Souls of the Never: A Fantasy Scifi Romance Time Travel series, with Dragons, Elves and Faeries. (Tales of the Neverwar Series Book 1) (9 page)

16 – Belfast – Definitely that kind of girl

The morning after

Katheryne woke gently, alone in her bed, but she shivered as she realised she would never truly be alone ever again. Every heightened sense within her tingled with excitement as she went over the events of last night in her head. She imagined Perri’s face and grinned in anticipation. She would never believe what Katheryne had done.

Perri called her a prude all the time, so Katheryne could see her friend’s expression as she told her how she slept with a guy on her first date.

She lay on the bed, pondering for a second whether making love in a dream even counted as real, but every memory, every sensation she remembered from last night banished any doubts….it was real, oh my God, it was real!

A cheeky grin graced her face as she realised she would have to suggest a little alone time to Derren. Just to compare notes, of course, she thought, and then we’ll just have to see what happens next.

She couldn’t believe she was thinking like this. In a way Perri was right. She was a real goody two-shoes when it came to guys, but here she lay wondering what might happen if Derren was here next to her. Wondering might be the wrong way to describe what she felt; she knew exactly what would be happening, and her heart skipped as she realised she missed him already.

Then the smell of bacon hit her nostrils and she realised how hungry she was. For food this time, she thought mischievously. Oh my God, what’s happened to me? she wondered again as she got up and put her robe over her shorts and  T-shirt. She caught a sight of herself in the mirror and decided to brush her tousled hair before venturing outside her room.

She thought about the possibility of scaring him off, but dismissed it immediately, smiling warmly as she glowed with inner heat. They had shared so much more than their bodies last night; each of them knew the other completely and utterly. More, they trusted one another unconditionally.

Two minutes later she walked into the kitchen of the small apartment to see Perri at the cooker, frying bacon, and Krista relaxing against the worktop. There was no sign of Derren. She panicked briefly.

Krista saw her come in and seemed to sense her distress.

“Good morning, sleepy head,” she said brightly in her musical voice, somehow managing to convey a touch of sarcasm along with her clear affection for Katheryne. “Derren’s just gone out to get more milk; he’ll be back soon.”

The relief on Katheryne’s face must have been unmistakable, but Krista continued to speak, switching instantly from friendly to a look of accusation. “So, what have you done to my brother?” she demanded bluntly.

Katheryne’s face dropped in horror, and she knew her blush was redder than ever before. Perri looked around and gave her one of her “We need to talk, now,” looks while simultaneously trying to suppress a laugh.

She looked over at Krista, who was clearly enjoying every second of her discomfort, but Katheryne knew it wasn’t malicious.

“It’s just I don’t seem to be able to wipe this silly ‘cat got the cream’ grin off his face.” She gave a mock concerned look toward Perri who nodded, the same look on her face, although Katheryne knew she was struggling to maintain her composure.

“I mean, I’ve been trying to all morning,” Krista continued, “he doesn’t even seem to mind me calling him ‘Junior’ and that usually sends him right over the edge.” She looked straight at Katheryne.

“Have you any idea how infuriating that is?” A smile broke through the mask.

Katheryne was sure at this point neither of them doubted what she and Derren had “got up to,” but she didn’t trust herself to say anything.

Part of her was afraid if she did open her mouth, they’d see right through any lies she might tell, but most of her wanted to shout from the roof tops about what had happened and how she felt. She wanted them to know how happy she was.

The fact Derren’s sister was the one asking the questions definitely posed a complication. They’d only met last night after all, and she had already slept with her brother. What might Krista think of her; what kind of person would she think Katheryne was?

Panic started to rise in her, and she began to doubt the wisdom of her actions. She started to work some sort of explanation through in her head, but realised Krista was smiling at her with the same crooked grin as Derren’s.

There wasn’t a hint of hostility in her expression. She had already accepted what happened; more than that, she appeared genuinely happy for them.

But there was no way she was going to go into details. She was his sister, after all.

Perri was still giving her the look, but was also smiling warmly. Perri’s reluctance to believe in their feelings for each other had vanished the moment she’d seen Katheryne and Derren finally meet. Their joy had been unmistakable and undeniable, so who was she to question true love?

At that moment the door opened and Derren walked in with the milk. If Katheryne thought there was anything odd about a guy from another world popping to the store for groceries, any such mundane thoughts disappeared the second they saw each other.

Two steps and she was in his arms, physically for the first time and if possible, more connected than even in their shared dream. He raised his hand and touched the back of it to her flushed cheek, before lifting her mouth up to touch his. Their kiss was brief and blissfully tender, managing to momentarily satisfy their yearning for each other.

“Hello, you,” breathed Derren, his voice heavy with emotion. As he looked into those emerald pools, his soul leapt. So many years of searching, so many times finding the wrong one and almost dying, but now she was here in his arms. It was like the hope and love he had held for each of these others was gathered together now in what he finally felt.

Katheryne contented herself with gazing into eyes dark as the night’s sky, but illuminated with inner light from a billion stars. She couldn’t speak but she didn’t need to. She leant her head back for him to kiss her again.

“Jeesh, get a room you two,” muttered Perri, grinning widely.

“Hmmm, quite,” agreed Krista reprovingly, with a faint smile on her face. “Now if you’re quite done embarrassing us all, can we please have breakfast?”

The intensity decreased a notch, but they were still spellbound as Perri put plates of bacon, eggs, and hash browns on the table. She sat down as Krista grabbed the coffee jug and poured.

Derren sat down beside Katheryne, unable to take his eyes off her. Their hands crept towards each other’s on the surface of the table.

Krista snorted. “You know, I’m not sure I can eat this with these two like this; frankly, I feel quite ill.”

This had the desired effect, and everyone laughed as the atmosphere became less furnace-like. They sat in silence for a few minutes as the meal was eaten. Katheryne was famished, and she had one of Derren’s hash browns halfway to her mouth before she realised what she’d done.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she blurted quickly as she started to return it to his plate, but he laughed warmly.

“No, you keep it; we’ll discuss payment later,” he said, grinning again. Katheryne smiled back brazenly.

Perri looked upwards in exasperation. “Better get used to it, Derren; she’s notorious for stealing food. She does it to me all the time.”

Katheryne snorted, “Ha! Pot meets kettle I think.”

“Hate you,” laughed Perri.

“Hate you more,” said Katheryne, smiling as she stuck her tongue out.

They giggled, but realised Derren and Krista were looking at them in confusion. Unfortunately this simply caused more giggling.

Derren and Krista looked at them and then at each other, but ended up laughing themselves, if for no other reason than it seemed like the right thing to do.

Derren watched Katheryne as she laughed. He delighted in the sound. He was still struggling to come to terms with the fact he’d found her after all these years and disappointments. He’d been worried that if he ever found her, she wouldn’t live up to the image in his mind.

But as he laughed along, he realised she surpassed his wildest dreams. She was perfection personified in his eyes and heart. He knew he loved her, but the power and intensity of what he felt for her made the word seem insignificant.

Last night on the Island he had opened his heart, leaving himself more vulnerable than he’d ever been, but she had taken him and joined her soul to his, strengthening them both, adding her love, so what resulted was greater than the two of them had been before.

He longed to be alone with her, to consummate what had happened, in the physical world; to touch her with his own hands and mouth.

As she looked back at him, he felt her love and desire flow across the short distance between them, almost tangible in its intensity.

Krista watched them closely. She knew he’d been lying when he said he wasn’t in love with her back on the park bench. She knew it was his self-defence mechanism, in case the Katheryne in this reality had turned out to be like the others. She’d seen his heart break nearly a dozen times now when he’d met the “wrong” one.

Now, as she observed the bond growing between them, she smiled and her heart soared along with her brother’s. That they’d finally found the Foundation didn’t matter right now. It could wait. For a short time at least.

17 – Belfast – Perri’s concern

Katheryne waited for Perri to say something... anything. She knew her friend was aware something had happened on the island, but she’d needed to tell her the whole truth. Perri was still unclear about the whole “Island thing”, as she called it, so she sat quietly trying to sort it in her mind.

Derren and Krista had gone to update the leadership back at Sanctuary.

Katheryne knew this was one of the reasons for their departure, but she had a feeling that Krista at least, was aware she and Perri needed some time and an opportunity to talk. Katheryne used it for her and Perri to have a heart-to-heart.

As Derren left the apartment, she’d almost cried and they’d clung to each other until Krista forcibly pulled her brother after her, tutting and muttering something about lovesick puppies.

It was like they desperately needed to cram all the love they had missed out on, the experiences which had been denied to them, into every second they now had together. And if he wasn’t here with her, she felt robbed somehow. Even now, with him gone less than an hour, her heart ached.

She’d sat and poured her heart out to Perri, as she had so many times before about boys, her mum, her dad, everything in fact.

Perri listened patiently, providing just the right amount of comfort at just the right time as Katheryne went over the events of the night before, holding nothing back as she described how all her fears were swept away in the hours of blissful ecstasy.

As she sat waiting, Katheryne grew concerned her friend might disapprove of how she’d behaved. She knew what she’d done was so out of character for her that Perri might think something unnatural had happened to her; like something was controlling her somehow.

She was the first to admit what had happened, what she’d done, was so totally alien to her normal behaviour. But to deny it now would be a betrayal of how she felt about Derren.

She had no regrets, could not be more certain that what she had done, what she was going to keep on doing, was real and true to her heart’s desire.

“Wow,” gasped Perri.

“Wow?” asked Katheryne in return.

“Yeah. Wow,” sighed Perri, looking vacantly into thin air.

“Is that it? Wow?” Katheryne wanted, needed more from her friend but as she watched, Perri sat up with an amazed expression.

“You know, up until right this moment I didn’t think it existed,” Perri said. She had tears in her eyes but Katheryne knew her friend wasn’t sad but overjoyed.

“I know, true love. Who knew?” said Kat. She felt the same as Perri. True love was something from movies and fairy tales, not for an ordinary girl from Belfast. But then true love was insignificant when compared to what they had.

“God, he’s fit,” breathed Perri, gazing vacantly out the window. She looked up, worried Kat might take her comment as inappropriate. “Sorry.”

“Hey, I’m not arguing,” said Katheryne, smiling. “He is so hot, isn’t he?”

Both of them laughed, any uneasiness immediately banished.

With the ice broken, they relaxed and lay back onto the bed, both of them silent for a moment.

“So, how serious is this?” asked Perri, “I mean, does Amanda need to get a hat?” Perri seemed totally nonchalant but Katheryne knew she was faking it.

“Yeah, Perri, it is that serious,” she replied, “and I wish you would call your mum ‘Mum’, and not Amanda.” She smirked, but Perri sensed an undercurrent of sadness in her tone. It seemed strange after the rapturous events she’d just finished describing.

“It’s the rest of it, isn’t it? You’re this Foundation thing they’ve been looking for forever, and it’s freaking you out.”

She watched as Katheryne struggled to make sense of what she felt.

“That’s part of it,” Katheryne admitted, “It’s like a bit of me always knew I was meant to do something, well...special, and I know that I have to do it, that I will do what I have to, no matter what.”

Katheryne sighed and sat up, a melancholy look on her face.

“And there’s another part of me that’s totally pissed off. I mean I’ve just found him, Perri. It’s like I had an emptiness inside me I never realised was there, but he’s filled it. And I’ve done the same for him. We’re complete now for the first time in our lives.” Katheryne’s voice was full of bittersweet emotion.

“I’m sorry if that sounds corny, Perri, but that’s what this is.” She watched as her friend nodded.

“I suppose I’m being selfish,” said Katheryne, “but I want some time to...you know, just be together, to make our own memories. Just be Katheryne and Derren, at least for a little while.” Her eyes were moist with tears now, but behind them Perri sensed a resolve, a determination to do what was right.

“Don’t you think you have the right to be a little selfish?” exclaimed Perri, “Jeeze, Kat, this is major star-crossed lover material here. But that’s not what’s wrong, is it?”

Katheryne got up and walked to the window and looked out, pulling her arms around herself as if she needed to reassure herself.

“No,” said Katheryne. “No, it’s not. I don’t have a choice in any of this Perri. On one hand I don’t have a choice about how I feel about Derren.” As she said his name her eyes lit up and Perri saw the warmth of her love in them. “I couldn’t leave him, ever. It’s like we’re part of the same soul now.”

“But I know I don’t have a choice about being who and what I am, and I know that without me...without just little me, Perri,” she looked across desperately at her friend, “that without me it all ends.”

Perri was conflicted. She could see how happy Katheryne was that they had finally found each other; indeed she herself was overjoyed for her friend.

And also for Derren, if she was totally honest. There was no doubting what he felt for Katheryne. What she’d just said about them being two parts of the same soul could not have been mistaken when you saw them together, and even now, she knew her friend was suffering because he wasn’t here with her.

But then there was the pressure to follow this path to who knew what...to be this ‘Foundation.’ She hoped her friend would be able to endure it, but as she watched, she perceived how Katheryne drew strength from her bond with Derren, and she was certain she would. She was just scared that what would remain after it was all over wouldn’t be her friend any more.

It was like Katheryne read her thoughts as she nudged across and embraced Perri. They lay there together for a minute before Katheryne broke the silence.

“I’m scared, Perri,” she whispered, “not so much about what’s ahead; there’s nothing I can do to alter that now. I’m afraid about what might happen to me, to us. I can already feel I’m...different than I was, somehow.”

After a moment Perri said, “You are, but you’re not,” looking cryptically at her friend. Katheryne seemed baffled by this, so Perri continued.

“It’s like all the bravery, all the strength you’ve always denied you had is coming out. You’re finally realising how strong you are, Kat. I’ve known you had it for years, ever since you came out from behind those lockers to help a little girl escape a horrible life. And the little girl wasn’t Grace, Kat….It was me.”

They clung to each other, crying, and Katheryne knew Perri would remain her anchor, her rock. And like her namesake, Perri would keep her grounded and safe, preventing her from becoming lost in the storm to come.

“I love you, Perri,” cried Katheryne.

“I love you more,” sobbed Perri, although they both smiled.

They lay there for a while, taking comfort in each other’s presence in silence.

The calm broke as the apartment door flew open with a bang.

“Katheryne, Perri, where are you?!” Katheryne had only known Krista a very short time, but she knew the panic in her voice was totally out of character. A ball of ice formed in the pit of her stomach as she opened the door to see an ashen-faced Krista standing there, alone.

“They’ve taken him, Kat,” gasped Krista, “they’ve taken Derren.”