Witch (7 page)

Ophelia

“You new?”

Ophelia looked up from the picture she couldn’t take her eyes
off, to see the most beautiful girl she had ever seen in her life. She was
exotic.

The girl frowned, “You speak English?”

Ophelia laughed, “Sorry. Been a long day. Yeah I guess I’m
new.”

The girl smiled, making her face so stunning Ophelia
almost had to look away, “Oh cool. I’m Giselle.” She sighed and slumped into
the chair beside her at the huge table.

“I’m Ophelia.”

“What flavor are you?” She twirled her hair and raised her
perfectly manicured eyebrows.

Ophelia looked deeply into her dark eyes, “Is that a trick
question?” She nearly felt lost.

Giselle looked at her and smiled dreamily, “No. You make
me feel funny. I meant what kind of monster are you?”

"Monster? You mean like the wolf and the ghost?"

Giselle smiled just as bright white fangs dropped out of
the plump lips.

“AHHHH OH MY GOD!” Ophelia jumped up and backed away from
the table, "Oh my god. Oh my god. What are you?"

Giselle put her hand up to her lips covering them, as if
she was ashamed, “Oh thnap thorry. Thtupid fangth. They’re like a dude’th
thingy. They jutht pop up randomly.”

Ophelia grimaced, “What? What? Oh my god? What thingy? You
mean… oh my god.”

She was backed against the counter completely, but still
trying to back away.

Giselle laughed, “I’m not like gay or anything. I mean not
yet. Dorian thaid I might get bored, eventually. I gueth he had thith like
phathe. Anyway. Uhm yeah. Thorry. The blood rushed there and then they came.
Give it a minute and they’ll go away again. You just thmell so good.”

Ophelia shook her head, completely confused, “I don’t know
what you’re saying.”

She pointed to her face, “The fangth make my ethh thound
funny. I can't thay all the wordth. Like thally and thue and thorry and thupid.
It’th the fangth.”

Ophelia started to laugh, “I know what the words are I
just don’t know what you mean. I’m-err-not-a-err monster.”

Giselle walked toward her and focused her dark eyes
intently and spoke in a creepy voice slowly, “Look into my eyeth and hear my
voith. You will remember nothing that I thay. You didn’t thee my fangth.”

“Giselle, dear what are you doing?” Lydia walked in to the
kitchen holding the album she had promised to show Ophelia.

Giselle sighed and put her hands over her eyes, “She’th a
normal girl. She thaw my fangth.”

“She’s a witch honey. You’re fine.”

Giselle glared at Ophelia, “Not a monthter?”

She shrugged and took a step toward the table again,
"It still hasn’t been proven."

“This is Giselle. Obviously she is a vampire. Not nearly
as scary as one would expect.” Lydia rolled her eyes at the frowning beauty.

Giselle hissed at her, making Ophelia jump slightly. She
laughed and walked over to the chair again. Her fangs vanished after a few
seconds. She sighed as she sat in the chair at the end of the table.

Lydia opened the huge dusty old album, filled with grainy
black and white photos.

“This is the only set of pictures ever taken of your
mother. You see, you are identical to her in every way.”

She couldn’t believe what she saw. It was as if she stared
at herself in an old white gown. It was the woman in the snow globe.

"Where is this picture taken?" She touched the
picture. It seemed older than Lydia.

"She got away once. The picture was taken at a Rose
residence in Italy."

‘Mother’

Ophelia looked back to see the six balls of light. She
frowned and looked at Lydia, who frowned at the balls.

“How is it that they follow you?”

“I don’t know. Who are they?”

Lydia raised an eyebrow at her, “You don’t speak to them?”

She shook her head, feeling the blood drain from her face,
“They only arrived after the Ouija board incident. Very frightening actually.
They just started yelling at me and I’m pretty sure at one point they froze
Jake. I think they’re evil.”

Lydia laughed, “They look exactly like you firstly and secondly
no evil may enter my home. Just like your home was, I presume.”

Giselle, who had been tapping her toes annoyingly, sighed
again, “Lydia I need to ask you something.”

Lydia looked impatiently at her, “This is really important
Giselle. She has weeks before she must face her father.”

Ophelia’s head spun. “What? You know where my parents are?
Do you know where my sister is? No one will tell me anything about her.”

Lydia shook her head, “Not the humans, but I know where
your real parents are dear.”

Giselle made an exasperated noise and walked from the room
annoyed, "Fine whatevs."

“Sweetie I will chat with you in a minute. I need to sort
this out before she has an aneurism.”

Giselle waved a hand in the air and rounded the corner out
of sight.

Lydia rolled her eyes, “Look dear your parents are
different like the rest of us. We sort of need you to get up to speed
immediately. This is your mother. The blue balls of light are your sisters and
your father is a very bad man.”

Ophelia shook her head, “Who are the people who raised
me?” Her chest was tight. She couldn’t draw a full breath.

“No clue. Not important people to our cause.”

O felt the white-hot rage fill her instantly, “THEY’RE
IMPORTANT TO ME DAMMIT! I NEED TO FIND MY SISTER!” White lightning shot from her
fingertips across the kitchen. The lightning hit the cupboards above the sink
and blew bits of wood everywhere. Ophelia ducked at the sound of the explosion.

Her fingers burned where the fire had come from them. She
lifted a trembling hand up to her face, “Wha- what was that?”

“Bloody hell.” Lydia whispered, looking around at the wood
particles floating in the air.

Annabelle poked her head through the massive hole in the
wall where the cabinets and counter had been, “I be telling you. I be saying
it. She be trouble. My guards can’t even keeps her magic in check. She aint
even had her birthday yet. You bes asking for trouble.”

Ophelia watched as Lydia frowned at the ghostly maid,
“Annabelle you have to help us. You swore an oath.”

Annabelle crossed her arms, “I aint helping and I aint
teaching no demon witch how to kills nobody. Oath or no oath I's already dead.
What's the Witch gonna do to me now? I's already in hell. You aint looked
outside lately has you? No. Miss Lydia you gots bigger fish to fry. The guards
is weakened from miss thang here and we be surrounded by a thousand of them
fanged devils.”

Ophelia trembled, “How did-why-what am I? Did she say
demon witch? Oh my god it's the Ouija board isn’t it. Someone has possessed
me.” She looked at her fingers again, still in shock.

Lydia sighed and rubbed her temples, “Ophelia you are
driving me insane. Let me finish a sentence for the love of god. Annabelle what
are you talking about?”

Annabelle pointed to the front hall, “There be a thousand of
them night walking blood suckas out on the street Miss Lydia. They gots us
surrounded. They come for Giselle.”

Lydia covered her hands over her eyes, "Where is
Lorri?"

Ophelia shook her head, “It’s me isn’t it? They’re here
because of me. The wolf brought them here for me. Everything is trying to kill
me. I’m dreaming I’m sure of it.” She felt panic build inside of her.

Giselle stormed in to the kitchen, “Not everything is
about you princess. That is what I was trying to tell you about Lydia. Those
things have been following me all week.”

Suddenly the spiky redhead flashed in to the kitchen with
a dark haired man.

“Lydia we have a problem.”

Lydia pointed to the hole in the wall Ophelia had made, “I
have enough problems Lorri. These are Roses problems. I want them gone from my
street.”

Lorri sneered, “It’s her, they came for her.”

Arguing erupted in the kitchen, “She is the heir.”

"This isn’t my problem Dorian. Jesus. Deal with your
own problems and let me deal with Ophelia."

"She is the queen Lydia. This is everyone's
problem."

Lydia looked like she cracked. She started to laugh
uncontrollably. She sank onto the debris-covered floor, laughing in sobs.

Ophelia looked back at her fingertips and shook her head.
She walked from the kitchen, “It’s too much. It’s all too much. I need this
dream to be over.”

Sam

His phone vibrated as he tore the head from the vampire
body. His strength, when he let the fire take him, was unmatched.

He felt the black blood spray, covering his forearms.

He glanced back at Aimee and grinned savagely. She was
surrounded by ten of them, just how she liked it. Her hands moved faster than
the human eye could catch. She had learned how to rip the souls from them in
one swipe. She didn’t need to channel the energy. Dorian said she was the best
death dealer he had ever seen. Watching the black blood spray from their bodies
before they even got within an arms reach of her, proved that to be true.

Sam shivered watching the blood shed. Aimee could shut
herself down emotionally.

Lucas dove at one of the undead surrounding Aimee and
ripped its head off with one huge bite. The crunch from his massive jaw would
have made Sam sick, if he hadn’t been in such a foul mood.

He wiped the blood from his hands onto his jeans and
pulled the phone from his pocket.

“Gotta Go. Lydia’s.” He cried.

Aimee was gone before he got the sentence out. Lucas leapt
through the crowd of monsters. Sam flashed them as his hand made contact with
the fur.

The muggy cool air of Portland hit instantly. They had
been in Madrid where Aimee had heard of a blood bar. Normally they didn’t do
much in Europe but sometimes Lorri needed them. The European Roses had
incredibly strong ties to Daniel. Lorri had been forced to kill many of her
own. The vampire den they had just slaughtered had been one of Daniel’s
splinter groups.

Sam felt his feet squish into the wet lawn, as he rounded
the corner of the house with Lucas. His stomach felt heavy seeing the hoard
surrounding the yard.

He looked at Lucas, “Vampires?”

Lucas nodded his wolf head and gave a low whine.

“Pretty sure we’ll be needing some backup on this one
buddy.”

Lucas whined again.

He couldn’t understand how so many had gathered or why
they stood outside Lydia’s house.

Sam noticed a female tilting her head and smelling the air
in his direction. He looked down at the blood covering his clothes and gave her
a goofy grin.

She started to whisper to the man at her left side. The
man gave him a deadly cold stare.

Sam felt the hair on his arms begin to lift. Under their
scrutiny, he felt himself growing angry again.

Lucas nudged him and looked at the front of the house
where Giselle walked down the front steps alone. She looked uneasy, glancing
back at the people inside of the house.

Sam raised an eyebrow at her. She looked terrified and
cleared her throat.

“Uhm thanks for coming. Apparently we have a small
problem. Uhm I’m not sure how this happened but I'm your new leader.”

Sam looked down at Lucas and frowned, “Oh shit. This is
going to be bad.”

Giselle glared in his direction. He smiled at her and
shook his head, "You got this."

She looked back at the massive group, “Uhm is there anyone
who has any questions?”

They group began to laugh and heckle her.

Sam watched the undead roaming the guards. They looked
ready to cross the line any second and kill everyone. His skin felt alive as he
paced the yard with Lucas. He was ready for a fight. Vampires were the easiest
things they killed in a week.

He looked down at the wolf, “This is not good. They will
never follow her.”

The wolf snorted. Dorian appeared behind them, “She needs
our support not our criticism.”

Sam looked back at Dorian, “How could you tell Aleks that
it was a good idea to have Marcus turn her? Everyone knows his vampires are the
royalty of the vampires.”

Dorian frowned, “I never told him that. Besides we've all
assumed that there was at least a handful of his blood left.”

Sam laughed spitefully, “Well that was a great gamble. You
just made Giselle the Vampire Queen. Jesus.”

Dorian growled at Sam. He stepped past him and addressed
the crowd, “The new Queen has our support. Mine and Lorri’s.”

A large man at the edge of the guard laughed, “Black Angel
of Death, was it you who took our father?”

Dorian shook his head, “It doesn’t matter who killed him.
Your blood tells you who the rightful heir is. Her name is Queen Giselle.”

Giselle blushed, “Oh uhm just call me Giselle.”

A cry shot from the crowd, “We will not kneel before her.
She is barely a week old.”

Giselle looked insulted, “Hey I’m twenty-one asshat.”

The crowd laughed, “Black Angel of death you can’t expect
this to rule us for the next thousand years?”

“Let us kill her and make our next ruler someone
powerful.”

“You angels overstep your bounds.”

Aimee and Lorri walked from the front steps, stilling the
crowd.

“SHE IS A MURDERER. YOU HOUSE MURDERERS HERE. THIS IS A
HOUSE OF HYPOCRISY!”

“GIVE US THE DEMON!”

Sam watched Aimee's eyes grow cold.

The crowd erupted.

Lorri put a hand in the air, “She works for me and is
allowed the protection of my laws. The laws of the maker. Marcus lived by these
laws and Queen Giselle will abide by them and enforce them as well.”

“You have no rights Lucifer. You fell. You have no right
to rein over us.”

“Only our true ruler will rule over us.”

Lorri rolled her eyes, “Fucking idiots.” She looked back
at Giselle, “Be ready to kick some ass.”

Giselle gulped, “I don’t actually know how to fight
Lorri.”

Lorri looked at Sam and nodded. Sam walked to Giselle, “A
rage will fill you. Let it take you. The power is inside of you. Ignore
everything but what the rage tells you to do.”

Giselle frowned, “Dude look at me. I’ve never even had a
sister to fight with. Nothing. I slapped a guy once. Like, I got nothing.”

"Remember all the training you had? You did great
then."

"No I sucked. I was just fast. Remember when I ran
away?"

Sam wanted to slap her, "Giselle, you can do this.
There is anger and magic inside of you. Let it rise.”

"Like, my fangs."

Sam winced, "No."

Aimee stepped forward, "Okay you know when you're
like tired from the stale air in the mall and then you drink espresso and
suddenly you feel like you can shop some more?"

Giselle nodded, "Oh my god Aimee have you been
shopping without me? Are those boots new?"

Aimee clenched her jaw momentarily, "No sweetie. The
blood is like the espresso. You just need to ask it to come to you and it will.
Close your eyes for a second and focus."

She looked confused, absolutely gorgeous but confused
nonetheless. Sam had zero faith in her abilities. He looked at Lucas and knew
the wolf felt the same.

"You got this Giselle." Aimee stepped to the
side and watched the crowd. Sam knew her presence made everyone uneasy.

Aimee looked fierce, her grey eyes were molten steel and
already set on which vampire she would kill first. Her black tank top was stained
in blood but was hard to see as she almost always wore black. She wore blood
red leather pants and huge dark brown knee high boots. Black stains and dried
bits clung to her everywhere.

Looking at her, Sam had a hard time imagining her as
Giselle remembered her. Sweet and nerdy. She seemed ruthless and violent.

Lorri put a hand in the air again, stilling the frothing
crowd of savages.

“Bring a challenger. We will have a fight to the death for
the right of royalty.”

The crowd erupted. Part excitement and part argument over
who was eldest.

A man was shoved forward.

Sam watched as Dorian’s jaw clenched seeing the man. He
was tall and strong looking, but not muscular. He looked like a Euro trash
vampire. They all did. Sam had no love for Vamps, other than Giselle. She
looked like she was about to cry processing the statement Lorri had made, “The
death?”

Dorian took his turn at convincing her, “You have the
strongest blood here Giselle. You have all of Marcus’s strength inside of you.
Call to it. Ask it to assist you. That vampire cannot beat you no matter what.
Marcus would have laughed at him. ”

Giselle turned back to the front door and threw up in the
bushes.

The crowd laughed at her.

Sam felt anger inside of himself. He was ready. He was
dangerous when he was ready. He felt his fingers flex on their own. He began to
think about Hanna. Her lips and eyes. His fingers running through her soft
strawberry locks. The swell in her chest. The way she moaned when he licked along
her throat. He had never waited for anything the way he had waited for her. He
felt his energy seeping from him.

He looked at the grin on Dorian’s face, “It almost feels
like cheating having you here.”

Sam smiled and tried to ignore the blush crossing his
cheeks, “It is cheating there is no doubt.”

He looked out at the massive group of vampires. The effect
of his pheromones was hitting them. The eyes dilated first. They sniffed the
air. Fangs began bursting everywhere.

Lorri looked back sharply to Giselle, “Not you, you idiot.
Keep those fangs in your mouth for the love of god.”

Giselle covered her mouth, as a desperate look crossed her
eyes.

She took deep breaths and dropped the hand.

The challenger frowned, “Is that a Siren?”

Dorian laughed, “Where? Surely one of us would have eaten
a Siren by now.”

The male pointed at Giselle, “Is she a Siren and a
vampire? Marcus has cursed us.”

Sam laughed. They never would have assumed it would be
him. Male Sirens with any sort of powers were never heard of.

“Why do they think it’s me?” Giselle whispered.

He smirked at her, “I don’t technically exist Giselle.
They assume the Siren is the most beautiful girl here. If you are a Siren and
the vampire queen then they will be as servants to you in every way.”

Giselle looked lost, which wasn’t new.

Aimee looked back, “Command them to kneel. We need to see
how many will defend her, just in case.”

Lorri looked back and nodded.

Giselle cleared her throat again, “Uhm I would like it if
you would kneel please.”

Lorri rolled her eyes and grabbed Giselle by the crotch,
“Like you have a set Giselle.”

Giselle shouted against the assault, “KNEEL.”

Several dropped to their knees but the others appeared to
be fighting it. Their legs shook against her command. The tall Euro trash stood
freely smiling.

"Enough with the theatrics Lucifer."

Dorian nodded at Giselle, “You ready? You have to kill
him. He's a traitor to your kind. I bet he's the reason Marcus's bloodline is
dead."

Giselle looked worried, “How did he kill them?”

Lorri sneered, “He has an army that Marcus never knew
about. I guarantee it. Marcus was so obsessed with other things he missed it.”

Dorian laughed, “Like his cock.”

Sam glowered.

Giselle looked around at the group of people surrounding
her and shook her head, “I can’t do this.”

Lorri gripped her arm, “Do it or die. Those are your only
choices.”

A tear dripped down Giselle’s cheek.

Aimee stepped in and wiped the tear and smiled “You can do
this. I’ve got your back.”

Giselle looked into her eyes and nodded, “You will help
me?”

Aimee nodded, “I will not let you die.”

Giselle took a step forward and nodded, “Okay.”

Sam looked at Aimee in protest, but she shook her head
subtly.

Lorri growled, “Stay.”

Sam knew who she was commanding.