Author's Note: First of all, sorry I haven't uploaded a new chapter earlier, I didn't really have that much inspiration :/ Also, I have to mention that Chipenden is a village name from The Spook's Apprentice again.
Chapter VI
"There's something I have to do first."
She looks at him curiously, her tail getting dangerously close to him.
He chuckles. "At this point I wouldn't try to betray you, you have my word. And, of the two of us, I think I am the one to be trusted, don't you?"
She doesn't respond, only shakes her head waiting for him to finish this business he has to attend to.
He runs to the stables, hoping to find Shadowless there. He spots her form and rushes towards her. For a moment he stops, just looking at the beautiful black mare before him. He touches her in the front of her head and whispers to her. "You've been my faithful companion for years. I release you, now, you're free."
She still stands there, both looking at each other. He sees something in her eyes, as if she is trying to tell him something. Perhaps she is thanking him for releasing her. Who knows? And then, she's gone. She reared and galloped outside of the stable and in the darkness of the night.
William just stares at the night sky for a little while, trying to figure out how all this happened to him. He decides to leave that thought for another day. Now it's already too late, anyway, both literally and figuratively.
He finds Malkin again, waiting for him. "Alright, it's done. We may leave now."
He gets on her back and they disappear in the darkness. As they fly, William finds himself once more pondering about whether this was right or not. He knows it's wrong, but he can't deny it, not this time. Too long he has suffered.
After some time, they reach her hideout in Pendle. She lands in front of her palace, waits for William to get down and, as he does, she immediately turns into a witch again.
They head inside and he can't help but notice once again how she has transformed this place. Everything is gold and shining and oriental carpets decorate the floors. Somehow, however, all this upsets him. How she killed his comrades, how she laughed about it, how she lured him here and he just can't contain himself anymore.
"How long have you been planning all this?" he says as he turns to face her.
She grins and approaches him, puts her hands around his neck. "Too long." She kisses him fiercely, pushing him towards one of the couches. He sits and she gets on his lap. He can't control himself any longer. For a moment he just looks inside her eyes and, in her dilated pupils he sees himself... changing... He grips her neck in his hands, roughly but not enough to strangle her, reaches for the fabric of her dress and tears her gown apart.
He can feel her shiver with pleasure -and, slightly, fear?- when he touches her, when he kisses her along her collarbone, his teeth slightly biting on her flesh. She winds her arms around him, her claws scratching his back from pleasure. With every scratch of her, he feels his rage taking over his passion and vice versa. It's a game of love and war.
They make love and it's as if nothing else exists, as if time has stopped at this moment. This moment, when their intertwined bodies, illuminated by the light of the Blood Moon share a passion for each other that had been withheld for a long time. They crave each other with a lust none of them had experienced before. Two creatures of the night colliding, sharing their longing for darkness.
They bring each other to the edge at the same moment, both of them gasping and moaning with pleasure. As they lay on the couch, he on top of her, he kisses her, but this time all his passion and lust and rage for her have subsided and his caresses are more tender. He can even see her lips twisting a little, forming some kind of smile. Is there a lighter side of her, after all?
They both drift off slowly to sleep, holding each other in their arms, listening to one another's ragged breaths.
The rattle of the windows wakes him up in the morning and as he looks at his surroundings, he is partially confused. But then it all comes back to him. How they feasted on each other's flesh the previous night. But why is he in a cell... again? Though, that cell is quite different than the previous one, in the village. And this time, he is chained in the wall.
At this moment, he sees Malkin walking down the stairs to his cell. She has a devilish smile on her face as she approaches him, that makes him feel as if he made a deal with the Devil himself, sealed with their passion of the previous night.
"Good morning, William." She approaches the cell, and he approaches the bars from inside as well.
"What's the meaning of this?" he asks as he feels his anger rising inside him.
"Oh, the chains? Just a precaution. You see, I can't let you out and about without knowing you really have embraced the darkness."
He just stares at her, trying to understand what she just told him. "I attacked an innocent man and his family, I killed a guard in cold blood while I was imprisoned... what else do you need to be convinced?"
"Well, as for that, know that I was the one who attacked that baker and his child. I just wanted to toy with you a bit, make you believe you are such a monster."
He feels his rage devouring him whole.
"But you haven't convinced me yet that you are willing to accept yourself, your true self. Until you do, you'll be locked here."
In a quick movement, he breaks his chains and approaches her even more. At this point, his eyes have turned yellow and his claws and fur have started growing bigger and longer. With another movement he bends the bars of his cell, comes outside and, swiftly, pushes Malkin against the wall, his claws slightly piercing her waist.
"What was that? I haven't convinced you yet?"
She looks at him, partially amused, and puts a hand on his chest. Can he sense a slight fear in her eyes?
"The hunters of Chipenden have captured a bunch of werewolves and young women which they think to be witches, all of them innocent."
At the moment she mentions the word "innocent", he cringes, and he feels as if a knife is piercing his heart. He knows this pain all too well.
"They intend to burn them in the pyre, flay them as they did to your family. All those people whom you have protected for all these years are about to commit atrocities far worse than the monsters you've been chasing ever did. Aren't you going to take your revenge?"
By the time she ends talking, he has fully transformed into a wolf.
"You're right. I am."
End of Chapter