Chapter Two

Present Day- Seattle, Washington

Adalyn

       The sound of thunder was deafening as I looked around trying to figure out where I was. The lightning was cracking across the sky, and I couldn’t make out much of my surroundings. Any normal human being would be terrified standing alone in a dark unknown forest in the middle of a thunderstorm, but I felt a sense of calm for some reason like I was supposed to be here. I continued to scan around me to find anything familiar but then I caught movement from my right, someone was walking towards me. My first reaction was to run but I realized that I was not afraid. I could see the shape of a man taking form.

     I could tell that he was tall, well over six feet and as he got closer, I could see his broad shoulders, muscular arms, and a very toned chest. He had tattoos down his arms and across his chest depicting many battles against evil creatures. His skin was a light tan, his hair was red, and his eyes were the most beautiful green I had ever seen. He kept getting closer and I started taking steps to meet him halfway.

     The rain was running down the lines of his chest like a river. I wondered what it would be like to lick it off him. Why am I having these thoughts about a man I don’t even know. I mean yea he was hot and looked oh so delicious, but he could be an axe murderer for all I knew. He looked straight into my eyes and my heart skipped a beat.

     It felt like a had a whole swarm of butterflies in my stomach. I felt so drawn to him for some reason and found myself beginning to reach out to him. He got even closer to me and put his head down next to my ear. In a thick Irish accent he whispered, “I’ve been waiting for you love for a very long time, why haven’t you come to me sooner?” Before I could answer him something behind me caught his attention. “They are coming love and you need to run but don’t worry I'll find you again.”

      Every bone in my body wanted to stay put and help him in some way and he saw the inner conflict shining in my eyes. “They haven’t seen your face yet love so you're still safe please go now while I hold them off. I'll always be able to find you”, he said as he hesitantly put his hand on my chest above my heart. I felt an immediate burning sensation and it was white hot. I shivered and felt myself getting wet. When I looked down at my chest there was a beautiful purple rose tattoo with two thorns. He looked completely shocked at the mark and moved to the side to let me pass. “I will find you”, he said, and I took off through the rain.

     When I looked behind me, I saw five figures surrounding him. I stopped and hid behind a tree to get a better look at the attackers. They were easily a foot taller than him with what looked like horns coming out of their heads. He drew a sword that I didn’t even see he had, and it shone through the darkness as he readied for battle. I didn’t think he could take them all because they were so much bigger than him, but he threw himself at them as they slashed at him with claws and daggers.

     He returned their blows in a beautiful but deadly dance. He went down on one knee and a scream erupted from my throat as I started running back towards him. I didn’t know how I was going to help him but something inside of me pushed me forward toward him. I realized how foolish this was when the beings stopped immediately and looked up at me just as the moonlight started filtering through the trees. I locked eyes with my mystery man and the look of terror on his face stopped me dead in my tracks.

     They started to move towards me. “RUN”, he screamed at me. He jumped up trying to engage them back into battle. I turned on my heels and ran as fast as I could. A bolt of lightning struck right in front of me. I sat up in bed in a cold sweat trying to catch my breath. It was just a dream, I told myself and let out a breath.

     A very detailed and scary dream, just then my chest started to itch and burn. I ran to the bathroom, stood in front of the mirror, and slowly took off my pajama shirt. I closed my eyes afraid to see what was there, but I finally peeked down and there it was. The beautiful purple rose with two thorns staring back at me in the mirror. My mind was racing with thoughts as I was trying to figure out just what was happening.

     There was no way that the dream was real. Was there? I picked up my phone and there’s six missed calls and twenty text messages, all from my best friend Tabby. I scrolled through the voicemails first, “call me back Addie we are supposed to meet up tonight for a girl’s night out and please don’t back out on me again we seriously need this tonight both of us, pretty please come out.” I looked at the clock, two hours until I was supposed to meet her.

      I got up and took a shower. I rummaged through my closet to find something cute to wear. I finally picked out a form fitted pair of jeans and a red fitted shirt. I braided my long black hair to the side and put on some makeup. I looked myself over in the mirror, good enough I decided and headed out the door.

      There was still light rain coming down and I quickly hailed myself a cab. “Where to little lady”, the older cabbie asked as I slid into the backseat. “McGinley’s please on 32nd and 40th.” “I know the place”, he said.  We settled into a strange silence for the rest of the ride. My thoughts turned to the strange dream as it played over and over in my head.

      I got so lost that I didn’t even realize we had arrived until the cabbie cleared his throat, "Um excuse me miss but we are here.” "Oh, I’m sorry", I said and handed him the money. I stepped out into the night and there was electricity in the air. I pushed open the door to the bar and immediately got hit with a rush of warm air and the smell of alcohol and pine cleaner. I scanned the room and took in all the little details, the oak bar with ten barstools lining the outside all full of blue-collar men off their shifts, the dim lights hanging overhead, and the tables and booths that were also almost all filled with laughing people.

      It’s a cozy little place that most people don’t know exists unless you’re from the area. I looked around again to try and see if Tabby is here yet and spotted her over at the end of the bar flirting with some guy. She looked beautiful as always and my total opposite. I’m short just over five feet tall, athletic build, long black hair, and brown eyes whereas Tabby is almost six feet, thin, blonde, and blue eyes. She was wearing a way to snug red top and a mini skirt.

      She was getting really flirty and I knew that if she drank anymore, she would be going home with him. She saw me inside the door, smiled and waved me over. She already ordered me a rum and coke which she knows is all I'll drink tonight. I bent down so I could whisper in her ear. "Hey, can we sit in a booth", I said. "I need to talk to you”.  "Ok sure", she said. As we walked away, she glanced back at the man she was flirting with and said, "be right back sweetheart".

     I saw him smile and then take out his phone and head to the back. It seemed strange but I didn’t think anything of it. We sat down and I told her all about my dream. She sat and listened patiently until I was done, and I showed her the rose. "Oh, cool Addie you finally did something crazy and got a tattoo." "No Tabby that’s the thing I didn’t, I woke up with this and you know I don’t get drunk." As I spoke that last sentence my chest started to itch and burn again. "What’s wrong", she asked as I reached for my chest." Is it infected or something."

      I moved my hand and all around the rose there was a faint purple light coming through my shirt. I threw my hand back over it in hopes that no one else in the bar would see it. The door opened and two guys walked in. I was hit by the smell of a rainstorm. I knew it was the guy from my dream before I even saw him. It drew me in for reasons that I was still unsure of.

      He looked different now with the long black coat, but it was him. When our eyes met, I saw the recognition on his face. He grabbed the guy he came in with and headed back out the door. “Well, that was strange”, Tabby giggled. I looked back at her, "I'm sorry, I have to go that was the guy from my dream." “But wait, oh come on Addie”, she called after me as I jumped out of the booth and made my way to the door.

     I was mentally preparing myself for this interaction and I was going to question this man until I was satisfied. I needed to know why I was so drawn to him. A big burly man stepped in front of me right before I grabbed the handle for the door. "Where do you think you’re going sweetheart", he slurred out with breath that told me he had way too much to drink. I glared at him and everyone in the room was silent except for a little giggle from Tabby because she knew what was going to happen.

      I must get out of here before I lose him. "Get out of my way or I'm going to make you regret it." He laughed in my face and the smell of alcohol was so strong it could knock out an elephant. "I said move and I meant it", he went to grab a hold of me. I ducked, stomped on his foot, jabbed him between the legs, and executed a well-placed knee to the face that dropped him to the floor. There was a collective gasp that went around the room and his friends got up from their seats.

     When I looked back at the door my mystery man was standing there in the doorway with a feral look in his eyes. His chest was heaving, “Are you ok? He didn’t touch you, did he?”, the man asked in that Irish accent. "I'm fine thank you and no he didn’t touch me", I said. He seemed to relax, “You have no idea what I would’ve done to him if he had.” He glared at the guy’s friends and they all sat back down at their table. My chest started itching again.

      I looked down and saw a light coming from his palm which he absently scratched with his thumb. It took all my willpower not to grab his hand and flip it over to see if it had a matching mark to mine. I looked back up at him, “We need to talk. I'm not sure who you are but I feel like I know you." He tried to play it off, "I think you've had a few too many tonight love."

      The tone in his voice made me angry and I wanted to punch that smirk off his face. "Would you like a taste of what he got?” I pointed down to the man still unconscious on the floor. He looked shocked that I spoke to him that way. The other man peeked his head in the door and laughed, "Hahaha got yourself a feisty one there didn’t you Rainn", in that same lilting accent.

     I looked back at the other man with a smile, “You have no idea but if you would like to test me, I’m sure I can oblige.” He immediately stopped laughing and looked at the man he had called Rainn. That name suited him because when I breathed in all I smelled was a wild rainstorm. It was affecting me in ways that I was not prepared for. I had never wanted to jump a man that I had never met before more in my life. He just looked at me like he was contemplating his next move.