Until We Go Down (Formerly: Hunting My Wolf)

*├Chapter One┤*

Bells chimed from the door as it closed behind me. Immediately upon crossing the threshold of Darmie's Diner Bar, I took a deep breath to relish the perfumed smoke, misting at the eyes when it smelled exactly as I remembered: tombflower ashes, drunken spills, and Dalai's body spray. I had missed the comfort of this forgotten corner treasure, and I had missed it terribly.

          Dalai waved a blue arm adorned by thin, silver bracelets from wrist to forearm. She continued the song of the bells to welcome me back, back to the place I had so long convinced myself I was better than. A warmth blossomed in my belly when she gestured toward the empty bar stools.

          "Well hello there, shuga," she crooned. Her gum flashed pink behind her bleached smile, and though new lines had formed at the edges, her purple eyes shined bright and eager. "To say I haven't missed that baby face would be like sayin' a fish don't swim." She put a few fingers underneath my chin to force my face to each side. "Though I can't rightly call you a baby face anymore now, can I?"

          I shook off my leather jacket and laughed. "The whole family is full of late bloomers."

          "And bloom you did," she said with a wink. "I almost didn't recognize you."

          "That's the point," I joked. "I got the contacts a few months ago, did the side-shave," I gestured toward the patch of hair over my left ear, "about a year back, and the piercings were all in-between. I even have tattoos." At the mention of body ink, we both squealed in delight. "I'll show you another time, when I'm not in sleeves."

          "Good, 'cause I better be seeing a lot of you before you go back. I swear it's been nothing but low mumbling and droning from these old crones for the last while. I'm about to lose my damn mind."

          "Come move south with me," I blurted. "The men and the bars would go absolute nuts over a lady like you."

          "Oh honey, Houston isn't for me. Too big. I despise these old farts most nights, but I hate them less than the Capitol. I'm staying on purpose." She turned and sauntered toward the ingredients of my favorite drink, her wide hips swaying and shaking the bells stitched into the fabric of her velvety maroon skirt. Though thick skinned and muscular, every movement was infused with grace. "What about you, shuga? Have you decided where you'll end up when the term is over?"

          Yes, I had.

          "No, I'm still weighing my options," I offered cooly. "Of course Mom and Dad want me back and interning underneath one of them, but I feel so free in the big city. Still, it would be nice to have Kurt back, I'm not gonna lie."

          At his name, her toothy grin transformed into a sly smirk. "You need to get that cutie back in here to see me. I need some more sexy in my life, girl!"

          "Then it's your lucky night," I teased. "He should be joining me soon."

          She finished making my drink with a new perkiness to her chest, and as I sipped the orange foam, she updated me on the local scandal. A few previous upperclassmen had gotten married, one of my peers was a pregnant, single-mother-to-be, and Dalai's twelve-year-old cousin had lost her virginity last week - willingly. "They're starting so young these days," she whined. "I blame it on the Merge."

          "So do I." And I did. While I wasn't old enough to remember the initial rise of Magical Creatures from out of their hiding places, not a single day went by without the Merge appearing on the news. Our generations were traversing the rocky road of humanoid assimilation. No wonder they were having sex.

          "But hey, why aren't you with someone right now?" I asked out of curiosity. "I don't understand how a girl like you stays single, honestly."