SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER TWO
The Bonded Sisters
A gentle breeze blew in an easterly direction, the breeze still carrying suggestions of the warm day it had been in its fluttering tendrils, and Aleisha noticed that the breeze seemed to be in a dipping and rising current, although strangely, Huh, what? … she heard a voice …
“Evening.”
Aleisha froze at the sound of the voice, then she snapped her head around. “W-who’s that?” Piper moved out of the shadows and leant against a pillar of the portico, then she folded her arms across her chest.
“P-Piper?”
“Hey Camel, whatchaya doing?”
Rattled, Aleisha mumbled, “Doing, no, I’m not doing anything.”
“Really?” Piper asked, “Looks to me like you were walking down the driveway toward the front gate.”
“Ummm, ummm … I, I always go for a walk around the grounds when I get up.”
Another voice said, “Ohhh, I’ve never seen you get up and then go for a walk.” And Vicky emerged from the shadows and stood beside Piper.
“Well, I’ve only being doing it recently.” Aleisha replied quietly.
A different voice said, “Aleisha, you’re always the last one to get up,” and Elizabeth moved out from the shadows and stood beside Vicky, “And you don’t go for a walk, you go straight to the bathroom and have a thirty-minute shower.”
“One time she was in the shower for almost an hour.” Mel said as she joined them.
Isabelle and Sophia moved up to the end of the line, and Isabelle said, “If you do want to go for a walk, that’s fine, but you’ll walking with seven people by your side.”
“Ummm, you mean seven vampires by her side.” Elizabeth corrected politely.
“Ohhh, yeah, sorry.” Isabelle nodded.
“You mean seven Pistols.” Piper re-corrected.
“Yeah, whatever,” Isabelle huffed, then she said, “But I assume you’re getting the picture Camel; you go, we go.”
Sophia stepped forward and said decisively, “Miss Aleesha, you no go!”
With tears welling in her eyes, Aleisha looked up to see her, Ruby, her partner, standing in the doorway.
Ruby held her lovers gaze, and she said with a ripple of emotion in her tone, “Your Majesty, Aleisha, wherever you go and whatever you do, I will be right by your side.”
Aleisha was taken aback, and she asked, “What are you doing, I mean why are you all up early?”
Piper shrugged her shoulders, then said nonchalantly, “Livinia suggested that we keep an eye on you.”
“And as you’ve probably already established, our eyes are on you.” Elizabeth added.
“And to me, looking at you is a good thing.” Isabelle advised.
Again, her friends, the best friends she’d ever had were displaying their courage and loyalty, and as tears began dribbling down her cheeks, Aleisha looked at each of them. She had made her decision, and in a way, it was good that they were all up so that she could give them a proper farewell. She drew in a breath, held her head high, then said quietly, “Okay, Pistols, friends of mine, lovers of mine, it, it is good that you are all here, because it gives me a chance to say goodbye to you all.”
As a line, in synch, the Pistols walked down the steps and stood in front of her. “Uhh uhh, Camel, there’s no goodbyes, because you ain’t going anywhere.” Piper stated.
“No please understand Piper, dearest Ruby, everybody, if I go to him, this ends, and you guys survive.”
Vicky held her head high as she said, “I want you to understand one thing Aleisha …”
“What?”
“If you go, we’re all going with you.”
Aleisha sighed in frustration, then said, “If I stay here, this entire clan will be massacred, but if I go to him, everybody survives, including me.”
The Hammers emerged from the building and walked down the steps and stood behind the Pistols, while Livinia strode forward and stood by Piper’s side. She said calmly, “Sweet child, you need to understand that this is no longer about you. If somebody kills a member of the Mephistopheles Clan, the clan will seek revenge. It makes no difference whether you go to him or you don’t, because honour, loyalty and duty is what this clan has always been about, and when they kill one of ours, we will unite and seek vengeance.”
Scarlett walked forward and stood directly in front of her, and she held both of Aleisha’s hands as she said, “They killed Athena, our leader, so we don’t say, Okay, let’s just forget about it and move on; we say, If you strike down one of ours, the rest of us will come at you.”
Taylee walked up to her and gently pushed the hood of the cloak off Aleisha’s head, and she skimmed her hand over Aleisha’s left cheek as she said, “Honey, I think you’re misinterpreting this whole thing. They killed Athena, so those fuckers aren’t declaring war on us, we’re declaring war on them.”
“But, but, we’ll get annihilated.” Aleisha blubbered.
Taylee smiled wryly, and said, “Yeah, well whatever happens, we’ll be wiping out a shitload of them in the process.”
“You can go to him Gorgeous, but we’re still going to fight them, and I’d rather that you stay with us and give us an extra soldier.” Scarlett said.
“We are going to declare war on them Aleisha, and as a ring-wearing member of this clan, it is your duty to stay and fight with us.” Livinia stated.
Caught up in one of the most tumultuous moments of her life, Aleisha gazed tearfully at Livinia and said, “Livinia, I respect you so much, and normally I would obey you without question, but, but, I don’t want you or any of my sisters or any of our Masters to die because of me.”
Livinia smiled weakly and said, “I understand what you’re saying, I do, but they killed Athena, so we are going to fight them. If the clan ends on this night, so be it, but the Mephistopheles Clan never backs down. If they kill one of ours, we don’t run and hide, we don’t scamper away, we don’t forget; we stand and fight.”
Ruby shuffled out, and with glistening eyes, she looked at Aleisha, and then feeling as if her next action was going to be the most significant thing that she ever did, she slipped the clan ring back on Aleisha’s finger, and sniffling, she said, “Wh-whatever happens, we stick together, all of us.”
For most of the group, tears were only another inspiring phrase away from being spilt, all the same, Vicky drew in a deep breath, then stood toe-to-toe with her sister. “Am I prepared to fight to the death to protect this clan?” Vicky asked. “Yes, yes I am!”
“We are bonded in blood Aleisha, and if death is our fate, we will meet it together.” Elizabeth stated.
“We are bonded in blood Sister,” Piper began as she pushed her chest out and stood tall, “And if any fucker threatens any one of us, they threaten us all.”
Livinia grabbed the sobbing girl’s right hand, then said, “Come, come with me and help me prepare a meal.”
“Aye, good idea!” Seamus declared. “I’s always fight better with a full tummy!”
*
Jenna Burton thought that her Mistress might agree, although she was well aware of the protocols; ask permission. She fronted Apollonia and said, “Mistress, may I speak?”
“Go ahead.”
“The girl from the vampire clan, can I have your permission to see her?”
Apollonia gazed at her and asked, “The one who saved your life?”
“Yes Mistress, Piper.”
“Why do you want to see her?”
“In our times on the street, we became close and protective of one another, and after you’d taken me under your wing, I assumed that I would never see her again, so when I saw her the other night, I just thought that I’d love to catch up with her.”
Apollonia sucked her bottom lip, then she said in a motherly fashion, “Young lady, your former friend is a vampire, and vampires are our enemies.”
Jenna had no desire to be argumentative or subordinate to her Mistress, although she said coyly, “If we treat other creatures with respect, I would hope that those creatures would treat us with the same respect.”
Apollonia gazed into space, running it through her mind. Her whole operation ran smoothly, and that was mainly because she ran a tight ship, although a major part of why the operation ran smoothly was because she had two loyal and committed Deputies. Jenna was her go-to-girl; Jenna, organise this, do that … Yes Mistress, I shall. Supernatural beings didn’t intermingle with different supernatural beings, although her Deputy had witnessed the occasion where intermingling had occurred. If Jenna piped up and asked, Ohhh, so that pretty vampire with the blue-eyes is your enemy? Apollonia would find herself stuck under the rock of hypocrisy. Glancing at her, Apollonia asked, “Where will this meeting take place?”
“If I have your permission, I will ride down to the Academy.”
Apollonia leant forward and asked curiously, “You’ll walk onto vampire grounds?”
“Mistress, if my friend Piper is there, I will walk in with no fear.”
Apollonia shook her head as she said bluntly, “Creation of mine, you are special to me, so no, permission refused.”
The refusal was unexpected, although Jenna didn’t bristle at the refusal, she simply held her ground. “Mistress, I would never disobey you, but Piper is a part of my history. We struggled together, and we scrounged together, and importantly, we survived together, so I hold no fear that Piper would wish to harm me.”
“Darling girl, I accept what you’re saying, and if this creature has a solid connection to you, then it’s not her I fear, it’s just the rest of them.”
“Mistress, I will make a solemn vow to my friend Piper that none of ours will ever cause harm to her, and I will be seeking a similar vow from her.”
Apollonia bowed her face and rubbed her right hand over her brow, then she faced her and said, “Okay, you may see her, but I don’t want you walking on to those grounds alone, so bring the girl back here.”
“I appreciate your concern for my safety Mistress, but what if her Mistress forbids her to come here?”
Apollonia thought about it, then said quietly, “I told one of the leaders of the vampires that I would guarantee, errr, you know, that vampire’s safety, and I will offer the same guarantee to your friend, so my wish is that you bring the girl back here.”
“I will do as you ask,” Jenna replied. “And Mistress, if I can ask a favour?”
“Go ahead.”
“If she agrees to come, can I have your permission to sample our recently acquired product?”
“Young witches,” Apollonia laughed, “All you wanta do is buy new clothes or snort up product!”
Jenna bowed respectfully for her Mistress, and with Apollonia by her side, she walked out of the mansion. With a reverent nod, Jenna said, “Thank-you Mistress.” Then she hopped on her bike.
Apollonia waved as Jenna took off, and then she called out, “Stay safe and bring the Blood-Sucker back here!”
Jenna took off slowly then worked the bike up to a modest 20mph up the dirt track, and as she dipped and bumped her way along the track, the thought hit her, as it always did when she navigated her way up the dirt track; One day, one day, I’m going to tear up here at sixty or seventy, maybe even faster …
The dirt track was more than two miles in length, and it connected the property to the open road, and full of pot-holes and Mother Nature’s time-earnt ridges and dips, twenty was the safe speed to ride up the track, although, One day, one day … Jenna would do it too, push her bike up to a nerve-jangling, bumping and sliding speed of sixty or seventy, if for no other reason, to see if she could do it. The track was her Mount Everest, and one day, she would go for it, that is, with her Mistresses permission of course. She never disobeyed her Mistress, for she was one of the two people who had saved her life. Or more to the point, the person she was going to see had saved her life, her Mistress hadn’t saved her life, she had simply given her another life, a better life.
Homeless and alone at the age of twelve, Jenna had been scared shitless by life before she turned thirteen. By fourteen she was a timid survivor, by fifteen she was a depressed realist. Do things that you don’t want to do, and you survive. Learn how to steal, learn how to run, understand who the really bad people are, and you might make it to sixteen. Then yeah, make it to sixteen, Happy birthday Jenna … and then celebrate your birthday under a bridge, or maybe snuggled up against one of the dump bins out the back of the mall. Being sixteen had been achieved, although life on the streets in Sioux Falls was tough, and her first solid ambition, her very first Mount Everest had been to reach the age of seventeen. And a guy fell into her life, a guy who was willing to help her, a normal guy, a seemingly normal, regular middle-aged guy, although at the time, Jenna didn’t realise that he was one of the really bad guys.
After she turned on to the road, Jenna cranked the bike up, and she leant forward in racing position as the bike screamed up to its optimum speed on the straight stretch. The cranking of gears up to top speed seemed a little stuttered, and Jenna made a mental note to tinker with her baby’s belly. She looked after her bike with almost manic care and attention, because apart from her Mistress, the bike was the one great love of her life. If somebody had of told her three years ago that she would be able to disassemble a motorbike, and then have it re-assembled the next day, she would have laughed at them, or run away from them. But yeah, after two years of pulling motorbikes apart and then putting them back together again, she had found not her ideal job, she had found her passion. Some of the other witches would say, Jen my baby’s making this whirring sound … or, Jen, my baby’s spluttering … Jenna would don her overalls, and after her care and attention, there weren’t no whirring or spluttering any more.
Jenna loved it out on the open road, allowing her baby to burn, and she lived the ride, enjoying every goose-bump producing moment of it; the thrill, the excitement, the danger …
When she picked up Piper, she would pillion her guest back to the property at a less intimidating speed, because she didn’t want to scare the crap out of her. If she picked up Piper and then rode like she usually rode, fast and furious; she could imagine asking her Sioux Falls friend, Hey Piper, wanta go for a ride on my bike again? … Piper would probably run away and scamper up a tree as she screamed back, No fucking way!
Piper …
The girl who had saved her life.
Jenna remembered everything about it, the fear, the horror, and finally, the ending …