The Power of Chemicals

***Ella*** The sun is just starting to rise on the horizon, as I finally feel our pack grounds not too far away. The skies were too dark to reap any physical benefit from the moon on my way back; it had been a very long time since I had been this exhausted. I can see a vague, warm glow from one solitary window on the side of the house, as I come about over the top of it, before setting myself down on the soaked ground by our wisteria tree. I feel strangely glad to stow my wings away once more. My whole body is cold, achey and tired from the farthest flight I have ever taken. I immediately go and check the tree; and unfortunately, it is exactly like the others...it is now just a tree, devoid of anything aside from being connected to the earth like any other. I start to make my way up the garden towards the house, coming across a much darker area of the ground, horror striking my heart to find that it is a worryingly large pool of congealed blood. "Oh no…Ophelia!" I whine sadly to myself as I check to see if there are any track marks that suggest where she might've gone. But, it appears as if it was just one large, solitary pool of blood. Perhaps she was carried? I sprint toward the house, now, many thoughts whipping through my mind, one where I hoped that perhaps Joshua had somehow made it home, that he had found her and taken her inside or to one of the pack. The patio doors are locked from the inside when I get to the house. We never locked the patio door, so this alarms me a little; whoever shut it and locked it wasn't family or a pack member, that was for sure. I hurry around the outside of the house, wishing I could see in the early morning dawn as well as a Lycan could. I come across the living room window, from which the warm glow I’d seen from above is emanating, and I look through it. The fireplace is lit, but I cannot see much else from this angle. Cursing under my breath, I go all the way around to the front of the house, where I finally manage to let myself in through the front door. I head straight to the kitchen diner to unlock the patio door for Austin or anyone else, and my stomach drops when I survey the scene. There is a large, partially congealed and partially dried pool of blood on the floor under the dining table, which is also covered in blood. The medical kit is on the breakfast bar, and that too is covered in bloody fingerprints with half the contents across the bar. It is highly alarming, but this sight actually relaxes me a little; anyone who wanted to cause true harm to Ophelia wouldn't be dressing her wounds. The amount of blood loss is worrying, though, and I really need to find her. I go back through the corridor and open the door to the living room, bracing myself for what I might find. It is immediately much warmer in here than the rest of the house, and I softly enter the room. I can finally feel Ophelia again, which suggests to me that she is very weak, but definitely in this room. As I walk around the front of the sofa, I relax completely at the sight of the occupants on the sofa. As reassuring as it is, I am very surprised to be greeted by this particular sight; Ophelia, apparently safe and sleeping under one of the blankets, tightly cuddled up against a bare-chested Ares Katz, inexplicably here in our home, wearing pyjamas trousers that are covered in dried blood. He, too, is sound asleep. Satisfied that Ophelia is alive and marginally okay, I exit the room, pulling the door ajar behind me. It is still very early, and I am sure they need the rest. I return to the kitchen, and begin to clean up. My ears soon picking up a strange sound coming from outside the house, slowly getting louder and louder. I look outside the patio doors - it is a helicopter. As I step onto the patio, the downdraught whips the frozen leaves around the place into a frenzy. Austin emerges from the side of it, still dressed in his dinner suit, and he jumps down effortlessly from around six metres in the air. He waves toward whoever was inside it, as it veers off and climbs back into the sky. "Ophelia?" he exclaims, approaching me urgently, his worry and anger over what had happened to our daughter, so strong over our bond. "She's fine, Aus," I assure him, rushing forward to meet him and embracing him tightly, "she's asleep in the living room." "FINE? Els, I saw that huge pool of blood from above!" he says with a growl, stepping into the kitchen diner through the patio doors. He is immediately greeted by the distressing scene of his heir's blood all over the floor, our dining table and several other surfaces, prompting him to exclaim further, "if she is fine, then whose blood is THIS?" He steps forward and sniffs it, his eyes glowing green. "Aus, please...calm down," I say quietly, before he can tell me it is indeed his daughter's blood. I place my hand on his arm and look earnestly into his eyes, "let me show you why she is fine." "Why she is fine?" he mutters back at me, looking confused amidst his fury. I take his hand and lead him to the lounge, doing a ssh'ing gesture before I push the door open quietly. He follows me in, and I can feel his surprise when his eyes fall on the sleeping occupants on the sofa. Ella who the f**k is that? he says to me over our pack mind-link. That, is Ares Katz, I reply. His eyes are wide in surprise at this news and he soon follows me out. "How the hell is he here? Did HE do this?" Austin growls angrily in the kitchen once I've shut the door. "No, he did not. But, I can tell you that she is stable and even since I went in there perhaps fifteen minutes ago, her aura is looking better. Being next to him is healing her." "How?" he asks, as if he's forgotten the basic faerie principles already. "Love, Aus." ... ***Ares*** I am warm. As my senses engage and my brain kicks in, memories of the night come back to me, answering the question as to why I feel so strangely content, right now. I instinctively pull Ophelia tighter against me with a big smile, my arms still firmly around her. There was no chance I was not going to savour this new and beautiful experience... ...except...I hear a male clear their throat, and I remind myself of where I am... My eyes snap open, immediately focusing on the face of a highly recognisable man. I just wish this man wasn't looking at me for the first time, in this particular situation. Austin Landry looks directly back at me, his expression level but curious. I cannot blame him. He has just found his severely injured, firstborn daughter - his heir, no less - wrapped up in a blanket, being embraced by a half-naked stranger, covered in her dried blood. He stands, and makes a gesture with his head for me to follow him. I look down into Ophelia's peaceful face. I can feel her strongly, now. She feels...neutral, which seems ideal for someone sleeping. She isn’t afraid or unhappy, but best of all-she is no longer in pain. I carefully pull my arm out from under her head, and I stand up. I take one last look at her, before I face her father, who is standing by the door to the room, staring at me expressionless, once again. I follow him out of the room, my feet feeling rather sore, down the corridor that I know leads to their kitchen diner. I curse myself for not remembering to try and clean up; her blood was all over the place, it must have been terrifying for them to find. Equally, I did not want to be around it if I did not need to be. On the way down the corridor, I cannot smell it like I could last night, though. Entering the room, I immediately spot Ella Landry, sitting at their now spotlessly clean dining table, her hands around a hot drink. Her tired eyes find mine as her husband gestures for me to sit down opposite. I take a seat, too nervous to say anything as I look anxiously between them. "Would you like some coffee, Ares?" Ella suddenly asks. I utter a short, nervous laugh and nod. "Umm...yes. Please," I reply awkwardly, and Austin immediately gets to his feet, disappearing to the other side of the kitchen and towards a very fancy coffee machine. "Please explain what happened to Ophelia, and how you ended up here," Ella says, leaning forward in her chair. I take a deep breath, wondering how bizarre it will sound. "I...followed a glowing butterfly and a voice, into the ancient wisteria in our garden. I followed both for around fifty miles through the other realm, through another tree...ending up at the bottom of your garden. The butterfly led me to Ophelia, barely conscious in a large pool of blood," I say simply. She looks intrigued by this, if anything. "A butterfly?" she then repeats, looking a little incredulous. "That was the strangest part of what I just said?" I ask. "It is just...surprising. More detail, please," she requests. I go into further details about the strange voice, how I had found Ophelia, that I wasn't sure what had happened, but had brought her to the house and done my best to tend to her wounds. Ella appears very concerned when I describe the flank wound, particularly as the majority of the bleeding had come from it. Her husband places a coffee in front of me and takes a seat next to her, while I tell them what I had done to help Ophelia. "She will definitely need a blood transfusion," Ella sighs, looking weary, "maybe some antibiotics. Although faeries shouldn't need antibiotics. I will need to do a thorough assessment when she wakes up." "One of the cuts had healed after-," I begin to say, before I stop myself. Her eyes widen a little and her brows raise in surprise. "She healed? After what?" she asks curiously. I drop my gaze to my coffee. "Umm...after I kissed her..." I hear her make a quiet sound of realisation and no one says anything for a moment, which is better than them being angry at me, I suppose. "Thank you. For being there when we couldn't, and for caring for her. You did an exemplary job," Austin says warmly. I look back up at them and nod in acknowledgment; this has been far more positive than I was expecting. "Your feet looked very sore when I saw them earlier, I'll just get you some ointment that works well on shallow wounds, much like your saliva. Then, would you like a shower and some clean clothes?" Ella asks. I nod eagerly, feeling that a shower would make me feel a lot better. ... ***Ella*** Austin comes back into the kitchen and sighs loudly. "We...got REALLY lucky with this," he says emotionally. Coming over to me and burying his face into my neck. I can feel his intense relief. "Els, you really need some sunlight," he then mutters by my ear, sensing how exhausted I am as my body automatically extracts energy from him, through our embrace. He doesn’t have much himself. "I really do, but it is still overcast and I need to make sure Ophelia is okay," I reply, letting go of him before I deplete him entirely, pressing a button on the coffee machine to make my third coffee since getting back. "How...how is she okay? HOW is she alive? There was SO much blood," Austin asks, looking mystified. I smile at him and raise my eyebrows. "I told you, Aus. The same way she created that thunderstorm, and the same way she affected Katz's garden. Feelings. She was rescued and tended to by the same man she has feelings for, who also feels for her too. She has then just spent hours laying next to him, being tightly embraced by him, kissed by him. Bare-chested, no less..." I explain excitedly. "Hugs are nice, but they aren't magical," Austin frowns. "Oohhh, but they are. It is proven science, Aus. There is a reason why newborn babies, particularly sick and weak ones, thrive and do better after skin-to-skin contact. Never underestimate the power of chemicals. Hugs release oxytocin, seratonin, endorphins...all of which promote connection," I say happily. "So...our daughter really is into a vampire, then?" "Incredibly so," I agree with a laugh. "Fine. He doesn't seem as weird as you made out, gotta say," Austin points out. I take my mug from the coffee machine and laugh a little. "A lot can change in a few months." "How strong are natural-born vampires? He looks physically reasonable for her, but-" Austin muses. I roll my eyes at him. "For goodness’ sake, Aus. Stop sizing him up," I scold him, "he's just saved her life. He could be five foot and struggle to bench ten kilos for all I care. Because...he cares, and as you WELL KNOW...she is only ever going to be as strong as the reciprocal love she shares with someone else." Austin's phone then starts ringing, and he excitedly answers. "Will, hey!" Austin exclaims with relief, "Yes...Ella has sorted it out, they used magic somehow, to knock it all out...by all international reports, the trees just don't work anymore. None of them. Which means I now need to buy a car for the first time in fifteen years..." The door opens and Ares tentatively comes back into the room, wearing a pair of Austin's jeans and one of his hoodies and t-shirts. I smile at him and gesture for him to sit down. "...Ophelia is okay, we think. Ella will check her over soon. I won't explain how, but it's a tale...yeah, patrols are going to have to happen again, it's like going backwards twenty years..." Austin wanders out of the patio doors and continues to talk to Will outside on the patio. "Would you like anything to eat?" I ask Ares. He is about to answer when he suddenly looks up, startled, as if on alert. A second later, I feel it too. "Ophelia is awake," I exclaim excitedly, immediately dashing to the door. … ***Ophelia*** I can't stop staring at it, I want to tear my eyes away from it, but they remain transfixed on the horrifying display before me. His pained wails pierce my very being as I continue to stare in disbelief, as the man who had gripped my arm so tightly is engulfed in a ball of blue flame... ...I wake with a start, breathing deeply, my eyes opening to see a familiar wall; a wall of our living room, adorned with multiple family photographs. I am aware of a dull ache in my side, and memories of the night coming back to me in an immediate rush as I hear the door creak open behind me. "Ares?" I say, my voice cracking. My mouth is so dry... Someone comes into my field of view and sits on the floor, and I feel relief to see my mother, an expression on her face that I had seen too often, of late. She is once again, terribly worried about me. She checks my aura, but I don't care, I know that she needs to. "Mum...the girls," I say breathlessly, feeling thoroughly fatigued as I worry about my younger siblings. She chuckles at me sadly, stroking the side of my face in a loving way. She looks to be on the verge of tears, but...wait...is it true?... "...I can feel you," I breathe in surprise. Her concern, her weariness, her relief and love, are all being communicated to me through her tender touch. She nods happily and glances up and to the side of her, and she shifts a little on the carpet, allowing another figure to sit down next to her. "Ares!" I whisper happily, unable to prevent a smile from appearing on my face. My mum looks warmed by my response to him sitting down. "I want to know what happened, but you are in desperate need of some blood, Ophelia. I need to go to Gaia and get Gabe to take some of mine. Your father has...a lot to sort out. He has just gone to the cabin if you need him. He knows you're awake..but not alone. I'll be a little while, because none of the trees are working anymore. I need to get a taxi. You have the only car at Vale." "What? So what about the triplets?" I ask in horror, wondering what might've happened to them. "They are fine, Ophelia. Will confirmed that they're okay. Shaken, but they're also very happy to know you're alive," she explains, starting to peel the edges of the bigger dressing. "Joshua?" I ask with a sigh. "No word, but I am sure he knows he is in some deep, deep s**t," she mutters coldly, busy checking the wound on my side. My eyes lock with Ares' dark eyes and I smile fondly at him, feeling my heart warm, as I think about how well he took care of me. ...saved me... "This is looking really good. Really encouraging. But, it could be much better, and it's because you need blood," she says, smoothing the dressing back down. "I would like to stay with her, if that is okay with you and your husband," Ares then says, looking up at my mother as she stands, "but if you'd rather I left I understand that." She laughs a little and crouches back down to look at him on his level. "Ares, you saved her life. You are very welcome here. In fact, until I can get some blood in her, you being with her will only improve her condition," she says with a smile. The poor man looks mystified by this concept, still, but nods in acknowledgment before my mother leaves the room. We are both silent for a minute. He looks a little nervous, and I can just tell his mind is running through how he had behaved before Christmas, particularly after a few things he said while he was helping me. I reach out for his face, something he isn't expecting, but a light smile appears on his lips regardless. "Stop doing that," I say lightly, running my thumb across his cheek before dropping my hand entirely; I feel extremely weak, "I am so, so glad that you're here." He looks concerned, again. "You were in distress just before you woke and your breathing was erratic; were you having a bad dream?" Ares asks curiously. I nod, pursing my lips. "I...don't really want to talk about it, yet," I admit, only wanting to explain what had happened outside, just the one time, and ideally with both my parents. He nods in acknowledgment and then looks at me sympathetically. "Did you want to stay here on this sofa, or?" he asks. I shake my head. "No, not really. It's a little too soft," I admit. I try to push myself up from the sofa but my head swims, and Ares immediately reaches for me, sliding one of his strong forearms under my shoulders. "Shall I take you to your bed?" he asks. I bite my lip a little, wondering how Maddy would view such a question- an entirely innocent question- coming from Ares. "Yes please," I say quietly, feeling a little ashamed that I cannot move myself. He slides another arm under my legs and rolls me towards him, before he scoops me up into his arms. My wounded side aches as it presses up against him, but instinctively, I just know that against him is where I need to be. "You will need to direct me," he says as he walks out into the corridor with me. "Fourth door on the left as you come up the stairs," I explain as he slowly ascends the stairs with me. Every step and subsequent bump hurts me, but I don't care. He easily keeps holding me with one arm as he opens the door, and the familiar floral scent of my room hits my nose as he steps through with me. "I have never seen your room at Vale," he mutters, slowly lowering me down onto my bed. It is firmer than the sofa and definitely a lot better for me to be laying on. "Well, I didn't see your room at your palace," I joke back with a croaky laugh. He smiles as he sits down on the edge of my bed. "Where I sleep is boring. My new painting room was a lot more interesting to show you," he explains. He looks around the room, and I can tell that he's seen it: his drawing of me that I have put up on the wall. He smiles broadly, getting up and going towards it. "You liked it," he says, more to himself than to me. "No, Ares, I loved it," I correct him, "it...moved me." "Moved?" he asks, looking at me with his brow furrowed. Sometimes I forgot how unadjusted he is to certain language. He wouldn't have heard that word used in this way, definitely not on the trash that Maddy watched on TV. "It spoke to me on an emotional level. I felt a lot of feelings when I saw it," I explain. He raises his eyebrows for a moment. "What kind of feelings?" he then asks. I utter a short laugh, feeling a little shy as I consider his question. But I know he hasn't asked me this to stroke his ego, he is genuinely curious. "Anger," I begin, and he is visibly taken aback, "confusion...affection, warmth, profound happiness, I felt my heart flutter...and I desperately wanted to tell you how beautiful it was. How beautiful it made me feel." His face goes through a variety of expressions as I say this, but ends with him looking a little distraught. "Anger...Ophelia I need to explain something-" he suddenly says, sitting down on the floor in front of me. "-Ares, it is okay, I completely understand why you avoided me-" I interrupt, but he shakes his head. "No. Not that. The moment we met, I asked you if we had met before," he begins, and I nod, remembering that awkward moment so well, "well...we had. It was your eyes that I immediately recognised. Because I had seen them before, I just didn't know where....or when. Until...you told me the story of when you got sick." It is now my turn to look confused. "It was me, Ophelia. The baby you were found with, it was me," he says, his voice tinged with sadness. "What?" "While you told the story of when you were sick ten and a half years ago, I remembered. I remembered a little girl with blonde curls and sea-green eyes, leaning over me as I lay in a cot. My earliest memory. One I shouldn't really have, I mean, who does have a memory from the day they were born? But I do have it. I was born ten and a half years ago in that very hospital. I do not think it is a coincidence," he says carefully, his eyes so apologetic. A memory comes back to me now, too, one where I am running down a brightly coloured corridor, my hands roasting hot and my fingers... I raise my hand in front of my face, staring at my fingers while I remember the way they had felt in that corridor. It was the same way they had felt when we had kissed in the gazebo at his home. I vaguely remember feeling it in the early hours, too. "You're smiling," Ares states in surprise, his brow arched, "why?" "because I am finally remembering..." I explain, wishing I could sit up a little, "I ran down that corridor...feeling...full." "Full?" "Like I could barely contain..." I mutter, searching for the words, "I think...it was magic. Because I felt it again recently...when we kissed...like an electricity in my fingers..." Ares scoots closer on the floor, looking a little shocked. "You felt that too?" he says in a harsh whisper. "YOU felt that?" I query in great surprise. He nods ardently, his eyes wide. "...I felt it that day at the hospital, as a baby, and never did again until we have kissed - which is twice, now," he says, then looking rather proud of this fact, "it did not happen when I kissed Madeleine." "I don't understand how you could have felt that," I tell him, feeling thoroughly confused over this revelation, "because I am pretty sure it is the feeling of magic, Ares. My mother has told me and my Fae sisters many times, about how it might feel. Although, according to Sen, it varies a little from faerie to faerie. But, vampires do not have magic. Unless that is a fact that your dad and brother decided not to mention that day at Vale." He shakes his head, and his gaze goes toward the window at the other side of the room. He looks a little lost. "Truthfully, Ophelia, I really am nothing like other natural-born vampires," he says stoically, "sometimes, I do not know what I am. That evening on the beach, it wasn't a migraine aura I was having. I was suddenly able to see yours. Only yours. I have tried to see Madeleine and Ash's, but...it's just you. I can feel the emotions of those I touch. But, I can feel yours in the same room. I felt your fear and pain fifty miles away...and when I couldn't feel you last night, I was so worried. I said I did not fear anything, but...I have felt fear numerous times since I met you. I have more questions about myself than I ever have before, since I met you." He sounds and looks a little distressed, and I feel a strong desire to comfort him. "Come lay down with me," I say softly, shifting myself backwards on the bed to make more room for him. He looks reluctant at first, and his gaze goes to the open door, evidently worried about what my parents would think. But he comes over and lays down in front of me, facing me the same way that he did last night. I reach for his hand and weave my fingers through his. "We will figure you out," I tell him calmly, sensing a mental anguish coming from him, "because you're looking at someone who also spends a lot of time wondering what they're all about. So...how about we figure ourselves out together?" He shoots a brief smile at me, before he frowns at his next thought. "Ophelia, what if I did something to you in that hospital? What if I am the reason you are the way you are?" he asks, feeling so sorrowful over the idea. "What if me, running to an innocent, newborn baby, did something to me?" I say back at him, adjusting the narrative, "Ares, you were a baby...and just like today, that day you healed me. You've saved me twice now. You're the reason why I am alive and well." "I am confused," he admits, sighing loudly. "Hybrids are often, deeply unbalanced," I remind him, harking back to Will's lecture, "sometimes, balance fails, and the body suppresses traits that make that balance harder. Maybe...somehow, as a baby, you balanced me. Maybe I am the reason why you're a little different?" "That idea is more confusing," Ares says, mystified. "Perhaps," I laugh. He raises our connected hands and looks as if he is thinking hard about something. "Ophelia, please can you forgive me? For before?" he then asks. I roll my eyes at him. "There is nothing to forgive," I assure him, “I know…I know what you’ve been going through, and I know why you did what you did. But none of that matters anymore, because you’re here, now.” He smiles fully at this and utters a laugh. "My mother said to me, that if you were the person that I had described you to be, you would say that," he explains. Now I am rather curious about how he described me to his mother. "Ares, how are you here?” I ask, before doing a long yawn. He shakes his head. "You need to rest. I will tell you later, but you will not believe it," he replies. "I don't want to sleep, I just want to talk to you," I reply, yawning again. "Your body needs you to," Ares points out with a wry smile. I sigh, but I give in. "Can you go on your back?" I suddenly ask. He appears to find my request a little odd, but rolls onto his back. I lift his arm up, and snuggle in against his chest. I hope he is accepting of this, and indeed, he appears overjoyed by this move and hugs me into him tightly, being careful to avoid my side. After a few seconds he sighs happily. "This, being close like this, it is a wonderful feeling. I had no idea," he says happily, his voice rumbling in his chest against my ear. "Hmm, it really is...."