The Sea and the Wolf: Chapter 7

 

Hali did not sleep that night. She worried far too much about Conan. He was in a terrible state, and she didn’t know if leaving him was the right thing to do. She felt responsible for what had happened to him, so she stayed up, just in case. She just stayed in her room, sketching in her sketchbook. Hali pushed the sketchbook aside on her bed as she crawled off. As she stood she turned to the mirror at the top of her dresser. She peered into the mirror, looking herself over. She needed a shower, but she felt that she needed to do other more important things first. Such as check on Conan and his condition.

 

Slowly she opened her bedroom door wide enough for her to step out into the hallway. Slowly she crept down the hall, stepping on very creaky floor boards along the way. Carrying on she stopped in his bedroom doorway. She studied it carefully before she pushes the door open. She studied the interior carefully, her eyes mostly stuck on his empty bed. She stepped inside and looked around the room, when her eyes caught sight of him, he was putting on a white button up with incredible ease. Her eyes widened as she watched him button the shirt up easily using his own hands. She stepped forward, her mouth half open and at a loss for words.

 

“I said I would be fine by morning.”

 

She took another step forward, her mouth hanging open. “But how?”

 

“It's my ability,” he said. “The reason Seath wants me on her side. I heal ten times faster than any normal human, and five times faster than other werewolves.”

 

“You healed two broken arms in less than twenty hours? And the bones set perfectly!”

 

He nodded looking away, drawing his attention to the window beside him. The sun had just passed the hills in the distance. “It would seem that guy, Rick, can hold back abilities and draw other's out. He held my strength and let Lyris use her full strength, and in her wolf hybrid form no less. Werewolves can't transform during the day, the sun blocks it.”

 

“So they have an advantage then?”

 

Conan nodded, still looking away from her. Hali stood, thinking, taking in everything he said.

 

“And Lyris? Can she do anything?”

 

“She reads minds. With that power she can make befriend anyone,” he pointed out. Hali felt a little hurt hearing this. She honestly felt that Lyris and her had a great friendship, but now she wasn't so sure. It was completely one sided. “And do you have any special abilities?”

 

Hali looked at him, questionably. She didn't know. She was good at painting, but that wasn't something she thought Seath would care about, so she shook her head.

 

“Well, she's after you for a reason, and she only cares about people with abilities.”

 

“Well I don't think I have anything special,” she replied.

 

He shook his own head, “She can sense them, there's something there. They probably just haven't awakened yet.”

 

“Awakened?”

 

“It’s different for everyone. Mine were always there, I just was never injured badly enough to notice. I figured it out after Seath attacked me. I healed my bite wound in just a few hours,” he explained. “Perhaps your ability is waiting for something serious to make you notice.”

 

Hali looked away, looking at the window, out at the sun as it rose high and higher. The more she thought about it, the more her head began to hurt. Seath had no reason to want her. Not one. She wasn't special. She was a painter taking art classes in Athens. She was an average student in school, and she was average looking. Her hair was thick and wavy, making it impossible to brush through. Her eyes were such a dark grey, they seemed almost black most of the time, unless they were in direct sunlight.

 

That wasn't anything special. It was who she was. And that wasn't worth hunting down. In fact it seemed more like a bloody waste of time than anything else. Was Seath that mad?

 

“Why don't you go get some home work done or something? You have some don't you?”

 

She nodded. “Professor Otis is supposed to email them to us if we have any.” She took one more glance back at Conan who was now lightly brushing his fairly long hair. “I'll be in my room.”

 

With that she let herself turn completely around. Facing the doorway she started to walk, going through the open door and out into the hallway. Staring down at the wood her mind wandered to Seath once again. This time she wondered if she had ever seen Seath, and how long she has had her eyes on her.

 

She walked into the guest room that Conan was letting her stay in. She looked down at her laptop, still open from the evening before. She turned to it, her right hand taking the computer mouse in hand, staring at the screen for a moment.

 

Once she was comfortable in her place she again began to open her web browser, preparing to check on her email. There were two emails. One was a notice from the art department on projects that were due that week. They were ones she already knew about, and were already done. The other was from her family. Her face lit up in a warm smile as she read the sender. She clicked on it, immediately, eager to read it.

 

Dear Hali,

As I write this to you I am very proud to say I have become a very good typer on the computer. I am up to thirty-five words a minutes. Pretty good for an old woman huh?

Well its been a very exciting few weeks, but boring without you here with us. Your brother Alex's new job is going wonderful and his girlfriend Anna Lynn is doing well. He's even been talking to me about proposing to her. The poor boy is so nervous.

And your two sisters’ are doing well. Penelope is growing into a fine young lady and has gotten her first love letter, signed by a secret admirer. It makes me very excited! She thinks it is a prank, but you can tell a lot of thought went into writing it and that it was written just for her. I have it on the refrigerator too!

And Iris, well Iris is still Iris. Very playful and energetic as ever, but I am afraid she isn't sleeping. She worries for you very much. She says she has had dreams of you disappearing, and a monster taking your place. No more scary movies for her. I'll have to remind Penelope not to let her watch them when Iris is around.

Give her a call sometime, just for her. I think you being away is the hardest on her.

We love and miss you.

-Mom and the family

 

Hali couldn't help but smile as she read the letter over again for a second time. She missed them very much. This was her first time living on her own, especially this far from home. She was pretty much completely across the world. It was only a yearlong art class, but it was intensive and they only took ten students a year. She was chosen out of thousands and left home. Now she was living with a man who could turn into a wolf, and was being hunted for a power that she felt was non-existent.

 

She turned away from the computer, taking a seat on her bed. Hali sighed, her hand covering her face as she held it there for several minutes. A creak in the hallway brought her head up again. Her gaze fell on Conan who was seen half in and out of her view. He leaned on the doorway, watching her silently for a moment, and then opened his mouth.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

She sighed, placing her hands on her legs as she stood. She walked over to the window and leaned down on the window sill. “I don't know, I just miss my family a lot. That’s something I'd feel no matter what. Then there is the fact that I am being hunted for reasons completely unknown, but supposedly because I have a power that doesn't exist.”

 

 

He just stayed in his place, his expression unchanged. “It will awaken, probably soon too.”

 

“I hope it never does.”

 

He seemed to ignore her and instead stepped inside, looking around, his eyes stopped on the laptop. He studied it for only a moment.

 

“You have a new email.”

 

Her eyes drew up, looking at the laptop. “I just read them all.”

 

“Must have just been sent,” he explained.

 

She stopped next to him, her eyes watching the screen. Stepping forward she took the mouse in her hand, clicking on the new message. After a moment of loading the screen loaded and the new message took over the screen. Her eyes scanned over it.

 

“It’s from my professor,” she continued to read it over. She paused for a few minutes. “Class is starting up tomorrow, first thing.”

 

She returned to look at Conan, her eyes watching him carefully as he took his own turn reading the email.

 

“Well, you don't have a choice, you have to go,” he told her. “I'm not here to stop you. I'll drive you there myself, and pick you up. That's the safest we can do.”

 

Hali lit up; her face sparkled with excitement as she looked up at him. “Really?” she cried. “Thank you so much Conan.”

 

“Well you have to go to class, and it isn't safe to walk.”

With that he excused himself and left the room, leaving Hali standing there just wondering why he was incapable of acting like a normal human being and just take a thank you whole heartily. She frowned, shaking her head before she retrieved her sketch book, opened it up to a clean fresh page.