Havermouth, Five Years BeforeRhett leaned against the wall between the transportable classrooms.As was typical of the season, it had started off rainy that morning, but the sun had come out in the afternoon, creating a steam as it evaporated the puddles off the pavement, and lifting with it the scent of minerals and earth, creating an intoxicating vapor that the wolf within him enjoyed and recognized as the beginning of Spring – breeding season – making him feel a little wild and restless. And f-king horny.His art class fell during a double free for Cameron and Heath, so they usually left during lunch to buy beer and took it to the park between school and Heath’s house. By the time Rhett finished the day, they would be half tanked and working on a tan in the park whilst they waited for him.Without Heath and Cameron present, Rohan and his cronies made it blatantly obvious that they considered Rhett a fringe dweller and wanted nothing to do with him unless he was with Heath and Came
Havermouth, Present Time The rain came and went in patches and according to the forecast on Heath’s phone, the bulk of the storm wouldn’t strike until after midnight, so they headed into town after eating an early dinner/late lunch of steak and broccolini in the kitchen. The streets around the town hall were surprisingly busy considering the weather, with people in rain jackets huddling beneath umbrellas hurrying though the storm-dark early evening from their cars to the shelter of the building whilst exclaiming about the cold and dodging the puddles left from earlier showers. Aislen was glad that Heath had given her one of Rhett’s jackets to wear, though Cameron and Heath huddled her between them, offering their body heat to combat the cold wind that tugged at the umbrella that Heath held over the three of them. The flow of brown frothing water along the street and into the drain caught Aislen’s eyes and she frowned, something nagging at the edge of her mind. She dismissed it as t
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeRhett could tell that Aislen was skittish. One wrong move, and she’d bolt for sure. Although the park was secluded, he could see a middle-aged man walking a dog through the trees, and an old couple tending to their roses in one of the closer houses. The Triquetra couldn’t force things, he decided, or she would scream and whilst he wasn’t worried about repercussions, pushing her to that point would make it that much harder to lure her out again.He tried to signal Heath and Cameron to back off, but in a combination of the warm day, intoxication, and whatever it was about the girl that was driving them all nuts, they weren’t heeding his warnings.“My, my, just look at what was hiding under that f-king ugly jumper, Heath,” Cameron slid his hand over Aislen’s shoulder to her arm, before stealing the cigarette from her fingers. He relit it and held it between his teeth as he grinned.“We have to work,” Rhett stubbed out his cigarette and pulled at face at Heat
Havermouth, Present TimeThrough some deft manoeuvring by Talen, Aislen ended up in his Zeus Forest Works Ute rather than Heath’s sedan. The weather was wild to the point of being frightening with the trees bowing beneath the pressure, leaf matter sweeping across the roads, and the gutters running heavily with water.“Are you certain that you are comfortable with this relocation?” Talen asked her as he calmly navigated the busy traffic. “There is another option. We could go to the vampire safe house.”“All of us?” She wondered.He was silent for just long enough that she knew the answer before he spoke. “Yourself, Tyler and I would be welcome there. The werewolves…”She considered the option. It would feel weird, she decided, to be apart from the Triquetra, especially in the wild weather, and with the weight of the discoveries of the day behind her.“No,” she decided. “We’ll go to the river house.”The Triquetra were f-ked up, their way of thinking was toxic and controlling, and wrong
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeLillian was nothing if not enthusiastic in her role as the Triquetra’s pretend girlfriend, laughing and flirting, and making out with Heath and Cameron whilst Diana sulked to Cameron’s other side. Cameron suspected that Lillian was not as invested into the relationship with Diana as Diana was with Lillian, as Lillian seemed determined to take advantage of the pretend relationship with the Triquetra and make it permanent.That was never going to happen.It had, however, succeeded in getting Abigail off of the Triquetra’s back. There had been a reduction in social functions since the Triquetra had begun courting Lillian, taking her and Diana to the movies, to lunch, and to all the parties that the seniors attended in the town. Having Diana along offered them some protection, as well, as Cameron was sure that Diana wouldn’t lie for Lillian and say that the Triquetra had done anything that would get Harry Ridgeway breathing down their necks. Diana did not, af
Havermouth, Present TimeThey entered through the front door and Heath paused by the hall stand to take everyone’s jackets and the umbrellas as they entered. There was a flurry of activity as the items transferred from Aislen’s house to the river house were redistributed.“What do I do with… this?” Cameron regarding the wine box that he held in confusion.“Shove it into a cupboard,” Aislen suggested. “Somewhere out of the way. I suspect it will be a few days until we can get to Rideten, so they’ll have to wait.” The contents of the box were still, so she hoped that the spell trap had worked, and they remained intact.“Should we feed them?” He wondered his expression perplexed.“They’re not pets, Cam,” she laughed, her heart melting. “They’re dead rats and pieces of leaf animated by a magic spell. They don’t have stomachs.” It was adorable that he had wondered, and added to her overall feeling of rightness, standing in the foyer of the beautiful house surrounded by her men.This could
Havermouth, Five Years in the Past“We just need to f-k her, right?” Cameron blew out smoke, smothering a cough. Rhett watched him with interest, feeling like a scientist observing a new breed of werewolf male, something that looked familiar, but behaved in an entirely new way. “There’s no way that she’s… She’s not special,” he refused to use the other word, a muscle twisting in the corner of his jaw under the freckle that Rhett loved most of all, it’s circle darker than its neighbor’s and its form more uniformly round.The freckle was special because it was set precisely at the point that Cameron most liked to be kissed, and by the time Rhett had nibbled his way from his lips to that freckle, Cameron would go limp and pliable, and agree to anything that Rhett wanted, no matter how depraved the request.“She’s not special,” Cameron repeated putting the emphasis on the second word. “She isn’t. She’s just… hard to get. But once we get her, it will get easier… won’t it?”Rhett moved his
Havermouth, Present Time“Little seductress come here,” Talen crooked his finger at her, and she crawled to the edge of the bed. He lifted her to standing so that for once she looked down on him and reached behind her to release her bra.“That’s better,” he smoothed his hand over her hair, before lowering her back down onto the mattress. “Such beauty should not be hidden behind cloth.”She was rendered speechless, her breath catching in her throat, enthralled by the tenderness in his eyes. She reached up and touched his lips, their softness warmed by his breath. She pressed her fingertips to her own lips, transferring the kiss.“Ah, little demon,” he murmured as he lay himself at her side. “I do not possess the words to tell you what you do to me.”“Talen,” she reached for him, and he covered her with his body, the warmth of his skin against hers causing her to moan in appreciation. “Oh, god, I love to feel you on me.”“How about in you?” He kissed his way across her cheek until their
Havermouth, Present Time Talen and Aislen were quickly called to a stop as they approached the busy area directly in front of the town hall. The police and the firies were packing up, she noticed, frowning, and none of them looked happy about it. “We are encouraging civilians to stay in their residences and off the streets,” a stern voiced soldier told Aislen and Talen disapprovingly. “There are many hazards left after the storm, and our men need free access to clear the roads of debris and make repairs.” Aislen swallowed back the words that she wanted to say, and instead smiled sweetly. “We’re from Boyston’s coffee shop,” she lied showing him the box that she held. “Making a delivery. Cakes and slices that are going stale, to help fuel the forces here. They’re free,” she added with a bright smile. “See, that’s our coffee van, over there,” she nodded with her chin. “Oh,” he was non-plussed, looking over his shoulder at the van, and then back at the box that she held. “Let me look,”
Havermouth, Two Years Before“Aislen Carter graduated from Rideten School of Art with honors on the eleventh of the month, and vacated her school accommodation four days later,” the PI’s report stated blandly the words that sent icy shards of fear and horror through Heath’s soul.“Her vehicle was placed for sale at North Rideten Car Sales one week prior and sold on the fifteenth with deposits made into bank accounts that were, in turn, closed on the twentieth. We have seen this sort of behavior before, in victims of domestic violence, where the subject is escaping an abusive spouse through the help of an organization. It is our companies ethical position not to pursue such cases further.”“Sure,” Heath snarled at the email. “But you f-king charged me the full price.”He was tempted to throw the laptop against the wall in his frustration, but he gripped the table edge instead and blew out his breath, controlling the anger, turning the heat to ice, and focusing on the house around him t
Havermouth, Two Years Before The Rideten night club was overflowing with patrons, and Heath had to fight for the standing table where he could look out across the dance floor and keep an eye on Rhett, who was having a fantastic time with his co-workers celebrating the end of his apprenticeship and the purchase of his own shop in Havermouth. It was the happiest that Heath had seen him in a long time, and that thought pained him, but did not surprise him. The Triquetra pretended well, most of the time, however the waiting was slowly tearing them apart. They were spending less time together at the river house, and it often felt more like they were house mates than mates, as they rarely even shared a meal let alone a bed. Cameron was spending more and more time on the land now that he had graduated university, Rhett had thrown himself into getting as much experience as he could before starting his own shop, and Heath was working part time at the law firm he had purchased in Havermouth i
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeThe little Redbank tattoo parlour that had agreed to take him as an apprentice had many things that Rhett liked, and many that he didn’t. The shop was tiny, with a staircase to the second level which was so steep that it kicked in Rhett’s phobia about heights, and, whilst the workstations were brightly lit for the purpose of the artists, everywhere else was shadowy and pokey. The little kitchen could only fit one person at a time, and the toilet was so narrow that cleaning it (which was one of Rhett’s duties as an apprentice) was a bit like performing yoga in a box.Mostly he divided his time between manning the reception desk, doing clean-up of the workstations, and making drinks for the artists and customers, but on the slow days, the artists would take turns working with his sketches, and he would sit with his pants around his ankles on one of the chairs and practise on himself, upside down.If he produced a decent piece, one of the other artists, Matt
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeHeath left the final class of the year feeling as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Just the exams left to do, and high school would be a thing of the past. He paused for a moment, his eyes adjusting from the artificial light of the classroom and his body to movement after two intense hours of mental activity as the teacher had taken the opportunity to run them through a practice exam.Cameron’s bright hair caught the sunlight over the heads of other students moving out into freedom. “Hey!” Cameron grinned as he headed over. “It’s done! We are free!”“Until exams,” Heath corrected. “And, then the pre-reading for university.”“Ugh,” Cameron’s groan of disgust was throaty. “Let me have at least today to enjoy the end of classes without filling my head up with more useless knowledge.”Heath slung his arm around Cameron’s shoulders. “Will you miss school?”“Nope,” Cameron leaned into Heath. “You?”“Nope,” Heath agreed. He gave Cameron’s shoulders
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeCameron’s dreams were filled with chasing Aislen through the fields. He could see her just ahead of him, her dark hair bouncing with the motion of her run, the weeds catching on the skirt of her dress and dragging long scratches along her legs that she didn’t seem to notice. “Aislen!” He cried out. “Slow down!”He woke with a start to the echoes of his own voice. It wasn’t yet midnight and he was alone in bed. He pressed his face into the pillows, breathing in, seeking the scent of Rhett and Heath from the fabric, but it had been too long since they’d slept there, and the scent had faded beneath his own.He couldn’t remember ever having fought with either of them. It left him feeling off-balance, and unwell. He’d thrown himself into working the farm with his dad, trying to distract himself from the anguish of it. Jules hadn’t questioned why Cameron wasn’t going to school, studying, or spending time with the other two members of the Triquetra, although Cam
Havermouth, Five Years Prior“I can’t go home - things are too bad with dad and he seems to be hanging around more than ever, and things are f-ked up with Aislen at home too, so I was thinking that Aislen and I could stay at the river house for a few days until we all find somewhere to rent in Havermouth. If we all go in to Aislen’s we can get her packed and out of there before her parents can do anything about it, right?” Rhett suggested, twisting in his seat to look from Heath to Cameron.“Sure,” Cameron leaned forward and gripped the front seats. “We can all stay at the river house. It will be fun.”“Exams next week,” Heath said softly, his heart sinking. “We should study more. But, sure, a few days at the river house won’t hurt. We can study during the daytime whilst there’s light.” What day would they take Aislen away, he wondered. Did she know that she was going to Rideten? Had that been why her suitcases had been under the bed?“Speak for yourself,” Rhett snorted. “I’m not f-ki
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeAs dawn pinked the sky, Cameron scuffed the toe of his shoe through the dust that was all that remained of the grass where cows had been killed. Now that he knew what caused these patches, whenever he was by the river, his eyes were peeled for them, and he was surprised by how many there were – patches where nothing seemed to grow, which he’d always accepted as just being randomly barren spots because he’d grown up with their occurrence.“Don’t play in the dust,” Jules reprimanded as he returned to the Ute.“Why?” Cameron wondered. “It’s just dirt, dad.”“It’s still dead. I don’t trust it until it grows green again.”It made sense that Jules would think that way, Cameron thought stepping away from the patch. Jules' relationship to the land was other level, as Jules’ father and grandfather had been before him. Cameron loved the farm. He loved and respected the land, the river house, and the work. He couldn’t imagine doing anything else with his life, but h
Havermouth, Five Years BeforeHeath fed some twigs into the ashes of the firepit knowing that below the layer of ash, there was enough heat to get the fire going again. They’d be grateful in the morning when they went to make coffee and breakfast if there were still hot coals, so he’d get the fire going again whilst Rhett got his drunk on, and then the three of them would go to bed, f-k it out, and get some sleep, he decided.Rhett winced his way through a swig of whiskey, drinking to the side of his mouth away from the piercing and then deliberately swishing the whiskey over the wound, using it as a disinfectant, the action betraying how much it was paining him and his concern over the damage. He met Heath’s eye and gave a little rueful shrug – there wasn’t much that he could do other than hope that it healed alright.Heath took the whiskey bottle from him and took a swig before returning it and leaning over to throw some logs onto the firepit as the kindling leapt into flame. “I got