SOULLESS

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

"I can't believe you actually did that?!" I wondered my thoughts out loud as Hisperia and Jack, who was Rohan's partner in crime, freed James and Seth from the snare.

It was actually a pretty comical sight. James and Seth were hanging upside-down, their foot tangled with each other, and arms flailing.

Besides me, Rohan gawffed but it sounded more like a bark. He and Jack were still in their wolf-man form. It was, for James, a very terrifying sight. Seth on the other hand, was either fearless or at least trying to, but the paleness of his skin gave away.

"You okay?" Hisperia asked as James and Seth landed on the ground with a small 'thud'. Seth groaned, sitting upright and rubbing his head,while James got up quickly and hid behind Hisperia muttering something about 'I am still single' and 'I need a beer before I die'. Hisperia just rolled her eyes but blushed at the same time.

Skin contact makes your whole body dance in pleasure, I guess.

"How are you dude?" I asked James, earning a curious glance from Seth. James just looked blank.
I couldn't help but snicker. Samantha or Sam,was growing on me and I actually felt comfortable. After all, I was Samantha first and Heidi later.

"Not fine. I can't process all this!" James answered looking at the dubious scene in front of him. Of course, it was weird, seeing that Jack in his wolf-man form, offered his hand for Seth to get up. Seth, taking a look at me and Rohan, accepting the help given.

"You can't process all this? Even after your head must be finally full with blood, which is something?" Seth snapped at him. I laughed while Hisperia glared at Seth.

"Chill out man. Your getting your boxers twisted!" Jack smirked and Rohan barked a laugh. We all frowned at the pair, trying to understand what it meant.

Okay! I can't really understand everything unfortunately. Atleast all of us were together.

After all the excitement that had ended earlier, when Rohan and I stopped jumping around, I had to explain Hisperia everything, from the word 'soulless' to the memories in form of dreams and the Queen's last words. She took it well. Too well actually that her theory startled me.
.
.

"The Queen knew your past no doubt! In my opinion, since we're already near Fernfield, why don't you ask Rohan about your past life. You might get something." Hisperia whispered as we followed Rohan and Jack, looking for Seth and James.
"I....okay!" I nodded and cleared my throat loudly.
Rohan stopped and looked at me while Hisperia walked ahead, along with Jack. She was worried about James and it was cute actually. I was worried about Seth too, but not in the lovey-dovey way. Somewhere in my heart, I had a feeling deep down that I was going to meet Max and all the old love will swell up again. 
"What's up?" Rohan asked once we were earshot. He must have sensed my hesitation and I was grateful for the fact that he had always been that observant, even in the past. I decided to test Hisperia's theory nonetheless.
"When did I, you know, disappear?" I asked, measuring his reaction.
"Four years!" He swallowed.
"What about my family?" I asked as I tried to find the images of my mother and father. I was pretty sure I had a dog too, with the name of Dug or something like that.
"They moved to Australia after two years. They really couldn't cope up with it, with you missing ."
I tried to hold back my tears as I registered the pain in his voice. He was like a brother to me after all.
"And my dog?"
I always craved for a sibling but never got one and so, I was gifted a dog out of the blue. Well, I was ten and I was stupid.
Duchess became my whole life. A beautiful Labrador puppy became my sister, my roomie, my playmate and my bestest friend from that moment.
Duchess loved what I loved and loved who I loved. Max would always be the one to play with her if I was busy. Rohan would take her out for walks if Max and I were busy.
"Max has her. He and I literally begged your parents for Duchess. I mean, it was the only reminder we had of you."
I sniffed, and realizing that I was crying ,Rohan looked at me and intertwined our fingers.
"And Max?" I hiccuped and brushed away the tears with the back of my hand. My heart was breaking up into tiny fragments when I thought of him.
"Worse than you could imagine, jeesh not that bad!" Rohan said hurriedly as he took in my horrified expression. I was thinking really scary stuff. I mean I have read about people committing suicide because of their loved ones leaving them.
"Anyway, worse yes, but not the 'I want to kill myself' type! Its just that whenever he sees something regarding you, like the small coffee shop where you used to go along with him or when your birthday comes, he goes to the nearest pub immediately and starts drinking. Otherwise, he is fine. Moreover, I am there for him and so is Duchess."
"So he is fine?" I asked as I let out my breathe.
"I don't know about today. He is going to see many couples on his way due to the celebrations."
"Oh!" was all that I could say.
"Yeah!" He said as we bumped into Hisperia and a laughing Jack. I looked as to where Hisperia was looking and burst into fits of laughter as I saw James clinging closer to Seth, who was, really annoyed.

"Uh anyway," Seth changed the topic, snapping me out of my thoughts,"we need help."

"What help?" Rohan questioned in a buisness-like tone.

"We need a place to hide." Seth emphasized on the word 'hide'.

"More like a place to crash. Got any?" I asked, as I ignored the stunned looks from James and Seth. Hisperia just stiffened but then let it slide.

Gosh! Just go with the flow guys!

Rohan and Jack looked at each other for a moment. Jack either wasn't a talkative person or he still didn't trust us. Rather, didn't trust my kind. Werewolves and Vampires always had hatred against each other I guess.

After thinking about it for a long time, Rohan's face broke into a grin, which would have looked scary, thanks to his wolf-head.

"Say, are you interested in visiting the Black Pearl, Sam?"

Black Pearl? Our Black Pearl!? It was still intact?! OMG!!

"SURE! WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?" I screamed excitedly and grabbed Rohan's hand, leading us to our tree house which we had built back in sixth grade.

On our way, I did hear Seth and James bombarding Hisperia with tons of questions starting with, 'Who is Sam?'.