Chapter 10: Understanding

As the air became more powerful, David and the boys were blown off their feet. Barely hanging on to the ground, they low crawled their way behind a large rock for cover. Peering over, the boys were in shocked. They had never seen Anwyn in that state and for the first time, they were a little scared of her. Not really understanding what was going on, they knew they had to do something.

"What the hell is going on? What's wrong with Anwyn?" Marko shouted.

"I don't know!" David shouted.

"Well do something quick before she blasts us off the cliff"! Although David was a bit nervous to approach her, he knew that if anyone was going to be able to calm her down, it was him. Low crawling his way over to Anwyn, David did the best he could to stand.

"Anwyn! Can you hear me"? Anwyn said nothing as she continued to stare blankly in front of her as the air around her continued to unleash its fury. Making a bold move, David crawled his way through the air ball, eventually reaching Anwyn. Reaching out his hand, David grabbed hers. Triggering a response, Anwyn shot her glance down towards David, her face still filled with anger. "Baby I'm so sorry. I should have told you about our feedings. You have to understand; when you're a vampire you get an uncontrollable hunger that consumes you. We have to feed or we'll die. We only feed because it's our nature; it's not within our control. I'm so sorry Anwyn. We…I never meant to deceive you. Please come back to us….come back to me". As David's words fell on Anwyn's ears, she slowly began to descend. As Anwyn lowered to the ground, David held a tight grip on her hand. Pulling her down to the ground, David hugged her as tight as possible. Slowly, Anwyn began to relax. The air around her started to dissipate until it disappeared. Anwyn's eye stopped glowing and returned to normal. Using virtually all her energy going into the avatar state, Anwyn collapsed in David's arms, weak from the amount of energy that was used.

"What happened?" Anwyn said weakly.

"I was hoping you'd tell me. You were standing there one minute with tears in your eyes then the next thing we knew, your eyes started glowing white and you were encased in a ball of air".

"The avatar state", Anwyn said meekly. "Something triggered within me and I went into the avatar state".

"What's the avatar state? What the hell happened to you Anwyn"?

"The avatar state is when I'm at my most powerful. All the power of the spirits is channeled through my body. I can't control it and I don't have a clue why. Whenever something really upsets me or makes me angry, something inside me gets triggered. I become very dangerous to be around". Realizing the devastation she could have caused, Anwyn shot her head up, frantically looking around for the boys. Panicking when she couldn't spot them she turned to David. "Where is everyone? Are they ok"? Highly reluctant to come out from hiding, the boys peered around the boulder. Seeing that Anwyn was back to normal, they came out and walked towards her, cautiously. "Oh thank god"! Anwyn walked over reaching her arms out to hug them but the boys stepped back. Honestly what they had witnessed scared the shit out of them. They always knew Anwyn powerful but they had no idea the true power she possessed. Seeing that the boys were rejecting her, a look of sadness swept across Anwyn's face. "I'm so sorry guys. I didn't mean to hurt you". Tears began to fall down her face. Realizing that Anwyn wasn't in control of her actions, they reached their arms out and pulled her in, letting Anwyn know that everything was cool between them.

"Damn girl", Dwayne said as he squeezed Anwyn. "You scared the shit out of us. I mean we knew you were powerful but that…..that was some scary shit right there. We're sorry. Whatever we did you make you do that…..we're sorry". David walked over and reached out for Anwyn's hands.

"I think we've had enough fun for one night. Paul, go get Laddie. We'll meet you back home". Paul disappeared over the hill and the rest of the boys started walking towards their bikes.

"Wait! What about them"? David turned around to see Anwyn pointing at the bodies. As water began to seep from her eyes, David realized that if she didn't get closure, she could trigger again.

"Would it make you feel better if we buried them"?

"Yes….it would".

"Ok then. Come on boys; let's give these bodies a proper burial…..for Anwyn".

"No, for them. Not for me".

"Ok, for them". David and the boys buried the bodies as fast as they could. Once they were done Anwyn walked over. Placing flowers that she had picked over their graves, she got up and walked towards David. Grabbing his hand, she turned to him.

"Let's go home". Smiling back, David squeezed her hand and together, they walked towards the bikes.

The ride back home felt unusually long. Many thoughts ran through Anwyn's mind. There was so much that was left unspoken on that hill. Stashing the bikes, the boys took to the sky and flew towards the cave. David was the last to dismount his bike. Grabbing Anwyn and lifting her off. He gently placed her on the ground. After hiding his bike, David came up behind Anwyn, scooping her in his arms. Nuzzling her head into his chest, David took off; flying towards home. As David and Anwyn landed, they glanced around to see that the boys were already off doing their own thing. Anwyn glanced around the room, staring at them. Uttering a sigh of relieve that all of them are ok, Anwyn made her way towards the couch; David not far behind her. Looking at David, Anwyn had a burning question inside that she just needed to ask.

"Why innocent people, David? Why do you guys feel compelled to attack and kill innocent people? What did they ever do to you"? Rather shocked that Anwyn was bringing the subject up again, David hesitated to reply.

"Anwyn it's not innocent people we go attack. It's anyone, good or bad. We don't know the difference. We see a meal and we go for it".

"That's supposed to make me feel better"?

"It's not supposed to make you feel better. It's the truth. We really don't have any control over our hunger. When it kicks in, we see red. We go for whoever happens to be around. It's completely random. We don't purposely go after the innocent". Anwyn sat there and contemplated on David's words. She understood that their feedings wasn't something they could control. She understood that now. "It's going to be a long time until I can accept it though" Anwyn thought to herself. "I love David….wait did I just say love?! Yeah…I guess I do love him and I have love for my brother's too". A small smile crept across her face. The realization that she was in love started to overload Anwyn's senses.

"What about your avatar state"?

"What about it"?

"You said it triggers when you get really anger or upset but why"?

"I don't know. I guess I've always felt a strange attachment to humans, especially ones that cause no harm to others. Seeing all those bodies on the floor just triggered something in me that became overwhelming. It's like I said before, I can't control it".

"I promise….we'll do the best we can to never upset you like that again" Leaning in David kissed Anwyn on the forehead.

"Hey", Paul interrupted, "the rest of us are getting bored as hell. It's way too early to be sitting here doing nothing. We're heading back to the pier. You guys coming"?

"Thanks Paul but I think I'm going to head back home. I need to recharge". Anwyn glanced over at David. "You should go have fun". Anwyn leaned over and kissed David. "I'll be back tomorrow".

"Are you sure you can't stay?" David said with a rather disappointed look on his face.

"I wish I could but I'm so drained from going into the avatar state. I have to go back". Kissing David one last time, Anwyn made her way to the opening of the cave. Using her last bit of bending energy, Anwyn opened the portal and stepped through. As Anwyn made her way home, she started to feel a little stronger. Simply being in the spirit world gives Anwyn strength. Air bending up, Anwyn past the threshold of the front door and headed straight for her bedroom. Flopping down on her bed, Anwyn crashed. She was out cold as soon as her head hit the pillow.