The Blood King

5: Faded Amber

THE GROUP was already at the meeting point by the time I was able to convince myself that the promise I made to Damon should be kept. I told myself all sorts of lies to get out of my house. As I took a bottle of water from my fridge I almost passed out when I saw the fur-ball curled on my couch. Banes was not a dream which meant what I experienced with Rayn was real. I saw the red mark he left on my neck and it tingled every time I touched it. Good thing was that I was able to cover it with my white turtleneck. I put on my toughest boot because I had been up that forest and I knew how the path was. I left some milk for Banes and made a mental note to get proper cat food as I made my way out.

"Liv!" Damon called out and waved to me.

I bee-lined my way to him, passing through the throng of people who excitedly muttered among themselves. I still didn't know why I woke up early that morning. I mean, I could have been at home still asleep by now. Instead, I was outside the Blackstone forest waiting to kill my legs trekking for almost an hour deep into it and then after that, pretend I was enjoying eating from canisters.

"You made it." Damon was more excited than I could ever be.

"Yeah, I didn't want you to come to my place and break down my door." She assured him as she zipped her jacket and pushed her hands deep in her pockets. "Remind me again why I am here, doing this with you."

"You are here to socialize with other people other than your mirror at home. I mean look around you." He said excitedly and when I looked around, I was greeted by the unfamiliar faces of people I knew wouldn't even bother to want to know my name. Damon was always enthusiastic and optimistic about everything and because of these two natures of his, it was very easy for him to walk to complete strangers and strike up a conversation with them.

"They are so many people you can talk to." Damon said as he checked his backpack.

I sighed in defeat. I never could win an argument with him back then so I wasn't giving myself false hope to think that I could now.

"Hey, Olivia." Someone came over to where we were and greeted us.

I looked up and my heart burst in my chest in surprise. It was the same woman who came to Kenny's for a meal and later stepped out with her brother for a cigarette break. She knew my name even though I wasn't wearing my name-tag that day.

"Hi--uh..."

"Tamara." She extended her gloved hand to me with a polite smile on her face. She looked as good as she did that night. I must hand it her, she knew how to choose the best cuts of clothing that fitted her perfectly. When I excepted her hand, she turned to her brother and introduced him to us. "This is Jaylan, my brother."

That morning, he didn't have his phone but he looked a little uncomfortable being out there and I concluded that maybe he was the indoors kind of person.

Jaylan removed his hand from his jacket pocket and gave us a wave. "Hello."

"Great morning for trekking right?" Tamara said and excitement beamed in her eyes as she stared at me.

I was just sorry I couldn't reflect the same enthusiasm as her. I just gave her a nod. "Yeah, it is. This is my friend, Damon."

"Hello, Damon--is he your boyfriend?" I was baffled by how blatant Tamara was. I almost choked on my tongue at the question.

Once upon a time, maybe he would have been but at that moment he was more a brother to me. Instinctively I touched the little red mark that Rayn left last night and shook my head. "No, he is just a very close friend."

"It's no wonder...with that scent I mean." Jaylan suddenly muttered as she rubbed his nose with his index finger.

I frowned at him in puzzlement and Tamara chuckled softly and shook her head. "Please don't mind him. He is always swimming in his own world. He has awkward social skills."

But I recalled he spoke very well to me the last time they were at Kenny's. I watched as Jaylan turned and walked to where the guides were.

I looked as Damon who stood just behind Tamara and he excitedly gave me thumbs-up while mouthing YOU ARE DOING GREAT... I rolled my eyes as the guides started making the arrangements for the trekking. When it started, I noticed that Tamara didn't leave my side and that Jaylan was walking slowly behind us with Damon.

"So, are you from around here?" I thought I needed to get rid of the awkward silence between us.

Tamara sighed and nodded. "Yeah but I never really lived here. Because of my father's work, Jaylan and I moved quite a lot--South America, Nepal, Australia, Alaska..." she spoke and my eyes almost rolled out of their sockets.

I was right when I knew Tamara and her brother were not normal. They traveled to very exotic places that I could only dream about. It was amazing but quite confusing at why they would suddenly be interested in a small town like Blackstone.

"Is your father a diplomat or something?" I found myself blurting because I remembered having a classmate whose father was a diplomat and he moved around a lot too.

Tamara chuckled softly and nodded. "Yeah, something like that."

"It must have been amazing to move around like that. I can't imagine just moving into another town or the city. It's scary."

Tamara looked at me and said. "You get scared in the beginning but later, you get used to it. There is a whole world out there to explore, Olivia. It is beautiful."

I could feel her excitement as if it were mine. She looked like she really loved traveling and seeing these new destinations. "So, what made you return to Blackstone Creek. I can tell that Jaylan is not so thrilled coming here, right?"

Tamara's smile disappeared and turned her eyes towards the meandering road in front of them. "Our oldest brother is getting....promoted to a new important position next week and we have to be here as his family to support him."

"Oh. You must be proud of him." I said with a smile on my face. I mean if it were Damon who was getting ahead in his career, I would have bought a new dress for the occasion.

Tamara just gave me a little smile and looked ahead for a moment then asked. "So, you like trekking for real or did your friend practically pull you out of the bed like I did Jaylan?"

I gave her an embarrassed smile. Was it that obvious that I didn't want to be there? "I guess Jaylan and I have a lot in common."

Tamara laughed lightly. "Jaylan loves the indoors and food. I on the other hand, was made for the great outdoors."

Jaylan was my spirit animal. I thought quietly.

"That night after your shift--did you get home alright?" Tamara suddenly asked me.

I nodded then asked her. "How did you know my name that night when I wasn't wearing my name-tag?"

Tamara frowned pensively. "Someone must have called to you, I guess."

I wasn't convinced. Tamara and Jaylan were strange. 

Suddenly Tamara stopped and narrowed her eyes on the arm of my jacket. She reached forward and removed a hair then looked at it and gasped. "You didn't tell me your cat is an Egyptian Mau."

My eyebrows snapped up to my forehead. "You can tell the breed by looking at just one hair? You must love cats."

I didn't miss the look she passed at Jaylan before she turned back to the pathway looking a little disturbed. "Yeah, I have one myself. Her name is Mystic."

"You got yourself a cat, Liv?" Damon asked her in surprise because he knew how much I always complained about keeping pets and having to clean up after them.

"Yeah..." I muttered, annoyed that Damon picked up our conversation because I knew he was the only one who could catch me in a lie.

"That is a very rare cat breed. Did you adopt it from here?" Jaylan asked suddenly curious about my conversation with Tamara too. What was so interesting about this particular cat?

"No, I got it from a friend." I really wanted to stop that conversation because it kept on taking me back to last night with Rayn. "So, how long are you here for?" I derailed the conversation because I wasn't ready to share anymore details about Bane. I knew it was going to make me release information about Rayn that I didn't want to share at the moment. Tamara and Jaylan were complete strangers and even though Damon was encouraging me to make more friends, somehow I felt it was not a coincidence that they were at Kenny's that evening and now they were trekking with me. 

Though my sixth sense wasn't blaring any warning alarms, I knew something was off.

"It depends..." Tamara stole a quick look at her brother then said. "If we get a good enough reason to remain behind then I think it is safe to say we might stay here for a longer time."

Suddenly two men pushed their way between Tamara and I and I lost my balance. I was heading down to the damp, foliage covered ground when strong hands gripped my arms and steadied me. I turned around and discovered it was Jaylan but what made my heart stutter was not that he saved me from utter humiliation but by the way he was looking at the two men who passed.

"Are you okay?" Damon came forward.

I nodded as I steadied myself. "Thanks, Jaylan--ouch!" Pain rippled from my wrist down to my fingers. I gripped my arm as Jaylan moved around me towards the men who had vanished in the crowd of people ahead of us.

"s**t Liv, you are bleeding." Damon held my hand up and blood ran down in a thin rivulet from my wrist down to my fingers. It dropped in splotches to the ground. 

"Fuck..." Tamara's mouth thinned as she removed her water bottle and poured some of it on the cut. She quickly removed what looked like a clean cloth and tied it around my hand to stop the bleeding. Her face paled as she looked at where Jaylan disappeared to then back to me. "I need to get you off this hill." she said.

I chuckled softly. "It's okay, Tamara. It's just a small cut. I think one of those men must have placed their pocket knife badly in his pockets. No need for concern." But I couldn't deny the fact that the air had suddenly become too heavy to breath in. A light sweat glazed over my skin and I knew something in the air was wrong.

I felt imminent danger that was surrounding us. When I looked at Damon, he too, was concerned about me. 

A howling rang from a distance within the thickly intertwined trees around them. Everyone stopped and began to mutter among themselves. This was very strange because although there were wolves in those woods, during that time of the year, they migrated because food became scarce. 

"Everyone stop!" One of the guides called out as Jaylan came back to them, his eyes bright with excitement. 

"Hounds." He announced to Tamara.

"More like wolves." I corrected him. Dogs didn't howl like that. 

"She's attracting them with her blood." Jaylan pointed to my wound.

I laughed in confusion. "What are you talking about? This little cut is what is bringing in the wolves?"

Damon sighed. "It's too small to attract anything."

Tamara and Jaylan stared grimly at me and Damon and Tamara said. "Believe me when I say it's enough. You are putting everyone here in danger. You need to get off the forest right now."

"I agree with Tamara." Damon said suddenly. "Plus, you are risking an infection. Let's get you down so that you can get it patched."

"I have some band-aids--" Another howl echoed and this time it was so close that everyone around me jumped in trepidation. 

I felt the danger as if it were the very air we breathed. Who was I kidding? We all needed to get down from that forest. I didn't need to act all brave when I knew it was plain dumb to go up against wolves. 

"Okay, let's get back." I said suddenly.

As we started making our way back, one of the guides came to stop us. "Where do you think you are going? We need to stick together if we want to survive this. If we break into groups, the wolves will get easy pickings."

"She's hurt herself, she will bring more danger to the others as long as she stands here. We need to get her away." Tamara explained then smiled sweetly. "Don't worry, I know these woods quite well and we will be alright. You just get back to your flock over there."

I looked at the guide and his eyes glazed over before he gave a nod then said. "I'll just get back to my flock over there." then he turned and left them.

The guides usually knew a lot but it was so strange that this particular guide didn't even argue with Tamara. He simply walked back to where he was before. Too many things were happening around me to pay too much attention to just one person so I followed Jaylan who took his position in front of me. Tamara walked beside me and she constantly darted her eyes to the sides, making sure nothing would jump out and drag me away while Damon walked behind me. 

As we made our way down the meandering footpath, i could have sworn I occasionally saw shadows and movement within the trees as if we were being escorted down by the wolves...or that the wolves were looking for the opportunity to jump at us. Jaylan moved swiftly before us. He looked like a person who knew that forest very well. The muffled sounds of quick steps on the wet foliage and breaking twigs filtered to my ears from all around us. I could also hear snarling of the wolves but my hopes were elevated when we reached the clearance that we started with. We had not yet reached the clearance when Jaylan suddenly stiffened and turned to his left side before he started towards a silhouette that looked like a man standing. The silhouette faded but Jaylan chased after it.

"Jay! No!" Tamara called out for him but Jaylan was soon swallowed by the trees.

The speed at which he ran baffled both Damon and I. I knew fast people but Jaylan was like a missile as he vanished into the forest. 

"For f**k's sake." Tamara cursed as we stopped at the clearance and she quickly pulled out her phone. She quickly dialed a number and moved a few feet from where we were before mumbling something angrily on the phone. 

I looked up at Damon in surprise. He was as shocked as I was but he was more concerned for my wound. He touched it again and looked into my eyes.

"Does it hurt?" He asked me.

I forced a smile and shook my head. "Nope. I think the bleeding has stopped even." When Tamara returned to where we were standing I could no longer hide my panic. "What the hell happened? Where did Jaylan run off to and who was that man in the trees?"

Tamara bit her lower lip nervously as she looked at the forest and sighed. "It's safer if you don't know."

"Tamara, we just go away from a pack of wolves who were practically hunting us down and suddenly, your brother takes off towards a shadow like some crazy person!" Damon stated. "Don't you think we have passed the safety part?"

"This is bigger than you can ever fathom, Damon." Tamara assured him. "Besides, you are a negligible factor in this whole thing so don't worry." 

 I could have sworn Tamara just insulted Damon and poor Damon wasn't even aware. I felt that something was happening around me. It was as if the world I had come to know and love was suddenly opening the gates of hell and inviting in the spawns of Satan on earth. From the moment I woke up after my brush with death, I knew I received the gift of perception into a forbidden place from Rayn. I kept on dismissing the strange details that occurred in my life after that giving the excuse that it was just my overacting imagination but that day, standing there with Tamara after witnessing whatever it was that was chasing us in the forest, I knew it was not just in imagination. It was happening in real time. It explained why I heard Rayn's voice in my head last night, telling me good night and warning me not to let the security guard into my apartment. It explained why the security guard was so scared of Karl. It explained why I thought the two men who brushed past me and Tamara on that forest were the same ones that hid in the shadows the night Tamara and Jaylan came to eat at Kenny's.

It also explained how Rayn was suddenly in my house and he disappeared without a trace soon after the knock on my door. 

Panic was welling in my stomach but I had to brave whatever that was happening. In all those circumstances, I was the common factor which meant that something must have happened to me on that night to make me a target to the...gulp...supernatural.

There, I stated it. Something supernatural was happening and I was in the middle of it.

I was just trying to come into terms with this new reality when Jaylan suddenly broke out from the line of trees and stalked towards us carrying someone in his arms. My heart burst in my ribs seeing how limp and grey that person looked and from Jaylan's stormy gaze, I knew we were about to hear very bad news.

Damon rushed to him and wanted to help Jaylan with the body, asking him so many questions at the same time but he abruptly stopped and his shoulders stiffened as he looked down at the girl in Jaylan's hands.

My breathing came out in shallow gasps as I absentmindedly walked to where Jaylan placed the girl on the ground. A wave of nausea and dizziness hit me when I recognized her matted hair and her drawn pale face. My legs buckled underneath me and I found myself collapsing beside her. Her faded eyes stared sightlessly to the skies, her cheeks stained with dried tears and mascara. The expression on her face was that of terror.

"Amber..." I whimpered as my shaky hands brushed her hair from her face. 

Amber was dead...murdered by someone. She had bruises around her neck and in her wrists. The gray pallor of her skin told me that her body might have been out there the whole night.

"Amber!" I screamed as I tried to wake her up with tears running down my cheeks but Tamara held me back. Suddenly, I was propelled back to that night when I laid on that cold ground, waiting for death to claim me and receiving the information that Vela was dead. The same despair overwhelmed me as I looked down at Amber.

Did Vela have the same look when she died? Was she scared or was she at peace? I couldn't hear anything that people were telling me at that moment. I didn't see the people that came running towards us nor see Damon who ran his hands through his hair so many times as he cursed quietly to himself. 

My body was suddenly yanked from Amber's cold one and I was crushed onto a chest that should have comforted me. Arms went around me, holding me close and a familiar scent engulfed me but it didn't do s**t for my state of mind. I was in an emotional mess, crying and screaming, hardly believing what I was witnessing. 

"Hush now, Olivia..." I thick velvety voice whispered against my ear. "You'll make yourself sick if you continue like this." He warned me as he hugged me tighter. 

I moved back and looked up at this man who was trying to be my anchorage back to sanity and cobalt eyes stared back at me. My heart stuttered and my breath hitched. He was there!

How was he always there at my weakest? Last night, he came when I was recalled my time in the park and I didn't want to be alone at my place. Now, he was there when I was about to lose my mind.

"Rayn..." my lower lip quivered as I wanted to explain to him what happened but the look of remorse in his eyes told me he knew more than I expected. Only two words escaped my lips and I knew he would understand them better; "Amber's dead."

"I'm sorry." He said as he placed a kiss on my forehead and hugged me again. I snuggled deeper into his arms and wept. I knew I was safe in his arms and the solid world fell away, leaving me standing in a world that consisted of just him and me. "I am sorry I couldn't get to her sooner..." He added.

Amber was gone...forever...