Welcome back all of you lovely readers!
I would like to thank you all for your patience, as I have been drifting between fandoms and finding my inspiration once again. Thank you all who have reviewed, alerted and favorited! You make me keep writing :D
Without further ado:
Chapter 14: Griffith
"-and then Rory says 'Run to your mommy, you little' errrr…" Simone trailed off, not really wanting to say the bad word which her friend seemed quite happy to repeat numerous times in a conversation. "Well, you know… And then, she takes her notebook and just goes away! And the teacher tries to stop her, but she just goes out!" With that, the witch finished her story of Rory's epic changing of class.
"She sounds like a real fruitcake!" Her grandmother's voice came over the phone, riddled with laughter and Simone couldn't help but simply smile. Genuinely, sweetly. She missed her grandmother. The woman was the ideal which the teen wanted to live up to. She was the witch that Simone imagined whenever she heard the word. "But, tell me, what is that ice princess Evangeline teaching you? Has she tested your affinity yet?"
"Tested my affinity?" Simone asked, pushing the window open and sitting on the still. "She said that it needs to manifest itself first?"
"Nonsense. It's already manifested." Her grandmother laughed. "What did you think all those bursts of your magic were? Fairies?"
"But… how do I test my elemental affinity?" Simone wondered. "Do I just try to set something on fire or-?" Her grandmother's laughter interrupted her.
"Nonsense." The old witch said. "Take a silver bowl, pour some fresh, running water and get a drop of your blood into it. It will show you the affinity." Simone looked out into the garden, watching the way the fog dragged along the ground, slowly seeping towards the villa. "The question is, why am I and why isn't Evangeline teaching you this?"
"I-I guess she's busy?" Simone stammered. "She's been spending a lot of time in her room or alone in the shop." The teen quietly said, looking at her lap.
"Feh." Her grandmother snorted and the teen could hear the clanking of pots and pans on the other side. Obviously, the old witch was making a potion. "Beacon Hills has always been trouble. Especially those Hale brats, running around like they knew everything."
"I met one." The blonde said, twirling a piece of her hair. "Laura Hale."
"Sassy, isn't she?" Commented the old witch. "That one talked back all the time. But, her mother wasn't too bad. Talia had good ideals. Too bad that she went about them the wrong way."
"What do you mean?"
"Talia Hale talked about peace between species, Simone." Her grandmother had stopped her work and let out a huff. "And that kind of talk gets you killed." There was a moment of silence as the teen mused over those words. "I pity the Alpha that is picking up the leftovers. Be on the lookout, because whoever it is, they will want a new pack. New pack means new werewolves. And new wolves are always trouble. They have no control."
"If you were the Alpha, who would you turn?" The witch wondered, glancing at the clock on the wall.
"Teenagers." Her grandmother immediately answered. "Or women. Easy to trick and they would have a lot of anger. And nothing fuels a werewolf like rage." A beep sounded from Simone's phone and she pulled it away from her ear to take a look. Rory, the phone screen said.
"I'm sorry, grandma, I have another call." The witch made an excuse.
"No worries, kid. You go have fun." Simone switched the call from her grandmother to her friend.
"Hello?"
"Get outside, bitch, I'm not waiting forever." Came Rory's voice and the line cut off. Obviously, her friend had come to pick her up. Simone jumped off the window still and closed the latch before grabbing her bag and leaving. Dan was sitting on the sofa in the kitchen, a book open in front of him when the witch peered in.
"Dan, I'm leaving." She told the warlock and got a silent wave, the young man's eyes not leaving the paper.
Rory drove a modern yellow Beetle and always complained how her mother wouldn't let her get anything faster. Instead, she kept nagging to Simone how she had, in fact, inherited the old thing from her older brother, who was now at college. Rory loved to talk about her brothers. Well, the older one more than the younger one.
Her father came from a long line of Marines, who loved the military with all of their life. Naturally, he, too, had carried on the tradition. He was a Major in the Navy and that's why they used to move a lot when Rory was a little girl. They had lived almost everywhere in the USA where there was a large Navy base. So, Rory had been quite happy when her mother had demanded stability and asked for a house in Beacon Hills, preferring to stay there with the kids while her husband for deployed.
Her mother was a sweet woman who used to be a teacher before she met her father. Now, she worked as an educational supplier in marketing. Rory had complained to Simone how the job was boring and demanded long hours, but that it was much better than seeing her mother at school every day. She had spoken of the fiasco back in Annapolis, when Lillian had actually given her detention for doing a skateboarding trick off a cafeteria table.
Simone found it strange that Rory addressed her mother with her full first name, especially since it was a rather formal-sounding one. She didn't ask her pseudo-friend about it, though. She really wanted to, but she didn't. Simone wasn't built that way. She had this lump in her throat whenever she felt like asking a really personal question. Then, she'd get stuck in her own head, repeating all variations of it and trying to decide which would be the best. And in the end, she would begin questioning if she should even ask, which would result in her not speaking at all.
She really wanted to change that.
But, by the time she'd gathered her courage to ask about Rory's mom, the skater girl already had a question of her own, steering the topic away. Somehow, she'd found herself spilling all of her problems to the girl without holding back. Simone had talked about her frustration at her mother and how the woman wouldn't let her do her own thing, but forbid her from using her talent. Of course, the word magic hadn't left her mouth even once, and she'd realized why she'd always had trouble making friends: You couldn't really talk to them about your troubles. But, Rory had taken her stuttered explanation about a cooking obsession in stride, like she hadn't noticed the teen's slip up.
Talking to the skater girl had been different than what Simone expected it to be.
Rory wasn't really the consoling type. No, the girl had egged the you g witch on to vent all of her frustrations out, instead of defending her mother's actions. And by the time the yellow Beetle had entered Rory's street, Simone was almost yelling, her magic raging inside her and making the car stereo crackle.
"She sounds terrible." Rory said after Simone had retold the story of the familiars, or, in the non-magic version, the kittens of their family's cat. "I'm kinda glad that you moved here, instead of living with that witch. Serves her right." Rory stopped the car and undid her seatbelt, getting out. Simone did the same, taking her bag with her.
"She's not that bad." The witch awkwardly said, her anger now gone and replaced with guilt. While her mother was not her favorite person, Simone didn't hate the woman. "She's just trying to look out for me." Rory locked the car and gave her a smile from her side that made Simone gasp. "You tricked me!" Yelled the witch, catching up to her friend up the driveway.
"Well, you only fight so much with the people you really love." Explained Rory with a shrug. "You should see me and Zack. Lillian thinks that we'll kill each other half the time." Simone hadn't met Zack, the youngest child of the Griffith family yet. She knew from Rory, and Halrey, that he was a freshman and really into the gaming world, but other than that, not much. Except, a single touchy topic in Rory's life: Zack was the Griffiths' only biological child.
"You're mean." The witch told Rory as they entered the backyard of the house through a fence gate. The skater girl offered only a smirk, which told Simone that she knew just what she was doing and was reveling in it. The young witch had discovered that about her classmate recently. As rude and as uninterested as Rory came off, the girl was, once you dug deep enough, kind and caring, not to mention quite smart. Rory just preferred being tough. She didn't want to be pitied, that much Simone could tell. Why one would pity her, she would know, but she could see that Rory connected that to her childhood as an orphan.
"This way." The teen spoke, pulling Simone out of her thoughts and into the reality. The two girls went around the house and into the backyard, where a perfectly mowed lawn was. The young witch though just how much her mother would love for her own to look like that. "Lillian gives me five bucks to make it look like this." Rory told her when she saw the awed expression on her face.
"I'll give you ten to work with me in my garden." Simone's mouth supplied before she could help herself. Obviously, Dan was rubbing off on her.
"I'll take that deal anytime." Rory agreed with a laugh. Then, she motioned for her friend to come closer and showed her the universal sound for being silent. Simone frowned, but obeyed. They snuck across the perfect lawn, heading for the back door of the house, rather slowly. Rory turned from time to time to motion for Simone to go faster or slower, but other than that, they were deathly quiet. Then, a door sounded from somewhere and Simone caught Rory's sleeve.
"What was that?" She whispered to her friend who had frozen, eyes screwed shut.
"Fucking shit." Cursed the skater girl. "Run!" She dropped her bag on the floor and ran like the Devil himself was on her heels. "Run for your life!" Simone stood there, shocked, for a second, before following her friend in a jog.
"Rory? What is-?"
"Woof!" The bark sounded like thunder in the form of a dog, telling Simon just how giant the beast had to be to produce that sound. She froze, turning. Sure enough, it was enormous. As if in slow motion, she saw the huge dog, white and brown, running towards her, barking like a mountain was moving. Simone was by no means short, and this beast had to at least reach her waist if it stood next to her. And it was heading towards her like nobody's business.
"Jo, run!" Rory's shout reached her ears, but Simone was frozen still. "Max! No!" Rory kept yelling. "Max! Stop! Sit!" But Max, as Simone figured the dog was named, did not in fact stop or sit. No, he launched himself at the young witch with a delighted bark like rumbling thunder, his massive form too much for her to handle. She landed on her back with a small scream, the wind knocked out of her. "Nooo! Bad boy, Max! No slobber!" The dog's mouth had opened, the huge, red tongue sliding around Simone's front and face, covering everything in drool. "Shiiiiiiiiit!" Rory cursed from somewhere behind the witch, and for once, she approved of the words. "Zaaaack! I'm going to murder you and remove the evidence!" She then yelled at the house.
"R-Rory!" Simone managed to push away the giant, furry head. "He-elp!" The young witch cursed her magic, which hadn't even recognized the beast of a dog, Max, as a threat.
"On it. I'm on it." Rory's face came into vision above the dog, pulling with utmost concentration on the blue collar in an attempt to remove the beast from her friend. "Max, come on! Where's Zack, boy? Hmm?" Her voice took a ridiculous, cooing tone, way higher than its normal frequency. "Where's Zack? Go find Zack! Go!" Max's massive body moved, and he trotted away towards the house happily. "Good boy!" Rory yelled after him and then grabbed Simone's arms, pulling her up easily. "Why didn't you run when I told you to, you idiot?"
"Because I didn't know that you had a beast in your yard!" Simone shrieked back, adrenaline still pumping through her. She reached for her face, wiping away some of the slobber. "Oh, Goddess." She sighed, brushing away the damp hair.
"Sorry. Max was out the last time you were here." Rory told her, looking quite apologetic, which seemed strange on her. "I forgot that you didn't know about him. Zack was supposed to lock him in the kennel, anyways. Useless brother." Rory grabbed her bag from the floor, heading towards the house on a path of vengeance now. "Come on, let's kill the youngest spawn of the Griffiths and erase the evidence." She smirked.
It was around half an hour later, after Simone had taken a quick shower in Rory's bathroom, yes, she had her own bathroom, that the girls settled in front of the TV together. Zack had yet to show his face, and the witch had heard some quite painful sounding yells come from his room while she dressed in the lent clothes. She looked quite badass, if she dared say it. Rory's wardrobe was like Lzzy Hale had met Taylor Momsen and then they'd proceeded to party with Avril Lavigne at Hot Topic or Spencer's the whole night. In the end, Simone had settled for a pair of loose sweats, with Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas all over them, and a sleeveless shirt, plain and black.
She had looked at herself in the mirror on the door of Rory's room, shocked at how well the clothes fit her. She looked like a rock star. Rory had come and picked her up from the room, taking her to the den on the same floor, where a large TV and a stereo system was. The Griffiths were rich, Simone could tell that much from the house. But, they showed it in a different way than Eve did.
The Inn was as old fashioned as they came, decorated in furniture from the old days, dating as far as the First World War. Sure enough, the new residents had made some modern improvements, like the kitchen and the patio outside, yet, some of the rooms looked like they had come straight from a TV show or something. The Griffiths' house was different, though. It had three stories, the ground level with a living room, kitchen and bathroom. The second was for children, as Rory had showed her, and it was used mostly by her and Zack alone. The third was for her parents, and Max was the only one who went there other than the adults. Then again, Max went pretty much wherever he wanted.
After Simone and Rory had settled into the den with a movie, the cheesiest one which they could find, the witch had actually gotten to know Max a little better. He was a perfect example of the giant St. Bernard breed, perfect for long trekking in the mountains or guarding a house. However, as Rory had explained 'Lillian screwed him up', which meant that the dog was much more adapt at taking care of children and tidying up the house than at actual dog-like activities. He didn't know how to fetch a ball or a frisbee, but he could tell which socks were whose and put them into the right basket for dirty laundry. He was eager to eat almost any leftovers that there were, and enjoyed sleeping around the house all day instead of running about the woods. He was, in short, the laziest dog Simone had ever seen.
Though, she had quickly forgiven him for all the slobber and warmed up to the giant puppy, which had chosen to lie down in front of the couch and serve as a footrest for the girls. No wonder her magic hadn't even registered the dog as a threat. Now that she prodded his energy with her own, a technique that Eve had been teaching her, she could see that he had one of the purest and calmest that she had even been around.
They had finally paused the movie, right in the middle of it, and went, giggling, to raid the fridge. Rory was pouring spicy chips into a large bowl, humming the song from the movie. Simone moved to the cupboards, finding the plate with round separators, clearly for dips, quite easily.
"I love how she's incredibly peppy." Commented Rory about the movie.
"It's like Barbie meets Lydia Martin." Added the witch with a giggle. Rory groaned.
"I don't believe that that would be necessary." A new voice commented from behind Simone and she squeaked a bit, whirling around. "Martin does just fine with being a diva on her own." The boy in front of her was shorter than her, but he was positioned on the stairs, so he loomed over her. She could immediately spot the differences between him and Rory and his similarities to Mrs. Griffith.
He was lanky, with a youthful face, looking much younger than his age. Rory, instead, was built curvy, with muscles in all the right places, as she clearly exercised a lot on her skateboard. He was terribly pale, like he hadn't seen the sun in ages and his dark eyes were large, wide, looking at her and taking her in in a calculated manner. He was calmly observing. Unlike Rory. She was tan, her green eyes always expressive, be it anger, worry or pure mischievousness.
"Piss off, Zack." Rory threw over her shoulder, successfully introducing her younger brother. Simone watched him as he descended the last couple of stairs, coming next to them and grabbing some chips, eating them.
"You're the new girl." He told Simone, leaning on the counter with an elbow, still watching her in a cool manner. Now, though, the young witch could see something on his face. A hint of curiosity. A little bit of mischievousness. He was like his sister, after all.
"Unambiguous observation." She returned his sarcastic tone with a big word, causing a smirk to appear on his face.
"Smooth, new girl."
"Oh, God, Zack." Rory groaned, pushing her brother away and bringing different dips to the counter, beginning to pour them into the proper spots. "Go flirt with your virtual girlfriend or watch porn, or something." Zack's ears burned a brilliant shade of red, the blush spreading to his neck as well. He turned around and headed back upstairs, but not before grabbing a bag of Pringles from the lower part of the cupboard. "I'm sorry about him." The teen apologized.
"You didn't have to be so mean to him." Simone murmured, looking at the chips. She had wanted a brother or a sister, like any only child had at some point. She had often imagined the scenario in her head. Sharing her bedroom. Sharing her craft. Talking about her anger at her mother. Having a best friend in the house. She hadn't imagined this.
"Oh, please. He'll get over it." Rory told her, rolling her eyes and grabbed the dish with the dips, heading upstairs. "You should hear him!" She continued once she was sure that Simone was following her. "He talks about you all the time, by the way." Rory deepened her voice a bit, though it was quite unnecessary, as Zack's voice hadn't broken yet. "She wore maroon today! She had a braid! Will you call her over for a sleepover?"
"Shut up, you Crawler!" Zack's voice came from behind the door of his room, squeaking even more than before. Rory gave Simone a meaningful look before they continued on to watch the rest of their movie.
It was dark by the time Dan arrived to pick Simone up from the Griffiths'. Not to mention that it was well past curfew. Zack had ended up joining the girls, settling in between them on the couch with a large ice-cream container, caramel flavored. They had all shamelessly passed the treat around, eating with the same spoon, all while watching the second girly movie which they could find, She's the Man, with Amanda Bynes. It had been a great follow up to the former, Legally Blonde.
Simone had almost been sad to go.
Zack and Rory had come all the way to the door with her, as they kept re-telling each other the jokes from the movie, all three of them laughing like crazy. The freshman boy had made Simone swear to come back and play a game with him next time, promising that he'd withstand playing even Mario Carts if it was to smoke his sister.
Dan had raised an eyebrow at the smile which the witch couldn't keep off of her face as she neared the car. But, he didn't comment as Simone climbed into the passenger seat, buckling in and closing the door.
"I take it that you had a good time?" The warlock finally said as he took the maroon KIA down the road and towards the highway. He reached over and turned the volume of the stereo down, so that they could talk easier.
"Yeah." The witch finally said. "I had fun." Dan glanced over her once, twice, but she didn't say anything else.
"And?" He asked, smiling knowingly at the young witch. But, Simone's smile just widened.
"Shut up." She playfully tossed at him, reaching over and turning the volume back up on the stereo. That warlock's laughter was drowned in the growling vocals of Alice Cooper's Poison.
It started like a tickle. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, breaking him from his sleep, tearing him away from his dreams. He was painfully aware of the itch, which simply needed to be scratched. Demanded attention. He needed to awaken now. It was time.
It was his time.
His eyes slowly opened, only to be greeted by the pitch black darkness. He couldn't see. He couldn't see anything. His arms moved, followed by a sound of metal clanging suspiciously like chains. They had chained him. Him. They had chained him. It was a feeble attempt to keep him at bay, at best, undoubtedly by some rogue hunter. Witches knew better.
Witches.
He took a shaky breath, smelling the dust and decay all around him. He longed for air. For clean air and for the light of the moon. He longed for nature. By the sacred magic, he felt like he'd been trapped for centuries. For all he knew, he might've been.
He focused and then, moved.
The chains snapped away from his body, like they'd become glass and the top of the container where they'd put him in rose like it wasn't a stone slab but a piece of light paper, ready to fly in the wind. For a moment, his strength seeped away from his tired limbs, leaving him panting there, just struggling to breathe. To exist.
How the mighty have fallen.
And then, after minutes of hours, he didn't know, the power slowly returned to him and he forced his body upwards, teeth grinding against each other. It took him every ounce of strength to just sit up and look around. He was nowhere that he knew of and he could spot a couple of quite powerful spells a little ways off, bound to the Earth with runes.
It would take him some time to leave this desolate place.
He took a breath of fresh air, the moon shining high above him, a wolf howling in the distance. As his lungs filled, he smirked, the muscles of his face protesting madly. He was alive. He was alive and he remembered everything. He could feel it. The eerie call of his core, of his essence. He could feel that which had been stolen from him.
And they would pay.
Dun dun dun duuuuun!
I loooove this chapter! I promise that I won't leave you guys waiting for this long with a cliffie like this xD
Anyways, some facts from the chapter:
- Zack references the Crawler from Fable III
- Max was supposed to be a Golden Retriever, but I decided on a St. Bernard in the end
- Rory actually prefers eating healthy, except when she's watching something
Onto the reviews:
Jayeshdms:
I'm sorry for the long wait and I hope that you haven't given up on me! xD
Yes, the barrier will be explained later on, but it isn't the time yet. I'm just giving you guys bits and pieces for now :)
Well…. Neutral… Well… She says that she is… But, you still need to consider that supplying plants and gems is her business as well. She isn't really helping per se. If a werewolf ordered something, she'd get it for them as well.
Hope that this clears it up!
RandomWeirdGirl:
I'm sorry for the long wait! Hopefully, you're still with me here xD
Yeah, I wanted Simone and Allison to meet, but nothing too extravagant or anything. I think that the scene fit pretty well with all the parties included :D I love how both Chris and Eve embarrassed the poor girls xD
Aaaah, Kimura-san… Well.. no promises here.. We'll see…
Stiles will be back pretty soon, I promise. As soon as Simone messes up and ends up in his and Scott's mess
Hopefully, you did well on your exams!
Kace:
Thank you very much! I'm sorry for the long break, I've been drifting between fandoms xD
Nearlyheadlesspotter:
Thank you sooo much! You reminded me that I should re-focus and begin writing over here once more xD
I'm glad that you think that the story isn't too slow… I feel like I may have dragged it on for a bit, but it will be a little more dynamic from here on :D
I'm so glad that you like Simone :D Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter as well!
That's all folks!
