The Dire Curse

Sage walked through the night chill of downtown. The streets were fairly empty compared to the height of summer and winter when the mountain city filled with tourists. She walked with hand in the pockets of her leather jacket. Her blown out brunette hair bounced around her face and down her back. She had on her “hot” jeans and felt pretty good about how her green tank top made her boobs look. She had agreed to meet Tanya, her coworker and only friend, at a bar near here. She had only lived here for a month now. Having moved here after college to work as a nurse at the trauma center. Tanya was another nurse who instantly took to her, having also recently graduated nursing school. Tanya convinced her to go out that night and meet up with some other friends and get to know the city.

Sage figured that if she planned to make Floren her home now, she might as well meet its people. She met a lot of people in college. She had gone to a very urban city school to see what the opposite lifestyle from how she grew up was like. She found no lasting connections there and she missed being surrounded by nature. But she also wanted to live somewhere not so small so she would know everyone.

Floren it was. Camping tourists in the summer, skiers in the winter, and plenty to still do in between. Had she was accepted to the job she had applied to, unlike the hundreds of other jobs she tried.

The bar was like many of the others on the downtown avenue. She found that tall blonde she calla a friend and walked over.

“Sage! You made it!” Tanya was a perfect snow bunny and she knew it. She didn’t shy away from letting her know that her gal was to snag an independently wealthy husband sometime soon. Sage liked having her own money and independence but also liked the odea of having a life partner. Someone she could be comfortable with, and confined in and care for and be cared for. “Sage, you know Luca and Andrew from work.” Oh no. This was a double date. Luca was a handsome Latina man with black hair to his shoulders. Andrew was a taller man, with a slender build and a decent mustache. They both worked for search and rescue. Which meant that this double date was only to occupy Tayna’s time and to get her out an seen by the right people. Seen being desired by someone else.

“Hi guys.” she waved.

“Want anything?” Andrew asks.

“A beer is fine.”

Andrew leaves the standing up table top they were surrounding to get drinks. Sage smiles and listens to Tanya flirt with Luca, but then a tinge pricks the back of her neck. A familiar feeling, but one she hadn’t felt since senior year of high school. It was the feeling that could also feel a bit like a voice. Telling her something she shouldn’t know. She couldn’t control this feeling and because she had never learned to use it properly, she ignored it. It had died out she thought. But here it was again in this crowded bar whispering to her.

Turn around. He’s here. Behind you. He sees you.

She turned around and all the breath left her when she saw him. He dark chocolate hair had grown out to past his shoulders. He had a rough beard now too. He wore a simple black button down and tight ass dark jeans. His eyes were the same. That deep green circled in a line of barely there orange. Those eyes stared right into hers as he walked with all his muscled confidence toward her.

“Sebastian” She barely whispers, but with his hearing, she knows he heard her.

He smirks, putting his handles in his pockets. He leans forward and whispers into her ear. “Found you.” His hot breath sends a shiver down her spine. His voice has dropped too.

“Oh my god! Are you who I think you are?” Tanya speaks up from across the table. “You’re Sebatian Hamren. Of the Hamren Group right?”

Great. Tayna saw him as a target. Did she know who this guy really was? She couldn’t. Sage was certain Tanya, and everyone who worked with them, was human. Sebastian Hamren, was not.

“And you are?” He says, finally looking at Tanya, though it looked like it was an effort to drag his eyes from Sage.

“Tanya Wesley,” She extends her hand. “A pleasure to meet you. What is a guy like you doing in a dive like this?” The bar wasn’t a dive, but Tanya probably thought that made her sound more sophisticated, like she frequented fancier establishments.

“I own the place actually, I was in town checking on a few of the places I own, when I spotted Sage here.” His hand moves to the small of her back. He has now positioned himself between her and Tanya.

“Oh? Sage I didn’t know you knew the Hamrens,” She looked at Sage like she had kept some horrible secret from her.

“We went to high school together,” Sebastian answers for her.

“You make it sound like we went to the same school,” Sage adds. “Our town had a private school that he went to and a public school that I went to. We sometimes saw each other at parties.”

“Oh, that’s right you said you went to a small town,” Tanya says to Sage. Her attention back on Sebastian,” What was it like growing up in such a small place?”

Just then Andrew comes back with beers. “Oh who is this? If I knew someone else was joining us I would have gotten more beer,” He smiles politely, but also nervously, when he eyes Sebastian’s hand on Sage’s back. She notices and shrugs his hand off. “Its alright he was just dropping by. He was here for business, right?”

“That’s right, but I have a house party tomorrow night. You should come.” He looks at Sage, but Tanya answers. “We would love to!”

They exchange numbers and the address and as Sebatian turns to leave he whisper to Sage. “You’re not getting away this time.” Her cheeks flush and she almost misses Tanya asking about him. Obviously, Tanya wants to get closer to a rich potential future husband. Would she still want him if she knew what he was? What was he even doing here? Last Sage knew the Hamren pack didn’t extend this far. What had changed in the last five years? She had been out of the loop, so it could have been anything.

“So you have no gossip at all?” Tanya whines.

“None,” Sage confirms. “We ran in different circles and didn’t even talk to each other until the last party of senior year.”

That senior year party when they had given each other their virginity and he shifted for the first time.