The Haunting (Open to Rowan and Elijah)

[Rowan Starling]

The world came into view in a slow blur before the objects that were split into multiples of three blended into one once again. The throbbing in his head was a clear indicator that the Fae King had one too many shots last night due to a celebration in the annual victory that the Eclipse war was over, every Fae went out to celebrate regardless if they fought in battle or not. The ringing in Rowans ears didn’t seem to fade away when the rest of his body was starting to regulate. He looked over at the clock seeing the flashing number of 8:17am. It was his alarm clock making the awful ringing noise.  “Shit,” he mumbled. He was late. 

Throwing off the blankets he took a speedy lukewarm shower while simultaneously brushing his teeth in there, trying to be the most time efficient this morning. After a quick towel dry he began to exit the bathroom when his reflection made him stop. Standing there was the same six foot one inch man, brown hair, light brown eyes but his ears..they were no longer the glamour version of his human form. They were instead his pointed Fae ears. “Shit,” he murmured again before quickly fixing it. A common side effect of drinking too much for Faes was the drop of the glamour spell that they regularly used to blend in with the humans. Rowan didn’t care if his Fae characteristics were shown more in the Twilight Courts but today he needed to be in the human world.

He was dressed and out the door within the next ten minutes making sure to place a coffee order to be delivered at the human office he often visited by the time he gets there. The order was placed and Rowan was in his car ready to leave but a whisper coming from the back seat made him shiver in panic.

“Rowan.” 

That voice, he knew that voice but the distant memory was too foggy in his brain to be fully recalled. Shaking off the weird encounter Rowan sped to work. It was 9am when Rowan walked through the automatic doors with Sarah, the young front desk clerk holding out his coffee for him to grab as he passed by.
“Thank you Sarah,” Rowan smiled at her, noticing the red color in her cheeks. 

“You can take me out on a date as thank you.” She rebutled.
“I’ll have to check my calendar!” He called back before finally sipping on his coffee.

For the next three hours he spent in the boardroom talking about business within the Fae courts and how to integrate back into the human world. 

“Rowan.”

That voice from before spoke from behind him, making Rowan jump and look back. Only to see nothing. After apologizing to the other board members for his disturbance, they were back to the discussion. The voice never let up though.
“Rowan. Rowan. I know you can hear me.” 

Rowan glanced around all over the room trying to find the disembodied voice until a speck of light flickered into the corner. 

Slowly the image became real, almost like a hologram, but there stood a younger version of a man he could never forget.
“Jeremiah?” Rowan gasped out loud, fear in his features, but just as soon as Jeremiah came he left, leaving Rowan looking around the room once again to find the man he had left on the battlefield in the Eclipse war. 

“Uh, Rowan? Do you need to be excused?” one of the board members asked him.  
“What?” Roans light brown eyes looking back at the table full of Faes who were looking at The King with concern. “No, no. I’m sorry I…I don’t know what is going on today. Please, continue.” 

Once more the other Faes tried to continue but when Jeremiah reappeared behind Rowan placing a hand on his shoulder, and spoke in his ear, “You should have died too.”  is when Rowan jumped from the chair, grabbed his belongings and rushed out the room.

Sarah tried to speak to the fae King something along the lines of asking if he was okay but Rowan couldn’t hear anything other than the sound of magic, chaos, and screaming as his mind warped back all those years ago to the Eclipse War. He didn’t even realize he made it to his car until the soft vibration underneath him distracted his thoughts. Taking in gasps of breaths he quickly searched for a nearby Therapist and luckily there was one close with decent reviews. Without even thinking Rowan just drove to the building, marched to the front counter where the receptionist smiled at him.

“Hello sir, do you have an appointment?”
“I need to see someone. I don’t care who, I’m having hallucinations and I’m losing my mind.”
The receptionist nodded her head a bit scared but handed Rowan the paperwork to fill out and collected his ID and insurance card before asking him to have a seat. 

Rowan sat in the lobby for what felt like forever, constantly looking around wondering if Jeremiah was going to reappear but luckily he never did. When the receptionist finally came out calling Rowan back she followed the small lady into a darkened room where he was instructed to wait for the therapist Elijah Stark to come in. 

Once he was alone Jeremiah reappeared in the chair that sat across from Rowan on the couch.
“Hey there buddy. Long time. How’s life?” 

Jeremiah smiled while Rowan sat there petrified hoping the therapist would show soon in hopes that it would make Jeremiah leave him once more.