Dedication to my real life best friend for helping me finding a breed for the cat XD A round of applause for the heroine! :D
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EDITED
"When she's going to wake up?" A disembodied voice asked, its voice sounded distant to me.
"Anytime." Another melodic voice answered. "Probably now."
"Good, it's been days," he grumbled, sounding displeased.
My eyelids were too heavy for me to lift them. A groan escaped my lips as I tried to move. I could feel my bones screaming at me, telling me to cease my attempts before they became permanently useless. My body continued to throb in pain when I let out another groan, but this one was filled with irritation, as I turned my head to the side. Inhaling a sharp breath, I winced. A piercing pain settled itself in my head, adding to the fact that my brain felt like it was pounding against my skull.
"Ah, you're awake." The same singsong voice said.
Wondering who the owner of that voice was, I forced my eyes to open. The room I was in looked almost like a storeroom. The walls were painted white, same went for the floor. The thing that I had been lying on turned out to be a piece of a cardboard paper.
Where am I?
The place was spacious and empty, save for several metal cabinets, two small white windows that overlooked the mountains and two or three more pieces of pasteboard paper.
Biting the bottom of my lip, I glanced up to the man beside me and our eyes locked for a second. His beautiful emerald eyes shimmered with hope and happiness. The scent of freshly cut summer grass radiated from his lean yet muscular body. I inhaled the comforting scent and closed my eyes temporarily, picturing the plains in my muddled mind.
"You must be Artemis," he finally spoke, flashing a smile to me. "I'm Desmond."
It was then I noticed those long pointy ears protruding from his mass of blonde curls. My eyes drifted down to his outfit. He wore a simple white tunic with a small badge of a sparrow spreading its wings and a pair of shaggy shorts which hung limply around the waist.
"Desmond... What a beautiful name..." I said my thoughts aloud.
His polite smile stretched wider at my words. "You must thank my mother and father then."
My golden eyes widened at his response. Holy shit, why did I say that!? I could feel the blood rising to my cheeks when he sat next to me, closing the small gap between us. As if to make things worse, someone cleared their throat in the room. Glad for an interruption, I searched the room for the person and immediately found Lincoln lolling against the wall.
"You should change your bloody clothes and go back to Lord Marcus." His tone carried nothing but monotone.
Without any hesitation, my hands felt the fabric of my costume and saw dried blood on my palms. My cheeks burned at the sight of it. I bet I look like a bloody piece of meat to Desmond! I opened my mouth to answer Lincoln but couldn't produce any sarcastic remarks. Mainly because what he said was right.
"First of all, where am I?" I walked towards one of the windows and gazed into a distance.
Surprisingly enough, once I smelled Desmond's scent, all of my pain went away like it never happened. I was not complaining, though. After a moment of silence, I released a sigh and stared at both of the guys before me.
"You're at a shack in the middle of the forest," Desmond gave in, lowering his head in regret. Soft blonde curls overshadowed his sea green eyes. "I'm sorry but I'm sure our Kin―"
The brat ran to his side with supernatural speed and elbowed him hard. A small yelp of pain escaped from Desmond's thin lips as he rubbed his arm. "Kin. He meant Kinsella." Lincoln gave me a loop sided smile, his eyes went cloudy.
"Who's Kinsella...?" I inquired, skewering my golden eyes on him.
After receiving another sharp jab from Lincoln, the handsome young man piped in, "A housekeeper!"
What a terrible liar. I rolled my eyes inwardly at their lame excuses. I bet what Desmond tried to say earlier was King Marcus or better known as Lord Marcus.
I tried to keep my voice empty of any emotions. "You're not a vampire."
His green eyes twinkled with amusement. "Isn't that obvious, Artemis. I'm a High Elf."
"Alright... why are you here then, Mr. Elf?"
Annoyance swept across his chiseled face and left as soon as it came. "If I didn't come here to heal you, you wouldn't be awake right now."
Taking time to process his words, I allowed my eyes to appreciate the stunning elf in front of me. Truth be told, the sight of a male - especially a handsome one - really surprised me. In a good way. All I had ever seen was Lord Marcus and Lincoln. Let's just say that they were not my cup of tea.
"Fine," I waved him off casually. "Who saved me?"
Normally I wouldn't ask this question - the answer should be obvious. However, I had doubts that Lincoln would actually save me. There was no way. From the way he talked and acted towards me, it doesn't take a genius to know that he hated my guts. He shifted around with unease at my question. Silence filled the room for a moment as I quirked an eyebrow.
"It's a cat," Lincoln confessed, his expression went unpredictable at the mention of "cat". "It always followed me around so I asked the annoying cat to call for help.
I scoffed at his explanation. "Cats are animals. They're not supposed to know where Desmond is."
The infamous twin crossed his arm in front of his chest. "She's unlike any normal cats, Artemis."
First, a charming elf and now a feline that had supernatural powers? This is getting crazy. My lips turned into a thin line. Sneaking a look at Desmond, his face was clear of any emotions that might give him away. "Show me the cat then." I dared him, leaning on the wall.
With one last huff, he swerved around and opened the door. "Come here, kitty!" He hollered. His voice was anything but pleased. Sympathy for the cat began to rise within me. What kind of animal would adore a disgusting vampire like Lincoln?
The silence seemed to fill the air after Lincoln swung the door open and stood outside in the dark dreary night like an idiot. Several minutes passed and yet there's no sight of any movement inside the forest. A smirk was spread across my face. "I knew you're lying," I laughed. "I just didn't know that you would bother trying to convince me!"
"Say what you want, Artemis."
Desmond fidgeted and crossed his legs on the cupboard paper, waiting for the feline. It was then I heard it. A soft meowing from a distance. If it weren't for my heightened senses, I probably wouldn't be able to catch that barely audible sound. Searching the area for the long awaited feline, I suddenly saw Lincoln bending down, cradling something in his arms.
Rushing to his side, I noticed a cat nestled in his arms. My eyes widened at the adorable sight of it. The Rag Doll female feline had a shiny white fur for its plump body except for a few areas like the face, ears, and paws. Its big, gorgeous eyes had the shade of sapphire – the brightest blue color I had laid my eyes on.
Overall, she was a drop dead gorgeous feline.
"Oh my god!" I squealed with excitement, lifting the feline away from Lincoln. "Can I have it?"
The brat rolled his eyes and tried to cover his smile with a frown but I caught the glimpse of it before it quickly disappeared. "Sure. I don't want her anyway."
For the first time, a genuine smile slowly spread across my face. She swished her long fluffy tail around, indicating that she was content with her new owner. Her sapphire eyes gazed into mine as if she was reading my mind. I suppose in a good way. Giggling, I shifted the cat from one arm to another.
"What should I name her?" I asked the two guys, my smile continued to stay.
The handsome elf rubbed his chin as he pretended to be deep in thought. Lincoln, on the other hand, ignored us and stared off into a distance.
"How about Fennel?" Desmond suggested after some time. Out of nowhere, a scene appeared in my mind. A woman who looked oddly similar to me talked with someone who appeared to be her best friend.
My body spasmed aggressively but I didn't pay much attention to it. That particular scene replayed over and over in my mind like a broken record. I heard a distant meow of complaint and a light weight lifted off from my body yet it felt like I'm crushed into a pulp.
The cold hard ground embraced my body – the impact of it didn't matter to me. My pupils dilated and someone in the background screamed so loud that it was deafening. It didn't take much to realize that the screams came from me. Rushed footsteps came to my side and panicked voices filled the room. It was extremely easy to ignore those - my mind couldn't stop repeating the memory.
Memory. Is that it? A piece of my memories?
"Fennel August!" The brunette tried to threaten me, but failing miserably. "I'll kill you if you tell my boyfriend about this!"
A laughter of pure happiness came from me. "I know you too well that you won't hurt me."
"I'm serious!" The brunette pouted, sticking her bottom lip out. "I regret my decision now..."
Worry washed over me at the sight of my best friend looking sad. "I'm just joking, girl."
"Artemis!" A deep voice shouted, shaking my frail body. "Come back to us!"
I stopped thrashing around and went limp under the man's touch. My respiratory system stopped working, causing my vision to blur. My skin became slick with sweat and I could hear myself struggling to breathe. Alarmed voices came back again but they sounded so far away compared to my own breathing.
"Open your eyes, god damn it!" The same deep voice yelled, grabbing my unmoving figure.
Tears stung at my eyes, threatening to escape from their jail. I couldn't contain them much longer and soon my cheeks were stained with my salty tears. Once the first drop of tear left, I was able to breathe again. Grateful for this, I took in a few deep breaths and made several attempts to stop weeping but it proved to be futile.
Another pair of hands joined in and held my shoulders like there was no tomorrow. "Listen to me Artemis, I don't know what the hell is happening to you but you're making the cat scared."
After hearing his words, my eyelids opened slowly and stared at him. Lincoln towered over me, his face etched with determination. I turned my head and saw Desmond in a state of anxiety. My sobbing came to an end when I caught the sight of a fur ball cowering in a corner. Biting my lip, I rose up from the ground and walked towards my new pet.
"It's okay, Fennel." I cooed, petting its soft fur. At the same time, I tried to comfort myself and steady my irregular heartbeat. It was decided - my gorgeous cat's name was Fennel. She deserved my old name.
"Now, would you mind explain what happened earlier?" Lincoln demanded, his crimson eyes flashed with annoyance and anger.
A sigh of remorse escaped my full lips.
Looks like I'm not going to change my clothes anytime soon.
"I hate to say this but..." Desmond mumbled, ruffling his golden locks of hair. "I agree with Lincoln on this, you got some explaining to do."
~~~
A/N
What do you guys think of this chapter? I tried to stop ending chapters with cliffhangers - it's bound to get older if I keep it up. So, I guess this is a semi cliffhanger haha! Anyway, vote and comment if you want Fennel the cat to be in the main plot!
And yes, the main plot is not yet revealed.... :P It's just around the corner though! ^_^