COUNTOWN: 12 DAYS TO FULL MOON #4

The past 6 days had been… exhausting.

Every wolf in the house had been trapped in the basement at some point, trying with everything they had to break the barrier that surrounded them. Luhan had a bruise spilling over his shoulder from where he’d tried to ram it down, Kris had broken the skin over his knuckles. But none of them had been able to get out, not when there were more than one trapped inside, not when people were attacking it from both the inside and the outside. The only way to break the barrier seemed to be to break the runes, only accessible from the outside.

                Kita still wasn’t satisfied, she wanted to be absolutely sure that it would withstand a wolf. Or maybe more than one. She grimaced, there was no guarantee that Kai would be the only wolf turning this time. Judging by the way the wolves were affected last time, it was more than chance that there’d be more than one. She wanted to do her best, she’d done this to them, they’d trusted her to help them. She had to be sure that this was enough, but without an actual wolf to test it on she’d still be winging it on the day.

                She hadn’t been sleeping. Every part of her day was a continuous countdown. Light was flickering in the window to tell her that she now had 12 days left. Twelve sets of twenty-four. Two weeks minus two days. Seven days plus five. Two hundred and eighty-eight hours. Two hundred and eighty-seven hours. Two hundred and eighty-six. Two eighty-five. 284.

                “Kita.”

                She froze, how had she not heard him come down the stairs?

                Her ‘new bed’ was up in Kai’s room, D.O. had been a gentleman in letting her take it, but she barely used it. There was too much to do down here, she had to memorise the runes, she had to scan every book in the library for something she could read, something she could use-

                “Kita!” The voice was hushed, the tone she was familiar enough with now to recognise as the ‘don’t-wake-the-other-wolves’ voice. But she’d never heard Kai use it before.

                She blinked open her eyes, had she been sleeping after all? A horridly vivid dream, so realistic that it gave her no rest at all?

                “Kai?”

                He squat down, and only then did she realise that she was curled up in the corner of the library, books splayed all around her, joints protesting as she raised her head to look at him.

                “What are you doing down here? Is it morning?”

                He grinned at her, “not yet. But come on, got a surprise for you.” He pulled her to her feet, ignoring her pathetic complaints and her bleary-eyed glare with no strength behind it. “you’ll like it, I promise.” The trip took them up the stairs and then up again to the second floor where Kai opened his bedroom door.

                “Kai…?”

                He raised a finger to his lips, “Dress warm.”

                The door was shut behind her as she look bewildered at the inside of the bedroom, what on earth was going on? She checked her magic but Kai’s was acting normal, no wolf influence going on.

                She pulled on a pair of jeans and laced up her boots. She had no idea where Kai was taking her but she wasn’t about to be walking around in flimsy shoes. She pulled on a tank top and then a baggier long sleeve that had been generously donated by Luhan. The sleeves were a little long, but she appreciated the gesture, and the warmth.

                She stepped out of the bedroom, looking cautiously at Kai. “anything else?”

                He grinned as he eyed the rolled-up sleeves. “nope, come on.”

                He led her downstairs again, tiptoeing lightly until they reached the front door which he closed slowly behind him. Kita didn’t bother asking, she just followed him around to the back shed until…

                “No.”

                Kai turned around, “awe come on.”

                “I almost died last time I was on one of those.”

                Kai gave her a look, “you were with Lay, you did not almost die. Besides, I’m a better driver than he is. You’ll be perfectly fine.”

                She eyed the motorbike distrustfully.

                Kai chuckled, “you don’t want to go to the human town then?” He must have caught the change in her expression, “I thought you’d change your mind. Hop on then.” He swung a leg over the bike and began fastening the helmet strap under his chin. Kita stepped forward, cautiously, as if the silent bike was going to jump out at her. Kai reached up and plonked a second helmet on her hair, fastening it one-handedly before turning back around, looking over his shoulder waiting for her.     

                She sat on the bike, shuffling herself closer to Kai as she wrapped her arms firmly around him. This was no time for propriety when her whole life was at stake on this death-bike. She felt Kai’s chest rumbling as he laughed at her nerves, but she wasn’t given the chance to yell at him because the bike roared to life underneath her and she clutched to Kai for dear life. She heard an excited cheer from him as he urged the bike forwards, and she just buried her face in his shoulder blade and tried not to think of the uneven ground beneath them.

                Her legs were going numb, that’s how long she’d been on this stupid bike. She couldn’t feel her fingers, they’d been clasped for so long around Kai’s waist. She was glad that she wore the helmet because she didn’t want to know what it would have been like to feel the wind on her skin for that long. She’d tried meditating, thinking of other things, channeling her magic into patterns, but nothing could take her mind off the ride. It was when her stomach began churning that she felt the bike slow to a stop, and without waiting for Kai she lurched off it and tore the helmet off to breathe in deep gulps of air.

                “Never again.” She said, casting a dirty look at it. “We walk home.”

                Kai chuckled, walking over. “Let me have a look.” Index finger to her chin, he lifted her face to meet his. went dry as she felt his breath brush over her cheekbones, his dark eyes inspecting her, a smile playing on the edge of his lips. “You’ll be ok, let’s try and get some food in you?”

                He let her go and she breathed a breath that she didn’t know she’d held. But food meant the human town, and her curiosity was overriding her anger at the bike. She followed him, barely a footstep behind as he led her through a thin shield of trees and bushes. She lost sight of him for a moment, and then she was through the other side and the human town lay out before her.

                It was like nothing she’d ever seen, nothing she’d ever imagined. She’d lived in the forest for her whole life, she’d been told bedtime stories of humans, barely evolved, bumbling around like the helpless creatures they were. How could they create something like this? Their buildings were taller than her trees, made of materials she couldn’t even recognise. Gone was the wood and leaves she was used to, even the complicity of the wolves’ farmhouse paled in comparison to this. And there was a static in the air, something akin to magic yet subtly different. The humans couldn’t possibly have magic, there was no way…but Kita could feel her own magic skittering. She followed the feeling, her eyes trailing up to thin black wires hung suspended atop wooden poles.

                “What are those?” She asked pointing.

                Kai laughed, “the electricity poles? They power everything in the city.”

                “Like… what we plug the coffee maker into?”

                He chuckled, “yeah. Why?”

                Kita scrunched her nose, “it makes my magic feel funny.”

                Kai bit back his laughter, why was she so adorable all of a second? Her eyes were skittering over the town trying to take everything in at once, the buildings, the colours, the people beginning to walk the streets. It was all new for her and she was itching to see it all. On impulse he reached for her hand and entwined it with his own, passing his magic to steady her. “Better?”

                Blush fanned over her cheeks as she looked the other way, but she nodded and pulled him forwards to begin exploring.

                “Hey slow down, we have all day.”

                They just walked the streets at first, looking at the shops, dodging people on their way to work. She gasped and pulled him into the shadows when the first car zoomed by, but when they passed a parked one she insisted on stopping and examining it. Kai barely pulled her away by the time the owner came back looking perplexed.

                She had her hair down over her ears, lest someone see them. She knew it was irrational, they were barely noticeable and humans didn’t even know Fey existed in the first place, but it made her feel safer to have them covered.

                His heart felt light as he watched her take in the world, and he began to realise just how little she knew about it. She’d lived in the forest her whole life before coming to them, and even then they’d had to teach her some things like how the fridge worked or how to defrost food. This, this must be world-changing for her, and it certainly looked like it. Her eyes were still wide, her head tipped up to look at the buildings stretching out above them. Kai caught a glimpse of the skin of , and looked away with a cough.

                Looking at the streets he didn’t know where to take her, it had been impulsive really, a desire to have her all to himself for a day before the effects of the next full moon started to kick in, to give her a day where she could relax from the burden she was carrying. Just as much as he blamed himself for turning, he knew she blamed herself for making him turn. But it wasn’t her fault, and he would do just about anything until she realised that.

                She pulled on his hand and he jerked over to the window she was pressed up against. He watched as she crouched down, placing both hands on the glass where a little ginger cat was rubbing against it. As soon as she turned her big eyes up to look at him Kai knew he was a goner. “Come on then, let’s go in.”

                She took his hand again, pulling him into the cat café, and he felt her magic running faster, excited, beginning to realise that she was really here.

                “Hi there.” A waitress grinned at them, her eyes flickering to their joined hands before smiling some more, “table for two? Take a seat anywhere you like, I’ll be over in a minute.”

                Kai felt his ears flush as he realised what they looked like, they looked like a couple! On a date! The back of his mind cheered but he shut it down, the last thing he needed was Kita catching on to any magic fluctuations.

                She looked at him with eager eyes, and he chuckled again, “wherever you want.”

                She pulled him over to the table where the little orange kitten was curled up on the chair, and immediately it began nuzzling her hands. Kai sat back, thanking the waitress when she placed the menu’s in front of them, because Kita certainly didn’t seem to notice anything. She was too busy playing with the kitten, and the two other cats that were winding their way around her ankles.

                “Aren’t they cute?” She said, not taking her gaze away, “They’re adorable!”

                Kai agreed, laughing when the kitten jumped up onto her shoulders to nuzzle her face. Lucky cat.

                “This is what it must be like to be bound to animals.” She said, “I’ve seen them do it in the forest.”    

                “Oh yeah?”

                “Yeah! All the deer and squirrels and rabbits and everything! I was always a bit jealous because I wanted to play with them too, and now I can, yes I can, look at you.” Her words descended into babble as she played again with the kitten.

                “How are we doing this morning?” The waitress asked, looking between the two.

                “Good, thanks.” Kai replied, seeing that Kita was still playing. Had she ever pet an animal before?

                “Haven’t seen you two around before, new in town?”

                “Just visiting for the day.”

                The waitress nodded, “the weathers great for travelling this time of year, anything on the menu tickle your fancy?”

                Kai looked at Kita, who hadn’t even glanced at the menu yet, “Order for me?” She asked, turning back to the other cats around her.  

                Order for her? He had no idea what she liked! Well, sweet things, obviously. Fruits, obviously, she was from a forest. He picked out two drinks for them, and the waitress set about making them.

                “Do you miss the forest?” He asked suddenly. He had no idea where that came from, but he was curious to know.

                She looked at him, surprised, and put the kitten down on her lap. “In a way. I miss my family, I miss being surrounded by trees, but things were different there. I didn’t fit in because I was unbound, the Generals were always watching me, I couldn’t do anything because I wasn’t a completed Fey. Life for an unbound Fey, and eventually you begin to realise that everyone’s giving up on you.” She smiled, “its better outside the forest. It’s better here.”

                It was better here, with him? With the pack? Sure she felt conflicted about her home and her people, but she wanted to stay? He could feel his wolf inside him, possessive of her and her words, and for the first time Kai felt jealous of the cat getting all her attention.

                They chatted lightly as they drank their drinks, and then Kai was pulling her out of the café after ten minutes of her bidding goodbye to the cat.

                “You can always come back to adopt him!” The waitress called out after them.

                Not likely. Not a single cat had approached him in there, he’d love to see how one handled in a house full of werewolves.

                “How about…. Ice cream?” He asked, looking at her.

                “I don’t know.” She said, shrugging, “I’ve never had it.”

                Again, he was floored. But it made sense, they never bought ice cream because of how long it took to get home, it would have all melted. And there was no way they’d have it in the forest. Determined, he tightened his hand around hers and led her to the ice cream parlour.

                Ice cream cones in hand, other clasped together, they walked the streets. It was awkward trying to eat it with his left hand, but he’d be damned if he was going to let go of Kita.

                “Go on.” He said, “try it.”

                “You just, there’s no spoon?”

                “You just,” he demonstrated, “ it.”  

                She took a hesitant of the ice cream, and pulled back in shock, “it’s cold!”

                He laughed, “its ice cream, of course it’s cold!”

                She frowned, sticking her tongue out at him petulantly before going back to the ice cream. He’d given her chocolate and vanilla, sticking with the classics for her first time, but he’d got strawberry and mint chip, a combination he swore by, and it wasn’t hard to tell she was eyeing his cone.

                “Can I taste yours?”

                He flushed, did she realise what she was asking?

                “Come on!” She whined, “It’s my first time ever having ice cream!”

                He gave in, just like he knew he would, and stretched his cone out to her, avoiding looking at her as she gave little kitten to the dessert.

                “Mint!” She seemed shocked, “I’ve never had mint outside of tea before!” She laughed, “I like ice cream.” Thankfully, she was back on her own cone and Kai hurried to finish his before she could ask for another taste. He wasn’t sure he could go through that again.

                “You have ice cream on your face.” She said, laughing at him. “Right here.”

                He wiped quickly at his chin, embarrassed, and pulled her along. They walked through the mall, just wandering really, when Kai saw something that gave him an idea. “Come on.”

                He pulled her into the photobooth and shut the curtain, looking forward at the screen where their image was looking back at them.

                “What’s this?” She asked, tapping the screen curiously.

                Kai just fed money into the machine, looking at the camera and pulling the ugliest face he could think of. Kita’s laughter filled the booth as the flashes went off, and Kai looked eagerly at the strip of photos.

                “Here, look.”

                Kita looked at the pictures, beaming as she caught on what the machine was. “Again! Let’s do another!”

                They stumbled from the photobox three rounds later, all the pictures tucked safely in Kai’s wallet.

                “But how does it work?” She asked, looking back at it over her shoulder. “How does it do that without magic?”

                “I don’t know.” Kai said, “humans are clever.”

                She nodded, looking around at the world with new appreciation. If only the Fey knew what could be done without magic, would that change things? Or did they already know? She had to wonder at what she had ever been told, how much of it was outright lies, and how much was just denial, clinging to the old ways?

                She felt Kai pulling her again to another destination, and looked around at the jewellery shop he’d brought her to.

“Take a look around.” He said, letting go of her hand and perusing the cases. The electricity was still skittering her magic, but less than it had been outside, it must be the brick or the stone, or whatever this building was made out of. She walked slowly around the shop, looking at how everything glittered under the lights, stones and gems of every colour, set into rings and bracelets and necklaces, it was all very pretty.

“Looking for anything specific dear?” An elderly woman stood opposite the case she was looking in.

“Not really.” She said.

The woman nodded, a knowing smile on her face, “Is your boyfriend the one doing the looking?”

Kita glanced over to where Kai was talking with another saleswoman, “Oh he’s not, we’re not-”

The woman just smiled again, “Nothing like jewellery to show one’s affections.” She winked, and Kita quickly left the case, heading over to Kai.

“What’s going on.”

“Kita, perfect timing.” Kai greeted her warmly, taking her hand again. Immediately the uneasiness she felt from the other woman settled, and comfort took its place. He looked back at the saleswoman, “This is her.”

“Oh you’re a pretty one aren’t you, very delicate.” The woman gushed over her, “Can I have your hand for a second dear?”

Kita gave it cautiously, looking at Kai who just nodded at her soothingly.

The woman looked at her fingers closely before bustling off, “I have just the thing, I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

“What are you doing, Kai?” She asked, while the woman was out of earshot, rummaging in another case.

“What does it look like?” He grinned back at her, but she felt something else, something in his magic, he was lying about something. There was more going on here. But she didn’t have time to ask, because the saleswoman was back.

“Here it is, very beautiful, strong but dainty, it’ll fit you perfectly dear, here you go, try it on.”

The woman passed her a ring. It was simple, a silver ring with a curving line around the band. The woman slipped it on her middle finger, and Kita flexed her fingers at the unfamiliar feeling of wearing a ring. Kai’s fingers tightened around hers. Something was off, something was…

“What’s this ring made of?” She asked the woman slowly, not wanting to hear the answer.    

“Oh don’t worry, your boyfriend here has told me all about your iron allergy, very unfortunate but don’t worry, this is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. No iron in sight. We did talk about a completely silver ring, but silver is really too soft to make jewellery of all on its own, so this is the best option. What do you think? It’s very pretty on you, you have a good skin tone for silver.”

Silver. Silver. Slowly, she let the words sink in.

There were no silver weapons in the house. No silver utensils, nothing. Not a single piece, because it was uncomfortable for wolves to be in the same place as it. No wonder his magic was acting up so much here in a shop filled with it.

“Can we talk, Kai?” She said, slipping off the ring and passing it back to the woman, dragging him to the other side of the shop.

“What are you thinking?” She hissed, “Silver?”

“You need something.”

“I’m not taking something that’s going to hurt you, it’s dangerous.”

“I’m dangerous.” He said back. “I need to know you have something on you to stop us.”

“How would you feel if I asked you to wear iron all the time, to protect you from me?”

“To be fair, you don’t transform into a giant salivating monster intent on ripping me to pieces.”

She stared him down, “I’m not wearing it.”

He held her gaze, his eyes sad, “I’m buying it anyway.”

She didn’t take his hand again as they walked through the town. The happy atmosphere from earlier was lost, and the two were waling in silence knowing that eventually, one of them would bring it up.

“Why did you buy it”

I told you, I need to know that you have some kind of protection-”

“And a ring is going to stop a werewolf.” She scoffed.

“No.” He admitted, “but it might make us thing twice. We might hesitate for a second and that might let you get away.”

“I don’t like having something that can kill you.”

“Kita, I am something that can kill you. And my wolf, he’s fixated on you, in every way. I just want you to have something to stop me.”

“I trust you Kai, you’ll stop yourself.”

“I didn’t last time.”

“Then you know what needs to be done for next time.”

He took a breath, “At least take it, wear it on the full moon, please, for my own peace of mind.”

They left town soon after that, back on the bike so they would get home before dark. Kai’s back was tense as Kita held on, and she could tell from his magic that he was conflicted.

He didn’t like the ring more than she did, he could feel it even now, wrapped up in it’s little box. But he was worried, he knew his wolf would be gunning for her, and who knew how many of them were going to turn this time. She could have four, five wolves converging on her. The thought of a ring was laughable, it couldn’t possibly do anything against that many wolves, but it gave him a peace of mind that maybe it would give her a second, that she could run.

Kita could tell, she knew all of this, but she still hated the idea. She didn’t want Kai to be afraid for her, she didn’t want him to be afraid of himself, but she had to admit he had a point. She leaned her head on his shoulder blades in apology, in acceptance and understanding, and his muscles relaxed.

For the first time on a bike, she opened her eyes, and was greeted with the sight of the fading sunlight over Kai’s skin, bathing him in a warm glow.

It felt surreal, like today had just been something she dreamed up. But in reality, they only had twelve days. Twelve days until everything changed again.   

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A little out of the blue, this chapters a bit different from the others but I wanted them to just have a day together without all of the problems and other they’re going through!

Also: What do you all think of my new cover image?? I'm in love with it myself.