Glade and Raine dream together all day, remembering the past and thinking about what they could do that night. Glade wants to see the city, but Raine wants to stay with him, so he suggests that they do both. They stay together till they know that the light is safe and Raine agrees to Glade's idea. they go out, Raine kisses him, and runs off alone. After a few minutes Glade locks the door and runs after her. She knows the city so leads him to the best parts so he can find her and play a variation of hide and seek. A lot of mate pairs like this game. It's down to the seeker how long they take finding their mate, then the hider chooses to hide again or if it's their mate's turn to hide, but only Raine will hide tonight. Glade wouldn't know where to go. He doesn't like this game as much as Raine does but it's her city, not his. She speaks to him through their link. "This isn't a city, but it's big enough for what I need."
"Where are you leading me?"
"You'll see soon enough, when you find me." He follows his heart and finds a path along a river. He can feel that she's close, but still far enough to let him look around the river first. "I need to learn to swim some time."
"I could teach you."
"But where is open at night?"
"Some rivers are deep enough. This one's not clean though, so not here."
"Maybe if we can find an island you can teach me to swim in the sea."
"Maybe." He sees fish just under the surface of the water, and hears animals on the opposite bank moving in the dark. He goes along the path and sees her jump down from a tree and run back towards the town. He smiles and follows. The path goes between two fields now, and he stops to watch a few deer who stop eating and stare at him for a minute to make sure he's not a danger to them. Once they know he's not they ignore him and go back to eating. He laughs quietly and moves on. Raine is close by, but moving to keep ahead of him to keep him moving. She hides her energy when he gets near so that she would seem almost human. The idea is that he hunts her for a while. She walks as though she is on her way home and he matches her step. She leads and he follows at her side. When they get to a few trees he pulls her over to one and holds her against it to kiss her. She laughs and he lets her go. She doesn't move, and neither does he. R: "I'm not going to stand here all night." He smiles and starts walking. She directs him through their link to turn right at the next road. When he gets to a park she silently tells him to stop, and he does. She stalks him and takes her turn at kissing him. She runs past him and he chases her. They play tag like children for a while, taking turns hiding behind a tree and finding each other. Glade stands behind a tree and hides his energy while Raine tries to feel where he is. R: ""I hear you, I smell you, I feel you." He laughs and steps out, then runs, and she laughs and chases him. Then she hides. She hides her energy too, and climbs up into a tree. Glade tries to find her but can't. G: "I know you're here. I can hear you, I can smell you, I remember the taste of your human blood." She jumps down behind him.
R: "That's gross, and you know it." He turns round and kisses her.
"It got you out of that tree."
"Do really you remember it?"
"Yeah, don't you remember Star and Arget?"
"Not really. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention."
"Maybe. I don't remember what Brock was like."
"In future I'd pay attention."
"Do you have anyone in mind?"
"No, and I don’t think I will."
“I don't think I would either.”
"I have a couple of friends, one might come over later. His name is James, and her name is Rose."
"Brother and sister?"
"No, they're cousins, but they don't look it. His hair is as black as jet, his eyes aren't much lighter but deep red in the right light apparently, and he's got that lovely Italian glow. Rose has fiery red hair, emerald green eyes, and she's very pale. He's always calm, so much that I think he would be a great thinker if people would listen. He's quiet and still, and he has a touch of demon lust in him for me. Rose is different. Always out with friends, partying but not drinking much. She's really is beautiful. She moves like a dancer all the time unless something's upset her." As she describes them Glade sees flashes of them both as friends and watched strangers. He sees Raine with both of them. Drinking gently from Rose and roughly from James. Raine dancing with Rose, and talking with James in what must be his home. Resting for the day in his bed with Rose reading quietly in the corner. G: "How did you meet them?"
"They found me. Well James found me. Then he told Rose and they came over to me one night and asked me outright. He said he'd seen me hunting a few times and followed me outside once and she followed me inside once or twice."
"Didn't you notice them?"
"There's a lot of people who go to the same club every week. I couldn't remember everyone even if I tried."
"Good point."
"They ended up wandering over to where I was, sitting opposite me, and James just asked what I am."
"That's it?"
"Yeah. That's just what happened. Have you heard of that happening before?"
"Yes, but rarely, and always one, not two."
"They live together, so they're as close as brother and sister."
"One orphan?"
"No, it's strange. They're step siblings and cousins at the same time. James moved out, and Rose went with him. Their mothers were sisters, then James' mother died, Rose's parents split up, then James' father married Rose's mother, so they're cousins and half siblings at the same time."
"There's some strange people out there."
"They're not interested in changing. I think they just want to study me."
"Like Rachel."
"Is that how it is then?"
"I think so. She just wants to learn about us. She said she definitely doesn't want it." When they get home they just curl up together to dream again. Glade remembers that he hasn't let himself sink into the deepest trance for a few decades and says so to Raine. R: "I'll watch out for you if you want."
"Thank you." The deepest level of trance is the most like sleep. They feel almost nothing. No fear, no happiness, no hunger, no pain, no hate, and only a faint memory of love for their mate. He recognises each level as he drifts down, and others ignore him apart from the odd flicker of recognition from those he knows. First is the shallow level where it is only physical rest. Then he starts to see faint dreams and characters from books. Raine can share this level with him and this is where they dream together. She is here now, and she stays linked to him as long as she can. The next level is his private mind, Raine can't see what he sees here. He remembers Thunder at his teacher's farm. He knew that great stallion the night he was born. He helped the little foal get his first drink, and helped him out of the mud hole that winter and nursed him till he was strong enough to go out again. Next is the place where only vague shadows flicker among a white mist. Others can sometimes be seen here, but only rarely, only when they happen to be on their way up or down at the same time. Tonight there's nobody else here. This is where Raine will need to call him from if She needs him to return before his body wakes him. The last level is the void. The blank place where only a faint consciousness exist. This is where he goes now by imagining his body sinking through a dark patch of the grey fog he's standing on. Raine knows that he is there when she feels his body completely relax. His heart slows to around thirty beats per minute and his breathing slows to a barely visible movement. She rests now in her own pale dreams so that she would know if there is any danger.
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