Chapter 8: A Secluded Haven

Summary: Dakota copes with losing Julia.

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The wind brushed the blond hair away from Dakota's forehead. He tilted his eyes up and gazed at the sky as he dragged his feet through the damp grass.

The sky amazed him.

He could look up at it a thousand times and always glean something different. Always, he felt small in comparison to it, but tonight it especially captivated him. The black sky, bordering on deep blue, enveloped the expanse dotted with tiny bits of glitter.


The sound of trickling water brought him back to the real world. He had reached the spot; a secluded place in the woods by a creek. The trees stood in a circle around a little dip that lead down to the flowing water. If you walked down the tiny slope you could hide from the world. No one would be able to see you until they stood right above you.

Often Dakota had visited there to be alone, to think about all that had gone on, all the trouble he had gotten himself into, whether it had been worth it or not. Less often, he thought about how much he missed his parents.

Constantly he fought off the nagging thoughts of Julia. Dakota slumped against the side of an old willow tree that stood a few feet from the lake, shut his eyes, and thought about the events of the past few months.


Dakota raised his hand, his eyes still shut, and caught the rock that sped toward his face. He opened his eyes and had to look up.

A man leaned against a large oak at the top of the slope, slapping the dust from his big hands. His dark eyes, the same strange black as the sky, rested on Dakota. His face; the chiseled face of a Greek statue that had seen two and a half millennia. Of course Dakota knew otherwise; only about four hundred. David, wise and powerful; he'd seen it all, and done it all, however, he still looked 24.


"You're getting better. I'm impressed," he said.


Dakota felt the voice work down to his core. It always had that effect on him, like deep rolling thunder. "Can I help you, David?" Dakota asked as he turned the rock over in his hand and examined its edges and colors.


"You can be more careful about where you go," David said. "You have a very large price on your head. The Counsel wants you dead, or worse and they have spies everywhere. Just this week a group of werewolves moved into the area. Some of them may not turn you in, but others would."


Dakota scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I could care less if I get caught." He paused and looked up. "It'd be a blessing. A life without my parents and Jules is worthless."


David's eyes darkened and his eyebrows dipped. "Dakota Stevens, if you keep acting like this, then your parents died for no reason. They gave their lives for you."


Dakota stood, let the rock go, and sent it speeding toward David's face with his mind. But faster than he could move, David sent it back with his mind and into Dakota's stomach. Dakota doubled over in pain and gasped for breath. He felt a large, gentle hand come to rest on his shoulder.


"Don't feel responsible for your parents' or Jules' deaths; they loved you, and they knew that you would have done the same for them. And Jules knew you could not do anything. She knew about Xander's power..."


"Now you see why it's my fault!" Dakota forced himself up and took a step in David's direction. "I shouldn't have told her, I should never have....I should never..."


"Jules loved you and you loved her. The rule is wrong, you thought so yourself. Don't throw your life away because you feel guilty. If you do, then you'll be letting the Counsel win." David said. "And you'll be letting Jules down."


He knew that he had a point. David always had a point. But Dakota wouldn't admit it, not out loud anyway.


"Leave me alone." He stared at the ground.


"At least promise me one thing," David continued.


"What's that?"


"That you won't just allow yourself to get caught."


Dakota nodded, but his heart wished the opposite. Why couldn't it all just end?