Knight of the Black Rose

by Nissa Gordon

  Father

  Lucy had read the letter several times, and each time annoyed her more, not once had he asked how she was; just ordering her home as though she was only good for one thing. She already knew that things weren't going so well at home with Corey and the others because Ella had been keeping her updated with everything, along with a couple of the others, who seemed to have found it easier to talk to her about what was going on than to him.

  "Did you get one!" Clair demanded.

  Lucy looked up at the sound of her sister’s voice, which also distracted everyone else, as she walked over. She looked like Lucy, just a few years older; her dark brown hair was to her shoulders and perfectly straight and she had a pretty face, that her sister said had earn her a couple of boyfriends, though none of them had been good enough to keep long enough. Lucy handed her, her letter to read as she came up behind her.

  "Who is that?" Jasper asked.

  "Are they sisters? They look like sisters." Duncan said staring up at her.

  "They're sisters," Jess told them.

  "Wow, yours is even worse then mine," Clair said as she handed it back.

  "Tell me about it, and that's the first one that he's sent me," Lucy told her.

  "That's what he does," Clair told her. "He only writes telling us to come home. Jake's had his as well,"

  "Who’s Jake?" Jasper asked excited.

  "He's their brother," Jess told him.

  "You know, he never mentioned anything about Corey to me," Clair told her, ignoring the others their questions not interesting all that much.

  "That's because you try not to have anything to do with them," Lucy told her.

  Clair glared at her as she sat down on the arm of the chair. "You're better at all of that...it's just hard...I mean having all that forced on you. And they know that it isn't that I don't like them, because I do...but that isn't what I want. You should talk to dad as well you know, or perhaps mum would be better,"

  "It isn't as though he'll listen," Lucy told her as she handed her a couple more of her letters to read; she gave her a couple of minutes to read through them. "Jake's probably had a few of these, telling him what's been going on; but...it's kind of scary...I can't even remember anything like this ever happening before,"

  "You do realise that we all find it annoying when you start talking in code and half conversations like that," Troy told her.

  "Its family business," Clair told him. "Though perhaps one day, you'll be told everything,"

  "What, really?" Troy asked surprised, but Clair just smiled at him.

  "Oh, we're not taking the ship back," Clair told her. "Jake's letter told him that we would be picked up in the village, and use a door to get home. Jess can come with us if she wants,"

  "Really, thanks," Jess said happily.

  "What about us?" Alex asked annoyed.

  "I don't know, you'll go home the normal way I guess," Clair told him as she stood up to leave.

  "Why don't they have to go back on the ship?" Jasper asked confused.

  "During the holidays, those from magical families can use the doors; which is how I'm getting home, they'll come with me," Troy told them.

  "Oh, so when were you going to tell me?" Alex asked.

  "It was a surprised," Troy told him.

  "Oh, okay," Alex said just excepting his answer.

  "We'll probably meet up during the holidays like we normally do," Will told them.

  "Yeah, we all go to Lucy's for New Year," Jess said smiling.

  "Party at Lucy's!" Troy said grinning broadly.

  "You lot are going to be having a party without us?" Duncan asked thinking that was so unfair of them that they were being left because they didn’t come from magical families.

  "We asked for your numbers, if you can make it; I'm sure that Lucy's dad will let you come over," Will told them.

  "He's scary, FYI," Alex told them.

  "That's why you were asking us, what we were up to?" Libby asked feeling somewhat left out herself.

  "Our families normally do something, mine go to the City Ball." Selena told her.

  "That's posh." Lucy said knowing the type of people that went to it, her parents had gone a few times in the past.

  "I guess," Selena said dismissively.

  They talked for a while longer about what they were going to do over the holidays before they headed back to their dorms, to make sure that they had everything packed that they wanted to take back with them, before they would have to get to bed as they were all up early in the morning.

  The snow was still coming down quite thickly as Lucy stood waiting in the village square with Jess and her sister, for her brother and Nathan and his brother and sister. They weren't the only group waiting to go home by the doors, as Hunter was stood next to the frozen fountain directing students through in their groups, the villagers making sure that they kept clear of the area as it had all been blocked off for their use.

  Lucy pulled her fur coat closer around her. "I wish they would hurry up,"

  "I know, he doesn't normally take this long," Clair said through her hat and scarf that were pulled up high covering most of her face.

  "I'm sure that it's getting colder the longer that we stand here," Jess said as she linked Lucy's arm because she was freezing.

  Lucy felt him getting closer, and was revealed finally. "He's coming,"

  "What?" Jess said confused looking around.

  "Lucy," Clair said sharply.

  "Sorry," Lucy muttered, just as Jake walked around the corner with Paul at his side, Nathan's older brother; with Nathan and his sister Hannah just behind them.

  Jake waved at them as he rushed over, wearing a long black fur coat and bobby hat. "You'll never guess what we just found out,"

  "It's horrible," Hannah said as she walked around them next to Clair; her long brown hair was down her back covered in snow flakes, and she wore a beige waist coat with matching boots.

  "The village was attacked," Jake told them.

  Paul pulled the top of his coat down so that he could speak to them. "Cattle were found dead, just like it had been in the newspapers,"

  "Seriously?" Lucy asked.

  "That is horrible...and so close as well," Jess said as she tighten her grip on Lucy's arm.

  "This really is getting bad," Clair said.

  "I know, did you see the tree's?" Hannah asked.

  "Aren't we missing someone?" Jess asked suddenly as she looked around.

  "Harry's not coming...he might come over the holidays though," Nathan said disappointedly. "You know, the teachers had been asking him and others loads of questions about those things in the papers,"

  "Really...?" Lucy said awkwardly, making them all look at her.

  "Lucy?" Jake said.

  Lucy hated being put on the spot like this. "We were in the paper, in those pictures...I told Hunter, and he asked who was there, so I told him who I remembered,"

  "You told him about Harry?" Nathan asked angrily.

  "He was asking loads of questions," Lucy said defensively. "And...and he wasn't in any of the pictures,"

  "Really?" Paul said interested now. "Well, perhaps it's a good thing then that he's not coming home with us,"

  "I wouldn't have said anything," Nathan said upset.

  "We don't really know if it's him...and it isn't as though I pointed him out and said it was him," Lucy told them, as she hated looking like the bad one.

  "Either way, it's probably best for now that he doesn't come over, at least until it's sorted," Paul told them as though that was the end of it.

  "Shepherd!" Hunter shouted, making them all turn around somewhat startled. "Your turn!"

  They all made their way over to where Hunter was stood waiting for them, with Jake and Paul leading the way, Nathan was still upset with Lucy but there wasn't anything that she could do about it until they got home and Jess left so that they could talk freely.

  The area next to Hunter shimmered in the shape of a door, with him makin
g sure that everyone kept clear until it was their time to step through. "This one is perfectly safe to use, it's being monitored by the school and the departments travel officers. If you would all like to go through one at a time,"

  Jake went through first then Paul, with Clair right behind them, Hannah followed as Lucy waved goodbye to Hunter making him smile before she stepped through, then Jess and Nathan. They walked through the void until they came out into the forest entrance way, behind Lucy's house, where several men were stood waiting for them.

  "Dad!" Paul shouted waving at his dad, who was stood by the gate, he beamed at them as his children ran over to him; he was dressed in a check shirt and jeans, and only looked as though he was in his late twenties, but probably would have looked even younger if he shaved his beard.

  "I'll see you later!" Lucy shouted over as she turned to go off with her sister and Jess.

  "Not so fast, little lady; your dad's up at the main house, he wants to talk to you," John told her with his arm around his daughter.

  Lucy handed her bag over to her sister. "I'll see you later,"

  "See ya," Jess said smiling as she walked off.

  "Good luck with dad," Clair said before she walked off.

  Lucy slowly walked over to John, as the other three men moved closer; she wasn’t afraid of them as she had known them all since she was little, they were only there to make sure that they got through safely especially after all the reports with the doorways at school, and probably to make sure that she did as her father asked. Not that she was stupid enough to run away from any of them, it wasn't as though she would get very far and she didn't want to over excite them either.

  "So, how is everyone?" Lucy asked.

  "We're all great," John told her.

  "Except for the leopards." the man to her right told her; he was almost a foot taller than John and had camel coloured skin and a shaved head, he was wearing shorts and vest even though there was fresh snow on the ground, just not as thick as it had been back at the school or the village.

  "Benjamin," John said sharply.

  "Do they really want him to leave?" Lucy asked, as she walked past them and took the lead.

  "How do you know that?" John asked surprised.

  "Probably the same way that we're kept updated dad," Paul said smirking. "There's a few here who are the same age as she is. And don't forget Nathan here,"

  "I haven't said anything," Nathan said quickly. "She's always surrounded by everyone at school,"

  "He does have a point about that," Paul added.

  "Is mum home?" Hannah asked.

  "Yes," John answered, then she ran off ahead of them. "So, Lucy how much do you know?"

  "There's been a few challenges, but no ones beaten him...didn't think that they would," Lucy told him.

  "Of course you didn't," John said smirking, then turned serious. "That would be the problem that your dad needs you for,"

  "Great..." Lucy said, something else that she hated, putting herself in the middle of all of this, as she didn't want any of them to turn against her because she said the wrong thing, as men were kind of touchy about that sort of thing.

  They walked the rest of the way in silence up the small hill to the three blocks of apartments that sat on the edge of the forest and the village that they lived in; there were cars parked out front in the lot, which was only half full at this time of day.

  Lucy drowned out as much of the noise as she could as she got closer to the house, which she found easier to do after spending several months at school and having all those people, all those different races and power levels buzzing around in her mind, this was actually a lot easier than it used to be.

  "So, what's it like being back? Any changes?" John asked her as they approached the main doors, where two men stood waiting for them.

  Lucy knew who they were, she didn't need her power for that, they always stood waiting for her whenever they knew that she was coming over, if they were home, so seeing them stood there now, it was as though she hadn't been away at all.

  "Lucy!" Stuart's voice boomed out at her, making her smile.

  She had always liked him a little differently than the others, he had after all been the first fully changed Lycanthrope that she had seen and she had only been five years old at the time. But she remembered he was just as gorgeous as a wolf as he was a man; he had natural light tanned skin and light brown hair that he kept neatly trimmed. Stuart was second in the Pack, only to Mark at his side who had been naturally born a wolf where as Stuart had been turned into one because of his job. Mark was older than Stuart and looked it as well, though perhaps only by a couple of years; they were about the same height which took them both over six foot.

  "Welcome home little lady," Mark said smiling at her. "My Pack's missed you, just as they would have one of their own,"

  Stuart came forward and picked her up. "That's because she is one of us,"

  "You know, I'm not that little that you can carry me around now," Lucy protested pushing at him a little, not that she completely minded as he took her inside.

  "Still talking back, I thought I told you about that?" Stuart told her looking very serious.

  "You like it," Lucy said smirking as she pulled out her wand from under her coat, and sparked the back of his neck making him drop her and she strode off. "I know even more spells now...all of them are going to be tried out on you!"

  Stuart chased after her as the others came in, Mark smiling as he watched Lucy run around the pillars and Stuart pretending that he couldn't catch up to her.

  "You're both right, she was missed," John said beside of him.

  "And what about us?" Paul asked.

  "I've been meaning to ask you, do either of you know anything about those articles in the paper?" John asked them.

  "Ask Nathan, I'm off to my room, then I'm going to catch up with the others," Paul said as he walked off, business wasn’t really what he had in mind.

  "Paul!" Nathan shouted as his dad rounded on him, he knew that he wouldn't last long before he broke. "I don't know anything,"

  John took hold of Nathan's arm leading him away following after Paul, as the door to their right opened and Charles walked out dressed in a charcoal suit scowling at the screen before him.

  "Lucy!" Charles said sharply.

  Lucy stopped suddenly at the sound of her dad's voice, making Stuart catch up to her, he grabbed her around the waist lifting her into the air turning around before putting her back down.

  "We're just saying hi," Stuart said smirking.

  "I just need her for a little while, then you can carry on playing with her," Charles told him.

  Lucy walked over to her dad. "See ya later,"

  "Come find us, after you've finished," Mark told her. "The kids will love to see you,"

  "Okay," Lucy said smiling at him, before she turned back to her dad and allowed him to lead her into the main leopard room, which they used for their meetings.

  The room was huge, with pillars dotted around as walls had been knocked out to make it larger. There were sofas, chairs and cushions scattered around the room with people in them watching her, then at the back was a long conference table that looked out over the ground. She knew them all, and they could probably smell how nervous she was about being here, not because she was afraid that any of them would hurt her, but because of what they were talking about and that she had to be apart of it.

  A woman stood suddenly from one of the sofa's, the man next to her quickly following suit, she had black hair tied back in a pony then braided, she wore a pastel suit with the jacket open showing off her crimson roll neck and her ample breasts. The man next to her had shaggy hair to his shoulders, over a sleeve top and ripped jeans.

  "Lucy dear, how was school?" she asked smiling warmly at her.

  "I bet she got into loads of trouble!" a man shouted smirking at them, from a chair pulled back from the others; he only looked as though he was in his early twenties and was dressed in t-shirt and jeans
as well.

  Lucy ignored him as she focused on Jarvia in front of her. "It was alright, fun, exciting...kind of scary."

  "Why scary?" Jarvia asked confused.

  "Well you heard about that thing going around sucking the life out of things, well it's been at school," Lucy told her.

  "Are you serious?" Jarvia asked worried. "No wonder you're mums been coming around here asking Ella about you,"