Tame

“It was snowing and the forest was silent
She turned
and began to speak
but I couldn’t hear the words
The sounds that issued forth
shed my wolf skin
and we made love
The crunch of boots on snow
a gunshot
we
fled”

Where have you gone?

November
138 Years Later

The bouncer was a mountain of a man. Once he recognized me, his eyes set into a glare.

“If you want into the club, you have to use the main entrance.”

“I’m not here for the club. Not tonight.”

I had been coming out to this bar for the past couple of months. No matter how often I searched through the throng of dancers, I was certain she wasn’t here. But something called out to me, softly, causing me to return to the endless loop of seeking I’d started.

The man snorted, clearly annoyed by my presence.

“Then hang around somewhere else,” he stated before he began to close the door.

I stopped the door with my hand.

“I came to see her.”

The man glared down at me.

“I don’t know what or who you’re talking about but you need an invite to ent-”

My nails dug into the wood.

“I know she’s here. I recognize her scent.”

The man’s glare was accompanied by a scowl. I could see the wheels turning, playing out the scenario in his head. The bouncer stepped aside, making room for me to enter the small lobby. I removed my coat and placed on the single chair in the small lobby. No matter how many layers I wore, nothing seem to keep me warm. The door closed behind us and the man motioned to the stairs.

“Follow me.”

He didn’t wait for my reply before heading up. I followed a few steps behind. The stairs creaked loudly as we ascended to the third floor of the building. Music from the club on the second floor pulsed through the wall, ringing in my ear. I ran my fingers along the gritty, brick wall, hoping the rhythm would confuse the fear with something else. I needed to calm down.

We stopped at the top, light coming from beneath another door. It’s quiet. He opened the door, ushering me inside.
Scattered lamps lit up the tiny room. A massive bed took up most of the space with a few other pieces of furniture. A vanity near the door, a wooden chair by the only window and a settee.

“Don’t try anything stupid.”

I said nothing. A second later the man sighed, shutting the door after his departure.

I realized the settee was occupied and everything seemed to fade out. She stared, eyes black and endless. I would dare say those eyes were better at trapping prey than any hunter or snare. The velvet of her emerald dress shimmered as she stood, violet jewels drooped lazily across her antlers. We were unwavering. She blinked and the spell was was lost to the music below them. She moved to a wooden trunk at the edge of the bed.

Funny. I’ve waited so long. Physically brought this moment into existence after years of searching and false leads and dead ends. And now I stood here, in a tiny room in a large city with only our passion of that lone night between us.
I was brought back from my thoughts by a familiar warmth as she draped my pelt across my shoulders. The magic chased away the cold and shook me to my core. My vision began to blur. I realized then I was crying, the tears rolling down my face. Her hands moved from my pelt to my face, giving my tears a new trail to follow.

She stared. In her eyes I saw everything I had lost that night: my home, my hunger, and the words I should have spoken. I had more than a century to form that loneliness into words for this day. Out of all the things I could have said, from my burning throat came a desperate noise.

“Where did you go that night?”

It was a pathetic question. I hated the way my voice shook. How the pain was painted on my face. But how could I describe the fear of those first few days alone. The embarrassment of trying to learn the needs of a fragile body just to survive the next day. Of being mocked for things I didn’t understand in a world so different from mine. And having to experience that everyday, for years, with no end in sight. How could I put that into words for such a being to understand.

“I was tired. So tired.”

My face was tilted upward, where soft lips dragged across mine. I grasped at the back of her dress, at the bare skin exposed there. In that moment she gathered my pain and wove it into Spring. I wanted this forever. I wanted her until the end of my days.

We broke apart so I could catch my breathe. She leaned close to my ear and spoke of sunlight flitting through trees; clouded days and a summer breeze. The way flowers bloomed when left on their own and eyes that followed the path you take on your way home. Beyond all that was something more. It found its way from that night long ago back to me.

“I’m here.”