Title- Demi Darkness
Author- Claire C. Griffon
Disclaimer- Jim Butcher owns The Dresden Files. I can only claim Wisteria and Wagner for my own.
CHAPTER ONE
She was young, seventeen tops, if I was a good judge of age.So, maybe not all that young, but she was by my standards. At that age, she shouldn't have had that much power. Hell, at that age, she shouldn't have had any. Yet, here she was, holding me in a figure of High Magic.
I strugled against it one last time even though I knew it was useless. "Are you satisfied with the circle, Mr. Dresden?" she asked.
Let's see... I had been coerced into coming here because she knew my name. I'm currently a prisinor in a figure of High Magic. What was I forgetting now? Right. The girl had me, Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, wizard, under her control. However, I showed admirable constraint and didn't mention any of this. Instead, I sat down, duster pooled around me. At least the circle was big enough to be comfortable. I crossed my arms and glared at her without meeting her eyes. I had no wish to soulgaze with a person I had never met but still somehow knew my full name.
"Mr Dresden." she sighed, "I apologize for this. I knew of no other way to reach you though."
"I have an office. I have a phone. I'm in the phone book," I told her dryly.
"I couldn't risk anyone finding out about this meeting," she explained. Her voice was pleading, asking for help. Dammit. Now I was going to get this urge to help her just because of my outdated ideals.
"Don't you think that might be a little difficult? You coerced me into coming here and broke the Fourth Law of Magic in doing so. The While Council--" I shut my mouth before I coul dig myself into an even deeper hole. I had just told a possibly rouge magic user about the White Council. I sighed. Things were not looking good.
"Don't worry about them, Mr. Dresden. This room is well warded and shielded. They will have no idea of what is occuring in it." Her voice was calm, matter-of-fact. It reminded me a bit of Murphy, actually. Things were looking worse. "Look, if we both give eachother our word that we won't harm the other or suddenly disappear, I'll release the circle. Agreed?"
"I agree. You?"
"I swear by the moon, sun and stars that I will not harm you in any fashion." Her voice was strong as she spoke. Made me wonder what I was getting myslf into. She raised a hand and whispered something. I felt the circle disappear a moment later with a quiet pop. "Happy?"
"A bit, yes."
"Good. Now, will you please help me?"
"Look. I'm really sorry. But...Hell's bells. I don't even know your name!"
She nodded. "You're right. I apologize again. My name is Wisteria Harpiai Broadsword."
I felt sorry for her with a name like that. It was a mouthful, make no mistake. I whispered the name, mimicking its exact nuances. But I felt no magic. "Its' fake," I told her.
"To you, perhaps. But it is the name that magic knows me by. So, for me, it's more true than my given name."
"Which is?"
She paused, as if deciding whether or not to tell be. "I'm Yolanda Centura Bloom."
This time, when I whispered it, I felt the stirrings of magic within. She was telling the truth. And the name was still a mouthful. "Alright then." I stood. "What is it you need?"
"Protection, Mr. Dresden."
Intriegued, I raised an eyebrow. "From?"
"The Red Court," she said. Oh boy. Vampires were involved. Things were getting worse. "And maybe even the White Council." Take that back. Things were worse.
"Ms. Bloom--" I began.
"Please. Either Wisteria or Broadsword. I don't go by my given name much anymore."
Fine. We'll play the game her way for a bit. "Wisteria," I said, simply because I would've felt dumb calling her Ms. Broadsword, not to mention that it would've sounded stupid. "I'm not exactly on good terms with either group at the moment. And if the Council learns that I'm helping a rouge wizard--"
"I'm not a rouge," she interrupted. "Nor am I a wizard. At least, I don't think I am."
Then what the hell are you? Once again, I kept all opinions to myself. And people say I never learn from my mistakes. I heard her say something under her breath, but as to what it was, I had no clue. "Come again?"
"I'm a Demi," she said. She was still quiet, but actually hearable this time. And she sounded as though she was ashamed of what she was. It was quite a contrast from before.
"A Demi what? God? Demon? Angel?"
"Vampire."
I stopped dead, no longer pacing. I have no shame in admitting that it was the beginnings of being frozen in fear. "A what?" I asked, hoping that I had misheard.
"I'm a Demi-vamp, Mr. Dresden."
Answer hadn't changed. And things were rapidly getting worser by the second.