Book Twelve: Rikki
Time – Unknown
I remember the pain ebbing and sitting in a bathtub of ice and then nothing. I felt my eyes open but it was so dark I saw nothing but blackness and it felt like I was floating, no falling. I couldn't find my voice to scream out for help and somehow I knew it would be futile anyway.
Before long I saw a light somewhere above me and realized I wasn't falling, or rather I wasn't falling downward, more I was falling upward. When I reached the light I was able to pull myself up through what seemed to be a hole in the ground that I was under and I emerged into a green and golden forest clearing. There were lavender flowers all around the ring of trees and butterflies with golden and white wings danced playfully in the breeze.
"Is this heaven?" I wondered aloud feeling strange to hear my own voice escape my lips.
"If this was heaven you'd be dead," a female voice belonging to a white wolf and my green eyes said.
"Well I remember dying so that would make sense," I replied.
"You didn't die. Your body merely underwent another change. You see you were still partially a vampire which was holding you back. What you are is another breed entirely," the she-wolf said and then turned her head to the sky.
I followed her gaze to notice a gorgeous full moon that was larger than one I'd ever seen in the past. "What am I then? Did my body start the werewolves back up again? Is that why there's a full moon here?"
The she wolf laughed, "No. There's a full moon here because you find it peaceful. This place is what your mind has created to help you recover away from your body. Lycanthropy is an infection as is Vampirism. What you have is a gene, like the Quileute wolves. But your body has created this gene from your Vampirism infection."
"Then what am I?" I asked again growing mildly impatient.
"You are a breed that will come to be known as a shape shifter," the she-wolf said, "And before you tell me that it's technically what the Quileute wolves are you're wrong. Their gene is limited to change them into wolves of a larger size. You are special and unique. You wanted to be human so badly while you were infected with Vampirism that your mind created a way out for you. When your body is fit for your mind again you will be able to shift into any form you desire."
"Any form?" I asked.
"Any at all," the she-wolf said, "And if you so desire a wolf tail and paws you have the mental capacity to share the telepathy that the wolves share. After all, every wolf deserves a pack."
"So my abilities were all leading up to this transformation?" I asked.
"Yes Rikki, that's only what I just explained," the she-wolf said annoyed, "Walk with me through the forest of your mind," she said flicking her tail and I followed her.
"Should I know anything else before I get thrown back into my body?" I asked.
"Quiet," the she-wolf ordered. She led me deeper and deeper into the forest that I wondered if our journey would be over before I was thrown back into my body. Or maybe that's where she was leading me, back to my body. She stopped abruptly, "Another minutes' walk from here is a small lake. In this lake faces a challenge for you. I cannot continue on this path with you as the challenge is for you and you alone. If you pass you will not lose yourself to your change. I wish you the best of luck."
"May I ask you one last question before I go?" I asked.
"I know of which the question you speak. I am the embodiment of your new gene and with it a part of your soul. If you pass your challenge you may be able to create more of your new kind by giving a part of your soul to people. Good luck," the she-wolf said as she faded away into the deep green of the forest around me.
It was dark in the forest now and the full moon above my head had turned red as a blood moon. I turned toward the direction we had been walking and headed forward. When I saw the lake through the trees I shivered with unease. It looked like the lake was a lake of blood not of water and its gooey contents lapped hungrily at the shore. What challenge could await me here?
Suddenly Daughtry's song "There and Back Again" played through my head. And I knew what my challenge was.
I took a breath and headed for the edge of the lake. The bloody water lapped at my toes as I took steps closer and closer. I then decided to plunge forward. There was no going back. I had to survive the sea of my own blood and come out the other side. And from this side of the lake I could see now, the memorial service that stood in the Cullens' back yard waiting for me. I took another step and found myself walking over the top of the lake. Was my confidence keeping me from being plunged into the toxic aroma of death below me or was this just part of the challenge?
I had to admit walking over the top of this bloody lake getting nothing but my feet dirty with the death below me didn't seem like much of a challenge, but maybe since I'd taken the direct route instead of going around the lake I'd shown my ability to follow instructions. When I reached the center of the lake my pride was short lived as bloody hands reached through the surface to grab at my ankles. They were strong these hands from the death below and I couldn't continue forward. But they wanted to pull me down, and they did. I wanted to scream for help and by the time I'd been drug down to my waist I did scream. I saw then the white she-wolf standing on the other end of the lake, standing between me and the vision of where I needed to get to, to return to my body. "Help," I choked out as more of my body disappeared into the bloody lake.
The look on her face was pained and I realized then that she wanted to help me, but she was non-corporeal even in the world of my mind. I sucked in a breath then as I was tugged below the surface of the blood lake and as I was pulled deeper and deeper I noticed the red of the lake lessen and lessen into clear crystal waters. When all the red had drained from the water around me the tugging stopped and I noticed that there was nothing around me but fish, small fish that shimmered silver in the light of the moon above and with every move toward them I made they would swim away. This challenge had been simple. It was like being reborn. I had to go through my fear of death and come out clean and new and as I swam for the surface on the other end of the lake where the now shimmering white she-wolf waited I felt my heart leap with joy.
When I surfaced and pulled myself out of the water she smiled at me, "You have done well, but you have not come out unscathed. You have been reborn and with that will come new responsibilities." She flicked her tail toward the lake that was now behind me and I turned to look down at my reflection. My green eyes were lighter, more of a minty green than the evergreen they were before and there were now golden flecks in them as if I had wolf's eyes. "A trait the new breed will share. Where the temperature of the skin distinguishes the Quileute wolves and the color of the eyes distinguishes the feeding habits of the vampires your kind will now show gold with a lighter version of their eyes," she said, "But now it is time for you to return to your world. I will be with you always."
She faded again into the colors around her until just her eyes, my eyes were staring out and when they shut she had gone and I was opening my eyes to the grieving friends around me who thought I was dead. I heard howling up on the hill and the soft sobs coming from Lara and Valkyrie but most of all I saw the hope and happiness return to Seth's eyes when he saw my eyes open.
"She's alive!" Seth's words filled me with the life I now felt in my beating heart and I looked over at the horizon to see the sun breaking over the hill filling the dawn sky with beautiful colors. It was a start to the first perfect day in many to come.
A/N: Okay so I know I'm horrible. I let you all think she was really dead. But come on, this charrie is based off of me so of course I wouldn't kill myself off in the middle of the story. Plus how could I do that to Seth? I mean she's not going to fall for him or anything...or is she? No she's not. She's a whole new breed of supernatural so of course she's not going to fall for him. She's got to go out there and find someone who will understand her. Valkyrie and Paul have enough love angst in this story to fill that void anyway.