In the Absence of Love Part 2.

Absence to love as wind is to fire; It extinguishes the small and rekindles the great - Roger de Bussy Rabutin.

We had been reunited, Olivia and I. I finally have her in my arms, drifting off to sleep. Hot tears sting in my eyes and in my glee of having her home in this very moment, I know it doesn't mean nearly as much to her as it does me. For 64 days she had been gone. Every moment without her had caused my very core to fracture. Every single atom that makes my entire being has missed her, grieved for her and here she is, in my heart, in our home. Olivia does not remember me, all I know is that she was attacked 64 days ago. We'd had an argument, about her sister of all people, Olivia took a walk, she needed to cool off and I let her walk away from me, alone, at night. I feel so stupid that this happened, had I just followed her, had I stopped her from walking away, maybe she would never of been attacked. I had great hope that Olivia would remember who I was and more importantly what we were.

Olivia had drifted off to sleep, I decided to let her rest. It may have been midday but I needed to call her mother. I had to let Jane know that Olivia was o.k. It is the very least I can do for the woman who gave life to my love.

I gently removed the sheets from myself and avoided disturbing Olivia. I crept from our bedroom. Vic, who I'd punched in the face upon meeting him this morning gave me a wave from the living room. He had helped bring Olivia back to me, he'd looked after her while she was gone; the very least I could do was give the man a place to stay.

Vic called "Hey Nigel, can we have a quick talk?" I entered the living room. Vic had re-tied his blond pony tail, the singular scratch down the side of his face, imperfecting his perfect looks and his eyes were an intensive ice-blue, like that of a husky. I must have been staring too long as Vic averted his gaze and began to gently rub his left eyebrow ring, being careful not to catch the barbell piercing through it.

"Nigel, who else has been missing Olivia?" Vic asked me. I looked at the perfectly sculpted man and said "Mostly family, her mother particularly, I was just thinking about calling her as a matter of fact. Jane will be so glad to hear that Olivia is alive and well, I doubt she'd be thrilled about the amnesia, but that is a small price to pay. Considering what could have......." I couldn't bring myself to finish that sentence my heart felt heavy and a lump had formed in my throat at the mere thought of things being worse.

"Nigel I think it might be an idea to call the Psychiatrist first. You don't want to stress Olivia by having a big family reunion. Can you imagine filling the house with the family and Olivia not knowing who they are? If you stood in her shoes, how would that make you feel?" Vic's eyes were serious as he spoke, he seemed more like he had an ulterior motive than wanting to help Olivia, but regardless of Vic's motives, his point was valid nonetheless.

"I agree Vic. Maybe I should call Dr Noble." I replied. Vic nodded as I rifled through my wallet where I had placed Dr. Noble's card earlier that morning. Upon finding it, I looked out the window to find Sadie, Olivia's Stafford shire terrier acting strangely. Sadie was wandering the back yard sniffing, and chuffing. It occurred to me then, that even Sadie was not aware that Olivia was home.

I dialled Dr Noble's number and he answered on the second ring. "Max Noble?"

"Hello Dr Noble, it's Nigel Selley, we met earlier this morning." I said.

"You can call me Max. Has Olivia settled in?" He inquired.

"It seems so. Olivia is asleep at the moment. I was actually calling for some advice; Olivia's mother has been worried, just as I have over Olivia's disappearance and given that Olivia has amnesia, I'm concerned about over whelming her with her family, given that she doesn't remember anything."

"Of course. I would recommend contacting the family and reassuring them that Olivia is o.k. As I recall Olivia's mother was quite demanding down the phone this morning when Sargent Mackintosh and I were trying to contact you. I also suggest that you explain Olivia's condition and let them know that Olivia's memory needs to come back in its own time. So politely asking them to keep their distance is definitely the best thing right now as Olivia will experience many transitional phases. These phases can be very difficult and stressful on anyone. Like starting at a new, yet remote school; everybody knows who you are, but you have no idea who anyone else is. The worst possible outcome of too many people trying to get Olivia to remember them is Dissociative Identity Disorder or in layman's terms Multiple Personality Disorder. We need to try to keep Olivia as relaxed as possible, so that she may remember. You need to keep in mind Nigel, that Olivia's memories, may never be recovered at all given the trauma she's had."

"Of course. I just want to do what's best by Olivia and our families. Thank you Doctor, I mean Max." I said.

"Not a problem Nigel, you may call me anytime. Please make sure that Olivia knows she may also speak with me should she feel the need. Normally psychiatrists don't get involved with Retrograde Amnesia, but given that these recent attacks followed by sudden loss of all memory have increased, cases like Olivia's are of particular interest to me."

Although I believed Dr. Noble was trying to reassure me, I felt more unnerved by the idea that Olivia was not the only person whom had been attacked and lost all memory. After all there is no comfort in another's suffering. I'd said goodbye to Dr. Noble and the phone call was ended. The next call I needed to make was to Jane, Olivia's mother and I needed my wits about me.

I picked up the telephone and stared down at the numbers on the keypad. How does one tell a mother that their child will have no recollection of them at all? I took a deep breath and got up enough courage to dial Jane's number.

Jane answered the phone with an inquisitive "Hello?"

"Hi Jane it's Nigel." I said.

"Oh, Nigel. What's going on? What's the news on Olivia?"

" There's a lot actually." I heard Jane breathe in deep and brace herself on the other end of the line. "First things first, she's alive and well, so you needn't worry about that. There is a problem though; The police believe that Olivia was attacked and Olivia has no memory of the attack, or me or anything before she awoke after the attack. She has what is called 'Retrograde amnesia'." I was trying to be as soothing and factual as possible, the problem with that is, the two don't coincide.

"My poor baby!" Jane cried. "So where is she? What can we do? What hospital is my Livvy in?"

"That's the thing Jane, Olivia is not in hospital. But given her current condition the Doctor has recommended that everyone keep their distance in order for Olivia's memories to come back. There is a risk her memory may never return, but it's early days and the doctor seems confident that her memory will return if she is given the time to remember her memories. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Are you telling me to stay away from my child Nigel? Do you have any idea what this family has been through over the past two months and now you believe that you have the right to tell us to stay away?" Jane was offended and rightly so. But I needed for her to understand that I was doing this for Olivia and not for anyone else.

"Jane, I'm not telling you to stay away entirely. Please calm down and listen. What I am saying is that Olivia has suffered more than any of us. I'm saying the big moment of hugging her tight and telling her we're happy she's back can't happen because she has no memory of any of us. She does not remember anything Jane. She had no idea who I was. The reason that the police specifically asked for me to come in was because Olivia requested the person who reported her missing to come. I need you to be as patient and understanding as possible. This is not easy on me either. Seeing her this way, she's lost and scared and feels guilty for not remembering. Olivia feels bad that she can't remember the person who loved her and cared enough to report her missing. She had hoped that her memory would be triggered and it wasn't. Olivia needs time and space."

Jane listened. She didn't draw a single breath to speak over me, to make demands, or to tell me what was going to happen. She took in my every word and sighed "O.k Nigel. O.k. Poor Livvy, this must be hard. She really feels guilty for not remembering? So, where is she and when do you think we can see her?"

I hadn't thought about time. When would be a good time? Does Retrograde Amnesia have a particular time frame? When is it time to just try? While I was grappling with my thoughts, Jane said " I realise you can't decide when Livvy's memory will return, but do you think I could visit say in a week or so?"

I nervously said "I think that may be best, re-introduce everyone one by one. Ease her back in to normalcy. Olivia is here at home, asleep. She remembered the gardens and our bedroom. She felt more at ease while she was in the bedroom, I'm confident her memory will return but it will take time Jane. We all have to be patient."

I heard Jane fight through tears. "O.k Nigel, I'm glad she's remembered something. Can you call me day by day? Let me know how she's coming along?"

"Sure, if anything changes I'll let you know." I did the best I could do and it appeared to go well. The phone call ended and I felt as like an enormous weight had been lifted from me.

I went to the living room and noticed Vic staring off into nowhere. His muscles were tense and he sat with his hands folded as if in prayer, his forehead rested on his hands, I wondered what was bothering him, but didn't ask. Vic looked up at me the intensity of his eyes was alarming. It was as though he was remembering something that enraged him.

"Nigel, where's the local butcher? I figure maybe we could have a barbecue, Olivia seems to enjoy them." Vic asked.

" There's one on the main street in town, a few doors down from the police station. Would you like for me to drive you there?" I offered.

" No that's o.k, I'm happy to walk, need a breather you know?" I nodded, it must have been a hard time on Vic too, not knowing how things would go with Olivia and I reuniting. Supporting her through all of that tension. I wrote down the directions to the main street of town and handed them to Vic. Vic thanked me, took the directions and left.

I went to the kitchen and was about to make a cup of tea when I noticed Sadie was still sniffing, chuffing and pacing. I decided maybe it was time to walk her given that Olivia was asleep. I wrote a note for Olivia to let her know that both Vic and I would return shortly. I grabbed Sadie's lead and my keys.

Sadie and I took a leisurely walk down to the nearby river. I let Sadie off her lead and she ran along the riverbank. Sadie was being a normal, happy dog. Chasing butterflies and letting off pent up energy that I was unaware of. I grabbed a stick and we played fetch, Sadie's favourite game of repitition. I gave the stick one good hard throw into the nearby shrubbery, Sadie ran full pelt toward the bushes and stopped dead in her tracks. Sadie then sat and howled. I called her back, Sadie continued to howl. I walked over to Sadie, calling her to 'come'. Sadie noticed me behind her and whimpered. I looked at her and said "what's gotten in to you?" Sadie looked up at me with her doggy brown eyes and whimpered again. I couldn't see anything in the shrubbery. I hooked Sadie back on to the lead and said "c'mon you silly girl."

As we headed home Sadie continued to act strangely. She kept looking behind us as though some ominous predator were stalking us. Sadie began pulling hard on her lead trying to pull me forward. "Sadie, honey calm down, we'll be home soon." I soothed. But Sadie seemed convinced that we weren't going fast enough, she continued to pull on the lead straining her head forward, using all her strength to pull me along with her. I tried pulling back on the lead and Sadie wouldn't have it, she'd check for the mysterious invisible threat and continue pulling hard on her lead. This is not how Sadie normaly walks, in fact Olivia and I only used to put Sadie on a lead so the community would not be unnerved by a dog walking without a lead. Olivia worked really hard on ensuring that Sadie was trained to be a well behaved dog whom could walk without a lead and followed every command. Something had Sadie freaked out and I had no idea what it was.

As we rounded the corner to walk up our street, I noticed a black Toyota corolla parked outside the house. I gave in to Sadie's tugging on the lead and we both ran home with urgency. Beth was at our house, I had no idea what I would be coming home to, but I knew that damage control was going to be necessary, because Beth will, without a doubt be the creator of disaster.

As I walked through the front door I could hear Beth speaking with her voice raised. "Don't you remember me? How could you not remember me? Olivia think!" I let Sadie off the lead and headed straight for the living room.

Beth was holding Olivia by her shoulders shaking her demanding Olivia to remember her, Olivia's beautiful Dark brown hair was draped over her face and Olivia was in tears. Olivia just kept saying over and over "I'm sorry, so sorry, I don't remember."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I demanded. Beth looked up and her eyes were wide, like half of her was shocked and the other was angry.

"She's my sister I'm going to help her remember. None of this 'leave her alone' business she has family to think about. She needs to remember Nigel."

"You need to get the hell out of my house NOW! Unhand my wife, you've stressed her out, thank you very much, more memory blocks for her, do you feel better now Beth? Are you happy now Beth? Is the world continuing to revolve around you Beth? Leave. Now, and don't come back until you've grown up!"

Beth looked at me, she was furious, "How dare you! I am trying to help. You can't kick me out for caring about my sister!"

"This is MY house and I will do the bloody hell as I please. Get.Out.Now. You have done enough!" I said through my gritted teeth. Beth stormed past me, shoulder barging me on her way past. I looked at Olivia and her skin appeared to be rippling, she was crying hysterically.

Vic ran in the house "What's going on? Who was that woman? Oh crap!." Vic ran by Olivia's side "Nigel can you keep the dog away from the meat please?" He hugged Olivia, gently rubbing her arm and rocking her. Whispering "shh, it's o.k, you're o.k. Ssh Olivia, calm down, it's o.k."

Rendered useless, I walked over to the bag full of meat. There was at least four pounds, enough to feed a great deal of people. I took the bag to the kitchen and made room in the refrigerator, I placed the bag of meat on the bottom shelf and wondered why I am taking orders and letting this man comfort my wife? I walked from the kitchen toward the living room and eavesdropped on Vic and Olivia.

"I know what happened, I'm sure of it Vic, this over sized dog attacked me, I remember, Nigel and I had an argument, about Beth. I was so angry with him that I needed air. I walked to the park and there was this enormous grey dog and it rushed at me it's paw created this scar, next thing I know, I wake up by a creek, cold and alone, not knowing who I am, or how I got there, It's the same dream every night Vic, it has to be a memory, it has to be."

"Maybe you should tell Nigel about it Olivia. He is more than willing to help you." Vic soothed.

"He'll think I've lost my mind! You saw how that psychiatrist looked at me! Like I'm another lab rat for the nut house. I'm not crazy Vic and I don't want to tell Nigel until I'm absolutely sure."

I walked away from the living room. Not only am I not comforting my wife, but she's too afraid to tell me about the vivid nightmares that feel like memories, for fear I will judge her, I felt an unseen knife twist within my chest and a lump form in my throat. I felt like the biggest dunce of husbandry in the known history of man. My wife did not trust me enough to unburden such a confession on me.

That night, Vic cooked the barbecue. Olivia sat across from me on our outdoor setting and began telling me what she could remember.

"I was pregnant, Beth was jealous, she felt that she should be first to have children. I remember her being nasty and then when I had the miscarriage, she was, pleased. I know now why I remembered the bedroom so well. I was depressed. I felt like I'd failed and was too scared to try again, I was afraid that we would have to go through the grief again."

I nodded, stifling my emotions. I looked at her intently. Olivia's skin was gorgeous, like porcelain, her emerald green eyes had such an intensity, that I could not describe, her dark hair fell around her face with it's gorgeous curly tendrils. She was wearing a fuschia sundress and the air about her was unlike anything I'd ever known. Olivia was unaware of how she could take my breath away, yet she did as she revealed everything she could remember.

"Every time I awake from sleeping, there's a new memory. I remember February 28th 2000. I remember being so nervous about marrying you. Not because I thought I was doing the wrong thing but because it felt so right that something was bound to go wrong. I remember it only rained between the ceremony and the reception, so all of the nice photos we had planned to have..........."

"Didn't happen." I laughed. Olivia smiled, giving me a knowing look. I figured that Olivia remembered a lot more than what she was telling me and that I would just have to give her the time and space she needed in order to trust me enough to confide it all in me.

Vic walked over and handed both Olivia and I a glass of wine. It was Merlot. I sipped the full bodied red. As Olivia gulped hers down. She asked Vic for more, Vic took her glass to the kitchen. Soon he was back with more and Olivia drank the Merlot more slowly, cherishing it as though her very life depended upon drinking this wine. This made me chuckle, Olivia's amnesia appears to be doing wondrous things.

"What's so funny Nigel?" Olivia asked. Her gaze was fixed hard on me, her eyes were intense and fierce.

"You have always hated red wine. Always, now, it appears that I may have to share my Merlot with you more often." I replied. Olivia looked down at her glass, then at me, she shrugged her shoulders and continued to sip on her wine.

I called Sadie over to me. So that she may see Olivia was home and well. Sadie came to me, sat beside me bared her teeth and growled at Olivia. "Sadie what's gotten in to you? It's Mommy, she's home." Sadie looked at me and whimpered. Olivia leaned forward and stretched her arm out to Sadie, Sadie snapped at Olivia's hand barked at at Olivia with a ferocity that astounded me and continued to growl. I looked at Sadie and said "Bad dog! Kennel! Go!" Sadie whined and ran to her kennel.

"I'm so sorry Olivia are you o.k? I don't know what's gotten in to her." Olivia half smiled and looked at me and said "perhaps she's forgotten me?"

Vic walked over toward us with the cooked meat. "When did this start Nigel? Sadie acting strangely? " He asked.

"Today actually, first, by the river and now with Olivia, it's weird because Sadie is Olivia's dog. Sadie was always protective of Olivia we couldn't allow her in the bedroom, well, before because Sadie used to bark at me. She's a bit off today."

Vic said "Well, Olivia is different now, maybe Sadie has picked up on that and is treating Olivia like any other stranger. This is how Sadie treats strangers?"

"No, she's a very friendly dog, she just looks intimidating. She would never be a good guard dog, she's far too outgoing. For Sadie, this is very odd behaviour." I said. Vic raised his pierced brow as if deep in thought, he gave Olivia a sideways glance.

"Oh well, no worries man, she'll come round eventually, I'm starving let's eat." We sat there eating. I had a steak, and some salad. Vic and Olivia consumed enormous quantities of meat. Neither Vic nor Olivia touched the salads on offer. I did not know that any human being could eat that much meat in one sitting, but they were filling their plates with meat, eating the meat and then refilling their plates. Vic saw the look of concern on my face and said "I'm trying to bulk up a bit. More protein you see." I then looked over at Olivia who was on her third plateful.

" I have been so tired and I've been feeling sick. I think I need more iron. You know what we all need? Some more wine. Would you like another glass of Merlot Nigel?" Olivia asked. I nodded and Olivia went inside and poured us all another glass of wine. I sipped away at my glass of Merlot while Olivia and Vic ate like a pair of starved dogs. Once the steak was gone, they ate the sausages, once they were gone they ate pork chops. If this is how Olivia had been eating while she was missing, then she must have had a great deal of exercise as she seemed thinner. Consuming as much meat as Olivia has been would cause someone to gain weight rapidly.

After dinner was finished, I cleaned up and packed the dishwasher. Olivia walked in to the kitchen and hugged me. I put one arm around her and gently kissed her forehead.

"Nigel, would you care to come to bed with me? I feel sleepy and would really enjoy you laying beside me until I fell asleep." She looked in to my eyes, she seemed excited. As much as I had longed for her, wished for her to be home, missed our intimacy I said " Maybe that's not such a good idea."

Olivia looked at me sternly, I had offended her. "Olivia, it's not that I don't want to be with you, I would, but I feel it's better for you to have your memory back, before we...." Olivia grabbed my crotch hard "are intimate again."

"You think that you are god's gift don't you Nigel? Like you get to make all the decisions, what's the matter Nigel? You don't want to have sex with your wife?" Olivia scowled. She was fiercely intimidating. I couldn't speak, her eyes were piercing through me, she seemed scorned and vengeful, all because I said 'no'. "Fine Nigel whatever!" Olivia yelled. She let go of me and walked down the hall and in to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Vic came in "You o.k dude?" I nodded yes, but Olivia was not herself and after her outburst I decided maybe I should take a walk and let her cool off. Today had been a weird day and I was certain that I could do with some time to collect my thoughts. Vic tried to reassure me "She's had a lot of wine man, maybe she gets frisky with alcohol? Chicks don't take being told no very well anyway. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, well, I might go for a walk, take the dog. You ok to hold down the fort?" I asked. Vic nodded 'yes'. I grabbed Sadie's lead. Sadie could come for a walk, we've both had a strange day.

Sadie and I walked in to the night. The moon remained in her fullness and had changed from having golden hues to blue and white ones. Clouds surrounded her and I wondered what answers she had for me.

I kept thinking about the noticeable changes in Olivia; the way she eats, how timid she is one second and then aggressive the next. The fact that she doesn't trust me enough to tell me she believes that a dog attacked her. Yet Sadie tries to bite her and she doesn't flinch. Her eyes, they're different too. Their colour is more intense, as if someone had taken a photograph of the original colour of them through a blue lens, her eyes are still very beautiful and give her away just as easily, but they are stranger.

Maybe I should let go of hope that Olivia and I will continue to be an us. Is there any future with someone you love so much, but doesn't love you back? Vic is hanging around, comforting Olivia, waiting on her, knowing what she needs and worse still she confides in him. Is there any hope for us? Or am I really going to have to learn to live without her?

Sadie started growling and snapped me out of my thoughts. Sadie put herself in front of me barking and growling. As I went to chastise her I saw it. Its eyes were bright red, they were in my eye line and coming closer. As it stepped out of the dark shrubbery and the moonlight made the figure more determinable I was struck by fear.

An enormous white and grey dog was approaching. It's head stood at six foot high. I could not believe my eyes. It bared its teeth at Sadie and growled at her. Its massive paws stepping one at a time, closer and closer. The dog was huge, wolf like and bigger than any wolf I had ever seen. I felt my heart beat faster and started wishing I had a gun or a stick or something to defend myself and my dog with. This thing could kill both Sadie and myself and I did not like the odds of being able to out run it. It rushed at us and I breathed in deep bracing myself for a mauling.

Out of nowhere a Sandy coloured wolf dog jumped at the grey and white one. Clenching its jaw around the grey and white wolf's throat. The sandy wolf and the grey and white wolf began fighting and I watched in blind horror. Blood was being shed between the two wolves and Sadie continued to growl. The Sandy coloured wolf managed to get a better grip around the grey and white wolf. Blood was pouring out of the wounds of the grey and white wolf which the Sandy wolf had just inflicted. The grey and white wolf went limp and the sandy wolf trotted off with it's victory in its mouth, taking the grey and white wolf in to the shrubbery. I turned to run home but Sadie sat wagging her tail.

The Sandy wolf came out of the shrubbery and approached us. Sadie barked and continued wagging her tail. The wolf came within a few feet of us and then sat. It's eyes were an intense icy blue, like the kind you see in a husky. Above it's left eye were two tiny shiny balls, down its left foreleg was a black pattern. It's fur was long but not long enough to call the wolf shaggy. Sadie was calm and happy, wagging her tail, as though this enormous sandy wolf was an old friend of hers. Sadie pulled on the lead trying to get closer to the wolf. I pulled her back and said "No Sadie. No."

The wolf padded over a little closer and sat again. It tilted its head to one side and gave a small whine. "Are you friendly boy? Or are you trying to lure me in for a kill?" I was terrified. The wolf whined again. I stepped closer "are you friendly?" the wolf laid down. I inched closer and put my hand out. The wolf didn't move. I leaned down and petted the head of the sandy wolf. Upon closer inspection, it seemed blonde. I continued petting it and said "You know boy, I can't wait to get home. Your colouring, your little bauble things in your eye socket and your markings down your leg, I think I've just discovered what Vic would look like if he were a wolf." The wolf wagged its tail, jumped up and ran off in to the night.

It was all too weird for me. I decided it would be best if Sadie and I went home and went to bed. 'something must have been in that wine' I thought to myself. Sadie and I walked home, Sadie was happily sniffing and wagging her tail the whole way home.

Sadie and I arrived home, the house was in darkness so I entered quietly. I got to my bedroom and took off my shoes and commanded Sadie to come. Olivia was in bed asleep, so I crawled in under the covers behind her. Sadie laid down at the end of the bed. I put one arm around Olivia and fell asleep.

The next morning I awoke in my bed alone. I sat up and noticed that Sadie was not in the bedroom. I looked at the empty half of the bed and saw dark fur on the sheets, apparently through the night or this morning, Olivia got out of bed and Sadie had come in.

I got out of bed apprehensively. I had no idea what today was going to bring. I was scared to find out, the last time Olivia and I spoke she had been so aggressive.

"Well, morning still awaits me." I said to myself I shuffled out of the bedroom one foot after the other. No one was in the living room, so I turned to my right and continued to walk down the hallway. I entered the kitchen and saw Olivia and Vic sitting down at the kitchen table. They were both drinking smoothies, raspberry ones. Both Olivia and Vic looked up at me upon entering the kitchen, their eyes were, weird. Fierce and bright Vic's eyes were a bright and intense ice-blue and Olivia's emerald green eyes seemed to shoot through me. I continued past them and turned the kettle on.

"Nigel, honey, we need to talk." Olivia said. The pitch to her voice was somewhat high, like she was nervous or worried. I continued making my morning cup of tea. Olivia wanted to talk, fine, but I needed caffeine first. "Nigel?" Olivia called.

"Please Liv, please just let me make my tea. Please, I have spent so much time afraid, please just allow me to make my tea before I face whatever it is you need to talk about. Please." Olivia sighed, as though she was going to lose her nerve if I didn't listen now.

"Dude I think you need to sit down." Vic said as I dunked my tea bag clumsily in my cup. 'Maybe I should let it steep' I thought to myself, although I wasn't quite sure if I was thinking about my tea or about this imperative conversation that Olivia had to have with me. I hurriedly dolloped some milk in my tea and came to the table. I sat and yawned. I then sipped my tea, I looked Olivia in the eyes and said "alright Liv, hit me with your best shot." I took another sip of my tea and Olivia said:

"I remember everything." The most magic words to shoot from her mouth, purest elation soared through me and then I saw the sadness in her face. Olivia looked down at the table. "I remember the attack too Nigel, and I have remembered it for a long while, before we reunited, I, just, well, I'm worried you'll think I'm crazy." I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Olivia, I won't, trust me on that. I could think you are a whole lot of things but crazy certainly isn't one of them." Olivia's eyes pierced me with an intent gaze. She looked at me as though she were a lie detector, searching for a falsity within my words. Olivia took a deep breath, searching within herself, to find the words, words she was convinced, would destroy my faith in her.

"I was attacked by something, inhuman, we had an argument, about Beth, I was furious with you. So I walked down to the park by the river, I was throwing rocks in the water, when I heard a weird whooshing noise. Then I heard it growl, I looked in the bushes and, I'll never forget those eyes, they were blood red and it was like they saw through me. It launched at me so fast that I didn't have time to scream, it was this enormous wolf like creature, that was grey and white. It bit me here." Olivia pulled her head back and her T Shirt down, revealing the three long scars that went down her neck to her chest. "It bit down hard and shook me. And then, blackness. There's nothing there other than waking up with half of my body laying in the creek. But that's not why I think you'll call me crazy, I think you'll call me crazy because I know who the dog or wolf is. It's Sargent Mackintosh."

"I'm sorry ? I thought you were talking about a dog." I said confused.

Vic cleared his throat. "Given the experience you had last night Nigel, Olivia and I agreed it was time to tell you. Don't you remember me saving your hide from a mauling last night? "

I pinched myself. Vic wasn't there only the other dog. The long haired, blond dog with the Oh. My. God. "Olivia are you telling me that you were attacked by a werewolf?" I was shocked this couldn't be right, werewolves were something that were made up in stories, non-existent creatures of the night.

"Nigel, I'm not just telling you I was attacked by one I'm telling you I am one. The wolf that attacked me did not kill me and so, I turned and I'm not the only werewolf in the house." Olivia glanced at Vic.

Vic passed me his smoothie.

"Have a taste man. If you need proof, well, it may not be pudding but you get the idea." I took a sip, it was nice, creamy, raspberry smoothie, until I tasted copper. I spat the smoothie out.

"There's blood in this. Real blood." I stated the obvious and Vic smiled.

"Sure is man, that's how we prevent ourselves from attacking people whenever the blood lust arises. Have a good dose of blood and meat each day and wham! Urge to murder every human being in sight has been averted."

"O.k , so your a werewolf, what makes you think that it was Sargeant Mackintosh that attacked Olivia? What proof do you have?" I was surprised to hear myself ask this question as I was trying to wrap my head around the whole werewolf thing. Were they playing a joke on me or what?

"Dude I'm part canine, everything on the earth has it's own scent. I matched him to Olivia from the word go man. See, the thing is, when a wolf turns a human, the turned newborn takes on its sire's scent. I don't know why, it's just part of the whole werewolf- ism. He noticed it too when she walked in to the police station the other day, he tried telling Olivia that no one had reported her missing. Bet he tried telling you she was dead too." I nodded. "Bastard! He knew he screwed up, I think that's why he tried to kill you, before you found out what he was and therefore what Olivia is. For centuries it has been Lore amongst us not to turn an unwilling human. He's in big trouble man, don't worry. I've already told my pack and they're on it."

"Forgive me Vic, just allow me to get a better understanding here, you and Olivia are werewolves? And your telling me that werewolves have some kind of law or legislation they have to abide by, you come in packs and people are not aware of your existence because why?" I asked.

"Glad you asked man, see, the thing is humans are afraid of everything they don't understand. All of the werewolf race kinda got sick of the mobs with their pitchforks and silver bullets. So we went underground and became a myth. Wasn't just us though, vamps did it too."

I looked over at Olivia, she was looking at me with her 'please understand' face. They believed what they were saying was true, they were hoping I would be o.k with all of this. My mind was racing, I was waiting for either of them to say 'april fools!' but neither of them did. They were both intently serious about what they were saying and it was scary.

"Vamps?" I asked. "Vic really? Are we talking about werewolves and vampires?"

"Absolutely!" Olivia said. "Vampires are real, I've spoken to them, they are the other sanguine creatures of the night, except blood lust for them works differently, because they don't turn in to wolves. The other difference is that they really are dead people walking around. Where as werewolves can live a long time and still have pulses. Probably because we need a heartbeat to phase. Is this too much on you Nigel? Do you need us to slow down? Nigel? Nigel?"

Like the big masculine man I am, I fainted and fell to the floor; In a house full of werewolves.