Arya out.
The Beauty's Beasts.
Book 1.
Wolf
It was dark. Dark and hot. Low voices were chanting strange words somewhere nearby, and candles flickered their dim lights. There was an overall feeling of foreboding hanging in the warm air. He was sitting at the center of a ring of cloaked figures, unable to move. His breathing was heavy, his eyes wide and full of fear. Then there was a sudden burning pain in his wrist.
Logan sat up suddenly. His breath came fast as he looked around at his bedroom. He swallowed, rubbing his eyes with one hand. It had been that same dream again! That same nightmare he had every night for months. He rubbed his wrist, still feeling the pain. Without looking down, he knew what was under his hand. It was always the same. That burning pain under his tattoo. He looked down at the black mark permanently etched into his skin, the symbol of his clouded past and uncertain future. He saw no point in trying to go back to sleep, so he got up. He noticed that his roommate was missing from the bed beside him. Looking around, he saw a bag sitting by the door. He walked downstairs to the small kitchen to find Chris making a pot of coffee. Chris turned as Logan walked in.
“You’re up early.”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“Nightmares again?”
“Yeah.”
Logan sat at the shabby wooden table and rested his head and arms on the top, sighing deeply. Chris put down the coffee and came over to Logan, nudging his head playfully.
“Hey, wake up. I made coffee for us both. Let’s share it outside, okay?”
Logan smiled a bit and nodded. The dawn was just breaking outside, and the birdsong was loud and cheerful. The two young men sipped at their coffee and watched the sunrise quietly. Finally, Logan gathered his wits and his curiosity.
“What’s with the bag upstairs? Are we moving again?”
“No. Not you, anyway.”
Logan turned to Chris in shock.
“You’re leaving me?”
“Calm down, Logan. It’s not like that. I don’t want to leave you, you know that.”
“Then why?”
“Well, l let me finish. The hunters have been getting too close for comfort, and I don’t want you to get hurt. They don’t know about you, see, and if I leave, they’ll follow me, and you’ll be safe.”
“But you-”
“Look, I’ve already bought a train ticket, and my bags are packed. Don’t try to change my mind. Maybe someday I’ll come back, but for now, it has to be goodbye.”
Logan nodded and looked down into his coffee mug. Chris sighed and continued.
“I’ve enrolled you in a high school near here. You can stay here in the house and go to the school. I’ve left you plenty of food, and some money. If you run out, there’s a woman not too far away who can help you. I’m leaving tonight, okay?”
Logan nodded silently. Chris sighed again and stood up. Glancing down at Logan, he turned and walked inside.
Chris was leaving. Logan was still trying to wrap his mind around it. He and Chris had always been together, ever since Logan could remember. True, he couldn’t remember very far back, but he also couldn’t remember a time without Chris there next to him. What would life be like without him? Logan didn’t want to think about it. That night they walked together to the train station to say one last farewell. As they stood waiting for the train, Chris put his hand on Logan’s shoulder. Logan looked down at the tattoo on Chris’ hand. It matched his own closely. How did they get the same tattoo? Another mystery of his past that would remain unsolved.
“Do well for yourself, okay?”
Logan nodded silently, not trusting his own voice. Chris sighed and walked off to his platform. Logan watched him go, then turned and walked from the train station, his face solemn, his eyes holding back tears. In the distance, Chris turned and took a final glance at Logan before the foggy air wrapped him in it’s cold embrace. Little did they know that there was another witness to their sorrowful parting.
From Outside, Myoqi Layra watched with tears as the two friends separated.
“No!” she cried softly.
“You can’t leave him! Why are you hurting him?”
Layra was an Osmatrcian. An Observer. Tasked with watching the world and reporting to the Balancers, she was forbidden to interfere with the human affairs in any way, shape or form. Unlike most Osmatrac, this job gave her much pain. She was a sympathetic and empathetic creature by nature, whereas most Osmatrac weren’t bothered in the least by their job. She sat in her place, both her hands locked on the screen as she cried over Logan’s aching heart, her own heart beating with the same pain. She had chosen Logan from birth to observe, but now regretted it. She couldn’t see his whole life, but she could see a little bit of what would happen next. His life had been so sad, and what little joy could be found was now leaving him. And so Layra cried.
Anna was a high school student. She often came to this rooftop to listen to music, read, or watch the skies. She felt so free and close to the sky up here. Today the moon came out early, so Anna had brought with her a telescope to look at the beauty of the gentle white orb that hung from the endless blue. As she put the glass to her eye, she failed to notice the teenage boy climbing the building behind her. His tall form silhouetted against the afternoon sky, and swiftly descended to the lower roof with a few practiced leaps, landing with a roll and glancing over his shoulder at a group of masked men who also came over the edge behind him. He turned back, his eyes flaring red as he took off at a run, leaping over an AC unit as he hurried to escape his pursuers. He ran down into the abandoned building, underneath Anna as she listened to her music and slowly fell asleep.
It was dark when she finally awoke. Slowly and carefully climbing down from her perch, she began the long walk home. As she walked, the streetlights above her flickered, as though like a bad omen. She nervously glanced at them, continuing onward through the streets. She was just rounding the corner when a hand clamped over her mouth and she was dragged backward forcefully. She tried to scream, sure she was being kidnapped, but her kidnapper stopped still, frozen in place as a group of masked men whisked by, shouting unintelligible words at each other, and running as though chasing someone. As soon as they were out of view and earshot, the hand was removed from her mouth, and her assailant, or rescuer, pushed past her and began to run off. She grabbed his sleeve, and he spun around, for a moment looking into her eyes as she looked at him with mixed gratitude and suspicion, his face locked in her memory forever. He turned again and disappeared into the night like a vision, leaving Anna bewildered and afraid.
The next day at school, she sat amid the usually chaos of the classroom, smiling and laughing with her friends, but inside she was still questioning her experience. Had it all been a dream? it had to have been, right? But it couldn’t have been. Her cell phone’s camera bore the evidence of her outing the previous day. Then the boy must have been her imagination. He must have been, because there would be no reason for him to save her otherwise. He could have just left her be, and she never would have seen him. But then, if he was her imagination, were the other men unreal as well? Well, obviously so, seeing how she had hallucinated the entire experience. Her life was just too dull, that was it. It couldn’t have been anything else. And in any case, why bother herself about it. It wasn’t important. She’d never see the boy again, so what was the point? She nodded to herself, coming back to her senses as the bell rang for class to start. She took her seat and watched as her teacher, Mr. Black, walked in, followed by a new student. He turned and closed the door behind himself, so that she didn’t get a look at his face. Then he turned and bowed as Mr. Black introduced him as Jun Logan. He straightened up as the rest of the class also bowed respectfully, and she got a good look at his face. She sat back, startled, and his eyes locked onto hers, flickering in recognition. It was the boy! The boy from last night! What was he doing here? And how was he here? Then she looked down and realized that…
“Take that empty seat over there, Mr. Jun.”
And he came closer to her, their eyes locked on each other, and he sat down right next to her. She glanced at him in suspicion, slow to trust him. He caught her gaze and smiled a bit, a look of strange innocence about him.
Logan was amazed at the coincidence that the same girl he had rescued the night before was at the school Chris had enrolled him in. He marveled at this as he walked to the locker room for PE class. Today’s sport was soccer, something he used to enjoy playing one-on-one with Chris before he left. This thought only stirred up memories, so he shook his head, trying to get rid of them.
“Problem?”
He looked up in surprise. A boy his own age was standing there, a friendly smile on his face.
“Oh, no, just letting my mind wander, I suppose.”
“Well, make sure it comes back. You’ll need it for practice. I’m Julian, by the way.”
He offered his hand. Logan shook it.
“Nice to meet you.”
They walked along the hallway as they talked.
“Thinking of joining the team?”
“Oh, I’ve always liked soccer, but I don’t think I’m very good. I’m probably better at football or track. Those are more my style.”
“I’m sure you’ll do fine. No one’s perfect the first try.”
“What about you? Are you on the team?”
“With this body? No, I’m in writing club and student body stuff mostly. But I do like sports a bit. Now, Kyle, he’s the sport guy. Pretty popular. He’s in wrestling, soccer, high jump, and good grades besides. The ladies love him, but Anna’s the only one he’s got his eye on.”
“Anna. My deskmate?”
“That’s the one. You might not get along at first because of that, but he’s not a jealous guy, so you’ll be fine I guess. Come on, I’ll introduce you to the gang.”
“Gang?”
“The guys, the fellas, the bros, you know, the group of compatriots that every school has. We’ve got a truckload, ten, to be exact, myself included, all different types and statuses. You’ll like ‘em, I promise.”
They got to the locker room, and were immediately thrown into another world. Julian introduced him firstly to Stuart.
“He’s Student Body President, Class President, and honors student. Altogether, our leader.”
Next was Chandler and Blake, who seemed to be trying to wrestle each other into a locker, Chandler, a small giant, was winning, and both were laughing like idiots.
“Chandler does basketball and track, not very good grades though. Blake helps him out in that aspect, but neither are really that bright. Blake also does track, and soccer as well. He’s team captain. They spend a lot of time together, so tease them about being ‘in love.’ They’re not, but it’s still funny.”
The next guy was a tall, blonde, quiet kid who seemed almost emotionless at first. Julian introduced him as,
“Seth. King of the chess club and highest grades in the class. He’s on honors with Stuart and myself. Don’t be fooled by his looks. He’s a sweet and funny guy when you get to know him.”
The threesome they met next were called Laurie, Charlie and Shane.
“Laurie’s our medical student. Says he wants to be a doctor when he grows up, so he helps out as the nurse’s assistant most weeks. Charlie is in our school choir, but he’s still pretty popular, and he’s good at most sports. He could get on any team if he wanted, but he prefers singing, for some reason. He’s also an honors student. Shane here is my companion in the writing club, he’s in the chess club, and the book club. He loves sports, but as you can see, our bodies were built along the same lines, so it doesn’t work out mostly.”
The next member of this “gang” fit the description of gang perfectly. Trent had multiple ear piercings, a silver chain necklace with a bullet on it, and slanted eyes with dark circles under them, his black tank top and cargo pants adding to the effect. But contrary to his looks, He smiled and shook hands in a warm and friendly manner, with a polite hello.
“Trent is our martial arts expert here, not to mention he’s on the basketball team with Chandler and Laurie. Oh, did I forget to mention that Laurie does basketball too? Yeah, they’re all pretty tall. Oh, and this is Kyle.”
Logan met Kyle with a stiff handshake, but after a short conversation, they as good as old buddies. During soccer, they all had a chance to play, talk, and generally get to know one another, so by the end of the game, Logan had been widely accepted into their “gang,” and Anna, watching from the sidelines, began to wonder if she had just imagined his look of recognition. Perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her. Perhaps the boy she had hallucinated looked nothing like him, and she had simply linked the first new face she saw to the imagined memory. Of course, it made perfect sense. She tried to fool herself, but the only conclusion she could come to was that he had really grabbed her last night, and that his coming to this very school was all an insane coincidence. She buried her head in her hands and gave up on thinking.
“What’s wrong?”
The voice by her ear made her jump. She looked up to see Kyle sitting next to her.
“Oh! Kyle, you surprised me!”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out. So what’s the matter?”
“Nothing really. Just thinking, I suppose.”
“A dangerous path. What about?”
“Nothing. How’s soccer going? I can’t tell what’s going on out there. It makes no sense to me.”
“Soccer’s going fine. I think their team’s winning, though. But, I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while, and… well… Um…”
“What? What is it?”
“Will… will you go out with me?”
Anna stopped stock still.
“What?”
“Will you go out with me?”
She turned to face him. His face was earnest. Her heart fluttered, and she grinned widely.
“Yes, of course!”
Kyle smiled in relief.
“Great! Does this Friday work? I can pick you up at five.”
“That’d work fine! I’ll see you then!”
“Awesome! See ya!”
He walked away with a big smile on his face, and Anna was left sitting with her heart fluttering. She cheered his team on from the sidelines, smiling broadly. Logan glanced over at her, a brief light in his chest, as if a feeling of happiness had taken over for a moment. Then he looked back to the game, and it was gone. He pushed it aside unconsciously, the rest of the “gang” calling him back to the game, and as he kicked a goal, many high-fives and light punches in the shoulder ensued.
From high above, in darkness, Layra smiled, tears hanging from the corners of her eyes.
“You have at last found happiness and comfort in this sad life, Logan. I’m happy for you. Please, don’t ever be sad again.”
