Part 18
"So she actually pulled it off?" Annaliese couldn't believe it. Fortuna had actually managed to get her assassin have Sincerity Hawthorne turned into a werewolf. Annaliese didn't know what to say when Shadow filled her in on the new insane plan.
Shadow nodded. "The idea behind it is all she has to do now is sit back and watch the two sisters destroy each other."
Annaliese shook her head. The two girls and Wilson were sprawled out in the apartment's living room watching some incomprehensible Japanese fantasy movie with subtitles. Shadow had casually dropped her information on Fortuna's plan during a commercial break.
Wilson reached across Shadow, grabbing the popcorn bowl from Annaliese. "Maybe that'll be better watching than this stupid movie," he commented.
Shadow chuckled. "Hey, you're the dick who wanted to watch this."
Annaliese sat back, letting them argue amongst themselves. They were discussing watching the destruction of two twin sisters like it was just another movie. She herself had been the idiot who had suggested Fortuna take a dig at the former-human sister.
Annaliese was a Night Person, humans and the fate of humans shouldn't bother her. But of course, the sisters involved were both werewolves now. Fortuna's jealousy of Meegan Hawthorne didn't make sense. And here she was, sat doing nothing.
She wanted to help somehow, but had no idea what. It wasn't like she wanted to run off and beg for Circle Daybreak to settle this. But Annaliese thought grudgingly, I may have no choice.
Fortuna was her friend or had been. Fortuna wanted to work in the assassin field with Shadow. Annaliese glanced over at the vampire girl, she and Wilson had stood up and were on their way to their bedroom. She didn't get the fascination with Shadow. It wasn't like she was even from an important vampire family, or even rich and powerful. And there were hundreds of other Night World assassins out there.
Annaliese sighed, and turned off the TV. What do I do here?
Sincerity groaned, her eyes opened slowly. She felt different. The last thing she remembered was being on the edge of a forest, in a car with Marlon. She'd heard howling. Then there was running - someone - her running - something had been chasing her. She remembered blood and screaming, and then everything had gone black.
She sat up to find herself in an unfamiliar bedroom. She was in a double bed the centre of the room. There was a wardrobe to the right of the room, and a closed door next to it. Next to the bed was a nightstand with a stereo system and a digital clock. There was a single white chest of draws and a dressing table, with a window above the dressing table. Opposite the bed was a desk and a chair.
Sniffing, Sincerity was overwhelmed with a multitude of scents she'd ever experienced. She could smell incense, and candles, identify everything that had been used in this room the night before. She could smell the after-scent of people who had been in the room - three witches, at some point a vampire and a human with a hint of something else to her.
Was this normal? Sincerity rubbed her head. Her vision was clearer too. All her senses were uncannily sharpened. She slid out of bed. She was wearing an over size pink t-shirt with Eeyore on she knew she didn't belong to her.
Opening the wardrobe Sincerity caught sight of herself in a full-length mirror on inside of the front door. She had always been pretty but now - Sincerity just stared at herself, entranced by the beauty of her own reflection. Her skin had the look of pure marble, as beautiful as untouched, pure white snow. Her eyes shone as stunning as blue as sapphires. Her strawberry blonde hair had gold high lights and despite that, an odd almost dark beauty to it.
She didn't even hear the bedroom door opening until she saw Ginger's reflection behind her. Ginger was smiling.
"Well I see Narcissus has finally dragged herself out of bed."
Sincerity blinked for a few seconds and remained where she was, not sure what Ginger was talking about - then she got the joke. "Oh. Oh. Shut up."
She turned around. Ginger looked dreadful, her clothes were crumpled as if she'd been wearing them for days. Her cheeks were tear streaked, and there were bags under her eyes. Her dark hair was a dishevelled mess. "You look terrible. What happened?"
Ginger threw her arms around Sincerity and hugged her tightly. Still confused, Sincerity returned the embrace, feeling the warmth of their soulmate connection wrap its arms around them, holding them close together.
"So what happened to me? I feel like I've been sleeping for a week," Sincerity said.
Ginger shook her head. "Only a day and a half."
Sincerity's eyebrows shot up. "I've been gone that long? My parents will be going totally mental! What if they called the police?"
"Oh, we've already taken care of that - we told them you're staying here and working on a school project. They believed me." Ginger smiled a little. "And Dayna brainwashed the school secretary into marking you present so it looks like you've been in class."
Sincerity was impressed. "Seems like you guys have thought of everything. So how come I'm - different?"
"You were bitten by a werewolf," Ginger told her. "You're a Night Person now."
Sincerity nodded, stepping aside and closing the wardrobe door. "This is the Daybreak place?"
Ginger nodded. "Yes. There - there's a few other things you need to know. About your sister."
Sincerity's eyes rolled. "What's she done now?"
She listened as Ginger filled her in on Meegan's own change to werewolf, including the assassin job. Sincerity was actually not all that shocked. She didn't really give any sort of reaction to the news at all. Everything about Meegan's sudden change made sense now, all the unfilled blanks were no longer a mystery.
"So Meegan thinks she can keep the Night World and its power just for her," she said, smiling, shaking her head. "Where are my clothes?"
"Shredded and messy, we couldn't save them. You can use some of my things."
"Okay. Thanks." She waited. Ginger took the hint and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Sincerity found herself something to wear - eventually settling on a short black sleeveless scoop-necked dress, exposing a daring amount of her new ice-pale skin, and her glorious mane of red gold hair loose. She heard voices murmuring downstairs.
Turning Sincerity opened the window. She found a pair of black sandals in the wardrobe, slipped them on, then hoisted herself onto the window sill and jumped silently to the ground, landing perfectly, not breaking anything, not even a nail.
A smirk curved her lips as Sincerity made for the back yard gate.
"So she actually pulled it off?" Annaliese couldn't believe it. Fortuna had actually managed to get her assassin have Sincerity Hawthorne turned into a werewolf. Annaliese didn't know what to say when Shadow filled her in on the new insane plan.
Shadow nodded. "The idea behind it is all she has to do now is sit back and watch the two sisters destroy each other."
Annaliese shook her head. The two girls and Wilson were sprawled out in the apartment's living room watching some incomprehensible Japanese fantasy movie with subtitles. Shadow had casually dropped her information on Fortuna's plan during a commercial break.
Wilson reached across Shadow, grabbing the popcorn bowl from Annaliese. "Maybe that'll be better watching than this stupid movie," he commented.
Shadow chuckled. "Hey, you're the dick who wanted to watch this."
Annaliese sat back, letting them argue amongst themselves. They were discussing watching the destruction of two twin sisters like it was just another movie. She herself had been the idiot who had suggested Fortuna take a dig at the former-human sister.
Annaliese was a Night Person, humans and the fate of humans shouldn't bother her. But of course, the sisters involved were both werewolves now. Fortuna's jealousy of Meegan Hawthorne didn't make sense. And here she was, sat doing nothing.
She wanted to help somehow, but had no idea what. It wasn't like she wanted to run off and beg for Circle Daybreak to settle this. But Annaliese thought grudgingly, I may have no choice.
Fortuna was her friend or had been. Fortuna wanted to work in the assassin field with Shadow. Annaliese glanced over at the vampire girl, she and Wilson had stood up and were on their way to their bedroom. She didn't get the fascination with Shadow. It wasn't like she was even from an important vampire family, or even rich and powerful. And there were hundreds of other Night World assassins out there.
Annaliese sighed, and turned off the TV. What do I do here?
Sincerity groaned, her eyes opened slowly. She felt different. The last thing she remembered was being on the edge of a forest, in a car with Marlon. She'd heard howling. Then there was running - someone - her running - something had been chasing her. She remembered blood and screaming, and then everything had gone black.
She sat up to find herself in an unfamiliar bedroom. She was in a double bed the centre of the room. There was a wardrobe to the right of the room, and a closed door next to it. Next to the bed was a nightstand with a stereo system and a digital clock. There was a single white chest of draws and a dressing table, with a window above the dressing table. Opposite the bed was a desk and a chair.
Sniffing, Sincerity was overwhelmed with a multitude of scents she'd ever experienced. She could smell incense, and candles, identify everything that had been used in this room the night before. She could smell the after-scent of people who had been in the room - three witches, at some point a vampire and a human with a hint of something else to her.
Was this normal? Sincerity rubbed her head. Her vision was clearer too. All her senses were uncannily sharpened. She slid out of bed. She was wearing an over size pink t-shirt with Eeyore on she knew she didn't belong to her.
Opening the wardrobe Sincerity caught sight of herself in a full-length mirror on inside of the front door. She had always been pretty but now - Sincerity just stared at herself, entranced by the beauty of her own reflection. Her skin had the look of pure marble, as beautiful as untouched, pure white snow. Her eyes shone as stunning as blue as sapphires. Her strawberry blonde hair had gold high lights and despite that, an odd almost dark beauty to it.
She didn't even hear the bedroom door opening until she saw Ginger's reflection behind her. Ginger was smiling.
"Well I see Narcissus has finally dragged herself out of bed."
Sincerity blinked for a few seconds and remained where she was, not sure what Ginger was talking about - then she got the joke. "Oh. Oh. Shut up."
She turned around. Ginger looked dreadful, her clothes were crumpled as if she'd been wearing them for days. Her cheeks were tear streaked, and there were bags under her eyes. Her dark hair was a dishevelled mess. "You look terrible. What happened?"
Ginger threw her arms around Sincerity and hugged her tightly. Still confused, Sincerity returned the embrace, feeling the warmth of their soulmate connection wrap its arms around them, holding them close together.
"So what happened to me? I feel like I've been sleeping for a week," Sincerity said.
Ginger shook her head. "Only a day and a half."
Sincerity's eyebrows shot up. "I've been gone that long? My parents will be going totally mental! What if they called the police?"
"Oh, we've already taken care of that - we told them you're staying here and working on a school project. They believed me." Ginger smiled a little. "And Dayna brainwashed the school secretary into marking you present so it looks like you've been in class."
Sincerity was impressed. "Seems like you guys have thought of everything. So how come I'm - different?"
"You were bitten by a werewolf," Ginger told her. "You're a Night Person now."
Sincerity nodded, stepping aside and closing the wardrobe door. "This is the Daybreak place?"
Ginger nodded. "Yes. There - there's a few other things you need to know. About your sister."
Sincerity's eyes rolled. "What's she done now?"
She listened as Ginger filled her in on Meegan's own change to werewolf, including the assassin job. Sincerity was actually not all that shocked. She didn't really give any sort of reaction to the news at all. Everything about Meegan's sudden change made sense now, all the unfilled blanks were no longer a mystery.
"So Meegan thinks she can keep the Night World and its power just for her," she said, smiling, shaking her head. "Where are my clothes?"
"Shredded and messy, we couldn't save them. You can use some of my things."
"Okay. Thanks." She waited. Ginger took the hint and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Sincerity found herself something to wear - eventually settling on a short black sleeveless scoop-necked dress, exposing a daring amount of her new ice-pale skin, and her glorious mane of red gold hair loose. She heard voices murmuring downstairs.
Turning Sincerity opened the window. She found a pair of black sandals in the wardrobe, slipped them on, then hoisted herself onto the window sill and jumped silently to the ground, landing perfectly, not breaking anything, not even a nail.
A smirk curved her lips as Sincerity made for the back yard gate.