A/N: Here's the next one! Please enjoy and review!Come on double digits!!!
CHAPTER 20:
The Boot Licker
"Justin, what are you doing?" Aaron took a few cautious steps forward, his right hand fondling the strap of his watch, and the fear easing through Sheila's mind quickly changed her eyes back to its sapphire blue.
She turned her head to look at Aaron, but the Creature caught her chin with its fingertips, forcing her gaze to lock with his. She could still see Aaron out of her peripheral vision, his face beautiful concern as he watched his "friend" fondle her, her body quivering with fear beneath his touch.
The Creature leaned further down, its teeth and rank breath grazing over her ear. "I'm going to ignore him and if you do the same, we can both make him disappear..."
"No." A simple answer, a big mistake. The hand on her throat constricted, blocking the flow of oxygen into her body. She let out a tiny yelp and the Creature's hand tightened. Her shaking increased, fear and anticipation mingling with her Powers just below her skin's surface, aching for release.
"Let her go." Aaron's voice was firm, authoritative. Multiple dots flared in front of Sheila's eyes, her breaths becoming shorter and more desperate, her vision blurring, his grip bruising. She could feel her arms above her head weakening as she slipped out of consciousness.
Aaron uttered a deep, guttural sound of anger and tapped the face of his watch three times, the diamond encrusted piece letting off a small, ambient light, words in another language pouring from his mouth in a rapid fire.
Although Sheila was barely hanging on the edge, she recognized the words, the language heard as a child in fleeting memories of broken conversations from her father to another man that never showed his face, only a voice.
Aaron was casting a spell.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Caleb stalked to the pool table with the ease and confidence of a jungle cat hunting its unsuspecting prey. Without saying a word, he snatched the white cue ball from the green surface of the table and tossed it casually in the air and caught it lightly, breaking Reid's shot and concentration.
"Caleb, what the hell?!" Reid looked at his friend. Saw the tension. The unease. His eyes. He took a timid step back. "Whoa... What's going on?" And for the first time since he could remember, Reid was scared.
Caleb slammed the ball onto the table, causing the other three boys to wince from the loud noise.
"Where is she?"
Reid chanced a peek at Pogue, who was standing just behind Caleb, tentative and battle ready. He licked his lips. "Who?"
Caleb gritted his teeth in frustration. "Sheila. Where is she?" His eyes darted to Tyler, his next victim, if Reid gave him the wrong answer.
"She's in the bathroom. Why? Is everything okay?"
Caleb frowned and bumped into the blonde boy as he brushed roughly passed him. "No."
Tyler followed after him with a shrug, the unsaid command that he was needed coming off of Caleb's body language in threatening waves. Pogue went to trail behind him, but Reid caught his elbow, stopping him.
"Pogue, what the fuck's going on? What was wrong with his eyes?" Reid shifted his gaze from the long haired boy's, his eyes falling to the top of his shoes. "Why were they red?"
Pogue sighed. "I really don't know, man. I think it has something to do with the whole Bonding process."
Reid's head snapped up. "So you noticed it too, huh?" Pogue nodded. "Can we stop it?"
"No. Once a male of our Power Bonds, that's it. They're Bonded for life." He paused. "We don't really have a choice actually. When we meet the girl, we know and the whole thing happens fast and strong. He's already started and he'll probably finish it."
"What'll happen if he Claims her?"
"Well, I don't think Sheila's the kind of girl that gives it up that easily, but when or if she does, she better accept him with her whole heart."
Reid pondered that for a moment. "And what happens if she doesn't?"
Pogue frowned. "He dies..." A beat of silence and then Pogue threw a heavy arm around Reid's, steering him towards the bathrooms. "Come on. He needs us."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aaron was casting a spell.
A Banishing spell to be exact but before he could finish it, the Creature pulled Sheila from the wall and turned her roughly around, her back pressing into his heaving chest, her arms falling to her sides, one of his heavy ones wrapped tightly around her torso. She swallowed, her eyes never leaving Aaron's, desperate pleas skimming the surface.
'Please don't do anything stupid.'
The Creature hissed, pushing Sheila forward a bit, using her as a makeshift shield. "You don't know who you're fooling with, boy." It spat. Aaron's words and movements faltered as the Creature's arm that wasn't constricting her air flow crept seductively along the neckline of her dress, his finger and nails elongating into razor sharp talons. Aaron blinked and swallowed back his fear as he watched the foul hand draw lazy patterns across the skin of her chest.
The Creature turned his head into her hair, taking in a deep breath, his lungs expanding with the smell of her dread and disgust. His voice was a whisper upon her skin, the sound like huge rocks spinning around in a cement barrel, hard and unpleasantly harsh.
"You have no idea the kind of Power that's been bestowed upon you, pretty girl. The joining of a succubus and warlock is nothing but a legend in our world. The legend of the Ladies and the Sons. Some would even call such a mating blasphemous." He grinned against her ear. "But sometimes, my Lady, the unthinkable happens."
He snuck a peek at Aaron from between strands of her hair. The other boy was standing a few feet closer to them now, his watch completely off, ready and able in his hands. "Imagine it. You have the Power to seduce your prey, make them feel safe, bend them to your very will, sucking the energy your pleasure brings to them right out. Life forces are a delicate subject in our world, but with you..." He paused. "With you, the world is at your feet. To be able to Claim you and gain that Power for thyself and control it..." The Creature growled its appreciation at all the possible outcomes of such a situation.
Sheila furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't understand... What is a Lady?"
The Creature narrowed its eyes, giving her a once over in a sidelong glance. "You mean you do not know?" Sheila shook her head and the Creature muttered a fiery expletive and something that suspiciously sounded like 'Stupid, uneducated vermin.'. "My oh my, quite the predicament you're in, my Lady." He laughed and Sheila found herself growing severely annoyed.
"What's so funny?" She asked through gritted teeth.
The Creature opened its mouth to respond, but stopped, his mouth clamping shut, nose stabbing the air as it sniffed, its face contorting in worry. "The one that has Bonded with you approaches..."
"Who?" She sighed. "And what's this 'Bonded' thing?"
The Creature fidgeted nervously behind her, its panic a thick cloud stifling the air. "I must take my leave before she figures out I've been in contact with you. But before I do..." The hold on her loosened and Sheila greedily sucked in a deep gulp of air. "You must know, my Lady, that danger is lurking around every corner here in Ipswich. Do not believe every thing and everyone you encounter. Most are not what they seem." Sheila threw the Creature a pointed, 'You think?' look and it sighed. "I know, I know. I'm no different." It paused. "But if the evil that makes up the other half of the Bonded male that so rapidly approaches us obtains just a fraction of your Powers, the magical world as you and I know it, will no longer be the same. The contract will be fulfilled one way or another."
"Contract?"
The Creature shushed her. "I shall leave you with this bit of advice, my Lady." The Creature looked at her for a moment, sadness and panic shimmering in its milky eyes. "Choose your Son wisely for it seems there is not only one, but two, capable of Claiming you. Two Sons sprung from the same filthy seed."
Tears pricked her eyes as the words of the Creature registered in her mind. Anger mixed with helplessness and relief. She took a deep breath. Every thing her father ever told her, his ramblings and rants about Covenants and Darklings was all true. Every fucking word.
'Use it to your advantage... The day will come when one day you're going to need it to save your very life…' Her father's words...
Sheila let out a fiery curse. She always thought he was crazy... I mean she knew she was different, but this... Legends and magical worlds depending on her... It was all too much... Too... Unbelievable...
"You're heart is beating fast, my Lady." The Creature's voice was like acid and she winced against the noise. He lowered it to a whisper. "Are you frightened?"
She swallowed, tears stinging her eyes and clogging her throat, and her shaking increased. "Yes..." She wanted to be honest with the Creature. Wanted it to know that she wasn't a liar although she was going to put it through a very painful, very controlled death.
"You should be... She won't stop until your blood is spilt..." A rough stroke of a tongue, feeling much like a cat's, wet her ear. "She knows who you are... She watches you... Stalks you... Craves you..."
"Are you frightened, Creature?"
The Creature let out what sounded like a mix between a bark and a laugh. "Never."
Sheila knew he couldn't see the smirk of satisfaction on her face so she made it as big as possible, not even trying to hide the smugness in her voice. "Then why won't you say her name?"
"Who's?"
She locked eyes with Aaron, using her hands to give him subtle hints to what she was planning. "The one who controls you." Aaron gave her a slight nod to indicate that he understood and Sheila shifted slightly in the Creature's arms. "Always licking her shoes, I bet." She paused. "Is that why your breath smells like shit?"
The Creature grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back with a growl. "You have a smart mouth, young one, just like your father did."
He swiveled her abruptly to the left, her face making hard contact with the wood paneled wall. Her breathing quickened, the panic setting in once again as she felt the Creature undoing his belt buckle, his other heavy arm pinning her down. Jeans dropping to the floor, he snaked an arm around to her front, his hand traveling roughly across her breasts and down her stomach. She heard Aaron shuffle closer to her.
"Aaron, don't." She licked her lips, felt his hesitation. "It'll hurt you more if you do it now."
"Listen to her, Aaron, she's a smart girl." The Creature's hand spanned the length of her thigh and between her legs, pushing the fabric of her skirt and panties aside. Its fingertips brushed the edges of her core, its pants of approval fueling her anger. "Smart girl... With such a smart, pretty mouth..." A taloned finger dipped into her and she let out a sob of disgust. "I bet you taste so sweet... Smart mouth... Just like your father..."
His finger started moving in her and Sheila gritted her teeth, tears rolling down her cheeks. "You forgot one thing, Creature."
He had started shadow humping her, the front of his jeans rubbing ferociously against her backside, his finger probing, scratching, invading. "And what's that, my sweet?"
She had to brace her feet to the ground to keep from falling over. "I take after my mother..."
Sheila spanned her palms against the wall and pushed... hard. Struggling against the hold on her, the Creature grunted with exasperation as her elbows connected with its sides. Fuck this shit. If something really was going down within the Covenant and she was the epicenter of it all, she sure as hell was going to figure out what it was and why. She fought harder, her hits more targeted, more accurate. She was not about to become a snack for some pathetic Creature sent here to scare (which was working by the way) the shit out of her.
The Creature's hold loosened. Aaron watched in amused surprise as she took the Creature's momentary disorientation as a chance to seize her escape. She quickly turned in the Creature's hold and violently gave him a shove, but not before the Creature lashed out a taloned hand with a hiss, his sharp nails connecting and breaking the skin on her upper arm and chest.
Sheila let out a surprised yelp, covering her wounds hastily with her hands, her Power surging forward as she felt the first of the Creature's poisons seep beneath her skin. She fell to her knees with a gasp, her vision blurring, surroundings spinning. She held her hands in front of her face. They were dripping wet.
Blood... So much blood...
Aaron, thankful that she was (for the moment) out of harm's way, tapped his watch again three times in rapid succession, the ancient words flowing from his mouth in a long, harsh breath, the Creature spitting and cowering further into the small hallway. Aaron cocked his arm back, taking aim, and threw the watch the short expanse of the hall. It hit with deadly accuracy, right between the Creature's white eyes, the impact throwing its head back with a howl.
The light from the spell lit the hall with blinding brilliance, the two other occupants who weren't writhing in pain on the ground, shutting their eyes tight to keep it out.
And then... nothing. The silence deafening. Sheila's tiny whimpers and Aaron's harsh breathing the only thing that could be heard as Sheila lay on the ground, her arms flung protectively over her head. She heard some shuffling, a groan.
"What's going on?" Justin.
"Wrong place, wrong time, my friend." Aaron, his voice harsh, yet sympathetic. "Go on, get out of here, you lucky son of a bitch, and don't ever let me hear about you and some random girl again."
A shove from Aaron and Justin stumbled out of the hallway and into the chaotic bar scene, holding his head in his hands, blending flawlessly into the crowd, looking more like he was hung over and wasn't just possessed by a dark Creature. Sheila felt a tentative hand brush her shoulder, Aaron's hoarse voice slicing through the silence.
"Are you okay?"
She hesitantly lowered her arms from her eyes, blinking rapidly to adjust them to the dirty, hallway light and nodded, the action pulling muscles she didn't even know she had in her neck. She winced, rubbing them with her palms.
Aaron touched a hand to one scratch and Sheila bit her lip to keep from crying out. "You need a Healer." It was not a question.
She shrugged his hand away. "No, it'll be fine... I just need-" She attempted to stand, but the room spun violently around her, so she resided to slumping haphazardly against the wall, her right leg stretching out in front of her. She let out a long breath to ease the pain. "-to concentrate a little harder..." She closed her eyes, feeling Aaron's warm breath upon her face as he closely examined her wounds.
"Can I ask a favor of you, Aaron?"
Aaron ran his eyes over her and finally decided that she couldn't possibly hurt him (much) in her current state and he nodded.
"May I borrow some of your Energy?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'll just touch you. Not much, a fingertip to your skin will do, and acquire some of your Energy. Your life force."
"Life force? That sounds serious."
She shook her head. "It's not. You'll feel tired for an hour or two, but it'll come back to you. Eat chocolate, it helps."
A moment of silence as Aaron pondered his decision. Finally, he nodded. "Okay, I'll help you." He paused. "But only a little..."
Sheila smiled, reaching out to him. "I don't think I can move much. Let me see your hand." He held out his arm, palm down, and she gingerly placed it over her scratches, careful not to rip the skin further open. She felt a heated spark, not so different from the ones she felt when she touched any of the Sons, but less intense, felt the heat of his Energy surging into her. She closed her eyes, the wounds on her chest sealing closed, her heart slowing to its normal beat.
After a few minutes, Aaron swayed on his knees and she immediately let him go, taking too much for him to handle, but not enough to heal all her aches and emotional wounds. She opened her eyes slightly to slits and smiled up at him.
"Thank you..."
He nodded. A beat of silence passed and Aaron jumped when her voice, barely above a whisper, rang through the cramped hallway.
"I met your father once, you know. At some fancy banquet my dad's firm got tickets to." She looked at him, her eyes glowing. "It was a brief conversation. You know, the norm, asking me about school and what not, but in those few minutes, I could feel something within him. Something... not good..." She paused, swallowing back the dryness in her throat. "I shook his hand, but never found out what it was, never delved into his thoughts because a couple of sentences into our conversation, some botoxed, blonde Betty swept him away, my contact with him disengaging." She reached out and gave Aaron's hand a light squeeze and he jumped at the contact. The touch was intimate, caring, something he didn't feel often enough in his life. "But I do know one thing, you are not like him. You're a good person, Aaron Abbott." She tapped his chest lightly with her fingertips. "In here. Don't ever forget that and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise..." A shudder ran through her then, her arm falling away from him. "You're a good person..." Her voice fleeting.
Aaron turned his head slightly to the side as he removed his polo shirt, not wanting her to see the tears that had sprung up in his eyes from her confession. It was something he had always wanted to hear, preferably from his father, but from her, he knew they were honest words. His heart reached out to her, not in a lover way, but as a friend, and with acceptance, the same way she reached out to him. As a person...
Despite the cold of the tiled floor beneath her shaking body, she could feel his body's warmth as he removed his over shirt, rumpling it into a useful ball of fabric and pressed it gently to her scratches. She sighed her appreciation, but before she could even fully open her eyes, she felt a trickle of liquid flow down her thigh. She furrowed her eyebrows and carefully maneuvered her skirt out of the way for a better look. She gasped. There was blood there too, on her leg, staining her panties. Her lips trembled as she reached down and touched herself, the crimson inking her fingertips.
"Oh my God..." Tears dampened her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Aaron shifted a few inches away from her.
She held out her hands to the light in order to give him a better look and Aaron inhaled a sharp breath. Running a hand roughly across his face, he fingered the edge of her skirt and looked at her, asking silent permission. She nodded and he lifted her skirt just slightly. Seeing the blood on her leg and underwear made him queasy and he quickly eased the fabric back down, covering her bruises and blood.
"Aaron..."
He looked at her. Saw the fear in her eyes, heard it in her voice. She needed reassurance and, at the moment, he was the only one that could, and should, provide that for her. He cupped a hand to her face, a gesture meant to comfort her, his thumb rubbing soothingly over her dirt-covered face.
"Here..." He removed his shirt from her chest and placed it lightly on her thigh, blotting the blood gently away. "Does it hurt? Is, uh... anything sore...?" She shook her head. "Good, you're not contaminated." He gave her a small smile. "Everything's going to be okay, I promise..."
A voice that sounded millions of miles away rang out, angry and deafening, through the hall, a stampede of footsteps rushing towards her.
"What the fuck is going on here!?"
Sheila let out the breath she was holding. 'Caleb...' Relief and anxiety flushed through her. She felt and heard Aaron shuffle hastily away from her, his bloody shirt dropping onto the floor with a soft thud.
"Caleb, it's not what it looks like, man."
A low growl emitted from Caleb's chest as he lunged forward, his fists swinging, eyes screaming bloody murder.
A/N: Thought that would be a good place to stop because 1) I'm sick of looking at this chapter and 2) I thought I'd give you kiddies something to read in between all the good stuff! Review please! Next chapter: FIGHT! FIGHT!! FIGHT!!!