Darkness Rising: Cursed Guardians

Bad Feeling

What a freaking night i think as I walk up the stairs. I need a shower and sleep. f*****g hell its 6AM.  Thank God tomorrow was my last shift at work and I'd have two days off. I needed to decompress. And unpack I realize as I enter the crazy huge room that was now mine. As much as I would love to explore all i can think of is sleep. My body is running on fumes. With that I walk into the bathroom where mercifully someone has laid out all of my toiletries and place my shower stuff into the shower. After my make up is removed I hope in the shower deciding to not wash my hair. Wrapped in a towel, I manage to locate a box with clothes and find my pjs. 

I take all of the fancy pillows and comforter off the bed and crawl under the covers. Oh. My. GOD. This is the most luxuriously comfortable bed I have ever been in. Not that I'd been in any beds but my own but holy hell this was legit amazing. With that last thought I closed my eyes and slept. Blessedly a dreamless sleep. Since I didn't have to work at the WitchSex because it was closed on Sundays I allowed myself to sleep until 1 in the afternoon. The fact I slept so long was a true indicator of just how exhausted I was. Grabbing my phone I saw a text from Cass. She said to text when I was awake and shed bring me coffee and we could get ready for work together. Bless her. I sent off a quick text and jumped back into the shower to shave and refresh myself. When I got out Cass was there coffee in hand. Lord I did love that Pixie.

Sundays were always slower nights at Cauldren until October when we had theme nights just about every night. People flocked to both the bar and the club for our theme nights. They were...extravagant. Tonight wasn't too bad for a Sunday but then again there was a full moon. It really was no joke that full moons made people crazy.  Only a handful of VIPs came in but oh were they a handful. Night creatures always went full force at the full moon. A large group of werewolves, humans bitten and transformed, came in and cleared us out of tequila. We had to swipe some from WitchBrew just to keep up with the shots. A few vampires came but thankfully didn't linger as their appetites were located in the basement. A few other shifters came in and tore up the dance floor and wracked up a heaping bill but everything died down the closer to midnight we got. When the moon was at its fullest all the creatures went out run. Or fly. Or whatever was their species unique tie to the moon. Just before close I left the VIP area and went back to talk to Demetri.

"Hey" I say from the doorway to the office knocking as usual. He looks up at me and smiles just like he always does. "Hey yourself beautiful" he purs. Shivers. Ignoring that. "Question. Would it be okay if I took off the next few days? I looked at my calendar and we don't have any big parties scheduled. Cass can cover my shifts if she needs to. Bethany can go over books with you. Since I suddenly uprooted my life to a new location I need to unpack." I put on my sweetest Sabella smile. I rarely took time off and Demetri never said no but given that I was asking for time off to unpack my life into Draco's house I wasn't too sure how that was going to work out.

There was definitely a set to his jaw when he responded. Like everything went stiff. "Of course darling." He said and I carefully exhaled. "I will admit though.."here it comes "I hate the idea of you under the same roof as that beast." At that last word his eyes changed to a crimson. Demetri not happy. I may have swallowed a bit hard."I know you don't" i tell him gently "But it's what I need to to do. Thank you for giving me the time off. And if it helps my Auntie and cousins will be taking up residence with me." That got an eyebrow raise and an approving nod. Cass and Bethany walked in at that point as the bar and club had officially closed. "You two go on home. Bethany can run numbers. It's been a long week for all of us. Cass, you and Sabella are taking off the next few days to get Sabella... settled. Bethany, you'll run numbers before and after shift with me." Demetri finished and I couldn't help but notice that in spite of seeming okay with me not being there he was...irritated. I'm not sure how much that had to do with me and where I was unpacking or having someone other than me working with him. I walked to the desk and he stood. I gave Demetri a hug that he seemed to not want to end. "See you in a week" I say as I pull away. "Call me at anytime Sabella. I'm always available for you." Shivers again. Time to go.

Once we’re in Cass’s car I send a group message to my family letting them know I’ve got the next week off and will be at the compound unpacking. As we start driving home I start to get a bad feeling. My stomach is in knots and I feel like I’ve cold sweats. Not good. 

“You good El?” Cass asks. Ugh. “Good? No. This is a lot. Even for me. And my cousins are the Hunters for f***s sake. Insanity and craziness comes par for the course with my family. Ever since they went on the destroy all the evil supernatural warpath there has been craziness surrounding us. Hell even before that. Im just not used to being smack dab in the middle of it.” Im a little exasperated as I finish. “I get it.” She simply says. “Our world is nuts on a good day. Considering you’ve avoided it your whole life except the whole ghost spirit thing I can’t imagine this wouldn’t knock you for a loop.” All I do is nod and we continue the rest of the drive in silence. I watch the moon as Cass drives and my thoughts wander all over the place trying to escape the bad feeling that seems to intensify the closer we get to home. By the time we get to the house I’m internally freaking out and a ball of nervous energy. As I open my door I catch a streak of white coming my direction. “Hey Nic. Any idea where my furries are?” Niccademus rubs the side of my leg and I bend down to scratch his ears. “Evening El. I just left them. They are around the back side of this place. Which is enormous in case you didn’t already know. And these people call it a house.” I laugh because he gets me and my failure to understand how this can be called a house. “Thanks Nic. Cass I’m going to walk with the furries for a bit.” I say over my shoulder as I start the long walk around the “house.”

Thirty ish minutes later I’ve finally found the back of the property. There’s a beautiful cobblestone courtyard with a large fountain and lots of chairs and fire pits set up for people to sit.  Past the patio is lush grass and gardens that seem to go on a long way and off to the sides thick, dense Forrest. It’s eerily quiet and the feeling in my gut keeps getting worse. New plan. Screw the walk. Find the furries and go up to my room. I head to Forrest because I know that’s where I’ll find my furries. And somehow my gut tells me this is where I have to go. 

As soon as I entered the forest I heard movement and a distinct bark that belonged to Daemen who came bounding towards. “Hey baby” I saw scratching his ears. “Where are your brother and sister?” I ask him. He looks at me and then starts walking further into the thick tress but heading back towards the house. Daemen barks and is answered by Storm who appears ahead of us. Two down one to go I think. We continue to walk again still deep in the thickness but very close to the compound. My gut is going to kill me at this point the feeling of bad is so overwhelming. I can see the wall of the compound ahead of me but am quickly distracted by Shadow and a moaning sound coming from my left. Shadow turns and walks away and I run after him, Storm and Daemon running to catch up with their brother. I nearly slam into the side of the compound when I find the source of the moan and nearly collapse of shock and finding the source of my bad feeling. Draco.