Beyond Beta's Rejection

Harper

Elias gripped my hand as we walked along the seafront. I glanced at him, seeing that he was in his own thoughts, and squeezed his hand. He looked over and smiled at me.

“Sorry, just…” he trailed off and tapped his head with a grimace. I smiled and nodded. He meant he was in conversation with the demon. At least it was in his head and not out loud again. It wasn’t so bad when we were in private, but out in public like this had the complications of people who had no clue what was happening around them, and most them human. I couldn’t very well pass it off as, don’t worry he isn’t crazy or anything, he’s just talking to the demon in his head as we try to stop hell from spilling out on earth. Yeah, that might get more than just Elias locked up in a psych ward somewhere.

“It’s so pretty.” Katie drew me back out of my thoughts as she danced and walked along in front of us. I smiled at the delight on her face as she would stop and look out at the sea view before dancing off again. I loved that she was able to see so much more now that she was no longer under the confines and harsh rules of the Omega rank. When we had arrived, she had exclaimed that this was the first time she had seen the sea. Aaron had promised to take her before the Order had called him in and cut their honeymoon tour short.

This was, at least, a nice quaint seaside town for her first experience. I had been here a few times before. Bridlington was a relatively popular seaside town in the summer, but in their off season was practically a ghost town. Which was pretty accurate with the lesser known history of the town, and I remembered spending some time here about three or four years back when there had been rumours of a vampire clan picking off tourists. The resident clan in Whitby, about thirty miles north had asked for assistance. That was a fun case.

Despite it being quiet, I could see Marcus up ahead with Katie. From the outside, he looked relaxed and like he was enjoying himself, but the occasional glance around, and then back at Elias and me told me he was very much on Gamma mode. I glanced over at Elias again, just in time to see some sort of exchange between them. His eyes cleared, and he smiled at me again.

“Marcus feels uneasy,” he said, “Especially now that his father is back in the picture. And so close to the Order. He doesn’t like it.”

“How much do you know about his dad?” I asked, and he shrugged.

“Not much. He told me the basics before but I didn’t pry.” I nodded in response. It really felt like between Marcus’ father, and Alex’s mother that there seemed to be a lot more to the Order than I knew. Like they had been in the background my whole life, and I was just another chess piece. I didn’t like it at all.

I nodded up ahead at a white building which looked like a cafe on a corner.

“She’s in there?” Elias asked, and I nodded. I could feel like I was being pulled there and could see a slight glow around the building. Nothing dramatic, but it was there. I knew that the witch that we were looking for was inside. Elias waved to Marcus, and he stopped and looked around before looking back at us. I smiled at Katie who had noticed him stopping and was looking at the cafe in interest.

“Are we going in there?” she asked.

“Yep,” I said and Marcus grinned.

“Great, I’m starving,” he said and Katie chuckled.

“You had like two burgers on the way here. How can you be hungry?”

“I’m a growing boy,” Marcus said and puffed his chest out. I shook my head and headed to the entrance. It was the end of the day and the sky was already starting to darken, but the lights were on and there were people inside.

I walked in, followed by the other and found a bigger table near the back of the room. I sat down and picked up one of the brightly covered laminated menus. Marcus grabbed one from another table as well.

“Score, they do an all day breakfast,” he exclaimed, and I grinned. He was acting like his full attention was on the greasy delights but I could tell he was monitoring the room. My attention, though, was on the waitress who had just walked out from, what I was guessing was, the kitchen. She was dressed in a pink striped pinafore apron and she had what looked like light gingery hair tied up in a tight bun. She carried two plates to another table nearby with a smile to the customers. I noticed her smile falter as she glanced around at us. I smiled and waved. She was very good at controlling her expression, but I still caught the slight hesitation. I knew from that look that she already knew who I was.

“Hi there,” she said with a forced cheer as she reached us. “Welcome to Sea View, have you had a chance to check the menu?” She pulled out a small notepad and pen from her apron. I smiled in return, trying to put her at ease.

“Could I just get a pot of tea, please?” I asked, and she wrote it down.

“Okay, can I get an all day breakfast with extra bacon and toast please darling. Oh, and a large coffee?” Marcus threw his best charming smile at the girl. I rolled my eyes at him before glancing at Elias who was grinning.

“Sure thing,” the waitress said, seemingly unaffected. She nodded to Elias, who ordered a coffee and then Katie who was studying the menu.

“I don’t know what I want. Can I have an apple crumble?” she asked and looked at me for confirmation. I threw her a curious look but nodded. She smiled and then looked at the waitress.

“Okay, guys give me a few and I’ll get your drinks out and your food on.” She forced a smile on her face again and turned and headed back to the kitchen. I smiled as she glanced over at us again, just before she headed through the swinging door. The look of concern was all over her face.

“She’s gonna run,” Elias said with a grin and I nodded.

“I know,” I said and stood up from my seat.

I gauged the entrance to the kitchen to get my bearings before heading out of the front door. I looped around the side and down an alleyway which I hoped would lead me to the back of the building. I came out into a small car park that had a few dimly lit lights, just as the back door to one of the buildings opened.

“Barry, I’m just taking out the bins. Give me a minute.” I heard the waitress before I saw her. She rushed out, carrying a full bin liner and a bag over her shoulder. The door slammed shut as she threw the bin bag into the large commercial bin and then started fishing in the other bag. She moved towards a small beat-up car as she pulled out some keys.

“Marcus is going to be super upset if he doesn’t get his food,” I said as I walked up behind her. She screamed and dropped her keys. She turned and looked at me in fear as she bent to frantically find the keys in the dark.

“Leave me alone,” she cried, “I’m not going back. You can’t make me.” The fear was dripping off of her, enough that Maia stirred. A low growl left my throat before I had a chance to stop it. That just seemed to terrify the girl further. She sat back against her car, the keys lost to her and tears streamed down her face.

“Please,” she begged. “Don’t kill me.” What the hell? I expected maybe some resistance. Drake had warned me that the witch had evaded the Order for a number of years. But this level of fear was something else.

“Whoa,” I said, kneeling down in front of her. “I’m not gonna hurt you, why would I?” She looked at me through tear ladened lashes and let out a sob.

“Because that’s what they did to the others. Please, I didn’t choose this. Why can’t you just leave me alone.” I shook my head in confusion.

“Others?” I asked. “Listen, I don’t want to hurt you, but I think we have some crossed wires.” Maybe she thought I was a demon b***d or something. “I’m from the Divine Order.”

“I know where you are from, and what you are,” she spat. “I grew up knowing about them, and their intentions for my sacrifice.” Her face screwed up in anger although when I reached out she still flinched away. “I have had to hide for years because of you all. I’ve seen my friends be killed in the name of your damn Order.” I was completely confused but I could tell that she was getting more worked up.

“Listen,” I said, sitting back on my heels, “I promise, I’m not here to hurt you. I need your help. I have no plans to kill you.” I held up my hands to try to show that I wasn’t a threat.

“Please, just come back in and talk to us. If you don’t like what I have to say then we will leave you alone.” I meant it. I didn’t know what I would do if she was adamant in refusing the call, but I was sure as hell that I wasn’t going to force her into it.

The door to the cafe banged open, making us both jump.

“Brianna, where the hell are you?” a short guy with a thick moustache and a greasy looking white apron called out angrily. He looked over and saw us by the car.

“What the hell!” he exclaimed and ran over.

“Erm, someone tried to grab her,” I said quickly and looked over at the girl, hoping she would back me up.

“Again?” the guy said. “I swear this town is going to shit.” The girl, Brianna, nodded and a fresh set of tears fell from her eyes.

“Again?” I asked, looking at her. “This has happened before?”

“Yeah, some thugs a couple of weeks ago,” The guy answered. Brianna looked at me, biting her l*p, and I nodded. Her look told me it wasn’t just some random thugs.

“It’s a good thing you were here, miss,” the guy said as he helped Brianna to her feet. I grabbed her bag to make it look like my own. It would have been hard to explain why she looked like she was leaving and not just cleaning up.

“I think so,” I said, “I must have scared them off.”

“Well, come on back inside both of you. Your food is ready and that big guy looks like he’s gonna eat the table if we don’t get his breakfast out to him,” The guy said and I smiled.

“I wouldn’t put it past him.” I turned to Brianna.

“Can you sit with us?” I asked, “You look shaken, a cup of sweet tea might help.” Brianna looked hesitant as she glanced at the guy, but he was already nodding.

“Yes girl, go sit down,” he said, “most of the other customers have done, I doubt we’ll get anymore tonight.”

“Thanks Barry,” Brianna said as he herded us back in through the door.

I headed through the small kitchen back into the main cafe holding onto Brianna’s hand. I still had her bag but wasn’t sure that she wasn’t still a flight risk. I nodded to Elias as we walked over. He moved out of his seat so Brianna could sit and Katie reached out with some napkins with a smile. The guy, Barry, followed us out with the food and put them in front of Katie and Marcus. Marcus barely grunted as he began tucking in but Katie threw him a dazzling smile.

“Thank you so much,” she said, before lifting a spoon of steaming apple crumble and custard to her mouth.

“You’re welcome. It’s on the house, for protecting my staff from that attack.”

“Attack.” Marcus looked up alert. “What attack?” I grinned and shook my head.

“I’ll explain later,” I said as the guy headed back into the kitchen.

I waited until he disappeared, muttering to himself, before carrying on.

“Everyone, this is Brianna. She is the witch we have been looking for.”