Blair slowly wakes up, seeing grey walls and white medical cabinets on the walls. She looks and sees a nurse on a wheeled stool. Blair groans, getting the attention of the nurse, she had boy cut dark brunette hair and light tan skin. Her face is wrinkled and her brown eyes show that she's tired.
"Miss Nelson, thank goodness you're awake. Do you remember what happened?" Blair slowly sits up, holding her head in her hand, shaking it no. "You passed out." Blair looks at the nurse.
"I passed out?"
"Chris Zenderman brought you in here." There's a knock on the door and it's Ian.
"Hey, Blair. How you doing?"
"I'm... okay. Ian, we need to talk about that email; now." Blair says, sternly.
~~~~~~
In Marcus' office there are three windows behind him, the desk is dark oak color with a shine feel and many bookshelves with books and binders. Marcus sits at his desk with Blair sitting on a chair on front of him. Ian is leaning on Marcus' desk. It becomes uncomfortable for Blair that no one is talking. She takes the bull by the horns and begins the conversation.
"Look. I can explain."
"Explain it good, so I can understand. What exactly did she mean Wild Elf?" Ian says, exasperated. Blair sighs.
"When I was sixteen, I met a Wild Elf named Salan. He disguised himself as a human for two years. I graduated high school and that's when he revealed himself to me as an Elf. He ran away from home because he would be a soldier and that was something that he didn't want to do. He declared his love for me. I loved him too. He wanted to marry me." As she shows the ring on her finger that Salan proposed to her on his dying breath.
"You loved a nonhuman?" Marcus asks in surprise.
"Yes. That's when the Division of the Tenth came and they told me that I was Salan's Guardian. We took the offer for life protection in exchange that we worked for the Division of The Tenth. But... five years ago and it was six months before you offered me the job, Salan was murdered by another being. He mentioned to me to beware the Woodland Elves and their Prince. I think it was somebody that the Prince ordered to kill Salan." Marcus clears his throat.
"They... have a Woodland Elf in custody in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was captured by the Division of the Tenth's squad. Freya can't seem to get him to speak. She met with one of her associates, Xan," Blair's eyes widen at that name, "He was the one that requested Freya to get a hold of me to get in contact with you and take a transfer out there." Blair shakes her head. "I think you should go." Marcus says. Blair furrows her brows at him.
"No way, I don't want anything to do with The Division of the Tenth again." Ian crosses his arms,
"The creature they captured is a Woodland Elf. He may know something about Salan's murder." That wasn't a bad idea from Marcus.
"That means I'm transferring to the Division of the Tenth."
"For now. Once your work is completed, we will bring you back here to Washington, DC." Ian says. What's there to lose? Her family is all the way in Rhode Island. Plus, she can finally get some answers if he had some part in Salan's murder. She nods her head.
"Alright..."
~~~~~~
Blair packs all of her important notes from her desk and puts it in a white cardboard box. Chris walks towards her.
"So, you'll be leaving us?" Blair scoffs at him.
"Just for a few months. I'm not sure exactly what I'm even going to do."
"Do you want me to ask if I can go with you?" She shakes her head.
"No. It's okay. I actually prefer it."
~~~~~~
Blair reaches home and packs all of her clothes and her necessities. She sits on her bed and looks at the picture of her and Salan. Her hand shakes as she finally can see the Woodland Elf that may have played a part in her love's murder.
~~~~~~
Blair wakes up at 4:30am in the morning and starts her drive to Santa Fe, New Mexico. She knows that she will have to stop at a hotel as the drive is a full day and four hours. The ride was a lonely one for Blair. The whole time Blair was on the road, she kept thinking on what kind of people she is going to meet. While a meet and greet scenario is a strong trait of Blair's, this time she really is not in a partying mood. She listens to a radio station that plays the hit song from the Backstreet Boys where she lip syncs the song "Bye, Bye, Bye." Not a second has gone by where she isn't preparing herself for what kind of Elf she will meet, let alone what they could be capable of.
~~~~~~
Around 6:00pm, Blair makes her stop for the night at Memphis, Tennessee where she checks herself in at the Big Cypress Lodge and makes a plan to leave the next morning.
After checking in, she steps in her room and drops her bags off that contain her clothes and toilette necessities. The Front Desk Clerk mentioned to her in addition to her stay that there is a Third Floor Lobby and Bar Area, which just opened up an hour ago. Blair takes this into consideration and she heads upstairs to the third floor where the area is a wood, cabin style with a light oak coloring on the floor and the fireplace is covered with bricks giving a nice cabin cozy feeling. She pulls out her phone and notices that no one from the office has sent her any emails relating to her previous cases; Ian and Marcus must have the others taking care of her files.
On cue, her phone gives a notification and it's Christ from the office that wishes her well and to her hurry up with her case and come back to D.C. She could only smile at his text. She puts her phone away and stares into the fire thinking about Salan that day he died. No words come from Blair. Only her memories. Some of the guests in the lobby only stare at the poor girl, thinking on how lonely she must be or how sad she looks. So much is in Blair's mind. So much pain and suffering.
She can't wait to interrogate the Elf that the Division of the Tenth has captured. As maybe, just maybe she can put the past of her heartbreak's pain behind her once and for all.