Night Shadows

by Billiejo Priestley

  “Oh, just fun baby, a lot of fun before we get to turn you, and push you outside to where Cayson is. Marcel is right, when I was turned Monventla ruled; they weren’t afraid of anything, and then you found out the truth and changed and for some reason everyone is running around scared. Imagine! Frightened of little old Olivia. So, I’ll play, and then maybe Marcel and a few others will have some fun with you themselves. You just had to get pregnant, didn’t you?” Dan laughs; Aileen stands silently trying desperately to come up with an escape plan. “Had you not been pregnant you would have just been killed; that alone would have been enough to send Cayson crazy and fall, but you being pregnant and turned? Well, it’s like Yasmine all over again, I was told the stories. I feel like Christmas has come early.” Dan continues to howl with laughter, his eyes dark.

  “Just kill me! I’d rather you just killed me!” She looks at him, surely there’s something left of Dan, her Dan, something in there that will make him realise his mistake?

  “No.” He moves to stand in front of her, smiling. “You will see me as Dan, the Dan you loved, who you wanted to marry. You’ll believe we’re happy in a relationship, you’ll forget I’m a vampire and all the stories about me, and just think I never died.” Aileen’s eyes widen hearing his words, the words spreading a hazy cloud throughout her mind as she smiles up to him almost immediately.

  “How’s my queen?” Dan smiles at her.

  “I’m fine, I think, just tired. A bit confused.” Aileen looks around herself in bewilderment, feeling like something is missing.

  “You will, darling, you remember you were in an accident, don’t you, Aileen? You hit your head really badly and passed out, so I carried you back here. Look, just get some sleep, and when I come back you’ll remember the accident.” He kisses her roughly before he walks out, and Aileen lies down, feeling herself drifting to sleep quickly.

  6 SHES DIFFERENT

  CAYSON

  The voices become louder, Cayson trying to move hearing Azalea speaking; his eyes opening as he sits up looking around the room confused.

  “Where’s Aileen?” He glances around, everyone shaking their head.

  “I’m sorry, Cayson, she’s gone. Someone saw Camille run out the back, and Dan was carrying Aileen.” Gwenael looks at him.

  “You were under a spell; as soon as we came in we could feel it. It took a few minutes for me to lift it,” Azalea says as he jumps up and gets dressed.

  “Where, which way? Who’s following?”

  “Cayson, she is gone. Azriel followed but had to stop, there were too many waiting for Dan.”

  “Right, well, get everyone together and let’s go. Why are you all just standing there?” Cayson walks to the door impatiently, frowning.

  “Because the witches have already turned on us, Cayson, half the werewolves are gone, because they started fighting on seeing it happen again, and you know the rules Cayson. You have to end it, not us, and the witches know that it’s always you. Once again, Cayson, it’s you, and this time the witches won’t be inclined to forgive.”

  “And if I refuse?” Cayson stares around the room.

  He looks around; he can’t do it again. “I’ll find a way to get her out on my own, fuck you all. You’re supposed to be our friends, our family,” he spits. He pushes the door open with a bang and leaves the room, Azalea following him as the last few witches and werewolves stare at him shocked.

  “Cayson, please,” Azalea begs as she follows him home, trails behind him when he walks in and starts grabbing things. “Cayson, I have no one else.”

  “You’re clearly better off far away from me Azalea, go back to the witches.” He looks away from her pointedly.

  “I don’t belong there, look, we know Camille has something to do with it, let me help. If it’s revenge she wants maybe I could try and get her to help. She hasn’t been turned yet; I’ll agree to leave here with her if she gets Aileen out.”

  Cayson turns and looks at her. “No! Don’t you dare agree to leave with her, don’t go making deals with Camille and end up locked away somewhere.” He sits down, head in his hands. “Why me? This was meant to be planned, this was meant to be the way forward, and yet once again the werewolves are looking at me waiting for me to kill her. I can’t do it again.” Cayson’s head falls forward as he cries, maybe the pregnancy should have been a warning that something was wrong. He should have known, he should have done more to prevent this happening again.

  “I’m sorry Cayson; please just let me try with Camille, even if it means lying to her I’ll do it!” Azalea hugs him as the door opens.

  “Go back to the witches where you belong, Azalea,” Gwenael says from the doorway, “this alliance between the witches and werewolves is over, and Cayson has a job to do.” Cayson stands up in a blur of anger, pinning Gwenael roughly against the wall.

  “I have no job to do, if I can’t find a way to get her out or save her then I’m dead. I don’t care if it breaks the rules; I won’t stay breathing if my only choice is that. As for Azalea, she belongs wherever she wants, and at least she is considering trying to save Aileen while every other witch and all the werewolves are saying she is gone before there’s even proof!” Cayson screams at him before stepping back dejectedly, his breathing heavy.

  Gwenael laughs. “So let’s hear your plan? Because from the looks of it, they’ll have her guarded so much that we can’t get in, so come on, Cayson what’s your ingenious plan this time? What makes you think you can save them this time when it went so wrong with Yasmine?”

  “Don’t you dare say her name,” Cayson seethes, his arm returning to Gwenael’s neck and trapping him against the wall. “Leave, now. I would rather die trying by myself than have you lot there purely to make sure I kill her.” He drops his arm and shoves Gwenael towards the door, Azalea stood watching.

  “If you have any sense, little witch you will run home to the other witches before they come for you,” Gwenael hisses and walks out, Cayson looking around after him.

  “He is right, Azalea, being here with me is just going to get you killed. They obviously want revenge for us trying to make a plan and I can’t carry the guilt of more people dying because of me.” He looks at her.

  “Let me try, Cayson, please, I love Aileen just as much as you. I’ll try with Camille, please.”

  He pauses before finally nodding, resigned to no other choice but to let her help. He sits down, letting hours pass by in silence. Cayson can’t save her alone, even he knows there’s no way he can get in there and get her out alive if the place is guarded. The pack would help but if she’s been turned, he doesn’t want to see their faces looking at him like they’re waiting for him to kill her. He considers everything over and over, ideas and plans swirling through his mind, before he finds himself eventually falling asleep from simple exhaustion.

  The week passes by with Cayson hiding away from everyone, while Azalea tries a hundred different ways to get Camille to help. It’s not working.

  “She won’t,” Cayson says to her when she returns to the house on Saturday. “If she turns against the Monventla then she’s dead, she’s not stupid enough to think they’d leave her alive. Go back to the coven, Azalea, and take care of yourself, because no-one in this world ever will.” Standing Cayson walks to the door and opens it to let her out, his eyes looking everywhere but at Azalea. He can’t do it, he can’t kill Aileen and he can’t keep Azalea near him anymore. He shuts the door behind her with a crash, letting his body crumple to the floor in a heap, and he sobs, realising no one is left in his life.

  Aileen

  When Aileen wakes up she sees Dan sitting next to her and smiles sleepily.

  “You remember what we spoke about?” he asks, stroking her hair. She nods.

  “You saying there was a way to help so we could leave this place and be safe, a way to save us.” Aileen smiles at him as his arms snake around her.

  “Look at me, Aileen.” She looks towards him but glances away as the door opens, seeing M
arcel standing looking at them. “Aileen, at me.” Turning she looks at Dan, confused. “Remember everything, Aileen. Remember exactly who I am and why that ring is on your finger; remember whose baby you’re carrying, and what happens next.” He stands up, Aileen looking around the room, everything swarming inside her mind as her eyes widen and she vomits, clutching her stomach.

  “Fun’s over Dan, you’ve had a week of playing with her for your own amusement,” Marcel huffs. “We need a body in here to make sure she feeds once we change her.”

  Aileen shakes her head. “I won’t and you can’t force me to.” She looks towards Marcel, her finger shakily pointing at Dan. “And you’re disgusting doing that to me, you said you loved me!”

  Dan laughs slightly. “I don’t love you, come on, Aileen. You know Monventla are incapable of feeling love, and everything I felt before is a blurred memory. Everything else this past week, well, that’s just a sweet memory for me to keep as a goodbye.” Dan turns and walks out with Marcel following him, Aileen screaming as she tries opening the doors and windows, her fingers raw from tugging and prying. Everything stays firmly shut. She sits down, tries to clear her mind, but when her mouth opens and words come out there’s still nothing, still no magic. Screaming she wrestles with the door again, feeling a slight movement and getting hopeful before she tries to run and instead finds her body hitting an invisible wall.

  “I’m sorry, Aileen, if I could change what I did I would. I can’t though, and the only way to ensure you stay away from Azalea and that she’s mine is for you to be dead. And Cayson, well, he needs to be hated, but mostly by himself. It is working; Azalea went back to the witches, so I will soon have my daughter back.” Aileen shakes her head, crying. “You have to understand, I agreed to all of this before I knew about the baby. That is really a shame, but I guess this is the thing that will push Cayson to go crazy and turn on both the wolves and the witches, and that’s exactly what we need.”

  “What are you getting out of this?” Aileen looks at her. “Other than me and Cayson away from Azalea?”

  “I get immunity; the promise they won’t hurt me or Azalea, so while the Monventla may rise and the witches and werewolves may fall, I will be forever safe.” They both turn to look at where the laugh came from.

  “Oh Camille, didn’t the witches ever teach you not to make deals with the devil?” Aileen looks towards Marcel confused, his hands pushing Camille into the room with her. “Azalea will be a prize, an amazing Monventla, and I can already tell that her powers will be epic. As for you, well you turned on your own kind and that makes me wonder how faithful you will be to me. So you’re going to be the food.”

  Camille turns, looking at Aileen then back to Marcel. “And if I kill her?”

  Camille glances around looking at Aileen.

  Marcel laughs amused. “Then I slowly and painfully kill you over weeks. She stays alive. Either way you’re going to die so decide, do you want it quick and for a good cause or long and painful?” Camille screams, Aileen laughing slightly. Camille turns and stares at her.

  “Sorry but you deserve this,” says Aileen, “imagine thinking you’re untouchable and making deals with the worst of the worst.”

  Aileen sits down, maybe between the two of them they can work something out. They just need one of them out of the room, just one, and then the spell can be lifted. Marcel walks away leaving the door open, Camille trying to leave but finding herself hitting the invisible wall just like Aileen had earlier.

  “As much as I hate you right now, we need to work together on a plan to get out of here,” suggests Aileen.

  “Not as much as I hate you, trust me. So what do you propose, anyway? Even if we get out of this room, there are two vampires you can’t see on either side of the door who are no doubt listening in.”

  Aileen rolls her eyes, she hadn’t considered that.

  “Fine, forget it.” Moving she sits back on the bed, looking next to her and then to Camille, waiting while the other woman walks over and sits down. Aileen leans closer to her and whispers, hoping that it’s too quiet for the vampires outside to hear.

  “They need me alive. Hurt me.” Camille laughs at Aileen’s words, turning to look at her. “They’ll come in and move one of us; whoever gets moved does a spell to lift the binding on this room. Only one of us needs to be out to remove the spells.”

  “Slight issue there, I’m not hurting a pregnant woman. Why do you think when I got pushed in here I didn’t just hit you straight away?”

  Aileen laughs slightly. “Thanks, that’s great. Well, that’s all I have so either you get on board with trying or we both stay in here and end up dead.” The room falls silent, Aileen watching as Camille considers it. She rolls her eyes and looks at Camille.

  “Azalea has settled in with me and Cayson, she loves her new home.” Aileen smiles to herself; if it takes making Camille hate her even more then she will. She’ll try anything that means she gets out of this place.

  “Azalea!” Camille’s one word is loud as she rifles through her pockets, taking out a phone. Aileen watches as she dials a number.

  “Are you calling Azalea? If someone can get close enough they can lift the spell.” Aileen looks at her. “Camille?” She continues to ignore Aileen.

  “Cayson!” says Camille, and Aileen turns and looks at her shocked, mouth opening to speak as Camille covers it and pushes her back to stop her from doing exactly that. “Just letting you know, Aileen is dead. They killed her.” Camille sits, waiting.

  “She’s dead? No, they wouldn’t just kill her.” Cayson’s voice floats through the phone. It’s like a dream; it feels like it’s been a lifetime since Aileen last heard him. Camille laughs at Cayson’s words.

  “They didn’t just kill her, it’s been a week of torture, Cayson, but she gave in today and died. Just letting you know.” Camille feels the phone being snatched out of her hand and thrown across the room; she turning to look at the raging vampire, her eyes rolling.

  “You can’t hurt me, Marcel needs me alive.” Sitting she smiles as he walks out, Aileen glaring at Camille.

  “Why would you say that?!” Why say she’s already dead? Why not try and get someone to lift the spell and save them?

  “Because I like your plan Aileen, and well, we all know Cayson will come here for revenge but also in the hope that his life is ended. That’s a big distraction, a big enough one for me to use to escape.” Camille hits Aileen and throws her onto the floor, Aileen’s hands moving to cover her face as she screams, the feel of someone dragging Camille off of her as she looks up seeing Dan.

  “Guess you will be put in another room,” Dan says sarcastically, pulling her back towards the door.

  “Oh and Aileen, the only part I liked was this, there will be no way you can get out.” Camille laughs as her body is pulled out the room, Aileen glancing around herself. Now what? Camille clearly isn’t going to remove the spell. She glances around herself. What about Cayson? She feels the tears building in her eyes, she can’t have him believing she is dead and coming here to get hurt.

  “Hey.” Aileen glances up to see Marcel, her eyes dropping to the floor as he walks towards her. “I didn’t think she would hurt you. I may be a monster, but I do have some morals.”

  “Just the wrong ones apparently, as look, I’m stuck in here, pregnant, with what, one meal a day? Just waiting for you to decide that now is finally the time to kill me.” She wishes they were going to kill her. She knows how it is, Monventla are ruthless, especially at the start.

  “I will see to it you get more food, and you won’t be killed, just turned. Turning you will mask most of your magic and make your plan fail so things can go back to how they were.” His hand moves towards her, Aileen drawing back. “Do it yourself then, cloth and water is there. I’ll get someone to bring you some food.” Turning he walks out; Aileen watching him suspiciously before picking up the cloth and cleaning the blood from her face. She lies back, letting her eyes close.

  T
here’s no escaping; she knows there isn’t. Aileen finds herself lying quietly, crying, hating the thought of what could happen next. Would Cayson really kill her? Will she hate him like Yasmine and try to hurt him? The hours are long as she stays quiet, her head swimming with thoughts.

  “It’s time.”

  Aileen glances up, her eyes closing, she can’t fight. How can she? She is nothing but a weak human now. She is Olivia; without her magic she is nothing more than Olivia. “It may hurt a little.” Marcel grabs her, Dan looking at her confused.

  “Why is she so quiet and not fighting?” He looks at her confused, then back to Marcel.

  “Why fight when I can’t win? Just know that once you do this, I’m killing you both.” Aileen stares at him.

  Marcel’s laugh booms around the room. “Sure thing, sugar.” Aileen simply nods, her eyes closing again. “Make sure you stop just before she dies, please. Too late and she’s dead; too soon and it won’t work.” Marcel glances to Dan, nodding Dan steps forward, his mouth wrapping around her neck as he bites down. Aileen screams, feeling light-headed as he feeds, her body becoming tired and worn out. It could be hours later, or minutes, when the faint sound of voices breaks through the fog in her mind. “Enough! Move.” Marcel’s voice is irritated. Aileen smiles, her mouth clamped closed as she feels her body giving in, unable to open her eyes.

  She feels someone’s hand grasping her chin and trying to force her mouth open, her body growing heavier and heavier as she feels the blood trickling down from her neck. “Force her mouth open!” The sound of Marcel’s voice breaking through her mind as she feels someone pushing her mouth open, her head trying to shake as she feels the liquid seeping into her throat, and everything fades to black. All she can feel is darkness, a time-less abyss of black.

  Aileen smiles. This must be death. Refusing to drink the blood must have killed me. I’m dead. Why is she in darkness, though? People normally see light when they die, don’t they? The sound of people running past her door wakes her slightly. “Find her!” Marcel’s voice roars through her. “Grab a guest; she needs to eat when she wakes to change even if we have to force her! And find Camille!” Aileen smiles slightly, maybe she’s just in the process of dying and not yet dead. The sound of talking still seeps into her mind. “Just kill her quickly, she has seen in here and she knows things, kill her!” Aileen feels her body waking slowly, what seems like ages later her eyes finally open, her head shaking as she glances around herself. She can’t be; she looks around panicking, the tears falling from her eyes.