Untouchable by Marii Solaria

Chapter 3 – Lost Memories

“Memory loss is one way of coping with damage.“– Jeanette Winterson

Kiya

It’s nearly noon when I woke up. Guess I needed that sleep. But everything feels weird. Here I am, sitting at the foot of Neron’s bed, staring at my reflection in his vanity. Can I attribute my restful sleep to Neron’s scent? Or the fact I’m in his room? Hard to say, especially since I’m covered in it.

And I can’t say it’s a bad thing. He smells nice.

But there’s one thing that bothered me. The sparks. They aren’t as powerful as they used to be. Back at the couch, when his fingers brushed against my arm, I felt them but, they’re weak. When he tucked me in the bed and touched my face, the sparks weakened that I barely noticed them. I’m used to the weakness in the sparks of our mate bond, but this time, everything felt foreign. Abnormal.

A dull pain throbbed on the side of my neck. It made itself noticeable through the panging underneath my epidermis. It’s also the same area where Osiris bit and drank from me those weeks ago. A profound effect of the bite still exists long after his death. Vampires are more skilled than I originally thought.

He’s dead. He’s gone.

And yet, he continues to fester in my mind. Why?

“Ugh…” Scratching my head, I hopped on my bare feet and took in the Alpha’s room once more. Neron has everything in his room than an adult male ever dreams of and then some. The color scheme of blue, black, and red fits him in strange ways. This is the first time I’ve ever been in his room and I felt out of place. Like I

shouldn’t be here.

But my feet remained rooted against the soft carpet. Because of my damn curiosity. As the humans say, curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction brought it back.

Good thing I’m not a cat!

are from what I assume are special occasions, like parties and his birthday. One, however, captured my attention the most. It’s a picture, the frame in pristine silver with no blemishes or flaws, standing prominently from them all. It’s a frame that Neron took care of the

Nuria is settled on her mother’s lap. Both show off their biggest and brightest of all their smiles; cheerfulness compartmentalized in their matching sapphires. A happy picture meant to invoke joy invoked pain in me. Pulsating to the rapid thumping of my heart. My fingers, trembling, brushed on top

best friend.

long forgotten rises from the depths of my mind. In a flash, I’m plunged into a powerful episodic memory where I can smell Nuria’s scent of pomegranate, feel the soft lushness of her coal-

that beautiful innocent smile..

smile that improved

Third Person

leading into the pack house kitchen. The smell of freshly baked brownies and cookies wafted into the air, beckoning the children to eat them without a care in the world. Nuria’s crystal blue eyes trained right on its target; the plateful of treats resting on the island behind Lead Omega

sure this is a good idea?” Halima asked her friend. “We can get in trouble with

Miss Cassandra makes the best brownies in the world! One bite and you don’t have to worry

to hit people without

a reason.” Nuria

with bouncing curls, the young Beta

The young Alpha explained. “You sneak from behind and

The other girl asked. “You can’t eat cookies and brownies

threw caution to the wind. “Forget

“Really? You made

Now, let’s

begun. Nuria hobbled in with her short stature and grabbed Lead Omega Cassandra’s attention. As the Alpha’s daughter had her distracted, Halima, barefooted, snuck inside. The Island is too high for her to reach, so she had to use the chair available near it. Luckily, the Beta’s daughter didn’t have to move it. With quick haste, she climbed the chair, grabbed the plate in silence, hopped

the hallway, admiring their handy work. Nuria patted Halima on the back, showing off her million–dollar smile. “You see? Nothing

you two doing?”

Neron standing with his arms crossed. Quirked an eyebrow,

what?” Both girls asked in unison.

“That.”

plate behind them, the children feigned innocence. “We don’t know