CHAPTER TWENTY-HALDIR

“Mr. Haldir, so nice to see you again.”

Haldir walked into the house and slapped Aster on the back. “How the hell are you Aster?”

“Very good sir,” Aster said as he shut the door behind them. “Please follow me. Mr. Parker and Miss Imara are in the back garden.”

As Aster led Haldir through the kitchen on his way to the home’s courtyard, Haldir picked up an apple from a bowl at the kitchen counter and wiped it off on his arm. Aster left him at the door to the garden and when Imara saw him walking in, she smiled and waved. Ben looked up and saw the tall blonde man with a bushy beard walking towards them. He was rough looking, like he’d seen a few brawls in his time from the old scar he wore down his face. His long, muscular arms stretched the sleeves of his shirt as he lifted one and took a bite of his apple.

“Hello there kiddo. How are you getting along?” Haldir wrapped his arm around Imara and pulled her into his side then gave her a kiss on the forehead. Ben crossed his arms and stood, looking the two over with a scowl on his face. 

“Never better, Haldir. I’m so happy to see you again. Will you be in Savannah long?”

Haldir let her go, then took another bite of his apple. As he continued chewing, he said, “Mmm-hmm. I got some business here to take care of, so you’ll get to see this handsome face of mine for a while.” He looked to Ben and nodded in acknowledgement then put out his hand. As Ben grabbed it, Haldir said, “If I recall correctly, you must be Ben.”

Ben looked hard at Haldir’s face. Haldir seemed very familiar with Ben, but he was sure they never met before. “That’s right.”

Imara pushed her hair off her shoulder as she admired Haldir. His handsome, rugged face and bawdy way always made Imara smile. Most of the men in her life had been overly protective of her to the point that it made her feel like a very large child, but Haldir could see past the poor witch that she was. He knew deep inside with the proper training, Imara didn’t have to feel powerless against whatever danger was facing them.

“How’s it going old man?” Jasper said as he pulled his old friend into a hug. 

Haldir patted his back as he pulled away from his embrace. “You know me, I keep on keeping on.”

Thorin put his hand on Imara’s shoulder. “My dear, could you excuse us? We have some urgent business to attend to.”

Imara nodded. “Of course.”

As Thorin, Jasper and Haldir started to walk off, Thorin turned back and said, “Ben, could you come with us please?”

Ben looked at him in confusion then nodded. As the men walked in the house, Ben took Imara’s hand and kissed her cheek. “I wonder what that’s about.”

Imara shrugged. “It’s hard to say with those three.” She pointed her finger into his chest. “I will see you later, I’m going to finally finish unpacking my things.”

He pulled her close and leaned down to put his forehead against hers. “I love you, Imara.” Then, he kissed the tip of her nose before turning to walk into the house.

As she watched him go through the hallway behind the wall of windows that overlooked the courtyard, she softly said, “I love you too, sweetheart.”

“Ben, please have a seat,” said Jasper, as Ben entered the parlor.

Ben looked over the three men facing him then sank into a high-backed chair. His heart began to pound against his chest. He could tell by the tension in the air and the smell of adrenaline wafting around the men that there was something wrong. Haldir poured himself a drink and threw it back quickly then leaned back against the wall.

Thorin rubbed the stubble on his face as he glanced to Haldir and Jasper, then he crossed his arms and licked his lips. “I thought if I let you have a little bit more time alone with Imara, maybe it might bring back something. Did it, Ben? Do you remember anything?”

Ben pushed himself back in his chair as he searched his mind. She was familiar to him like a word stuck on the tip of your tongue.  He felt like if he could just push the curtain aside on the window of his mind, he’d be able to see the answer.

“I’m not sure. I feel like,” he looked out the window to the street. “I know her. I told you about my dreams, but it’s like I know her so well.”

Thorin sat down across from him. “How long has it been since you’ve shifted, Ben? Have you since you woke up in Savannah?”

Ben shook his head no. “No, it, it doesn’t talk to me anymore.” He turned his head slightly to the side as he swallowed hard. “You know me, don’t you? You have to. I didn’t tell anybody that I was a Lycan.”

Thorin gave him a sympathetic smile and nodded slowly. “Oh, Ben, I know you very well. I’ve known you a very long time.”

Ben began to hyperventilate as he looked around the room. “This, this isn’t right. This isn’t like home at all.” He nodded to the cars passing on the street outside. “What the hell are those things anyway? Why is everything so different here?”

Thorin leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees then clasped his hands together in front of him. “Ben, when you woke up in this house, you weren’t close to death, you were coming back from it. That scar on your chest, it killed you over fifty years ago. I know, because Haldir and I are the ones who found your body.”

Ben’s lip quivered and his eyes teared over as he clenched his jaw and looked away. Then, he started nodding and looked back at Thorin. “Yeah. That makes sense. The last thing I remember was pulling the wagon into your driveway and seeing you…” Ben’s eyes widened as he realized what he was saying. “You and Imara were standing outside.” He gasped in a breath. “Oh, you lived down the road.”

Thorin said, “I’m afraid time isn’t on our side Ben, we need you to remember everything now.”

Ben looked past Thorin to Jasper and Haldir. Jasper was gripping the arms of his chair so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. Haldir clenched his jaw as he looked back to Ben, then he pulled on his beard. “Remember what exactly?” 

Thorin sighed and looked down at his hands. “Imara. I need you to remember what happened to Imara. I know you don’t want to face it, Ben, but we need to know everything you two went through.”

As he fought his wolf’s urge to comply with Thorin, Ben gritted his teeth. He furiously shook his head from side to side as Haldir came up behind him slowly. “No! I can’t. Don’t!”

Haldir slapped his hand onto Ben’s shoulder. “Enough of this bullshit, you will remember now.”

As a burst of electricity surged from Haldir’s hand, a stabbing pain ripped through the scar on Ben’s chest. Every memory of Imara came flooding back into his mind as Haldir ripped the veil of denial away. The first time he saw Imara standing in the yard. Her petting him on the porch. Their wedding night. Holding Eliza in his arms. Selvin.

“Selvin!” Ben shouted. “His name was Selvin!” Tears streamed down Ben’s face as he tried to breathe.  He looked up at Thorin as the disgusted look of grief washed over Ben’s face.  When the first breath of clarity finally entered his lungs, he closed his eyes. “Oh, God Thorin. Eliza! He killed my baby!” 

While Ben fell apart in the chair, Thorin grabbed the back of his head and brought their foreheads together. “We’re going to get him Ben. We’re going to find him and he’s going to pay for what he’s taken from you. I swear this to you, brother.”

As the realization hit Ben that his dead wife was just footsteps away in the house, he looked up. “Imara.” He tried to push his way out of the chair as Thorin pushed him back. “Let me go! Thorin. Let me go!”

“Ben you need to listen to me. I know you want to go charging in there and tell her everything right now, but you can’t.” Ben shook his head. “Yes, Ben. She doesn’t remember anything. She doesn’t want to.”

Ben let out a pained sob then gritted his teeth to stop the one’s to follow. 

“Ben she’s doing this to herself. She won’t let herself feel the pain. She has blocked out every single memory of you, Eliza, Shaw, living in Louisiana, everything. She showed up on my doorstep fifty years to the date she died, looking just as she did the last I saw her. It was like nothing even happened. She didn’t care that we had electricity in the house or cars on the streets and a telephone in the kitchen. She can’t see the mark on her neck or the brand on her finger. But you know what she can’t deny?”

Thorin looked Ben in the eye. “She can’t deny you. The minute she saw you, that spark reignited. There’s hope for her still.”

Ben pushed himself up and paced in front of the window. He wiped his hand across his mouth and shook his head. “You warned me that she was cursed. I’m the curse, Thorin. Selvin killed them because of my mother's sins. If it wasn’t for me, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Thorin sighed and went to Ben. “The circumstances don’t matter now, goddamn it. Imara and you are drawn to each other like a moth to a flame. The Fates have made it so and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop that. We have to find the warlock that cast this curse on you and Imara. Ben, this curse, it’s a mighty terrible one. This will keep happening to the two of you over and over again for all eternity if we don’t stop it.”

Ben ran his hands through his hair. “I can’t. I won’t do this to her again.” He looked to Haldir. “Take her away. Leave. Take her to the Realm.”

Haldir glanced at Thorin, then looked back to Ben and set down his glass. He scratched behind his ear and said, “We tried to Ben.”

Ben closed his eyes and pinched his lips together. Haldir sighed as he watched Ben’s pained expression. He could feel his desperation dripping from him. “As soon as she showed up again, I tried to take her there. You and Imara are bound to each other and bound to this planet. There is no escaping this curse, Ben. Not for any of you.”

Ben’s hands trembled with fear as he searched his mind for a solution. “I won’t be with her. Fate can bind us together, but it can’t force me to relive the same mistakes. She died because she loved me. Eliza died because I was her father. I won’t do it. I won’t let Imara love me.”

Jasper stood and looked at Ben. “It won’t matter, Ben. This curse is called a Deja Vous curse. Every event in your life will play out again over and over again whether you want it or not, whether you cooperate or not. You can say you won’t let Imara love you, but that ship has already sailed. The wheels have already been set in motion; you can’t stop it now.”

Ben looked out the window and put his hands on the apron as he pressed his forehead against the glass. “Yes, I can. Imara and I are over. I won’t love her anymore.”