Chapter Four

Nevada 199 Years Ago;

Arthur and I were walking down a dirt path. He had his hands shoved down into the pockets of his trousers.
"What are we doing out here?" I asked, following behind him. It had been about a year since Arthur took me under his wing. He looked back to me, holding a finger up to his lips, indicating for me to be quiet, then held his hand out to me. Confused, I took his hand and he led me to an open field. That's when I spotted them: wild horses. Dozens of them.

My face lit up, and I swear he was smiling too.
"Come on," he said, leading me out to the field. I stood behind him as we got closer. "Its time to see if you have the ability to take over someone's will. In this case, a horse," he said calmly. "Pick one"

I frowned. I really didn't want to tame a wild horse, but I also wanted to impress Arthur, especially if I could learn to control someone's thoughts. So, I carefully walked out to the centre of the group. Looking around, I spotted a pure white horse. Walking towards it, I took a breath. The horse looked at me. Its whole body tensed.
"Remember... focus on it, and it alone... try to bend it to your will," Arthur called out gently. Like it was so easy.

I let out the breath I had been holding. "Come to me...horse," I said, holding out my hand. When the horse moved to me, I thought I was the strongest eight-year-old Vaewolf around. The horse sniffed my hand, its nostrils flared, and it started to get anxious.
"Yukina! Calm it down! Focus, you can do this!" he called out to me, though I sensed worry in his voice. The horse started bobbing its head, its rear end moving back and forth. Then it reared up, its front legs kicking. I stood frozen as the horse came down. I could hear Arthur yelling, his voice getting closer. "Yukina, move!"

New York-Present Day;
"What's going on with her?!" I could hear Arthur's voice close to me and I almost panicked. I felt myself getting moved around. I could smell a hospital, though it likely wasn't a normal human hospital.

"What happened?" I heard an unfamiliar voice ask.

"She...she ran. That drug we sent to you for testing, it's still in her system, it hasn't worn off yet!" Arthur yelled as I was being laid down. Why couldn't I just wake up? I started to feel like I was drifting again…

"There has to be a way for her to fight it off!" Arthur yelled again.

"There may be," said the other voice that I was now assuming to be a doctor. "You said... you said she was part Vampire, yes?" he asked. Arthur said nothing, but the doctor still continued. "Then we need to give her blood. Strong blood -hey wait!" I heard the doctor say, only now he sounded further away. There was a door slam, then silence. The fact that I could hear everything but was not able to will myself to wake up and tell everyone to chill was really starting to get on my nerves.

I felt myself being moved again and being propped up. Then, I could smell it. Blood. Arthur's blood. It was right under my nose. I felt my fangs tingle, itching to come out.
"I know you can hear me," I heard Arthur say into my ear. "Now drink."

I didn't want to. Not from him. But my vampire instincts took over, and I sank my fangs into his wrist. I heard him intake sharply.

"Easy," he whispered.
As the blood entered my system, I felt the side effects of the drug almost instantly vanish. I wanted more blood. More! No, not from him. I had to stop. Finally, I was able to open my eyes and regained my control, pulling my fangs out and licking his wrist clean. I watched as a long slit in his wrist closed. He let out a sigh and sat back against the wall, steadying his breathing.

Had I taken too much? Arthur's eyes were closed for a long while before he finally opened them. He watched me for a moment. "Feeling better?" he asked. Seeing me nod, he sighed. "Good, so you can get off me..."
That's when I realized that I had been sitting in his lap. I got up quickly. "Sorry," I said, suddenly feeling very shy.
"Don't mention it. Like ever," he said in a serious tone as he stood, almost towering over me. We stared at each other in a just awkward enough silence. He was the first to speak.
"Come. A car will take you back to the city." He pushed past me, my heart sinking a little. I watched him open the door and leave, passing a very angry looking doctor.

After the doctor approved me as fit to travel, I headed out to the main lobby, which felt like it had taken me forever to get to. There, Arthur stood and appeared to be having a heated discussion with a dark woman. Vampire. Born. Her long black hair in multiple braids seemed to fringe upon seeing me. Bad time? She shot a look to Arthur before storming away. Great. Just great.

Arthur opened the front doors and nodded to a waiting dark blue truck. "Safe trip home," he said in cool tone, his eyes on the floor.
I kept my eyes on him, feeling my heart break a little. "Yeah, let's not do this again, hmm?" I nearly spat out, then stormed past him. I stopped getting into the truck, spotting a Lycan. He grinned at me, opening the passenger door open.

"Ah, so Arthur didn't kill you. Good. Get in. Arth… Lisbeth asked me to see you safely home," he said, grinning wider.
I glanced back at the doorway. Arthur had already disappeared back inside. Letting out a sigh, I climbed into the truck as the Lycan shut the door and then climbed in the driver's side. "I'm Jesse, by the way."

"Yukina," I said in a soft, yet sad tone. I frowned, spotting my messenger bag on the seat, sitting between us.
"It's not in there. Cameron saw to that. He gave it to the doc to see if they could find out what's in it and make a cure," Jesse said, starting the truck, and we were off. Apparently, they had found my address by pulling out my I.D. Joy.

I must have been lost in my own thoughts, because it seemed in no time we were pulling up to my old, almost falling apart apartment building.
"You live here ... alone?" Jesse asked, sounding sad.

I nodded, grabbing my bag. "Yeah, I don't do the whole pack thing anymore. Tried once, but never again. Same goes for being around people. Don't want to be near them. Alone. Being alone is much better, and easier," I said so hurriedly that Jesse gave me a very strange, worried look.

"Please tell this Lisbeth thank you for me, and that I won't trouble her or any of you again," I said, feeling my voice crack.
"Hey, now" Jesse started, but I shut the car door and with two steps I had super speeded to my apartment. Going in, I was glad everything was the same. Tears started to form. No. No feeling things. I was glad to have seen Arthur again. He looked good. As always. In the fridge I found my case of beer. Yes, I was troubled. I hated being like this, but I had yet to find another way to deal. The beer would help me sleep. When tomorrow came, I would get my most important things together and leave. Hawaii maybe. Anywhere but here.

Opening the bottle, I had it downed in one swig. Four more later, and I was just numb enough to allow myself to fall asleep, curled up on my lumpy mattress that sat on the floor, and wrapped myself in a very old, like 200 years old, blanket. Closing my eyes, I drifted off. No dreams or memories come to me. I was just sitting in a pit of darkness.