Anastasia's P.O.V.-
"Anny? Anny. Hey, earth to Anny. Anyone home in there?" Huh? Oh, I guess I'd been staring up at the sky for too long. The sun was setting quickly; it would be dark soon. We had just gotten everything put away and were getting ready to head to the train. I spun my feet a bit so to face an irritated Kate. Her hands were on her hips and she was tapping her foot. "Didn't you hear me, girl? I said someone needs to bring this sheet over to Principal Grinds. He's on the other side of the park," her hand waved a sheet of paper around in the air. A sheet? Oh yeah, with our schedule and planning for our booth this Friday. My eyes lowered as I came over to grab it. "I'll go." "Ok but be sure to come straight back. We need to leave before it gets too dark out." I nodded and was on my way.
The spring festival…. I haven't spent much time thinking about the actual festival; I'll be manning our booth selling the school paper, so I won't be able to do much. Still…. it's the big event of the year- one where couples usually go. My lips parted a tiny sliver. So many guys have asked me to the festival with them in prior years; I've always politely turned them down. Now it looks like I'll definitely be going alone this year- my last year of the festival. That's ok though, my hands rolled into balls. There's only really one guy I want to go with anyway, and I doubt he'll ask me. I shouldn't have told Christian about that night… I accidently pushed him away without a shove. And yet…. despite everything, I was still so happy yesterday. Spending time with him is the easiest and hardest thing to do at the same time. But I want more… I want to see him more, hear the sound of his voice again. When he grabbed my hand, I was so elated, I thought my heart might burst. And it might be selfish, but I want to hold his hand again… it makes me so indescribably ecstatic.
I want to be the only hand he ever needs to hold.
"Wow, I can't believe how incredibly selfish I am…." A small grin rolled across my lips. Here I am, with no idea of what he wants or how he feels, and all I want is to hold his hand some more; to talk to him again. "What's wrong with me….?" Kate's right; I've never been like this before. I've never wanted a hand to hold before…. But I don't want just any hand- oh no. I want his hand. My head turned up to the stars high up above me; my hand tenderly rose up towards them.
I've never been in love before, so how would I know what that's like? I don't know if this is love. Maybe not since we barely know each other. But there is another feeling inside me- a real, sincere sensation caressing every inch of me. I don't know if I love Christian or not yet, but more than anything, I want to hold his hand…. Christian, the next time I see you, please say to me, you'll let me hold your hand.
At this last thought, all the lights in the park unexpectedly shut off and screams around me erupted.
Christian's P.O.V.-
I kept looking at the hand I held Anastasia's with yesterday. I could still sense her warmth on me. Her hand in mine…. it made it feel complete. It's like her hand was made for holding mine, and mine for holding hers protectively. Huh, I really should do some research on this imprinting thing. My fingers ran over the palm of my hand. Anastasia….
"Christian!" Elena's voice made me look up. She skipped over to me merrily, waving her hand in the air. "Oh, hi Elena." "Going back to campus now?" "Uh, y-yeah…. but you don't have to wait for me. Why don't you go back with the others?" "I wanted to ask if we could go back together, actually," she clasped her hands behind her back in a shy manner. Seriously, why is she always so shy around me? "Um, well actually….. I'm already…." I was going to see if Anastasia was ready to go home. I saw she was here with her friends earlier. But then again, they might be weirded out if a wolf just showed up out of nowhere to escort their friend back to campus. What should I do? I really want to see her, to make sure she's doing alright….
"You should go, Christian!" John caught me off guard. He smirked to us from over at the side of the booth. "Yeah!" Leo concurred. "Come on, you guys," I frowned over at them. "Please, Christian… I…. I waited until you were done, just so we could go back together." "Really? Why would you do that?" I asked, genuinely surprised. For some reason this made Leo roll his eyes and John shake his head. "He gives "dense" a whole new meeting," he muttered under his breath. What's that supposed to mean? I shot him a glare. But Elena didn't seem to mind, again for some odd reason.
"Gees, what's wrong with you, bro?! Just take her home already." "I agree. I think it'd be good for you, you know, to spend time with a chick for the first time in your life," Leo folded his arms. "I didn't ask for your opinions!" I fired, growing more irritated by the second. Why are they acting this way? It's almost like they think Elena likes me or something. It didn't help that she was smiling at me with pleading eyes.
She took a few steps towards me. "Y-you've done a really good job on the booth; I'm sure your coach will be really happy." "He's never happy," I retorted honestly. It's true; he's not. "Oh, he will be! Why wouldn't he? All the booths here look so good. The dunking booth, the lantern booth…. the kissing booth." "Yeah. Everyone's done a pretty good job," I shrugged and heard John smack his hand on his forehead.
Elena came even closer to me. "I want to visit all the booths this Friday night….. with you. All of them, especially the lantern booth. You know, they say that a couple that leaves a lit candle inside a lantern at the end of the night will be together forever. Christian, do you believe that?" "Hmmmm, I'm not sure about that," I pondered. Wolves mate for life; we don't need things like candles or legends. Then again…. anything to help my chances at getting Anastasia to stay close by. "It would be great if it was. Together forever…." I heard myself sigh wistfully at the thought. Elena was staring at me now; I don't know why.
"Ah, um, C-Christian. If you don't mind, on the day of the festival… could we…..?" But before she could finish her question, all the lights suddenly blacked out. Screaming could be heard almost immediately. "W-what?" She stuttered afraid. I took a few steps backwards. "It's a black out. This is bad!" And without having to tell her, we both ran back towards the others.
"Is everyone alright?!" My dominant, alpha instinct was kicking into gear. "Christian? Where are you?" John reached his hand out for me. That's right; Leo, Elena, and I are the only nocturnal animals in our group. It's up to us to help keep everyone else safe, particularly the herbivores. "I'm right here! Here, hold Elena's hand," I took both their wrists and guided them to each other. "Christian!" Elena tried to grab hold of my other hand, but I stepped away. "What's going on?" Leo then asked me panicked. "I think it's a power outage. It'll be alright. Just stay by the booth and watch out for any non-nocturnal animals who can't see." "Gotta." "I'm scared; I can't see anything," I heard others nearby freak out. Yes, it makes sense that everyone is scared right now. In the outside world, predation incidents always happen in the black of night. Predation incidents….
That's the instant all the blood in my veins ran ice cold; it was like I was suddenly placed inside a freezer. The world around me began deaf and colorless as I stared off into space. Anastasia! She's still here! She's at the festival grounds which means… she's in this black out too. It was like a flip had been switched not only in my mind but my whole body. My whole being was unconsciously transported into a state of hyperawareness. All my senses were ramped up by a hundred. I'd never felt anything like it before; the closest experience I can relate it to was back in the bathroom when Jack showed me that container of lamb's blood. Fear… this was pure, unadulterated, genuine terror. It was worse than being afraid for my own life- so, so much worse. I didn't care what happened to me; I couldn't give a damn about that. But Anastasia…..
"Leo! I have to be somewhere! Protect the others!" I commanded before flying as fast as my feet could carry me; I didn't even look back once. Everything I was in that moment was devoted to finding my mate. I'd heard of the protective instinct in carnivores before but never thought I'd experience it. But after a wolf imprints…. I shouldn't have been surprised.
"Anastasia!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, desperately scanning every square centimetre of the area. "Anastasia? Anastasia!" My feet came to a halt when I reached the empty journalism booth. Damn it all! She's not here. Where is she? Where's my mate? I want her here- I want her here and I mean now! I want her in my arms, where I can hear her sigh safe and sound…
"Ok," I had to get out of my racing head; the worries and panic were making it hard to strategize. "Calm down," my hand rose up to my forehead, running along the top of my hair. "Calm down; pick up some of her scent. Find her scent." That wasn't hard to do, once I forced myself to focus. "Focus…. Focus; follow it…." My eyes shut as I picked up on her pink scent perfuming the air. It was mild where I was standing but still strong enough for me to follow its trail. "Follow it!" My eyes eventually opened when I could pinpoint a direction. Controlling my panic was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in all my life just then. Dear god, please; I'll never ask you for anything again- just let her be safe. Please, please spare my mate; the only girl I'll ever look at. Please, let her be ok.
Her scent led me to a nearby patch of trees. It didn't take long to reach them- thank god. I could see a little figure curled up behind one of them. I was so relieved that my eyes grew so incredibly wide and my mouth actually opened as I gasped. "Thank goodness…. Thank goodness," I repeated over and over to myself as I slowly approached her. My eyes were lower and locked unwaveringly onto her now. When I turned the bend to the tree Anastasia was hiding behind, she instantly shuffled away along the grass.
"W-who's there?!" Her arm frantically rose up in front of her. That's right! I forget, she can't see in the dark like me. Not wanting to scare her, I got down on one knee and kept my voice low and gentle. "Anastasia, don't be afraid. It's me." "C-Christian?" She whimpered. Before I could respond, I unexpectedly felt two small arms fly around my neck. I could feel her trembling as she pressed herself into me. "Christian! You came! You found me!"
Then, like some sort of evil magic, all the lights came on at once. We both had an expression of awe and delight on our faces, but once in full view of the park, Anastasia retracted her arms and stumbled back a few steps. Her hands both clasped over her fluttering chest. And boy, how she was blushing. I, on the other hand… I couldn't move, and I think I forgot how to breathe in those precious, precious moments. But who cares about breathing? Anastasia hugged me… She threw her arms around me, when I came to find her…. An angel had embraced me for the first time, and it was my very own private taste of heaven.
"I'm so glad you're ok, Anastasia….." My hand lifted up to brush some stray hairs off her face. She blushed even harder- if that were possible- and tore her eyes shyly away. "I… I'm sorry. I couldn't see a thing, and I was just so afraid….. I didn't mean to….." "Are you hurt? Here, let me look at you," I scanned her whole body over multiple times for injury. I just felt better and better when I couldn't detect any blood on her. She's alright….. she's ok, after all. That's when I noticed the state of her uniform.
"Your uniform is all dirty from the grass. Here," I didn't hesitate to pull out my handkerchief and give it to her. I'd give anything to her right now. "Christian….." Now she was the one who hesitated, still blushing and looking as cute and adorable as ever. "It's alright; take it." "T-thank you." "Were you here the whole time?" Hey, yeah. Where are her friends? Why didn't they protect her?! If Paul was here… My mind instantly stopped itself. Paul… No, I'm not going to think about it now. What's important is that Anastasia is safe- safe and here with me. She's here where I can protect her. And I will.
What happened to me just there was out of my control. I became like a robot without free agency. But I'm so glad it did happen. I never thought about it before, but this instinct is remarkably useful. My overarching goal is to make sure nothing happens to Anastasia, and my body is designed to make that a reality. It's the most convenient thing in the world actually. I've never been more grateful to have such a basic instinct, a base desire. And here she is, right in front of me. Anastasia….
You're the part of me I've been missing for far too long.