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TWENTY-FIVE | BLURRED
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
She Runs with Wolves TWENTY-SIX | FALLING
“V-vampire?” He repeated. I felt his back muscles tense, and then my hands were left cold, frigid, as he stumbled backwards.“Yeah,” I croaked, looking down. I felt ashamed, and then I felt the sting of imagined tears pricking at my eyes, and burning the back of my nose. It wasn’t my fault.“Are you – are you telling me that’s what you are?” He asked, very quietly. Too quietly.“Yeah,” I repeated, my voice barely louder than his. “That’s what I am.”His fingers trembled as he pointed to my mouth. “I – I kissed you. But your teeth… you hurt people, Ellis.”“You said it wouldn’t change things,” I whimpered. “And – and I don’t. I never have.”“We’re taught about you. We have
Last Updated : 2024-10-29She Runs with Wolves TWENTY-SEVEN | SHE
He’d stabbed me. I was sure of it.I could feel his fingers punching through my ribcage, his nails slicked into sharp points and digging through my flesh as he latched on to my heart. It beat out an unsteady, anxious rhythm as he yanked it free, and he held it in his hand for a moment, blood dripping down his wrist. I could do nothing but stare up at him as I fell to my knees.The dim lamplight swirled around me. I felt seasick, dizzy, as the orange trees and the navy sky span, forming ringlets in the air. Then I felt the hard tarmac against my bare knees, and the heels of my hands following them onto the ground seconds later.I felt my skin tear on impact, but barely, like a flash of red through my vision. I could feel it, but it was dwarfed by the pain in my chest. My eyes fluttered shut, and I curled into a ball, my broken hands clutching at the empty space where my heart used to be.The wav
Last Updated : 2024-10-29She Runs with Wolves TWENTY-EIGHT | SHADOW
“Maybe we should go somewhere else to talk,” I whispered.“Maybe,” Skye agreed. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, and gave me a sideways glance. “I really am sorry, Ellis.”“It’s okay,” I said, and it sounded more natural, more convincing, this time. “I was scared of you, too, in the beginning.”“You never hurt me like that, though,” he muttered. His gaze dropped, ashamed. Then, before I had a chance to say anything, his eyes were burning, blazing gold, and staring into mine. “No. I won’t talk like that. It’s not fair on you. It’s my fault, not yours. You don’t need to make me feel better about what I did, what I said. It was a bad reaction on my part. But… I can explain.”“I think we’ve both got a few things we need to explain to each other,” I said, pulling
Last Updated : 2024-10-29She Runs with Wolves TWENTY-NINE | SUN AND MOON
“How you became a vampire,” Skye said, nodding. His eyes darted from side to side, like the sun rolling around the earth, and he bit down on his bottom lip.I sighed. My fingers clenched at the dirty blanket, and I took a deep breath. I fixed my gaze on the orange lamplight filtering through the tree in front of us, the shadows of the other leaves dappling the brighter ones underneath.“Are you sure you don’t want to go first?” I laughed, but it sounded dry, hollow and unnatural, even to my own ears. I glanced up at Skye, and, at his weathered expression, my eyes dove back towards the tree.“I – mine is – it’s dark,” he admitted. From the corner of my eye, I could see his hands tapping restlessly on the thighs of his jeans.This time, the wry tone in my voice was intentional. “And you don’t think dying and coming back as a vampir
Last Updated : 2024-10-29She Runs with Wolves THIRTY | BLOODSTONE
The night felt unnaturally still. It had drizzled throughout the day, and the cloud cover was thick, oppressive, blocking out the faint light of the moon. I swung my legs beneath me, kicking my too-bright white sneakers through the mist. I was surprised it had climbed this high, and I felt an unpleasant tingle at the back of my neck.David and I were sat together in silence, our eyes on the fog brushing through the dark limbs of the trees. We’d positioned ourselves on a low-hanging bough, wanting to have a view of the area surrounding the Clan house, as well as the log cabins that dotted the woodland on the far side.I’d made it back home just as Kathrena was coming outside this morning. I’d screeched to a halt right in front of her, and I’d leapt out of the truck and run to check the patrol rota without saying a word. She’d watched me with cool, intelligent eyes when I’d returned, and as she
Last Updated : 2024-10-29She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-ONE | LOST
I stared at him, my body frozen and my mind transfixed. What was he doing here?“Ellis?” I realised that David was speaking, and I moved slowly, as if through melted toffee, to look at him. I could just see the Skye-shaped shadow below in my peripheral vision, and I struggled to focus on David’s face.“Sorry,” I mumbled. He was smiling at me, warm and bright, if a little timid, and I shook myself.“Did my story scare you?” He frowned. I scrambled desperately to remember what we’d been talking about, and my eyes shot open.“Oh! No, no. Sorry,” I said again. “I just – I need to stretch my legs. Mind if I walk the perimeter?”“That’s fine,” he said, very slowly. His eyes appraised me, but they were no longer fathomless. Now they were closed off, and my chest ached as I reco
Last Updated : 2024-10-29She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-TWO | PYRE
The flames and smoke rose into the sky, red and orange and black and grey rolling in waves across the dawn. The sunrise behind was cast out, soft apricot and purple bleeding into obscurity as the fire crackled.David’s body was in the fire, somewhere. I didn’t look too closely.Most of the Clan were stood around the pyre, their eyes down and their mouths in sombre, thin lines. Falmer was nowhere to be seen, but that was nothing unusual; he frequented the bar in town, especially since we’d been on a diet of animal blood. He could, more often than not, find willing donors in the women he met.The only other person missing was Kathrena. Her absence, however, had raised a lot of eyebrows, and had elicited a few startled mumbles and narrowed eyes.I couldn’t bring myself to care where she was. David was dead, and it was my fault. I’d checked for his pulse, two fingers feeling
Last Updated : 2024-10-29She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-THREE | SILVER
After the fire had died down, and we had all said our last farewells to David, I’d trudged up the curling stairs to my room. I hardly had the energy to put one foot in front of the other, let alone go to school.Aradia had given me one look, and immediately had offered to call Aspen High’s office for me. I felt bad, with everything she had to deal with, but I couldn’t face a day of sitting beneath those too-bright fluorescent lights, trying to pay attention, and then, worst of all, having to talk to people. Because it wasn’t actual talking, not really; nobody at school knew me, not beyond the pretence, the façade, the part that I played for them. And, because of that, I didn’t really know them, either.I told myself that that was why I was shrugging off my wet clothes and climbing into bed, when the truth was, in fact, much simpler. It could be boiled down to one word, and one word alone: D
Last Updated : 2024-10-29
Latest chapter
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
