08-02-2011, 06:27 PM
First there was the darkness, a black empty dream. There were no thoughts, no sounds, not a color. Then she sat up, with a great gasp for air, suddenly pulled back down to earth, landing in pain. Her lungs ached and burned as though they had been starved for air. She tried to take a deep breath but was met with a dull pain that made her cough. Breathing small shallow breaths a new pain seared up her arm. She cried out in agony tears sliding down her cheeks. Cradling her arm against her chest holding it at the elbow and rocked back and forth. She stayed like that until, as quickly as it had come, the pain vanished. She was terrified to see, but she looked, expecting nothing less than a gaping wound, burns all up her arm or some other deeply grave wound, but what she found was nothing less than startling. Black as night, and a bit larger than a tooney was a pentagram, just below her elbow, on the inside of her arm. She didn’t know why but this mark made her very nervous. Staring at it the black was so intense it seemed that it was a hole in her arm; she touched it and was mildly surprised when her fingers stopped at her warm flesh. The mark was hot, too warm to be natural; the surrounding skin was cool in comparison.
She was suddenly aware of her surroundings, she was sitting in a downy bed and a thick comforter cushioned her. The room was cool and dim; the only light came from a wide window adjacent to the bed. There was a fire place at the end of the bed, but it was not lit. The room seemed familiar, but she did not know why. She suddenly felt rather warm so she went to the window and sat beneath it. She looked outside as letting the gentle breeze cool her face. There was a large garden outside that went twenty feet in every direction. At the edge there was a forest, but it was less dense to the east where a wide river spread, just visible past the tops of the trees. Still she did not know where she was. She had inspected the empty room to the fullest and had not found a single clue as to why she had a lingering sense of recognition. Now she went to the door and turned the handle but it stopped dead half turned, locked. Somehow she half knew that it would be locked. With nothing else to do she went and threw herself onto the bed and sank into the thick blankets letting out a sigh.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when the door opened. She sat up leaning forward on her knees, her hands placed between them. The man who walked in had a pained look on his face. In his arms was a blue dress, which he laid on the end of the bed.
“I need you to put that on.” He said looking into her eyes. He was cute, his face was strong and soft, lines of worry traced onto it. His honey eyes had pieces of light brown hair hanging in front of them.
“I don’t understand, where am I?” she answered, unmoving.
“You don’t know where you are?” He replied the worry growing ever more present in his face. “Do you know who I am?”
“No” that was the simple truth, she had no idea.
“Do you know who you are, at least?”
With the question presented to her, she was hit with the truth; she had no idea who she was at all. Where she was from, where her parents were, if she had any siblings or even how old she was. It had not occurred to her until this moment that she didn’t know anything. The answers were there somewhere, just underneath the surface, far enough away to slip like water in her hands. “I can’t remember.” It was odd to say it out loud.
“Well hell, that is not supposed to happen.” He said. “Look, just get changed and I will explain everything to you on our way down to supper.” He turned his back to her. “Well go on, get dressed.”
“OK.” She was uncomfortable changing with him in the room, but it seemed that she didn’t have much of a choice. She slipped the night gown she had on off over her head and reached for the dark blue dress that he had brought. There was also a black leather corset. “You can turn around; I need help lacing the corset if you don’t mind.”
“Sure, well I guess the first thing you should know is your name is Anna, and I am your husband William, as of last night.” He explained as he laced the corset.
“Come this way please. You should know that I love you with all my heart and we are going to a dinner with the head of my clan. All the males were married last night, and this is a grand celebration.” He continued leading her down a hall and down some steps. “This is my clan’s house. It is where all the members stay for at least a year after marriage. And come back for the blessing of their children.” They came to a landing just before grand oak doors, there were already other couples there, Anna saw other women all happy looking, and so she put on her best smile, she guessed that she also should be happy. She looked up at William, who looked out of sorts and mildly panicked. She reached up and arranged his hair, and touched him gently on the cheek. She smiled at him and some of the worry faded from his face. Although she did not know what was happening, she did know that deep down it felt right to be married to this man. “Oh, one more thing, you were born to this clan, but you were orphaned and taken away.”
That explained it, the deep down sensation that she knew this place. Orphaned, a sad thought, but for the moment it must be left aside. The doors opened and the couples began to file in. Anna followed Will in one step behind as she saw the other women do. In the next room was a massive oak table the couples filed in and found their places. There were massive plates of food of all kinds, most of which was meat. Anna hadn’t realized just how hungry she was. As the food was passed around, her mouth was practically watering. It was the steak that seemed to her the most appetizing of all. As she went to eat it came to her attention that all of the cutlery was made of gold. After the first cut into her steak there was a rush of blood, the smell met her nostrils and she could barely contain herself to eat properly. The dinner closed with a toast to each couple individually, who were called to rise and be blessed with fertility and prosperity.
After the dinner Will showed her the way downstairs, which was the direction all the couples took. “We are headed to the baths.” William explained. “It is my duty to help bath you.” Anna didn’t know how to feel, as far as she was concerned this man was a complete stranger, yet everything they had done so far just felt right. She was still frustrated, why couldn’t she remember. “Did I know you yesterday?” She asked a very valid question as she had just married him last night.
“You did, I had been courting you for many months, and we had been betrothed when we were children. You had been missing for many years; some had told me you were dead. They tried to dissuade me, but I knew you were alive.”
“So you tracked me down.” The thought of dedication so profound softened her heart, she didn’t know much about him, but if what he said was true then the look he had when he came in the room was genuine concern for her. She thought about it as they approached the baths. They were natural hot springs under the foundation of the building, around each pool was built a stone room. Each couple could bath privately. He led her to one of the rooms.
“You can get undressed while I go and get the soaps and towels.” He blushed only slightly, he knew that he was just a stranger to her really and to be moving so fast was probably unsettling for her. He hoped she understood that these were ancient rituals; maybe she would regain her memory in undertaking them. He slipped out of the room and left her to undress in private. She was nervous, but none the less proceeded as the others did. Slowly she removed her dress and slipped into the pleasant waters. The pool was chest deep and very warm, causing her muscled to relax and allow the tension of the evening to slip away. She took a deep breath, and it no longer hurt.
When William reentered the room he had two thick towels and two robes with him, in his hand was soap. He looked down at Anna, who was enjoying the water. Her head was slightly tilted back and her eyes were half closed. She was flushed pink due to the warmth of the bath and very attractive. But he would not step outside his boundaries; he didn’t want to lose her again. He would wait as long as it took for her memory to return. He was unsure of how to proceed. “Lean you head back, so your hair gets wet; I will wash it for you.” He had already waded into the pool next to her. She leaned back and sighed, the sound made him want to cry. Slowly and gently he massaged the perfumed soap into her long black hair. Slowly he worked his way down her head to the back of her neck and shoulders, massaging the soap gently into her skin. She turned to face him and looked up into his eyes, they looked sad, his face was so full of gentle kindness, and suddenly she just wanted to kiss him.
She looked up at him and he looked into her mismatched eyes, they were so unique. Her face was filled with compassion, and in her eyes he could see the struggle for recognition. Her look trailed all over his face, and then suddenly it changed. The look was now longing, a look he had seen all too many times before. He reached out and cupped her face gently in his hands. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. He lingered for a moment, then moved down her neck and shoulders, kissing down the length of her arm, the back of her hand. He turned her hand over and kissed the palm, he looked and was puzzled, the mark was not there. He had bitten her last night at the ritual, the mark should be there. But no, it was higher, on her arm. Could this be why she lost her memory?
Anna leaned back enjoying the kisses he left on her body. She was so comfortable with him, there had to have been something before. When he stooped she opened her eyes and met his look of confusion. “What is wrong?”
“The Mark, it is not on your palm. I have never heard of it being anywhere but the palm of the left hand before.”
“What does it mean?” Anna asked softly. “Where does The Mark come from?”
“Hell, you don’t know.” He mentally slapped himself in the face for not having told her sooner. He did not know how to tell her what had happened last night. “The Mark” he began. “Is the sign our males leave, after they have claimed their wives with a bite.” He continued the explanation. “Unlike males females are not born with the wolf inside them, this is believed to be because there fewer males than females, it allows the females to leave the clan and join the humans.”
“What do you mean by ‘the wolf’, and join the humans. Do you mean to say I’m not human anymore?” Anna began to feel panicked, she though she knew what he was trying to say, but she needed him to say it.
“No, as of last night you are a werewolf, at least I think you are. It is hard to tell because The Mark is not on your palm. That could be the reason you lost your memory, but I don’t understand why it happened.” He cringed at her panic, this should not be happening, why was it happening? Just yesterday she knew everything; she was, from birth, part of this clan.
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