Betrayed: Dark beginnings

by Rebecca Weeks

He rang the doorbell and waited for his mum to swing open the door and hug him. He needed that right now, and a warm bath. He looked across the roads and his neighbor was stood with his mouth open staring at Jordan, holding a rubbish bag.

  "Jordan? You're alive?" He stumbled over to Jordan.

  "Everyone thought..."

  "I'm ok. Where's my mum?" Jordan interrupted. "Where have you been?" He looked confused.

  "With a friend... I got caught up in something but it’s sorted now." His neighbor looked to the floor, then back to Jordan with sorrow in his eyes.

  "I don't know if I should be the one telling you this. But with your sister being missing, and possibly dead, your mother..."

  "She is not dead, she ran away that all...” Jordan interrupted again.

  The man cleared his throat.

  "Well, with all that's gone on, your mum thought something had happened to you." Jordan raised his eyebrows. Get to the point, he thought.

  "She committed suicide yesterday. She went down to a nearby field and...” the man said with tears in his eyes.

  "I'm so sorry. Is there anyone I can call?" Jordan couldn't listen anymore, he turned and ran. He felt his blood boil, the rage in the pit of his stomach flare up. The adrenaline pumped through his body as he ran to the train station.

  He looked to the boards and saw that the next train to Edinburgh didn't leave for another half an hour. He looked around and saw the burger stall, his stomach growled. He breathed in the smell of the cooked meat mixed with onions and stood practically drooling.

  "You ok son?" A woman around forty years old stood next to him with a small carry on in her hand.

  "Yeah I'm ok." She looked at him pitifully.

  "Are you sure, it’s just you're wet and muddy." He took a step back and looked down at his dirty jeans.

  "It’s been a pretty rough day, I am ok though. Thanks anyway." He turned and looked back to the board. She didn't look convinced.

  "Here."

  She placed a five pound note in his hand. She walked off to the other side of the platform. He looked down to the money. Great, people think I'm homeless now, he thought. Still he was hungry and walked over to the burger stall.

  "One cheese burger with chips please." Jordan said huskily.

  "Yup." The man said abruptly and began preparing his food. He took Jordan's money and gave him the food. Jordan sat on an empty bench and bit into the burger, he hadn't realized how hungry he was until now. He felt like he could eat a ten course meal.

  The burger and chips was gone, he scraped the cheese off the bottom of the wrapper with his finger and ate it. He heard the announcement of the train to Edinburgh echo through the station. He stood up, amongst fifty or so other people. The train stopped and Jordan stepped onto the carriage.

  He took a seat at the back, near the toilets. He couldn't risk getting caught without a ticket. He felt the train begin to move and watched the platforms disappear. He sat back into the chair and closed his eyes.

  chapter twenty four

  He opened his eyes just in time; he saw the ticket man enter his carriage.

  He got up and crept into the toilet. He let out a sigh of relief and looked in the small mirror above the sink. He was unrecognizable, he has dark circles under his eyes, and they were bloodshot too.

  He had dried mud on his eyebrow and cheek, and his clothes were filthy. He turned on the tap and washed off the mud, wet his hair and rubbed his eyes. He washed his arms and hands best he could. He looked to his clothes and knew there was no hope.

  He heard the announcement that they were only one stop away from Edinburgh so sat tight. He buried his face in his hands, he felt numb. He thought about his mum, his sweet yet scatty mum.

  If it weren’t for Elizabeth, she would still be alive. He wouldn't have gone missing. He ground his teeth and clenched his fists.

  The train had already stopped once; he knew they were only minutes away. The problem was he had no idea where to start looking for her.

  The train halted to a stop, and Jordan jumped off and headed for the exit. He pushed through the rushed crowd. He looked outside and saw a massive fountain. He decided to turn left, guess it was instinct.

  He walked the streets for hours, trying to spot her. His feet and back ached. He felt sick and tired, his eyes strained. He sat on a bench and sighed. He rested his head back and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of people’s murmurs and the brisk wind. Abbelonna walked down the street towards the small group of shops.

  She needed to buy some ingredients for her potion. People shot her strange looks. She was used to it. She wore a black corset with a silver medallion. A knee length tight black skirt and ripped stockings.

  A cut in black leather jacket and laced up ankle boots. She spotted Jordan on the bench, at first glimpse he looked like a homeless man, but she felt something coming from him, a powerful magic. She walked over and stood over him.

  "Wake up." She whispered his eyes flew open, and he stared at her confused.

  "What are you?" His eyes widened. He looked around scared, he thought she was crazy.

  "A human?" He said confused.

  "Do not lie to me. I can feel your power radiate from you." He perked up.

  "Are you a vampire?" His question sounded childish the moment it left his lips.

  "A witch." She looked at him curiously.

  "I'm guessing you are not a vampire, as you would not look as handsome if you were one." Was she flirting with him? He wondered.

  "You're a warlock. I can tell by the gormless look on your face that you’re an untrained one." She stared at him intently.

  He knew he couldn't tell her he had some of the Limnades powers; he was told not to say anything.

  "Yeah, I have never really used my powers." He lied.

  "Umm, look, I am looking for a woman. She is called Elizabeth. She is a vampire." He whispered, as people hurried past, looking at the strange pair on the bench.

  "Ha. I know who she is, and she isn't a full vampire. Either way she isn't anymore. My master tried doing a ritual on her, she ran." Abbelonna smirked.

  "Do you know where she ran too?" He said a bit too loud.

  "No. I guess you are in love with her, just like everyone else." She said sourly.

  "No. I actually want to kill her." He said honestly; he could tell she didn't like Elizabeth anyway. He hated it, but knew it was probably her who had used the powers; he would have no choice but to kill her. He loved her; it hurt so much more knowing that. If she hadn’t betrayed him, he would never have hurt her. Abbelonna smiled cruelly.

  “I can help you find her. I can also help you with your powers. Come with me." She demanded. He jumped up and walked with her.

  "I'm Abbelonna by the way." She said staring ahead.

  "Jordan." He mumbled.

  "What did she do to you, to make you want to kill her?" He sniggered.

  "What didn't she do would be a better question." Abbelonna dropped it upon seeing the rage etched on his face. They reached the mansion; he looked at in awe. She looked amused at his expression.

  "Nice isn't it? 17th century." Jordan nodded. They walked through the gates to the front door. In the hall, there were around ten people stood around. "He is with me. Untrained warlock." She said answering their unspoken question. "Come." She said sternly to Jordan. He followed her to a small door. The men and woman eyed him up and down, looking suspicious. Could they feel the Limnades powers too? He wondered. She turned and pulled out an old brown book. She placed it on the table making it shudder.

  "My grimoire." Jordan nodded.

  "Let’s get you cleaned up." She traced her finger along some pages; the words were handwritten in black ink.

  "Aha."

  She moved her hands up to Jordan's chest. He took a step back looking worried. She took a deep breath. He watched the dirty disappear off his clothes. It was as if he had just pulled them on from the dryer.

  "Thanks." He said in awe.

  "I have spe
lls in here that even Lorcan doesn't know of." She smiled mischievously.

  It reminded him of Elizabeth.

  "Like this one." She pointed to a certain spell then grabbed a glass bowl from the small cupboard and placed it on the table.

  In it, she dropped some leaves from a glass jar on the side. She lit two candles and looked into the bowl.

  "What are you doing?" He was genuinely interested.

  "Finding Elizabeth." Jordan nodded.

  "You need something of hers to do that though." He was glad he knew something.

  "No, we don't. That's other creatures with lesser magical abilities." She said making him feel stupid again. She called out Elizabeth's name. Her last name was Bell. He didn't know that. Abbelonna pictured Elizabeth in her mind, and she appeared. Abbelonna stepped back almost dropping the bowl.

  "She's dead Jordan. Used in some ritual." She looked shocked but pleased.

  "Dead?"

  Jordan turned around and saw the voice belonged to the same man who was at the lake that night.

  "Ahh Jordan, I didn't expect to see you... well ever again."

  He said pushing him aside.

  "You know him?"

  Abbelonna looked to Jordan.

  "Yes." Jordan said through his teeth. Lorcan placed his hands on the bowl and spoke her name. They watched him silently for a few seconds. Lorcan let out a rigorous scream and shattered the bowl.

  “Why didn’t you let me use this spell before?”

  He looked over to Abbelonna who cowered against the wall.

  “She is dead. Being used in a ritual of resurrection, we don’t have long. Come on.” He stormed out the room. Jordan ran after him.

  “Why should I help her, after what you both did to me?” Lorcan turned and sighed.

  “She tried to save you after. I stopped her, ok.” He said aggravated. Jordan looked at him and could tell he was being honest. He still hated her, but didn’t want her to die. Lorcan walked to the door.

  “Who used the Limnades powers?” Jordan asked.

  “Me.” Lorcan said as he stormed out onto the driveway.

  “Why?” Lorcan said suspiciously.

  “Just curious.” He said as he hurried after Lorcan. Jordan knew he would have to kill him, but would wait until he saved Elizabeth. He felt glad that it wasn’t Elizabeth. Once she is saved, he would kill Lorcan and leave here, without Elizabeth. He would try and make a new life for himself, once he knew she was safe. He hated himself for loving her, and had no idea why he felt so strongly about her.

  Abbelonna appeared beside Jordan panting heavily, her boots covered in dust.

  “Great, let’s go save her.” She said with sarcasm. Jordan sighed, and she rolled her eyes.

  “Pretty Elizabeth always gets what she wants.” She said jealously.

  Jordan walked ahead of her. The sun began to set, and Lorcan was storming ahead of them.

  “Come on.” He shouted.

  He had seen this dark magic before, he knew he could save her, providing they made it on time. They reached the house and Lorcan stopped and gasped. He thought he had recognized it in the spell.

  “Selena?” He said in barley a whisper.

  Lorcan and Abbelonna looked to each other and shrugged. He walked in and looked to the pictures in disbelief, a dazed look in his eyes.

  “Lorcan.” Jordan panicked.

  “Yes.” Lorcan shook his head and ran to the garden; they could hear the chanting echo through the house.

  “Wait there,” Lorcan shouted to Abbelonna. She huffed and leaned against the door frame.

  “Brilliant.” She mumbled under her breath.

  chapter twenty five

  Lorcan ran into the garden. Jordan looked briefly around their living room when he spotted something that made him stop dead.

  A pink phone, it was unmistakably Chloe's, with the two scratches and the heart sticker on the back of it. He walked over and picked it up.

  Flipping it open the picture of Jordan, his mum and Chloe confirmed his fears. He scrolled through her messages and saw that his had been read. They had stopped being read two days ago. Panicked he ran into the garden where Lorcan was in deep conversation with Audrey and Clive.

  "So she is dead." Lorcan said sorrowfully. Audrey broke into a flood of tears.

  "I didn't want to do this." She looked over to Elizabeth's body.

  "She lost it though. She was dabbling in black magic; she did some ritual and we found her dead… on her bedroom floor. There were strange markings in chalk on her carpet." Audrey trailed off.

  "Either way." Clive said finishing the story. "We picked up that book thing she had that was full of magic."

  "A grimoire." Lorcan said in disbelief.

  "Yes, and we found a ritual, one that can bring someone back to life. But you could only use it if you were a witch. So we set off; we tried to find you but when we went to your house, they said you were in Cumbria." Lorcan looked to the floor.

  "We found another witch, one who helped us. She said that Selena is trapped on the other side, as a wraith. Of course, we didn't know what that meant but then she started talking about a dark side. We asked her what she meant; she said it’s what we would know as… hell. Then it became pretty obvious. She said if we kill ten women, around Selenas age, with similar appearances, well Selena would come back." Audrey cut in.

  "We did consider it, we have never killed anyone, but it’s our baby." Audrey said tearfully.

  "So we killed ten girls, the last being this one." He pointed to Elizabeth. "We got ten of their things, mainly jewelry and began the ritual. Lorcan, she loved you. Help her." He pleaded. Lorcan looked to Elizabeth then to Jordan. Jordan stood with his mouth open.

  "The girl who owned this phone, you killed her didn't you." He said as tears flooded down his face. "Yes." The woman wept. Jordan began to sob.

  "Jordan, that's not Elizabeth's phone..."Lorcan said confused.

  “It’s my sisters." Jordan said with disbelief.

  He knew that only one could be brought back from this ritual. Audrey and Clive planned on bringing back Selena, Lorcan wanted Elizabeth back, and Selena.

  Jordan wanted Elizabeth and his sister. He couldn't shake the sickness he felt, he knew he had to choose, and quickly. If not, they would all be gone. Everyone looked to Lorcan for answers.

  He decided his love for Elizabeth overwhelmed his love for Selena and with deep remorse he cast a spell on Audrey and Clive. They dropped to the floor gasping for air, but only water spilled from their mouths. He watched as they struggled for life, their eyes red. They were in pain, and lots of it. Lorcan slit their throats, ending it quickly.

  "Lorcan?" Jordan stared at him, waiting for an answer.

  "My sister?"

  "Yes, of course. Umm, go back to the mansion, I will hold off the ritual. Get me my grimoire; we can bring back the other girls. Please hurry." Lorcan lied.

  Jordan believed the sincerity upon his face and ran out the house, shoving his way past Abbelonna. Lorcan stood, now alone. He looked to the dead couple and closed his eyes.

  "You just gave me the hardest decision I have ever had to make." He said, tears brimming at his eyes. He sighed and turned to Elizabeth, placing his hands on hers. They were as cold as ice and rock solid.

  He looked at her lifeless face and wept. If he hadn't turned her back into a human, she wouldn't have died. Selena would have been brought back.

  He rubbed his eyes and began to work. He had little time. Her wounds began to heal. Her body became limp as he enchanted words in the darkness. Her cheeks flooded red; her skin became warm.

  She took a breath and opened her eyes briefly before closing them again. Relief flooded over him; she was alive.

  Suddenly fires had begun around the garden, they were bodies. He hadn't spotted them before. He ran over to them and watched the fire engulf the women, as they were banished to the dark side forever. He saw Selenas eyes before she became dust.

  He closed his hands o
ver his mouth and wept profusely. The loss punctured his heart, making him unable to breathe properly.

  He fell to his knees and wailed loudly. Jordan ran through the door wide eyed.

  "Where is Chloe?" He said looking down to the now breathing Elizabeth. Lorcan couldn't talk; he sniffed and coughed as he found it harder to breath.

  "No... No." Jordan looked to the piles of ash. Abbelonna ran in.

  "Sorry, I know you told me to wait but I heard screaming and...Oh." She looked at Elizabeth sourly, but then Lorcan who was now wailing on his knees.

  Jordan stood motionless, staring venomously to Lorcan.

  "What happened?" Abbelonna said taking a step back.

  Lorcan slowly got to his feet and dusted himself off. He walked over to the pile of ash where Selenas body was.

  "Get me a jar." He shouted to Abbelonna. She ran into the kitchen and saw a jug.

  "Here, it’s all I can find." She passed it to him, and he swept her ashes into it.

  "YOU DIDNT BRING BACK CHLOE!" Jordan shouted, finding his voice.

  "Sorry... only one could have survived. I am sorry about your sister." He said sympathetically.

  "Jordan looked down to the ashes and wept. Abbelonna put her hand on Jordan's shoulder and led him to the ashes.

  "Here." She said softly.

  She held his hand and moves hers over the different piles until one began to glisten.

  "These are your sister’s ashes." She said sympathetically. He looked at them and breathed deeply, holding his hands over his mouth. Abbelonna appeared next to him again with an empty sugar jar.

  "Here," she passed it to him and he nodded to her. She took a step back and walked over to Lorcan.

  "We need to leave." Lorcan nodded and stood up. Jordan swept up Chloe's ashes, trying not to vomit. Abbelonna and Jordan walked out the house together. Lorcan picked up Elizabeth and carried her to the door. He looked up to a picture of Selena hanging on the wall and placed down the jug of her ashes on the side table.

  "I am so sorry Selena." He whispered.

  chapter twenty six

  London 1667