Dangerous Beauty

Chapter 4: A New Kind Of Hangover

With all eyes on her Claudia shifts uncomfortably in her spot on the floor. I can see in her eyes that she is trying to find the right words to say, to explain to us her secret. But I know in my heart, that is now pounding violently in my ears, what she will say. All that’s left to do is wait for them to escape her lips into existence. The seconds tick by like hours before she finally speaks.

“It all started when I was little,” she begins, looking down at her hands so as not to meet anyone’s gaze as she tells her story, “We had this tree in the field by our house and there was this tree a little ways out that I liked to read under. One day I was sitting beneath it reading like I normally did when I glanced over into my neighbor’s cow next meal. I thought maybe it was a vulture waiting for one of the cows to die so it could scavenge on its dead body. But I had a bad feeling as I watched it. It began to seem like something other than an animal. It seemed like ages that I sat there watching it before it dropped from the tree and saw me starring. I was filled with panic, it was a man with yellow eyes, just starring back at me. I got up to run but he was on top of me before I could even make it to my feet. He was so fast, he wasn’t human. There was no other way he could have made it to me so fast. I remember looking up at his dark hair and hollow face with his bright yellow eyes burning holes into mine it seemed. He never looked away from me,” she shudders at the memory as if she was still there today, “I thought some drug head was about to r**e me so I screamed but he covered my mouth. He kept asking me strange questions. Like ‘how did you find us’ and ‘how can you see me?, I had no clue what he meant. I kept asking what he meant but he wouldn’t listen, I even told him if he let me go I wouldn’t say anything to anyone. I begged him to let me go,” she sighs covering her face with he hands.

Easton puts his hands on her shoulders in comfort.

“He bit me,” she says finally, “and turned me into a vampyre. After that he let me go and I ran home to tell my parents but no-one believed me. I’ve never told anyone since,” she admits, her face ashen with fear.

Her story is crazy but for some reason I believe her. Something about the way she tells it makes it seem real.

“This is crazy,” Fallon says suddenly, “it can’t be real.”

“It it’s!” Claudia says defensively her voice shaky, “And now that you all know they will be coming for you too.”

The room falls so silent I can almost hear my blood rushing through my veins. Claudia continues with her story.

“His name is Damien, and he and two others named Jake and Andy follow me everywhere, telling me to join them. But I keep telling them know. Then I met Aiden and he made me into a hybrid of a wolf and vampyre, he did the same for Jake,” she explains.

Aiden is apart of this too? This is all to real to me. My head begins to throb. How can I believe her? This stuff isn’t supposed to exist. But haven’t I spent my life trying to prove it does? I don’t know what to do, what to believe, as I sit still in this small cabin that smells of mildew and tobacco. It’s almost suffocating. I think of my grandfather and his stories, of my nightmares and how real they seem. Could all of that been real? I have no time to think any deeper as Hades growls at the door. I know now what he is growling at.

“We have to leave,” I say breathlessly and try, and fail, to stand.

Why can’t I move? As I try again the room tilts and spins and I fall to the floor. My body makes a heavy thud sounds as solid mass collides with hollow wood. What’s happening? My body curls around itself and shakes. I’m going to be sick. As if on cue my body wretches and I lose the contents of my stomach from the past few hours. Over and over again till my stomach is empty. Easton finds me a glass of cold water but I have no time to drink it before the world goes black.

“Back up don’t touch her” I hear through the darkness. Who is talking? My limbs ache and stretch without consent. Someone inhales sharply. What’s happening to me? The world is side ways when I open my eyes. I’m still on the floor. Instead of arms a pair of long white legs and big paws are stretched out in front of me. When I try to move the legs move with me. They look canine. What dog is this that s laying in front of me? Or is it on top of me? My body is heavy. It must be on top of me. I move to stand but my movements feel all wrong as I raise to my feet. The dog is me. I shake my head to try to clear it. But still nothing makes sense. Am I dreaming again. I look down at the room and people in it. Claudia stands in front of me with her hands up in a way that symbolizes she means no harm.

“Lilith just relax okay? Calm down.” She tells me, but I am calm and relaxed aren’t I?

‘I’m tired’ I try to say but nothing more than a whimper escapes me. Fallon and Easton look up at me in fear, frozen in place. What are they so afraid of? Hades too, cowers in his corner. What’s happening to me? Why is everything so strange looking? I move to lay back down but instead fall to the floor with a moan. I don’t understand. As my head once again hits the floor the world goes black once more.

When I my eyes open again I see the stars and trees above me, flowing like a river. I am being carried but I don’t know by who. The sky ii bright with moonlight that shines brightly on my face with cool air that surrounds me like, like floating in a dark pool. My body aches immensely and I’m not sure why. I turn my head slowly and see the face of the person carrying me. It’s Aiden. My head lolls back and darkness enfolds me once again.

When I wake it is light outside and the sun shines dully through the drawn curtains in my room. How did I get here? A memory of last night flashes briefly through my mind just out of reach. I remember he cabin. As I move to get out of bed pain shoots through me. What happened last night to leave me with such pain? Nothing comes to mind. When I look down I see I am in a t-shirt that isn’t mine and underwear. Whose shirt is this? I strain to remember but my head hurts to much. I need Tylenol but there is none nearby. I’ll have to go to the kitchen. Gritting my teeth, I push myself out of bed to my feet and put on pants, disturbing Hades at the foot of my bed who jumps out to check if I’m alright. I pet him gently and head out of my room toward the stairs. Going down the stairs is slow going at first but I pick up the pace a little as I reach the bottom and walk into the living room where I find my friends asleep. Easton and Claudia are cuddled on the couch and Fallon in the recliner. I am careful not to wake them as I make my way to the kitchen. When did we all make it back here?

The smell of fresh coffee fills the kitchen and sure enough there is a fresh pot made and Aiden sits at the table reading Anne Rice’s “Interview With The Vampire”. Ironic, I think but I am not sure why. He glances up at me for a moment before speaking.

“Good morning sunshine, how did you sleep?” he asks, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“What are you doing here?”

“Claudia called me, she said you had passed out and they needed help getting you home. You had an eventful night last night,” he tells me.

“What do you mean? “I ask confused.

“Don’t you remember?” he asks in return.

I shake my head. What does he mean? I don’t remember anything after the Ouija board. Did I drink too much?

“Let’s see,” he says putting his book down “Are you sore?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“You shifted involuntarily last night,” he tells me, though I’m not sure what he means.

“Shifted?” I ask sitting down.

“You really don’t remember anything?”

I shake my head. Slowly puts his book down and places his hand on my forehead and closes his eyes. In an instant everything comes flooding back to me making my head ache even more. My dream fills the empty spaces in my mind and plays before my eyes again, but it was no dream. It was real I can feel it with every fiber of my being. For a brief moment last night, I was a wolf like the ones from my stories. I had white fur and I stood at almost 6 feet tall. But how?

“Now do you remember?” he asks.

“Yes.”

That’s when I notice on the table between us is my grandfather’s journal.

“I thought you might want it,” he says picking up his book.

I slowly pick up the journal and open it. It is untouched. I turn it to the next entry.

November 21, 2001

She turned 5 today, my lovely Lili. I tried to tell my dear Annie of the danger she is in but she won’t believe me. It’s all nonsense she says. Fiction. I blame that husband of hers, Brent. He has talked her into nonbelief. Even if he is a good man, he is a fool. But of course, I know better. I have lived my stories they are my own. Not those of a stranger. To protect my Lili, I have done something unspeakable. I have summoned a demon named Magnus. He will watch over her for as long as I wish, just as long as I allow him to use my body as a vessel. I don’t know how long I will last now. I pray till she is in high school but I know my time is ticking away. Her power steals mine and weakens me. But it’s okay because I love her and I know she will go on to do great things. I tell her my stories to prepare her for what is to come. For her future while she is still safe. Though If I pass on I don’t know how long the demon will stay. Joseph is still here though he will protect her with his life if he has to. He is even training a Belgian sheepdog to watch her when we cannot. He will be ready when he turns a year old. His name is Hades. He will protect her until he too, has passed. Just as the rest of us will. We need her.

Already she loves my stories though I am not sure she believes in them yet. But she will as time goes on. Nathan watches over he too with his young boy who he has already begun to train. They will be destined for each other I am sure of it. Young Aiden is already fixated with her. He will guide her into he new life when the time comes. I only hope she will listen.

I am the reason my grandfather passed. The idea hits me hard like an arrow to the heart. And this demon Magnus helped. Something unseen bites at my soul like a cold wind and my eyes tear up. How could grandfather do this? My ears a filled with a ringing noise like that of someone running their finger around the rim of a crystal wine glass, the sound clear and sharp. I feel as though I might shatter like glass.

“Relax we don’t want another accident like last night,” Aiden says bringing me back to reality.

At that moment Easton walks into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, avoiding my gaze all the while before retreating back to the living room.

“He needs time to adjust, they all do after what happened last night,” Aiden explains.

“What really happened last night?” I ask.

“Luther attacked and you stopped him, but barely,” he tells me.

Luther, I know that name. But why would he attack?

“You won’t remember that, you were too far gone at the time,”

Nothing makes sense anymore. My reality is crumbling around me and I can’t stop it. What am I supposed to do with all this new information? Information that feels so unreal, so fragile, like an old piece of tissue paper in a storm, twisting and turning and tearing at the edges as it is tossed about.

“You need to train,” Aiden says interrupting my train of thought, “Take some time to rest, we start in two days.”

His tone if full of finality so I don’t argue. Instead I read the next entry in my grandfather’s journal.

October 31, 2001

I write from my hospital bed. Lili does not know I am here and I think that is best. She is too young to worry. Especially since she is the reason I am here, the poor child. She was fussy all night. None of us knew what was happening. She cried in her little wagon dressed as a little bee. None of us knew she was feeling her own sting as her power stretched and grew within her. I only noticed toward the end of the night when it was too late to console her. Her power had grown so much by that time it was like the world was trying to collapse in on you. And then it burst. My hurt couldn’t withstand such an explosion of power. It failed me momentarily. Her parents though, noticed nothing as always. I must find a way to contain this power of hers before it becomes too great and she is discovered for what she is. A true leader by blood, what the packs call an All Mother. She will be something great. But not If Luther finds her first.

That name again…Luther.