Celia's P.O.V
"Noah?" I tried calling out.
It was dark, the branches of trees hung lowly down over my head to prevent any glimpse of light to shine through. I didn't know how I got here or were I was even going. There was one path amongst the moss and leaves, and my feet seemed controlled as they walked down the single road. My hands clenched together in nervousness, my fingertips raw from all the scratching, and my breath was heavy like I had just ran a marathon.
"Noah?" I called out again, desperate for an answer.
But there was none, my voice fell flat in the emptiness and the only sound that came back was the slight echo. So I kept walking but it seemed like the end of the path was getting further and further away from me. The walls of the forest were closing in and my breathing was only getting deeper.
"Noah!"
Then there he was, standing in front of me in the middle of the path. He was in his wolf form, looking elegant in a way as he stood there. A fierce look in his glowing eyes and the proud stance he took to make him look strong.
"Celia!"
We ran towards each other because the search was finally over. I could finally be home.
But something happened. As I ran the back of my shirt was grabbed by a dark figure, almost choking me as I came to a halt in my steps. Noah paused and crouched low as a deep growl resonated through him at the figure behind me.
The figure laughed darkly, sounding evil as he pulled me backwards toward him, "Here pup!Why don't you just take her back then...DEAD!!"
I was whipped around to see the blackness of the entity behind me. He had no face, just an outline of a person like a shadow so I couldn't tell who it was. But the gun in his hand was real, the smooth metal shining off of the moonlight that was peeking through the trees. The figure raised the gun till I was staring straight down the barrel of the weapon, ready to pull the trigger.
"Celia!"
Another shout came from around the darkness and came running towards me. At first I thought it was Noah but instead I saw the face of Conner. He dove in front of me just as the strange figure pulled the trigger, shooting him directly in the center of his stomach. My eyes widened in horror as Conner stood still, looking down at his wound before falling backwards into my arms. In that moment, it was almost like he was gone.
"CONNER NO!!"
...
"Conner?!" I shouted as I sat up in a panic, looking all around me to see where I was.
I wasn't lost wandering around in the suffocating dark forest, instead I was inside of a tent again. My body was wrapped up in the same sleeping bag I was in before and my vision was blurry from my glasses being missing so I couldn't see much beyond my hands. They were tied together again in front of me and so were my feet. I was almost wheezing from how much air was taking in at once and my throat felt like it was closing in on itself.
A second later the flaps at entrance of the tent flew open and Conner was standing there, "Celia?!"
He saw me in my panicked state and rushed over to me, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
The only thought that ran through my mind was how relived I was to see Conner. The disturbing moment in my mind I saw, how his eyes widened in terror as the sound of a gun shot ran out through the night was nothing more then a dream. Conner right now was in front of me, still breathing and free from any injuries.
I threw my arms over his head so that I could hug him in my captive state, "You're okay!"
He hesitated to wrap his arms around me but did it anyway to hold me tight, "Yeah? I'm okay. What made you think I wasn't?"
I leaned back enough to see the confusion across his face, my body being frozen in the moment of not knowing what to do. I was thankful to see that Conner was unharmed and the scene I saw was not real. But on the other hand it was like all of the recent events came flooding back to me. He was the reason I was in this position in the first place, judging using me as an advantage against Noah so that Conner could hurt him.
So I awkwardly moved my arms back over Conner's head and pulled away from him, "N-nothing."
"Okay..." He turned his body so that he could sit on the floor instead of kneeling, "You scared the shit out of me when you screamed."
"Sorry." I mumbled, looking around me once more, "Where are we?"
"In camp. You were out while it was being set up after your little escape attempt."
I glared at him and pushed him with my fists, "Maybe if I wasn't being held here I wouldn't be trying to escape."
"I know this sucks but I'm doing this for you, how many times do I have to say that?"
"Because you're going after the one I love."
He grabbed my shoulders in a tight grip while staring directly into my eyes, "You will love me eventually. I already know you do somewhat, you couldn't hurt me when you had your chance down by the stream."
"Because I still care about you no matter how much of an asshole you have been!" I shoved him back again with more anger this time, looking away from the eyes I didn't recognize.
He sighed and sat back up on the spot he was in, "Why did you call my name? Did you have a bad dream?"
I didn't reply to him, my thoughts going back to the horror that I saw. All I have wanted since Conner whisked me away from my life was Noah, to go back home with him forever. When I saw him standing in his wolf form in the shrouded forest I tried to run to him but I was stopped by the dark figure. What I found strange though was that the figure pointed the gun at me, not at Noah. Why would he want to kill me unless it was just to be cruel? Then again, instead of Noah jumping out to save me it was Conner to block the bullet from harming me. But it was all a dream, something fabricated from my twisted imagination just to be evil.
Conner noticed my quiet and distant state, knowing that something was wrong but I just wouldn't say it, "Do you want me to stay with you tonight?"
At first I wanted to shake my head or say something snarky as usual. I didn't want him near me because he was the bad guy to do something as serious as kidnap me. No matter what he did though or what he said I will always see the best friend I've had for all those years who filled a void of the deep loneliness I've always had since I was a child. Nothing could replace the things he did for me as just being a friend. And what I saw in my dream, Conner falling into my arms after being shot by the shadow figure scared me deeply and left me terrified at the thought of why I had that dream in the first place.
So I nodded to Conner and scooted over to give him enough room to slip in the sleeping bag with me. It was big enough to hold the two of us if we were pressed close together. All we did was gaze at each other in silence, his fingertips running through my hair to relax me.
"Conner?" I ask.
"Yes?"
"Why can't we just leave? Leave together? I don't want to be here anymore."
All he did was sigh, his eyes trailing over to the outside of the tent before looking back at me, "Because it's not that simple..." He whispered at first with compassion.
Then he shuffled a little and flipped right back into the jerk I didn't recognize him by, "Plus, we gotta take care of Noah first or otherwise you'll never be mine."
I pinched my lips together at the vile words he dared to say to me and glared down at his chest. If I could I would have smacked him but that probably wouldn't be the best idea anyway. So I kept my eyes down and focused on the touch of Conner's hand running through my hair. It was soothing enough to lure me into sleep.
(Time skip: Next morning)
Again I was jolted awake by the sounds of shouts outside of the tent. Conner was no longer next to me so I sat up and stretched my aching body as best as I could with ropes wrapped around my wrist and ankles. Conner stepped in chuckling as he talked with one of the hunters outside and saw I was awake.
"Good morning." He said, grabbing a canteen from a duffle bag that was on the ground, "I'm guessing you might be hungry."
"No." I replied but my gurgling intestines said otherwise.
He smiled and walked over to pick me up bridal style, "Let's get you some food."
"Can I have my glasses back? I can barely see."
"Yes yes, just give me a moment."
Conner took me outside where the bright light of the sun almost blinded me. I had to shut my eyes for a moment before they adjusted to my surroundings. Hunters all hung around the camp going on with their daily business, even a pair of them sparing off to the side to get some practice in with their skills. Conner set me down, pulling out my glasses to place them on top of my nose, and walking off to the fire pit where a pan was set on top with food inside.
"Well well well, it's the little mouse that tried to run." Asher laughed as he strolled his way up to me.
I tried my best to scoot away as he crouched down next to me but it was hard do to me being tied up. Asher caught my chin in his rough grip again and turned my head side to side slightly as if examining me.
"We can't have you running off yet before we get the chance to kill of the Timberwood pack. At least there will be less of those mutant freaks in the world but you have become such a problem."
I wanted to snap back at Asher but just looking into his eyes once it was like my body shut down. There was nothing I could say that wouldn't anger him which was something that I already could tell wasn't a smart thing to do.
Conner was watching from a distance and came back over with a plastic bowl that was filled with scrambled eggs, "She is a problem but it will be worth it in the end right?"
It sounded like instead of Conner sounding cruel or evil, he said his sentence in a tone like he just wanted Asher to get away from me.
And it worked because Asher looked at me one more time before letting my chin go and standing up, "I guess you're right. Hurry up and finishing whatever you're doing, I still got some things to teach you."
Asher walked off and Conner sat on the ground next to me, turning so that he was facing me. I tried to reach out and grab the bowl from his hands but he pulled it away from me.
"You can't eat like that. I'll just feed you."
"Why don't you untie my hands then?"
"Because all you'll do is run off again, so just eat." He lifted a spoon to my mouth and embarrassingly I ate from it like I was a small child.
I wrinkled my nose from the bland taste, "Do you have any ketchup?"
"Sorry, we are out in the woods so no. I could put coffee in it if you want some flavor."
"Ew, no! You know I hate coffee."
There was a moment where we shared a laugh together, everything in the world melting away making me almost feel normal. It was like our connection was sparking up and we were best friends again. But quickly that feeling disappeared as the atmosphere grew awkward and so thick you could slice it with a knife. Our giggling was ceased, our eyes darting in every direction possible.
Conner just continued to feed me and when my bowl was empty I was left to sit in the same spot. He stood a little ways away in front of me with Asher so that he could teach him more about being a hunter. I had to sit there and listen to them talk about how to kill werewolves.
"Always remember, werewolves have super human speed. You can't outrun them, you have to think quick or otherwise you'll be dead." Asher spoke then without warning he swung his arm out to hit Conner.
Luckily Conner brought up his forearm to block the hit.
Asher grinned, "Good but you'll have to be quicker than that."
The two of them began sparing with each other and it was amazing to see how Conner could fight. He reacted quickly and only managed to get hit a few times out of the other deadly punches Asher was throwing.
"You're getting good." Asher panted out a little, "But fighting a human is no where near the same as a werewolf so don't be getting cocky hotshot."
"I won't."
I rolled my eyes and decided to turn my attention to the environment around me. I could hear the peeps of birds and the wind weaving through the leaves. It was almost calming until the panicked sound of a scream was heard outside of the camp. All of our head shot up to painful howl of someone being injured and the snarling of dogs close by. My heart rate picked up as everything was frozen for a half of a second in that moment.
"Celia!" A familiar voice shouted out, one I've been so desperate to hear for what seemed like forever.
"Noah? AHH!!" I whispered at first then shrieked as I was yanked up to my feet by Asher who held me close to his chest and a gun dug into the side of my head.
Then there he was, Noah rushing out into the camp in his wolf form with James, Daniel, and a few other of his pack members following behind him. Not just wolves though, Scarlett was also accompanying them with a few of her hunter friends to help Noah out in this fight. Conner stood beside Asher as all the others responsible for this stood behind their leader, splitting the camp in halves as the good and the bad faced off each other.
"Don't you dare take another step you mutts or I'll blow this little girl's head off." Asher threatened as he dug the gun deeper into the side of my head, making me squeak in panic, "You want her don't you?"
"Asher Hade, I should've known." Scarlett mumbled, holding up her own sliver gun that reflected the sun's light off of it's smooth surface.
"Well well well, Scarlett Adams. I must say, you matured into such a beautiful women. Too bad you aren't working for me and my brother though."
"Cut the shit with your sweet talk! You let Celia go or there will be hell to pay."
"It's not me who's keeping Celia here, Conner's the one who started all of this."
Noah's growling had ceased and his eyes paused from glowing so aggressively, "You did all of this?"
Conner's face as first look scared but as soon as Noah started speaking all of his rage flared up again, "Because you are Celia's mate! You took the love of my life away from me!"
"Is that all that this was about? It wasn't my choice to be paired up with Celia, it just happened! Now I love her more then anything in this world!"
"And that's exactly why...why I need to take care of you!" Conner hesitated in the middle of his sentence but continued on in a slightly shaky voice.
Scarlett stepped up to try to level the rising tension hanging in the air, "Why don't you just let Celia go? Then we can avoid anyone getting hurt?"
Asher scoffed, "What makes you think I would do that? Why doesn't the little Alpha try to get her, huh? She's your mate right?"
Noah let out a powerful growl, shaking us down to the core with fear as his wolf surfaced to take control of his body, "You let her go!"
"Here pup! Why don't you just take her back then...DEAD!!"
Those words struck absolute horror through me, the same ones that were spoken in my dream. Before I could think Asher turned me around and threw me onto the ground so that I landed on my back. When I looked up I stared down the barrel of his gun pointing straight towards my face. Shouts of my name rang out into the air as everyone dashed towards me to save my life but one voice in particular caught my attention.
"Celia!" It was Conner's.
Conner dove in front of me just as the ear shattering gun shot was fired, disturbing the peaceful nature of the forest. Flocks of birds flew overhead as my eyes widened with horror at my best friend in front of me.
"CONNER NO!!"
Exactly like I saw in my dream Conner was struck with the bullet, standing still for a second as he looked down at himself before falling backwards on top of me. I was crushed by his weight but managed to wiggle out from under him to see his face. His skin grew clammy and turned sickly pale, a big red spot seeping into his shirt from his torso.
All hell broke loose after that. Wolves started charging at the hunters and guns were fired at their desired targets. I couldn't hear a thing though, it was like the world was silent to me, no longer spinning as I stared down at Conner. My trembling hands cupped his cheeks as best as they could while my own tears fell continuously. It felt like my heart was going to explode, my throat was closing in on itself, and every nerve in my body was shaking from sheer panic.
"C-Conner..."
He looked up at me with a weak gaze and a little smile, reaching his hand up to tuck some hair behind my ear. A touch so delicate that reminded me of everything we've been through, all the hills we hurdled over and the cliffs we fell down. The way his curls of his caramel hair fell against his forehead and the face I could never forget. I reached my hands up to cradle his in mind, pressing a kiss to his knuckles.
"You'll be okay, you have to be okay."
"Celia..." He gasped out, his chest moving in an unusual pattern, "I love you so much..."
Then his hand fell away from my grip and his eyes closed.
Terror ripped through me and I grabbed onto his face again, "No! Conner! Somebody help!"
All I could was scream and add to the chaos around me. Someone slid up next to me and yanked on my hands quickly which brought me back to reality. Scarlett was kneeling next to me and yanked out a knife from the leather strap around her chest, slipping it under the rope around my hands and slicing through it like it was nothing. She did the same thing to my feet and yanked me up when I could stand.
"You need to get out of here!" She said in a strong tone, making my knees buckle at the seriousness I haven't seen before.
But I fought against her grip to be next to Conner, "No! I'm not leaving Conner! You need to help him!"
"We will take care of him but you can't be here or you will get hurt!"
"I'm not leaving!"
Scarlett kept her steel grip on my elbow, not bothered by me clawing at her hand, and forced me to run with her outside of the area of the camp. I continued to try to pry her hand off of me but she never let up as she dragged me far enough away from the camp so that we were out of the fight.
"Celia, you have to go." Scarlett repeated, trying to get me to listen to her orders.
"No! I'm not leaving Conner! Take me back!"
"You'll be killed if you stay here!"
"I don't care!"
I continued to fight with Scarlett as she blocked my path back into the camp. She repeated her orders for me to leave again but it went in one of my ears and straight out the other. It was like my world was frozen and I needed to do was be with Conner. I needed to see him, I needed to help him, I needed to know he was okay. But Scarlett was adamant that I leave the dangers of the ongoing battle. It wasn't until one of the wolves from Noah's pack who hadn't shifted yet came over to take me away.
"I'll take the Luna back to the pack house." He said and picked me up.
Scarlett nodded and ran back to join in the battle once again. I screamed and cried as the wolf carrying me ran off in a different direction to take me back to the pack house. Even though I was finally going home I was no longer happy because all that was on my mind was Conner. So I continued fight out of the grip of the wolf but he didn't let me go until we reached the pack house.
The wolf carrying me finally let go of me only to hold me back from running away again. He had asked the pack doctor to check me out for any injures but I was too much of a scrambled mess to be examined. I shouted until my throat was sore, cried until my eyes felt dry, and fought with all of the energy I had to get back to Conner. Eventually the pack doctor decided to give me a sedation to relax me so I ended up falling back into the darkness.
...
"Celia? Celia, wake up..." A gentle voice cooed in my ear as a hand smoothed over my hair.
My eyes fluttered open to see my mom above me with her morning smile, pulling down the covers to expose my little body to the coldness of the air around my room.
"It's your first day of kindergarten. Come on, you don't want to be late for that."
I groaned and pulled the covers back over my head again, curling up under my warm blanket with my favorite teddy bear I always slept with. My parents and I had just moved into a brand new house in a whole other state. I remembered how fun it was to explore while everything was still fresh but I was not excited for my first day of kindergarten. I tried whining and crying, anything to make my parents pull me out of school but they obviously couldn't do that.
Then my mother sighed, "Alright then, I guess you're asking for the tickle monster."
My heart started pounding as I felt hands move over the covers to my sides. It was a second of an adrenaline rush before I felt her fingers curl into my sides and run all over my tiny body causing me to shriek. I rolled over endlessly to get away from her evil hands and eventually escaped the tickles, allowing me to catch my breath. Mom grinned at her job well done to wake me up and stood up, taking me with her into her arms.
She brushed some of my bedhead away from my face and placed a kiss on my round cheek, "Aren't you excited for kindergarten? You're going to learn so much!"
I gave her a pouty lip at her excitement, "But I don't wanna. I like the other place I went to back home."
"That was pre-school dear, you're too old for that now. Besides, this is our new home."
Even though I whined and complained mom ignored every bit of it and got me dressed for school. She picked out a cute outfit for me to wear with my supervision of course. I picked out a pastel pink shirt, a light pair of overall shorts, and a light blue button up sweater to go overtop. Then I sat on a chair in front of my small dresser and let mom brush my hair while I slipped on my white socks.
"There, look at you. You look so cute." Mom kissed the top of my head.
As I looked at myself in the mirror I reached out to the mess of headbands that were always on top of my dresser and grabbed a pink one with a bow on the side to put it on.
"There! Now I'm perfect."
"Good. Now go brush your teeth or you don't get to eat breakfast."
My eyes widened with horror and I immediately rushed off into the bathroom. It was slightly messy with bath toys and such scattered all over the place but I paid no mind as I stepped up on the small stool so I could reach the sink to brush my teeth. All the while I looked in the mirror at my reflection, seeing my face as recognizable as it has always been, except the fact that I had no glasses which I didn't get until I was around eight years old. When I was finally done I skipped my way down the stairs and sat at the table to eat my bowl of sugary cereal I loved so much.
"Well look at you honey bee." My dad said from the table as he drank his morning coffee, "Don't you look adorable?"
I held my chin up in pride at the complement, "I picked out my clothes all by myself."
"I can tell, it's just as bright as you are."
While I chomped at my cereal my parents began talking about work which I never understood what they were saying so I paid no attention. Then as soon as breakfast was done my mom was prompting me to get ready to leave.
"Alright dear, I'm taking Celia to school then I'll be at work." Mom kissed dad goodbye, making me scrunch my nose in disgust.
But the panic rose in my churning stomach as now I was supposed to be leaving for my new school. So I hopped out of my seat to try anything I could to get out of going to kindergarten.
"Wait mom! I don't know if I feel so good..." I pouted then coughed to add more effect.
"Oh really?" She raised an eyebrow then placed her hand on my forehead, "I don't feel a temperature. Are you sure this isn't a trick to get out of going to kindergarten?"
I shook my head, "I promise I'm sick..."
"Okay, you stay home then. I'll have to cancel that trip to Disneyland as well."
"We're going to Disneyland?!" I began jumping and squeaking out of joy but paused when I saw my mother looking at me with suspicion.
"Nice try. Let's go to school honey bee."
I slumped my shoulders in defeat and kissed my dad goodbye, heading towards the front door. I slipped on my white shoes and grabbed my princess backpack that was on a hook on the wall. Mom stuffed my lunch box in my bag and we were off to the car. All I could do was play with my hands as we took the short ride to school. I was petrified about starting at a new school in this strange and foreign place.
The school then came into sight and when the car was parked I started to panic again, "Mommy, I don't want to go."
"It's okay honey bee, this will be fun."
We got out of the car and she took my hand to lead me inside of the building. I squeezed a little tighter when anyone passed by me as we walked into what would be my new kindergarten classroom. There were already kids running around and playing games while the teacher talked to a few parents before turning her attention to us. She bent down to say hi in a soft voice to me but all I did was hide behind my mom's leg. Then my mom had to leave me and that's when I fell to pieces.
"Mommy, don't leave me please! I don't like it here." I cried as I clung to her leg.
"Celia, you will be fine. Now I have to go."
"No! I don't want to stay here!"
"Honey bee, look at me." She knelt down in front of me and smoothed down my hair, "You'll have fun here, learning and making new friends. Then I'll come and pick you up right after. Okay?"
No matter how much my mother tried to console me I continued to plea and cry to the point where she had to pry me off of her leg and leave me in this strange place. So now alone I walked into the classroom. There were round tables set up throughout the room as all of the kids ran around before class was to start. I noticed there was a shelf of buckets along the walls that were filled up with toys, all sorted into different categories. A small rainbow caterpillar plush caught my eye so I grabbed onto it for comfort and sat in the corner in the room.
I focused on playing with the plush more then anything else until a boy walked up to me. He had caramel hair with little curls at the end that swept over his forehead and almost into his eyes. He sat down on his knees in front of me and bent his head down to the side to catch my downward gaze.
"Hey, why are you sitting here alone?"
I didn't say anything, only fiddling with the legs of the stuffed toy more.
"Can't you talk?" The boy asked again.
I nodded and finally lifted my head up.
The boy beamed with a big cheesy smile, "My name is Conner. What's yours?"
"C-Celia..." I whisper.
"Why are you sitting alone?"
"Because...I don't have any friends."
"I can be your friend, come on! Let's play together!" He stretched his hand out towards me.
I smiled and slowly grabbed his hand, standing up. Together we walked over to the trains he had set up. As we started playing I began to feel more comfortable and started speaking more. Then as we played Conner reached over and poked my cheek with his small finger. I didn't really mind until he did it a second time.
"Why do you keep poking me?"
Conner looked mesmerized as he poked my cheek again, "Your cheeks are squishy."
I patted my cheeks, "That's what my mom always says."
"I should call you Squish because you have a squishy face." Conner reached forward and cupped my round cheeks himself.
"My name is Celia." I say as I pulled his hands away from my face.
"Maybe Squish can be a nickname. You can give me a nickname! It will be like a secret code, just between us!"
I giggled, "Okay. Your nickname could be....curls! Because your hair is curly!"
"I like it!"
The two of us giggled and that was the start of our friendship. It still seemed so fresh, the innocent memory of our first meeting. That smiling child was so distant now from the teasing guy I knew in junior high. The jokes he would crack, the awkward dances we would go to, the bus rides home, and the charming boyfriend I once had. I remembered the clumsy first kiss we shared and our misfit adventures throughout high school to now.
We've fought through thick and thin, traveling between the world of werewolves and hunters...it was hard to believe that this is where we ended up.We have always been rocks for each other, the other halves to each other's lives. There was no way on this earth I could ever think of my life without Conner.
⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
Question: What was your favorite toy as a kid?
I don't think I could really pinpoint a specific favorite toy as a kid. I do however remember always liking stuffed animals, I would carry them everywhere I went especially if I got a new one. I also used to own this big Barbie house that I loved playing with and a train track set that I would always sprawl out all over my room. *Sigh* The good old childhood days.