Davonyé
I can't move.
I just stare at Ariella who's lying naked and lifeless in her dad’s arms. She was just one of them… A werewolf, only seconds ago; covered in dark and white hair. I feel wrong as hell, but I still felt attracted to her as one…
But now she looks like she’s been in a knife attack.
Her mom kisses her forehead and then talks to her while stroking her hair.
My eyes wander to all the raw, open cuts covering her arms, legs, and breasts... Shit, Ariella… They must hurt so damn bad. Her beautiful body… I wanna go over to her so badly, even just to make sure she’s still breathing, but I feel well out of my depth here.
I turn to the young black woman who looks like the creepy girl from the movie The Ring as she walks closer to them all and starts quietly chanting something. Her back is to me, so I walk closer to get a better look.
There's blue light surrounding Ariella and her eyelids are flickering. This must be the magic that she kept talkin’ about.But soon she lies still, and the light disappears.
“It is done,” the woman says in a very old-sounding accent. And she smells old, too.
It's the smell I kept thinkin’ I was going crazy over.
She turns to look at me. “Hello, Davonyé.”
I blink. How the fuck does she know my name? “Uh, hi,” I reply cautiously. “Is she alright?”
“She will be. You are late,” she comments, giving me the impression that she ain’t impressed.
“I hit traffic on the...” I frown. How does she know?
She nods her head and then regards me closely before returning her attention to Ariella. “I will return once she is ready to receive her magic back. We have a long journey, Ariella and I, but for now, she will learn her history and all of those who are linked to her.”
“Why?” Abriya asks, seeming upset. “Why have you chosen her to become an Elder?”
“Because your family need an Elder. Warekind is growing at a rapid pace, and I cannot always be with you. I know you are worried, both of you, but I will not take your child away from you. You have seen her now, Abriya, and you will continue to do so. Your visions regarding your daughter had been hidden from you in order to protect her freewill, but now that she has openly shared her gift of magic with you, I do not need to block them any longer.”
Visions?
“But she's just a kid,” Clarence says as Abriya covers her body with a robe.
“She is barely younger than Abriya was when she fought alongside you and saved your kind from the Odinia’s. Did you think of her as a child?”
He sighs. “No, but—”
“Your feelings are tainted because she is your daughter, but Ariella is not a child anymore, Clarence.”
He looks down at her. “I know.”
“Good. You have raised her to be an incredibly strong woman, both of you, and deep down you know that she is more than capable of this role. You do not have to worry so much about her.” Her black eyes suddenly start swirling. “I must go.”
“Wait, how long will she sleep for?” Abriya asks.
“Two full days.”
“Okay,” Abriya replies. “Thank you.”
The woman disappears into thin air and then Clarence gets up to take Ariella inside. Abriya stands beside me as we watch them disappear into the house.
“You okay?” she asks softly, resting a hand on my arm.
No, I’m fuckin’ far from being okay. This shit gets crazier by the second… “What happens now?” I ask her, feeling a sudden need to know.
“She sleeps. We take care of her for the next two days. When she wakes up, she'll have the ability to shift when she wants to. But she must train, practice. She must learn to control her shift, and that is why she can’t be in school or around humans until she masters it.”
“And what about those scars on her body...” I shudder. “They’ve gotta be hurting her.”
“No, don’t worry about those. She doesn’t feel them. They’ll heal. There will be no trace of them once her body regenerates. The first change is the hardest because her body had to learn it. It won't hurt her again.”
I feel relieved hearing that, because her screams are still echoing through my head... It sounded like she was dying. Jesus…
“It's a lot, we know.”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “I wanted to talk to her, y’know. Sh–things are so complicated between us.”
“You'll work it out.” She pats my back. “What are you gonna do now? You’ve got school today, haven’t you?”
I nod. “Yeah.” I feel dazed as fuck.
“Well, there ain't much you can do here. You can visit her if you want, but she won't wake up now until Saturday.”
“I gotta go see my mom this weekend in Ontario.” And I can’t get out of that shit now either.
She nods her head. “You’ve got her number?”
“Yeah.”
“Message her. She'll get it when she wakes up.”
“Can I see her before I go?”
She smiles. “Of course you can.”
We go inside the house and up to Ariella’s room. She's covered with a sheet but I can still see the start of one of those deep cuts on her neck.
I feel Clarence’s eyes on me. “She's not in pain. Her body’s rebuilding itself. She might look fragile now, but trust us, when she wakes up, there won't be much that can physically hurt her.”
“I’ve got so many questions,” I say, more to myself than them.
“And Ariella will answer them when the time comes. It's not our place to,” he answers.
“Is her being a werewolf the reason why I feel like I need to be with her?”
“You gotta ask her that,” Clarence says.
I sigh. They ain't gonna give me anything, are they?
“We'll give you a minute,” Abriya says. “Come down when you're ready.”
They leave the room but don’t close the door fully. I wonder if it’s because they don’t trust me alone with their daughter anymore.
I sit on the bed beside her. Her perfume smells stronger now, even stronger than before, but something tells me that it’s just how she’ll always smell from now on. And if it is, God help me cuz she smells so damn good.
I touch her face but she doesn't move. She looks dead, and it’s killing me seeing her like it. I want her to open her eyes and talk to me. I wanna kiss her, touch her, but I know I can’t because of how I left things the last time I was here. I got no rights over her, but I wanna have. I need to speak to her ASAP so I can make shit right between us.
It’s gonna hurt me to leave her here. I thought I loved Carisse, but if it’s love that I feel for her, what is this feeling I have for Ariella? Because I swear, this feels hella stronger than love. I wanna protect her from everything I don’t know exists that could hurt her in this world.
What she said was right. Shit is gonna be so different when she wakes up. Will she feel the same about me or have I ruined everything? That woman said I was late; does that mean I shoulda been here earlier? Should I have been here before she started changing? Should I have changed with her?
Too many questions with no way to get any answers until at least Saturday, and I ain’t even gonna be here. I hold her hand and kiss it before resting it back down on the bed. “If you can hear me, I’ll be back as soon as I can. Just, please… don’t hate me.”