Havermouth, Present TimeDaylight was glaring. The beginning of the end, she thought as she showered and dressed. She ate in the kitchen, looking out onto the uncompromising dessert of the back garden, and remembering how it had looked when she had last stood in the same position.Her mother had always had a penchant to greenery. There had always been some new exotic plant being coaxed into reluctant life under a palace of plastic-wrap and wire, watered precisely on the hour, to a measure – no more and no less.If Tiffany had paid as much attention to her marriage or her daughter, Aislen thought, and then pushed it aside, identifying it as internalized misogyny. Tiffany’s marriage breakdown was in equal measure the responsibility, if not more so, of Patrick, who had been the carbon copy of his era…“I have never…” His glower bore down on Aislen. He had been wearing the shirt that Aislen had zip locked in her suitcase. “Never been as ashamed to show my face around town, as I am in this
Havermouth High School, Five Years BeforeThe sky was heavy and overcast, the rain a fine mist that was absolutely inescapable, chilling the air and soaking through Aislen’s jacket, beading in the fur trim of her hood. The school yard was empty, students choosing to huddle in the hallways, sheltered corners, and the cafeteria rather than get wet. Rhett had come by the house that morning in order to pick her up, despite their argument the day before, but she had refused to answer the door. It had made her late to first class and earned her a reprimand by the teacher. She had already been the focus of sniggering and behind the hands murmuring as she’d entered the class, therefore she had endured the reprimand without flinching as the lesser torture.Her first four classes had been Triquetra free, and she had hidden in the nurse’s office at recess. She had chosen the library for lunch, thinking that the Triquetra were more likely to be in the music rooms, and that the library’s shelves
“Dear Aislen, if you receive this, it is because I have been murdered. I know too much, and the people here are ruthless and powerful,” the letter went on and Aislen could almost hear her father’s voice behind the words. “A man makes mistakes. We all make mistakes. I made a mistake with you, and I am sorry for it.“My mother, your grandmother, always said that people hide their secrets very well. Havermouth’s founding families are the same. They hide their secrets and protect their own. After you left, I was approached by a family whose daughter had had the same sort of troubles that you had. There are a lot of families in town, and a lot of families that have had to leave town, because of boys like the three that you fell in with.“Some of the girls were raped or blackmailed into having sex, and when their families took the matter to the police, they were told that there was nothing that the police could do for them. They just swept it under the carpet and if the family fought for ju
Havermouth High School, Five Years BeforeAislen stared at herself in the mirror, trying to work out how to hide the hickeys on her neck which Rhett had sucked into being whilst f-king her in the river house the day before. Or maybe it had been Heath, she admitted to herself. He had been under her at the time, f-king her arse whilst Rhett was over her. And Cameron had been f-king Rhett…God, she breathed out a sigh. She had not even known such things were possible just days before and now she knew what it felt like when two men were inside of her at once, and when a man came hard against her cervix from his prostate being under pressure from another man’s c-k. And, f-king hell, it turned her on just remembering. She was a slut, just like Cameron enjoyed calling her. The very worst kind of slut there was. She sighed and dabbed concealer over the bruise marks. She’d leave her hair down, she decided, and wear a turtleneck under her uniform shirt. She had just finished dressing when sh
Havermouth, Present TimeThe Triquetra had been suspiciously absent all day, Aislen thought as she prepared for Talen’s arrival. She had almost certainly expected Rhett, having been visited by Cameron in the afternoon of the day before, and Heath’s disturbing visit during the night. That she had spent the entire day without seeing a single one of them made her wonder precisely what it was that they were scheming between them. Trouble was coming, her intuition told her. She’d worry about it in the morning, she decided. In the meantime, she had two more nights with her vampire lover, and she planned to enjoy every second of him. She showered and dressed in a matching set of underwear the sheer of them revealing more than they hid, before coaxing her hair into it’s natural thick ringlet curls with the diffuser hairdryer and applying a more natural-look, innocent, makeup. She saw headlights sweep through the front window and pulled on her satin robe as she made her down the hall. She l
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeHeath’s Mercedes pulled up out front of Aislen’s house and she hesitated, her hand on the door handle before sighing and opening the door. He walked around the car and opened the passenger side door with an air of impatience. She clutched her bag on her shoulder with both hands and lowered her chin to her chest, hurrying across the grass towards the car, but not before seeing the curtains twitch as her mother looked out. What would her mother make of Heath picking her up instead of Rhett?When she went to slide past Heath, he caught her by the throat, cupping her jaw, his grip firm enough to let her know that he wouldn’t tolerate a fight, but not hard enough to hurt her. He lifted her face and kissed her, his tongue stroking into her mouth, not allowing her to keep the kiss chaste, deliberately angling so ensure that her mother saw.He released her, and his wolf was in his eyes. “Get in the car,” he said, his voice dark. She knew that her cheeks were fl
Havermouth, Present TimeTiffany Carter and her partner, Vincent Lowe, arrived an hour before the funeral, Vincent’s Mercedes parking behind Aislen’s car in the driveway of her father's house. Aislen watched her mother mince across the gravel in her stiletto heels, exclaiming at the garden in horror. Tiffany’s hair was platinum blonde and had been pin-curled to create a retro bombshell style. Teamed with the skin-tight black dress, and full face of makeup she looked as if she were going out for an evening on the town rather than to her ex-husband’s funeral. “Did it just to spite me!” Tiffany exclaimed as she reached the porch. “All those plants!”“Hi mum,” Aislen opened the front door. “Oh, god, no, Aislen,” Tiffany complained upon seeing Aislen. “You look like you should be the one being buried today. Do you ever step out into daylight? It’s called a healthy glow, darling.”“Hi Vince,” Aislen ignored her mother. “Hi,” he was tall, broad shouldered, and captain of the football te
Havermouth High School, Five Years BeforeAislen made it through the first two classes, trying not to squirm on her seat, very aware of the chastity belt and the device within her, praying that Heath didn’t turn it on and humiliate her in class. At recess it was a relief to hurry towards the grassy hill and see him sitting there. As he had instructed her, she sat between his knees and he put his arms around her without interrupting his conversation with Rohan, one of the football team. She saw Rhett and Cameron arrive with the three unfamiliar girls, and Heath’s thoughts clarified in bright flashes. “… If the local pack doesn’t hold any interest to you, perhaps our wider community,” an unfamiliar woman suggested. “There are plenty of single she-wolves looking for their mates…” “Hey,” Cameron said as they joined them. “This is Erica, Patience, and Helena, they’re from Dawson. Rhett and I are showing them around.”“Hi,” the cheerleaders bubbled with enthusiasm and the jocks nudged eac