Hunted in Darkness

Solutions

You could hear a pin drop in the room as we all waited to hear something that might help. “As you know, I’ve been in the business of magick for a long time, and I’ve seen many things. When all of this started happening, it reminded me of a story I heard from an old African rootworker. His tale said roughly that the Devil himself sent a demon to Africa, to rule the land, and when the demon got there, it dried up all the rivers and made the people sacrifice themselves at its feet, until everything ran red with blood. Now, the old gods didn’t like that much and decided to trick the demon into going back to hell, and stop meddling with their people. They sent one of them in disguise to say that it was the demon’s baby, born of blood, dirt and sweat. The demon believed the story and let the supposed son sit next to him. He soon started complaining about how hot and wicked the land was, about how boring it was serving on earth, how all the demon’s brothers and sisters in hell must be laughing at him. The demon got so mad it decided to go back to hell and see. To get there, the old gods cooked it a root, blessed by shamans and prayed over by virgins until it was as holy as could be. That bad old demon ate every bite of that root, and it killed him, too holy with the prayers and beliefs of mankind. Vampires suffer the same kinds of allergies to things believed sacred by mankind, and yet, salve mixed with holy water, burned the devil’s infection from Kat and allowed the wound to start healing. I think it’s time we trick this devil into eating the wrong heart, blessed with sacred roots and anointed with holy water. See if that doesn’t send him back to hell.”

The room was quiet as everyone considered her idea, but the trouble was, who’s heart would they be able to use to trick the demon, and what if it didn’t work? “I know, you guys are thinking that nobody wants to give up their heart for this, and I agree, which is why we make a heart, and place it in a golum. Golums are wads of clay, brought to life by Jewish magic. We could make our own, I have the correct text and instructions, it’s just going to take time and trickery. I want this golum to look like Kat, because she and the monster know each other through dreams.” I nodded my consent, but Em’s voice broke the silence behind me “No.If this goes wrong, it’ll take Kat’s heart, her real heart. You’ll use me, I’ve seen it too and after everything I did before to Kat, I need to do something to keep her safe now, so if you're using anyone as bait, you’ll use me.” Dorthea considered a moment and sighed.

“ Fine, I’ll use you. I need blood and hair, and while I’m crafting it, you have to disappear somewhere safe, both of you. The wards on my shop aren’t powerful enough to protect both of you.” Marcy cleared her throat “I can handle that part, we’ll put them with the Krystal Moon pack of werewolves. They’re vicious fighters, and their pack house was once a church building.”

Em slept on the drive to meet the wolves, once Dorthea had taken what she needed from him to mold her own monster, he seemed to be wiped out. His head lay on my lap as I watched the landscape change. Marcy had given us a quick primer on wolves, their pack habits, the hierarchy. She stressed that mutual respect was key. I had never met a werewolf before, at least not one who ever told me he was one, though I did occasionally have things cross my table at work that I suspected might be a product of their violence. I had called Nick to tell him I was going out of town for an emergency and to schedule more vacation days to cover it. He had tried to ask questions, and the worry was evident in his voice, but he did as I asked. I was terrified of what the coming days might hold. I ran my fingers absentmindedly through Em’s hair, realizing that after everything, I still loved him.

I worried silently for the people I cared about, for Nick, unknowingly wound in a plot with creatures he didn’t believe in, for Dorthea who did believe and was risking so much to save something as awful as vampires, for Marcy, who is calling to negotiate agreements between creatures that shouldn’t exist and who usually dislike each other. All these threads tying together to form bonds strong enough to save us.

I must have nodded off too, because I was awakened by the black SUV coming to a stop in front of a large stone building with a steeple. Three handsome men stood outside, impeccably dressed. I knew one would be what they called an Alpha and probably one of the others was a Beta. I was still rusty on the terminology and just silently hoped that they’d be nice to us, refugees at their doorstep. A beautiful woman glided out and stood next to the one I thought must be their Alpha. I remembered Marcy telling me that this woman was called a Luna and was mated to the Alpha for life. This particular Luna had a sad history and it was only with help from Marcy and the O&I team, she was able to escape her own abusive pack and find her mate. She looked ethereal, and moved gracefully. I couldn’t imagine any harm coming to something that looked like that. 

A man pulled my door open and helped me out of the car, as Em stretched and tried to wake up, someone held his door open too. “Thank you” I told the man who handed me down from the car, I was reminded of when I used to ride in a carriage and gentlemen would lend me their hand to help me out of the vehicle. Chivalry isn’t dead, it’s just being kept alive by werewolves. I bowed slightly as if meeting royalty and looked up at my hosts. “I cannot thank you enough for allowing us sanctuary in your home. We will try to be good guests, but forgive us if our manners betray us, we are new to your world, and hope you will forgive our mistakes. I am Katinka, or Kat for short, and my companion is Emile.” I tried to give a disarming smile.

“We are pleased to have the chance to meet you and have you as guests in our home. I am Maxim, or Max for short, and am the Alpha of this pack. This is Krysten, my beloved Luna. The gentleman to my right is my Beta, Marius and the other gentlemen is my guard, Alexander.” I nodded politely at each of them, trying not to make eye contact with anyone so as not to be seen as disrespectful. Krysten floated, for there wasn’t another word for it, forward and embraced me tightly. “You are among friends, have no fear.” she smiled warmly at Emile. “We will get you settled in a room, if you don’t mind being in the same one, it will be no problem at all, and I’ve got some things for you, so you can dress for dinner and everyone else in the pack can meet you. You wouldn’t believe how curious they all are about you. Please don’t consider us too rude if you hear rumors about vampires smelling of grave dirt or whatever other nonsense they’ve cooked up in the kitchens, they don’t mean any harm, this is a learning experience for us all.” her voice sounded like birds singing and brought a warmth to the situation. “Thank you, you are very gracious. Emile and I would be happy to share a room if it makes matters easier for everyone.” I said demurely “I’d practically insist on it anyway, she may not be my Luna, but Kat is mine and I must be near her to keep her safe.” announced Em from behind me. He placed a protective hand on my shoulder while meeting the gaze of the men. Some customs cross all barriers, I suppose. The gesture was understood by everyone.

We walked up the steps and Krysten took my arm while Emile walked ahead to chat with Max. “You poor dear, to have all this happening, it must be stressful. I certainly hope you can feel safe and rest with us. We would protect you with our lives if it came down to it. I just hope you know that.” Her words were surprisingly comforting. I noticed she had scars on her arms and faint outlines of old wounds on her throat. I believed she knew the meaning of suffering and didn’t intend for it to happen again to anyone under her watch. I had lost track of the menfolk, which was just as well , Krysten pulled me into her room and handed me several dresses. Then she showed me to our room where some kind soul had drawn a hot bath already for me. “Dinner is at eight, we’ve done our best to accommodate your needs as Marcy told us they were, she helped me pick out the dresses too, I hope you don’t mind.” I shook my head “No, you’ve been so very kind, you don’t know how much all of this means to us.” she smiled again and left the room. I settled into the bath and closed my eyes. The water was perfectly warm and comfortable. I soaked until I started to turn into a prune. By then Emile was back, carrying his own clothes. “Sorry I took so long, they were kind enough to show me all the security measures they’ve taken for our visit, so I could be sure of our safety.” I nodded, toweling off as he refilled the tub for his own bath.

I picked out a dark green velvet dress and put my hair up. I wanted to look presentable to the pack who was kind enough to take us in and treat us like family. Emile was wearing a velvet dinner jacket, and it reminded me of an enchanted evening over a hundred years ago. He leaned down and kissed me deeply. “You’re beautiful.” he whispered in my ear. My smile was involuntary.