Chapter Fourteen – Going Home
Lauren awoke to someone dabbing her face with a cool cloth. She smiled without opening her eyes. "Mmm, Bo." She stretched her stiff body.
"Sorry love, it's only me." Tue's voice wiped away the last vestiges for sleep from her mind.
She opened her eyes, everything looked different, smelled different, sounded different. The first thing that overwhelmed her senses was the smell of the baked bread. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. She could smell the warmth of the bread as a whole and also the individual ingredients. Her eyes were almost blind from the vividness of the colors that exploded across her vision. She shook her head, trying to clear her vision. Eventually her eyes adjusted and she saw more clearly, the colors around the room sparkled, new with life.
"Take your time child, it might be a little overwhelming at first." He rubbed her back comfortingly.
His voice rang in her ears like the sound of wind chimes in a summer breeze.
"Oh, wow!" She exclaimed, so giddy she sounded buzzed, she giggled. Tue smiled at her. She beamed, "This is incredible!" She raked her hands through her hair, she'd never done drugs before but intellectually she knew that this must be what it felt like to do 3-4-methylenedioxymethampheta-mine, also known more commonly as ecstasy.
She was soaring on a cloud of euphoria. It crashed over her in waves again and again. She felt something else coursing through her veins along with the euphoria… it was… strength. Her muscles felt stronger, they felt like solid granite. Her veins pumped this electric strength through her body, around her brain to the very tips of her fingers, her entire body tingled with it. She was utterly scintillated with power.
Tue wrapped his hands around her shoulders and gently lifted her to her feet. She felt like she might stumble but her legs were so strong, they held her weight like solid tree trunks. She felt incredibly balanced, she shifted her weight from foot to foot and giggled. "Wow," She said in awe again.
Tue laughed at her and smiled. "So Lauren, how do you feel?"
"I feel…" For once in her life the brainy Doctor was speechless. "Reborn."
He beamed, "You are reborn, Lauren." He patted her arm, "Well, you've been here long enough already and I'm sure you're eager to test out your new abilities. But don't worry, I will see you soon – we're more than just friends now, we're family… we're kin."
She laughed at him through tear rimmed eyes and cupped his handsome face in her hands, it was like looking at him with new eyes, his dark curls made his emerald eyes look all the more mischievous.
"I'll see you soon Tue, I don't know how I can ever thank you for this."
Tue shook his head, "I don't want to hear you say that ever again, you saved my life. You did that and you alone, without you I'd be dead by now. We're more than even, I'm just glad I could make your wishes come true."
"Thank you, you have and then some. Goodbye my friend, take care. If you need anything just call Trick and I'll come running-" She paused, thinking. "Wait, how do you call Trick? You have no electricity."
He laughed, "Oh, it's a little Elvish magic, once you get lose your training wheels I have many things to teach you and we have much to discuss, be careful. Don't force your abilities at first, they will come to you instinctually and I'm sure I don't have to tell you not to curse anyone with illness because after all, you're a healer to your core."
"That's correct that won't be an issue, you have my word. See you soon friend."
She left the hollow and started to walk through the forest. If she thought it had been magical inside Tue's hut, she was mistaken. Here, in the middle of the forest she felt something she'd truly never felt before, though she'd known it intellectually – the forest was alive, truly alive.
She could almost hear its voice, hear its song, she could feel it speak to her without speaking. She felt so at peace it almost brought a tear to her eye. She knew it would take a few days to wrap her mind all that had happened in Tue's hollow but for now, she was content to ride on this cloud of euphoria.
The sound of the wind in the leaves made her skin prickle, the sound to her new ears was like angels singing. She'd always loved the sound of the forest, but this was different, this was nirvana. Something inside her almost wanted to stay and sleep in the forest tonight but the logical side of her mind knew that she had to return home, people would be worried and she had to tell Trick that Tue was going to be fine.
Suddenly her senses heightened, there was someone else in the forest with her, someone drawing near. She stood on alert, wishing for maybe the first time in her life, that she had a weapon. She noticed him before he noticed her and she wondered why but she knew, this was her forest now and no one could sneak up on her in her forest.
"Dyson!" She called to him, running up to him, his head turned to the side and saw her.
"Lauren! I've been tracking you, Trick sent me."
"What took you guys so long, I've been gone for days."
Dyson furrowed his brow, "Lauren are you okay?"
"Yeah?" She asked, panicking because she wondered if he could tell she was Fae, she wasn't sure if she wanted anyone to know yet, she still had many things to think about, there were a lot of factors involved in this and she wanted to be well prepared so she could protect herself. She simply hadn't had enough time to think about things yet. "Why?" She asked tentatively.
"Because you've only been gone for twenty-four hours, Trick would've sent someone sooner but he also wanted to give you time to do your thing, he wasn't sure how long the treatment was supposed to take but he wanted to be sure you were alright and didn't need anything."
She was utterly baffled at first and then she remembered something Tue had said, Elves have the ability to mess with time. He must've been affecting her unintentionally in his unconscious state. It all made sense now. "Never mind, that's what I get for staying with an Elf. Oh well, everything's fine now. He's going to make a full recovery, he seems in great spirits."
"Well that's great to hear."
"I'm parked near the road, follow me," She told him, not knowing if he drove or had shifted to get there.
Dyson hesitated as Lauren's back was to him, heading to the road. The wind shifted, he sniffed the air, he smelled something… something Fae. At first he couldn't tell where it was coming from, he was on high alert because it was very near.
Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, he knew that smell… Lauren? No. How could it be? A feeling bubbled up in his chest like acid, anger. It overtook him, his eyes flashed wolf. He watched her walking away in confusion, his claws nearly coming out involuntarily. She looked different, perfectly balanced and strong, she floated over the forest floor like she was a leaf in the breeze. The anger seethed through him- then she turned around. He forced down the shift just before her eyes caught him.
"You coming?" She asked, smiling.
"Yeah, be right there," He said innocently. He didn't know what had happened in that forest or how to explain this miracle but he knew one thing was for sure, his lips were sealed. As long as he could keep this from Bo, he could keep her in his life.
The rest of the trek back to the road was silent. Dyson refused to ride with Lauren, saying he needed to shift and hunt which was true, if he didn't dig his claws into something, he was going to do something he'd regret… or would he? Regret it that is.