Married to Darkness- Chapter 24

Alia held her head up high as she stepped out of her uncle's car, backpack in hand, as she glanced back to him. He smiled and quietly said, "Have a good day and keep an eye on the boy. We still don't know why he's important."

She nodded dutifully before she returned the smile and said, "I'll let you know if they want me to stay after school, or you could just let me walk like I used to."

He answered her intended question, "No, you won't walk home, it's not safe. Just text me. I'll be waiting."

She closed the door and waved as she said, "Okay, goodbye Uncle." Her thin, black and floral dress whipped at the hem as he drove away, and she spotted Nolan, Liam, Mason, and Corey as they stood next to Mason's car in the parking lot. She glided towards them, a spring of happiness in her step. She knew her spell to fool the hunters was working and Monday had passed uneventfully. As she stepped up, Liam and Corey eyed her with the slightest bit of suspicion and Mason abruptly stopped speaking.

She stepped towards Nolan and joined their circle, the nervous boy smiled as she closed the distance with him. She glanced at the different faces before she cleared the unexpected silence, "What are we talking about?"

She watched Mason's eyes dance between Liam and Corey before he spoke, "Just about Assistant Coach Raeken."

She predatorily narrowed her eyes and assessed the teen, "What did he do or have done to him this time?"

Mason began to stumble on his words before Liam interjected, with a hint of anger, "He's still dancing, and I don't like it."

She glanced towards the wolf and innocently asked, "Wasn't he a performer before you two got together?"

Liam relented, though his anger remained, "Well, yeah, but I figured he might quit."

She played the innocent part well as she lightly bit her lip and released a Hmm before she said, "Did he suddenly come into a windfall of money?"

The wolf rubbed the back of his head before he responded, "Well, no."

Corey added before she asked another question, "Liam's upset because he went to Sinema and didn't like the way the guys were looking at him."

Alia's eyes lit up with mischief as she spoke with faux curiosity, "The way Liam's eyes looked at him before they were together, and probably before they were even a thought of being together."

Nolan smiled as he responded with a bit more anxiety in his voice than his demeanor spoke, "Y-yeah. That's about the gist of it."

She nodded slowly, continuing the routine of fake understanding as she planned the next phrase, and looked to the wolf, "So, I can see how there is only one solution."

Liam's anger faded slightly as a small smile crept across his face, "Thank you."

Both Liam and Alia spoke at the same time but said very different phrases. Alia said, "He's got to dump you", while Liam said, "He's got to quit his job."

She watched her words sink in and the wolf's anger skyrocketed as he almost yelled, "He's got to dump me?! What the hell!"

Alia nodded, her emotions and demeanor firmly being controlled while the remaining three nervously viewed the possible argument, "Yeah. Did you see how much money he had in that tiny thong? Have you seen the truck he drives and not to mention he's enrolled in college? He must be strapped for cash and dancing, at least for him, is a way to pay bills and do things like eat. You would have to be amazingly insecure to want him to be destitute to appease your ego."

Liam's eyes widened as the anger threatened to overwhelm him. Corey and Mason nervously laughed as they took a step back from the stare down between Liam and Alia. Nolan laughed and nodded with Alia's words, "She's right, Liam. Do you want him to be homeless?"

She watched as she expected the wolf to lose his composure but the word homeless seemed to take any wind out of the wolf's sails. He took a step back, with his head lowered as he whispered, "I-I-I guess I didn't think of it that way."

Alia stepped towards Liam and confusion laced her words as she stated, "Your eyes didn't change. I thought you might've lost it."

Liam raised his head and met the girl's gaze. She could tell he was trying to read her expression and scent as he asked with a bit of venom, "Why did you think that?"

She feigned ignorance as she looked away, "I thought your eyes would go from blue to hazel is all. You seem like the kind of guy whose eyes change."

The circle stood in silence and she confidently thought that he bought the lie as Theo yelled from the field, "Nolan, Corey, Liam, let's get these warm ups started."

The three yelled back, "Yes, Coach" before the grabbed their things and ran towards the field. She watched Nolan as he ran only to feel the cold gaze of Mason. She slowly turned her head and met the gaze, "Is there a reason you are shooting daggers at me, Mason?"

His eyes darted around her face, reading her face like it were a novel before he answered, "You were trying to provoke him to get a response."

She recoiled from the comment and lightly replied, "I don't know what you are talking about, Mason. I just shared my opinion on his situation since that's what you and your friends wanted me to talk about."

She watched the moment he caught her inflection and replied, "Do you think we were talking about something else as you walked up?"

Her grin crept across her face as she tightened the noose, "Of course. Liam chose to bring that up and gaging from everyone else's reactions, that fight was old news. The only thing that threw him off was Noley coming to my defense when I answered the question in a different way than was expected." She took a moment to straighten her dress before she continued the press, "So what were you talking about before I arrived?"

Mason shrugged his shoulders and forced a grin as he said, "I don't remember. Something to do with Theo."

She let the energy course through her body as she channeled it at the teen in front of her, "Mason, what were you talking about before I arrived?"

His expression fell, and the telltale sign of the powers success glared as he said, "We were talking about you and what you and your uncle's connection is between either Monroe's hunters, Gran, or maybe as independent players."

She took a deep breath and asked, "And what was Nolan's opinion?"

He answered with words devoid of emotion, "Nolan thinks you are separate from all the issues plaguing Beacon Hills. He thinks you are just an innocent girl and he's afraid you'll get caught up in this mess."

She nodded as she accepted the information and asked in follow up, "What is your opinion of me?"

Mason continued to stare at her and offered no answer, so she repeated, a bit more forcefully, "What is your opinion of me? I demand you answer the question!"

The teen's expression shifted as a methodical, threatening smile crossed his face and he spoke with a deep, feminine French accent, "Child, I fear that you cannot handle my opinion of you. I think that you are a foolish pawn caught in an adult game wielding her power recklessly all while chasing after a boy that might very well be the vector for your demise. I think at best you are a lost, incredibly powerful little girl who doesn't know how she is being manipulated and at worst, another fiend for the protectors of Beacon Hills to eradicate."

Alia took a step back as the comments cut home, but the voice was clearly not Mason. She demanded, "Who are you?"

Mason laughed and brought his hand to his mouth in a manner unfitting for him, "Why, child, I do not have to answer your questions just because you feebly attempted to throw your power around. But, I will share that information so that you can know yet another reason you shouldn't act as though your power is supreme. I am Sophie Marie, but that alone shouldn't gain a reaction, but when I mention that I was a member of the Dread Doctors, perhaps you'll realize the severity of the situation in which you find yourself."

Alia's eyes widened as the sensation of fear crept into her mind. She remembered what he uncle told her of the myth of the Dread Doctors and how they pervert science and magic to harness power and destroy people, towns, just about anything. She heard stories of them draining the sheer life force from sparks such as herself to fuel the mad machinations.

She gasped as she took another step back, "Y-y-you can't be. The Dread Doctors are dead."

Mason's smile lightened as he tilted his head, "Dead? Perhaps the rumors are a bit off on this one. I may not be in that old body, but I am far from dead dear. Now, I have a question for you, and please, refuse to answer so that I can gain the knowledge utilizing another method. Why is Nolan important to you?"

Alia shook her head as she honestly answered, "I don't know. My uncle's ritual tied him to me but for what reason, I don't know. I just know that another force is doing great harm to him."

Mason nodded and asked, "What do you intend on doing about it?"

Alia nervously bit her lip before she answered, "I'm going to save him."

Sophie Marie asked lightly, "Why?"

Alia took a deep breath before she answered, "Two reasons. He is an incredibly sweet and caring young man. I can tell he's done things or almost done things that haunt him, but he is deep down good. The second reason is whatever is doing it is able to escape my notice which means it poses a threat not just to him but to everyone in this town."

Sophie Marie smiled before she asked, "And the pack? Erik?"

Alia looked to the pavement as she answered, "I'm going to save Erik. He's innocent, so incredibly innocent. He doesn't deserve what has and will happen to him. As for the pack, I'll help and save them, if necessary, but they are strong and capable."

Sophie Marie waved her hand dismissively, "That will be enough for today, just remember this, Alia, do not throw your power around needlessly. There are big, bad things lurking in many corners here and every time you do something this foolish, you put a spotlight on yourself. And lastly, sever your connection with those hunters before it puts you and your uncle in the ground. Au Revoir."

Mason's expression fell, and he shook his head before his gaze fell on Alia and he said, "You have a lot of things to tell Nolan."

Alia's eyes widened, "What? You remember all of that?"

Mason nodded, "Sophie Marie and I have an understanding. So, pack meeting, today after school and you will be there. If you try to use any magic to do anything else, I will make sure Sophie Marie stops it."

Alia looked away as the cruel edge of defeat trickled through her body, "Alright Mason. I'm sorry."

Mason light-heartedly shrugged, "No harm done, all the cards are on the table now."

The day continued with little issue and when lunch time hit, Alia decided against meeting up with the group. She knew that Mason would've spoke with Nolan about what happened and that concerned her. Not being on good terms with Liam, Corey, and Theo, she could deal with but facing Nolan with them, that she couldn't deal with. She sighed as she slid against the stone balustrade that wrapped around the stairs on the wall side. She pulled out her phone and texted her uncle that she would be meeting with her friends after school.

He almost immediately responded and told her that he would await her message for what time to send someone for her. She smiled softly and didn't notice the shadow of someone standing over her. She lifted her head and looked to the newcomer when she noticed the shadow cast over her phone.

She looked up and saw Corey as he half smiled to her. She asked, "Shouldn't you be with your friends at lunch?"

Corey squatted and met her gaze, "Yeah, waiting on you."

Alia shook her head and asked, "Hasn't Mason told you what happened?"

The chimera nodded, his smile not wavering, "Yeah. We spoke after practice. So, what do you think of Sophie Marie?"

She furrowed her brow as she commented, a bit unsure of the boy's statement, "I think that there is more to her than it seems, but I don't trust her."

Corey nodded as he pursed his lips into a grin, "That describes how we feel about her. Are you going to join us for lunch?"

She met his approach with confusion, "But aren't you concerned about who I'm working for?"

Corey tilted his head as his eyes bounced from the left side to the right, mentally weighing out the options, "It kind of is a concern, but we hope that you like us enough to betray us to our face if you have to instead of stabbing us in the back."

Alia lightly laughed as she stood up and Corey stood with her. She commented, "I assure you, I don't plan on stabbing any of my friends in the back."

Corey laughed with her as they walked towards the cafeteria. When they stepped into the large room, it felt like all eyes fell on her, but she noticed it was just her friends. She lowered her head and walked to the table and Nolan quickly scooted his chair over as he grabbed an empty chair for her. She sat next to the nervous teen and gently looked up and met his anxious smile with an innocent, thankful one.

Corey walked to the opposite side of the table and sat between Liam and Mason, as both teens continued to stare at her.

She took a deep breath before she met Liam's eye contact, "I know you want to know things and I will answer the questions to the best of my ability."

She noticed that he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, clearing trying to read her as she guessed he tried to catch her signals. He asked, "Why are you here? And I know it's not just because your Uncle has work here."

She looked to the empty spot of the table in front of her, the dingy, white surface with tiny embedded black specks, as she answered, "It's going to sound ridiculous, but my fate line is tied here. I was meant to come to Beacon Hills and there is something I need to do here. My Uncle's job is just a byproduct of this connection."

The wolf smirked as he looked to his pack, "We are just supposed to believe that? It was fate? That sounds like a fairy tale."

She weakly replied, "I suppose you are right."

Mason interjected as he looked to Liam, "No different that you, the young werewolf leader bringing the most dastardly villain the realm has seen back from hell to change him into the protector of the land and your damsel in distress all rolled into one."

Liam argued, "Theo is not a damsel in distress."

Corey laughed as he commented, "And yet that's your only complaint with Mason's logic. One could claim fate for you too."

The wolf lowly growled as he looked back to Alia, "Shut up Corey."

Alia raised her head and laughed gently with Mason and Nolan about their exchange. She looked at the smiling faces and realized that maybe this is what she should look forward to in life, enjoying time with her friends, not just completing tasks out of duty.

Nolan leaned towards her and said, "Please don't dodge us again. I don't care what happens, we are still your friends."

Alia looked to the former hunter and saw the desperation of acceptance and nodded as she began, "You're right Noley. It won't hap- "

Before she could finish the statement, the force of an electric current shot through her body and she released a scream. The entire cafeteria went silent as a moment later, another surged through her and she screamed out again.

She weakly heard the muffled sounds of her friends asking if she was alright as she felt the consistent stream of power coursing and screamed out a painful, blood curdling sound.

She gasped for air at the temporary reprieve and couldn't feel the hands that she knew were touching her from her friends. Her senses were greatly muted as her body tingled for the next surge. Internally she laughed and thought, "It seems my insurance was necessary." The tingle increased, and she felt her mind relieve herself of consciousness than feel the next wave of pain.

Liam banged on the back door to Deaton's clinic furiously. He glanced back to Mason's car as Nolan, Mason, and Corey carried her limp body towards the door. The wolf caught the distinct smell of burnt hair and flesh, but she didn't carry the injuries. His mind raced as he watched her skin pale, but not from blood loss or shock but her entire figure, clothing and all, seems to shift and become slightly translucent.

He continued to bang on the door and didn't notice when it opened as his fist flew forward, into nothing, and he barely managed to stop himself from falling into the clinic. As he stumbled forward, he smiled at Deaton as he said, "Deaton, we have an emergency!"

Deaton rushed back into the back and cleared the large metal table as the pack carried the girl in and placed her on it. The vet looked at her, as it appeared that a section of her forearm became incorporeal only to solidify moments later. He said, "What happened to her?"

Liam frantically answered, "We were talking at lunch when she started screaming. Her heart beat skyrocketed, and she started smelling like someone was burning her alive."

The vet released a hmmm before he asked, "Better question, do you know what she is?"

Mason answered, fear and concern in his voice, "We're pretty sure she is a spark, a druid or something of the like. She tried to use her magic on me earlier."

Deaton looked towards Mason and asked, his voice neutral but serious, "And you are certain that she can perform magic?"

The teen nodded, "Yeah but I have no clue who is doing this to her."

The vet turned around and walked over to his standing cabinet. He threw open the doors and retrieved a book as he said, "You don't realize it, but you four are standing in front of an incredibly rare and powerful spark. To call her a spark doesn't quite fit though. A druid taps into the forces of the world by guide outside energy. She is a natural, living, breathing font. She can use it as easily as we might eat, sleep, or breath."

He turned around and walked back to the table as he flipped through the pages. Nolan weakly demanded, his voice shaking, "Dr. Deaton, you have to stop whatever is doing this to her."

Deaton emotionlessly chuckled as he replied, "Nolan, she's doing it to herself." He stopped on a page and began to read, "A protection spell on another will continue until source of energy is spent even if such wounds have already killed the druid who utilized it."

Nolan's eyes widened as he quickly asked, "Who is she protecting? Why doesn't she just end the spell?"

Deaton spoke, "I can answer the second part. She has direct control on when it ends, even unconscious. Her mind could end it as easy as snapping a finger."

Nolan demanded, "So why doesn't she? It's killing her."

Mason interrupted the teen, "It's actually doing worse. She is her source of power, so it will continue until the attack stops or she ceases to exist."

Deaton began to recite something from the book and the sounds of the words were unnatural. Alia's entire body flickered several times and when he finished and closed the book, she looked completely solid and the glow around her body disappeared.

The pack watched as her body suddenly convulsed and she began to slowly breath. Nolan stared at the vet and asked, "What did you just do?"

Deaton casually responded, "I countered her magic. Her protection spell is severed."

The teen demanded, "Who is she protecting?"

Mason looked to Nolan as he answered, "She smelled like she was being electrocuted and there is only one other person she stated that she would save. I think she was protecting Erik and I'd also guess that he's been captured by Monroe's hunters."

Nolan pleaded with Mason, his eyes welling with tears, "But why? He's an alpha, he's stronger than she is. This could've killed her."

Mason answered by lightly repeating what Alia told Sophie Marie earlier, "He's innocent, so incredibly innocent. He doesn't deserve what has and will happen to him."

Corey looked to the vet and asked, "With Alia, could another druid be able to use her to do their magic?"

Deaton nodded emphatically, "Yes. She would be able to greatly heighten their power and provide an easy, ready source to enact powerful spells with little to no preparation time. Even timed rituals could be molded and changed due to the nature of the power that she is."

The chimera continued, "Is she not a person then?"

The vet shook his head, "She's a person. This is just another aspect to her, much like a born wolf is still human, they just also have an additional side."

Liam released a sigh of relief as he heard the girl's heartrate return to normal. He spoke with conviction, "We need to find Monroe and save Erik."

Theo drove away from the school during the pack's lunch period. He knew he would miss practice, but he couldn't risk missing his opportunity to exchange information with the Calavera hunter. He thought of the pack, of his Little Wolf as he whispered, "I promise, this is only an information exchange. I'm not handling things on my own."

He drove up to the diner and parked his truck across the street. His eyes almost immediately fell on the hunter's van and the chimera smiled to himself since, for once, things were actually working out well. He stepped out of his truck and walked towards the diner. When he stepped in, he noticed that it was full of people, mainly utility workers in denim and reflective vests but the scent of the Calavera hung in the air. He couldn't make out the scents that melded with it, there were almost too faint but after looking over the clientele, he realized the man wasn't inside.

He stepped back out and almost immediately caught his scent. It was much stronger, and he followed it past the building and into the closed in alleyway between the diner and a large, two story brick structure. As he looked down the alley, he saw that it was short, ending just after the diner with another impressive brick wall. He cautiously stepped down the alley, the gentle splash of his shoes through the murk that drained onto the concrete was the only sound he heard.

He took a few more steps towards the end and the scents triggered in his mind. The other scents were of blood and death and his eyes widened as he saw the Calavera's body slumped against the wall of the diner. He rushed over to it and saw the claw marks into the torso, but several series of superficial slashes covered the hunter's chest, neck and face. As he knelt in front of the body, his nose caught the unmistakable scent of strong peppers. Curiously, he reached into the inside of the hunter's leather jacket and found the source of the pepper scent.

A tiny folder piece of paper fell from inside the jacket and he quickly retrieved it. He opened it as flakes of dried pepper fell away and read the words. "Sometimes traps aren't meant to kill, Wolf. I look forward to seeing you again." He flipped it over and saw a set of coordinates written down. His heart jumped as he stood, the word trap throwing him off more than he'd admit. He turned to walk back down the alley but immediately saw a figure, with a gun raised.

He recognized the glint of the badge and the smell of sulfur as the deputy yelled, "Freeze, Theo!"

The chimera cuffed the paper into the sleeve of his jacket as he raised his hands and said, "Parrish, this isn't what you think it is."

The deputy stepped towards him and looked at the body as he replied, "It looks to me like you finally were caught after killing a hunter."

"You have the right to remain silent."