by Martha Woods
Tessa’s teeth ground together as she thought over everything Pearl was saying. She was right, it wasn’t fair that it all of this would happen to her. Tessa never asked for any of this, and she certainly had never done anything bad enough to deserve it. Tessa had never really allowed herself to get angry about it, it had always just depressed her. Normally when Tessa was mad, there was someone to be angry with. Who was there to blame though for the situation she was born into?
Pearl could tell by the look on Tessa’s face that she was getting provoked by Pearl’s words. “See how easy that was to get you upset? Now, use the same technique as before. Clenched fists, flared nostrils, racing heart, anything that comes to mind when you feel angry.” Tessa listened to her closely. After a minute or so, she really started to feel the effects. “Good, good. Now simply touch my hand, dear,” Pearl instructed.
Unfurling one of her fists, Tessa once again rested her hand on Pearl’s. Suddenly, the witch jumped up, a hiss sounding from her. Her cigarette fell to the ground as she used that hand to clasp the other. That same sweet, metallic smell filled the air around Pearl, making Tessa’s throat ache. Tessa had burned her. With a pained expression, Pearl chanted quietly to herself, holding it up to her face as she did. Tessa watched in horror, feeling absolutely terrible that she had burned Pearl. She couldn’t move to help, though, fearing that if she got too close then she would get too overcome by the smell of blood. Tessa held her breath and tried to focus her thoughts on anything but Pearl’s blood or the sound of the woman’s blood pumping.
Once her chanting was done, Pearl’s body eased and she lowered her hand. Tessa caught a glimpse of her palm and noticed it was just as it had been before. She had healed herself with a simple chant? Tessa let out a sigh of relief, glad that she was healed and that the blood was gone. Pearl cleared her throat and picked up her cigarette holder, “I suppose I underestimated your power. I certainly won’t do that ever again,” Pearl stated. “I think that’s enough for now, we will work on the other emotions later. Let’s get back to the others.”
Tessa nodded and walked with her back toward the house. When her eyes moved to the door, she noticed Charley standing there watching them. The young demon smirked and waved as they approached, and then trailed in behind them when they entered the house. Right. Tessa forgot she was being watched, since she couldn’t be trusted not to drain the witches like juice boxes. Even if it made her feel like a child, she knew it was for the best. Charley, Kristian, and Jared were more like lion tamers rather than babysitters comparatively.
They joined the others back in the dining room. Jared had joined the room, sitting with Calla in his lap. She immediately wondered where Kristian was then, having figured Kristian and Jared were doing something together that evening. Tessa moved back to her seat and noticed a teacup of blood sitting in front of her. She wasn’t even hungry, but she knew Kristian wanted her drinking regularly to try and lessen her craving for fresh blood. She sipped on it as the lesson continued, finding that it actually did help calm her nerves whenever a witch would get in her personal space, and when Tessa would accidentally inhale out of habit and get shaken by the aroma of blood.
The group stayed up all night working and practicing on the fundamentals of magic. At times, one of the witches would take her to the side to work on something one-on-one. They eventually moved into the den to get more comfortable. It had truly been a productive day. Tessa was actually proud of herself. For not attacking anyone, and for not letting herself get bogged down by how much they were putting on her. The elders were so very sweet and understanding. They really were fantastic teachers.
By the time dawn came and went, only Tessa remained awake, sat in the floor with one of the books Silvia had. The Elementary Principles of Spellcraft. It was ridiculously thick, having to be well over a thousand pages long. Tessa found herself wondering how any of it could be “elementary” if it couldn’t be condensed into a book shorter than that. Still, she poured over the pages and kept a notebook with her to write down anything she felt she needed to know. Tessa had never felt so dedicated to something. She hadn’t had much of a formal education, though she had taken GED classes for a couple of months to get her certificate. It was different, but a good different. It brought a sense of normalcy to such an abnormal subject matter.
She wanted to study until she simply couldn’t anymore, wanting to be more knowledgable by the time her lesson came that evening. It had become a little easier to study since the others went to bed, not having to worry about being surrounded by blood while trying to focus. Exhaustion was starting to wear her down, though. Tessa kept her head propped up by her elbow, having to take slow and calming breaths in order to try and keep awake. She felt herself starting to slip, though, her eyelids starting to droop and the lines of the pages started to blur together.
“Tessa?” a voice called from the doorway, which Tessa immediately identified as Kristian. She looked up to him with heavy bags hanging under her eyes, “What are you still doing up? It’s nearly noon.”
“Already?” she murmured, searching the room for a clock. Tessa rubbed her tired eyes, and by the time her hands lowered from her face, Kristian was in front of her. He reached down and slipped a piece of paper into the book she was reading and then closed it for her.
Then he helped her to her feet, rubbing her back lightly as he pulled her into him. “Let’s get you to bed,” Kristian said gently, to which Tessa nodded and let him lead the way to their bedroom.
As they walked through the door, Tessa’s brow furrowed, realizing she hadn’t seen Kristian at all that night. “Where were you all night?”
Kristian began unbuttoning his shirt to undress for bed, “I had to go meet with my sister and discuss what to do about the size of the family. Sorry I didn’t say anything when I left. I didn’t want to take you away from your lessons.”
“Oh,” Tessa blinked. “Did you guys find a solution?” she asked as she kicked off her shoes and shimmied her pants off.
“Not yet,” he sighed. “There’s not exactly an easy fix. Rogue vampires are out there, but they are like needles in a haystack when trying to find them. So it would be close to impossible to find them quickly in today’s world. The process would be long and painstaking. But, the notion of just turning a bunch of humans into vampires is…” he sucked in a big breath, “complicated, to say the least. There’s just no real good solution. We haven’t really ever had to worry about something like this. It’d be nice to be able to get Ally’s opinion on it,” Kristian murmured, rubbing his forehead aggressively as she sat down on the bed, remaining only in his boxers.
Tessa slid on one of her large t-shirts she liked to wear to bed before moving over to Kristian, sitting next to him. She rested her chin on his shoulder while one of her hands gently rubbed his arm. Ally’s death was hard on the entire vampire family, and none of them had taken the time to grieve. They had just moved on to do damage control surrounding her loss. “I’m sure you guys will make the right decision, no matter what it is,” Tessa assured him.
“Thanks,” Kristian smiled wearily. “How was your night? They weren’t too hard on you or anything, were they?” he asked.
“No not at all. They were actually very patient and kind,” Tessa told him. “It was a lot to take in, but I think I’m starting to understand some of it.”
He gave her a big smile, “That’s great, Tess. I’m proud of you for staying so persistent with it. Rather than getting frustrated and giving up.”
“Running away is second nature to me,” Tessa sighed.
Kristian chuckled, picking up her chin and turning her face to his, “As long as you never run away from me.”
“Then don’t give me a reason to,” Tessa teased, her eyes gleaming with humor.
Kristian grinned, his thoughts consumed with admiration for Tessa. He loved that she wasn’t dependent on him emotionally, that she was strong and independent. Now that she was a vampire, it only amplified and strengthened t
hose traits. Tessa acted on his thoughts before Kristian did, tackling him back onto the bed with a deep kiss on the lips. An electric jolt shot through them, powerful waves of lust and desire rushing through them. As she hovered above him, Kristian’s hands explored the dips and curves of her back and sides before sliding them down to her bottom. Her pelvis pressed into his as her tongue slipped passed his lips to caress his tongue. Tessa could feel his member getting hard between her legs. The sound of their breathing filled the space around them as things heated up. Her hips moved in slow, circular motions against his groin. One of Kristian’s hands groped her ass while the other gently pinched and toyed with one of her nipples under her shirt.
She loved the sexual charge her transformation had given her, even though at times it could be a bit of a burden. When she got an urge, she felt as though she would kill over if she didn’t act on it. Still, it had really boosted her confidence and added a new spark to their sex life. Not that it had dulled. He pulled back from the kiss to pull her shirt over her head. Kristian bent down a bit to capture one of her nipples with his teeth. He nibbled lightly and let his tongue massage the rosy pink skin. Shivers ran down her spine and she involuntarily bit down on her lip. Her hands gravitated to his waistband, pulling down his boxers in one tug. Kristian’s slender fingers were between her legs then, pulling her panties to the side and bucking his hips up to meet her wet sex.
Tessa pushed her hips down, sliding herself down his member. Kristian whimpered from pleasure, his mouth releasing her nipple. Her hips rocked in a fluid and seductive manner, always making sure to bring herself up to the very tip of his erection to drive him wild. His eyes were hooded as he watched her. Before, that would have turned her into a blushing mess, but she actually loved it then. It fueled her self-esteem to know that she was the only thing on his mind while they made love.
He couldn’t take her movements for long, though. Kristian grabbed her by the hips and moved her off of him. He laid her down on her side and positioned himself behind her, while staying propped up; he remembered her enjoying the position thoroughly during some of their midday romps in the sheets when they were supposed to be sleeping. It gave him an excellent angle. As soon as he thrust into her, Tessa had to bite down onto her pillow to keep from crying out. His hands gripped her hips possessively, keeping her locked into place as he pumped into her in a pleasantly rough way.
The walls of her sex began to swell, overcome by the pleasure he was providing. Kristian’s thoughts were consumed with awe and ecstasy, Tessa picking up that he was getting close to release himself. He suddenly bit down on her shoulder, though not hard enough to break the skin. Kristian rocked into her rapidly, groaning into the skin of her back. She felt one of his hands leave her hip to snake between her legs, rubbing her clit vigorously as he began to climax within her. Her thigh muscles flexed and her breath caught in her throat. Tessa was easily brought to climax, her hips instinctively pushing back into his as she rode the waves of pleasure.
Tessa rolled onto her stomach when he withdrew himself from her. The exhaustion hit her like a freight train, having forgotten how sleepy she truly was. Before she could move over to give Kristian more room on the bed, her body succumbed to the exhaustion.
Part Three
The week was filled with intense training. Tessa worked with Calla and the elders for at least fifteen hours a day, rapidly mastering the basics of magic. She had finally figured out how to block out thoughts, which brought her the peace she had been looking for her entire life. She completely relished in it, having absolutely no desire to turn it off to poke around anyone’s head. Finally, she was all alone inside of her head. While that was her favorite of all the things she had learned, Tessa had easily conquered several other fields of magic. Conjuring fire, influencing emotions, how to project thoughts, the basics of charm-making, and most remarkably, she learned a minor form of telekinesis. It was something that not even Calla could do. Only older witches and witches within the High Priestess bloodline could accomplish it.
Tessa had never felt more confident and powerful in her entire life. Magic came so naturally to her, completely astonishing herself and Calla—but the elders didn’t seem to think it was peculiar at all. She was so driven by the desire to learn more about magic. It was liberating to know that with her ability in magic combined with her strength and speed of being a vampire, she could go just about anywhere in the world and stand her own ground. No longer was she tethered to the vampires and Firehavens for protection. It made her connections with them all feel so much more genuine. Especially Kristian. Their love life had been set afire by her newfound confidence and energy. Kristian ate it up and built off her energy. Tessa finally felt like she was coming into her own.
One evening, the witches took a well-deserved break from training for a couple of hours. Tessa wasn’t extremely happy about it, eager to get to studying, but knew that they all deserved a little rest. It wasn’t like they were taking the whole night off. So, Tessa used the break to finally spend some quality time with Kristian. From how intensive the training had been, she really only got to spend time with him in the early evening and about an hour or so before falling asleep. Being used to spending every waking moment with him, to Tessa it constantly felt like it had been days since she had seen him last.
They were cuddled up on the couch, sitting side by side with Tessa’s legs kicked over his lap. She had convinced him to sit still long enough to watch one of her favorite movies of all times, The Iron Giant. No one else there was fond of television, except for Charley and Selena, but they were off doing their own things. Surprisingly enough, though, the movie held Kristian’s focus. It thrilled Tessa to know she had shown him a movie he enjoyed. As the movie continued, there was a faint smile constantly on his lips. Near the end, when the Iron Giant sacrificed itself for the sake of the town, Kristian’s face had fallen flat—only for the smile to return when the parts of the robot began forming together once again.
When the credits started to roll, Tessa looked at Kristian with a beaming smile, “I’m glad you liked the movie.”
“How could I not?” Kristian questioned, crossing his legs. “It was basically a movie about you as a giant alien robot.”
Tessa snorted, “What? I’m nothing like Iron Giant.”
He arched a brow at her, “You have nothing in common with a robot that is lost with people chasing him for no reason other than being afraid of his power, and seeking shelter with a family? All while being lovable and naïve to the world he was just thrown into?” Tessa’s jaw dropped, not ever having thought about it like that. “I just hope you never sacrifice yourself for the good of the town,” he mumbled. Before Tessa could reply to that, the front door opened. In stumbled Charley, doubled over and holding her sides as she laughed hysterically. “What’s gotten into you?” Kristian called over to her.
“Oh nothing. Totally off topic, but do we have any popcorn?” Charley struggled to get out through her laughter.
“Why?” Tessa questioned, furrowing her brow.
“I need it for the showdown that’s about to happen,” Charley said, plopping down in an armchair and sitting on the edge of the seat.
“What showdown?” Kristian asked, his eyes widening. “Did you catch word of something? Why are you taking this so lightly?”
“Don’t worry, Bossman, it’s not the Calder.” Charley burst into another fit of laughter as she tried to finish her thought, but simply couldn’t.
“Then who is it?” Kristian asked, his tone pinched with annoyance. He no longer seemed entirely convinced by Charley’s declaration. If it wasn’t the Calder, who possibly could be coming to attack them? And why was she so damn cavalier?
Charley managed to calm herself down, taking slow and dramatic deep breaths through her mouth. A broad smile still dominated her olive face as she looked over to him, “Veronica.”
“What?” Kristian gasped, shooting up from the couch. Tessa’s eyes widened in horror. They had kept everyt
hing going on there a secret. As far as Veronica knew, Kristian and Tessa were there alone while she waited out her newborn days, and Jared and Calla were on a well-deserved vacation in the city; which Kristian hoped he could one day send them on. “How do you know? How long do we have?” he asked, already contemplating where to stash the elders.
“Oh, I’d say you have about,” Charley began, glancing down to her wrist as though a watch were there, “ten seconds, tops? Her car is coming down the road.”
“Goddamn it, Charley!” Kristian hissed. “Why do you always have to play games? You should have warned me the moment you saw it!”
“Where’s the fun in that? Not like you could have stopped her from getting here and hide the women, along with the big ass van they rode in with, in the span of like thirty seconds,” Charley scoffed.
“That’s all besides the point. I’m really fucking tired of you smart mouth—” Kristian began to rant but was cut off by the front door opening yet again. All eyes in the room rushed over to the foyer. Veronica emerged through the doorframe. Her face was screwed up into a horrifyingly angry, cold face. Her eyes cut through Kristian like daggers, looking as though she were trying to kill him with a single glance. Her thin, pale arms crossed over her chest. She didn’t have to see the witches to know they were there—the entire house reeked of their blood. Tessa stayed planted on the couch, not wanting to make a bad situation worse.
