Mated To The Mountain Lion

by Terra Wolf

I reached into my purse and realized that I left my cell phone at Gran's house. I was still in Salem, if I walked long enough I was sure I could find my way back home. I would grab a few things and call my parents so I could leave. So much for my summer.

  I began walking towards the center of town when I felt headlights on my back. I knew better than to stop the car and ask for a ride, too many psychos out there. The fresh air was doing good things to my brain and then I noticed that the car was slowing down. I tried to speed up my walking but the car also sped up to match my stride. Slowly I averted my eyes to the right and looked at the black SUV that had its windows rolling down. I prayed that my good luck, or magic would kick in, but when I saw Nick was driving the car I knew my luck had finally run out. He wore a big, disgusting, toothy grin. He looked almost maniacal like he could do something really dangerous. My fear began to choke me and suddenly the cool night air didn’t feel so good in my lungs.

  I didn't say anything to him as he stared at me. I quickly turned my body to the left and sprinted through someone's yard, but he was too quick. I heard Nick yell, “Get her!” I immediately heard feet running behind me. I was never much of an athlete, but when you're running away from the bad guys, speed seems to find you.

  I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. Moving through the person’s yard, I began to yell for help. But no lights came on in the house as I expected. Remembering that it was almost the end of summer I thought that they could be away on vacation. I tried to decide if hiding would be a better plan but unfortunately for me my speed wasn't enough to beat them. I moved to dodge two men as they approached me from the front, but I had nowhere else to go. They quickly grabbed the upper part of my arms and dragged me back to the SUV. I fought and screamed as much as I could, but I was no match for their strength or size. I continued to scream and curse at them, but they never even looked at me. Maybe if they had, they wouldn't have shoved me in the backseat and wrapped the blindfold around my eyes. They gagged me, making it hard for me to breathe. I slowly sucked air in and out through my nose, but I didn’t feel like my lungs were receiving enough oxygen. It made my world go murky. Suddenly I thought about the girl Nick had killed earlier this summer, thinking she was me. Is this what they had done to her? The Invidia wanted me dead and now that they had me I was running out of time. I really was an Electi and now I had to use my untapped powers to figure out a way to get out of this mess.

  We drove for a while, I couldn't be sure how long as all my senses seemed to be off. I think it was the extreme fear that finally plunged my world into extreme darkness. Perhaps it was lack of oxygen due to the gag, or my pure anxiety over not being able to see, but I was out for a long time. When I woke up I strained my ears to hear any sounds, I knew that this could be critical if anyone were to try and save me. I'd watched enough movies and criminal shows to know what to do if you are ever kidnapped. But those television shows never bet on this group taking me.

  We got out of the SUV and they tried to make me walk but my feet seemed to disagree, so eventually one of them lifted me up over his shoulder and carried me through a cool place. It was clear we weren’t outside anymore as I couldn’t feel the muggy air of August at all. I could hear water dripping in the distance, it made me think of a cave. In this part of New England we could be deep in the forest or on the shores of the ocean. I tried to hear ocean waves but all that I could sense was the distant dripping.

  Finally, the thug that was carrying me dropped me and they removed my gag and blindfold. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them as I nastily stared at the group of people that were surrounding me. There were six of them in all, but I didn't recognize any of their faces. I knew Nick and Natalia must be close though. Nick was at least there when I was taken.

  Rubbing my arms from the chill, I looked around and realized that I was definitely in a cave. The underground temperature never reaching above sixty degrees was causing me to freeze in my summer attire. I tried not to shiver as I took in my surroundings, careful to avoid eye contact with the group of Invidia in a half-circle around me. My back felt damp against the dark stone that surrounded me. It certainly didn't help me feel any warmer. Eventually I got enough courage to look at some of my assailants. Four of them were men and two were women, all dressed in black motorcycle boots and dark clothing. I noticed something else about them now, they were all young; none of them looked any older than I was. I guess that's when they took people to transform them, they wanted young fresh blood in the organization. Ultan had said he was one of the only children they ever took. For a moment immortality crossed my mind, perhaps these people never aged. But I thought back to the coven and how there were people of all ages on our side. Our side... the coven. They would be the ones to attempt to rescue me and I had recently ran screaming from their place of worship. That probably didn't bode very well with them.

  It took a long time for anyone to talk to me but finally the group parted as Natalia walked through, her flaming red hair and eyes causing the other Invidia to cast their eyes to the ground.

  “Nick did well I see. And you're alive, not bad.” She smiled devilishly at the crowd, more people arriving by the second. The group had gone from six to more than two dozen in minutes. Nick walked through them to join her and I grimaced in disgust as he kissed her full on the mouth, their tongues interlacing in front of the group. Many people smiled and cheered as they embraced, I did my best not to vomit.

  “What do you want with me?”

  Natalia broke away from the kiss, placing her hand on Nick's cheek before turning to address me. “You know what we want. You know where the book is?”

  “That's what this is about? You came all the way here for the book?”

  Nick moved in front of her and closer to me. It was so obvious now that he was not the boy I knew and my heart broke slightly, seeing the anger and darkness on his face. “We also came for you. We can't have another leader take over the Salem coven. And when we kill you, your coven will fall and we will succeed!” He turned around smiling and laughing to his comrades as the group again erupted in cheers.

  I had to do something that would take away their power. I began giggling quietly at first and allowed it to become louder as some of the crowd became quiet.

  Natalia gave me a nasty glare. “Why are you laughing?”

  I continued giggling for just a moment more before saying, “You think you can kill me, that's kind of humorous.”

  “Of course we can kill you,” she spat out.

  “Oh really? And how do you intend to do that now that I've acquired my powers?”

  I heard gasps from the crowd. Clearly I had made an impression.

  Natalia grabbed Nick by the throat and put him up against the wall. If I hadn't moved out of the way he would have stepped right on me. I could smell his fear and so could everyone else.

  She whispered to him, “You never said she knew about her powers. Or that she had learned how to control them. We're no match for a strong Electi, especially a leader.”

  “I didn't... I didn't know!” He stammered.

  A young girl with purple hair stepped in next to Natalia and whispered, “Natalia, not now. People are watching. And she's not even a full blood. Her mother doesn't practice, there's no way she's fully aware.”

  Natalia released him slowly and turned to look at the younger girl. “You’re sure about this?”

  The girl nodded looking very scared and honest. “I can feel it.”

  Natalia dismissed the girl and with a cool smile plastered on her face said, “I think it's time for a little one-on-one, wouldn't you say? A little ex-girlfriend on new girlfriend action? You up for that?”

  I stood up slowly, trying to thaw out my stiff muscles while still maintaining a strong look. “Whenever you're ready.”

  I had no idea what I was doing and there was an excellent chance that she would kill me. I had to make a quick decision. When I fled from the house I felt weak and terrified. But standing in th
e face of my possible death I realized that was a lie. I was not weak. I was strong. I just had to find the source of my strength. The same strength that got me out of bed when Nick left, the force that had caused me to start painting once more, it was within me, I just had to tap into it. I could do this, defeat her if I had to. Anything to not let her and her cronies get to the book or Gran.

  The crowd scattered quickly, making their way to the edges of the cave. They didn't want to be involved, instead like vultures, they waited in the wings for death to arrive.

  I tried to think about my luck, as I had always referred to it, but I realized I needed to start to think about it as my power. I closed my eyes for merely a moment and wiggled my fingers, hoping for something to happen, but nothing came. Instead I found myself flat on my ass as Natalia pushed me over a rock. She walked away laughing, knowing that she could beat me in only moments and she was dragging it out for her own sick pleasure. I stood up and brushed the gravel off of my hands.

  She came at me again, but this time when she swung, I dodged it and gave her a good uppercut to the chin. She backed up, outraged.

  “Going to actually give this a try, are you? You didn’t try hard enough with Nick did you? What about Ultan, going to actually make an effort with him?” She cackled and a few women from the group joined her laugh. It pushed me over the edge. I took a deep breath and knowing it could be my last, I flew at her. Somehow I missed her jab at my head and I curled my fingers around her neck.

  “Don’t talk about things you don’t understand bitch!” I yelled while choking the life out of her. I felt my pentagram burn as I clutched her skin. But then her eyes went black and I felt sad. Sadder than I had ever felt before. Like there was no reason to live. What was I doing here? I backed away from her slowly and tried my best to figure out where I was. There was a girl with flaming red hair, on her knees, coughing loudly. I didn’t understand.

  Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I noticed that one of the people in black had beautiful blonde hair, blonde hair that I recognized. It took only a second for me to search around the room and find Ultan's face as well. Seeing the two of them brought back my memory and feelings. Why had I let go of Natalia? She could be dead by now!

  As I nodded to my friends, Natalia stood up to face me once more. Now I knew I wasn't completely alone and maybe I wouldn't be killed. The confidence of having my friends with me caused me to propel myself forward and grab onto Natalia's hair, whipping her around as I slammed her to the ground. It must've been the signal for my own people to attack. I felt the power surge through the air before it hit me and, lying flat on the ground, I looked around me to see waves of blue, green and silver flying through the air. It was like watching lightning bolts so close to you. I was frightened but I knew to lie still so no one else would try to attack me. Nick was busy with Ultan and Joy, but not one side seemed to be winning. Nick held a dagger in his hand which seemed to deflect most of their powers off of it. Natalia was still lying on the ground but was slowly starting to get up to attempt to make herself useful to her beloved. And I was still, not knowing what to do, or how to help my friends. I rolled over slightly, watching a particular bolt of light bounce off of the wall and hit one of its own square in the chest. The man was tall and as he fell, it appeared as though he went up in smoke. I had to assume that was the only way to kill them, seize their heart with a bolt of our power.

  I sat up immediately and yelled straight to Ultan, “Aim for the heart, it's the only way to kill them.”

  When he looked at me his eyes were black like a bear. His one hand looked human, while the other had claws extending from him. He nodded at me as I continued to stand and ran over to where Natalia was crawling on the ground. I saw a rock in the corner and summoned all of my strength to pick it up with both hands and trudged over to her. The streak of magic crossed in front of me and hit Natalia before I had the chance to drop a stone on her head. She fell unconscious and secretly I was happy that I didn't have to kill her. I didn't think I was ready for that yet.

  I looked around at the scene and saw many of my own coven, fighting for survival. There was just too many Invidia, and the Electi had walked into their lair. We were outnumbered five to one. Everything seemed to be going wrong. I saw Joy fall to the ground with a gash on her cheek, she was screaming in agony. Whatever type of blade Nick had in his hands, it could clearly hurt my Electi brethren more than anything else. I ran to her side to help her but watching her writhing pain on the stone floor was not saving her from anyone. I stood in a protective stance as Nick continued to fight with Ultan. No one was going to touch her. I wouldn’t let them.

  A greasy looking man ran at us and I must've had an adrenaline rush because as he came forward, I dove to the side. When I stood again I was able to punch him square in the face. When my fist connected with his jaw he looked surprised and as he fell to the floor the pain reached his expression. There was blood seeping from his mouth, apparently my right hook was better than I had thought it was, he was even missing a few teeth.

  He stood back up and ran at me, blade in hand. I couldn’t think of what else to do but Ultan stepped in front of me and shot a bolt right through his heart. The man was engulfed in the dark smoke, just as the one before him had done. Ultan had just saved my life.

  Ultan turned to face me. We were so close I could feel his breath on my face. He nodded to me, smiling slightly, proud of his heroic act. I pushed my hands into the back of his hair and pulled him into me. Our lips connected and my body felt as though fireworks were going off. We may not live through this and there was no way I was going to die without feeling his lips on mine one more time. A level of warmth rushed through my veins when our tongues made contact. When we broke our connection we were both breathless and prepared to fight whatever came next. He held my hand while we turned to face three more assailants.

  Suddenly there was a shift in power in the cave, everyone could feel it. My grandmother, dressed in white, slowly walked in lighted by the moonlight and parted the people like the Red Sea, making her way directly to me. None of the Invidia even tried to stop her, clearly she was too strong to defeat and they knew it. Many of them scattered and fled, fearing for their life now that the leader had arrived. The three in front of Ultan and I showed fear in their eyes. After a silent connection between them they ran from the scene, blood still on their hands. Nick even looked afraid but he didn't put his blade down, just held it more tentatively.

  She checked on me first, making sure I had no external injuries, at least ones that couldn't be easily healed and then moved on to Nick. His blade shook in his hands as she approached him and he began sputtering out curses at her.

  She stopped and simply said, “Enough. This is over. It is time for you and your people to move on.”

  Nick mustered up his courage. “And if we don't?”

  My grandmother sighed heavily. “I'll be forced to kill each of you. Nick, I do not want your blood on my hands. You loved Paige once, I don’t wish to hurt her further by killing you.”

  “We'll see about that,” he seethed and turned to leave.

  I looked to the spot where Natalia had been lying but she was no longer there. I felt a wave of fear, knowing she was still out there somewhere. I could only hope she would accept her defeat and put her tail between her legs as the rest of her clan had. But as I searched the crowd for her wicked face I saw something out of the corner of my eye. The moonlight reflected something shining in the air. I watched and realized it was a blade flying through the air at a terrifying speed. I could almost hear it slicing through the air. No. No. No. Shrieking I watched as it flew directly into Gran’s heart. I looked up for a moment to see Natalia’s flaming hair disappear into the darkness. She had climbed high in the cave to a secluded area where she would not be seen throwing the dagger. This had been her plan all along.

  Ultan reached out and grabbed my grandmother as she fell to the ground. I screamed in utter terror as the blood began to seep out of he
r chest. I watched as the snow white fabric turned a crimson color. I had never seen so much blood in my life. Blue light shown from her pentagram necklace, but she wasn’t healing. The light began to fade.

  “Gran! Gran, you're going to be alright. Someone get us some help!” I yelled to the fellow members of my coven, praying that someone would know what to do.

  I heard hurried footsteps behind me. “That soul sucker is gone,” a man said between labored breaths. “I can’t feel her anymore.” No! How could they not have caught her? She had to pay for this!

  Gran lie in Ultan's arms, looking frail and old. Her breathing was labored. I held her hand between my own, shaking so bad we both moved. I looked to Ultan for comfort but silent tears fell from his eyes. I knew she couldn’t be saved. A woman approached us and removed the dagger from her chest. She put her hand on my shoulder and whispered, “It was a Devil dagger, it leaks poison into our magic. The poison has already reached her heart, the center of her power. That woman knew what she was doing by throwing it at her heart. I’m sorry Paige, but she will die. There is nothing we or our magic can do.”

  I shook the woman off of me and yelled at her, “She can't die! She can't! You understand me? I won't let her die.” My sobs began to overtake my body and I cried out, hoping for a miracle. My grandmother took my hand and put it across her chest. I could feel her struggling to breathe and I knew we were close to the end. There wasn’t much time left for her.

  “My child,” she said, “it is your time. You must develop your powers, your friends and the coven will help you.” She breathed deeply for a moment then her eyelids appeared heavy. Once she opened them again she said, “They will come back, protect yourself. I love you dear one.”

  “I love you too Gran. I will do everything I can.”

  She smiled at me one last time. I watched as she closed her eyes, as if she had drifted off to sleep, but she never opened them again.

  I held her hands and wept for my loss. It was my fault that she was dead, if I had only stayed at the coven house none of this would've ever happened. She would still be alive and teaching me how to use my magic, but instead I was alone. And it was entirely my fault.