Cursed

Chapter 19: Not alone

Around me people started to get up and leave. My mind had slipped back to comparing the warm family feeling that this group of people had going on, and the hard and strict rules that I was used to in Helfarch. I couldn't deny how much I envied these people. Was that the reason why I always felt the need to defy my elders?

When my legs felt too giddy to stay seated, I left the room. I felt Jason's eyes on me, but ignored it. With legs that felt more energetic than they had ever felt, I ran outside, at a pace that was too fast for walking, but too slow to call running. Nerves were making me fidgety and uncomfortable. The need to find a quiet spot was fighting against this unnatural need to go running, to sweat it out, to shake off the unnecessary energy. With wild movements I shook my head, there was enough nature around for me to find myself a quiet spot. 

Before I even noticed, I found myself in the open place in front of the Den once more. A teenage boy with wild, brown hair tickling his eyelashes and a grin to match the little kids' ran towards me. His arm was bound to his chest with white elastic bands, purple looking skin peaked out from under it. 

He almost ran past me, then stopped, seemed to reconsider and then shook my hand with his good one.

"Hey, I'm Mason. Welcome." 

His words hadn't even registered, or he was gone, climbing the ladder to the house. His clothes were covered in dirt and leaves. I shook my head at the strange encounter and walked in the same direction he had come from.

Behind the treehouse was nature dense, the flora reached higher than eye level and plants were fighting for a place. My hands hung next to my body, with my hand, I reached out to the green and let my fingers linger on the softness of the leaves. Slowly, the nerves that had suddenly taken over my body seemed to fade. The sadness that had gripped my heart before was still there, but that felt familiar. The nervousness I had felt however, had been new and foreign. 

A sweet lavender smell carried me to a beautiful old tree. A dozen tick branches gave the tree a magistical look, my fingers almost tingled in excitement. This was a tree made for climbing, for leaving the world below me for a while. With energized arms, I pulled myself onto the lowest branches and then higher, until I was high enough to be looked over. The ground surrounding the tree was purple from the little flowers. With the relaxing smell and the knowledge that everyone passing under me would look right past me, I let my head fall back against the tree and let my eyes drift close. 

Images of the wolf story flew through my mind, the way the man had learned to accept himself after many years, the way he had found his family in the end. My lips curled up into a smile. It must've felt so incredible for him to find a family after such a journey. Would I have a similar story or would my story be different from his? 

Shuffling and a loud exhale that made my body tense pulled me back from my thoughts. With movements careful enough to not make sounds, I leaned to my side and looked down to the auburn haired girl. 

Clearly, she was lost in thought. Her hands were doing that nervous rubbing along her legs again, which reminded me of the nerves I felt before. The restlessness that made me want to go for a run, as if there was too much energy built up inside my muscles. For a fleeting second, my mind wondered if I somehow had felt Kate's nervousness and it wasn't even mine to begin with, that perhaps that was the reason why it felt so unfamiliar. An internal snort wiped that ridiculous idea away. What else was my brain going to come up with? First, becoming a vampire, which was physically impossible in my case. Now, some magical powers to feel someone else's feelings.
NO! Kate's feelings. My mind immediately corrected itself.

Abruptly she stopped. Her hands went still, she stuck her nose up in the air. Could she smell me? I hadn't even thought of that. Damnit! Where did all my vampire-survival lessons go when it came to this girl?