“Alright. There is a bit of a problem.” She said. “I cannot preform the spell that is needed to break this.”
“And we know that.” Roy said. “But back in the day, you knew of a woman, who helped a wolf heal, when his mate died.”
The witch looked over at him, and now she was the one who was deep in thought. “So the spell did work.” She smiled.
“I’m still alive aren't I?” Roy paused. “We want to know where that witch is located.”
“You will not find her.”
“And why not?”
“Because she no longer lives.”
The room was silent.
“Then, we need to find another witch. How come you can’t preform this spell?” Fenrir’s arms came down to his sides, and he had stepped closer to the witch. He looked to be in dire need of knowing.
“Because the witch who preformed the spell for this man -” She pointed to Roy. “was part of the Salem’s. And as we all know, the Salem’s died.”
Everyone was silent once again. So she continued.
“And she was one of them.”
“Why does being a Salem matter?” Fenrir asked.
“The Salem witches, had a power that a normal witch cannot grasp. It’s impossible. They were so much more powerful than all of us combined. They could do things, that a normal witch could die trying. And for a spell that will break this, it requires a Salem witch.”
“There has to be a witch laying around this planet, that can do this. Salem or not.” Roy said, and now he was standing as well.
“As I know of, there are no Salem witches left. And if they are, they are not going to make themselves known and out in the open like that. Because of the history.”
“Understandable. But we have to do something.”
“I know you do, Fenrir. Because if nothing is done…” She nodded her head and looked over at Faye.
Faye looked at them with a raised brow. “What’s going to happen?”
“Death.” The witch said, in a matter of fact.
This made Faye look down to the floor.
“I would just say…it is time to prepare for the worst. Because in her condition as it is now…” The woman paused, taking a good long look at Faye. “I would say, she has a matter of weeks. Three at most.”
Faye felt her heart drop. That was exactly what it felt like. Sweat collected along her forehead, and a tear suddenly streamed down her face. She’d never feared death so much. She was too young to die. Way too young.
“If you would have contacted me sooner, and given me the details, I would have been able to do some research.” She looked over at the other wolves. Faye heard what she said, but it was muffled. She was too deep in her own thoughts to even car really.
“Research what?” Fenrir stated. “You’ve basically given us the ultimatum.” He shook his head. “That you are a worthless excuse of a witch. I’m starting to wonder what your purpose actually is.”
“You are in my home, young man. I expect you to treat me with the respect that I deserve.”
“Fen. Pipe it the fuck down.” Roy said, and that alone made Fenrir step back.
“The only real quick way to handle this, is to claim your mate, as she is.”
“That is not going to happen.” Fenrir stated.
“You know. There is a saying, that if you play with fate, it will play right back.” She shrugged and gave a sure look to Fenrir. “And that is exactly what is happening here.” She let out a gentle sigh.
“You would think, with how old you are, that there are others out there, just like you, still alive. Salem’s, I mean.”
“Witches…” She shook her head. “They do not live forever. We are basically human’s with a gift.”
“Then why are you-” Roy now spoke. “you were from way back in the day. And you look like you haven’t really aged much.”
She nodded. “This is true. I’m only a half-ling.”
“And?” Roy raised a brow.
“A half-ling wolf.”
Fenrir perked up, looking at her. Faye did too. This actually intrigued her, because it made her wonder If there was some form of hope after all.
For her and Fenrir, that is.
“My mother was a wolf, full blooded. My father was human. She left her pack, to be with my father. My father was…what you’d call, a warlock. A male witch.” She paused before continuing. “So the gene was automatically passed down to me. Which I’m lucky to have, because a witch is very very rare. It does not always pass down in genes.”
Faye was totally interested in what she was saying.
“The only downfall about being a half-ling, is I cannot shift.” She shook her head. Faye suddenly felt…defeated. “It was a big argument that my parents constantly had. Shifting is a big part in a wolf’s life. I just never was granted with that. I was told that someday, my wolf would come out in due time, because I do feel it. It is there. But it has yet to release.”
Fenrir groaned, and rubbed his face.
“I do not believe it will ever come out.” Nodding, she continued. “There has really only been one record of where a half-ling did shift. It took him nearly a hundred years. I honestly do not even know how all of that works. Maybe someday I will find out.”
There was a long moment of silence and then the witch continued. “I think we should set out. I will take the rest of the night to research. To find people, possible descendants of the Salem witches, and see if there are any true witches still around. Because in my life time, I’ve only come across people who are related to them, but did not actually have the gene that is needed to perform this ritual.”
Slowly the woman stood up, and Faye did to. “What is your name?” Faye finally asked, having just realized she did not know the woman’s name.
“Selene Whitton.” She said with a small smile, before heading down the hall. She disappeared somewhere down there, and she wondered if this Selene would disturb her bosses sleep.
The group was silent. So very awkwardly silent. Faye had to clear up the awkwardness. “Well…there is an ounce of hope.” She finally said. Roy cleared his throat, and nodded, but it was obvious he didn’t truly believe what Faye said. So she looked at Fenrir, since even Sam didn’t appear to want to talk. “I guess it doesn’t really even matter, right? In a few weeks time, you wont have to worry about me either way. And I wont be your hair anymore.”
“Faye. This is not the time for this crap.” Fenrir said, looking down at the floor. His thumbs were buried into his pants pockets, as he seemed to be pondering. The other boys were looking down at the floor too, and Roy had returned back to the couch, not looking at either one of them.
“It’s never the time isn’t it?” She nodded her head, and ground her teeth together. Suddenly, she flew right off the handle. “I’m going to die, Fenrir. There’s a good chance, I’m going to die, in a couple of weeks.”
“Yeah? And so am I.”
“Says the man whose probably been around for a hundred years or longer.”
He didn’t speak.
“Technically, you’ve lived your life to the fullest. I haven’t even begun mine.” She shook her head, running her fingers through her hair. “You are a selfish, son of a bitch, Fenrir. I regret ever meeting you. I regret ever knowing you.”
“Faye. I told you, I don’t have time for this crap.”
“Then make time!” She hollered out, dropping her hand back down to her side. “I’m sick of people treating me, like I’m some sort of inconvenience, as if I really wanted this. I was happy with my life before. And then you come and destroy, and then you make go crazy, and then you make me feel like, I’m important one second and the next I’m nothing but…shit.”
“We cannot be anything.” He finally said, now turning to look at her. “It’s not possible for us. You heard the woman, if we were to conceive, our child would not shift.”
“As if that is really a big deal. There are so many people out there who have children that are dif
ferent.”
“So that’s what you want huh? To watch your child slowly grow with age.” He slowly made his way towards her, like a cat ready to pounce its prey. And he did it in such a sarcastic manner that made her sick. “You want your kid, to watch you die of old age while he is still a child.”
She’d never thought of it like that.
But still…
“Then why did you do what you did last night?”
He was silent again, as he stared at her.
“Was that all just some…spare of the moment of thing? You never planned to keep up with that huh? You were going to…take my virginity, and be like this all over again the next morning?”
“Faye, I don’t think this is the time to talk-”
“When will there ever be a time?” Honestly, she didn’t even care that the other two were in the living room with them. It was as if…it was just them. Neither one of them spoke, and they were respectful of this conversation. “I think…maybe you should give your fiance a call. You at least owe her that, because your time may soon be up.” With that said, Faye marched right out of there. With how weak she was, she was surprised that she had the strength to even leave so quickly.
And she made it obvious how irritated she was, when she slammed the door extra hard.
◆◆◆
Fenrir stood there in disbelief as he tried to register everything that he had learned and went through in a single morning. Since all of this went down, he had not slept well. Even after that first night he had laid his eyes on her.
She’d be stupid to think he didn’t want her. He’d be stupid to think he wanted her. It was all a mixture of bullshit thoughts and anxiety and he really just wanted to get it over with…either it be death, or my ritual. At this point he didn’t even care anymore.
“Am I really wrong for feeling that this just isn’t right?” He finally asked, keeping his gaze on the floor.
Roy stood then, his arms crossing over his chest, as usual. “I would say it doesn’t even matter how you feel. If I were to have Yennefer again, I’d take her human if it meant she was still here.”
Just hearing Roy say such a thing made him swallow a huge lump in his throat.
“I have to agree with Faye on this one.” Sam tagged along. “I really do think you are being a selfish asshole on this. You’re willing to not only kill an innocent young woman, but you’re also willing to kill yourself over something as petty as…well…this.”
He was silent. He did not care to hear anymore. Nobody seemed to understand anything.
Hours went by, and not a single soul talked to one another. Faye hided out in her bedroom. The boys went outside and made some phone calls. It was not until the witch herself emerged from the back bedroom, and came out with a few sheets of paper. “Alright. So I wrote down some phone numbers of people who are supposedly related to the Salem witches. Now-” She stood directly in front of Fenrir, and he peered down at her. “do not get your hopes up. These people could be fanatics for all we know. I was very careful to choose wisely on who I wrote down on these papers.” One piece of paper was handed to him, and sure enough fifty or so people were written down, with phone numbers listed. Numbers that he was not used to dialing. She had her own piece of paper. “You can use my house phone…so that you aren’t racking up your bill. I will get to work on these numbers. Get as much information as you can, because we are going to need it.”
7
For the next several hours, Faye watched out the bedroom window as Selene made phone call after phone call. Each one seemed to take longer than the next, and each one seemed to not be making any progress at all. On the other hand, she could also hear Fenrir somewhere in the living room, making those same calls. She had to at least give it to the man, he was desperately trying.
Desperately trying for nothing.
Why did she feel like she would get nothing out of this? Why did she feel like all of this was a waste?
As the hours went by, Faye felt weaker and weaker. Maybe that witch was wrong. At this rate with how she was feeling, she didn’t feel like she’d last even days. And she felt like she was laying there, on her death bed, as she waited patiently. Patiently for anything…and everything.
Eventually, she heard a car door, and another, followed by an engine revving. She managed to sit up, and look out the bedroom window. Sam was the third door that had closed, as he hopped up into the SUV. Where were they going?
Walking to the bedroom door, her feet dragged. She was so tired. She just wanted to sleep. When she opened the door, she peeked out into the hallway. All that could be heard was the giant grandfather clock right there in the hallway. “Hello?” She called out. Who all had jumped into that SUV?
Within a second, she saw Roy’s head pop into her field of vision. He was now standing there at the entry way of the hall. Thank goodness someone was here to give her answers. “Where are they going?”
“Selene, Sam, and Fenrir all went for meetings with these supposed Salem witches.” He said. “I’m not sure how long they will be…it could be days. Hell…it could even be a week for all I know.”
She nodded in understanding.
“You hungry?” He asked, and she came to stand further out into the hall so that she could see him better. “I can go get you something. Anything you like, you name it. I will get it. You want something to drink? Fuck I could use a drink. Beer? Wine? Whiskey? Anything?”
He was rambling and she knew why. He felt sorry for her. He knew what was up. He knew the deep seeded details. She almost felt sorry for him. But she nodded, because the last thing she wanted to do, was make him feel even worse. “I’ll take anything, Roy. And…” She thought for a small moment. “I think I could use a drink too.”
He grinned from ear to ear. “Atta girl. That’s what I like to hear.” Grabbing his coat off of the coat rack near the front door, he slid it on. “I’ll be back in bit! Just relax, alright?” And with that said, he opened the door. The wind chimes could be heard, and the smell of fall-like crisp weather wafted down the hall and into her nose.
All of a sudden, there was silence. Nothing but silence. Any other time she’d enjoy it for a read, but this time…she hated it. She wasn’t entirely sure why. Maybe it was because she only had four books in her bedroom, that she had almost went completely through. Or maybe it was because she felt like she had nobody to talk to. She sure wished her best friend was there right now.
Her thoughts went to Noct, who had miraculously appeared here, just last night. Her gaze went down the hall, to the only door at the very end. That was the door that Selene had forbid anyone to enter. That was also the door that Noct slept in.
She wondered, after hours and hours if he was ready to get up? She felt like she desperately needed to be around someone. For the past few days she’d hardly seen anyone, until Noct shown up randomly, and then suddenly she was flocked by everybody.
Besides that one night.
Just last night…when Fenrir had taken her into his arms, and almost…just almost gave her the night of a lifetime.
Her first time would have been last night, and for some strange reason, she felt like he was the one. Damn she was such an idiot for even thinking that. For even thinking for one second that Fenrir might have actually liked her. When in truth he more than likely did not, or else…
Or else he wouldn’t allow something like this to happen.
She sighed helplessly. She needed Noct. Noct was the only real truly genuine familiar face she was comfortable seeing right now.
If Noct didn’t get up right now, he would never get up. It was already almost hitting dark outside.
Heading down the hall, she made it to the back bedroom door. Knocking softly, she brought her ear to it. “Noct?” She called out, and when she got no reply, she sighed heavily. Should she enter? What if he was indecent? Was he one of those dudes who got easily angered when his sleep was interrupted? She found herself to be chuckling at that idea.
Reaching dow
n, she jiggled the knob.
It was locked.
Of course it was locked.
“Noct? Is it okay if I come in?” She called through the door. She rested her forehead against it. Hell, she rested her whole body against it because she felt weak again. “I just…I feel alone.” She swallowed hard. “And I need someone to talk to.” When she got no answer, once again she knocked, but a little harder. “Noct? Are you even in there?”
No answer.
Deciding to give up, she turned and leaned her back against the old wooden door. Maybe if she just…hit it hard enough she might crash through it. The thought had definitely crossed her mind, but with what energy?
The Call of the Moon Page 14
