by Bo Reid
“And you? Who do you have?” she asks.
“No one, it’s why I get what it’s like. It’s why I know that it’s no way to really live your life, not when your life lasts as long as ours tends to.”
We sit in silence staring at one another, neither daring to move or to speak. I fight everything in my body that is urging me to go to her. To lift her into my arms and be the person she can finally trust. I want her secrets, and I want to give her mine. But I don’t do any of that, because she’s not ready, and neither am I. Because I can’t tell if me wanting her is a side effect of being high off her blood or if it’s because she’s meant to be mine. I stand from the couch, she watches my steady movements as I stalk towards her. I bend, planting a light kiss on her cheek before turning and walking towards the door.
“Let me know if you ever end up needing someone to trust.”
“Not going to happen, vampire. I’ve made it this far without someone, don’t think I’m going to start getting needy just because you’re sexy.”
I smirk, turning to look over my shoulder and see the expression on her face tells me she did not mean to say that. “You think I’m sexy?” I ask her.
She snorts. “No.”
“Sure you don’t.” I chuckle, pushing her door open and walking across her yard. Stopping at the barrier, I turn to see her standing in the doorway. “Is this thing going to shock me if I try to leave?” I call.
“It’s to keep beings out, not in. It’s a one-way door; you’re safe,” she calls back.
“I don’t think this town has ever been safe, and it’s definitely not since you stepped foot inside.”
I watch as her face curves into a smile as I pass through the barrier. I walk away from her, turning into my bat form and flying back to my home. Flying away from her, going to the last place I want to go to, my home. The place I have lived my whole life, and the place that feels less like a home every single day she is in this town.
Because she feels like home.
Tanda
There is something to be said about supernatural beings, about creatures that have myths and stories told of them. The stories are often mistold, twisted, and changed over time to suit whatever lesson needs to be learned.
If you don’t behave Santa won’t bring you presents.
If you don’t go to bed the Boogie Man is going to get you.
If you don’t eat your vegetables you won’t grow big and strong — okay, maybe that one holds a little truth.
My point is, every story you have ever been told. Every lie you have ever been fed stems from a very true tale, it’s just been twisted so many times it’s unrecognizable from its original form. I wonder; when this is all over, what will my story get twisted into?
When I was a little girl I would turn off my nightlight and lie awake in my bed. My eyes would adjust to the darkness — I didn’t realize at the time that it wasn’t normal to be able to read in the pitch black. I would whisper to the monster I was hoping lived under my bed, but nothing ever came. All I wanted was someone to talk to, something to be my friend. I just wanted someone who liked the darkness as much as I did, something that liked being awake at night too.
The monsters never came, so I became one instead.
Now I’m in a town surrounded by nothing but monsters, and I can’t help but wonder, if I was raised here would I have had my very own monster under my bed when I needed one? If I allow myself to accept a friend as dark as I am, will they stay by my side when things start to fall apart. When I have to become the evil that I do, will they stick around? Or will they too take a step back from me, will they fear me? They probably should, they don’t understand what I will need to become. What we all will need to become in order to end this once and for all. “You’re not going to tell them, are you?” Daniel asks, as I step back inside the cabin. I slump against my front door, scanning the room until my eyes land on him.
“What am I supposed to tell them?” I ask.
“The truth would be a good start; you’d get farther that way,” Johnathan says.
“Right, because that worked so well for my parents?” I bite out.
“You are not your parents, and they are not theirs,” Mel says. I really hate feeling like I’m being ganged up on right now.
“I had a plan,” I sigh. “I had it all worked out, I would come in. Fuck some shit up and then fix it before anyone realized I was the one that did it in the first place. I would win over the townspeople, all while pulling their strings like the Wizard of fucking Oz behind the curtain. Then the cycle would start all over again, just like it did all those years ago. They would be forced to help me, to work with me. But nothing is going right,” I sigh. “Nothing.”
“Maybe you’re not meant to trick them into this, maybe you’re just meant to ask for their help honestly. You don’t know what they would do if they knew,” Daniel says.
“What am I supposed to say to them? Hey guys, I know you don’t know me, and I’ve caused a few little issues in the last week. By the way, Javaraya, I’ve stolen some souls; I might give them back though. Arius, I knew my blood would drug you and that’s why I taunted you. Oh, and just so you know, we have to go to battle to save the fucking world, but we can’t because we all need to bond. But by bond what I really mean is you all need to fall in love with me, and I need to fall in love with you guys. I know we just met but hey, fate and prophecy kinda shit. If it’s not true fucking love like some fairytale magic, then all these extra powers my coven stole and then gave to me, they’re going to kill me. No pressure.” I let my head fall back, slamming against the door repeatedly and groaning as I slide down to the floor.
“You might want to just start with the basics, worry about the extra stuff later,” Mel says.
“I don’t have later; there is no later. I have now, right fucking now. I’m almost out of Angel’s blood, which isn’t working for shit anyways because everything still fucking hurts all the time. How am I supposed to make six different guys, from six different races, fall in love with me in the matter of a few fucking days? How am I supposed to fall in love with them, when I can’t even trust them to not shank me in the middle of the night!”
“Work on one at a time?” Johnathan suggests.
“But which one?” I grumble. “This isn’t fucking fair, I can’t do this.” I knock my head against the door once again because who am I fucking kidding?
I’m not a fucking hero. I am no one’s savior. My coven fucked up, they thought I would become someone that I can’t be. They may have been able to prolong this war, but I can’t stop it.
I can barely love myself, how the Hell did they expect me to love six other people. How could they think that they would each want to love me?
“You’re not as broken as you think you are, dear,” Mel says from the window.
“You’re right,” I sigh. “I’m fucking shattered, and there isn’t enough magic in the world to fix me.” I push myself up off the floor and stalk into the old library. Closing the door I whisper a little cleanup magic and watch as the books float back to their proper shelves. All but one.
My father’s journal hovers in front of my face until I reach my hands out and grab it, moving to take a seat in the large chair once more. I flip open to the second page, but it’s blank. I flip the book’s pages but they are all blank.
I grumble. “Thanks a lot, Father, this is super helpful.”
I set the book down on the side table and move to stand, walking towards the door until I hear the distinct sound of a book being opened behind me. When I look over my shoulder I see the journal is turned to the second page, the blank page, except it’s no longer blank. I walk over to the book, looking down at the pages and see a passage written in a delicate script that matched the first page.
You did not truly think that was all I would leave you with, did you?
I feel tears begin to fill my eyes, and I reach out to steady myself against the arm of my chair.
“Dad?” I
ask and watch as writing begins to appear on the page.
Yes
I let my tears fall as I gasp and laugh at the same time. “Is this a time lock spell, or are you here?” I ask.
I’m always with you, my Dark Daughter
“Okay, but not always always, right? Girls need privacy. “
Only when you need me, which has not been very often. You are much stronger than you think you are. But I sensed that you needed me tonight, so I am here.
May I have the pleasure of guiding my daughter?
“Yes,” I manage to choke out. “I don’t know what I am supposed to do here, Dad. I don’t know how to make this work.”
You do know. In your heart, you know what must be done, and as much as it pains me to say it, trickery may not be the best path to follow.
Follow your heart, Tanda; it will not steer you wrong.
“But what if they don’t believe me; what if they believe the truth is a trick? What if they just don’t care? I cannot rely on them, Father, I just can’t. People aren’t reliable, they just let you down,” I whisper.
Like we let you down, I suppose, leaving you the way we did. We instilled this doubt in you, didn’t we?
“I just wish I got to know you,” I whisper.
There will be plenty of time for that later; we are waiting for you, and we will have eternity to catch up on all that we have missed as a family. But right now, dear girl, you have to be strong, as I know you can be. And you have to do what is the most difficult thing of all to do… tell the truth.
Goodbye, my dark daughter, we shall speak again.
Azrail, The Angel of Death, Your Father.
“Wait!” I yell, lunging for the book and shaking it, asking for him to come back, but he doesn’t. “Don’t leave me, not again,” I sob, hugging the journal close to my chest as I curl up into a small ball inside the large chair. “Please come back, I don’t want to be alone anymore,” I whisper.
I just don’t want to be alone.
Chapter Fifteen
Kalayavan
Everything is a fucking mess. The earthquake last night felt like Hell was opening up under our very feet, and the apocalypse was beginning. Everything in my house is broken and knocked over. There is glass coating nearly every square inch of my floor, and as I look out the window, I see the rest of the town isn’t in much better condition.
I grumble, pulling on a pair of pants and throwing a shirt over my head before slipping into my boots and walking outside. Trees have been uprooted, water mains are broken. The storefront windows of Main Street have been shattered, and if we were any other place in the world, there would be lowlifes looting everywhere. Fortunately for us, we’re a town made up of evil beings who don't have the time or the care to loot a fucking store. I make my way over to Javaraya’s house, pushing my way inside to see his place is just as fucked up as everything else. And I’m not the only one here.
Arius, Ajal, Dearil, and Ernesh are here and seated around the kitchen bar. There’s still glass everywhere, broken dishes, and chairs. Seems he didn’t bother to clean up. I take my place at the bar, and Javaraya passes me a mug of coffee.
“So last night was fun,” I start and get a chorus of huffs and disagreements in return from everyone except Arius. He just sits silently, sipping his coffee. Not a huge surprise, he is honestly probably still suffering the effects of his blood hangover.
“What was with that earthquake?” Ajal grumbles as he takes a sip of his coffee. “My den is all fucked up, and you can hardly walk through The Pitch Forest without a tree in the fucking way. Half the damn wolves nearly fell into The Bottomless Pits this morning because they’re twice as wide as they normally are. This place is a fucking mess.”
The front door slams open and then shuts again before anyone can answer. We turn on our barstools, confusion marring our faces as we watch the entrance to the kitchen until Tanda walks through the doorway.
“You could have at least tried to clean up,” she grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest as she surveys the area.
“It’s a bit early for that,” Javaraya grumbles.
She rolls her eyes, waves her hands around, mumbling something under her breath, and then snaps her fingers. We watch as everything broken begins to disappear, and everything out of place floats back to where it once was.
“That’s better,” she huffs, walking over and pushing Javaraya out of the way of the coffee pot before making herself at home.
“I guess witches are good for something,” Dearil mumbles, and Tanda cuts him a glare over her shoulder.
I glance at Javaraya and raise an eyebrow in question to him, and he just shrugs. She turns around with a mug in her hand and studies us as we watch her.
“Where’s my pussy?” she finally asks.
“With Cerb,” Javaraya grumbles, and Ernesh coughs slightly, trying to hide his laughter. I narrow my eyes at him, but he just lifts one shoulder in response.
“Okay…” I trail off. “I guess since we’re all here, we might as well have a meeting.”
“About what?” Ernesh asks.
“The earthquake, we’re going to have to put the town back together…”
Tanda waves her hand. “Marigold and the other witches are already on it; everything will be cleaned up by noon.”
“You can’t just order people around,” Ajal grumbles. “You’re new here.”
“Sorry, you’re right, I’ll let her know to let everything be a fucking mess for a few more days so you can feel more empowered,” she deadpans.
Ajal glares at her and she just raises her eyebrow in challenge.
“Look, we have bigger problems than a messy town,” Tanda says. She sets her coffee mug on the counter and pushes herself up to sit on it, crossing her legs under her. “It’s starting,” she whispers.
“What’s starting?” I ask.
“The beginning of the end.”
Because that’s not ominous as fuck.
“Care to elaborate?” I press.
She takes a deep breath and lets it out. “Look, I thought I had more time before all this, but we don’t.”
“More time for what?” Arius asks.
“It’s time we talk about… everything. Meet me at my cabin in an hour,” she says as she slides off the counter and strolls out the front door without a backwards glance. We’re all too shocked to say anything or move until we watch Cerberus and a small, black, sphynx cat walk out the front door as well.
“That’s my fucking dog!” Javaraya yells. “I hate it when she does that.”
“Dude, let it go!” Ernesh grits and Javaraya rolls his eyes.
“What do we do?” I finally ask after a moment.
“I think it’s time we get some answers, and give some as well. We meet at the edge of the Forbidden Forest in forty-five minutes. Bring your records,” Javaraya says.
“Our records?” Dearil asks.
“Yeah, anything your people have, dating back as far as you can find. Specific to town papers twenty-five years ago.”
We nod our heads in agreement, each getting up and moving out the door. I stay behind with Javaraya, considering my people are his people, and he has more extensive records than I do.
“Where did you fly off to last night?” Javaraya suddenly asks Arius.
He turns around, a slight smirk on his face. “Home.”
Javaraya narrows his eyes for a moment. “You went to see her, didn’t you?” he asks.
“I said I went home, whether or not I went somewhere else first really is no concern of yours now is it?” he asks, then walks out the door, slamming it behind him.
I shake my head, pushing out all thoughts of whether or not the vampire is getting chummy with our little witch. If he went to her last night or not really isn’t of much importance at this time. All I care about is if he is clear-headed enough to do his job, and since he didn’t look hungover this morning, I suspect he didn’t partake in any more blood last night. Meaning he can do hi
s job, and has enough self-control to stay away from her blood when he needs to, the only question left is if he wants to stay away or not.
“What do you think she meant by the beginning of the end?” I ask, turning to Javaraya.
“Well, it can’t be the apocalypse, we would have an insight into that, and the horsemen aren’t prophesied for a few thousand more years.”
“Plus, you know War is having far too much fun in Hell. I swear he is drunk every fucking time I go down there,” I say.
“I mean, if you had one job to do, and your job didn’t need you for a few thousand more years, wouldn’t you be drunk all the time, too?” he asks.
“Fair point, but don’t you think he should, I don’t know, practice or something?” I ask as we walk down the hall into his study.
“Practice what? He just rides his Warhorse to Earth and fucks shit up; I think the dude has his job down.”
“Okay, fine.”
“It just pisses you off that we have to work and manage a town while he gets to fuck off,” Javaraya says and damn if he isn’t right.
“Okay, so other than that shit, what could this all mean? You don’t think she could have caused the quake, do you? I mean, she’s powerful, locked the barrier for the specific purpose of being able to publicly unlock it. I wouldn’t put it past her to have caused Galiden’s supposed heart attack just to be able to save him.”
“I mean, I wouldn’t put it past her to do any of that shit, but I don’t know. Something feels off about all of this, it just isn’t right. And did you see her this morning? She was clearly very worried about something, and not even Tanda is that good of an actress. At least not when she’s around us. She has no reason to play us, and she hasn’t so far, so why would she start now?” he asks.