by K T Kaye
Her reflection.
Her reflection’s skin was covered in tattoos. Tattoos of names. The names of the dead. The names of the people Angel had killed since joining the D.D squads. Angel was cursed. When or why she had been cursed, Angel didn’t remember. In fact Angel didn’t remember anything from her childhood. She had no idea how old she was, who her birth parents were, or why she was found, by the Night werewolf pack, bleeding by the side of a lake.
“Stop it!” Angel screamed, shutting her eyes, and covering her face with her hands.
“Samantha,” the woman whispered in her ear. Angel could feel the woman’s breath against her face.
“You’re fine. You’re fine This isn’t real,” Angel lied to herself.
“You can’t escape. You can’t run. Samantha,” the voice called. Angel was hit by a second orange lightning fork. She shook and wriggled as the pain washed over her body.
“Please just leave me alone!”
“I’m coming for you.”
“Just leave me alone!”
“Angel!” a different voice yelled.
“I’m coming for you,” the woman whispered.
“Stop it! Just leave!” Angel yelled.
“Angel!” the other voice shouted again.
“I’m coming,” the woman hissed once more as her voice faded away.
“Angel!” Angel felt too strong hands grab her shoulders. She jumped and tried to break free.
“Leave me alone!” she screamed.
“Angel, its Alex.” Angel opened her eyes and stared at Alexander who was knelt next her.
“Alex!” Angel grabbed the vampire and hugged him tightly, “You’re real, right?”
“Of course, I am.”
“Good. Good,” Angel mumbled, burying her face in the vampire’s shoulder. Alexander wrapped his arms around his trembling captain. The vampire had gone to find Angel but had found her room empty, apart from a lingering dark scent. Alexander had followed the scent into the forest, where it had led him to Angel. The shapeshifter clung to Alexander, squeezing him tightly as if at any moment he would disappear into thin air. Angel wasn’t much of a hugger, so her sudden hug not only took the vampire by surprise but also deeply worried him.
Alexander waited for Angel to calm then asked, “What’s happened? Why are you like this?”
“Where did she go?” Angel mumbled.
“Where did who go?”
“You didn’t see her?”
“See who?”
Angel pulled away from the vampire and pointed to where the woman had stood, “She was right there!”
“Angel, there was no one there.”
Angel stumbled to her feet, “She’s disappeared again. How did she do it? How did she…how did she get onto the base? How did she…the unicorn!”
Angel ran into the forest.
“Angel!”
Angel found her way back to the spot easily. The unicorn’s body was there but there was something wrong with it. The body had decomposed. The flesh had gone and now the bones were rotting before her eyes.
“That’s not possible.”
“Nasty,” Alexander muttered as he joined her.
“But that was alive,” Angel span around looking for something that would prove that she wasn’t going crazy.
“So was I once,” Alexander joked then his tone turned serious, “Angel what’s wrong?”
“This,” Angel gestured to the body, “This is what’s wrong. Only a minute ago, this unicorn was alive!”
“That’s not possible.”
“Just listen, only minutes ago, that creature was alive and then,” Angel looked at Alexander who was staring at her with a blank expression, “Nothing, it doesn’t matter.”
Angel tried to walk away but her knees gave in.
“Angel!” Alexander grabbed her before she hit the ground.
“I’m fine,” Angel muttered pushing Alexander away and standing up straight.
“You need to go to the hospital wing.”
“I said I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine! You were screaming, by the lake, you were screaming.”
“I said I’m fine!”
“It didn’t sound that way to me.”
“Well maybe you need a hearing test, they do say that hearing goes with age,” Angel joked coldly.
Alexander wasn’t amused, “Angel what is going on?”
“Nothing, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because I don’t understand!” Angel muttered, “I don’t understand any of it.”
“Okay, then what can I do to help?”
“Nothing. Please leave, I think I need to be on my own for a bit. I need to think.”
“Angel, at least go to the hospital wing and get Skyjack to give you a check-up.”
“I don’t need to go to the hospital wing, there’s nothing anyone can do for me there. I just need...Roger! That’s who I need.”
“Roger?”
“Don’t tell anyone about what you saw today. In fact it’d be best if you just forgot about it.”
“Forget!? Angel you were screaming.”
“Yes, Alex, I am aware,” Angel then noticed something next to the dead unicorn, “Is that a warlock’s card?”
“What?”
“A warlock’s card. Covens use them to pass messages in secret. Why would one be here?” Angel walked over to the card and picked it up, whilst Alexander followed close behind. The card was blank, then suddenly it glowed orange and a word appeared:
Samantha.
Angel dropped the card in surprise.
“Samantha. Angel,” Alexander asked carefully, “Does that name mean something to you?
“Why does she call me that?” Angel muttered, ignoring Alexander’s question, “Why would she call me that? Samantha’s not my name, unless, it is.”
Alexander grabbed Angel’s shoulders and stared at her intensely.
“Angel, who calls you that name? Who was here? What did they say to you?” the vampire asked rapidly, his voice was grave.
“She...”
“Hey, hey what we got here?” Paris grinned walking over to them.
Alexander growled, “What are you doing here?”
“It’s my forest as much as it’s yours.”
Alexander hissed in Angel’s ear, “We’ll finish this later,” then he disappeared.
“What’s his problem?” Paris exclaimed.
“When I find out you’ll be the first to know,” Angel muttered.
“You okay, you look pale.”
“I’m fine.”
“How was your trip?”
“Trip?” she asked baffled.
“To Rio?”
“Oh that,” Angel started to walk back towards the base, Paris followed, “That was interesting.”
“That’s never good. What happened?”
“That’s been classified, I’m afraid. All you need to know is that the mission was a success.”
“Ah, then why’s it classified? Come on, tell me.”
Angel shook her head then asked, “How is Jason's training going?”
“Much better. He has a lot of control already and I think you’ll be impressed.”
“We’ll see?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the Pied Piper is in town. I think this will be a good opportunity for the Master to prove he’s good enough to be in my squad.”
6
‘Santa isn’t real’
JASON
“Can I have a break?”
“Jason you had a break less than five minutes ago!” Elsa exclaimed.
“Which means it’s the perfect time to have another one,” I gasped. I had been training with Elsa all day and I was tired. Exercise really wasn’t for me! While I preferred the sword fighting lessons to jogging or press ups, I still found them exhausting. Elsa, being a vampire, didn’t understand my pain, so I was forced to fight both the vampire’
s sword and my desperate desire to sleep.
“Come on Jason,” Elsa sighed, “You’re getting really good at this. If we practice a bit more…”
“I’ll die of exhaustion!”
“To say you’re the Master of Darkness, you’re extremely pathetic!”
“Rude!”
“But true.”
“Your attacks are getting better,” Araminta commented as she joined us, “How are you finding your sword?”
“My sword is fine,” I explained, “It’s a bit strange it feels like…like…”
“Like you’ve used it before? That’s because you have. That sword belonged to the former Master of Darkness.”
“The former,” I dropped the sword in surprise. The whole reincarnation thing still got to me. It was just creepy to think that I had been other people, or was it that other people had been me? It was very confusing.
“Jason don’t freak out.”
“I wasn’t,” I lied, “I don’t freak out. Araminta, is that blood on your chin?”
As I had been looking at the vampire’s face, I had noticed that there was something red running from her mouth. It looked like blood. I hoped I had sounded cool and calm when I had asked Araminta about it, as in my head I was freaking out. What had she been hunting? Paris said vampires weren’t allowed to do that anymore, so what had she eaten!? What if she had eaten one of my long-lost family members? I don’t think I have any long-lost family members, but how would I know if they are long lost?
“Jason, relax I drank tomato juice,” Araminta laughed.
“Oh right,” Damn those mind reading powers of hers! You can never have a private thought in this place, there’s either a telepath or a vampire listening in.
“You should really learn to block your thoughts. I can’t even read minds well, yet I can hear your thoughts loud and clear. It’s like you’re shouting down my ear!”
“Yeah, I really need to learn how to do that.”
“It’s okay for now, you’re still new to this stuff but it’ll be dangerous if you don’t block your mind in the future. Anyway I came to tell you that Angel is back, and dinner is ready.”
When we arrived at the Lightning Squad dining room, we found Roger, Ethan and Paris filling their plates. The table was full of food. I had no idea where the food came from but whenever it arrived, it covered the table. Serving plates were loaded with sausages, vegetables, chicken drumsticks, and other mouth-watering delights. One thing I had realised during my time at the base was that Lightning Squad ate a lot! Especially Ethan, Roger, and Angel, they were always stuffing their faces. Even during training, the Night siblings would have snacks hidden amongst their weapons, so that they could start nibbling the moment they had a break.
I sat down next to Ethan as Roger exclaimed, “I never want to be stuck on another stake-out with Fern again! We were there waiting for the vampires and she just wouldn’t shut up. And I really don’t care about pigeons!”
“Did you say pigeons?” asked Araminta as she sat herself down.
“Yes,” Ethan sneezed, “Fern really doesn’t like pigeons, remember that if you ever go bird watching with her.”
“What’s wrong with pigeons?”
“Well I won’t give you the whole speech but basically, in Fern’s words, they are giant rats that hell has spat out with wings.”
“Right. How did the mission go?”
“It went, well we completed it, but it was just weird.”
“What do you mean?”
“The mission is classified. Colonel’s orders,” Angel snapped sharply as she entered. She sat herself down at the end of the table and began to flick through an orange folder.
“I wonder what’s wrong? Angel looks a bit out of it,” Araminta whispered.
“Well I interrupted her and Alexander in the forest, they seemed pretty intense,” Paris whispered with a smile.
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it,” Roger warned.
“I wasn’t thinking anything. I was just going to say they’d make a cute couple. You and Angel would too.”
“She’s my sister!”
“Sure she is,” Paris muttered sarcastically.
“What’s that meant to mean?”
“Well you’re not blood related, and you don’t really act like siblings.”
Roger got up and was about to punch Paris but Araminta got in-between them.
“Paris, Roger!” Angel’s voice echoed from the other side of the room, she didn’t look up from the folder, “Either take it outside or sit down!”
Roger pushed Araminta off him, moved away from Paris and sat down. Paris sat, with a smirk on his face. The room fell into a heavy silence. Roger’s sudden anger had taken me by surprise. The werewolf was normally such a friendly happy guy that I had never expected him to have a violent side. Perhaps it was his wolf instincts kicking in. A need to protect his pack, that caused the wolf to physically respond to Paris’ comment.
“Who cooks the food?” I asked, changing the subject. I’m not very good with awkward silences. I always feel the need to fill them. I just don’t like silence. I like to talk! And I hate feeling awkward, it’s just uncomfortable and awkward silences always make me want to do something weird and spontaneous, like dance an Irish jig, to lighten up the mood again.
Instead of dancing a jig, I took as sip of water as Paris answered, “Ghosts.”
I spat out my water, all over Ethan who was sat opposite me. The werewolf was not amused by this.
“What. did you just say!?” I spluttered as the werewolf stared daggers in my direction.
“The food is cooked by ghosts.”
“But, but how can they touch it?”
“Good question,” Ethan said taking a piece of chicken, “Ghosts are creatures that can’t let go of this world which means they can become solid at times. They don’t wish to go to the afterlife, so they cook instead. They do it by choice. We don’t make them.”
“But why?” I asked trying to deal with the fact that ghosts were, not only real but also, cooking my food
At that moment other members of Lightning Squad entered the room, causing my question to get lost amongst the pleasantries. Ethan moved from his seat opposite me to the seat next to me as Fern entered. I was confused by the werewolf’s move until I realised that he was trying to keep Clover and Fern separated.
The moment Fern noticed her sister’s presence, the witch asked, “Clover, did you do something different with your hair? It looks great,”
“Don’t talk to me!” Clover hissed.
“Now that’s no way to talk to your older sister.”
“I swear you were swapped at the hospital.”
“I hope so, that would mean we weren’t related.”
“You little!” Clover got to her feet and went to pull out her wand, but Sue stopped her.
“Clover don’t bother,” Sue mocked, “You know she’s just jealous.”
“Jealous!” Fern scoffed, “Of what?”
“That Clover is more powerful then you.”
“Ha!”
“At least I’ve passed my broom flying exam! You’ve failed sixteen times,” Clover laughed.
“Cut it out,” Angel snapped, “If you want to start something take it outside, the rest of us want to enjoy our food.”
“I don’t know how you can enjoy it, with her ugly face across from you,” Fern muttered.
“You little!” Clover exclaimed.
“That’s enough!” Angel shouted looking up from the orange folder, “If you don’t shut up and sit down, I’ll put all of you in the cells for the night!”
The two witches quickly returned to their seats. Fern and Clover were an odd pair. I couldn’t work them out. They were sisters, twins, but they acted like they were mortal enemies.
“Are they always like this?” I whispered to Ethan.
“Pretty much,” Ethan hissed, “Fern and Clover hate each other.”
“Why?”
“I’m not
exactly sure but I think something serious happened before they joined the D.D squads. Fern once muttered something about their thirteenth birthday. I think they haven’t gotten along since then, and that was like, fourteen years ago,” Ethan said before devouring another piece of chicken.
“Fourteen years that’s a long time to hold a grudge. It must have been something serious. Hang on so the twins are twenty-seven?”
“Twenty-six, it hasn’t been their birthday yet.”
“I thought they were closer to my age.”
“Really? I guess they do have quite young-looking faces. Apart from us two, Danny and Roger, everyone else is over twenty-five.”
“Danny isn’t twenty-five yet?”
“No he’s twenty-two.”
“I thought he was older! How old are you and Roger?”
“Roger is twenty-three but it’s his birthday soon. I’m twenty-one so, until you came, I was the baby of the group.”
“What about Angel?”
“We don’t know,” Ethan muttered.
“You don’t know?”
“I suppose I should tell you before you hear it via the rumours. You know how Angel is my adopted sister? Well my Pops, that’s what we call our dad, found Angel when she was a kid, all beaten up, so took her in. It turned out Angel was cursed. She had been cursed by a memory wiping spell, so Angel doesn’t remember anything from before my Pops found her.”
“Damn. So you don’t know who beat her up or who cursed her?”
“No idea. We also have no idea how old she is or who her parents are or her birth name. Roger named her Angel.”
“Why Angel?”
Ethan paused for a minute then whispered, “You may have noticed that Angel nearly always wears long sleeves.”
I hadn’t but I nodded so that the werewolf didn’t think I was completely oblivious to my surroundings.
“Well, Angel has numbers burnt onto her arm. We don’t know why she has them, how she got them, or what they mean. When he was younger, Roger really loved puzzles and riddles, so he though the numbers might be a puzzle. He converted the numbers into letters, and they ended up spelling a name. So the first number on her arm is one so that became A.”
