by Jones, L. A.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The moment she was home, she asked Dax for some time alone. Reluctantly, he went downstairs to talk to her father. For a while, all she could do was stare into her vanity mirror her mind and heart overwrought with confusion. Not just confusion though, there was fear as well. She closed her eyes as she slowly ran her hands through her hair. The moment her eyes shut memories of everything that happened since she had moved to Salem flashed through her mind. Meeting Roy, seeing Dax for the first time, Jayce's party, and the first time she saw a vampire draining a girl of her blood. The party at the beach, the starting of the club, her becoming the Witch Queen, evens her junior prom when she finally chose Dax as her consort. She remembered the good times, the bad, and everything in between. Most of all, she remembered the fact that she had never felt more at home than when she came to Salem. As she opened her eyes, she looked to the window just as a loud clap of thunder erupted from the snow falling sky. My home, Aradia thought to herself, that is what Salem is. It is my home and I have to protect it.
It had been hard for her to think of a way to find Jack and tell him that she was giving herself up. Most especially, to find a place where he could find her. In the end, she decided that the club was the best. Once she got there, she quickly materialized a knife in her hand, gingerly cut her hand, and made a fist to drip the blood slowly onto the ground. She scarcely had to wait five minutes before Jack showed up with his fangs bared. He tried hard to control his thirst, but he could not stop himself from lunging at her. Luckily, Aradia anticipated this and using her uninjured hand, she punched Jack away. She then quickly healed herself and tried not to stumble as the energy left her body. After Jack had collided against the wall, Aradia sped towards him. She then grabbed him by his coat and flung him to the ground.
Stepping on his chest with her shoe, she snarled. "Listen, you creep, if I give into your demands then you must promise me that you will give the Unicorn's horn back to the hidden people of Salem."
Jack smirked.
Aradia then stepped harder onto his chest, tempted to crush his rib cage.
He, however, gasped and said, "Fine. Love, whatever you say."
"Say you promise to give the Unicorn's horn back to the hidden people of Salem," Aradia insisted.
He rolled his eyes.
After gasping from the force of Aradia's shoe on his chest was when he finally agreed.
"Aradia?" Dax said as he tapped lightly on her door. "Aradia love, are you alright?"
Quickly, his hand went to the doorknob. "Rai? Aradia? What are you doing in there? Why is the door locked?"
He twisted the doorknob furiously as panic began to shoot through his veins.
She wouldn't dare, he thought to himself.
Finally, he bashed the door down with one swift stomp of his foot, and looked around frantically. He then saw the letter on her desk, dashed towards it, and picked it up. His eyes grew wide with fear as he read it.
"No Aradia no!" he cried out in a strangled voice. "No!"
"I still say we can't trust this guy," Caiden grumbled, "I mean we have been waiting for almost a week and a half yet we are nowhere near to getting the last witch."
"You're right," Jack sneered, "We aren't near it. We are already there!"
Everyone turned to stare at Jack as he led Aradia in by her wrist with her head bowed and sulking like a baited bear.
"Well?" Jack demanded, "What are you waiting for Caiden? Go get Kolton!"
Caiden quickly recovered from his look of shock and then bolted out of sight to get his brother.
The other vampires had begun to show up from out of their hiding places of the store and circle Aradia like a pack of curious hyenas.
Eventually, a brave vampire stepped closer to her. "Wow, she smells really weird."
"Nice to meet you too Jerk face," Aradia grumbled.
He smiled as he said, "Ooh feisty."
"Touch me and I will be ferocious," Aradia snapped.
The vampire threw his head back in laughter.
"Hey Frederick, stop flirting with my future wife!"
Everyone suddenly turned to the voice that emerged from out of the darkness. At first glance, Kolton looked just like Caiden except without the scar. Once he came closer though was when Aradia could see he was skinnier than Caiden. His hair was also darker shade of brown and in a ponytail. He also wore a red bandana around his head. His face was more defined with higher cheekbones and a pointier chin. His nose was straighter and his black eyes were more beady so much, so that if you gave him grey skin he could easily pass as a gargoyle. He worn a green camouflage jacket with the sleeves torn off over a white shirt, black jeans, combat boots, and a golden earring dangled from his left ear.
Aradia's heart plummeted into the bowels of his stomach as she thought; this is the guy I am supposed to marry? Oh crap!
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kolton stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw Aradia. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but it wasn't this. He hadn't expected to see a short, dainty, redheaded, freckle-faced girl who looked as a delicate as a twelve year old standing right in front of him. However, once he began to circle her, sizing her up, he had to admit she was a little bit attractive. She was curvaceous and properly proportioned in all the right places. Her face and hands bore no scars. Most of all, he could tell that by the look in her eyes there was a definite spark about her that if properly stroked could end up becoming a raging fire.
Finally, he stopped circling her. "So you're Aradia the last witch eh? The current Witch Queen of all of Salem."
"No, I am Angelina Jolie's twin sister," Aradia snapped.
Someone in the crowd, Aradia couldn't see who, snorted with laughter.
Kolton even tried to hide a smirk.
Regardless, he went on to say, "I apologize for causing you and your people any discomfort..."
"Okay, let's just cut the crap." Aradia snapped at him again and placing her hands on her hips. "The fact is the only reason I am here is to make sure you give back the unicorn's horn so my home needs not suffer any longer. So go get the unicorn's horn and make things right."
"How do I know you won't just take it and attack my clan to get away?" Keon asked.
Aradia bit her lip before answering him.
"Because I do not lie to people," she said simply, "I give you my word that I won't try to escape."
Keon looked her straight in the eye before chuckling. "No wonder so many people pledge their loyalty to you."
Before Aradia could even respond, Kolton snapped his fingers and another vampire appeared carrying a wooden box. Using only one hand, Kolton opened the box to reveal the unicorn's horn lying on a cushion of blue satin.
She sighed as she thought; thank God, my home is saved.
Kolton then snapped his fingers again and another produced a heavy looking satchel and handed it to Jack who gave one final look at Aradia.
"Good work Jack," said Kolton, "Very good indeed."
Jack merely shrugged as he slung the satchel over his shoulder, spun on his heel, and began to walk towards the exit while Kolton reached out to wrap one finger around a long strand of Aradia's hair.
Aradia tried her hardest not to shudder, but she barely had any time to gasp before Jack spun around, raced back, and plunged his hand right into Kolton's back.
Everyone in the crowd gasped as Kolton slowly turned his head to stare at Jack.
"Why?" he could barely gasp without coughing up blood.
Jack snickered. "Why? Why should I betray you? Oh, it's a matter of possibilities Kolton. Do I a) get paid and let you reap the benefits of all of my hard work? B) walk away from the opportunity to seize the unicorn's horn, the Witch Queen, and more power then I could have ever dreamed of? C) Miss the opportunity to steal my former best mate's bird and humiliate him further by making her my wife? Or d) none of the above!"
He cackled as he jerked his hand back, now clutching Kolton's spine, and rib cage. In a f
it of roaring rage, Caiden lunged forward just as his brother's body slumped to the floor. Chuckling, Jack dropped Kolton's spine and rib cage, only to plunge the same bloodied hand right through Caiden's jaws. He too then fell onto the floor. The others in the clan, however, stood wordlessly as Jack turned to look at them, grinning.
"Anybody else feeing suicidal today?" he asked mockingly. "No? Then get the hell out of here before I change my mind about sparing you all!"
No one moved at least until Jack shouted at the top of his lungs, "Now!"
There was a rush to the exit and into the cold as if someone had shouted fire in the middle of a movie theater during a showing of the final film of Harry Potter.
Jack laughed aloud as he turned to Aradia who stood with her mouth open.
"Well," he said as he reached into the wooden box that lay near Kolton's corpse and plucked out the Unicorn's horn. "I guess that just leaves you and me huh my lovely?"
At this, Aradia finally found the strength to say, "Dude, you give a whole meaning to the name back-stabber."
"Why is the weather normal outside of Salem?" Aradia asked Jack.
He laughed before explaining that since the Unicorn that was injured had lived in Salem, only the city of Salem would be affected by the consequences.
"Don't you care that if the horn is not returned my home will be completely destroyed?" She demanded.
"Not in the slightest," he answered without missing a beat.
Aradia then turned, reluctantly, back to her window. "So what happens now?"
Jack snickered. "Well, Kolton did make a reservation for a vampire wedding in New Orleans. It would be a shame to waste them."
Aradia looked at him in shock. "You mean you still want to go through with this?"
"Of course."
"But why?" Aradia practically shouted. "You don't love me. You don't even like me!"
"No," he said without any hesitation, "But making you my wife will hurt Dax and quite frankly that's enough."
It was all Aradia could do from bursting into tears as they sat in Jack's black convertible driving along a long dark highway.
After what seemed like hours, Jack finally stopped in front of a hotel.
"What are we doing here?" Aradia demanded.
"Well we can't get exactly spend the night on the road now can we?" he asked her. "And besides we have got to get you a new outfit. I am a firm believer that a woman should look her best on her wedding day. Therefore, we need to get you out of those blood stained clothes."
Without another word, Jack unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.
For one quick moment, Aradia thought about trying to escape, but that was when she heard Jack tap on the glass. "By the way if you try to run, I will throw the horn into the river and your precious Salem will be doomed."
He then snickered, turned and went into the hotel.
Aradia sighed heavily as she leaned her head back and shoved her hands in her pockets. Only to have her eyes fly open in surprise.
"I am so stupid!" she murmured.
She cast one last look towards the hotel to make sure Jack was too busy at the front desk to notice her pulling out her cell phone. Quickly, she pressed her speed dial and put the phone to her ear.
Dax didn't know how long he had paced the floor of the club, and he didn't care. After smelling Aradia's blood, not to mention reading her letter, he had feared the worst. Luckily, once he got to the club he hadn't found Aradia's dead body, but he hadn't found Aradia either. Groaning in aggravated frustration, he drove both his fists into the wall. He didn't even notice the loud cracks that showed after he punched it. After reading Aradia's letter detailing that she would pretend to give herself up, call him, tell him where they were, get the horn, and help her escape Dax thought that he would go mad with worry. He knew Jack better than he knew anyone and when it came down to it; Jack was the most treacherous creature on the planet! He couldn't be trusted to keep a bargain! Not even if his life depended on it!
He was furious with himself for not telling Aradia that sooner. Now, she had deliberately put herself in danger and he didn't know where she was or how to save her. He slumped against the wall with his head covered with his arms, shaking it slightly.
"What I am going to do?" he kept muttering. "What I am going to do?"
Suddenly, he heard the ringtone of She Loves You by the Beatles.
His head shot up in surprise.
Can it be? He thought as he scrambled to get his phone out of his pocket.
"Aradia!" he practically shouted into the receiver.
"Shhhh!" Aradia hushed on the other end.
Dax tried his hardest to restrain his cries of joy. "Where are you?"
"Look Dax, I don't have much time so listen. It's Jack. He's kidnapped me! He intends to make me his wife! I am going to take a picture of the hotel we are staying at."
She quickly paused to do so. Looking back and forth, making sure Jack was nowhere to be seen.
"You need to hurry. He still has the Unicorn horn. We need to act quickly. We only have two more nights until the Unicorn dies!"
"Where are you?" Dax demanded.
Before Aradia could even say anything, her cell phone was yanked out of her hand. Aradia had barely anytime to protest before Jack crushed her phone in his hand.
Not again, she thought.
His expression still unreadable, Jack got back in the car and speed away.
Aradia cast one last look at her destroyed phone before slumping back into her seat.
"Aradia, Aradia, Aradia!" Dax cried into the phone, hoping feebly for a response.
The dial tone, however, continued like a prolonged scream of agony. Dax then shot to his feet, checked the photo, and then raced out of the club. Once he got back to his house, he uploaded the photo to his laptop and cross-referenced it against all the brochure pictures of hotels on the Internet. He knew that by now Jack had probably left the hotel with Aradia to avoid detection, but he didn't care.
Another hour passed before Jack finally parked at another hotel. He then seized Aradia by the arm, dragged her through the lobby, and straight to the elevator.
But not before muttering through the corner of his mouth, "You even think about screaming for help, and so help me I will slaughter every human being in this building."
Aradia looked down at the floor, gloomily. Jack kept a death grip on her arm as they went into the elevator where he pressed a button. Once they reached their floor, Jack dragged her through the hallway, jammed the card key into the hotel door, wrenched it open, and threw her down onto the bed. Quickly, Aradia looked back at him and prepared herself to fight for her virtue. Jack, however, didn't move. He just stood and stared at her with a faint smirk growing on his face.
"It's funny," he finally said, "Everyone makes such a big deal about you when really I don't see anything special about you at all."
"Funny," Aradia muttered bitterly, "that's the same way I feel about you."
Jack just laughed.
He then turned on his heel to go.
"Where are you going?" Aradia demanded.
He turned back before answering, "I might be a back-stabber Rai, but even I have some standards. My wife is going to look perfect on her wedding night."
"You mean wedding day, don't you?" Aradia corrected him.
"No, I mean wedding night. After you warning Dax a few minutes ago, I have decided to speed up the process, and have the wedding ceremony tonight."
Aradia's mouth dropped open.
"Therefore," Jack said, his smirk now looking even more sinister. "In about three hours, you will be Mrs. Jacques Percy."
"Percy?" Aradia repeated.
Jack shrugged. "It's a stupid surname I know, but them's the breaks."
He then left without another word, leaving Aradia alone in the hotel room.
At first, all she could do was sit in shock, but as soon as she heard what she thought were Jack's footsteps walking away from the door, Aradia shot st
raight to her feet.
She ran to the door, determined to break it down. However, no sooner was she two inches away from it when an invisible force threw her back.
As she fell on her back and skidded on the plush pink carpet, Aradia blinked with astonishment. "What the..."
"By the way," she suddenly heard Jack's voice from outside the room. "Just to make sure you don't try to escape, I will place a rune stone outside the room that will keep you nice and safe."
"And your prisoner!" Aradia snapped.
"Nothing gets past you does it love?" His cackling laughter could be heard throughout the entire hallway.
Aradia stood up, muttering swear words under her breath. Casting her eyes around one last time, she noticed the balcony. It was a desperate method of escaping, but by now, she felt desperate. She sighed with relief as soon as she got the door open, relieved that there were no rune stones. However, once she stepped out into the brisk cold night air, Aradia realized that the height alone was enough to make her want to crawl back into the hotel room. She could barely gasp as she looked down and saw the people and cars moving around like glowing ants.
"Oh my god," she cried out as she collapsed to her knees, clutched the railing, and trying not to hyperventilate.
Amazingly, she was able to think back to the time when she and Dax had gone swimming in the woods. The cliff had been high too, and yet she had jumped from it.
"But it hadn't been this high," she said aloud.
Mustering every bit of bravery she had left, Aradia looked down again.
I am the last witch, she thought, I can do anything. I can jump from this height and onto the ground. But I don't know if I will survive, she couldn't stop herself from adding to her train of thoughts. She cast one last look to the buildings across from her own, but they too seemed too far for her to reach.
