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158- Panic and passing out
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2024-05-15 00:00:52I should have known better than to hope I would actually get some rest. I don’t think I even remember anymore what it's like to just have a regular dream. Instead I’m stuck in these nightmarish visions of Kiara. The only thing that makes them even remotely bearable is my hope that they will provide some kind of useful information which I can use to find and rescue her. The moment I see the look of dread on Kiara’s face, I know that tonight is going to be another bad night. There is nothing I can do to help her right now other than sit through it with her. Maybe if I focus hard enough she will feel it somehow, the same way I can feel her. I just wish I could tell her that she isn’t alone, that there are people looking for her. Tonight is one of the worst nights, because rather than screaming, crying or fighting, Kiara looks like she is begging. The way she drops to her knees and grabs out, it looks like she is tugging on someone’s hand or clothes. Even worse is when she falls backwar
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Bellamy answers the door and leads what has to be the smallest Shifter woman I have ever seen, through to his office. I follow along and make myself comfortable in my usual recliner. Bellamy sits behind his desk and gestures for the tiny woman to take a seat across from him. She glances curiously at me and Bellamy notices her eyes drifting towards me.“Shelly, this is my friend Ryann. Ryann, this is Shelly.” He waits as I give an awkward little wave and Shelly gives a half smile.“Ryann is here because it might be a little more comfortable for you if there is another woman present and my sister is currently unavailable.” Bellamy explains my presence. Shelly’s eyebrows fly up and she considers me for a moment before turning back to Bellamy. “Thank you Alpha Kane, that’s very… considerate of you.” She turns back to me and gives me a proper smile this time. Huh, seems like she actually does want me here. Fancy that. I thought she would be uncomfortable with a stranger here
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The men shuffle their way out of Bellamy’s office. They look sufficiently subdued, I’m pretty sure I got through to them, or at least reminded them of their manners. Shelly lingers after the guys leave. Once I hear the front door open and close, she speaks up. “Thanks. They’re really not bad guys, I think they were more interested in competing with each other than they actually were interested in me.” She admits. “Yeah, I kinda agree. But I’m sure you’ll find someone eventually.” I tell her, trying to force some optimism into my tone. Now that this issue has been dealt with I’m moving back to stressing about my vision last night and the upcoming video call this afternoon. Still, I do my best to stay focussed on what she’s saying. I’m pretty sure she can tell that I’m distracted though. She thanks Bellamy formally and then heads out. Bellamy immediately pulls out his phone. “It’s been going off pretty much since they got here. But I’m fairly sure I know why…” He c
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The next hour passes peacefully. Megan and I go through tons of items of clothing and sort through what we like and don’t like. I try to limit the number of items I say yes to, trying not to overdo it but Megan has no such scruples. Bellamy hovers around, tidying the kitchen and occasionally chiming in with his opinion about specific items. Megan is just entering Bellamy’s credit card details which she apparently has memorised when Bellamy comes and hugs me from behind. He seems more thrilled with the purchases than I am, which is probably the reason I feel okay about it. “It’s almost time for the meeting. We should go make sure the link is working properly and everything.” Bellamy says eagerly. I look up at him and I can see excitement on his face. I hadn’t realised he was so enthusiastic about this, but I suppose he is almost as invested as I am, he’s just not quite as traumatised and exhausted as me right now. Megan heads to the living room, letting me know that we can just
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Bellamy and I are the first to join the call. I stare at the black screen anxiously, constantly checking and rechecking that the camera is on properly and the microphone has sound. Bellamy gently places a hand over my knee to stop me from bouncing my leg anxiously. I have so many questions, I don’t even know what to ask first. About Kiara’s magic? About theirs? My own? What if they don’t know anything, or what if they DO? I find myself leaning into Bellamy’s shoulder. I feel kind of nauseous. Maybe I should have sat on his lap after all, at least then he could support me if I pass out. I’m actually holding my breath when the first person joins the call. It’s an older man, maybe in his sixties. He has a huge moustache and not a lot of hair. Honestly he kind of looks like a cartoon character. The thought makes me crack a smile and I start breathing again.“Well hello there young lady. You too lad. I’m Collin Demy, you can call me Collin” His voice is gruff, but he seems nice.
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“What can you tell us about Atropos?” I prompt. Well, she is usually considered to be the oldest of the fates. I’m not sure how anyone would know that kind of thing, but that’s what the stories I was told said. It doesn’t really matter anyway. So, as I said, Atropos is the fate who controls the manner in which someone dies and cuts the string that represents their lifespan. Basically if our fates represent the beginning and middle of life, Atropos represents the ending. I don’t really know exactly what abilities your Kiara has but it probably involves knowing how people will die. Maybe when? You would really need to ask her for the specifics.” Collin suggests. I tense up. I was so interested in hearing about this magic that for a minute, I forgot the reason I started looking into it in the first place. I must have stayed quiet too long because Bellamy responds for me. “Kiara is missing. She was kidnapped several days ago. We have reason to believe that she is still alive.
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“A woman with unusual whitish eyes who knows about a person’s future relationships. That does sound familiar now, doesn’t it?” Bellamy says pointedly.“Yeah, but I’m no goddess.” I remind him. He shrugs.“I’d believe it.” He says sweetly and I roll my eyes. “Thanks, but no.” I say with a laugh. “You two are adorable.” Addie comments. She is resting her chin in her hands and watching us dreamily. Okay, now I feel a little weird. “There’s more to the journal entry if you’re all ready to hear it.” Collin says mildly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.” I apologise. He waves a hand accepting my apology then holds the book up, clearly eager to read us more. I apologised to the goddess and begged for her forgiveness. She assured me that as long as I fulfilled my duties and made things right that there would be no lasting consequences. I could not help but tell her that it was unfair. That I could see a person’s life but not know who I was meant to love unti
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Once Collin hangs up I sit there for a while in a stunned silence until Bellamy decides it’s enough. He spins my chair to face him and moves in close to me. “What are you thinking? Talk to me.” He demands. “I’m not even sure. It’s a lot all at once. I don’t think I’m ready to process the information about me just yet. Can we focus on Kiara?” I ask mildly. Bellamy looks me over closely for a minute, examining my face, probably looking for any sign that I’m not coping. When he decides that I’m alright, he gives a single nod.“Okay. Well in that case. What have we learned about Kiara and how can we use it?” Bellamy directs the conversation. I’m grateful for the prompting because my mind is still reeling and I need the help to focus.“Well, we know at least part of what her magic does. We know that it is connected to mine, sort of, and we learned that IF my magic is due to this Ananke person, goddess, thing, then my visions of her are likely because she is misusing her
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After sending off the email to Shelly giving her my number to share around, I decided I needed a break because between the email, the phone call and my nightmare visions, I’m exhausted and completely overwhelmed. Bellamy sends me up to bed. He does offer to come lie down with me but I can tell he has stuff he needs to get done, I’ve seen his inbox and he has like ten unread messages on his phone. I convince him to stay and do something productive. I doubt he will stay away for long, he hasn’t really let me out of his sight in days. I probably have an hour tops before he comes looking for me. I lie in the bed, but it feels oversized. Probably because I’m by myself, usually Bellamy is crowding me, or I’m clinging to him. I suppose I’ve gotten used to it. I close my eyes and try to sleep. I toss and turn for about half an hour before I give up and decide to try meditating again instead. I’m very high strung right now though so I don’t expect I’ll have much success. I start with my brea
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I wake up late in the morning, it might even be early afternoon. I wriggle around a little which prompts Bellamy to do the same, he is apparently already awake. He raises a finger to his lips to shush me before I speak and I can see why. Kiara is still sleeping, lying in the bed between us. She is still loosely holding onto my arm, even in sleep. I slowly disentangle myself from her light grip and slide out of bed. Bellamy follows, clearly doing his best not to jostle her and wake her up. She definitely needs the sleep. She was restless for a good part of the night and almost definitely was having nightmares, but she seems like she’s sleeping soundly now. My own sleep was blissfully quiet. No visions or anything thank goodness. I’m looking forward to having several weeks of steady sleep and so help me if anything tragic or dramatic happens for the next few weeks then whoever is responsible should probably be terrified of me. We step into the hallway to talk without disturbing Kiara.
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I cross my arms in irritation. “Kiara would never! How would she even do that? She’s just a kid!” I object. Dr Dae rolls her eyes at me.“Oh calm yourself girl. I’m not saying she chose to murder anyone. I assume that she was forced to comply somehow. You’ll have to ask the girl when she’s ready to talk. As for the how, the child is a Reaper.” She says it as if it’s obvious but it really isn’t. I know that Reapers exist, but they’re the kind of Magic that most people have heard of but no one has ever met. I suppose Kiara’s dad must have been a Reaper too and why the MRO was so secretive about her markings. Most people are kind of scared of Reapers, they’re kind of the boogeymen of our society. Mostly because they can kill on a whim. All it takes is one touch and they can free your soul from your body. Obviously with no soul you die, and I guess your soul moves on to wherever souls go when you pass on. I suppose that a Reaper would make sense for the representative of Atropos. Her add
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Strings of Fate 197- Leaving and leaning
As we step outside, I’m confused to find that I actually have no idea where we are. I really was just running and following the tracking spell. I don’t know how far I ran. It’s a good thing the others are here to bring back the cars because I would be wandering all night trying to find my way back. I’m also fairly sure that I left my phone in the car when I jumped out in a hurry. Kiara clutches my hand tightly as the cars pull up on the street in front of us. “Megan, Darrien. You stay here and speak to the police when they arrive. Direct further questions to me. Shaun, you stay with them too.” Bellamy directs as Shaun hops out the car. At Megan’s insistence he stays a good couple of metres away from us.“Yes Alpha Kane.” He responds cheerfully. Aaron and Rio also climb out of the vehicles. Rio stops to chat with one of the other Shifters whose name I still don’t know. Aaron immediately approaches me. Actually a better way to phrase it is that he storms over. He looks almost angry. Or
