Forbidden Wings

Truth in the Darkness

The following morning, Atla and Tarani woke up early, grabbed ice cream from the freezer, took it to Tarani’s big canopy bed and laid there trading spoonfuls of ice cream and contemplating how to handle the following day. Today. "s**t!" Atla thought to herself, not tomorrow, today. Today she was going to defy the odds and erase someone’s memory. She was going to attempt to break some mystical bond between herself and another person. If there was a God, you can be sure she prayed to it. Pulling on her favorite black jeans and blood red t-shirt, she left her hair hanging loose down her back. Her sister gave her a look when she walked into the kitchen.

“New hairstyle Ati?”

Atlani’s eyes turned to slits as her sister used that horrible nickname. Tarani let a giggle escape her lips and Atla let the comment pass. Tarani was acting normal and happy, even in the face of whatever was happening, she was strong. Atla needed some of that.

“Mason… he likes my hair. I figure his last look at me should be something he likes at least.” Her lashes cast shadows on her cheeks as she looked down at her muffin. She was suddenly not very hungry, eager to get the morning over with.

Tarani walked behind her to grab her usual breakfast, and in the process she twirled a long strand around her finger.

“I can see why, you remind me of a princess.” With a smile, Tarani urged her sister out the door. She kissed her forehead and smoothed down her hair. She whispered a word and Atla knew that she would have her sister’s help if she needed it. Disappearing through the trees this morning, she did not transform her body at all, but pushed this form to its limits and ran smoothly, taking long leaps through the forest to the outside of the school. Holding her breath, she strained to listen to the inside of the school to hear anything unusual. She could hear a heartbeat, strong and true. She knew it to be the heartbeat of her Mason.

She stopped dead in her tracks. Not her Mason. Mr. LaFae. She would need to believe the things she was about to tell him in order for them to work. Silently she wondered why he was here so early, but then again maybe he could feel her desperately pulling him to the school so they could talk. She reprimanded herself as she got lost in her own thoughts about his mouth.

Walking smoothly to the locked door, she willed it open and shut again. She walked to his classroom, pulling open the door and entering. Even with his back turned to her, he looked scrumptious. She wanted to rake her nails down his back and make him hers. She felt heat between her legs as she imagined her long nails dragging across his bare back, marking him as hers. He could feel the change in the air just as she did. “Atlani”

Her thighs quivered at the sound of her name. She cleared her throat, knowing she had to take charge of the situation. She straightened her back, pulling herself to her full height. She still stood a whole foot shorter than him, but she would not let that intimidate her. “Mr. LaFae! I am so thankful you are here early. I wanted to confront you about-.”

He turned so quickly at the use of his last name, his eyes flashing a pain so deep that it made her breath catch in her throat. She could feel her sister pressing her mind. Realizing she had an audience, she shoved her sister out. She could tell Tarani later, but right now it needed to be just her and Mason.

Lifting her chin in defiance, she refused to show that he had any effect on her. She started again. “I wanted to confront you about the inappropriate affair you have had with a student.” Granted that student was her, but she had to use a different approach, to not make it too personal to herself or she knew she would cave.

Quickly she saw anger flood his face. He took long steps and leaned over her so they stood nose to nose. She could feel her resolve diminishing. She tried taking a breath to steady herself to continue, but she was immediately intoxicated by him. The smell of him alone had her swaying on her feet. She looked everywhere but his eyes, knowing she would have nothing left if she did.

In her peripherals she could see his hands moving. Before her brain could catch up to what her eyes were seeing, his hands were there cupping her face and running through her long curls. She was vehemently angry with herself for being stupid enough to keep it down.

Reverently, he said her name over and over, his breath blowing across her face. If she didn’t know better she would think he was trying to drug her. Unable to control herself, she let her hands wander. Up his chest, down his arms and back, she stopped when her hands mirrored his, cupping his face, bringing his forehead to hers. Her mind was fuzzy. She wasn’t able to recall why she needed to erase her from him so badly. All she could feel was the need for a very long vacation with him, no interruptions.

She felt prodding in her brain, knowing it couldn’t be him. She hugged him tight, drawing the strength to shove her sister away for the second time. She looked into the aqua pools and searched for any reason to doubt him but saw none. Pulling back, she did see something. From the corners of her eyes she could see shadows lapping at his feet . She jumped backwards and the shadows were on him at once. Taking a step forward again, she watched the shadows retreat to the floor as if they were watching Mason. Atla heard him speaking but could not register the words. Mentally she reached for her sister, finding her with ease and allowing her to see what she saw.

Tarani was calling in an instant. The trill of her phone broke the trance she was in. Answering with a snap, “Tarani, what the hell is it?”

“Ati, I don’t know, it’s either drawn to him or wants to use him to hurt you! But that doesn’t matter! Do what you planned on doing and get far away from him.”

“Tari, no! I need him. I can’t explain it, but I need him.”

“I don’t give a damn what you think you need, wipe his memory or I will come there and do it myself!”

“What and ruffle your perfect feathers? I dare you to come use your abilities, let loose for like five f*****g seconds Tari!”

“Don’t threaten me! Take care of things before I have to!”

“No, you don’t see what I see. I need him and he needs me! He doesn’t want to hurt me, he just wants me!”

“Atlani! You are 18 years old. You may think you are an adult, but you are not. I was not put on the earth to protect you so you could go rogue. Fix this now. He doesn’t want you. Whatever the shadows are doing to him makes him want you.” With a sigh she added, “Honey, it’s not real.”

“It’s not my fault you never feel anything! I am feeling something very real. We can’t be manipulated. Did you forget that?”

“Did you forget about the Forbidden Book? There is so much about us that we don’t know! Those shadows could be there to hurt you Ati now finish it.”

Her tone rang with finality. No matter how much Katie despised it, she knew her sister wasn’t trying to hurt her. It was just happening that way. The conversation had taken her attention away from Mason, who sat beside her playing with her hair. She leaned into him, breathing deeply allowing his scent to wrap around her in a hug.

“Fine.”

“I want to hear it, Atla. I need to hear you banish yourself from his thoughts, past, present and future.”

Fuck, she thought. Putting the phone on speaker, she grabbed Mason’s face in her hands, pushing up onto her toes to press a kiss to his lips one last time. He groaned into her mouth, the sound reverberating through her.

“Sure doesn’t sound like the talking I need to hear.”

Katie blushed and looked into his eyes again, for what she realized was probably the last time. She sighed, tears burning her eyes and spilling over.

He kissed her tears from her cheeks as she spoke, “Mason LaFae, I have never known anything like the feelings I have felt for you and I know I will never feel them again. But I must ask that you forget these feelings, forget the pull between us and you forget me altogether. You will not remember me being any part of your past, present or future. You will not see me walking past you in the hallways nor feel me entering a room. You never knew Katherine Zigli, and when asked you will say as much. Mason, you will go on with life and find someone who matches you. You will find a love that tames you and lets you continue your life uninterrupted. You will not think of me, you will not dream of me. I did not exist.”

Tears were streaming heavily down her face. She hiccups, “I think I may have felt the beginnings of something magical, but we will never know it. You will never know me. Anything you have to say now will be final and everlasting with me but never remembered by you. Speak now.”

Confused, he grabbed the back of her neck and pressed a kiss on her lips. Breathing in everything about him and remembering this feeling, she broke away, repeating with more force, “Speak now.”

“I do apologize for the door. You walked into it, but that’s never how I imagined meeting a love that would set my world ablaze. Two seconds was all it took for you to steal my heart. I moved into this small town to endure small town life. And here you are anything but that. I cannot imagine a world without you in it. A world where I can simply walk past you is not a world I want to bear. You are right. This is something magical, but good or bad shouldn’t we discover that together? I will walk hand in hand with you into whatever darkness surrounds me. Darkness be damned. I did not get slammed with all of these feelings for you to take them away. Don’t do this, Atlani please. Don’t take it all away, let’s relish it. Let’s try to defeat the odds. It’s been what? 48 hours and our worlds are already upside down and sideways. Let's just jump in and see where the tide takes us. I promise I will do my best to protect you, although from what I have seen you don’t need my protection. You do very well on your own, but I will protect your heart. Of that I am certain. Let me at least do that, Atlani please.”

Full on sobs were escaping Atlani’s chest threatening to swallow her whole. After a few moments, her sobs quieted, but she could hear similar noises from her sister. Picking up the phone before she could speak, Tarani said, “ Don’t. Ati don’t do it.”, Relieved her breath left her in a rush.

“What made you change your mind? Not that I don’t like it, I do, but what changed it for you?”

“I can tell that he is sincere. I don’t quite know how, but I know he will do anything for you.”

“Sis, I love you and thank you, but I am hanging up now. I have a man I need to talk to.”

“Love you, be safe.”

“Hey! Mind if I ditch school today? You know major darkness findings and love declarations kind of make for an emotionally exhausting day.”

“Only if he ditches with you. I don’t want you to be alone right now. Geez! Never thought I would be the sister that encourages bad behavior, but what the hell! Crisis averted for now, right?”

“Right! Thank you!”

“Bye!”

With that conversation out of the way and Mason looking at her with those beautiful eyes, her face broke into a massive smile. She took his hand and led him out of the school, thankful that they had both gotten there early enough to not allow students to see them sneaking out, especially together.