A True Soul

For several days now that nightmare about the burning building haunted my sleep. Each time I awoke from being trapped in the fire filled room I was covered in sweat. It took a long time for me to fall back to sleep again. I was emotionally and physically drained.

I got out of bed and slowly made my way to the bathroom. My side no longer itched, but burned. As I took off my shirt, I twisted around in front of the full length mirror. There were lines and dashes covering my entire side, like a connect-the-dots puzzle, with the complete picture missing. I knew it wouldn’t be too much longer until my first change, and truthfully the idea of changing into an animal terrified me.

After my shower I went downstairs for breakfast. Faux had obviously gone to get more clothes, wherever it was that she actually lived. I was sure that bag of hers couldn’t fit that many items. Today she was wearing a blue and white striped shirt, skinny jeans and flats.

“How’re you feeling today?” She asked.

“Fine I guess. Where’s my dad?” I sat on a stool and poured some cereal in a bowl.

“He already left for work. Julian said there was paper work that needed to be finished before the weekend.”

I just nodded. I didn’t feel like talking, or thinking for that matter. Going back to bed had seemed like a better alternative.

“Dax got a call early this morning from Victor. Apparently Freddie and Vic got a hold of

some information as to Cain’s location. However, they do not know whether or not it’ll be useful,” She explained this as she poured a glass of orange juice and sat across from me.

“Why wouldn’t the information be useful?” I asked, “If those two are as smart as you and Dax believe they are, shouldn’t their information be accurate?”

“Cain is a tricky person to follow. Freddie and Vic are doing their best, but the information they’ve retrieved from their sources may be a trap set by Cain. We cannot be too careful when it comes to dealing with him.” Her eyes were stern and her tone serious.

“But if he’s been trying to find and kill me all this time, shouldn’t he have been caught? I mean, he had to make a mistake somewhere.”

“He has been bidding his time extremely well, unfortunately for us. You need to realize that while Cain and his followers are dangerous, there are other’s out there that are far more dangerous than he is.” She paused, “There have been people keeping an eye out for dangers around this area. Plans were put in place to help when the time came, but those plans have changed as well. Due to the accident, and the blood transfusion you received, you’re going to make your first change two years sooner than expected.”

“Aren’t I just the luckiest person in the world?” I put my head on the counter. Things weren’t getting any easier.

School dragged on worse than usual for a Friday. At least there was less eyes staring at me. But, I could still feel their gazes linger too long, and hear their snarky comments. This was not what I had envisioned when I can back. When the last bell finally rang, I jumped out of my seat and almost ran to my locker. I twisted in my combination, ready to get my books and leave, when a voice made me jump. “Hey, girly.”

I let out a little squeak and turned slowly to face the voice. “What are you doing here?”

“You’re in a pleasant mood I see.” Dax crossed his arms and glared at me.

“Why should I be nice to you, when you’re always pissy with me?” I glared right back. I also completely forgot which books I needed to grab for homework.

“You should be grateful that I’m trying to make sure you don’t die.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t ask for your help now, did I?” I wanted to smack him.

“Whatever. You’re coming with me today.”

“Oh I am, am I?” I slammed my locker shut without getting anything. “Just because you think I need a babysitter doesn’t mean I do.” I walked towards the back exit, hoping he wouldn’t follow me. Apparently he hadn’t gotten the hint.

Dax sighed, he was right behind me. “Look, I know I haven’t been the, uh, nicest person in the world, but I’m not that kind of guy.”

“Well, a little less attitude and some respect would go a long way. You don’t have to like me and we don’t have to be friends, just stop being an ass.” I was really aggravated with whatever type of ‘guy’ he was.

“Don’t you know when someone is trying to apologize girly?” He halfway yelled at me. People were staring at us, and I didn’t like it. They’d stared enough at me lately, but this time they were also gawking at Dax’s scars. Dax turned to walk away. “Forget it.”

Now it was my turn to sigh and go after him. “Wait, come back.”

He stopped, “Why? So we can start a yelling match?”

“I am sorry I was being a bitch.” Maybe it was time for me to be the bigger person.

“Don’t. I probably deserve it.” He ran his fingers through his dark hair; his eyes scanned the emptying room. “Faux asked me to tone it down with my attitude, and apologize. Normally I wouldn’t even bother, but she’s right this time. So, I am sorry I was being overly rude, girly.”

He was looking me directly in the eyes, not trying to avoid my harsh gaze. After a few seconds I soften my expression, he truly looked sincere. I smiled a little. “Apology accepted.”

He nodded, without looking away. “So,” he paused, “I went to talk to Freddie and Vic today, and it would be in your best interest if you stayed close to Faux and I.”

“Ok, I thought I was staying close to you two already?”

“One of us should be with you at all times. If you’ll come with me, I’ll explain in the truck.” We walked together towards the front exit.

“You drive?” I asked trying to match his pace.

“Yes, I drive. It’s just an old truck. I keep it in the back of Green Acres.” He paused and cocked an eyebrow at me. “It’s got a lot of character to it.”

I did a double take when I saw the car. Character’s one word to for it, I guess. The truck was more than four different colors, with rust patches here and there. The passenger side window was missing, and there were dents in both the front and back bumpers. The car looked as rough as Dax. If I thought about it, they were a perfect pair.

I slid in to the passenger side, and surprisingly clicked the seat belt shut. I looked around, and automatically decided that the inside matched the outside. There were several tares in the seat, and the stereo was missing. Even the material on the floor boards were torn. “So, what do you do for music? Sing to yourself?”

He just gave me a look, but didn’t respond to my comment. “It’s been awhile since I’ve had to drive it.”

“Don’t you get cold in the winter?” I put my hand out the window.

“I told you my truck had character.” Dax didn’t turn to look at me, he just kept his eyes on the road.

I tried to turn the heater on. I was getting cold. “Sorry the heater doesn’t work, neither does the A.C. … Maybe I should have taken Faux’s car.” He actually did look like he felt bad, which was making me feel bad. So I pulled my jacket around me tighter and tried not to look cold.

As we slowed to a stop light, Dax shrugged his coat off and tossed it at me. He was wearing a light jacket underneath. “Here, take it.”

“I’m fine, really.”

“Put it on, the last thing I need is to have you catch a cold.” Well at least he was being kind of nice. I wrapped the coat around me, and almost instantly felt warmer. The coat was still warm from being on him. I smiled to myself; it was possible he could have redeemable qualities.

We were about halfway home when we got stuck behind a train. Dax tighten his grip on the steering wheel, his knuckles turned white. He sighed and slowly loosened his hand

“So are you going to tell me what Freddie and Vic found out?” I turned to look at him, but his eyes were still staring straight ahead.

“I was going to discuss that with you and your father, but since it doesn’t look like we’ll get out of here any time soon, I suppose I’ll tell you.” He put his hand back on the steering wheel, and ran his fingers through his hair again. “He’s close, way too close for anyone’s comfort.”

“Do you know exactly where he is?” I felt my skin burning under his coat.

Dax made a frustrated grumble. “We traced a his located to a hotel in the City a week ago. That’s less than six hours away. He could be here right now, right under our noses.” He punched the steering wheel, causing the car to let out a screaming honk. “God damn it!”

The sharp tone in his voice made me jump. What the hell was I supposed to say to that?! “I’m sorry, again, for causing you all this trouble! If you don’t want to be here, leave. It’s not that hard. Just go. I don’t even know why you stayed at Green Acres if you hate me so much. I’m really not that important. I am certainly not worth all of these inconveniences.”

Dax finally took his eyes away from the train in front of us. He breathed out slowly. My hands were shaking. I thought maybe he was going to explode with rage, as he slowly turned in my direction. The emotion I saw in his eyes was not of rage, though, it was of disappointment. “Never, ever say that about yourself…..” He grabbed the steering wheel again, before his hand feel onto his thigh. “ I’m not very good at this. Let me apologize, and let me make this clear. I do not hate you. Ok girly? I am just not a highly sociable person. This is not your fault; you didn’t ask for this to happen.” For the first time I noticed how dark his eyes were, they were almost black. “Angela, Cain is a hard person to find. Despite this fact, it’s my job to find him, so he can never hurt you. I should know where he is. I have to be the one to find him and kill him.”

His sincerity floored me. “He was family right? Could you kill him?” I turned slightly so I could talk to him more directly.

“I am more than capable of killing him.” His eyes were stern again. “Remember when Faux said she trained with Spencer and Sadie in the jungle? Well, I was there too. Do you know what they trained us to do?” There was something twisted in the look he gave me. It was a look that I had never seen before. I had to tear my eyes away, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know that answer. “They trained us to kill people.” His eyes were back on the train, but he wasn’t really looking at it. “It didn’t matter that we were only children. We have killed people. All of us.”

“But why would they do that? Who would train children to kill people?” I was in shock. I felt so bad for all of them. My eyes watered.

“They don’t see it like that. There are sides to every war, girly. People will do horrific things in order to do what they believe is right. Some people will do anything and everything to win.” His eyes seemed to hold a soul much older than the body it was in.

This reminded me that I didn’t actually know how old Dax was, so I asked, “How old are you really?”

“Do all the scars make it hard to tell?” He didn’t even flinch as he asked me this.

“N- no… that’s not want I meant,” I stuttered. I turned and looked out the hole where the window was supposed to be.

He laughed. I spun my head around in shock.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” He had a shocked expression. I hadn’t realized I was starring, but I looked away. I had never heard him really laugh before, not anything close to that.

“No reason. You’re just a confusing person, that’s all,” I said.

“If you say so, girly.”

“Humph,” I mumbled. “You still haven’t answered the question.”

“You want to know how old I am. Does it make a difference?”

“I guess not.” Now I was watching the train. Why the hell it was taking so long?

“26.”

I almost didn’t hear it. “26?” The scars made it impossible to tell.

“You sound surprised,” he had a quizzical tone in his voice.

“I just really had no idea.”

“Natural Borns don’t age like humans. Without the scars I’d look as young as Faux. Don’t worry, girly, once you turn 18 your aging will slow done drastically too.” I felt Dax ease next to me. He was still a little tense, but not as bad as normal.

The train finally came to an end and we were on our way again.

Dax opened the door for me when we got to my house. “Thanks?” But he wasn’t even paying attention; he was staring off into the woods. I walked into the kitchen and dumped my back pack on the table. My dad was at the stove, stirring some creation of his. “Hey dad, what are you making? It smells good.”

“Wow, you two are getting along. That’s a first,” Julian said with an amused smile.

“There’s a first for everything, but I decided she wasn’t as annoying as she was trying to be.” Dax grabbed an apple from the basket on the counter and took a bite.

“Oh, you’re so funny,” I spat at him. Sarcasm, you gotta love it.

“So much for getting along. Anyways Angie, I got off work early and decided to try my new chili creation. I used ground chicken instead of beef, four or five different vegetables, some peppers, spices, and chili powder. And for the final touch, garlic bread and cinnamon sticks are in the oven.

“That sounds amazing.” I walked over and grabbed a spoonful.

“Hey Missy, wait till it’s finished. Why don’t you make yourself useful and make the salad?” My father teased me. He was in a good mood; I hoped that meant it would be a good night for all of us.

“So where’s Faux?” Dax said as he sat on one of the stools.

“Right here,” she said in a chipper voice, as she opened the door. Wow, if she’s in a good mood it has to be great night!

Dinner went extremely well. Dax and Faux talked about all the places they’d seen and traveled to. My father talked about the time he and my mother went to China. The farthest I’d ever been from New York was Florida. Why my father had never taking me to any of the places that he used to visit? But in a way it made sense. If I have been hunted my whole life than it would be very dangerous to go anywhere. But why did my father hide everything from me?

I picked apart my cinnamon stick as this question rolled around in my mind. Did I even know who I was anymore? But I had never been who I thought I was. I was always this creature. Everything was what it shouldn’t be.

“You ok Angie? You got quiet on us,” my father asked.

“I’m fine dad, really. I know it’s still early, I’m a little tired, that’s all.” I wasn’t lying; it was only five thirty and I was feeling exhausted. “I’m going to go to bed.” I carried my plate to the sink and walked towards the stairs. “Good night.”

“Good night,” Faux and my dad called out at me. I just heard a grumble from Dax, but when I turned back to look his eyes met mine.

Before heading to bed, I decided to check on the progress of my unfinished picture. So I made my way to the bathroom and locked the door. My breathing quicken as I slowly lifted my shirt. My side had burned and itched all day. Taking a deep breath I forced myself to look in the mirror. All I could do was stare; the image captivated my gaze and refused to let it go. In the middle of my side, along my rib cage were three feathers. Their quills were tightly woven together, coming to a sharp point. As they uncoiled from each other they fanned out, curving into their own unique position.

I touched the feathers with my fingertips, tracing each delicate line of my mark. The skin underneath my fingers felt warm and soft. It was almost as if the skin was brand new.

My vision went blurry and a feeling of light headiness overcame me. I felt like I was going to pass out. I fumbled with the door knob until it open and tried to steady myself as I made my way to my room. Moments later I was passed out on my bed.

There was no longer sunlight shining through my bedroom window. It had been hours ago when I had collapsed on top of the comforter. I heard a soft groan of the floors boards outside my door. It’s probably just my dad walking to the bathroom. But something felt off, my skin pricked with nervousness. I shifted my body towards the corner of the bed. This wasn’t the best idea. Seconds later the sound of heavy breathing reached my ears. Shit! My door exploded, propelling sharp shards of wood through the room.

I saw him. He lunged for me. In that split second time seemed to be going impossibly slow. I could feel everything happening inside of me. My body temperature went from blood boiling hot, to what should have caused a state of hypothermia. My nerves were screaming, but I didn’t feel any pain, just extreme amounts of pressure all over my body. It was as if I was deep underwater. An image of my mother flashed in my mind. My bones morphed, snapped, and refused together. My hands and feet contorted into deadly paws, and sharp claws sprung out from them.

I was terrified, but my reaction was to hold my ground and fight.

This all happen in the time it took him to jump towards me. My body let out a roar.

“Well, if it isn’t Ember’s daughter.” I saw his white teeth flash, and the man before me disappeared. In his place was the some cross breed wolf with fangs bearing towards me.

He was inches away from my face. I smashed my claws into his cheek bone. His body flew across the room and into my book shelf. Blood seeped into the carpet. I tried to maneuver my way off the bed, but I wasn’t used to this body. I slipped and tore open my mattress. The creature was on his feet and ran at me again, I ducked and he landed on my night stand, crushing it and the materials inside.

I fell backwards trying to get away from him, but he was quicker than I was. He grabbed my right front leg and tore into it open with his teeth. A howling scream emerged from my body as I pulled back, making my flesh snag against his teeth.

Less than a second later his teeth were tore out of my skin, as something collided with his body. I saw flesh hanging off of my leg, I tried to move but I couldn’t fully support myself and fell again.

I looked towards my savior. An enormous husky stood in the shattered doorway, teeth barred and eyes glowing with reflective light. Dax. He had slammed the creature into the wall, which left a large gouge as evidence. They were crouched in a fighting stance in front of my mangled self, protecting me.

“I will kill you Cain,” Dax growled.

“Not before I kill her!” Cain spat as blood covered his face. Dax pounce on Cain, slamming his body into my dresser.

I managed to push myself against a wall. Dax lunged toward Cain. Cain growled at him, before he leaped throw the window. Dax snarled as he leapt after him, but stopped and rushed over to me.

“Faux!” Dax called out.

She jumped through the open window Cain had just disappeared from, she wearing an old tang top and pajama bottoms. “Cain headed off into the woods. He won’t be able to stay there long; the stage will not allow that.”

“I know, but that’s not important right now! You take care of her, I’ll call Freddie. We need a doctor.” And with that Dax was gone.

I thought I was going to pass out. There was so much of my blood everywhere. I wasn’t sure how consciousness was still possible. My vision blurred. My eyelids closed, but I forced them to stay open. Faux grabbed a sheet that was mostly still intact. “Angie, listen to me. You need to relax as best you can. You have to turn back.” I closed my eyes and let the bone crushing feeling over take me once again. My breathing was sallow and it was hard for me to move. Faux didn’t seem to have any problems lifting me into a sitting position or getting the sheet around me. She took pieces of a shredded blanket, which she wrapped around my bleeding arm.

Somewhere in the distance I heard another door slamming apart. “Is my dad ok?”

“WHO THE HELL TRAPPED ME IN MY OWN ROOM!” I heard my father’s voice boom as he ran towards me. “Oh my god! Angela, what happen?” He grabbed Faux by her shoulders and shook her, which caused her to pull tighter on the rag around my arm. I winced, holding back a screech of pain.

“Julian, calm down. She’ll be ok, Dax is calling Freddie.” She gently brushed his hand off her shoulders.

“Dad?” I tried to concentrate on his face as everything else was blurring around me.

“What is it sweetie?”

“Mom, did she… ” I blinked a couple times. I didn’t want to lose focus on his face. “Was her animal form a lion?

“Why does that matter….”

“Please, I just need to know.” My vision was failing me. Faux had lifted me in her arms and carried me away from my room. My body was limp, but I could still feel that screaming pain in my nerves where the skin on my lower arm was barely hanging on.

“Yes, she was a lion.”

Faux rushed me downstairs and laid me on the kitchen table, tears over flowed from my eyes. I clenched my jaw shut to keep from screaming.

“Don’t look at your arm, Angie. You’re fine. We’ll fix this.” Faux wiped the sweat off my face with a damp rag. “Dax, where’s Freddie?” She turned her head to face him.

“He’s on his way.” He moved Faux to the side and look at my mangled arm. “Keep her calm. I’ll be right back.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just took her to the hospital? Dax, cover yourself now!” I could tell my father was in a mixed state of being extremely worried and extremely pissed.

“Do you want to explain what happened? Even the Natural Born doctors won’t be able to keep this quiet.” Dax had made his way back to the kitchen, now covered below the waist and carrying a long syringe. He rummaged through the drawers and grabbed a dark colored object.

“What are you doing? How in the hell is a spatula going to help.”

“Julian I know what I’m doing. She’s in shock. We have to lower her pain level before she blacks out. So if you wouldn’t mind, compose yourself, before I do it for you. I know she’s your daughter, but you’ve seen much worse.” Dax went around to my left side. “Angela, bite down on this.” He demanded as the spatula was shoved in my mouth.

As I bit the spatula, he pushed the needle of the syringe into my shoulder. The liquid burned in my veins. I made a whimpering sound as he pulled the needle out.

“What kind of pain killer was that?” My father demanded to know.

“It’s a special type of morphine for Natural Born s, so it should be safe for her,” Dax said, as he slowly unwrapped the sheet around my arm.

“What do you mean should be?” Julian bellowed at Dax, who didn’t even bother with a response.

My body felt warm now, like a heated blanket had been placed over me. I watched Dax as he observed my arm. Faux moved next to him, she tied her hair back and leaned in closer to me. “It’s not good, but it could’ve been worse.”

Dax turned on two lamps next to the table. Light illuminated the room that only a moment ago was consumed in darkness. He nodded. “How bad does it hurt? You’re first time in an animal form can be a little overwhelming.” He looked almost like he cared about me. He placed a hand on my good arm.

“Oh, so everyone has their arm almost ripped off the first time they change forms?” I tried my best to hide the pain from him. I attempted to sound strong, but my words stung together in a barely audible mumble.

“Well, she still has some fight in her.” Dax smiled, but it went away as quickly as it came.

“How did he get in? You said he wouldn’t get passed you!” My father screamed at them.

“I don’t know Julian. I am sorry I let you down,” Faux said as she moved towards him. “I found some of his followers and tried to push them away from the house, which was probably their plan all along.” Faux looked distraught, and her tone carried a horrible pain of disappointment in it. I couldn’t begin to imagine Faux in her tiny cat form intimidating anyone, but I could be wrong.

The front door was slammed opened. I felt weak from the loss of blood, but I could tell it was Freddie who had rushed towards me.

“Out of the way,” Freddie demanded. The pain killers were working, my whole body was numbing, and I felt like I was floating. He turned my arm gently to evaluate the damage himself. He sighed.

“That bad uh?” I asked.

Freddie smiled at me, and opened a black bag I hadn’t noticed before. “How do you manage to get yourself in these situations? Don’t worry kiddo, I’ve patched worse.” They kept using that words, worse. Were they trying to comfort me? At this point I was barely conscious and my mind was numb, so however bad my arm was, it didn’t faze me.

Faux was now sitting one my other side, holding my hand. My father sat next to her, closer to my head. Dax was leaning against the kitchen island, arms crossed, standing out of the way.

“Have you contacted the twins yet?” Freddie asked to no one in particular.

“They should be here tomorrow; they were in northern Canada when we first tried to reach them, so they got in touch as soon as they could,” Dax answered him, in his normal grumpy tone.

“Good, good.” He was now sewing my skin back together. “I’ll call Victor to have him help guard, but is there any other trained Natural Born s in this area?”

“Not that have fighting or defensive training,” Faux said.

“What about your brother Dominique?”

“No one knows where he is,” She said flatly.

“That’s unfortunate.” Freddie got quiet again.

I remembered the raven. “Angel, the raven, she protects the forest. Could she help?”

“Her orders are to stay with the stag; otherwise, we would consider it was a possibility. I’m sure she will do what she can in the forest,” Freddie said.

“Orders?” I asked.

“Let’s not get too complicated with things tonight, you almost got yourself killed, girly,” Dax said from across the room.

“I didn’t almost… ”

“Enough.” My father stepped in and cut me out.

“Just a few more stitches and you should be good to go,” The doctor said as he continued his patch work.

“You don’t think Cain and those worthless pieces of shits will be back tonight do you?” My father asked.

“I doubt it. That’s not really Cain’s style,” Dax responded.

“We will keep watch just in case.” Faux squeezed my hand as she looked at my arm. I could tell she still felt horrible for Cain getting passed her.

“That’s what you said before,” My father grunted.

“Julian, please, I know you’re upset, but Dax and Faux are doing what they can. Giving them grief isn’t going to help them or Angela right now,” Freddie calmly stated, “I’ll stay the night to make sure the Angela will be ok until the twins arrive, if that is ok with you?” Freddie turned to my father.

“I don’t see how it would hurt,” he mumbled, clearly not happy with the situation.

The doctor put some ointment on my newly stitched arm and lightly wrapped it. “Angela your arm will be fine, but I need to get some blood into you, I’ll have Faux help you to the front room where you’ll be more comfortable.”

“She can stay in the room I’ve been using,” Dax stated. “It’ll be better than the couch.”

I just nodded at this point. I was too tired to feel gratitude.

“I’ll have to run home for just a moment, but I’ll be back shortly.” Freddie pushed back his chair as he stood to leave.

“Let’s try to stand you up.” Faux wrapped one of her arms around me, as she continued to hold the sheet that was against me.

I was a little shaky and unstable, but able to make my way to the spare bedroom with help from Faux and my father.

Faux fixed the tangled blankets and pulled them back as I slid onto the bed. My head hit the soft feathered pillow and closed my eyes. “Everything will be fine, I promise,” my father said gently as the covers were pulled over me, and the smell of Dax consumed me.