You know, my life is pretty messed up. A week ago I was just a simple web designer and singer with a few close friends and an apartment all to myself. My life was comfortable and simple, but now I was engulfed in a life that had issues left and right. What was there to look forward to?
I sighed as I laid down on the king sized bed in the master bedroom. Gabriel had insisted that I rest before we discussed anything further. He was not going to be happy when he found out that I was already married. HA! It was going to serve him right and I wanted to get some rest before
that
little conversation took place. A smile crept over my face as I pulled the down comforter over myself.
Sighing, I wished that I could hear the ocean again. I needed the constant push and pull to feel balanced, complete. It was so quiet that my mind swelled with the need for motion. There was no way that I was going to be able to sleep here.
My mind began to race with the events of the past few weeks as I heard the door open slightly. Turning my head towards the door, I saw Gabriel's head peak in.
"I could tell that you were awake. In fact, you haven't slept at all. Is there something that I could do to help you fall asleep?"
"That's very kind of you, Gabriel. You're right, though, I can't sleep. I need to go back home." I sat up in the bed and swung my legs over the side, dangling them as I watched my feet kick back and forth. "I shouldn't be here."
He nodded as he opened the door to gain entry. He smoothly walked to the edge of the bed and sat down on it, turning his back to me as he looked away from me. Why would he do that? Taking a quick look down, I could see I had no bra on and it was a tiny bit… cold in here. My t-shirt left no work for the imagination about what was beneath.
"You cannot leave, Raven. The future depends on us."
"Yeah, right. The future." My future was so messed up already. Two hundred years with no children for my kingdom? Was it all boiling down to me popping out a baby
now
? CRAZY! ICK! I didn't even think that I was
made
to be a mother. My hormones always seemed to lean towards me having the potential of being a crazed soccer mom. Not a good look for me.
"I can leave when I am damned well ready to leave, Gabriel. I choose to leave. You need to take me back
now
."
He just shook his head, "I cannot. I was not the one that brought you here—the fates were."
That shook me a bit. "The FATES? Like in Greek mythology?" He was Native American—where did Greek mythology come into play?
"Why the hell are you here, Gabriel?" I sneered at his back. I was so angry that I could spit fire.
"I am here because it is my fate to be with you." He set his shoulders back and turned to face me. His eyes found mine and drilled into them with his dark orbs. I could feel myself getting weak in the knees although there was nothing to be excited about with what he was saying. Was it fear?
"So damned romantic, Gabriel." I pushed up from the bed, my pajama bottoms were just low enough to cover anything to be worried about. How he knew my size was beyond me. We hadn't seen each other in… two hundred years or less.
Still not buying this whole story.
Crossing my arms across my chest again I began to pace the room. I could feel his eyes on me with every movement. "I need to go back. I have decisions to make and a kingdom to run." Yeah, no, it didn't sound like I believed it either.
He just nodded quickly and stood up. He walked over to block my path in the middle of the room, placing his hands on either one of my shoulders, abruptly keeping me from being able to roam freely in my thoughts and movements.
Looking deeply into my eyes he released a warm breath, allowing it to brush over my face. He smelled of cinnamon and honey—a scent that matched his coppery skin color. His eyes scanned me from head to toe and then he leaned ever-so-slightly into me and breathed in deeply. Closing his eyes he held his breath and then released it again. "Yes, it is you."
Pushing away from him with all of my strength, I huffed at him, "Dammit, Gabriel. You're being creepy! What the hell do you want and why are you acting so… damned… weird?!" Honestly, I didn't remember anything about him so why would it matter how weird he acted?
He looked at me longingly and took a step closer as he licked his lips quickly. "If you kiss me, you will know everything." He leaned into me a little closer again.
"No way." I looked up at him firmly.
"Wh… what?!" He stammered. My wicked smile came back to my mouth.
Ha! YES!
"I will NOT kiss you and you will NOT kiss me. I will not allow it!" My hands waved in front of his face as I spoke wildly, his eyes following them as if they were loaded with power. He seemed wary of those hands.
My anger became pretty obvious. My body became instantly warm as my hands began to shake. I was angry that everyone I knew was demanding that my lost memories would return if I
kissed
them. I was angry that I couldn't remember everything about my past and there was something huge on the horizon. I was angry that my future had something to do with children but I was not ready to become a mother. I was angry that I was clearly over 200 years old and yet it said 27 on my driver's license! I was angry that there was something I was running from but I couldn't really figure it out—could it honestly be children? Yes, let it only be children. I was angry because Gabriel had yanked me away and was now blaming it on the fates. I was angry that I felt out of control and all I wanted to do was be back in my townhouse at Rockaway Beach.
"Ahhhhh!" I yelled out loud, balling my hands into fists and closing my eyes tightly as I continued to shake uncontrollably. I figured this was what it was like to go into an epileptic fit—my body was taking over.
"I HATE these clothes!" Warmth covered me from head to toe. I looked down and I was now wearing jeans, black boots, and a black v-neck t-shirt. A part of me was shocked but another part of me was satisfied.
Gabriel snapped to attention as he looked me up and down, his chin was so low it could hit the ground at any moment.
"I HATE this silence!" A window seemed to fly open and the pounding din of the city poured through the room, coating me in a cacophony of horns and sirens, whistles and humming.
Gabriel's head turned to look at the window that was now standing open, with the curtain billowing in and out with the cold spring breeze. His eyes were wide and his head shook back and forth.
"And I HATE this place!" I floated into the air again but this time it was of my own doing. I smiled as I held my hands out to my sides and my feet floated a foot above the ground.
"No, Raven, please, you cannot leave! We must talk, we must plan." He ran hastily to my side as he pleaded, "You cannot leave just yet."
I looked down at him, floating just at eye level for him. I nodded but did not break my concentration on what I was doing. I was picturing the Pacific Ocean, the West Coast. I missed it and it was calling to me. "Kiss me now if you must." I was giving him permission to do what he was asking—to take a foothold in my memories.
He shook his head, "No, not like this." He stared at me again, afraid that I would disappear.
"Then you will lose your chance because I am leaving." My body began to pulse with a slow purple glow. The air began to crackle with the power. My mind didn't question once what was going on—it knew how to tap into my power. It was like thinking—simple and beautiful.
Looking at me quickly he licked his lips and closed the distance between us, placing both hands on either sides of my face. He paused just for a second and then he kissed me pensively, barely brushing his lips against mine in a chaste kiss. Releasing me, he took a step backwards and looked at me expectantly and worried.
My body shook with wicked humor, "Ha! I'm so very sorry, Gabriel. You would have to do better than that to bring my memories back." My head fell backward and I released a gleeful laugh that didn't sound anything like me. "You weren't even trying! But what should I expect from a man that is only here because the
fates
told him to be?!"
His look became angry and his fists clenched at his sides, "You are my destiny, Raven. You cannot escape the fact that I am yours as well."
My laughter poured out once again, "Get in line, Gabriel." It was well time that he knew that he was not the only one in line for my attentions.
"What?" He looked honestly confused.
"There are many others standing in line waiting for the chance to be my husband." I shook again with another wave of anger. Men, how they annoyed me!
"Husband?" Gabriel seemed a little shocked.
My shock was probably on par with his. "Yes, Gabriel." Silence, "What did you expect? Just to be a sperm donor? I am not into one-night-stands. I am also not into casual flings so, if you will excuse me." My body was burning with anger by the time that I finished my sentence. There was no way in hell that I was going to let someone walk all over me, get me knocked-up and then leave. Whatever!
"I'm your soulmate, Raven. Your other half. Your defining element." He sounded unconvinced. Well, I wasn't either.
My body paused slightly, my power ebbing minutely so that I could feel the floor reaching up to meet me. I shook my head, "Look into my eyes, Gabriel." He looked at me. I tried to read the feelings in his eyes. Honestly, I could see nothing in those onyx orbs. "Do you…
love
me?"
He shook his head as if to clear it and asked, "What the heck does
that
have to do with anything?"
"What does that have to do with anything?!" My voice was two octaves higher than I intended, "Because if you are my 'soulmate' wouldn't you be in love with me?"
Rubbing the back of his head he walked towards the window, turned and came back again to look me square in the eyes. "I do not have to love you to be your soulmate. That is understood in the native traditions. We were friends, nothing more. We are soulmates but we are not required to be in love—it is not necessary for us to complete each other's purpose." He squared his shoulders.
Nodding, I felt a little relieved but that still didn't make the baby idea any easier with him in the picture, "Okay… "
"So you will stay." He spoke as if it were a given, "And we will plan." He nodded stiffly.
"Plan what, may I ask?" My senses began to heighten. I could feel the anger skirting the edges of my consciousness.
"Plan the child that we are destined to have."
"Um, Gabriel. You just said that you don't love me. That you don't have to love me even though we are soulmates. You said that love was not necessary. Did I get that right?" I crossed my arms again.
"Yes, of course. Love is an expression that is not necessary for us. We are soulmates. We are meant to have this child. It is the future that I am concerned about." He raised his chin slightly, giving him a haughty look.
"Hmmm, I see." I turned away from him. Shaking my head, I turned back to him. My body slowly began to float above the ground again. "I am sorry, Gabriel. I refuse your offer. I need more—love, affection, appreciation, a bond, a husband. Look on the bright side—you are released from what you consider to be your idiotic obligations!" I railed at him there at the end.
My body began to be covered by the purple glow of my anger as his face took on a frantic expression.
"But where are you going? We need to talk!" He ran towards me, grasping the air around me. His hand ran solidly against a wall of air—my mind was protecting itself.
Shaking my head I allowed the glow of my anger to encompass me and fill me completely, "You are wrong. We
have
talked and now we are done."
My vision blurred with light and my body became filled with warmth and power. I allowed it to swell around me as a rush and then pushed it away with my will. My feet touched softly on the ground. I could feel the sand crush under my feet. My vision began to clear as I could see the ocean waves rushing towards me, grateful that I was close again and eager to hold me in their embrace. My hair was brushed aside by the fingers of the wind, tugging it back as if it were going to brush it behind my ear. My lips parted as the salt water softly sprayed onto my face and welcomed me home with a sweet and tender kiss.
Turning around, I saw the patio of my townhome rental. I was home again.
I sat down on my apartment couch with Tisha staring at me so intensely that I didn't know if there was a zit on my forehead or not.
Please don't let there be a zit!
"So his name was Gabriel Running Wolf?" Tisha prompted me with her voice.
"Yes," I sighed. This was the tenth time that she asked me this.
She was quiet for a moment. "He is an Indian Chief, you know. Native American. He inherited the throne around the same time that you were crowned queen." She looked thoughtful and concerned at the same time. "This creates a very serious problem, especially if the fates are involved." She looked at me sharply, "He did say the
fates
?"
"Yes, yes, the fates, Tisha." I shook my head, "None of this makes sense. This isn't mythology—this is life."
She looked outside through my patio window as the sparkling lights from the city twinkled back at us from Portland. "Yes, it does. Did Running Wolf tell you about your father?"
"No… is there something special about my father?" I was worried that the answer was beyond belief.
She shook her head, "I do not know. But it seems odd that he would not mention your father, not once."
Looking at her and then out at the lights just past my patio, I was snapped back to attention when there was a sudden knock at the door. My eyes cut to Tisha and she just nodded gently.
"Who is it?" I asked a bit musically. Hey, why be boring?
"Von."
"and Solomon."
The names went with the voices—they were together at my front door. Trouble was sure to follow.
I opened the door widely and both men stared at me, each with their own expressions. Von looked at me in shock and disbelief while Solomon looked at me proudly and with a hint of a smile on his lips.