His Dark Howl

Echoes in the Night

    Bria’s first five days in her new home passed quickly. It was the first time she had been around other witches since her grandmother had passed, and her first time ever around a vampire. In fact, before the revelation that Lara was in fact a supernatural creature who drank blood to sustain herself, Bria hadn’t even known vampires were real. As real as witches or werewolves, Opal had said. Bria’s mind flashed back to the last time she had read her tea leaves, of the black wolf in the bottom of her cup. Well, if werewolves were real, at least they couldn’t enter the property boundary. Katie and her sisters had put a protective spell around the property line when they first bought the old Victorian house, effectively barring any uninvited visitors, supernatural or not, from entering their territory.

    It was serendipitous that Bria’s first week in her new home was also the week of her spring break. She spent the time settling into the house, and getting to know it and its occupants. The house seemed as much a member of the family as any of them, and Katie had told her that it had been occupied by witches of different families and covens since it was built. Their magic had seeped into its timbers, and it was, in a way, alive. It had called to her when she moved her family to the area, and welcomed them in with warmth since the day they came to look at it.

    Bria’s room was on the second floor of the old house, in one of the towers. She had two large windows, and a glass door that opened up to a balcony overlooking the forest. The room had six walls, each painted a cool, sea green. There was a large, four poster bed, made up with soft white linens topped with a handmade quilt, depicting pictures of a starry sky above a calm sea. A desk sat in front of one window, and a comfortable blue velvet armchair in front of the other. Bookcases were built into two of the walls, from floor to ceiling. She shared an adjoining bathroom with Jade, which was painted in shades of lilac, with astounding vines of wisteria growing on trellises that arched over the old-fashioned claw-foot tub. Jade was an Earth Witch, and it seemed that everywhere she touched was filled with beautiful plant-life. Bria wouldn’t have been surprised if there were lily-pads in the tub itself.

    Over the past days, each occupant of the house became more familiar to Bria. She was now less impressed that Lara was a vampire, and more impressed that she was a successful attorney, who was the youngest partner in a practice the nearest city. She certainly dressed the part, Monday to Friday, with her tailored suits and red stiletto heels that matched her lipstick, hair pulled back into a sleek bun. Bria certainly wouldn’t want to be an attorney going up against Lara, she exuded fierce capability.

    Bria came to know weekday Katie, who was a little more relaxed than weekend Katie. Katie worked double shifts at the group home on Saturdays and Sundays, and in return, had Monday to Friday off. She was a homebody, spending lots of time cooking and baking, and tending to plants in her garden out behind the house. Her garden magically grew fresh produce year round, which she then turned into delectable home-cooked meals for the family.

    Jade was quick to win Bria over. She had given Bria a little succulent garden in a clay dish as a welcome gift, and Bria could sense that she had not only planted the succulents, but made the dish herself as well. She later learned that Jade had a little pottery studio out in the barn that also served as a garage. She made a decent living selling her pottery online, and spent a lot of time each day digging clay by hand and then casting in on her potter’s wheel. Opal had made her sister a kiln, as a present some years back, and she was content to spend most of her time communing with her magic, alone in her studio.

    Opal was the trickiest to get to know. Loud, and bold, Opal thrived in a group. She attended classes at a local university, and was earning a degree in public relations. After graduating, she told Bria, she planned on moving to a big city, to work for the entertainment industry. Opal was like a firework, bright and sparkly and impossible to ignore. She was the kind of girl that caught the attention of men, and kept it. Opal enjoyed male attention, and enjoyed going on dates and flirting. She was not interested in settling down any time soon, however. There was too much fun left to have, she told Bria. Opal, on strict orders from Katie, Bria suspected, did not bombard her with questions regarding her magic, and Bria had slowly relaxed around her. She began to feel comfortable in this house, and by Friday, it was really beginning to feel like home.

    Bria found herself settling in for an early sleep on Friday night, the week had been busy, and she had to rise early, for work, in the morning. Katie and Lara had gone out for their weekly date night, and Opal had left for the weekend with some of her girlfriends, ready to tear up a casino and break some hearts. When Jade excused herself to read a book in her room, Bria had gone up to her bedroom as well. She had a relaxing bath, and changed into her simple nightgown before slipping into the cozy bed.

    She fell asleep quickly, her body sinking slightly into the pillow-top mattress. The moon shone in through her window, casting a silver light over her sleeping form. She had always been sensitive to the moonlight, attributing it to the magic that flowed through her body. It was like a gentle caress on her skin, warm and familiar. She felt so safe, and so comfortable, that she allowed her body to relax deeply, and awakened once more in a familiar dreamland.

    She stood in that familiar field, and waited for the urge to run. No urge came. She felt safe, here. She looked across the field, the long, undulating grass bathed in moonlight, like a gently rippling sea. She waved her hands over the grass, and reached deep inside of herself. Spirit of the Earth, she intoned, help me to grow. Slowly, beautiful flowers, lupine, in shades of purple and pink, began to poke up from between the flowing blades of grass. She twirled around, and the flowers fanned out around her, spiraling until they filled the field with their beauty.

    Bria stood, dancing in the moonlight, in the field of lupine, and felt herself laugh. Her dark hair swirled around her in a wind of her own creation, and she was a blur of shadow and moonlight in a field full of flowers. Then, she heard it, that familiar sound. That howl. She stood still, but she did not run. Instead, she called out, across the field, Who are you? No answer came, only the chirp of spring peepers disturbed the silence, and the sound of her own heart, beating loudly in her eardrums. And then, she saw it, a shadow, slinking across the field. It came toward her, a black shape among the pink and purple lupine.

    Bria was motionless, even the wind that had played with her hair ceasing to blow. The shadow approached her, and she saw that it was a wolf, a very large, black wolf. But still, she held her ground. This was her dream, and she was in charge of it. Nothing would hurt her, here. As the wolf approached, she held out a hand to it, as one would to an unfamiliar dog. The wolf looked at her for a moment, golden eyes glowing in the moonlight, and then, pressed the top of its head to her outstretched palm.

    Who are you? She asked again, feeling a warmth flood through her hand, dispersing through the rest of her body. They stood together, for a moment, for an eternity.

    You know who I am. The voice spoke to her mind, and she felt the wolf beneath her palm shift. Where the beast once stood, a man now knelt, his hair in dark waves beneath her palm. He was shirtless, and Bria could see his muscles ripple in the moonlight. She cupped the side of his face with her hand, craving contact with his body. I’ve been looking for you, Bria. I will find you. His words made another flush of warmth spread through her body, and she knew that if he ever did find her, she would be unable to stop him from taking whatever it was that he wanted.

    He took her hand in his, and then rose to his feet, his face still shrouded in shadow. He was so tall, and he made her feel small next to him. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her, to rip her nightgown from her body, and to ravage her, here in this field. Instead, he lifted her left hand to his lips, and kissed her palm, tenderly. You are meant for me, Bria, he told her, and I will find you, even if it takes a lifetime. The spot where he touched burned like a flame, and she felt a heat lick gently between her legs. She craved his touch across her whole body, an ache like she had never felt before.

    How will you find me? She asked him. How do I know that you are real? She peered up into his face, still unable to make out his features. She buried her head in his chest, and clung to him tightly, listening to his heart race in time to her own. She knew that he craved her as much as she craved him.

    The Goddess will bring us together, he told her, you are destined for me. Then, just as she felt his strong arms surround her, just as she felt his fingers stroke gently across her back, the field of flowers faded, and she awoke, panting and alone, to the early dawn light streaming through her windows. Bria felt her left hand throb, and brought it up to inspect it in the dim light. There, emblazoned across her palm in silver, was a tattoo shaped like a waxing crescent moon. Impossible, she gasped, touching it. A flash of memory came then, the feeling of his lips on her palm. It was only a dream, she thought to herself. But if it was only a dream, how could she have woken up with this mark on her palm? She thought back to her tea leaves, to the black wolf surrounded by a field of flowers. What did it all mean?

    She leapt out of bed, suddenly craving fresh air. She opened the glass door to her balcony, and inhaled deeply while bracing herself on the railing. The morning breeze calmed her racing heart, and she slowly unclenched her left palm. Nothing would be there, she told herself, it was just the waking remnant of a powerful dream. But there it was, a crescent moon nestled in the palm of her hand, as if it had always been a part of her. As she looked at it, she heard the howl again, echoing across the dark forest, chasing the first rays of sunshine across the treetops. It was a plaintive howl, and it shook Bria to the core. Was he out there, the man from her dreams? No, not a man, not quite a wolf either. “Werewolf.” she whispered. Maybe, he was. After this week, she no longer believed that anything was impossible.