Darkness Rising

by Cate Farren

  "Are you my grandpa?" a timid voice demanded.

  Jared turned, startled. There was a ten-year-old girl standing in his room. She was pretty, with high cheek bones, long black hair, and a small nose which was rosy red from the cold outside. She had a stubborn set to her face and she had her hands on her hips, like she was studying him and judging him at the same time. She was the spitting image of Clover.

  "Who are you?" Jared asked. He scratched at his beard, finding bits of dried up blood in it. It made him feel sick.

  "I'm Clo," said the girl defiantly, puzzled. "It’s short for Clover. It’s a flower and my grandmother’s name.”

  “Clover?”

  She stared at him a bit more before saying, “You look like the prisoners we rescue from the home world. Are you ill?”

  “Go away.”

  He looked at his door. It was still locked from the outside. How did she get in? Was she a witch? Did she teleport?

  Something is not right here.

  “What are you?” Jared demanded.

  “I’m Clo,” she said, sighing as if she was dealing with an idiot. “Are you deaf?”

  “How did you get in here?”

  She looked guilty as she said, “I turned into a spider and came through one of the cracks in the wall. Don’t tell anyone.”

  He ran to the door, almost tripping over a pile of his own filthy clothing in the process. It was only then that he realized his mother hadn’t been around with food for a long time now. He was dizzy with starvation.

  Jared grabbed the door handle. It really was locked.

  “Are you sure you turned into a spider?” he asked.

  “Don’t say it so loud!” she shouted. She looked around, as if spying people hidden in the walls, ready to shout at her for being naughty. “I don’t want people to know. Shapeshifters aren’t allowed to change shapes due to the treaty.”

  He turned to her, confused. “You’ve made peace with Loki?”

  “Don’t be stupid. We liberated some of the shapeshifters who were our allies after Loki tried to have them killed.” She sighed miserably. “I like using my powers. It makes me feel better. Why should I not use them? It’s not as if I’m going on a killing spree or anything.”

  Jared sat back down on his bed. None of this made sense. Why would they allow the enemy to live with them? And where was his mother? He was so hungry he could eat anything.

  Shapeshifter blood is the best of all.

  He shook his head, hating himself. He could never harm his own flesh and blood, even if she was annoying.

  “Why are you here?” he asked again.

  She smiled and presented him with a metallic flask. “Your dinner. Now that Great-Grandmother Jane can’t help you I...”

  In a flash Jared reached out, grabbing the girl’s arm. She stiffened, shocked, but she wasn’t scared.

  “What’s happened to my mother?” Jared asked, calming down.

  Clover shrugged. “She died, I guess, about two weeks ago. She’s due back any minute now.”

  Jared sighed with relief. His mother had only died. He thought something serious had happened to her.

  He drank from the flask, finding the blood stale but enough to satiate his hunger for now.

  “Thank you,” he said, wiping his mouth.

  She smiled sweetly, turned into a spider, and scuttled away into the corner of the room. Jared couldn’t help but smile too. His granddaughter was a revelation.

  JANE STRETCHED HER arms and sat up with a yawn. She pushed the fleece blanket off her body and stared at Jared like he was a spirit.

  "I didn't expect to see you you," she admitted.

  He handed her a glass of blood. She took it with reluctance, glaring at him.

  "You've met her," his mother stated.

  He nodded. "She's a whirlwind."

  "If she can make you not want to die then she's a miracle."

  He nodded again, realizing his quest for death was well and truly over. It wasn't totally his granddaughter's doing. He liked to think he'd realized he wanted to live on his own, and maybe the terror of the voices after death was a contributing factor too, but that little girl probably saved his life.

  "What now?" he asked, feeling confused.

  Jane scowled and got out of bed. She started to pull on her shoes, ignoring him. He watched her for a while, hoping she'd forgiven him for what he put her through. He wouldn’t blame her if she never spoke to him again.

  "For a start you can talk to your son," she scolded him. She pulled at her and scowled as bits of it came loose. “He thinks you hate him.”

  “I don’t hate him,” Jared admitted. “I just don’t know how to act around him.”

  “Then make the time to get to know him. Just don’t fuck it up.”

  JARED BORROWED SOME clean clothes from the local store and had a long shower. He didn't want to present himself to his son while smelling like a wet dog. He had his hair cut short by a Fey barber. He kept his beard, trimming it a little. He thought it suited him. It made him think of Adrian. The werewolf had been dead for so long by this point in time his bones were probably ashes by now.

  He found JJ playing with little Clo on the edge of the village. They appeared to be kicking around some type of soccer ball made from different fabrics sewn together. They were having the time of their life.

  "Mind if I play?" Jared asked.

  JJ stopped. His look was lethal "Are you sure you haven't more important things to do?"

  "I think playing soccer with my family is the most important thing in the world I can do right now."

  Clo laughed and kicked the ball towards Jared. He smiled and joined in the game.

  MORE YEARS PASSED. Jared developed a close relationship with JJ. Clo began to grow up before his very eyes. When she turned sixteen she could almost be her grandmother's twin. It was eerie, but a good eerie. It meant his Clover lived on, both in her son and granddaughter. He never felt lonely with his family around. He felt loved like never before. This is what it felt like to have a proper family.

  "Look at this!" Clo cried.

  The family were sat around the dinner table. Jared had roasted a wild dodo and sautéed some vegetables. He'd found in the last few years he was quite a decent chef. He enjoyed cooking. It let his mind go blank. When you had a lot to think about it was a godsend. Besides, his cooking was good. He was quite famous in the surrounding area for it.

  Jared, JJ and Marina, Jared's wife, were in attendance. Jane and Gable Trent were also there. They'd gotten married the previous year. He even had an extended family out there in the form of Marina’s brother and his family, who were part snake shifter/shapeshifter. They were one big happy family of demons, vampires and shapeshifters. It was glorious.

  His granddaughter had turned herself into Barrack Obama.

  "That's easy," said Jane. She smiled at her granddaughter proudly. "President Obama!"

  "I saw his picture in a book," Clo explained. "I read about him. He seemed like a good person."

  Now dinner was over they were playing the shapeshifter version of charades. Clover or her mother would change into an old Earth celebrity and they'd have to guess who it was. Jared enjoyed seeing his family happy. It made him forget what he'd lost.

  He smiled and laughed as the game continued. Over the past year Jared had discovered many more links to his grandfather Dracula. Not only had he inherited his ability to mesmer but he'd also found he could change into a bat too. It had been quite a surprise to find himself waking up and finding himself flying above the settlement! He'd kept calm, though, and managed to land himself before freaking out.

  Trent and his mother had warned him that more abilities may present themselves in the future. He was a little worried. Why hadn't Dracula's other children or grandchildren inherited more than one cadou? Why was he so special? He didn't feel special.

  He smiled as the game continued. He knew he shouldn't worry. His family would be there for him, no matter what.

 
; There was a sharp knock at the door. Trent answered it, still laughing over their game. It was one of the town witches, a young girl called Xena. She was often hurrying around doing the bidding of her mistresses, a trio of powerful witches who rarely left the confines of their home.

  "What is it?" Trent asked.

  Xena bowed towards the demon and said, "My mistresses would like to talk to Jared the vampire. Now."

  Several anxious glances passed between the family. Even Jared knew this didn't bode well for him. The witches only ever brought people into their home when it was something dire, like a shapeshifter intrusion or the imminent death of an important figure. What did they want with him?

  Jared got up from the table. "Show me the way."

  "Be careful," JJ warned him.

  He nodded. He was ready for this.

  THE THREE WITCHES LIVED in one of the few brick buildings in the town. It was a plain looking place, clean, covered in ancient symbols to ward off evil. There was a rabbit skeleton pinned over the top of the front entrance, and a sort of small shrine which was adorned with dried flowers, gold coins and other offerings. It was creepy.

  “Would you like to make an offering?” Xena asked timidly.

  “Do I have to?” Jared asked.

  Xena nodded. “It is best.”

  He put his hands in his pockets, finding nothing but garbage. He pulled out a piece of string, shrugged, and laid in by the shrine. Xena smiled and nodded again, indicating that the offering was sufficient.

  Thank God I’m not going to be cursed or something.

  Xena opened the door for him. The magic radiating from inside him like a heat wave. He hadn't realized the witches were so powerful. He just thought they were reclusive.

  "What do they want with me?" he asked Xena. He was scared.

  "I don't ask," said Xena. "I only obey."

  She led the way inside. Jared calmed himself as he walked into a large open area. The walls were adorned with colorful silks and bookcases filled with scrolls. The floor was cold stone. Light came from floating fireballs that gave the place a warm, homely glow. The three witches were sat on cushions at the back, staring intently at him.

  Should I bow?

  "I am Pink," said the middle witch.

  "I am Blue," said the witch on the left.

  "I am White," said the witch on the right.

  They appeared to have names which matched the color of their hair. They weren't as old as he'd imagined either. They appeared to be in their early thirties, and quite attractive too. Their faces were daubed with mud, so he couldn’t tell what color their skins were. They dressed like they were auditioning for America's Next Top Model. One of them even had a couture handbag by her side, though it was looking a little faded.

  "You're wondering why we summoned you," Pink announced.

  Jared glared as he said, "I was having a meal with my family."

  "Do you miss those you left behind in the past?" White asked.

  It took Jared a while to come up with an answer. What he did say surprised even him.

  "No," he admitted. "I guess I don't." He thought about some more and said, "Back then all I had was Clover, and she's gone. Here I have a proper family. I'm actually happy."

  The witches sighed and stared at each other. Jared heard Xena twitching behind him, anxious.

  "What is it you want?" Jared demanded, starting to become angry.

  "I can send you back," Pink announced. "We can can send you back to the past."

  Chapter 20

  It was the first night that she'd slept in the house in the strange dimension when Clover found herself wandering the hallways. The first bedroom she came across had a weak looking Rose inside it. She looked like a corpse, her emaciated limbs twisted, her face that of an ancient crone. She stank of stale feces and other bodily fluids. It was horrific, and a long way from the scary, intimidating principal she once was.

  "What happened?" Clover asked.

  Rose ignored her.

  "Can you move?" Clover said.

  "What are you doing here?" asked Rose.

  Clover walked up to the bed and stared down at her nemesis. This woman had cursed her parents. Lydia Kwon had to be turned into a vampire to save her from dying, and her father, Duck Young, got another woman pregnant. Many other things had stemmed from Rose's one cruel act of magic, but the one thing that stuck out the most was seeing her parents hit their absolute rock bottom. Rose had ruined them. She'd broken them. It was an act of pure evil that Clover could never forgive.

  "You don't deserve to live," Clover told her. "You're a monster."

  Rose ignored her as Clover put her hands around the woman's neck. She didn't move or use magic spells to protect herself. She just lay there as if she didn't care whether she lived or died. This was going to be easy. All she had to do was squeeze and the woman who had destroyed her family would be dead.

  I can do it. I can kill her. She’s weak and pathetic.

  I can kill her.

  Clover removed her hands. “No. You’ll suffer more by living.”

  Rose cried as she said, “I’m so sorry.”

  “I killed my own mother,” Clover spat. “Killing you would’ve been as easy as pie.” She started to walk away before she turned back. She said, “Maybe I will kill you one day. It’ll give me something to look forward to in this damned existence I find myself in.”

  "HELLO MOTHER."

  The thing on the bed didn't move. It just moaned.

  "Would you like some soup?"

  Saskia smiled sweetly and sat down. She scooped up a spoonful of soup and forced it down her mother's throat. It was boiling hot, Saskia had seen to that personally. Every drop going down Rose’s throat must have been agony.

  "You like tomato, right?" Saskia asked. She giggled. "Oh. Wait. You hate tomato soup. Never mind."

  She grinned and force fed her mother more boiling hot soup. It was a delight to watch.

  "Stop," Rose groaned, hot soup spilling from her blistered lips. "Please."

  "I thought you weren't speaking to me," said Saskia.

  Two years ago Rose had risked her life in an effort to help her daughter escape from this place. Saskia had almost made it before Loki intervened. Not that she could've escaped anyway. This dimension was a prison. She figured only Loki himself had the necessary magic to leave.

  He turned himself into Adrian and seduced me and it was fucking awesome.

  She'd often thought about why she hadn't tried to escape since, but Saskia knew why she'd stayed. It wasn't because of Loki, or the pounding he gave her while pretending to be Adrian (though it did help). It was because she had magic now, and her grandmother could teach her so much. How powerful could she become if she studied properly?

  Grandmother is teaching me stuff from a kindergarten spell book.

  She knew she had to learn the basics first. She knew doing too much too fast would get her killed. Yet it was still taking too long for her liking. She’s talked all this over with Loki and she thought she’d gotten past it, but it was still annoying. She needed to know more. She needed to know everything. She would never be that pathetic, magic-less Saskia ever again.

  "They're both using you," Rose urged. Her voice was raspy and parched, the inside of her throat likely burned from the soup. "You have to know that."

  "I'm not stupid," Saskia said. She sighed, bored, and poured the rest of the soup onto the floor. "Lick it off the carpet if you're hungry."

  "Your grandmother..."

  "You're not going to go on about that church crap again?" Saskia complained.

  Apparently her grandmother Romily wanted to use Loki to get revenge on the Catholic church over their treatment of witches. It was a ludicrous plan. The only reason she believed it was because she knew they actually had the power to do something about it. It kind of awed her in a way.

  "I'm using them," said Saskia. She smiled smugly. "I want to learn magic and Grandmother can teach me that. You can hardly teach me a thin
g in your state." Saskia stared down at her mother, so frail and pathetic. "Tell me, Mom, why is it you're not healing properly? The only thing I can think of is that you're doing it on purpose."

  "I have to be here to help you."

  Saskia felt like screaming. "You're putting yourself through all this just to help me? I don't believe it."

  "You have to escape." Rose coughed, spitting up blood. "You have to go."

  "There's no way out of this place. I tried and failed. I might as well just stay here, get what I need, and..."

  She wasn't sure what she was going to do once she knew all she needed to know about magic. Perhaps once she escaped this dimensional prison she'd figure something out.

  What do witches actually do all day?

  She smiled and conjured up a ball of ice in the palm of her hand. It hovered there, chilling her skin, causing her breath to come out as a mist.

  "Pretty cool, huh?" said Saskia.

  "I'm glad," said Rose. "But I still worry."

  "You don't have to worry about me," Saskia confided. "I'm going to be fine."

  She swept her hands up, flinging the ball of ice into the air. It hovered there, changing into the shape of a flying horse, a Pegasus. She smiled with delight as she caused it to fly around the room. It was a simple spell but something that brought her great joy.

  She stared down at her mother. The old, frail woman was weeping. She was past curing now. She was broken, both physically and mentally.

  I helped to do that. I enjoyed torturing her.

  Saskia placed her hand on her mother's arm. She's only learned one healing spell. It was the magical equivalent of a high strength dosage of painkillers, but it worked. The moment she sent the healing energies into her mother's body and saw her smile with relief Saskia pulled the magic back. Rose gasped as the pain flowed back into her body tenfold.

  “Enjoy yourself,” Saskia spat.

  SASKIA CLOSED THE DOOR behind her, trying to control herself. She hated what she'd become, a person who enjoyed inflicting pain on their own mother. It made her feel sick.