Aurora’s Coven: The Lost Coven | Book 1

by K. A Knight

  They cut through my mind like a knife, branding my mind. The darkness in their wake is a place of evil where no light blossoms and fear rules. I watch in horror as her little body gets broken again and again by the man at her side. Yet she doesn’t cry; she accepts this as her life. My fear rises. What if I’m too late to save her? I watch as her father attacks her mother. He knocks her to the floor and rips at her clothes like a wild animal.

  My eyes flicker over everything wide and afraid; I glance down and realise I’m in her body. My anger rises with hers as does our desperation. I run as fast as my little feet will carry me to the pan left carelessly on the counter. I grab it and turn, chest heaving, legs shaking with adrenaline.

  “Leave her alone,” we scream, begging the man who calls himself my father. He ignores us as he manages to get the woman’s panties off. I rush forward and hit him over the head with the pan, again and again, my arms shaking from the effort until he lies unconscious on the floor. My body—her body—screams in pain and exhaustion, and I drop the pan to the floor with a clank. I’m not scared of what he will do to me. What can he do that he hasn’t already done? My fear is for the woman who cries hysterically on the floor as she gathers the scraps of her clothing.

  “Baby, no, what did you do? Oh God, he’s going to kill us,” she sobs, curling in on herself like a child. I kneel next to her prone body. I place my small hand softly on her arm.

  It should be the other way around, but I’m unable to stop the promise I feel down in my bruised and battered bones. “I will protect us, I promise.”

  I pull back into my body as more and more memories fill my head like a bulging suitcase ready to explode. Horror after horror streams past, allowing me to catch glimpses of things no child should ever see, never mind live. I scramble back as my chest heaves and tears track down my face.

  She stares at me, her eyes filled to the brim and a spark of hope in their watery depths. In that moment, she recognises what I am. The child who doesn’t trust adults, the child who protected her mother instead of herself, the one with light fighting the darkness in her soul.

  Help me.

  The tiny broken whisper floats through my mind. I know then and there I will do anything in this world to protect her. Something in me begs to be released to cleanse her of the horrors she has endured. To promise to protect her. I swallow them down.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” the harsh remark comes from the man whose vile acts scar my mind as bad as a brand.

  I don’t respond but instead, memorise him. I would guess he’s handsome, with classical features. He sits in a smart shirt and trousers, but I see inside him to the evil he’s capable of, and no remorse resides there. The darkness inside me rises as his aura reveals exactly what a monster he is. I know first-hand monsters can be the most beautiful people, and it seems unfair that the darkness doesn’t taint their beauty as it does their soul.

  “I said, what the fuck are you doing?” His shout catches Tom’s attention, and he rushes over to me. I don’t know what expression I wear, but he stares at me before an anger I have never witnessed before washes over his features.

  He turns to the man and grits out a response, “Sorry, she’s obviously not feeling very well. You can have a free drink on the house.” I turn to him, about to scream at Tom for placating the vile human. He gives me a shut the fuck up look, grabs my elbow, and steers me to the back hallway.

  Once there, I yank my arm free and pace back and forth.

  “So, it’s true?” I breathe deep, trying to contain my rage.

  “How could you?” It comes out guttural as the memories burn a path through my brain. I lean against the wall with my forehead pressed against the cool tile.

  “How could you? You must have felt something, seen something,” I whisper to the bear who stands behind me. Although not as good at sensing auras as me, shifters sense strong emotions, and the signs were all there.

  “I wasn’t sure. I was waiting until you got here.” His voice washes over me, cooling some of my temper. I nod, not moving away from the wall.

  “I can’t.” I swallow, turn, and finally stare at him with tears filling my eyes. “I can’t not do something, you didn’t.” Swallowing again, I glance away from his searching eyes. “You didn’t see what I saw,” I finish brokenly.

  He steps closer, big arms surrounding me, and his unique smell hits my nostrils. I bury my head against his chest, which rumbles as he speaks. “I can’t imagine what you saw, darlin’. I know you, though, you’re a tough bastard, yet I’ve never seen you so shaken.” He inhales deeply as he finishes, “Do what you have to, I will always have your back.”

  With that cryptic remark, he releases me, turns, and stalks away.

  He stops just as he reaches the corner. “I will keep them there for as long as I can, but they will leave, and we both know what will happen,” he says quietly.

  I lean against the wall, debating my options. I can call the police, but I don’t have proof. I can threaten him, but I won’t scare him as my human self. Or I can do nothing. However, that will end with him killing them both, and that is something I would never be able to live with when I can do something. The only thing that matters here is that I can save them; what sort of person would I be if I didn’t? With a deep breath, peace settles in my soul. This is the right decision. Yet, there will be consequences.

  Footsteps heading this way interrupt my internal monologue. I hesitate before I head into the changing rooms next to me. I leave the door open a fraction to watch out, and I see him. My darkness and power rush up, and I know what I’m going to do, consequences be dammed.

  9

  - AURORA -

  He passes my hiding spot as he struts to the men’s toilets. As the door shuts, he checks himself out in the mirror, and my stomach clenches. With a deep breath, I push through the partially open door I hid behind and hesitate outside the toilets, steeling myself to take action and change everything in my life.

  I open the door slowly.

  Allowing the light to filter around my silhouette dramatically, I wait until he glances my way through the mirror.

  With a frown in my direction, he turns with a sneer. “The fuck do you want?”

  I step forward and allow the door to shut behind me.

  “Hell-oo, you deaf as well as fucking dumb?” He waves sarcastically at me.

  I breathe deeply and turn to lock the door.

  “Oi, cunt, I’m talking to you.”

  I turn and lean against the door.

  He flicks his eyes up and down my body, and a leer forms, one that makes me sick to my stomach. All I see is the hatred in his eyes as he beat his little girl and her mother. Other women might not see the evil in his eyes, but I can.

  “Well, since you’re here, make yourself useful. Get on your knees,” he says cockily.

  My stomach turns at his suggestion. Not saying a word, I step forward, again and again, until I almost touch him. His overpowering cologne smashes into my nose, and I cringe.

  His smile turns up a notch, and he gives me a heated look which I guess is supposed to be seductive. My anger breaks free and rises like a flame through me, burning the darkness the memories of him left behind. My power follows it.

  “Well, go on then, if you’re a good girl I might give you a tip.” He reaches down to unzip his trousers.

  My power makes me bold, and I smirk at him. “I wouldn’t bother, I wouldn’t be able to find it.”

  He grows red in anger and raises his hand to slap me as he replies, “You fucking bitch.”

  I catch his hand in mine. He tries to add more pressure to it, but I use my power to hold it still in mid-air. “Tut-tut, I wouldn’t do that. You see, I know exactly what you are, what you do.”

  Confusion replaces his anger, and he stills for a minute before pulling his hand back to step around me. “Crazy bitch.”

  I step into his path with my back still to the door. My anger grows hotter and hotter, burning right alongs
ide my power. The darkness in me starts to rise, and I hesitate. “You called your daughter that before.”

  He eyes widen with surprise at my calm words. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, bitch. Now move.”

  A humourless laugh escapes as he tries to step around me like I’m nothing.

  My power shoots out to freeze him on the spot. My eyes seem to spit fire as I get angrier as he ignores me, the violet and black swirling together. The darkness curls through me faster and faster. It won’t allow me to push it down this time. I have a split second to decide whether to stop it all completely or carry on and stop this monster from ever touching that little girl again.

  I close my eyes, and with a resigned sigh, I drop my shields.

  A smirk stretches across my glowing skin. My hair goes darker. Red and blue highlights spin through it, and my skin smooths out even more as my eyes darken to their full black. I straighten up to my full height, which seems so much more with this power running through me. A contented purr escapes. It’s addictive; I feel I can take on the world when I’m like this. Fear, guilt, and sadness don’t exist in my darkness. Only acceptance, revenge, and anger. I let them fuel me, my power burning hotter and hotter.

  “Wh-what was that?” he asks cautiously.

  I snap open my eyes and zero in on his face. The light above me flickers. That must be what he’s talking about. His eyes swing back to me, and he gasps. His eyes reveal a reflection of myself. The monster I hide deep inside, and for once, I accept it. If this is what it takes...

  I allow my eyes to fill with the power which resides inside me. His eyes fill with fear as he reads his future in the darkness. I lean closer as his body starts to tremble.

  “Tell me, John, have you been bad?” The whisper seems overly loud in the silent room.

  He shakes his head rapidly.

  “I think you’re lying, I think you like to break the rules. Like to see how much you can push. How much you can get away with.”

  Only his shallow breathing breaks the silence in the room.

  “You will never touch them again,” I whisper in my softest voice.

  The tremble in his body increases as he stammers out a terrified response, “W-whh-whhaat are you?”

  I grin evilly at him, baring my teeth. My magic rises and blocks out the light in the room; I’m almost in complete darkness. I circle around him as he spins his head trying to keep me in his eyesight.

  “Your worst nightmare, I’m the thing you fear in the dark. I’ll be there throughout your life, watching your sins. When you die, I’ll be there again. Waiting.” My soft whisper trails off as I lean closer to his ear.

  He hyperventilates now, and my smile grows along with his fear, like it feeds off it. His aura swims with it and the evil within him. He recognises I’m the bigger monster in the room, a predator with him as my prey. He still automatically thinks it will stop me; I taste his indecision as his body screams at him to run.

  “Why?” he cries.

  “Because I know what you did, how you touch your wife. How you make your little girl cry and beg to the sky for help. Your darkest secrets are laid bare to me, and I will judge you for them.” I end my declaration as I step in front of him again.

  His whimpers reach higher decibel as I laugh softly, it echoing in the small tiled room. The darkness behind me expands and throbs in time with my heartbeat. The light flicks back on slowly as it recedes back into me, the inky blackness going home.

  He lets out a cry as he pisses himself, and I don’t need to look in the mirror to know what hovers behind me like a guardian angel. The darkness creates a pair of smoky wings extending from just below my shoulders. My eyes blaze with power, and my skin lights up the darkness like a beacon of hope and redemption, or dread and condemnation. His aura cracks with his mind as he attempts to reject what he sees. His mind tries to protect himself from the truth that there’s something in the dark to be afraid of.

  “Do you understand me, John?” I lean towards him again, angling my mouth like I will kiss him. Tears continue to cut a path down his mottled cheeks as he nods. I tut and wag my finger.

  “Let me hear you say it.” The power echoes in my voice, growing with each second of use. I need to finish this now, but I have to make sure he gets the picture.

  “I understand... I w-won’t touch them again. I-I promise,” he brokenly sobs.

  My smile returns full force, enhancing his fear. Even as he makes the vow, it’s not enough. He needs to pay for his deeds, and the little girl and woman out there need to know that they’re safe.

  My mind swirls with possibilities as the silence stretches. A voice from deep inside of me whispers for me to make him pay, make him disappear, that no one would miss him. I slam down on those thoughts. He shakes more, realising I’m not done with him. I take a deep breath as a plan forms, and circle the weak little vermin in front of me again.

  I have no proof of his abuse and the police won’t do anything.

  Still stalking, his emotions float to me. I stop in front of him again. Closing my eyes, I try something I’ve never done before. I push into his mind. He fights against it, instinctively pulling away from my probing darkness. Unrelenting, I follow until, with a pop, I’m in his memories, his thoughts, everything. Instantly my stomach rebels. Trying not to see too much of anything, I flick through, searching for something to use against him. Like flicking through a picture book, images stick out until I come to one with a pulsing darkness around it. Bracing myself for what I might uncover, I delve deeper.

  Like watching a hazy, old movie, he rains down punch after punch on the unconscious man curled on the floor in front of him. He spits in disgust on an older gentleman. A figure rushes up behind him. I squint to make out his face, but it’s no use. He turns to the other guy, and I’m unable to hear what they say. I glance around at where we are instead.

  It’s night, and the room is dark with only the hint of the moon shining through the window. Glancing towards the back door, I realise we stand in a kitchen. Broken glass sprinkles all over the floor, sparkling like diamonds in the moonlight. I quickly turn back to the man still unconscious on the floor, then finally to John.

  A mask covers his face, but I would remember those eyes anywhere. He still talks to the other man, gesturing towards the old man who lies in a puddle of his own blood.

  John and the guy are obviously fighting, but what about?

  The other guy shakes his head, then backs out of the room. John looks from the man on the floor to the door and swears. He grabs a bag at his feet I didn’t notice before. Overflowing with jewellery, keys, and other items, he hikes it over his shoulder before leaving the room.

  About to follow him, a strangled rattle sounds from the remaining man. I kneel at his side, not caring about the blood that grows and seeps across the floor. It almost throws me back into my own memories until I centre myself here. His skin pales, and his breath becomes laboured. A death rattle sounds in his chest. He’s going to die. Tears make their way down my face as I helplessly watch him breathe his last breath. As he rises from his now deceased body, his soul waits, hanging in a frozen moment. I lean forward, drawn to it, my arm stretch out, about to touch the awaiting soul, when a shadow breaks away from the wall.

  Quickly, I scramble backwards.

  I freeze as a man bracketed by shadows stands above the soul. Squinting, I can make out more of him and go still when I realise what he is.

  Wings flare behind him, almost blending into the shadows. A mask of sadness covers his face, but acceptance waits in his eyes. He leans towards the soul, and before I know it, I make a noise.

  His head snaps up, and I swear he can see me, as impossible as that sounds. His eyes, like the night’s sky, stare into mine with a look that will haunt me. I fling myself out of John’s memories as fast as possible.

  Coming back to the room, my body shakes, and I breathe as hard as he does. He falls to his knees, rocking back and forth. My stomach heaves, but I manage ho
ld it in. At least, I got something I can use even if I did add another horror to my memories.

  I stand before him and whisper his name. His head lifts slowly.

  “You’re my vengeance,” he whispers brokenly.

  I don’t say anything.

  “You’re my death.” His head drops to his chest as he sobs quietly.

  “Yes and no. I will not kill you, John. But you must pay, a life for a life.” Unsure where the words come from, they pull from somewhere deep inside of me and fill the room with power. “You are evil, and evil never wins. Yet I’m not the decider, not yet. One day you will descend to the depths where you belong, but it will not be by my hand.”

  I swallow as the power dies from my words, and I come back to myself.

  Knowing now how he can pay, I steady myself. “You will admit your guilt. Go to the police, tell them how you killed the man. Confess your crimes.”

  He lifts his head in defeat.

  “You will do this, and if I ever see you again, John, not even God Himself could save you.” My words don’t hold any power this time, just a promise.

  He nods again, like a broken puppet.

  “Good boy, now run along.” I step back into the darkest corner of the room.

  He runs as fast as he can towards the door, not even glancing back.

  I swallow when it’s just me and the darkness. Shit. I did the right thing, but this will have consequences. Every nearby reaper will feel my power. I just drew a target on my back.

  And who was that in his memory? I still feel his eyes on me, like he knows exactly who and what I am.

  I close my eyes and picture the orbs of the little girl out there that will haunt me forever. So much despair. The eyes of someone who witnessed too much for her young age. I did the right thing—no matter the cost.

  I smile to myself. For once, my strange birthright allowed me to help someone.

  10