can I please just go? It'll just be a few days." I asked with all of the desire pressed down, this was important to me but with the minimal details I had given him I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to stick one of his minions on me or one of the other staff members. "I'll even check in once a day if you want." I didn't want him to know how desperate I was to go but I had to come up with some kind of stupid terms that he would agree with. "You know I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important." His shoulders slump ever so slightly as his posture becomes even more exhausted than before. The lines on his face more obvious in the darkening office than I'd ever noticed before.
"Okay fine but take this phone." He reaches into his desk and riffles around for a moment before pulling out an iPhone and handing it to me. I took it carefully and nodded a thank you before turning around, something stopped me and I turned back to lock my eyes on the older man. "What is it Hope?" He asked half curious and half annoyed. I shook my head and forced a smile.
"Nothing. I'll call you when I get there." I tipped the newly acquired phone in the air. Before shoving the office doors open and practically slamming into a body as I stepped in the hallway. "Are you kidding me?! Watch where you are go-" The words got stuck in my throat as I realized I was holding Josie Saltzman in my hands, "Umm, sorry." I muttered trying to tear my gaze away from her soft brown eyes, confusion written in the lines of her face, her hair falling softly in beautiful brunette curls. "Be more careful Josie." I snapped lightly trying to get away as quickly as I could. I ducked around the corner and stopped to compose myself before speeding down the hallway. I checked my email again to see if there was a location set to meet or not as I pulled the floorboards up to get out my equipment and put them safely into a bag.
Hope,
It's been a long time since I've set foot on American soil and I seem to be thinking about some things that I need to discuss with you face to face. So, meet me and Artemis where the sky meets the river. Be ready for the time of your life, also I hope you have some work to play because I booked you a show while we're in town. It's going to be killer. No pun intended.
All our love,
Artemis and Levi.
I sat back thinking of a way to sneak off the property without anyone seeing, I know I made an agreement with Alaric but I didn't want to chance anyone following me. I stepped into the hall after checking multiple times to make sure it was clear and snuck down into the basement where the transformation cells were. Stashing my bag in the clothes closet before going upstairs for dinner. I watched the people around me, picking at my food not really interested in anything because of my nerves. It had been two years since I saw Levi and his mysterious travel partner. I glanced towards the laughter and caught a glimpse of Josie mid-laugh. Her eyes sparkling and her smile radiating light into the room, the setting sun shining through her hair making it a copper color. Her smile remained fastened in place as she locked eyes with me. I could feel my skin grow tingly with nervousness, I impulsively narrowed my eyes and intensified my gaze. Her smile slipping from place ever so slightly, almost as if she was challenging my resolve. I slipped out of my chair silently, stalking across the room to throw away my food. I had to get out of this room, I had to get away from her. Guilt panging and rippling through my body at the thought of Josie's lost smile. My stomach turned with excitement and nervousness as I grabbed my bag from it's hiding place and slipped off into the woods. Running at first but then slowing to a comfortable walk as I set in for the short journey to the meeting place that I was given in my email. I remembered to step lighter just incase Alaric sent one of the vamps after me as a shadowed body guard. I stopped to put on a sweatshirt, pulling it over my head and slinging my bag back over my shoulder. That's when I heard it, faint at first but pulling. Like a sweet lulling hum that seem to weave its way into my chest and pull me forward. My feet followed even when my head was unsure but the closer I got the more I realized it wasn't something to be afraid of. I stepped carefully out of the woods and down to the river's edge. My eyes darting left to right before they lock on with a pair of piercing and almost glowing blue eyes. Artemis.My head began to swim with a million thoughts, my palms were sweating and I was shaking.
"Hello my love." Her voice was smooth as ice and her smile curled into its familiar place. I dropped my bag as she stepped towards me with her arms extended. "How I've missed you little cub." Her skin was warm against my face, her hair falling wherever it pleases. Artemis was as beautiful as her name would make you think, also quite possibly the most knowing being I've ever had the chance to meet. "Come, lets enjoy the moon and catch up while we wait for Levi. He got distracted on the way here." She laughs softly while picking up my bag, her bare feet somehow clean and her hair teeth sparkled in the moonlight. I glanced once at her admiring her collection of Celtic tattoos. Knowing that each art piece had it's complete and unique meaning.
"Any progress?" I ask curiously as we walk side by side, strength radiating from the woman as she smiles beneath the moon. She cocks her head slightly and shrugs. I strain to try and hear her footsteps but I can't, just the small crunching of my own. My skin feels warm under the lighting from the moon but cools with the slightest breeze. Artemis sighs softly with a wicked little grin in place.
"We are still searching," She states quickly. "Although we've agreed that there's not too much of a rush. You know living forever and all." She laughs a sinister laugh that makes my blood tighten. "I've been alive for close to 500 years. Levi as well, obviously. I never wanted to live forever, I never wanted to be what I am. But Levi, he makes every single day a new adventure. We've had 500 years and every day is nothing like the day before. So, I've decided there's not much of a reason to rush into finding a cure for this." I find it so curious how a werewolf could live forever, she wasn't invincible but she stopped aging 500 years ago. It's not at all normal for a werewolf to live forever, according to Artemis she was cursed but if you ask Levi they were blessed.
"Would you mind telling me your story again?" I whispered so softly I almost thought she couldn't hear me. She stopped and glanced down at the tattoo that stood out the most on the center of her forearm. Levi's initials. Her eyes glistened with a few flashing emotions before she smiled softly and threw her arm over my shoulders.
"I tell you this story every time you see me." She hums teasingly and shrugs. "But if you must know then I will repeat myself for the millionth time." I elbow her gently to let her know that she's right. "I had just turned 20, my family moving to France from Ireland. It was late one evening as I was walking home when I spotted Levi for the first time. Handsome bastard. He was traveling through to find himself." She used air quotes with a fond smile as the memory flashed through her eyes. "Anyways, he decided to stay around for awhile and was quite the charmer. Until the full moon came around and a bunch of cattle went missing. This happened a few times in a row before the other's began to get irritated and formed a hunting group. That's when Tamsin showed up warning of a woman and her pet that had been coming through different villages and every single one started having these weird occurrences. The next morning, I found blood all throughout Tamsin's home but no trace of my dear friend. The woman came to me in my dreams warning me that if I didn't stop seeing Levi, well basically that I'd live a long life as a beast with no escape." She paused. "I didn't listen to her but a week or so later a band of barbarians came through and tried to kill my little sister, out of fear I shot him with an arrow, right through his heart. That's when everything changed." She cleared her throat. "Tamsin had given me a ring; she was terrified and made absolutely no sense at the time but she gave me a ring for Levi. And one for me from him and ranted on and on about the only way that I could save Levi was to take his hand in marriage. About a month later I turned for the first time, breaking bones, shifting organs, terrified I tried to fight it but you know how well that works." She paused again this time not seeming like she'd speak again.
"Is that when you found out that you were from a long line of wolves?" I asked curiously trying to remember the details as clearly as possible. She eyed me suspiciously, before nodding.
"That's also when I found out I was an alpha. Levi wasn't a wolf but the woman had cursed him. Out of vengeance, his family had cursed her husband so that he could never return to his human form and was bound to her as her pet until she died. So she tried to do the same to Levi and I. Not knowing that I was already wolf blood, causing a loop hole in her magic. The ritual was binding his body and spirit to mine. If he bleeds, I bleed." Her skin practically glowing in the pale light, I moved as she moved, I stepped as she stepped, every muscle in my body being drawn to her. Hypnotic, she was the silent huntress of the night and my inner instincts wanted to learn and be just like her. The all calling and all-knowing alpha the only other person I had felt this kind of pull and encouraging strength from was my mother. "I bound my soul to a man I barely knew, I was cursed to live a life of unending sadness though because I cannot die. But he can. If he dies, I have to live forever in a life without my mate." Her voice breaks a little and I flinch at the smallest sign of the huntress' weakness. "No cure, no reversal spell. But that's okay because there's no one else I'd rather live my life with. We just travel, stay as close to nature as we can and try to blend in without drawing too much attention to ourselves." A smile spreads across her face as she turns her head towards something I can't hear.
"What are you ladies doing? You're behind schedule, lets get a move on." Levi announces his presence loudly as he steps into view. We laugh and share stories until we approach something that's pulsing energy, I can feel a collection of heartbeats beating as one giant pulse. The ground almost vibrating as we grow closer until finally my ears can make out the sound of what I assume is a music festival, lights, laughter and sweat drenching the air. "I told you I booked you a show, right?" Levi falls into a roar of laughter as Artemis leans into him, their love making them glow as if they are gods. "Hurry up, you're going to be late for your set." He joked before tossing a costume and a set of new headphones at me. "I had to make a pit stop for the headphones, but the outfit is to keep you… well a secret. You can wear whatever you want though." I held up the costume in disgust as I realized it was a cheap werewolf costume.
"You're such an ass." I interjected with a smile and followed them to a hidden entrance. I stood nervously staring at the door, something didn't feel right. I turned around with the distinct feeling that I was being watched and very carefully. My bones ached with desire but my blood boiled with something I'd never felt before. "Wait!" I shouted as Artemis and Levi grabbed my elbows and drug me inside. Pushing me through a crowd of people until I was on the edge of the stage where we waited until signaled and then I stepped behind the equipment, lights flaring all around me, people screaming and shouting. My pulse in time with theirs, sweat pooling on every inch of my skin while radiating pure excitement. The small nagging feeling I couldn't shake getting pushed to the back of my mind. I stood up straight with my headphone's places on my neck, on hand in the air and just then the lights cut out and I let the music begin.