by Robin Thorn
“You’ll leave them.” I hissed. It surprised me when he stopped fighting, his golden eyes glowing up at me.
“If I can’t have them,” he murmured darkly, “then I’ll just take yours.” That familiar smirked curved onto his lips.
Leonard took a shuddering breath, and the swirling soul that had embedded itself within me began to rush from my body. I watched, eyes wide, as the white smoke flowed from my mouth into Leonard’s. At that moment, I lost control of my body and gave in to the darkness that crept into the corners of my eyes.
When I regained consciousness, I was on a table. I didn’t need to open my eyes to feel the restraints holding my wrists and ankles down. An intense throbbing coated my entire skull, and my body felt alien as I lay still, trying to make sense of where I was. Of who I was.
I tried to move, yanking at my arms and legs. But I was trapped. Caught in Leonards web.
“Where am I?” I mumbled. My voice sounded hoarse. “What happened?” My eyes stung as I tried to open them. It was as though the lashes had soldered together.
“Steady…” Collette's voice came from somewhere above me. Hazy, I peered up at her from where I lay.
“Did he kill them?” I struggled to free myself from the restraints on my wrists.
“Take it easy,” Collette murmured, touching my face with her delicate hand. “I need you to listen to me. Any minute now Leonard is going to come back here, and you are going to have to play along with everything he says. You understand?”
I shook my head, panic growing as I struggled against the binds. “What happened? I don’t…I don’t remember.”
“It will all come back to you,” she said. “For now, stop fighting and just listen. If you want to get out of here, you need to play along.”
I did as she asked, laying still on the table. Her golden eyes soothed me, and a familiar instinct guided me to trust her, to obey her. It was stronger now, though. The instinct, I mean. It was as though I was no longer just influenced by her. Moreover, I was wired to submit to her.
I gritted my teeth. No… No, I can fight this…
“Remember,” she whispered. “Play along.”
I held her gaze as a door banged open somewhere inside the room.
Leonard strolled into my line of vision, his expression aloof.
I looked helplessly up at him from where I lay.
“Oh, good,” he uttered darkly. “You’re awake. I was hoping we could have a little chat, you and me.” He took my face in his hand and squeezed. “How does that sound, New Blood?”
Collette’s words echoed in my foggy mind, Play along.
I managed to nod my head, and Leonard released me from his vice-like grip.
“I don’t like being disobeyed,” Leonard said, his face close to mine. “And that stunt you pulled at your dearly departed house has caused me some concern.”
“What…?” I blinked, trying to recall a dream or a memory… Will, I remembered. A vision of Will’s bedroom flashed through my mind, then his lifeless body beneath me… The fight with Leonard. Will’s parents.
My chest tightened, and tears started to burn in my eyes. No. No, this couldn’t be real.
Leonard sneered at me. “Thanks to you, the Guardians are on our tail.”
“You were going to hurt them,” I couldn’t hide the seething in my voice. “Will’s parents…Have you…? Did you hurt them?”
Leonard laughed under his breath. “But, you see, I had to. I did it for you.”
My heart gave a heavy thud. “You’re a monster,” I choked. “They were good people, innocent people.”
He ran his tongue over his teeth. “Everyone’s innocent once. Anyway, your prey’s parents would have identified you at the murder scene; we had to get them out of the picture before they started running their mouths. Lucky for you, I was on hand to clean up your mess.”
A tear rolled onto my cheek.
“So,” Leonard said, pushing his hand down upon my chest until my spine ached on the metal table, “are you going to behave? Or am I going to have to teach you a lesson in who’s running this town?”
I gasped for air.
“No more little outbursts?” he said, his nails digging into my shirt. “No more disobeying your master?”
I coughed out a noise, between a yes and a cry for help.
“Good.” Leonard released his hold on me. “Collette,” he signalled across the room. “Keep New Blood under control until I get back.”
Collette took a cautious step forward. “Where are you going?”
“I have business to arrange. And Sam and I need to discuss this little problem you’ve created. It seems like my other sister has arrived in town with her children and I don’t like that.” His eyes lingered on me for a moment longer.
Collette shivered. “What if the Guardians come here?” she asked. “What should I do?”
“They won’t come here,” Leonard muttered. “We have Demon’s watching our boundaries. No one’s getting in here tonight. Well, no one’s getting in alive, anyway.”
On his final word, there was a rush of air, and he vanished in a bend of darkness.
As soon as Leonard was gone, I gave way to a ragged breath. Collette stepped towards me. Without a word, she removed the binds from my legs and arms and helped me to my feet. I staggered down from the table, and Collette gripped my arm to steady me.
“You need to go,” she whispered. “You need to get out of here before Leonard comes back.”
My eyes adjusted to the hollow room of the warehouse. “How? You heard Leonard; his Demons are watching the place. No one can get past them.” I tried again to pull out of the straps.
“They’re watching the entrances,” Collette said. “But there’s a way out, through the portal.”
“Portal?” My eyes shot to the shadowed corner that Leonard had disappeared into.
“There are portals everywhere,” she said. “You just have to learn how to sense them. You have to get to the Guardians.”
I choked out a breath. “Are you insane? The Guardians will kill me. I did it; I made the kill. I’m an Incubus now.” The word stuck in my throat. Saying it out loud was like a bolt through my chest. I was an Incubus, and I’d killed Will.
Collette shook her head. “You’ll be safe with her, the girl that came to you before. I overheard Leonard talking, and he’s scared of her, I think. She has some sort of power over him, some way of stopping him. We have to tell her that Leonard is forming an army, but you’re not part of it.”
Her words seemed to jumble in my head. “What do you mean? I…I don’t understand.”
“She’ll know what to do,” Collette said, snapping the ties from around my arms and legs. “The Guardian girl.”
“Phoebe?” I stammered. “You mean Phoebe?”
I sat up, stretching the ache in my body.
Collette grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me towards the corner of the room where the shadows clustered. I let her lead me as her words bounced around in my already tangled mind. I knew what I’d done, and I knew what it meant. I gave in to the hunger, the desire, and I killed Will. There was no turning back now.
Phoebe would never forgive me for this.
I would never forgive myself.
The air changed, wrapping around Collette and me as we stepped into the shadows of the room. Suddenly my entire body felt weightless.
“Take us there,” Collette’s voice rang in my ears. “Take us to the Guardians. Envisage it.”
On her command, I found myself picturing Phoebe’s family home; the iron gates, the moss on the ground, the stone pathway leading to the gothic house…
I watched in awe as the shadows wound around us and the images beyond morphed. We were no longer in the barren warehouse; we transported to the place I’d manifested.
Now, we stood at the iron gates of Phoebe’s family home. Heavy snow was falling around us, blanketing the ground. The icy air didn’t touch me though, it curled around me, my skin hot.
Collette pushed against the gates, and they groaned open. “I can take you to the Guardians, but I won’t stay. They won’t allow it. You’re on your own after this.”
I hesitated. “Leonard will be angry,” I warned her. Something pulled in my chest, a feeling of pity, or remorse. “When he finds out that you let me go, he’ll be out for your blood.”
She smiled sadly at me through the feathery snowflakes. “What’s the worst he can do?” she said. “Kill me? Send me to hell?” She shrugged her thin shoulders. “I’m already there.”
I took hold of her hand. “Run,” I said. “You should run away. Get out of Briarwood.”
“What’s the point?” she murmured. “He will find me. He’s my sire. But he won’t find you.” She met my eyes in earnest. “I turned you, not him. No matter how much he tries to convince himself that he’s your sire, he’s not. And he never will be.”
“Where will you go?” I asked weakly.
She slipped free of my hand and touched her fingertips to her chest. “Back to him. What better poetry is it than to have this life taken by the same man who took away my last life.” Her dark hair stirred in the bitter wind, snow melting into the strands.
“I’m sorry,” I managed.
She bowed her head. “I’m sorry, too.”
There was nothing left to say. I inhaled a deep breath, and I stepped through the gates. With Collette trailing behind me, our footsteps crunching on the snowy path, we approached the house with its towering frosted turrets. Collette stayed a few paces behind, even when we reached the porchway. I suppose she was afraid. I suppose I was, too. I tapped the brass door knocker.
I saw the blurred figure move towards us through the stained-glass panel on the door. Then, the door opened wide.
Michael stood before us, a look of shock painted on his face. His lips trembled as he searched for words. He looked at Collette and me, shaking his head.
“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” he said in a somber voice.
Collette stepped forward, her arms raised to show she was no threat. “You need to protect Stefan,” she said. “Please. Leonard will be coming for him.”
I caught sight of May pacing towards us through the corridor. She joined Michael in the doorway, and her eyes locked with Collette’s. “I’m warning you,” she said, holding a small silver pendant high. “Don’t come any closer.” When May looked at me, her gaze reflected the same sadness that clung to Michael. She said my name, elongating the syllables into a plea, or an apology, I wasn’t sure.
“I’m not here to fight,” Collette assured May. “I’m only here to ensure Stefan’s safety. I know you’ll protect him.”
May looked at Michael, exchanging something beyond words. “We won’t,” she murmured at last. “We can’t. It’s too late. You’re…”
“An Incubus,” I answered for her. I could see my reflection in the silver pendant, the golden hue of my eyes was mirrored back at me.
“Stefan has chosen a side,” Michael said, “and it’s not our side. So, he is no longer under our protection.”
Michael began to shut the door, but Collette pushed past me and held it open. “Please,” she beseeched. “He doesn’t deserve this. He’s not one of us. He’s not under Leonard’s control!”
“I told you to stay back!” May shouted, and Michael raised a hand in response. Collette was knocked backwards by an invisible force, thrown down the porch steps at Michael’s will.
I drew in a sharp breath, frozen in fear.
But Collette rose to her feet and met my eyes. “I’m okay,” she said. “It’s okay.” She returned her gaze to May and Michael. “They’re forming an army.”
Michael lowered his gaze. “We know. You’re part of it.”
“But Stefan isn’t. Stefan needs protecting from them,” Collette implored. “He needs a chance. He’s not like the rest of us. Stef was a mistake, and he can choose a better way, with your help.”
“Absurd,” May muttered. Her attention glued to me, but her gaze wasn’t warm like it had been a week ago. “We know of another Incubus who wasn’t sired by the great and powerful Leonard,” she scoffed, “and yet he is just as culpable, and has caused just as much pain—”
“Stefan isn’t Sam,” Collette snapped back.
Sam? I knew that name. He’d been in the bar tonight.
“Demons are demons,” May hissed. “There is no grey area.”
I stood between the two warring parties, lost for words.
“Please,” Collette murmured at last. “Please have mercy on him. He’s just an innocent in all of this. He didn’t go looking for this, not like the rest of us did.”
May and Michael swapped another look, and I glanced at Collette who offered me a weak smile in response.
“Stefan may enter this house,” Michael said at last. “But not you.” His eyes were on Collette, unyielding. “I trust you will disappear and never return. Otherwise, you will not be treated with such leniency again.”
Collette nodded. “Keep Stefan safe. I owe him this, at least.” She looked at me one final time, and her whisper carried on the cold wind, “I hope you can forgive me.” Then she took two steps back, turned, and walked away into the night that swallowed her whole.
I stared into the mirror that May held before me. I moved my head from side to side, wishing that the reflection wasn’t mine. My eyes were the first noticeable difference. My left eye burned gold, just like Leonard’s and Collette’s, but my right was the same brown hue that it had always had been. I blinked, once, twice, but nothing changed.
“What does it mean?” I asked as I ran a finger beneath my golden eye.
May clicked her tongue. “I’m not sure. Maybe the transition did not complete as it should.” She avoided my gaze, but I saw her grimace. She was disgusted by me. I couldn’t blame her. I was disgusted by myself.
“Can it be reversed?” I asked feebly. “Please tell me it can!”
May said nothing. She poured me a tea and handed me the cup.
I looked away from the mirror. The sight of myself turned my stomach. “I didn’t mean to do it,” I whispered. “Will. I…I couldn’t stop myself.”
May’s hand rested on my shoulder. “I know,” was all she said.
“Kill me. I deserve it,” my voice sounded strangled. “A life for a life.”
“It’s done. And you must understand that we, as Guardians, must decide on how to…On how to deal with this.”
“But the one brown eye,” I said, glancing back at the mirror and the familiar face trapped inside the looking-glass. “It didn’t complete. Maybe I’m not a Demon. Maybe I’m just…” I let the sentence trail off. A murderer? Is that what I was going to say? Like that’s better somehow?
“You are an Incubus,” May confirmed, her tone sterile. “But you are…” her gaze lingered on my reflection, “different.”
Footsteps approached, and the floorboards behind me creaked. I spun around to see Phoebe standing in the living room doorway. She hesitated when our eyes met. She just stood there, perfectly still, regarding me silently.
“Phoebe…” It was all I could say. I wanted to hug her. I wanted her to hug me. Tears blurred my vision. “Phoebe.” I choked out a cry. “I’m a monster.” I wanted her to hear my admission. I wanted her to help me. But she didn’t move; she just watched me. “I’m sorry,” I broke into sobs.
She moved so fast that I flinched, afraid of her. But she only threw her arms around me. “It’s okay,” she whispered, shivering. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
I almost laughed at the lie. Nothing was ever going to be okay again.
I stood alone in the cemetery, the snow numbing my limbs and dampening my hair. I breathed in the familiar scents of hyacinth and pine, and took in the myriad of moonlit sights that had defined my teenage years, defined my life. I hadn’t been back here in a long time, not since I’d left him here on that final day.
Sam.
I didn’t know if he’d
show up. I didn’t know if he’d ever show up again after that night. But I’d often wondered. Had he tried for a little while, wondering if I’d give in to temptation and show up, too? Or had he realised on the same night that I had, we were doomed.
So, why was I back here tonight? Why had I returned, a year and a half after I’d last set foot on Maura’s grave? I had to see him. I had to warn him. I’d heard the banshee scream, once for Will, and once more.
And I had to warn Sam. If I wasn’t already too late, that is. I guess no matter how hard I’d tried over the years; I couldn’t let him go. Not fully, anyway.
I felt his presence before I saw him.
“Pheebs,” he whispered my name.
I turned around, and my body went weak like I was nothing but air, and he was the fire that existed because of me.
“You’re alive,” I said, keeping my distance.
“Yeah.” His golden eyes were on me, not letting me go, not even for a second.
“They’re coming for you,” I said. “The other Guardians, I mean. They know about the warehouse.”
“Good,” he said.
“I told them where the hideout was.” I betrayed you, I added silently.
“Good.”
My heart started beating faster. “Sam…”
He shook his head. “Let them come, Pheebs,” he murmured. “I don’t care. Either they’ll kill me, or I’ll kill them.”
I swallowed. “I’ll be coming, too,” I told Sam. “When the siege happens, I’ll be there, fighting alongside them.”
He bowed his head. “That’s always been the way it’s had to be, right? Why change things now?”
He was still my Sam, I realised at that moment. The months hadn’t changed him. Of course, why would they? He was immortal, after all. But inside, beneath all that beauty and ugliness, he was still my Sam.