Rideten, Five Years Before Rideten, like Havermouth, was a historic town, and many of the original houses remained along the tree-lined streets. The house which Bianca led Aislen to held shadows of the same architecture as the river house in the ramshackle roofline with dormer windows peeking out, the wrap around veranda with intricate and ornate ironwork like lace edging, and sandstone brickwork. It was set behind a hedge that had to be as old as the house from its height and denseness. The garden was framed by roses, within which was arranged what seemed from a distance to be a vegetable garden, however, close up, Aislen realized that the plants were not vegetables, but rather herbs and weeds that were planted with deliberation and careful labelling. “I know it looks weird to people, but you have to understand that many weeds aren’t actually weeds,” Bianca told her. “We are taught here that as the role of women in the home and community changed, women’s knowledge and magic was str
Havermouth, Present TimeTalen’s hand cupped the back of her skull, bringing her mouth firmly to his, and kissed her, his tongue sliding against hers in the most tempting way. She pressed herself tightly to him, her fingers in his chest hair, her nails indenting his skin. She could feel the press of his nipple ring against her and wondered if he could feel her piercings too.He rolled her under him without breaking the kiss, and her hands splayed out and slid up around his neck as she wrapped her legs around him.He kissed along her jaw to the pulse point below her ear, letting her feel the points of his teeth pressing against her skin, before dragging them down, the sensation sending sparks throughout her body, pebbling her nipples and raising the hair along her arms and back of her neck. He had triggered an instinct that recognized the danger of a vampire’s teeth, she thought, although she was unafraid of him. She threaded her fingers into his hair and pulled him closer, encouraging
Rideten, Five Years Before A women’s circle involved a gathering of women of all age groups, backgrounds, shape and size. They arrived alone, or in groups of friends or family. Grandmothers, mothers and daughters, aunts and nieces, childhood friends, schoolteachers and home makers – women from every walk of life. They entered carrying with them wine which they added to the communal table and drank out of vintage teacups as they giggled, and chatted, and shared the news of their week, their family and friends. They accepted Aislen’s presence with warmth and curiosity, and she was passed from group to group, repeating the same information about herself – where she was from, where she was studying, how long she had been in Rideten, and whether she liked it. As she and Bianca circulated, Aislen soon determined that there were three different types of women present – those who came for the socialization and did not truly believe in magic, those devotees that believed passionately in magic
Havermouth, Present TimeHeath backed her into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. “I just…” He said against her lips. “I just… I want to… make love…” (make love, not f-k, but actually make love, like we did, that time on the balcony…)She melted at the memory, at the realization that what she had felt in that time had been shared and was the reason for the intensity of that encounter.“Should I leave?” Talen asked. He amused to find himself trapped.“No,” Heath said immediately, glancing up and laughing. “No.” (This involves you too.)“Well, then,” Talen stepped forward. “Little demon, undress, please. I will help Heath out of his clothes.” He turned Heath towards him and stroked his hands down Heath’s torso as he reached for the hem of Heath’s t-shirt. “I am… proud of you,” Talen murmured into Heath’s ear as he began to draw the fabric up, his knuckles grazing Heath’s skin.Heath lifted his arms complicitly. As Talen cast the t-shirt over the chair behind him, Aislen’s daddy
Rideten, Five Years Before There was a lot of noise in the background, many voices talking and laughing, with the occasional girlish shriek interspersed. Aislen was certain that she could hear Rhett’s voice, and then Cameron’s, and that almost brought her to her knees. “Hello?” She said again. “Aislen,” it was Heath. There was static on the line. “Are you there? F-k this,” he said with an irritated sigh. “I’m here, I here,” she garbled out hastily. “Heath - ” “The signal is bad tonight,” he told her, interrupting. “I can’t move from this spot, or I will lose it, so you’re just going to have put up with the background noise.” “Heath,” she fought back tears, pressing her hand to her mouth. “I… Well, I am…” Bianca made a small noise of sympathy and reached out, placing her hand on Aislen’s back. (Poor thing. What sort of jerk-off would…) “Aislen, you need to stop calling the Edisons,” he said tightly. “You’re causing problems. I can’t believe that you can cause problems and not eve
Havermouth, Present Time“For some reason I had thought we’d be going to the prison,” Aislen commented as June parked in the undercroft parking beneath the footprint of a building just off the main street of Rideten’s business district. It felt odd to be back in Rideten. She vaguely knew that the prison was on the outskirts of the city, but she had never had reason to know its precise location. “This isn’t very prison like.”“No. Sometimes they hold it at the prison, but sometimes here. Guy always gets his hopes up when it’s here,” June said fretfully touching up her lipstick in the rear-view mirror. “He thinks that when it’s here, they’re seriously considering releasing him. They put him under suicide watch after the last hearing here, he got so depressed.”“Well, lets hope today is good news,” Aislen said with more confidence than she felt as they got out of the car and crossed to the stairs.“It has to be,” June said with the fervency of a zealot.In the front entrance, they passed
Rideten, Five Year BeforeAislen parked down the street as the on-street parking was already occupied directly outside of Stella’s house and walked the distance. Even as she approached the hedge, she could hear voices chanting in harmony. The gardens were busy with women weaving through the rows of herbs and the rose beds taking clippings, dressed in flowing dresses and flower crowns. Aislen looked down at her black dress and felt immediately out of the place. White and the colours of nature were predominant amongst the other women.“Ah, there you are,” Stella greeted her warmly as she stepped onto the porch. She was weaving flower crowns and garlands with two other women, one of whom she recognized as the witch who had performed the sage cleansing the night before. “This is Juniper, and you will remember Daisy? This is Aislen.”Daisy smiled and examined the basket of flower crowns. “Which one…” she murmured. “Ah, this one for you, I think. Rue to purify, lavender to calm, yarrow for
Havermouth, Present Time **Trigger Warning - this chapter leads into a school shooting ** “It feels… wrong,” Guy said for about the fourth time. “Like, I shouldn’t be free, and wow, June, watch your speed. It feels like we’re going really fast. I’ve only been in the prison transport to and from hearings over the last five years, remember, and there isn’t a view out of them. I forgot what it looks like for things to whizz past you so fast.” “I’m doing five kilometers under the speed limit, Guy,” June told him with more patience that Aislen would have. “If I go any slower, the cars behind me are going to go nuts.” “I don’t know what I expected about being released,” he admitted, bracing his palms against the dash as if physically trying to slow the car. “Maybe something more formal than sign here, here’s your stuff, off you go.” “You have to check in with your parole officer tomorrow, and then start work, so I guess that will be more formal. But for now, let’s just get you home, and