by Martha Woods
“Take off your shoes, sister,” Bethany instructed sweetly, letting go of Tessa’s hands to remove her high heels. Tessa blinked in confusion. Wait, was it really a pool? She wasn’t sure what she thought the thing would be for, but she certainly didn’t think it was a pool that they would be getting into. She took off the pair of black leather flats that she had found in her closet. They had stocked the room with an entire wardrobe that had contained various sizes close to what she appeared to be.
Bethany then took her hand again and stepped down into the empty pool. Tessa followed her, noticing then that pool was about knee deep. The elders then filed into the room, circling around the pool. Their slow walk and floor length gowns made them almost appear ghost-like. Or perhaps like clouds of demon smoke. First impressions were hard to get rid of, as well as second, third, fourth, and so on. Panic rattled her bones as she watched the witches close in around her, her first thought being they were sure to sacrifice her right then and there. They didn’t harbor hateful expressions, however, and their eyes weren’t black. Their faces were neutral, and each of them had the same shade of sparkling blue eyes. They were inviting, and felt almost as creepy as the black eyes to Tessa. Something so powerful and evil shouldn’t be so kind and grandmotherly in appearance. Only, they weren’t evil—or so Tessa could only hope. She still wasn’t entirely sold, but after seeing the vision Bethany had showed her, she didn’t see any option but to put what little trust she had, into Bethany. Would her half sister really want to harm her? Especially since it was the Calder father that they shared?
“Relax, Tessa. No one is going to hurt you… Y-you’re crushing my hand a tad,” Bethany murmured to her.
She instantly released the poor witch’s hand, shooting her an apologetic look. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Are you okay? I’m still getting used to this vampire strength. I feel like Lenny from Of Mice and Men.”
“Ah, it’s alright. Should have known better than to hold your hand while witches are closing in around you,” Bethany softly replied with a weary smile, realizing her own mistake. Tessa then looked around the room as the witches held hands and completely closed around her. Bethany assured her one more time that none of them were going to hurt her. The witches then began to chant, what sounded to be an ancient spell. How was this going to get Tessa’s powers? She didn’t say a word. Suddenly, water began to trickle out of holes around the top of the pool. It filled the space completely, Tessa’s toes gradually getting submerged in water before it inched its way up to her ankle, and then up her calf. As it continued to fill, she noticed a red spot forming in the center of the pool. It then rapidly spread throughout the entire body of water, turning the crystal clear liquid into a deep, horrible shade of maroon. It looked like blood. Only, Tessa obviously knew that it wasn’t, since it wasn’t making her ravenous.
Bethany then joined in on the chanting. Tessa wished she understood the language so she knew exactly what was going on. Bethany certainly hadn’t explained anything to her beforehand. She watched in awe for a while, gazing around to see them all moving in perfect unison, their eyes closed as they focused on the ritual. Then, Bethany took her hand. Tessa could have sworn she could feel the heat from her hand. No, not sense it, but feel it. She hadn’t actually felt heat since she was turned into a vampire. It was… mystifying. The heat traveled up the length of her arm, and Tessa could swear it was like she could feel it in her veins. As it moved into her chest, her eyes nearly bulged out of her head to be able to feel her heart beating. How was that even possible? Tessa touched a hand to her chest, but couldn’t feel it beating through touch. What exactly was going on?
Then, the elders surrounding them stopped speaking. Bethany was the sole voice in the room, speaking much louder than she had been before. She gave an emphasis on each syllable. Even with her sweet voice, the words came out harsh and almost grating. The water around their feet suddenly started moving. At first, it looked just like a little ocean, with waves crashing here and there. As Bethany continued her spell, though, it became more vigorous and started moving all in one direction. It swirled around and around, making a vortex. Tessa was utterly bewildered. What was going on? Was she in any danger? Why did something in the pit of her stomach tell her to panic? It was just preconceived notions of the Calder witches, that’s what she had to keep telling herself. Bethany wouldn’t hurt her. They were sisters, and she had had plenty of opportunities before then to hurt her but hadn’t. She needed to give Bethany her trust because, at that point, she had nothing else.
As water became more and more vicious, crashing against Tessa’s calves and threatened to knock her over. Then, she suddenly began to understand some of the words Bethany was saying. It was almost like someone was tuning a radio, and it only came through to her in bits and pieces. Almighty… Give unto… Power… Lord… Was this a spell, or some kind of demon ritual? The hairs on the back of Tessa’s neck stood up at that thought. No, it was a spell. It was definitely a spell. At least, that was what Tessa was telling herself.
Then, almost as if a switch in her brain was flipped, Tessa could suddenly understand every ancient word that passed Bethany’s lips. “May she be blessed with knowledge and strength. Fill her being with the power needed to bring us to greatness. By the moon, the stars, and your divinity may she be guided.”
The heat in her arm and chest grew exponentially, almost to the point of feeling like burns. In an instant, it was gone. The water stopped sloshing about, coming to a complete still in the blink of an eye. It was eerily calm after having just been tossing around so violently. Tessa was bewildered, weirded out, and even a little afraid. That didn’t seem normal or innocent… Bethany opened her eyes and turned to Tessa with a smile, “See, didn’t I say it would be painless?”
Tessa nodded hesitantly and forced a weak grin in response. She didn’t want Bethany to know how uncomfortable she was. Because she knew what the answer would be. To trust her, to give it time and she would adjust. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she followed Bethany to the edge of the pool. Two witches came to their sides and helped them from the pool, and promptly handed them towels. Tessa bent down and began drying her legs. She could feel herself starting to get trapped in her own thoughts, worried that perhaps she had made the wrong call. That maybe now it was too late to go back. All Tessa wanted in the world was to have Kristian there with her, giving her counsel and comfort. She ached for him but tried her damnedest to keep herself grounded in reality and move on. There was no getting Kristian back. Tessa had to work on trusting Bethany completely. Perhaps trying out her newly acquired powers would help that.
* * *
Five Weeks Later
In the weeks that followed Tessa’s disappearance, the entire family went on the road. They were trying their hardest to recruit members for the family, all while keeping under the radar. They went out to bars every night in small desolate towns, flirting and talking up the locals. Their goal was never more ambitious than picking up a person or two at each stop, wanting to keep the number of missing persons small so that they didn’t raise any eyebrows with law enforcement. They also only recruited a couple nights a week, choosing the busy days to be able to hide in the crowds of the bars and clubs. As they traveled, something was wearing heavily on Veronica—and it was Kristian.
The entire time they had been on the road, Kristian hadn’t made a single attempt to try and help the recruitment process. Well, at one point he had gone along to the bar, but he just sat in the corner alone, staring into oblivion as he drank scotch. He hadn’t gone up to a single woman or even talked to anyone but the bartender. She knew he needed time to get over Tessa, but it was coming to a point where she felt like enough had been enough. After all, they hadn’t been together long. And Tessa had caused more trouble than anything else. Her brother had all of eternity waiting ahead of him, and he shouldn’t have to spend any of that mourning over some traitor.
The stress of it all had driven Veronica back to her crutch of smoking. Thankfully
Morgan wasn’t giving her a hard time about it, knowing a lot was resting on their shoulders. She stubbed out the butt of her cigarette and launched it into the litter-filled parking lot with the flick of a finger. Walking away from her motel door, Veronica walked down a couple doors to Kristian’s and gave it a quick knock.
There was nothing in response. Veronica creased her brow and looked to the parking lot. The old black BMW he had bought to go on the road with was still there, so he was definitely inside. That town was far too spread out and in the middle of nowhere to go anywhere without a car. Turning back to the door, Veronica knocked again. Still, there was no response. “Kristian? It’s me, Veronica,” she called through the door, knocking again. “Open up! Come on…”
What could he be doing to where he couldn’t hear her? Maybe taking a shower? On a whim, Veronica tried the door knob. It was actually unlocked. With much surprise, she pushed the door open. She walked into the room one step at a time, her eyes scanning the shadows of the dimly lit room. “Kristian?” she called into the room. Nothing. Panic really started to force itself to the surface. Could something have happened to him?
Her eyes fell onto a figure in the corner of the room, slouched in an armchair. “Kristian?” Veronica called over, her eyes narrowing to try and make out the shape of him in the dark. Walking over, the figure didn’t move an inch as she reached for the lamp on the end table next to the chair. Turning it on, Kristian hissed at the sudden light, raising a hand to shield his eyes, despite the fact the lamp was dim and gave off a dull, orange hue. Veronica’s eyes then fell to his hand, a vodka bottle clutched in his fist with only a fifth of it remaining. Her eyes bulged and then narrowed in anger, “What exactly are you doing in here?” she snapped.
“Paintingafresco,” Kristian slurred in response. Too drunk to answer the door, but not enough to keep him from being sarcastic.
She glared at him hard. “Why in the hell are you drinking in the dark?” Veronica snatched the bottle away from him, earning yet another hiss from her brother.
Kristian slouched further in the chair, rubbing his face in a lazy matter. “Iwas under the impression thiswasa free country,” he commented, a hiccup following immediately after.
Veronica rolled her eyes, not dignifying that weak response with a response. “You need to start moving on Kristian.”
“No, what I need to do is stop listening to you.” His speech was careful, making sure to articulate every syllable; and there was a distinct, hateful growl to his tone.
“What do you mean by that?”
“What do you think I mean?” he laughed. “She would have never left if I wouldn’t have let you convince me to join in on your scheme.”
“Scheme?” she scoffed. “We’re trying to rebuild our family.”
“Which was your plan. And you gettobe very cozy with Morgan,” he chuckled drunkenly, shaking his head. “It’s really funny when who has it all tries to talk to someone who basically has nothing.”
“Quit your moping,” she demanded. “You’re a part of this family. You’re protected. Everything is paid for you. You don’t question where your next meal will come from—”
“Ah yes, I found a new meaning for the term Bloody Mary,” he chuckled, shaking his glass gently at her.
Her mouth gaped. He was mixing blood and alcohol? “How much have you drank tonight?"
“Noneofyourbusiness…” he slurred before tilting the cup to his lips and peeling it away with a satisfied aah. He then glanced back over to her, “How about you just get out of my room now?”
Veronica shook her head and cleared her throat, trying to remember why she came in there, in the first place. Kneeling in front of his chair, she softened her expression and grabbed one of his slender hands. “I’m sorry if I came off any sort of way, Kristian… I’m just concerned about you. You haven’t been yourself since Tessa. I just want to see the old you again.”
“How can I be myself when part of me is missing?”
“Kristian…” she groaned. “You’ve dated so many girls, and you know there is going to be more down the road. Don’t get hung up on one. Especially a traitor.”
“She’snota traitor!” Kristian defensively. “I’m telling you. There has to be another reason why she left. She wouldn’t just turn her back on me… Then again, she could have just been that upset with your stupid scheme. Not be with her for a year? How did I ever think she would be alright with that?”
Veronica grabbed his chin and made him look at her, “This is what is best for our family. The family came way before she did. I’m not saying you owe the family anything, but you should be doing your part.”
“I’m doing my part by not causing a scene. I’m perfectly fine drinking by myself in here.”
“I don’t exactly like that either.”
“Then what do you like, Veronica? Ruining my life? Ruining the one shred of happiness I had?”
“I’m not the villain,” Veronica insisted. “I’m just looking out for our family instead of a girl, for some reason or another, decided to jump ship and join the enemy.” She squeezed his hand with her other hand. “Please, I’m begging you. Get over her. I know it’s going to take time, but you have to make an effort. What do you think drinking and moping in the dark is going to do for you?”
“Hopefully erase her from my memory, I suppose. You’re making it very clear I’ll never have her again,” Kristian mumbled.
“Because you won’t. I’m sorry to be so harsh, but you need to hear—”
“I don’t need to hear anything from you. Stop acting like you can solve all my problems by talking to me in that faux motherly tone. I was perfectly fine being miserable alone. I heard you knocking on the door, but I didn’t want to see you. Now get out!”
Veronica stood and took a step back as he yelled. This wasn’t her brother, or at least not him being in his right mind. This was a broken shell of her brother. It was only then that Veronica realized just how much her brother loved Tessa. She always knew he cared about Tessa, but she thought it was because it was of an infatuation with her because she was so different. Like nothing he had seen before in his lifetime. She was a brand new plaything after decades of mind-numbing boredom. No, Kristian loved Tessa deeply. And that love he had for her, had been taken for granted by Tessa. She had left without a signal word. Even if Veronica’s plan was the reason Tessa left, it didn’t give Tessa the right to break Kristian’s heart like that after all they had done for her.
“Very well,” Veronica finally spoke. She stepped back toward him and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Feel better, my brother.” Walking out of the room and closing the door, she moved back to her room reluctantly. She wished to be able to take Kristian’s pain away. By the time she was reaching the motel door, she was thinking to herself maybe she could. But how?
Tessa was the sole reason for Kristian’s suffering. Even if he wanted to take it out on Veronica, she knew it was Tessa’s fault. As she walked into the room, Morgan looked up from across the room where he sat with a laptop, managing the family stocks. He raised a brow at her knitted brows and flared nostrils.
“We have to do something,” Veronica announced as she wrung her hands together, pacing back and forth across the room. “Tessa just can’t get away with what she’s done to us and Kristian. She used our family, she abandoned us, and she broke Kristian’s heart and spirit. I’m not going to stand for it, any of it.” She continued to pace. “We need to attack her and the Calder. Get rid of this drama once and for all. I’m sick of always running. I want to be able to settle down and have an actual home. This is just the last straw. Kristian’s not been the same man anymore, Morgan. Tessa broke him. She got Kristian to fall in love with her, and then she abandoned him. That’s not something I’m going to forgive and I demand to get justice for him. Kristian doesn’t deserve that treatment.”
Morgan closed the laptop and studied her from afar. “Well, what do you propose we do?” he questioned. “We can’t really do thi
s any faster…”
“Oh, but we can,” Veronica stated. “Two people isn’t enough for each location. Let’s aim for four.”
“Four?” Morgan gaped. “That’s too much, Veronica. That is enough to get us caught.”
“It’s enough to get us to where we need to be,” Veronica persisted. “The sooner we get done with recruiting, and we get done with this Calder and Tessa bullshit, the sooner we can restart. Get a fresh start. That’s all I want for everyone. I know it’s risky, but it’ll cut our recruitment time in half, and maybe even less. We’ll be smart about it too. We can send groups to different bars rather than just narrowing in on one. We’ll have Jared be the lead of the other group, making sure they don’t pick up too many. Let’s just get this all finished, move somewhere out west, and put this all behind us.”
Morgan’s lips twitched into a sly smirk, beckoning Veronica closer by curling his index finger at her. She walked over with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes beaded in anger and determination. “You’re pretty cute when you’re mad,” he cooed to her flirtatiously.
Veronica rolled her eyes, “Morgan, stop.”
“I’m serious,” he insisted, pulling her close by the hip, and down into his lap. “You care so much. It’s something I’ve come to admire about you. Although, you haven’t always been the most selfless person in the room,” he chuckled.