Chapter 7

Chapter 7

>Street. Night<

 As I step outside onto the street, my thoughts keep straying towards Marcus. How does he have this effect on me? There´s something about him that I am unable to explain. Something that is difficult to resist. I am simply drawn to him.

But it can´t be.

He possesses a weapon that can kill a werewolf from the bloodline of the Five. A weapon that is able to kill me. So, if he´s really the monster that Eisendrath makes him out to be, then there´s nothing preventing him from using this weapon against me. That is, if he discovers that I´m a werewolf.

As I walk across the street, I sense his presence. I look up towards the rooftop of a mid-rise building, seeing his silhouette against the moonlit sky.

Liam.

>Rooftop. Night<

Upon reaching the rooftop, it´s Liam´s face that greets me.

“Laura.”

However, there are others.

Patrick Grayson steps out of the shadows. “We need to talk.”

Another stranger then appears from behind Patrick Grayson.

“My God, it is you.”

I stare at the stranger standing beside Patrick Grayson.

“Laura, it´s me. Lucas.”

I peer at the stranger, attempting with great difficulty to remember who he is, anticipating that seeing him will trigger another glimpse into my memories of the past. Yet there´s nothing.

“I´m sorry. I don´t know who you are.”

The man´s face falls, evidently saddened that I´m unable to recognize who he is.

“Right. Patrick filled me in about your condition.”

“Why are you guys here?"

“I´m sorry, Laura.” Patrick said. “But after I saw you, I became confused. I needed answers, so I returned to Wolf Springs. We´re still uncertain what happened exactly. Although I thought that perhaps Lucas could fill in the gaps.”

I look at each of them in turn.

“If you could just hear him out, maybe it will assist us with putting the pieces together.”

I simply nod.

“Lucas was the last person to see you before you disappeared.” Patrick turns to Lucas. “All right, Lucas. Tell her what happened that night.”

“I´m pretty certain about what I saw. Laura, that night you were about to make your decision as to who you were going to take as your permanent mate. Yet something happened to you. You simply vanished before my eyes. As if you faded away.”

“Faded away?”

“Yes. The only explanation I can offer is that something mystical has been done to you.”

“Then what happened to you, Lucas?” Liam asked.

“Everything just fell into darkness after what I witnessed. I was in a deep slumber for almost two years. I was cursed. Good thing Nolan returned to look for Laura that same night. Although he found me instead. He did everything he could to lift the curse. When I woke up, I told him about what had happened to you. So, he departed from the manor to search for you. That was a month ago.”

“I guess Nolan is looking in the wrong direction, then.” Liam pointed out. 

“I´m sorry to hear about what happened to you – Lucas, right?”

Lucas nods.

“What about you, Laura?” Liam turned to me. “What´s the earliest thing that you´re able to recall?”

“A friend of mine and another man found me. My friend told me that I looked like I had been through a great battle. I had a single wound on my chest. I was stabbed. I was losing a great deal of blood at that point, so they saved me by transfusing me with my friend´s blood who´s a werewolf. That was two years ago.”

“So, you´ve been here all this time?” Lucas voice cracked.

“Yes.”

Liam looked at each of us. “So, what does that mean? There´s a new threat? Someone´s out to get Laura?”

“My money is on the vampire I saw her with.” Patrick hissed.

“What vampire?” Lucas seemed surprised.

Patrick doesn´t have to tell them about my business. Although there´s no use hiding it them now.

“It´s slightly complicated. And I would like you to keep an open mind. The vampire is my target.”

“Target? You told me you only met him that night.”

“Do you want me to explain or not?”

“Let her explain, Patrick.”

I look towards Liam, who nods at me.

“I work for a very powerful business tycoon. He´s the master of my friend who discovered me. Actually, they both found me. This man, Eisendrath, deals with the supernatural. He kind of owns me.”

Liam stiffened at my words. “Owns you, like how?”

“You see, my friend is blood bound to Eisendrath. When they gave me a transfusion of my friend´s blood, that link was extended to me. Eisendrath uses me to do some of his dirty work. Initially it was just theft or corporate sabotage, espionage. But this time, he has a particular interest in this vampire. So, he sent me to kill him. However, as I later discovered, only as a test. You see, I have no choice but to obey Eisendrath´s command, given that I´m bound to him.” 

“We completely understand, Laura. You´re not the first person to fall victim to a magical link obliging you do terrible things. No judgement here.” Lucas shoots a sideway glance at Liam, who on turn looks towards Patrick. “So why would you believe that this vampire has anything to do with what happened to Laura?”

“Because this vampire is ancient. He´s also rather powerful. He´s responsible for Maggie´s death.”

Liam looks surprised to hear this, although something tells me that there´s more to it. The anger is evident in his eyes.

“So, this explains why you´ve become a vampire hunter. You´ve been hunting this guy.”

So, Marcus is indeed a killer. I attempt to brush away the thought from my mind.

“So, I´m not the only one who believed Laura chose another person as her mate. I guess you can say that I strayed. I required some sense of purpose. Whatever you want to call it.”

“Although something doesn´t add up. Who I don´t trust is this Eisendrath character.” Liam turns to me. “He could be lying to you, Laura.”

I don´t trust Eisendrath either. However, I know in my heart that Barry wouldn´t lie to me. I trust him with my life.

Lucas cleared his throat. “Guys, are we seriously going to overlook the possibility that Old Mia could be behind this?”

“The threat has been neutralized, Luc.” Liam said.

“Old Mia lives on. Granted, she is now merely a blind oracle. But she remains the same Old Mia.”

“It´s been two years, Lucas. If Old Mia was behind this, she would already made her move a long time ago.” “Unless the oracle is uncertain where Laura is.” 

“How are the oracles involved in this?”

“The leader of the oracles, Old Mia, betrayed all of us. She´s the person responsible for everything that happened in the past. The war, the deaths. Ultimately, you blinded her.”

I simply don´t know how to respond to what Lucas has told me.

“If only there was a way to discover for certain what happened to Laura when she disappeared.”

I could see how desperate Patrick was in that moment.

“Unfortunately, the Alpha link no longer works. It´s gone. Perhaps it´s because she´s blood bound to another. We could have used it to initiate a probe, if she were to open her mind to us.” Liam said.

“I´m beginning to think this is more than a simple case of amnesia. It´s possible that something far more complicated has been done to Laura. Her scent, her mark, her memories. It´s as if she´s been scrubbed of who she is.” Lucas doesn´t take his gaze off of me while saying this. “This is why we must get to the bottom of this and reverse the action.” Liam placed a hand on Lucas shoulder. “I´ll return to Wolf Springs to see what I can discover from there. We have to look into this from all angles.”

“I´ll see what I can find out about this vampire.”

“Then I´ll do a background check on Eisendrath.”

“Thank you for doing this. I´m sorry that I can´t be more of an assistance. But there are some things that I must deal with right now.”

“We understand, Laura. We´re here to help you in any way we can.” Liam said in a soft tone.

“Thank you.”

Lucas steps up to me. “Is it possible for us to talk for a minute?”

“Sure.”

Lucas pulls me aside as Liam and Patrick confer with each other. Lucas places his hands on my arms and gives me a smile. I can´t help but return it.

“Let me guess. We were more than friends in the past, like those other two guys.”

“I guess you could say that. I mean, you did tell me once that I am the love of your life.”

“I did?”

There´s something about Lucas that makes me feel at ease around him.

“Although it´s not what you think. We are best friends, Laura.”

“I see. That explains it. I can totally see us being best friends.”

“I´m pleased to hear that.” Lucas stares at me. “You know I would have found you sooner. However, when I woke up from the curse, I was really weak. Nolan had to leave me in the care of a private nurse.”

“It´s okay, Lucas. I completely understand.”

Lucas nods. “There´s also something else you should know. I haven´t told anyone. But... I´m seeing someone, Laura. It´s the nurse. I am now dating him.”

“Him? So, you´re--”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I´m happy for you.”

“Thank you, Laura.”

I give Lucas a hug. And he holds on to me much longer. It is apparent that he missed me a great deal.

“I know that I don´t recall anything from our time together. Although I am genuinely pleased to know that something beautiful was born in the midst of everything that happened.”

Lucas begins to sob. “Oh, Laura, you have no idea how much that means to me. To finally tell my best friend, it´s all I ever wanted. I´m so relieved that we finally found you.”

I begin to tear up as Lucas looks at me.

“Oh, Lucas. Thank you for coming here. I really do hope I can get my memories back.”

“We´ll do everything we can to help you. I promise.”