Havermouth, River House, Five Years BeforeSix cars arrived, spilling out a good portion of the football and cheerleading teams. They began to build a fire in a firepit set to the side of the house and set out supplies that indicated they intended to be there for a while. Several stripped down into their underwear and picked their way down the riverbank to swim in the water, their shrieks and the sounds of their splashing carrying up to where Aislen continued to work on her sketch. Rhett had stepped inside of the house with Cameron and Heath, and the three were engaged in an intense, hushed conversation involving many glances out the filthy windows to Aislen. Cameron came out and stripped off his clothing next to her. “You are good,” he said, leaning over her in just his boxer shorts. She could smell animals and hay tangled up in the scent of his deodorant, sweat and skin – a combination that shouldn’t have been as sexy as it was, she admitted ruefully. She was still aroused from Rh
Havermouth, Present TimeShe finished the final room as dusk turned the sky into a painted display of glory and ate her oven-baked frozen meal standing at the kitchen bench, followed by a long, hot soak in the shower. She took time doing her face and hair and selected carefully from the small range of underwear that she had brought with her for the trip.As she finished dressing, she admitted to herself that her heart was racing. She was excited, in a breathless, anticipatory way. She wanted to know if the attraction between her and Talen the night before had been alcohol, magic and abstinence fuelled… Or if it had truly been as incredible as she had thought it to be. And there was only one way to test that out – through a repeat performance. She wasn’t entirely sure if moving from a trio of alpha werewolves to a vampire was an emotionally and mentally healthy evolution, or whether it was a regression, but it was the first time since the Triquetra that she’d had a sexual interest, an
Havermouth High School, Five Years BeforeRhett’s body in and over hers held Aislen pinned when she would have jumped at the sudden, unexpected, and unwelcome intrusion of the other two members of the Triquetra, and she gripped Rhett to her instead, using him as a shield. “Rhett!” She pleaded, but he pulled back against her grasp, and Heath and Cameron slid into the bed around her, Cameron laughing and using his body to pin her down when she tried to slither away.“Oh, no you don’t,” he laughed, and she gasped as his c-ck nudged against her entrance, her mind filling with images of the four of them in a multitude of positions, many of which she had never imagined possible... “You’ve been teasing and taunting us for weeks, playing virginal princess in front of everyone else and then the town bike when we’re alone…”“Rhett!” She cried out as Cameron’s c-ck penetrated and he groaned. She sobbed in a breath as his hand cupped her jaw and he kissed her, his tongue stroking against hers as
Havermouth, Present TimeThe night was still young when she saw Talen to the door, and she stood, wrapped in her satin dressing gown, waving him goodbye as he reversed the expensive Ute out of her driveway, feeling very much like the domesticated housewife waving her husband off to work.Talen’s headlights caught in the iridescent light of a wolf’s eyes, and Aislen sighed heavily. The giant white and grey wolf sat in the hedges next to the driveway. As she watched, the wolf shifted until Heath crouched on one knee and lifted his head before slowly rising to his feet.“Well, I guess you had better come in,” she sighed. “Before one of the neighbors see you.”He walked, a silky shift of muscle under the moonlight, avoiding the gravel, climbing over the veranda fence with athletic ease and walking to stand before her, looking down. She lifted her eyebrows and stepped back, so that he could enter the house, closing the door behind him.It was a test, she thought as she led the way down the
Havermouth High School, Five Years BeforeIt was just before dawn when Rhett pulled up out front of Aislen’s house and turned down the stereo. He turned off the engine and got out the car, rounding the bonnet in order to open her door and leaning over her to release her seatbelt, nuzzling and kissing her cheek as he did so. He was effervescently happy, whilst she was stunned numb.He retrieved her art supplies from the back and put his arm around her, walking her to the door, before capturing her face between his hands and kissing her enthusiastically. “One of us will pick you up Monday morning at eight, okay?” She could feel his overflowing joy through the contact, and the contrast to how she was feeling was painfully stark.“Okay,” she repeated.“Okay. Aislen…” He stroked her hair back from her face. She saw adult faces that she did not know, and their concerned disapproval. “Don’t worry. It will be alright. Just give us time… and it will work out, okay?”“Okay.” Give them time… to
Havermouth, Present TimeDaylight was glaring. The beginning of the end, she thought as she showered and dressed. She ate in the kitchen, looking out onto the uncompromising dessert of the back garden, and remembering how it had looked when she had last stood in the same position.Her mother had always had a penchant to greenery. There had always been some new exotic plant being coaxed into reluctant life under a palace of plastic-wrap and wire, watered precisely on the hour, to a measure – no more and no less.If Tiffany had paid as much attention to her marriage or her daughter, Aislen thought, and then pushed it aside, identifying it as internalized misogyny. Tiffany’s marriage breakdown was in equal measure the responsibility, if not more so, of Patrick, who had been the carbon copy of his era…“I have never…” His glower bore down on Aislen. He had been wearing the shirt that Aislen had zip locked in her suitcase. “Never been as ashamed to show my face around town, as I am in this
Havermouth High School, Five Years BeforeThe sky was heavy and overcast, the rain a fine mist that was absolutely inescapable, chilling the air and soaking through Aislen’s jacket, beading in the fur trim of her hood. The school yard was empty, students choosing to huddle in the hallways, sheltered corners, and the cafeteria rather than get wet. Rhett had come by the house that morning in order to pick her up, despite their argument the day before, but she had refused to answer the door. It had made her late to first class and earned her a reprimand by the teacher. She had already been the focus of sniggering and behind the hands murmuring as she’d entered the class, therefore she had endured the reprimand without flinching as the lesser torture.Her first four classes had been Triquetra free, and she had hidden in the nurse’s office at recess. She had chosen the library for lunch, thinking that the Triquetra were more likely to be in the music rooms, and that the library’s shelves
“Dear Aislen, if you receive this, it is because I have been murdered. I know too much, and the people here are ruthless and powerful,” the letter went on and Aislen could almost hear her father’s voice behind the words. “A man makes mistakes. We all make mistakes. I made a mistake with you, and I am sorry for it.“My mother, your grandmother, always said that people hide their secrets very well. Havermouth’s founding families are the same. They hide their secrets and protect their own. After you left, I was approached by a family whose daughter had had the same sort of troubles that you had. There are a lot of families in town, and a lot of families that have had to leave town, because of boys like the three that you fell in with.“Some of the girls were raped or blackmailed into having sex, and when their families took the matter to the police, they were told that there was nothing that the police could do for them. They just swept it under the carpet and if the family fought for ju
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