written-in-silber

[written-in-silber]

Whispers of moonlight - Part 2

Summary: Celine opens once again the door to strangers and somehow everything gets even more confusing from that point onwards.

Tw: blood, mentions of a previous fight, death threats

Part 1

The doorbell rang for a third time. Celine thought about just ignoring it. She should be in bed by now. Surrounded by pillows and soft blankets. Only trouble came from answering the door. In a different world she would just call the police and bring Wyan and Lyra to the nearest hospital. But that was not the world she was living in, apparently. In this world she would open her door to what ever was strong enough to hurt two grown up werewolves. When did she become suicidal again?

But she didn't really have a choice, did she? Aja would be here soon and whatever was behind that door could be a threat to her as well. Celine did know, in theory, how to protect herself, but she had never been in a fight before and sure as hell didn't want to be in one now, at two am in the morning with two hurt werewolves in her kitchen. Slowly she moved herself in the direction of the door. It was waxing gibbous tonight, so when she reached for her magic, it responded in powerful waves through her body, being almost at its strongest. It was a warm sensation, like being hugged and protected, but at the same time energetic, almost as her magic couldn't wait to be finally released into the world.

There was a knock at the door now, when Celine was almost in front of it. With every slow step she was taking, she hoped to have some kind of genius idea that would bring her out of this misery. But alas, it did not come. "I just wanna talk.", said the deep voice behind the door. He sounded reasonably enough. And if he was able to use a doorbell, he couldn't be a monster, right? Celine let a small bit of magic wash over her, building almost a second skin on her, so she was shimmering lightly. That should (at least in theory) keep the most physical damage from her, if she really would be attacked or the man would try to get in.

"I will not open this door, before you don't tell me who you are and what the fuck you want at my door at two am in the morning!", she even convinced herself with that voice. Her magic positively humming through her, being this confident. Waxing gibbous be damned. "I assure you, I don't wish to intrude or cause you any harm whatsoever. But you're hiding two fugitives of my pack in there and we demand them back." "Great, even more werewolves.", Celine thought. At least she knew now, what she was up against. Even though everything in her told her, that this was a bad idea, she opened the door.

In front of her was quiet the crowd. She counted at least fifteen people, standing at the street before her house, but in some distant. Maybe there were even more in the shadows. Her magic was still washing through her in warm waves of reassurance, apparently not realising the very apparent threat of a whole werewolf pack in front of her. She should think of her next steps very carefully. The man, who had knocked on her door, stepped back a few steps. Putting his hands in the air to show he was not here to put on a fight. Even lowered his head, almost like bowing. His pack following his example. But when his head came back up again, his eyes flashed red for a second, before turning to brown again. His glance sent shivers down her back, but not in the good way.

"If I may introduce myself.", he said. "I'm Adrian, the Alpha of this pack." The young woman next to him flinched, as he said that. But the gesture was so small, Celine almost overlooked it. She had her head still bowed, looking to the ground. Celine looked back at Adrian. He was a middle-aged man, already with white streaks in his light-brown hair and beard. He was not unpleasant looking, but something seemed just wrong about him. "May I enter? So we can speak of these matters inside instead?" He already stepped towards her as he was saying this. "No.", Celine simply said, surprised about her strength in this moment and even more surprised when Adrian actually stopped. "As you wish.", he said, but it was clear, that he was getting angrier by the minute. "It it's rather simple really: just give us the two fugitives and we'll leave you alone."

"I will not do such a thing. They're in no condition to go anywhere and a healer will be here soon. And also they say, that you were the ones that hurt them." "Ah you see, that's were you are mistaken. We did not attack him out of nothing. Wyan challenged me for my Alpha title and he lost. And so, like it's been tradition for a thousand years, his life is mine to take. But he fled with his sister, that's why we're in this unfortunate situation right now.", Adrian smiled, like he had just said the most usual thing like the weather forecast and not that he was actually at Celine's doorstep to take a live. "You want me to give them to you, so you can kill them?!" "Well yes, of course. Not Lyra, if she's willing to submit." "She never will.", said the girl next to Adrian suddenly. She said it like a whisper, but clear enough for Celine to hear. Adrian just quickly looked at her and the girl turned her head back to looking at the ground. She would not say anything again, that was for sure. "I can't do this.", Celine now said. "What do you mean?", asked Adrian as if he really wouldn't understand. "I won't give them to you.", Celine heard herself say. She didn't know where she took the strength or stupidity from. She was clearly outnumbered. No way she could take on this many werewolves. Especially because she wasn't a fighter. "But the tradition?", he was clearly confused. "I don't care for the tradition. I won't give them to you." Adrian now looked really confused as if Celine had somehow insulted herself. "I don't think you understand the situation...", he said now. "Maybe I should tell you again what happened?" "No need.", Celine said. "The healer will come and heal them. And then, when they are alright again, they will leave my place and noone will be bothering me again. I got no business with you or them." "Ah now I understand.", Adrian seemed somewhat happy. "You do not wish to get involved?", he asked like it wasn't obvious. "I have really nothing to do with this." "Very well.", he said. "We'll take over leave then. Sorry for disturbing you at this time.", he quickly looked at the ground again, as if to bow, but in the same instant he was already turning around. His pack leaving with him. Only the girl who stand next to him, turned around once more to look at Celine. A word on her lips, before she too, disappeared in the night.

What the fuck did just happen? Celine still stood at the open door, her hands sweaty. The moon was behind clouds, but she could feel his warm presence calming her racing heart. She didn't know how long she was standing like this, when a black SUV parked right in front of her. Celine almost ran to it and was there, before Aja was even able to close the car door. She pulled her in a deep hug. "You have no idea how glad I am that you're here!" "I kind of get the feeling.", Aja laughed as if all the weird shit didn't happen. "Hard night?" "Definitely too hairy for my taste." "Oh come on, you can do better than this." "Not tonight. All my brain is gone. In hiding." Aja laughed again and somehow Celine got the feeling that everything would be alright from now on. "Wanna show me my patients now, Cici?", Aja asked gently, as she wiped away a tear that escaped Celine's eye. "Yes.", she said. "They're in the kitchen."

[written-in-silber]

She smiled at me, like any stranger would. Because that's what we were at that point. Nothing more than mere strangers. But still. This smile was enough to take my breath away. Her smile left me speechless, just wishing I could see it every day from now on.

It was the perfect first smile for all the ones that were to come. The ones where she smiled in joy, in surprise and even in extasy. The ones of early mornings and late nights. The smiles between kisses, the smiles which would become laughter. And of course my personal favourite: her "I love this stupid idiot"-smile.

And I have to admit, that I didn't realize it at first. That over the years, those smiles appeared less and less. All I got to see then, were her fake smiles, her 'Yes, I'm fine"-smile and her "Don't worry about me"-smile.

And when she inevitably slipped through my fingers and we parted ways, I saw her "Goodbye, my love"-smile. Like to tell me, that everything would be alright. Even then she was still trying to build me up. I thought that would be the worst one of all.

But then so many years later, I saw that one smile on her face, that would hurt me most. Because in not recognising me at first. She smiled at me, like any stranger would.

The story both starts and ends with the exact same sentence, the last in a sad way. “She smiled at me, like any stranger would.”

[written-in-silber]

Whispers of Moonlight - Part 1

Summary: Celine just wants to live a normal life. But you don't get always get what you want. So when she gets visited by two strangers, the life as she knows it will change forever.

TW: blood, cursing, nudity

Part 2

"I am the moon. The moon is me.", that's what her mother used to tell her, when she was little. Celine said those words with her, like a prayer every night before bedtime. But she was a child back then and did not listen to the words like her mother wanted her to. She repeated them to Celine, even when she got older. But still, they had no real meaning to her. She thought she knew what the words meant. She learned what her mother taught her and felt the power within, but she never really had to use it. Nor really cared for it. It was just there, a part of her. The real life was already difficult enough to deal with. There was no time for magic as well.

It was one of those Saturday nights where not much was going on. Celine lay in her pjs on the couch and tried to figure out what movie to watch next. She was not tired enough to slept, but not awake enough to get up and make herself some tea. Those were the moments she missed him the most. Not because Kiran would have made her some tea, but the way he would have done it. Complaining about how Celine should do it herself. How she would be helpless without him. How the apartment would be in ruins without him. Now it's been a year since he moved out, but the apartment was still standing. Celine made her own tea now. And sometimes missed him in the process. Which was okay.

The doorbell rang and she stopped in her tracks. Celine expected noone, especially not this late. For a split second she feared he would show up at her doorstep with white wine in his hand and a grin in his face, just saying something casual as: "Sorry I'm late. Traffic was hell. Took me a year, I guess." But of course that wouldn't happen. He wouldn't come back and she didn't need him anyway. She got up, filled with new energy or with spite, not really sure on the way to her kitchen. She probably just imagined the doorbell ringing. But then, there it was again. Angrier this time, if doorbells can sound anrgy. Now the strange somebody was knocking on the door, loudly. What the hell was going on?

So she did change her ways and instead of going into the kitchen, she walked to the door. If she hadn't been sleepy, she probably would've been scared. But right now she was just angry, that probably some drunk idiot got to the wrong house in the dark and was now annoying the shit out of her. All she wanted was a chill time. If she would have wanted drama, she would have gone out partying with Aja. As she opened the door, the words: "You got the wrong hou...", already formed in her mouth. But the scene that unfolded before her made her stop. There were two people standing on her doorstep. A woman and a man, both almost naked. The only thing they were wearing was something that looked like a towel, wrapped around their most intimated parts. The man was covered in blood, barley conscious and was leaning against the woman. She wasn't in a much better shape. Her right arm was hanging strangely down her body and there was blood on her as well. Even though Celine couldn't make out if it was hers or his. The woman looked furious at her, as if Celine was personally responsible for the state they were in. "About fucking time." she yelled, her eyes shimmering in an unnatural yellow tone. You could barely catch it, because she was scanning all her surroundings, as if she would expect a giant bear to show up at any minute. Oh god, what if there was a bear? "Would you let us in already?", she practically screamed in Celines face. It didn't sound like a question or a plea, more like a demand. The man, she was holding, whimpered something, that could've been something like please, but you couldn't understand it, because there was also blood coming out of his mouth as he tried to speak.

So Celine stepped aside and the angry woman lifted the man through the door, as if it were their home and she simply a butler, who opened the door to late. Celine was so perplexed, that she didn't even object. She just closed the door behind them, before the situation really dwaned on her. "What?", she asked. Sure, not the most thoughtful question, but a start. The two strangers just ignored me, while the woman was lifting the man on Celines kitchen table. He flinched, clearly in pain. His blood covered now Celines floor and kitchen table. It would look like somebody was killed here. Maybe that would be the case, if the man wouldn't get help soon. She would never get this floor clean again. "Should I call an ambulance?", she stupidly asked, but none of them seemed even to care about the fact that Celine was there with them. Apparently that was their kitchen now, which fair enough they had probably some other priorities than conversations right now, but one would think that an ambulance would be up there. But the woman just talked quietly to the man, in a sweet low voice. Celine couldn't quiet make out what she said to him, but the words safety and rest were among them. "I'll call an ambulance now.", Celine said, because she had no idea what else to do. "And maybe the police, too.", she added in her mind. "We don't need a fucking ambulance.", the woman yelled in Celines direction, flashing her yellow eyes. Celines whole body shuttered. She felt like a deer in headlights, unable to move or even to draw a breath. But strangely enough, she also didn't want those eyes to look anywhere else. "Wyan will be alright soon.", the woman said more to herself than anybody else. Celine looked at the almost two meter man, who was currently bleeding out in her kitchen and seemed only conscious, because of some power unknown to her. "Listen, lady.", the woman arched her brows at that. "I'm not a healer. I really can't help you. I don't know what made you think I was one, but I'm not. I have a friend, who is a healer, I could call her? You also seem hurt..." She had let herself sit down on one of Celines kitchen chairs, clearly exhausted. She took in a sharp breath and pressed against her dislocated shoulder to put it in the right place again. It must have hurt like hell, but she barley made a sound. Instead she just looked at Celine again and said: "Do you have any clothes?" Her eyes slowly losing the yellow colour and turning in some sort of greenish grey. And because the situation was so strange already, Celine just said "...yes" and went upstairs to get some. She still had some clothes from Kiran left, which might be a bit to small for the man on my table, but still a better fit than any of hers. She put them together to a pile, and did what she always did, when she didn't know what to do. She took her phone and called Aja.

Aja answered a second later, because of course she would be up in at this time. "What's up, sweetie? Not already asleep?" Celine could hear the loud music in the background, probably some bar downtown. Now she wished she would've gone out with her. No strange people dying at her place, only drinks and dancing and forgetting about stupid ex-boyfriends.

But that was not the reality. Celine tried to whisper, even though she knew it made no sense, because they would hear her either way. She knew exactly what the yellow eyes meant, even though she had never met one in her life before. But she was not dumb, her mother taught her well after all. So even though it didn't make any difference, Celine said as quietly as she could into her phone: "Can you come over?Please? Like right now? I have two almost dead werewolves bleeding out in my kitchen and I have no idea what to do." "WHAT?!", Aja shouted. Celine was not sure if Aja just didn't hear her right or if she was just as freaked out by the situation as herself. So she repeated everything she just said, in the most calm voice, she could manage. "I'm on my way. Sounds like fun night already.", Aja now said, all business-like. Then there was a noise, like a glas being slammed on the table. "How bad are they hurt?" "Like really, really bad." "Shit, makes sense why else should they come to you." She seemed to know something Celine didn't. "Yeah no... why did they come to me?!" "Ok listen, Cici. Wers have self-healing powers. They don't work instantly and obviously they don't work like in the movies, but the don't die that quickly. So just hang in there, until I get there, okay?" "Yeah, sure. But.." She hung up, before Celine got the chance to say anything else. For one second, she thought about calling her mother. But she would've probably been asleep already and there was no need to worry her, too. Celine would tell her when all of this was over.

So she got down to the two strangers in her kitchen and brought them the clothes, she had gathered. "I'm.. ver.. very.. sorry.. for the.. the.. intrusion..", choked the man, who was apparently called Wyan, out, every word seemed to pain him. "Try not speak.", the woman said to him as she took the clothes out of Celines hands. "We're safe now." "Excuse... my sister..she..", he started, but stopped to just breath for a while. Celine looked at his sister and the resemblance really was uncanny. The same dark hair and bright eyes, the same brows and strong jawline. Both were ridiculously good-looking, what Celine of course had not noticed until now. It was really as someone had made a photocopy of the same person and just gave it a different gender and height. "Stop staring.", the woman said, which, fair enough, she was in fact changing and Celine was indeed staring at her. But with looking away she would now just looked at Wyan, who was currently dressed in nothing except for blood and that something, that looked like a towel. So that wasn't really better. "Shit.", the woman said, now dressed in Celines old underwear, which looked way better on her than on Celine. Not that Celine noticed. "They're almost here." At these words Wyan, tried to get up, but she pushed him back down. "I.. I.. can..", he tried to say. Celine had no idea, what he thought he could, because he clearly couldn't. "She'll take care of it.", the woman said and looked at Celine, as if she had any idea what was going on. The womans eyes went back to the unusual yellow colour, that they were before, which strangely suited her. "I won't do anything unless someone starts telling me, what the fuck is going on.", Celine had enough of this. The woman really had the nerve to look annoyed, as if Celine were the one acting childish. "Isn't it obvious?" "No, clearly it is not!" The woman sighed and then looked at Celine, while putting on one of her old jeans: "Lyra. Wyan.", she pointed first on herself, then on her brother on the table, who held his arm up in the air, as if to say hi. "Werewolves." "Yeah no shit Sherlock.", Celine said, because even though she wasn't saying a full sentence, she still didn't get to the point. Celine suddenly felt like Wyan was probably the one, who usually did all the talking. "We are obviously badly injured and now seek refuge.", Lyra now said. She was getting more angry as she spoke or more frightened, but that wasn't really a thought that Celine wanted to entertain. Because what would scare a werewolf? In what horror movie did she got herself into? "Refuge from what? And why me?" She should have gone out with Aja. She would never cancel plans again, just to have a quiet night. Because obviously the universe didn't want Celine to have something like this. Lyra didn't even look at Celine, her gaze was fixed to the direction of the door, when she said: "Because you're a moon witch, Harry." If the situation were any different, Celine might have laughed. But the situation been what it is, she just answered instead: "I know I'm a moon witch, thank you very much, Lyra." Suddenly, as Celine said her name, those beautiful yellow eyes looked at her again as if she said some magic words. Celine had to remember that, for reasons... "But that doesn't explain anything. So could you please just tell me, what the hell is going on!"

"They are here.", Lyra suddenly said. Then the doorbell rang twice. "Friends of yours?", Celine asked, even though she knew the answer. "They're the ones who hurt Wyan.", Lyras voice was weird mixture of being matter-of-factly and ice-cold.