PRESENT DAY,
Late afternoon.WILLOW__
The speakers blared once again and the slurring voice of a witch broke through, "Attention, witches. Humans will be approaching in the next five minutes. I repeat; in the next five minutes."
When she went off the microphone, someone yelled downstairs, "Turn down the f*cking volume next time, Cordelia!"
"No!" Cordelia yelled back. "I live for the ear damage!"
Slamming my door shut, I went around the large room gathering up essentials for my apparating potion. Lilies are the gateway to freedom blasted in my ears, cutting out the noise down the hall. Cordelia's Inherent gift was clairvoyance, so she would alert us of when the humans were to come.
The door opened and closed. In walked my two roommates, Hellene and Corinne. I took out my headphones when Hellene started to talk to me.
"Hi, Lowe," she greeted. "You did great down there."
Lies. "I got my ass handed to me, Hell." Hell, true to her name, had the Inherent gift of pyromamcing.
She chuckled. "To be fair, you did land a few blows on Sybi--"
Corrine released a shriek, throwing her phone across the room. I sighed when it cracked against the wall. I turned to face her. "What went wrong this time, Cor?"
Saying nothing, she crumbled into a heap on the floor, crying loudly. My eyes widened when clouds gathered outside the once sunny atmosphere. A flash of lightning zigzagged down, accompanied by the distinct rumble of thunder.
Hellene was quick to soothe her. "Hey, hey, what's wrong? Did someone get those pairs of shoes you've been eying latel--"
She shrieked, "Zach broke up with me!" It started to rain heavily outside.
The door opened and closed again. Cordelia walked in, a bottle of alcohol in hand. Her deceptively youthful features twisted. "Ugh. Cor's sprung a leak again." She sashayed over to me, talking over her shoulder, "Hey, cheer up, Cor. In two weeks Zach's going to fall down a flight of stairs and break a leg. Wendy's going to dump him two days after."
Cor lifted her blotchy face and sniffed. "Really?"
"Yes."
She smiled and the rain reduced to a drizzle. Then stopped completely as the sun came out, its rays filtering in through the windows.
Cordelia shook her head. "Bloody weather mages."
She propped herself on my desk, watching as I riffled through my potion pots. She took a swig of her drink, swinging her legs back and forth like a toddler.
"Hey," I called, my attention still on what I was doing. "Could you help me with the potions book behind you?"
"No."
I groaned, standing up to grab the book on the table. When I reached behind her, she suddenly leapt up, tackling me down to the floor.
"What the hell, Cordelia?!" I screeched, trying to push her off me. She held tight and whispered into my ear, "Shh, shhhh, let me enjoy this one moment with you."
With a sigh, I placed my hand on her blonde hair, patting it hesitantly. My aunt was decidedly soft in the head. She was drunk more often than she was sane. I would be too if I could predict the future, if I could see things I wished I hadn't.
It was said she never dated, because she always knew when a relationship would end, and knew also when she'd get cheated on; and she had to relieve it all so she wouldn't disrupt space-time continuum and shits like that.
I felt a wet substance touch my ear and I jerked. "Del! Are you licking my ear?"
A drunken giggle told me all I needed to know. Almost immediately she fell silent, then lifted her head to stare into my eyes. Her grey eyes held a faraway look to them when she gripped my face and whispered ominously, "Beware... Beware of them."
Uncomfortable at the way she squeezed my cheeks tightly, I expelled a breath through my puckered lips. "What are you talking about, Del? And, please, get the hell off of me."
She tsked, leaning down until her forehead touched mine. "I remember when you were a teeny tiny baby, Willow. You couldn't even scratch your own bum."
"Del," I intoned, starting to struggle against her surprisingly heavy weight. "Get. Off."
With a disappointed click of her tongue, she pushed off me then gracefully rose to her feet, grabbing her drink off the table. "You'll be doing a lot of that in the coming weeks."
"What?'" I asked.
"Getting off."
My brows went up. "Yeah, I wish." I was ashamed to admit my sex life was... bland. It could be because I always found the wrong men, or the wrong men always found me. I mean, I've never been brought to an orgasm from their head administration and that says a lot.
Getting up, I went downstairs to get a potions vial from the 'cave', and some insects too. I needed just a few more bees for my apparating potion to be done. We weren't like the vampires who could trace and materialize at will, so we depended on apparating potions to travel.
And the potion was required if we were to be in Alaska in just four hours. There, the selection ceremony would take place. A very, very long awaited selection ceremony--we're talking centuries here.
The entire witch population have spent at least five millenniums watching their backs against the lycans. Then two centuries ago, we started watching our lives.
At that time, they actively began to hunt us down, killing us off on sight. Think mindlessly screaming witches being tackled down to the ground by ferocious beasts; a long line of witches bound up to their necks in chains, awaiting their deaths.
The lycans' primary target was New Orleans, where the supernatural oddities happened, which was why a majority of us came down here to hide among many reasons. One of which was; they would never think we were dumb enough to come an inch within their territory.
We were.
The cave smelled of dust and mould when I stepped in. I wrenched open a drawer and bursted into wracking coughs when swirls of dust raced up my face. I clutched a vial and stood, going over to the mountainous shelves in search of bottled insects.
Tonight would be the beginning to ending to all our nightmares.
Tonight, at the congress that'll be held in the House of Wicca, Hecate would choose the witch that had been prophesied to put an end to all our hiding and endless fear. A witch that'll fulfil the prophesy by killing the lycan king himself. Lan Farrow.
The clock struck a minute and all conversations around the house seized, getting replaced by the ones of the approaching humans."Mum, Miss Stacey says she wants a new doll," piped a little, red-haired child, obliviously striding through a row of shelves. A black cat walked beside her.Her mother rushed onwards, passing through the opposite wall. Her hands were filled with grocery bags. She hurriedly said, "Stacey can't say she wants a doll, honey. She's a cat.""But, mum! She told me!" From a few paces down, the mock-gasp of her dad sounded. "Honey, I think our daughter's a cat whisperer. Hey, Hailey hun, tell me what else Stacey's said."The little girl pouted. "She said it's high time you got a shave."Barking out a laugh, her dad swopped in and scooped her up, raising her high up into the air and spinning. She shrieked out endless giggles, splaying her small arms wide.Something in my chest tightened.I never had that growing up, a real family. Although I did have numerous aunts
A hush came over the hall. Heads turned, gazes reverting back to my face. My heart started to bang against my ribcage, my head growing lighter by the second. Before now, I had never considered that I could be chosen, because there was nothing to consider. I didn't have what it took. All I'd wanted was just a position to fight in the witch force; not one that'd grant me leadership.Allegra smiled down at me warmly. "Come forth, my child."I began to move, feeling very much like I was having an out of body experience. My legs seemed to have a mind of their own. The mass parted for me as I came, some squinting at the hood I'd drawn over my face, wanting to see who I was. See who I would be.My legs shook as I took one of the five steps leading up to the upraised platform. This was happening? What was Hecate thinking? Does she really think I can kill King Lan? Restore a peace that'd been sought for millenniums?She had the wrong girl.They all had the wrong girl.I stood on the podium
The next day I was woken up roughly. I opened my eyes to see a pissed Sybil. On sighting Meredith behind her, I knew I was in for a day."So it's simple," Meredith began as we hastily walked down a long corridor. "We brew a scent-concealing potion, you go to Manhattan using the apparat--""Manhattan?" I asked, my breaths shortening to a pant. Increasing my stride to keep up with her, I rushed out, "But he's in Chicago, isn't he? At Gornagon.""Our intels at the castle have informed us he has gone on a short trip to Manhattan."My brows furrowed. "Why?"Meredith made to speak but was cut off by Sybil snapping, "Can you stop asking pointless questions? The king's reason for going to Manhattan does not matter; what does is that he's there, with few protection, and that we've got to send you off to him before he leaves for Chicago tomorrow."We'd gotten to a huge oak door. Meredith worked a key in. "If it helps any, he went to Manhattan to pay a visit to one of the vampire lords, Igor.""
Although vampire helps milled about, the mansion was relatively quiet when I walked in. Shades had been pulled over the windows tightly to keep sunlight away. The only lights available in the foyer were the ones from the giant chandeliers spiralling down the high ceilings. I suppressed a jolt when a male vampire traced to stand behind me.Sliding a covert glance at my back, I realized he'd only traced to help another vampire in carrying some items. Hefting the huge painting in one hand like it weighed nothing, the vampire passed by me as he headed towards another opening across the hall.The massive twin staircases in the middle of the white-themed hall called to me. I made a beeline towards it, but slowed my pace when I felt eyes on me.The next thing I did was what I've been doing for practically my whole life; I tried to belong, tried to blend.Loosening up my shoulders while striding casually like I had all the time in the world, I noted other similarly dressed ladies walked about
He tilted his head at me, those sharp green eyes scrutinizing my face. His low voice sounded again. "Are you coming in or not?"My breaths slowed at his open attention and I found myself saying, "Yes...I am."With that he went over to his closet, taking bold strides. The mere act of him walking commanded attention. He walked with such animal grace and raw vitality. Lines of arrogance and something darkly menacing were stamped on the sharp planes of his face.He withdrew a pair of worn jeans and made to sling it on, the towel parting. I looked away on instinct. Then looked back again, my mouth drying up at the size of his junk. It was huge.Shirtless, he casually strolled over to the large chair at his reading table, seating. Eyes never leaving me, he leaned back on his chair, muscles bunching as he propped an elbow on the armrest, absently twirling the gold ring on his finger. "You know what to do," he stated plainly.My face scrunched in confusion. "What?"A black brow went up. "Do
The air thickened ominously and glowing white streaks bursted out of my palms, heading straight for a shocked Lan.Before it got to him, a bodyguard jumped in, getting struck. He froze, then erupted into black ashes. Dead. I fought down the panic and guilt threatening to rise, focusing on one thing; I missed. I'd missed and that was the only opportunity I would get. And I'd f*cked it up. Frantically I summoned another energyball as the guards closed in on me. The death of the guard seemed to snap Lan into action. He stood, fury boiling in his feral eyes. "Bound her hands," he ordered with deceptive calm.I fought wildly as one grabbed my hair. I fought wildly while the rest rushed for me. But before they got a hold of my hands, I worked up another energyball and blasted them with it, weakening. More and more warriors poured in, and when they came at me again, I desperately chanted a spell, "Lis eida!" A call for help.My hands were pulled painfully behind me and shackled. I was for
The sound of my cell bars sliding open snapped me wide awake. I started to stand but was stopped by a growl. On taking stock of my surroundings, it gradually registered to me that a pack of huge, frightening men stood around the room, their faces stoic. They were here, the Lycans.My heart spiked, the events from the past rushing back to me. Two men approached me, taking me by my arms. Once they proceeded to carry me off, I frantically rushed out, my voice rising with each word, "My aunts, where are they? What did you do to them?! What did you do with the rest of the witches?"I kicked out my legs, surprised when I found they were bare. My breath hitched once I took in the state of my dressing. I was in different clothes: someone had changed me.My gaze connected with the stocky vampire from before. He gave me a slow, sickly smile at the realization in my gaze.My eyes widened. "You pervert!" I kicked wildly, fighting against the strong holds on my arms. "I would turn you into a pig
LAN FARROW_Guards bowed low as I came storming through the chamber. The prisoners inched away from the bars, blending into the shadows. They hid, not entirely from me. But from what they knew I could do to them. On entering the central hall, I spotted an elder tear away from the crowd of people he was with, fast approaching me. I held up a hand, needing to be left alone.Head pounding, I climbed up the stairs, thoughts frantically zipping across my mind. After navigating the keep, I marched into my private wing and instantly drew up short when I saw it was teeming with lycan warriors. The hell? This part of the castle was private for a reason.On sighting me, the warriors fell silent. The sound of my boots reverberated as I slowly walked through the large hall. Looking at the faces around me, I came to a stop. "Out."For a while they stood there, staring at me, their faces starting to twitch anxiously. This ratcheted up my ire. I roared, "I said get the hell out!" I wasn't used to