The Dark Hearts

Chapter 7: Clarke

I didn't sleep, as per usual, but I lie in my bed to play the part of a normal human who needed sleep to survive. What I really wanted that night was to go hunting, howl at the moon and even go for a swim. These days, I wanted to fly above the clouds, but that skin has been dormant for five hundred years and it's best not to wake a sleeping dragon. Instead, I listened to even breathing of Octavia on the other side of the wall, wishing that I could do the same, rather than fake a breath every now and then in her presence and the presence of any human.

Lying in the darkness, my thoughts wandered as I fell into another one of my waking dreams:

The cave floor was cold against my paws as I lept over stalagmites. My the leaders of my pack were close behind me as their soldiers fought the darkness all around us, their footfalls and screams echoing throughout the darkness.

We ran quickly, listening as gold wolfsbane bullets ricochet off the cave walls. I listened to the yelps of my fallen brothers and sisters, their dying voices forever embedded in my brain.

Then, the footfalls of my pack ended abruptly. I turned my head slightly and realized with great sadness that I was the last one. I kept running, despite the wolf bodies all around me. The pack fought bravely, but why I was the last one standing, I would never know.

Suddenly, I was sliding on water, and I scratched at the floor to keep myself upright. Then, I was knocked against the wall by the entity from which I was running. I lie in the water, shedding my wolf form and transforming into my half-human shape. I waved my fish tail around so that I was sitting up against the wall.

A puff of dark smoke appeared in front of me and I heard a whisper. It said, "I took the hearts of them all, and now, I take the most powerful heart of them all."

"Please, don't you have enough?"

"Baby girl, you still don't know why I am doing this?" The smoky figure began to become human-like, surging with electricity, giving off an eerie glow.

"You're mad I killed you. Stopped you. When you were alive. You can't bear being without a skin."

"That is true, sister, but it is so much more than that." The voice was a hoarse whisper, as it was when she was alive. Her smoky arm reached out and I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Immediately, I knew this was the end. The Dark Woman had my heart in her hands.

"Go ahead. Crush it, you cowardly bitch!" I shouted at her.

The morning light through my window snapped me out of my waking dream. The shower was running in the adjoining bathroom. Octavia was singing, but I didn't recognize the song. I continued to lie in the bed, feeling my chest, hoping to feel my heart beating, only to feel emptiness.

"What's for breakfast?" I heard Octavia from the shower.

"I don't know and I don't care." I rolled over and began to cry softly, wishing I could just slip into my wolf skin and run away.

Something brushed my shoulder a few minutes later and I turned over to Octavia standing on the ladder in a towel, her hair wet.

"What's wrong?" she asked, wiping my tears away with a thumb.

"Bad dream?" I half-lied.

"Well, it's over now. Nothing to be scared of."

I nodded as I pulled the covers up over my head. Octavia laughed and pulled them back down. "I don't deserve you as a friend."

Octavia climbed down the ladder and I followed behind her. She clutched the towel, Water droplets glistened in her hair and on her chest as the sun seeped through the window. She was truly beautiful.

"What? Do I have something in my teeth?"

I laughed and shook my head. "No, just you look pretty in this light."

Octavia smiled and walked to the bathroom and disappeared into her room to get dressed.

I shimmied out of my pajamas and donned a purple university T-shirt reading "Amethyst Bay University" and a pair of jeans. Before closing my drawer, I looked at the other hundreds of T-shirts from colleges I graduated from. This time I was going to study Marine Biology again. I needed a refresher, anyway.

As I was putting on my converse, Octavia came back in and immediately noticed the difference between our outfits. "You're gonna get hot in that."

"Maybe," I said. She will know why I do the things I do soon. I must stay with the plan. Amethyst Bay will be in San Juan in a few days, at the turn of the moon, just as planned.

"Ready?" She asked as I tied my second sneaker and pulled my arms through a grey zip-up sweatshirt.

Back in the cafeteria, I watched the others eat as I sat, listening and smelling the blood flowing through people's veins. The hunger ate away at me and so did the thirst. I wanted a human.

I excused myself and walked to the elevator and took it to the top, away from where most people were.

The top deck was open and consisted of an outdoor pool and a slide, which I steered clear of. I went to the bow and looked out into the vastness of the sea. The wakes crackled under the weight of the ship and I felt like I was in prison. I I didn't know what I wanted. Did I want to swim, run, or fly? Fly, however, I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried. The dragon has been sleeping for awhile.

The laughter of the innocent race of humans rang behind me as they enjoyed their simple life, their simple vacation, and their simple family.

I ran my hands along the railing, feeling the coldness of the metal alloy underneath my fingers.

"You have your 'I'm missing my old life' face on," I heard Tristen approaching me from behind as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"That is true," I said.

"How do you resist the thirst, the hunger, and the longing?" He asked.

"Because I have to."

He kissed my neck.

"Hey, lovebirds." Octavia brushed my hand as she rested hers next to mine. "Wow, that ocean sure is beautiful and mysterious. Imagine all the life forms yet to be discovered."

"You have no idea," I responded curtly.

The wind began to pick up and a flag on top of the mast began to flap violently. The clouds turned a dark gray as the sun sank behind them.

An announcement on loudspeaker came on, "Guests, please go indoors. We are approaching a small rainstorm."

Only it wasn't. I could smell it.