Betrayed: Dark beginnings

by Rebecca Weeks

  They had lived under cover in the woman's house for several months without being caught, unless you count the woman who came knocking on the door looking for her friend, well they killed her, no harm done.

  Elizabeth often wandered from the house to follow her sister and Richard. She watched them scornfully as the held hands and arranged wedding plans. She watched with envy as he kissed her on the lips gently, as if she was the most important person in the world.

  The rage boiled inside of her. Her instinct to kill them was overwhelming but was quickly silenced by Matthias and his warnings. She shouldn't have kept watching them, Matthias told her this often but she couldn't help it.

  It was as if she needed more proof of her sister’s betrayal, like she didn't want to believe it. She would often come back and tell Matthias that it could be another Richard who looks similar to the description she was given. He just looked at her pitifully every time, making her feel small and childish.

  It wasn't stupid of her though, no one wants to accept the truth of your family betraying you. It’s hurtful and heart-breaking.

  When she was forced with the reality of what had happened, she often materialized scenes in her head of the revenge against her sister and Richard. Her sisters face as she ripped out Richards’s heart and threw it into the fire.

  The dreams kept her insidious instincts at bay. She got sick and tired of being hidden behind the doors, only to come out at night and even then she had to walk around in disguise.

  She wanted her freedom back and Matthias promised her they would leave soon. The thing is, he had been promising her that for months.

  She watched Matthias as he sat at his desk, his hand on his head. He looked frustrated as he stared at the papers sprawled across the desk.

  "Do you want go out somewhere?" Elizabeth said brightly.

  "I don’t know why you keep asking, you know what the answer is going to be." He didn't take his stare off the papers.

  "Yes?" Elizabeth said sarcastically.

  He looked up to her and shook his head.

  "Not now Elizabeth." He looked back down to the papers.

  She stood up and stormed out of the room. She looked up the stairs and heard footsteps behind her.

  "I will get us out of here." She turned and looked at him sourly.

  "When? You have been saying this for months." She pursed her lips.

  "I was actually arranging for a horse and carriage to pick us up next week. It was going to be a surprise."

  "Oh." She looked to the floor. Matthias placed his hand on her waist and pulled her closer to him. She stared into his eyes then lowered her gaze.

  She still felt embarrassed from kissing him last time. He kissed her briefly on her forehead and walked away.

  She held her breath for a moment then swept up the stairs. She sat in her favorite spot by the window. She looked out hazily to the street. She sighed and rested her head against the window. She sat lost in thought about Matthias.

  She didn't like him most of the time, but when he was in close proximity to her she felt like jumping on him, kissing him, running her hand through his blonde locks.

  Her breathes quickened as she saucily thought of them together. She felt a bit stupid; he didn't like her, and she could see that. If he did, he would have done something about it by now. She turned and saw Matthias in the doorway. She would have blushed if she could. She turned her head away from him feeling embarrassed about the thought she just had.

  It wasn't as if he knew it, but she felt dirty. She wasn't the type of woman to think like this, ever. He sat next to her and looked out the window. She felt his arm rub against hers, sending shivers down her back. He turned to look at her; she turned her head the same time, and their mouths were only centimeters apart. She felt his hot breath tickle at her lips and she didn’t mean to but she leant in to kiss him.

  He pulled away and turned back to the window. Her eyes filled with tears, and she stood up.

  "I have to ask." She said shaking. "If you are in love with me, it’s just one minute you act as you do, then you are so cold and distant." She couldn't believe the words had escaped her lips, he looked at her shocked.

  He stood up and faced her, looking at her intently. He grabbed her and pulled her against him. For a moment, everything stopped. She could hear nothing, see nothing but him. He leant in and kissed her; she grabbed his back and pressed herself against him.

  His tongue darted into her mouth, they didn't let go of each other. He pulled away slightly.

  "Does that answer your question?" He breathed.

  "Yes," she groaned.

  chapter twenty seven

  Edinburgh –present day

  Lorcan placed Elizabeth onto his bed. She looked so peaceful, so different to when she was awake. She looked genuinely content, something he had never seen in her.

  Bending down, he kissed her lips softly. She did not stir. He didn't want to disturb her. He knew she was safe. He had finished the ritual tying her to him.

  He knew when she would awake she would only want and love him. He walked out of the men, quietly closing the door behind him. He nodded to two of his men as they stood guard by the door.

  "Remember, if she awakes, let her out. Let her roam around the house. Just keep an eye on her." The men nodded, and Lorcan walked down the stairs. He ordered three of his men to get a car ready.

  He was going back to Cumbria. He needed another Limnade, he wanted to give her immortality so they could live together, forever, but without the blood sucking he found so repulsive.

  He didn't want to leave her, but knew he was the only one with another power to grab a Limnade, especially now they were more cautious after what had happened last time. He knew she would be safe here and got into the car.

  As they travelled out the drive, tears blurred his vision; he still couldn't stop thinking about Selena. He remembered back to when they first met. How he was sat in the garden after he had an argument with his friend, Marco.

  Everyone was more powerful than him; he hated it. He never had strong powers. He was not sure why but always felt like the runt of the coven. Abbelonna was his only friend, well and Marco, who was no longer his friend.

  He saw a woman walking through the trees, she had long dark flowing hair, it was straight and shiny. Her eyes were a dark brown too, the same colour as her hair. She was fairly slim, perhaps a tiny bit chubby, but nothing too noticeable.

  She wore a pretty flowing orange dress and lace dolly shoes. She looked so pretty and full of life. He was instantly drawn to her.

  "LORCAN!" Abbelonna shouted; he had almost crashed into the gates and pressed his foot down onto his brake hard.

  "You wouldn't answer." She said wide eyed.

  "Sorry." He mumbled.

  "You're not still upset over Selena are you?" He didn't say anything and she rolled her eyes.

  "You got what you wanted didn't you?" He shook his head.

  "I wish." He said tearfully. She sighed and shook her head.

  "You are not ok to drive. Get out, Ill drive." She said sternly. Lorcan opened his door. Abbelonna stepped out.

  Lorcan quickly slammed the door and sped off.

  "LORCAN!" She screamed after him, but he was gone, leaving only a trail of dust behind him. He had to see if there was any way to bring her back.

  He wasn't thinking straight that night; after all she loved him even when he was nothing. She looked past all that and cared for him anyway.

  She was loyal to him. She had broken up with him, yes, but only after she began to lose her mind. He had turned his back on her; he should have fought to stay with her, to make her see sense, but instead wallowed in self-pity.

  Jordan watched from afar and waited for a few minutes to make sure he would not return. He snuck into the house and sped into a small empty room. He could hear Abbelonna's voice from outside; he wanted to talk to her, but knew it best to wait until after he saw Elizabeth.

  He hated that his sister was gone
. He knew nothing could fill the black void in his heart but Elizabeth was all he had left. He had to get her away from him.

  Despite what she had done, he still cared about her greatly. He couldn't leave her behind, and he knew she loved him, if she didn't she wouldn't have tried to save him that night.

  He crept up the stairs keeping out of sight. He reached the top and slid himself in-between two walls. He could see that there were two men guarding a room. He guessed that was hers. He waited patiently for what felt like hours, hoping they would get tired and walk off momentarily.

  He waited to seize his chance, but they still stood there, like robots. His back ached, and his eyes hurt. After three and a half hours of waiting Jordan heard the door open. He peered around the corner to see Elizabeth gliding gracefully down the stairs.

  The men followed her.

  "Do not follow me...” Elizabeth’s voice echoed through the halls.

  "We have been given orders to..."

  "I don’t care; I am in charge here, as well. You will leave me be.” The men looked alarmed and watched her walk away. She headed to the gardens and breathed in the smell of the freshly cut grass. Jordan slid himself out from in-between the walls and walked down the stairs, the men had left and luckily there was no one around.

  He heard voices from behind the door and ran into a narrow corridor. His heart was racing, his palms sweaty. He walked out the door into the garden.

  "You've got to be kidding." He mumbled. The entire garden was like a maze. He took the first turning, but there was no one there, only two benches, a light and a small flowerbed surrounded by hedges.

  He took the next turning to find a rose garden, it was extremely beautiful but Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen. He walked out the opening into another; that's when he saw her.

  "Elizabeth." He smiled and ran towards her. She turned around and looked at him confused.

  "Jordan?" She looked happy to see him, but at the same time she didn't.

  "I've missed you," he held on to her, tears in his eyes. She pushed him away and looked to the pond.

  "Sorry, but I'm with Lorcan."

  "But..." "I love him...” She continued every word broke his heart. He turned and stormed off. He felt lied to, naive, stupid and angry. He stormed off towards the trees; he couldn't believe this. He had given up everything for her.

  His head was swimming; he was a normal guy with a family and friends. He was happy, then he met Elizabeth, and he thought his world couldn't get any brighter. Then in a blink of an eye, he was cursed to die, he found out Elizabeth didn't love him, his mum and sister were dead.

  His dad didn't care, and now he had no one, nothing left. He knew he had to kill Lorcan by the net full moon, if not he would die. He was scared and felt so alone.

  The only good thing was Abbelonna; she was on his side. Well sort of. She thinks Jordan wants to take Elizabeth and wants to help him. What she doesn't know is that he plans on killing Lorcan.

  "Jordan." He heard Abbelonna's voice; he turned and saw her running towards him. "Jordan..." She said breathlessly. "I had to come and find you. Look Lorcan did a spell. He has made Elizabeth think that she is in love with him. She is not...” He hugged Abbelonna.

  "Thank you. I swear I was just about to lose it." She smiled and hugged him tightly.

  "Jordan we need to do something about it. If we can tie Lorcan down and undo the spell on Elizabeth, then it will work out. Were both doing this out of love, we need to stick together." He agreed.

  chapter twenty eight

  Jordan peered through the small gap in the bushes. He stared longingly at Elizabeth as she sat on the bench writing a letter, her hair shone in the sunlight, her eyes as beautiful as ever before.

  He had been there for days. He couldn't sleep inside as Lorcan had taken a disliking to him being around Abbelonna for some reason. He could go to other family who would give him a place to live, but he wanted to stay here.

  He didn't have long to kill Lorcan. He found it curious to why they had given him until the next full moon, it seemed a bit predictable. He had always thought it was always a full moon, pretty much, just the other bit of it was cast by a shadow, and then again he could be wrong. He thought about this, and many other unimportant things.

  He had no room left to think about Lorcan, Elizabeth, or Chloe. He was sick of it all, he missed being at college; he missed his friends, his life. Abbelonna didn't fully understand why Jordan and

  Lorcan hated each other so much. It was as if they were sworn enemies in some bad movie; both talking about how much they hated each other but doing nothing about it.

  What Abbelonna didn't understand was the way Jordan looked at the whole situation. His mum was dead, so what Chloe, Elizabeth no longer thinks she is in love with him, he is homeless.

  Lorcan is behind each of these, in Jordan's mind anyway. If Lorcan hadn't put that shield up, preventing Elizabeth from saving him, he would not have been taken by the Limnades. He would have gone home. His mum would not have killed herself. And Chloe, he saved Elizabeth instead, he didn't even try and think of a way to save the others. He had lost everything, and the way Jordan looked at it is Lorcan was behind him losing everything.

  Everyone else knew that wasn't entirely true, to be fair most of it was down to Elizabeth. Jordan never let that thought creep into his mind; he cared too much about her to let his own thoughts poison him against her. After all she was all he had left to fight for.

  Abbelonna appeared into the clearing with a small carrier bag. She visited Jordan as much as she could. She brought him bread, water, crisps, soap and a small towel. She placed the bag on the floor and sat down. Jordan rummaged through the bag and pulled out a packet of crisps. He scoffed them quickly then drank some water.

  "Thanks." He muttered.

  She shot him a kind smile.

  "We need to talk." Jordan said seriously. Abbelonna lowered her gaze to the broken shelter that Jordan was sleeping in.

  "When are we going through with this plan?" He said impatiently.

  "Look, I need to get Lorcan on his own. It’s quite difficult; he always has someone with him." She said biting her lip. Jordan ground his teeth and looked wild eyed through the gap to Elizabeth. If he didn't kill Lorcan he would be dead soon.

  “You need to hurry up." He said quickly.

  "I am doing my best." She said defensively. She was worried about Jordan. He was not usually so ill-tempered; this place was taking its toll on him.

  "We can do this, it will work ok." She said comforting him. He had become quite find of Abbelonna, she was a bit odd and sour but she was more mature than anyone he had ever met. She was also compassionate and loyal.

  "Do you want to stay at the mansion tonight?" He looked up to her and raised an eyebrow.

  "Is that a joke?" He guffawed.

  "No, I can sneak you in. It will only be for a couple of nights anyway." She looked pitifully at his shelter. He wanted to say no as he couldn't risk getting caught, but the promise of warmth and a bed sounded too good to pass up.

  "Please. Thank you Abbelonna." He smiled and leant against the tree.

  She threw him a cute smile and laid next to him, staring into the bright sky.

  chapter twenty nine

  Lorcan pulled up by the lake. He could see the dents in the bed from the last time he was there.

  He stepped out and looked over the water disdainfully. The cold breeze stabbed at his neck, a shiver shot down his spine. He put up his hood and took a deep breath. He heard the others step out on to the mud. He wondered why he was doing this.

  He remembered back to how Elizabeth tried to save Jordan, he could still envision her running out through the trees as he pleaded with her, holding the Limnade in his arms. He felt the rage bubble inside him; she loved Jordan, and he could see that. She only thinks she loves him now because of magic, not through actual love.

  What did Jordan have that he does not? What could Jordan give her that he couldn’t? Questions sw
armed around his head, blinded with hate for Jordan, when it was, in fact, Elizabeth who had hurt him.

  Lost in thought he looked into the distance lazily. The others were down by the lake looking to Lorcan confused. He saw the water’s surface ripple and then a bright yellow tail. He threw them a devilish smile and strutted to the water’s edge.

  “I wish to speak to you.” He wasn’t sure why he said that; they couldn’t hear him, they were under the water.

  Feeling foolish, he treaded carefully into the cold water. The ground disappeared beneath his feet and soon enough he was floating. The others murmured in the distance keeping away from the water.

  He had come prepared and cast himself with a flotation spell, one so he could not be dragged under. He silently thanked the witch who taught him the spell as he felt movement beneath him. A hand wrapped itself around his ankle and tugged hard; he moved slightly but did not go under.

  He felt his shoe come off as she tugged aggressively. He ripped his leg from her hand and strained his eyes, trying to see beneath. The Limnade poked her head above the surface and looked at Lorcan wide eyed.

  She went to swim away, but he grabbed her arm. She tried to pull away, she flapped her tail panicked and hissed.

  “HELP ME!” Lorcan shouted to the others.

  They waded their way over to him. One stopped on the sight of another Limnade who looked at Lorcan with his piercing yellow eyes. Lorcan pulled at the woman Limnade tightening his grip.

  One of the witches appeared next to him and pulled at her hand. The male shot a hex at Lorcan, making blood gush from his nose.

  “Hold on to her.” He said breathlessly and put a shield around them.

  The others got there and pulled the oversized Limnade towards the edge. She screeched loudly, her sound deafening most around her, her tail hit the water’s surface splashing them all.

  They dragged her on to the bank and looked around. He looked to the dying Limnade as she took her last breath. He glanced back to the lake as the other Limnades looked at him murderously, their eyes turning a deep red. He shuddered and turned back to his range rover.