Chapter 10
Mary-Lynette watched fearfully as a young lady of about 30 stepped into her view. With her newly-enhanced night vision, she could see that the woman had long black hair, and was dressed in black as well. Her eyes were the darkest shade of black that Mary-Lynette had ever seen. Though the lady was a stranger to her, Ash's body language clearly portrayed hatred mixed with fear. The instant the woman's voice pierced the silence, Mary-Lynette could feel Ash's body tense up. He had pushed her behind his back when he became aware of the woman's presence; quickly saying that he couldn't use telepathy to explain anything. This left Mary-Lynette to her own assumptions; none of which were good.
"Well, well, well," the woman began; her voice cutting through the heavy silence like a wooden stake. "What do we have here? A human in the house of a Redfern?" Her voice dripped with superiority and distaste. She began walking towards Ash, making small "tsk tsk" noises, as though she was appraising him and the girl cowering behind him. The girl looked more defiant than scared. Almost as if she was going to jump out and challenge the lady herself rather than cower behind Ash's back. Dahlia moved closer still.
"Well children, explain yourselves."
When the Redferns made no move to say anything, she moved closer to Mary-Lynette. Placing a finger under her chin, she tilted it upwards so as to properly inspect it. A whole head taller, Dahlia frowned down on the teenager, a scowl stretched tightly across her face.
"And who might this be?"
Mary-Lynette was too frightened to move, let alone answer the lady's question. Ash seemed to be feeding off Mary-Lynette's fear. Or maybe it was his own that had him paralyzed in front of her. Thankfully, Rowan, as always, managed to remain calm.
"Mother, this is our friend…" she trailed off as her mother glared at her.
Rowan mentally cringed. She refused to show emotion in front of her mother. After the girls had left the island to live in Briar Creek, their mother had been furious. Actually, that was probably an understatement. She was ready to murder the three and if they came back, she was prepared to never allow them to see daylight - let alone outside the family home - again. Once their father was killed, it had been worse. The news that Hunter Redfern had been killed a Wild Power spread like wildfire across the Night World, and eventually reached the girls. At that point, they ceased the few communications they had with their mother, frightened of her wrath.
"You stopped answering my letters," Dahlia accused the girls. "So, I was forced to come investigate. I knew that you couldn't be up to any good. And this has proved my point. Invit-"
"Hold on a seco-" Kestrel interrupted, but Dahlia held out a hand towards her; palm out.
"Let me finish, you ungrateful little wretch. Here I find you with that girl in our home, Ash treating her like he's in love with her! Now, seducing girls so you can drink is one thing. But this - this, is a disgrace to the Redfern family name!"
All four Redfern children looked defiantly at their mother, strongly disagreeing with her statement and general attitude.
"Well, in that case, we'll just be leaving," Ash said, turning towards the door, grabbing Mary-Lynette's arm as he did so.
"Not so fast!" Dahlia exclaimed, grabbing Mary-Lynette's other arm and pulling.
Unlike Ash, Dahlia grabbed her arm with inhuman strength. If she hadn't just exchanged blood with Ash, Mary-Lynette's arm would have surely been broken. Trying to pull her arm out of Dahlia's grasp, Mary-Lynette began trashing wildly. Ash leaned in close and whispered in her ear.
"The more you struggle against her, the more satisfying she'll find causing you pain, and the more she'll do it." He was hoping that his mother wouldn't hear the whisper, but she clearly did.
She gave a sharp tug on Mary-Lynette's arm. Not wanting to hurt her, Ash was forced to relinquish his grip on her other arm.
Dahlia pulled Mary-Lynette close to her, wrapping an arm around her to hold her there. Mary-Lynette struggled just as much as ever before finally tiring herself out and standing still. Though she was no longer struggling, her fear was still unmistakable. Her wide eyes darted between Ash, the girls, and her captor. Finally Ash couldn't bear it anymore. He had to use the soulmate link to tell Mary-Lynette to calm down and that everything would be okay. He couldn't see her so frightened anymore.
Mary-Lynette? no answer.
Mary-Lynette! Please answer me!
Ash? Please help me!
I will, love. Just hang on. Don't be scared. I swear I will not let her hurt you!
Mary-Lynette eventually began to calm down after much encouragement and reassurance from Ash. Dahlia still held onto Mary-Lynette tightly; enjoying the pain it evidently caused her children. The instant that Ash began his silent conversation with Mary-Lynette through the soulmate link, Dahlia's smirk grew wider.
"Ash," she began after Mary-Lynette had been calmed down. "Is there something you forgot to tell me?"
A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to update, but here it is (finally). I know it's short, but I have recently suffered from a bout of writer's block. :( Hopefully this meets any expectations you may have... Thank you, as always, for the reviews. You guys are all amazing! Criticism is welcome as well - anything to get the creative juices flowing!