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"That's the problem, Eva. I'm the one making you sick. Every time I pull you to this realm and make love to you, I take some of your energy. I tried to stay away, but I couldn't."
I lift myself up to look down on his face, my own visage serious.
"I don't care. As long as I live, I want you with me. Maybe we can find someone to heal me."
"The only way to heal your real body is for you to kill me."
Looking at him with horror all over my face, I sit back as if I've been hit. I could never hurt him, even if he was hurting me.
"Don't leave me, my love. Promise me."
"I don't know that I can make that promise. Your life is more important to me than my own."
I lie back down on top of him and sleep takes me. When I wake I find I'm weaker than before and can hardly get up from my bed. It takes me a long while to get myself ready to take on the day. I don't even know if I'll be able to work today. After finishing breakfast, a knock sounds on the door. I go open it and find an ugly and disfigured man on my doorstep.
Thinking he is a beggar, I start calculating how much food I have available to gift this poor soul.
"Hello, let me get you some food." I say to him.
He grabs my wrist and I feel an electric shock when he touches me. My eyes open wide and I recognize the soul of the person in front of me. This is my lover. This is his real face and body.
"I'm sorry, my love, I didn't recognize you at first. Please come in, let me serve you."
We're both feeble and have difficulty moving, but I get him seated on my dining room table and serve him food and drink. Finally, he seems to want to say something, so I wait patiently until he does.
"You're not scared of me. Why? Why serve me and take care of me as if I'm someone important?"
"You are someone important, you're my soulmate."
"Can I have a sharp knife to cut this bread?"
I look at him strangely, but do as he asks. Instead of handing him the knife, I go to cut the bread for him. Before I know it he covers the hand with the knife with his and stabs himself in the heart. I scream and try to pull the knife out, but he holds it still and even tries to twist it a bit. I'm still screaming and trying to get him to let me go.
When he does, it's because the life inside him is fading. I kiss his brow and hold him to my chest. This can't be happening, he can't be dead! Then his body turns into sand and I can no longer hold on to him. At that moment, I feel a shiver go through me and I realize that I'm once again whole and my lover died to save me.
The Shifter Next Door
My work as a scientist keeps me pretty busy most of the time and up until the late hours of the night. It didn't matter when the lab was located in a big city, but now that they asked me to lead the experiments in the small town of Nightshade Falls I'm a little weary. The town is said to be hosting a lot of paranormal entities, but I don't believe in such things.
I lock up my lab and say goodbye to the security guy. He always walks me to my car and makes sure to send me off properly. The car I have right now is a rental and it's a little run down. I'm only a few blocks from my home when the engine stalls and the car stops working. I look around and see nothing but shadows.
This area of the town is not as well lit as other neighborhoods and I'm starting to get a little freaked out. I bring out my phone and find that, of course, I have no service. I won't be able to call anyone to help me, even if I had someone to call. I don't. I really need to get the emergency numbers for the town on my phone.
With a defeated sigh, I grab my purse and briefcase and get out of the car. The sooner I start walking, the sooner I'll get home. I lock the rental and start walking. I swear, each step is like that of an elephant, announcing to everyone in the vicinity that there's a defenseless woman here, ripe for the taking.
I hear leaves being crushed and look back, but it's so dark, I can't make out if there's someone there. I start walking faster, who cares about being stealthy at a time like this, right? I don't run because this isn't a late-night movie. There are no monsters here. Except they say Nightshade Falls is full of them.
The gap between where I am and my house is getting smaller and I start to feel relieved. But then I hear noise again from behind and before I know it someone is grabbing my purse and briefcase and trying to get away with them. I put up a fight, because that's what the women do in the movies – the silly ones – and the person hits me in the face.
All of a sudden, my ears are ringing, and I let go of my possessions. He can have them. That's when I hear an animal snarl and when I look up I see this gorgeous wolf throw himself at my attacker. The person tries to keep the dog away from their neck, but the animal is relentless. I'm dizzy from the blow I received and start to fall down.
That's when the dog lets the intruder go and comes to cushion my fall. I grab his fur as I reach the floor. He looks at me and I'm able to see his beautiful eyes, shining like diamonds. I've never seen anything as beautiful as this creature. I let go of him and show him my fist. He sniffs it, then licks it.
"Oh, you're such a good boy, aren't you?"
I scratch him behind the ear, and he closes his eyes in delight. Now that I get to see him at close range I appreciate how big he is. I think he really must be part wolf. I'm so entranced by the creature that I forgot the robber was still around. I start looking for him and see him holding his arm and gasping for air.
When he catches me looking at him, my wolf growls at him. That's all he needs to get up and take off running towards the shadows. When we see the last of him, he turns back to me and starts licking my face. I lower my face against the side of his head, letting the soft fur soothe my senses.
