Terrifying Love: A Halloween Anthology

by Serena Nova

  I stood and studied her, thankful that she was a good human, and I felt a stab of guilt that I had to kill her. Peace settled over me and I no longer felt the need to murder. I was thankful for her selfless sacrifice.

  Uniformed men and women rushed through the door, their guns raised. I wanted to stay and watch, to make sure they treated Calia with respect. They couldn’t see me, and I knew it was safe for me to stay if I wanted to.

  A tug at my soul pulled me to the nearest mirror. Though I was reluctant to leave Calia, I knew the Creator wanted me to come back. I jumped through the mirror and expected to be met with my barren, dark room.

  Instead, I was met with a thick forest, the smells so familiar to me. I could smell the aroma of fire nearby and my feet followed my nose. I didn't know where I would end up, only that my soul tried to tell me to go that way.

  The trees started to thin out as the scent of burning wood became stronger. As I pushed myself through the last bit of thick brush, I gasped at the site before me.

  My village! Every wigwam was just as I remembered, the roughly chopped wood buildings spread in a circle. Even the people were all there. I felt my heart leap into my chest as I spotted Sassomon by the fire, turning food on a spit. I shouted his name and he looked up at me, surprise and delight in his expression.

  He dropped whatever food he held and ran to me. Our bodies collided and our mouths followed shortly after. We didn't come up for air, the love I felt for him overwhelming me with the desire to never leave his embrace.

  I felt another set of arms wrap around me and tug me to them. My eyes shone with tears as I met the face of Tatoson, my warrior and my love. He was relentless in his kiss, his lips bruising my own as he showed me how much he'd missed me.

  I reluctantly pulled away from our kiss, but my body never left that of Sassomon or Tatoson who held me sandwiched between them. "Where is Thomas?" I asked.

  "Come, let me show you," Sassomon responded as he took my hand and tugged me to our wigwam. I didn't have time for all the good memories to flood my mind, though I felt a warmth in my chest, the comfort that told me I was home.

  Thomas spun and his eyes went wide. "Mary," he breathed out, the shock and joy both evident in that one word. He held a bundle to me, and I was confused and hurt that he didn't drop it and run into my arms. I wondered if he no longer wanted to be with me because of his lost life.

  The little bundle of blankets moved, and my eyes snapped down to be met with a beautiful little girl, her dark eyes staring back at me. I was rendered speechless as I didn't know what this meant. I looked at all three of them for answers, but they just stood with huge smiles on their faces.

  As I looked between them, I glanced at a mirror hanging on the wall, one that wasn't there before. My swollen belly was no more, and I looked from the mirror to the child in my arms. "How?" I wondered out loud as I realized this was my child, our child.

  "She just appeared out of nowhere not too long ago. We believe time moves so differently here that I don't know how much time has passed. Something in my soul told me that she was ours and we held hope that you would return to us as well," Thomas explained.

  "Thank the Creator," I cried, salty tears running down my face. "What is her name?"

  Tatoson gently ran a finger over her chubby little cheek. "We didn't want to name her without you. We were sure you would return to us."

  "Can we call her Calia? After the person who made it possible for me to return," it wasn't a question in my mind, but I needed to ask out of respect for my lovers.

  "Calia," Sassomon said. "I love that. It's a beautiful name for our beautiful daughter."

  As I handed Calia to Tatoson, Thomas lifted me up and spun me around before kissing me fiercely. "I've missed you so much. Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought of you or begged the Creator to bring you to us. Where have you been all this time?"

  I smiled at him, "I'll have to tell you all about my adventures. The Creator had an important task for me, but it's over now. " I peeked at the mirror and was shocked to see Calia Ames looking back at me, a smile on her face as she watched our reunion. I mouthed ‘thank you’ to her and she nodded before her face faded from the mirror.

  Epilogue

  Calia Ames

  I awoke to my body floating and a feeling of lightness. Somehow, I knew I was dead. I hadn’t believed in the supernatural until this night. Was it the same night? Time was no longer a concept I could feel.

  A strange sensation came over me, as if my soul were being sucked into something, but what, I didn’t know. I hoped the Creator would forgive me for my sins and I wasn’t being sent to an eternal torture of fire and brimstone, or whatever Hell was like.

  I arrived in a dark room, my body seemed to feel solid again, yet not solid at all. It was a strange, indescribable sensation and I briefly sighed in relief that there were no demons or fires around. It was odd that I thought that, instead of freaking out that I was dead.

  A light shone far away, and I carefully made my way through the dark to where it was. I didn’t know how long I walked, or if I was walking at all. But eventually, I arrived at the light which seemed to be coming from a window. Stepping up to it, I carefully peeked out as I was unsure what I would find.

  It was as if I were looking into a home, yet from the middle of the home. As crude as it was, with dirt floors and what looked like wooden walls roughly cut, the marks of the axe still present. Lacking much in the way of furniture, I did see what could have been a bed with furs on it.

  All of a sudden, a blonde man appeared, and I quickly moved to the side of the window so that I wouldn’t be seen by him. I could hear him humming a tune that sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

  I felt a need in my soul to look through the window again. When I did, I saw the man was dressed in clothing that looked like what the Native Americans wore hundreds of years ago, which was very odd.

  I realized what I was looking at when he turned, and I spotted the baby bundled in his arms as he sung to it. Mary, he had to be one of Mary’s lovers, Thomas. I smiled as I watched him so caring with the little one.

  I heard her voice before I saw her. Mary came in with two handsome men with long dark hair. There was no doubt in my mind that they were Sassomon and Tatoson. I felt the wetness drip down my cheeks as she saw her baby was alive, my heart so happy that she was able to find peace.

  She saw me and mouthed ‘Thank you’ after she named her daughter after me. I nodded before backing away, not wanting to intrude anymore on their intimate moment. Another light flickered in the distance and I felt that tug again.

  As I walked towards the new light, the window I’d looked through went black as it disappeared. I thanked the Creator for allowing me to see her reunited and my soul told me that he heard me. It was as if he were talking to me, yet there was no voice. I just seemed to know the messages he sent me.

  The walk to the next window was longer than the first. The more steps I took, the more I felt anger and the need to hurt someone. It was as if a rage like no other built up in my soul and called for me to hurt whoever was at that window. I felt bloodlust, the need to make them hurt, and even more so, the need to kill.

  I didn’t need to know who was on the other side. The Creator told me to walk through the window and find my victim, make them pay for their sins against our people. Somewhere in the back of my mind, as I leapt through the window and landed in a modern home, was the thought that this was what Mary felt like for over four hundred years.

  I smiled wickedly as the man turned to me with shock on his face and whispered, “Bloody Mary.”

  “Yes, and you have been a very bad man, Ray. It’s time to pay for your sins against my people, my sisters.” I knew he was responsible for despicable acts against Native American women, but how I knew was something I couldn’t explain. It was as if every victim’s memory flashed through my mind and I felt their pain.

  I wiped my bloody tears and put my hand over his mouth as I pus
hed their pain into him. He thrashed and screamed, calling them whores until his last dying breath when he dropped to the floor. Standing over him, watching my bloody handprint across his mouth, I felt relief from my bloodlust wash over me. He deserved to die a thousand deaths for what he’d done.

  I felt the pull of the mirror, I looked at myself as the need for revenge returned. My eyes glowed through the darkness that surrounded them, and blood coated my face. I was no longer Calia Ames to those who saw my reflection.

  If you want to know what happens with Calia Ames next, you can check out Reflections To Die For coming in 2021!

  About Melody Calder

  Melody Calder is a multi-trope romance author living in the Midwest. She has an addiction to chocolate, books, dill pickles, and swearing - not necessarily in that order. Her mind is always full of interesting characters and plot twists. She not-so-secretly loves cliffhangers, especially ones that aren't the norm. She's the resident mischief maker, makes inappropriate jokes, and loves fiercely.

  She hopes to survive the teenage years of her twins, and life with her husband that she loves but doesn't always like. She has an extensive collection of elephant figurines and Chewbacca toys. Her family and friends will tell you that she needs reminders for everything, especially putting the clothes in the dryer, but they love her anyway.

  Other BDP books by Melody Calder

  Sinfully Yours

  Lorelei

  RUNES AND FANGS

  By Victoria Larque

  Tell me how it feels

  When the moonlight touches your skin

  Does it whisper secrets in your ear?

  I watch as the gentle light caresses your curves

  And highlights the blood covering your delectable body

  The melancholy song of the wolves

  Creates a stunning chorus to our debauchery

  You sway seductively to their voices

  Cradling the skull of our enemy as gently as an infant

  Radiating pure joy as you gaze at me

  With profound hunger and love of the ages

  My dead dried up husk of a heart

  Beats anew in your presence

  Thump thump thump

  My goddess personified

  My past, my present and my future

  My one and only through pain and death

  By Helle Gade

  Chapter One - Kayla

  I hated Halloween. Not many people do, especially nowadays. But I did. Loathed it. I hated everything about it. The noise, the countless children, the bad costumes, the toilet paper, shaving foam, and the candy.

  This weird, over-sweetened, pop-cultured bullshit tradition that started as something meaningful, was now degraded to a night of shenanigans and vandalism. I could still smell the pyres of burning bones, feel the cold wind late October brought, and taste the stew that had been shared by my Order. Back when this day still had value. Back when it’d been a day of burning freaks.

  I grimaced while double-checking my weapons. My crossbow was in superb working order, as was my flail, and my metal whip, whose tips were covered in silver. Careful not to touch those edges, I rolled it back up and hooked it to the clip on my upper left leg. Truth be told, I knew they were in order, as I took great care of my weapons, but anything distracting me from my current trail of thought and the fact that I was now one of the freaks I used to burn, was welcome.

  Halloween being my anniversary of becoming an abomination, was another reason to hate it. Granted, it wasn’t All Hallows’ Eve yet, but humans decorated for it earlier each year. As I walked from the alley I had hidden in, I passed a window displaying spiderwebs, jack-o-lanterns, and a warty witch stirring a cauldron. I snorted and sped up my steps. Witches. Fitting that I was on the lookout for one that night.

  My fangs ached when a group of humans came my way, their scent — inebriated as they were — sweet and delicious.

  “Cool costume, gurl!” one of them said, ogling my leather pants and weapons. I merely nodded and walked on, bringing as much distance between me and temptation as possible. I hadn’t fed in a while. But then again, it was hard finding animals that quenched my thirst in a city. Especially this city. Trinity. Apparently, a haven for creatures of the night, like myself. Still, I had yet to find even a sliver of the supernatural. They hid well from humans, and even more carefully from me.

  Becoming a freak had not kept me from hunting them. On the contrary, being changed into a vampire had strengthened my resolve to kill as many of them as I was able. To keep other humans from facing the same fate. And my track-record was epic. It did mean that I was a persona non grata in any and all supernatural communities, and every place of meeting or congregation was magically hidden from me.

  I supposed I should be pleased that they made such an exception for me, but that night it was a hindrance. Not only because it kept me from killing, but because I needed to find them desperately. Time was running out, and I needed a witch.

  Turning a corner, I sniffed the night-air. Luckily, I had acquired information that a pub was hidden in this very street. Problem was, I had no way of finding or accessing it. So, I had to wait for one of them to come out and cross my way. I walked down the street, sniffing from time to time and studying every movement in my vicinity. Eventually, I picked a narrow alley, pretty much in the middle of the street, and hid in the shadows. Eventually, the one or other supernatural – or myres, as they called themselves – was bound to pass by.

  I was huddled in shadow and silence, and hours passed before I got lucky. The scent of a reptile, mixed with human, could only mean a demon was near. Slowly, I emerged from my hiding spot and followed the smell without making a sound.

  Not believing my luck, I soon saw the origin of the scent. A man swayed from side to side, alone, his back to me. I trailed behind him for a while, until he turned into a deserted parking lot. He made a beeline for the only car standing on it, fumbling with his keys, before letting them fall. He groaned, cursed, and then bent over to pick them up.

  I surged forward, kicking him soundly on his backside so he flew to the ground, using most of his face as a braking pad. I snatched him by his collar and dragged him behind his own car. With a dull thump, I threw his back against the hind door of the vehicle, stepped against him and palmed his cursing and lamenting mouth.

  “Shut. Up,” I snarled, making sure my fangs were visible.

  His eyes widened, and changed from dark brown to glowing yellow, the pupils turning to slits.

  I wrapped my whip around his neck until her squealed. “One sound, and you die, understood?”

  He nodded feebly, his eyes still glowing, and I took my palm from his lips.

  “Now,” I said. “I need to find a witch and you will tell me where I can do so.”

  The demon shook his head. “You are her. The turned human. The Huntress. If I tell you, two myres die tonight.”

  “My reputation obviously precedes me,” I growled. “What if I vow to let you keep your miserable life if you tell me what I want to know?”

  “You’d… vow?” he asked, his voice thin.

  “Yes. But I’ll know if you lie, so make sure you don’t.” I glared at him, knowing my eyes had turned to glowing mercury, as I listened to his heartbeat.

  It took him all of a few seconds to decide, then he told me an address. According to his heartbeat, which was fast, but didn’t change when he spoke, he was telling the truth. I pushed him back, disgusted with him, my promise to let him live, and the general situation. “You are lucky I need this information,” I spat, turned on my heel and left the freak where he was, curled on the ground.

  Half an hour later, I gazed up at the neon sign of a video shop. “This can’t be real,” I whispered, having thought they didn’t exist anymore. Rows upon rows of movies lined the shelves, lit up by glaring white, fluorescent light. As was the clerk, a pretty woman with acid-green hair. I crinkled my nose. That was the witch? She didn’t look like a witch, but it wasn’t like I had
much experience with her kind. Covens were not something I took on, as they were well protected and too powerful. I was very lucky to have found a lone witch. Hoping for the best, I entered the shop.

  Chapter Two - Minette

  I smiled fondly at my decorations, countless spiders, crawling over the walls of my shop. Humans barely ever came in, so it didn’t matter if I let my pets – multiplied slightly – roam free.

  I sighed and fiddled around with a spider web, trying to perfect the way it hung from the ceiling. It wasn’t like many myres came in here either. My shop, doubling as a video-shop, was actually about selling herbs, magical artifacts, spells, and potions. But I was new, a covenless witch, and because of that, not trustworthy yet.

  A mix of anger and fear sliced through me when I thought of how I’d tried to join one of Trinity’s covens. I shuddered. The experience had taught me to keep to myself for now.

  The doorbell tinged and I turned to face it, a surprised smile widening on my lips. “Hello, what can I—” the sentence got stuck in my throat. The epitome of my wet dreams had just entered my shop and I subconsciously drew a hand over my green wig to make sure it was in place.

  She screamed badass. From the tips of her worn leather boots to her sleek brown hair, she looked like danger. Her weapons glinted in the light, the top button of her blouse had opened, presenting me with a glimpse of her cleavage. A cleavage that was emphasized perfectly by the leather corset she wore over the blouse. Her face, though, it was… different. Mainly because her green eyes pierced me like daggers. Her full lips were marred by a single scar, running up on the right of her upper lip, ending on the apple of her cheek, making her look roguish.