Damn the Dark
Ash shook his blonde hair out of his face as he packed up his and Mary-Lynnette's things into a large suitcase. She, of course, wasn't helping; she wouldn't even talk to him anymore. He'd grown tired of it and felt ready and willing to break at any moment.
As he zipped up the suitcase, Mary-Lynnette moved from her spot on the floor to the couch on the opposite side of the room.
She coughed. "Where are we going?" She asked, head tilted curiously to the side, hair spilling over her shoulder.
Ash turned, in shock. He walked cautiously over to her and squatted, grabbing her hands.
"Are you speaking to me again, love?" He rubbed circles on the back of her sickly pale hand with his thumb.
She didn't even shrug. "You didn't answer my question."
"To another one of Thierry's safe houses. It's in Anamosa, Iowa, and it's quite a drive I'm afraid." He shook her hands a bit and tried wearily to smile.
She didn't react at all, but it was about as much as he expected. She hardly felt anything anymore. He could feel her through the silver cord. He couldn't even say he felt her pain because she was, in essence, numb. He would never wish sorrow upon her, never. But he just wanted her to feel something.
"I don't want to go." She said simply.
He stood up and sighed; it could have been so easy. But again, he didn't expect much from her.
"Well, you have to. I'm sorry."
He watched her as she stood and made a quick dash for the bathroom, which had a lock. It wouldn't stop him, the lock, but it was a bit tiring having to chase her around. He scooped her around the waist, still sighing, and flipped her over his shoulder like a potato sack. She had the personality of a potato sack, after all, why not play the entire part?
He grabbed his suitcase and fumbled down the stairs, grimacing at his untied shoelaces. He dumped Mary-Lynnette in the car and said, "Don't move an inch." Then he went around the back of the Cadillac and dumped his bag inside.
When Ash turned back, Mare was trying to get back to the house. He tried, once again, to shove her into the passenger seat.
"Mare, go-!"
"I will not get in the car."
"Fine. Then I apologize for what I'm about to do." At that, he knocked her unconscious with his mind.
He finally sat back in the car and started the engine. The first few miles were easy, until he realized he had about 20 more hours to go. He was lucky Mary-Lynnette was still… resting. Oh well, he thought, she needed the sleep anyway.
About 15 hours later, she woke up. She wiped her eyes groggily and looked at him.
"Why did you put me to sleep?"
He gave her a look, but answered anyway.
"You wouldn't get into the car, remember?"
"I did not want to get into the car."
He sighed. "I know, but you have to learn to deal with things, Mary-Lynnette! I have!"
A growl rumbled deep in his chest and he bared his teeth. Then he stopped abruptly, as if realizing for the first time what he was doing. He hadn't meant to snap at her, even if she didn't react. He couldn't let himself crack under pressure, and that was why he was going to see Blaise in Iowa. He wanted to fix the problem that was Mary-Lynnette; it was causing them both too much stress and it wasn't healthy. He would make it right, and if it meant severing the connection between them, so be it. He loved her far too much to let this go on any longer.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you," he said looking in her eyes for emphasis. "Only a few more minutes and we'll be there."
When they arrived, Mary-Lynnette still hadn't moved, not even to get more comfortable.
He pulled her out of the car and she, surprisingly, walked beside him on her own. As they walked, they came across a door with a black flower painted clumsily on it. He rushed his way inside, with only a few guards stopping him and Mare along the way. He stopped in the middle of his urgency when he saw very curvy hips and dark hair cascading down past them. He grabbed his cousin's shoulder, causing her to brush him off and turn around angrily.
"Look, I told you Henry, get your filthy werewolf paws- Ash." Blaise Harman leaned her weight to the side, and her hips jutted out even more. She tilted her head upwards, giving him a one-over and a perfect view of her smoky eyes. There was no look of surprise on her face; it was harder to deter Blaise than most. And that was only going to make this harder for him.
"Well, don't you look God awful?" She commented critically, with wide eyes. "You need more sleep." She traced the circles under his eyes lightly with her gel-tipped nails.
He swatted her away "I'm aware. We need to talk, Blaise."
She walked away, with no doubt he would follow closely behind; he did. He had a grip on Mary-Lynnette's hand and they both sat down when Blaise did.
Finally she said, "What ever about?" She seemed to notice Ash's soulmate for the first time. "Mary-Lynnette, lovely as… well, nice to see you again." She gave a small chuckle and crossed her tan legs that were not covered as much as they should be. "No offense intended, but you two look like hell boiled over. Ha ha."
"Yes, no offense, of course. About that talk…" Ash tried once again to get to the point.
"Ash… honey. I know all about it. Thierry called me. Indirectly, of course, I'm not important enough for him I guess. I shouldn't even be here. I hate it, really. It's not my natural habitat, you know? I can't get any boys. Everyone has soulmates! If I wasn't sure that we would win, I wouldn't even have considered the daybreakers."
"Blaise! You noticed Mary-Lynnette's behavior? She's been shy, I know, but never this shy before. You know what's going on, Thierry informed you. C'mon, you've got to help me!" his voice held desperation close.
"Don't get so worked up," She said, irritated now. "I'll get the other girl."
She walked out, and then returned, just as quickly. She dragged a young girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen, behind her. "This is Farah. She has the same problem as your girlfriend. Don't listen to what she says. She's crazy." She made a swirling motion with her hand next to her temple.
Upon the sight of Farah, Mary-Lynnette stood up, grinning brightly for the first time in months. Ash drew in a hard breath and smiled as well. It was unbelievably wonderful to see her even remotely happy anymore.
Farah returned the smile with the same amount of enthusiasm and they both walked hand in hand out of the room together. Ash made a move to follow them, but Blaise held out her arm in protest.
"Leave them be. Their happy, and besides, what can they do? There's security practically crawling around this place. A bit overdone, if you ask me." She flipped her waves over her shoulder.
Ash shook it off.
"Blaise, you have to help me. I have no idea what's going on with her, and I'm scared to death. You seem to know what's going on and I feel like I've lost control of the entire situation. You know as well as anyone how much I hate not being in control." He panted when he stopped and Blaise broke in.
"Oh, you poor, innocent thing. You think you're the only one who's got it bad? I'm so tired of my image. The bitch witch, the slut, the disgrace, I've had enough of it!"
She took a deep breath and recollected herself. "Anyway, I don't know anything."
Her ignorance only made Ash angrier. If that was possible.
"For God's sake, Blaise! This isn't about your pride! When have you ever cared about what people thought of you? Why does it bother you so much now?"
She stared at him for a moment, her dark lashes framing her sorrow.
"It gets to me because the one person who could've meant the world to me looks down on me."
"Wait, what? You mean your soulmate? He called you a slut?"
She took another shaky breath, eyes closed.
"Yes, no. Maybe. He could be my soulmate, I don't know. It was Philip North and I saw him during my visit to the mansion. Farah was with me, working as an assistant witch. I spotted him and we talked a bit until he realized who I was. I guess he thought I might try to mess with him, not that he was wrong, and he… he called me…" She drifted off and stared into space. Ash panicked a moment when he realized her eyes were wet and clouded over.
"Blaise, I'm so-"
"But hen I did something horrible," She sniffed. "I wanted him to love me so desperately that I tried something. More extreme then I knew I was capable of, and… and…" She let out a sob.
Ash's eyes widened and he reached out for her, urging her to continue. He thought he was onto something.
"I cast a love spell, far too powerful for me, forbidden even to the mother. I'm sure Gran would've had trouble. And, it just… bounced off of him because he was a witch. I didn't know that of course, and negative energy from the spell hit Farah. It also hit Mary-Lynnette. Because he was so unwilling, I guess, depression and other emotions, and screwed them both. Ash, I'm so sorry." She hid her face in her hands and choked out a raspy sob.
Ash shook his head and bit his tight lips so hard to keep from hitting her.
"You… you..." He couldn't spit out the words.
This seemed to give her courage. She stood up.
"I'll make things right, though. You'll see! I'll get a reverse spell and fix this. And then I'll get Phil to see the better side of me. I'm not going to be held down by my past anymore!"
Ash may have been proud of her little speech, if it weren't for her ruining his life. So, instead of applauding her, he went looking for Mary-Lynnette, storming down the halls. When he found her, he caught a bit of her conversation with Farah.
"I feel safe in the dark. It is the only place I know myself." She sat, crossed legged on the ground and Farah stared intently at her, nodding.
"Exactly. There is no where to hide in the light. Inspiration, secrets, everything stems from fear, hurt, darkness. Happiness is ignorance. Bliss is futile."
Then they interlocked hands and murmured something inaudible and unintelligible. Then they drew fingernails across their wrists, blood bubbling up.
This is when Ash intervened, pulling Mary-Lynnette into the hall, hugging her close.
"We are going to fix this. We are going to fix you, I swear."
She added dryly, "I apologize because this is causing you pain, but I feel none."
"This is not your fault, baby. I love you so much…"
Blaise walked in then and repeated her vow to fix the girls.
"Yeah, Blaise?" He said, still clutching Mary-Lynnette to his chest. "What if you can't?"
"Then I fear they may resort to… suicide. That is, if the cutting doesn't kill them first." She gained some of her sass back.
But Ash didn't appreciate this Blaise. He numbed her mind, and threw her off into the wall. When a guard approached he said, "You can take her to the dumpster for all I care."
A/N) Well, it's been a while since I updated and I'm sorry about that. But I've been busy; I went to my first Paramore concert! It was so much fun and I cried tears of pure happiness. But sorry, you don't want to know about that. Anyway, I know some people have been confused as to what's going on, but I'll try to clear it up in this chapter. I did some research on witchcraft, and I think this should make sense. I made it a bit longer than my usual… length. Sorry, I'll stop ranting now. Review!