The Last Hope

Chapter 13~ Echo

Damp dew on dark grass, flying past me. I am a wolf, and I am not alone. Aria is nipping at my back legs, yipping and calling to me. Suddenly we are rolling down a hill, tangled together, laughing like children again. The hill ended in a large field that I recognized as my junior high soccer field. In the middle there was a group of faceless human-shaped masses beating on a young naked boy- Kota. The memory of when I reunited with him, as though I had gone back in time, and back to this moment. I could go and save him again, or turn away and have the life that was stolen from me. I hear him cry out, pleading for someone to help him. The field is crowded with people I never noticed were there, all faceless, walking passed. No one would step up as he wailed louder and louder. I didn't even decide I would when I kicked one of the masses down. Everyone around me suddenly stopped moving and Kota went silent. They all were facing me, but they weren't human, they had horns or tails or were horrifying silhouettes, and they watched me for only a second before rushing in and attacking me, they pulled my hair and punched every part of me. I was being suffocated. In a burst of brightness, they flew back as though the light were an explosion. I rose up stories above them, flying. I had wings, more grand than any bird known to man- pale blue leathery wings, 10 feet across or more. They all cowered away, and I lowered myself to Kota to free him from the pole, and he just looked at me, horrified. Aria was several feet behind him, both gawking at my wings, then slowly backing away. I asked what they were doing, that they shouldn't be afraid of me. As they got further, the bright light dimmed to shadows, and when I looked behind me, the wings were black as charcoal, feathers like fire still burning. A giant dragon with two heads then hovered over me, strings attached to its claws, holding everyone I knew like puppets, breaking the head off of each one, one at a time. I snapped awake with a soft gasp as I clenched my blankets. Looking over to my left where Aria was still soundly sleeping. The sun hasn't come up yet, but the sky is getting lighter, so we will most likely be leaving within a couple of hours. My mind is less crowded and overtaken by the lost memories I had. I wince as my head pulses, pushing me upright in the bed, two fingers on my temple. I was blinded by the effusion of memories, I wasn't myself... I move my hand to my cheeks to try and calm the burning as I remember kissing Aria. Should I have done that...? What about Kota? Maybe I should accept the fact that I may never see him again... If this creature; the 'FireWalkers' are after me, I would be putting him in danger if I had him with me. He's not the strongest, and I don't think I would be able to protect him. Am I thinking that to just protect him, or because then I could be back with Aria? Sure those memories were mine when I was a toddler and young child, but they were strong enough that I started rediscovering love for her when I didn't even remember who Echo was, but I have spent most of my life knowing Kota and loving him for years now. To him, I'm still kidnapped, should I just leave him to think that I'm dead and never come back, picking up this life where I left it? I look at Aria over my shoulder, how peaceful and sweet she looks when she sleeps. What if she's not even the same person she was when we were children? She has seemed more mature and harder in many ways, but still the soft-hearted child I now remember. I will be staying with her for the time being; I don't have much choice in the matter. Whatever was after me that one day must have gotten me, and is after me again. I need answers about what went on in the gap of my memory.
"Is everything alright, Echo?" Aria asked drowsily, rubbing sleep out of her eye as she perched herself on one elbow.
"Yes. I'm just thinking." I blush. She laughs at me, and teases me for turning so red.
"You seem different from last night..." She tilts her head.
"I've just sorted out most of my memories." I smiled, but she didn't smile back.
"So you're back to being Rae?" She asked. The question confused me at first. Then I furrow my eyebrows at her.
"It's not like that, Aria. I just learned that I have a completely different family and life than the one I spent most of my life living. The shift back won't be immediate." I huffed, turning away and swinging out of the bed, but at the last second, Aria grabbed my wrist gently, keeping me from leaving.
"Please, don't go... I'm sorry. It's not easy for me ether, I will be more patient and considerate to you adapting back to things, but you must understand everything that I went through as well. Those years you built your other life, I spent remembering you and missing you. I fought so hard to find you, searched so long and far the second I looked old enough to not be stopped where ever I went to be asked 'where's your parents?'" Her voice started cracking, "Echo, you're my born pair. I would rather die than lose you again. I understand that you found someone else, and am working at accepting that, even if you decide to go back to him after everything, but can you please promise me now that I can still at least be where you are." I can see tears welling up in her eyes as the words bit her tongue. Guilt built up inside me again, and I wrapped my arms around her, whispering in her ear that I do promise him that. Just as I move back to sitting on the bed, a loud CRASH sounded from the front door, making us both jump; someone just broke in. We throw an alarmed look at each other and jump from the bed. I scan the room looking for anything I could use as a weapon, to no prevail. I settle on grabbing the suit case from the bed and charging from the room after Aria. I skid into the wall as I run around the corner and stampede into the living room where I heard Aria yell at the intruder, then a loud WACK that I easily recognize as a fist contacting to its target. I stop and lean back as my socks slide coasting me into the living room and into a fight. A middle aged man is bent over on his knees just to the left of the hall, feet away from the open front door where Aria is hurling her body through. The man looks up to me, shock and fear painted across his face. "Ec-... Echo?!" He stutters. "Are you... the Echo?" He exclaims as he just sits there gawking at me. Confused, I step around him then speed out the door. I had to orientate myself for a second; I've never used this door. To my right, Aria holds a small figure against the logging side of the house. It is clearly a girl, fairly tall and strong looking, but helpless and tiny in comparison to Aria. I can't see her face through her thick, dark, short hair in her face. "WHO ARE YOU?" She yells at her, only making her quiver. "HEY!" a deep voice threatens. Before I could even turn to look at where the voice came from; the guy was grabbing Aria, tearing her away from the girl and throwing her away from the house, following her body to pin her to the ground, recoiling and punching her head and shoulders faster than I could even react. "Stop!" I screamed and I raced at the two. I lifted the suit case over my shoulder, swinging it down like it was a golf club, hitting the man square in his shoulder, knocking him off of Aria and rolling twice over. Aria recovered and wrapped her arm over my shoulders and turned me away from him quickly, calmly whispering to me;
"We need to run, fast. They're vampires, probably working with them. I haven't explained it to you yet. Do you think you could figure out how to shift?" She asked as we ran towards the trees to the right of the house, above the dirt road.
"Maybe..." I said unconfidently. We broke into a full on sprint away from the beings behind us, when a familiar voice yelled to me;
"Rae! Wait!" making me stop cold in my tracks.
'No...' I thought to myself. I swing around and see Auna several places from the cabin, she was the girl Aria was yelling at. My mind spun before I could grasp the reality that she was there. My eyes flip to the man picking himself from the ground; Alec. I stuttered and stood there, dumbfounded. Aria realized I wasn't next to her and reeled around to tug me behind her. 
"Wait, wait... Aria, its Auna, and Alec, the two I told you about- they were at the party." I sputtered, pulling free from her grasp, approaching them, cautiously, encase it was a trap. Auna's eyes welled up as I got closer and closer. She gasped and dashed towards me, closing the last bit of distance there was between us, throwing her arms around my head and crying into my neck.
"We found you! I knew we would! I never doubted..." She trailed off. Alec walked closer, a slight limp to his step, and I felt a ping of guilt in my chest.
"Alec, I'm sorry, I-" I started, but he ignored my words and wrapped his arms tight around both Auna and I. I became very curious who the man hunched over in the cabin was, though, and when I looked up to the door, I expected to see the man, but it was no older man standing there- it was a young man, about our age. He was very tall, slightly taller than Aria. His hair was light chestnut color, falling into his eyes and shagging around his head. He wore a black T-shirt with the arms ripped off, exposing thick, bulging arms. For a moment, I wondered who he was as well, before reorganization kicked in; Dakota. My heart sank to my stomach before the excitement could build up. Our eyes locked for a while, my arms went limp, falling to my sides as Alec and Auna released me. I paused, then started stepping towards Kota, as did he. I haven't seen him since he crumpled to the ground right in front of me, a small, weak boy then. It's been something like three months, this man seems so much older than the one I had left behind. He stands so much taller and... built. My eyes never left his, though. We stopped, half my arms-length from each other, still staring when he suddenly bent, sweeping me from my feet, then spinning me around several times, pulling me so close it hurt. Now dizzy; he set me down, looking at me for no more than a second before locking me into a deep, passionate kiss. I could feel every ounce of his missing me, and I breathe it in, heart pounding. I can't hold back my smile to keep kissing him properly, but he didn't care, kissing all over my cheeks and forehead.
"What are you doing here?" I ask.
"We're here rescuing you!" he exclaimed. "I'm here to protect you, and so are Alec and Auna." He pulled me in for another hug.
"She doesn't need your protection." Aria growled behind me. My heart sank again as I could feel a ripping through my heart; she had just seen all of that....
"You..." A low grumble emitted from Kota's chest. "From that night." I felt his muscles tense.
"Kota, remember-" the man began, now in the doorway, holding his stomach, but he stopped short as Kota lunged at Aria. I let out a scream as he buried his fist into Aria's jaw. Kota is big and very strong now, but Though he is larger, I know he is no match for Aria. Aria recovers her balance, her lip raised in a snarl, revealing all her wolf's teeth. My skin set on fire, my nerves exploding. I ran at the two, moving as fast as my body will allow to try and intercept Aria's swing, but I slow as I see her stand tall, unthreatening. Aria's eyes were on me the whole time, the green relaxing me, yet I saw worry in their creases. My hands tingled, and there was a faint voice in the back of my head that seemed to fade the harder I focused on it. I glance down at my arms, the burning increasing, though the air was still morning cool. As I look back up towards the two, I see Aria hunch over, gasping for air as Kota's leg reels back under him. I gasp and dive through the last few paces to where Aria was falling and caught her in my arms, lowering her gently to her knees. In the corner of my eye, I saw Kota's arms lower to his sides as he realized I wasn't running for his embrace.
"We were late!" The man exclaims, "They are almost here! We must run far from here!" He panicked as my skin grew hotter.
"Do you mean the FireWalkers?!" Auna gasped at his nod in return.
"Rae, we must go, now!" Alec turned to me. Kota stepped to me, slipping one hand under my arm and lifting me away from Aria who has mostly regained her breath back.
"Rae, hurry, get in the truck. We need to go." His strength surprises me as I am lifted to my feet, and attempt to pull free, making his grip tighten for a moment before he releases me, a pained, confused look on his face. I look away from him, helping Aria to her feet.
"Aria comes too." I state. The Older man nods as he circles to the truck, while the other protest, as I expected.
"There's no time. They'll see any vehicle along the road, there's no time to get far enough." Aria states before Kota could argue with me. Aria steps to the old man, holding out her hand.
"They will be able to see the heat from the engine. Give me the keys and I'll say I was just about to be off to the market. You all need to hide."
"Yes. Where?" The man asked in a rush after pausing for a moment. He dropped the keys into Aria's hands with a disagreement sound from Kota, who has approached me from behind, waiting until Aria looks at us to place a hand on my hip.
"Follow me." Aria calls as she marches towards the cabin. We all follow her as she opens the cabinet below the kitchen sink, quickly pulling out all the chemicals, then lifting the bottom of the shelf to reveal a hole that I can't see a bottom of.
"Hah!" Kota blurts. "You think I'm going to go down there?"
"It's enchanted. No one on the outside can sense creatures that hide inside. It's also got an emergency escape that opens out to the woods, but the enchantment only works when you are under ground and the doors are all sealed." Aria replied, looking deadest into Kota's eyes.
"Good enough for me!" The man exclaimed as he stepped through the daggers between the guys eyes, giving Kota a WHACK on the side of his head before he turned and lowered himself in. Once he was out of sight, he called up; "It's quite spacy down here! I'd hurry down if I were all of you; time is fleeting." At that, I gestured at Kota to make his decent. He looked me in the eye, unmoving, then looked over at Aria, obviously weighing the choice of being stubborn and leaving me above with her, or doing as I was asking of him. I give his elbow a tug towards the sink;
"Hurry!" I snapped. Alec and Auna followed him close behind, and as I turned my back to the sink to place my feet in and lower myself that way, Aria stepped in front of me, placing a hand on my shoulder to pause me from bending down.
"Wait, Echo, I need to tell you something." She looked almost timorous. I looked up at her, waiting for her to meet my gaze. "The Dolofonos aren't very... rational beings. If they have any reason to, or just because they are angry enough and not hearing what they want to hear, they will kill me." Her voice seemed like it shook. My heart raced. I gripped her arm that was still held by my shoulder. Ways of protecting her rushed through my mind, to no prevail before she whispered; "This is the only way. They will see the truck and know someone was here. Or go looking and they could find the others and kill them for sure..." She trailed off. Her body seemed to shake, and it seemed like her eyes were welling up. She looked so scared; she doesn't want to face them. She doesn't want to die.
"When the FireWalkers are gone, go north. Do you still remember the shed?" She asked, looking me in the eyes, adrenaline seeping into her veins and flowing through mine. I nodded at her quick and she continued; "They are waiting there. If I don't come back and get you after a few hours; run there. Promise me. You can bring them," She gestures through the sink, "But just make sure you go there. See our family again, when you can recognize them." His head twitched to the side, a wolfish instinct as she detected something, face flashing back to me as she shook, and before we could say another word, she pulled my face close, giving me a full, strong, wanting kiss before backing away. There is so much I want to say to her, but I can clearly see there is no time; we both must go, we have only seconds.
"Aria... I'm sorry." A tear drips from each of my eyes, hopping she knows what I mean; I'm sorry I love Kota, I'm sorry she was hurt, I'm sorry about how cold I had been to her, I'm sorry for biting her when I shifted to a wolf, I'm sorry I couldn't remember her.

-I'm sorry for all those years we lost. -

I slipped down the hole quickly as Aria placed the shelf on top above me, a purple ripple flowing along the walls and floor of the dug-out radiating from the exit. The roof was fairly low, but comfortable around 7feet tall, and long, probably stretching most of the length of the cabin. Once my eyes adjusted, I heard Alec make an accomplished sound as he pulled the string, turning on an old, yellowed lightbulb. Auna wrapped her arms around me, she was waiting for me to come down, Alec was halfway down the darkness, and the man was looking along the walls at the shelves that lined it. Kota was only three feet to my left, watching me. He clearly wanted to join in the embrace, but seemed at odds with something.
"What took you so long to follow me down?" He answered my questioning stare.
"She stopped me. She gave me directions to where we need to go when it's safe encase...." I trailed off. Kota's face reddened.
"Why do you care if she dies? She kidnapped you!" He exclaimed. I looked away from him.
"It's more complicated than that. She rescued me." I whispered.
"SHE KIDNAPPED YOU. She nearly sent me to the hospital!" Kota yelled. The older man swiftly strides to Kota, slapping his head again, whispering; "Idiot! We're being hunted and hiding in a cellar, maybe now isn't the time to be yelling!" Kota glared at him before nodding and walking away from both of us to sit on one of the cots that protrude from the wall.
I take a deep breath, trusting that Aria will be okay, avoiding wondering if I believe that or not, and walked over to Kota, sitting next to him.
"I've missed you." I whispered. His eyes looked up to me, the same deep brown with freckles of gold.
"You've changed so much..." I trailed off as my eyes skimmed down his new body.
"Fitness training helped me tone my magic." He said, the corner of his mouth lifting as he looked at his knees, blushing. I saw the young boy he was when we first met, the boy I fell in love with. He is my life, even if it was not the one I was meant to have, I still fell in love with this shy boy. I lean into him, feeling smaller than I have in my life, and slip my arm around his back. He slides his arm over my shoulder, pulling my head in tight to his chest. Then I heard footsteps above us.
We all fell deadly silent, as we listened to where the steps were. My skin burned everywhere, I couldn't help feel painfully unsafe; the Dolofonos are above me. Alec reached up and twisted the lightbulb to disconnect it from the circuit, pulling back from its heat. Dust fell from the wooden floor where ever they stepped. I got a glimpse for only one second through the cracks in the floor of a face; not a dreadful creature's complexion, but human-like, and familiar. I stood silently, sneaking below the hallway floor behind the... woman? She stepped into what was my room, making my heart sink, worrying that she could sense that I had been there. Lifting myself high on my toes, I got a clear look at her face; it is my mom. My eyes burst from their sockets and my mouth parts to let a gasp escape, but is muffled by Kota's hand. I fall off of my toes and lean back into him. I would have been thrilled to see her, call out and let myself be rescued, but with my reclaimed memories, the immense fear I felt from my mother and father the last day of that life is imprinted onto her face. I push Kota backwards, and I feel him turn to watch where we're going; I just felt the need to put space between her and I. He sat down on the end cot, pulling me onto him, still holding my mouth, not letting go until I started letting my muscles relax. I looked at him, not daring say a word, but by his expression, my eyes said everything they intended. I felt tears well-up again. What was my dad then? A Dolofonos helper, or is he  the Dolofonos? Questions and reflections ran through my mind until it paused on one; My dad must be here too, but I don't hear him walking around, that means he must be with Aria. Fear struck every inch of me, sending a shiver through my bones. Suddenly, my heart didn't even dare make a sound as I heard my mom call out; "Rae! Rae, are you here?" She paused, "I'm here to save you!" I couldn't breathe; I dare not breathe.