Deadly Creatures

Chapter 15

"Just to be clear, this tastes like bark," Justin grumbles, tossing his toast down to his plate. I laugh lightly as Nico glares at him. "It's wheat bread. You're such a spoiled brat." They've done nothing but bicker these past few days, and it's gone from annoying to humorous. A wave of air rushes me, filling me with the scent of jasmine, and my eyes widen with Justin's as we both murmur in unison, "Annabelle." Rushing out the door, I stumble down the stairs, falling to my face in the cold, unforgiving snow. Aunt Annabelle laughs as she comes to help me up, her bright, blond hair glistening under the radiant streaks of sun. "There's my girl," she says while wrapping me up in her arms. "I've missed you so much, Allison." That name sounds so odd to hear. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here." She holds me tighter, and then she looks around at our unusual allies. "I almost didn't believe Justin when he told me what company you were keeping." I follow her gaze, unsure if I believe it myself. "Well, the company we're keeping is the only company that would offer us help. Light or not, they're our only chance of finding Mom." She sighs, and then her fingers run through my hair that has grown even blonder. "You're less than a year away from your change now. I can tell. Have you found a coven yet?" she asks, her eyes studying my new color of hair. "Um… actually... I have a house." "Good. Where and with whom?" "It's in Pine Shore, and it's... just me." Her eyes try to pop out of her head as she gapes at me in disbelief. Finally, she bursts out laughing. "You almost had me," she chuckles out. "If you didn't have the most overprotective mother there is, I'd believe you." I don't laugh, and Justin walks over to join us. "She's not kidding, Annabelle. Adelaide fought her on it, but Scarlet is living alone… for now." For good, unless I decide to live with someone. Her mouth falls back open, and then she gapes at me once more. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" she scolds. "It's dangerous to live with a coven too. I've heard the horror stories," I murmur dismissively while walking away. "One dispute could result in an eternal rivalry. One like Mom and Sasha had." "Sasha had that coming, and so what if there are rivalries. It's far safer than going it alone. Your coven becomes your chosen family. You've had a coven your whole life. You don't know how to live alone." I turn to face her, and I pull out my phone while shaking my head. "Do you want to know what Mom's coven - her family - said when I asked for their help?" I hand her the phone to show her the texts I just recently received after asking them for help the day Mom disappeared. "Let me read them aloud. I have them memorized," I snark. "Sorry, dear. It's too risky. That's from Lisa. I wish I could help, but I'm working on a spell right now. Keep me posted, love Jamie. Oh and this one is great. I'm sorry I can't help, but I'm on my honeymoon right now. That's from Kendall, her best friend. "A coven is worthless," I sum up, a scoffed breath following. Her eyes soften, and she shakes her head while reading over the words herself. "Foolish, selfish witches." "Foolish, selfish bitches if you ask me." Justin interjects, "The point is, Scarlet has chosen to live alone, and there's no law stating she can't." "I've never been fond of that name change," she huffs, staring at me a little harder. "Well, Allison is a hard name to explain to people, since she's supposed to have died ten years ago. Come in and we'll catch you up," I murmur while happily avoiding anymore of her scolding lectures. "Well, I have a friend who is undercover in a dark magic user realm, so I asked him to do some digging around for me," Aunt Annabelle whispers. "And?" I prompt. She frowns and plops back against the headboard of my bed. "He hasn't contacted me yet. Hopefully I'll hear from him soon." I sigh out, agitated by the true lack of information we have. "With the new moon coming, we might have a chance to find these vampires and take them down," Justin interjects while peeking out of my room to see if our company is still lingering. "Doubtful. They'll lie low with the sky not offering them an extra burst of strength," Annabelle adds. "Well, I'm sick of talking about it. I just want to take a hot bath and unwind." "Be careful. Water is our natural enemy," Aunt Annabelle murmurs as I stand up. "Lately I think everything is our natural enemy," I exasperate. "Besides, I've not obtained immortality yet. I can die any old way." She frowns, and I head away to close the door to the bathroom. It's odd how witches were once burned at stakes, hanged, or even shot, when the only mortal thing that can kill them is water. For some reason, humans just never thought to drown us. I hope no one is trying to drown Mom. She's strong, but not even she can over come it if they hold her under for too long. It's our secret though. Only witches know, and it's not like they tell anyone outside of our realm. As long as mystery boy was telling the truth, a dark magic user doesn't have her, and therefore they won't know to try to drown her. They want something from her though, so she's safe until they have it regardless. My phone buzzes, and my heart flutters when I see Caius name pop up. Using the trick Justin showed me, I wave my hand over it to jam his tracing device as I finally answer it. "You're not moving on if you're still calling me," I murmur, happy I'm doing something to keep him safe. "Scarlet, I've been all over the place looking for you. Where are you, baby?" His voice is weak, tired even. He sounds as though he hasn't slept in days. "I'm somewhere you don't need to be." "I just want to be with you. I know this sounds completely crazy, but I really miss you. Please let me come be with you." With Annabelle here, there's no chance he won't get a glimpse of magic. With vampires willing to attack me, there's no chance he'd make it out alive. "I wish you could, but it's just not sa-" "Don't say it. I'm sick of hearing that bullshit. You have no idea how much I want to be there keeping you safe. Stop worrying about me. I swear to you I'm perfectly capable of handling anything you have going on." He'd flip the hell out if he saw someone shift into a hawk or a wolf, or if he saw a vampire's fangs emerge. Not to mention if he saw what I could do. Our fridge is stocked with blood, and the men here have no modesty - Nico especially. I've seen more naked men these past couple of weeks than I've seen in my life - though I have been rather sheltered. "I wish you could be here, really I do. I miss you, too, but I can't risk it. Caius, please stop calling. Please move on. Treat me like some bad dream, and shake me like a bad habit." "Scarlet, please stop saying that s**t. I'm tired of hearing it. I just want you. You're the best bad habit I've ever had." I laugh lightly, and I almost hear his smile. "I miss that sound." Sighing I murmur, "I miss you making me smile. This is pathetic. We barely know each other, Caius. I shouldn't be… you shouldn't be… we shouldn't be acting like this." "You know as well as I do this is something incredible. Scarlet, please tell me where you ar-" He stops, and I smirk. He thought he was going to be sly and track me again. More than likely he wasn't going to tell me he knew where I was this time, since I bolted the last time. "Something wrong?" I muse, my smile spreading. "How does it say you're at my house when you're most likely not even in town? How are you doing that?" he grumbles, disappointment falling in his tone. "You have your gadgets, I have mine," I murmur while pulling up my hand like a gun and blowing the tip of my finger like it's the barrel. "Damn it. I should have known the last time." "I need to go," I mumble, my eyes glancing toward the clock. "Please don't. If you won't let me be there with you, at least talk to me for a minute. I've missed your voice." His voice is so soothing, so relaxing, and so amazing. Instead of hanging up like I know I should, I just climb into the tub that has filled with warm water and lie back. "Okay. Talk to me… but not about coming here." He pauses for a minute, more than likely a little stunned that I'm not fighting him about talking. "I can do that. How about a date… soon? We never did get to go out." I smile as I think back to that night, and then I frown. "I knew you were getting tired of being pulled around that day. You stayed gone for so long, and then you took off. I'm sorry I tried to keep you out with me." "Scarlet," he exasperates. "I told you I'd give anything to have that day back. I had stuff to take care of." "Tell me about Elli," I blurt out after hearing about the stuff he had to take care of. "Why does she think the two of you belong together, and why do all of your roommates seem to want the union to happen?" "How do you-" "I'm smart. I figure things out. You wanted to talk, and this is me talking." He sighs louder, but his desperation shines when he finally answers. "It's a long story. Elli was a loner with a lot of severe issues when Angela found her. She has a problem Angela understands. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she was in a place where she would fall for anyone who was nice to her. "After a long, stressful week, I came home, and she was here… with Angela. All I f*****g did was tell her she had a place with us if she needed somewhere to stay. She took a kind gesture and turned it into something more. Since then, I've had to deal with being the object of her obsession. Now your turn. Are you and Nico doing anything?" His jealous turn of conversation catches me off guard. "If I said yes, would you move on?" I ask, though it still aches to think of. "No. I'd just rip his head off his shoulders before using it for a soccer ball." I laugh a little. It's cute to hear him so jealous. "No, we're not doing anything." Though Nico doesn't give up easily. "He's just helping me search for Mom. Your turn. Why aren't you into Elli? She's cute enough." "Cute enough?" he chuckles out. Well, I'm not going to say she's hot because he'd probably start paying her the attention I really don't want him to. "Yeah, cute enough." Scarlet, she's not my type." "You like blonds, eh?" I tease. "I like you. Other than that, I've never been into blonds. Elli just isn't… she's annoying as hell. You're the first girl I've ever felt like I was going crazy over." A goofy, pathetic grins spreads across my face as I close my eyes and relax in the tub. "You're good at this," I tease. He lets a light, somewhat sad laugh free. "Apparently I'm not too good or you'd let me be with you right now." Frowning, I start to counter, but a breeze in the air pops my eyes open, and I squeal as I see the dark magic user staring down at my naked body, his brow arched and a faint smile playing on his lips. "What's wrong?" Caius worries. I narrow my eyes while sinking lower in the bubbles as I stare into the eyes of the guy from the other day. "Just more pests. Can I call you later?" I ask, forcing the dark user to smirk more. "Will you call me?" he sighs. "I will, I promise. Just get some rest. You sound tired." I hang up before he can say anything else, and then I stare expectantly at the unannounced visitor in my bathroom. "How did you get in here?" He takes a seat on the sink, and keeping his voice low, he says, "You should put a protection spell around the house if you don't want me popping in." "I can't. We've got dark ones here… well, blood drinkers. My magic is light, meaning they'd be locked out." "You mean killers?" he leads. "You're one to talk," I scoff. "The last I checked, dark magic users are just as vicious as vampires." "We're not all vicious, just as you're not all angels. Don't get it twisted. Now, dry off and come with me," he says while handing me the towel I had hanging up. My eyebrow arches, and then I mutter, "Why?" "Because I'm going to prove to you our dark magic users do not have your mother, and then we'll help each other find the monsters after both of us." He looks harmless, but so does a squirrel right before it tries to rip your fingers off once you get too close. "Why should I trust you?" I murmur softly. He leans over, his eyes shifting to be darker, and then he lets a deviously sexy grin free. "Because I could have killed you more times than you know by now." The knot that instantly forms in my throat is too large to swallow, and my voice becomes rasp, harsh, and strained when I counter, "That's not exactly making me want to trust you." "No, but the fact you're still breathing should make you want to trust me. Now come before the others realize I'm here." I'm so f*****g stupid. "Fine, turn around." He grins a little more, and then he stands to turn his back to me as I quickly climb out of the tub, sloshing water everywhere before I wrap up in my towel . "You'll need these," he says, and suddenly a pair of pants and a red shirt appear in the room. "Thanks," I murmur, but before I can reach for them, they're on my body. Great. He's a pervert in reverse - dressing me against my will. "Sorry, but there's not really a lot of time. Your shifter friend will be coming in any minute." "How do you know that?" I muse while stepping over to him. "Because I heard him talking to one of the others. He told him he was going to see if you needed anything from town. Just go to the door, tell him to get you something random, and then say you're tired." Instantly, there's a knock at my door. Heading away from someone I fear almost as much as vampires, I make my way to the door, unsure of whether or not it's smart to send away a strong ally so I can sneak out with a known enemy. "Hey," I murmur as Nico pops into my room. "Wow, you look good. Did you finally manage to get some new clothes?" he asks, his curiosity now a little piqued. "Um," I mumble, looking down and then up, "I just forgot I had this. What's up?" "I have to go into town. You need anything, or would you like to come with me?" he says almost suggestively. "I know you've been wanting to do some shopping." Crap. I finally get the chance to refurnish my wardrobe, and Mr. Dangerous shows up, wanting to prove his peoples' innocence. "I would, but I'm actually exhausted right now. I didn't sleep too good last night. Could you get me some chocolate while you're out?" "Yeah, no problem. You feeling okay? You look a little flushed." His hand cups my chin to tilt my head up, and I nod against his touch. "I'm fine. I just talked to Caius a little while ago. I guess it sort of… well…" "You miss the human?" "Yeah." At least it's the truth. He looks a little disappointed, possibly wounded, but he nods in acceptance. "I'll get you some chocolate, and I'll grab you some socks, too. Justin said you need some." My face heats up instantly, and he tilts his head curiously as I squirm. "Something wrong?" he asks, seeming amused. "Nothing. Tell Justin I'm going to kick his ass." He smiles, seeming confused and intrigued, but he doesn't say much else before disappearing out the door. I turn around, and in a blink, Mr. Dangerous is staring into my eyes, taking my breath with his startling closeness. "Stop doing that," I whisper breathlessly. He smirks, and then his arms wrap around my waist, making me feel the edge of regret before we're suddenly blurring out of the room, everything passing me too quickly. I feel dizzy, sick, and oh… damn… I'm…