Khnurn wipes his fingers over the counter top. Inspecting them closely, his lip curls upwards, "Ugh." Personally, I see nothing wrong with the rooms Lina has given us. They are quaint and homey and modeled much like the cabins that pepper the mountainous Smokies surrounding us.
Sitting on the second floor of their headquarters in Sevierville, these particular rooms are used for guests such as us—a way to accommodate allies without asking them to spend unnecessary money on random hotel rooms that may be hard to find during certain seasons here. But Khnurn is used to the finer things in life and his displeasure knows no bounds when it comes to luxury. "Don't be such a queen," I eye him as his wary face scans the rest of the room.
His dark brows raise in blatant query, "Girl—you've met me, right?" He sucks on his teeth before recomposing his slightly defeated posture, "At least your magic will work in here. We need to practice."
I should be thankful that these rooms are not like the ones downstairs—the ones void of supernatural abilities... but I am not. Picking at my nails, I exhale loudly, "Yeah, I guess."
Khnurn squints and tilts his head making me feel like a cell in a petri dish, "Don't tell me you're still having problems."
I won't then, "Okay."
"I thought we were past this," he groans, running hands through his dark onyx locks and I understand his aggravation. Every spell I have tried to cast lately has backfired. I assumed when I was able to enchant Theon's bedroom that my magic had returned to me. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case. Now that I think about it, ever since he returned to the States with his parents, more complex casting has appeared to have abandoned me. Khnurn sighs, his face painted in gloomy concern, "How are you sleeping?"
How am I sleeping?
Ha.
I'm not.
I shrug, going back to examining my nails, "Fine."
"What about your appetite?"
My appetite...
Not existent.
"Fine."
"And your periods?"
Pft.
Irregular.
"Fine," I replied, again. I know where this line of questioning is going but there is something inside me that refuses to admit what could be happening. I do not have the time nor the head space to deal with such a possibility. If I refuse to acknowledge it, maybe it will just go away.
Vanish...
Disappear—never to come around again.
"Eve," he chastises me as he falls into the couch cushions beside me, "why are you attempting these games with me? Me? Of all people! It's down right atrocious." The sting across his face is almost palpable and instantly, I scold myself. I should be able to be honest with him—I need to be honest with him. He is my best friend after all and yet, it's a hard pill to swallow. "Receiving a familiar can be scary," he softens, resting a hand on my leg, "It's a lot of responsibility but all signs point to the meeting of your's. I know you know this."
And there it is...
The one thought I refuse to dwell on...
The one thought that brings about an unwarranted and unnecessarily ridiculous amount of anxiety to my already frazzled soul.
I don't need a familiar.
I don't need a pet.
I don't need a friend.
I don't need a soulmate that multiples my powers ten fold. I am enough by myself... at least I would be if such a coming did not stunt my powers.
I rest my head on the back of the couch, the only thing currently supporting my spinning thoughts, "I don't have time to care for a cat." I did not intend for my tone to be so clipped—it's not his fault this is happening and it's definitely not his fault I detest the whole concept of a familiar but, here we are.
Khnurn gasps, his retracting hand flying fast to his shapely chest instead, "First of all, bitch, you need to lower that sass about three notches. I don't know who you think you're throwing that at but I am not the one and today is not the day—"
"'Careful. Your gay is showing," I mumble, the shadow of a smirk threatening to disregard the seriousness of this moment.
"—Not all familiars are cats."
Does he see the annoyance on my face? Not that my expression would stop his badgering but a woman can always hope. "I know that," I snapped. My mother's familiar was a ferret... not that she would have taken better care of it had it been any other animal. I take comfort in knowing that the poor thing is now in a better place in the wake of her death.
"—Maybe you'll get a bird." He snaps his fingers and eyes me in feign seduction, all insults now tossed to the wayside like it never happened in the first place. Of course, it's okay for him to make jokes during such conversations... but if I were to do it, I'd get nothing but a displeased scowl in response. "You'd look fierce in a pirate costume."
I cannot contain my snort. We both know there is no way in this hell or any other that I will ever be allowed to wear such a thing... The looks I receive in mere sweats and a hoodie are audacious, "Like you would ever let me out of the house in such a get up."
"Not the point," he shoots me an accusing glare that does nothing to comfort me.
I return to my fingers once more, the only way I can somewhat relieve the wild energy swirling inside me, "A familiar didn't help my mother."
"Your mother was a catty bitch," he huffs, "You will do better." He stares mindlessly out the window, the tips of the Smoky mountains temporarily transporting him somewhere far from me and this conversation but the momentary silence between us is never awkward, "You do have a plan for tomorrow, don't you?" And when his grays fall back on me, the trepidation returns unmercilessly.
"Yes..." I can't meet his eyes. I do have a back up plan if my magic fails me but whether or not it will be enough is yet to be seen. I worry I cannot block the vamps from penetrating such a large area... only time will tell. "But I cannot guarantee it will work."
"You had no problems casting that little brat's bedroom," he replies, whimsically.
I chuckle, thinking about the look on Theon's face when he opened the door to his room littered with male enhancement fliers, "Odd isn't it?"
"A bit, yes," Khnurn shakes his head, his eyes twinkling in amusement, "How did it go?"
I snatch the crystal ball from the coffee table in front of us. Holding the cold sphere gently, I flick my wrist. It lights up in a pale purple hue, indicating it is primed and ready to view. "Take a peek," I handed it to him.
I, myself, cannot view that scenario again... not that I need to. Theon's expression is seared into my memory—the pure, disorienting wonderment in his wide eyes as they took in my handy work... the deep, thigh clenching voice that emanated from that crystal ball as he read the advertisement aloud. But what really stilled me, what really stole my breath and skipped my beating heart was the way in which his anger and aggravation quickly melted into something more... something different and unfamiliar—his brown eyes softened and sparkled and his full lips slowly turned upwards before his whole being was overtaken with laughter...
Needless to say, I could watch no more after that. That boy confuses the piss out of me and my body.
"I have no idea how you tolerate that little weasel," Khnurn snickered as he stared into the past but I no longer shared in his glee. My tolerance of Theon is wearing thin and yet, it only seems to have such negative effects on my brain. Every other part of me wants nothing more than to bask in even the most unfavorable of attention from the Ancient... it taunts me.
Lies to me.
Whispers that something is better than nothing...
So, I smother those feelings with the same tiresome line I always, "It's all in good fun."
"Is it?" Khnurn raises a single perfectly shaped brow, his full attention leisurely switching from Theon to me and I know he just witnessed the exact same reaction from the young Ancient that had also previously sobered me. "Your coyness doesn't fly here so stop trying, slut," he sings, his endearing jab long and bellowed. But Khnurn is never one to linger on a single emotion for too long and the tender friendship we share is suddenly erased and replaced with obvious concern, "When was the last time you had dick, anyway?"
Not the question I was expecting.
Mortified by such an inquiry, my mouth drops, "What?"
"What? What!" He mocks. "You heard me! When was the last time you got laid? Had sex? Rode the horse? Did that nasty heterosexual dance? When was the last time you got a good dicking?"
I know what he meant but he doesn't always understand rhetoricals. With a heavy sigh and instant deflation of my soul, I reply, "Not since before the incident with Kai." I cannot stop the wince that accompanies this confession and it isn't because it has been so long... It's because that time in my life was rather too adventurous. The thought of the degree of my promiscuity seems shameful now.
"Eve, two and a half years is too long for a witch. You need release," he insists like I don't already know that.
"I am fine," I reply again because obviously 'fine' is my favorite fucking word.
His gray eyes turn stormy and turbulent, an instantaneous response to yet another lie that has fallen from my mouth, "Shall we proposition the young Ancient?"
Such a recommendation both chills me and thrills me at the same time making my face contort in distaste. Fuck these dueling feelings, "What? No! Ew. Don't you ever—"
A sly, evil grin stretches across his handsomely chiseled face, "I have heard stories of the Ancients—they are quite famous for their... bedroom tactics, shall I say. Do you suppose the young Ancient is skillful by birth or in need of a millennia of training?"
"You are sick," I grimace. I cannot and do not ever want to consider Theon in such a sexual way, regardless of what my body screams.
Khnurn, however, seems unaffected by my squeamishness. "I wouldn't mind giving that Marius a turn on the tilt a whirl," he fans himself like the queen he is and I rest my case.
While his homosexuality doesn't bother me, his sudden desire of the Wise Ancient leaves a bitter taste in my mouth so I ignore his lust completely, "Theon hates me."
"I don't think that's true," he says, his eyes now warm and comforting but it leaves me questioning his response more than I should.
I go back to pick at my nails, unable to make eye contact once more, "Why would you say that?"
"You live in his head, Eve," he pulls me under his arm, holding me tight in his embrace, "He plans and schemes and breathes for his next prank on you. If he hates you, he wouldn't waste his time."
¤¤¤
Run.
My heart thumps powerfully within my chest, the speed with which I am moving burns my lungs and causes me to gasp for air.
It is right on my heels..
Run.
Close enough to snatch me...
Run.
Close enough to end me.
Run.
The looming forest surrounding me is dark...
Run.
Fear fills me, promising to freeze me within its cold, heartless grasp.
Run.
Screeches and shrill, inhuman cries echo all around me.
Run.
But I can't run.
A monstrous beast jumps in front of my path.
I have to stop.
Black fur swirls like mist around him, his red eyes focused on me...
He is nothing more than wispy ectoplasm, a ghost I cannot touch and yet his viscous teeth are stained crimson, ruby liquid dripping from those extra large, deadly canines that I know can and will dismember me.
But I am stuck.
I can't go forward.
I can't go back.
Trapped...
I am trapped.
And as he pounces on me, a silent scream resounds from deep within the pit of my core...
My death will not be quick.
I awake suddenly, gasping for air. Drenched in sweat and panic, I cannot catch my breath... the dream is too real.
Too close...
Too similar to a premonition.
Something is coming...
Something that I may not survive.