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186- Examination and exhaustion
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2024-05-29 00:00:55I startle at the new thread, then freeze. I probably look ridiculous and I’m fairly sure I’m alternating between staring at my own chest and Cheryl’s. Ugh, I probably look like I’m staring at my own boobs. I have got to stop. I'm too stunned to speak and I vaguely notice that Bellamy has taken over the interrogation. Asking who Cheryl is working with and where Kiara is being kept. She refuses to give any kind of useful answer. I do zone back in a little when I realise that Bellamy is trying to use his whole Alpha thing to force her to speak.
“Tell me where Kiara is.” He demands. But before he can finish the sentence, Cheryl slams her eyes shut and presses her lips together, flat out refusing to speak any further. I guess closing her eyes somehow stops Bellamy’s Alpha thing from working. That’s different I guess? I really ought to find out how it’s meant to work since I can actually do that to some extent. Or at least I managed to do something with it when Tristain was in the mid
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I wake up feeling groggy and I just know that I’ve slept in late. If I did dream, I don’t remember any of it which honestly is kind of a relief because I needed rest so badly. Bellamy isn’t in bed beside me, so I assume he got up at a more normal time. He must be exhausted, because I’m still tired and I obviously slept in longer than he did. It’s strange that I didn't have visions of Kiara, then again those visions seem to make me tired and use energy, particularly when I interact with her. So maybe I just didn’t have enough energy to manage it. I spend at least fifteen minutes lying in bed trying to force my brain to wake up. Okay, that’s enough. Apparently I’m not going to feel better or more awake than I do now. A shower might help. I climb out of bed, tripping over the blankets as I go, and head straight into the ensuite. I don’t think at all, just strip off my clothes and step into the shower. I turn the hot water on first and absolutely freeze as I wait for it to heat up. Fina
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I consider this new information for a few minutes while Bellamy eats another serving of eggs on toast. Actually, he seems really hungry. Did he wait for me to eat? “Cheryl being able to avoid your commands is… inconvenient. But I suppose if you’re going to go around killing and kidnapping, it makes sense that you would practise something like that. Plus obviously she taught Tristain some weird tricks too.” I think aloud.“What do you mean by that?” He pauses eating. I tell Bellamy how everyone was frozen in place at Megan’s wedding. Much like Cheryl was, at least they were until I interrupted. Bellamy looks fascinated and pleased. “Well, people did report being frozen in place, but I didn’t realise that you were the one who freed them, although it does make sense. You should be able to order them around the same way I do, we are equally dominant after all. It just might take a little practice.” He considers. I scrunch up my face.“I’m not sure I want to be able to
Last Updated : 2024-05-30Strings of Fate 189- Detention and deserving
“Lady, can you tell me your name?” She asks quietly. She sounds like she doesn’t actually expect me to answer. Which is fair I guess, I’m not even exactly one hundred percent sure that I can. My head is aching. But that’s the question she asked and I am going to do my best to answer. It takes me a minute to manage it and I watch as Kiara’s face falls even further with every second she doesn’t hear from me. Finally I succeed“Ryann.” For a second, I don't think it worked. Kiara doesn’t react and I sigh through my aching head and prepare to try again.“That’s a nice name. Ryann… I didn’t want to believe it, I was hoping I was wrong but… I’m pretty sure that my mum and dad are dead. They weren’t moving when I was taken away. I was hoping they were just asleep or under a spell but… if that were true they would have come to get me by now. Daddy would have gotten me out of here and then probably locked me up in a tower like some fairytale character to make sure that no one ever ge
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My thoughts turn back to the tracking spell that Cam made for us. I am officially desperate enough to try anything. I can’t leave Kiara there anymore.Ryann- The tracking spell you gave us. How well do you need to know the person you’re tracking? Is it based on how long you’ve known them? How much time you’ve spent together? How much the time is valued? Cam- Well, it is based more on the emotional connection between two people. So usually people who have strong emotional connections ARE people who have spent a lot of time together, but there’s no requirement. As long as both parties are emotionally close the spell should be able to latch onto that.Ryann- So what if theoretically the two people had never met in person, but there was a strong emotional attachment regardless? Cam- You mean yourself, don’t you? Look, I can’t guarantee that the spell will work for you. I mean, with all the effort you’ve put in I’m fairly sure that your emotional attachment is close eno
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It’s another long night of watching Kiara sleep. It’s boring, but also kind of soothing because at least if she’s asleep I know that no one is hurting her or traumatising her any more than they already have. I sort of zone in and out. Sometimes watching her and sometimes properly sleeping myself in blissful blackness. I wake up properly and I can immediately tell that it is WAY too early to be up. With a groan I roll away from Bellamy and grab my phone. Ugh, it’s not even five am yet. This is disgusting. But I went to bed so early there is no way I am going to get back to sleep. Bellamy hasn’t woken up and is still sleeping heavily. I think he didn’t sleep as much as I did yesterday so he probably needs it more than I did. I decide to use the time to sneak downstairs and look at some of the emails from Shifters asking for assistance. I haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time on them the past couple of days. I get out of bed, careful not to disturb Bellamy and I stop to pull on a pair
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The drive back to my old home is quiet. We’re all kind of anxious. Bellamy, Darrien, Megan and I all ride together. Apparently some of the others are going to meet us there. No one even bothered arguing that Megan or I shouldn’t come this time. I have to use the spell and Megan used the same argument as last time. I think with all the security coming with us, with the team is probably the safest place either of us could possibly be. We pull up to park and unsurprisingly, there is a large group of Shifters all sitting around while Maggie moves between them all offering what looks like cake and cookies. It seems she has already distributed cups of tea to everyone as well. I hop out of the car and she beams at me. “Ryann! It’s lovely to see you. I hear you’re going on a bit of a magical scavenger hunt looking for that missing girl. I’m sure you’ll do well, but there’s no harm in making sure that everyone is well fed before you go.” She cheerfully offering me the plate. I take a co
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Last Updated : 2024-06-03Strings of Fate 194- Fire and fanatic
I barely notice as I scratch my legs up on a rather ugly spiked plant as I cut through someone’s backyard. I’ve never had a tattoo but my hand feels how I imagine getting a tattoo feels. Thousands of needles jamming into my hand over and over.I’ll have to ask someone sometime how it feels to know if my comparison is accurate or not. But either way the feeling is very unpleasant. Still, I am weirdly enjoying the pain, because the more pain the closer we must be to finding Kiara. All of a sudden the pain in my hand starts to fade a little. I slide to a stop, almost toppling over and turn back around. My hand is instantly burning again. “This one. I think it’s this house.” I declare. Instantly Bellamy and the team surge into action. Moving to approach the front and back doors simultaneously. I can tell that Bellamy doesn’t want me here, but there’s nowhere else for me to go. We left the cars several streets back. Aaron hangs back from the group staying with myself and Megan. I giv
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My automatic reaction is to panic and to mentally scream NO ABSOLUTELY NOT! She is just a child. She is way too young to already find the person she is fated to be with, not to mention she has been through too much. What if he is immature or goes through a jerk phase as he grows up? Or worse, what if he is a lot older than her? Four or five years might not mean much when she’s an adult, but at her age that is a LOT. And who could it be? Is he going to be good enough? What if I don’t approve of him, what if he’s a bad influence. I’ve seen people with red threads who hated each other and were terrible for each other when they were young and as they matured became more right for one another. Is it too soon for them to meet? She’s just gone through an incredibly traumatic circumstance and she does NOT need some guy messing with her head right now. I take a deep breath and try to relax. I don’t know who it is, we might not even be meeting him right now. The thread just tells me that he’s s
Strings of Fate 204- Adapt and adjust
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Strings of Fate 202- Calories and clothing
I wake up late in the morning, it might even be early afternoon. I wriggle around a little which prompts Bellamy to do the same, he is apparently already awake. He raises a finger to his lips to shush me before I speak and I can see why. Kiara is still sleeping, lying in the bed between us. She is still loosely holding onto my arm, even in sleep. I slowly disentangle myself from her light grip and slide out of bed. Bellamy follows, clearly doing his best not to jostle her and wake her up. She definitely needs the sleep. She was restless for a good part of the night and almost definitely was having nightmares, but she seems like she’s sleeping soundly now. My own sleep was blissfully quiet. No visions or anything thank goodness. I’m looking forward to having several weeks of steady sleep and so help me if anything tragic or dramatic happens for the next few weeks then whoever is responsible should probably be terrified of me. We step into the hallway to talk without disturbing Kiara.
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I cross my arms in irritation. “Kiara would never! How would she even do that? She’s just a kid!” I object. Dr Dae rolls her eyes at me.“Oh calm yourself girl. I’m not saying she chose to murder anyone. I assume that she was forced to comply somehow. You’ll have to ask the girl when she’s ready to talk. As for the how, the child is a Reaper.” She says it as if it’s obvious but it really isn’t. I know that Reapers exist, but they’re the kind of Magic that most people have heard of but no one has ever met. I suppose Kiara’s dad must have been a Reaper too and why the MRO was so secretive about her markings. Most people are kind of scared of Reapers, they’re kind of the boogeymen of our society. Mostly because they can kill on a whim. All it takes is one touch and they can free your soul from your body. Obviously with no soul you die, and I guess your soul moves on to wherever souls go when you pass on. I suppose that a Reaper would make sense for the representative of Atropos. Her add
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Strings of Fate 199- Clean and covered
We all turn to face Alex in confusion. I glance up at Bellamy to see if he has any idea what’s going on but he looks just as lost as the rest of us. I continue to stroke Kiara’s hair trying to keep her calm. “Explain.” Bellamy says firmly. Alex flushes red under the attention of everyone in the room. “Uh, well. I assisted Miss Gale in updating her registration with the MRO, and uh, since her position is one of… well almost authority, over the fate’s representatives the updated registration reflects this. So she should be able to make decisions about Kiara’s care like an Alpha would for their Shifters or like a Coven leader would for their Witches. Admittedly it’s a very small group of Magics, but according to the Magic Registration Office, she is in charge of it.” He explains, his voice starts off weak but gets stronger as he becomes more confident in what he’s saying. The police seem a little stunned but I guess Alex isn’t technically wrong. If Kiara were a Shifter, her Alpha would
Strings of Fate 198- Stolen and sure
When we pull up to the house, there’s a police car waiting. There are two cops standing by it, one looks bored and irritated and the other has a fake ‘customer service’ type smile plastered on his face that I know well from experience. Yeah neither of these guys want to be here. They’re probably pissed that we made them come down here. Not to mention uncomfortable being in the Shifter compound. Non-Shifters aren’t invited here often, although I suppose that isn’t exactly true anymore with all our new friends stopping by regularly. Standing beside them looking awkward and uncomfortable is Alex. I bet they’ve been taking their impatience out on him. I narrow my eyes at them and prepare myself. One snotty comment and I am going to tear into them, it’s been a long night. Bellamy parks the car and I wait for him to get out. He speaks with the police briefly and Alex escorts them inside the house. Bellamy returns and opens the door next to Kiara. “Hey, can I help you get inside? The police
Strings of Fate 197- Leaving and leaning
As we step outside, I’m confused to find that I actually have no idea where we are. I really was just running and following the tracking spell. I don’t know how far I ran. It’s a good thing the others are here to bring back the cars because I would be wandering all night trying to find my way back. I’m also fairly sure that I left my phone in the car when I jumped out in a hurry. Kiara clutches my hand tightly as the cars pull up on the street in front of us. “Megan, Darrien. You stay here and speak to the police when they arrive. Direct further questions to me. Shaun, you stay with them too.” Bellamy directs as Shaun hops out the car. At Megan’s insistence he stays a good couple of metres away from us.“Yes Alpha Kane.” He responds cheerfully. Aaron and Rio also climb out of the vehicles. Rio stops to chat with one of the other Shifters whose name I still don’t know. Aaron immediately approaches me. Actually a better way to phrase it is that he storms over. He looks almost angry. Or
