Mike slipped his arms around Calipsa's waist, breathing in the sweet smell of lilacs from her shimmering golden locks. They stood wordlessly, alone, along the lake shore, watching the crimson sun set as it slowly sank lower in the sky. Calipsa sighed.
"It's so beautiful isn't it?"
She closed her eyes, inhaling the pure, calming summer air. There weren't many times during the school term that they had the chance to be alone like this. Now that it was summer, they could spend as much time together as they wanted. She smiled to herself and raised her eyelids, catching the final rays of the sun slipping beneath the horizon. Mike pulled himself around to face her. He grinned, taking her hands in his.
"I'm off to have a fly around the pitch with the guys, want to come?"
Calipsa looked out over the lake, the wind blowing serenely through her tresses, then turned back to face Mike.
"I think I'll stay here for a little while more," she declined. "Twilight is my favourite time of day, you know that!"
Her crystal blue eyes twinkled with charm as she leaned over and kissed Mike softly on the lips. She smiled sweetly as he pulled away and turned, making his way towards the Quidditch pitch to meet up with Harry, Ron, and Kevin.
Alone now, Calipsa skirted the lake's edge, her eyes cast up at the changing sky. The bright rainbow hues of the twilight firmament reflected off the lake's mirror-like surface, the small waves giving the effect that the aqua images danced upon the facade. She turned her attention to the scenery around her; the serenity and placidity of it all was so unusual it was almost eerie.
She took another deep breath, it was so peaceful, so surreal. The final light of day was fading faster, the mottled colours above vanishing behind the azure darkness. She decided it was time to get back, maybe the girls and herself would challenge the boys to a mini game of Quidditch.
She turned from the lakeside to head back to the castle, strolling along the pathway that took her past the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She was always curious about what lived behind the solitary row of foliage that separated the Hogwarts grounds from the darkness within. She continued forward along the path, the wind humming a tune in her ear as it blew.
Funny, she thought, it really sounds like a song...
She smiled to herself, listening to the rustling of the breeze, entranced by the tune that came to her mind. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. Where those words she heard? She perked her ears, focusing on the gentle murmur she now heard.
O Mater Luna, Regina Nocus...
Calipsa raised her eyebrows, twirling around to find the source of the humming. She retraced her steps along the path, bringing her farther away from the castle and closer to the edge of the forest.
....Adiuvo me nunc...
The soothing melody floated with the wind, becoming more powerful with a gust and slowing down to a whisper with moments of dead air. Calipsa followed it absentmindedly until it lead her to the edge of the forest. The sky was already covered in twinkling heavenly bodies. The moon however, failed to be part of the celestial space. She pondered, thinking about her astronomy class.
New moon, she thought to herself, death of the old and rebirth of the new.
She shuddered at the thought, finding something mysteriously ominous about it, but shrugged it off. She peered inquisitively into the brush, hoping to find the source.
"You're very smart, Calipsa. I see you're one who follows the moon cycles."
Calipsa jumped with shock. She didn't see anyone following her, and she KNEW it wasn't one of her friends. She darted around. Her jaw dropped.
Standing before her was a man dressed head to toe in midnight black. Judging from her sight, Calipsa assumed he was in his early twenties. His hair, matching the colour of his outfit, glistened despite the lack of moonlight. She rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn't seeing things.
"How did you... where did you...," Calipsa stammered.
"Forgive me, Calipsa, I didn't introduced myself. My name is Aubrey." He smirked at her, staring with his cold, blank eyes.
"My name... how did you know it?" Somehow, it seemed to take all her strength to mutter those few words.
Aubrey frowned. "I sense there is still much to teach you."
Calipsa thought to herself: Learn? What's there to learn?
Thoughts of Hogwarts and her friends were nonexistent now. Her mind was filled with questions: who was this man? Was it he who was singing? And why was he here? She sensed that somehow, someway, he understood what was going on her mind.
"Jessica, please stop frolicking and come out here."
At this command, the singing began yet again, sweeter and softer than ever.
O mater luna, regina nocus, adiuvo me nunc...
Calipsa's eyes darted towards a looming shadow ahead. It was coming towards her slowly, but the figure was blurred behind a flowing robe of midnight. As the silhouette of a figure approached, the sweet melody grew unusually softer until the body, along with the song, came to a halt by Aubrey's side. Calipsa blinked, and with that instant the haze lifted, revealing a woman seemingly even younger than Aubrey decked in a silk black dress beneath her robe. Her wrists were entwined with silver serpents, the eyes glowed emerald green. Her slender hands held a single black rose. Calipsa winced as she noticed the sharp, protruding thorns on the stem, puzzled why it didn't seem to hurt this girl Jessica.
Calipsa stood speechless. She didn't know why, but it took more strength than she had to even mutter a reply in Aubrey's presence. Now with the two of them standing before her, merely standing seemed almost impossible. Jessica turned to Aubrey, twirling the rose unflinchingly between her milky white fingers.
"Isn't it beautiful, Aubrey?"
Calipsa swallowed, remembering those words that she said to Mike merely minutes ago. That moment now seemed an eternity away. She glanced up at Aubrey but was unable hold the gaze for long. He scoffed.
"You've been one of my most faithful, Jessica. I don't want to think less of you with a slip-up. Are you sure she's strong enough?"
Jessica ran her fingers through her long, jet black hair. Like Aubrey, she seemed to carry her own light, despite her deathly pale skin. She twisted her hair up and held it loosely with the rose, single strands of hair cascaded gently down. She turned to face Calipsa with hauntingly empty eyes.
Those eyes....they weren't right... they weren't... human...
Jessica smiled, not a friendly smile, yet not a grimace. She knew what Calipsa was thinking. Calipsa wanted to run, run away from the smirks and glares from Aubrey and Jessica, but, somehow, she couldn't find the strength to budge. Jessica turned to eye Aubrey, then focused her attention back to Calipsa.
"You want to go back? Well, that's fine." Her voice was so soothing, so melodic. But something about it was haunting, despite its beauty. She pulled the rose out, making her raven black hair elegantly tumble down her back. She held it out to Calipsa. "Take it, its the only thing we have to give you to make up for this rather inconvenient rendezvous." She smiled that chilling smile, this time bearing a set of perfect pearly whites... or were they?
Calipsa extended her hand closer to the rose; her mind fought against it but her body somehow resisted the urge to pull back. Her eyes stared unblinking at Jessica's marble white face. Those couldn't be... fangs...
Her hand caught hold of the rose's stem; she felt her body surge with energy, as if she jumped in lake of ice cold water after a day in the sweltering sun. Her feet were moving, yes, running back to the castle, away from the taunting snigger of Aubrey and spine-chilling sneer of Jessica. She was moving, she knew, but her mind seemed to be back with the couplet. The robes, the skin, the eyes, the fangs... only one thing came to Calipsa's mind, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it. She was feeling weaker...
I can make it, the castle's not far...
...weaker...
Just a few more...
She dropped. The cold, hard-patted soil of the pathway met her face with a silent boom.
Aubrey and Jessica walked up behind Calipsa's unconscious body.
"Not bad, Jessica. I must admit, I thought you couldn't pull this one off."
Jessica smirked as she silently picked up the black rose that lay inches from Calipsa's crimson-caked hand. She twisted her hair and pinned the rose in, the silky locks cascading down her back again. She took Calipsa's hand in her own, turning it palm upward. A gaping hole lay buried in Calipsa's vein where a single thorn had pricked her. The blood slowly gushed forth as Jessica and Aubrey bent to feed from the fountain of pulsating death.
Their thirst satisified, they got up, licking their fangs with contentment.
"Take her," Aubrey signalled Jessica, "we will bring her into the forest for her transformation. It will be safer there."
At that, Jessica slung her cloak over her back and picked up Calipsa with surprising ease. She followed Aubrey back into the Forbidden Forest, resuming her spine-tingling melody in that hauntingly soothing voice:
O mater luna, regina nocus, adiuvo me nunc....
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We didn't see Calipsa for days after that sunset she was with Mike. We didn't figure it much of a big deal though, all of us were always off doing something. We guessed that her parents had come to visit and they were staying at Hogsmeade for a while. Or maybe she was off planning a surprise or something. How were we supposed to know? But we knew she'd come back. And well, she came back alright...
