The Lost Years Part 1

The Lost Years.

Wendy Owens.

This book is dedicated in loving memory to my brother-in-law, Mark Gambrel. You were an amazing talent and a light to all of our lives. I miss you daily and love you very much.

The night air was cool, so crisp that one's breath lingered upon it. Uri stared at Sophie, unable to take his eyes from her. His chest ached as a popping noise sounded in his ears. With a sudden gasp for air, he realized he'd been holding his breath.

"Are you all right?" Sophie asked, quite concerned about her handsome evening companion.

Uri coughed heartily, clearing his throat thoroughly before answering, "Yes, I mean, I suppose so. Are you all right though?"

"Of course, I'm better than ever. What kind of question is that?" she inquired with a flirtatious smile.

Uri looked Sophie up and down again, taking note of the numerous layers she was draped in. He wondered where she had found such an elegant gown; the sheer white fabric seemed to almost be dancing behind her in the moonlight. As long as Uri had known Sophie, he had never seen her look the way she did this evening, and it had him quite puzzled. "Something just seems off about you, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

He decided hiding his thoughts wouldn't do anyone any good and blurted out exactly what he was thinking. "I've known you for a long time, and in all those years I have never seen you in a gown except for the year you arrived at the newcomers ball. Even then, you just b.i.t.c.hed and moaned the entire evening about how uncomfortable you were. Now, here you are, acting like this is natural for you."

"That's funny, I don't remember that," Sophie replied with a playful giggle.

"You don't remember anything, that's the problem. Like that stupid laugh, Sophie wanted to punch girls who would laugh like that," Uri complained.

"I'm sorry, but I don't see it that way. Honestly, I don't think I have a problem at all. I don't remember this Sophie everyone keeps telling me I am. From the sounds of it, I am glad I don't remember, she sounds horrid. If I don't remember her, why should I try and act like her?"

"Umm, I don't know, because she's you?" Uri rattled off sarcastically. "And you weren't horrid, you were funny. Like one of the boys, you know?"

"No, I don't know," Sophie answered flatly before spinning away, consumed with frustration.

"Look, I'm sorry, I don't mean to upset you, but the fact is that you're not acting like yourself. I know this is hard on you too, I can't imagine if I didn't remember who I was, but I- well- I miss my friend."

Sophie slowly turned to face Uri, gazing into his eyes. Uri narrowed his brow, confused by the longing in her stare.

"Are you feeling sick?" he asked, a.s.suming the answer must be nausea.

Sophie giggled softly, taking a step closer, tracing the line of his shoulder with her fingertip. "No, silly." Her girlish behavior set him on edge.

"You're really starting to freak me out. That Sophie was crazy, but not this kind of crazy."

"That's just it, that's what I have been trying to tell you. I'm not that Sophie, at least, not anymore. I'm a new woman, a woman who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to take it."

"You're really scaring me, now quit it," Uri insisted.

Sophie reached out, caressing her open hand over his arm, but he instinctively pulled away. She stepped forward, reaching for him again, yet he only backed away even more. Sophie's face contorted, she was furious. He watched as, without warning, her anger s.h.i.+fted to a devastated hurt. Ashamed of being vulnerable, Sophie turned and walked to the edge of the cliff side. Burying her face in her hands, she began to sob.

Uri stood blank-faced for a moment, unsure how to react. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Sophie cry; the sight of it was unsettling for him. Realizing this was actually happening and not a hallucination as he had first theorized, he rushed over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. His only desire in that moment was for the flood of emotions to stop. Pleading, he said, "Please, I didn't mean to upset you. You're just confused right now, it wouldn't be right-"

His words were cut off by Sophie's sudden movements. Turning around, she threw her arms up, wrapping them tightly around his neck. Uri didn't have a moment to think about what was happening before Sophie's lips were pressed firmly against his. At first he tried to pull away, pus.h.i.+ng against her, but after a few short seconds, he found himself surrendering to the pleasure of the moment. No matter how wrong it was, and even though he had no romantic feelings towards Sophie, it didn't take away from the fact that her lips felt good and that she was a beautiful woman.

It was only a single moment that he released himself into the pa.s.sion. Just a second he allowed himself to taste her, to enjoy the tender side of Sophie, one that he had never known before.

"Sophie?" They heard someone mutter behind them in the shadows.

Uri pulled himself away from her grasp, turning to face the familiar voice. There, standing just below the stone steps, was his dear friend, Gabe, with a look of hurt and disgust on his face. Uri's heart began to race; he looked back to Sophie who simply stared at Gabe with a blank and emotionless glare. He didn't know if he should condemn Sophie for her lack of compa.s.sion in that moment, or go and beg his friend for forgiveness. How could I have been so stupid, so careless?

Looking back to Gabe, he struggled to find the words that expressed the depths of his sorrow. At last he exclaimed the cliche line, "It's not what it looks like!"

Gabe did not wait to hear the excuses, he didn't want to argue, he didn't want all the reasons why what he saw was all right, he simply wanted to be anywhere but there. Immediately, he twisted and called out over his shoulder, "Save it."

In a flash, Gabe was at the top of the stairs, fleeing the scene at full speed. Uri gave chase, ignoring Sophie calling after him. By the time Uri made it to the upper level, Gabe was barely visible. "Gabe! Please, wait, you have to let me explain."

Gabe did not look back, instead he continued to put as much distance as possible between him and his once friend. Uri huffed as Gabe darted out of his line of sight. He quickened his pace in an attempt to catch up, but by the time he reached The Cleric's Garden, there was no sign of which way Gabe had went.

Even though he was more frustrated with himself that he had let things get so out of control, Uri mumbled, "Stupid girl."

When he had met with her that evening, he actually thought he could reason with her. Perhaps, somehow, he could even bring her back in to her right mind. The person she once was when she was his best friend, the person that was still in love with Gabe. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. Gabe was always sad, Sophie made no sense to him anymore, and Uri just wanted to make things right, which was all he had intended by talking to Sophie. He decided he would find Gabe and make him understand that it was a misunderstanding, that what happened was a mistake that would not happen again.

"Uri!" Raimie shouted, running up and slapping him on the back. Panting heavily, he bent over and heaved deeply.

"Raimie, are you okay?"

Raimie took another moment to catch his breath, at last standing upright and grabbing a tight hold of Uri's arm. "It's Michael, he needs to see you right away."

"Can't this wait? I'm sort of in the middle of something."

"No- now," Raimie insisted between breaths.

"Is everything all right?" Uri's back straightened, panic suddenly shooting through his body.

"I'm not sure, Dina took the call. She told me to come find you right away."

"What do you mean *took the call'? Michael isn't back?"

"No, and she said he was asking for you," Raimie added.

"He was supposed to meet with the Guardians Council."

"He did and then sent for you," Raimie answered.

"I don't understand. Why didn't he come back?"

"Uri!" Raimie shouted. "I don't know the answer to any of your questions. All I know is that Dina said he needs to see you right away and that it was an emergency."

"I can't leave right now."

"Why?" Raimie asked, looking around as if for a cause to Uri's problem.

"It's hard to explain-" Uri began, shaking his head, still unable to grasp what he had allowed to unfold. "Gabe saw something and misunderstood, I have to find him and explain."

Raimie reached out and opened Uri's hand, placing a small, smooth, round, black stone into his palm. He folded Uri's fingers around it, "Dina said to use this to focus your transport spell on. It will take you to where the council is. When you're there, be sure you leave it with Michael; we can't risk their location being exposed. Do you understand?"

"I told you, I have to find Gabe-"

"Look, I don't know what the h.e.l.l you're talking about, but I'm sure Gabe will wait. There is some strange guy calling himself Bishop in Michael's office. He is claiming to be in charge now and Michael is saying he needs you right away. You need to go talk to Michael. Now!"

"Bishop? What? Who the h.e.l.l is Bishop?" Uri asked, shaking his head in confusion.

"Exactly! Man, I don't even understand what's going on. This was supposed to be some status report trip for Michael. A little bit later, Bishop shows up. He said Michael will not be returning and he'll be taking over in the meantime. He's a real scary son of a b.i.t.c.h, too; doesn't laugh at anything. Something isn't right with this. You need to talk to Michael right away."

"That makes absolutely no sense. Michael would not just leave without telling us."

"I agree, so will you quit worrying about Gabe right now and go figure this out?" Raimie urged.

Uri thought about the two situations for a moment. Perhaps some time for Gabe to cool down might actually be a good thing.

"I'm sure everything is fine, but I'll be back as soon as I can," Uri rea.s.sured his friend.

"Yes, just go."

Taking a step back, Uri closed his eyes, rolling the stone between his fingers. He felt it grow warm. Clutching it tightly, he took in a deep breath and held it, preparing for the transportation. Seconds later, a lingering sliver of smoke was all that was left where Uri had once stood.

The heat emanating from the transportation stone caused a visible smoke to rise from Uri's hand. Unable to tolerate the discomfort any longer, he dropped it to the ground. Lingering for a moment, his eyes still closed, he allowed his legs to regain their strength.

"Uri, my son, at last," Michael's voice jolted him back to reality.

Initially, when he opened his eyes, everything was a blur; it took several moments for his retinas to adjust. When they did, he saw his mentor across the room, he appeared quite different from the last time he had seen him. The first thing that caught his attention were the robes Michael was wearing, he had never seen him in such formal garb. The fabric was such an intensely bright white that it seemed to glow. The layers were heavy, the cuffs and bottom of the robe were trimmed in golden ancient writings, which Uri had only seen in the oldest books contained in the library at the manor.

"Michael, what is going on?"

"I know this must seem strange."

"Strange? No. What you're wearing is strange, this situation is just insane. What exactly are you wearing?" Uri asked in reply, walking across the room and paying no attention to his surroundings.

"I know it's a lot to take in and I'm sorry I had to call for you this way. I wasn't expecting this meeting with the council to turn into this."

"To turn into what? I don't understand."

"I wasn't aware my name was even being considered as a council member. Apparently, after what happened at the beach last year, the council started talking about me and what my role should be for the Guardians moving forward."

"Your role? What is that supposed to mean? Your role is being the head of Rampart, we need you there. You can't be a council member."

"They won't reconsider; the decision has already been made. They have already replaced me-"

"Yeah, I heard," Uri snapped.

"You have to try and understand. I need you to hold things together at home."

"Well, I can't do that."

"You have to, I'm already a member of the council now, there's nothing I can do. Trust me, I did not want this right now. I tried to explain to them that Gabe needed me still, but they insisted."

"Oh G.o.d, Gabe," Uri groaned.

"What is it? Is something wrong with Gabe?"

"You could say that."

"What has happened?"

"It was just a misunderstanding and now he won't even talk to me. It wasn't my fault. What was I supposed to do? I'm half human, you know," Uri rambled wildly.

"Slow down, you're not making sense. Take a deep breath and tell me what exactly happened."

Doing as he was told, Uri wove the tale of how he was the innocent recipient of unwanted attentions from Sophie, how Gabe saw things from a distance and misunderstood, and about how Gabe now refused to speak to him.

Michael shook his head before hanging it low and placing a hand on Uri's shoulder, "How do you always manage to get yourself in these situations?"

"Hey, I didn't do anything wrong!" Uri protested. "This isn't my fault!"

"Really?" Michael asked, eyebrows raised.

"All right, I might have kissed her back, but it was just for a split second. I don't even think of Sophie that way- but you have to admit, she is pretty hot, and I'm not made of stone."

"Yeah, she's hot, but you don't think of her that way."

"I don't! I can know a girl is attractive and not be into her that way."

"You're going to have to fix this. Gabe is exactly why I brought you here. Now, I don't know how you can do what I need you to."

"I'll fix this, I promise. I can do whatever it is you need me to do."

"I hope so, because it's very important."

Uri could hardly stand the suspense. He was sure he was about to be handed a top secret mission, one he would be prepared for. "I won't let you down, sir."

"I need you to look after Gabe in my absence. I don't think Bishop is going to be able to connect with Gabe on the level that he needs right now. I need to make sure someone is there for him while I am away."

"You want me to be a babysitter?"

"It's not a babysitting job. This is serious. If Gabe doesn't feel a connection with the people at Rampart, there is a good chance he will leave. G.o.d help us if that were to happen."

"I seriously doubt Gabe would ever leave; he loves us."

"Uri, don't underestimate the pain of loss. Losing Sophie has taken its toll on him. Let's just hope the girl recovers soon."