Entangled

10, The Pack

I kept trying to convince myself that I didn't have a power. That I had been hallucinating. But during my nap, I had another strange dream. I was standing in the middle of the street, a random street somewhere in the city. I was standing between the vampires and the werewolves. The pack on one side, the clan on the other. I could see each and every person's aura. There were so many colors, so many visible personalities, such strong scents, such strong bodily atmospheres.

Choose, Vanilla. You need to choose now.

What? Choose? I didn't want to choose. I wanted things to stay the way they were. But I also wanted more. I wanted the touch of kin. I wanted to feel like I actually belonged somewhere. I wanted to feel loved. Ultimately, all I wanted was to feel loved.

My thoughts ran rampant in the dream. My wants and desires conflicting with the possibilities I was given, the paths I could be able to choose. My own aura grew whiter, brighter, filling the air with such a thick overpowering smell of vanilla. My own aura engulfed everyone's. But what could I do? What should I change?

What if I chose neither?

What if I could have everyone leave me alone. What if I could have nobody feel anything for me. It all rested in my hands. My power.

Dahlia's face flashed in my dream. A sudden feeling of overwhelming dread shook me so thoroughly that it jolted me awake.

I sat up quickly. I looked down at my hands to see if my aura would be visible. But of course, it wasn't. It had just been a dream. And I still wondered if I truly did have a power. I didn't know if I hoped to actually have one or not. Wouldn't I have noticed at a young age if I did have one, especially something as unordinary as seeing and influencing auras? Well, I have always been sensitive to how other people feel, even when their faces aren't showing their emotions. But I always chalked it up to animal instincts.

But, if I thought about it... sometimes the things people feel that I detect, end up being something they're surprised about when I mention it. Like how Malik had looked at me in the grocery store, marveled at how I was such an attentive wolf. Like how Inkas had looked at me when I asked him why he and the other three got defensive after Dahlia asked about my scent.

I thought back to that night with him in his room. All the conflicting emotions passing through his eyes. He seemed so worried. Maybe he knew that Dahlia was up to something. Maybe he knew it had something to do with me. Or maybe he was realizing that my so-called power was becoming known, and they would have to act on it. 

Alaric's words surfaced in my head. "There are reasons why we chose you as our pet. Those reasons will come to light one day."

I groaned and rubbed my face. My phone chimed next to me on the bed, and I groggily checked it. It was from Klaus, and he said that whenever I had a day off, they were ready for me to come visit them.

I thought about it. I could call in sick for tomorrow and go and see them then. I felt that it might be better to see them sooner rather than later, so that I wouldn't have to stress over it for too long. My feelings on the matter were somewhat mixed. There was a part of me that was afraid, anxious, reluctant to get involved with a pack again. But then I remembered Malik, his touch, his beast. The fact that I could be allowed to tap into something I had never been able to tap into before. To meet a real pack without fear of backlash, because they wanted me to come visit them. I couldn't really pass it up.

I told Klaus I'd be able to visit tomorrow. I then told my boss I was coming down with something and needed the day off, and she said it was fine. In fact, she told me she wished I took advantage of my sick days more often. I know it was a bit silly, but I took that as a sign that meeting the pack was meant to be.