Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

HeliosCopyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

POV

I heard the growl and wondered upstairs to make sure everything was OK. I was going to knock when I heard the unmistakable punch on the wall, so I rushed through the door looking for any sort of danger. I heard the shower turn off as I was about to knock on the door. I hesitated then. If she was in danger, I would have heard more commotion coming from the other side of the door. If she wasn't in danger, she must be working out something in her head that made her mad enough to punch the wall. I was about to turn back around when her door opened and she smacked right into me. My arms instinctively went to her shoulders to hold her steady and I felt that same static electricity jolt run up my arms. I heard her quiet gasp.

I looked down to meet her eyes. They were wide and vulnerable and I felt myself getting lost in them again. What was it about this woman that did this to me? I had never had this reaction to a woman before, not even the ones that threw themselves at me at human functions. I could feel the warmth from her body radiating into my bones. The towel around her gave me an aerial view of her breasts and I instinctively gripped her shoulders harder to avoid my hands undoing the knot. I realized we had been standing in the same way for almost a full minute, neither of us saying anything. It took every ounce of me to let go of her shoulders and drop my hands to my side. I took a step back and cleared my throat. "Sorry, I heard a thump on the wall. I thought you'd fallen. I'll let you get dressed." I turned and shut the door behind me. I walked straight into my bedroom and sat on the bed. "What the f**k was that?" I asked myself under my breath.

I steadied myself until I heard the front door open downstairs. I made my way downstairs but I stopped as the kitchen came into view. Natalia was talking to Theo as Sebastian and Gonzalo grabbed plates and cups while the girls set the table. It was like a scene out of a Hallmark Movie. MY Hallmark movie. Something I never dared think about before. My happily ever after. Was that even possible for me? It seized my heart and increased the longing to insurmountable levels. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. A thousand years of longing I didn't know had been ignored crashed into my being. Like they had been just on the periphery, waiting for that moment of weakness to get their revenge for ignoring them all this time. My hand gripped the stairwell harder, trying to keep my body standing upright. I could feel my body shaking. What the hell was this? Random unintelligible images were flashing through my head. I couldn't stop them and I couldn't make sense of them.

"Helios?" Theo noticed me first. The others turned but I didn't see anything. All I could see where the images refreshing themselves over and over. I felt the stairwell wood splinter under my hand. I could hear and feel that I had everyone in front of me now. I could hear Natalia telling the girls to go sit on the couch and I could hear Gonzalo trying to get me to pay attention. I could feel a migraine forming as the images flashed in my eyes and I briefly wondered if I would get a seizure and pass out. At this point, it would be a welcome respite. I heard someone's phone ring and then stopped. It rang again before someone answered it.

"Hello? Celeste? How did you get this number? Can I call you right back, we're in the middle of an emergency," I could hear a very distressed and confused Sebastian on the phone. "How could you know that? Why does - OK, OK. I'll try. Natalia, Celeste needs you to help Helios." Nothing but flashes in my head. My heart was beating so fast, I wonder if a god could have a heart attack.

"What, how am I supposed to help that? I heal wounds, not minds. I have no idea what is happening to him. It looks like he's got a spell on him." More flashes and images. I think I know that guy, he's dead. As is that one.

"She said just touch him. The more surface area the better." Is this my life? Am I dying and my life is flashing before my eyes? That's a lot of life to flash. I wonder how long it would take.

"Surface area? What the f**k does that mean?" Shouldn't I be able to actually see my life as it flashes? So I can know what I f****d up?

"Hug him Nat," A little voice sounded small and far. Not that I didn't know what I f****d up. I spent almost 1300 years on a vende- I felt lightning going down my arms and my back, stopping my line of thought.

"Come back to us, Helios. We still need your help," Natalia's voice whispered against my back. The images slowed down as I felt her arms slowly make their way down to my waist, leaving a trail of electricity in its wake. "Helios, everything will be OK. Just come back. Please, come back." I felt her arms tighten around my waist. The flashes stopped and, slowly, I could see my friends in front of me, their faces full of concern. My arm left the stairwell and went to her arms on my waist, feeling the sparks everywhere our bodies touched. As my eyesight came back and my heart slowed down, the sparks diminished back to a static shock sensation. Natalia's arms left my waist and my knees buckled and I fell down the last two steps and faceplanted.

"s**t, sorry. I thought he was good!" I heard Natalia hiss and her arm fell on my shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah he's back I think. OK. I will tell him. Thanks Celeste, we'll see you in a couple of days," Sebastian said. Shortly after, I felt my phone vibrate with a notification. I took a few short breaths before I managed to get my bearings around me. I stood up and tried to smile.

"Sorry, I - I've never had that happen to me." I walked over to the cupboard and grabbed a glass, filled it with water and grabbed some headache medication before sitting down on the table and putting my head in my hands.

"What was it?" Theo asked as he sat next to me. The others soon joined.

"I don't know. It was like a microfilm reader in fast forward. I could see flashes of things, people, but it was too fast for me to make any sense of it." I said, not wanting to look at any of them.

"Maybe you should go rest. You haven't been sleeping well," Gonzalo said.

"Yeah, OK. Sorry to ruin everyone's evening. I'll get some sleep and we'll leave early tomorrow morning," I said, getting up and walking back to the stairs.

"Helios," I heard Natalie's voice at the bottom of the stairs. I turned around to look at her. "Are you sure you're up for this?" She asked.

I felt a pang of hurt at her doubts but kept them to myself. "I am. I promise. We'll get her back safely," I saw her eyes soften a little before she schooled her face of emotion. She nodded and went back to the table. I went into my bedroom and laid down on the bed. I stared at the ceiling for a long time before I remembered the phone going off. I brought out my phone and looked at the text from Celeste.

Celeste: My vision hasn't changed, Helios. I wish I could say more, but just have faith in your sister. She won't abandon you. Take a deep breath and keep pushing onward.

I plugged my phone in and removed my clothes. It was only 6 pm but I felt tired. It didn't take long before I felt myself drifting off to sleep. I had the same dream as I did last time except this time, Celeste appeared next to me at the end and told me, "This isn't your Hallmark ending. This is the beginning," as she smiled and looked over towards the shifters, waving at them.

I didn't wake up this time though. I slept until 5 am when the alarm on my phone rang. It's been almost a year since I've had a full night of sleep. I actually felt good. Rested.

I didn't wake up this time though. I slept until 5 am when the alarm on my phone rang. It's been almost a year since I've had a full night of sleep. I actually felt good. Rested.

I showered and went downstairs where I found Natalia cooking breakfast. "Good Morning," I said, and she turned around, startled. I felt my heart flutter at her smile. It was a foreign feeling, being attracted to her, but not unpleasant. I smiled back and headed for the coffee.

"Good Morning, feeling better?" She asked. I could feel her stare from behind me.

"Much, sorry about yesterday. I will do my best not to scare everyone again. I think I just needed to get some rest."

"Hmm," she grunted as she turned back to the stove. Clearly, not believing me.

"Can I help with anything?" I asked, wanting to change the subject.

"You can start making toast. Sebastian said we're leaving at 8 am, so I thought we should have an early morning. The girls are in the shower."

The girls, Theo and Sebastian came down and once the food was ready, I went upstairs to wake Gonzalo. I heard him speaking on the other side of the door. I knocked.

"Come in" I heard, and as I opened the door, I saw he was on the phone. "No, I understand. I just thought it was worth a shot. See you in a few days."

I c****d my head in question, "Theo thought we might be able to get Celeste to tell us something about what happened yesterday."

I snorted, "I've been trying to get her to tell me more about this vision of hers for months. She's a stickler for the rules."

"Yeah, I just hoped for an explanation for what happened to you yesterday. You had us all worried," he said.

I sighed, "Yeah. I don't know what happened."

"Celeste said the simplest way to describe it was to consider it an anxiety attack or a life crisis. What's going on with you Helios?" He asked. I could see there was nothing but concern in his voice.

I turned to look at the wall. "I don't know. I was on the same path for so long. I feel lost. I have a mission I'm not allowed to know about. I have never not been in control."

"What triggered you yesterday?" He asked.

I looked at the ground this time. "I was born in the middle of a war. The first couple of hundred years of my life, all I did was fight. After that, I spent most of my waking hours trying to hunt down my only family. Seeing you all downstairs getting things ready for dinner, it felt like I was living something I've never dared dream of having before." I chuckled sarcastically, "The more humiliating part of it is that -" I couldn't even say it. Even in my head it sounded pathetic. "You like Natalia, don't you?" I snapped my head at his words.

"Am I that obvious?" I asked him, my face going red.

"I served you for almost 1800 years, Helios. I have never seen you have any interest in anyone. Men or women. Even the small looks you shoot her when you don't even know you're looking at her are new. This isn't a bad thing, Helios. Letting yourself love someone is a good thing."

"She's not staying Gonzalo. She's only here for the girl. Her home is on the other side of the world and I'm pretty sure she hates my guts. Everything I've done has been received wrong until I explain my reasonings to her. There's no point," I said.

"We'll see. You can be a real charmer, Helios. You convinced your kidnap victim to help you and the sister you basically tortured for over a thousand years to forgive you." He patted me on the shoulder, making me flinch. He laughed, "It does sound pretty bad when I put it that way."