Havermouth, Present TimeLeighton Richard lived on a farm just outside of town. The high fences surrounding his property indicated that he kept deer, although the fields appeared to be empty, the deer obviously preferring to hide amongst the scrub to the rear of the property. There was a giant timber barn painted black with “Leighton Richard” in man-sized white lettering on the road-facing side and “Potter” in smaller letters.A sign on the gate declared that they were entering the property of Leighton Richard, Potter, and editor of the Havermouth Expose. There was an honor box arrangement by the gate, where the latest version of the Havermouth Expose could be purchased.Aislen snagged a copy and dropped a few coins into the slot whilst June opened the gate. She drove forward along a well-maintained driveway towards a tidy little house whose sandstone construction spoke of it being original to the area. Under the bullnosed veranda, a grey-muzzled old dog flicked an ear as much to shoo
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeAfter breakfast, the Triquetra ripped up the floorboards in one of the rear bedrooms and inspected the stumps that held the house loft. Cameron’s eyes lit as his feet scuffed over something that was not dirt, his footsteps sounding hollow. “Told you.” He said to Rhett triumphantly. “I told you that there was an old cellar.”“Yeah, but whether it’s knee deep in river water…” Rhett was dubious.“The French drain around the house says otherwise,” Cameron replied. “There’s only one way to find out. Let’s lift the lid…”“If zombies crawl out, I’m throwing you to them and running,” Rhett replied.“There’s no such thing as zombies,” Cameron laughed as he and Heath used their shovels to dig around the wooden barrier. “Right?” He looked at Heath when they had cleared the edges and as much rubble off the surface as they could.“Let’s see,” Heath grinned back, and they dug the tips of their shovels under the edge prying it up. The wood cracked and creaked, before sh
Havermouth, Present Time“I need to make a detour,” Aislen told June. “I hope you don’t mind.”“No,” June sent her a shy smile. “It’s either clean my house or be sidekick to your adventures, so I’m all good. You’re sort of a bit like a superhero. You’ve got the secret identity, a mission, and the exciting love life.”Aislen laughed. “F-k me,” she said as she pulled up at the hardware store. “You make it sound glamorous. Believe me, my life is as f-ked up as it comes.”“What are we doing here?” June asked as they got out of the car.“I think I need to paint my house. My porch and front door at least,” Aislen told her. “Triquetra’s whore might be an accurate description for me, but I don’t need my house tagged with it.”“You really slept with all three of them?” June asked as they entered the store, and the clerk and customer at the cash registered looked up, jaws unhinging.“Yep,” Aislen declared loudly. “Sometimes at the same time. I’m really flexible. Yoga,” she winked at the clerk.
Havermouth, five Years BeforeCameron drove her home after lunch. “We have a thing,” he told her cheerfully as he boosted her into the front passenger side of his Ute. In contrast to Rhett and Heath, Cameron’s thoughts were easy going and cheerful. In his mind, they’d get a reprimand and Heath would talk their way out of any real punishment.His confidence was well founded, as that was what had always happened since they had become a Triquetra with Rhett, and also before as Cameron and Heath had grown up together. Rhett’s lingering grimness was, in Cameron’s mind, due to his father being in town, and the effect Mr Salem’s presence had on the household. With Mr Salem in the house, Mrs Salem was unable to see her lover, and that human lover objected to the ongoing marriage, not understanding werewolves’ ways…Aislen could sympathize, she thought, with the lover. “What thing?” She asked to see what he would say. Would they continue to pretend that she didn’t know, or would he admit to i
Havermouth, Present TimeHeath and Cameron arrived as they did, and June met Aislen’s eyes. “I have to go,” June decided. “Before I collapse in a hormonal heap. I’m used to dealing with primary school students, and not smoking hot men. In one day, I’ve been up close and personal to two more than any other average day. Anymore and I’m not responsible for my actions. How you can stand it, I don’t know, but I am totally envious.”Aislen snorted. “When they start bossing you around, their prettiness loses it’s shine,” she replied. “Believe me. By the way, do you know a teacher, third grade I think, named Liam?”“Liam,” June repeated. “Not at my school.”“Oh well, I’ll have to introduce you some time, if I see him again,” she added. “So, not tomorrow but the day after, at ten?”“Ten,” June confirmed and waved as she made her way out to the street.F-k, Aislen added to herself. She needed to find something to wear.She sighed as she turned towards the house and the Triquetra, who had unload
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeAislen’s legs gave out in the bedroom, and she sat heavily on the bed. She should be happy, she told herself. She should be overjoyed. It was, as everyone in the tiny kitchen had repeated again and again, an amazing, incredible opportunity, an act of generosity by the school and Zeus Forest Works that she would have been a fool to turn down.Why did it feel so wrong?She knew why, she answered herself. Because Rhett had told her not to go to Rideten. Because going to Rideten meant leaving the Triquetra behind in Havermouth.In less than a month, the Triquetra had turned her life inside out and upside down. Somehow everything had become focused on them, their presence dictating how her days went, what she did, how she dressed, what she ate, where she slept…She did not know now if she could separate herself from them and survive it. She did not know if she wanted to do so.“You’re doing the right thing,” Tiffany said from the doorway. “It is the right thin
Havermouth, Present Time All four men looked at Aislen in unison and she felt her heart begin to race. “Oh f-k,” she whispered and caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she stood and set the flowers onto the bed. She turned and scooped her hair over her shoulder. “Can someone unzip me?” Rhett stepped up. His hands shook as he reached for the zip and his breath came quick and heavy, his thoughts were a rapid cacophony of erotic fantasies. Her dress sagged and she let it slip to the ground, before stepping out of her shoes, and felt Rhett’s hands stroke over her arse as she bent to pick them up. “Suspenders,” he murmured, slipping his fingers under the straps. “I have a weakness for them.” “I didn’t get dressed this morning anticipating that I would be painting,” she replied. “Though, it doesn’t look like a lot of painting will get done today.” “Mhm. We’ll discuss the painting and the reason for it in a little while,” Talen told her as he returned to the armoire. “In the meanti
Havermouth, Five Years Past Aislen was dressed and ready at the door when Heath pulled into the drive. She hurried to where he held the car open for her admiring how handsome he looked in his school uniform, the trousers and shirt precisely pressed, and his blue knit jumper’s v neck showing the neat knot of his tie. “Hi,” she pressed her palms onto his chest and lifted her face to his. His thumb stroked over her cheek as he leaned down to kiss her, and his lips lingered. She felt his c-ck harden between them and leant a little against it, deliberately arousing him as she snaked her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. His thoughts were of Cameron and Rhett who were meeting them at the river house and debating whether he could pull off enroute for a quickie before taking her there. As he eased the kiss, she rubbed her cheek against his enjoying that he was freshly shaven, and his skin scented with aftershave. That decided him and he gripped her arse through her school skirt p
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