“I’m going to see if we can find out anything else, Willow; see if there is a story.” Her words are quiet. Willow simply nods and closes her eyes, hearing the women speak in tongues she doesn’t comprehend, yet for some reason today she feels the power behind the words they say even if the meaning isn’t understood.
An image flashes through her mind of her mother crying; holding Willow tight in her arms with her face a picture of torture and sadness. It is as if she has already lost Willow, despite having her right there. As soon as Willow begins to understand the image, it disappears and there are a few seconds of darkness before another image appears. Her eyes snap open, Camille smiling slightly at her.
“Not all the memories will be yours, Willow. Your parents put some images in your mind from their own memories so you would be able to unde
When they arrive back at home, it’s Alaric who takes the keys from Willow’s bag and unlocks the door. They walk into the house together, Alaric smiling at her gently.“I’ll get you some water, and then you need to relax for a while,” he says. “You can’t look this unhinged when you meet your sister.” He watches her as she takes a seat then goes to the kitchen, letting the water run cold before he uses it to fill a tall glass which he takes to Willow.“I must have looked so crazy and cruel,” Willow’s eyes flick up towards him as she gratefully takes the drink.“Don’t be silly, she will have understood. You just watched over an hour of memories that your parents gave to you. That sort of thing is never going to be easy. You need a break, so let tonight be a break. Be Olivia tonight, not Willow the witch. Just be human for a bit.”“How am I supposed to just forget things
The night passes quickly as she walks from bar to bar and club to club with her sister and friends. After what seems like a hundred different places and twice as many drinks, her eyes glance to the clock. She wants to go home but telling Mel that will cause an argument and her sister will just insist she stays longer. It’s midnight; they’ve spent hours together. Willow glances around, Mel’s arm interlinked with hers.“I’m going to the toilet,” Willow lies, seeing an opportunity. Earlier on she had seen a back door next to the toilets, knowing she could go out that way just in case, and she can just text Mel later saying she’s gone home. Mel’s arm loosens from hers and Willow walks off. Getting to the toilets, she walks straight past the door, turns the corner and opens the back door onto a dark alleyway. She begins walking home, her body relaxing realising that she’ll soon be in her bed, warm and asleep.“Oliv
Alaric walks along the edge of the trees, facing the town, continually circling it. He can hear the faint hum of music and voices, his mind fixing on Willow’s so he can follow her and make sure she’s safe. It’s not that he doesn’t trust the others, but he couldn’t forgive himself if anything happened to her. He’d barely been able to for what had happened to Yasmine…Focus, Alaric. Focus. Hours pass by uneventfully as he hears her drinking and laughing, clearly drunk.“I’m going to the toilet,” He hears her say, his head shaking as he almost immediately figures out the intention behind her voice. Almost mockingly he stands waiting. Five minutes pass by and she still hasn’t spoken, but she’s probably just getting some air, right? She’s allowed to have a break if she needs it, clubs can be loud, and-“Olivia, honey,” he hears, and his ears prick up. Alaric glances up
Alaric looks at her, unsure whether he should tell her. She sees his hesitation.“Either you can tell me, or I’ll ask Camille.”Alaric nods, taking a deep breath before he begins.“Yasmine was a powerful and amazing witch. This was before you were born, Willow. She was a Depraysie like you. The fact that we dated was frowned up; everyone warned me it would end in a war.”Willow nods, listening intently.“Anyway, a witch and werewolf falling in love isn’t good, especially not for vampires. They often use witches for their own gain so them being with a werewolf is dangerous to a vampire. Yasmine was turned; most witches lose their powers once they’re turned but she didn’t. She went to the witches to try to wipe them out.”“She-”“Just listen, Willow. Of course, the werewolves knew that I loved Yasmine. We couldn’t let her kill all the witches. Unfortunat
She feels her body making the journey, almost trancelike, her mind elsewhere, and when she arrives at the graveyard Camille welcomes her with a smile.“It was always going to happen, Willow, witches don’t belong with werewolves. Do you want to come to the main house and meet some of the others?” She looks at Willow with a warm, open expression, waiting for an answer to her question. Willow glances behind her, feeling like she needs to run back to Alaric but resisting, her head nodding slowly as she begins to follow Camille to the house. Walking in through the huge, opposing front door, she sees a few people sitting around and talking, their words trailing into silence as they look at her with wonder.“Everyone, this is Willow. Willow, these are just a few of the local witches, there are more of us elsewhere, of course.&rd
There’s a light knock that prompts her to walk to the door, opening it to discover Azalea holding a map and a small bead.“So I’ve been instructed to find out where the teddy is that this bead belongs to,” she says as she walks into the room. Willow nods, watching as the young girl clears the table, placing the map down and the bead on the map. She looks at Willow, waiting.“Well, any suggestions?”Willow laughs.“I just tried it myself Azalea, I’m sorry but I don’t think I’ll be able to help you. I didn’t say anything; I just saw where the person was.” She kneels down next to Azalea feeling guilty; she promised she’d help. Seeing as she can’t do that, she can at least sit with her. Her eyes flutter closed b
Willow looks down at herself. She has to admit, the dress is impressive. It clings to her body like it was made for her, a deep blue fabric that reminds her of the ocean. The hem stops halfway down her thighs: not so high that it’s revealing, but high enough to tease. She has no doubts that she’ll enjoy tonight. It is the first night since she arrived here that she’s free from everyone watching her, asking her what she learnt today, or whether she can do this or that.Walking down the old, grand stairs she smiles, seeing Camille hurriedly putting something away in a drawer before leaning down to lock it with a sturdy key that hangs around her neck. Willow shoots her a curious look and the older woman shrugs.“It’s my personal stuff. I just don’t want anyone reading it, that’s all.”Willow nods wordlessly; she doesn’t feel comfortable enough to grab a glass of water here, let alone go snooping in drawers. Will
Stepping outside, she pulls her phone from her pocket and idly swipes around the screen while she waits.“You’re a fool.”Turning, she sees Camille with the other witches behind her.“It’s wrong, Willow, you and him together. It is wrong.”“Maybe it is, Camille, but I’ve already lived a lie for years, not knowing the truth. I won’t do it again.”“Is everything okay?” Alaric emerges from the door of the club and comes over, his arm wrapping around Willow, sensing her upset. He looks at Camille and the others, feeling Willow’s body tense up when images flash through her mind, pulling herself away from Alaric and marching up to Camille.“It wa
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
“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
Alaric sleeps on the chair, Willow moving and finding herself waking up. Her eyes glance around the room and then down to her stomach, seeing it flat. Her eyes settle on Alaric, asleep, and then notice the hands on the clock. Did she really sleep for the whole night and day?She climbs out of bed, walking to Alaric and sitting on his lap, her arms wrapping around his body. “Alaric,” she says quietly as she tries to wake him.Alaric. His mind hears her word, his body running cold as he sees her as a Monventla, a tear slipping free from his eye. Alaric, wake up. The words confuse him, his eyes opening as he looks at her, the feel of her magic radiating from within her again. He moves to hug her.“God, Willow, it’s you, it’s really you.” His arms stay wrapped around her as he cries openly, Willow trying to look at him, confused. “I thought you were gone, God, even Gwenael did and he was getting ready to ta
He watches as Gwenael walks to Alaric, glancing to the babies and then to Willow.“Is she okay?” He steps forward slightly; Zander now looking at her, his hand moving to grasp hers. Turning, Zander looks towards Alaric confused.“I can feel it and sense it Zander, what the hell changed?” He places the babies down and walks over. He can feel it; it is like she’s now becoming Monventla. He looks at Zander waiting.“If she is, she’s dead. We can’t risk it, Alaric.” Gwenael looks at Willow, he doesn’t care if it breaks laws, he’ll kill her. They just can’t take that risk. His head shakes as he looks at Alaric and Zander realising they’re not going to, he moves to walk forward, Zander pushing him back.“Give her time, I can’t feel her magic. Give her time, Gwenael, she just had the babies, her body needs to stabilise, give her a damn chance before you rip her apart.&rdquo
A piercing scream makes them turn around, Alaric’s paintbrush falling to the floor as he runs through to the bedroom.“What’s happened?” Zander leaps up the stairs two at a time, stopping behind them, his eyes widening. “She’s asleep Alaric, whatever’s in her mind is locked in there. Her magic is becoming free and causing everything to move. You need to wake her.” Alaric looks at Zander and then to Willow, everything in the room getting thrown around. He has to stop this. He walks into the room and the light flickers before exploding, Alaric rushing to Willow and trying in vain to shake her awake. Another scream escapes her mouth as more things fly around and smash against the walls.“She won’t wake up, Zander, is there not a spell you can do?” He looks at him waiting, Zanders head shaking, watching as her body begins to thrash around as she screams more. Alaric tries again to wake her up but she remains
Her mind wonders to Yasmine. Was she destined to be the one? Was she meant to be Willow, and something had just gone wrong in the process? Was she the one destined to love Alaric, have his child and bring the worlds together? She thinks about what she’d be doing now had Gwenael not told Alaric she was safe. Would she be alone without any help? Would Alaric have eventually killed her? She can’t imagine a life without Alaric, and yet she can’t understand why it has to be her when Yasmine was the same in every way. Sure, Yasmine had known she was a witch from the start, she had fallen in love with Alaric and hated that the witches turned on her for it. She wanted revenge on them for it. Was that it, though? She feels her head shaking, what if Yasmine was meant to be the one, but she was so full of hate and sadness from the witches hating her for loving Alaric that it made her turn into one of them and Serliciaus had to come up with a second option?&ld
“He saw something; apparently I can turn into a wolf. Funny, right?” Willow laughs slightly, she can’t believe it. Alaric looks at her annoyed.“Believe me or don’t, I know what I damn saw. Serliciaus had the power to see the future; you remember that, right? I saw what I saw, you believe what you want, Willow. As I said, you outrank everyone, or you will once you open your eyes and notice what’s happening.” Alaric walks to the kitchen to make a drink, Zander shaking his head.“If he saw it, Willow, it isn’t fake or a lie. For now let’s just forget that though, okay? How are you feeling? No pains anywhere? No signs of labour or anything?” Zander opens the bag, taking out some things.Willow laughs. “I thought none of that would work?”“We assumed it wouldn’t but you’re not any of the vampires Willow, so honestly who knows. It’s a portable one the woman us
Willow finds herself waking up, early, almost too early – or it would be, if she actually needed to sleep. She slips out of bed, careful not to disturb Alaric, and walks downstairs, grabbing the laptop to start looking through websites. She would love to go out and shop properly, but she’s still in hiding from the people who think she’s dead, so if they see her alive – and as a vampire, no less – will cause a war. Plus, if Zander is right, any physical activity like shopping is likely to push her into labour, and she’d rather prolong that for as long as she can. She finds herself shopping online for hours, lost in a magical wonderland full of cots and pushchairs and playpens, and before she knows it six o’clock hits and Alaric walks down looking at her confused. He’s still in the worn jogging bottoms he’d slept in, and his hair has been artfully mussed by the pillows.“Guessing you didn’t sleep?” He walks
Half an hour later there’s a knock at the door.“You may want to lift the spell,” Alaric looks at her, she is still under the spell protecting her and the babies which means no one will see her for how big she really is. Willow nods, lifting the spell as he unlocks the door. Standing to the side, Zander walks in; his body stopping as he stares at Willow shocked.“Don’t freak out, please. I hid it with a spell until I knew how people would react.” Willow smiles at him.“I’m freaking out, Willow, I left and there was nothing there and now you look about nine months gone! How is that possible?” Zander stays standing at the door, Alaric sitting down.“I put a spell on it, and it turned out to be such a good spell that there was a lot I didn’t even notice, Zander, like how it isn’t actually one baby but two, and like how they’re growing really quickly.” Willow looks at him wait