Kindred Spirit

Chapter 7

Amaya lay curled up in the corner of the room. Her body was trembling from the coldness that is always constant in this room. She sleeps now, but still her body trembles. Ryker stares down at the girl for a few moments, contemplating what he should do. Should he release her and allow her to sleep in her bed? Or should he simply leave her here?

All of her past lives were never this difficult. In those lives, the two often met peacefully. He would show up and instantly she would feel the connection between the two grow. That blasted Witch has messed everything up. The connection they share will not help him this time. She will need to come to love him on her own. Then, and only then will she receive all of her memories, all of their memories. Ryker is certain of this fact.

Ryker has never felt such confliction. He enjoys the fear he causes her, he thrives on the way it fills him with a sense of power. But the guilt that never seems to leave him be rears its head whenever she cries, whenever she screams. He loves her, that isn't something he can ever deny, and he isn't denying it now. But his love is tinted with a coldness that has been building up within him.

Ryker glances towards the covered-up painting - her previous life before this one. He has been certain that that would be the life that lasted, that would be the life things changed. In the past Ryker had attempted to turn her into a creature like himself, but the change would never work. It would result in her death every time. She is always born as a human, always. Another aspect of their shared curse is that she could never become pregnant. However, in that life, she does. He has been so close to getting a family, to living happily with his Queen for all eternity. But no, that is not what had happened. She was killed along with their son.

Ryker is aware of who had taken her from him, who had ended her life. But he is not aware that the fool's new sister was his love. If he had known, he would have come for her sooner. Could things be alright now if he did? Would she love him? She is born as a half vampire, something that is rare, her visions also adding to her value. This proves that this life must be different. It has to be, it will be.

Ryker grabs a blanket off of his bed. He can be cruel and nice at the same time. He nears the sleeping woman and carefully wraps the warm fabric around her. She doesn't awaken as her body stops its trembling. He will not release her, but he won't make her endure such harsh conditions. He rises from his knees and slowly shuts the door.

His room is silent now. Amaya had stopped crying and screaming not long ago. His eyes once again wander to the painting hanging over his bed. Her name had been Amerie in that life time. He waited until she was about thirteen before he made his move on her. He, of course, wasn't romantic towards her, but he needed to involve himself in her life to trigger her memories. Whenever his Love's memories would return, she would often go by her original name, the name from her very first life.

Ryker approaches the painting, almost in a trance. Names run through his mind, filling all of his thought, consuming all of his heart. Amerie, Calleyanna, Shayla, Zakira, Shakina, Ameris, Hadley, Kiarie... The curtain is pulled back by his hand, revealing the smiling face of the girl he loves. She always looks very similar in each life. He will admit that her current state is his favorite. He can think of several of her names, each beautiful in their own way. But if he were to mention or even think about the name from her first life. That memory will forever be more painful than anything Ryker has faced. That was the first time he lost her...

He quickly recovers the painting and slowly sits upon his bed. It frustrates him that she is not yet aware of the horrid acts her brother has committed against them, it angers him that she does not remember all that they have been through. He is also furious with himself. He has not tried to help her regain her memories; he has only locked her away and fed from her. He doesn't want her to realize everything too fast.

That happened in one of her lives. She was going by the name Hadley. Hadley had lived a nice life up until the point where the two met. He watched her grow up, keeping his distance from her. It was only her second life, the life right after he had lost her for the first time. When Hadley was born, he felt a connection to her, he was pulled to her. He found her living in a large Estate with her family. He was unsure of how to proceed; he wasn't sure what to do.

Her father worked alongside vampires, providing them with human slaves he captured. The King would often come to the large house with any excuse to see her. Soon the two became involved romantically. He had taken her back to his castle. The two had just passed the gates when Hadley stopped dead in her tracks...

"I know this place," She said softly as she looked around the large area. "How do I? I have..." He words trail off. "I have never been here before in my life."

"You haven't been here in this life," He said correcting her. She had looked at him with obvious bewilderment and uncertainty. "Hadley, you have lived before, Darling," He had cupped her face in his hands. "Don't you feel it? Do you feel your soul calling to mine?"

Hadley did feel it, but she couldn't handle it. Images flashed through her mind. The hunger for blood, the guilt, and the way she had tried so hard to fight what she had been doomed to become. Her name, her true name rang within her mind. She pulled away from him but he prevented her from moving far.

Faces, faces of those she killed, Ryker's growing and consuming coldness, her own heart being enclosed in ice.

Then the happy memories came – the intense kisses, the overwhelming sense of love and belonging and the intenseness that always swept over her when he was near.

Her evil actions are the most prominent memories clouding her mind. Hadley knew her past self-attempted to resist the darkness Ryker was dragging her down into, but that still doesn't excuse the fact that she failed, and she killed.

No, what she has done in her past life doesn't matter. She is not an evil creature, she has never once killed, and she would never do so. The memories she is seeing cannot belong to her, they can't. It is all a trick, Ryker is trying to mess with her head. But she won't let him.

Her rejection of her memories, her refusal to accept her past self is what had ended her life, Ryker somehow knew that was the case. Hadley began to scream loudly as everything around her began to shatter. Every memory from her past life slowly cracked and shattered. Each memory from her current life did the same. Ryker could feel it happening to her, he could feel her losing all that she is, all that she was.

Each shattering memory caused nothing but agony. Soon Hadley had lost all of herself, everything she had been in both lives. The last memory she let shatter was how the two met. Once that was gone, Hadley was nothing, she saw nothing, she felt nothing, and she was nothing.

Ryker held her now empty body in his arms. He had lost her for the second time.

The horrid image flees from Ryker's mind as he orders it away. Most of her lives accept him, they accept who she is, but some do not. This will be her last life because this time she has a chance to live eternally as he does. If she rejects everything, if she cannot handle everything then she will shatter.

He would then lose her forever. The final part of the Witch's curse had been that Amaya will continue to die until she is born as an immortal being. That has now finally happened.

Ryker falls back onto his bed, letting his body rest upon it. When the girl awakens tomorrow he will begin reminding her of all she is, all they were. He hasn't forgotten of the current war going on, but with her back at his side he cannot possibly lose.