by Diane Nortje
I stare at her, I’m not sure how she knows this. Everyone thinks I’m a small boutique owner, no one knows about the life I lived before the fog. Or do they? Evelyn seems to know. How did the fog not affect her? So many questions, with so many un answered. That now leads me to think, does Jacin know who I was before? He couldn’t find me then, so hopefully not. I need to call Ariana, and soon. If she remembers, then I can somehow get my old life back.
“Okay, where will I find it?” I ask Evelyn.
“In a book of water myths. Its glamoured so only the few that know of it can find it. You cannot remove it. Never remove it. Memorize it and leave it.”
“If you know so much about it, why don’t you just tell me what it says?”
“No, I cannot interfere. I must go. They are coming. Nothing is as it seems Natalie. Trust no one.” Evelyn whispers out to me in a rush.
Before I can say anything back, the spot that was occupied a second before is vacant. I can’t help but stare at it. How does this keep happening?
I turn back to the box I’m still holding, still trying to process the information she has given me. It wasn’t much. But I do trust her. She was there, she hid me from him the best she could. It was my fault that he eventually found me. Even if his plan is not to kill me now, it could change. I need to get there before he does. I need to talk to Ariana.
“Are you done yet?” Tray says to me scaring the shit out of me. I didn’t even hear him coming.
He just raises an eyebrow at my little outburst and looks about the supermarket. Does he know I was talking with someone here? It’s not possible. But then again, I’ve seen the impossible.
“Yea, sure. Let me just pay for these, and we can be on our way.” I say to him, trying to get my nerves under control.
~ ~ ~
After the awkward trip home, I basically march all the way to my allocated room. Evelyn’s whispers ringing in my head about finding this dam prophecy and how I had to get to it before Jacin did. How will I even know when he plans to go in and get it. I saw all of them looking at the plans for the library which only took them a few minutes to obtain. But he must be smarter than just thinking he can walk right in there and no one will notice. Maybe the public library but not the secure coven library.
My thoughts are disturbed by my phone ringing. I check the caller ID. Faith. Shit I forgot all about her messages and that I had to come up with an excuse for not coming in today or even the next few centuries the way Jacin is carrying on.
“Hello.” I say into the phone. Shit I need to come up with some sort of an excuse and soon.
“Hey sweetie, how are you feeling, I’m hoping it wasn’t alcohol poisoning you got.” Faith says to me over the phone. What?
“I’m not too sure.” I say back to her. I’m so confused right now I’m not sure what is going on.
“Well what did the doctor have to say? Or weren’t you able to see him yet?” Faith asks, she is sounding worried, I’m starting to worry. What is going on?
I feel him on the last moment before he grabs me. Jacin’s arm snakes around my waist and pulls me into him and holds me there. I should have felt him sooner, but I was far too distracted with my conversation with Faith to have noticed him. But I notice him now. God, he holds me against his hard body, and I can’t help myself from arching my back into him.
“Lie.” Jacin whispers into my ear.
I’m too distracted to understand what he is saying to me. I barely make out Faiths voice over the high I’m getting from being pulled against Jacin. I feel his free hand travel down the length of my body, and pulls me even closer to him, molding my body against his.
“Lie for me, little one.” Jacin whispers into my ear again. Shivers rack my body, bringing me out of the sex induced spell I was under.
I pull myself out of Jacin’s arms, not that my body wanted to me to do so, but my mind won this round. I turn to glare at him. I see him trying to hold back a laugh. He must love it, knowing he has this effect on me, I bet he has this effect on most women.
“Sorry, I was distracted for a moment, the doctor said it looks like I picked up a virus and should avoid contact with people for a couple days.” I lied to Faith, not the best one I could come up with, but it’s something. My eyes haven’t left Jacin, who is now prowling in front of me, waiting for me to get off the phone.
“Sounds serious, anything I can do? You are making me worry.” I hear her voice coming through, but I barely process what she is saying. I’m to absorbed by Jacin to do much else.
“Yes, there is, you can tell me about your night last night. Mine was so utterly boring.” I say to Faith, which got Jacin’s attention. Two can play this little game he has going on.
Faiths voice is drowned out by the look Jacin is giving me. Heat floods my system, and pools between my thighs, what I wouldn’t do to have him one more time. Last time was only a taste of what I imagine he could give me.
“He was good in bed too, which is always a bonus.” I hear faith say over the phone.
“Just good?” I reply to her, her definition of good and mine are two completely different comparisons, because basically I have nothing to go on.
“Okay, yea, he was fine, I guess. Nothing to go bonkers over.” Faith says to me.
I watch as Jacin moves towards me. He doesn’t walk like a normal person would. No, he glides over to me. So sure, of himself, that not even the air would dare trip him up. Cocky bastard. I start to back up from him, the look in his eyes tells me everything I need to know. Run while you still can. I know when I have pushed my luck to far, and once my back hits the wall, I’m trapped, and he has me right where he wants me.
“Oh, um Faith, let me call you back after a bit. I’m feeling a bit dizzy all of a sudden, I think I need to lay down for a bit.” I say into the phone.
I don’t even hear what Faith says to me next. Jacin leans into me, taking the phone away from my hand and ends the call with Faith. I should be mad, or at least frighten. I shouldn’t be feeling this way towards him. Not after how he acted the last two times when we were together like this, but he consumes my thoughts like they are his to take. He is slowly taking me, piece by piece, like I’m his to own. I can’t decide if he is putting out my fire within me, or if he is igniting a whole new one within me.
I watch him lean his body over my small frame, trapping me even more under his. God this man smells good. Why did he have to smell like this? Why does he have to have this effect on me? And why the hell can’t my body and mind work together as one. This traitorous body of mine has a plan of its own. It wants him, it craves him, it needs him.
“Any man that gives a woman just fine sex, should be ended and disposed of.” He whispers against my neck. “Would you let me fuck your tight pussy Natalie. Let me show you what is would be like to be fucked, hard. Would you submit to me, and let me make you mine?” Jacin says again, while grinding his erection into my stomach.
Right then, it is decided. He is igniting a new fire within me. I know I can’t let him win this game he is playing. I can’t lose myself to him. I won’t. I can’t. And this bitch of a body must just get on board with it.
I move my hands up towards his chest and shove him away. “No.” I whisper back to him. “Now get out, I’m busy and I don’t have time for your games you are playing” I bite out at him after finding my voice.
“Is that so?” Jacin asks me as he backs away from me some more.
“Yes, now leave.” I say with more force. But who was I kidding? I was trying to convince myself more than anything else.
With that, I watch as he walks away from me and out of my room. I guess this is how an addict must feel when they are denied by their dealer. Fucking broken. But I can’t allow this to be anything more than what it is. He isn’t my prince charming, and he sure as hell isn’t wearing shinning fucking armor.
~Jacin~
I could smell her need. Intoxicating. If she had let me, I would have fucked her right there, right up agains
t the wall. But she pushed me away, she still thinks this is a game to me. It was, when it was her death I was playing with. But now, now it’s not. I want her, but I can’t give her this life without her knowing what kind of life I can give. So, I left.
I return to the men that have now moved everything into my office. I heard her phone ring, I hadn’t let her know I had come up with an excuse for her not to be at work for the next few weeks. But she managed to make one up on her own. As long as she doesn’t leave here, I can’t protect her out there if I don’t know what she is doing.
I just have to keep telling myself that’s why I don’t want her to leave, why I moved her into my house against her wishes. It was to keep her protected. If anything would have to happen to her, I’m not sure I would remain in control, I would gladly release him, raise the dead, and end this fucking world. I would just move onto the next, that’s if the next world isn’t so unlucky as this one. Without her, I now realize, there is no point.
“What else have we got?” I ask the men as I walk into my office.
“We got hold of Bishop, unfortunately he is not available for the next few days, he does apologize, but once he is done, he will meet you at the club.” Weyland says to me.
“Fine, where has Nate gone?” I ask Dax. They seem to be on good terms with one another.
“He said he is going back down, before someone starts questioning where he has gone.”
“Okay. So, do we have a plan to disable the magic that surrounds the library?” I ask them. By now they better have something.
“Bishop will be able to, no problem. We can’t, it will leave a trace, at least with Bishop, they won’t be able to trace it if they try too.” Dax says to me.
“Do we have an idea where it is hidden in the library? Any clues in the old texts you have be studying Weyland?” I ask, he must know have read something. I’m sure he has read an entire library by now.
“Some, but I would rather not say until I check on a few things.” Weyland says back to me.
“What about Natalie?” Dax asks me.
“What about her?”
“Can she not help us, maybe she knows something, something she thinks is irrelevant might actually help us find it.”
“No, you are to leave her out of this, we will deal with it. Only involve her when it only directly concerns her.”
“You think she won’t ask what is happening about it?”
“Even if she does, it doesn’t matter, when it concerns her, I will let her know. I have to leave for the day, let me know if anything comes up.”
With that, I leave Weyland and brother to themselves, I fade back to the hell I know so well. There are some things that need to be taken care of. Even if I could, I couldn’t leave this place to be run by another, they can’t control what I do. The only thing I can’t control is that damn woman.
~Natalie~
I overheard him, I followed him, like the addict I’m am for him. I want to say something to him, tell him to come back, don’t go, or to fuck off. Just something, anything. I don’t think he realized I was just behind him. I thought I was following him to the front room where I left them all. But he had moved into his office. And boy, did I hear what I needed to make a firm decision about getting the dam prophecy.
Now I’m pacing. I’m stalling, and I know I shouldn’t be. I don’t know what I think is going to happen. Nothing can happen. All that this call will confirm is that my life I know is over and this new reality is really all what I have left.
Dread fills my body at that thought. I think of all the things I managed to accomplish while I was on my own, the connections I made, the friends I made. Hell, even the damn little adventures I ended up on. It can’t just be a dream, a memory I only possess. But I need to know. I need my stuff, my equipment, hell and if I’m being honest with myself, I want my damn bank account back.
Even though the shop was always my dream, and it apparently gets me by every month, it’s not what I’m used to. It turns out, I had more than one talent, other than making potions, soaps and spells. One, me being able to get into all sorts of trouble and back out of it, and two, I was good at what I did. I was good at acquiring things, if that is what I can call it. And I miss it. The adrenalin, the excitement, the rush of it all.
Could this be another reason I want to do this on my own. Maybe prove to myself that it all wasn’t a dream, it was real, and all the things I remembered doing, I actually did and didn’t dream it up? Yeah, it is, if I’m being perfectly honest with myself.
I unlock my phone and scroll to my office number. I know it by heart, but it is comforting to know, that somehow it was still programmed into my phone. I press the call button and wait for the ringing tone. I don’t realize I’m holding my breath for Ariana to answer the phone.
I let a breath out when I hear the ringing tone come through on the phone. Now it all depends on who answers the phone.
“Natalie Bensons’ office, Ariana speaking, how can I help you?” Ariana says from the other side of the phone.
“God, Ari, it’s so good to hear your voice.” I say to her. I’m a little in shock. I honestly didn’t think that I would be hearing her answer the phone.
“Natalie! Where have you been? I know you on leave, but that doesn’t mean you have to turn your phone off. I needed you.” Ariana says back to me.
“Why? What happened?” I ask her. It’s odd that Ariana would say something like that.
“You are in demand, your appointments are fully booked, from the time you come back from leave, for the next four months.”
“What?” I say out of shock. I know I was in demand, but shit, I was never this busy.
“I know right? What the hell happened over there? And why did you turn off your phone?” Ari askes me.
“I never turned off my phone Ari. And about what happened, I’m not even sure I could even explain it to you, even if I tried.”
“Well whatever it was, you are now in demand.” Ari says back to me. She never asks me to explain when I can’t. She knows this world better than anyone, and she knows when to stay out of it.
“Well you going to have to upset them all. I’m not coming back anytime soon, until this mess has been sorted out. I need to bump my appointments up another month and then box up my stuff and overnight it to me. Sooner the better.”
“What? Oh okay, I’ll get right on it.” Ariana’s surprised voice coming through over the phone.
“Thanks, you are the best, I will text you the address to where you can send the stuff.” I reply to her, trying to avoid getting into too much detail over the phone.
“Whatever, you owe me a full week leave for this.”
“I do, you earned it, bye.”
“Bye.” Ari says back and hangs up the phone.
Chapter Fourteen
“Do I still think I can be free?” – Natalie
~Natalie~
By the time I’m brave enough to come out of my room, it’s the next day. I could say I slept peacefully, but can a person sleep peacefully knowing that their nightmare is in the same house as they are? Knowing he was just on the other side of the house, well that’s if he returned after he left, did not make my job of falling asleep any easier.
I make my way through the house to find Tray and the white-haired man talking in the kitchen with the other four men that had been with me yesterday. Clearly me going on my own today was out of the question, and honestly, I rather not waste my breath arguing with them.
“Ah, finally you are awake.” The white-haired man says to me.
“You know it’s only eight in the morning, it’s not like its midday or something.” I say back to him sarcastically.
“We are all early risers in this house, so basically it’s like our midday. I’m Weyland by the way.” He says to me while walking over to me and extending his hand.
“Weyland, great and the other guys?” I ask him, while shaking his hand.
“Lynx, Bus, Even and Haven.” He points
to them while saying their names, each of them raising their hand in a short greeting. “You met Tray yesterday. These men here are your guards, they will go with you everywhere you go, but mostly you will only see Tray, we don’t want to draw attention to you.” He says to me.
“Now you are worried about drawing attention.” I say to him while raising an eyebrow. Yesterday he didn’t give a rat’s ass if I was heard shouting for help.
“That was different.” He grins at me. Wow, another man in this damn house that has a panty dropper smile.
“Where is Jacin?” I ask him. I need to let him know I was going out, not ask. Just let him know.
“Well, he hasn’t come back yet, you need him for something?” Weyland asks me.
“No, just that I’m expecting some important stuff to be delivered today and that I need to go out for a bit today,” I say to him, while moving around the kitchen looking for some dam coffee.
“Where will that be?” Weyland asks me.
“Are all the men in this house so dam controlling?” I ask him back, hoping he will forget his question.
“No, only Jacin is like that. Its fine, just make sure your five guards go with you. I’m off, I must meet up with Jacin, I’m hoping you will behave, I have constant contact with the men here, so I will know if you get up to shit.” Weyland says to me with a wink.
“Fine, where’s the coffee?” I ask him before he leaves.
“End cupboard.” And with that he goes like Jacin did last night. I try not look at the spot for too long. I really need to figure out how the hell they do that. It would seriously come in handy and save some time.
“So, listen up, I don’t need you guys to babysit me. So, you guys can be on your merry way, I have something to do today and I don’t need you ratting me out to the caveman over there okay?” I say to the group of men, while walking to the end cupboard.
“And what will that be.” Haven I think says to me.