Justin bolts up into a sitting position in his bed as he pants breathlessly. His eyes scan his room madly as he tries to calm himself down.
“It was only a dream. Nothing, but a dream,” he tells himself as he runs a hand across his face.
He looks over at the bulletin board across the room from him as the faces in the picture stare at him in the darkness. A soft glow from the moon comes through the window as it lights his room slightly. God, he hated how his mind played tricks on him. He looks to his right at the small bathroom connected to his room and stares at the mirror hanging on the wall. He shakes his head at himself as he lies back down in his bed. He curls back up in his blankets and stares absentmindedly at his bureau as a stuffed toy stares back at him.
“I thought you were supposed to be a guard dog,” he mutters at the stuffed dog before closing his eyes again.
Nick sits down on the chair below him and shifts himself trying to get comfortable. Whoever came up with the idea to use modern art chairs as café chairs was insane. They were always uncomfortable and more then not looked horrible too. He finally gives up and sits idly sipping his cappuccino as the small door to the café opens and a pajama bottom clad young man walks in. He wore a tattered Yankees baseball cap and a plain solid blue t-shirt that matched his green and blue plaid pajama pants.
“Bad night?” Nick asks smirking as Justin takes a seat across from him.
“Shut up,” Justin snaps.
“I have a deal for you,” Nick says flatly before taking a bite into his muffin.
Justin looks at him cautiously, “What?”
“You want Quest’s file right?”
Justin nods, “And?”
“And I want to know why the hell you keep sneaking around the Red Light District.”
Justin stares at him blankly, “What are you talking about.”
“Oh don’t play stupid Justin,” Nick says, “People see you. You’re lucky they’re my people and not someone’s say like AJ’s.”
Justin sighs, “I can’t tell you.”
“Why?” Nick asks as he wipes his mouth with a napkin.
Justin shakes his head calmly, “You don’t want to be a part of this. I hate dragging people into my mess.”
Nick nods, “I have a pretty good idea what you’re mess is already, but I wanted to hear it from your mouth.”
“Listen…I…I promised to meet Quest for breakfast again, so I better run,” Justin says as he stands up slowly.
“Justin,” Nick says, “If you’re doing what I think you’re doing and planning what I think you are just don’t…” Nick sighs, “Don’t get involved with her. You’re digging yourself into a hole. She knows too many people and too many people watch her. I know what elves do to men. I know she makes you feel whole and young again. Like you never lost the gift to feel nature. Like you can hear songs in the wind. Feel warmth from inside you. They’ll use her against you. They’ve done it before. Elfish women are better for negotiations to them then money, power even. I’ve seen countless men die for them. Die for no reason just basing their acts on emotions…”
“Nick,” Justin says flatly, “I know what I can handle.”
“No,” Nick smirks, “I know you hardly know elves. I can tell this because you insist that you know what you don’t…if you know so much tell me what do Northern elves like her known for?”
“Fighting…”
“Telepathy. Her mind can read yours. If she wants to she can know exactly what you’re thinking…
“She won’t do that to me,” Justin says turning his back on Nick as he begins to walk away.
“Just be careful of Josh. He knows AJ too well. He’s become too much like him lately,” Nick adds in quickly.
“I will,” Justin sighs before continuing on his walk towards the door and finally back out onto the crowded New York City sidewalks.
“You look horrible,” Quest says looking over at Justin and smiling faintly.
“Thanks,” Justin says, “I feel it.”
Justin looks down at the grass underneath his legs and twirls a bit of it between his fingers. Central Park was beautiful though. It seemed fitting that an elf would take him to the park to eat a bagel and sip some coffee from the nearby bagel shop. Quest sat comfortably next to him crossed legged Indian style as he sat stretch out to her left. Before them was a group of about ten young men playing a make shift game of ultimate Frisbee. The guys in skins were currently beating the shirts.
Quest was dressed in a simple pair of black pants with a black tank top that had a logo embroider across it in white. Her hair was half up and half down as the part up was braided perfectly and intertwined with what looked like pearls. They were also probably also real from the looks of them. Her makeup was little except for a light shadow of gray put on her lid. Her lips were slicked with something, but remained uncolored. Beautiful and simple.
“It’s wax,” Quest says off hand as Justin continues to stare at her, “Bees wax is what is on my lips,” she says producing a small yellow metal tin of a lip balm.
Justin stares at her for a second before reaching out and taking the small tin. Compared to her he was very underdressed for the outing in the park. He had no energy to get dressed hat morning though. He barely had enough to drag himself out of bed and get changed. Let alone the energy draining conversation he had had with Nick. His eyes flutter slightly as twists the small tin open and smells the contents carefully.
“You can have it if you want,” she says to him, “I bought tons of it because I always loose it.”
“You sure?” Justin looks at her.
“Uh huh,” she says simply taking a bite of her bagel.
“You’re an elf right, so…” he starts out hesitantly.
“I would hope I am,” she says simply.
“Well…I mean you’re an elf, so you can read minds right?”
“If I wish to,” she says looking at him, “Why?”
“Have you ever done it to me?”
“ I never do it to anyone unless I have a reason to,” she says looking at him, “Do I have a reason to read yours? Or should I?”
“No,” Justin says a little to hastily.
She smirks at him.
“What else can you do?”
“Read emotions from people…”
“Like if they’re hiding something?”
“Like I know you’re hurting inside,” she says, “I can tell just by looking at you. I can’t tell why though.”
“What else can you do?” Justin says steering her toward another subject.
“Feel what little nature is around me here.”
Justin sits up straight and smiles at her faintly, “I’m a werewolf you know that right?”
She nods, “I can feel it.”
“You don’t care?”
She shakes her head no simply, “Why does it matter? Do you care I’m an elf?”
“No,” he says simply.
“You used to be able to feel the sun…hear the wind why can’t you now?” she asks simply.
“My people lost that power, my pack they went to far away…”
“Don’t lie to me,” she says simply, “I can see it around you. YOU used to be able to do it. Others in your pack couldn’t, but you could. You were special. Why is it gone?”
Justin looks up at her and swallows in his throat. No one knew he had ever been able to do that before. No one in his pack knew he had somehow inherited the powers of their ancestors. He could feel total warmth from the sun…feel at peace and alive. He could hear things in the wind. Feel the energy from the moon. He had lost it when he was sixteen though. The only gift he had was gone. The only thing that provided confidents for him was taken away.
“You did something to anger them,” she says simply.
“Anger who?”
“Them,” she points up, “You did something not called for…something against the laws of nature.”
“I…I…”
When he was sixteen was when he had finally run away from his pack after the death of his family. The butchery of his family. He ran as far as his legs could take him until he found him. The one who had killed his family. When he was sixteen he had killed his first vampire. The voices vanished in a whoosh of wind around him as he stood making sure the last bit of life left the vampire. He had cried for hours that night for his family, for his innocence, for his powers that he knew were gone for good.
“You didn’t know you would loose them did you?” she asks looking at him closely, “No one warned you.”
“No one knew I had them,” he says softly looking at her.
“You want them back?”
“Yes,” he says softer then before.
She smiles at him faintly, “I can help you,” she says as a soft wind begins to blow.
“No one can bring back powers once granted,” he says looking down at the ground, “that were taken away trust me I’ve tri…” he says as he is cut off sharply but her mouth locking on his.
She tasted like honey and as he got closer to her noticed how much she smelled like a fresh clean breeze. His senses at once became hyperactive as the kissed intensified. The soft breeze began to whisper to him licking against his ears. He could feel the warmth of the sun pouring down on him and into every fiber of his being. His animal instinct inside of him was allowed what it had been deprived of for so song, to just be one with nature linked once again. Every tree had a name, had a story. Everything made sense. Everything was connected. Everything…was fading quickly.
“What the hell!” a voice snaps pulling Justin by the collar away from her as the world faded into disconnected again.
Justin’s eyes shoot open and he reaches his arms backwards grabbing onto the hands and wrists of the interrupter.
“Oleander!” Quest yells at him fiercely standing up.
Justin looks up at the tall male elf towering over him now from his place on the ground. His blue eyes glistening in the sunlight, his blond hair cut close to his head, and his paleness was oddly appropriate. He was a southern elf no doubt. Standing he was Justin’s height and he wore a simple pair of jeans and a dark green Abercrombie shirt. There was no doubt in his mind now that both species of elves male and female were always good looking in some way. There was something he recognized about him though.
“Drop him!” Quest yells at him, “Ollie!”
Oleander stares at her for a second before letting his grip on Justin go.
“What are you doing?” she snaps.
“Me? Me! What are you?” he snaps at her.
“You are not my guard,” she says walking over to him effortlessly.
“You are not to be running around with…others,” he says to her.
“Others?” she snaps.
“Eli…”
“Oh this is not about Eli,” she says to him, “What is it about?”
“Josh warned me…”
“Warned you?” she says, “About what?”
“That you were running around with werewolves.”
Justin jumps to his feet quickly and stares at the elf indignantly, “What about me being a werewolf.”
“You run around with others too, Ollie. Or is AJ an elf now. Alex is a vampire. Josh a shape shifter. Justin is no worse then them,” she snaps.
Josh…AJ…the picture! Justin knew him from the picture in his room of Josh. He was the male standing beside him in the club mid conversation. He knew Josh…he knew AJ. More importantly…she knew AJ. Justin looks at her slowly.
“I am sixty eight years old Ollie stop treating me like a child,” she snaps.
“Stop acting like one then,” he snaps, “You know what your uncle will say.”
“My uncle lets you run around with vampires all day…”
“To keep relations up. You know I am one of the only people close enough to AJ.”
“I know AJ well enough. There is no need for relations. Vampires and elves are on stable level ground…”
“What will you do when he changes!” Ollie yells, “Well? Do you know what to do? How he’ll act? I’m just trying to keep you safe Quest. You know how much I love you…I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
Quest stares at him blankly, “I…”
“I would never hurt her,” Justin says confidently, “I know how to control my changing. I have been on my own long enough and I know how to control it.”
Ollie stares at Justin hard and goes to say something as his cell phone rings. He picks it up quickly flipping it open and putting it to his ear. A few words are said from the other end of the call to him before he closes it, “We’ll talk about this later,” he says to Quest before walking away.
Quest sighs and closes her eyes slowly shaking her head.
“Are you ok?” Justin asks looking down at her.
“I…I…he…” she stammers before her eyes begin to glaze over with tears. Above them clouds begin to gather suddenly as the sun vanishes from the sky. Justin looks up suddenly and looks around. The ultimately Frisbee players begin to run for shelter ending the game abruptly.
Justin looks down at her as a tear slides down her cheek and it softly begins to rain in New York City.
“What did you say to her?” AJ asks Oleander as he walks into the room.
“What?” Oleander asks.
“What did you say to Quest?” Josh asks, “To make her cry? You had to have done something if it starts raining like this out of nowhere.”
“I…she was with that werewolf…the guy you said you met with her before…Justin,” he puffs.
AJ smirks slightly from his seat.
“Mixing breeds,” Oleander says, “You would never hear of that before. She has already been given away anyway…”
“Did it ever occur to you maybe she doesn’t want to marry Eli?” AJ asks, “Maybe she wants to choose. Maybe she wants to be with a wolf boy.”
“He isn’t immortal…”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to be immortal then,” AJ offers simply, “I don’t want to be sometimes especially in the first hundred years. Those years are a bitch getting used to.”
Josh nods and smiles in agreement with AJ, “Immortality is not for all elves.”
“Quest has passing fazes though,” AJ says, “She has done this before its no surprise it happened again.”
Ollie shakes his head at the subject, “Can we move on? Why did you call me here?”
“Oh,” AJ smiles fangs flashing, “Look who we have,” he says snapping his fingers as two young male vampires drag in Nick each holding an arm.
“Get the fuck off me! AJ fucking let me go!” Nick snaps.
“Carter too…always the feisty Rider,” AJ smirks, “Now I think we have some questions for you Rider…”
“What the hell are you doing!” a voice booms as Kevin appears in the corner and walks out over to AJ, “What the hell is he here for?”
“Uh oh,” Josh says and whistles, “This oughtta be good.”
