Havermouth, Five Years Before“Can we have a moment?” Heath asked. “And then she’ll go with you.”The two policemen exchanged a look and shrugged slightly.Heath turned to Aislen and gripped her shoulders as Rhett joined them in a tight huddle. “What is this about?” Heath asked her. “What have you done? Dr James wouldn’t have you sectioned over nothing… What happened the other night? What did you say to her?”Aislen slid a look at Rhett. “Nothing, Heath. I just said that I was sorry for her loss.”“Her reaction was extreme,” he murmured to himself. “Perhaps she is unbalanced after losing her child and has fixated on you, because you’re a girl and you found her daughter.”“Maybe,” Aislen was dubious.“I’ll go back to Rhett’s place with him and get Mr Salem onto it.”“If he’ll help, the mood that he is in,” Rhett said sourly.“He’ll help,” Heath replied firmly. (Because my family outranks yours, and the Salem’s are new to the pack.) “He’ll sort this out, Aislen. Go with the police offic
Havermouth, Present TimeAs Aislen passed the bathroom, doing up the last buttons on her shirt, she heard water running and laughter – Cameron and Rhett were sharing the shower. She smiled, their play warming her heart.Tyler was cooking pancakes in the kitchen as she entered and Heath sat at the table drinking coffee, somehow immaculate despite being in clothing worn the day before to paint in. His hair was still wet from his shower and slicked back against his skull in contrast to the golden stubble that was just beginning to show through his skin.Talen followed her into the kitchen still towel drying his hair from their shower. “Good morning, Tyler,” he smiled. “How was your night?”“It’s been years since I slept in a single,” Tyler replied. “I think I regressed a little overnight and rediscovered my inner child, so it’s chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.”“If you’re ready, Aislen,” Heath took his coffee cup to the sink. “We will grab something out.”“Heath’s not a chocolate c
Havermouth, Five Years Before Aislen woke still restrained to the bed and writhed beneath an urgent need to vomit. She strained against the restraints on her wrists. She fought until she realized that she wasn't going anyway and turned her head, the only motion she could achieve, vomiting across her shoulder, the edge of mattress, and onto the floor. Oh, f-k, she thought in the breathless panic left behind. Oh, f-k. She sank back onto the cushions, nauseated by the bitter taste in her mouth. Oh, God, she thought, what was she going to do? The nurse came in within a few minutes. “Oh dear,” she exclaimed. “I am so sorry. We’ll get that cleaned up in no time.” She pressed the call button. “A shower will fix you right up, sweetie, and by the time you’re back… we’ll have this mess cleaned up.” “Sure,” Aislen replied knowing that the real mess wasn’t something that a mop could resolve. Within ten minutes, she was released from the restraints and able to take a shower which she spent bra
Havermouth, Present TimeIt was rather fun to shop with Heath. He had a particular and uncompromising vision as to what he liked and what he didn’t, and he wasn’t afraid to offer his opinion. That he looked gorgeous sitting in the guest chair in the change rooms, and that the shop assistant and other customers melted over his clean cut and polished good looks, wasn’t bad for her ego either, she acknowledged to herself.Aislen enjoyed posing in the various outfits that she had selected and watching the shift of his expression from blatant desire to a sneer of disdain. She bought far more than she had intended she admitted as she waited at the register, blocked from the display by Heath’s back and shoulders as he insisted on scanning his card and keeping her ignorant on the details of the transaction.As they loaded the car with bags, she tried to reason with him. “Not to be ungrateful, but I do have my own money,” she told him.“Sure,” he drawled. “And who did you buy the sheer paneled
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeAislen woke at midday and fought down a wave of nausea. Her stomach rumbled, demanding food, adding another layer of discomfort to the nausea. She broke out in sweat, breathing heavily in an effort to maintain control. “F-k,” she slapped a hand over her mouth and dashed across the room, and down the hallway to the bathroom, to vomit miserably into the toilet bowl.She could hear her parents talking in the kitchen, and the clink of China and silverware has her mother washed the dishes. She brushed her teeth and showered, before tiptoeing back down the hall towards her bedroom. As she reached the door, her father stepped out, with her suitcases in his hands.“What…?” She frowned. “What are you doing with those?”“Get dressed Aislen,” he replied grimly and carried them out to the front door.“You are very lucky,” Tiffany said from the kitchen doorway. “That there is a room available for you already. Considering the drama last night, this morning Mr Mason cal
Havermouth, Present TimeAislen began to feel shitty about herself as Heath continued the drive to where Charlotte would be found, and by the time he pulled up out front of a farmhouse deep in the countryside, she was contrite enough to push her pride to the side. “I’m sorry,” she said to him as he undid his seatbelt.He looked at her in surprise. “You are?”“Yes, I’m sorry,” she said and put her hand over his. He released the seatbelt and took her hand in his, his hand so much bigger and stronger than her own. She looked down at their linked fingers for a moment, before meeting his eyes. “I shouldn’t get angry at you about this. You’re a symptom, not the cause. You have been raised believing something, and that’s not something that a person lets go of quickly. I can’t expect you to agree with me straight away.”He leaned forward and kissed her, cupping the back of her head with his free hand. The kiss was sweet, gentle and hopeful. As he eased, he stroked his knuckles over her cheek.
Rideten, Five Years Before The Rideten School of Art was set in what must have been one of the original estates of Rideten, the mansion set well back from the road, with an expanse of green lawn, ornamental wrought iron fencing, and truly massive, ancient fig trees separating it from the road. The gates were open when they arrived, and they followed the long drive to a carpark. The original building was used for the school, and a series of outbuildings, barns and coach houses had been converted into accommodation for students. Aislen was allocated to a room in the groundskeeper’s cottage, a quaint little house with low lintels and tiny, wood-smoke-stained rooms. The front door was unlocked and opened into a small snug dominated by a chalk board that declared: “Artists contained within. May Bite. Enter at your own risk!" "Well, that explains a lot," Patrick observed dryly. “Oh,” a young girl poked her head into the room. “Are you the new girl?” “Hi,” Aislen said warily. “I’m Aislen
Havermouth, Present TimeIn the car, Heath did not immediately start the engine and Aislen watched him curiously. He sat with his hands on the steering wheel, staring unseeing at the dash, a muscle twisting in the corner of his jaw. “Sometimes,” he said slowly. “A small decision has a weighty consequence on your life. You were…” He gestured with a hand and then closed the fingers into a fist, before bringing it down to his lap.“We could not tell you about us,” he tried again. “Five years ago. It was my job to…” He closed his eyes and drew in a breath through his nose, picking his words as carefully as walking black ice. “To convince the pack that you were not a risk. Every time that I thought that I had made progress, you would pull the rug out from under me. I was young, hot headed, headstrong and… And I was scared,” he admitted. “Of what would happen if I failed to the Triquetra, of what bringing a human into the pack would mean…”“After you left us that Sunday in front of half the
Havermouth, Present Time “We should talk about the river house,” Heath said as they dried off after the shower. She ignored him and concentrated on drying her hair. She didn’t want to talk about it. She had said all that she wanted to say on the topic, and if she said any more, she knew that it would just start another argument. “Aislen,” he sat on the bed in order to put on his shoes. “I know that…” “Heath,” she flicked her hair back. “Don’t. Just don’t. Rhett had a go at me yesterday about accepting that Havermouth is my home and that I’m not going back to Kabramatta, and you guys have raised several times going to stay at the river house. You can’t bully me into it, and you need to stop trying to do so.” His grey eyes met hers and she held them stubbornly refusing to back down. He nodded slowly. “We are your mates,” he said softly. She inhaled and released it slowly. “I love you,” she told him. “I love the three of you. I want to try to make something of this relationship. I a
Havermouth, Present TimeAislen woke when Rhett eased out from under her. She had been lying half over him, her leg thrown over his body and her hand on his chest and muttered her complaint as his movement unbalanced her and let the cooler air touch her skin. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I have a client coming at nine,” he whispered. “I have to go set up.”“Too early.”“I know, but they work afternoons, and it will take a good three hours.”Talen wrapped an arm around her and drew her into the cup of his body. “Sleep some more, Morgana,” he murmured. “You need to rest in order to heal.”“Careful,” Cameron snickered suddenly and Aislen opened her eyes to see that Cameron had saved Rhett from falling over as he put on his jeans. “F-k man, you’re not a good morning person. One leg in each leg hole, right?” Cameron was already almost fully dressed, his shirt hanging open but his jeans and shoes on.“Need coffee before my brain will wake up fully,” Rhett replied.“For f-ksake,” He
Havermouth, Present Time“Not now, Rhett,” Heath sighed.“You knew!” Rhett rounded on him in shock. “You knew that he intended to turn her!”“We can’t,” Heath rose to his feet and located his jeans. “We can’t turn her werewolf, Rhett. The failure rate is too high. She has three werewolves and a vampire as her mates. If we can’t turn her, it is only logical that he will.”“And then what!” Rhett’s fury was such that the words were all but yelled. “We grow old, whilst she stays eternally young?”“Would you rather her grow old and die, when she has the option to be young and live forever?” Heath demanded. “We cannot give her that, but he can!”“What about kids?” Cameron asked. “If he turns her into a vampire, can she still have kids?”They fell into silence, their eyes flicking to Aislen and then away.“I can have kids,” she answered their unspoken question. “Bitch-faced Tabby Cat was speaking shit. I had a miscarriage, that is all. My doctor never said that I wouldn’t be able to have kid
Havermouth, Present TimeCameron groaned and pressed his hips into hers, letting her feel that he was hard. He leaned over until his breath brushed over her lips, his eyes on hers so that she could see every fleck within the bright blue. She reached up and threaded her fingers into his hair feeling the heavy thickness of the curls wrap around her fingers.His eyes closed as he inhaled and moaned on the exhale. “Your scent…” He said as he opened his eyes, meeting hers. His smile was bone melting. “When you are turned on, your scent is a sin. I remember in school, whenever you walked by us, I’d just about come in my pants breathing it in.”“Make me come, instead,” she invited.“Yeah,” he laughed under his breath. “I can do that.” He lifted her up and carried her to the porch.“Hey,” Tyler said as he opened the door. “Morgana, hey hero! Talen wasn’t sure when you’d be back. He’ll be happy to know you’re back home again. I was just about to head out to grab some take away. Do you want me
Havermouth, Present TimeCameron carried Aislen through the reception area where Heath was smoothly talking his way through her discharge.Rhett paused to charm his way into a trolley. "I'll load up with Aislen's things, and meet you at the cars," he said to Cameron as he wheeled it back into the room.“Oh, I’ll get a wheelchair!” A nurse protested seeing Cameron with Aislen in his arms.“It’s fine,” Cameron told her with a shrug. “Aislen’s not heavy.”“Are you leaving?” A woman stepped out of a room. Her clothing was rumpled, her eyes tired, and she clutched an empty coffee cup in one hand. “That is wonderful news. I’m Margaret,” she said to Aislen with a wide smile, her eyes filling with tears. “You must be Aislen Carter. You saved my son, Stephan’s life. My husband and I… We are just so grateful.”“Oh,” Aislen flushed, embarrassed by the teary gratitude. “It was nothing, really. He was saving himself, and the gunman had moved on to the library, so it wasn’t like… I’m told he’s doin
Havermouth, Present Time“Charles Gale, Pastor,” Pastor Gale recovered quickly, and his outrage transformed into charm. “I came to offer Aislen my services and company. I make regular rounds of the hospital,” he said as he stepped into the room. “And I understood that my son and his friends were at the river house.”He had expected to find her alone, in other words, she thought. Alone and vulnerable. And instead, he found her guarded by a giant of a vampire.“They are,” Talen replied, leaning a hip onto Aislen’s bed, a posture that was both confident and claiming. “We are alternating who stays with Aislen. They will be returning soon.”“Thank you for your kind thought,” Aislen said, barely keeping the sarcasm out of her tone. “But I’m not religious and you’ve made perfectly clear that you don’t enjoy my company.”“Now, Aislen,” Pastor Gale smiled patronizingly. “That’s simply not true.”It was unnerving how similar he looked to Heath, Aislen thought, considering that she reviled the m
Havermouth, Present DayAislen watched the water flow around her feet, swirling over the paving stones and tarmac of the main street of Havermouth, ripples casting shadows through the water that looked like screaming faces. She walked through the water, bewildered, feeling its cold drag against her legs, and its weight tugging down the fabric of her dress and sticking it to her skin.The traffic on the street had stopped, cars like islands in the flowing water, and pedestrians came to a standstill, everyone turning towards the river in astonishment.Where had the water come from?Something brushed against Aislen’s leg, and she looked down and cried out in horror as a pale, fish-nibbled face passed by, cheeks flapping in the movement of the water and eye sockets vacant, carried along in the tide of the water.Aislen woke on the end of a jump and gripped the sheets, breathing heavily.“Morgana,” Talen rose from the recliner and leaned over her. His hair was loose, brushing over her chee
Havermouth, Present Day“Aislen…” Heath started but was interrupted by the arrival of the nurses. “We’ll talk after,” he finished as the nurses adjusted the bed to sit Aislen upright.“Any discomfort?” The nurse asked attentively as they helped Aislen turn so that her legs hung over the end of the bed.“No,” Aislen suspected that Talen’s blood was the reason, healing her from the inside out. Bless her daddy vampire, she thought fondly.“Okay, but be guided by your body and if it hurts, we will stop…”“I can carry her,” Cameron hovered anxiously as Aislen stood with the help of the nurses. “F-k…” His hands were already held out, wanting to push the nurses out of the way.“Boyfriend?” The nurse to Aislen’s left asked as they took a shuffling step towards the ensuite.“Yeah,” Aislen agreed. It was close enough a description for their relationship at the moment, she decided, and she was f-king over being ashamed and hiding. “Both are, actually,” she said with a slight shrug. “Four, really
Kabramatta, A Month BeforeAislen found the regular yoga sessions not only helpful in maintaining a level of physical fitness to combat the stationary nature of her art, but also in enforcing a regular meditation to help strengthen the bubbles that protected her from the onslaught of mental noise that came with living in a busy city. That Bianca was the yogi was a bonus, as it meant that she could combine exercise, meditation and a catch up with her friend.Aislen lingered behind as the class ended and the room gradually emptied.She watched as Bianca flirted with a pony-tailed, curvaceous blonde woman, the sparks flying between them as they exchange numbers. The blonde cast a smile over her shoulder as she left.“You have a type,” Aislen drawled as she joined Bianca. “Blonde, curvy, and bubbly.”“So do you - six inches, chubby and made of silicone,” Bianca snorted. “When are you going to give a flesh and blood person a go? I bumped into Jordan Daniels the other day at a gallery. He i