Capricorn Cursed

by Sèphera Girón

  Chapter Fifteen

  Your friends define who you are.

  Natasha’s Recovery

  Natasha woke in a bed in the circle room of Lucy’s house. Every bone in her body ached. Her hunger was enormous, and she sat up too quickly. She lay back down dizzily and stared around her.

  The women were all there. They watched her from their spots in the circle, eyes staring worriedly from under hooded robes. Candles flickered, and the smell of frankincense was strong.

  Natasha saw there was a man there too. She sat up again, recognizing Jim Hawthorne. “You,” she said, pointing weakly. “You…”

  She sank back down into her pillows. What was Jim Hawthorne doing there? Why was he in the circle?

  She felt warmth on her chest, and, looking down, she saw the locket was back around her neck. It glowed with an unearthly hue.

  Lucy stepped forward and took Natasha’s hand.

  “We thought we lost you,” she said, her eyes glistening with tears. “What happened?”

  Strange fragments of memory returned to her. A basement. The ghosts watching. Playing the violin. Bob. The wolf-man.

  She sat up again.

  “Is Bob…?”

  “Yes, Bob is dead. We found him, or rather, what was left of him. We took care of it. Don’t worry.”

  “How did you find me?”

  “It doesn’t matter right now. How are you feeling?” Lucy asked, stroking Natasha’s hair.

  “Not so good. Is my face…?”

  “Your face is fine. We’ve been working on you for the past week. Spells and potions. Bringing you back.”

  “I’m so grateful. To all of you.”

  “It was Jim who was the most help,” Lucy said as she waved Jim over.

  “It was? How?”

  Lucy cleared her throat. “Jim is a vampire hunter.”

  Natasha flinched.

  Lucy laughed. “But not in a bad way, dearie, or you wouldn’t be here.”

  Jim stepped over to her. “I’ve been studying vampires my whole life. Watching how they feed and how they live. Trying to understand the science of how they work. How you work.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know why. A calling, I guess. I’ve always been fascinated by vampires, and as a child, I thought they were just a story. But eventually, I realized they were real. To make along story short, I was able to help the ladies create a way to save you. The charts from Gwen, the spells from Lucy, pages from your diaries…”

  “My diaries…” Natasha said.

  “Don’t worry,” Lucy said. “It was only Jim and I going through them, looking for clues on how to help you.” She leaned forward and whispered into Natasha’s ear. “You are young and beautiful once more.”

  Natasha grinned. “You don’t hate me?”

  Lucy laughed. “Of course we don’t hate you. We love you, Natasha. We’ve all been here for you. Your secret is safe with us.”

  * * *

  Natasha moved into one of Lucy’s big bedrooms while she recovered. The days blended together at first, a hazy blur of trying to regain her strength.

  One day, as she sat reading, there was a knock at the door.

  “Come in,” she said.

  The door opened and Gus stepped in, clutching a bouquet of black roses. He grinned when he saw her. “You look so much better now.”

  “How did you know I was here?” she asked.

  “Don’t worry about that. How are you feeling?”

  “Much better now that you’re here.”

  Gus sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand.

  “I’m sorry I ran off on you that day. I…I had something that needed to be taken care of.”

  “That’s all right.”

  “I would like very much to see you again, when you’re better.”

  “I would like that, too,” Natasha said. She breathed in his scent deeply as they chatted about nothing. She stared at his face and his hands, yearning to touch and kiss him.

  “You must rest so that you can return home,” he said, kissing her on the forehead.

  “Thank you for coming to visit me,” Natasha said.

  So many images played through her mind, a lifetime of pictures, of struggles, of pain. Flashes of flying fur, of blood and cages haunted her. She often thought about how she had been carried through the woods and snow in the arms of a giant beast. She had been terrified that one monster was being traded for another, yet she woke up under the care of Lucy.

  She dreamed of being stronger so that she could see Gus again. She ached for him more with each passing hour.

  She stared over at her beloved violin, safe in its case and relieved that the witches had found it for her. Her fingers itched to dance across the strings.

  She couldn’t wait until she was strong once more.

  Finally, she was able to return home.

  The first thing she did was go to her music room and play her violin. It was the best homecoming she could have asked for, playing her music by herself.

  After she played, she decided to go for a walk. Maybe she would go over to the woods if the snow wasn’t too deep along the paths. She hadn’t been over there in a long time.

  Chapter Sixteen

  You may meet your soul mate.

  The Woods

  The woods were darker with every step away from the moonlight. Even the glow of the snow was eventually lost as Natasha crept along the path. She kept gloved hands out to catch the passing branches and picked her way carefully across icy patches.

  The hum continued.

  It was madness to continue this venture into the unknown, yet the noise tickled her under her skin.

  At last she saw an orange glow in the distance. As she drew closer, the glow became flickering, crackling flames. A small fire spat and burned, illuminating darkness at the mouth of a cave.

  The humming was coming from inside.

  Natasha stood watching the fire. She waited, knowing there was something around her. She closed her eyes, and labored breathing filled her mind. He was waiting for her. Whoever he was. Masculine and strong. Calling her.

  She opened her eyes again with confidence and moved forward. She passed the fire and stood before the mouth of the cave. The humming stopped, and now the breathing had moved from her mind to hot breath warming her face. She turned to run, but something large grabbed her arm with a force that spun her back. She was clamped tightly to a large, furry chest. Pinned, she was unable to struggle, and let herself be taken to wherever it was they were going to go.

  His grip was strong as he loped through underground mazes. Eventually, Natasha passed out from his relentless clutching and dreamed of blackness.

  When she finally woke, she stared around the room in dazed wonderment. She was still wearing her clothes as she sat up in a large four-poster bed. Dozens of electric candles lit the room. There was a bookcase filled with books, a boom box, and several large crystals. A giant poster of the solar system with various astrological markings handwritten in various colors was on one of the far walls.

  There were two chairs, and a huge, hairy beast sat in one of them, staring into a crystal ball. He turned his head, and she gasped when she saw his face.

  He was Gus but not Gus. Somehow, he was a wolf, a bear, a man. His features blended into each other, yet he was still striking. Charismatic? His eyes locked onto her own. Gus’s eyes.

  “You’re awake.” It was a statement made in a gravelly growl.

  Natasha cringed. “Gus? Why have you called me here?”

  “I needed you…to see.” He stood up, and she gasped at his size. Long, dark fur hung from his already huge frame. A leather pouch dangled around his neck. His hands were paw-like claws, as were his feet. His cock dangled firmly between his legs.

  “See?” Natasha said as she stared at his cock. “I see…wow.” She shook her head.

  “Natasha. It’s not funny,” he said as he approached her, his teeth bared in a snarl.

  “Oh�
��” she said. “I didn’t mean…I mean…I’m impressed. By all of it. Are you a werewolf?”

  “What do you think?”

  “How?”

  Gus turned away from her and began to pace the room in a circle. “About five years ago, I was in England. I was hanging out around Stonehenge. I wasn’t supposed to be, but I was. I was attacked.”

  “Did you turn right away?”

  His pacing quickened, his hands clenching and unclenching. “Immediately. It was ugly. But I’ve learned to control it.” He pointed to his crystals. “They’re from around the world. I put them on my chakras. I’m able to sort of control my urges like that.”

  “Really?”

  “Not all the time. Only when the planets are right. See here?” He pointed to Venus. “This is a good time for me to use the crystals and try to talk to you. Over here…”He pointed to another spot on the chart. “I have to stay hidden. I’ll lock myself in here for a few days.”

  “No kidding.”

  “It’s freaky. Using astrology to socialize myself. But it’s working. With the crystals and some spells.”

  He turned away.

  “It doesn’t always work.” He paced again. Natasha noted that his cock was growing erect.

  “What do you want from me?”

  He stood in front of her. “I want to get to know you. But I want you to know the real me first. I thought maybe here in Hermana, someone like you would understand this werewolf business more than someone out in the real world.”

  “Well, we are more open-minded here,” she said. “What do you want to do?”

  “I want to touch you,” he said.

  Natasha stared at the long claws. “I don’t know.”

  “You have clothes on.” He reached for her. “Remember how we danced on New Year’s Eve?” He clicked on a CD player with a remote. A classical waltz swelled over the sound system.

  “Yes, I do,” Natasha said and stepped toward him. She closed her eyes and rested her head against his fur.

  As they danced, Natasha felt him shifting in her arms. He was changing. By the time the song was over, Gus was human again.

  “How did you do that?” she asked.

  “I didn’t. You did.”

  “I did?” Natasha returned to the bed and sat down. “I don’t understand.”

  “I don’t, either. It has to do with the charts. Sometimes I’m human, sometimes I’m not.” He realized he was naked and covered his groin with his hands. “I think I’d better get dressed,” he said as he went over to a dresser. He took out a sweater and jeans. Natasha admired the way his back muscles rippled as he bent over to pull on his pants.

  Once he was dressed, he stood before her again. “Not so scary now,” he said. “Or impressive.”

  “Gus…is this why you didn’t answer my email?”

  “That and it’s hard to get access to a computer at that Internet café. I don’t exactly have electricity here. I’ll run the generator now and then, as you heard, but that’s it.” Gus sat beside her and took her hand. “What do you think? Do you want to try to be with me?”

  “Here?” she asked.

  “No. I mean, do you want to go out? See where it goes?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Even though I am what I am?”

  “I don’t care. Everyone has their secrets. Maybe we can help each other.” She smiled.

  “The hunger though. I kill people, you know. I killed Pete.”

  “I know. I know about killing.”

  “I know you do, Natasha. I know what you are.”

  Natasha turned to him in surprise. “How?”

  “At first, it was the smell. The death and decay that surrounds you.”

  “I have that smell?” Natasha frowned. “I always hope to drown it out with all the scented soap I use. I always have incense burning as well.”

  “It’s deeper than that. I’m sure others don’t notice. I just have a sensitive nose.” He grinned. The candles cast long shadows across his face.

  “Okay. I hope so. I’d hate to think I was disgusting my friends.”

  She leaned over and sniffed him. His masculine scent was mixed with nervous sweat. “I wondered what was different about you,” she said. “I could smell something about you too.”

  “I guess it takes one to know one.”

  “So, tell me about your hunger. Is it all-consuming?” Natasha asked.

  He nodded. “It’s like a blackness overcomes me and I can’t stop until I’ve eaten. It’s a terrible thing, and I always feel so guilty when I’m me again.”

  “I know. I have figured out ways to kind of cope. But it still isn’t great.”

  “Tell me,” Gus said.

  “I pick up strange men in fetish clubs. Men who I think are married. That way they aren’t as likely to tell about some strange woman who seduced them and drank their blood. They always keep their mouths shut. Almost always,” she said with a sigh. “That Bob guy, I killed his father accidentally. Well, his father killed himself out of embarrassment.”

  “Oh, so that’s why he captured you.”

  “Yeah, but then he got weirdly attracted to me. Pervert like his dad. He loved it when I was all caged up.”

  “It takes all kinds.”

  “It does.” Natasha took Gus’s hand. “So now what?”

  “So now we kiss. Right?” Gus said as he tilted her head toward him. He pressed his lips against hers gently, just like he had on New Year’s Eve. Natasha leaned into him, wrapping her arms around the large, broad shoulders she had ached to hug for so long. His kisses grew in intensity, and she kissed back, darting her tongue into his mouth. He pulled back and kissed her neck, her cheek, her hair.

  “I’ve been wanting to kiss you for so long,” he said as he kissed her mouth again. “I think about New Year’s Eve all the time.”

  “So do I.”

  They kissed again, their hands stroking each other’s backs. They pulled into each other, sharing their warmth as the fire crackled and spat.

  Gus pushed her back, holding her tightly, his lips still meeting with hers. She held him close, her body tingling with excitement. He moaned softly as he kissed her, smelling her hair and running his hands along the length of her body. She writhed under his touch, rising up to meet his hands as he stroked her breasts and legs.

  He sat up and pulled off his sweater. “It’s suddenly very hot in here,” he said. “I shouldn’t have bothered getting dressed.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have,” Natasha said as she slipped off her blouse. She unhooked her bra, and Gus admired her full breasts. He leaned over to take one of her nipples in his mouth. She sighed softly as his tongue flicked back and forth.

  Natasha rubbed Gus’s chest and arms with her hands. The firm sensation of his muscular flesh was pleasing as she stroked him. Her hands reached down to his ass, and she squeezed it, pulling him against her. She wrapped her legs around him, her still-clothed groin yearning to feel him inside of her.

  Gus held her breasts, alternately kissing first one and then the other. He licked her nipples, teasing them with his lips. Natasha moaned.

  “Oh, Gus. That feels so nice.”

  He took a nipple into his mouth, sucking it until it was a firm peak. He nibbled it with his teeth, grazing it lightly. The feeling made her quiver with delight.

  His hands reached down to her pants and unsnapped them. She let him slide them off. She wriggled back on the bed in delicious anticipation. She was aching to feel him inside her.

  He kneeled down beside the bed and leaned over to lick her pussy. He pulled open her pussy lips until his tongue found her tingling clit. The first lick sent chills down her back. She spread her legs wider, and he licked her again.

  “More,” she urged. “Oh, more.”

  He flicked his tongue on her clit, pressing it softly, then flicking it rapidly. She squirmed under his skill and fondled her own breasts.

  “That feels so good. Oh my God,” she groaned.


  He slid two fingers into her pussy while his tongue continued to lick her. His fingers hooked into her, finding her G-spot. She bucked her hips up to meet his tongue, to encourage him to push his fingers in deeper and deeper.

  “Faster,” she cried out, her legs trembling as she shivered with anticipation. The pressure was building the faster he finger-fucked her. His tongue continued to dance, and she eagerly enjoyed him.

  Just as she was about to come, she realized someone had entered the room.

  Gus jerked up and snapped his head around at the same time Natasha sat up. Jim Hawthorne stood there, a gun in his hand and a smirk on his face.

  “Oh my, what have we here?” Jim said. “A werewolf and a vampire. What a lovely couple.”

  Natasha scrambled to the end of the bed, pulling up the bedclothes. “What do you want?” she cried out.

  “I want to stop the madness, is what I want,” Jim said. “Both of you. No good at all. A vampire can be trained, however. A beast cannot.”

  “What are you talking about? Why do you have a gun? You saved me, remember?” Natasha asked.

  “Yes, I saved you for Lucy, you despicable creature. It’s only because of Lucy that you still live. However, Lucy won’t be hurt if Gus is destroyed. She doesn’t know him.”

  Natasha’s eyes widened as Jim pointed the gun at Gus. Before anyone could say anything, Jim pulled the trigger. There was a loud blast, and Gus collapsed to the floor.

  “Oh my God, Gus!” Natasha cried as she leapt off the bed to go to him. He lay unconscious, blood pooling from a wound in his chest. “You better not have killed him,” she sobbed.

  “But, indeed, I hope I have,” Jim said smugly. He put the gun back into his jacket. “It’s a silver bullet. He’s done.”

  Jim turned to leave, and Natasha lunged for him. “You bastard,” she screamed as she tackled him. “How dare you! I loved him.”

  Jim wrestled with her, trying to push her from him, and they fell to the floor.

  “Of course, every woman loves her knight in shining armor. When he’s the knight. Sure, Gus saved you from that crazy man, but he has killed a lot of people. Face the facts, Natasha. He would reveal your secret sooner or later.”