Marked by Time

At that moment i realised that I had entered a new world with new rules and I don't know how to play the game. Jade is a witch and she is being hunted.

         Chapter One

I stand off to the side and wait patiently, patience is a virtue and I am nothing but patient with everyone and everything. I learnt a long time ago that it was better for me to simply wait when it comes to people, what they say and do hardly reflects on what they truly feel inside.
Jennifer is flirting shamelessly with the cashier, holding up the line; she is the acception to my rule, nothing is a secret when it comes to her, everything is laid out on the table and I had always found it refreshing, a strange comfort; until now.
It was becoming difficult to keep up with her as I tried to keep track of all the guys she so easily became interested in only to move on to another one the next week - exhausting really - it was a hell of a lot harder to keep track of all the emotions that flowed from everyone around me as I tried to block them out; but they swirled through the air invading me, threatening to take over.
The strongest at the moment was the attraction that fuelled Jennifer's actions as it seeped from her like waves of heat and into me.
I felt no real draw to the cashier but I could feel hers and it was becoming difficult to concentrate on anything else.
I just wanted a coffee before work, not this new puppy love that would inevitably rub off onto me as well.

"Hazelnut Mocha for Jade." The barista calls and I can't contain the sigh of relief that leaves me as I turn to retrieve it.
A coffee isn't much, but it will serve as a small distraction, something else to focus on.

Focusing on a single thing always helps.

I walk into something firm and my eyes trail up a broad and muscular chest until they meet his stunning silver ones that swim with amusement as they stare back into mine.
"I'm sorry." I stammer and take a step back, I hadn't felt his presence, I can always feel everyone around me, I rely on it in a sense, I hardly bother to look where I am going because of it but this time there had been no warning, no hum of emotions, no heat of energy, I lose my footing and I can feel myself about to stumble and fall but his hand reaches out for me, taking hold of my arm to help me stay steady.
A crooked smile plays on his lips, lighting his face. "Anytime." He says; but I hardly hear him as the world slips away and for a moment and I think I may have passed out, everything has gone silent.

Only I haven't, I am still standing in the small café with this strangers hand on me, surrounded by people, only I don't feel them.

I register that I should say something, anything, I should at least look away, move away, I should get my coffee, do something my mind screams, I have tried so hard to be normal but I can never seem to manage it and now we have passed normal, skipped awkward and gone straight to weird.

And yet, even though I know I should move, I can't seem to bring myself to do it, I can't move out of fear, not fear of him but fear of what leaving his touch will bring.

His touch has brought silence to the emotions and energies that I can always feel, but right now, they are gone.
I can no longer feel the desire that flows from Jennifer and the cashier, the exhausted frustration from the business woman that had burnt into me since she had stepped foot into the café and weighed me down, the headache and exhaustion that the barista had felt, giving me her headache, the greedy hunger that had turned my stomach that came from the man sitting in the corner as he dug into his muffin.
Nothing, silent, gone.
For as long as I could remember, there has never been a day in my life where I could go out into public and feel my own emotions and only my emotions.
It is such a strange feeling and I never want it to end.
I wanted to speak, to ask how this could be possible, does he feel the same way, but I don't, again out of fear that this magical connection could be broken and allow the emotions to flood through me again.
So this is what it feels like to be normal.
Just as I start to think it may be possible, that with some miracle, I have found someone else like me, something bumps into me his hand leaves my arm and I am sucked back into the world and the emotions come with it.
Jennifer is standing beside me with two coffees in her hands and a coy smile.
She thrusts my coffee at me and I clumsily take it before it spills on my shirt.
I welcome the heat that warms my hands as I wrap my fingers around the cup. I focus on it and slowly the emotions start to fade, but only slightly.

I fight every instinct inside my body that tells me to reach out for him again, if only I could feel the silence for just one more second.

But he has already left, heading towards the register.

"Interesting." Jennifer mutters quietly as she loops her arm through mine and all but drags me from the café.
I allow myself to be pulled away but I haven't been able to take my eyes off him, just before we leave the café he turns and his eyes lock with mine.

Will I ever see him again?

"What?" I ask when we are out of the café and away him, I can focus on her better now.

"Liked what you saw, did you?" Her tone is teasing.

"No, well, yes." I say slowly, no point in denying it.

"Interesting," she says again, her voice still laced with the same teasing tone. "Cause I've never seen you like that before, practically drooling on a guy's shoes. Want to go back and introduce yourself?"

Yes, my mind screams. "Not really." I would have opted for sitting in the café to finish our coffees if I didn't have work.
"Well if you don't like him, what the hell happened there? You were in a trance or something and that's just not normal behaviour for you. But don't get me wrong, I would have done the same, the guy was hot."
"I'm not really sure." I say, though I sure as hell would like to go back there and figure it out, not that I would say that out lo0ud. "I just got this strange ... feeling." I trail off, and now that I've said that I know exactly where this conversation will go, the same place it always goes.

Jennifer groans and rolls her eyes, I can feel the speech creeping up inside her, again, why did I say that, why couldn't I have just kept quiet.
"Jade, seriously -" she starts but I cut her off. I've heard it a thousand times before.
"Jen, I understand that you don't believe that I am an empath." I pull us both to a stop so that I can level my gaze with hers. "Though I do find it rather ironic that the moment a guy comes along that you want you are suddenly all ears."
"Speaking of guys." She says.
I can't help but smile as I allow her to pull me back into step with her, I knew that would get to her and change the subject.
"Yes, he likes you too."
Her squeal of excitement rings out around us and I wish I had my hands free so that I could have covered my ears.

The noise brings the attention of those close enough to hear and their sudden judgment weighs down on me.

The stronger someone feels about something the stronger I feel it, and when those emotions are directed at me, It's almost like a knife slicing through me and whatever semblance of a wall I have managed to build to block them out is shattered.

I pick up our pace to get away from the watchful eyes and the invasion of emotions.
Being in public is always difficult, being around anyone is hard enough that I sometimes wonder how I haven't gone crazy and just lock myself up in my room.

But being around Jennifer is normally easy, we have been friends since we were ten years old and I feel that her simplicity is the only reason why I didn't break the friendship off years ago, her thoughts revolved around nothing but trivial matters; boys, clothes, hair and makeup, she is easy to keep happy and as long as she is happy, so am I.
Jealousy, hate and sadness just aren't apart of her life, she never wants for anything for long because she always got what she it, one way or another.

At the moment, her thoughts are focused on the cashier and I could feel her planning but it doesn't take long for her thoughts to shift to something else. Me.

I have to suppress the groan that rises inside me, I can feel what is coming next.
"Speaking of guys again." She says with a huge smile.

"No." I try to cut her off but there's no use, when it comes to this it's like speaking to a brick wall.

"Alex." I can feel her flair of excitement. She likes to think of herself as a form of match maker and her latest quest has been me, she wants me to be normal and date, you would think after seven years of friendship she would understand that I just don't do normal, I can't, no matter how much I wish that I could.
"we're friends." I try to explain, again, I have lost count of how many times I have had to try and tell her this.
"Oh come one, seriously." Her voice has taken on a more serious tone. "He's hot, he's available and he is so obviously obsessed with you, girls throw themselves at him constantly and he doesn't even notice, all he sees is you."
She wasn't exactly wrong, he did find me attractive and I had always thought the same of him, but there was nothing but friendship between us, on both sides.
"He likes me." I say and her excitement rises. "As a friend." I quickly finish and it's like throwing water on fire as the light inside her goes out. "He's my best friend."

"I thought I was your best friend."

"You both are."

"We're your only friends." She laughs. "It's hardly a special title."

"Or maybe it's an extremely special title and that's why no one else gets to have it."
We both laugh until we come to a stop outside my work.

Her thoughts and feelings shift again as she looks up at the sign above the door; Sara-Bella Dance Studio.

"What's it like teaching now instead of being taught?"
"I still take classes, but it's good." I smile, I plan to move to LA and after finishing preforming arts school I want to teach, I want my choreographs in the music videos and today, I have fifteen twelve year olds to teach.
"Anyways." She says and gives me a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
I smile, even though she insists that she doesn't believe in my ability, she believes that I think I do, her emotions come to life, warm and happy, as she tries to push them into me, it's like a form of good luck from her.

When we pull, apart my smile is from ear to ear.
"What?" she asks.
"Thank you."

She scrunches her nose. "I still don't believe you, you know."

I turn and begin to walk into the dance studio. "Whatever you say." I call out.
"I don't."

Alone, I can feel the same strange pulling that has been tormenting me for days, I have no idea what is it but it is almost like something is calling to me and the more I try to ignore it the stronger it seems to get.

 

************************

 

I opened my eyes to darkness; a soft breeze flows past me sending chills through my body. I'm outside and I have no idea how I got here or where I am.

I try to think back to what I had done last but the last thing I can remember is walking into the dance studio, I can't even remember teaching my class. Surely I have done something else in between then and now.
I look down at myself, I am still wearing the same clothes that I wear to dance class, I still have the same bag, it must still be the same day only hours have passed that I can't account for.

Something is wrong, I can feel it in the air as it grows thicker, heaver, it clings to me, threatening to suffocate me with its message.
Every living thing has its own form of emotions, energy that pulses from the world like a heartbeat.
The leaves rustle with the wind, small whispers and secrets are shared between them as they dance and play.

A vibration of electricity tingles my skin and trickles down my spine setting me on edge.
I drop my bag to the ground and kneel in front of it, I need my phone, I need to know where I am and I need to leave.

A ringing sets of in my ears and my vision blurs as the words begins to scream at me, I feel like it is warning me, it wants me to leave.

Every muscle inside my body tenses reacting to the screams of the world, my body is trying to listen only I can't seem to understand.
I hit the ground. Hard.
Something is on my back, its pressure is pushing me further into the gravel beneath me as I slide along it, I can feel my flesh being torn from my body; left on the rough surface of the ground.

Pain, searing hot or freezing cold, I can't tell, takes over my senses for a moment as my mind spins and tries to grasp onto what had just happened.

For a moment all I can hear is the echoing of my gasping breath and pounding heartbeat.
My shock fades and I pull myself onto my side and fall onto my back, still gasping for air.

Through the stars that dance across my vision I can see yellow eyes, glowing like the sun, they belong to a wild looking woman that stands over me, her head falls back and an annalistic howl erupts into the night.
When her gaze meets mine again I see that she is changing, her teeth growing long and sharp, like needles, her ears form into points and her face is growing longer.
I watch, stunned, unable to move and her body twitches and spasms and her bones begin to snap and break with every violent shock that pulses through her body. Her screams fill the air as her clothes tear from her body and she almost doubles in size and fur covers her skin.
Where the woman had stood a monster now stands.

A wolf.
It growls at me and I can feel the creature's hot breath on my face.
My body shakes and all I want to do is wake up from this nightmare.

Before I can even register that it has moved its claws come down along my shoulder and chest, ripping through my skin and I scream.

Before the creature can attack again, I throw my hands up in a futile attempt to protect myself and close my eyes, waiting for the pain that doesn't come.

Instead, I hear a bone breaking crash and whimpers, I open my eyes to find the wolf lying on the ground, slumped against a tree.
Still but not dead.

I touch a shaking hand to my chest and bring it back warm, wet with blood that drips from my fingers. 
I drag myself across the ground to where my bag lays, dizziness swims in my head and dims my vision as the stars come back to play.
I have no idea what just happened but I know I need to get out of here, I need to call someone, I need help.

In the distance I can hear the sound of more howls, more creatures.
The pull of darkness and unconsciousness is growing as it threatens to take me under.

If I pass out I know I will die.

Crunching and a groan stills me, I swing my gaze back to where the wolf had been lying but it is awake again, crouched and ready to attack.

The second it leaves the ground in a jump that will bring the force of its whole body on top of me something moves from the bushes and a man steps out, his hands circle around the creatures legs and swings it backwards into a tree with so much strength the tree breaks in half.

When he looks over to me my eyes lock with his silver ones.
I know those eyes.

Author's Note

Please ignore any spelling and grammar mistakes.
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