The Savage Garden Ch. 03
Keywords: Savage, Ch., Garden, The, 03,
Jade awoke to the sound of a ringing phone. Stretching, she realized that the girls were no longer with her. Her eyes opened slowly and she saw Sera in the kitchen, her hand on the receiver as she answered the phone. She smiled at Jade as she murmured an assent into the phone and hung up. "That was Di. She went out this morning for supplies, and she wants us to meet her somewhere. Come take a shower and I"ll find you some clothes."
After taking a shower and donning a tight black halter, a pair of tan shorts, and flip-flops Jade joined Sera in the living room. Giving her a quick once over, Sera nodded and directed Jade out the door and to a black mustang parked outside. "This is Di"s car." Sera explained. "She took a cab this morning."
Jade jumped into the car and they headed out onto the highway. The wind whipping through her hair gave Jade a delicious feeling of freedom as they headed out of the city. Trees slowly began to replace buildings, and Sera exited the highway and turned down a small dirt road. The winding road quickly turned into nothing but a track leading into the woods, and Sera parked the car. Looking around her Jade saw nothing but trees, and a small almost hidden path leading into them. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the air and scented Di not so very far off. Without even bothering to ask Sera, she headed down the path.
Di was sitting in the middle of a clearing talking to a nude man. The man was tall, nearly 6"5" with long black hair and piercing hazel eyes. His body was strong and toned, his skin evenly tanned. As he smiled at them, Jade and Sera saw long sharp fangs glitter in the sunlight. Getting to her feet, Di smiled at them and began to speak. "Jade, Sera, this is Darion. Jade, Darion is a were. I thought that he might be able to help explain some of the things that I couldn"t, but I had quite a time finding him."
Speaking up, Darion interrupted. "I live out here, in the forest. I have a cabin not too far off, but I am rarely there." His voice, smooth as silk flowed over Jade as he looked her over. "She"s a half were." He stated. "One of her parents must have been mundane. She could fully change, if she had some training. But as things are she doesn"t have the power." Looking over at Di he grinned. "I"ll take her."
Not liking the sound of this, Jade piped up. "What! Just like that? What am I chattel? Don"t I have a choice in this?"
"Not if you want to figure out how to live with what you are." Di replied. "You can"t just keep skulking around in parks. Right now you have only been gone a couple of days. What happens when someone comes looking for you? What about your job? You need to figure out how to balance things, and Darion is the best person to teach you."
Thinking it over for a moment, Jade nodded. "What do I have to do?"
Putting down the book she had been reading, Jade stretched. After kissing Di, and Sera goodbye, she had been taken to Darion"s cabin. The cabin was more like a large two-story house than anything else. Set back into the woods, it enjoyed complete privacy. Darion showed Jade to a well-furnished bedroom, with attached bath, and pointed to some bags sitting on the bed. "Di left those for you. Get acquainted with the house, and then meet me in the library. Down the stairs, first door on the left. I have to go set up a lesson plan." And with that Darion was gone, leaving Jade to explore her new surroundings.
The room was beautiful in a simple woodsy way. The bed was large, and made of oak. The comforter a very pleasing quilt of green, white, and pink. There was a matching dresser, a large hanging mirror, and a desk with chair. The floor was covered in green and white carpets, and on the walls there were paintings of nymphs and dryads. Moving towards the bed, Jade opened the first bag. Inside she found Shampoo, conditioner, soap, razors, a hairbrush, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and lotion. Opening the second bag she found that Di had bought her new clothing, three pairs of relaxed blue jeans, a package of men"s plain black T-shirts, Two bras, five pairs of thong underwear, a package of socks, a large green hooded pullover, a jean tube top, a pair of tan shorts, and three tank tops (blue, green, and pink) came out of the bag. Pulling the last bag towards her, Jade smiled as a note fell out. "Hope you like the clothes, not too many stores in the area. Give us a call as soon as you are properly settled in, and let us know how you are. All of our love, Di and Sera"
Grinning, Jade opened up the last bag, and found a pair of hiking boots, a pair of comfortable converse sneakers, and a box containing a prepaid cell phone and charger. She would definitely have to thank Di soon. Changing into a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, Jade skipped barefoot down the stairs and entered the library.
And since then it had been nothing but books, piles of them. Darion had insisted that she read about the history of her people, their capabilities, and their traditions. It was now nearly three in the morning, and Darion was nowhere to be found. She had searched the house, but he was gone. Curling up on the couch to wait for him, Jade slowly dozed off.
Entering the library after a night of hunting, Darion found Jade sleeping soundly on a leather couch. She looked so peaceful lying there, she must have been exhausted poor thing. He reached down to wake her, just as she opened her eyes. Seeing Darion standing over her she relaxed and smiled. "Where did you go?" she asked in a soft voice, looking like nothing more than a sleepy kitten. "I looked for you, but you weren"t here."
"I went out to catch some dinner." He replied. "Are you hungry?"
Just then Jade"s stomach growled, and laughing they both headed towards the kitchen. On the table sat several rabbits, neatly skinned and prepared for cooking. Darion began to cut the meat into slivers, and placed it in a pan along with some wild herbs that he had picked. He pulled out a pot and began to boil water in preparation for making long-grained rice. Jade"s jaw dropped. She hadn"t been expecting this. Gorgeous, single, well read, and he could cook. What had Di gotten her into? Seeing the expression on Jades face, Darion pointed to a chair at the table and sat down across from her. "We might as well talk, the food is going to take a few. I want to know about you, where you come from, who your parents are, what"s important to you? Tell me."
Sitting down opposite him, Jade began slowly. "I was born in San Diego, California. My name is Jade Devlyn O"Connor. Both of my parents died when I was four. Their names were Aslyn and Brian O"Connor. I was raised in Oceanside by an aunt on my father"s side of the family. My mother didn"t have any living relations. My aunt Clear was good to me, and when I turned eighteen she handed over my parent"s life insurance to me and sent me out into the world. She died shortly after that, nearly two years ago. She had a heart attack. I now live in Boulder, I guess I wanted to get away from the West Coast. Too many bad memories." As she finished she looked up into his eyes, and saw understanding and sympathy.
Standing and returning to the stove, Darion poured the rice into the boiling water and stirred the meat around a bit. After returning to his seat, he began to speak. "My name is Darion Bane. I was born and grew up in Boulder. My parents are Desmond, and Seline Bane. Di"s family is well acquainted with mine. We grew up together. Both of my parents are were. My father is a Wolf, and my mother is a Cougar. A half like you. That"s how I knew. I grew up knowing what I might become, but I didn"t change until I was fourteen. Even then it was hard. I can"t imagine what it must have been like for you. My parents own this house. They visit every so often. When I started to change they took me here for training, and for safety. I"ve lived her permanently for the past three years. I run a web design business from here, and drive out to the post office once a week to pick up my checks." Stopping he again turned to the stove. "Dinners ready."
After they had eaten, Darion walked Jade up to her bedroom. "Sleep sweet kitten." He said with a smile. "We have a lot of work to do tomorrow." Closing the door, Jade curled up in her bed, and with a smile on her face fell quickly asleep….
"(More to come *wink*)
2003 Copyright © Jenna_In_Dreamland "
Keywords: Savage, Ch., Garden, The, 03,