Chapter 4

Chapter 4

>Rooftop. Night<

Using one of Eisendrath´s scrying stones that I stole a long time ago, I am able to track down the silver-haired man to a random building in Nightshade City. It takes me a while to determine that he is on the rooftop of the building. The moment I reach the rooftop, I begin to smell a familiar scent. It has to be the silver-haired man´s scent. Yet he´s nowhere to be found.

“I know you´re here. I can smell you.”

“Is it really you?” The silver-haired man steps out from behind the post of a water tank.

“Just in case you haven´t figured it out, I don´t possess any memory of who I am. Maybe you should begin by telling me who you are.”

He gazes at me warily.

“That vampire you were with. Who is he to you?”

“He´s nobody. I only met him that night. Look, I´ve sought to track you down because I believe you have answers for me. It seems like you know me from the past. So, I need to know. Who are you?”

He hesitates momentarily before he answers. “I´m Patrick Grayson.”

I just stare at him blankly. I still have no idea who he is.

“I guess I´m asking the wrong question. Who am I?”

Patrick Grayson walks towards where I´m standing. “You really don´t remember, do you? You are Laura Fuller. You´re my-- You´re the love of my life.”

Patrick Grayson steps closer to me. His scent overwhelms my senses. It´s familiar, however I can´t recall when or where I have picked up that scent previously. I take a step back, uncertain of how to react to it.

“What happened to you, Laura?”

“I don´t know. That´s what I was hoping you could answer for me.”

Patrick Grayson lifts his hand to touch my face, yet he hesitates, pulling his hand back. There is pain in his eyes. That much is evident.

“I waited for you until the sun was high in the sky. I thought you hadn´t chosen me. That´s why I left Wolf Springs.”

I still have no idea what he´s talking about.

“Chosen you for what?”

“Before I left, you were supposed to choose your mate. I asked you to meet me by the cliff if you felt that I´m the one. When you didn´t show up, I left. It was the only way for me to accept it. It was the only way that I could move on.”

“I really have no idea what happened. And I understand it must be hard for you. I can see it in your eyes. However, I´m still confused. Why would I choose a mate?”

“Because you´re a werewolf, Laura.”

I gaze back at Patrick Grayson in disbelief. I´m a werewolf?

“But that´s impossible. I´ve never turned on a full moon.”

“I don´t know what happened to you. But you are a werewolf just like me. Although you´re not just any ordinary wolf. You are from the blood of the First Wolf.”

“The First Wolf? Silas.”

Patrick Grayson looks surprised. “Yes. Is it coming back to you now?”

“No. A friend of mine explained to me about the lore of the Five. The original werewolves. That´s why I´m familiar. Still, it doesn´t make sense to me.”

“Well, nothing will be comprehensible until we discover what happened to you. You´re so different. You don´t even have a scent.”

“You on the other hand, reek. Which is strange, because you didn´t have a scent on you back at the penthouse.” “That´s because I was wearing a special oil back then. It prevents anyone from detecting my scent while I´m hunting. Although I think what you´re experiencing right now is different. My scent is overwhelming you. And that´s good. It means you´re regaining some of your supernatural responses to certain stimulus.”

“Meaning what?”

“It means the wolf inside you is responding to me. Particularly its lustful side.” 

The moment he says this, I begin to realize that the beast within me appears to recognize Patrick. It wants out. “Just take a deep breath. This is actually normal for you.” 

I do as I am told and inhale deeply. But I receive an unexpected result.

I breathe in Patrick Grayson´s scent and it overwhelms me. It drives me wild. I feel this urge to kiss him. I engage all my effort to resist him. But Patrick Grayson is relentless.

“I can sense your struggle. I know that, feel it. The urge.”

“You´re not helping.”

“I need you to feel it, Laura. Perhaps it will help you regain your memory.”

Patrick Grayson moves closer to me. The heat emanating from his own body fires me up with desire.

“Let go, Laura. Cease fighting it.”

It´s a fight I am uncertain I can win. I close my eyes, seeking to focus all my energy on fighting the urge.

“You´re the one who should stop. This is not going to assist me with getting my memories back.”

Patrick looks at me with resignation on his face. “I´m sorry. I wasn´t forcing you or anything. I just want you to remember.”

“Surely this sort of amnesia isn´t going to be remedied by a quick fuck. There must be another way.”

In my frustration, I turn away from him. I just can´t stand to look at him right now, knowing that his mere presence sends my lust into overdrive.

How can he have this effect on me?

>Solstice Manor. Gardens. Day<

The following day, I´m sitting on a bench in the gardens of Solstice manor when Barry appears. Ruminating on the events of yesterday, I come up with more questions than ever. I feel even more confused than I was yesterday. That´s why I asked Barry to come and meet me in the gardens.

“Rose.”

I smile softly at the sight of him. At time like these when I´m confused, I find comfort in his company.

“I received your message.” Barry sits down on the bench right beside me. “Where were you last night?”

I´m unable to tell him the truth. Not this time.

“I went for a run last night.”

Barry gives me a soft smile. Does he know I´m lying?

“I have something to tell you.”

“I´m listening.”

“I´ve been having these visions.”

Barry looks at me with sudden concern in his eyes. “Visions of what?”

“I get these flashes. Images of two men. One dark-haired and the other one with silvery white hair.”

“And then?”

“Initially, they were only images. But recently, I think I witnesses a memory of my past.”

“How can you be so sure it´s a memory?”

“I don´t know. It must be. It feels...so real... I was talking to this vampire. Then I think he attacked me.”

“And you´re not sure who he is?”

“From what I can remember, his name is Liam.”

Barry looks worried. “And it was a vampire who attacked you? He could be dangerous, Rose.”

Barry cups my face in his hands. “If you see this vampire, you run in the opposite direction.”

“Barry, I´ve faced more than a handful of vampires in the arena. I´m not about to begin running away from one vampire simply because you think he´s dangerous. I can take him on my own.”

Barry lets his hands fall down. “We can´t be sure what he´s capable of. He could be the reason why you don´t hold any memories of who you are. It´s possible that he´s the one who done this to you.”

If I remember the memory correctly, I don´t believe that Liam is an evil person. Although I don´t know the entire story. All I know is that in the end of the memory, he attacked me.

“Do you hear what I´m saying?”

Barry has always been rather protective of me. He tends to over-react sometimes, which is one of the reasons why I´m reluctant to tell him about Patrick Grayson.

“But, Barry--”

“No ´buts´, Rose. You know I have a point. You must trust me in this one.”

“Fine. I do trust you.”

“And I´m pleased you trust me enough to tell me about this.”

Suddenly, I feel bad that I´m not revealing to him the entire truth. I can´t let him know about my true heritage just yet, until I discover more about it.

“I won´t allow anything bad to happen to you, Rose.”

“The same goes for me, Barry. You know I care about you. And I will do anything to make sure you´re safe.”

I gaze deep into his eyes as he smiles. I feel like I´m about to get lost in those little dark pools staring back at me. I turn away, fully aware of how those beautiful eyes can suck me back in. I simply want to enjoy his company now. Barry then moves closer towards me. Close enough for me to feel his warmth. There´s a familiar sensation stirring up within me. A certain kind of hunger that urges me to kiss him.

Now I understand this hunger.

It´s the wolf inside me recognizing the wolf inside Barry. My hunger has never been this intensive previously, although it´s my new understanding of that hunger that allows me to resist it. Or does it? Focus, Laura Rose. I know this hunger. I understand it now. I should be able to master it.

The fire intensifies within me, although I manage to extinguish it before it consumes me.

“I´m sorry.”

“I´m not.”

“I think I should stop.”

Barry nods in understanding. “It´s all right, Rose.”

Barry places a hand over mine, lighting up my skin with desire once more. Fuck it. What´s happening to me? There´s something about Barry that draws me to him.

There´s this connection between us that I may have missed in the past. I just can´t explain it.

>Club Equinox. Basement. Night<

That night, Barry leads me into the back alley amidst the bustling pub district of Nightshade City. We enter the backdoor of an obscure nightclub they call Club Equinox. I´ve never had the opportunity to see the interior of the club, as Barry leads me directly to the basement.

There´s an underground fight going on. A huge crowd is gathered around two fighters. There is no ring or cage. Just two fighters trading blows with each other, although I´m unable to see their faces from the back of the crowd. Barry moves to the side for a moment to talk to the fightmaster, Zeke. Zeke gives me a look from afar, as if sizing me up.

Suddenly, there´s a loud cheer as one of the fighters knocks out his opponent. The referee announces the winner. The crowd chants the winner´s name.

“Drifter! Drifter! Drifter!”

Zeke walks towards me. “You´re up girl.”

Zeke makes his way through the crowd to the center of the floor.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you´re in for a treat tonight. It seems that we have new blood, one who wishes to challenge our current champ, the Drifter. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Black Rose.”

Barry appears by my side. “That´s you! Go on.”

“Seriously? The Black Rose?”

“It´s the only thing Zeke could come up with at such short notice. Go!”

The crowd part before me, making a path for me. I walk to the center. That´s when I get a good look at my opponent.

It´s the vampire, Liam! He stares back at me in surprise.

“Laura?”