Havermouth, Present TimeA frog creaked it’s call from somewhere nearby, joining in the chorus of crickets that buzzed into the night. Aislen could hear the whispered rush of the river, smell the wet earth of its banks. Her head ached and her mouth was parched, the sound of the water tormenting her. Not at her father’s house, she thought groggily. The river was too far from there to be heard like this. She had a bad feeling that she knew precisely where she was. She pried her eyes open, wincing at the glare of the red-toned bedside lights. Her hands were handcuffed together, and the cuffs threaded through the bars of the bedhead. She was in the river house, but not as it had been, she thought as she looked around her. The river house of her teen years had been dusty, hung with spiderwebs, long abandoned, with no power. The wallpaper had been peeling from the walls, and there had been the strong smell of mildew from carpets moldering from a leaking roof. She lay on a wrought iron be
Havermouth High School, Five Year in the PastShe reached the art class and looked up, expecting Rhett to step out of the alley between the buildings. He did not and she stood for a moment, her heart racing within her chest. She should feel relieved, she told herself. She should feel free… She should be happy. She felt… Jealous. Was he with those girls? Those girls that he had brought to lunch... Where was he with them, and what was he doing?Her fingernails pressed into her palms her grip was so tight. She blew out a breath. There was no way that she could sit through the double class of art without Rhett, wondering where he was and with whom. The chastity belt on her waist was her only reason to stay, but there was another solution to that, she decided. She grabbed two stones off the ground on her way to the girls bathroom and went into a shower cubicle. She stripped off her skirt and sat on the seat, laying the chain that linked the closures over one of the stone, before strikin
Havermouth, Present TimeTo distract herself from the pain and degradation, Aislen had memorized the swirls and curves of the chandelier with its little drops of black crystal to the point that she did not doubt that she would be able to draw it and its shadows once she got free. If she ever got free. It had been hours and it seemed that her entire body throbbed from what Rhett had done to her. The tattoo was worse than the piercings, as the pain was prolonged, but when he stopped, the piercings made themselves known, conflictingly not entirely unpleasantly due to their location, her body confusing the pain signals for pleasure. She was, as a result, angry, frustrated, and horny.And afraid. Very afraid, she admitted to herself. As a teenager she had been humiliated by the Triquetra, but she had never feared them. When she had realized that the relationship wasn’t healthy, that humiliation had morphed into anger and outrage that they would manipulate her in such a way, but she hadn’
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeAislen felt the buzz of the alcohol and drugs pass through her, the intoxication replaced by icy dread. She was shaking her head even as Rhett and Cameron reached forward for her. Her co-ordination was not up to resistance, but she fought.Her shrieks did not cut through the overloud music, the conversation, the party… No one seemed to even notice the Triquetra drag her through. If someone looked, they looked quickly away again.“Don’t,” she pleaded, bracing her heels against the small step out of the house. “Please, no…”Heath’s teeth were bared as he, Cameron, and Rhett tugged her over the edge onto the porch and out into the shadows of the front garden.They threw her down in unison, so that the heels of her hands dug into the earth and grass. For a moment, with clarity, she thought that she had the chance to flee from whatever they intended to do, but then her hands were jerked forward so that she face-planted into the ground, the impact enough that s
Havermouth, Present TimeThere was a dark place inside her mind into which she sank as the hours passed. Almost half her life, her head had been filled with others’ thoughts, so much so that she sometimes wondered if she possessed a single original thought of her own, if her views were hers, if her feelings were her own. Her defense mechanism was to be reactive and to trust her first instinct, rather than try to over analyze things – because if she overthought it, could she trust that the thoughts were her own?Perhaps, she thought, if her grandmother had lived until Aislen was fully trained in her gift, her life would have worked out differently. Maybe she would have learnt to block others out with more control earlier. Perhaps she would have found a purpose for her gift. Perhaps, she would have not shut herself off to such an extent and meeting Cameron would have gone differently…Perhaps if she had been less obsessed with the graphically sexual contents of Heath and Cameron's head
Havermouth, Five Years in the PastIt was past midnight when the Triquetra delivered her to her door. She stumbled into the house, her body exhausted and sore. Her lip was fat and her jaw tender from hitting the grass, her knees and hip were scraped up, and there were bruises that were making themselves known all over her. Come was oozing down her thighs, and she had her first ever hangover. She had no idea where her school bag was. She could not remember if she had left it at the park, or at the house. She was too tired and battered to care. As she closed the front door, Cameron’s Ute pulled out onto the road. “Where in all that’s holy have you been, Aislen Louise Carter?” Her mother demanded at a hiss from behind her. Aislen groaned and rested her forehead against the door for a moment before turning to face her furious mother. “Out,” she said, and staggered towards her room. “You look as if you were dragged behind a car! Your hair is a bird’s nest, and your top is stained. Hav
Havermouth, Present TimeCameron reached over to the bedside lamp and turned it on, bathing them with a golden glow. He sat up, his back to her, his legs over the end of the bed and his feet on the floor. The muscles of his back shifted, displaying the power of years of active manual labor, and his biceps bunched as he ran his hands through his hair, ruffling the russet curls.“Maybe Rhett’s right,” he said under his breath. “About what?” She asked wearily. She was done, just done with the day, she thought. She hurt in so many ways and places and felt as if Rhett had stripped her raw of every belief in her freedom. Her heart was an open, weeping wound. “Maybe, we do need to… just break the rules and talk. He’s told us, time and time again, that you’re not… That you aren’t…” He struggled to say it. “Not normal,” he concluded. “Like we’re… not what you would think of as normal. Maybe… Maybe we just need to say, f-k it, this is how we’re… How that we aren’t…”“Normal,” she prompted, im
Havermouth, Five Years in the PastThe school yard was empty when they arrived, all of the students in class. Heath walked swiftly to the locker bays and shoved his bag inside, taking only the books that he needed out. He glanced at his watch. “I have to go,” he said to her. “I can’t afford to fall behind in this class. At recess…”“I know,” she muttered, scuffing her shoe through the leaf debris blown up against the lockers. “Don’t be late.”“Hmm,” he lifted her chin with his index finger. (Behave… Just f-king behave for once…)“Kiss me, Aislen.”“Why?” She demanded rebelliously. “There’s no one around to see.”His face tightened and his eyes hardened. (Why could she not see what she was doing to them?) “Of course,” he sneered. “That would be how you would see it. Kiss me because I tell you to kiss me, then.”She stood on tiptoes and brushed her lips over his sulkily because she didn’t have the energy to argue further and the vehemence behind his thoughts made it clear that refusing w
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