Replacement

by Wojciech Cram

Like the rest of the apartment, the bathroom was well furnished, with an enormous tub and luxurious sinks. I wondered why Circle Daybreak had splashed so much cash on this

  place, but then thought that if these two girls spent all of their time holed up in this place, constantly watching for anything fishy, they at least deserved a lavish setting.

  I made a beeline for the sink; hurriedly splashing cold water on my face, hoping it would wash away those horrid memories. Closing my eyes for a second, I let the cool droplets

  slide soothingly down my skin, pretending that I wasn't mixed up in the prevention of an apocalypse, or the victim of a psycho witch, or being hunted down from every corner. I

  pretended that I was just a regular girl whose only real legacy was that she liked to gaze at the stars, and who had a dreamy boyfriend who wasn't a vampire, and who didn't try to

  pack her off to a safe house without her permission. I pretended that my biggest worry was getting good grades and making it into a half decent college, my life able to consist of

  the joy of little things like being kissed under the moonlight by my imperfect soul mate who was perfect to me, or feeling the pride of knowing I'd survived high school, and later

  that my little brother had survived high school.

  Eventually, I dragged myself reluctantly out of my fantasy, wondering when vampires and apocalypses had become more real that a quiet life.

  The first thing I noticed was that my skin was becoming dry, the water having either been absorbed or run off. The second thing I noticed was that there was still a steady drip of

  liquid running across my lips and down my chin.

  What's up with you? Besides the usual I mean?" I turned around at hearing another voice, expecting to see anyone but the person standing in front of me. "Why do you care?" I

  asked, not meaning for it to come out as harsh as it did.

  Poppy held up her hands in surrender, although a mild look of irritation passed across her face. "Just trying to be civil," she stated, backing out of the room. "Maybe you should try

  it," she added, pausing midstep. "It's not like you're lacking enemies." With that, she disappeared from the room, her copper curls bouncing as she went.

  "Wait," I called, mashing my palms into my eyes, my gut twisting in the knowledge that Poppy was right. Besides from the enemies that everyone at Circle Daybreak had, namely

  the entire Night World, I'd also recently been forced to add my sisters to the list. Of course Kestrel had always kind of been on the list, but I wasn't used to the looks of

  disappointment and anger that Jade and Rowan were now shooting me too. To say that they hadn't taken the news of MaryLynnette's departure well would be a severe

  understatement.

  Poppy's head popped back into my line of sight as she leaned around the doorframe. She raised her eyebrows in question, her green eyes boring into me. I opened my mouth to

  speak, discovering only then that I actually had nothing to say. I didn't even know why I'd called her back.

  "I'm sorry," I blurted, the words coming from nowhere. I could tell by Poppy's expression that she was as surprised as I was, her mouth forming a tiny 'O'. "For everything," I

  continued, realising the truth in my words even as I spoke them. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, for being a dick to you, for trying to ruin your life. I'm sorry for taking you away

  from James when you needed him the most, and then for trying to get you executed. I'm sorry for being a horrible person. I'm sorry for everything."

  I could feel my shoulders slump as the tirade went on, my head hanging from shame and exhaustion.

  There was a long moment of silence where both of us just stared, waiting for the other to make the first move. I didn't expect to be forgiven; I hadn't even been asking for

  forgiveness, I just needed her to hear me acknowledge that what I did was wrong. She didn't have to tell me it was okay, she didn't even have to believe my apology; she just

  needed to hear me.

  Slowly, she nodded her head, a small sympathetic smile adorning her face. "Water under the bridge," she said softly, running a pale hand through her curls.

  "I don't deserve your understanding," I said, laughing humourlessly, leaning my elbows on the counter in front of me. She simply shrugged, hopping up onto the work surface so

  that she was sitting next to where I leaned. "No you probably don't," she said, her voice miraculously chirpy.

  I dragged my eyes away from where they were looking out of the kitchen window, out across the lush green lawns of the mansion, to instead look at her face. "But," she added,

  seeing my confused expression. "You clearly have bigger fish to fry, and I think you need all the friends you can get."

  I nodded, not able to disagree with her.

  "So," she said, swinging her legs back and forth. "What are you going to do now?"

  "What?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. My mind felt slow, as if all my thoughts had to wade through mud. Whether it was the aftermath of what I'd done, or just

  being away from MaryLynnette that was making me feel like this, I didn't know.

  "Well clearly you screwed up. Like really screwed up by sending MaryLynnette away. So what are you going to do to fix it?" She asked, raising her copper eyebrows and looking for

  the entire world like a bossy older sister scolding me for eating the last of the cookies.

  "What can I do?" I asked with a shrug, feeling entirely hopeless. I knew that I had to fix things; that I had to go after Mare, I just didn't know how. I voiced as much to Poppy.

  "She's gone Poppy. I have no way to find her, to contact her, or to even know if she's okay!"

  I felt sick to the stomach considering the possibility that maybe Mare wasn't okay. It had been barely a week since her attack; I shouldn't have assumed that she'd recovered so

  quickly. Mark's words played on my mind about how she hadn't been well. I was her soul mate; I should've noticed that something was wrong.

  "Rashel seems to think she can find MaryLynnette. She obviously knows something about where she is or where she's going, so what does Rashel know that you don't?" Poppy murmured, almost to herself.

  "Rashel's just hyped up on anger and adrenaline, she knows nothing," I responded, lifting a hand and waving the idea off. But still it got me thinking. Where had Rashel gone? It had

  been hours since she'd left, and she still hadn't come back. What if she truly did know something that I didn't?

  "Do you really believe that?" Poppy asked doubtfully, cocking her head to the side. "When has Rashel ever jumped into something unprepared, without a plan? If she went after MaryLynnette, she knew what she was doing and where she was going."

  I frowned, scratching my chin in thought. Everything Poppy had said was true. I knew Rashel well enough to know that she would never have left the mansion without some sort of

  plan.

  "So what you're saying is that if I find Rashel, I find Mare?" I asked, although it came out as more of a statement that than a question. Things were beginning to click into place; the mud in my brain was beginning to dissolve.

  "Seems like your best shot," she agreed, sliding off the counter and landing softly on her feet. "But that's down to you. My wisdom on this matter ends there I'm afraid." With that

  she made for the door, a slight spring in her step.

  "Thanks, Poppy," I called after her. "I appreciate the help."

  "Well I was glad to give it. Even I can see that you've changed, Ash. You deserve to be happy," she said, a small smile twisting up the corners of her mouth. I smiled back, glad that

  Poppy and I had managed to salvage some embers of a friendship. "I really hope you find her," she said before turning and walking away.

  "Me too," I murmured, but she was already gone.

  "She left her phone here. Don't you think I would've already called her if she had it with her?" Quinn said, leaning in the doorframe to the lounge.
I'd updated him on everything in

  the hope that he'd help me find Rashel.

  "Damn," I muttered from where I was pacing up and down the room. "Is there any other way to contact her? Any way to know where the hell she went?"

  "Oh yeah," Quinn said, his eyes lighting up. Hope blossomed inside of me, making me hold my breath in anticipation. "I forgot about you know, that magical phone, the one that

  sprouts unicorns that will guide us to Rashel."

  I scowled at him, unappreciative of his sarcasm. Now wasn't the time to be dealing with Quinn's warped humour. I also felt even more frustrated that we couldn't simply just get

  one of the witches to do a tracking spell to find them. We'd all had a charm placed on us to block any such spells as a way to stop Night Worlders orchestrating surprise attacks on

  us. It worked a treat most of the time, but right now it was a real bitch.

  "There must be a way to find out where she is," I growled, roughly pushing my hands through my hair.

  "Well, there is one way," Quinn said, his voice sounding almost reluctant as if he was letting me in on something he shouldn't. I glanced over at him in confusion. "What are you

  talking about?"

  Quinn looked over his shoulder as if checking that nobody would overhear us, before stepping towards me. He didn't start speaking until he was right up close. If anyone walked in,

  they'd instantly know there was something going on, although I'm sure their mind would first consider the possibility of a love affair judging by how close we were standing.

  "There are people I can call who can tell us where Rashel is," he said, his tone was hushed, his eyes flitting around the room. Clearly this was some big secret that not everyone

  was in on. I wondered how Quinn knew about it.

  "What? Who?" I asked, the words coming out rushed in my eagerness. "I can't get into all that now," he replied, taking a step back. "But if anyone knows where Rashel is, it'll be

  them."

  I nodded, not caring about the ins and outs of the situation for now. If it meant getting MaryLynnette back, I'd go for it.

  With that, he pulled out his cell and started dialling before turning and heading for the front door. I followed hot on his heels, grabbing a pair of car keys as I went.

  I could hear the phone ringing, waiting for someone to pick up, and suddenly a wave of panic surged through me. What if no one did pick up? We didn't have another plan of action.

  As if on autopilot, Quinn and I made our way to the garage, weaving our way between cars until we came to the one we'd adopted as our own. Slipping into the sleek black

  Mercedes, my fingers began to tap against the steering wheel impatiently, waiting for someone to pick up.

  Quinn's eyes flitted towards me, concern hidden in their depths. "Ash, you do know that this doesn't lead us to MaryLynnette, right?" I nodded my head, but my heart wasn't in it.

  "These people, they won't be able to find Mare if she's still with the wild powers. Thierry made precautions that no one will be able to find them, Circle Daybreak or otherwise. If

  Rashel didn't get to Mare, then she's gone, Ash."

  "I know," I snapped harshly, my fingers stiffening on the wheel before resuming their tapping.

  "Okay," Quinn said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I just don't want you to get your hopes up."

  Before I could respond, the ringing stopped, replaced with a wary feminine voice. Quinn and I both shared a look before he pressed his cell to his ear. "Hello, this is John Quinn. I'm

  a friend of Rashel's and I really need a favour."

  I strained to hear the response Quinn got, but even with my vampire hearing, I could only hear the feminine mumble. If these people were as top secret as they appeared to be,

  they no doubt had some sort of device in place to stop supernatural beings listening in to their phone calls. As a result, the only thing I had to go on was Quinn's facial expressions.

  A look of surprise pushed past his poker face, making me even more eager as to what was being said. "What?" He asked, looking completely lost for words.

  I frowned at him, meeting his eyes in silent question. Even as Quinn's eyes met mine, he responded to the person, saying: "Yeah, yeah, okay, we'll be there in a bit. Thanks for

  letting me know."

  "What is it?" I asked, as he hung up the phone, pushing it into his back pocket.

  "Rashel is with them," he said with a frown, staring out the windshield in disbelief. "With who? Where is she?" I asked impatiently, already turning on the engine and pulling out of

  the garage.

  "With the people I called. She turned up last night apparently."

  My heart froze in my chest at what this meant. Had Rashel not gotten to Mare after all? Was my soul mate lost to me, just because of my pig headedness? Why couldn't I have just

  listened to her? If I ever saw her again, I knew she would never forgive me for what I had done.

  Emerald ran over and battled off Tasha's attacker but Storm was paying no attention to that anymore. All he could see was Tasha and the wood sticking out from her chest.

  He stood slightly as Tasha fell back. He caught her in his arms and sunk slowly to the floor, holding her tightly to him, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.

  Tears spilled uncontrollably from Storm's eyes. Tasha looked up at him, eyes sad, but clear, like she'd accepted her death already.

  "Please…" she choked, reaching up slowly to touch the stake. "Help…."

  Taking a deep breath, Storm slowly reached up and pulled it out as gently as he could. Tasha convulsed and gasped. Storm's arms tightened and he dropped the weapon before

  caressing her cheek.

  "You're okay. You're going to be okay. I'm so sorry. You didn't have to do that for me. You shouldn't have done that for me." he cried. "Tasha, I… I can't—"

  "Shh, shh," Tasha cooed, holding her trembling hand up. Storm took it into his. "Not… your fault." she told him her voice weak and quiet. The rain seemed to have gotten louder,

  colder; it came down in sheets, soaking both of them to the bone. "I made… the choice. You and… Emerald—"

  "I need you too," Storm sobbed. "I need you too. I can't lose you!"

  "Don't… worry. I'm fine. I don't… I'm not… in any pain." she said, blinking, forcing her eyelids to stay open for a little while longer, fighting against the response to a stake to the

  heart; fighting against the inevitable. "You've kept me safe… all these years. You've… taken care of me… all these years. You… saved… me."

  "No, no, I can't let you go. I can't let you leave me. I'd do anything for you. Anything. I love you, Tasha. I love you so much." Storm whispered.

  Tasha's wounded heart thumbed and jumped in her chest. "Just… just hold me. You… being here… is all I… need." she assured him. "You can't stop what's… going to… happen."

  "I won't. I could never leave you. I will never, ever leave you." Storm promised, his heart aching. Tasha smiled and focused on Storm's arms around her, holding her, protecting

  her, sheltering her. She enjoyed the rain that was still falling down upon them, but less aggressively now. It was an interesting sensation, the rain smelled wonderful and brought

  with it new things; washing away the old to make room for the new.

  Tasha closed her eyes for a moment, feeling at peace with everything that had happened throughout her life. None of it really mattered. All that mattered was that she had Storm

  and she was with Storm now. That she would be able to sleep in his arms for all eternity, nothing was stopping her now.

  She was blessed to have Storm come into her life. Blessed to have such a loyal, trustworthy, loving older brother. It was a miracle is what it was; he was her guardian angel

  delivered to her doorstep to help lead her over the bumps and blocks in the road that was her life.

  Tasha opened her eyes again, wanting to see Storm's beautiful face. Inst
ead she saw stars. It had stopped raining, the sky had cleared. And although the lights of the city should be

  blocking out the stars, she could see them. Billions and billions of them, blazing brightly, winking at her.

  She looked over at Storm again and removed her hand from his so she could caress his face.

  "I love you, Storm." she breathed, no longer able to hold on. "'Will you still… love me… in the morning?'" she quoted from one of her alltime favorite movies, Click.

  "'Forever and ever, babe.'" Storm replied in a shaky whisper, smiling through his tears for her sake.

  Tasha's eyes slowly closed, her hand dropping from Storm's face, and her head falling into his shoulder.

  She was finally home.

  "It's over Trinity." Emerald told her, twirling the long, thin stick in her hand that she'd ripped from the staircase.

  They were standing in the small bedroom on the second floor. Emerald hadn't failed to notice that as the fight continued on and she realized that they were losing, she'd jumped up

  to the second floor and hid like a scared little girl in the room she called a bedroom. Emerald had quickly followed—thankfully the staircase had been low enough for her to grab if

  she jumped—and was now confronting her.

  "Whoever taught you, taught you well." Trinity said grudgingly. "You've wasted all my clan."

  "I think you mean pawns. You didn't care about them." Emerald snarled at her mother.

  "I'm not the one who killed them." Trinity stated calmly.

  Emerald's hand tightened on her stake and she gritted her teeth. "I had no choice. It was me or them."

  Trinity smiled. "You could care less about them than I could."

  "I am not you. I will never be like you." Emerald spat, her voice shaking, trying not to let her mother's comments bother her.

  "I've been watching you, sweetheart." she murmured. "I know you better than yourself." Trinity walked forward, toward her daughter slowly. Emerald didn't move. She watched her

  with her eyes carefully, scrutinizing every move Trinity made. "Just admit it. You like killing our kind, don't you." she said in a melodic voice. "You've killed them without a single