by Jones, L. A.
I am trapped; Aradia concluded bitterly, I am trapped!
Somehow, she managed to crawl back into the room. The moment she shut the balcony door and lay on the ground was when she started to feel better. At least until she remembered the situation she was in.
"What I am going to do?" Aradia muttered. "What I am going to do?"
Suddenly, she clutched her head as a horrifying vision erupted in her thoughts. A vision of her wearing a wedding dress, a ring on her finger, Jack throwing her down onto the bed, and then...
Ironically, it was this vision that gave Aradia back her strength. She turned around, shoved herself back to her feet, and glanced around.
There has to be a way to escape, she kept thinking, there has to be a way!
Eventually, she looked back at the door and a faint but devious smirk crept onto her lips.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jack opened the door with difficulty, because his arms were laden with packages. He stopped, however, as soon as he saw that Aradia was gone.
"What the hell?" He cried as he dropped the packages and stepped into the room.
Suddenly, Aradia appeared from behind the bathroom door. She grabbed Jack from behind, wrapped her left arm around his neck, and pressed it against his windpipe.
"What the hell?" he repeated before Aradia created a ball of fire in her hands.
"Here's how I see it," she snapped, "unless you want to spend the rest of your immortal life with third degree burns on your face you will kick away the rune stone and let me go!"
Jack chuckled before saying, "Like you would really do something like that."
Aradia scowled and without another moment's hesitation, she pressed the ball of fire against his shoulder.
He cried out in anguish as he dropped to his knees, clutching his shoulder.
He then looked up at Aradia who smirked at him. "Any other questions?"
Breathing heavily, he shook his head before standing up. Aradia readied herself for another attack by creating another ball of fire. This didn't seem to faze Jack, however, who just walked past Aradia. He stopped though after kicking away the rune, merely inches away from the door.
"What?" Aradia asked as the fireball vanished.
Jack smirked before turning around and pushing Aradia to the ground.
She barely had anytime to gasp before he was on top of her.
"Didn't your boyfriend ever teach you not to trust me?" Jack taunted.
Aradia twisted and turned, struggling to break free. "Let go of me!"
"Never!" Jack stated.
Glaring at him ferociously, Aradia gripped her fist and tried to make another fireball. Using every ounce of strength she had, she broke her arm free of his grasp and tried to throw the fireball straight into Jack's face. Jack almost instantly realized this, jumped up to the ceiling, and clung there. Taking advantage of this, Aradia shot to her feet and raced out.
"Aradia!" Jack yelled out after her.
She ran down the stairs of the hotel as fast as lightening and as soon as she reached the ground floor, she dashed out side into the raining street. She couldn't tell if Jack was following her, but she didn't look back. She kept running as if the fires of hell itself were snapping at her heels. Eventually, she had no choice but to stop and gasp for air. She pressed her back against the cold brick wall of the building and peered around the corner to make sure Jack was not following her. Her eyes dashed left and right as she observed the darkened crowd walking amidst the cold rain and sounds of honking cars. Several seconds passed before Aradia straightened up, leaned her head against the wet bricks, and started breathing heavily in relief.
"Nothing in life is ever easy sweetie, not even escape attempts. You should know that by now."
Aradia's eyes shot up and saw Jack standing on the roof of the next building. His grin resembling that of a jackal. She barely had any time to run before Jack jumped down, landed on his feet, and grabbed her by the waist. Aradia started struggling again, but instead of enduring it Jack swiftly threw her back and hit her head on the wall of the building slipping Aradia into the cold embrace of unconsciousness.
When she awoke, she found herself in a candle lit room, on a sofa, dressed in a white wedding dress. In her hand, she clutched a wedding bouquet of blood red roses and her head pounding like a whole orchestra of drums.
"What happened?" Aradia said groggily.
Her head may have hurt like no tomorrow, but she still heard and recognized Jack's dark chuckle. He was leaning against the wall and staring at her.
"How do you like the dress?" he asked, "I had to guess the size."
"I hate it," Aradia snapped firmly.
He shrugged, indifferently. "We are still going through with this and for the sake of your physical health you had best behave."
Aradia glared at him with a deadly glint in her eyes. "Listen to me you little prick, the world will burst in to flames and George W. Bush will be reelected as president of the United States before I ever marry you. Do you understand? I do not want to be your wife. I will never be your wife! I will never be yours! Do you hear me? Never!"
Jack didn't move nor did he reply and for a few tension-filled seconds he just stood staring at her icily. Aradia then gasped in surprise as he sped towards her and grabbed her by the wrist.
His own icy black eyes bore into her's as he hoisted her up and said, "Girl, you make it sound as if you have a choice."
He didn't even wait for her to say anything before he dragged out of the chamber, and slammed the door shut.
"What is this place?" Aradia asked as she gazed around the darkened hallways.
"These catacombs were built by the first vampires of New Orleans. They run all over the city and we have used these for centuries to travel or to escape the sun," Jack explained.
Aradia dug her heels in the ground, trying to dissuade Jack's efforts to drag her. His grip was firm on her arm when they went into the elevator and he pressed the "going up" button. They exited and stepped into the lobby of another fancy building.
"Is this a hotel?" Aradia asked.
"No. This is leading to the sacred altar," Jack smiled as he turned to her, "Where we will soon become man and wife."
He didn't even give her a chance to reply before he started dragging her again. They reached the end of the corridor and Jack pushed the doors open. There standing at the head of the room was a vampire wearing black robes.
Aradia gulped loudly. Dax, she thought, where are you?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
"Begin," Jack, commanded.
"Dearly beloved of the undead, we gather here tonight to..."
"Would you just get to the point?" Jack snapped as he grabbed Aradia's waist and clutched her next to him.
The vampire stiffened from the indignation. "Do you Jacques Francois Percy take Aradia the Last Witch and Witch Queen as your vampire wife until the day you both die?"
"Gladly," Jack said ignoring Aradia as she stomped on his foot.
The vampire in the robes turned to Aradia who snapped, "Not in this lifetime!"
"That's a yes," Jack corrected.
Aradia opened her mouth to say something, but Jack clamped his hand over her lips only to scream a few moments later when Aradia bit his fingers.
"Why you little!" He cried out and turned her around ready to strike her.
He paused, but only to snap. "Finish it! Finish it now!"
"Okay, I now pronounce you vampire and his..."
The speech was quickly silenced by the sound of screeching tires and a honking car horn. All three of them spun around and saw a large blue BMW barrel right through the wall.
Dax then tumbled out of the front shield, landing firmly on his feet with his fangs and claws drawn. "Sorry mate, but that is my witch!"
"Dax!" Aradia cried out.
"Not for long," Jack shouted and he too bore his fangs. He then raced towards Dax who causally grabbed his wrist and flipped him over.
He got quickly b
ack on his feet and snapped, "She is mine now Dax! All mine!"
"Not bloody likely," Dax snarled.
They circled each other slowly, their eyes not leaving one another's faces. Jack then lunged while Dax tried to dodge him and Jack caught his arm and threw him on the floor.
"You were always weak Dax," Jack sneered, "I see that hasn't changed."
"Want to bet?" Dax eyes narrowed as he grabbed Jack's arm, twisted it, and head-butted him hard. He then turned on his side and kicked him several away.
Jack fell hard onto the ground. "Where did you learn that move?" he demanded.
Dax snickered. "You live in America for a while; you are bound to learn new things. Fighting dirty is a very good example."
Jack raised an eyebrow before Dax sucker punched him in the gut. He then raised his hand and smacked him across the room. Jack growled as he shot back to his feet. He then dashed at Dax and plunged him through the wall. Dax quickly dug his hands into Jack's back and threw him into the dirty wet street. Sputtering with his face full of mud, Jack got to his feet. The two of them once again circled each other, ignoring the rain that continued to pour on them as heavy as buckets.
"You know it didn't have to be like this Dax," Jack said as he wiped the blood from his chin. "Things could be the way they used to be. We could be friends again."
Dax heaved a heavy sigh. "Jack, I say this to you with more honesty than you have ever shown me. From the day we first met, I have never considered you my friend. I never have and I never will."
"Then why did you even bother to hang out with me all those years ago?" Jack inquired.
"Because no matter how terrible things got for me, all I had to do was look at you and know that I was still better off."
Jack's scowled. "How so?"
"Because I have people who actually care about me. I know love and friendship while you know nothing, but hatred and greed."
Jack snickered and tugged the front of his jacket. "Hatred and greed huh? Well that maybe true, but that there's one more thing that I know more than you do."
Dax raised an eyebrow.
Jack sneered before he raced forwards and slammed his fist into Dax's face. "I know how to win a fight."
Aradia quickly threw her bouquet to the ground and raced outside to see Dax and Jack fighting. They were grappling with their hands on each others' throats, their clothes completely soaked to the bone. Jack finally managed to trip Dax and slam him onto the ground.
"You were always weak Dax," Jack sneered, "I see that has not changed."
Dax gasped as Jack dug his fingers into his skin, ready to rip his neck apart.
Suddenly, Jack jerked forward in tremendous pain. He gasped as he swung his head around and saw Aradia.
She was clutching a long stick of wood in her hands.
"And you know what Jackie old boy?" Aradia sneered, "You talk too damn much!"
Jack tried to say something, but without a moment's hesitation, Aradia ripped the stick out. His body then burst into a shower of ash, which Dax tried to hastily brush off himself.
"Bloody hell," He groaned as he got to his feet. "When I get home, I am burning these clothes."
"I can always do that now and save you the trouble," Aradia said snickering.
Dax smiled at her, but then he noticed the stick in Aradia's hand. "How in the hell did you manage to find that?"
Aradia shrugged. "Witches are good luck, aren't they?"
Dax narrowed his eyes.
Aradia sighed and tossed her head. "I have many unique powers Dax, and being able to conjure various elements such as earth, wind, fire, metal, and wood out of thin air is just one of them."
Dax tried to clarify Aradia's explanation. "So what? You basically conjured that thing out of thin air in order to save me?"
"Yeah," Aradia said without missing a beat.
Dax's eyes widened. "You never told me you could do that?"
Aradia shrugged casually. "It never came up."
Chapter Twenty-Nine
"You didn't have to crash your car through the wall you know?" said Aradia
"I also didn't have to save you either," Dax retorted.
She scowled at him as he turned to grin at her.
"Either way," Aradia admitted, "It was very generous of Jack to let us borrow his convertible for our drive back to Salem."
Dax shrugged. "I figure he wouldn't mind, seeing as he is now dead."
Aradia couldn't help, but laugh.
She soon paused to ask, "How were you able to find me?"
Dax shrugged. "It seemed odd to me that Jack was able to find us so easily. At first, I thought he was following us, but I would have noticed if he did that. Then I remembered the night when Jack first confronted me. I checked under my car and sure enough, I found a GPS tracking system. It was how he was able to find the lodge, the club, and us."
"But we didn't use your car to get to the lodge that night," Aradia argued.
"No, but my brother Xan did," Dax explained.
"What does that have to do with how you found me?" Aradia inquired.
"I switched the signal on the GPS to track the receiving signal and using the picture of the hotel I was able to narrow down where you could be."
Aradia was astounded. "You mean the catacombs really do connect to the hotel?"
"The entrance is right underneath it," Dax stated grimly.
Aradia laid her head back against the headrest, finally feeling the emotional stress of the day.
"Are you sure it's not too late?" Aradia asked.
Instead of answering her, Dax gave her hand a comforting squeeze. As quick as they could, they made their way back to the fae territory of Salem. It was pitch black and the weather was still God-awful. Yet as Dax and Aradia went further into the woods, the atmosphere began to change. The sun began to shine more brightly and the snow thinned itself on the ground until it eventually lead to a patch of green. The air was thick and full of the scent of flowers. However, Aradia titled her head up towards the sky and saw thick bolts of lightning erupting in the clear sky shooting randomly and strong like currents of electricity.
I guess even the hidden world is not immune, Aradia thought, when the human world suffers so does it.
Dax noticed the expression on her face. "The changes that are happening are because of the hidden world, love. The weather may not be as bad, but the people are still suffering. I can assure you that if we don't do this soon, all that will change. The fae territory will instantaneously become a snow-filled apocalypse, just like our world."
Aradia said nothing. Instead, she let go of Dax's hand and ran ahead.
Dax sniffed the air, and then pointed to the right. Aradia pushed two trees out of her way, only to gasp when she saw the wounded unicorn stallion. It lay motionless amidst a bed of clovers, looking depressive in its helplessness. Aradia rushed to its side, and Dax followed. Slowly, Aradia reached out a hand to touch its neck. She gasped when she realized how cold it felt.
"Are we too late?" she moaned softly.
Dax exhaled a long and deep breath. "Only way to find out."
He then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the unicorn's horn. He walked to where the stallion laid its head and kneeled. Inhaling and exhaling one more, Dax seized the horn with both hands and gingerly fit the horn back in. He then jolted away and went back to Aradia's side. They both stood and waited as the air became thick with their nervousness.
Aradia reached out and sought the solace of Dax's hand. He immediately took it and tucked it in his arm. Aradia sighed, and titled her head up slightly.
Her eyes grew wide.
"The lightning has stopped," she murmured.
"What?" Dax asked as he glanced at her.
Suddenly, they heard the soft rustling of leaves and cast their eyes once again towards the stallion. Dax clutched Aradia's hand harder as they saw the stallion suddenly rise up from its flowery bed and rear up on its hind legs. He let out a victorious cry that seemed to ec
ho throughout the entire forest. Aradia and Dax gasped as they stumbled back. The stallion turned towards them, lowered its head, and pawed at the ground. As if it was about to charge at them in fury. Dax quickly thrust Aradia behind him when another neigh was heard. Turning towards the sound, they saw rearing up on to her own hind legs was the unicorn's mate! The mare galloped with difficulty down the deep hill as the stallion raced to greet her. Playfully kicking each other, they pranced around in circles before finally stopping and entwining their horns together.
"I think that's their way of saying 'I missed you,'" Dax quipped.
Aradia laughed under her breath as both the stallion and the mare turned to stare at them. The two couples gazes locked, neither one daring to move. Suddenly, the mare pawed at the ground and tossed her head. She then quickly bounded up the hill, expecting her husband to follow. He did, but not before stopping at the top of the hill. As Aradia looked into the black eyes of the stallion, she remembered the day she had first petted it and all the chaos that followed. However, as he held her gaze Aradia felt a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"You're welcome," she mumbled.
"I am sorry Dax," Aradia said as he led her out of the forest.
"For what?"
Aradia stopped, and tugged his hand in annoyance. "You know what."
Dax paused, heaved a heavy sigh, and pressed his hand against his face. "Look, it's like you said all those months ago Rai, the past can never be changed. It holds onto to us like ropes."
"However," he added, "You made a mistake Aradia, and you made it right. As far as I am concerned, I have no regrets."
"Therefore," he concluded, "there is no need for you to apologize."
Aradia smiled, took both of his hands, and leaned her head onto his shoulder. "No regrets huh?"