WitchLove (13 page)

‘Yes, with every vampire and witch in the state on high alert, knowing that you are here… I don’t think that’s the best idea you’ve had!’

‘Well I’m not risking our future by biting him, and honestly, I don’t fancy meeting Susannah again.’

The conversation ended in stalemate and I watched as she fell into an instant slumber. I climbed out of bed and silently glided over to the back window. Pulling the curtains aside a little I peered out and stared at the moon, which was almost full and gleaming brilliantly. The window ledge was wide enough for me to curl up and sit on, so I climbed up and pulled the curtains shut behind me. As a child I had always sneaked to my window after lights out and watched the silent streets and peaceful moon, and it was a habit I could never break. Tonight the garden was empty, and looking down from my attic perch along the back wall of the house, I watched as the final light in the room beneath me flicked off. Everyone was in bed… but me. I liked the feeling - the quiet, the solitude.

As I scanned my eyes over the land, the compulsion to be outside under the moon was too great. I stuck my head back through the curtains and into the room, checking on Brittany, but she was fast asleep, tiny whispery snores fluttering from her lips. I didn’t want to risk the double flight of old, creaky staircases, the wooden kitchen door which always stuck a little and the threat of disturbing my aunt… or worse, Noah, so I gently pulled at the window clasp and pushed to open the windows wide. As with everything in the house the wood was old and ever so slightly decaying, so it stuck and then suddenly creaked as I gave it extra force. I froze, and peeped back beneath the curtains, but Brittany mumbled something and rolled over, her slumber undisturbed.

I uncurled my legs and let them dangle out of the window, as I hoisted myself up and into the frame. I looked down, wondering the best way to do it. My old
human
instinct told me to grab the guttering and lower myself down to the gabled window beneath me, but that would make the most noise and remembering how Daniel had effortlessly leapt from the gallery in the Scottish castle, I knew I too had the dexterity to leap straight out and onto the lawn if I desired. I just had to overcome the fear. I shakily pulled myself up so I filled the entire frame, my back bent in the dormer window, my knuckles white as they clasped the wooden frame, my hair gently blowing by my cheeks in the breeze. I realised I was still holding my breath from earlier and let it out in a long, shaky breath. It seemed a very long way down, almost worse than landing from ley line travel; then I was already in motion, now I simply had to jump. I closed my eyes, bent my knees further and sprang out of the window.

Seconds later my feet touched the ground and I instinctively bent my knees to absorb the impact. I was fine. I was better than fine. I did it! I held my head back and looked up at the moon laughing as a feeling of sudden freedom surged over me. It was night, I was a vampire and this was my playground. For a second I considered running the five miles or so to the edge of town to see if I could lure a solitary human away for a quick snack, but I shook my head, dispelling the idea and turned back to look at the house containing my decidedly unappealing blood packs. I was hungry. I was going to have to give in and drink a couple, before I got dangerous. Daniel would be so mad at me right now… but he wasn’t here, and he wasn’t going to be here! I sighed. I needed to cheer up and get my groove back. I was going to have some fun. To my left the forest trees encroached into the garden area and I looked at the nearest one, bent my knees and leapt for the lowest branch, but I misjudged my strength and overshot it. I giggled as I looked down from my new perch and then jumped and grabbed wildly at the branch as a slow clapping echoed eerily around the garden.

‘Practicing vampire athletics are you? Looks fun. Can I join you?’ Noah asked, appearing from the shadows by the back door. I scowled.

‘No, you can’t. Not unless you can leap up here that is,’ I answered, hoping desperately that he didn’t have some weird magical skill he hadn’t told me about. He shrugged.

‘I wanted a chat,’ he said. ‘You’ve been avoiding me.’

‘So chat then,’ I said, aware I was being rude, but nervous of the dangerous mix that my thirst and his delicious aroma would make if I got too close.

‘Jess, come on. Stop being stubborn. You need me and I need you.’

‘No, that’s where you are wrong. I don’t need you and I’m sure there are other ways we can get Susannah back… if you’re sure she really wants to come back.’

‘She does. Look, I know you only saw her at her worst, but that’s not her. I don’t know why she handed you over to the dark witches like that, but the Susannah I know wouldn’t do that.’

‘Well the Susannah
I know
did, so maybe she’s changed. She created a black vortex, you know? Brittany said that’s pretty powerful stuff.’

‘Well she is the first-born girl child, and she has the power necessary to take over this coven, when the time arises.’

‘And if she doesn’t?’ I asked.

‘Then Saffy, with her father whispering in her ear will take over and they’ll make a hash of it together,’ he said.

‘The witch in Salem said that the Coven of the Blood Moon has been disbanded?’ I asked.

‘Yes they were, when Carrigan was arrested for kidnapping you.’

‘So what if Susannah’s just awaiting orders? What if she wants to turn this coven dark?’ I asked.

‘She doesn’t. She made a mistake. She’s sorry, I know she is.’

‘How do you know? How can you be sure?’ I asked, jumping silently down from my perch and grinning, as I watched him jump back in surprise.

‘Because I’m her twin. I know her better than anyone and I’m the only one of the family she’s seen since she left.’

‘Not including me of course.’

‘If you say so,’ he said.

‘I do say so, and you have got to believe me and believe what she is capable of if you want me to help you bring her home.’

‘Fine, okay. I believe you. I guess I believed you all along, I just didn’t want to,’ he said, a small, lopsided smile lighting up his face. ‘So she got in with the wrong crowd and made a mistake…’

‘A huge mistake,’ I said.

‘Okay, a
huuge
mistake, but I’m telling you, that is not the real Susannah and we need her back.’

‘When did you see her?’ I asked, taking a quick step back as a gust of wind caught his hair and blew his scent in my direction.

‘About a month ago, at my flat in New York. She was lonely; I could tell.’

‘Well I’m sorry, but she was the one who left, and she was the one who cosied up with some seriously bad characters. I mean ...
I
might have made some pretty big errors of judgement recently, but hers utterly eclipses all of mine.’

‘Don’t be so smug, Jess. Wasn’t it you who ordered that girl gang to be slaughtered in Manchester?’

Everything slowed down, the tempting scent of his blood disappeared and my ears rang as if I was submerged under twenty feet of water.

‘What?’ I said, my voice squeaking.

‘Look, I’m not judging you, no one does, after everything they were responsible for, and everything you went through, who would, but was it the best decision? Was it the right thing to do?’

‘I don’t know what you mean. I might have scared them, but I didn’t kill them. I searched for them in Manchester. I found them and I terrified them, but when Sebastian gave me the ultimatum I chose to let them live.’

‘No, Jess. You didn’t. You chose to let them die.’

‘No, I didn’t. I honestly didn’t, and I know that Sebastian honoured my decision because I was haunted by damned stories every week in the papers of more harm they’d caused, more people they’d attacked. I wondered if I’d made the wrong choice, but I didn’t want to stoop to their level. I didn’t want to be a murderer like them.’

Noah frowned and paused. Then he pulled a newspaper cutting out of his pocket and handed it over.

Notorious Girl Gang Found Dead. Police Suspect Drug Related Crime

‘It wasn’t me. I haven’t even been in Manchester for the last month.’

‘Check the date, Jess. I found this in my mother’s study along with the other background information she has on you. Sebastian sent it… along with a letter explaining and excusing your decision. Apparently he suggested this course of action.’

My eyes flicked to the corner of the page and once again my breathing came to a halt. It couldn’t be true.

Sunday, February 26
^th
… The day after I’d had my run in with the girl-gang, Sebastian and his cronies. I stared at the paper trying to take in the words which swam about and blurred, creating psychedelic shapes in front of my eyes.

‘Jess?’ Noah whispered. ‘I don’t understand. How could you not know about this?’

And then I remembered. I remembered the witches shop in Salem, the dark witch Morgan and the supposed dream I’d had. Maybe it wasn’t a dream after all.

‘Noah, is it possible to go back
magically
to the past and change the future?’ I asked quietly.

‘Urm.. yeah, I guess so. I’ve heard about it a little growing up, but it’s dark magic. Our coven doesn’t allow it. Meddling with the past alters both our present and out future. It’s forbidden. Why?’

‘To cut a long story short, Brittany and I went in the wrong shop in Salem. Your mum sent us to find a witches’ shop and we ended up in this shop we couldn’t get out of. Did your mum tell you?’

‘Yeah, Mom said something about it, about how Liz found you and dragged your butts out of there.’

‘Yes, well, what I didn’t tell anyone about is what Morgan did to me while I was there. I thought she was accessing my memories and making me relive them, like a dream, but now I think not. She was taking me back
into
my memories… to change them.’

‘This doesn’t sound good…’

‘No, it’s not. Like I said before, last February I chose to let those girls live and about a month later they attacked another girl, left her blind and scarred for life. Well when Morgan took me back, she took me back to that point, when Sebastian was giving me the choice…’ I paused and looked at my feet.

‘Oh no! You changed your mind, didn’t you?’ Noah asked quietly.

I nodded.

‘Noah, she filled me so full of hate, all I could feel was this horrid, black emotion. Hate, regret, anger… all mixed up. Just before we were interrupted Morgan appeared in what I thought was my dream, she whispered to me and I stopped Sebastian, I told him they shouldn’t be allowed to live. Seconds later I was back in the shop with Liz screaming her head off at Morgan and pulling us out of there. I didn’t think it was real. Oh god! What do I do?’

‘There’s nothing you can do, not now.’

‘But I didn’t want to kill them.’

‘But you didn’t want to let them live either,’ he said. ‘Otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to influence you like she did.’

‘Well no, I suppose not. Why should they live after all they’ve done. It’s not fair, but I still didn’t want to make that decision.’

‘Maybe not, but now you’re going to have to live with it.’

I nodded and lowered myself down to the cold, wet ground, crouching and leaning back against a tree. I didn’t know how to feel. Part of me was jubilant, the animalistic hatred I felt towards them had been satisfied. They were dead. The girls who had attacked, robbed and beaten me, then stabbed me and left me dying in the street were gone, and if they died in February then presumably the girl they attacked in March was fine. I smiled.

Noah stepped over and slid his back down the tree next to me, his scent battering against my will. Saliva flooded my mouth and I felt my canines sharpen. His hand suddenly pressed into my thigh and I jumped up with a start.

‘Noah, please…’

‘Come,’ he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the garden onto the forest path.

He ran fast, well, fast for a human, that is. I let him lead me, pulling me down the inky black path, the moonlight hidden behind the trees, branches whipping against our cheeks. I laughed and forgot my worries, allowing myself to enjoy the night, the darkness, the exhilaration. He pulled me straight into the centre of the tree circle and dropped my hand. The moon hung over our heads, her lopsided smile urging us on.

‘Noah, I really don’t think…’

‘Shhhh. This is my family’s circle. My ancestors will protect me here. Don’t you see, it’s ideal. It’s away from the house, so there’s a good chance Susannah will come here too.’

I didn’t like to tell him about the power surge I’d had here when his mother had thought the very same thing, and later found out that the power had jumped to me. I had a feeling biting him here would be the worst place to do it, the worst place for him anyway… and a major power trip for me.

‘Noah…’

But he wouldn’t listen. He turned and stepped towards me. He lifted his hand and brushed a stray hair away from my cheek, in a gesture that took me straight back to Manchester and into Daniel’s arms.

‘Noah, please,’ I whispered.

‘Shhhh.’

He took the final step and pressed his body against mine, his dark hazel eyes pulling me in. His pulse drummed in my head, blocking out all feeling as he leant forward and pressed his cheek against my own, his neck taut and brushing against my lips.

‘Noah, I can’t… you’re my cousin. It’s weird,’ I said, struggling with the words as my fangs began to push through my hardening gums.

‘Kissing would be weird, but we’re not going to kiss,’ he said, running his finger against my neck and suddenly taking me by surprise, as he dug his finger nail in and scratched hard along the length of my neck, down to my collar bone. My tightly coiled emotions were released instantly as my fangs burst through and I knew my eyes would have darkened.

‘No, I can’t risk it,’ I said, pushing him away from me, bolting out of the clearing, racing down the path and leaping the thirty feet up to my bedroom window with ease.

I lay in the darkness, my pathetic heartbeat thrumming slightly harder than normal in my chest, watching the curtains fluttering slightly in the breeze, my ears pricked and alert, listening for him coming back and entering the house. Of course, with me being a vampire an’ all, my hasty retreat had been
ultra
-hasty and it was some five minutes before I heard the garden gate clicking shut and Noah’s feet crunching on the path, getting louder as he neared the house. I froze in my bed and desperately fought the gnawing disappointment in my belly, the dry thirst which had not abated and stilled the urge to leap back out of the window again and drag him back into the woods.