When the Sky Comes Down

Chapter 18

[Alexia’s P.O.V.]

Saturday is a strange day. Nicole and Keith are away, which I don’t mind, but Harlen keeps rushing off at the most strange moments. He makes sure to leave me behind some place he feels is safe: the library, the kitchen. I baked muffins and made bacon, I looked for good books and note down the titles. I take a bite off the bacon I made and look out of the window. Harlen rushed off again. I wonder if I am capable of finding the recreation room myself. They have a lot of different activities to do there, Harlen showed me earlier. I pick up the plate with bacon and muffins and start wandering around. I am lucky, it doesn’t take me long to actually find it. I put down the plate on coffee table and try to get the tv going. I never had one and Harlen put the one in my room on last time.

‘Everything alright?’ I look up. A handsome boy is standing in the doorway. He has blonde hair that is so light it looks almost silver. Not the grey kind of silver, but a warmer one, leaning towards gold. He has these honey brown eyes and a strong jawline. He is rather big, bigger even than my brother I suspect. He is muscular, he probably works out. I recognise the boy, but I cannot seem to remember his name. Isn’t he part of one of the school’s sports teams? He points at me. ‘Alexia, right?’ he asks. I nod. ‘Trevor,’ he says, with a smile on his face. ‘I’m one year above you. At school, I mean.’ He walks up to me. ‘Are you having trouble with the tv?’

I bite my lip, as I doubt whether or not to tell him that I don’t know how it works. I pushes a few buttons and the screen goes on. ‘There you go,’ he says. He sounds kind. ‘Would you like to play a game?’ he asks, as he takes out two strange looking devices.

‘Eeeh-‘ I answer. ‘I don’t know how,’ I decide to admit.

He smiles at me. It isn’t a mocking smile, it is a kind one. ‘I’ll teach you then.’

Half a hour later, Trevor is sitting behind me, hands on mine, trying to make me respond quickly. I can’t help but laugh. He is very fanatic against a group of competitors we don’t even know. ‘Jump, jump!’ he says. I hit the X, making the figure on the screen jump. ‘Now run.’ He pushes his thumb against mine, making the joystick move.

‘Aaaah,’ I scream, as one of the other characters is following us and shooting red boubles. ‘Jump, jump,’ I say, as I start hitting X. Trevor starts laughing as the character on the screen starts jumping and running.

‘You’re getting the hang of it,’ he tells me. I feel his breath in my neck and I blush. ‘Come on,’ he says. ‘Let’s win this game.’

It takes me about two more minutes to die. ‘Aaah,’ Trevor says, in disappointment, throwing his upper body back into the pillows. It makes his legs move forward, pushing me right up against his crotch. He doesn’t even seem to notice, but I do. He laughs and moves forward gain, pinning me between his arms. ‘Another game?’ he asks, as he puts his hands on mine again. I nod.

Another half hour later, I am actually getting better. It might be because I have gotten to know his movements better, so I can better anticipate on what he wants me to do. ‘Almost there,’ he says. ‘Almost there.’ The clock runs out and the points appear on the screen. ‘Second place!’ he says, enthusiastic. ‘You got into second place.’ I giggle and turn my body a little. He seems so excited. He lets go of my hands and hugs me. ‘We got second place!’ I can’t help but feel excited too. He laughs and cradles me a little from one side to the other. ‘For someone who has never played before, you are getting really good.’

‘Thank you,’ I say. I lean back against him. I have to admit, it feels nice being in his arms.

‘My pleasure. Hey, I got one of these in my room too. At school, I mean. So if you ever feel like playing a game, you can come up to my room. Where’s yours at?’ He continues cradling a little. His chin is resting on the top of my head.

‘East wing, third floor,’ I tell him. I let my fingers play with the joystick a little.

‘Mine too,’ he says, a little surprised. He pulls back his face in surprise. ‘Now I feel like an idiot.’ He places his forehead against the back of my head. ‘I should have known. Strange that we never ran into each other before.’ I swear I can him sniff a little. ‘I’m in room 380, the first of the private rooms on the floor.’

‘You have a private room?’ I ask. That means he is one of the higher ranked wolves of the pack. He chuckles  and leans back, pulling me along.

‘Yeah, you didn’t know?’ he seems a little surprised.

‘I didn’t know,’ I tell him. ‘I am still really new to all of this.’

‘No worries,’ he tells me. ‘You’ll get the hang of it.’ I relax a little in his arms. For some reason the pressure of the hug, makes me feel really at ease. So does his scent and voice. I close my eyes and concentrate on his breathing. ‘You’re falling asleep,’ he notices, making me startle a little. ‘It is quite late,’ he says. ‘May I bring you to your room?’

I nod. I have to admit, I feel a little drowsy. Trevor manages to push me up when getting up himself. He makes sure I am standing firmly, before letting go of me. I miss the warmth of his arms immediately. He gently puts his hand on my back, not too low, not too high. He gently pushes, so I start moving.

‘Which one is yours?’ he asks, as we walk into the hallway for guestrooms.

‘The one opposite to the painting of the old lady with the bandana,’ I answer. Trevor laughs.

‘That’s a good way to remember where your room is.’ He leads me along to the right room. ‘Here we are,’ he says. ‘I had fun. I hope we can do this again some time.’

I feel my chest heating up. ‘Isn’t that something people say after a date?’ I didn’t intent to say that out loud.

‘I suppose they do,’ he says. ‘Perhaps next time, we can have an actual date?’ I turn to him, completely awake now. ‘If you’d like?’

For a moment, I can’t seem to get a word out. ‘I…‘ I look into his golden eyes. Even his eyes look friendly. ‘…would like that,’ I finish my sentence.

He smiles widely. ‘Good.’ He says. ‘How about next week Saturday?’ He asks. ‘We can make it a day.’ I smile and nod. I have to admit that it sounds fun. I have never been on a date before. I should ask Nicole for advice when we get back to school. He places a kiss on my cheek and I feel them burn. He graces it with his fingers. ‘Cute,’ he says, smiling widely. ‘I will probably see you tomorrow.’ He winks, then turns around and leaves. I watch him walk away for a little while, before entering my room. To my surprise, it’s unlocked.

A girl is laying on my bed, going through one of my books. I stare at her in awe. She is small, maybe a year of twelve old. She has long, blonde hair, wild eyebrows and large, puffy lips. ‘Gina?’ I ask, recognising her as the girl from yesterday. She looks up and smiles.

‘I was wondering when you would get here,’ she says. She closes my book and places it on the nightstand. ‘Did you have a good time?’

‘Eh?’ I close the door behind me.

‘Harlen was looking for you. I made sure he didn’t find you,’ she giggles. ‘Figured you would need a little time away from him. Is he always that obsessive?’

‘Eh,’ I respond again. I have no idea how to respond to this.

‘He probably is.’ She gets up from my bed. ‘You’re a great drawer,’ she takes my hand and pulls me to the bed. ‘Do you think you can teach me?’ She grabs my drawing book and opens it. ‘Are you always drawing with a purpose, or is it spontaneous?’ She starts going through my drawings. ‘I like this one, who is he?’ She points at a drawing of Coden.

‘That’s Coden,’ I say. I sometimes just draw what comes to mind or who I see. Whether it is conscious or not. Like with the Old Worlds test. My mind wanders and I start drawing. ‘He’s a friend.’

‘Oh, not your boyfriend?’ She giggles. ‘I bet you get a lot of attention. You look nice, you smell even better. That’s why I came here, you know, because you smell nice. I bet a lot of girls are jealous of you.’ She continues going through my drawing. ‘Have you had s*x already?’

‘I- Eh, sorry?’ I mutter. She is like a waterfall of words. I have a hard time following, especially because I am already tired.

‘s*x?’ she repeats. ‘Maybe not? You should, it’s nice.’

‘How old are you?’ I manage to ask.

She looks up at me. ‘I’m 15, I’ll be starting school next year. I hope we can be friends then?’ She gives me a smile. ‘Maybe even share a room. I like your smell, so at least if we share a room I wouldn’t be stuck with someone who stinks. Are you sharing a room with someone now? I bet you do. Not to sound like I think you’re poor, but you look like someone who would share a room with others. I could get a private room, you know, but I don’t want to. I think it’s more fun to share a room. Like a permanent sleep over. Maybe it’s because I am already sharing a room with my two sisters. I’m one of three, you see. A triplet. Not identical, thank god.’ She waves her hands. ‘Who is this? He is cute? Is he really that muscular? If so, does he have a girlfriend? I bet he does, look at him.’ She holds up a drawing of my brother. ‘I would definitely-‘

‘Gina!’ Harlen comes barging in. ‘Boundaries!’

‘But I-‘ He looks angry, so angry that Gina decides to shut her mouth and leave quietly. He shuts the door behind her and comes storming up to me. He grabs onto me tightly, so tightly that the air is pressed out of my lungs. ‘Where were you? I have been looking all over for you. I was so worried.’ He buries his head against my neck and breathes heavily. ‘Did anyone get to you? Did anyone try anything? I should never have left you alone.’

‘Harlen, calm down,’ I tell him. ‘I was with someone from school. We played games in the recreation room, then he brought me back here. No harm, no foul.’ I don’t understand why he’s so worried. This is his pack after all, I cannot imagine anyone hurting me here.

He mumbles something against my skin and then gives it a kiss. ‘Harlen, you’re squeezing me too tight.’ He lets go a little.

‘Sorry,’ he mumbles.

‘I’m a little tired,’ I tell him.

‘Okay,’ he mumbles, he pushes me onto bed and holds me tight.

‘Harlen,’ I say. ‘You’re gonna have to let me go.’ His grip tightens. ‘Harlen. I need to get ready for bed and you need to leave.’ He mumbles something again. I keep quiet for a moment. ‘It’s time for bed,’ I tell him.

He slowly lets go of me. ‘Okay,’ he whispers. He sounds sad. ‘Make sure to lock the door?’

I nod. He gets up and shuffles out with his head hanging.

‘Goodnight Harlen,’ I tell him, before closing and locking the door behind him.

I let out a sigh and touch my sides. They even hurt a little from the squeezing Harlen did. Sometimes I cannot quite understand him. I rub my temples and walk to the bathroom. Time to get ready for bed.

[Keith’s P.O.V.]

I stretch my legs and dig my nails into the dirt. It has been so long since I have changed into a wolf that I feel the need to stretch my muscles and bones. The sad thing about not being part of a pack, is not being able to mind link to them. We can still talk, in different ways. In gestures, sounds and stance, but really talking, that is impossible without being part of the pack. Nicole looks at me. It’s the first time we see each other as wolves. She has a yellow-brownish fur, a little darker than the colour of her hair. Her eyes are still the same honey brown colour, though a little bigger. She is slim, but her hind legs are muscular, showing she is likely to be a quick runner. She is a beautiful wolf. She pushes her black nose against my neck, pushing me a little. I give her a playful bite. She grins. It’s strange to see a wolf grin. It’s a different way of showing teeth than when someone is hostile. I give her a little push and she starts to walk. I follow. Walking turns into running quickly. She might be a quick runner, but so am I. All senses are sharpened when turning into a wolf, even more so than when in human form. We can anticipate and react quicker, we can smell better, see better, hear better. I jump over a rock and continue pursuing Nicole. She blends in nicely with the trees. I’m sure she’s a great hunter too. Me, I have a dark brown fur, but I know I am too loud to be good at hunting. I never actually learned to do so.

When we get to the lake, we stop. I’m sure Lexi would love this place, it’s very serene. Nicole pokes her nose against my fur a few times, then lifts up her paw and pushes. She clearly wants my attention. I rub my head against her neck. She lets out a sound that sounds very inviting. We know we cannot have s*x while here. There is too much risk. I lick her nose and then nod her along. We walk alongside the lake. The sun is still out, but is lower than before. We have been out here longer than I thought. A wolf shoots out of the bushes and starts growling at us. I feel the hairs on my back stand up and I reveal my teeth in a low growl. Nicole does the same. She is clearly in some sort of conversation with the other wolf, meaning he is from the same pack. He is bigger than her, but way smaller than me. He has a black and grey fur and dark green eyes. He barks, clearly mad, she barks back. I just keep growling. He steps forward, clearly angry. I know that even within packs fights can break out. II move between Nicole and the strange wolf and make myself bigger, I growl louder. I make it clear that he should back off and he does. He lowers his head, growling, and moves back. I bark at him and his growling stops. Once I am convinced that he is no danger to Nicole anymore, I start calming down and step aside a little, to let Nicole by.

They seem to talk a little more and eventually the wolf leaves. To my surprise, Nicole changes into her human form. I do the same. ‘Sorry about that.’ I wrap my arms around her and put my forehead against hers. ‘Hmm,’ she says, in enjoyment.

‘Why was he angry?’ I ask softly.

‘He didn’t know you, he thought I brought in a stray.’ I chuckle. I have never been called a stray before. ‘We’re not allowed to bring in anyone without permission. He is one of the guards, wasn’t informed correctly.’ She gives me a kiss. ‘You were very sexy, with your growling,’ she tells me, before giving me another kiss.

‘Hmmm,’ I say. I enjoy this.

‘He was very impressed by you,’ she tells me. She gives me another kiss. Her hands move over my but. ‘A little intimidated.’ Another kiss.

‘Hmmm,’ I respond. ‘We cannot have s*x Nici.’ She gives me another kiss. ‘Don’t tempt me.’

‘Am I?’ she asks. ‘Tempting you.’ She gently brushes her lips over my cheek. I growl a little. She is testing me. She pulls back and smiles.

I sigh and put my head against her shoulder. ‘Very tempting,’ I tell her. I look up and give her a kiss. ‘Shall we run around a little longer?’ I ask.

‘Sounds good.’ I let go of her and step back, shifting into my wolf form. My bones break and my fur grows, ripping apart my skin. The first few times it hurt, but eventually we all get used to it. It actually starts feeling good, as if you get to step into another body and reform your own. It can almost feel like a relief. When I look at her, she has also shifted.

She starts running and I follow in her footsteps.