After the band's last song, they headed down the stairs backstage and to their dressing rooms, Kaide's head already spinning with questions about his meeting with Lina. He took a shower, relishing the feeling of the hot water running over his body, melting away his apprehension like ice in a furnace. The caress of his clothes felt cold, contrasting the hot water he'd felt only a few minutes before. A sigh shuddered through his body as he took one last look in the mirror before trudging out the door into the warm air of the outside world.
As he approached the square where he and Lina had met earlier that day, it was a strange sight to see. The whole square was completely deserted, save one woman leaning against the railing surrounding the statue. He raised an eyebrow as he approached her. "Strange to see it this deserted, unless that's just a thing people do when they see you. Magically disappear." He said, a joking smile playing on his lips. She mirrored his smile and giggled. "Oh, so you think I'm magic now do you?" She said sarcastically, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Why don't you tell me?" He proposed, eyebrows raised. She bit her blackened lip and ran a finger along his jawline, staring intently into his eyes. "Come with me." She whispered, already moving off, as fast and silent as a shadow in the dead of night.
* * *
A soft knock on the oak of Jen's office door awoke her from a light doze. "Wha? Huh? Oh, uh, come in." She yawned, sitting up straight and steeling herself for the inevitable berating she would receive from Piper in the next few minutes. Instead of the dread and sorrow that she was expecting, she felt a sudden flutter in her chest as a blonde-haired, bright-eyed face popped through the door, smiling sympathetically at her. "Sammy! I, um, wasn't expecting you. It's late, shouldn't you be back at your hotel by now?"
"I will, I just wanted to check on you and see if there was anything I could do to help you out. You have been burning yourself out a little too much recently." Jen offered a tired smile and sighed. "You're not gonna give me much of a choice here are you?" She shook her head in response, still smiling warmly. "Well you might as well come on in and give me a hand with this, then." Sammy stepped over the threshold and sauntered over to Jen, pulling up a chair next to her and looking over her computer screen.
Their eyes poured over the data on the screen for an hour, only stopping to get coffee. Finally, after an hour of working, Jen leaned back, rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn. "Are you sure you don't wanna take a break?" Sammy chuckled, glancing at her with concern. She opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by another yawn. "Well maybe just for a few minutes, I guess." Jen replied, running a hand over her face. "You know you do kinda overwork yourself." Sammy stated, eyeing her with concern.
"Hey, I take care of myself. I get like six hours of sleep and I eat hot meals... sometimes." She said, looking up at Sammy's incredulous expression and chuckling. "Okay I guess I see your point. I just get so involved with it." She admitted, subconsciously edging her hand towards Sammy's.
"I know, just make sure you take breaks and take some time for yourself." She responded, wrapping her hand around Jen's. Her supervisor's glance dropped to their intertwined hands with a guilty expression. "Sammy... I- If we get caught... we could both lose our jobs..."
"I guess you're right... If you're not willing to risk it..." Sammy's face dropped as she moved her hand away again. "No... I mean-" Jen sighed, clearly conflicted. She caught Sammy's hand again and held it in her own, looking her in the eyes. "I am willing to risk it. There's a spark between us and I think we owe it to ourselves to explore that... But we should both know the risks, and if you don't think its worth it, I-I understand." Her expression was hopeful as she said it. Sammy simply answered by moving her free hand to cup Jen's face as she leaned in and kissed her softly. Jen was taken aback for a moment, but soon smiled into the kiss happily. As they broke apart, she chuckled contently. "How was that for a response?" Sammy asked, wrapping her arm around Jen. She leaned her head on the intern's shoulder, a light blush creeping across her cheeks. "Perfect." She beamed blissfully.
* * *
Lina's face lit up when they entered a large wooded area, completely deserted in the dead of night. "You're not luring me out here to chop me up into little pieces, are ya?" Kaide joked lightly. Lina turned to him, smirking and biting her lip. "You'll see." She said before pressing on ahead to the heart of the forest area, now completely off the beaten track. Kaide's legs felt heavy like logs as he stumbled through the dense trees, but the woman in front of him didn't seem to mind, she just ploughed on ahead regardless. "Come on, we're just starting to get to the good part." She jeered, smiling knowingly.
He raised an eyebrow and tried to catch up with her when his eye caught something in his peripheral vision. It looked like a glowing, pulsing light on the bark of a tree. But when he looked again, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. As he pressed on, a distant cackling resounded in his ears. His eyes flickered around to find the source, but all he saw was trees and shadows. Suddenly, the shadows moved, taking on evil grins and glowing eyes, dancing demons all around. "Uh, Lina... Is there anything you forgot to tell me about Retiro Park?" He questioned, glancing around, suddenly cold. She just laughed in reply, stopping in a small clearing and turning to him.
"Ya know you're cute when you're nervous. But I guess you're right to be. This park has over fifteen thousand trees, but not all are completely safe or uninhabited." She drew him closer, catching him by his waist. "What you're seeing is the spirit world. Don't be afraid. We're not dangerous... Well not to you. I've told the others to leave off, so they're harmless to you." She whispered, trailing a fingernail down his chest. Kaide's eyes widened. His jaw clenched, thinking about all the ways out. Lina sensed his fear and kissed his cheek, rolling her eyes. "Look, I know you're working out all the lovely ways to get out of here and call your little friends for help, but there's no need. I'm telling the truth and as I said, we're harmless to you. I just wanted you to know the truth." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "If I wanted to hurt you, I woulda done it already. Listen, the crux of this is all the legends are true. Ya know, faeries, vampires, werewolves, warlocks, witches, that sorta thing. They're all real. If you don't believe me, see for yourself." She said, gesturing behind him. Kaide turned and instantly sharply inhaled.
Before him stood a rather petite woman, her skin held a strange grey tinge and was lined in white stripes. Her blue hair blew out behind her, streaming out between the two translucent wings protruding from her back. She was clad in a small, white tank top and jeans. Her perky, cinnamon eyes were framed in white, thick-framed glasses. Around her neck was a white ribbon, tied in a presentable bow. "Whoa." Kaide was barely able to whisper as she fluttered closer to him with a welcoming smile. "Hi. You must be new. I'm Lilly." She beamed, pushing her glasses up and extending a hand. Hesitantly, he shook her hand with a tight grip. "Lilly, honey, would you mind giving us a minute?" Lina asked with an irresistible smile. Lilly nodded in return and fluttered off through the forest.
"I know you must have all sorts of questions. Take your time and I'll answer anything you have to ask. As you can tell, I'm not the most patient in the world, but I'll give it a go." Lina flashed a reassuring smile while Kaide collected his thoughts. "So do any other humans know about this?" He asked, leaning against a nearby tree to steady himself after what he'd just witnessed. "Some know. Some of us choose to reveal it to our significant others, but only if they think they're not a risk. There's a spell that warlocks perform on all humans who learn of us. It prevents them talking about any of this to other humans. Before you ask, yes I'm afraid you'll have to. But its not invasive, just a flourish of a hand and you're done. Shouldn't effect your music either."
"You said us? So... what're you?" At that, she smirked and licked her lips. As she took off her jacket she murmured to him with a flirtatious grin; "Ya might wanna back up a little." As she stood before him, Kaide noticed something about her that he hadn't seen before. "I never knew you had tattoos." He noted with a smile. "Just the one." She replied, absently rubbing her left shoulder where a swirling, black, tribal paw print sat. She shook her head, as if shaking off a bad dream. Her eyes closed and her whole body quivered like ripples on the surface of a lake.
She was forced forward onto all-fours as her bones cracked, bending in unnatural positions. Her lips curled into an animalistic grin as the change took hold. Her tanned skin took on a darker tinge. Her lips ripped further up her face, spilling blood. Her shirt and pants tore to shreds. A thick fur sprouted on her skin. After a few moments, the transformation was complete.
Before Kaide, stood a large wolf. Its fur was a dark midnight black, streaked with silver. Its ears were strangely pierced, not unlike a human's. Its silver eyes found his and its mouth pulled back into a wolfish grin, its tongue lolling out the side playfully. "Oh... My... God! Lina?! What happened?! You were... And now you're... Does that mean you're..." A strange barking cough -that sounded like a strange, twisted attempt at laughing- emanated from the wolf as he tried to piece together what had happened. Hesitantly, he leaned closer, studying the animal with a critical eye. "Lina? Is that you?" He murmured, edging his hand closer to it. The canine came forward, carefully padding towards him, slinking back its ears and lowering its tail and head, meeting his hand halfway. The fur felt soft and sleek against his skin, like velvet. He looked directly into its eyes, and he knew exactly who it was. But, still the wolf tried to convince him. It held up a paw and pointedly looked at its left shoulder, a crease formed on Kaide's brow as he leaned closer to it. His shaking fingers brushed away the thick fur and sure enough, engrained on its flesh were the swirling lines of a paw print tattoo, forged from the fabric of the night. "Whoa. Holy... Lina, you're really a... Well that's... I mean that's... Just whoa." Again came the barking cough as it- she- lowered her paw. Kaide grinned widely as he brought his hand up to scratch between her ears. "This is awesome!" He exclaimed as Lina emitted a low gurgling sound, closing her eyes in contentment. She turned and licked his cheek before scampering deeper in the forest.
A few minutes later, she reappeared, this time in human form, wearing a pair of camouflage cargo pants and a plain, black t-shirt. When she saw him standing where he was before, waiting for her, her lips curled upwards into a smile. "Sorry I woulda changed back here, but uh you saw what happened to my clothes. Its kinda wolf protocol to stash clothes around the place." She chuckled, absently tracing patterns up his arm. "So this is all real? I'm not gonna wake up in a few minutes am I? You're really a, uh... ya know...?" She giggled at him again. "Of course its real, you think your brain would be creative enough to think up all this stuff? Or think up someone as attractive as me? And you know you can say it, right. I don't disappear if you do. I hate to break it to ya... but I'm a werewolf, hun." She teased, winking at him. "So what happens now?" He asked, smiling slightly.
"Well, we've got to get that warlock potion on you, but why not relax a little first. That is if you still wanna see me after-" He interrupted her with a hard kiss. Despite her surprise, she met each of his movements with equally as much energy and passion.