The Mouse and The Wolf - Chapter 52: Chapter 52

-Oliver-
I was kissed. Jaden kissed me. Yup, he did that. He sure kissed me. Wow...
We were lying in my bed, side by side, and my God, could the atmosphere between us be any more awkward? Neither of us had said a word in a very long time. I was still trying to understand what happened. The kiss was amazing. It felt so right. He had soft lips...
It sure happened fast though – yesterday we were still trying to figure out what I was, and now...
"Oh, boy..." I breathed out when a lot of thoughts and emotions hit me at the same time.
"Are you... okay?" Jaden asked timidly – his previous confidence ran away ages ago.
"I have no idea," I said, trying to take a few deep breaths. "This has been a really, really long day..."
"I shouldn't have kissed you – it was way too much..." Jaden spoke, and sat up next to me.
I looked at him deep into his green eyes and shook my head.
"I liked it," I whispered. "Everything else is too much..."
He gave me a sad look, and carefully touched my hand, which was lying on my chest. "This is my fault – Jack was after me..."
"It's not your fault either," I said sternly. "I just... I'm going to need a lot of time to process this all."
"You have all the time in the world," he promised quietly.
I gave him a smile, and took his hand in mine. "We should try to get some sleep."
"Yeah – I'll leave you alone now," he said, and tried to get out of the bed, but I didn't let go of his hand. "I'm going to need that hand," he joked.
"Stay here," I said. "Please?"
His expression grew softer, and he nodded, before he lay back down next to me. I turned on my side to see him better, and we still were holding hands.
"For the record, this feels right," I told him.
"You're not wrong," he said, giving me an awkward smile.
When I woke up the next morning, I almost fell off the bed when I felt a hand on my side. At first, I thought it was one of the kids who had sleepwalked into my bed, but when I forced my heavy eyelids open, I saw Jaden. And I nearly fell of the bed again.
"Sorry – didn't mean to scare you," he breathed out.
"You didn't..." I hurried to say. "I was just surprised," I added, as he pulled his hand away.
"I can feel what you feel, remember?" he chuckled. "Are you hungry? I can smell breakfast."
"Yeah, a bit," I said, and sat up. I still felt like I could go back to sleep, but I ignored how tired I was. I had fallen asleep pretty fast last night, but I had no idea how long I slept.
"Something's different," Tilly said when Jaden and I stepped out of our room.
She, Arch and Aurora were already eating breakfast by the kitchen table.
"Mind your own business," Jaden said groggily – he looked, if possible, even more tired than I felt.
Tilly chuckled lightly with a knowing look on her face. She looked at me shortly, before she turned her attention back to her bread.
"Come – eat," Aurora said, pointing towards the table with a smile. "You must be hungry."
I sure was. I ate my food in silence, appreciating the fact that no one tried to include me in their conversation. Jaden was sitting right next to me, and I could feel his leg brushing against my own every now and then. He wasn't looking at me, but I could feel his... spirit?
I forgot to listen to the others when I focused on that whispery feeling on my skin. I felt like I was being studied by a ghost. That was new, but it felt nice. Like I was surrounded by invisible arms that kept moving slowly all around me.
I had so much to ask Natalie when I saw her again.
At that moment, I could feel something outside in the woods, coming our way.
"Your dad is coming," I said, and they all turned to look at me.
"How do you know?" Jaden said slowly.
"His aura is so big it won't fit in the forest," I chuckled. "It's like a... tornado. Hard to miss."
"Really?" he asked.
"That's just his ego," Aurora said, smiling at her own joke.
"That's more likely," Jaden smirked.
A few moments later, Aurora went to the door, and opened it after Rayleigh knocked on it.
"You're awake. Good," he said when he stepped in. "I don't have much time, but I'm here to keep my promise," he added, laying his eyes on his son.
"Finally," Jaden said, leaning back in his seat. "So? What is it?"
Rayleigh let out a short laugh. "Go get dressed – we're going for a walk."
"You're showing it to him?" Aurora said with a surprised look on her face.
"Yeah, why not? If I die today, he has no idea what to do with it," Rayleigh spoke, and suddenly turned to look at me. "And there is something I must know."
"What is it?" Jaden asked, standing up.
"We will all find out soon enough," he said, still keeping his eyes on me.
"What about us?" Tilly asked, and Rayleigh finally turned away from me, letting out a deep sigh when he looked at her, then at Arch.
"You can come – at least as far as they will let you," he said.
"What? Who?"
"Go get dressed – we're leaving now. I'll wait outside," Rayleigh said, before he exited the house.
All four of us turned to exchange looks, but Aurora stood up. "You heard him. You better hurry."
Soon later, we were all standing outside in the snow, wearing thick clothes. Aurora promised us that once we got back, she would start making lunch. I wondered where we were going but didn't ask – I felt like I was going on an adventure, so I didn't want to get any spoilers.
"Stay close to me," Rayleigh said, and started walking, heading straight into the forest.
We walked for a while in the snow, but as the minutes passed, the forest around us grew thicker and older. At first, I didn't see anything weird, but after a while, it started to become clear that this wasn't like the other forests.
I had to stop when I suddenly stepped on soil, not on snow. I looked up and couldn't see the sky anymore behind the branches.
"What is this place?" I asked, feeling all kinds of shivers going through me.
That part of the forest was so thick that I could hardly see further than a few feet. There was a narrow pathway in front of us, lined by old, crooked trees that seemed to form some kind of a hallway.
"Forest of the dead," Rayleigh spoke quietly. "Sacred ground of the Spirit Walkers."
"This is where the spirits gather, before moving to the afterlife," Jaden spoke just as quietly.
"I can feel them," I whispered, when I realized it. "There must be hundreds of them."
Rayleigh nodded, and continued walking. "I once knew a Spirit Walker," he spoke as he walked down the hallway in a slow pace. "His name was Kevin. I knew him long before I was turned into a werewolf, but I had no idea what he was, of course."
"I remember you talking about him," Jaden said.
"Me, Kevin and Ezra were a tight group back then," Rayleigh said, and turned to look at me. "Ezra is my second beta. You'll get to meet him soon – he should be home by tomorrow morning."
I nodded, but Rayleigh didn't look away from me just yet.
"Kevin didn't tell me what he was, until I got turned into a werewolf. He was the one who taught me the ways of supernaturals. He was always there for me... So, when the battle between Spirits and Shadows started, me and my pack came to his aid."
I listened quietly as he spoke, looking around in the hallway, even though there was nothing much to see except for the endless row of trees. It was quite warm there, and I could almost hear the spirits whispering all around me. It sounded like a gentle breeze in the trees.
"I remember that day when Kevin called me and told me he had to leave. He said he didn't know if he we would ever see each other again," Rayleigh spoke. "There were more enemies than Spirit Walkers. The look on those bastards' faces when they were met with thirty werewolves instead of just twenty Spirit Walkers... Priceless."
Suddenly the hallway ended, and we arrived at some kind of big hall, formed by the trees. The branches grew upwards, meeting each other at the middle of the hall, forming a ceiling. I could see rays of sunlight passing through them, but there was only a little snow on the forest floor. And there, right in the middle, was a big, square, white stone with writing on one side of it.
"This is where the battle happened," Rayleigh said, stopping to a halt. "Here lie those who we lost."
We all stood there in silence for a long while. I could only admire the beauty of the forest and the stone, no matter how unnatural it all felt. The hall was filled with spirits. I could feel them, slowly swirling around the stone.
"Come," Rayleigh said eventually, and we made our way to the stone.
As I suspected, I saw the name, Kevin Attwood, written on the stone with a dozen other names.
"Kevin... may he rest in peace, didn't make it out alive," Rayleigh said with a heavy voice, stopping right in front of the stone. "The battle lasted for nine days. We fought with everything we got, because we couldn't let the Shadow Walkers have this land."
"Why did they want it?" I asked.
Rayleigh looked at me, and then at the stone. "Have you heard of the old world?" he asked quietly.
"No," I shook my head.
"They were the first of the first, oldest of the oldest, and more powerful than anything we could imagine," Rayleigh explained. "Our Moon Goddess is one of them. She's one of the oldest spirits of our time. But it's not only beings that came from the old world. Books and tomes and weapons... the list goes on. Those items are too dangerous for us new worlds to use. Some we even can't use, because we don't have the power or the knowledge to use them."
"Are you saying...?" Jaden suddenly spoke, and trailed off, when Rayleigh sighed.
"There's one right here," he said.
"What?" both Arch and Tilly breathed out.
"The battle started because one of the Spirit Walkers who was supposed to protect it became a Shadow Walker. He quickly gained friends, and demanded the Spirit Walkers who lived here to hand it over to them. Kevin and his friends refused – the thing that lies beneath our feet is way too dangerous in the hands of the Shadow Walkers."
"What is it?" Jaden asked.
"When the battle started, the Spirit Walkers made this stone to protect it, and later, we disguised it as a tombstone," Rayleigh spoke, stepping right in front of it. "There are only two keys in this world, and without them, this stone will forever stay as a stone."
"Kevin had one," Rayleigh said. "And they gave me the other one. It's in my blood."
"What?" Jaden asked in confusion.
"It's a blood-spell, you idiot," Arch whispered.
"Yes, only my blood can open this doorway. And Kevin's," Rayleigh said. "Those who share our blood can open the door as well," he added, turning to look at Jaden.
"I can open it?" Jaden said silently.
"Yes," Rayleigh nodded.
"That's why Jack tried to possess Jaden," I said. "To use you to open this... door?" I added, turning to look at the stone.
"Yes," Rayleigh said again.
"And what was the promise everyone keeps talking about?" Jaden asked.
"To protect it," Rayleigh said. "When the battle was over, the remaining Spirit Walkers were in a bad shape. Me and my pack promised to protect this stone, and in return, they gave us this land. The Spirit Walkers stayed away in order to not draw any attention to us or to this stone, and now, there's only the Bundts left."
"You know them?" I asked.
"We have met a couple of times regarding the stone," Rayleigh said.
"So, the Spirit Walkers left, leaving us in charge of this... this... whatever it is?" Tilly spoke.
"Yes," Rayleigh nodded. "They were forced to leave to protect their other sacred grounds – their numbers are growing thin, you see. I, on the other hand, have a mighty pack surrounding this place, in a land no one remembers anymore."
"Someone remembered," Arch pointed out.
"Someone who will regret their decision to come here," Rayleigh said confidently. "We are the guardians of the Blue Moon after all."
"True," Jaden nodded.
Rayleigh touched the name, Kevin, on the stone, and let out a deep sigh. "You son of a bitch," he said quietly. "You went and got yourself killed..."
The rest of us waited in silence for him. I could feel the pain he felt when he thought about his old friend. I felt sorry for him, and for all those people who died protecting this place.
"So, you have accepted your mate, boy?" Rayleigh suddenly said without looking at us.
"Yes," Jaden said surprisingly smoothly.
Rayleigh nodded and let out a silent chuckle. "I see you, Moon Goddess. I know what you're up to," he added, and pressed Kevin's name. A small hatch opened under the list of names. I could see a small silver cup inside it, with a sharp needle pointing up in the middle of it. It looked very sharp.
He turned to look at Arch and Tilly. "This might be the farthest as you two can go. If the spirits allow you to enter, then you can come with us, but if not, I'm afraid you'll have to stay here and wait for us."
Tilly looked disappointed, but Arch only nodded. Then, Rayleigh turned to look at Jaden and me.
"If I'm correct, there are now three keys to this place," he said.
"You mean, three people who can open it?" Jaden said.
"Yeah," Rayleigh said.
"How do you know?" Jaden asked.
"Kevin died sixteen years and six months ago, almost to the date," Rayleigh said, and turned to look at me. "Five months before you were born."
"That... doesn't mean anything," Jaden said, and I suddenly froze when I realized what Rayleigh was hinting at.
Rayleigh took my hand, and brought it to the needle, pressing my index finger against it. I felt the needle puncturing my skin, but I didn't even flinch. I needed to know...
I didn't see if the wound was enough to draw blood, but Rayleigh held my hand still for a moment, before finally letting go. There was one single drop on the top of the needle, and I stared at it without being able to even breathe.
And then, the stone let out a loud bang, splitting in two. The two parts then slid away from each other, revealing a white staircase underneath it.
"This is your legacy, Oliver Attwood," Rayleigh spoke my name, as the stones stopped to a halt.