"Hamish, you seriously can't tell me you think it's a good idea to put the baby to bed with a serial killer documentary playing in the background." Vera walked into the bedroom with her arms crossed over her chest. This was part of why she didn't agree to having a tv in their bedroom back home. Last thing they needed was background noise disrupting Theo's sleep patterns. "You are going to give the poor thing nightmares." Vera walked over to the bed where Hamish had a pillow propped up behind him with Theo sound asleep on his chest. He'd chosen her tried and true cheating method to get her to pass out, supplementing nursing with a pacifier since even though everyone told Vera not to, she'd nurse that child to sleep if it put her to sleep. It was so much better than using magic to knock her out.
She was still drying her hair as she sat down on the bed and put a hand on Theo's back rubbing her gently with a sad look on her face. More so concerned, she always worried everything was going to be upsetting to Theo. "She has no idea what the show is about, it's just background voices. Besides, she liked listening to it too. Gave us some good father daughter bonding while you were in the shower."
Despite still having her damp hair Vera threw the towel into the hamper and crawled into bed next to Hamish and curled up beside him resting her head on his shoulder as she continued to rub Theo's back and watch her squirm a little, her breath picking up as she picked up her pace sucking on her pacifier. "Yes, well it could still give her bad dreams. She's so precious I don't want to ruin her beauty rest with scary dreams." She smiled at the little girl and lightly touched her nose seeing Theo squirm again and smile a little.
Hamish loved seeing her smile with that same charming little smirk he had. It was even more precious when she was sleeping, Theo always had her tongue out of her mouth a little when she had her pacifier, even when she didn't have it then she would just pass out trying to suck on her own tongue and have little bleeps. Theo flinched and grabbed hold of his night shirt curling her fist up to her face and whimpering a little. "What do you think Theo dreams about anyways?"
"Specifically Theo?" Vera smirked a little, "Probably of you giving her over to me to hold."
Hamish looked a little offended by that statement like he wasn't good enough to hold Theo and make her happy but then he nodded his head in agreement. "You are likely right, she does love you but only because you make stupid faces and high pitch voices. The neighborhood dogs start to howl when she does something cute and you talk to her." It was funny seeing terrifying Vera do a high pitched baby voice that just made Theo light up and giggle like crazy.
"I think it's time to put Theo in her crib." Vera pulled her hand off Theo and sat up so Hamish could put her down.
"I wish she could just stay and cuddle with us." He'd never tell Vera but he'd taken naps with her on the couch when she had been smaller. Vera's biggest fear was Theo rolling off the bed on her own or now crawling right off the bed. Her other fear was having Theo get crushed though Hamish was certain neither of them would move all night long if Theo was in bed with them. After all, Vera had taken accidental naps with Theo before when she was just laying in bed trying to make Theo take a nap and then took a nap with her too. A few times the only way Vera had woken up was because Theo got up first and started crawling all over her.
"She can have morning cuddles." Vera picked up the remote on the nightstand and switched off the TV right while they were going through clips in the courtroom while one of the victim's sisters screamed at the killer on the stand. At this rate it was going to give her nightmares. "That's enough of that." She rolled her eyes and waited for Hamish to get back in bed. She curled up under the covers herself until Hamish got back in bed and pulled her closer to him.
"You know Vera, Theo's sleeping pretty heavily." He kissed her on the shoulder only to have Vera stop him right there.
"Oh honey, you are not getting any of that tonight. Your sister's in the next room Hamish. Besides knowing your mother she would sense something was up with her creepy demonic powers."
Hamish laughed at her and kissed her on the lips holding Vera close to him. "You mean you can't use your creepy demon powers to combat hers?"
"Hamish, I'm lucky if I put Theo down for a nap and escape the room without stepping on a block or making the floorboard creak. My demon powers are lacking their luster." Disciples could still say Vera was virtually a demon but that was hard to push when brushing her hair became optional over trying to get a child and a baby up and running in the morning. More so Maddox and his lack of wanting to wake up for school and Theo and her lack of wanting to sleep, ever. "Now go to sleep, don't make me force a pacifier in your mouth too to knock you out." She laughed at Hamish making him curl up against her.
"I love you Vera."
Ember was running, faster and faster from the blood red moon overhead. Whenever the werewolf was afraid it was always under the blood red moon. The shadowed figure darting around her, hunting her, haunting her. As she came up on the campus to the university the shadowed figure finally appeared, still and wispy like a ghost. It spoke something to her in Latin lifting her off the ground and causing her to be slammed into the ground. Ember yelped in pain and struggled to get back up but the wolf was paralyzed. The figure moved her way, robed in black with a black glassy mirror over their face like a mask. Their breathing was ragged, shaking as they stepped closer.
The werewolf growled in defense, trying to bluff the practitioner to keep them from getting any closer but it wasn't working. Once the figure stopped at her side they pulled a blade, a curved sharp knife that resembled an eagles tallon. Ember growled again, thrashing against the ground but unable to get up. With one swift move the figure lunged forward and stuck the dagger deep between Embers ribs making the werewolf throw her head back and howl. The flickering blue eyes dulled down as she dropped back to the ground. Her breathing became labored, blood running up into her mouth and dripping from between her fangs. With a harsh twist of the blade Ember finally got control over her body again, swiping at the masked figure with a snarl and throwing the mask to the ground.
The werewolf looked back to the face of the practitioner attacking them, but where a face should be there was nothing. It was just as smooth as the mask itself, no features or signs of where features could go. The werewolf leaned forward and sunk its teeth into the faceless monster's neck. She shook her head watching the figure stumble back and fall to the ground, their hand over the wound. Ember got up and pulled the dagger from her ribs, her body already healing as she stood over the faceless figure. What she saw now however wasn't a faceless monster, it was Vera. The dark haired Grand Magnus was choking on her own blood, her hands clenched over the massive hole in the side of her throat.
Suddenly terror overcame the werewolf, even if this was just like any practitioner somehow she wasn't. She wasn't just another bad magic user. This one saved her, this one made her. Suddenly the werewolf found herself pacing around, not knowing what to do to stop this. There was a sinking hopelessness as she watched Vera's life slowly slip away and the witch fell still. She tried to nudge her body with her snout, to 'wake' her up but the witch was not responding. Ember whined laying down next to her and licking at the wound in hopes it would help but the blood tasted bitter in her mouth and the body was getting cold. What had she done? She'd killed this person who meant so much to her. How could she have hurt Vera?
It had been quiet in the room, just the rhythmic sound of Vera and Hamish breathing in their sleep. Theo shuddered awake, her small body shaking as she opened her eyes and only saw the darkness in the room. For a moment she waited, her small heart racing in her chest from her nightmare, waiting to see her mother's face but she wasn't there. The baby was too young to understand death but she knew fear and she was afraid. She was afraid for her mother and afraid for herself. All she wanted was to feel safe again. She wanted someone to make her feel safe again. Taking in a deep breath Theo balled up her fists and started to cry, the only sound in the darkness making her feel alone.
Suddenly a light came on startling the little baby and making her cry harder, the light hurt her eyes. It brought back more terrifying concepts making Theo cry even harder until she could hear a soft voice. "Shhh, Theo, it's okay, mommy's here." Theo almost instantly stopped crying when Vera picked her up and held her in her arms. Her blue green eyes shifted to her mother feeling safe now that she could see her. "Were you having a nightmare? I told daddy not to play those scary shows with you in the room." Theo didn't really understand everything she was saying but just the sound of her voice made her happy. The corner of her lip curled into a little half sleepy smile.
Vera started to hum a song to Theo making her eyes feel heavy again, her voice was so nice. It made Theo's little smile grow a bit bigger as she closed her eyes. Every few minutes she would open her eyes again to be sure Vera was still there before they drifted shut again.