Chapter Sixteen - Prisoner
The room was filled with laughter which awoken me. However familiar the laugh was, there was another sound that I wasn't conversant with. My heavy eyelids began to open and though everything seemed a bit hazy, I could identify the silhouette in front of me. Her slim figure was standing at the post of the bed with her back facing me. I could see her throwing her head back with each laugh, and then she would move her head forward with her arm across her stomach. My thin lips curved at the sight of her. Even when she wasn't looking at me, she was beautiful.
Yet, the other sound of a deep laugh perked my ears and I swiftly rose up from my bed. I could feel the rush of blood finding its way up my head and almost regretted my decision to react so quickly.
"Ephraim!" She rushed beside me, and I could feel the icy touch of her hands on mine. "You need to take it easy."
My mind wasn't even on me. I was desperate to scan the room, and it didn't surprise me to see Nikolai standing at the edge of my bed. We both made contact with each other, not even bothering to flinch.
"How long have I been out?" I looked out my window to see if I could recognize what the hour of day it was. The sky was bleeding a pale tint of orange. Sunset.
Ashlee placed her hand over my shoulder, "You've been in bed for almost a week."
"A week? How is that possible?" This latest episode lasted longer than the previous one. Something wasn't right. I needed answers, but I didn't know who to ask. Surely, my mother or father knew of something.
I felt the weight of my bed go down as Ashlee placed herself next to me. Almost immediately, my stress level alleviated. Maybe it was her cool body controlling my temperature or her scent of fresh florals that calmed me. Either way, I was thankful for her being here beside me.
"Oksana is working on it." Nikolai's voice reminded me that Ashlee and I were not alone.
"Who's Oksana?" I stood up from the bed facing him but my hand held on to Ashlee. Nikolai's eyes then focused on our hands intertwined. Ashlee tried to pull me down to sit, but I locked my weight onto the ground wanting to stand.
Nikolai tilted his head and with a smirk answered astutely, "She's our sorcerer. She's harmless but resourceful. Don't worry, she's on our side."
I've met this guy but once and he's already talking sides? I didn't know if I could trust him.
"Would you mind leaving us alone, Nikolai?"
He licked his bottom lips and bit them, then lowered his head in agreement. "Ashlee. Ephraim." He made his way out the door and I followed but only to lock the door.
"Ephraim?" She sounded worried.
"I don't trust him."
She raised her eyebrow and tilted her head to the side, "We have no one else out here. Your mother obviously has faith in this family or else, she would never allow us to come here."
Either she was making sense or my body was still trying to recover because my shoulders slouched and I could feel my knees begin to weaken. She was by my side in no time, supporting my weight. "Ephraim."
"Sorry, I can't seem to regain my strength."
She helped walk me over to the bed, and I rested myself on top of the soft feathered duvet. I pulled her closer to me for comfort, "Don't leave my side."
She placed her head on my chest, "I'm not going anywhere; however, I do need to grab you something to eat."
As much as I hated her to leave my side, I was famished. It was evident in the rumbling of my empty stomach. When she stepped out, I looked at the view of my window. The night sky was getting darker by the minute. These past few weeks have made time irrelevant for me. I had a plan to live a normal human life in Seattle, but everything was changing. Now, a threat was in my future and it was going to affect everyone I cared for. I didn't even know my purpose in life before all this, and it was only escalating into a world that I tried so hard to avoid.
"Ephraim?" My heart almost froze as I stared at the doppelganger of my mom standing at my doorway. Angara. The resemblance was uncanny, but my heart knew she wasn't my mom. Seeing Angara made me ache to see my mom. I only realized then how unselfish I was to never want to listen and reason with my mom. All this time, she was aware and tried her best to prepare me and I rejected her all those times.
"Hi, Angara."
She took a few steps into my room, and then was by my bedside. "Nikolai told me you had awoken. I wanted to make sure you were well. I see that Ashling has gone to collect something for you to eat."
"Yeah, she heard my hunger crying." I released a small crooked smile. I couldn't look Angara in the eyes.
"Do you need anything from us?" She could see I was uncomfortable.
I nodded my head, "I'm sorry. It's just that you look exactly like her, and I . . . "
Even her pouty look of empathy was a replicate of my mom's. "Do not apologize, Ephraim. I did not mean to cause you more pain. I know you miss her terribly, but I promised your mother and father that I would guard you and Ashling with my life."
I sat there nodding my head. "I can't sit here and do nothing. Whatever training I have to go through, we can start now."
She placed her hand on mine. Her body temperature was warmer than my mom's. "Training can wait. You need your rest before I can start training you."
My perplexed face didn't hide itself too well, "You'll be training me?"
Another husky voice entered the room, "Don't be surprised, Ephraim. Angara has trained every single one of her men, as well as our son and me. She hasn't lost any battle." Steven walked into the room and placed a soft kiss on Angara's cheekbone. He turned his attention towards me, "Are you feeling well?"
"Um yeah. Hungry, but my body seems fine."
"Good. We'll start training the moment you've fully recovered." He smiled at me, but his attention kept going back to Angara.
It had my curiosity peaked. "Do you imprint as well?"
Angara half smiled and stared at Steven but she looked at me with gleaming eyes, "No. We're children of the moon, not shape-shifters. Steven and I have a unique history."
"More like 500 years of history lost. She made it impossible to find her." He took her hand and kissed it.
"Wait. You're over 500 years old?" I don't think I've ever met anyone who's lived this long. During this time, Ashling walked in with a full plate of food.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." If she could blush, she would have. She placed the food on the nightstand and noticed the closeness of Steven and Angara. It reminded me so much of my parents which was why I thought it was created by imprinting.
Angara finally answered me, "Please eat, Ephraim. Do not let us stop you."
"Actually, I'm interested in hearing your story."
For the next several hours, they all sat around me. Steven and Angara spoke of their forbidden love, her love for her people, the regret she had for keeping Nikolai away from Steven, and Steven's ongoing search for Angara which lead to finding my mom which would eventually lead him back to Lake Baikal.
Ashling squeezed my hand so tight while listening to their story. She was enamored with it. She was obviously a romantic at heart. The evening was closing in on us, and I thanked Steven and Angara for their hospitality before they left us alone.
As I rested on my bed, Ashling jumped on the bed and rested on top of me. "That was such a grand love story. So much heartache, yet here they are finally after 500 years of separation."
I grabbed her and rolled on top. "I'd probably submit myself to death if I was separated from you for that long. I don't even think I would last the first hundred."
She pulled me down so our lips could meet. I thought I didn't have any energy earlier, but it all changed with our kiss. I don't know if it was the story, my awakening or it was just the fact that I missed having her near me. I took my time savoring her lips, and she allowed me to take control of our kiss.
I started to press my lips right behind her neck and followed the path down to her collar bone. I wanted her to feel what I was feeling, this raw emotion of unending love. She responded to me and I could see a tear falling from the corner of her eye. I kissed her tear and knew she was holding something from me.
"What's wrong?" My voice was calm and yet I was nervous.
"I don't know what's happening to me. I'm feeling emotions that I've never encountered before. Now your touches are waking senses that I can't explain. I'm a vampire, Ephraim. I'm supposed to be cold and emotionless with no sensory capable of doing things to my body like it is now. But somehow, I love every moment, every one of your kisses, the touch of your hands against my skin."
In my heart, I didn't want to believe it. What if it was me controlling her emotions? I have yet to learn what powers were given to me. I got up to stop myself from moving forward.
"Ephraim? What's wrong?" She placed her hand over my heart while the other caressed my face.
"Ashling, I think I'm controlling your feelings. I wanted you to feel everything. I can't allow myself to take advantage of you."
We both were facing each other, our gazes never leaving each other.
"Ephraim, you were never controlling me. They were my emotions. In all honesty, I only want those feelings when I'm with you. Yes, they're new to me, but I wouldn't want to change anything. Don't fight this because there is a reason I'm here with you at this moment. I've needed you since the very beginning."
She made it hard to deny her, but with everything that was occurring, I didn't want to risk it. I took her hand in mine and hoped she would understand. Truth be told, the old me would have killed myself for what I was about to do.
"I'm afraid of not knowing the truth or maybe I'm afraid of knowing the truth. What if it's me that's forcing this upon you? I want you but not until I can understand what's going on with me."
She leaned forward and gave me a subtle kiss. "I do understand, Ephraim. You don't need to explain yourself to me." She pulled me down to lie on the bed and rested her head on my chest. Her legs intertwined with mine.
"I don't think this is helping the situation." I felt like a prisoner in my body.
She giggled and placed her fingertip on my lips. "Shhhh. Sleep. I'll watch over you tonight."
"There's no way I'm going to be sleeping knowing you're right here."
She placed herself on top of me and made the situation worse. What was wrong with me? But I knew this was the right thing to do.
"Ephraim Black. Close your eyes, the sun has gone down. Come tomorrow morning, you'll be well rested and we'll start your training and find out what is going on with Ivan."
The mere mention of his name caused my blood to boil. At least the attention was drawn away, and she was right. I needed to recover so I could start my training with Angara.
~oOoOoOoOo~
Six months at Lake Baikal and the training was intense and more aggressive than I had anticipated. Angara did not have any pity on me and made sure I was capable of using all my skills as a wolf. When I wasn't in wolf form, she taught me how to defend myself with my bare hands. I felt I was in an underground Fight Club but learning all styles of self-defense from martial arts to UFC. I don't know where she learned all this from, but she kicked my ass to curve each time. However, the more we trained, the better I became at using my senses.
Ashling and Nikolai became fast friends while I trained. Their relationship became more of a big brother watching over a little sister he never had. I guess both of them being an only child; they yearned for a sibling relationship. They would go hunting occasionally and with the rough winter storm upon us, she needed his assistance.
After an eventful and successful training day, Angara released me to a little freedom. Nikolai, Ashling and I decided to cover more area around Lake Baikal. Nikolai took us through some cave diving exploration. He was daring as hell, but it was also a great adrenaline rush. As we exited the cave, it didn't take me but a second to hear the swishing sound of an arrow whizzing pass my head. I was able to stop it before it was directed at Ashling's face. She pulled back and saw how close the dagger was right between her eyes.
We scouted the forest, but didn't see anything. Another arrow came at us, but this time the direction of the arrow was given to easily.
"Stay here with Ashling, Nikolai!"
"To hell with that, Ephraim. You're not going to be the only one in on the action. I think this is going to be a fair hunting game."
I rolled my eyes at him. He was so competitive, but I know deep inside, he wanted to find out who was threatening Ashling. We all ran and headed in the direction of where the arrow was coming. If anyone knew these woods, it was Nikolai. 500 years in this part of the woods was his home, and he knew every location of every branch of each tree.
He was way ahead of Ashling and me, but at least I would be able to protect her should there be anyone or anything else out there. It took us a moment as we had lost Nikolai's trail, but the sudden cry of a voice stopped us from moving. I looked around trying to sense where it was coming from. The cry rang again through the forest.
"It's coming from the east." I took Ashling's hand and we headed east.
It didn't take us long and we saw Nikolai on his knees. I could see a body in front of him. He crouched in front of it and didn't move. I didn't know if he was studying it or had killed it. The closer we got, the more I could see the details.
I could see a red waterfall near its head, but it wasn't blood or else I would have smelled it. Ashling covered her mouth and gasped. "It's a girl."
The girl had hair red as blood. Her skin was pale, but her clothing covered the rest of her body to keep herself warm. She was well prepared for this weather meaning she had a purpose for coming here. If that purpose was to kill Ashling, then I could care less if she was dead at the moment.
Nikolai was speechless. He kept staring at the girl. "I didn't realize she was a girl, Ephraim. It happened so fast. I reached her as she was jumping from tree to tree, then she turned herself around and shot at me with an arrow. My first defense was to attack her, which I did. Now she's dead."
Ashling placed her hand on Nikolai's shoulder. "It's not your fault. You didn't know."
Not a moment later, and the girl woke up. She was coughing hysterically. As soon as she saw us, she stared right at Ashling. She grabbed her bow and tried to pull an arrow from behind her, but there wasn't any left. Nikolai had taken them all out. He brought it up to her face and broke them all in half.
"Can't kill anyone with broken arrows, can you?"
The girl's eyes looked terrified, "No. Why in the hell would you do that? You don't know what you've done." She tried to grab the broken arrows, but Nikolai grabbed her wrist.
"I don't think you heard me the first time. There's not going to be any killing today for you."
She looked at him and with angry eyes, she spat at his face. He tried to calm his temper and then he rubbed the spit off his face. "You're a feisty one."
"Let me go!" She got up, but the sharp pain and blood loss from Nikolai's bite caused her to faint right into his arms.
He held onto her, and I could tell he was studying her hard. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Nikolai."
He looked at me with his devilish grin, "You know, I can't leave a defenseless lady out here alone in this cold weather. She'll never make it alive."
I raised my eyebrow at him. I knew he wasn't going to do what I thought he was going to do. He wouldn't.
"You know, Ephraim. It's customary for us to take prisoners, and well, since I found her first, it looks like she's going to be my prisoner. My first one too."
There was no arguing with Nikolai. He was stubborn, honest and not very good at taking directions. We all headed back to the castle, and I hoped the girl would survive. I needed answers from her as to why she wanted to kill Ashling.