Part 1
It was the third dead body to be found in Briar Creek in a week. Nothing had happened since the disappearance of Jeremy Lovett. Now this. Tension in the small town was almost unbearable. Hardly anyone was around on the streets of Briar Creek the best of times, but now it was almost like a ghost town. Jade wanted to see a tumbleweed blowing past.
"This is really eerie," Jade said now, peering out of the window of the Burdock Farm House, quivering delicately, almost excitedly.
"It's not like you've never seen a dead body before," Kestrel snorted, blowing on her freshly-painted ruby red nails.
Rowan chose not to comment. She hadn't mentioned her little secret yet. It would completely spoil the surprise. But the surprise looked like it was going to be spoiled anyway. None of her plans ever seemed to go smoothly. *Something* always seemed to get in the way.
They'd survived in Briar Creek for a year now. She wanted to try college, as she'd missed human high school. But Jade still had her senior year to complete. There wasn't much else to do around here. She had been very lucky to get a small job at the tiny designer clothes store in town. Kestrel would go stir-crazy forced to stay here with nothing to do for a year.
Well, Jade would have Mark for company if they left, but that wasn't much of a comfort. They'd started taking things more seriously recently. They'd behaved themselves - as far as Rowan knew. There had been mo more trouble from the Night World since Quinn had come and gone. She didn't want to think about the possibility of a Redfern/Carter crossbreed.
On second thoughts, maybe her "surprise" wouldn't be much of a good idea after all.
"Rowan, what are you up to?" Jade had turned from the window.
Rowan kept her face as smooth and blank as a statue as she answered calmly, "Nothing." Which she knew was mistake. Kestrel and Jade were exchanging glances. "It's a surprise," Rowan said finally.
* * *
Midian had thought the small town of Briar Creek would be a good place to hide. It was tiny, in the middle of nowhere, no one should be able to find her there. How she'd found it herself was a little bit of a mystery to her, but it didn't matter. She was there. She had a small apartment which was nothing more than a bedroom, a minuscule kitchen and a tiny bathroom. It was enough for her. Midian was used to the bare minimum to survive.
She hadn't seen a lot of other Night People in the town, which was another good thing. If anyone knew she was there...she shuddered, trailing off, pushing the back the memories she didn't want to think about.
Everything seemed to be in order. Until...it started happening. Three so far. No one had pointed a finger at her yet. Didn't mean they wouldn't. She was *positive* she had nothing to do with this. Not her, not this time.
Midian slowly became aware her hands were clenched into fists as her sharp nails bit into her palm and blood began dripping. She took several deep breaths. It would be okay. It would.
Her junior had bee spoiled. Her senior one would go better. She needed to do something. She picked up her purse and keys and left the room.
* * *
He stood at the top of the hill, an unusual pit of nervousness in his stomach. She was down there. Or should be. Or he *hoped* she would be. That was the plan, anyway. She didn't know he was coming. He had wanted it to be a surprise.
A year had passed. This was the day he had left. One year...was that all? It seemed more like one hundred years. He still couldn't believe what happened - what he had become. Hopefully something better than the last time he'd been here, hunting down his sisters to drag them back to the enclave...
~Well that was last year~ he thought. ~This is this year. Get your ass in gear and get down there.~
With a sigh, Ash began the walk to the Carter's house.
* * *
If the little bitch thought she could hide from him she was sadly mistaken. Blake always knew how to find her, no matter what she called herself or where she hid herself. If she had any *brains* she wouldn't have picked Galena as her surname. Galena was a lamia clan, not perhaps, as famous as the Redferns, but it still had Night World ties.
"Midian" itself as a name sounded more than a little ominous. He'd learned it was also the name of a death metal album. He hadn't known she was into that. Or if she was and it was just a coincidence. Whatever. He knew where she was. And she would be punished for running away from him.
He wished he could see her reaction to the bodies that were piling up. He felt no remorse, obviously. They were vermin, he thought dropping the current victim, a small fluffy blonde who worked at the General Store.
He ducked out of sight as he was a girl coming in. She was reasonably pretty, with dark hair and clear blue eyes. About two minutes later, Midian came in. Still tall and beautiful with her mane of raven hair and golden eyes. A short skirt showed off her long slender legs and a tight white top showed off her upper body curves. Neither of them had spotted the body yet.
He sat back to watch the story unfold.
* * *
It was the third dead body to be found in Briar Creek in a week. Nothing had happened since the disappearance of Jeremy Lovett. Now this. Tension in the small town was almost unbearable. Hardly anyone was around on the streets of Briar Creek the best of times, but now it was almost like a ghost town. Jade wanted to see a tumbleweed blowing past.
"This is really eerie," Jade said now, peering out of the window of the Burdock Farm House, quivering delicately, almost excitedly.
"It's not like you've never seen a dead body before," Kestrel snorted, blowing on her freshly-painted ruby red nails.
Rowan chose not to comment. She hadn't mentioned her little secret yet. It would completely spoil the surprise. But the surprise looked like it was going to be spoiled anyway. None of her plans ever seemed to go smoothly. *Something* always seemed to get in the way.
They'd survived in Briar Creek for a year now. She wanted to try college, as she'd missed human high school. But Jade still had her senior year to complete. There wasn't much else to do around here. She had been very lucky to get a small job at the tiny designer clothes store in town. Kestrel would go stir-crazy forced to stay here with nothing to do for a year.
Well, Jade would have Mark for company if they left, but that wasn't much of a comfort. They'd started taking things more seriously recently. They'd behaved themselves - as far as Rowan knew. There had been mo more trouble from the Night World since Quinn had come and gone. She didn't want to think about the possibility of a Redfern/Carter crossbreed.
On second thoughts, maybe her "surprise" wouldn't be much of a good idea after all.
"Rowan, what are you up to?" Jade had turned from the window.
Rowan kept her face as smooth and blank as a statue as she answered calmly, "Nothing." Which she knew was mistake. Kestrel and Jade were exchanging glances. "It's a surprise," Rowan said finally.
* * *
Midian had thought the small town of Briar Creek would be a good place to hide. It was tiny, in the middle of nowhere, no one should be able to find her there. How she'd found it herself was a little bit of a mystery to her, but it didn't matter. She was there. She had a small apartment which was nothing more than a bedroom, a minuscule kitchen and a tiny bathroom. It was enough for her. Midian was used to the bare minimum to survive.
She hadn't seen a lot of other Night People in the town, which was another good thing. If anyone knew she was there...she shuddered, trailing off, pushing the back the memories she didn't want to think about.
Everything seemed to be in order. Until...it started happening. Three so far. No one had pointed a finger at her yet. Didn't mean they wouldn't. She was *positive* she had nothing to do with this. Not her, not this time.
Midian slowly became aware her hands were clenched into fists as her sharp nails bit into her palm and blood began dripping. She took several deep breaths. It would be okay. It would.
Her junior had bee spoiled. Her senior one would go better. She needed to do something. She picked up her purse and keys and left the room.
* * *
He stood at the top of the hill, an unusual pit of nervousness in his stomach. She was down there. Or should be. Or he *hoped* she would be. That was the plan, anyway. She didn't know he was coming. He had wanted it to be a surprise.
A year had passed. This was the day he had left. One year...was that all? It seemed more like one hundred years. He still couldn't believe what happened - what he had become. Hopefully something better than the last time he'd been here, hunting down his sisters to drag them back to the enclave...
~Well that was last year~ he thought. ~This is this year. Get your ass in gear and get down there.~
With a sigh, Ash began the walk to the Carter's house.
* * *
If the little bitch thought she could hide from him she was sadly mistaken. Blake always knew how to find her, no matter what she called herself or where she hid herself. If she had any *brains* she wouldn't have picked Galena as her surname. Galena was a lamia clan, not perhaps, as famous as the Redferns, but it still had Night World ties.
"Midian" itself as a name sounded more than a little ominous. He'd learned it was also the name of a death metal album. He hadn't known she was into that. Or if she was and it was just a coincidence. Whatever. He knew where she was. And she would be punished for running away from him.
He wished he could see her reaction to the bodies that were piling up. He felt no remorse, obviously. They were vermin, he thought dropping the current victim, a small fluffy blonde who worked at the General Store.
He ducked out of sight as he was a girl coming in. She was reasonably pretty, with dark hair and clear blue eyes. About two minutes later, Midian came in. Still tall and beautiful with her mane of raven hair and golden eyes. A short skirt showed off her long slender legs and a tight white top showed off her upper body curves. Neither of them had spotted the body yet.
He sat back to watch the story unfold.
* * *