The Dormant: The 5 Goddesses

Episode 14: Fairytale

[ [ Ancient Memories] ]

~Bastet~

“Bastet, come on, we don't have all day. We're creating here!” I rolled my eyes and pinched my lips. It was getting old, my sister Selene demanding things. She took the leadership role quite seriously, her older sister's vibes rubbing badly on the rest of us. Smiling a sarcastic grin in her direction, I thought to myself, Better luck next time, pack leader.

I wanted to start exploring, and setting up a campsite wasn't my idea of fun. My intention was to rummage around, finding every new experience this place had to offer. I wondered about this new land Father Nature created. Skipping towards the creek where Aine was, as usual, I found her looking at her reflection in the water. “Baby sister, aren't you going to help the top caninus over there?”

Sweet Aine looked at me with those starry eyes of hers and rolled them as if my talking to her had interrupted the most crucial thing in the universe. She hovered in the sky and answered, “I am not picking any more stuff. What is the good of being a light force if I have to spend my hours in manual labor?”

“Spoiled brat,” I mumbled, trying to reason with her. “I've already helped Selene all day. It's your turn, don’t you think?” I replied while trying to catch her, but she remained just out of my reach. She pouted her lips, stuck out her tongue, and mimicked stomping her feet on the air, but flew to Selene anyway and asked her what she needed.

Selene, hearing our little arguments, narrowed her eyes at Aine. “I am not making you pick anything, Aine. Can you please go look for Morrigan? We need to enchant this place.” Selene commanded while looking around and remembering something else. “Oh, and if you see Triton, tell him to create a gentle freshwater stream around here; we will need that too.” She used her hands to show her where she wanted the water source.

She was totally digging the older sister's vibe, and the way she was barking orders astounded me. “t**t!”

“I heard that.” Her voice resonated in my head.

“Asshole, get out of my head. You know I hate it when you barge in unannounced.” I screamed back.

“By the way, have you seen Lilith? It's been ages since I’ve seen her,” she asked before I left.

Shrugging my shoulders, I answered, “I haven't seen her since last night. She hates the sun, you know. It makes her cranky. Why don't you let her rest? She'll help later on.”

This was a daily thing. We five were the original sisters. Selene was the oldest, the commander of the Lycans and werewolves, twin to Lilith, mother of vampires. I was the third to receive the spark and mother to felines.

Nature created just a minute later, my sister Morrigan, the most human of all of us. Her children called themselves witches and warlocks, but she preferred calling them medicine kind or healers. And finally, little Aine, she’s just sparks, glitter, and ego. She is the queen of the fae kind.

We call ourselves sisters, created at the same time by the same natural force, the Father Nature.

Triton, we found him on the shore, sitting and watching the Mediterranean’s blue skies. Before we, sisters, showed up, he didn’t travel on land often. He preferred the water and the vast sea. His children are ocean dwellers.

After we found him, we figured the spark had created more of us, and we were intent on finding each and every one of us.

That was the purpose of being here. We felt a strong magical presence in the area that only meant one or two of us living here. Finally, exploring my new surroundings and thinking to myself about how much I love this place. The thick jungle was warm and moist. It stuck to your body in a hot embrace.

Tapping my finger on my chin, thinking, I haven’t gone for a run in days. Taking the form of a jaguar, I jumped into the jungle and started running, glancing a final moment back before I took on a full sprint. In the background, Selene was screaming at Aine, “Dammit Aine, stop using the horses to create unicorns.”

I fondly smiled at myself as I thought of my beautiful dysfunctional family.

[End of Memories]

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~Charly~

He brought me to this amazing place. How did he know I liked romantic but straightforward? I asked myself while looking at the flowers around me, my finger gently touching a lily.

He started taking out the food from the basket. He had some crudités, chicken wraps, crème brûlée, and for drinks, he brought apple cider. We started eating, and I began asking questions. “So, tell me what this is?” Making a pointing motion between us, the same one he used in the car.

“Well, to explain that I must start from the beginning. I’m going 101 with you, so let's start with a little fairy tale,” he said while biting down on a grape. “Ooohhh.” I positioned myself on my stomach on the blanket, raising myself on my elbows and biting a carrot, watching him intently.

“A long time ago, when the earth was created, some humans began showing different characteristics. They started bonding with spirits inside of themselves. Let's call them magical spirits. They began connecting with these creatures, sharing one body and two minds in a peaceful, symbiotic way.

Soon the energy that created these magical beings, deemed it necessary that they would get some guidance to understand their nature. So that same energy also created beings of light that were meant to rule over the different species of magical.”

I was in awe, trying to get around what he was telling me. Looking straight at him, I felt almost swayed to sleep by his voice. “The beings of light or gods all ruled over their own kind. Peacefully working together to create a better world.” I turned over and placed my head on his lap, looking straight into his gray eyes while he stroked my hair.

~Noah~

“There was Selene, mother to Lycans; Morrigan, mother to witches; Aine, mother to the fae kind; and Lilith, mother to vampires. They lived happily together in peace, even letting their children mingle and share their different talents. They even met other light beings like eagles and mermaids,” I paused and watched the peaceful look on her face as I stroked her hair.

Biting my lower lip, I continued, “But one day, Lilith met a new God. He was a powerful god, the father of light, and only his children could speak his name. Jealousy and darkness started to seep into her heart with hatred towards him and towards his kind. Her heart became black with envy and despair because she craved his powers.” She shook her head at this part. “She sounds like a...”

I laughed while flicking my index finger to her nose. “Would you let me finish the story?”

She thought for a second and nodded. “Continue, please.”

I gave her a small peck on her head and continued. “As I was saying, she tricked another one of the goddesses, Morrigan, into thinking she was mated to a human mortal and that she needed her help. See, the mortal was dying. Lilith just needed to learn a hex, a simple hex to drink his human soul and bond with him. That way, she could be with him forever.

Morrigan conceded and taught her the gift. Lilith, instead of using it for what she was affirming she was going to use the hex, instead applied it to consume the light of the fire god, drinking all of his powers and killing him. When this happened, his children lost their spirit animal, his children lost their magic and became humans.

But Lilith had made a grave mistake by taking his light. The magic was not balanced, instead of giving her the power she sought, it cursed her and her children so they wouldn’t be able to walk in the light anymore.

With the imbalance, nature was amiss, and magicals started to linger and seep into darkness. The different creatures soon turned against each other, weary and afraid of the many kinds. The fae kind was the most hit by the imbalance. Still, the wolf as a pack animal prevailed, trusting each other as a family and trusting their Goddess Selene, they managed to not only survive the disbalance but thrive in it.” I finished the werewolf fairy tale my mother used to tell me when I was a kid.

Charly leaned in, smirking; still, her eyes looked confused as if something about the story was wrong.

I laughed at her cute face and asked, “Are you upset?”

She shook her head and began smiling again. “No, it’s just something feels wrong about it like you are not telling it right.”

I grinned and grabbed her chin, rubbing my thumb against her cheek. “All of that and you feel I’m not telling the fairy tale accurately. Any questions?”

This time I asked using the bond, “About voices perhaps?”

She thought for a while as she went through the story again. I could feel how her brain started to move. “So, what has that got to do with this?” She pointed at her head.

As calmly as I could, I answered, “Well, immortals or non-humans, because they are not immortals, they just live a long, long life, tend to bond with their magic spirit at age eighteen. When that happens, they start aging really, really slowly. Well, at least we werewolves do.”

Charlotte gasped immediately when I said this, the million-dollar question popping into her mind.

“You are telling me you are a...?”

I finished her statement, c*****g my head to the side and shrugging my shoulders. “Huge furry beast? Yes, I am.”

She looked at me, scared. Then she looked at the sky and the moon above, then back at me again, not believing a thing I said.

“There’s a full moon now. Why haven’t you turned into a werewolf? Would you eat me? Is it contagious?” She laughed, clearly thinking I was delusional, and I had to laugh too.

I grabbed her chin and diverted her gaze towards my eyes. “No, beautiful, I am a shifter, not a turner. I can shift whenever I want. It’s not contagious. You must be born with the gene. The ability to bond with the magical spirit inside you, and it only comes to certain people. And eat you, there's nothing else I want to do.”

~Charly~

“Shift,” I said out loud not really absorbing what he said and at the same time thinking Oh God Another crazy nutcase in my life. First, a s*x-addict wife-beater and now a delusional wannabe werewolf.

Feeling angry and freaking out, I looked up and realized I had forgotten to close my mind. Noah had heard my internal conflict. His eyes glared at me while raising one eyebrow, how he managed to do that, be my guest, but he did.

Noah stood up and walked outside the gazebo, leaving me in the middle of it, I quickly got up as he began taking his shirt off, then his pants. “Whoa,” I put my hands up as he was about to take his boxers off, signaling he should stop getting naked.

I covered my eyes, not wanting to see him naked. Soon, I found myself putting my hands back down when he stopped answering me and everything became deathly silent.

In front of me, instead of a naked Noah, I had a humongous black wolf with silver specs that shimmered in the moonlight. I quickly went down the gazebo stairs and took one step so I could put my hand in its soft fur and look into its gray eyes. “Noah?” I asked, and the beast actually, no one is going to believe me, nodded.

~Noah~

Charlotte raised her hand and asked, “Noah?” I nodded at her, and she fainted. f**k, f**k, f**k, this is not what I had in mind when I wanted to swoop her off her feet!

Swiftly shifting back and putting my clothes back on, I lowered myself to Charlotte’s side. “Charly, Charly wake up!” She muttered something and swatted her hand at me. Then, using my Alpha tone, I commanded, “Charlotte wake up now!”

She opened her eyes and panicked. “Don’t freak out, baby,” I stated. Then disbelief shot through her mind, and her eyes darted from side to side, trying to take it all in. “Charly, can you please stop panicking? You’re giving me a headache. Breathe, baby, please,” I pleaded while hugging her.

She filled her lungs with air and then stopped breathing again. “Now out,” I said and smiled, my eyebrows raised. She let the air out, relaxing a little bit. “It’s almost 11:30. I need to take you home,” I said as I looked at my watch.

“But you haven’t told me anything like what this has got to do with me? What about the voices? What about everything? And you are a werewolf, a werewolf? I am not using these...” She pointed at her own head first. “Unless I know what this is?” She said, swooping her hand between us.

It bothered me that my mate was shutting me out, but I decided it was fair enough, so picking her up in my arms, I asked, “Can you sneak out?”

She nodded her face in a quizzical frown.

“Good, I will be in the woods behind your house an hour after I leave you.” She rested her head against my chest, and I kissed the top of her head as I walked back to my truck.

~Charly~

A werewolf, a man that turns into a wolf, what a Grimm freaking tale I was getting unwillingly pulled into, and here I thought he was a cult leader. No, that’s too simple. He had to be a goddamn wolf-person-turner-shifter. I started losing myself inside my own thoughts as I entered my house.

“How was it?” My mom’s head peeked out from the living room couch and asked in a groggy state. I remembered how excited she was helping me get ready, so I had to play it cool.

“Yes Charly, play it cool. The best is yet to come.” The sound of Basty resonated in my head at the most uncomfortable moments, just what I needed.

“Basty, there’s your annoying little voice. Glad you didn’t accompany me to the date.” I thought sarcastically and took a deep, annoyed breath.

“Oh, Charly sure I was. I was giving you the feeling of a mistake. That story sounded fake; don’t you think?”

I internally rolled my eyes. “You could have warned me. Really, you are as useless as a stupid voice in my head!” I snapped at her.

My mom was waiting in front of me, standing now while I had the monologue in my head. She had one eyebrow raised. To put her at ease, I said in a sweet, girlish voice, “It was amazing. He took me to a park, and we had a picnic. We watched the stars and talked about everything.”

She gave me a tender look and kissed my forehead. “Good for you, kiddo, about time,” she said and turned away to go to her room.

“Nice one, Charly. You should become an actress.” I sighed at Basty while tapping my foot.

“Really Basty, an actress? I am freaking out, and you are talking about my future job.” I responded inside of my head.

I heard her purring inside. “Basty, I like that nickname. For the second part of your date, I’ll be there, but don’t ignore me, Catalina.”

My mom turned around on the stairs looking at me as I crazily tapped my foot on the open space. “Are you coming?”

Looking up and giving her another sweet smile, I answered her question, realizing I was acting crazier than usual. “In a moment, mom. I can’t sleep yet; this is way too exciting. I’ll just chill downstairs for a while.” She raised an eyebrow, shrugged her shoulders, and went upstairs.

I ran to the laundry room, took off my dress, put on some shorts and a hoodie, and then set my hair in a ponytail. “Ok Cult Leader, I’m ready.” I shot through the mind-link, my eyes narrowing with determination.

~Unknown~

“So, you have news for me? Did you find it?” she asked, gazing at me up and down.

“I think so. We are still looking for confirmation, but there are no papers of her anywhere. We just don’t know at the moment. We are following her and finding out... Ahhh!!” I let out a loud scream.

Charging at me, she grabbed my neck, a set of razor-sharp fingernails cutting my skin, making me yelp. Blood started to flow down, staining my shirt. “This is the fourth time you have called saying you have a possibility. I already told her greatness; you found something. Are you going to get me into trouble?” She looked at me, annoyed, her red eyes shooting venom in my direction.

I shook my head and tried to defuse her. “From all the candidates, she has been the one who has shown the most promise. I think she is... AHHH!”

She dug her fingernails deeper, making me wince with pain. “Don’t think, act! Find it, take it, and bring it to me. That’s all I’m asking from you.” She gave me a sweet smile, which on her face seemed grotesque and fake.

“Or should I better rip your throat out now?! I could find someone better to do this job, you know. You have already proven yourself an imbecile.” I shook my head and started sweating profusely.

“I’ll get her, I promise, please.” I pleaded with the creature in front of me.

She started to click her tongue, shaking her head. “Tic Toc Tic Toc.” She said and dropped me on the floor. I fell on my side; a photo of a woman and a child fell beside me.

“Tic Toc Tic Toc, the time is ending, and I can’t assure you they will handle another six months.” She continued speaking as I took a look at the photo beside me.

I whimpered; my fist clenched in frustration. “Please, let them go, at least allow her to go,” I said, my voice sounding broken.

“A deal is a deal, my darling. I’ll bring you what you want when you get me what I desire. Now go! I am going to have your disgusting smell in my nostrils until next week.” She flicked her wrist at me.

I stammered, got up, grabbed the picture, and ran to the door, exiting. I made my way to the stairs and out into the chilly night air. The spring was finally ending, and autumn was just around the corner, so the cold air was cutting my skin like a knife.

Entering my parked car, I sat down while gasping, my lungs collapsing. I looked at myself in the rear-view mirror and immediately saw the wound still gushing blood. I took my handkerchief out and pressed hard on it as my cell phone rang. “Williams speaking,” I answered.

My partner's voice resonated on the other end of the call. “The county has approved a search of the forest area. We start tomorrow.”

A breath came out of me. Finally, if anything, this will get me closer to her. “Good, I’ll be there tomorrow, first hour,” I said as I put the key in the ignition.

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The next day, I woke up in my sad apartment residing in my miserable life. Putting on a shirt that was lying around, not even caring for a shower. I grabbed my gun and badge and went to the search site.

¨So Jones, have we found anything? ¨ I asked as I stepped out of the car.

¨Not yet, but the hounds picked up his smell right around the north woods. ¨ A commotion started to pick up by my side, and a lot of the searchers began running.

¨We found him! ¨ Someone screamed.

We ran with the crowd down the woods to a small clearing. There he was the same clothes his parents had reported him missing with. He was decapitated.

Jones leaned down beside the torso. ¨We will have to do DNA to confirm it is indeed him. It will take about four weeks, but it sure looks like him. ¨

I walked down the clearing and saw the body's head. It was rotten and full of maggots, the smell permeating the air. ¨I think the body does look like him. ¨

I shook my head, walking back and crouching beside Jones. ¨What would do something like this? By the teeth and claw marks, it looked like a bear attack. ¨ I said and examined the claw marks on his back with a pen.

What were you doing here? I asked as I stepped back to see the rest of his body. His pants were down, maybe pissing in the woods, I reasoned.

I continued to scan the area, and a pair of broken glasses were in a corner. ¨Evidence! ¨ I shouted while bagging them. ¨What can do this? ¨ I asked myself again as I stared at the angry marks that separated the head from the rest of the body. ¨Why were you here, Sean? ¨