A loud rumble rings through my ears and shakes the ground beneath me, jolting me awake. I blink open my eyes, failing to see anything more than blurry darkness. I’m face down, feeling the harsh bite of cold rain on my body. Mud has seeped into my mouth during my bout of unconsciousness and even forced its way up my nostrils.
But I’m still alive, for now, so that’s something.
Another loud bang rings out. Is it gunfire? Is it another helicopter crashing in the distance? Whatever it is, it reminds me that I’m not safe yet. And neither are Gabriel and the others. I need to move. I need to find them and help them. Get them away from Theo, his Hunters, Grayson and his monsters. With a groan, I press my palms into soft ground and try to push myself up, but I can’t muster the strength and I fall back down, face-first, into the mud. I’m exhausted and sore. Every part of me hurts as if covered entirely in bruises. I remember this well from the first spell at the Bloodstone on Dartmoor. I couldn’t move. I could hardly speak. And I had no access to magic. As I lie here, I don’t sense my magic and I have no idea where the hell I am or how long I’ve been unconscious.
It’s still dark, so the sun hasn’t started to rise yet. Lightning streaks across the sky and rain falls hard and heavy on my skin.
Another rumble.
It’s thunder that I hear. Not gunfire. A storm has started.
With extreme effort, I roll over. Everything continues to spin and the rain now falls into my eyes.
My fingers scramble their way around my neck for the Bloodstone necklace. My only means of accessing magic, unless I have another witch to channel power from that is.
To my horror, nothing is there.
And I mean nothing!
My Bloodstone necklace isn’t around my neck and I am fucking naked! Where the hell are my clothes?
As I feel my neck, I also realise that there’s no wound! No pain! Grayson just damn near took my head off, how is there no pain or cut?
I called out to the Arcane Realm. I commanded it to move me. To save me. It must have also healed me.
Either way, I have to get back to the others before Theo can hurt them.
I force myself onto my hands and knees. The world spins as I dig around in the ground, searching desperately for my necklace. Giving up on finding anything in all this mess of mud, twigs, rubble and darkness, I take a deep breath and start getting to my feet.
In the brief moment of light from a bolt of lightning, a few feet in front of me, I see the back of a man laying on his side, half sunk in the mud.
Then darkness descends once more as the lightning retreats.
I wait, stock-still, holding my breath and looking into the void where I saw the man. I daren’t blink. I daren’t move! When the lightning strikes once more, I see he’s still there and hasn’t moved an inch.
The man is unconscious.
His dark hair is as soaked through as mine and is plastered to his shoulders. And just like me, he has absolutely no clothes on.
Darkness once more. Just the sound of the heavy rain and my heavy breathing fills this silence. Still disorientated, I push myself up to my knees, then force myself onto my feet. I sway and stumble, hunched over and too sore to stand up straight. I keep watching the space where the man is, unable to see anything more than the outline of his body through this stormy darkness. I can’t be sure if I’m still looking at his form or one of the many boulders littering the ground. I try desperately to remain quiet and on my feet. I’m in no condition to fight the stranger, if indeed he is an enemy to be fought. After a few stern smacks to the side of my head, hoping to knock everything inside me right, I decide, first and foremost, to try and figure out who the man is and where I am. Perhaps he is a friend?
Probably not.
My feet drag in the mud as I make my way towards the man, keeping my distance and circling him until I’m in a position I think will show me his face when the next streak of lightning crashes across the sky.
Another flash of lightning and clap of thunder.
I’m parallel to his feet now. His arms are stretched out in front of him. His shoulder-length hair covers half his face, and I still have no idea who he is. I keep shuffling around him as I’m plunged back into darkness, moving slowly and cautiously so I don’t fall.
I stop.
I should be straight ahead of him for when the lightning next strikes. I should see his face.
Boom.
Flash.
I jump back and trip, falling in the mud with a shocked gasp.
It’s Grayson!
His one remaining eye is closed. His face is slack, and before the lightning ends, I catch sight of something written in black on his forehead.
The clouds above shift, freeing the moon to cast a small glow over us. I see him clearly now. It’s definitely Grayson, but… how is his hair so long? Where are his – as well as my – clothes! He must have got caught up in my escape. Sent to safety right along with me.
The words scrawled across his face entice me closer. I take some uncertain shuffles towards him and rest my palm over my belly protectively, just over where he dug his nails in deep enough to draw blood.
As my fingers rest there, I stop.
Something’s wrong.
Something that’s not physically possible!
Whimpering with utter trepidation at what I will see, I peer down, and my whimper turns into a long, wailing howl.
My baby… my little bump…
‘She’s gone?’ I whisper through trembling lips. ‘No. No she can’t be gone. It’s… it’s impossible!’ My eyes continue to shift in and out of focus as I blink tears and raindrops from my eyes. Internally, I scream at my senses to get themselves together. For this nightmare to end and for my magic to return. For my Physical magic to come so I can heal whatever is wrong with my sight and see my belly protrude the way it was moments ago.
I press my hand more firmly into my stomach.
Not only is there no bump, but I don’t feel her moving. I don’t feel her flutterings. I don’t feel anything.
Images of Grayson’s biting and grabbing flash behind my eyes, blinding me to the real world and making my head surge with pain and my heart fill with hatred. A dark giggle echoes out from deep within my subconscious. My Broken-self is not as buried as I would like. I feel her, desperate to reclaim control by showing me pain and suffering, and I know that if I fail to keep my emotions and my actions in check, she just may succeed. I slam my hands over my eyes, hoping to stop them.
‘You won’t win.’ I whisper. ‘This is you. You’re messing with my head. Making me think that she’s gone so I’ll give in to the Break again but I won’t! You will never retake control of me!’
With a shake of my head and a few deep breaths, the images she throws at me start to fade. Her evil cackling quietens.
I let go of my stomach and stand tall. This is her. She’s making me see things that aren’t real. That’s all. It’s physically impossible for my baby to be gone completely.
I must remain focused. I need to get to the others and then get to safety. My baby’s life depends on it.
She can’t fool me.
I return my attention to Grayson.
In a gut-wrenching blink, I see that he’s gone.
‘Shit…’ I hiss, staggering backwards. Real or not, I need to get the hell out of here!
Spinning on my heel, I turn, only to slam into the bare chest of my vampiric-monster brother-in-law.
He’s definitely real!
He leers at me with a nasty grin, his long and wavy hair falling over his face as he looks at me down the bridge of his nose. I see now the words written on his forehead.
“Run Lilly”
‘Hello, Miss Hooper,’ he says darkly whilst brushing my hair over my shoulder. ‘We’re still alive, then? That’s a relief and also a surprise. I thought we were dead for certain. How did you save us, I wonder?’
‘I-I don’t…’
As his eyes travel down the length of my body, his eyebrow hitches and his smile grows. When he also notices that he too is naked, it grows even further.
‘Well,’ he chortles. ‘This should be fun.’
My fist is balled up and thrust into his face before I even process the action. I turn and run as fast as my wobbly and cumbersome legs will allow, charging over rubble and winding between boulders knowing that I failed to deliver any real damage to anything other than my hand. His laugh echoes all around me as I flee.
I run, ignoring the tight constrictions of my lungs and the jagged rocks that cut into my feet. I twist my ankle and stumble but catch myself before I fall and regain my balance. I keep looking back, both hoping to see Grayson and wishing that I won’t. If I see him, at least I’ll know where he is. Not knowing where the hell he is seems far worse right now. But looking back means I’m not looking where I’m going, and I slip into a large ditch, sliding on my back down a steep ridge of mud. When I land, my head connects with the ground and brings a show of lights to my eyes.
There’s a whooshing sound before Grayson lands with grace over me, a foot each side of my hips and that same cruel grin plastered on his face.
I scream as he reaches down, wrapping his hand around my throat and lifting me easily to his eye level.
‘I almost lost control earlier,’ he says, watching as I attempt to slap away his hands. ‘I was moments away from killing you. Seconds, even.’ His eyes narrow as he looks at my neck. ‘But then, you are the Arcane. I should have expected you to pull some magic out of somewhere.’
‘GET THE FUCK OFF ME, HALFBREED ABOMINATION!’ I screech, hitting at his chest with my fists. ‘GET OFF! HELP!! HELP ME!!’
In a sudden jerk, he pulls me close so our faces are almost touching.
‘Do you remember what I did to you the last time you insulted me?’ he spits angrily. ‘What did you call me? Ah yes, inadequate. You really want to test my mercy again?’
‘Fuck you and fuck your mercy,’ I snarl back, still clawing at his hand. ‘You’ve never shown mercy to anyone or anything when you were a witch. You sure as hell won’t now you’re… whatever the hell you are.’
‘What I am is a creature of my own making. I am strong.’ He lifts me off the ground and tightens his grip so I gasp. ‘I am fast. I can heal faster than ever before and-’
‘But you still ain’t a witch,’ I croak beneath his fist. ‘Not any more.’
‘No. I have no magic. But all I want is power. The power to control. To own everyone and everything. To be a God. Gabriel, he squanders his power. Mental magic, the rarest realm. A power that can turn whole countries upside down, that can start a war with a few words.’ His eyes darken as he lowers me down and steps closer, forcing our fronts to meet. His skin on mine, full-frontal, makes me feel sick to my stomach. ‘To make someone love you with a carefully constructed sentence. He could make anyone do anything he wanted if he chose to. But no. He let his pathetic little conscience control him.’ He leans in close and lowers his voice. ‘Lucky for me, I don’t have much of a conscience.’
‘Let me go-’
‘Stop talking, Lilly. You are so much more attractive when that hole you call a mouth is shut.’
‘And you’re so much more attractive dead.’
After a short laugh and a few shakes of his head, he tells me. ‘Here’s what we are going to do. You are going to come with me. We shall return to my new coven-’
‘Toby Smith’s delinquent followers you mean. Typical, that the only people you could get to follow you into insanity would be the ones who followed Toby Smith into his.’
‘We shall return to my new coven,’ he continues. ‘And you will give birth to that little bundle of joy. Depending on your behaviour as I keep you locked up in chains, secured by dozens of binding spells, you can either become what I am and help me raise our child-’
‘O-our child?’ I repeat.
‘Or I will keep you imprisoned, kept as my own personal plaything.’ He shrugs, ‘I’ll raise your child alone.’ He looks upwards as if thinking. ‘You call it she, right? If you are correct, I could raise her in a way that would make her love me. Like an arranged marriage affair.’
He looks down at my belly and swiftly, a confused frown appears on his face. Then, he tilts his ear towards my belly.
‘There’s no heartbeat,’ he says quietly.
‘What?’ I whisper, quickly following his gaze.
‘And no bump.’ Slowly, he lifts his head and starts to tremble. There’s a rage in him unlike any I have seen him hold.
He can’t see the bump either. No. No that’s not possible! This is all a trick. A lie. A mirage my Broken-self has implanted in my head. My bump must be there!
‘WHAT DID YOU TO MY BABY?!’ he roars, startling me out of my devastation. ‘THAT WAS MY ARCANE WITCH! MINE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THE PLANS I HAD FOR IT?! HOW LONG I’VE WAITED TO HAVE ONE OF MY OWN?’
Before I can blink away my grief, he’s backhanded me and dropped me to the floor. I try and get away, crawling across the ground like a beast.
‘Oh, no. I don’t think so, Miss Hooper.’ His hand wraps around my ankle and he pulls me back before throwing himself on top of me. ‘You’re not getting away from me that easily.’ His teeth sink into my shoulder, and I scream out in agony as he tears at my flesh. As I struggle, he holds down my head, pressing firmly, causing my face to sink deeper and deeper into the mud with his repulsive moaning echoing in my ear.
She appears. Her white hair is flowing over her shoulders. Her lilac eyes are penetrating my soul. She flickers closer, closer, closer!
No!
I thrust the back of my skull into his nose again and again. The sudden and violent motion makes me dizzy. But dizzy or not, I will be damned if this is how it ends! And I will be damned if I let my soul be devoured by that white-haired bitch again.
I slam my palms down and feel a rock beneath my right hand. Despite only having three fingers, I grab hold of it and drive it into the side of Grayson’s face. He slides off me and once more, I run.
Into the darkness.
Into the storm and the unknown. Ignoring for just this moment that my bump may really be gone.
The lightning continues to light up the sky. The thunder still shudders the earth. Soon, I find my way into some trees. I never stop. I don’t look back. I hold in my urge to scream for help and try to keep my breathing as steady as I can.
‘I CAN SMELL YOU!’ Grayson’s voice echoes all around me. ‘I SMELL YOUR BLOOD AND I’M COMING FOR YOU!’
I weave between the trees. Branches whip at my body, causing hot, sharp stings. I don’t let it stop me. I just keep going, hearing his yells and taunts following me. He’s livid and unrestrained. If he catches me now, I’m done for!
I scream as he darts past me. He moved so fast. He was just a blur! But the pain in my arm has me clutching it tightly. He’s scratched me.
‘You took my eye,’ his voice echoes. I look up, wondering if he’s in the trees. Another blur and flurry of motion are accompanied by a sharp pain across the top of my thigh. ‘You took my manhood.’ I spin around, following the direction of his voice. Another scratch along my hip has me letting out a scream. ‘You took my magic, my family and my coven.’ Again he’s moved. I spin, trying to see him but I can’t spot anything in this darkness.
‘If you’re going to kill me,’ I call out, clasping my neck with one hand as I attempt to slow the bleeding from his bite and holding the rock I used to hit him in the other. ‘Stop talking and JUST FUCKING DO IT!’
‘The things I will do to you as you die will make the devil himself look away in disgust.’
I search all around, trying to find where he is. But everything is starting to spin and my ears are whistling from the blood loss and adrenaline.
‘C’mon, you piece of shit,’ I mumble, watching for any sign of movement. ‘Let me see you.’ Preferably before I pass out.
‘As you wish.’
I spin to find him standing right behind me. The words written on his forehead scream at me. Run Lilly. I should have just bloody run as soon as I woke up.
‘I’m going to enjoy making you scream,’ he promises.
‘Funny,’ a voice calls from beyond the trees. ‘I was just thinking the same thing about you.’
There’s a succession of loud bangs. Gunfire! Grayson takes three bullets in the torso before leaping up into the tree canopy with an animalistic roar. As I look upwards, to try and keep track of where Grayson has gone, a heavy coat is thrown over my shoulders. I see the most welcome face.
‘Dad?’
‘Are you alone?’ he asks. ‘SHOW ME YOUR EYES!’ He stares right into them, searching them desperately. With a small sigh, he says, ‘It’s you. Your eyes are green. You’re you. Thank God for small mercies. Are you alone?!’
‘I’m alone,’ I tell him. ‘Except for… Grayson.’ I swallow down the need to hurl and everything shifts as my knees buckle. Dad catches me and keeps me on my feet. ‘Where’s Gabriel? A-and the others? Are they-’
The snap of a branch soon switches him back into fight or flight mode.
‘We need to go, Buttons.’
‘Where? To the others? I-I don’t understand what’s happen-’
‘JUST RUN!’
∞∞∞
With my dad’s arm wrapped firmly around my waist, we run through the woods together. His gun is in his hand, and as he holds me close, he also keeps his focus on our surroundings, looking up and all around for any sign of Grayson.
‘Keep going, Buttons. We’re almost there.’
‘Almost w-where?’
‘Just keep the pressure on your neck,’ he tells me, pulling me closer when I stumble. ‘It’s going to be okay.’
We charge through the woodland. I have no idea where we’re going, but Dad certainly does. He turns sharply left and right, leaping over roots and fallen trees. Without any hesitation, he stops suddenly, pinning me to his chest before firing three shots upwards. Grayson’s furious roar echoes all around us before he lands with a thud somewhere just beside us. We’re running again before I see exactly where and we soon emerge into an open space, without the sound of the rain pelting the trees I can now make out the sound of the ocean.
‘Can you swim?’ Dad asks quietly as he leads me on.
‘No,’ I reply. ‘Why?’
‘Then keep hold of me. You got that?’ As he scoops me up in his arms, he risks a look over his shoulder. ‘He’ll follow the scent of your blood. So we need to make him lose the trail. Their sense of smell is unbelievable, and once they choose a target, they never let it go. Grayson’s creatures are the perfect hunters.’
How does he know that? We only just found out they even existed!
He takes off at a run. Looking ahead, I see what we’re running to.
A cliff!
The closer we get to the edge, the more the crescent moon lights up the stormy waves ahead. The white foam churns as the wind and rain throw it into turmoil.
I throw my arms around his neck and sink into his chest, watching the tree line behind us shrink into the distance.
‘Don’t let go of me, Buttons. You hear me? The water will be cold, and you’ll have the urge to gasp. Don’t! You just hold on tight. I’ve waited too long and lost far too much waiting for you to come back to me. I will not lose you now!’
His strides grow longer, and I bury my face into his neck, huddling up so I’m as small as could be in his arms.
Then, the sensation of falling has my stomach lurching. Wind whistles past my ears and the cold air hurts as it whips against my body.
SPLASH!
