by Sam Crescent
She placed a finger over the smooth lines and winced. When she pulled it back, a smear of blood was on her finger.
Gasping, she looked in the mirror. Blood was seeping from the wound. Her hand covered the marks and she fought for breath. Poppy wanted to scream, but she could do nothing. She gazed into the mirror and saw the blood rush from her eyes, mouth and nose before, in one swift, harsh move, she was flung to the floor on a roar of absolute agony.
* * * *
Adam stared at the door hesitating for a split second. He wanted to go and talk to her some more. Their time spent together always seemed so rushed. Was it a bad thing to want to sit and talk? Poppy intrigued him and he liked hearing the sound of her voice. He turned away, disgusted with his own weakness when it came to the necromancer. He walked down the stairs into the study where everyone else was seated.
“Is she coming?” Jason, his younger brother and all around pain in the ass, asked.
Adam nodded, not trusting himself to give any fresh or clear reports on Poppy. She affected him too deeply. Robert sat in the seat behind his desk with Sophie perched on his lap. They were looking through a baby magazine. Even with all the chaos around him, his older brother had found the time to start a family. Fisting his hands at his sides as a wave of jealousy overcame him, Adam turned away from the happy couple. He hated watching them. Especially when he was having feelings for a little scarred necromancer and she wouldn’t even let him touch her. He hated seeing Katie and his brother William smooching and whispering to each other like lovesick puppies. Since Poppy had been in his life, the people he’d seen always seemed to be in one stage of love or lust. It was like Poppy had become a magnet for everything he now wanted in life.
Couldn’t his other siblings save the happy family routine for a more appropriate place, like their bedroom?
At least his mother and his sisters, Dawn and Rose, were not tonguing other people. He shuddered at the horrid thought. It was bad enough watching his brothers do it.
“Where is Poppy?” Robert asked.
“She said she’d be down in a minute.” The rest of his family were nervous about having a necromancer in the house. Everything had changed since finding out that James was not the true alpha of the Beyer West pack, along with the revelation of Emma—an old, dead witch—who had, until Katie sacrificed herself to kill the evil one, been alive. The past few weeks had been exhausting from both a mental and physical standpoint. All the thoughts of what had happened in the last few weeks were running round his mind. It didn’t matter how many times he thought about it, it did nothing but confuse him. Every day he woke up, it was with a new set of questions and no answers to help.
Poppy was a delightful distraction, even if she was covered in scars. Unlike other men, he didn’t view the scars as some kind of drawback. He knew every smooth and rough scar told a story—a story of bravery and magic and everything she should be commended for. Each battle fought and won. The others didn’t see that. Superficial bastards.
“Where are you going, Rose?” The sound of his mother’s voice cut into his train of thought.
“You don’t need me for the planning of this, Mother. I’d only get in the way and we need supplies. The sun is down and I can quickly run to the all night supermarket,” Rose replied in a calm voice.
The men tensed up. Each of them was protective of their youngest sibling.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Send someone else out to get food,” Robert ordered.
Her small hands went to her hips and Adam saw the fight within her.
“Ever since the wolves made their presence known, fear is running riot in the streets. Most people who used to work for us are gone and the few remaining are busy on guard watch.”
“I don’t like you being alone,” Mary said.
“Look, what good will it do for us all to starve to death?” Rose glanced at each one in turn. Adam had an unsettled feeling in his stomach, but if it was him, he’d have gone for the food alone. They may be vampires, but they survived on a combined diet of natural food and blood.
“Let her go and get some food,” Katie interjected. “The wolves are lying low. She’ll come to no harm.”
The witch had too much of an opinion for her own good.
Again, the men looked like they wanted to argue, but Rose wouldn’t let them. Instead she turned to all the men and laid kisses on their cheeks. “I’ll be back soon.”
Rose left the room and the room went silent.
“Great, now she’ll probably go and get herself killed,” Jason finally said. His brother was starting to have a bad attitude about everything. “Where is the fucking death controller?”
“Don’t call her names,” Adam warned, going to Poppy’s defence.
“Have you already got into her pants, big brother? She doesn’t look like your sort.”
In that moment, Adam didn’t see his brother—he saw a vicious enemy. Pushing away from the wall, he stormed over to Jason. In one quick movement his hand was around the man’s neck. “Who taught you to be disrespectful?”
“Stop it,” their mother called.
“When you started taking one of the opposition,” his brother spat.
Seeing red, Adam lashed out and slammed his fist against Jason’s face. Screaming erupted around them as Jason hit back.
Adam welcomed the pain. It was a relief. He heard the calls and orders from his family, but he refused to listen. For too long he’d listened to his youngest brother’s insults. It was about time he was shown how to respect the people around him.
“What’s up, fuck face? Our women got too much of a nice face for you?” He didn’t know what had got into his younger brother and right now he didn’t care. The disrespect for Poppy—a woman far braver than this slippery weasel—was too much to bear. Baring his teeth, he lunged at his brother, taking him down.
He remembered each one of her scars as he fought with his fist, defending her honour and most of all defending the woman he cared about. At that thought, Adam stalled in his attack.
Woman you care for? How can that be possible? You don’t even know her. Yeah, your body comes alive whenever you’re around her and when you part you spend the time wishing you were together…
Jason grabbed his throat and squeezed.
“Enough!” A flash of light erupted and Adam was thrown out of the double doors onto the marble floor before the stairwell. Jason was flung against the sharp-edged bookcase.
Katie stood in the centre of the room, her hands out, looking deadly. “You two are being unfair. I admire you for sticking up for Poppy, but it doesn’t take away the fact that she is a necromancer and you don’t know anything about her.”
“We didn’t know anything about you and we still took you in!” Adam shouted, getting to his knees.
“I’m not someone who can control the dead.”
“From where I’m kneeling, I think you’ve got a much better shot at it than she does.”
Katie shrugged. “Either way, caution is needed.” Done with him, Katie turned to Jason. Since she’d been reborn, Katie had taken it upon herself to be the voice of reason. The witch’s true role was to always find a balance in the magic. She was still learning, but if that outburst was anything to go by, she was one fast learner.
Jason was getting to his feet when suddenly his fingers clawed at an invisible force around his neck.
“You, on the other hand, are becoming unruly and a problem. One I don’t like, and I’ve been ordered to deal with you.”
“Stay out of my business!” Jason yelled.
“Wrong answer.” Katie unleashed the full power within her and Adam watched dumbstruck as Jason began to wilt before his eyes.
William, seeing the change in his woman, charged to her side and broke the connection, throwing her to the floor. They lay gasping in a heap while Jason peered at the witch, terrified.
“What the fuck is going on?” Robert was crowding around the situation.
“A c
onfusion enchantment,” Katie answered, coughing. Her hair—which had been starting to turn back to a lovely chestnut brown—was now white again. His sister-in-law would have a constant change of hair colour whenever she used too much magic.
“What? An enchantment placed by a witch?” William asked.
“No. Too powerful and it acts more like a defence mechanism. It makes the most vulnerable and weak in the room act on their insecurities then harnesses them until a reaction occurs, causing a type of confusion.”
Adam didn’t want to analyse why his youngest brother had been the target.
“Who could perform this type of magic?” Robert began with the questions.
“It’s not performed. It’s more like a spell that has been wrapped around him for some time, kind of like a cloak he never takes off. It has to be centuries old, even to the point where no one knows what is happening.”
Centuries old?
There was only one person whom he knew was centuries old.
“Poppy!” Adam didn’t give them time to ask questions. Poppy was in danger and something was going wrong. In minutes he was at her door. He went to open it, but the doorknob wouldn’t budge. Throwing his whole weight behind the wood, he charged. Adam bounced off while the door stayed firm and intact.
“Poppy!” he yelled. Adam continued to charge at the door in an attempt to open it.
William was the first to get there. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“I can’t get through!” he yelled, applying as much pressure as possible. It wouldn’t budge.
“We’ll try together.” William put his hand on his shoulder and together they charged the door. Nothing happened.
“Let me try,” Katie said, running up behind them. Unlike the two brothers, she stood in front of the door and shot bolts of fire and light out of her hands.
“Stop it, Katie,” William ordered.
“I’ve got to get in.” Adam pressed a hand to the door. Poppy was in there and he had to protect her.
Chapter Two
The air was still and silent. Poppy opened her eyes and whimpered. Pain erupted in her head and her body ached all over. Her arms were like lead and her legs felt like they’d never been used before.
Her gown was white with streaks of red crimson. Not her usual black dress. Her blood stained the white fabric. Her hair was black and lay down one shoulder.
“It takes a while to adjust,” a voice spoke to her left. She looked around her. The scene was washed in grey. No colour, no light or dark—a simple blankness with no emotion.
“Where am I?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t attempt to move right now. You feel, yet struggle in this desolate place.” A figure, obscured by a cloak similar to the one she wore in the real world walked forward.
Poppy lay down and looked up at nothing.
“Where am I?” she asked again.
“You should know.”
“I’ve never been here.”
“You have not visited, but you have. You will never know what truly happens until you learn to accept who you are and what you are.”
“Okay, you know you can use contractions, right?”
Poppy was struck across the face.
No pain, nothing.
It was as if this place had been cut off from any emotion.
“Open your eyes, Poppy.”
Strange, I thought I had.
Poppy opened her eyes and gazed at a woman, so beautiful and calm.
“How do you feel now?” she asked.
Poppy tested her body and found no aches or pains.
“I’m fine.”
“You must accept.”
“Please, tell me where I am,” she begged.
A mirror appeared before her. “Mirrors are so useful. I imagine when humans made them, they had no idea of the multiple uses they had for people higher than themselves.”
Whoever this woman was, Poppy didn’t like her. Glancing in the mirror, she saw her body slumped to the ground.
“How can a mirror be used like this?”
“What makes necromancers so great and so deadly is their ability to produce the same artefacts found in only three places.” The woman stood behind her.
“What are you talking about?”
“This is a mirror that sees on the other side. Heaven, hell and limbo each own an exact replica.”
“Why do you have one?”
“As there is only one heaven, hell and limbo, there is also only one necromancer. You, Poppy, are the only one of your kind, as they were all hunted to extinction,” the woman said. She spoke slowly, each word pronounced and not rushed.
“But, in that case, wouldn’t witches and other beings have them too?”
The woman gave a snort of disgust. “They multiply and spread like a disease. Mirrors such as these only show themselves to the rarest of creatures. Nothing but a true necromancer can possess one of these. Witches and other things have their own weapons they make to protect themselves. This is a lifeline to protect you.”
Poppy rolled her eyes.
“Who are you?”
“Take a look at me and open your eyes. Only someone true and pure can visit this place. A calling has been made, Poppy, and the men who awakened your necromancer power saw this day. You must act.”
Poppy recalled the day with disdain. For centuries she’d lived with a calling. Alone, cursed to be so forever. “I didn’t choose this.”
“It doesn’t matter. Your time has come and in a few weeks you’re going to have to make a choice. Look at me, Poppy.”
She turned from the mirror and stared at the beautiful woman. No recognition at all.
“I don’t know you.”
“Open your eyes and your brain.”
Would she be punished for killing this woman?
“A necromancer doesn’t kill until necessary.”
I’m feeling it’s necessary, right now.
She stared into the woman’s eyes and did what was asked of her. The spark flew in her brain and woke her up.
“No, it can’t be.”
“Yes, it is.”
Poppy took a step back and circled the room. She couldn’t breathe. Life was unfair and she couldn’t accept this. Her life had been a constant nonstop of decisions, changes and choices.
“Calm down, Poppy. If you don’t, when you wake you’ll be in terrible danger.”
“No. I can’t do this.”
“You know what you have to do. This will start the end.”
Poppy screamed. The first bit of true emotion. The sound vibrated off the walls, shattering the blankness. At least the outburst answered one of her questions. This place could only survive without the true onset of feeling.
Great to know I come from a long line of unfeeling bastards.
Another scream, the sound agonising to her ears, and the fantasy world crumbled.
She woke up in her room. A sound tore from her throat.
* * * *
Adam heard the screams and determination took over. Nothing would hold him back. He thought of Poppy and rammed the door. In two pushes it crashed open. Poppy lay on the floor, her shirt open, scars marring her chest and every part of her skin visible around the dress she always wore. A high-pitched scream erupted out of throat.
He rushed to her side, not caring what his family thought.
A fountain of red blood gushed from her mouth. Her chest had criss-cross lines smeared with red. She lay on her back, choking. Acting on instinct alone, he took her in his arms and forced the liquid that was stopping her from breathing out of her mouth.
The stuff smelt bitter and acrid to him. He pulled her long hair from her face while she spewed over his leg.
There was a coldness that spread through her and Adam scented a change. Panic set in and before he could think about what he was doing Adam tore open his wrist and pressed it over her mouth. “Take my blood,” he said.
She shook him off and pulled out of his arms, rejecting what he
had to offer.
“Stop being stubborn.”
“Adam, give her a second,” William said from the doorway.
He couldn’t cope with seeing her in pain. She lay back and a cry sprang forth out of her mouth. Adam had to cover his ears to keep himself from trying to force-feed her his blood, the only source of medication he knew how to use.
“Please,” she begged the sky.
He moved away and watched her bleeding. There was a look of utter concentration on her face, followed swiftly by the sudden red glaze of her eyes.
A shadow loomed over her.
She closed her eyes and within seconds—before his very eyes—the blood soaked back inside her body. He crawled away, freaked out by what he was witnessing. The blood on the carpet absorbed back into her skin until she lay on a pristine white carpet, gasping for breath one second then settling down.
“What the fuck?” Jason, who had finally managed to make it upstairs, voiced everyone’s opinion.
Chapter Three
Rose walked the short distance to the supermarket. After spending most of her life in the house where she had grown up, she didn’t want to be cramped inside a metal vehicle when she finally got outside.
She gazed up at the twinkling stars. They looked so calm and serene. Did they have as many troubles as she and her family did? Sighing in exasperation, she realised she could do nothing to help her family’s cause. How could a vampire who wasn’t even a proper normal vampire help against a pack of howling, bloodthirsty wolves?
Twenty minutes later she entered the blaring fake light of the supermarket. She grabbed a trolley and started for the fruit and vegetable section. A beautiful red and yellow pepper went into her cart, followed by avocado, celery and onions. The men in her family preferred meals with lots of meat, but she couldn’t stomach any type of animal. For Rose, having a constant supply of fresh produce was essential. Once the small section of the separated part of the trolley was filled with enough vegetables to keep her going for a week, she moved to the fruits.
For most of her life Rose had tried not to think of the problems she caused her family. Ever since she was little, she’d been different. When she ate meat or drank blood, she’d begin to cough up her own blood or become undeniably weak. After seeing the doctor who specialised in vampire anatomy, he’d concluded she was allergic and that with time and full maturity no problem would remain. She’d spent a good deal of her young years a vegetarian.