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THIRTEEN | FOREST
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2020-08-23 21:16:03I could hear Skye calling out for me, but I kept my eyes fixed on the pines and conifers as I ran. Eventually, I could no longer hear his footsteps or his cries, and I stumbled through the trees, reaching out for their ridged trunks to pull myself to a halt.
My nightmate couldn’t be a werewolf, could he? I shook my head, desperately trying to clear my blurred vision. I’d responded to him with tenderness, and closeness; I’d shown him the beginnings of an emotional bond that I’d not been able to trust anyone with, even my adopted family, since my death four years ago. And now, suddenly, I was able to show a stranger such faith, such… love? I shook my head again, and, feeling my dress swilling around my legs, and the crunch of dead leaves beneath my bare feet, I gave myself over to my most primal urges.
I needed to feed. That had to be it. I was confused; my guard was down. But I’d wanted to kiss hi
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She Runs with Wolves FOURTEEN | SONGBIRD
“Falmer?” I asked, very quietly.He was stood against the house, leaning back against the bricks. With his dark hair and all-black outfit, he blurred into the velvet cloak of the night. As I stepped closer, however, his sharp, crow-like features were clearly recognisable.“Ellis,” he said coolly, by way of greeting. His eyes were narrowed, no more than two dark slits dug into his face. Then his gaze dropped, and his eyes widened. “Are you okay?” He asked, his voice softening.“Fine,” I said, though my thigh throbbed and the scratches down my arm ached. “I was thirsty,” I added, by way of an explanation. “I – there’s no more human blood. The donors left.” I knew I was rambling, as I often did when I needed to cover up something that wasn’t the entire truth. The more detail I could give, the more convincing I thought I was being.
Last Updated : 2020-08-24She Runs with Wolves FIFTEEN | STRAWBERRY
I showered quickly, not wanting anybody else to see my bandaged arm and leg. The hot water and the lather of the strawberry scented shampoo wound upwards together, misting the room in a thick, heady steam. I let my eyes drift shut, massaging my scalp – luxuriating in a human sensation – and reluctantly rinsed myself off far sooner than I would have liked. I let my long, wavy hair dry naturally, falling about my shoulders as I peeled off the cling film and towelled off my body. I stepped into a pair of faded black denim dungarees, and added a sage green jumper underneath before I clipped it together over my shoulders. The jumper was partly for aesthetics, partly to keep up appearances, but mostly to hide my bandaged arm.I didn’t even have time for so much as a power nap. Though my lack of sleep didn’t show up on me as obviously as it would on a human, there was a still a hint of purple beneath my eyes, and my lips looked pale pink, rather than their usual cherry red. Enjoying the scen
Last Updated : 2020-08-25She Runs with Wolves SIXTEEN | ORANGE
I smoothed down the thighs of my dungarees, fidgeting uncomfortably in the corner of the room. I’d decided, at the last second, to wait in the doorway for Kathrena, so that the two of us could sit together. I was concerned that she hadn’t come to school with me today, and I’d found – to my utmost surprise – that I’d missed her.She seemed like she needed a friend at the moment. I’d always had Falmer to rely on, whereas Kathrena tended to keep to herself. Though she was open with Aradia and Ezrand, and, in fact, with the other Clan members, I didn’t think that there were any that she could call a close friend. She was open in all of the ways that I was not, but she seemed lonely. So I waited for her, my toe tapping in anticipation, in excitement, of finding out what the meeting was about.Besides, I thought, it was strange indeed that she’d missed school today. Kathrena had a neatly
Last Updated : 2020-08-26She Runs with Wolves SEVENTEEN | DAYDREAMS
“What is it?” Kathrena asked. To the uneducated observer, I was sure that she looked calm, relaxed. But I’d been watching her lately, and I caught the slightly pinched look of her skin, and the way her shoulders hoisted up to brush against the ends of her hair.I had to admit that I was equally worried. Kathrena and I both had secrets to keep, and we were the only two being held back. But Aradia smiled warmly at us both, and I felt my chest unclench as I met her gaze.“I think,” she began, her words spilling out slowly as she watched us closely for our reactions, “it would be worth us… loosening the rules regarding your relationships at school. The teenage mind – it can draw links between people and events, often in a ruthless way. I worry that in the unfortunate event of more attacks, the two of you might be singled out as newcomers, and as loners.”My heart leapt,
Last Updated : 2020-08-27She Runs with Wolves EIGHTEEN | SCARLET
I waited anxiously throughout the whole period, but Skye never showed. And it was the same the next day, and the day after that. I waited, but Skye had disappeared. I felt as though it was my fault, but there were other, deeper feelings that scared me now. I worried that he was injured, that he was hurt. Then I’d loop back around to worrying that I had been the one to hurt him, emotionally, at least, and I spent the next few days in a searing panic, dancing from one ledge to the next, my toes scraping at their edges and sending shards of rock tumbling down the myriad of cliff faces.I let myself slip backwards instead, closing up the walls around me as I fell. I was hard, indestructible; I was surrounded by steel and by stone, and my barricades held firm. I let them down, just a little, when Kathrena, Falmer, or Rowan tried to talk to me. It wasn’t their fault that I’d hurt Skye, and in doing so I didn’t want to continue the pattern by hurting each of them in turn, too.I let time was
Last Updated : 2020-08-27She Runs with Wolves NINETEEN | FRACTURED
I couldn’t quell the hope that Skye might have returned to Aspen High by tomorrow, even as I laid out of the groundwork for my plan. Kathrena’s to-do list notepad, it turned out, was quite useful indeed.There were a few torn pages, which looked as though they’d been ripped out in a hurry – not Kathrena’s style at all. I’d once watched her folding along a line, and she’d used a ruler to do it. Hastily and inaccurately were not two words I would use to describe Kathrena, or any of her actions.My words were scrawled across the page, a series of wildly looping letters that just about formed legible shapes. The lamplight was dimmed, but I could still see what I’d written clearly.It was dark outside, now, and the strange, pointed edges of the pine trees loomed in the distance. I’d been out there earlier to hunt, as soon as my short patrol shift was finished. Aradia
Last Updated : 2020-08-28She Runs with Wolves TWENTY | ON THE TRAIL
The drive home was silent. Kathrena seemed too embarrassed, too ashamed, to even look at me. I was too focused on my own plans to expend any excess energy worrying about her strange behaviour. The forest rolled by, the trees seeming to grow in stop-motion above us, inching higher and higher until they formed an oppressive archway, blocking out the sky.Then I blinked, and the trees had shrunk back down. I let out a tiny sigh, and gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.I knew what I needed to do. Now all that was left was to do it.Kathrena’s dark eyes followed me quizzically as I dropped her off at home. I’d left the engine running, and my fingers drummed out a staccato rhythm on the steering wheel as she gathered her bag and coat.“Are you sure you’re not coming in?” She asked, one hand on the truck door.“I’m sure,” I
Last Updated : 2020-08-28She Runs with Wolves TWENTY-ONE | WATERCOLOURS
I pushed my way through the spiralling branches of a mother tree, and settled myself on a fallen log a little way behind it. I could still just about see the building through the sheet of greenery, but it was distorted, blurred.There were a number of tiny, speckled mushrooms growing beside me. I bounced my fingers along them, tapping each in turn, desperate to distract myself from the conversation that was surely about to happen. Skye’s expression loomed in my mind’s eye, and I felt my heart ache as I thought about the fear in his handsome face.The pillars of light stretched into the forest, tickling the damp toes of my once-white shoes. I stretched my legs out, and then jumped so hard that I almost fell off the log I was precariously balanced on. Skye was beside me, a finger held over his sinfully curved, full lips.He didn’t say anything, and I narrowed my eyes at him. My eyebrows pulled inwards, fu
Last Updated : 2020-08-29
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She Runs with Wolves 108 | BOUND
The week following the defeat of the demon had been surprisingly normal. Well – as normal as a week could be for two vampires, a witch, and a werewolf.I leant back against Skye, pressing my body against his. His arms slipped around my waist, and I snuggled closer. I could see the darkness swelling outside, scattering the stars and drawing away the purple haze of dusk.Skye had all but moved in to the Clan house, and, whilst most of his belongings were stashed in the spare bedroom upstairs, he slept and spent all of his time in my room.I’d dragged another chair up the staircase and lugged it into my room, so that we could share my desk – though very little homework ever got done, what with our constant teasing and moments where, despite the desk and my laptop, despite the mounds of assignments and text books, nothing but Skye and I existed. Those moments ended in kisses, always, and though I was
She Runs with Wolves 107 | AFTER
The large, red-brown wolf in front of me panted, its claws digging into empty earth. I stepped closer, one quivering hand outstretched. The rain splattered onto its fur, slicking it down as it turned its huge, golden eyes to look at me.There was a nudging glee between our bond, as though we were both too scared to accept that we’d done it. We hadn’t failed. We’d won.I held the wolf’s gaze. He gave me a nod, and his jaw hung open in a lopsided grin.It was raining. I’d made it rain.I couldn’t make sense of everything that was happening. My grip on the knife loosened, and it clattered to the floor. Then Skye was shifting in front of me, and, rain soaked and bloody, we fell into each other’s arms. All around us people were waking up, witches and vampires alike, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I’d been holding. They were going to
She Runs with Wolves 106 | ICARUS
“If you have the power to do that,” I said, yanking the blade out from under my skort, “why not just kill us all now?”Cythraul clucked his tongue. “And what would be the fun in that? The realm I’m from is nothing like your world, Ellis. This place has hope, and fear, and love, and loss. There is duality in all things. It is a privilege for me to be here, you see. I plan to enjoy it.”“So this is just a game to you?” I spat, raising the knife. I tried to keep my eyes on the demon, not wanting to see the lifeless bodies of my family all around us.“Of course,” he grinned. “Though I’m afraid your chances are perhaps bleaker than I’ve made out. Your little witch friend, the red head – she was wrong about that stone around your neck.” He nodded at it. “It doesn’t mean what she thinks. Her first guess was right &n
She Runs with Wolves 105 | SIX MINUTES
“You know?” I whispered. My mouth went dry, and I swallowed thickly, trying to wet my lips. Ice flooded my veins. We had lost. We had failed.He stepped out of the shadows, snakes of black mist pooling around his body as he moved. His smirk deepened, and I saw a flash of white teeth as he struggled to hold in his laughter.He looked, for the most part, human. His skin shone with a pearlescent lustre, but two dark horns protruded from his forehead and his eyes glowed red. He was tall – taller than any person I’d ever seen, be they vampire, human, witch, or wolf – and, as the fog parted, billowing away from his legs, I understood why.He had the upper body of a human, and the legs of a large goat. But, as I watched, they shifted and shimmered in the darkness, stars and sparkles of an indeterminable colour – too matte to shine like that, too black to be so bright; it was impossib
She Runs with Wolves 104 | OBLIVION
“I guess this is where I have to leave you,” I said, though I didn’t slide my hand out of Skye’s, or make any indication that I was planning on walking away from him. I was reluctant to leave him alone, even though I knew that his job was more likely to be safe than mine. That didn’t mean I wasn’t scared for him.“I guess so,” he echoed, though his clutch on my hand grew firmer.We’d agreed before that Skye should stay to protect the humans in the maze. With every second that we put off the inevitable, we were putting lives at risk. Our jaunt through the maze had been undertaken with the knowledge that we would likely be to first to arrive at the scene of any attacks – but there had been none, and, so far, it seemed as though the demon was planning on giving the maze a miss.The thought gripped me with fear, icy and unyielding, a frozen cage that constricted my
She Runs with Wolves 103 | HALLOWEEN
We had an hour to kill before the Clan were due to start their fight. I didn’t want to think that it might be my last, but try as I might, my barricades were struggling to stay in place. The two thuds played on a loop in my head, and I had to concentrate very hard to keep the images of David and Toby out of my mind.No. I couldn’t think like that. Tonight we would avenge David, and we would keep the rest of the town safe. We’d been lucky so far in that there had been only one casualty – there was something odd about that, I was sure, though I was grateful that was the case – but I didn’t want to put anyone else at risk.I took a deep breath. “Do you want to go through the maze?” I asked, turning to face Skye.He slipped his hand out of mine and rubbed it on the thigh of his jeans. “Sure.” He pulled a smile onto his lips, but it seemed that I wasn’t alone w
She Runs with Wolves 102 | TALISMAN
“Okay,” Molly said, clapping her hands together. “I think that’s everything.”“Finally,” Rowan muttered under her breath, and I had to stifle my laughter.It was the night of Halloween, and we were all milling around at the entrance to the maze. The committee had grown considerably since our meetings – we’d needed more volunteers to fill the maze, and there were parents, teenagers, friends and family stood beside us, all in costume. Molly had given out costuming guidelines before the event, much to the dismay of most of those participating, but even I had to admit that she’d done a good job with organising the maze and the activities within it.And, to my absolute delight, she’d made Skye come as a werewolf.“You’re just tall, and muscular, and you have all that hair,” she’d shrugged. “It makes perfect sen
She Runs with Wolves 101 | VISIONS
Skye let out a tiny, defeated sigh, but then he pushed through his disappointment and stepped closer, peering into the window beside me. “Are you sure they haven’t just changed the display around?”“The display is the same.” I groaned, banging my head against his arm. We were being careful not to say what we were looking for out loud – there could be ears anywhere – but I’d been so pent up all day, so focused, and it felt as though our plan had fallen flat before we’d even had a chance to start.“Hey, don’t do that,” Skye murmured, prying my chin off his shoulder. “You almost went through a window yesterday.”I shrugged. “It’s pretty much healed now. But – thank you for being concerned. It’s sweet. I like that you forget what I am, sometimes.” I gave him a tiny smile, and he pressed a kiss to my forehead, rig
She Runs with Wolves ONE HUNDRED | OCTOBER
I’d thought that my classes had dragged today, but they had been nothing compared to the committee meeting that followed.Beneath the table, I linked my fingers with Skye’s. We were in the same dimly lit classroom as yesterday, and, though it was still light outside, the room was cast in shades of grey. Outside, most of the leaves had fallen from the trees, leaving behind gnarled and bony fingers stretching up into the white sky.“So,” Molly said, tapping her stubby index finger against the whiteboard, “we’ll put the tomb right in the centre of the maze, and then I’m guessing you two want to be the ones to jump out of the coffin?” She directed her gaze at Carys and June, who both nodded eagerly, before turning to grin at one another.“Awesome,” Carys said.“Where’s the centre going to be?” I asked, frowning. It looked close
