"Outside" Calvin Harris ft. Ellie Goulding

© 2015 SilverStream22. All Rights Reserved.

~STARK~

There were occasions that sharp flares would run through my mind, flickers and glimpses of my past flashed before my eyes. But this time, after drinking in the beauty of her, the visions hit me hard and clear- like I was right there when it happened.

I was on the earthy ground, reliving a memory. I could tell it was a memory because the familiar scruff of my jaw wasn't present when my hand ran across my mouth, warm blood coating my fingers. I had small fingers- at least in this memory I did. My tongue felt like sandpaper, dragging across the roof of my mouth after I turned on my side and hurled an unknown substance. I pushed myself up on my palms, pine cones pricking my wrist when I backed up into the rough bark of a tree. Blind, I was blind.

A glaze of red blossomed beneath my eyelids and warmth kissed my skin. No... my eyes were closed.

Fear spread like a wildfire throughout me, my heart raced to keep up with my thoughts, but the one thought that paralyzed my body was this: Was I no longer blind?

"Stark? Stark, it's me, Castor."

My head slid towards the direction where the voice came from, it was him. It was Castor, with his scratchy voice.

"I have you." he assured, curling his arm through mine. "You can open your eyes now. It's okay. Madam Anosova helped you."

I felt a hand on my forehead, a feminine one adorned with a plethora of rings.

"Open your eyes child, you've advanced from your past." she whispered. "You will no longer be judged- neither of you will. Castor for his mistake in turning you in one of us and you for future decision that the Moon Goddess has foreseen."

Her gentle voice coaxed me to lessen the strain on my tightly shut eyes.

"Open them, and see a sight that you've never seen before."

So I did.

The colors of the world were sharp and contrasting, the blue of the sky, the white of the clouds, the screaming red of the blood on my hands and on Castor's face. The blades of green grass seemed to be the richest of chartreuse.

It made my eyes burn.

Screaming, overwhelmed by the intensity of color and the heightened vision I now had, my slammed shut my eyes while protecting them by the palms of my hands. The darkness calmed me, soothed me. Black being the only color I knew since I had become blind, it was frightening to see more.

And it still was.

~KATYA~

The doors to my room was sealed firmly shut, so I had no idea how he got in.

"I still need time." I insisted, backing up.

He stalked me like I was his prey. "I'm done waiting."

His arms caged me to the wall as assessed me. I tried to regulate my heartbeat so that he wouldn't know that I-

"You're afraid." he murmured softly, the crease between his brows deepening.

Stark's eyes were closed, but I had a feeling that he could see me perfectly.

"Did you have that nightmare again?" I breathed, "your eyes are closed like last time."

"Last time?" he questioned, tilting his head to the side.

I tried to slip under his arm but his hand dropped just outside of my waist. "Don't. I can hear your shuffling every time you try to move."

"Stark-" at his growl, I quickly corrected myself. "Xerxes, I don't understand what you want from me."

"You." he whispered, his voice catching in his throat. "I want you...but I can't have you."

"At least I know some things will never change." I laughed nervously, shaking my head.

Stark paused, stepping back. I didn't move- I couldn't. Not with his eyes closed. I had a feeling he could see better like that compared to his eyes open.

"You're beautiful." Stark whispered quietly.

"Thanks?" I cleared my throat, pressing my back against the maroon painted walls.

He scowled. "You don't understand it."

"Understand what? Why you keep visiting and showing up unexpectedly and expecting me not to say anything to Castor and Alric and- Goddess, Lorena?"

"No." he said tightly. "You don't understand how beautiful you are."

"Yeah? And whose fault is that?" I crossed my arms, raising a brow at him. He didn't need to see to know my stance on his statement.

The corner of his mouth tugged up into a smirk. "You're annoyed."

"A little."

We were quiet again, as usual. Just basking in the presence of each other.

"You're beautiful..." he appeared in front of me, laying a kiss on my temple. "The curve of your back, the softness of your lips. The way you roll your eyes like you're doing right now. The way you bite back a smile when I compliment you."

It annoyed me that he could tell everything about me, that he knew me inside out yet I didn't even know what his favorite color was.

"Can I kiss you?"

"No." I snapped. "Absolutely not. I already told you- you're not the same, you're not my Stark."

"But I'm your mate." he compromised. "Just one kiss won't hurt."

"I'm sorry, but I can't. This isn't right. You can't keep showing up." I exclaimed.

He sighed heavily, kissing behind my ear. "Watch me."

Frustrated, I slammed the heel of my palm to his chest, sending him back a few inches. Stark grinned, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Where'd you learn that?"

"Brothers." I muttered, wary of his movements.

"Those triplets?"

A stray lock of my dark hair was tucked back by my fingers as they combed back my messy rats nest of hair. I hadn't slept, not since he started visiting me in random occurrences at night. Sometimes I'd catch him lounging carelessly on my bed, or standing in the balcony, watching me train with Nikolai as he taught me how to learn my enemy's movements- what makes them predictable.

"I think you should leave." I was more firm than previous times that I confronted him.

"I think I'll stay, at least until my target is in the vicinity." a smile flickered across his smug face. "You straightened up. As always, you're interested in what I do."

"And who exactly is your target."

The smile vanished as quick as it came. "You know how it is. No questions."

"Why not? What would it hurt? It's not as if we have anything else we can talk about." my voice was quiet but the anger built up was overwhelming. "I want you back, Xerxes. I want you to how you were before- normal."

Stark gave me a wry grimace. "Well, this is how I am now. You want the old me, but I can't remember the old me. All I have is a voice in my head, deep down, that screams for me to stay away from you. Not for my own benefit, but for yours."

"Then you should stay away." I clenched my jaw as his eyes slowly opened.

Instead of the familiar silver that glinted brightly, I was met with gold eyes that shook me to my core.

"Oh Goddess," I choked. "Who are you?"

He climbed onto the edge of the railing of my balcony, looking over his shoulder. "Not the man you're looking for."

I knew better than to lunge forward when he dropped off of the edge. I could already see his behemoth of a wolf lunging through the dense forest.

~

"Damn it, Nikolai, if you're point is to prove that I suck at uppercuts then I get the message. No need to clip my jaw to remind me of that." I massaged the jarred bone as my brother helped me back up.

"Varian said that he told you. About Mikhail." he removed the bandages from his arm. "I'm assuming that that's why you're so distracted?"

"It takes more than a few days to process that Mikhail is my half brother." I winced as I leaned back on the tree trunk, rolling up my own bandages.

"Let me see," he pointed to my colorful side. "I'll replace the bandages."

"I'm fine." I held him back a distance as I re-wrapped my own wounds inflicted by Nikolai with the first aid kit Damen brought.

Nikolai sat down next to me. "Mind telling me what's on your mind? Your conflicted mind is so troubled that it might start hindering my own fighting."

I dropped my head onto his shoulder. "Ever been in love?"

"No." he said. "I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing love. Damen has however. Probably has had more girls with his whole blind thing going on."

I came to a complete stop in my actions. "Damen...Damen's blind?"

"He doesn't really like to let people know. I mean, you didn't even notice he was blind until you were told, which only proves how damn good he is at being a regular guy."

I pulled myself up, removing my hair tie. "How come no one told me?"

"I just assumed you knew," he cupped the back of his neck after I helped him up. "After all, you were the first one Damen told when he found out he was blind."

"I was a little kid, how was I supposed to remember?"

He blew out a heavy breath. "Maybe because it was such an important event that we expected it to stick with you."

"We?" I followed Nikolai's eyes over my shoulder to where Damen stood, his head tilted towards the side, a little off like he was listening intently to his surroundings...just like Stark.

"Damen may not look like it, but he's someone who can hold grudges longer than the Devil, and he's not exactly happy that you forgot about his blindness. And thus, your third lesson on fighting without sight will be instructed by Damen- if you can take me down before the night ends. It's only 2 am, we have plenty of time until sun rise." he patted my shoulder. "Come on, little sis. You have a whole world of pain just waiting for you after you defeat me."

Nikolai was right. Then I would move on to Damen, who would in turn teach me how to see things the way that Stark saw them...

...and bring down Orion.

_____________________________________

As you can tell, Katya is changing, she's becoming stronger and smarter.

Xerxes is bringing out a side of Stark that is foreign to Katya, yet all too familiar.

Wonder what Erebus and the Lycans are doing...?

Anyways, sorry for the way overdue update. I got my hands on a friends computer and typed up this super fast that my fingers got cramps (?) Sucked, but was worth working through the pain for you guys.