New Dawn

by Sharon Stevenson

  The sigh of relief I exhale on getting rid of them really chases that dark shadow away. I go back into my reclaimed flat and relax on the couch, putting the TV on and flipping the channels idly. I want snacks so I get up and walk into the kitchen. End up filling another bin bag with the ruined contents of the fridge. If I want something to eat I’ll have to go out.

  I think about it twice before I find a pair of trainers and shove them on. I don’t necessarily need to eat anymore, but there’s something comforting about it that I don’t want to give up. I walk out to the corner shop and pick up some random snacks and a newspaper.

  The job hunt will need to happen soon. I can’t afford to be out of work for very long. The thought of interviews stresses me out, but they’re a necessary evil. I get back, open a bag of Doritos, crack a can of Coke, and sit back down in front of the TV. The newspaper snags my attention before long. I can’t help wondering if there’s more on Connor’s story within the pages, and it turns out there is. My barely touched snacks lie forgotten as my eyes scan through the pages. It isn’t the biggest story, and considering how much scepticism there is over the unverified tales their source is spouting, I’m not all that surprised that it’s tucked away in a corner on page eight. The story was the same as I’d seen on the news, scant on the details. But there are individual stories for the two men their source is claiming as dead. The older guy had lived alone and his neighbours couldn’t recall having seen him recently, though he was known to come and go frequently. Connor was described as an orphan who’d been adopted by the gang as a child and who was suspected to have been involved a murder case the police had been unable to convict him for.

  I put the paper down and wonder about what had been written. I’m not sure it’s true, but I only know as much as the next person. Wishing I knew more wasn’t going to make it happen. I’ll only get answers if I speak to him, and I’ll only have the chance to do that if I go back to Haven soon, tonight, before he leaves for good.

  The decision split me. Forgetting about the whole thing will let me move on with my life. I badly need to do that. Get back to normal, let everything start to feel good again. Getting answers would only fuel the need for more. I have to face it, I’m obsessed with the guy. It’s some weird variance on Stockholm Syndrome, that’s all. I shouldn’t want to ever see him again. He’s a big part of the ugliest thing that had ever happened to me. I shouldn’t want him so damned badly.

  I force myself to stay in my seat, tossing the paper to the floor and ignoring it. The dumb gameshow on TV is boring so I start to flip channels. I’m not paying attention. The flash of colours changing is nothing. My mind keeps drifting to him. To the times Nisha had sat on this couch with her legs spread wide for him. He knew how to do things that practically made her purr. The feeling soared through me at the memory.

  This is crazy. I have to see him. I get up and rush to the door, grabbing my bag.

  The woman standing with her hand raised to knock when I open my door stalls my hurry, and causes panic to swell. She’s in a police uniform. Shit! Had they found my landlord? Or, was this something even worse?

  “Uh, hi,” I manage to sputter.

  “Sorry to bother you, Miss. We’re canvasing the neighbourhood for a missing person. Have you seen this girl?” The picture she shows is printed on a sheet of A4 paper, and my gaze freezes on the image. She has dyed her red streaks purple, but it’s her.

  “You recognise her?”

  I nod, trying to quell the freak out that’s happening below the surface. “I don’t know her name, but I’ve seen her around.”

  “When was the last time you saw her?”

  Please tell me she’s alive. “Almost a week ago, I think. How long has she been missing?”

  “Three days,” the cop says. “Do you mind if I take a statement?”

  I swallow and step back to let her in. The girl had been fine after Nisha had tried to take her. She’d been set free. I’d seen her. Something else had happened to her since then? What were the chances? A ball of dread starts to form in my stomach as I close the door and lead the officer into my living room. We take a seat and I force myself to relax. Whatever had happened, I’m not the cause of it.

  “Can you describe when you last saw her? Do you remember what day it was?”

  “Um, last Sunday I think.”

  “During the day?”

  I nod. “Late afternoon.”

  “Where was this?”

  “Across the street. I think maybe she babysits for a woman who lives in the house on the corner.”

  The cop nods, and keeps going through her list of questions. I answer as well as I can, wondering all the while what’s going on.

  “Do you have any idea where she went?” I have to ask.

  The police woman shakes her head. “We’re doing what we can to locate her.”

  She leaves and I close the door. All thoughts of going to see Connor have left my head. The girl with the hauntingly beautiful singing voice is all I can think about now. Three days? My stomach churns. I always heard her sing on her way home the nights she babysat for the neighbour. There was a routine to it, certain nights and times she was always there. I listened out for it when Nisha was conscious. It had been an odd comfort when I’d been taken over. At least until the demon had decided the girl was going to die. Nisha is gone now, sent back to Hell by what Connor had done to set me free. Which only begged the question: what had happened since I’d left?

  New Dawn: Part Six

  Torn – Connor

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The shit has officially hit the fan. I don’t know what possessed Mad to do what he’d done. If compulsion is to blame, it hadn’t been intentional. I’m not worried that I’ve done something to his subconscious to cause this. It’s far more likely that he’s been ordered to go to the press, to smoke me out.

  I don’t want to think about what that means, but I’m going to have to. The family know I’m not dead and they aren’t going to quit looking. Staying a step ahead of them isn’t going to be easy. At least Nadine and Dawn are together. They’ll be safer that way.

  I’d told Nadine to watch her back before she left, and I know she got the message. I’d gone to great lengths to deny the existence of a real family, though I’d always kept track of my half-sister’s whereabouts to make sure they hadn’t discovered her. This trip to White Oaks had not gone as planned. I can’t be sure they don’t already have someone watching me. Someone who might have seen Nadine, or Dawn, or both. Someone who wouldn’t have any qualms relaying the information to the family, who’d use that information to strike out at me.

  The blonde on the bed is stirring finally, and I realise Rob is still locked in the bathroom. I open the door and he frowns at me from where he’s sitting slouched on the side of the tub.

  “What the hell was that for?”

  “That was for privacy. You can come out now.”

  He comes back into the room as the girl sits up.

  “Compel last night’s dinner over there to go home and we’ll talk.”

  He pulls a face. I can read his mind without trying. He’s hoping for some extended alone time with her before he has to let her go. This is what I get for turning a teenager. A permanently horny vampire with moody tendencies.

  “Now,” I remind as she pulls herself out of the bed. I shouldn’t be here, not where she could see me. I slip into the bathroom before her gaze drifts across the room.

  The murmuring between them is low, but I hear every word and sincerely wish I hadn’t.

  I leave them to it until the door opens and closes. Then I come out and he turns to me, his chin raised as if he’s daring me to mention it.

  “What?”

  “You’re not seeing her again.”

  “Why not?”

  “You almost killed her, for a start.” Not quite, but she’d lost more blood than I’d have liked. Any more and things would have gotten dicey.

  His eyes widen for a second, and
then a devious look crosses his expression. “Would that have really been so bad? I could have turned her.”

  Christ. I take a second, pushing back the knee-jerk reaction he’d provoked with his thoughtless words. Smacking him around for being stupid wouldn’t help. He needs to know why he can’t do that shit.

  “You’re talking about murder, Rob. She doesn’t deserve to have her life end just because she met an arsehole who’s slave to his hormones.” None of that really seems to hit home, so I switch from trying to appeal to his morals to making it personal. “Would you be happy if some creep came along and did that to your sister?”

  He stares at me for a second. That’s right, Rob. I know about your family. I couldn’t turn you and not find out a million little things I didn’t want to know. I’ve been inside your head. I’ve been on intimate terms with your deepest, darkest thoughts. I’m your maker.

  He sighs. “I suppose not.”

  I doubt it will stop him from getting any more idiotic ideas, but we’d just have to cross those bridges when we came to them. For now, we have bigger problems.

  “We’re skipping town. Tonight.”

  “Where are we going?”

  That was the question, wasn’t it? I don’t want to run too far and cut myself off completely from being able to help Nadine or Dawn if they’re in danger, but I can’t stay too close either. It will only bring trouble their way. The family just loved it when the idiot who’d betrayed them made payback easy for them.

  Rob is still waiting for an answer when I realise what the solution is.

  “I might be headed to Hell by the time we’re done, but don’t worry, I won’t take you with me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Selling your soul is as simple as summoning a demon. They’ll trade you whatever you desire to get their greedy hands on it. Maybe you’ll live a long life before you have to give it up. A life that’s been made better than it would have been before you made your deal. Seems like a bargain, that is until you’re on death’s door and begin to dream of the place you’re destined to journey to next. Some people go crazy trying to get out of those deals. I’m sure every now and then someone manages to break it. But mostly, they don’t.

  My soul was already Hell-bound, and no demon would have traded me a thing for it. There was blood on these hands long before Tristan possessed my body. Luckily for me his spell didn’t require a demon’s acceptance. I might be going to Hell, but they were going to have to fight over the devouring rights to my soul once I got there. I was unclaimed, and I planned on remaining that way for as long as I damn well could.

  Rob stares at me as I activate Nadine’s spell. The magically created disguise is better than anything I could have managed to come up with on my own. Not that I could tell. Magic or not, a vampire only ever sees the reflection of the monster within when he looks in a mirror. My hands seem thinner when I look at them, the skin slightly darker than it had been and missing the light smattering of freckles I’m used to seeing.

  The dark hair that falls in my face when I look down feels real against my skin. It’s a little jarring, to say the least. Running my fingers through it is weird. I’m used to the soft bristles of a short cut. This is long enough to warrant brushing.

  “Holy crap,” Rob says, his eyes wide. “We could be brothers.”

  And that’s when I realise the hole in this damned plan. “Fuck.”

  They might not know about Rob right now, but they would the second they clapped eyes on him. I should have asked Nadine to make two of these charms. What the hell had I been thinking?

  I don’t bother to pick at the answer to that question. My thoughts had been consumed elsewhere, I’d been distracted by something I couldn’t ever have and shouldn’t want.

  “Shit,” I mutter as I pace the room. It’s time to leave and we can’t.

  “Something’s wrong, eh?” Rob sighs and sits down on the edge of the bed.

  “The family know I’m not dead. They’re looking for me. You’re not safe if they find me.”

  “So why don’t we just kill them?”

  What’s gotten into this kid? I shake my head. “You’re a lot more bloodthirsty than I thought you were.”

  He shrugs, his shoulders sinking. “We’re vampires. They’re only human.”

  “That doesn’t make them weaker. They have a lot of muscle and they have weapons that could kill us just as easily as if we were still only human.” I feel as if I’m talking myself out of something. I realise I am, because I can’t help thinking maybe he’s right.

  Does running really make sense? Will anyone I know ever be safe while the family exists?

  There’s only one answer to that, and it isn’t one I want to admit to out loud. Attacking the family will be risky. I don’t even know what their security is like anymore. I don’t know how many will have to die to take them down. I don’t know how quickly they might rise again. There are just too many unknowns for an attack plan to be the smart move.

  If I struck out at them, they’d retaliate. Destroying the entire family might prevent that. It might not. There’s almost always someone left behind with a mind for vengeance. This is an ugly, impossible situation.

  I have to stay hidden until I come up with a solution with the least amount of risk. Rob is going to be a problem. I sigh. If I were to go back to Nadine now it would be a reckless move. If I wanted a charm to protect Rob, I’d have to go to the crystal shop in town. It’s open late occasionally. I’d have to just hope tonight was one of those occasions. I check the time and move to the door.

  “Where are you going?” Rob is on his feet and at my back in a shot.

  I have to smile. “I need to get you one of these.”

  His eyes widen as they drop to the charm before I hide it under the collar of my T-shirt.

  “Stay here. I won’t be long.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  White Oaks has always been a witch town. Vampires were prevalent for a while, werewolf packs took up residence in the woods every so often, but no other species can claim to make up anywhere close to fifty percent of the town’s population. There are more witches than humans, and that tended to make for nervous vampires. I know of a handful of places I can walk into to ask about the kind of charm I want, but only one where it wouldn’t stand out as a strange request.

  The shop is the kind of place alternative therapist-types can buy supplies. It’s also a place for supernatural-types to buy witch-crafted spells and charms. Nadine had liked coming here when we were kids. She’d liked to show off with her levitation and glamour spells, thinking she was making me jealous. They were cool, don’t get me wrong. But I didn’t wish I could be like her. Her mother had been a witch, but from what I’d overheard our father saying it had been nothing but a curse and had ultimately gotten her killed.

  I open the door to the shop and smile in relief that it’s still open. A girl with long black hair streaked through with blue stripes straightens, looking up from the book she’s reading on the counter. She covers her mouth to yawn before she shakes her head.

  “How can I help you?” She glances past me and her eyes widen. “Is that the time?”

  I nod. “Time flies when you’re”—I glance at the book open on the counter—“summoning demonic entities?”

  She flushes and claps the book shut. “Nope. Just…passing the time really. Didn’t realise it had gotten so late. So, what are you in for?”

  As tempted as I am to show the charm I have on, I don’t want to risk blowing my cover. I clear my throat. “I need a transforming charm.”

  Her eyebrow rises, before she opens her mouth. “Oh? What kind of transformation are we talking here? Looking to improve girth, length, or just general…”

  I snort. “Are you serious?”

  She smiles. “I’m just messing with you. Vampires don’t usually darken my doorstep, and when they do they’re not usually so cute.”

  Is she flirting with me? This is getting too strange.
<
br />   “Uh…”

  “So, it’s not a sex thing,” she says. “What is it then?”

  “It’s an identity thing,” I say, supposing that’s accurate. “I need a charm to glamour someone to look like someone else.”

  “Kind of like the one you’re wearing?”

  Damn, she’s good. I nod. “Yeah.”

  “Okay, no problem. I should have one through the back. Wait here.”

  She moves quickly, her thin body lithe and graceful and her incredibly long hair swishing around as she walks. I don’t recognise her as one of Nadine’s friends. She seems younger, though I’m not sure if it’s just the hair.

  “Here we go,” she says as she walks back into the room, something enclosed in her fist.

  She slips the charm into a paper packet and places a slip of paper inside, her lips quirking as she does so. “Okay, so that’ll be…”

  “How long does it last?”

  “I was getting to that,” she says. “You can use it three times max. The glamour will hold for a couple of weeks, maybe a month if you don’t take it off. Say the activation word, put the charm on, bam, different person. Take it off and you’ll need to re-activate it the next time.”

  I nod. It’s pretty much the same as mine then. Not that I’d expected anything less, but sometimes I forgot how many others could do the same things Nadine could do.

  “Hey,” she says, as I pay up, take the charm, and turn to leave. “Don’t be a stranger.”

  Her grin is infectious. I leave the shop a little lighter-hearted than when I’d entered.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Rob pulls a face when I take the charm out and gave it to him. He puts it over his head and quickly hides the dark crystal under his collar. He seems obsessed with hiding it completely with his collar. “Man, I’m so not into men’s jewellery.”