BK 2 - Chapter 9 - You're What?
Aiden ordered Mango Curry with jasmine rice for dinner. Kitty had never had curry, but she thought it was one of the best things she'd ever eaten after the first bite. She moaned in pleasure as the flavors seemed to burst in her mouth.
"Do you like the curry?" Aiden was amused and aroused by her response. He was embarrassed that everything she did seemed to arouse him, making him feel like a horny teenager.
"It's delicious." She smiled, taking a drink of her soda between bites.
Kitty decided it was time for their talk when her food was about halfway gone. She didn't like to bring up the past. She preferred to let sleeping dogs lie. However, if she and Aiden were going to be together, he had a right to know what her foster life was like.
"I know you said you wanted to talk, so I'll go first. Are you ready now?" He looked at her before taking her hand.
"Whenever you are." Aiden was ready to hear what she had to say but also nervous about telling her he was a werelion. She may change her mind about wanting to be with him, which would devastate him.
"You already know that I grew up in foster care. My birth mother gave me up the day I was born. My birth certificate says my mother's name was Jane Doe and nothing for my father's. So I have no idea where I came from. I was adopted, but when I was four, my adoptive parents got a divorce and decided they didn't want me. I was immediately put into the foster care system and passed from one foster home to another for fourteen years."
Kitty took a deep breath. Talking about this brought up the emotions she had always felt about no one wanting her. Her birth parents threw her away, followed by her adoptive parents, and she thought it meant she wasn't good enough for anyone.
"I would spend anywhere from a few days to a few months in each home. I was never in one place for more than a year. Some of the foster parents were nice, and they treated me well. Those were the ones that I didn't want to leave. There were others who were indifferent, and we foster kids had to fend for ourselves." Kitty pushed her plate back as she continued. Talking about the next part was the hardest; it was what she wanted to leave out of her mind.
"The ones that I like to forget about were the bad houses. Those were the ones where the parents would abuse us either by neglect, physically or emotionally. I have been hit in so many different ways that I couldn't even name them all. There were times I would lose consciousness, but we were never taken to the hospital or doctor because the foster parents didn't want to get into trouble."
"I learned at an early age that the best thing to do was let them think that I passed out. Once they left me alone, I would run away from the house and call my case worker. Her name was Sarah, and no matter where I was or what time I called, she would come and get me. She would call the police or turn them in to the agency so they would lose the kids still in their homes. Sometimes it felt like it was a never-ending cycle."
"When I reached my early teens, that's when the abuse changed, and some of the parents started touching me. I was raped by both men and women in my foster homes. Each time I would run away and call Sarah. If they touched me, it never happened more than once because I wouldn't allow it."
"If there wasn't an available foster home, I would stay in a detention center with kids who couldn't be in foster homes because of hurting themselves or someone else. However, I preferred it to some of the homes because no one messed with me there. When I turned eighteen, I had aged out of foster care, and it was the best day of my life. I didn't know where I was going to go or what I was going to do, but I was free from everyone. That's all that mattered to me."
Kitty looked at Aiden, who was sitting across the table from her. She knew she'd glazed over some things done to her, but she didn't think he needed all the gory details.
Aiden thought about everything she had said, and he felt guilty. He had always complained about his family, but it seemed selfish considering what Kitty had been through. He stood up and moved his chair next to hers so he could put his arms around her.
He was concerned because she didn't shed a tear. It was as though she was talking about someone else. He'd seen her cry when her emotions became too much. However, when talking about the pain inflicted on her, Kitty seemed to have removed herself as though it had happened to someone else.
"I'm sorry for all the hardships and abuse you endured your entire life. I know you wear this hard shell to protect yourself from breaking, but it's time to start taking the shell off. You need to let yourself grieve the loss of your childhood so you can move on. Despite what you may think, you won't feel better by pretending this never happened." Aiden watched as she took in what he said.
Kitty had never thought that she'd lost her childhood. She had always processed it as something that happened to her that she couldn't change, so why think about it? However, what Aiden said made sense, and he was right; she did wear a shell around herself to prevent herself from feeling.
"I never thought about it like that. I didn't want to think about what happened because I thought if I could forget, it would eventually fade away. You know, as a foster child, all we wanted was to be loved and wanted. We didn't care about having a lot of material things, but love was the one thing that no one ever seemed to want to give us." She held on to him a little tighter. She wasn't crying, but she felt raw about opening herself up as she did.
"I'll help you in whatever way I can. I promise you one thing; you will never feel unwanted again. We'll get through everything together, okay?" He pulled back a little to look into her pale green eyes.
"Thank you. Now it's your turn. What are your secrets?" Kitty wanted to move the attention off her for a while and see what he had to say.
"Let's put our food away, and then we can sit on the loveseat to finish our talk." Aiden was nervous about this part of their conversation. What would she think about him being a werelion? Would she be scared and want to leave? He decided to get out of his jeans and put on a pair of athletic shorts.
When they were ready, they sat on the loveseat, looking out at the dark night through the open sliding glass doors. The sea breeze blew thru the room, causing Kitty to shiver, but when Aiden pulled her to his side, she warmed up. She noticed it was incredibly quiet here compared to the city, and it had a soothing effect on her.
"What I'm going to tell you may seem unbelievable, but I promise you that it's true, and I can prove it. You know that I grew up in Monterey, but my family is very different from ordinary people. Have you ever read a child's book and thought that some of the things in it would be cool if it were true?" Kitty looked at him, completely lost.
"What do you mean?"
"Like, for instance, a book about witches, vampires, or people that can change into animals. Have you ever read books like that?" Aiden knew he was messing this up but didn't know how else to say it.
"Yeah, I read books about that stuff, but it's not real; that's why they're listed under fantasy at the library. Why are you talking about this?" Kitty looked up into his face wondering where he was going with this conversation.
"Those things aren't a fantasy; they're real. There are witches, vampires, and people who can change into animals." She sat up so she could turn and look at him fully.
"What are you trying to tell me? Just spit it out already; you're making me nervous. Are you telling me you're a vampire and want to suck my blood, or when there's a full moon, you're going to turn into a werewolf and chase villagers in the night?" Kitty was joking, but the look on his face said she was getting close.
"I'm not a vampire or a werewolf. I'm a werelion." Kitty didn't think she heard him correctly.
"You're a what?" Aiden saw her backing away from him, and dread began washing over him. He knew this would be too much for her, and she was going to leave him. He had to finish now that he'd started.
"I'm a werelion. What that means is that I'm part human and part lion. I can shift into a lion; his name is Harley." Kitty looked at him like he was crazy, and then she fell back on the loveseat, laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.
"You almost had me there. I needed a good laugh, but that's enough. Now tell me what you really needed to say." She looked at him and saw that he wasn't laughing or smiling. Kitty's face fell, and she stood up. Why on earth would he say he could change into a lion?
"I promise you that I'm telling you the truth. I'm a werelion, and so is everyone else in my family." Aiden stood up to be close to her. He didn't want her running out of the room at his confession.
"How is that even possible? Those things in children's books aren't true. I don't even know what to say right now." Kitty was pacing back and forth, trying to decide what to do. When she was on the verge of saying maybe they should get separate rooms for the night, she heard something and stopped pacing. It was loud, like a rumble, and seemed to be coming from Aiden.
"What's that noise?" Kitty asked almost in a whisper.
"That's my lion Harley; he's purring. Put your hand on my chest, and you can feel it." She slowly walked over to him, and the sound got louder. Kitty raised her hand and gently laid it on his chest. She could feel the vibration against her hand, and at first, she wanted to pull back, but Aiden stopped her.
"Don't be afraid; he likes you. Harley has wanted to meet you." He held her hand in place as the sound got louder, and the vibration seemed to affect her whole body.
"Is this what you meant when you said you could prove it?" Kitty didn't know what to think. She had thought he was crazy, but she couldn't deny the purring.
"No, I meant I can change into Harley if you want to see him yourself." She looked at him in shock.
"You can do that here in this room? You don't have to be outside in a remote area, so he doesn't hurt anyone? What if he goes on a rampage?" Kitty didn't want to hear about a lion killing people because she wanted to see him.
"No, he's part of me. We don't kill people. He's not like a wild lion; he is me only in lion form. Do you want to see him?" Harley was in Aiden's head, rolling his eyes at what Kitty said. He thought of himself as distinguished, and it hurt his feelings she thought he would kill people for no reason.
Kitty considered meeting Harley and didn't know what to say. If she said yes and he turned into a lion right in front of her, would she be crazy too? However, if she said no, she knew she wouldn't be able to think of anything else. She decided to take the plunge and meet the lion.
"Okay, let me meet Harley."
