“You okay?” Alaric looks at her as she nods slightly. “Really?”
“Yeah, it just sucks that I never had sisters or brothers; that’s all.”
“You did, you had all the witches in the house Azalea, and all the ones who visited as well.” Zander smiles at her; blood isn’t everything.
“You have me and Willow, and these two as well. They can be your sisters, just don’t go tainting their innocence too quickly,” he laughs, nudging her.
“I know. When are you taking them outside?” Azalea looks at them waiting.
“Not yet, we’re giving everything time. Some werewolves and witches still think Willow is dead, or should be. Her own family can’t see her either until everything is sorted. Plus, we have no idea at what rate the twins will grow, so we’ll be checking on them regularly until we know.” Everyone sits quietly, the twins becoming unsettled and
She looks around herself; something else she noticed, her head shakes slightly.“I was waiting to see if you noticed.” Willow nods and laughs at Zander’s words.“I did, how could I not? We’re not meant to be here. This house was a mistake.” Alaric looks at her, shocked. “Okay, not a mistake, but something must happen because apparently we end up living at the witches’ house, and so do the werewolves.” Alaric laughs at her words.“No way would Gwenael and the others agree to live with the witches.” He can’t see that happening.“Well it happens, when or how I don’t know, but we were all living in that house together. We won’t do it, Alaric, not until there’s something that forces us to. And then, only then, we will. Doing it too soon might change the course of the future and then everything will change.” Willow glances around herself; she’d grown to l
Standing alone, she looks out into the expanse of trees. Her body shakes slightly from the nerves she is trying to ignore, her mind telling her to run while her heart tells her to continue. The young woman begins to walk forward hesitantly, the cold air wrapping itself around her like a shroud of ice. Her eyes linger on the rows of graves she passes, until eventually she reaches the edge of the forest. She should run; she knows she should run, but her body won’t allow her to. Someone is following her.Soon, soon, she will tell them that she knows they are there. She continues into the trees, branches outstretched and welcoming her into the shadows. A few moments later the thundering sound of a wolf’s paws hitting the ground as it bounds into the trees causes her to turn around sharply. She watches something disappear into the forest.This is hopeless, she thinks, and she abandons the twisted branches for the open grey sky. She will not dis
January turns to February, and not much changes. The only difference is that the mysterious man stays in the shadows, watching her from a distance and rushing off every now and then to God knows where. She forces herself to keep a safe distance away from him. After all, she has no idea if he’s the reason Dan is missing.Every night she returns and every night she feels safer, constantly growing more convinced that something big is being covered up here, that the newspapers and the police were holding something back. How is it possible that so many people can disappear or die, yet she visits every night and leaves untouched? She thinks back to the man in the shadows. It has to be something to do with him. She’s considered it before but now, walking through the graveyard, she can’t help but think about it more. Every night he follows her, and every night she returns home safe. He’s behind this somehow, but she doesn’t know exactly why he follows he
Olivia finds the next week very much the same. As soon as she finishes work she goes back there, part of her hoping that Alaric will come out of the shadows and speak to her, and the other part of her hoping she finds the answers she needs about Dan. She feels like she’s going crazy.There have been no other issues since then. Had the man even been real? She could have sworn she was bitten, but maybe she wasn’t after all. Each day she hears Alaric following her, and while it’s a comfort to know he’s there, she wishes he would come into view so she could see him again.She finds herself giving in slightly, sitting on the wide trunk of a fallen tree. She has a plan, and if she can get him to believe her she’ll get the answers she needs. If not, well, she’ll just have to keep trying. She glances around, waiting to see if he’ll appear now that she&r
When she wakes up, she finds herself back at Alaric's house. Olivia jumps up, backing away towards the wall. “You bit me!” She accuses, pointing a finger at the man who is watching her from across the room. Alaric looks at her shocked, shaking his head. “Look, I’ll tell you what really happened, and then hopefully you stay the hell away this time! Let’s grab a drink, I can’t do this sober.” Without waiting he strides out of the door, Olivia rushing to catch up with him. Alaric doesn’t stop, remaining silent as they walk to the bar. When they get there they order drinks before sitting down opposite each other. Olivia admits that she would rather talk about things here, where she is at least surrounded by people and therefore safe. “You bit me.” Alaric shakes his head. “I didn’t touch you, Olivia. What I said the other day was true. You just wanted to laugh and mock the fact I said it.” Olivia remembers the last time they were here, how
When she wakes up it’s late. There’s a momentary panic before Olivia remembers that it’s Saturday and she doesn’t need to be anywhere, although it doesn’t mean she’s going to stay at home. She gets ready quickly and grabs her coat before leaving, hastily pulling the door shut behind her and briskly walking without lending much thought to where her feet take her.She’s made this journey so many times that at this point it’s muscle memory. She will keep her promise to Alaric and stay away from the graveyard, but she still needs to know if it is true. She walks to the old mining hill; walking around it she sees nothing. There is no-one there. Sitting on the ground she relaxes, waiting in the quiet morning air.Someone must come soon, and then she’ll finally be able to prove that either vampires are real or that Alaric was lying. She hea
When Alaric gets home an incredibly short while after, the first thing he sees is Lucas standing there covered in blood.“I swear I had no idea, he jumped on me from behind and while I was trying to get free that twat fixed himself up and ran.”“The other guy?”Lucas shakes his head. “Didn’t get a look.” They sit and talk, Alaric annoyed that the vampire somehow got away.Meanwhile at the café, Olivia gives up waiting to see if he comes back and starts her walk home. It was nice knowing her? That isn’t what normal people say to someone. She arrives home and drops straight onto the sofa, letting her head fall back against the cushions. She likes Alaric, she isn’t sure why, but for some reason, she just does.
“Now I understand what was so important. She just doesn’t give up, does she?”Olivia nods, not finding it very funny.“My mum doesn’t care, as long as I’m alive. It’s Mel who can’t leave things alone.”Alaric nods. “She’s just worried – overly worried, yes – but at least you have someone to worry about you.”Olivia laughs. “Trust me, it’s overrated. Sometimes I think it would be better to not have a family.” She looks at Alaric guiltily, realising what she had just said. It was inconsiderate of her; he had lost his family decades ago.“Sorry, I didn’t think. I doubt not having a family for so long is much of a good thing.”He laughs, shaking his head.“As I said, Olivia, it runs in my bloodline, so my family are there, just none from when I was born. I do see family from time to time. Most stop shifting after a